I Cook!

White Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-02-13T00:45:00.000-08:00

Here is the last of the Christmas cookies! This is a simple little recipe, just a reverse of your regular chocolate chip cookies. As with any cookies of this sort, you can bake them for any occasion or no occasion at all! I hope you enjoy them!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in the white chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cookies are set. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets first then remove to wire racks.

Raspberry Nut Pinwheels

2011-02-12T23:52:00.000-08:00

Here is the second last installment of my Christmas cookies! I mentioned in the previous post that I made these for my team at work for the holiday season and only now was I able to get them posted. These cookies are great! I had never tried them before making them which seems to be true for most of what I make. But I am glad I did. I mean with a name like that how can you not be intrigued. These cookies have a bit harder texture then what I usually make but for good reason. That being that they need to be to hold the filling and nuts. I think these are good for any occasion be it Christmas or even just for guests at your home.

Just one note about these before we get started. The ingredients call for seedless raspberry jam but being as I am not a big fan of store bought jams, I took fresh raspberries and sugared them lightly before doing my best to remove the seeds. That way I avoided overly sweet jams and it worked just as good as any jam would. On to the recipe!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Method:

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

Roll out dough between two sheets of waxed paper into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick.

Remove top piece of waxed paper. Spread dough with jam and sprinkle walnuts on top afterwards.

Roll up tightly like you would a jelly roll and wrap in plastic wrap. You may need two people for this.

Chill for 2 hours or until firm. Unwrap dough and cut into 1/4 inch slices.

Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 375 for 9-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Gently remove and place on wire racks to cool.

Delicate Mint Thins

2011-02-12T22:37:00.000-08:00

Hey again! I managed to steal some time away from work to try and post a handful more recipes that were meant to go up for the Christmas season. As you can gather, time's been against me and it's mid February and I'm trying to post these babies. Oh well, better late then never right? For my team at work I decided I would do as I did last year and make them each a box of assorted cookies for the holidays. Two recipes, of which I already posted. This batch, I think, are my best ones yet. Of course, I only did this once before haha. The recipe for today are these Mint Thins. These are great for the Christmas season because they use fresh (not dried) mint. Last year I made a couple of cookies in which I used mint extract. But after trying these, I don't think I will go that route again. These just taste so much more natural and refreshing then any extract. Let me know what you think about this unique cookie!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

3 tbps milk

1 cup FRESH mint, finely chopped

1 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 tbsp shortening

Method:

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture altenately with milk, mixing well after each addition.

Stir in the fresh mint. Shape into 8 inch rolls. Wrap each in plastic wrap. Chill for at least two hours or until firm.

Unwrap and cut into 1/4 inch slices.

Place 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Remove and gently place onto wire racks to cool. In a microwave or double boiler, melt your chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Dip each cookie halfway and allow any excess to drip off. Place each cookie on wax paper to set.

There you go! Fresh mint thins (almost) ready to eat!

Apricot Cheese Crescents!

2010-12-22T00:18:00.000-08:00

These Christmas-y bite-size turnovers are sure to be a hit no matter what time of year you serve them! They take a bit of prep time but in the end its worth it, and the sky is the limit with what you can fill them with. For this recipe, apricot is the fruit of choice. I got this recipe from a book I recently bought and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Ingredients:

Dough:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold butter
1 cup cottage cheese

Filling:
6 ounces dried apricots (yes they must be dried)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar (I used less but it is up to your tastes)

Topping:
3/4 cup finely chopped nuts (any kind)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Method:

In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Using your hands, cut in your butter to form crumbly bits.

Add the cottage cheese and mix well. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place in a container and refrigerate overnight if possible.

To make the filling, combine the dried apricots and water in a saucepan and simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cool for 10 minutes. Using a food processor or blender, process until you get a 'jam-like' consistency. Stir in the sugar, cover and refrigerate.

For the topping, combine the nuts and sugar in a bowl and set aside.

Once your dough has been chilled overnight, it is ready to work with. On a floured surface, roll the little balls into 2 1/2 inch circles. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of filling into the center of the dough.

Fold the dough over the filling and press the edges to seal them. If they come apart, use a little bit of water to help the union.

If you have a fondant roller or a knife, you can remove the excess dough from the edges but make sure to leave a little bit. They should come out looking something like small raviolis
.

Brush the top of your ravioli with some egg whites and then sprinkle with the nut/sugar mixture.

Now you can place them onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until they look toasted and slightly brown on the top.

Remove from the oven and place onto wire racks to cool. A word to the wise don't try to eat these before they have completely cooled, my husband learned the hard way that hot jam burns haha

Good luck with this recipe and I hope you enjoy it!

Chocolate Hazelnut Macaroons

2010-12-21T23:11:00.000-08:00

It's been a long while since I last posted but just in time (and I mean JUST in time) I decided to post a couple of recipes that I recently made for myself this holiday season. To start off, these chocolate macaroons! These are extremely easy to make and I am sure you will agree taste great too.

