Roman Apple Cake

So, I had a bag of apples in my fridge that had sat there for nearly a week. I dont like ingredients to go to waste, so I thought I would find a good dessert for their home. I came across a family recipe called Roman Apple Cake. My grandmother gave it to me last year and I can't believe I hadn't tried it yet. So it was time to try it. (Not to mention that it will be an even better time when I take trips to the local farms in a few weeks, where I will be deeply inhaling fresh apple trees and crisp air! Local apple picking could, arguably, be my favorite fall activity.)

The cake turned out similar to a muffin, like a cross between cake and bread. It was perfectly moist and hardly crumbly. On day one, we were scarfing it down while it was still warm out of the oven. Day two, I am still going back for seconds.

So here goes,

1 c shortening
1 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 c buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 c flour
2 c diced apples
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c chopped nuts

Mix the first several ingredients together, stopping right before the apples. Gently mix in the apple chunks. Pour the batter into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle nuts on top and then the sugar and cinnamon. Bake cake at 350 for 45 mins. (The top of my cake was a medium-dark brown and a toothpick came out clean when poked into the middle of the cake)

Granola

Yumm, I love granola. Especially when I can concoct my own mixes. I have been on the hunt for a good, basic, recipe that I can build off of. and I finally found one. Courtesy of Mrs. Arce from church.

So basically you just toast the oatmeal (maybe three or four cups) in the oven for ten minutes or so at 350*. If you are adding nuts, roast them with the granola. Then mix a tablespoon of oil with a quarter a cup of honey. When the granola is finished toasted toss three tablespoons of powdered milk, 2-8 Tb sugar (totally depending on how healthy you want this) and any other add-ins you like, but leave out any dried fruit! Some add-in possibilities could be cinnamon, amaranto, or any other type of grain or spice. After these dry materials are well mixed together, pour on the oil mixture. Make sure to toss this well, then spread the granola out evenly over a cookie sheet. Put the mixture back in the oven and cook for 30 minutes or so, or until your granola turns a golden color and becomes crunchy. Definitely pull the pan out and flip over the granola as best you can every ten minutes or so, in order for it to cook evenly.
When the granola is finished baking, let it cool until it reaches room temp or is warm, but not hot. Break up any clumpy pieces (I Personally like the granola nuggets and keep many of them together), and toss with any dried fruit (raisins, dried apples, dried apricots, etc). Voila.
This recipe is so great because it is so conducive to adjustments. Think of your fav granola and add in those spices and fruits, nuts, etc. If you aren't sure what your fav granolas all have, check the ingredient label at the back of you fav granola package next time you pass it at the supermarket. It will tell you if they add in any flavorings or spices.

I hope you enjoy!

Mexican Cuisine: Horchata and Flan

Well, I have six days left before I move away from Mexico and close this chapter of my life. What I will probably miss the most (besides the incredible weather), will be the food. I plan to eat tamales and tacos just about every day before we leave! The food here is just unbeatable. The tacos, namely! We Americans have no idea what a real taco is until we go to Mexico. Unfortunately, my tacos never quite turn out like the Mexican stands here. Mostly, because their grills are seasoned night after night with amazing meat juices and spices. Nevertheless, I have captured their amazing salsas, which is pretty much in every taco and almost every Mexican dish. I will save that post for another day though. I have also learned how to make Chile Enogadas, Tamales (Oaxaquena and the typical Queretano ones), Chilaquiles, Pollo Milanesa and tortas (Mexican cooked sandwhich, A-mazing). I mostly mention these, well, first to get your mouth watering, and also as a reminder to myself that I need to post these as well. 
Then there is the horchata and flan! oh, how I would have missed these dishes. Thankfully, I put up my radar out until I found two friends with excellent recipes that I just had to have. These are real treasures to me and I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do! 
Buen Provecho!


