Goat Cheese and Kale Frittata

Frittata a fulfilling and delicious Italian version of a “tortilla espanola”, made with potatoes, cheese and some vegetables, with a round form cook over the stove and in the oven. It’s a great dish for a Christmas brunch, after the Christmas gifts opening.

Recipe:

1/4 C olive oil

2 big russet potatoes or yellow potatoes

1 small zucchini

1 small onion

3 big kale leaves

12 eggs

1 C heavy cream

1/2 C milk

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 C fresh goat cheese

s & p

Procedure:

Pre-heat oven at 350.F

Thinly slice the potatoes, onion and zucchini.  Cover the base and the sides of a non-stick pan safe for oven with the olive oil.  Cook the potatoes, onion and kale in this order, at medium heat.

 

Thinly slice the kale and add.

 

Beat the eggs and add the cream, milk, cream of chicken and 1/2 cup of cheese, reserve the other half for the topping.

Cook on the stove top at medium low, until is a little less watery.

 

At this point, cover and take to the pre heated oven for 15 minutes or less.

Invert into a serving dish, let it rest and serve, hot or cold.

Original recipe by Fabiola Garcia.  Hope you like it.  Enjoy!!

 

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Stuffed Acorn Squash

 

Delicious seasonal acorn squash, fill with ground chicken, pork sausage and vegetables. Looks like a lot of work, but is not. Just cook the chicken, sausage and vegetables, stuff the acorn squash, and bake at 350.F until soft.

Ingredients:

2  acorn squash

1# ground chicken or beef

1  pork sausage ground

1/2 zucchini small diced

1 small onion diced

1 T cranberries

1 T golden raisins

1 T sunflower kernels

salt and pepper to taste

1 T cooking oil

parsley

2 cups of chicken broth

 

Directions:

Place the oil in a skillet, cook the chicken, season with salt and pepper.

Ground the pork sausage, and add it to the chicken.

Add the rest of the ingredients, except the broth.

Cut the squashes in half, and season with salt, pepper, and parsley.

Stuff the squashes with the chicken mixture.

Place in a baking dish with chicken broth, cover with aluminum foil.

Bake at 350.F, until tender.

I`m pretty sure your family will love this dish, as my family did. Enjoy!!

 

 

Homemade Vanilla

Homemade Vanilla

 

For making homemade vanilla, all you need is great vanilla beans, and alcohol of your choice: vodka, brandy, rum or gin. Originally from Mexico, the Vanilla Planifolia beans have a reputation of being the best, only after the ones from Madgascar.  I received a small package of Mexican beans, and decided to do my own homemade vanilla extract.  They got a little dry after storing them in the cooler for a long time, but in the end the drier the better, because they have less water content.

My alcohol of choice was rum, and the one available was dragon berry and strawberry flavor.  The advantage of  making your own vanilla is that you end of with a good product, free of artificial flavors, colors and sugar.  The vanilla beans can be reused up to 3 times, when then you should add more alcohol and new vanilla beans.  It should be kept in a dry and dark area; resting time is from 8 weeks to a year, and is recommended that you shake it daily.

These are my 8 vanilla beans the first day, back in August 17, in the alcohol of choice: rum.

 

This is the normal appearance of the alcohol, the murky liquid is due to the vanilla seeds flecks.  At the end of the resting period, you can either leave them in the liquid or strain then with a paper coffee filter.

 

6 weeks

My recipe:

16 ounces dragon berry/strawberry flavor rum ( my alcohol of choice)

8 vanilla beans

1 jar with lid

Directions:

– Split open the beans

– Place the alcohol of choice in the jar

– Cut and submerge the vanilla beans in the liquid

– Cover and store in a dry and dark place for at least 8 weeks

– Shake it daily!!

This vanilla can be use for cooking, baking, and as a flavor rum for drinks. Enjoy!!

 

Thank you for following,

Fabiola Garcia

Coffee Flan w/ Cajeta Caramel

Coffee Flan with Cajeta Caramel

This flan is made like a custard, with plenty of eggs: 6 wholes ones and 8 yolks.  It has a rich coffee flavor, and you add the coffee raw like in “cafe de olla”, to the sweet milk mix.  I had made coffee flan before, but not this way, so I decided to give it a try.   The original recipe is from Chef Rick Bayless, “TV show about Mexican food”, Mexico, One Plate at a Time and yes, I`m a fan.

