Sunday, July 4, 2010

Sweet Fried Plantains

Ripen plantains about a week before cooking. Slice into 1/2 inch slices.

Fill pot 1 inch deep with oil (canola or vegetable) Heat on medium heat.

Fry until golden brown on each side cook until soft all the way through.


In a small or medium brown bag, fill with one cup of sugar, 1 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp of allspice. Shake to mix.


After you remove plantains from oil drain on a pile of paper towels and sprinkle with a little bit of salt.


Then drop the warm plantains into paper bag and shake to cover in sugar mixture. Serve immediately.



Friday, June 25, 2010

Yummy Yummy Flan

Mix evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, eggs, and vanilla in a blender. (forgot to take a picture of the custard)
Melt sugar in a non-stick pan once it starts to melt and caramelize pour into your pan(s) of choice. Move the pan around to get caramel up the sides a bit.
Place pan with caramel into a hot water bath. Then pour custard mixture from the blender into pan. Bake on 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes

Invert allow to cool about 10 minutes or chill before serving.
Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
6 large eggs
1 (14 ounce) can condensed milk
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ounce cream cheese

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350°F.
2.Select 2 oven safe containers, one that can easily fit inside the other.
3.The large one will be used for a water bath and the smaller one will actually house the flan.
4.Fill the larger container a little less than half way with water and place in the cold
oven to heat up while you prepare the caramel and the custard.
5.In a large pan, using a wooden spoon caramelize the sugar until it turns a light golden
brown.
6.While still hot, transfer the melted sugar to the smaller container, swirling it around until the entire bottom is covered then set aside.
7.In a blender add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
8.Open up the oven where you have placed the water bath and then place the small pan with the caramel inside the large water bath pan.
9.Pour the custard into the pan being careful not to splash it.
10.Bake for 30- 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the center passes a toothpick test.
11Remove from oven and allow to cool on rack.
12You may invert this onto a large serving dish with lip or just server out of container you cooked it in.

Tamale Pie

I'm all for complicated recipes but after looking through many tamale recipes, I decided I wasn't ready for it yet. So I used a recipe I found on Foodnetwork.com for a tamale pie. I really hope it tastes as good as all the reviews said it did, cause it's for a friend.


First chop one large yellow onion, one bell pepper (whatever color you like) and add olive oil to a skillet, add chopped pepper, onion and one pound ground turkey, saute until turkey is no longer pink. Add garlic cook one more minute. Drain off any excess fat.

Sprinkle the meat and veggie mixture with cumin, then add pinto beans (drained), diced tomatoes, and 2 chipotle in adobo chopped plus adobo sauce. Bring to a boil then reduce heat til thickened. Add cheese and cilantro. (I forgot this step so I topped the corn bread with it)

Use an 8 oz package of corn muffin mix ( I used self rising corn meal so it wouldn't be so sweet) Add egg and milk. I decided to tweak the recipe a little and added a small chipotle in adobo, and a small scoop of rotel. Mix thoroughly. (You may have to add more milk)

Put meat mixture into a casserole dish press down firmly, put corn bread on top of meat mixture and spread until it's covered.


I topped mine with the cheese cause I forgot to put it in with the tamale mix. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.



Recipe:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature (for greasing pan)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound, lean ground turkey
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, any color, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed (I like the brine they're in so I didn't rinse mine)
1 (8-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 chipotle chiles, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce, from can chipotle in adobo
1 cup grated Cheddar
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 (8.5-ounce) package cornbread mix or 8 ounces self rising corn meal (if you don't want a sweet corn bread topping)
1 egg
1/3 cup milk

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake

For the base: grease bottom of a 9x9 pan with butter. Line with parchment paper. In a food processor, combine sugar, cinnamon, and graham crackers (short bread or Oreo cookies) until you have the texture of bread crumbs. Then add melted butter until fully incorporated. Pour into lined pan and pat down gently with the bottom of a glass. Bake 10-12 minutes on 325 degrees until lightly browned. Let cool.