Horchata (courtesy of my friend, Gaby Martinez)

This will make almost two pitchers of horchata. Feel free to half the recipe for a smaller quantity

About 1 cup uncooked rice

1-4 cinnamon sticks (depending on how much you like, I think that I will do 2)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk

4-4 ½ cup milk

sugar (to taste)

2 teaspoons of vanilla ( or to taste)

Let your rice sit for 20 minutes in warm water. Rinse the rice. Next, cook the rice in 2 ½-3 c of water until the rice is overcooked and extremely soft.

In a separate saucepan boil the cinnamon in about 3-4 cups of water.  Reduce heat and simmer until the water turns a medium brown from the cinnamon.

In a blender add the cooked rice, the cinnamon water (not the cinnamon sticks!), 1 can evaporated milk, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 4- 4 ½ cups of milk. Blend until it is incorporated and then add sugar by the spoonful until you have the desired sweetness. Finally, add the vanilla.

And voila!

A couple of adjustments, if you care to…

To make a creamier horchata, my friend suggested adding a little bit of cream to the mix. This is no low calorie drink, but it is SO good!

Also, consider adjusting the cinnamon quantity if you feel like the horchata is missing something. My friend put a little more than I care for, but too little, and it wont taste right. I am quite vague on the quantity cause my friend put in about 2, 12 inch sticks and it seemed a little cinnamony to me.

The sweetened condensed milk was optional, if you want to lessen the sweetness you can omit this.

The more water you add to the cinnamon, the more watery the Horchata will be. I would stick with the original recipe and then adjust this if you feel like its too thick. I feel like Horchata made in the US is much more watery. I don’t care for that at all, but it might be an acquired taste.

THE most AMAZING flan! (Courtesy of my friend, Haydee Campos)

1 sweetened condensed milk

1 can full of milk (or feel free to do ½ evaporated milk and ½ reg milk) (Sister Campos prefers reg milk)

5 eggs

1 cap-full vanilla

½ bar of cream cheese

sugar, to taste

In a blender first put in the condensed milk, then the reg milk, then the eggs and finally the cream cheese. Blend together

In your flan pan (a round pan that has a lid and a bar that goes across the top to keep it closed), put in about 1 -1 ½ cups of sugar. Heat the pan over a flame or electric burner, prob medium heat. This part is touchy… make sure to move the sugar around in the pan, simply by using a hot mit and turning the pan side to side. Your sugar will start to melt with the heat. You want all of the sugar to dissolve and turn a nice dark carmel color. If it gets too dark, you will have burned the sugar. So be careful.

After the sugar is melted add the milk mixture to the pan. Put a piece of aluminum between the pan and the lid. Close the pan tightly and curl the aluminum up and over the top of the lid.

Next is another tricky part. It requires a water bath, aka Bano Maria. What you do is fill a larger baking pan with water. Add the flan pan to the larger pan. The water should go up the side of the flan pan, halfway. No water should enter the flan pan!

Put the large pan with the flan pan in your oven and turn up the heat to about 300-350 degrees. Check on the water bath frequently. When the water starts to boil in the water bath, start the timer at 60 minutes. After the 60 minutes, your flan should be done!

Also, feel free to use a pressure cooker. Simply put some sort of flush lid at the bottom of the cooker, in order for your flan pan to be raised up and not touch the bottom of the pressure cooker. Add water. The water level should not come up far, not past the lid at the bottom. Carefully put your flan pan in the pressure cooker above that bottom lid. Close up your pressure cooker and turn up the heat. When some steam starts to escape the top lid, close the vent and start the timer at 50 minutes. It can take as little as 40 minutes though, too. 

Spices

I love those few spice combos in my cupboard that seem to make everything taste better. I have a great garlic based spice, a great curry and last night I finished off my favorite Shis-Kebob spice. I have never gone wrong with shis-kebobs since I started using this. So if you are in the market for a good rub for some amazing summer grilling, definitely hit this one up. It's called All Natural Souvlaki Shis-Kebob Spice, by Simply Greek. I most likely will continue to add new spices that I love, to this blog.

http://www.simplygreekfoods.com/product_info.php/products_id/73?osCsid=00881pc81040kvg2qv67c9i0i1

I just bought the spice here, ps. I am also trying a couple others.