Ingredients:

2 cups flaked coconut (if you get the sweetened kind, add less sugar to the recipe)
1/2 cup finely chopped Hazelnuts (or any other nut you choose)
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
pinch of salt
2 egg whites, beaten
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 squares (4 ounces) semisweet chocolate

Method:

In a large bowl combine the coconut, nuts, sugar, cocoa, flour and salt. Add the egg whites, corn syrup and vanilla. Mix well.

Using a small ice cream scoop, or tablespoon, drop mixture onto greased baking sheets. You can afford to put them close together as they don't expand much. Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes.

Don't overcook these or they will become hard. Once finished, cool for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool.

While these are cooling take a double boiler and melt your chocolate. Dip the top of each macaroon with chocolate and let the excess drip off. You can also dip the bottoms if you prefer rather than the tops.

Place them back onto your wire rack to dry. If you decided to dip the bottoms, place them onto wax paper to dry instead.

This recipe should yeild about 1 1/2 dozen.

Enjoy!

Chivito Canadiense!

2010-07-26T17:30:00.000-07:00

Chivito Canadiense is a special dish found in Uruguay that can most easily be described as a 'steak sandwhich' Uruguayan style. Literally translated, a chivito is (from what I understand) a baby goat, Canadian style. I have read many stories as to where the origins of it come from and most point to a blackout, an Argentinian looking for a meal reminiscent of home at a local Montevidian restuarant and what they produced for her instead. This became known as el Chivito. There are endless variations to preparing the chivito but I have chosen a simple version. I beleive the reason they decided to name it after my country of my birth is probably because of the use of Canadian bacon / ham. Since I hate ham however, I chose bacon for this post. ;)

What you will need:

Bread (either a hard roll or hamburger style bread)

Beef cut into 1/4 cut steaks (filet mingon, or for you Uruguayans you need a couple churrascos.)

Bacon strips

Tomatoes, sliced

Lettuce

Onions, chopped

Red Bell Peppers, chopped

Mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly
Sliced Pickles

Mayonnaise, to taste

Method:

First things first, you want to cut your bread in half so it will be ready to house your meat and veggies. Second take a frying pan and start to cook your bacon, sliced onions and chopped red peppers.

If the peppers or onions need more time you should be able to remove the bacon and continue cooking the rest in the remaining bacon fat. Once the veggies are cooked to your taste (onions should be golden brown) then you can use the remaining grease to cook the Churrascos. Once they are about half way cooked to your liking, salt them on each side and place your mozzarella on top so it can start melting.

Now comes the fun part! Place your churrasco onto the sliced bread followed by your bacon, onions, red peppers, tomatoes, pickles and lettuce. On the other side of your bread you can spread some mayonnaise and close it up! Slice it in the middle and you are ready to serve!

If you want to make this a complete meal, traditionally you would serve this with french fries or potato salad. Hopefully you enjoy this guy! As I mentioned earlier, you can put several variations onto this depending on your tastes, from a fried egg to pickled beets. Enjoy!

Light tent tests and updates!

2010-07-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed, I haven't updated the blog recently. I was swamped with work for 2 months and then promptly took a two week vacation, however I haven't forgotten about my blog! I have been trying to think of ways to make the blog a little easier on the eyes. Particularly in terms of my picture taking abilities! Previously I was using a point and shoot Canon camera, but I decided to upgrade since that one was getting quite old. No, no, I didn't get a digital SLR or anything fancy like that, but instead another another point and shoot style Canon (the newest edition).

The other thing I got was a brand new light tent! The reason for that was just to try and improve lighting conditions, etc, in my pictures. My kitchen (in case you haven't noticed) has absolutely TERRIBLE lighting in it. Honestly I haven't really figured out how I am gonna showcase any of my process shots using the light tent but we'll see. I did a couple of very quick tests with my new camera and tent and it gave me the opportunity to showcase the new (old) books my father got for me in Uruguay. It is quite obvious that I need to steam the carpets that come with the tent but this was just a quick test. Ironically, I am using the WORST lights I could have ever stolen from work. ;) They are absolutely terrible, but worked for the test. See below!

Oh also, I have made a little page on facebook for the blog, if your interested, please 'Like' it ! It is of course called 'I Cook!'.

Chimichurri!

2010-03-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

Thats right Chimichurri! (Chi - mi - chu - rri) If you have enjoyed bar-b-que Uruguayan style, then there is a good chance you have also had the pleasure of trying Chimichurri. Typically it is used as a sort of 'spread' on your juicy bar-b-qued meat to give it an extra little kick! In most cases however it is a mix of parsley, garlic, oil and vinegar, but what I am gonna show you now, is a little bit different. It is a must try if you are doing your own asado at home!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

1 1/2 cup red wine vinegar (I ended up using Balsamic for my pictures)

2 tbsp hot paprika or 1 tsp cayenne pepper

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 bunch of fresh parsley leaves, minced

1 tsp crushed black peppercorns

2 tsp dried oregano

2 bay leaves, crumbled

1 tsp salt

Find yourself a large jar and combine the oil, vinegar, paprika, garlic, parsley, peppercorns, oregano, bay leaves and salt.