The real kick of this flan is the Cajeta Caramel, made out of Goat Milk Caramel spread.   The advantage of this spread is that you don`t have to cook it, like you have to do with sugar caramel. You just spread it in the baking dish,  add the flan mixture, and that`s it.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of cajeta spread (latino food isle in the supermarket)

3 cups of milk

2 cans of condensed milk

4 orange peel strip without the white part

1 1/2 cinnamon sticks

4 whole cloves

1/3 cup dark roast coffee

6 whole eggs

8 egg yolks

 

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, except eggs and yolks.  Simmer and stir ocasionally and don`t let it scorch.  Remove from heat strain, and let it rest for 5 minutes or so.  Whisk the eggs and yolks and strain again the hot milk/coffee mixture into the eggs, very slowly and mixing at the same time. You may need to strain the mixture more than one time, to eliminate the ground coffee dregs.

 

Cook in Bain Marie at 350 .F, for 45 minutes or so.  Let it rest before inverting it in a serving plate, serve with the Cajeta Caramel Sauce that form in the flan baking dish.  You can also add a scoop of vanilla ice cream…yum,yum,yum!!.

 These are my linkin Parties

Monday

Monday Funday

Monday Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop

Lou Lou Girls

Your Design This Time

Tuesday

The Southern Special

VMG206 Brag About It

Wednesday

Creative Sparks My Paper Craze Link Pty

The Ultimate Link Pty

Wake Up Wednesday Link Pty

Thursday

A Dash Of Sanity Eat. Create. Party

Think Thank Thursday

Fridays

Foodie Fridays

Friday Painted Furniture Miss Mustard Seed

Saturday

Two Succulent Sisters What to do on Weekends

Social Media Mixer Pty

Vintage, Paint and More Share It One More Time

Strut Your Stuff Saturday Six Sisters Stuff

Redoux Interiors

Sunday

Titi Crafty Bewitchin Projects Block Pty

Thank you for following and for your comments;

Fabiola Garcia

Jicama, Mango and Red Onion Salad

Jicama, Mango and Red Onion Salad

A delicious and simple salad with only a few ingredients  Jicama, Mango and Red Onion.  Better tasting if made a day ahead, and using a very fresh and crunchy Jicama, and almost green/hard mangoes.

If you haven`t tried a jicama yet, I will say it is a hybrid between a raw potato and a chayote or a guinea arrowroot (lerenes).  It has no specific flavor at all, and can be easily use in any dish cooked or raw, like in this salad.

This is how a jicama looks like, and you can find it in all Latinos markets at a very low price.

Ingredients:

For the Jicama, Mango and Red Onions Salad:

1 big  jicama

1 big hard mango

1 big red onion

For the Salad Dressing:

1/4 c orange juice

1/4 c lime juice

1/4 c olive oil

1 t dijon mustard

salt and  pepper to taste

Directions:

Thinly slice or use a  Mandoline slicer, to cut the 3 mayor ingredients, the jicama, mango and onion.  Mix the dressing and add.

Let it rest in the cooler before serving,  preferably one day ahead.  Use as a side dish, or alone. Tangy, sweet and sour delicious salad, that everyone will love.

Thanks for reading!!

Fabiola Garcia

 

 

Cranberries and Nuts Bread

Cranberries and Nuts Bread for Diabetics

Well my friends with Diabetes, this is a bread that we can all eat in moderation and without the guilt.  This bread is specially made for diabetics,  low in sugar and rich in dry fruits and nuts.

I used this recipe here as a guide and changed some of it.  The original recipe calls for resting the bread wrapped in plastic or aluminum, one day before cutting and eating, but did not specify why that`s needed. Well I made two breads the same day, and cut only one.  I truly believe the reason for this is to make the bread moist, otherwise it will be a bit dry, if you cut it the same day of baking.

I made the same recipe twice, but substituted the 1 cup of regular flour with 1/2 cup of whole wheat and 1/2 cup of flour. The final ratio was 12 ounce of whole wheat flour and 4 ounce of regular flour.  I also added green pumpkin seeds and old-fashioned oats at the top for garnish before baking.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C of whole wheat

1/2 C of ap flour

1/4 sugar

1 T baking powder

2 t orange grated rind

1 C orange juice

2 t vegetables oil

1 egg

1 C canberries

1/3 C raisins

1/3 walnuts or any combination of nuts like pecans, sliced almonds, brazilian nuts, pepitas or sunflower seeds
Swift and combine dry ingredients, and the orange rind.  Add the rest of the ingredients by hand and bake in a greased loaf pan for 45 to 50 minutes.  Cool in loaf pan and store in a plastic bag or aluminum sheet, before slicing at least one day.  The more you let it rest, the moister it will be.

 

Hope you like it!!

Thank you for reading;

Fabiola Garcia

Roasted Vegetables Salsa

With Summer almost over, and with Fall around the corner, we still have a lot of fresh vegetables available. I had  a lot of tomatoes  from a previous trip to the grocery store.  Every time I go to the supermarket, I buy what I don`t have to buy, does that happen to you, too?, I ended up buying more tomatoes because of the special price of .79 cents a pound.

