Baking Powders

Raspberry chocolate ice cream

2011-09-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

And there we go... once again, an entire month without posting! Oh the grad student life!

Well, I've been so cramped with studying that I really don't have a ton to tell you. We're moving our lab to a new one (yay!) next week. The weather in Oregon is crazy hot, which doesn't help my daily running. But it invites you to eat some of this delicious ice cream.

Today I have to keep it short, more studying needed for very important tests at the end of the month. But do make this ice cream please! you won't regret it! It's creamy and refreshing all at the same time.

Raspberry chocolate ice cream

Adapted from 'The Perfect Scoop'

2 cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

5 ounces semisweet chocolate

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

5 large egg yolks

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup frozen crushed raspberries (freeze them after picking and crush them once frozen so they break into the little red balls)

Warm the cream and cocoa powder in a medium sauce pan and whisk to blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and add the chocolate while whisking until you get a smooth mixture. Set it aside and let it cool.

In another pot, warm up the milk and sugar to almost a boil and the mixture it to the beaten egg yolks slowly not to curdle them. Bring the mixture back to a pan and cook for about 5 minutes (to make sure the eggs are not raw). Remove from the heat and strain if necessary.

Mix the cream and the milk blends together and let them cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Freeze according to your ice cream maker instructions and right at the end of the process, add the crushed raspberries.

Blueberry-raspberry crisp

2011-08-03T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

How's your summer going so far? Mine, mind you, is awesome.

I guess summer activities are directly related to the level of hotness in the area you live. The pacific northwest is behaving quite well this week and there's been a lot of going out. Up here, we have to take advantage of the days when it doesn't pour out.

But I guess one of the advantages of the rainy weather is that, in summer, you have local berries to pick. And that's what we did a couple weekends ago in Sauvie Island. For those of you who come visit or live around the area, I'd highly recommend a visit! There's tons of things to do and berry picking is so much fun.

Plus... Blueberries and raspberries for 1.80 a pound? Yes please and thank you. You'll see a good amount of berry recipes around here soon. Some of my raspberries got squeezed on the way back home, so I had to make jam. What a tragedy huh?. The rest of them went to the freezer, to this crisp and to a delicious chocolate-raspberry ice cream I'll be posting soon.

This crisp is just ridiculously easy to make. And 'healthy'. Only 1/2 stick of butter! And it's soooo good for breakfast...

Blueberry-raspberry crisp

1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 stick of butter

For the filling:
Combine the raspberries and blueberries with the 1 cup of sugar. Toss it all together and let it sit in the fridge for about an hour so the berries let go of some of their juices.

For the topping:
Melt the butter in the microwave and combine with the brown sugar and oats.

Assembly:
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Pour the berries and juice on a pie or squared pan. Top with the oat mixture and bake for 45 min, until the top is crispy and the berry juice is bubbly.

Eat hot or cold (I prefer hot and you can reheat leftovers in the microwave).

Enjoy!

Strawberry 'pi' and bbq's

2011-07-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

I know guys. Once again, long time no see. I don't know who told me that summer was a more relaxed time for grad students. But whoever it was. Lied!

After 3 intense weeks of teaching 3 days a week while trying to keep my research up, I've been focusing on getting as much done in the lab as possible. I'm going to a conference in November and I desperately need good data for a poster!

But! I've had some time to relax. And when the weather is nice in Portland, which I can guarantee you, isn't always (even in summer), I've been going to bbq's quite often. Whether it's at my friend's Katie's house or it's an invite from lab neighbors, I always bring something with me. To my labmate's barbecue, I brought strawberry pie. In nerdy form, with a big PI symbol on the crust.

Making pie crust tends to be a pain in the ass, but it's well worth it. For those of you who have never made it, I took step by step pictures of the process. Here it goes...

PIE CRUST
(makes 2, 9 inch crusts, top and bottom)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 sticks of butter, cold
4 tablespoons very cold water
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons sugar

STRAWBERRY FILLING
1.5 lbs strawberries
1/2 cup sugar

First cut your cold butter, and it's very important that you keep it cold, in about half an inch cubes.

Then add the flour, salt and sugar...

With a pastry cutter, a fork or your hands (making sure you do it fast to not warm up the butter), combine them together until you get small pebbles and the mixture looks similar to this...

Now split the dough in half, make two balls with it and cover them with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for at least 1hr in the fridge. In the meantime, wash, hull and slice 1.5 lbs of strawberries and toss them together with 1/2 cup of sugar.

Now you can roll the dough. I do it between two pieces of plastic wrap because I hate having dough stick to my table. But you can sprinkle your working surface with flour and give it a go. Now you can cover the bottom of your pie dish with half of the crust.

Now add the strawberries...

And the other half of the crust... (mine looks stiff because I let it rest in the fridge for a while)...

And finally, bake at 450 F for 1 hr...

Enjoy!

Homemade caramel sauce

2011-07-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

Yay! summer's here. And I'm still teaching, but I will have more time to post recipes that I made centuries ago and I just didn't have time to write about. Remember the ice cream recipes I posted... well, kind of long ago, but not really. Well, this caramel sauce goes perfect with it.

But let's start by the summer story. What are you guys up to this summer? I have a giant list of books to read, just like last summer. So far I'm down 3 out of 15 on the list. I've definitely fallen in love with Paul Auster, just a bit more than I had so far. But I'm also working on the classics. The American ones. I wonder why noone ever told me that 'The catcher in the rye' was such a wonderful book.

What are you guys reading this summer? Are you going on vacation? One of my old friends from Boston is visiting me soon. I can't wait for him to be here so we can eat our way through Portland. But I have promised him tons of ice cream, so I better start working on filling the freezer with new recipes. To pair with it, this amazing caramel sauce.

I bet you've read all over the internet how terribly hard it is to make caramel sauce. Not true! It's a matter of patience and you can master it quite easily. Plus, it only has 3 ingredients!

Homemade caramel sauce

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream

Pour the water and sugar in a pot and heat at medium heat until it boils. DO NOT STIR. This is very important. If you stir, you'll evaporate the water before the sugar cooks and will end up with a white goopy paste that doesn't look like caramel. You are aiming to slowly caramelize the sugar (Grignard reaction, for the nerds out there). Let the water evaporate and the sugar cook and do not walk away from it or it'll burn. You can do this without adding water, but this way, the process is slower and the risk of burning it is lower. Once the sugar acquires an amber color, it is ready for you to pour the heavy cream. Now, there's very many tones of amber, you're aiming for something that looks like honey. Once you get to this stage, remove the pot from the stove and add the heavy cream. Do not panic if all the sudden you have a solid blob of caramel surrounded by liquid. And be careful not to splash yourselves with hot caramel. Once you've added the heavy cream, put the pot back in the stove and stir with a whisk until you have an homogeneous mixture. Basically, until the cooked sugar dissolves. You can cook the sauce as little or as much as you want, depending on how thick you want it. Take in account that it'll become thicker when it cools down. Pour in jars and store in the fridge for 2 weeks or the freezer for months (don't worry, it won't last that long).

Mint ice cream with andes chunks and a dear blogger friend

2011-05-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

Today I'm gonna tell you about my dearest blogger friend. Her name is Maria and she's the author of Remena Nena. I met Maria over a year ago, when all we had in common was that we were both Spaniards from the same region (Catalonia). Nowadays, she's one of my best friends.