Cover the jar and shake well until the ingredients have mixed thoroughly. Refrigerate the Chimichurri until you are ready to use it. Now the next time you have an asado, you can liberally brush some on your cooked meat and enjoy!

Alfajores!

2010-03-07T21:43:00.000-08:00

Hello again! This is somewhat of a continuation of my last post about Dulce de Leche. Alfajores aren't easy to find (at least here in Canada) unless you go to a specialty store. So for those of you that haven't had the chance to try them, they are essentially two shortbread cookies with Dulce de Leche in between them and lined with coconut. Sometimes you can get them chocolate dipped - which is my personal favourite. For this post however, well do it the original way with no chocolate.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups sifted flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 pound butter, softened
1 tsp lemon zest
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup dulce de leche
1 cup grated coconut

Method:

Combine the flour, salt, sugar and baking soda in a bowl. Cut in and combine the butter and lemon zest. Next mix in the egg yolks and vanilla. Once combined, place dough in the fridge for 2 hour.

Preheat your oven to 325F. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Using a small glass or other mold, cut out 2 inch diameter circles. Transfer them to a wax papered baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until they look done. They should not be brown, but should be dry. I don't like mine to be too hard, so I take them out a bit earlier.

Once the cookies are cool, spread about a 1/4 inch thick layer of dulce de leche on one cookie and top with another. Then you can roll the edges in the coconut.

And your done! I hope you enjoy these, they are not everyones favourite, but I like them!

Dulce De Leche

2010-03-05T17:17:00.000-08:00

Here is another recipe for you all that I got from my new book on Argentine cooking. I am sure many of you have tried Dulce de Leche in one form or another. It has become quite popular in the last couple of years with companies coming out with lattes and ice creams of that flavour. Most of the time it doesn't seem to taste quite right though. At least in my opinion of course ;) Either way, it was and still is one of my favourite sweet indulgences.

There are two basic ways to make Dulce de Leche. One way is using condensed milk and the other is this way I am going to show you now. Either way works, although I must say that the condensed milk produces a bit of a better dulce to work with. I will eventually post how to make it that way as well.

Oh and just a warning - making Dulce de Leche is a timely process. So don't attempt to make this if you need it quickly or have to go out. No matter how you make it, with condensed milk or otherwise, it can take several hours.

This recipe should make roughly 1 cup of dulce.

Ingredients:

2 cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

dash baking soda

Method:
Combine the milk, sugar and baking soda in a small saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat and keep the mixture to barely a simmer for about 2 1/2 hours while stirring occasionally.

Eventually over time your mixture will begin to take on a golden color like this:

Once it starts to gets to a thick and spreadable consistency (something like peanut butter) you can add the vanilla and let it cool. This is what mine looked like just before I removed it from the heat.

As I was saying before, this is only one way of cooking this. Hopefully soon I can post the other way of doing it and you can decide which tastes better. Worth a try either way! Enjoy!

Empanadas!

2010-02-10T17:45:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted but i've FINALLY got something new to share. I recently got my hands on a book about Argentinian cooking. This is the first recipe I was able to try out from it, and I must say it turned out pretty good! I hope you guys can try it out too!

Ingredients:

Dough:

4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup lard or 3/4 cup lard and 3/4 butter

Filling:

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup water

1 pound boneless steak cut into 1/4 inch cubes or ground beef

1 tsp chili powder

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 salt

2 hard boiled eggs, cut into small pieces

handful of green olives

1 egg beaten with 1/2 tsp water

pepper to taste

Method:

First were going to make the dough. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Make sure the fat you are using is room temperature, otherwise cut it into small peices and with your fingers, form a course meal.

Incorporate the lard or butter into the dough, you can add water to help moisten it up. The dough will be stiff, but not dry. Now roll it into a ball, wrap it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 1 hour.

Now you can start making the filling. In a pan place your onions, olive oil and water. You can turn the stove to high heat and boil out the water. Once it has all evaporated, add the meat and brown on all sides. If you are using ground beef, drain out the excess fat. Next stir in the chili, garlic, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Now you can set it aside to cool.

You should be able to start using your dough now. Remove it from the fridge and start to roll it out until its about 1/8inch thick. Make sure your surface has been floured to prevent sticking. Using a bowl or other object that is about 4 or 5 inches in diameter, start cutting circles into the dough, until you've got about 16 or 17 circles.

Preheat your oven to 400F.

