Buttercrunch Toffee

I scream, you scream, we all scream for…..toffee?

Mmmmm toooffeeee!  *in best Homer Simpson impersonation*

The idea to make toffee came to me while I was watching tv.  Have you seen that commercial for LegalZoom.com, where a lady says her mom made the best toffee and she decided to incorporate a toffee company?  See you can find inspiration anywhere even in a commercial on making your own legal documents online….weird.

As I sat there watching the commercial I suddenly was overcome with this incredible desire for toffee.  I hadn’t had toffee for years and I could have just run out to the store and picked up a Heath bar, but what fun would that be?   Besides I always thought that Heath Bars get a little too close to chipping a tooth.  I instead jumped on the Super Information Highway (How 90’s is that?) and found myself a good toffee recipe, on JoyofBaking.com.

Mmmm crunchy, buttery, nutty toffee a great treat that must be had by all!

First toast some nuts, because nuts should be toasted.  I am told frequently that I am a toasted nut.

Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees, spread plain raw almonds on a baking sheet and bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until golden and fragrant, set aside to cool.

Once the almonds have cooled , place them into a food processor and pulse until the almonds are finely chopped.

In an 8 x 10 buttered pan or baking sheet, sprinkle half of the chopped almonds and set the pan aside.

In a heavy pot combine the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and water.  Clip candy thermometer on the side of the pot making sure it does not touch the bottom of the pot.

Bring the sugar mixture to a boil and cook, stirring as little as possible with a wooden spoon.

Keep and eye on the thermometer and cook until the mixture reaches 285 degrees F (140 degrees C).  We still have a little bit to go.

Make sure you have the baking soda and vanilla on hand to stir in as soon as the mixture reaches 285 degrees.

When the sugar mixture reaches 285 degrees remove from heat and add the baking soda and vanilla.  It will bubble up a bit and become foamy.

Immediately pour evenly into prepared pan with chopped almonds.

Sprinkle chopped chocolate over hot toffee and wait a few minutes until it begins to melt.  Because chocolate melts on your toffee not in your hands.

Using and off-set spatula spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee.

Spreading chocolate is all about spreading the love…..the love of chocolate….everyone loves chocolate….except Obed…..he’s weird.

Sprinkle remaining chopped almonds over melted chocolate and let the toffee completely cool.  Then refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow it to completely set.

When ready you can use a sharp knife to to cut it into desired shaped or just break it using your hands.  I personally like to stay away from any uniformity and just break it into random pieces, because that is how I roll.  I am all about randomness and breaking stuff.

The toffee was everything I could have asked for, it was buttery, had the perfect crunch without the risk of chipping a tooth, a hint of chocolate and the almonds just round it all out with their toasted nuttiness.  It literally tasted like a gourmet candy bar, soooo good!

I eventually had to get it out of the house and send it to Obed’s office because every time I walked by it I would eat a piece.  It was like I was superwoman and the toffee was my kryptonite.

Print Recipe

Buttercrunch Toffee (Joy of Baking)

• 2 cups (170 grams) sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
• 1 1/4 cups (270 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 6 ounces (170 grams) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Place almonds on a baking sheet and bake them for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown and fragrant. Set aside to cool.

Once the almonds have cooled, place in a food processor, fitted with a metal blade, and pulse the almonds until they are finely chopped. Sprinkle half of the nuts in an 8 inch by 10 inch buttered or oiled baking sheet. Set aside.

In a medium-sized, heavy saucepan combine the brown sugar, water, butter, and corn syrup. Have the baking soda and vanilla extract ready. Bring the sugar mixture to a boil and cook, stirring as little as possible with a wooden spoon, until the mixture reaches 285 degrees F (140 degrees C). Immediately remove the saucepan from the heat as the temperature will continue to rise to 290 degrees F (145 degrees C). Add the baking soda and vanilla extract and stir to combine.

Immediately pour this mixture evenly over the nuts on your baking sheet. Then place the chopped chocolate over the hot toffee. After a few minutes the chocolate will be soft enough to spread with an offset spatula in an even layer over the toffee. Sprinkle the remaining chopped almonds over the melted chocolate.

Cool completely, refrigerate for 30 minutes and then cut into desired shapes using a sharp knife or break into pieces using hands.

You can store the toffee, in an airtight container at room temperature, for about 7-10 days.