For the filling: Add cream cheese, egg, lemon juice, lemon zest, and sugar in the food processor and process to a smooth consistency.

Pour into cooled base...
Cover with blueberries. Bake in 325 degree oven about 35 minutes or until center only slightly jiggles.
Remove from oven and cool completely then refrigerate for 3 hours before cutting.
Recipe...
  • For the base:
  • Butter for greasing
  • 9-12 graham crackers (shortbread or Oreo cookies)
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 stick of butter melted
  • For the filling:
  • 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 lemons, zested and juiced
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
  • Powdered sugar (optional) for dusting




Sunday, May 30, 2010

Blueberry, Coconut, Macadamia Nut Muffins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray or use liners. Combine coconut, 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, 2 Tbsp brown sugar and 2 Tbsp macadamia nuts in a small bowl. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp oil; stir to combine. Set aside
Whisk the remaining 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. In another bowl combine remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, remaining 1 Tbsp oil, egg, egg white, buttermilk, butter and coconut extract (vanilla can be used also) stir well. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients; stir until just combined.

Add blueberries and remaining 3 Tbsp nuts; fold gently. Divide batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle with the reserved coconut topping and press gently into batter.

Bake muffins until golden brown and wooden skewer comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack at least 5 minutes more before serving.
*Note: if you don't have buttermilk just combine 1 tsp lemon juice with regular milk and let stand for 5-10 minutes before using
Ingredients:
1/4 cup coconut (sweet or unsweet)
2 Tbsp plus 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
2 Tbsp plus 1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
5 Tbsp chopped macadamia nuts, divided
2 Tbsp canola oil, divided
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour or whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 ts salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 large egg
1 large egg white
*3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp coconut or vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (can use frozen but do not thaw before using)
Nutrition info: Per muffin
202 calories; 9g fat; 23 mg cholesterol; 28g carbs; 4g protein; 2g Fiber; 122 mg sodium; 55mg potassium




Heavenly Strawberry Muffins

Cream butter and sugar, then add egg and mix well.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl then add flour mixture and milk alternately to the butter mixture. Add vanilla.

Chop strawberries and gently fold into batter.Spoon into muffin pan, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Then bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes


Ingredients: Yields 12 muffins
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar (Using the full amount results are more like a cupcake, I reduce to 1/2 cup)
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup strawberries
Topping:
3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Found this recipe online a few hours before I had company come in for breakfast, wasn't even sure if they would come out, after baking them I have to say these are one of my favorite muffins EVER! This is the 3rd time I've made this recipe in the last 2 weeks, and this time the kids helped make them. Hope you enjoy making and eating these as much as we did.




Monday, May 17, 2010

Simply Spectacular Glazed Strawberry Pie

Form dough into a ball, on a lightly floured surface slightly flatten dough. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle, ease pastry into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 450 degrees. Cool on a wire rack.
Place one cup of strawberries and one cup of water in a food processor, cover and process until smooth. Transfer to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil; then simmer for 2 minutes.
In a medium sauce pan combine sugar and corstarch; stir in berry mixture. Cook and str over medium heat until bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat add red food coloring if desired (omitting the food coloring will give you the results in the picture below, more pinkish then red). Before transfering to cool in a bowl, I put the mixture through a small sieve to remove seeds and clumps of cornstarch. Cool to room temperature.
Fold remaining 5 cups of sliced strawberries into cooled berry mixture; spoon into pastry shell. Cover; chill for 3 to 4 hours. If desired serve with whipped topping.

Oil Pastry Recipe:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour ( I used organic whole grain pastry flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fat free milk
3 tblespoons cooking oil

Combine flour and salt, then add milk and oil. Stir lightly with a fork. Form into a ball. Roll out on a lightly floured surface.

Pie Recipe
6 cups strawberries sliced
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
*Optional red food coloring
*Optional whipped topping thawed

Nutrition facts per serving: 1 slice (pie makes 8 slices)
Calories: 179
Fat: 6g (1 saturated fat)
Sodium: 73mg
Carbs: 30g
Fiber: 3g
Protein: 3g