Chicken Pot Pie

I've never made chicken pot pie before, but with the temperatures dropping below freezing for the past few of nights, I decided it would be nice to turn on the oven and have a hearty, hot meal for dinner. I never really realized how simple to is to make. There are many variations, from complicated to super easy. I chose a recipe in between, and Cubanized it of course by adding garlic and bell peppers!

For the crust (you can subtitute with store-bougth pie crust)

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  (optional)

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.


For the filling:

2 chicken breasts
3/4 cup chopped onions
1/2 cups peas
1 large carrot sliced
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 cup chicken stock (you can use bouillon)
2 cloves garlice
1/2 green bell pepper diced
olive oil or butter to saute onions

I boiled my chicken breasts in water with 1 large cube of chicken bouillon for about 15 minutes. (You can use roasted chicken or leftover chicken as well.) Remove the breasts of the water and cut into chunks, set aside. Reserve the broth.
In a skillet warm olive oil or butter to saute your onions, peppers and garlic. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cups of the broth to the onions, add your fresh carrots, and frozen peas cover and let your carrots simmer for about 5 minutes, add the cream of chicken soup. (I added the peas with the carrots since they were frozen. If you are using canned peas, rinse them out of the can and add with canned soup). Mix in the chicken and set aside to cool.

Lightly flour a clean working surface. Separate your dough in two parts (I made 4  mini pot pies, so I separated my dough into 8 parts).  Roll out one part for the bottom crust and place into your pie pan.  Add the filling, place the second rolled crust on top. Use a fork to seal the edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape. You can brush the top with an egg wash (optional). Place your pie pan atop a larger baking pan in case of spillage. Bake in a pre-heated 375F oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.


Please note, you can basically use any vegetables you prefer. This is also a great idea for leftover turkey.

Salmon Marinated in Oriental Sauce

I was looking for a different way to prepare salmon fillets and I came across this recipe on
all recipes.com

The recipe calls for cooking the fish on a grill, but I cooked it in a pan.

This is how I prepared it.
12 oz salmon
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1/8 cup oil (I used olive oil, but you can use vegetable oil)
2 garlic gloves minced
salt and pepper to taste

To prepare the marinade stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and oil in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved. Pour over fish and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Lightly oil your pan. Bring heat to medium high. Place salmon in the pan along with the marinade. Cook salmon for 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. The marinade will reduce and glaze your salmon.

Although I made a rice packet as a side, I just had too fry up some plantians. :)

Crock Pot Beef Roast

When it comes to home cooking there is no recipe that needs to be followed exactly (unless you're baking).  I use what's at hand, and most of the time I eyeball the measurements.  Today I am making a beef roast in the crock pot.  Being a Cuban married to an American, it is only natural that I have also married the ingredients.  For a Cuban recipe I would have chopped onions; I substituted Lipton's onion soup mix, and I would have used tomato paste; I used bbq sauce.


3 lb round roast
1 pkg Lipton's beefy onion soup mix
1 cup water
6-8 cloves garlic, pressed
1 cup wine (I only had white, but dry sherry or red would be fine)
2 tsp bbq sauce
1 bay leaf

salt to taste

Set your crock pot to high if you're home, or to low if you're leaving it to cook all day. Toss all your ingredients in, cover and walk away.

I went back and added two potatoes, carrots and olives in final two hours of cooking. These could have been added from the start, but my potatoes were already boiled from the previous day and I din't want them falling apart. Like I said, whatever is at hand.

Warm Swiss Chard

This is self explanatory. Swiss Chard, Garlic, Olive Oil, Vinegar, Salt and Pepper. The Swiss Chard is rolled to cut into ribbons. Warm the garlic in the olive oil, add the Swiss Chard, add the vinegar to taste.

Cake Balls

I saw a recipe for this when I was clipping grocery coupons. Here is the link to the Betty Crocker website and the full recipe.
Now I must admit I'm not very good at the decorating part of it, and I still haven't perfected the way to dip these in chocolate. I suppose putting a lollipop stick in them is the way to go!

1 box cake mix, any flavor (I used classic yellow)
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box

1 container  frosting

36 oz vanilla or chocolate-flavored candy coating

Bake cake as directed on box. Pour your frosting into a large bowl. Crumble warm cake into frosting.