You can begin to fill the dough in now. Use about 2 tbsp of meat in each one. After you've put the meat in the center of the circle, place 2 small pieces of egg and 1-2 olives on top.

Moisten the edges of the circle with some of the beaten egg mixture to help seal it, and fold it over.

Make sure you press the two ends together very well making sure the meat mixture is in a tight pocket. Seal the empanada by folding or twisting the dough onto itself. If you can't get the hang of that, you can also use a fork and press the edges that way. Either way works well.

Once your done with all the empanadas, place them on a greased cookie sheet. Using the left over egg mixture from before, lightly brush each empanada to help brown them.

The empanadas should go into the oven for 10 minutes and then bring down the temperature to 350F and keep cooking for 30 more minutes. Let them cool a bit and they are ready to eat!!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Almond Bark and Chocolate Raspberry Bark!

2010-01-15T16:48:00.000-08:00

This is one of my new favourites, not just for Christmas but for any time of year really. A coworker brought these in one day and it was one of those things where you ate one peice, and it was good. But then there was no stopping you after that first bite, you had to keep eating more and more!! These have been called many different things, but I decided to go with 'Bark' for the sake of this post. I have also revised this recipe a bit to suit my own tastes - but its truly up to you, make changes as you go!

Chocolate Almond Bark

Ingredients:

1 sleeve of graham crackers

1 cup butter (preferably no substitutions)

1 cup brown sugar (you may want to use less of this if you aren't fond of how sweet these are)

2 cups milk chocolate chips

Crushed almonds to taste

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line a 10" x 15" lipped pan (or any size you can fit those crackers in flat) with heavy duty foil. Take your crackers and line them in the pan in a single layer with the edges touching. If you have some spaces at the edges of the pan, you can break some crackers to make more fit.

In a saucepan, combine the butter and sugar and bring to a boil. Stir constantly with a wire whisk for 2 minutes. The mixture should gradually thicken. Be careful that it does not burn. Now you can carefully pour the sauce over the graham crackers making sure you have spread it evenly. Throw your crackers and sauce into the oven for about 10-12 minutes or until the surface of the sauce begins to bubble.

Remove and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over top. You can return the pan to the oven for another minute so that the chips melt. Remove the pan again and spread the chocolate with a knife or spatula. Now you can pour your ground almond pieces over top. Chill until chocolate and toffee has set and your ready to eat!!

Raspberry Chocolate Bark

Ingredients:
1 sleeve of graham crackers
1 cup butter (preferably no substitutions)
1 cup brown sugar (you may want to use less of this if you aren't fond of how sweet these are)
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 small package of raspberries
Grated coconut to taste

Method:
This is the same recipe as above only you will be adding pureed raspberries at the same time as you add the chocolate chips (albeit just before).

The above picture is what your pureed raspberries should look like when you spread them on AFTER baking the toffee and crackers for 10-12 minutes. Now for the chocolate.

At this point you can add some grated coconut over top and chill!

One small note for these is when you break them up for serving, they can be broken into random pieces or 'shards'. Don't expect the individual crackers to come out nice and clean, because they won't!

Hope you enjoy this little recipe!

Candy Cane Cookies!

2010-01-14T15:31:00.000-08:00

So, if you like a little bit of peppermint than you will like these cookies! They are basically shortbread with a little mint extract or crushed candy canes. But they are good! Unfortunately these probably won't hit your plate until next Christmas season but either way I am putting them up for future reference. You can really make these your own as well by adding whatever decorations you'd like to spruce them up - since they are so simple.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1 cup butter

1/2 tsp peppermint extract (you can also use real crushed candy canes)

red food coloring (gel works best)

Method:

Cream together sugar, butter and peppermint extract with a mixer until they are nice and fluffy. Next add your cornstarch and flour and mix well. Separate the dough into two equal parts and place each in a bowl. Take one half and mix in enough food coloring to get the shade of red you desire. Now you can wrap both in plastic wrap and chill until they are pliable, about 20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 325F. Now for the creative part! You can do this several ways, but this is how we did it. Take your tinted and untinted dough and using a melon baller or scooper, divide each dough into balls for rolling. You can roll one of each color into a thin tube. After one color of each is done, twist them together and shape into a candy cane. This may seem easy at first, but you may need to give it a couple of tries to get it right. If the dough gets too soft, put it back into the fridge for 10 minutes.

Once your done with all the dough, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the sheets in the oven for approx. 20 - 25 minutes. Make sure that these do not burn, they should be checked on often. You will know that they are done once they become firm but not 'browned'.

As I mentioned earlier, they may take some tries to get them to look right but once you get a technique going, you will be able to experiment with other decorations. Enjoy!

Champagne Chocolate Truffles!