 

Add salt, black pepper, and olive oil to the cut vegetables before roasting.

I got the inspiration for making  the Roasted Vegetables Salsa, after participating in the linking party South of the BorderRecipes at #Foodie Fridays#12, were you can also find the inspiration recipe.

 

Ingredients:

4# tomatoes

1 ea green, yellow, and orange peppers

3 big onions

6 garlic cloves

1/2 bunch cilantro

1/3 C of lime juice

1 T chili powder

1 T chili flakes

1 t cumin powder

salt & pepper to taste

olive oil for coating the vegetables

 

Directions:

– clean and cut all the vegetables

– coat with salt, black pepper and olive oil

– place the vegetables in a sheet pan, roast for 45 minutes (this may vary according to your oven)

– remove from oven and place  the roasted vegetables and all the seasonings in the food processor

– process and place the salsa in a pot and cook in the stove for 10 minutes

– let it cool before serving

– serve  with chips

This recipe gave me a yield of 3 1/2  (12) ounce jars, we use one, and the rest was placed  in the freezer for future use.

Thanks, Fabiola

 

Huli Huli Chicken

Huli Huli Chicken a staple dish in Hawaii.  Usually made on the grill, is a combination of sweet and savory flavors.  Huli huli means turn, turn.  And that is what you need to do every 10 minutes.  While baking or grilling the chicken, baste and turn or baste and huli huli.  The final outcome will be a very, very tender and delicious chicken.

 

You need to marinate the chicken overnight or at least 4 hours before cooking. The brown color is from the sugar in the marinade. I reserved a portion of the marinade, to baste the chicken while baking.

 

 

While looking for the ingredients in a huli huli recipe, I made the one from Mama Smith with some changes. You can  find her recipe here.  

Ingredients for Huli Huli Chicken:

1 whole chicken cut

1 C no sugar added pineapple juice

1/4 C heavy soy sauce or 1/2 C regular soy sauce

1/2 C brown sugar

1/3 C ketchup

1/4 C red wine

1 T grated ginger

4 garlic cloves

1 small dice onion

1/4 t dry mustard

1 T salt

1 T black pepper

1 T chili flakes

Procedure:

For the marinade, mix all the ingredients in a 1 gallon plastic bag. Reserve 1 cup of the marinade for basting.

Add the chicken and shake the bag to coat the chicken.

Refrigerate in the bag for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Next day or 4 hours later:

Heat oven to 375.F

Remove and drain chicken from the bag, and arrange in a sheet pan

Bake chicken for 30 to 45 minutes, basting with the reserved marinade and turn every 10 minutes.

Check for internal temp of 165.F

I served mine over brown rice.

Irish Soda Bread

A traditional bread of  Ireland, made with the most basic of ingredients that we all have in our kitchens.  Irish Soda bread is a delicious and an inexpensive to do at home bread.

 

Ingredients:

4 C sifted flour

4 T sugar

1 t baking soda

1 and 1/2 t of salt

4 T unsalted butter cold cut in small pieces

1 and 3/4 C of buttermilk  (if you don`t have buttermilk, make your own by mixing milk with lemon juice or vinegar)

1 egg

1 t orange or lime zest

1 C raisins (dust then with flour before adding)

Procedure:

Preheat oven at 375.F.  Mix all the dry ingredients, and add the pieces of butter.  Whip the egg and mix with the liquid ingredients, then add to the flour mix.  Mix until all the ingredients are together, don`t over mix.  Transfer the dough onto the floured counter, knead and form a ball.  Place in a grease baking pan, cut an x or a cross in the top of the dough and bake for 45 minutes or after the tester comes out clean.

 

If you buy from a baker or any supermarket that bakes artisan breads, a loaf  of  Irish  Soda Bread, would cost you over $4.00 per loaf.  You can cut the price in half by doing it yourself.  It`s very easy to make, just mix, bake, and eat.

 

 

Serve hot, with butter, real butter.  Enjoy!!

Fabiola

Happy September

 

Avocado Limber

Avocado Limber

For this great hot weather, nothing better than a frozen treat. Limber is the common name in Puerto Rico for a frozen treat, made out of fruits juice or milk.  Similar to snow cones, ice pops or paletas.  Being avocado a fruit with a sweet note, mix with pineapple to enhance the flavors is perfect for this frozen treat.

Ingredients: 2 ripe avocados, 20 oz. can pineapple, 3/4 c orange juice, 1/4 c lime and lemon juice ea., 1/2 cup pure honey, pinch of sea salt

Mix all the ingredients in the blender, put in a 3 oz container and place in the freezer for at least 2 hours

When serving, turn upside down and you would have a Limber, ready to lick, and eat. Enjoy!!