Mix together with a fork until well blended. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or firm enough to shape. (I left it in overnight).

Use a tablespoon worth of mixture and shape into a ball. Repeat. Freeze for 30 minutes.

Line another cookie sheet with foil. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave 12 oz candy coating uncovered on High 1 minute 30 seconds; stir. Continue microwaving and stirring in 15-second intervals until melted and smooth. Remove one-third of the balls from the freezer. Using 2 forks, dip and roll each ball in coating. Place on foil-covered cookie sheet. Decorate as desired. Refrigerate cake balls about 10 minutes or until coating is set. Melt remaining candy coating in 12-oz batches; dip remaining balls. Serve at room temperature. Store in airtight container.

Eggroll Wrap Empanadas

My daughter gave me the idea for this. Either out of a lack of time, or just plain laziness, we've avoided making empanadas because of the work involved in preparing the flour wrap. Using store-bought egg-roll wraps makes this recipe very simple and the crispiness of the fried wraps bring an extra fun and tasty texture to the empanadas.

Start with a simple meat filling.
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 large onion finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper finely chopped
2 to 4 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1 cup water
12 pimento stuffed green olives, sliced (optional)
olive oil

Brown your ground beef and strain.  Set aside. Coat your pan with olive oil and saute the onions, peppers and garlic. Add the beef, the water, the spices and the olives. Simmer, stirring occasionally until everthing is well blended and most of the water has evaporated. Taste and adjust your salt. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

For the wrap
1 pkg egg roll wrap
Vegetable oil for frying

Place on sheet of the wrap on a flat surface. Place about two tablespoons of your filling in the center. Wet the edges of the wrap with your finger. Fold the wrap over on the diagonal and press to seal. You can fold your wrap rectangular if you prefer. Continue this process for as many empanadas as you wish to make.

Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a frying pan, and drop your empanadas in one at a time (depending on the size of your frying pan you may only be able to fit two or three at a time). Adjust your temperature so that it doesn't brown too quickly. Turn them to brown on both sides. Place on a paper towel lined plate.

Hint: You can sprinkle cheese atop the filling before folding and sealing the wrap.

Here we go again! Cuban Pork Roast

I went to my local supermarket to buy a pork shoulder, and there weren't any. I asked the butcher. "Do you have pork shoulders?" "All our pork shoulders are hams," he answered.

Pork butts it is! They are marinating to go into the oven on Saturday morning.

For these 2 pork butts I used:

1 head of  garlic pressed
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled and sliced in half
the juice of 4 oranges
the juice of 4 limes

approximately
2-3 tbsp salt
1-2 tbsp rosemary (chopped or pressed)
1 tbsp oregano
pepper


Please click here to see cooking instructions and helpful comments from a previous post and check back on Saturday to see how these turned out.

Dulce de Leche • Caramel Sauce

I've never made dulce de leche, but I like it in certain desserts, and since it's that time of the season for all things sweet, I thought.... what the heck! So, I googled it and came across this recipe. 

It's really quite simple to make, but you do need about half an hour to forty-five minutes of uninterrupted time to stir the sauce.

• 1 (14 ounce) can of condensed milk
• 1 (12 ounce) can of evaporated milk (I used regular milk)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Generous pinch of salt (optional)
• Cinnamon sticks (optional)
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Place the evaporated milk and the condensed milk in your heaviest pot. Add the cinnamon sticks, baking soda and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or heat-proof spatula so that the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.
Adjust the temperature so that the mixture stays just barely at a simmer.

The mixture will begin to thicken and darken in color. The foamy bubbles on the surface will disappear. Keep stirring! Continue to stir until the mixture is making large bubbles, is very thick, and is a golden caramel color. It's very important to stir constantly at this point to prevent burning.

You can also check for doneness by dragging the spoon along the bottom of the pot. You should be able to see the bottom of the pot for a few seconds before the mixture closes in on itself and covers the bottom again.

Remove cinnamon sticks. Remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla and the corn syrup. Let cool completely.

Art-by-MSR: Flan de Calabaza (Pumpkin Flan)

Please check out this great Cuban Pumpkin Flan recipe by artist friend and fellow Cuban, Maria Soto Robbins.

