Happy Thanksgiving

A few pictures from our Thanksgiving dinner. Recipes coming!

Cranberry Chutney

I also made my cranberry chutney for my family and neighbors. Needless to say my sister also did not enjoy my fabulous chutney with her turkey dinner... Sadness.... I used Martha Stewart's recipe. It came out so beautiful that I am adopting it as my family's recipe for Cranberry Chutney... lol.

Makes 6 half-pint jars

• 1/2 cup apple-cider vinegar
• 2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 cup candied orange peel, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup finely diced celery, (2 to 3 ribs)
• 1 1/2 cups finely diced red onion, (1 medium red onion)
• 2 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 5 cups whole frozen cranberries

Directions

1. Combine vinegar, sugar, salt, cardamom, orange peel, celery, onion, apples, and 2 cups water in a low-sided, 6-quart saucepan. Set over medium-high heat; bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until apples are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, 30 to 40 minutes.
3. Stir in cranberries; cook until they begin to pop, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat.
4. Transfer to a large bowl set over an ice bath to chill; store in an airtight container, refrigerated, up to 4 weeks.

Biscuits for my sister

So I made these biscuits to send to my sister in Nashville, but somehow the person that was supposed to take them there, for her to serve with her Thanksgiving dinner forgot they were here. So here they lay frozen in my freezer, waiting for a better day... I used the White Lilly recipe. Thanks!

Easy-to-Make Cream Biscuits

Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Makes: 12 biscuits

Ingredients:

•	1 3/4 cups White Lily® Self-Rising Flour
•	1 cup heavy cream
•	1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

Instructions:

1.	Heat oven to 500°F.
2.	PLACE flour in large bowl. Gradually stir in cream, adding only enough to moisten flour and hold dough together.
3.	TURN dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently two or three strokes. Using light touch, pat or roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness.
4.	CUT with floured 2-inch biscuit cutter, leaving as little dough between cuts as possible. Gather remaining dough and re-roll one time; cut as described above. Discard scraps.
5.	PLACE biscuits on baking sheet with sides touching for soft biscuits or close together but not touching for crispier sides. Brush tops with melted butter.
6.	BAKE 8 to 10 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. Serve hot.

Success!

Indian Raita

After such a humongous meal like the pernil, one feels the need to go healthy and organic and all that. This is why I was tempted for some Raita. Raita or pachadi is a South Asian/Indian condiment based on yogurt (dahi) and used as a sauce or dip. The yogurt is seasoned with coriander (cilantro), cumin, mint, cayenne pepper, and other herbs and spices. Vegetables such as cucumber and onions are mixed in. The mixture is served chilled. Raita has a cooling effect on the palate which makes it a good foil for spicy Indian dishes. I'm using Tyler Florence's recipe. Thank you!

Ingredients

• 2 pints thick yogurt (recommended: Greek yogurt)
• 1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed
• 1 lemon, juiced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped mint leaves
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Directions

Put the yogurt, cilantro, cumin, lemon juice, and salt and pepper, to taste, into a blender and puree until the mixture is smooth and green. Pour it into a bowl and fold in the cucumber and mint. Refrigerate at least 1/2 hour before serving to allow the flavors to develop. Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Puerco Asado or Pernil

Ok. So enough with the asian theme. After these asian dreams I get back to basics with a dominican week. Beautiful piece of art of there is how muy pernil came out!
This week I made a Pierna de Puerco Asado or Bone in Pork Roast. It s a very cheap cut and a great way to feed lots of people with not mucho dinero. I used recipe of chef extraordinaire amy of "http://www.weareneverfull.com". Thanks so much. Enjoy!

PERNIL (ROASTED PORK SHOULDER) COOKED SLOW AND LOW

Ingredients:

• 1 Bone-In Pork Shoulder (5-10 Pounds depending on how many you want to feed, 5 Pounds will feed 4-5 hungry people)
• 5-8 Cloves garlic, some chopped, some sliced
• Adobo (or a mixture of garlic power, onion powder, cumin, black pepper, salt and oregano)
• 1 Bottle of Sour Orange Marinade (or 2 Oranges and 1 Lime OR 1 Cup OJ and 2 Limes)
• 1 Large Onion, chopped up
• olive oil

SO the night before you cook the meat (or, if you prefer to not let it sit, then the half hour before you cook the meat):