2010-01-14T10:34:00.000-08:00

Hello! I am back as promised with another one of the recipes I made for Christmas. This particular one gave me MANY problems. I suppose some things take several tries to get perfect, but in the end it worked out pretty well. My main issue was getting the consistency right. For some reason, it was always too soft to roll, so I kept having to add more and more chocolate. Having said that, I was probably tired and stressed out at the time, so I may very well have fudged up some measurements without realizing. Either way, I hope you try this out and perhaps you can give me your thoughts or comments on how it went for you. Here goes!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp Champagne

1 tbsp Cognac or Brandy

cocoa or whatever you fancy for rolling

Method:
In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. As soon as the cream boils, place it over the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Stir until the chocolate has fully dissolved into the cream.

Stir in the Champagne and Cognac or Brandy.

Chill for about 2 hours or until thick and pliable. It should be somewhat the consistency of a heavy dough. If you can't picture yourself rolling it into a ball, it's either not thick enough or not chilled enough. Using a melon baller or ice cream scooper, form little balls and place them on wax paper and chill for 15 minutes.

Place cocoa (or whatever you've decided to roll your truffles in) into a shallow bowl. Now you can roll each ball into the cocoa until they are fully coated. If they start to melt too much, you can put them back in the fridge for a couple minutes to harden up again.

Once your done, you can return them to your wax paper and chill them for another 30 minutes or until they are firm. And your done!

I keep mine in the freezer so they last longer as, they are quite rich so you won't be able to get through them fast. Let me know how these work for you! If you find that you have the same problem as me and they come out to watery, try adding more chocolate until you get the right thickness. See you next time!

Cranberry Jelly Roll

2010-01-12T17:14:00.000-08:00

Hi all! Well as I am sure you've noticed, my idea of posting all my holiday baked goodies didn't work out as planned. Life took over and I had no time to do anything with the blog. BUT, now there seems to be a bit of a lull in my day where I can escape and get some of these recipes posted, yay!

What better to start off with then the Cranberry Jelly Roll! This one came from a magazine I got at the local supermarket which again happened to be Martha Stewart. I never go looking for her books or magazines, but I always seem to end up buying them. Anyway, this recipe is nice because it's relatively easy but will make you look like a pro! Here's what you'll need :

Ingredients:

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sifted cake flour (non rising)

3 tbsp finely ground almonds (may be toasted)

1/8 tsp salt

3 large eggs and 2 yolks

1 cup sugar

4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup confectioners sugar

8 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries

1 pound cream cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

cooking spray

Method:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat a 12x17inch, rimmed pan, with cooking spray. Next place parchment paper to line the pan and spray on top of it.

Dust the parchment paper with flour and tap out any excess. In a bowl mix together the flour, ground almonds and salt. In a heat-proof bowl combine the eggs, yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar. Put the bowl into or above simmering water and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is warm. Remove it from heat and using an electric mixer set to medium, whisk for 2 minutes. Raise the speed to high and continue whisking for another 4 minutes.

Now add your flour mixture into your egg mixture making sure you don't make clumps. When the two are almost incorporated, add the butter down the side of the bowl and fold in. Your batter is done and is ready to bake. Gently spread the batter into the prepared pan flattening it out with a spatula. Tap the pan on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles.

Bake 7-8 minutes or until golden brown and springy to the touch. Let cool for 5 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the sides of the cake to free it from the parchment paper. Take another pan or a kitchen towel dusted with confectioners sugar and invert the cake onto it. Starting with the shorter (or thinner) side, roll the cake into a log (incorperating the towel) and let cool further, with the seam facing down.

In the meantime, you can start making the jam. Cook your cranberries and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves.

Continue to cook until the cranberries have broken down and the liquid has begun to evaporate, somewhere between 5-7 minutes. Let this cool and then puree in a food processer until it's smooth. Let cool completely.

With an electric mixer on medium, beat the cream cheese and confectioners sugar until it is light and fluffy. Add vanilla and continue beating for another 30 seconds.

Unroll the log, spead with jam making sure to leave 1/2inch border on all sides. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the jam.

You can reroll the cake now (excluding the towel of course ;) and cover with a towel. Chill for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours. Once cool you can trim the ends off. Before serving, you may dust with confectioners sugar.

There you are! I hope this one turns out good for you! It may seem a little complicated at first but once you do it once, it's quite simple. My one critique with this is that the cream cheese seemed a little to strong for my tastes. I wonder if theres some way of mixing cream cheese with perhaps whipped cream or some other type of cream all together. For some reason Martha Stewart seems to love her cream cheese a little too much. haha

More recipes to come in the next couple days!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-15T14:41:00.000-08:00

Yes it may be a little early for Christmas wishes but that's okay! As you may have noticed it has been quite a while since my last post - perhaps Christmas has taken it's toll and I simply haven't had much time at home to do any cooking or baking!

That is soon to change though, as I have been hard at work baking some goodies, unfortunately not specifically of the Slovenian or Uruguayan sort, but more traditional North American goodies. Hopefully I can post these updates before Christmas day arrives. In the meantime thanks for checking back and hopefully very soon you'll have something tasty to look at.