Easter Menu 2012

Honey Roast Chicken with Shallots and Peas from BHG (Better Homes and Gardens)

Creamy Potato Salad from Williams Sonoma

Garden Salad with Balsamic dressing

Buttered Rolls

Strawberry Cheesecake with a hint of Coconut and Lime

So for this Easter I tried several new dishes. From the above menu, the only cheaters were the salad and the rolls. I had every intention of making my Mother-in-law's rolls, but considering that our guests were arriving 30 minutes after church finished, fresh rolls just weren't going to happen. So thank you Costco for making such soft American rolls here in Mexico (Mexican bread is somewhat flavorless and dry, in my opinion). I also, last minute, opted for a salad instead of the roasted Cauliflower, again it was a time sensitive dish.

So without further ado, here are my tried, tested, n tasty recipes that I uncovered, with all my notes and comments...

Honey Roast Chicken with Shallots and Peas

This recipe is very tasty! Totally easy to do as well. You pretty much cant mess it up. For me, the chicken was perfectly moist after 1 1/2 hours. Let's face it... a key part of roasting chickens, turkeys, or just cooking meats in general, tends to be a. the quality of meat and b. the time and temperature it's cooked at. So for chicken, I personally like spiking the heat up an extra 50-100 degrees for the first ten-twenty minutes (or until the outside is just about all white) this helps seal in those juices. Since, my hubby ran home from church to stick in the oven, I just had him turn on the oven to "2-3" (our oven is terrible and doesn't have degrees and since it is a fickle gas oven, the temperature fluctuates as the gas is released then turned off throughout the cooking). I turned it down after forty five minutes, when I got home, and had it slow cook just a little at the end.

As for fluctuations with ingredients.

I withheld the lemon slices (they don't have lemons here, in Queretaro, only limes), since I ran out of them trying to make the lemon curd for the cheesecake. I would def use them in the future though as I am sure it improves the presentation and due to the fact that I am a big honey and lemon combo fan.

I am also guilty of withholding the tarragon! I know, I know, it seems like such a key ingredient, but again it was a Mexican problem. I can't seem to find several different spices here. In the end the dish still turned out yummy, and I have no doubt the tarragon would also help it.

I also opted for the additional chicken broth instead of the wine. Since we were having the missionaries over and I know that the wine wouldn't cook out well enough in time, I just skipped it. I couldn't serve an alcohol dish to a bunch of Mormon Missionaries on Easter!

I also lathered a bit more butter on my chicken and eyeballed the honey.

For the sauce, mine wasn't thickening very well after simmering it for fifteen minutes. I sprinkled in some flour and whisked it quickly to avoid clumps. No clumps, but still prob could have used a little more for a better consistency. Be careful with gravies. There is a fine line between too much and not enough flour. Too much and its too thick, too little and it's too thin. It also tend to thicken as it sits. If I make gravy slightly in advance I keep it thin until I am ready to serve it, then I thicken it just a wee bit more. Still be careful it's not too much flour otherwise, when your guests go for a second helping (and if it's good enough, they will) it will have settled to be too thick.

Everything else was pretty true to the directions.

ingredients

• 
  
  3 1/2 - 4 pound whole broiler-fryer chicken
• 2
  tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2
  teaspoon salt
• 1/2
  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4
  cup honey
• 2
  tablespoons fresh tarragon
• 1
  cup peeled and sliced shallots
• 1
  cup champagne, sparkling wine, or reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2
  cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2
  cups fresh or frozen peas
• 1
  small lemon, thinly sliced

directions

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Rinse chicken cavity; pat chicken dry with paper towels. Skewer neck skin to back; tie legs to tail. Place chicken in a shallow roasting pan. Brush with butter; sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2.Roast, uncovered, for 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 hours or until drumsticks move easily in sockets and chicken is no longer pink (180 degrees F). Brush with half the honey and sprinkle with half the tarragon. Roast 5 minutes longer or until the chicken has a golden brown glaze.

