Quick Crab & Pasta Salad

I always have some canned lump meat crab in the pantry, and who doesn't have pasta? This is a quick and tasty salad... only 4 basic ingredients.

12 oz lump crab meat (2 cans)
1/2 lb small shell pasta (any pasta will do, even spaghetti)
12 medium sized black olives sliced
4-6 heaping tbsp mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

Pimento for garnish

Boil your pasta according to directions, strain and let cool. Combine all ingredients. Refrigerate. Serve. That it!

Rerun: Croquetas de Jamon - Ham Croquettes

I prepared another batch of croquetas today. 

Here they are ready to be fried.

I'm reposting the recipe from April, 2010. 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups ham (ground or finely chopped in a food processor)
• 1 small onion (finely chopped in a food processor)
• 2 cloves garlic (pressed or chopped in a food processor)
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 cup flour
• 2 cups milk, scalded
• salt and pepper to taste

For the breading:

• flour
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• very fine bread crumbs or cracker meal

vegetable oil for frying

In a large skillet melt the butter and whisk in the flour, gradually add the milk whisking until the mixture becomes a smooth paste. Add the remaining ingredients and continue cooking over low heat for a few minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat. Place the mixture into a bowl and let it cool throughly. Refrigerate. It's best to work with this mixture when it's completely cold. Okay, now to form the croquetas. First, you will need to sprinkle a light layer of all purpose flour onto a work surface. Line up to 2 shallow bowls. In the first one beat an egg (you can add a little water to it), and in the second, pour the fine bread crumbs. Scoop up 1 tablespoon of the ham mixture and roll it on the floured surface to form a cylinder about 2 inches long and 3/4 inches in diameter. Dip it in the beaten egg and then in the bread crumbs. Repeat this process over and over renewing the flour/egg/crumbs when necessary. At this point you can freeze those that you will not consume right away.

In a large heavy-bottomed skillet bring 1 to 2 inches or oil to medium high heat. Fry 5 or 6 croquettes at a time until golden on all sides, turning with a slotted spoon. Transfer them to a paper-towel lined platter. Keep in a warm oven until you have fried all that you desire.

Yields 30.

Another Empanada Dough

Here is another recipe for empanada dough.  I used leftover filling that I had frozen from my last batch. You can click here.

For this dough
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup flour tortilla mix or Masa Harina
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (melted)
3/4 cups water

Mix your dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour in your melted vegetable shortening and your water. Mix well. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour. Cut into a dozen wedges, form small balls. Dust a working surface with flour. Roll out your empanada dough. Put a tablespoon or so of your filling in the center, fold over and seal the edges. This dough can be either fried or baked. If baking add an egg wash and bake in the oven at 350 for 25 minutes. If frying, heat vegetable oil in a deep skillet, drop in the empanadas turning them until golden. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate.

This dough was tasty and turned out more "puffy" than other recipes I have used.

Mussels in Garlic Wine Sauce

Funny how the mind works. I was thinking of Jack LaLanne; my thought process led me to muscles and then as logic would have you (lol) to mussels! I've made this recipe before, but since I made it again this afternoon, I thought I'd post today's picture with the link for the recipe. Here it is.

Empanadas de Carne #2

Here I go again, trying another recipe for empanada dough. I searched the internet and finally decided that this recipe would afford me my next adventure, but as usual, I had to make small adjustments. Here are the ingredients I used for the dough... and by the way, the dough turned out really tasty and flaky.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1-2 tsp sugar
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp vegetable shortening
1/2 cup water
1 egg yolk