It all started with a few e-mails here and there. Then a recipe together and lots of conversations on gmail talk. Packages sent back and forth from Boston to Vilanova (Spain). Constant facebook commenting and now our latest obsession, the 'whatsup' application.

We talk about pretty much anything, congratulate each other on school progress, plot evil plans to feed our friends with tons of sugar, cream and butter and talk about boys (a lot). We laugh, cry, complain, tell secrets and share our stories.

As I mentioned, there's quite a bunch of packages that have gone from Spain to the US and viceversa in the last year. They have contained things like hazelnuts, sprinkles, baking cups, cookie cutters and the last of Maria's crazy ideas, two ice cream cookbooks. She's a more than generous girl and once she heard I'd gotten an ice cream maker, she couldn't resist sending me 'The Perfect Scoop' and 'Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice cream and dessert book'.

I obviously couldn't wait to use them and made mint ice cream from Leibovitz's book. But before I give you the recipe, let me try to convince you that you should check Maria's blog. Because she's just awesome.

Now for the recipe.

Mint ice cream with andes chunks

A bit adapted from 'The perfect scoop'

For the mint ice cream:

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of salt
2 cups lightly packed fresh mint leaves
3 large egg yolks

I also added a bit of peppermint extract, because after steeping the mint in the milk, I thought the mint flavor wasn't strong enough. I was wrong and it was plenty once frozen. But, I must say that, even though you wouldn't think so, the result of mixing the two, was quite awesome. The mint leaves gave the ice cream a fresh flavor and the peppermint has a minty aftertaste that makes it amazing to the palate. I added a teaspoon of the extract, however, you can omit this and I'm sure the result will be great.

For the 'chunks':

8 Andes chocolate mints chopped

To make the ice cream:

In a pan, warm up the milk, sugar and mint. Once the mixture is steaming, cover with a lid and let the mint steep in the milk for 1hr. I'm not sure you can appreciate it, but my milk was slightly green afterwards.

Strain the mint from the milk and bring it back to the pan. While warming up the milk, beat the three egg yolks in a bowl. Once the milk is hot, add the milk mixture to the eggs while continuously whisking. Then bring the mix to the pan and cook until it's thick enough to cover the back of a spoon (or a few minutes at 175 F). Add the heavy cream to the mixture and let it cool in the fridge for at least an hour before freezing. Freeze according to your ice cream maker manufacturer instructions. Once the mix is frozen, add the chopped andes and let the ice cream harden in the freezer.

Home made vanilla ice cream

2011-05-08T16:36:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make. I love making ice cream! You guys might remember me mentioning that I bought an ice cream maker. Well. I can guarantee you it's been put to use! 3 batches in a week and a half. Not bad huh?

I've always been an ice cream lover, which is dangerous enough. But home made product is so much better that I'm gonna start running daily again! The texture, the brightness of the flavors and the chance to make it to my own taste can't be beaten by any commercial ice cream.

And the best part is that I love the making. It's such a calming process. Slow, but steady. The flavors coming together. So far I've made vanilla and mint, which was also used for a chocolate, mint ice cream cake. The next batch will probably be pistachio. I honestly see no end to this. I want to try to make every flavor, with every topping, swirl, fruit and nut I can imagine.

Do you guys make ice cream at home? if so, what's your favorite flavor? I'm considering making a list of 'to do flavors'. I'd love your ideas!

Vanilla Ice cream
Adapted from 'The joy of cooking'

1 1/2 cups of milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 egg yolks
1 cup of sugar (or more if you'd like)
1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons high quality vanilla extract
Mini chocolate chips (optional)

If using a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the milk, if not, just heat up the milk and the sugar in a pot, making sure it doesn't boil. In a bowl, whip the eggs. Once the milk mixture is hot, add the milk to the eggs. To avoid curdling them, add a bit of milk while mixing with a whisk, so you temper the eggs, then add the rest of the hot milk. Bring the mix back to the pot and cook at 175 F with constant stirring. You want to make sure your mixture cooks at, at least, 160 F for 5 min so your eggs aren't raw anymore (this is the safe egg cooking temperature according to McGee). Joy of cooking suggests cooking it at 175 F and that's what I did. Continue cooking the mixture until the custard coats the back of a spoon. Get of the heat and add the heavy cream. If you are using vanilla extract, this is the time to add it. Let the mixture cool and freeze according to your ice cream maker instructions.

Mascarpone cheesecake and hiking fun

2011-04-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm doing such a terrible job at keeping the blog going. And I'm really sorry guys. Because I have actually been baking quite a bit. But apologies aside, I'm back again. If you wonder what I've been doing, teaching has been a huge part of it, but I've also had quite a few adventures in Portland. I moved, from downtown to SE. I love it here.

The dangers of SE include amazing food places. Like 'Fire on the mountain', 3 blocks away, or 'Screen door', 5 blocks away. Sigh. I also got a bike! And I fell from it, day 1, after sticking my wheel on the railroad tracks. Minor issue, hurt knees but unhurt ego! I also... BOUGHT AN ICE CREAM MAKER!. First batch will happen today. Oh lord, dangerous!

And last but not least, I went hiking and celebrated 'jewster'. We'll talk about 'jewster' in a future post. The hike was a 12 mile! hike at Eagle Creek. Wonderful experience. The downside is that you have to do the 12 mile route if you want to see the waterfalls, but it's totally worth it. Even if on the way back your feet completely disagree.

This is the great waterfall you're rewarded with at the end of the hike. But on the way you find gorgeous things like this...

Well, without further delay, here's the recipe for the cheesecake!

Mascarpone cheesecake (adapted from Gourmet)

For the crust
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
5 T butter, melted
1 T sugar

For the filling
20 oz cream cheese (2 1/2 eight-ounce packages), softened
8 oz mascarpone cheese at room temperature (about 1 cup)
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
a dash of salt

To make the crust.Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter bottom and side of a 9-inch springform pan or in my case, a pie pan. (easier to take to your friends house)

Whisk graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a small bowl and then stir in melted butter to moisten all the crumbs. Press the mixture onto the bottom and about half ways up the sides of the springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Let it cool.

For the cheesecake:
Beat cream cheese, mascarpone, and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium high speed until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, lemon juice, and salt and mix at low speed until combined. Pour on top of the cooled crust, being careful not to disturb it. Bake for about an hour, until the edges separate from the pan and the top is slightly browned. Let it cool in the fridge at least for 3 hrs.

Birthday cake and the 100th post

2011-03-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

Wow. I made it to the 100th post. I must admit that the frequency of posting has been quite low lately, but grad school doesn't leave much time for more. I have indeed been baking quite a lot, there's just no time for pictures or posts, which, believe me, I'm really sorry about.

This delicious cake wasn't made to celebrate the 100th post or my own birthday, it was the celebration cake for my labmate and friend Chris. He made it clear, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. So that it is. A simple, moist and delicious cake, with just a few great ingredients and that you can make in no time.

The chocolate cake is from Hershey's and the frosting was a homemade concoction. You can bake it in layers, squared, round, whatever you like. I even considered putting some marshmallows on top and torching them. (Too bad I ran out of gas). I think you'll enjoy it.

Chocolate cake

2 cups sugar
2 sticks of butter
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup of freshly brewed hot coffee (the original recipe calls for a cup of boiling water).

Cream the butter and sugar and add the vanilla extract. Mix in the eggs and oil. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Alternate the addition of dry ingredients and milk, beginning and ending by the dry. Bake for about 35 min at 350 F.