Pohan Piščanec!

2009-11-11T23:04:00.000-08:00

Pohan Piščanec or what we might know as simple 'fried chicken' is what's on today's menu!

This recipe is really the basic of the basic. Back in Slovenia this would be something you might have on a lazy Sunday for lunch or a quick and easy dinner! This is a favorite for my husband and I just because of how easy and quick it is to make. Here's what you will need..

Ingredients:

8 pieces of chicken (thigh, breast, etc)

salt

fresh or dried thyme (chopped)

Breading:

Flour

2 eggs

1 tablespoon oil

breadcrumbs

fat or oil for frying

Method:

Prepare the chicken by rinsing it under water. Dry it and cut if needed. Lightly salt.

Next you will need to set up the breading. Whisk your eggs thoroughly and add a spoonful of oil so the breading sticks better. Add the thyme to the egg mixture and stir.

Take your chicken pieces and roll them first into your egg mixture, let the excess drain off.

Now dust the chicken with the flour.

Re-dip chicken into the egg mixture and once the excess has dripped off, roll it into the breadcrumbs.

Repeat this with the rest of the chicken.

Once all the pieces have been breaded you can cook it in one of two ways. Either in fat or in the oven. I prefer to cook the chicken in the oven personally but it's up to you. If you are frying, heat up your oil in a pan and cook it for 8-15 minutes on each side depending on the cut. Once its cooked, place it on a paper towel to remove excess oil. If you are baking, place the chicken in a lightly greased pan at 350 degrees until the breading is lightly browned and juice from the chicken comes out clear.

And your done! You can add any side you like and serve!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, see you next time!

Buñuelos de Espinaca!

2009-11-09T23:20:00.000-08:00

Spinach Buñuelos or Fritters. These were something that my grandmother used to make for us when we were growing up. Unfortunately I never learned how to make them from her before she passed away. Recently I was able to find a recipe for them on the internet that I figured I should try and see if perhaps, they would turn out like hers. Well, they didn't quite turn out the way she would have made them but it was worth trying none the less. I am sure there are several different ways of making these. If you have a good one, don't forget to forward it along!

Buñuelos can generally be made with just about any type of filling, from spinach to fruit, to figs or marmalade. The possibilities are endless really. But for now, lets get to the recipe for these!

Ingredients:

2 bunches of fresh spinach (you can use frozen as well)

1/2 cup of flour

2 eggs, separated

2 tablespoons shredded cheese of your choice

salt

pepper

milk

oil for frying

Method:

If you are using fresh spinach, make sure to wash it thoroughly before using it. Now you can put it into a medium sized pot filled with enough water to almost cover the spinach. Set the water to boil. Once the spinach is cooked remove it from the water to strain. Cut it into small pieces as much as you can (it will be somewhat mushy so do what you can). Set aside.

In a small bowl, add the flour, egg yolks and enough milk to make a paste. Next add your shredded cheese, salt and pepper to taste. In another small container, beat the left over egg whites until they are frothy and add them to your mixture. Once everything is incorporated, add the spinach and stir in well.

Now you are ready to fry them. Carefully heat up your oil in a frying pan and once it is hot, add about 2 tablespoons of mixture for each Buñuelo. Brown both sides and place onto a paper towel to soak up any excess oil.

For some reason these turned into something that resembles more of a pancake then my granny's Buñuelos. I am not sure if perhaps this recipe didn't have enough flour or what, but they still turned out ok, if not exactly what I expected.

Let me know what you guys think of these, I am curious to see if in fact these are how many people make them or not.

Thanks for visiting the site!

Chocolate Cupcakes (the best around!)

2009-11-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

Helloo! Yes, it may sound cocky - but these cupcakes are the best. I adapted them from another recipe I found that was for chocolate cake so it's truly twice the fun! This is the second part of my little post on the halloween cupcakes.

Heres the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar (I used about half this amount)
2 eggs

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup strongly brewed coffee
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil (again, I used about 1/4 this amount without problem)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line your cupcake tins. In large a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a hole in the center and add the eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. With an electric mixer, beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Don't be alarmed if the batter is thin, it is supposed to be. Now fill your cupcake tins about 3/4's of the way full.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of the cupcake comes out clean. Be very careful not to burn these or over cook them. Otherwise they will come out dry. Once they are done, make sure to cool these before you add any icing. Fill and/or frost as desired.

I wasn't as pleased with the chocolate icing I used for these as much as I would have liked, so for that reason I won't include it here. In case you do have a good one, please pass it along and I will post it!!

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this recipe as much as I do and as usual, your comments are welcome!!!

Thanks!