1 egg for wash

Mix your dry ingredients with the butter and shortening using a pastry cutter or two butter knives, until fairly well blended. Form a well. Whisk the egg yolk with the water, and drop into the center of your flour mixture. Use a fork to first blend it together and then your hands to knead it into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Separate your dough to form about a ten small balls. Sprinkle a work station with flour and roll out the individual balls into a circular shape about the thickness of pie crust. (I left my shape ragged because I was lazy and I knew how to fold them to make them look like they were round, but if you want to make them perfect you can use an empty coffee can to form the circle).  Pour about a tablespoon of your filling in the center and fold the dough over. Pinch and fold the edge together (there are many videos on how to do this, search "how to fold an empanada") or just use a fork to press the edges together. Place your empanadas on  a cookie sheet (I put parchment paper on the sheet) and brush the tops with an egg wash. Bake at 350F until golden brown. (about 25 minutes).*

*Please note that this dough recipe turned out great for baking, but I did not test it for frying, so I cannot give an opinion on what the results would be.

I made a simple meat filling for these:


1 1/4 lb ground beef, browned and drained
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tbsp cumin
1 tsp salt
olive oil
1 cup water

Coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil and Saute your onions, pepper and garlic. Add the browned ground beef, the water and spices and let simmer for about 15 minutes on low heat. Easy, huh?

Meatless Monday: Zucchini Bread

Now zucchini bread is something relatively new to me, it's not like Cubans have any recipe that calls for zucchini, much less in a bread or cake. A few years ago a neighbor of mine brought us one of these breads and I thought it was really good, so I'm giving it a try for the first time. (I searched on-line for recipes and they are all pretty much standard). Here we go....

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini (you can grate the whole zucchini, skin and all)
handful of raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F. One one bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon. In another large bowl beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and raisins. Pour batter into pans. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool.

Note: No problem in freezing these for later consumption.

Instant Replay: Yucca Chips

I repeated my recipe for black bean dip and yucca chips this weekend. The yucca I bought this time was much larger and I ended up with an abundance of chips.  Click here for the recipe.
(I made the dip with canned beans this time.)

Carne Asada: Cuban Pot Roast

2 lb beef roast
6 cloves garlic, pressed
3 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 carrots, cut in big chunks
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 bay leaf
dash of oregano
4 cups beef stock*
salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup Sherry

Rub salt on your roast. Mix the pressed garlic and lemon juice, and add to the roast. Marinate for at least half an hour.

Coat a large pot with your olive oil, heat to medium high and brown your meat on all sides. Add all remaining ingredients except for the Sherry. Lower heat to medium low and cover. Let the roast cook for about 2 1/2 hours or until tender.  Remove the meat from the sauce and let the sauce reduce 'til thickened. Stir in the 1/4 cup of Sherry.  Slice your roast and pour the sauce over it. Serve.

 *I prepared a stock with a package of Lipton Beef and Onion soup and a stalk of celery.

Yellow Rice with Vegetables

There are infinite variations of yellow rice. This time I had a package of frozen vegetables that had been sitting in the freezer for a while and were aching to be thawed. I'm no expert at making rice, which is embarrassing for a Cuban woman. This batch turned out well.

1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cups thawed mixed vegetables
5 cups water
2 cups long grain white rice
1/2 tsp Bijol (annato)
1/2 tsp paprika

salt
olive oil

In a large pot sautee your onions, garlic and pepper in olive oil. Add your mixed vegetables, add the water and the spices. Add your rice. Stir. Bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to low and cover your pot. In about 15 minutes check the rice, if the water has absorbed and the rice is hard add a little more water. Check for taste; I usually add more salt and olive oil at this point. Stir. Check back again in about 10 minutes. It should be done by then.

Cinnamon/Cranberry Bread Pudding

I'm sorry I've been so absent this week, but workwise, this is one of the busiest times of the year, so I 've stayed away from the kitchen. Last night I got up enough energy to make this bread pudding. I didn't go through the whole picture process as I have posted bread puddings before (click here), but for this one I used some re-hydrated craisins (leftover from Thanksgiving) instead of raisins. I'll be back with more recipes soon. In the meantime, here are some pictures of the snow that fell today.

 

Semi-Homemade Crackers

So on my last post I told you about everything defrosting in my Garage freezer, well among the defrostees was a package of flat bread.

