Monday, February 10, 2014
How to Make Arepas – These Venezuelan Hot Pockets are P A N tastic!
I still cant believe Ive only just recently discovered arepas. I live in San Francisco, blocks away from one of the largest Latin-American neighborhoods in the country, yet somehow Id never tasted an arepa?All those wasted years I could have been eating this amazingly simple, yet brilliant concoction. Thank goodness one of the stops on a recent field trip to NYC was a hole-in-the-wall called Caracas Arepas Bar. It was at this east village eatery where I fell in love with a stuffed white corn cake.
Halfway through my first arepa, one stuffed with black beans, beef, plantains and salty cheese, I vowed to learn how to make these at home. Upon my return to San Francisco, I headed straight to the Mission, where the first Latin grocery store I checked had what I needed, harina P.A.N., a kind of boiled white corn meal vital to this recipe.
As youll see in the video, if you can find this product, the rest is extremely simple. You make a dough with some salt and warm water, and then you fry patties until golden brown. The resulting corn cake, once split open and stuffed, is a tour de force of textual pleasure.Sure the ingredients in a BLT all taste great, but it’s the perfect blend of textures that makes it a charter member of the sandwich hall of fame. Same goes for arepas. The golden brown outside gets crispy and crunchy, yet the inside stays soft, moist, and somewhat chewy.
Its a truly magnificent delivery system for any number of your favorite fillings. I went with some spicy pork and avocado, but you can also see a version I made a few days later, stuffed with caramelized plantains and salty goat feta. To die for.
Anyway, I hope you watch the video and decide that arepas need to be part of your life also. Here are some links to help you with what I promise will be a delicious journey. I hear you can get the P.A.N. corn meal at any Latin-American foods market, but its also easy to find and order online. Here is an Ebay page with all sorts of options.For ideas on what to stuff into these beauties, heres a link to the official Caracas Arepas Bar website. If you check out their downloadable menu, you can see what they use in theirs and go from there. I really hope you give these a try. Enjoy!
Note: at the time of this posting, I still hadn’t learned what P.A.N. stands for. If you know, please share. Thanks! Update: P.A.N. stands for National Alimentary Product.
Ingredients: (Note: I only made half a batch. These ingredients are for a full batch, which will give you about 8 arepas.)
2 1/2 cups tepid water
1 teaspoon salt
about 2 cups of P.A.N. white corn meal
(By the way, dont ask me if you can use other corn meals or flours, because I dont know!)
For even more information on making arepas, check out this great post from my friend Shaunas blog, Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef.
Rhubarb drink
This is somehting I plan to try when the rhubarb is sufficiently grown for harvesting:
1 kg rhubarb stalks
1,8 ltr water
450 ml sugar
Juice of one big lemon
Cut the rhubarb into small pieces and cook in the water for 15 minutes. Don’t stir it. Strain and throw away the rhubarb pulp.
Add the sugar and lemon juice to the rhubarb juice and bring to the boil. Cool and bottle. Keep refrigerated. Serve cold and thin with water as desired.
Read More..
1 kg rhubarb stalks
1,8 ltr water
450 ml sugar
Juice of one big lemon
Cut the rhubarb into small pieces and cook in the water for 15 minutes. Don’t stir it. Strain and throw away the rhubarb pulp.
Add the sugar and lemon juice to the rhubarb juice and bring to the boil. Cool and bottle. Keep refrigerated. Serve cold and thin with water as desired.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
PERFECT FRENCH FRIES
We dont eat homemade french fries very often because they dont turn out very well. Ive tried many potato varieties; Ive tried various oils and temperatures; Ive tried double frying them (what a hassle that was!) and Ive tried baking them... they all come out of the oil LOOKING great but turn limp and greasy in a matter of minutes.
Then, recently, I came across this very simple recipe. Assuming this technique was just too easy to produce great results, I didnt even mention the recipe "experiment" before I served them.
After about the third french fry, picky-picky hubby offered this unsolicited critique: "these fries are REALLY good"... I knew I had a winner. I will definitely be using this super easy method the next time we decide to treat ourselves to some fries.
2 pounds of Russet potatoes (make sure they are Russets)
2 tablespoons corn starch
peanut oil (peanut oil works the best)
kosher salt
Slice the potatoes into shoestring size pieces, trying to make them as even as possible. Rinse the cut potatoes thoroughly and put them in a big bowl of plain cold water in the fridge until dinner time (at least an hour, but overnight is even better).
Take the potatoes out of the cold water and lay them on an absorbent towel, blotting most of the water off. Coat the potatoes lightly with the cornstarch and shake off the excess. Let them air dry while the peanut oil heats up to 375 degrees.
A word about the oil: You will get the best french fries using peanut oil; it has a high scorch level and tastes great. You can also use regular vegetable oil, but avoid canola oil. Canola oil tastes a little "off" if you bring it up to 375 degrees. I was surprised what a difference peanut oil makes.
When the oil reaches 375, put a big handful of the coated potatoes in the oil and stir to separate them. After theyve fried for a minute or so, stir them again to make sure they arent sticking together (dont overcrowd your pan).
When the potatoes are light golden brown, take them out of the oil and put them on paper towels to wick away some of the oil. Sprinkle generously with kosher salt (it tastes so much better than regular table salt on the french fries).
Thats it!! No more limp, greasy french fries (and NO more double frying!!). Who knew that Russet potatoes, a little soak time, a little corn starch and some peanut oil would make such a great french fry?!?!
NOTE ABOUT CUTTING THE POTATOES: Peel (or wash) the potatoes and cut the sides of the potatoes off (making sort of a rectangle). This will give your potato flat sides to rest on while you slice through the potato. Stack the potato "slabs" and cut into shoestring size potatoes.