Photo courtesy of Art-by-MSR

Art-by-MSR: Flan de Calabaza (Pumpkin Flan)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Guest blogger today: my daughter, Frances. I love it when someone else does the baking!

 

Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 egg
3/4 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Place sugars, butter, eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Turn to medium-low speed and mix about 30 seconds. Your mixture should be mostly combined at this point. Stop and scrape bowl. Turn to medium speed and beat for about 30 more seconds. Stop and scrape bowl.

Turn to the lowest speed and gradually add in your flour, salt and baking soda into the bowl. Mix for about 2 minutes. Turn to medium-low speed and mix about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape the bowl. Add your chocolate chips. Turn to lowest speed and mix for about 15 seconds.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 degrees (I did this at 350) for 10-12 minutes (mine took exactly 12 minutes). Remove from baking sheets immediately and cool on wire racks.

Should make 27 teaspoon sized cookies or 20 tablespoon sized cookies.

Enjoy!

Butterflied Cuban Turkey

 Done! I preheated the oven to 350F and placed the turkey in the center rack covered with aluminum foil. It was done in about 3 hours at which time I removed the foil and let it brown for about 30 minutes. Below is post from Monday.


So I've defrosted my turkey. Last year I made two turkeys: one butterflied with herbs, and one whole with Cuban mojo (marinade). Turns out everyone liked the butterflied one but the mojo of the Cuban one. So this year I'm making a butterflied Cuban turkey.

To butterfly a turkey you need to remove the back. This I achieved with great care and a bit of frustration. You need to cut along either side of the thick bony back where the thinner ribs connect. I will post a picture. Don't freak out.... LOL

Then you turn your turkey breast side up and press down with the heal of your hand to break the breast bone. This was not easy. Although I used my "man-hand," I didn't get it as flat as I had wished.

My advice, if you want a butterflied turkey, buy a fresh one and have your butcher do it for you.

Save the backbone along with the neck and gizzards for stock.

Now, for the mojo.  This is a 12 lb turkey. I used:

2 heads of garlic, pressed
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 cup orange juice
1 cup lime juice

Pretty simple.  (Note: you don't need to do this so far in advance, 24 hours is sufficient.)

I'll be roasting this on Thanksgiving. I will preheat the oven to 350. I will cover the turkey with aluminum foil and cook for several hours. The butterflied turkey requires a bit less time

Click here for useful information on oven baking times for roasting a turkey.

Stuffing Balls Wrapped in Bacon

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since my family doesn't reallyl care for stuffing (I end up being the only one who eats it). I decided to try to make it more appealing. I was thinking appetizer... so here it is stuffing balls wrapped in bacon.

Prepare your stuffing according to package directions: basically adding sauteed onions with celery and broth. Let cool. Cut your bacon slices in half. Make a tablespoon size ball with the stuffing, wrap the bacon around and secure with a toothpick. You can make them on the stove top in a skillet or in the oven. I haven't put mine into the oven yet, waiting for the turkey to cook, but I went ahead and made a couple on the stove top to taste them and blog them for you to see.

Cheesecake

This is an easy post because I copied the recipe from the Philadelphia Cream Cheese site. I'm reposting it here.

For the crust

1-1/2 cups HONEY MAID Graham Cracker Crumbs

3 Tbsp. sugar

1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

 

For the Cheesecake

 

4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs

Directions

1. Heat oven to 325°F.
2. Mix graham crumbs, 3 Tbsp. sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
3. Beat cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.
4. Bake 55 min. or until center is almost set. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours.

 Turns out this makes enough for 2 pies. I only had one pie pan, so the rest I made as cupcakes. I used a Keebler Ready Crust for the pie, and crushed oreos for the cupcakes.

Glazed Pork Steaks in Wine Sauce

These pork steaks turned very juicy and tender, oh and tasty too!


4 pork steaks
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 cups sherry
1 cup beef stock (or 1 cup water and one beef bullion cube)
1 bay leaf
dash of paprika (optional)
olive oil
salt and pepper

Heata heavy pot/pan coated with olive oil. Add your crushed garlic, let the garlic cook for a minute or so and add your pork steaks. Let them brown a bit and add all other ingredients. Cover and let simmer for an hour or more. Check for tenderness, adjust seasoning. Remove lid and increase heat if necessary until the liquid reduces.