Chocolate Chip Cookies

For years I have been baking cookies for my nephews and specially my cookie monster husband.  Chocolate chip cookies go perfect with a nice cold glass of milk..at least that's how I like to eat them.  I have been making this recipe for years.

The recipe is pretty straight forward and I guarantee you, this will be your go to recipe for years to come.  I baked a mixed of different cookies, about 300  for the Cancer Center and they all went within a couple of hours.  People were coming to me saying how delicious they were.  Here is one of the recipes.

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven at 375 degree F

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy and smooth.  Add the white and brown sugar and beat until fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time, making sure they are well mixed.  Scrape the side of the bowl and add the vanilla, mix well.

In another bowl mix the flour, baking soda and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture.  Mix well then add the chocolate chips and the nuts.  Mix until well incorporated.  Use an ice cream scooper, for these I used a medium size, but if you want to make a lot of cookies use a small one.  If you don't have one then drop about two tablespoons of dough into a the prepared baking sheets and bake cookies for about 10-14 minutes or until the edge of the cookies are nice and golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!!

Makes about 4 dozen small cookies

Baked Mac and Cheese

Mac and Cheese is everyone's favorite at my house.  Between my hubby and my nephews there are never any leftovers...and if there are you better be first on line.  Mac and Cheese is good for the soul.  That's why they call it soul food.  This is a perfect dish with country fried chicken and some mashed potatoes.

 

Ingredients:

1 pound elbow macaroni

2 tbsp of butter

2 tbsp of flour

2 cups of milk

2 eggs (beaten)

6 cups of extra sharp cheddar cheese (very cheesy)

(or use a mix of cheeses like Monterey Jack, Colby, Asiago)

Set oven to 350 degree F

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.  In a separate pot melt the butter and then whisk in the flour.  Keep cooking and stirring for about 5 minutes.   Stir in the milk slowly and make sure to break down the flour and there are no lumps.  Keep stirring and simmer for about 7 to 10 minutes. Until thick, then add 4 cups of the cheese.  Fold the macaroni and eggs into the mix and pour into a baking casserole dish. Top with the remaining 2 cups of cheese.  Cook in the oven for 30 minutes until cheese is crusty and bubbly.  Enjoy with some grilled chicken or ribs!!

Kansas City BBQ Sauce

Summer is all about BBQ.  Ribs or chicken..which one?  I decided to make ribs today with a homemade Kansas City BBQ Sauce.  If you like a sauce with a kick, then this is the one for you.  This sauce is spicy, tangy, with a sweet tomato sauce.  You can't go wrong.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

1 med onion, chopped

1 cup tomato sauce

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup molasses

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook for about 5-6 minutes.  Then add all other ingredients.  Cook for about 10 minutes on low.  

Get some bone in or boneless country style pork ribs.  Season with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Grill the ribs to your preference..then baste on some of the Kansas City BBQ sauce, and cook for a few minutes until the sauce is nice and hot!  Enjoy with corn on the cob and some mac and cheese.

Raspberry Margarita

This is the perfect way to start your weekend.  This is a really easy recipe that you can make your own by substituting the raspberries for strawberries or blackberries.  Enjoy your weekend, relax and drink away!!

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz of tequila

1 oz of triple sec

1 oz of lime juice

1 oz of simple syrup

1/2 cup of Raspberries, Blackberries or Strawberries

1 cup of ice

Mix all ingredients in your blender until smooth.  Pour into a cold margarita glass, Cheers!!

Coquito-Puerto Rican Egg Nog

Coquito is a traditional Puerto Rican drink served mainly during the Christmas holidays. But, you don't have to wait until Christmas to enjoy it.  Coquito usually includes raw eggs in the recipe.  This recipe is simple but tasty and raw eggs are not included.

Ingredients

2 15-ounce cans cream of coconut -Coco Lopez

2 14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk

1 14-ounce can of coconut milk

1 12-ounce can of carnation evaporated milk

White rum to taste

1 tbsp of cinnamon

1 tsp teaspoon ground cloves

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla extract extract

Mix all ingredients in the blender.  Refrigerate for about two hours.  Enjoy!!

Alcapurrias

Alcapurrias are a puertorican fritter filled with ground beef.  Alcapurrias are made from green plantains, green bananas, yatia (taro root)  and potatoes.  These items are put through a grater and a masa (batter) is made.  Everyone has their own recipe..some people include other root veggies too. My recipes is really good, I must say.  Here is my recipe.