Carrot Cupcakes

2009-11-07T02:20:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

I was asked by a couple of people to post the recipe I used for my Halloween Carrot Cupcakes and Chocolate Cupcakes. So here it is!! I am going to divide them into two posts so it's easier to read. Hopefully you aren't 'cupcaked out' by now! haha Also I am in the process of gathering some Uruguayan recipes to post. I have been having a very hard time with this, as I have mentioned before, mostly because I don't have a cookbook specifically from there. But I think that I've got some good ones to tied us over for a little while.

On to the carrot cupcakes!

They are pretty much just like any other carrot cake recipe you've probably seen around - only thing I changed was the amount of sugar I used in them. Not sure about you guys, but I don't like it when carrot cake is too sweet, especially when the icing itself can be overly sweet.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 pound of carrots, grated

3 eggs

1/3 cup buttermilk

1-2 cups of sugar (I used around 1 1/2 cups I think)

1 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 vanilla extract

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

raisins optional

Method:

Preheat your oven to 325F. Insert your muffin liners into an ungreased muffin tin. In a bowl, mix together the carrots, eggs, buttermilk, sugar, oil vanilla and raisins, if your using them. Once everything is well mixed, slowly add your flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices to the mixture, making sure everything is integrated.

Now you can fill up your cupcake liners! General rule of thumb is that you only fill them up about 3/4 of the way so they don't spill over during baking.

Bake these 22-28 minutes, depending on your oven's strength. I only needed to put them in for about 24 minutes. You will know when they are done by sticking a toothpick or knife in the center of one and it should come out clean.

Before you add any icing, you should let them cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes so the icing doesn't melt when you apply it.

Now the icing is your 'generic' cream cheese icing. For my cupcakes, again, I tried to add less sugar than the recipe called for, about half. The only problem with this is that it makes the icing more watery, and thus harder to work with - I haven't figured out at this point what I can substitute the sugar with to make it less watery. But here is the recipe and instructions either way and you can adjust it as you feel nessissary!

Cream Cheese Icing ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter (soft)

12 ounces cream cheese (also at room temperature)

2 - 4 cups icing sugar (I used around 2)

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

gel food coloring if desired

Method:

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese for a couple of minutes until it becomes light and fluffy. Now you can add your vanilla and then sugar a little at a time until it's fully mixed. This would also be a good time to add food coloring if you are using any.

Now you are ready to ice your cupcakes which ever way you like, either with a piping bag or spread with a spatula.

Hopefully you guys like this recipe and if you have any suggestions please do leave a comment!! Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

I hope all of you are getting ready for Halloween, I know I am! Last night I made some cupcakes to bring to work - here is a little taste. It was hard to decide what exactly to bake since there are so many things out there (many of which require meticulous planning) but I went with the old fave instead. If you baked something cool, please feel free to forward your pictures and recipes, I would love to see them.

Anyway, I hope you all have a very spooky Halloween!!! =)

Slight Re-vamp

2009-10-25T22:33:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to let you know that I am in the process of fixing my step by step pictures for the site. By fixing I mean, color correcting, cropping, etc so that they are a little easier on the eyes.

I have only gotten half way but am trucking along, so please bare with me as I update this. Unfortunately this means no new recipes probably for this week.

Either way, see you soon with a new, better look!

Jabocni Strudel!

2009-10-22T17:11:00.000-07:00

Thats right, Apple Strudel! Another hit from the Slovenian dessert world. I made this one a couple months ago but somehow forgot about it until now. This one is pretty similar to the Jabocna Potica (Apple Potica) but with a very different dough. My dough didn't turn out as flaky as it probably should have. I believe that this is due to using my power mixer instead of hand kneading. Basically I think I over did it with the mixer and the dough came out hard, rather than soft and flaky. That's just a note for any of you who (like me) are lazy about kneading dough. =)

On to the recipe!

Dough:

350g dough (pre-made or homemade)

For homemade dough:

*NOTE: I haven't tried this dough recipe yet, I can't seem to find the recipe I DID use either - so if this one turns out well for you, please do let me know!

300g sifted flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon butter

20 ml hot water

2 eggs

salt to taste

Apple Filling:

1 to 1.5 kg of apples (the more sour the better, I used Granny Smith apples)

lemon rind

1 tablespoon of rum

80g sugar

20 ml sour cream

120g butter

50g bread crumbs

100g raisins (optional)

Method:

Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl. Dissolve butter using the hot water. Beat in your eggs. Add this to the flour and mix. Place on a floured surface and knead well for 10 minutes or until dough is pliable. Set aside and let rest for one hour.

Take a table cloth or clean sheet (I did not do this, but it will help you to roll up your strudel once it's filled). Make sure the cloth is long enough to hang over the sides. Now dust it with flour and place the dough in the center. With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to make a circle. Slide your hand below the circle of dough and let the dough rest on the back of your hands with your palms down. Now pull the center gently toward you. Stretch and pull the dough as you walk around the table. The dough should be as thin as tissue paper or as thin as you can get it.