Chocolate frosting

1 stick of butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk

Cream the butter until very fluffy, add the vanilla, powdered sugar and cocoa powder, finally add the milk until the frosting is creamy, you might need less than 1/2 cup. Use the frosting the same day is made.

Buttermilk pound cake and a hello after a while

2011-03-07T21:11:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

Wow. Over a month without a word. I'm sorry guys. I'm sorry I haven't said hi in a while but mostly I'm sorry I don't even have time to bake. But hey! the term is over in 2 weeks and I'm planning on doing some spring break baking!

How have you been? I'd love to tell you a bunch of stories, but I really can't write for too long. I'll tell you that I went to my first conference ever up at the base of Mount Rainier. It was full of snow, white, beautiful, cold and fun. We listened to a lot of interesting talks, had a snowball fight, went on a little hike and made smores. Not bad huh?

The rest of my time has been pretty much grading, going to class, studying and doing lab work. Sounds terrible but it's not all that horrible when you like what you do. I also like sweets, very much. So I made buttermilk poundcake, because I love buttermilk and because poundcake is perfect to power up your study.

The recipe is from the New York Times, but I found it at Elissa's blog. I halved the recipe because I wasn't using a bundt cake pan, instead I used a shell shaped one and two ramekins for individual cakes. The cake is moist, crumbly, tangy and delicious. Make it, takes no time, it's good for you! (well, maybe not).

Buttermilk Pound Cake

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 350 F

Cream together butter and sugar. Add the eggs and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Alternate the addition of dry ingredients and buttermilk to the wet mix, starting and ending with the dry mix. (I did 1/3 dry mix, 1/2 buttermilk and so on).

Bake for an hour and then let the cake rest. This cake is even better the day after baked, I promise it's worth the wait!

This post is part of 'Sweets for a saturday #8'

Homemade thin mints and my students

2011-02-02T22:17:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna repeat myself. Just because I know I've already mumbled about teaching and students and such things. Well, you know, when you're a PhD student, life is quite limited to labs, classes, teaching and a little bit of fun social life.

Truth is, teaching is a big part of what I want my future to look like. Professor Bon? hopefully!. In the meantime, I devote my Monday and Wednesday nights to teaching general chemistry. It's certainly an interesting experience. You know those shows about colleges (like Community), in which there's a character who is the stereotypical student of some kind? I have them all.

There's the ones who are in college just because mum and dad wanted them to be, there's the mom with two kids who goes to school full time while she works full time, there's the already PhD who is back in school because he wants to go to med school. Prom queen, army guy, funny guy, dorky boys. I've had them all. And they are all great in their own way.

Teaching is probably the most rewarding experience one could have. It's also one of the toughest ones. When T.A evaluations come, you see nasty comments (probably from that one student who yelled at you in class and called you an idiot), that make you feel terrible. Just until you read the good ones. Those make it all worth it. The long hours of grading, the class preparation, the late nights teaching when you've been at work for over 12 hrs. It all pays off.

Today I was having a terrible day. One of those in which everything seems terrible. Then a few of my students tried to make me laugh. They tried really hard, goofing around and cracking jokes. And by the end of lab, I was in the best mood I've been in, all week.

Teaching is as good as these cookies. The home made version of the infamous girl scouts cookie, but cheaper, healthier and tastier. My friend Chase loves them to death. Since we pounded an entire box while playing cribbage a few days ago, I decided to make him a batch. He loved them and so will you.

Homemade thin mints

Adapted from 101 cookbooks

For the cookies

8 ounces/1 stick of butter

1 cup of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 cup of cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon of fine grain salt

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

For the chocolate coating

12 ounces of chocolate chips

Peppermint extract

Cream the butter, vanilla extract, salt and powdered sugar. Add the cocoa powder and mix well. Finally stir in the flour and mix until just combined. Don't overmix or your cookies will be hard. Place the dough in the freezer for about 30 min. Then roll it between two pieces of parchment paper, to about 1/8 in thickness. This dough is soft. My kitchen was hot and it kept getting too soft to cut and place in the baking sheet without it getting weirdly shaped. To prevent that, I rolled the dough and put it in the freezer for about 2 min before cutting shapes with the cookie cutter. That way they kept shape and were easier to handle. Also, you want to roll a bit of dough at a time, or again, it'll get soft and it'll be hard to handle.

Bake the cookies at 350 for about 10 minutes or until you can smell them. They burn fast, so be careful.

Once the cookies are baked, let them cool completely so they harden, otherwise they'll break when you try to coat them (10 min in the freezer will shorten the cooling time). Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and then add the peppermint extract to your taste. You don't want to add it before since heat could alter the flavor (this doesn't happen with oils, only extracts) . I'm a big fan of microwaving chocolate, but you want to keep it warm while you coat the cookies and a double boiler works best for that. Dip the cookies one at a time. I still have to perfect the coating technique. I threw them in the chocolate, coated both sides and then using two forks, removed the excess chocolate (specially the one that sticks at the bottom). It's a matter of practice, my first cookies were extremely coated. Place the coated cookies in a piece of parchment paper and let them cool so the chocolate hardens. Once again, the freezer does the trick in a few minutes. Store in the fridge to prevent the chocolate from melting.

Apple pie poptarts and my labmates

2011-01-16T21:05:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned how much I love my labmates? Very much. You know, when you start in a new lab, with a new project, doing stuff you've never done before, things look a little scary. Every little step is full of questions like how should I do this, is this ok, is it gonna work? .

I'm a super lucky gal. I have fantastic labmates who are more than willing to help me every step of the way. They answer my questions, they teach me their tricks and they do it with a smile on their faces. We're a bunch of happy people sharing a tiny space.

But please, don't you think for a second that all we do is work. We do work, but we seriously have too much fun. I usually define our dinamics as a 'shit show'. And excuse my vocabulary, but we're just plain ridiculous. Take for instance the other day, when I was trying to filtrate some stuff and I couldn't reach the filter. There comes my labmate with two large cans and puts one underneath each one of my feet so I can reach. And obviously, two seconds later, the boss shows up and starts laughing at me and says 'ok, we're getting you a stool'. (I did get it!).

That's just one example of ridiculousness. I think our singing is pretty funny too. I share my primary workspace with two very manly guys. Well, they both sang Whitney Houston the other day. I almost dropped what I was carrying.

All in all, I love these guys. I have tons of fun with them and they help me a lot. That's why when C mentioned the other day, how disappointed he was that his mum didn't make apple pie this past thanksgiving, I had an idea. I thought I could make him apple pie in a portable way. And the result are these delicious 'poptarts'. Basically apple pie crust with apple pie filling in a nice cute shape. Pretty and delicious. I bet your coworkers will be happy if you make them!

Apple pie 'poptarts'

For the crust
1 1/4 cups flour
1 stick of butter, cold and cubed
1/8 cup really cold water
1 tablespoon sugar

Mix the butter with the flour and sugar until pebbles form. Use either your hands or a pastry cutter. If you do it with your hands, work fast so the butter doesn't melt. Add the cold water and mix well until you form a homogeneous dough. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour. Once cold, roll the dough to a thickness of about half a centimeter. Cut in rectangles of the same size. You can make them as big or as small as you want.

For the filling
2 large or 3 medium granny smith apples
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon (I like it a lot)
2 tablespoons of butter, softened

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. If the butter doesn't spread homogeneously, heat the mixture in the microwave for a bit. Make sure your filling is cold when making the poptarts.