Chillo en Escabeche (Red Snapper in Escabeche Sauce)

When I was in my first year of college in Puerto Rico, I was usually done with classes by noon.  After English Lit my friends and I would sometimes pile up into our cars and head out to the beach in Luquillo.

We would first make a stop at the kiosks that lined the street in front of the beach for lunch.  They have a huge variety of fresh food, deep fried goodies and fresh fish at prices that were friendly enough for the college poor.  One of the things I loved and still to this day was anything in escabeche sauce.

Escabeche sauce is almost like a pickling sauce and has a great sweet/vinegary taste to it.  It is more on the oily side then the vinegar side, but I am confident you will love it.  The great thing is that if your not a fan of fish, no problem you can still enjoy this sauce.  This sauce is for marinating seafood as a main dish or yucca and green bananas as a side dish. They all turn out equally delicious.  I love, love, love escabeche.

Combine all the ingredients for escabeche sauce in a large pot and bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove from stove and allow to cool completely.

Rinse snapper and give it a pat on the back with a paper towel.  Huh?  Pat it dry with a paper towel.

Score the fish using a serrated knife.  Season on both sides with adobo and lemon juice.

Meanwhile back at the stove…..

Heat skillet with vegetable oil and fry garlic until golden brown, remove garlic.

Dredge snapper in corn starch evenly on both sides and dust of excess.

Fry the fish…that’s pretty simple.

Fry it on both sides until a crispy golden brown.

Pour half of the sauce into a deep dish, place fish on sauce and pour remaining sauce over it.

Let cool and marinate in refrigerator for 24 hours.  Remove from fridge and allow to come to almost room temperature, serve with rice or boiled roots like yucca, salted and drizzled with olive oil .

The bonus is that this is a great plan ahead meal.  Make it before a busy day and all you have to do is pull it out of the fridge and it is ready for dinner.

Print Recipe

Chillo en Escabeche (Red Snapper en Escabeche)

Escabeche Sauce:

• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 6 o 7 grains pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 3/4 lbs. onions sliced
• 1/4 cup pimientos or diced red pepper
• 1/2 cup pimento stuffed olives

Fish and frying ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs. red snapper (about 4 fillets)
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp Goya Adobo with pepper
• corn starch
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp minced garlic

Combine the ingredients for the escabeche sauce. Simmer 45 minutes. Let chill.

Clean the fish and sprinkle with salt and lemon. Dredge fish with corn starch. Heat a pan with oil and fry garlic until golden brown, remove garlic and fry fish until brown/gold on both sides.

Pour the escabeche sauce into a deep glass dish and place fish slices over sauce. Cover with more sauce. Follow the same instructions with all the slices.

Let cool, refrigerate 24 hours.  Serve cold.

*Be sure to use a glass dish and not metal or plastic as the vinegar may react with metal or plastic.

Ensalada de Camarones (Shrimp Salad)

Ahahahahahaha!  Today when I woke up my buns where burning and I am not talking about some baked good I put in the oven, I am talking about my own personal buns.  No, it’s not because I sat in a batch of hot jamaican peppers it’s because I did a new class yesterday at the gym and it kicked my butt.  I felt the burnnnnnn.

It was an awesome class and one of the instructors was a trip.    He was from Texas, loud, buff, about 50 years old, in blue and white spandex and with a personality that would barely fit inside the state of Texas.  He had me laughing, while at the same time turning my legs into jello with every squat.

I was beat after that workout and I needed to get dinner together quick.  This is one of those I am tired and don’t feel like making an effort, toss together, and get dinner on the table quick meal.  The bonus is that Obed loves this and so he is happy and I have saved myself time and energy. The only problem about this dish is because it is a “throw it together” meal I have never paid full attention to my measurements when making it, so some of this will be a guesstimation.

In a hot skillet drizzle about 2 Tbs of olive oil and drop in 4 tbs (cubes) of sofrito.

While the sofrito breaks down, thinly slice 1/2 a large onion.

Add an additional 2 Tbs of olive oil, 1 Tbs of white vinegar and onions to the hot skillet cook at a medium-high heat until they begin to become translucent, about 5 minutes.

Once the onions begin to soften, but not too much because you still want a crunch, add the 1/2 bag of medium shrimp, about 30 shrimp.