3.Remove chicken from pan and tent with foil. Transfer roasting pan to stove top. Add shallots, champagne, broth, remaining honey, and fresh peas (if using). Simmer, uncovered, about 10 minutes, until juices thicken slightly and shallots are tender. Add frozen peas (if using) and lemon slices to pan. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes or until heated through. To serve, return chicken to pan, sprinkle with remaining tarragon, and top with additional honey, if desired.

from the test kitchen

• Tip Pan Stew ChickenArrange chicken skin-side-up in a shallow baking pan. Brush with butter, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Brush with half the honey and sprinkle with half the tarragon. Roast 5 minutes longer until honey forms a golden brown glaze. Continue as directed in Step 3.

nutrition facts (Honey Roast Chicken with Spring Peas & Shallots )

Servings Per Recipe 6,

Calories 811,

Protein (gm) 52,

Carbohydrate (gm) 47,

Fat, total (gm) 44,

Cholesterol (mg) 209,

Saturated fat (gm) 14,

Monosaturated fat (gm) 18,

Polyunsaturated fat (gm) 9,

Dietary Fiber, total (gm) 3,

Sugar, total (gm) 38,

Vitamin A (IU) 1166,

Vitamin C (mg) 31,

Thiamin (mg) 0,

Riboflavin (mg) 0,

Niacin (mg) 19,

Pyridoxine (Vit. B6) (mg) 1,

Folate (µg) 52,

Cobalamin (Vit. B12) (µg) 1,

Sodium (mg) 461,

Potassium (mg) 730,

Calcium (DV %) 61,

Iron (DV %) 4,

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie

3 oz. (6 Tbs.)

Creamy Potato Salad

As you will soon find out, I am a HUGE fan of Williams-Sonoma recipes. I found this one and believed the ingredients looked tasty. This was not a fan of my husbands and to tell you the truth, it wasn't the star of the meal, but I am still posting it for the following reasons...

a. I loved the herb combo and it created an appealing presentation

b. I loved the fact that this potato salad incorporated yogurt and sour cream, instead of just mayo. (I am not a huge fan of mayo, though, my hubby is!)

and c. Again, I had to omit the lemon (or lime in my case), since I ran out of limes. Again, I really think this would have helped the flavor.

So for those reasons I still am posting this. Its a great started recipe and I think that with some improvements it could be a real gem.

So for adjustments...

Red potatoes are hard to find here. Sometimes the stores and markets carry it, sometimes they dont. I found the baby yellow potatoes and they were SUPERB! I think I would even do these next time instead of hunting for the red ones. They were perfectly smooth and creamy. Don't be deceived though, the potatoes could have just been a good product here in Mexico. Probably opt for whatever potato tends to be the creamiest and smoothest in your area.

Like I said I didn't have enough lime, boo! (Especially frustrating because I am usually well stocked, but when I went to the local market to get my fresh ingredients for the meal, many of the shops were closed because of the holiday).

Also, Ryan didn't care for the celery add-in, so I might omit it next time.

As for additions in the future...

It needs a little more punch. Some kind of flavoring would help it do this. Maybe even a little extra salt might have made the flavors pop better. Of course, it might have been just the lack of lemon. So next time, I will just be sure to add the lemon for the next step to perfection.

So here are the instructions...