For the poptarts
Preheat your oven to 350F
Place the filling (about 2 tablespoons for the size I made) on top of one of the sides of the poptart. Cover with the other side. Seal the edges with the help of a fork and make three cuts in the tarts to release the steam. Brush the tarts with egg wash. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tarts are golden brown and oozing with juices. Enjoy warm or cold!

Home made ciabatta and family cooking

2011-01-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

I love baking with my family. You might remember how I told you in my last post that as soon as I got home for Christmas, my mum made sure I had all the necessary ingredients to bake. Over the holidays I made cookies with my sister, yeasted orange raisin bread and this delicious ciabatta.

We are a family of cooks. My dad, being from the region of Spain where paella is from, is great at anything rice. His 'brothed rice' as you might translate it, is out of this world good. Cooked slow, with tons of veggies and some meat, is my favorite comfort food. And it happens to be quite healthy. Maybe I should show you guys how to make it soon.

My mum has several specialties. There's her meat stuffed calamari and her meatballs with squid. Both are things I used to request as my birthday celebration lunch. They are just to die for. Her pork tenderloin stuffed with prunes and sausage is quite epic as well. In fact, when I lived back in Boston, I made it for a friends' bday and my vegetarian roomie tried it. According to her, it smells too good not to do so.

My sisters have her signature dishes as well and they've gotten to master some of my mum's dishes. And I'm the baker of the family. Quite honestly, it works pretty well this way. I enjoy teaching my mum how to make ciabatta or making her apple cake. I love seeing my dad dip a piece of orange raisin bread in his morning coffee. I had lots of fun making decorated cookies with my sister.

All in all, I feel really grateful for a family of cooks and eaters. For having grown up appreciating good ingredients and home made goodness. Sitting around the table and enjoying meals with my family makes me happy. Incredibly happy. This is the ciabatta I made with my mum. Probably the best thing I've ever baked. With a hard crunchy crust and a fluffy crumb. Try it, you'll thank me later.

Peter Reinhart's Ciabatta (from the Bread Baker's Apprentice)

For the poolish (pre-ferment)
Bread flour – 2 1/2 cups
Water – 1 1/2 cups
Fresh yeast – 1/2 tsp

For the final dough
Poolish – 3 1/4 cups (All of the Poolish above)
Bread flour – 3 cups
Fresh yeast – 2 tsp
Salt – 1 3/4 tsp
Water – 1/2 cup
Olive Oil – 4 tbsp

The night before baking prepare the poolish. Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water and stir in the flour. Mix with your hand or a wooden spoon until combined. The poolish will be quite liquid. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise for a few hours in a warm place and then in the fridge overnight.

The day of baking, remove the poolish from the fridge and let it rest outside for at least 1 hr before using it. When the poolish is ready, mix the yeast with the water (lukewarm) and then add the flour, salt and olive oil. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. (Too sticky means it doesn't come off the walls of the bowl you're mixing it in). Flour your counter and place your dough in it. Stretch the dough and fold it over itself the same way you fold a letter. (One third of it towards the center, then the other third, then fold those two parts so it looks like a closed book). Repeat the folding and brush the top of the dough with olive oil. Let the dough rest for 30 min. Repeat the folding and brushing and let the dough rest for 2 hrs. Cut your dough in whatever shapes you'd like, I made two loaves. Put it on top of parchment paper and let it rise for 1 hr. Preheat your oven to 220 C or 400 F. Bake your loaves for 20-25 min, until they are golden brown and make a hollow sound when you 'knock' them.

Christmas decorated sugar cookies and travels

2010-12-18T07:07:00.000-08:00

Hola everyone! I'm writing from home! Yes, I'm back in Spain for the holidays, and I haven't stopped baking ever since I landed. Well, let's be honest, I haven't stopped eating either. Food's too good around here. My mum loves feeding me. She's obviously convinced that I look too skinny, even if I've put a few pounds ever since she last saw me.

Even better, my entire family is now highly motivated with the whole baking business. Something unheard of. We've always been a family of cooks, but there used to be no bakers. I was the 'pioneer' and I've gotten all of them into it, which makes me insanely happy. In the last three days, I've taught my mum how to make bread, my sister how to make and decorate sugar cookies and I've had my dad help me out taking food pictures.

This cookies are my sisters' present to her friends. A couple weeks ago she sent me a link to a bakery here in Barcelona that makes decorated sugar cookies. They make nice stuff, pretty and also extremely expensive. 4$ a cookie, 40$ for a box of 4 Christmas themed ones. Apparently she's been buying them for a couple years for the holidays. I find it quite insane. I convinced her we could make a batch of 30 cookies for way less than 10$. And yesterday, there we were, hands on dough.

We had lots of fun with this project. I did the icing piping, she made the tree trunks with melted chocolate. And my future nephew, who is currently in my sisters' belly, was really happy with it. He started moving and kicking as soon as the cookies in the oven started impregnating the kitchen with a wonderful smell. The typical American Christmas cookies are the gingerbread ones, but here in Spain, people are not quite used to that flavor. I think sugar cookies make for a great alternative or even a nice addition to the gingerbread ones. And I certainly think you should make these!

Sugar cookies:
Recipe adapted from Daring Bakers

200g / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
400g / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose flour
200g / 7oz / 1 cup Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten

Preheat your oven to 350 F/180 C

Cut the butter in chunks and add the sugar. With your hands or a beater, combine until the sugar is completely incorporated in the butter. Add the beaten egg and mix until combined. Add the flour and mix with a spoon until you get a homogeneous hard dough. Refrigerate the dough for about 1 hr.
With a rolling pin, roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/2 cm or 1/5 of an inch. Cut the shapes with floured cookie cutters and place in a baking pan covered with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the bottom of the cookies is golden brown. Don't overbake them or they'll become hard. Let the cookies cool before icing.

Royal Icing:
Recipe adapted from Daring Bakers
(makes enough to decorate 30 cookies the way we made them, if you're planning on flooding them, I'd suggest you double the recipe)

150g – 175g / 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
1 Egg White
5ml / 1 tsp Lemon Juice

Combine the ingredients in a bowl and beat them by hand or with an electric mixer for about 10 minutes or until you achieve the desired consistency. Flooding icing should be thinner and runny. We were just 'painting' with the icing so we added a little bit more powdered sugar to make it thicker.
Mix the icing with food coloring as desired. Pipe on the cookies and let it dry overnight.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and the blog turns 1!

2010-12-10T22:27:00.000-08:00

Wow... it happened... this blog turned a year old! Happy bloggiversary to me! It's amazing to see how much this blog has changed my life and how much my life has changed in a year.

A year ago I was in Boston, now I'm in Portland. I was working at a company, praying to get admitted in a PhD program. Today, I'm a PhD student, with a lab, a project and a fantastic boss. (For real, no ass kissing). I've made tons of new friends, I've said see you later to the old ones, I've cried, laughed and got my heart broken.

This is my 94th post. Crazy huh? 94 recipes shared with all of you. 94 recipes that have allowed me to share my sorrows, my happiness, my struggles in the kitchen and outside of it. And most importantly, to meet amazing people in the blogging world. Like Maria, who's become one of my closest friends, even if she's all the way back in Spain.

There's also all those blogs that inspire me, because of their recipes, their photos and the people who write them. Megan, Steph , Ellie, Carmen, 'the reds' and Mercè are great examples.