Masa (batter)

5 green plantains peeled

3 green bananas peeled

1 med size yautia peeled (taro root)

1 med size potato peeled

1/2 cup of milk

1 envelope of culantro and achiote (coriander and annato)

2 tbsp of oil

salt to taste

Oil for frying

Start by grating the plantains, bananas, yatia, and potato. This process has to be done by hand.  Using a food processor does not give you a good consistency.  Once done grating these veggies add the milk (this makes the masa maintain a nice light color) annatto envelope, oil and salt, mix really good. Set aside

Now lets make the filling for the Alcapurrias

1/2 pound of ground beef

1 cup of water

2 tbsp of sofrito

4 oz of tomato sauce

1 envelope of cubito (chicken bouillon)

1 envelope sazón with annatto (achiote) coloring

salt to taste

In a sauce pan start cooking the ground beef with a cup of water...once it starts boiling take all that grease sitting on top and get rid of it. Then add the sofrito, tomato sauce, cubito, sazon and salt.  Let this cook for at least 15 minutes on med heat.

Now lets make the Alcapurrias

In a deep frying pan on med heat add enough oil to reach half way.  Make sure the oil is hot before dropping in the first Alcapurria.  The Alcapurrias must be covered at least half way in the pan.

In the palm of your hand add a big scoop of the masa (batter), about 3 tablespoons. Make a dent in the middle and add the ground beef.  Using a spoon cover the meat with the masa (batter), and sort of shape them a little bit.  Make sure that you can't see the meat.  Then slowly take a big spoon and place it under the Alcapurria and lift it and drop it in the frying pan slowly so they won't break.   I suggest cooking one and tasting it to make sure is good in salt.   Fry until golden brown. Enjoy!!

TIP: If you find it hard to work with the masa..refrigerate for a least half hour, then try again.  The masa being cold will make it easier to handle.

Reduced Red Wine Sauce for Steaks

If you enjoy drinking red wine, then this is a  red wine sauce that you are going to love with your steak. As a side I made some Au Gratin Potatoes.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 cup of chicken stock

1 1/2 cups dry red wine

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt. Add the garlic and oregano and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in the chicken stock and wine. Simmer until the sauce reduces by half, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.

 Remove the skillet from the heat. Strain the sauce into a small bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids in the strainer and return the sauce to the saucepan and bring back to a slow simmer. Cut the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into small 1/2-inch chunks and whisk in the sauce a little at a time. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Drizzle the sauce over the steak, or pour into individual serving ramekins. Enjoy with your favorite piece of steak.

Roasted Pork Loin

As a Puertorican I can tell you that we love eating pork.  I used a dry rub for this Roasted Pork Loin and cooked it really slow.  For this particular meal I used a pork loin instead of a shoulder or butt.

The pork loin is lean and all white meat.  Because this meat is all white, if you don't cook it right, it might turn out dry.  Cooking it slow and low is key. This rub can also be used on chicken and ribs.  Is really tasty.  

The roasted pork loin is tender and juice.  Cooking it at a low temperature is really important when you want the meat to stay moist and tender.

 

Ingredients:

4-6 pounds Pork (Loin, Shoulder)

4 pieces of garlic cut in half

1 tbsp of garlic powder

1 tbsp of onion powder

1 tbsp of black pepper

3 tbsp of salt

1 tsp of ground cumin

1 tsp of ground mustard

1 tsp of cayenne pepper

1 tsp of oregano

1 tsp of thyme

Set oven at 300 degrees F

With a knife cut into the meat in a few places and insert the garlic into each hole. Mix all of the dry ingredients and rub it on the meat, be very generous.  If you are using a shoulder or butt make sure to go under the skin.  Cover it and let it marinade for up to 8 hours before cooking or overnight.  Cook in the oven for about 4 hours or until the meat is falling apart.  Keep any leftover rub in a tight jar.  Enjoy!

Pineapple Mojito

Talk about a refreshing drink that is so versatile.  My favorite mojito is from Tides Hotel on Miami Beach, Florida.  They make a mango mojito that is so delicious I can't stop drinking it.  I can drink about 5 or 6 of them.  Thankfully, they are not too strong.  But you can pretty much do any kind of mojito as long as you add the basics like the rum, the sugar syrup and specially the mint and sugar cane sticks if you can find it.  My husband makes a really nice pineapple mojito, however is so strong..it will knock you out.  Here is the recipe, make it your own and add as much or as little rum as you want.

 Ingredients:

2 oz of light rum

3 oz pineapple juice

5 pieces of Mint

2 lime wedges

splash of club soda

splash of simple syrup

Ice

* Try, Passion Fruit, Watermelon, Mandarin or Apple, make it your own!

Muddle the mint and the lime, add ice, simple syrup, pineapple juice and rum.  Shake it in  a cocktail shaker then pour into glass.  Add a splash of club soda and garnish with lime and sugar cane stalk if available..Enjoy!!!