Cook shrimp and onions together until shrimp turns pink and curls.  Once the shrimp is cooked through set aside in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl whisk together 1/2 cup of oil and 1/4 cup of white vinegar and set aside.

Dice a large tomato, two hard boiled eggs and cube an avocado.

To cube the avocado cut the avocado lengthwise around the seed. Open the two halves to expose the pit.  To remove the pit gently tap the pit with a knife with enough force so that the knife edge wedges into the pit, then twist your knife and the pit will pop out.  If you need tap it again but be careful not to miss and loose a finger.  Then using a small knife cut the flesh into a cube grid and use a spoon to scoop out the pieces.  For a more detailed tutorial check out this post by Simply Recipes.

Add diced egg, avocado and tomatoes to shrimp mixture and drizzle desired amount of dressing over top.

Toss everything together and add salt and pepper to taste.  You can serve it immediately or refrigerate and allow to marinate.

I have served this salad with white rice, boiled roots like yucca or on a chopped bed of spinach.    It is full of flavor and super easy and when the temperature finally decides to rise this will be a great dish to toss together.

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Ensalada de Camarones (Shrimp Salad)

• 4 Tbs of sofrito
• 3 Tbs olive oil, divided
• 1 Tbs white vinegar
• 1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
• 30 medium shrimp
• 1 avocado, cubed
• 2 eggs, hard boiled and diced
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

In a hot skillet drizzle about 2 Tbs of olive oil and drop in 4 tbs (cubes) of sofrito.

While the sofrito breaks down, thinly slice 1/2 a large onion.

Add an additional 2 Tbs of olive oil, 1 Tbs of white vinegar and onions to the hot skillet cook at a medium-high heat until they begin to become translucent, about 5 minutes.

Once the onions begin to soften, but not too much because you still want a crunch, add the 1/2 bag of medium shrimp, about 30 shrimp.

Cook shrimp and onions together until shrimp turns pink and curls. Once the shrimp is cooked through set aside in a large bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together 1/2 cup of oil and 1/4 cup of white vinegar and set aside.

Dice a large tomato, two hard boiled eggs and cube an avocado.

To cube the avocado cut the avocado lengthwise around the seed. Open the two halves to expose the pit. To remove the pit gently tap the pit with a knife with enough force so that the knife edge wedges into the pit, then twist your knife and the pit will pop out. If you need tap it again but be careful not to miss and loose a finger. Then using a small knife cut the flesh into a cube grid and use a spoon to scoop out the pieces.

Add dice egg, avocado and tomatoes to shrimp mixture and drizzle desired amount of dressing over top.  Toss everything together and add salt and pepper to taste.

You can serve it immediately or refrigerate and allow to marinate. I have served this salad with white rice, boiled roots like yucca or on a chopped bed of spinach.

Cardamom Vanilla Pound Cake

Sometimes when I write one of these post I have to reach really far back into the dark scary corners of my brain and try to come up with something brilliant to write about and there are many times that I come up empty.  Is this something I should be concerned about?

I have a widget on my desktop that updates with the newest or most popular recipes.  When this Cardamom Vanilla Pound Cake popped up I was thrilled.  I recently discovered the wonderful flavor that cardamom can give a cake when I made a pistachio cake with cardamom.  I never got around to posting it because it was the same day that my camera died and a multitude of things went wrong.   It was a comedic and traumatizing day.

This cake fills your kitchen with the wonderful aroma of vanilla bean and cardamom, it’s a heavenly sent!  It will make you want to dance and sing.  Which with no shame I admit I totally did.

I sang a little tune…ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, and did a little twirl.  Then I opened up the widows and animated forest animals roamed into my kitchen.   Ok I made up the last part.

I only had one vanilla bean in my cupboard so I had to add a little vanilla extract into the batter. It’s all about improvising isn’t it?  Cardamom is used in Indian cooking and baking and comes in pods but can be easily found ground at your local grocery store.  Cardamom is a very unique spice that has a distinct aromatic flavor, it almost has a cool minty quality too it too. You don’t need a lot of cardamom.  This whole cake only calls for 1 tsp of ground cardamom and it hits the spot.  Trust me you are going to love it!

In the comments section of the recipe several people mentioned cutting back on the butter, but I don’t believe on cutting back when it comes to butter.  I made mine with the full amount of butter that the cake called for and it was perfect in my opinion. Besides it’s pound cake, who cuts back on butter when it comes to pound cake?