Serve this salad with a batch of your favorite barbecued ribs or chicken for an old-fashioned summer picnic. If desired, add 2 chopped hard-cooked eggs or 1/2 cup chopped red onion with the potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 3 lb. red potatoes, unpeeled
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
• 3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
• 8 green onions, white and light green portions,
  thinly sliced
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 3 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus
  parsley sprigs for garnish
• 3 Tbs. chopped fresh mint, plus mint sprigs
  for garnish
• 3 Tbs. chopped fresh basil, plus basil sprigs
  for garnish
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

Bring a large pot three-fourths full of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes and boil until tender when pierced with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and let cool completely in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Cut the potatoes into 3/4-inch dice.

In a large bowl, stir together the yogurt, mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, lemon juice, green onions, celery, and the chopped parsley, mint and basil. Add the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and toss gently to mix.

To serve, transfer the salad to a large serving bowl and garnish with parsley, mint and basil sprigs.

Serves 6.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Seasonal Celebration Series,Summer, by Joanne Weir (Time-Life Books, 1997).

As for the cheesecake. Everybody liked it, but me. I don't know, but I am an extremely picky cheesecake fan. In my opinion the recipe I used had too much egg yolk. I felt like the cheesecake was eggy. So, I am not going to post it. But for my personal reference, it was the recipe from the Pillsbury Springtime recipe book. Maybe I will return to it and make some adjustments with the ingredients. I want it to be smoother and creamier too. Also, not quite enough punch of flavor. Was it the lack of sufficient sugar or maybe a punch of salt would have helped? I also ran out of lemon for this. See a theme here? So, note to self, make sure there is enough lemon before playing too much with the flavors. For this cheesecake I wanted to use a lemon curd topping garnished with strawberries, but again lack of lemons steered me into a strawberry direction. Considering all the lemons used in this meal, it was prob a good thing too. I love dishes that compliment each other, but that don't over exhaust a flavor.

For a strawberry sauce, all I do is cut up strawberries (or any other fresh fruit) and stick them in a sauce pan. Then I add a bunch of sugar (prob about a cup for 2-3 cups strawberries cut up) and maybe a TB of cornstarch. Then turn on the heat to medium low and start stirring till the strawberry juices leak and the cornstarch starts to thicken the sauce. I add a little water if it's thickening too much, but ideally I would have the ratio perfect to avoid reducing flavor. Still, it's good and is great for crepes, inside cakes, or on top of cheese cakes!

So, back to the cheesecake... I will still be on the hunt for a superb one! If you are in need of one and want to try the one I described, let me know. Again, all the boys raved about it, so maybe it's just me.

On a side note, I found this lemon curd recipe. I haven't tried making lemon curd, so I look forward to trying this one out. I am posting it, mostly for my own reference, so that I can try it out once I stock up better with limes/lemons. I am foreseeing a crepe morning!

Lemon Curd from fine cooking

3 oz unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

2/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. grated lemon zest

---

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer, about 2 min. Slowly add the eggs and yolks. Beat for 1 min. Mix in the lemon juice. The mixture will look curdled, but it will smooth out as it cooks.

In a medium, heavy-based saucepan, cook the mixture over low heat until it looks smooth. (The curdled appearance disappears as the butter in the mixture melts.) Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 15 minutes. It should leave a path on the back of a spoon and will read 170°F on a thermometer. Don't let the mixture boil.

Remove the curd from the heat; stir in the lemon zest. Transfer the curd to a bowl. Press plastic wrap on the surface of the lemon curd to keep a skin from forming and chill the curd in the refrigerator. The curd will thicken further as it cools. Covered tightly, it will keep in the refrigerator for a week and in the freezer for 2 months.

variations

For lime curd, substitute fresh lime juice and zest for lemon.

nutrition information (per serving):
Size : per Tbs.; Calories (kcal): 50; Fat (g): 3; Fat Calories (kcal): 25; Saturated Fat (g): 1.5; Protein (g): 1; Monounsaturated Fat (g): 1; Carbohydrates (g): 7; Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 0; Sodium (mg): 5; Cholesterol (mg): 30; Fiber (g): 0;

photo: Rita Maas

From Fine Cooking 26 , pp. 52-54

April 1, 1998