Read More..
Then, recently, I came across this very simple recipe. Assuming this technique was just too easy to produce great results, I didnt even mention the recipe "experiment" before I served them.
2 pounds of Russet potatoes (make sure they are Russets)
2 tablespoons corn starch
peanut oil (peanut oil works the best)
kosher salt
Slice the potatoes into shoestring size pieces, trying to make them as even as possible. Rinse the cut potatoes thoroughly and put them in a big bowl of plain cold water in the fridge until dinner time (at least an hour, but overnight is even better).
Take the potatoes out of the cold water and lay them on an absorbent towel, blotting most of the water off. Coat the potatoes lightly with the cornstarch and shake off the excess. Let them air dry while the peanut oil heats up to 375 degrees.
A word about the oil: You will get the best french fries using peanut oil; it has a high scorch level and tastes great. You can also use regular vegetable oil, but avoid canola oil. Canola oil tastes a little "off" if you bring it up to 375 degrees. I was surprised what a difference peanut oil makes.
When the oil reaches 375, put a big handful of the coated potatoes in the oil and stir to separate them. After theyve fried for a minute or so, stir them again to make sure they arent sticking together (dont overcrowd your pan).
When the potatoes are light golden brown, take them out of the oil and put them on paper towels to wick away some of the oil. Sprinkle generously with kosher salt (it tastes so much better than regular table salt on the french fries).
Thats it!! No more limp, greasy french fries (and NO more double frying!!). Who knew that Russet potatoes, a little soak time, a little corn starch and some peanut oil would make such a great french fry?!?!
NOTE ABOUT CUTTING THE POTATOES: Peel (or wash) the potatoes and cut the sides of the potatoes off (making sort of a rectangle). This will give your potato flat sides to rest on while you slice through the potato. Stack the potato "slabs" and cut into shoestring size potatoes.
Russets are those big baking potatoes.
Holiday Pumpkin Bread in Theory and Practice
I could have just Googled a pumpkin bread recipe. Im sure there are hundreds of excellent ones, tested and retested, right there for the taking. But I didnt, because I had something better, a theory. Theoretically speaking, there is nothing better than a good theory.My theory was that if I took my banana bread recipe, which is one of my absolute favorites, and used pumpkin puree in place of the mashed, ripe bananas, I would have an equally impressive loaf.
So, what were the results of this grand pumpkin bread experiment? A very decent loaf of quick bread, which would make a handsome addition to any holiday dessert table! Having said that, next time I make it, I will be tweaking some things.
This was very good, but didnt have the I-cant-stop-eating-this-ness of the banana bread recipe. Considering the obvious fact that bananas and pumpkins are not the same thing, I will adjust the sweetness and fat content a bit to compensate.
Anyway, stay tuned for future updates, and if you happen to make any variations on this, Id love to hear about it! Thanks, and enjoy!
Pumpkin Bread Recipe Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, soft
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 (15-oz) can pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon Chinese 5-Spice
1/8 teaspoon allspice
Mixed in a bowl:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup chopped roasted walnuts
Bake at 325 degrees F. for about 1 hour
Pizza
One of our family favorites, combines traditional spaghetti with pepperoni Pizza...what else could be better?
7 oz package of spaghetti (cooked & drained)
2 Tbsp Butter
1/3 C. Parmesan Cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 lb of hamburger (brown with 1/2 C. chopped onion)
1/2 C. onion, chopped
1-28oz jar of spaghetti sauce
3-4 cups of shredded Mozzarella Cheese
3 1/2 oz. package of pepperoni
Mix cooked spaghetti with butter, eggs & Parmesan cheese. Place in 9x 13 greased glass baking dish covering the bottom (making the crust of the pizza). Spoon hamburger and onion mixture over spaghetti "crust." Pour spaghetti sauce over all and sprinkle with cheese. Arrange pepperoni slices over cheese. Cover with Aluminum Foil (place a few toothpicks to prevent the foil from sticking to cheese while baking).
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes (it thickens as it cools which makes it easier to cut & serve).
Note: if you make it ahead of time and refrigerate, bake it for 30 minutes instead of 20 initially. I also pull it out of the refrigerator about 1 hour before baking to bring it to room temperature before baking. It seems to be less runny.
Hope you enjoy. Its a family favorite of ours thanks to my husbands godmother! Kids and Parents alike tend to make this disappear from their plate :)
--
Heidi Marie
The Sunshine Queen :)
www.sunshinequeen.wordpress.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Bubble and Squeak
Servings: 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. russet potatoes
- 2 tbs. butter
- 1/2 lb. Brussels sprouts
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/2 tsp. Hungarian paprika (optional)
- 1/4 cup cornmeal
- olive oil
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Peel potatoes and cut into cubes.
Drop the potatoes in a pot. Submerge with water and add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are tender. About 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, wash Brussels sprouts. Discard any discolored leaves and cut off any brown bottoms. Lay on a sheet pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until outsides are slightly browned and crispy.
Chop Brussels sprouts.
3. Once potatoes are tender, drain thoroughly. Return to the pot to dry out. Allow to cool.
4. Form potato mixture into 12 patties. Dust with cornmeal and salt on both sides.
Jello Strawberry Moose cups
Jello Strawberry Moose cups
Ingredients:
- 1 packet Red jelly
- 1 packet green jelly
- 250 grams cream
- 1 tbsp gelatin
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
- 2 tbsp sugar
- Strawberries as required
Method:
- Mix cream and red jelly powder together.Mix the getaltin powder in little bit of water.Now make green jelly and set it in a mold. And cut it in cubes.Now put little amount of green jelly on the base of the glass and put the whipped cream on the top of it.Now chill it in fridge. Serve with strawberries and jelly.
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