The pictures have also gotten better, even if they could still improve a lot! I have to thank Foodgawker and Tastespotting for accepting my pictures and for making me really mad when they didn't. Because that made me put even more effort into taking 'good enough' food porn. I can't forget 'Baking is Hot' either. Specially Patty for being such a nice gal and always willing to post my recipes.

And last but not at all least. I have to say thank you to all my testers. To all the friends, roommates, labmates and coworkers who've eaten everything that's been baked in my kitchen. Thanks for your smiles, for your hunger, for your complaints about gaining weight and for your praise over this blog. I wouldn't bake if I didn't have amazing eaters around me.

And now for the recipe!

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground cinnamon (or as much as you like)
¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

For the frosting:

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar (or more depending on how sweet you want it)

Preheat your oven to 350 F

In a bowl, mix the oil, brown sugar and pumpkin. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda and the spices. Add the dry mix to the wet mix in increments. Do not overmix or your cupcakes will be heavy.

Pour the batter into lined muffin tins. They should be about 3/4 full. I used mini muffin liners to have 'bite size' cupcakes but you can use whatever size you'd like. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Make sure to check them at the 15 min mark.

For the frosting. Beat together the cream cheese, sugar and maple syrup until the consistency is right. If the frosting is too runny add more sugar. It should be 'hard' enough that you can frost the cupcakes with a spatula or pipe them with a bag.

Once the cupcakes are baked, let them cool and then frost. While they are cooling, make sure to keep your frosting cold or it will become too soft.

And because it's my blogiversary, I'm gonna allow myself the license of posting a picture of me. Frosting a cupcake. Because it's ok to do so once a year! (and yes, it was cold and I was wearing a hat inside the house...)

Banana everything blondies and things to do in Portland

2010-11-17T20:35:00.000-08:00

Yay! first post in... forever! Sorry guys... grad school is intense. Actually, my life's been pretty intense in the last two months. I don't know how, but way more things that I could think of, happened in the last two months. I know, you're curious...

Let's see... I started grad school which means teaching and a bunch of classes. I met about 20 new people from my department, plus about another 20 new people from outside of school. I made friends with some of those people. In fact, some of those people are a fundamental part of my mental survival these days.

With those new friends, I've seen a good amount of bars and coffee places in Portland that I highly recommend. Let's see... right next to school there's Momo's, which has a great patio with picnic tables. Now that it's cold, they have heaters so you can enjoy your drinks and not freeze outside. For a great sports watching experience, a.k.a seeing the Giants win the world series, Claudia's Sports Pub & Grill. Giant screen and great food. If you want even more awesome food, or the best wings in Portland plus dirty, unhealthy but extremely yummy fried oreos, Fire on the Mountain is the place to go (check out their site, it's mad cool!). If after lots of wings and beer, you're hangover and need a coffee, Little t american baker is waiting for you. They even make those cute foam shapes on your cappuccino.

Besides eating and drinking, there's been other activities. My friends convinced me to start hulahooping. I know, sounds like kids games, but it's extremely fun! Add to it the city sport in Portland, or what could be it. Frisbee. Ultimate frisbee, frisbee golf? make your pick! I'm all for frisbee golf at McIver state park which is a beautiful place to spend a Saturday or Sunday morning, even if you don't 'folf'. On the way there, you're gonna want to stop at Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Store, that's right, it's the true Bob's Red Mill and it's located right outside the city. (In fact we're pretty positive we saw Bob himself!). And not only is there a factory but also a great restaurant. I highly recommend their biscuits and gravy or their grits. Which are two things I discovered this last two months as well!

So I made friends and we went places. I also liked someone, dated that someone for a while and it didn't work out. But that's life and it just keeps rolling. So last weekend I got together with some of my buddies and made these blondies. They are sort of an accident. While I was completely positive I'd bought chocolate chips, I was greatly surprised when I opened the bag and saw they were in fact butterscotch chips. So my originally intended banana bread for my friend Joe, turned into bananas + butterscotch and why not some of the leftover coconut milk I was using for my curry. To top it off, some peanut butter swirl on top. Done and done! and delicious!

So, what have you guys done lately? and most importantly, what have you baked?

The everything blondies

2 very ripe bananas mashed

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup coconut milk

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup butterscotch chips

About 3 tablespoons peanut butter for the swirl

Preheat your oven at 350 F

In a bowl, beat together the melted butter and the sugar. Add the banana and mix until creamy and then stir in the coconut milk and the egg. Mix the flour until just combined and add the butterscotch chips. Pour the batter in a greased large baking pan (13 x 9 in) and flatten it up with a spatula. Add a couple tablespoons of peanut butter on top and swirl with a knife. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Wait until the blondies are cooled down to cut them.

Beer sauce meatballs, fast easy meals for students

2010-10-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

My friend Nick always says beer makes everything better. I have to admit, it sometimes makes my weeks better. You'll wonder why. Well, on Friday, the chemistry department has a seminar from 3 to 4 and after that we get together, some of us, and go for a beer.

That beer is the time of the week when you get to relax, forget about stressful stuff, forget about science, students, classes, grades. It's the time to meet new people, to talk to those familiar faces that you see around walking down corridors but you haven't had the chance to have a chat with. It's quite honestly great.

These meatballs are great too. See, I don't have much time to cook during the week. Too many things to do to spend hours in the kitchen. So I just gather ingredients on the weekend and make enough food for a week of survival. My beer sauce meatballs are now a staple among my friends. They're juicy and tender, they're not too filling and they've got lots of great things in them.

The beer just makes them so much better! it adds a bit of a stronger flavor and pairs really well with any type of meat. These ones are chicken but I've made them with turkey, beef, pork... anything works! Even soy meat is great, so no excuse for vegetarians.

Chicken meatballs with beer sauce

Makes about 25-30 meatballs

1 lb of ground meat of your choice, chicken, turkey, beef, pork, soy...

1 egg

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs, regular or italian seasoned

Herbs of your choice (if your bread crumbs have herbs you won't need them)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Olive oil

1/4 pound of mushrooms

1/2 onion

Chicken stock

Light cream or milk

Beer of your choice, preferably not too dark (Coronita, IPA, lagers work great)

Sautee your onion until tender, at low heat. Add the mushrooms and let them cook until they've released all the water and they look cooked. In the meantime, let your meat get to room temperature so ingredients mix better. Add the meat, egg, bread crumbs and seasoning in a bowl and mix well. You want your meat not to be sticky, if it is, just add more bread crumbs until you can work it without it sticking in your hands. Make balls the size of a ping-pong ball and once the onions and mushrooms are done, slightly fry your meatballs, just until they are seared. This prevents them from falling apart once you add the liquid.

Add about 1/2 cup of beer if it's a strongly flavored one (dark lagers) and about 3/4 cups if it's a lighter one (coronita). Add also a cup of water or of chicken broth and about 2 tablespoons of milk or light cream. Let the meatballs cook at low heat until tender. If the liquid evaporates too fast, just add more water or chicken broth.

Banana chocolate chip oatmeal bread and teaching

2010-10-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

Yes! I'm still here! busy but baking and trying to post. This past two weeks have been insane. My exam at OHSU on Friday night (yes yes, Fri-day night), was the end of this crazy days of just studying. Granted I need to bake when I take a break, otherwise I'd be going insane. For real.

Anyway, other than classes, what keeps me busy is teaching. My little kiddos, or not so little, since a lot of them are decades older than me. I teach general chemistry lab. It's fun, it's a lot of work. Sometimes it's really frustrating but in general it's a dream come true.