Pot Roast and White Rice

The house is smelling so good right now.  Pot roast is one of those go to dishes when the day is rainy or cold outside.  You could never go wrong with a pot roast, I always make extra because the leftovers taste even better the next day.

Apple Pie

Apple Pie..Oh how I love it, hot and with a little ice cream..So good!!  This recipe is the one I always make for the holidays.  But who says you have to wait until the holidays to enjoy some apple pie.  Growing up in my house we always had some kind of pie in the refrigerator, either an apple pie, a lemon meringue pie or coconut custard pie, it was always pie.  Today I'm going to show you how to make the pie dough and the apple pie.  Super easy.

  

Pastry Dough Ingredients:

This recipe makes two crusts for the top and bottom of the apple pie.

2 cup of all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp shortening

4 to 6 tbsp of cold water

In a medium bowl, mix flour and salt.  Cut in shortening, using pastry blender or a fork, until the mixtures resembles small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tbsp at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl. You can add 1 to 2 teaspoons of water if necessary.

Divide pastry dough in half and shape each piece into a round ball and flattened on lightly floured surface.
Refrigerate for 45 minutes or until dough is cold and firm, yet pliable.  This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky.

Now lets roll the pastry dough on lightly floured surface, using a rolling pin into a circle, enough to cover the pie baking dish. Pick up the dough over rolling pin and place over pie baking dish. Now is ready for the apple pie mixture.  Roll the second pie dough for the top of the pie and have it ready.

Now lets start the apple mixture for the pie.  I recommend using Granny Smith or Golden Delicious apples for this pie.  Let's start!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

dash of salt

6 cups thinly sliced peeled apples (6 medium size apples)

2 tbsp butter

2 tsp of water

1 tbsp sugar

Heat oven to 425 Degree F

Reduce after 15 minutes to 350 Degree F

In a large bowl mix together 1/2 cup sugar, the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir in apples. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate.  Cut butter into small pieces, sprinkle over apples. Cover with top pastry dough, cut slits into it. Seal the edges.

Brush top crust with 2 teaspoons of water and sprinkle with 1 tbsp off sugar.  Cover the edges of the pie with foil to prevent excessive browning.  Remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the crust is nice and golden brown and the juices begins to bubble through the slits in crust.  Enjoy with ice cream!!

NY Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache

This is a basic NY cheesecake recipe and is really good.  I usually make it with an Oreo cookie crust and chocolate ganache.  But you can pretty much do anything, like a ginger cookie crust with strawberry topping or even cherries. Another way to make it you own is by using some fruit jam.

I have used raspberry and strawberry jam and even dulce de leche, by mixing in after you have prepared the batter.  Poor half of the batter in the the baking pan then add the flavor you want using a spoon.  Add as much as you want then add the other half and mix some on top of the cheesecake too.

 Ingredients:

6 Honey Made Honey Grahams, finely crushed (about 1 cup)

3 Tbsp. sugar

3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

5 pkg. (8 oz. each) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

3 Tbsp. flour

1 Tbsp. vanilla

1 cup Sour Cream

4 eggs

Heat oven to 325°F.

Mix graham crumbs, 3 Tbsp. sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
Beat cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended.  Mix in the flour and sour cream, then add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake for 55 min. or until center is almost set. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim.

Chocolate Ganache Ingredient:

8 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl; set aside
Place cream in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Pour over chocolate and let stand until chocolate has softened, about 5 minutes.  Add butter and stir until smooth. Pour over cheesecake. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before cutting.  Enjoy!!

Homemade Cornbread

I grew up eating cornbread.  Cornbread was one of my father's favorite things to eat with coffee.  Here is an easy recipe that you can make to go along your next meal.

 Ingredients:

1 cup of milk

1/4 cup of butter or margarine melted

1 large egg

1/2 can of cream of corn

1 1/4 cups yellow or white cornmeal

1 cup of all purpose flour

1/2 cup of sugar

1 tbsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of salt

Muffin/Cupcake Pan

Heat oven to 350 degrees F

Grease each muffin pan cup with shortening, butter or cooking spray.  Fill cups about 3/4 full.
In a large bowl, beat milk, butter, cream of corn (cream of corn will make the cornbread really moist) and egg with the wire whisk. In a separate bowl add the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Stir in these ingredients  into the milk mixture all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy).  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.  Put a little butter on top and enjoy!!

*You can also bake them in a round pan or a 8 inch square pan.  Make sure to grease the baking pan.

Did you know? Watermelon...

Did you know?

Watermelon is considered a fruit and a vegetable.
Watermelon is 92% water.
Watermelon is cousins to cucumbers, pumpkins and squash.
Watermelon by weight, are the most consumed melon in the United States followed by honeydew and cantaloupe.
About 200-300 varieties are grown in the United States.