Now for your filling. Wash, peel and de-core your apples. Grate your apples and place them in a bowl. Add the lemon zest, rum, sugar, sour cream and if desired, raisins. Set this mixture aside. Take your butter and fry the breadcrumbs lightly and then add this mixture in with the apples.

Now you can add the mixture onto your spread dough making sure it is even. Roll up the strudel by gently lifting the cloth from both sides (you may need help) and place your strudel in a well greased baking pan. Bake it in the oven at 350F for about one hour, or until the dough is lightly browned.

Everyone seems to have a different method of cooking strudel. I am not sure which is the best, but this is one way. As I always seem to say, if you find a better recipe please pass it along and I will try it out on the site.

In case you were wondering, I put some left over lemon rinds on top of the dough before baking - not exactly artistic but I didn't want to throw it away haha.

Thanks !!

Red Velvet Cupcakes!

2009-10-14T22:08:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

I am back with some more tasty treats for the holidays! If you read the last post about the Raspberry Cupcakes, I mentioned my new Martha Stewart cupcake book. This Red Velvet recipe also comes directly from there. I first tried this cupcake at Starbucks earlier this year when they had them as part of their Valentine's day specialties. It was AWESOME! I had many a sugar rush at work from these little guys, much to the dismay of my poor co-workers. This recipe is very much like the ones there, although not exactly. Either way well worth trying!

Ingredients:

Cake:
2 1/2 cups cake flour (Not self rising type), sifted
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food coloring
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/3 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioners sugar, sifted
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line your standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together the cake flour, cocoa, salt and set aside.

With an electric mixer set to medium-high speed, whisk together the sugar and oil until they are combined. Add eggs, one at a time making sure each one is mixed in before adding the next. Now, mix in your food coloring and vanilla.

Reduce your mixer speed to low and start to add your flour. Add it in three batches, and in between each batch add half a cup of butter milk until its all integrated. In another small bowl or container, mix together the baking soda and vinegar (it will foam). Add this mixture into the batter and mix it on medium for 10 seconds.

Your cake batter is now ready to be added to the cupcake pan. Make sure you add the same amount to each cupcake - 3/4 full. You can now place the tins in the oven to bake, make sure you rotate the tins half way through baking to ensure even cooking. After about 20 minutes they should be done, test with a toothpick to make sure.

Now before you do anything else, get these guys onto a rack or somewhere where they can cool while you make the icing. You don't want to be putting icing onto hot cupcakes.

Icing:

With your electric mixer on medium-high, beat butter and cream cheese until its fluffy (a couple of minutes). Reduce the speed to low and add sugar a 1/2 cup at a time, followed by the vanilla. And your done!

This icing can be refrigerated for up to 3 days (according to Martha). After your done you can ice these guys which ever way you like. I also put some red sprinkles on after I iced them, but that's up to you.

Not many pics of the process on this guy unfortunately, I was in a bit of a hurry, but here are a few anyway featuring my special helper Sebastian. Enjoy!

Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

2009-10-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

What a mouthful! But a good one at that ;) This little recipe I took from a new cookbook I got (thanks to a recommendation from Louise!) by Martha Stewart. The book is called 'Cupcakes'. If you are at all interested in making all different kinds of cupcakes you should definitely pick up this book. I will be posting a couple different recipes from it in the next week.

Here's the recipe,

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups finely ground graham crackers
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups plus 5 tablespoons sugar
1 container (6 oz) fresh raspberries
2 pounds (4 cups) cream cheese, room temperature
pinch salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
cupcake papers

Method:

Preheat your oven to 325F. Line your muffin tin with cupcake papers and set aside. Take your graham crackers, butter and 3 tablespoons of sugar and mix them together. With a spoon or whatever utensil you want, press 1 tablespoon of the crust mixture firmly into the bottom of each lined muffin paper. Once your finished, put the tins in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Process raspberries in a food processor until smooth (about 30 seconds). Pass the puree through a sieve into a small bowl, and get as much liquid out as possible. You can throw out the solids. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of sugar.

With the electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the cream cheese until it's fluffy.

Now set your mixer to low speed and add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a steady stream. Add your salt and vanilla and mix until everything is well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each one.

Your filling is now ready for your muffin tins! Spoon in about 3 tablespoons of filling over your crust in each cup. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon of raspberry puree on each cake. Now comes the fun part! With a toothpick or other such device, swirl the raspberry sauce through the filling in whatever design you like!

Place each tin in a roasting pan filled with enough hot water to come 3/4's of the way up sides of the cups. You may have to do this in several batches (I did). Half way through baking, rotate the pan so you ensure even cooking. Bake for about 22 minutes or until filling looks set.

Once they are done, just put them on a wire rack to cool. Once they are fully cooled down, make sure you put these in the fridge for at least 4 hours so they finish setting.

And that is it! Hopefully you enjoy these guys, they are pretty easy and look nice too!