I honestly believe that if you can get people excited about what they do in a lab, everything becomes much easier when they go back to the textbook. I have to say, I'm a lucky gal. I had wonderful T.A's (for those who are not familiar with the terminology, teacher assistant). I loved my lab classes and I'm still really good friends with some of my teachers.

I have to admit that I already have my favorite kids. The ones who are really interested in the class, that are excited about learning and are a pain in my ass asking questions all the time. And then obviously there's the stereotypes. Cute girl who doesn't listen to me, hot guy who thinks his 'goodlookingness' is gonna give him a good grade, smart guys who don't need any help or give me any trouble... and so on and so forth.

The worst part is the grading. You should see my desk. Full of reports with millions of corrections. They are scary those reports. You would think that by this time, in college, students would know some grammar. Don't be fooled, they don't. I guess we'll have to teach them how to write. Right?

Anyway, the one thing I didn't expect when I started teaching was the exhaustion and the hunger. After my Wednesday evening class, which ends at 8PM, I just want to eat a dinosaur and go to bed. The key to prevent myself from starving is making big pots of soups and stews during the weekend so I can just come home and eat. Not sleep. That's not allowed yet.

This banana bread was what happened a few days ago, when I really needed a break from grading. It was sort of a birthday gift to my friend Ali, who's birthday was around that date. It's not a cake, but it made her really happy. I'm sure you'll love it. Lots of oats, whole wheat flour, bananas and the kick of chocolate chips. Mixed and baked in an hour, self made recipe!. Too easy not to make.

Banana oatmeal chocolate chip bread

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cups brown sugar

1 cup old-fashioned oats

2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1 stick of butter

2 large bananas mashed

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 F

In a bowl, cream the sugar and the butter. Add the eggs and mix until combined. Stir in the bananas and mix until creamy. Mix in the flour and baking powder. Add the oats and chocolate chips and combine with a spatula until homogeneous. If desired, top the bread with a few banana slices to make it prettier. Bake for about 40 min, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Let it cool before slicing so the chocolate chips remain intact.

Blueberry peach crisp and the crazyness of grad school

2010-10-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

You might be wondering where I've been... why I haven't posted in almost two weeks or I don't comment on other blogs as often. The answer is grad school. I've spent the past 10 days reading so much daily that I can't keep the headaches away. I still have time to cook, although not so much to take pictures of any baked goods, but don't worry, it'll happen. Maybe less frequently, but this blog is not closing any time soon.

Those of you who read often know that I just started a PhD in Chemistry. I don't really have that many classes, but boy, are they intense or what... Take for instance my class at OHSU, where we have about 100 pages posted the evening before our next class, which are supposed to be read for the class. I feel like hiding my head underground every time it happens. But I can't complain, I enjoy it too much.

I'm one of those dorky girls who gets a huge kick out of sitting at a seminar and understanding what the professor is talking about. I'm thrilled about understanding relationships between metabolic processes and diseases. But more than anything I love being in a lab more than anything else in the world.

Now that I'm a grad student, not only do I get to work in a lab, but I also get to teach a lab. I can't put into words how exciting this is. I've been waiting for this moment to come for two years. To be able to show the newbies how to do experiments, how to work in the lab, how to understand the chemistry behind what they're doing. Hopefully this excitement is contagious and my students enjoy the lab as much as I do.

Even with the large amount of work, I still try to eat decently well, specially for breakfast. Sometimes you're not sure when the next meal is gonna be, so starting the day with abundant fuel seems like the right thing to do. On Saturday, the farmers market takes place at the PSU campus, so I just walk a couple of blocks and find myself surrounded by fresh fruit and veggies. Cold weather seems to have arrived to Portland, but I was lucky enough to find some peaches and blueberries before it did. They went into this easy and wonderful crisp, which would work with pretty much any other fruit and will warm up the cold fall mornings.

Blueberry and peach crisp

Serves 2

1 peach

1 cup fresh blueberries

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons of butter

1 cup of old fashioned oats

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Peel and cut the peaches in big chunks. Mix with the blueberries and the two tablespoons of sugar. Stir it well to coat the fruit and let it sit for about 5 minutes so it releases part of the juices. With your fingers, mix together the butter and oats so they get sticky. Distribute the fruit in two oven-safe bowls, ramekins or container of sorts and cover with the butter and oat mixture. Sprinkle with a bit more brown sugar and bake for about 30 minutes, until the oats are crisp and the fruit is cooked and juicy.

Growing up, 'rosquilletas' and birthday cake

2010-09-21T14:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I turned 25. Quarter of a century, big number, a little scary, a little wonderful. For many reasons this birthday has made me reflect a lot about past, present and future. About growing up and life choices. I guess with age, comes wisdom, even if it's not a lot of it.

I guess all of us reach a point in our lives in which priorities change drastically. We look back and laugh at what years ago seemed so important. Having that new pair of shoes, buying a new purse, being cool or popular at school seem such silly things right now. Somehow, we all grow up, or at least most of us, to realize that life priorities usually involve people, ourselves and our career.

By people I mean family and friends and sometimes couples. Living abroad I've realized how important it is to keep people you love close, in one way or another. The internet and its technologies make it easier to keep in touch with those who live far, but it still requires an effort. In my case, it's an effort totally worth making. Meeting new people and making new friends is always on top of the list as well. The truth is, when you live 6000 miles away from your family, friends take that place.

Once more, a few years ago, I would've complained about how sometimes my mum didn't understand anything or how my dad was grumpy and annoying or how I fought with my sisters about silly stuff. Today I'm proud and happy of having all of them in my life. I appreciate all the effort my parents have put in my education and all the nights my sisters didn't go out just to babysit me. At 25 I realize that they're probably the most important thing in my life and I wouldn't be where I am without them.

And finally myself. Growing up involves accepting who you are and understanding that there's not such a thing as being perfect. Might sound too typical, but it ends up being true. Dealing with your flaws, using your virtues, accepting that you might not be the smartest kid or the most good looking are sort of the painful part of getting old. Painful until you realize that there's people who love you for who you are and that those people make your life so amazing that the rest doesn't really matter anymore.

So here it is, my growing up. And these delicious cookies I haven't talked about yet. They're the typical bread-cookie from my dad's town. I've eaten this cookies ever since I can remember and it seemed about time to try to make them myself. They're crunchy and tasty, perfect for dipping in coffee, even though they're not sweet. You can give them whatever shape you want, sticks, pretzels or round, they're all gonna taste amazing. The recipe makes a ton of them and they keep very well in an airtight container for several days, so you have no excuse! gotta try them!

'Rosquilletas'

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons of yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons anise seeds (you can omit them if you want but the cookies definitely don't taste like anise)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup water

1 egg

1/2 cup sesame seeds

Mix the flour, yeast, salt, sugar and anise seeds in a mixing bowl. Stir until combined. Add the milk, the olive oil and the water. Knead the dough for 5 minutes until it's soft and elastic. Let it rest for about 2 hrs or until doubled in size.

Divide the dough in 20-30 balls, depending on how big you'd like the cookies to be. I made 25 balls. Let them rise again until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Roll the balls into ropes and form a ring. Brush the top of the cookies with egg and dip them in sesame seeds.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until the tops are golden and the cookies are crunchy. Don't overbake or else they'll be hard.