Isn’t that one of the commandments? Thou shalt not cut back on butter when thou make pound cake?

I am sure it is, I think I remember Pastor doing a sermon on it….or maybe I was just hungry during that service.  I am usually starving my the middle of the service.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 vanilla beans, halved lengthwise
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups chilled heavy cream
• 2 1/2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Generously butter pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Whisk together flour, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat together butter and granulated sugar in mixer at medium speed, scraping side of bowl occasionally, until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape seeds from vanilla beans with tip of a paring knife into butter mixture, reserving pods for another use, and beat until combined well, about 1 minute. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in lemon juice until combined well. At low speed, add flour mixture and milk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top. Gently rap pan on counter to eliminate air bubbles.

Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool in pan 1 hour, then invert onto a rack and cool completely, about 1 hour more.

Beat cream with confectioners sugar and vanilla extract using whisk attachment of mixer until it just holds stiff peaks. Serve cake with whipped vanilla cream.

Pioneer Woman’s Pizza Crust

There is a battle going down in this house over pizza and the “appropriate” toppings.  I like bianca pizzas with veggies, stinky cheeses, onions and ham, the spousal figure insist that pizza must be slathered in sauce and cheese and covered with and obscene array of meats, no vegetables are to make an appearance on his pizza.  Lets just say that we don’t see eye to eye when it comes to pizza.

This pizza was an attempt to come to a happy medium but he still picked the tomatoes off the pizza. *sigh*  However we both agreed that this was a fan-tabulos crust.

Another bonus about this recipe is that it makes two pizza crust so you can make one and freeze the other one for later.  This way you always have homemade pizza dough on hand.  You will almost never have to buy store bought pizza dough again and after trying this dough you probably never will.

Let’s a make-a pizza!

FYI, no fancy tossing of dough occurred during the making of this pizza.  It would have just ended up on the floor or on my head.

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.

In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with dough hook attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour.

Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until forms into a ball.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, toss to coat dough in olive oil, ten cover the bowl with a moist kitchen towel and set in warm place to rise 1 to 2 hours.

After dough has risen, divide in half. When ready to use dough preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Lightly drizzle olive oil on pizza pan or rimmed baking sheet.

Using your hands stretch the dough to your desired shape, pressing the dough into the pan.  I then drizzled the dough with olive oil and sprinkled Italian seasoning and minced garlic over top, instead of your typical pizza sauce.

Lay the desired topping over the dough, I went with bacon, Italian Sausage, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella. Bake the pizza for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges of the crust are golden.

I even got the bonus of a crust bubble.  I love crust bubbles!

Look how crisp and golden this crust looks!  It was absolutely delicious and so easy to put together. I may never buy store bought pizza crust again.

The pizza was done way before Obed got home from work and it took every fiber in my body not to eat the whole thing.  I totally contemplated eating the entire pizza, discarding all the evidence and just making him a sandwich or something.  But that is not the loving wife thing to do…..is it?

This crust is crispy and practically buttery. No soggy crust issues here. You know you want some!

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Pioneer Woman’s Pizza Crust (2 crusts) (The Pioneer Woman Cooks)

• 1 teaspoon Active Dry Or Instant Yeast
• 4 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/3 cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.

In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with dough hook attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until forms into a ball.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, toss to coat dough in olive oil, ten cover the bowl with a moist kitchen towel and set in warm place to rise 1 to 2 hours.

After dough has risen, divide in half. When ready to use dough preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Lightly drizzle olive oil on pizza pan or rimmed baking sheet.

Using your hands stretch the dough to your desired shape, pressing the dough into the pan.

Lay the desired topping over the dough and bake the pizza for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges of the crust are golden.

The remaining dough can wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for 6 months.

Berry Crisp

So here is the scenario.  We have just finished eating a tasty easy dinner and Obed and I were craving something sweet and fruity.  I go into the kitchen and quickly realize that I have no fresh fruit and I really didn’t want to make any serious effort, if you know what I mean.  Then I turn, and as if being smacked in the face with a 2 x 4, (just because that is the visual I though would bring a chuckle) I remember the frozen berries and vanilla ice cream I had in the freezer.  That is when I decided that a simple crisp a la mode was in our near future.

