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

 

Coconut Bread

My sister gave me a bread machine for Christmas.  I immediately began to look up recipes to create.  I found a recipe for Coconut Bread on Pinterest that is simply amazing.  My aunt and I have been enjoying this bread for breakfast each day.  It is delicious with a cup of coffee or chai tea.

Here is the link to the original site I found that published the recipe.

http://www.pluckys-secondthought.com/coconut-bread-in-the-bread-maker/

I made a few changes to the original recipe amounts and the settings on my machine and will include those.

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/4 cups milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tsp coconut extract
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes
• 3 and 1/3 cups white bread flour
• 3 tsp dry yeast

Directions

• Place all the ingredients in the baking pan.  I put all the wet first, then dry, and lastly the yeast.
• My settings were Sweet Bread, Medium Crust, and 2 lb loaf.

Let the Bread cool and then cut and enjoy!  Your house will smell heavenly every time you warm up this bread.