Oh, I mentioned it was my birthday. I made myself a cake for the party we had on Saturday. I couldn't take many pictures of because it was made late in the afternoon and it was pouring water outside. So just one pic of the result. The cake was a 3 layer white cake, recipe here, filled with a mix of whipped cream and cocoa powder, sliced bananas and shredded coconut. The frosting is whipped cream and cocoa as well and the top is a simple chocolate ganache.

Dumplings, school and my new city

2010-09-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

It’s back to school time. Kids with their backpacks full of books, their uniforms and the nostalgia of the summer that just ended. College students run through the stores looking for cheap bedroom furniture and tons of ramen to survive cold nights. I myself, well, I’m also going back to school, grad school that is.

I’m honestly still getting myself used to the idea of starting a PhD. After two years of applications, exams and a lot of stress, everything starts on Wednesday. I cannot tell you how excited I am. Plus, to add another layer of excitement to my life, I just moved from the east coast to the west. Portland (OR) is my new home now.

I don’t really know where to begin the list of amazing things about this city. I could talk about how everything’s green everywhere, about the kindness of people around here. I could mention the enormous amount of food trucks with delicious food in every corner or the mad crazy bakeries, like ‘Grand Central’, where I ate the best sandwich I’ve eaten so far. I could just keep going. But let’s just say I love this place.

Still, there was a bit of sadness when I left Boston. After all, I was leaving really good friends over there. I’m certainly not gonna miss the several inches of snow in winter or the crazy nonsense temperature changes. But I’ll miss walking through the Harvard yard almost daily to catch the T (the subway) and the always beautiful Boston Common. More than anything, I’ll miss the views from the T, when you’re crossing the river and the Prudential and the Hancock face you.

These dumplings are one of the last things I made before moving. They wouldn’t have happened without the help of my friend Stephie. She's originally from China and an expert dumpling maker. I've always been curious as to how they are made at home. They certainly take quite a bit of time, but it's totally worth it. Since the process of folding them is a little tricky, I created this simple step by step picture tutorial. I hope it's useful!

Pork dumplings with napa cabbage, onions and mushrooms

Part 1: Ingredients and filling

1 pound ground pork

1 small napa cabbage or half of a big one

A bunch of onions

A handful of mushrooms

1 package of dumpling wrappers

Soy sauce

Sriracha sauce

Sesame oil

These ingredients are just an orientation. Use whatever veggies you like best or are easier for you to find I definitely recommend giving a try to napa cabbage. It's a healthy, cheap, not strong tasting veggie. That means it goes well with pretty much anything and it can be flavored very easily. Onions and mushrooms also blend quite well with the meat, but you can definitely thrown in a different kind of them.

To prepare the filling:

Chop the mushrooms and onions into small pieces. Remove the stalks from the napa cabbage, don't throw them away, just set them aside. They can be used for other purposes such as making soup, but they tend to be a little too hard for dumplings. Chop the cabbage and mix all the veggies with the ground pork. Add salt and pepper and then about 1 teaspoon of sesame oil (don't go crazy, it has a really strong taste to it), 1 tablespoon or sriracha and about 3 tablespoons of soy sauce. These measures are approximate. I'd recommend making a small batch of dumplings first and trying them when they're done, then adjusting the sauces to taste.

Part 2: Assembling the dumplings

Step 1: Place about tablespoon of filling on the center of the dumpling wrapper and wet the sides of it with water. This makes it sticky and is the trick to keeping the dumpling closed The amount in the picture is a pretty decent amount that won't give you trouble when sealing your dumpling. Too much will make the process really hard and you'll risk having them break apart while boiling.

Step 2: Fold the wrapper over itself, grab it by the center and pinch it hard.

Step 3: Fold one side of the wrapper towards the center and pinch hard.

Step 4: Repeat with the other half side of the wrapper. Pinch the two folds hard. Not so hard that it will crack the wrapper, just enough to make sure it's closed.

Step 5: Fold one half of the wrapper over itself making sure to pinch after each fold.

Step 6: Once one side is finished, fold the other side and you'll be done with your dumpling. The finished product should look like this

Once the dumplings are finished, you just have to boil them for 6-8 minutes and enjoy them with your favorite sauce. I certainly did enjoy mine.

BBD #33: Breads with booze roundup Part 2 - Sweet breads, red wine and other loaves

2010-09-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

Here we go! second part of the roundup! Remember, this edition of BBD was about breads with booze and Part 1 was a roundup of the beer bread recipes. This time, we're mixing and matching breads with wine and sweet breads with a variety of booze. Check it out!

Also, I'd like to remind you again that next month BBD will instead be world bread day! hosted by the creator of BBD, Zorra. If you don't want to miss this event or the rest of BBD's you can become a fan on facebook.

First let's check the sweet breads

Zorra from Kochtopf and who writes from Spain (yay!) sent this amazing almond liqueur flavored cornetti

Palmira from Come conmigo in Barcelona (another yay!) sends 'Panecillos suaves del borracho' which means soft drunk (as in a person) breads, they are sweet breads with red wine and spices.

My contribution to the BBD 33 were these Banana Bourbon Cinnamon rolls

Natalia from Gati fili e farina brings straight from Italy this delicious Crescia cingolana

Swathi from Zesty South Indian Kitchen sends the traditional German stollen

Jamie from Life's a feast sent a Fouace Nantaise, a delicious brioche infused with rum

Andrea from Family & Food in Germany sends Cinnamon Buns

Mimi from Baking Fix (NY) sends Cinnamon comfort Buns

Now for the red wine and the rest of loaves, all very yum!

Sandra from Gesund Geniessen (China), sends this whole wheat bread with red wine

Verena from Mangia che te fa benne (Brazil) sends a Red wine walnut tin loaf

Nicole from Bread Butter and Buns sent this very typical Spanish torrijas de vino, super yum sort of french toast the Spanish way. (In my family these are a staple!)

Tanna from My Kitchen in Half Cups, sent this breakfast fruit bread, booze in your breakfast? sounds good to me!

Cinzia from Cindystar sent this Slim Pizza

Finally Jacqueline from Toxo Bread (VT) got a little late for the beer breads but here's her Guinness Rye

BBD #33: Breads with booze Roundup Part 1 - Beer breads

2010-09-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

Here it is! the round up of the BBD 33rd edition! Thanks so much for the huge participation and for being so enthusiastic about adding booze to your breads. Next month, instead of BBD, Zorra, the creator of the event, will be hosting the 5th World Bread Day. Get ready for it!

I've received a lot of recipes including beer so I decided to group them all in this first part of the roundup. Lots of great ideas! check them out!

Heather, 'Girlchef', from Indiana (USA), sends this yeasted beer bread

Lien, from Notitie Van Lien (Netherlands) made Anise and Guinness bread

Stefanie from Hefe und mehr (Germany) sent this Schwarzbier bread

Natashya from Living in the Kitchen with puppies, (Canada), made soft pretzels with beer

Lucy from Lucy Vanilla (London, UK), made this cute looking Rum cask beer bread, you can find the recipe here

Audax sent these great 3 variations on rye, golden syrup and beer bread all the way from Australia, recipe here

Lindsey, from 'A chance of Sprinkles' (Pittsburg) sent me this great Guiness date rye loaf

Judy from 'Judy's gross eats' (Ventura, CA) made this amazing sandwich bread, adding beer, Caraway cheese loaf

Finally, Marivi from Dias de cochura, sent a mustard and beer bread

Stay tuned for the second part of the roundup! Wine, rum and sweet breads are waiting for you!