I found a old simple stupid recipe from Bon Appetit for a Mixed Berry Crisp and I was set to go.

First you want 24 ounces of frozen berries of your choice.  Mix it up however you want, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries or raspberries.  I just used blueberries and strawberries because that is all I had.

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Sweet n’ Spicy Asian Chicken Wings

Yesterday I got the call!  My camera is back home, save and sound…..and working which is the best part of all.  I got the call late yesterday and my wonderful husband stopped by the camera store to pick it up.  It was music to my ears to hear the shutter click like it’s suppose to.  I missed my camera so much that when it got home I threw it a little welcome home party.  I made a welcome home banner , put up streamers and made cupcakes.  Ok maybe I didn’t do that in the true physical sense but I totally did it in my head.   The camera made it home a little to late to take pics of this post but she will be back to work soon.

Earlier this week I started the laboring project of scrubbing the baseboards around my house.  It really is a fun and thrilling project….really, really it is….at least that is what I tell myself.  I should make the dogs scrub the baseboards but since they have no opposable thumbs I am on my own.  Since I was a little tired from being on my hands and knees scrubbing baseboards I wanted to make something easy for dinner.  Obed had been asking for chicken wings and I though I would give them a try in the slow cooker.  Just another reminder that the slow cooker isn’t just for pot roast.

I decided that something sweet, spicy and Asian would do the trick.  A little bit of sweet and a little bit of spicy, is a combination that almost everyone can love an appreciate.

The great thing about these wings is that they come together in the slow cooker relatively quickly.  If you set it to LOW you will cook them for 2 1/2 hours and if you cook them on HIGH they should be done in just over an hour.  These are great to make for any party or get together.

When they were done I thought that the wings were just a little too wet.  I am not a huge fan of the wet wing but I have always thought that fried wings can be a little dry.  The slow cooker is a great alternative to the standard fried wing and the meat falls right of the bone.

I decided to bake the wings in the oven on a cooling grid for a few minutes to dry them up a bit and they came out perfect.  I love my baking sheet with the cooling grid, it is perfect for cooking bacon, french fries or….well wings in the oven.  If you don’t have a baking sheet with a cooling grid don’t work just spray the baking sheet with some non-stick spray.

I gave myself a pat on the back for these, they were extremely tender, a little sticky and deliciously spicy and sweet.   Then to make my life even simpler I called Obed to pick up some Chinese fried rice to accompany the wings.  Dinner was ready!

Print Recipe

Slowcooker Sweet n’ Spicy Asian Chicken Wings

• 4 lbs of chicken wings, cut into joints, discard bony wing tips or freeze to make stock
• 1 tbs sesame seed oil
• 3/4 cup apricot preserves
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs fresh ginger, grated
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 1 Tbs fish sauce
• 1 Tbs sarachi sauce
• juice from 1 lime

Heat skillet at medium-high heat with sesame seed oil, brown chicken wings in batches for about 5 to 8 minutes.  Place into slow cooker.

Blend remaining ingredients together in electric blender. Pour mixture over chicken wings.  Cook wings in slow cooker on LOW for 2 1/2 hours.

Serve them wet straight out of the slow cooker or bake on baking sheet with cooling grid in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees, basting them with the sauce once.

English Muffins

I LOVE…LOVE…LOVE…ENGLISH MUFFINS!  Like obsessively love english muffins.  But they are so stinking pricey at the grocery store.  I cannot express how excited I was to find a recipe and be able to make them at home.  Yes I did a little happy dance.  We have all done a happy dance over food at some point in time.  The one thing that I was most surprised to learn about making english muffins is that they are cooked on a griddle.  How cool is that?

What is it about english muffins that I love so much you ask?  They are chewy and fluffy at the same time.  They have knooks and crankys that hold and soak up all the butter and jam you lay on them and they are just wonderful.  A million times better then any piece of toast.

First combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Add the milk to the bowl and mix together at low speed, until it forms into a ball, using a paddle attachment.   I decided to use buttermilk because I thought it would make the muffins fluffier and give them a nice sour touch.

Change the attachment to a dough hook and knead at medium speed for about 8 minutes.  Sprinkle flour as needed until tacky and,

until you get a windowpane effect when you stretch out the dough.

Oil the bowl and allow the dough to rise, covered with plastic wrap for 60 to 90 minutes or until it doubles in size.