What to do for the marinade:

1. Take your big-ass, delish pork shoulder/butt, place it in a baking dish skin-side up and sprinkle it all over w/ adobo (Goya makes a few versions of this that you can keep in your spice cabinet or you can make your own by sprinkling garlic power, onion powder, cumin, black pepper, salt and oregano all over the pork). WHEN I SAY SPREAD IT ALL OVER I MEAN SPREAD IT ALL OVER. Don’t be afraid of putting on too much.
2. Cut slices of garlic up from about 3 cloves of garlic - make slices thick-ish. (NOTE: If you have the extra time, make a paste out of your garlic by smashing it in a mortar and pestle w/ a bit of salt to aid in the smashing until it has the consistancy of a spreadable paste.) ****NOTE: This recipe uses alot of garlic b/c we love alot of garlic. If you don’t like the taste of garlic, maybe this recipe isn’t the best for you.
3. Take a sharp knife (a steak knife should be fine) and make 1-inch wide (1 inch deep or so) slits all over the pork, skin and all. Every time you make a slit, slide in a slice of garlic into the slit. It’s best if the garlic goes into the hole all the way. If it doesn’t, again, don’t worry… just make a bit of a deeper slit next time. (NOTE: If you made the garlic paste, then just slide a bit of the paste in each slit instead of the sliced garlic.)
4. MAKE MARINADE IN SEPARATE BOWL: Add one cup of sour orange juice (again, Goya makes a bottled version, I’m sure it’s not as tasty as the real ones, but sour oranges aren’t around all the time to buy) to 3 cloves of chopped garlic and 1 chopped large onion. Add a sprinkling of salt and pepper and well as some extra oregano. Mix. (NOTE: You can also substitute sour orange w/ a cup of regular Orange Juice mixed w/ the juice of two limes, or juice of 2 oranges, juice of 1 lime.)
5. Pour your marinade over your pork. Let sit for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight).

Cooking the Pernil:

1. Fat side up, place pork in a roasting pan along with the rest of the marinade. Add a bit of liquid if necessary (water or some chicken stock) - so it comes up about 1/2 an inch high. Make sure there’s always some hot liquid at the bottom to mix with the drippings. (This is not necessary - I just liked it this way).
2. Heat the oven to 475 degrees and cook pork uncovered for 1 hour.
3. After the hour is over, turn oven down to 275 degrees, tent pork with some tin-foil and cook for 8 to 9 hours on this low setting. (Instead of the quicker cooking of pernil where I recommend a 1/2 hour per pound, this time it’s about an hour or more per pound).
4. Don’t forget to remove the foil from the top of your pork about 30-40 minutes before your done cooking it. This will crisp up your pork skin only so much. If you are looking to make chicharron by removing the top layer of skin after it’s been cooked (as I did - see first picture, top of post) and frying it up a bit.
5. Allow to rest for 15 minutes to a half hour before slicing and serving. ENJOY.

PS serve with moro de habichuelas negras or yuca. Never fails!

My take on Wontons

So from time to time I get in these Asian inspired weeks where everything I cook is asian. These is my try at wontons. My pointers: use a teaspoon doser for measuring the wonton filling. I put extra ginger and green onions. It 's just a me thing... I made both the fried version, and then I made a soup with chicken stock and a little extra fish sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound boneless lean pork
• 1/2 pound shelled and deveined medium shrimp
• 3 water chestnuts
• 2 slices ginger, or as needed to make 1 teaspoon
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine, dry sherry or rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• a few drops sesame oil
• Freshly ground white pepper, to taste
• Wonton wrappers, as needed
• Chopped green onions...
  

Preparation:

Finely chop the pork and shrimp. Peel the water chestnuts and finely chop. Mince the ginger until you have 1 teaspoon.

Combine the pork and shrimp with the water chestnuts, minced ginger, chopped green onions, oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice wine or sherry or rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and white pepper.

To fill the wontons, lay one won ton skin in front of you. (Cover the remaining won ton skins with a damp towel to keep them from drying out). Moisten all the edges of the won ton wrapper with water. Place a heaping teaspoon of won ton filling in the center.