Blackberry jam or how simple things can be amazing

2010-08-29T03:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Yes, I'm back in Barcelona. Back from my dad's town. Back from the best three weeks of the summer. I guess that's good enough of an excuse to have been a little disappeared for a while. That and the really really bad internet connection over there.

You might be wondering what have I been doing. It's hard to compress everything that's happened in a sentence or even a paragraph. I told you about my dad's town holidays. The bulls, the party, serving drinks, lack of sleep but lots of fun.

The holidays were over on the 14th and ever since I've been just relaxing and enjoying the really good company of my friends. I'm a lucky girl, I have amazing friends. It doesn't matter if I haven't seen them in two years or two months, everything is always just in place.

We've laughed a lot and lived in a very Spanish lifestyle for a couple weeks. Waking up late, going to the bar for a beer before lunch, for a coffee after lunch and for drinks at night. We've been just hanging out without any pretension. Vacation with them is not about going to fancy places for dinner or staying at expensive hotels. It's about having dinner all together in our 'garito' and falling asleep on the couch.

Needless to say, I've been eating a whole bunch. On the tapas side there's been a lot of 'bravas' (spicy potatoes), 'puntilla' (fried in batter 'chipiron' head), 'rabo' (pig's tail) and so on and so forth. I also got to eat my aunt's paella again. Quite amazing, I'll tell you more about it soon. And the recipe for Spanish omelette will be posted soon too.

This is a simple recipe, just like the simply amazing life I've been living this month. I really love wild blackberries and they grow insanely, if you let them, in every corner of my dad's town. So much so that farmers have to burn the bushes down so they don't cover their trees. Still, there's plenty to pick. My parents and I picked 3 1/2 cups that went to this wonderful jam.

It's not too sweet, but you could make it sweeter if you want. I didn't strain it but if you're not a fan of seeds you might want to do so. It has an intense flavor and I find it a wonderful breakfast. Even though my friend Pablo doesn't quite like blackberries anymore (ate too many of them once as a kid), this recipe is dedicated to him. Just because I'm lucky to be his friend and to have been able to try his tomato omelette which I'll make sure to post soon! By the way, wish him luck on his last nursing school exam!

Blackberry jam

3 1/2 cups blackberries

1 cup sugar

Rind of a lemon, just the yellow part, not the white, whole

Juice of half a lemon

Crush the blackberries with a spoon, fork or a masher so they release the juices. Put them in a pan along with the sugar and the lemon rind. Cook them at low heat for about 30 minutes and keep mashing them. The pectin in the lemon rind will make the jam come together. Alternatively, you can use pectin if you want to. The jam will thicken as it cools down.

Note: I'd avoid using any wooden spoons or utensils for this recipe. The blackberries will stain the wood and getting them clean isn't easy.

BBD #33: Banana bourbon cinnamon rolls

2010-08-17T07:22:00.000-07:00

Hi there! Long time, no see! I apologize for the disappearance! I must confess it’s been crazy over here. I’m currently in my dad’s hometown, recovering from a week of crazy fun, lots of work and not enough sleep.

Last week we celebrated the town holidays. Putting in words what we do over here when that happens, it’s sort of complicated, but I’ll try my best. The holidays are called ‘Los toros’, literally, the bulls. There’s no animal sacrifice of any kind, but there’s bulls and cows involved. The animals are put in a ‘plaza’, people run in front of them, they run after the people. Sometimes people get caught and it isn’t pretty, but usually everything works out just fine.

Even though that’s one of the main activities, there’s many others. The ‘cuadrillas’, which are groups of friends around the same age, get together and party all day long. At night there’s the ‘charanga’. That’s a popular procession around the town, following the town’s band, asking (literally) for water. No joke. The idea is to get totally soaked with the water that people throw down their balconies while dancing around and singing traditional songs. After midnight, there’s always dancing of some kind and ‘toro embolao’ which feels too complicated to explain.

In addition to the regular lack of sleep, this year, my group of friends, were organizing the holidays. That means assembling tons of stuff, setting up tables, serving drinks and controlling that all the rules are followed when there’s bulls involved. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s been totally worth it. There’s no better way to bond with your friends than staying awake day after day, past dawn and looking at each other with tired eyes and a smile on your face.

Like I said, it’s hard to put into words what’s been going on. What isn’t hard to make or enjoy are these bourbon banana rolls. They’re made with a simple sweet dough and filled with bourbon cooked bananas mashed with some cinnamon. One could say they are bananas flambé inside a brioche. I got the sweet dough recipe from ‘Artisan baking’. The process is quite long but totally worth it. You’ll get the softest rolls you could imagine.
This is my contribution to the BBD# 33: Breads with booze which I have the pleasure to host this month. There’s still plenty of time to participate, so go for it!

BOURBON BANANA CINNAMON ROLLS
For the sweet dough
From ‘Artisan Baking’
Makes 18 rolls

½ cup milk
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons table salt
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ cup unsalted butter

Microwave the milk for 4 min or heat it in a pan until bubbles form around the edges and the milk smells cooked. Let it cool to 105 F and dissolve the yeast in the milk. (Scalding the milk denatures the proteins that prevent gluten formation). Let it stand for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, add the flour and then the yeast mixture and eggs. With a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic and let it stand for 15 to 20 min.
Add the salt to the dough and mix until combined. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead until smooth, for about 10 min. The salt will incorporate just fine. Add half the sugar and keep kneading, then add the other half. Finally, add the butter in 2 additions and knead it into the dough until this is satiny and soft.

Place the dough in a covered container in the fridge, for at least 8 hrs and up to 48.

For the filling
Makes 9 rolls

4 very ripe bananas
½ cup bourbon
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cut the bananas into big chunks and cook in a pan with the bourbon until all the liquid is absorbed. Transfer the bananas to a bowl and mash together with the cinnamon. Let the filling cool.

To assemble the rolls

Roll the sweet dough into a rectangle, ½ inch in thickness. Spread the cooled banana filing and roll the dough like you would do with a swiss roll. Cut the dough into 1 to 1 ½ inch pieces and place them in a round pan. Let them rise for 30 min. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 325 F. Brush the rolls with egg wash. Bake them for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Let them cool slightly before eating.

Announcing Bread Baking Day #33: Breads with booze

2010-08-06T01:17:00.000-07:00

Yes! you read it correctly! I'm happy to announce that I'll be hosting the Bread Baking Day #33!

What's the Bread Baking Day you ask? It's a bread baking event created by Zorra from 1x umrühren bitte
which has been going on for already 3 years! Check out the latest roundup of Italian Breads at Family, Food and other things.

So what's Breads with booze? any yeasted bread which contains booze in any way. You can make a filling with kirsch, a glaze with rum or use beer as your bread's yeast, the limit is your imagination.

How to participate in BBD #33?

Bake your bread
Post about it on your blog with a link back to this post.
Send in one recipe from each blog please.
Your recipe can be written in English, French, German, Spanish, Catalan or Italian.
Non-bloggers can email me the necessary details and your entries will be included.
Send me an e-mail at efectegerundi@gmail.com and include:
- Your name
- Your location
- Your blog’s name and URL
- The name of your bread and the post URL (permalink)
- A picture of the bread 250 x 250 pixels
- Subject line: BBD#33: Breads with Booze!
Deadline for submission is September 1st, 2010.

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with! I hope all of you participate, the more, the merrier!