Flatten the dough out to 1 1/2 inches.  Using a biscuit cutter, cut the muffins out.

Place the muffins on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise 60 to 9o minutes or until doubled in size.

Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees and brush flat griddle with vegetable oil and heat at 350 degrees.  Cook muffins on griddle for 5 to 8 minutes.

Or until the bottoms begin to brown without burning.

Flip the muffins and cook the other side for 5 t0 8 minutes.  Then transfer to baking sheet and bake for an additional 5 to 8 minutes.

Transfer to cooking rack to let cool.

Use a fork to split them open, lather them with butter, or jam or make some eggs benedict.  YUM!  Whatever you decided to do with these english muffins you will enjoy them, because they are delicious and homemade.

I am enjoying a toasted english muffin with strawberry jam as I write this….and I may have to have another.  I LOVE ENGLISH MUFFINS!

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English Muffins (adapted from Baker’s Apprentice)

about 1 dozen (depending on size)

• 2 1/4 unbleached bread flour
• 1/2 Tbs granulated sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1 Tbs shorting or unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3/4 to 1 cup milk or buttermilk, at room temperature
• cornmeal for dusting

In a mixing bowl stir together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast.   Using an electric mixer mix in shortening and 3/4 cup of milk, with paddle attachment at low speed until the ingredients form a ball.  If there is loose flour in the bowl dribble in remaining 1/4 cup of milk.  The dough should be soft and pliable.

Sprinkle counter with flour and transfer dough to counter.  Knead doug for 10 minutes, if using stand mixer use dough hook and mix for 8 minutes.   Spinkle with flour as needed to make tacky.  The dough should pass the windowpane test.  Lightly oil bowl and transfer dough to bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for 60 to 90 minutes, or until double in size.

When dough has raised, transfer to counter and press or roll out to 1 1/2 inch think.  Using a biscuit cutter, cut out muffins.  Roll out scraps and repeat, do not roll out more then once.  Sprinkle cookie sheet with corn meal and place muffins on sheet, sprinkle corn meal over muffins, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 60 to 90 minutes.

Heat flat griddle to medium or 350 degrees, also pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Brush the griddle with vegetable oil or mist with spray oil.  Transfer muffins to griddle and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the bottom of the dough cannot cook any longer without burning.  Flip the muffins on the other side and cook for 5 to 8 minutes.  Transfer to sheet pan and bake in oven 5 to 8 minutes to ensure center is baked.

Transfer the baked muffins to a cooling rack.

Pollo Sofrito

Yesterday I got some good news.  My camera should be home in 1.5 weeks!  Although this little point-and-shoot has gotten me through the last few weeks and has a great macro lens, I will be happy to have my camera home where it belongs.  It was in fact a bad shutter and it is a $178 repair but I don’t care.  She is coming home!  It’s like the prodigal son….well daughter, because my camera is a girl.  :D   I am even more excited because right before my camera got sick I had bought a new 50 mm F/1.8 lens and have yet had a chance to give it a try.

Enough rambling about my camera let’s move on to the food.

I thought I would share one of my go to, easy, no fuss, no muss dinner options.  I call it pollo sofrito because all I use basically is chicken and sofrito.  I love dinners that come together will minimal ingredients, minimal effort and requires minimal hovering over the stove.  This qualifies as one of those dinners.   I used 5 chicken thighs because that is how I roll, but you can use any cut you want.

Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees.  Remove the skin from your chicken and season with my personal favorite magical seasoning, Goya Adobo.   I usually eyeball it, I would guesstimate about 1 Tbs, which was 4 – 5 circles over the chicken.

Whisk together, 4 Tbs of sofrito, 3 Tbs of olive oil and 1 Tbs of distilled white vinegar.

Heat a skillet at medium-high heat, lightly brush chicken with sofrito mix and brown chicken in skillet in batches, about 5 minutes.  Transfer browned chicken to glass baking dish.

When done browning chicken, deglaze the skillet with 3 Tbs of choice of broth, beer or white wine.  Be sure to scrap up all the yummy brown bits.

Pour broth with yummy browned bits over chicken.

Generously brush chicken with remaining sofrito mixture.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until juices run clean, basting periodically.

This is a delicious, juicy and flavorful chicken.  I serve this chicken with rice or rice and beans and some fried plantains.  DE-LISH!