Fold the wonton wrapper in half lengthwise, making sure the ends meet. Press down firmly on the ends to seal. Use thumbs to push down on the edges of the filling to center it. Keeping thumbs in place, fold over the wonton wrapper one more time. Push the corners up and hold in place between your thumb and index finger. Wet the corners with your fingers. Bring the two ends together so that they overlap. Press to seal. The finished product should resemble a nurse's cap. Repeat with remaining wontons.

Alternate method: Place the teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper and twist to seal. The final result should resemble a money bag or drawstring purse.

Boiling the wontons: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the won tons, making sure there is enough room for them to move about freely. Let the wontons boil for 5 - 8 minutes, until they rise to the top and the filling is cooked through. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon.

Deep-frying the wontons: Heat oil for deep-frying to 360 degrees. Add wonton in small batches and fry, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Wontons can be prepared ahead of time up to the cooking stage and frozen. Thaw before cooking
.

How about that?

Catching up

Trying to get everything together for Thanksgiving. we are having dinner at home, just the family plus we are also going to go deliver meals for the homeless.
I am also working on the menu for our Christmas dinner which will be all asian hors d'oeuvres. Wish me luck!

Back from the Dominican Republic III - At the Farner's Market

We went to the Farmer's Market. Prices are always better there than what you can find at the grocery store. The amount and variety of product was overwhelming. It felt good bargaining. Kind of like the stock market. lol. The bottles on the third picture are Agrio de Naranja. For vinegar, Dominicans use the squeezed juice from the naranja agria (an orange with pocked surface) or agrio (juice from the naranja agria poured over marble-sized onions, green pepper, and garlic which sets for a week or so.) Then it is bottled and refrigerated to use as marinades or as table seasonings. Original, right?

Back from the Dominican Republic II

Best Seafood Grill that Ive had in a long time! It was at the Tropicoco at Cabarete Main Road. Five minutes walking from our Villa. There was everything from snapper to shrimp to lobster, to mussels to ... you name it. Presentation was beautiful too. Prices a little steep but it was a special dinner. The place was incredible, and a plus: it was not very crowded. Service is kind of slow, but this is slow food right? They make everything on the spot. By the time food got to our table I had downed two cuba libres (rhum and coke) already...

Back from the Dominican Republic

We are back from our tremendously fun holiday! I will post some pictures and some recipesof the fabulous meals we and our housekeeper/babysitter extraordinaire Juani prepared for us. On our way from the airport to our Villa where we were picked up by Jose our driver, I asked him to stop for a bite to eat since we had been drivin and flying for hours. He stopped at a Pica Pollo Victorina which is the dominican version of the KFC. Of course what better way to down it than a wonderful "fria" Presidente. At 70 pesos a pop (two pieces, fries and soda, that is 2 dollars) is not so cheap for the local market.


Ok, this is not food but I think my husband looked so cute all in gear to go Kite Boarding.
This is the garden in our villa with our beautiful swimming pool.








This is the first meal Juan prepared for us at the Villa. Arroz con Fideos which is really similar to Rice Pilaf, there was some Queso Blanco Frito, which is white cheese similar to the Mexican White Cheese, floured and fried. Avocados accompanied every one of our meals. They are healthy and super yummy.

"Queso Frito"

Ingredients:

• 12 slices of queso de freir.
• 1/4 cup of oil for frying
• 1/2 cup of corn starch

Preparation:Heat the oil in a frying pan. Cover the slices with corn starch and shake off the excess. Fry in the hot oil on one side until it turns golden brown. Turn and repeat. Do not add many slices at the same time as the oil must remain very hot to prevent the cheese from staying in the oil for too long.

"Arroz con Fideos"

Ingredients

* 4 cup of rice
* 1/2 cup of noodles
* 1 cube of chicken stock
* 6 cups water
* 5 spoons of oil
* 1 teaspoon of salt

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil, add the noodles and stir until they are golden brown being careful not to let them burn.
2. Add the chicken stock and the salt, and stir until the chicken stock has dissolved.
3. Add the water, bring to a boil and then add the rice.
4. Stir regularly to avoid excessive sticking.
5. When all the water has evaporated cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer on very low heat.
6. Wait 15 minutes and uncover.
7. Stir, add the remaining oil and cover again.
8. Wait another 5 minutes.
9. Try the rice, it should be firm but tender inside.
10. If necessary, cover and leave another 5 minutes on very low heat.