Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Mami's famous Yucca

My mother's yucca recipe is always requested at parties.  I have had requests for this recipe by Facebook friends so I made sure this was the next recipe she gave me.
                                                       

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs of Yucca
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup lime juice
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 5 garlic cloves
Directions
  • Put water, yucca, and salt in pot and cook until it is tender.or well cooked.
  • Prepare the mojo (sauce) 
    • Smash garlic cloves and put in glass bowl.
    • Add the oil and lime juice into the bowl with the garlic.
  • Drain and serve the yucca and pour the mojo on top of it.

Baked Ravioli

I found a recipe on Pinterest and decided to make it, Baked Ravioli.  I was shopping for the ingredients with my mother and she helped me make a few ingredient changes.  Tonight I began to gather the ingredients and realized that I didn't have enough of some items so I made some more substitutions.  The results turned out very well.  My mother, who is going through chemo, and can only eat soup tried some and ended up eating a bowl.  That made me extremely happy.


Ingredients

  • Small Jar of Prego Merlot Marinara Sauce
  • Fresh 4 cheese Ravioli
  • 1 pack of shredded mozzarella
  • 1 pack of shredded mild cheddar

Directions

  • Pour a small amount of the sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish.  I used an 8x8 in.  Spread the sauce to cover the bottom.  
  • Layer the ravioli on the sauce in an even layer.
  • Put mix of mild cheddar and mozzarella on top of ravioli layer
  • Pour the remainder of the sauce over the cheese layer and spread until even.
  • Place another layer of ravioli and top with the remaining cheese.
  • Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and bake in oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
  • Take off foil and let bake for 15 minutes more.
  • Let sit for 5 minutes and then enjoy.

Monday, January 4, 2016

Buttery Egg Bread

My aunt is staying with us for a time.  She loves Challah bread.  I decided that we needed some comfort food right now so I started looking for a recipe that I could make in our bread machine for her.  I found a recipe in a cook book that I got through Kindle Unlimited.  I the original recipe called for margarine.  I added butter and changed the amount that the original recipe called for.  I found other recipes that called for the machine to work the dough and then you take it out  braid it and bake... but we don't really have time for it now.  This recipe worked great in the machine and tasted exactly like the Challah bread she loves from the bakery.

Original Source: Quick and Easy Bread Machine recipes by Mary Miller (www.thehealthierpath.com)

Ingredients


  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 5 tbsp butter (I did say comfort food)
  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 and 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 and 1/2 tsp yeast

Directions

  • Place ingredients in machine in this order: wet, dry, yeast
  • Settings: Basic bread, Light Crust, 2 lb

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Cuban Bread


     My family used to go to a Cuban bakery every time we went to the beach for our vacation.  We all had our favorite treat and we could each get one.  The one thing that we always got multiples of was the Cuban Bread.  They made the best Cuban bread I have ever tasted in my life.  I have been told that the bakery is still there but that the ownership changed and so did the Cuban bread.   This summer my nieces and I drove all over Tampa when I was on vacation searching for the best Cuban bread.  We found some good contenders but non could match the  memory of the bread from my childhood.  My local grocery store sells Cuban bread.... but in my opinion it is far from being Cuban bread.  Now that I have my bread machine I went in search of recipes.  I found various recipes online.  Some called for lard, others butter, some sugar, while some had none of the above.  The cooking times and settings also varied considerably in some cases.  I decided to play around and make my own variation using what I had seen in all of the recipes.  My aunt and I decided that the bread I made tonight was a winner.  While the shape is not that of a traditional Cuban bread the taste was superb.  The crust came out just right in texture.  I already called my nieces and told them the search is over.

Ingredients

  • 1 and 1/8 cup water
  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 3 - 5 tbsp butter
  • 1 and 1/2 tsp yeast

Directions

  • Put ingredients in bread machine baking pan.  Wet ingredients first, then dry, and finally yeast.
  • I used the French bread setting, medium crust, 2 lbs.

Flan

Here is the first of my mother's recipes.  Her flan is to die for.  It is one of our favorite desserts and never lasts long.  Friends request this dish for parties.  I have had many version's of flan but mom's is my favorite.  It is light and not as dense as many flans end up.  I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as mine has.



Ingredients


  • 6 eggs- 3 complete and 3 yolks
  • 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • separate from the other =sugar 1/2 cup
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 and 1/4 cup milk

Directions

  • Place the sweetened condensed milk, milk, the egg whites and 3 complete eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla in the blender and blend well.
  • Put the 1 cup of sugar and 1 tbsp water in a small casserole and boil until its light brown.
  • Cover  the bottom of the mold (bowl that can go into a pressure cooker or double boiler) with the caramel. 
  • Pour mixture from blender on top of caramel in the mold.
  •  If you are going to use a pressure cooker cover the mold very tightly with aluminum foil.  Add water to the pressure cooker, about two cups of water, to create a double boiler.  Let cook in pressure cooker for 20 minutes.
  • Let cool before removing from pressure cooker.
  • Put mold in refrigerator until the flan is completely cooled.  Then flip mold over onto serving platter and serve.

French Onion Soup Sandwich

I love French Onion soup.  When we go to restaurants I always order a bowl.  I made a french onion casserole at Thanksgiving which was a hit but was for large numbers of people.  I decided to experiment and try to come up with a recipe for one person.  That is when I decided to try to make it into a sandwich. The sandwich is delicious and tasted just like French Onion Soup. I will describe the process and the ingredients but the amounts depend on what each person likes.


Ingredients

  • Onion- I  used a Vidalia Onion
  • Butter
  • Beef broth
  • Swiss Cheese
  • Bread-  I have made this with a hoagie roll and with a slice of my Sweet Hawaiian Bread.

Directions

  • Butter the bread for the sandwich and put it in the toaster so it gets warm and crunchy.
  • I cut up enough onions for me and then caramelized them in a pan with some butter.
  • When the onions are clear I added some beef broth to the pan with the onions.  I did not add too much.  I wanted the sandwich bread to soak in the flavor but not get drenched.  
  • I then added swiss cheese to the pan and let the cheese melt all over the onions.
  • Put the cheese onion mix onto your toasted bread.
The last step is the best... eat and enjoy!


Picture coming soon.... for now the clip art will allow for recipe to be pinned. =)



Hawaiian Sweet Bread

     We grew up eating Hawaiian Sweet Rolls in my house.  When I found  recipe that claimed it was the same I had to try it.  This was actually the first and second loaf of bread I made with the bread maker.  My house was full of family for the holidays when I made the first loaf...so it did not stand a chance.  The smells of fresh baked bread had everyone salivating.  The first loaf lasted mere minutes.  It was so good.  The family all raved about the bread.  My cousins wife even told him she wanted a bread maker too.  
     The second loaf has lasted much longer.  I cut it into slices and have been using it to make sandwiches.  I did only changed some of the settings for my machine.  The site that I found the recipe used the bread maker to make the dough but not for the baking.  I let the bread maker do its thing from start to finish...which meant less clean up later.  That made me happy.

This is the site I where I found the recipe.
https://kimsrandomlife.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/sweet-hawaiian-bread-so-simple/


Ingredients


  • 3/4 cup pineapple juice
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
  • 3/4 teaspoons salt
  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 2 tablespoons dry milk
  • 2 teaspoons fast rising yeast (I used one specifically for bread makers)

Directions

  • Place ingredients in bread machine container in order directed by manufacturer.
    • Mine said all wet ingredients first, then dry, and last yeast.
  • I set the machine for the sweet cycle, Medium crust, 1.5 pound loaf