This is suck the bone clean chicken, which is even better then finger licking chicken and it is easy!  Who doesn’t like that?!

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Pollo Sofrito

• 5 chicken thighs
• 1 Tbs Adobo
• 4 Tbs sofrito
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs distilled white vinegar
• 3 tbs of chicken broth (or any liquid of choice)

Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees. Remove the skin from your chicken and season with my personal favorite magical seasoning, Goya Adobo. I usually eyeball it, I would guesstimate about 1 Tbs, which was 4 – 5 circles over the chicken.

Whisk together, 4 Tbs of sofrito, 3 Tbs of olive oil and 1 Tbs of distilled white vinegar.

Heat a skillet at medium-high heat, lightly brush chicken with sofrito mix and brown chicken in skillet in batches, about 5 minutes. Transfer browned chicken to glass baking dish.

When done browning chicken, deglaze the skillet with 3 Tbs of choice of broth, beer or white wine. Be sure to scrap up all the yummy brown bits.

Pour broth with yummy browned bits over chicken.

Generously brush chicken with remaining sofrito mixture.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until juices run clean, basting periodically.

Serve this chicken with rice or rice and beans and some fried plantains.

Me Make-a Lasagna

I do jumping jacks…

I do squats….

I lift dumbells until my arms become lasagna noodles…..

Then I come home and make a delicious, meaty, cheesy lasagna.

This may seem counter productive, but I torture myself so I can have a slice of this yummy lasagna.  I do however refrain from eating the entire pan.  I think we all can agree that Italian food is one of the most comforting foods.  In my opinion no meal gives you a bigger hug then a saucy, cheesy lasagna.

I have been wanting to make a lasagna for a while now and I have had the noodles sitting in my pantry for at least 2 months.  I finally got around to it after enduring 2 tortuous weeks of fitness boot camp.  Don’t get me wrong I enjoy being tortured 3 times a week at 5:30 am…..really I do.

No seriously…..I do. I feel great!  No pain, no gain….right?

I cannot express how much I love a saucy, cheesy lasagna and this one did the trick.  The original recipe called for carrots and brown sugar, but I thought that would give it a sweetness that I don’t usually associate with lasagna.  I am all about savory and cheesy when it comes to lasagna.

I made this lasagna in a 9×9 pan because there are only two of us and I thought a 13×9 would be a little much.  If you want to do a family size 13×9, I would use 15 noodles and double the sauce and cheese mixture.  Also when baking the lasagna place a baking sheet under it because the sauce and cheese may bubble over.

Mmmmm cheesy, meaty, saucy….need I say more?

Print Recipe

Three Cheese Lasagna (adapted from Bon Appetit – March 1997)

SAUCE

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 ounces lean ground beef
• 6 ounces mild or spicy Italian sausages, casings removed
• 2 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbs dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried crushed red pepper

LASAGNA

• 12 lasagna noodles (you will have to trim the noodles for 9×9 pan)
• 1 15-ounce containers part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach, chopped
• 1 large eggs
• 2 cups finely grated mozzarella

SAUCE:

Heat oil in large heavy pot or saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté until softened, about 12 minutes. Add beef and sausages to pan; sauté until cooked through, breaking up meat with back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer until flavors blend, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Cool.

LASAGNA:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook noodles in large pot of boiling salted water until almost tender, about 7 minutes. Drain; cover with cold water.

Combine ricotta and Parmesan cheese in medium bowl. Mix in spinach. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix in egg.

Drain pasta and pat dry. Spread 1/2 cup sauce over bottom of 9×9-inch glass baking dish. Place 4 noodles over sauce, overlapping and trimming to fit. Spread half of ricotta-spinach mixture evenly over noodles. Sprinkle 1 cups mozzarella cheese evenly over ricotta-spinach mixture. Spoon half of the sauce over cheese, spreading with spatula to cover (sauce will be thick). Repeat layering with 4 noodles, remaining ricotta-spinach mixture, 1 cups mozzarella and sauce. Repeat and top off with extra shredded cheese and fresh basil. (Can be prepared up to 1 day ahead. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.) Cover baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake lasagna 40 minutes; uncover and bake until hot and bubbly, about 40 minutes. Let lasagna stand 15 minutes before serving.

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