Here is a drink you can make with watermelon.

Watermelon Pina Colada

2 cups watermelon puree
1/2 cup chunk pineapple
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
3 cups of ice
2 tbsp of cream of coconut-Coco Lopez
rum to taste

Mix all ingredients in a blender..Enjoy Makes 4 drinks

Calvin's Tropical Delight

From time to time my husband Calvin likes to make up his own drinks.  He usually makes them strong enough that you only need one before you hit the floor.  This drink was created as a fun drink to enjoy with friends and family.

The colors are just beautiful, the grenadine gives it that red color at the bottom.

The drinks is really balanced. I'm not a big drinker but, I do enjoy a nice drink once in a while with my friends.

Calvin likes to use Patron Orange Liqueur.

Here is the recipe as I know you and your friends will really enjoy it.

1.5 oz of any Reposado tequila you have on hand

3 oz orange juice

1 oz of Orange Liqueur

0.5 oz grenadine

Fill glass half way with ice, add tequila,orange juice and Orange liqueur, mix well, pour into the glass then add the grenadine.  The grenadine will go to the bottom and create the beautiful color. Cheers!!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Almond Buttercream Frosting

Baking cupcakes can be so much fun, specially if you have children.  As much as I like to bake cakes..lately I have been enjoying baking cupcakes and decorating them.  I love baking from scratch, but from time to time if I'm in a time crunch from cooking other stuff, I would just buy a box.  Not my preference, but it's still good.  One of my favorite cakes to bake from scratch is just a simple white cake.  A white cake you can pretty much add any flavor to it, from lemon, orange, vanilla and almond which is my favorite.

These are vanilla cupcakes with an almond flavored buttercream frosting. These were made from scratch.

Hey Honey, Honey!!

I love honey in my tea and in desserts.  When I went to SC, my sister gave me a jar of honey from a local farm.  Honey is a sweet food made by bees from the nectar in flowers.  In addition to being a great natural sweetener, honey has a multitude of benefits that many people don’t know about.  Have you ever had an unrelenting sore throat? Honey has been proven to be a natural throat soother!

 

1. Prevent cancer and heart disease:
Honey contains flavonoids, antioxidants which help reduce the risk of some cancers and heart disease.
2. Reduce ulcers and other gastrointestinal disorders.
Recent research shows that honey treatment may help disorders such as ulcers and bacterial gastroenteritis. This may be related to the 3rd benefit…
3. Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-fungal:
“All honey is antibacterial, because the bees add an enzyme that makes hydrogen peroxide,” said Peter Molan, director of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in New Zealand.
4. Increase athletic performance.
Ancient Olympic athletes would eat honey and dried figs to enhance their performance. This has now been verified with modern studies, showing that it is superior in maintaining glycogen levels and improving recovery time than other sweeteners.
5. Reduce cough and throat irritation:
Honey helps with coughs, particularly buckwheat honey. In a study of 110 children, a single dose of buckwheat honey was just as effective as a single dose of dextromethorphan in relieving nocturnal cough and allowing proper sleep.  By Diane Herrington Care2

 Discover the versatility of honey…

Sweetener: Honey is slightly sweeter than sugar, so less can be used to achieve the same sweetness intensity.
Flavor: Honey enhances the flavor profiles of other ingredients used in a recipe.
Emulsifier: Honey acts as a binder and thickener for sauces, dressings, marinades and dips.
Humectant: Honey provides and retains moisture to a variety of dishes and can even extend the shelf life of baked goods.

Next time you are coming down with a cold make some tea, add some lemon juice and a couple of spoons of honey.  When baking a cake, pie or even some cookies add some honey.

Peach Cobbler

This past weekend my husband and I decided to go visit my sister Diana in South Carolina and go pick peaches from one of the farms in the area.  I went to a farm named "Blacks" in York, SC.  When we got there we were told that they were allowing people to pick White Lady Peaches only. I, myself, had never heard of these kinds of peaches, and so I asked for a sample.  I fell in love instantly. These low acid, high sugar white fleshed  peaches have a flavor that will melt in your mouth.

Coleslaw Low Carb style

Coleslaw is one of those thing I enjoy eating during the summer with BBQ chicken, ribs or even steak.  Here is a really easy recipe that you will enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 bag of shredded coleslaw mix

3/4 cup of mayonnaise

3 tbsp of apple cider vinegar

2 Splenda envelopes or 1 tbsp regular sugar

pinch of salt

pinch of black pepper

In a bowl add the coleslaw mix..then add all of the other ingredients. Mix really good.

Refrigerate until ready to eat, Enjoy!!