I had originally bought the bread planning to make pinwheels for a small get-together that was cancelled at the last minute because of a snow storm, so I put the bread in the freezer figuring I'd make something with it sooner or later... I guess it's sooner.

The package came with 4 flat breads. I baked 2.  I layered a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

On one of them I brushed on some olive oil and sprinkled it with sea salt, pepper and fresh rosemary. The second, I brushed with olive oil and sprinkled it with parmesan cheese.  I scored them all with a knife and baked them (one at a time) at 350 F for about 8-10 minutes each. Really good!

Dates Wrapped in Bacon

I  usually make dates wrapped in bacon on New Year's Eve. For no particular reason this is the only time of the year that I prepare them. (I made an exception for the blog)

Years ago, late in December, I went to the local supermarket with my daughter (she was about 11) to shop for our New Year's Eve tradition.  The supermarket was packed with last minute shoppers. We could barely get our cart through the masses, and when we reached the produce department we couldn't spot the dates anywhere.  I glanced up and noticed a produce boy wearing his apron.  He must have been about 17 years old.  "Yoo  hoo, young man!"  I waved to get his attention.  "Can you help me? My daughter and I are looking for dates for New Year's and can't seem to find any."  The kid took off through the swinging back doors (to retrieve my dates I assumed), but alas, he was never to be seen again... at least not until we left! LOL

This is very simple to do, and almost silly of me to describe. All you need are dates (preferrably pitted), bacon strips and toothpicks.

If your dates are not pitted (as mine weren't) slice them down the middle and you will see that the seed can be removed very easily. Cut your bacon strip into three equal parts. Wrap your bacon strip around a single date and insert a toothpick. Repeat.  Pre-heat your oven to 350 F.  Place your dates on a rack (if you don't have one, don't worry, just place them on a baking pan) and roast for about 20-30 minutes, just keep your eye on them. You may have to turn on the broiler for the last 3-4 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

 

Oreo Truffles

I had never made this before, but it's really simple, only three ingredients: oreo cookies, cream cheese, and chocolate.

Okay, you know I can't eat this stuff, just looking at it makes me gain weight, so I'm going to make half the recipe. For about 16 truffles you will need:

21 oreo cookies (I actually counted)
4 oz cream cheese (half a package)
8 oz. chocolate morsels (more or less)

Put your Oreo cookies in a plastic bag and crumble them, you can bang them with a rolling pin, or if you wish, you can put them in a food processor. Small chunks are okay. Combine your crumbled cookies with the cream cheese, honestly, you'll have to use your hands to form a ball that sticks together. Place wax paper on a cookie sheet and take one tablespoon of the mixture into your hands and form a small ball. Place your truflles on the cookie sheet. Refrigerate them for one hour.

As for the chocolate, I had never melted chocolate for dipping before and I didn't do a very pretty job, but the instructions say to.... melt your chocolate over medium heat in a double boiler. When all the chocolate is melted turn the heat down to low. Use toothpick inserted into the truffles to dip them one by one into the chocolate. Place them back on the waxed paper and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

That's it, you can be creative with these and add sprinkles, or crumbled cookies, or whatever your heart fancies.

Meatless Monday: Sopa de Papas • Potato Soup

4 medium potatoes, diced
2 cups vegetable broth (I made my own, but canned is fine)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup sour cream
Salt
shredded cheddar cheese (optional

In a soup pot boil your potatoes in 2 cups of vegetable broth until tender but not mushy. In the meantime, sauté your onion, celery and garlic in butter. Add this to your soup pot, add the milk and sour cream and season with salt to taste. Stir. Bring to a gentle boil, cover and turn off the heat. Serve in soup bowls and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. (You can refrigerate leftovers but may have to add more broth if it thickens too much when reheating).

P.S. My husband, of course, wanted bacon bits. So if you're not doing the vegetarian thing, go right ahead and sprinkle some bacon bits on top with your cheddar cheese.