Picadillo

This recipe is excellent. I've made it several times and it tastes better every time. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com a few years ago. Its the ultimate comfort food and we all know how I feel about comfort foods. It can be served over rice or used as filling for empanadas. The cinnamon and bay leaf make the recipe so don't leave them out! I leave out the tomatoes and just add tomato sauce, cayenne, and sofrito.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

7 cloves garlic, chopped

1 medium-large onion

1 medium-large green bell pepper, chopped

2 pounds ground beef or chuck

5 ounces pitted olives, halved

5 ounces capers, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

2 dried bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 can tomato sauce

1/2 cup cilantro sofrito

1. In a large stock pot, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Saute onion and green pepper until onions are transparent. Add sofrito and garlic, saute another a minute or so. Remove from heat. In a separate saucepan, brown the ground beef.
2. Add the olives, capers, vinegar, salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cayenne, bay leaves and tomato sauce to the onion-sofrito mixture. Return to heat and let simmer over low heat for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally.

*Note: You can do this in one pan/pot. Start by browning the ground beef in the pan. Remove it and set aside. Then use the beef drippings in place of olive oil and follow the recipe from there.

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups Flour
1 1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 can Pumpkin

3/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Ground cloves
1/8 tsp Ground ginger
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Baking soda
4 oz Applesauce
1/4 cup Oil
1/3 cup Water
2 Eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 5x9 inch loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

3. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaf is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Day Twenty-Five: Brazilian Black Bean Stew

Brazilian Black Bean Stew

Leave out the chorizo for a vegetarian version.

Ingredients
Original recipe makes 6 servings

 1 tablespoon canola oil
 1/4 pound chorizo sausage, chopped
 1 medium onion, chopped
 2 cloves garlic, minced
 2 (1 pound) sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
 1 large red bell pepper, diced
 2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
 1 small hot green chile pepper, diced
 1 1/2 cups water
 2 (16 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
 1 mango - peeled, seeded and diced
 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat, and cook the chorizo for 2 to 3 minutes. Place the onion in the pot, and cook until tender. Stir in garlic, and cook until tender, then mix in the sweet potatoes, bell pepper, tomatoes with juice, chile pepper, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes, until sweet potatoes are tender.

2. Stir the beans into the pot, and cook uncovered until heated through. Mix in the mango and cilantro, and season with salt.

Day Sixteen: Lebanese Lemon Lentil Soup

I've always enjoyed the world flavors of places near and far. Keeping up that same tradition I've found a Lebanese lentil soup that deserves trying.

Adas bil Hamod
8 Servings

 1 tablespoon olive oil
 1/2 cup chopped onions
 1 pound brown lentils
 3 cloves garlic, minced
 1 (16 ounce) package frozen whole leaf spinach
 1 tablespoon dried mint, crushed
 salt to taste
 3/4 cup lemon juice

Directions

Heat oil in large pot over high heat. When oil is very hot, add onions and stir until onions begin to turn dark brown and caramelize, about 10 minutes. Put the lentils, garlic, frozen spinach, and mint into the pot. Pour in enough water so that it is about 2 inches deeper than the lentil mixture. Stir well to loosen browned bits of onion on the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium. Simmer, uncovered, until lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. If soup gets too thick, add a little more water. Salt to taste. Lower heat and stir in lemon juice.

Quiche

As a kid my mom made quiche but I never ate it. I can't remember where I tried it but when I did I loved it. I also decided that I preferred vegetable quiche. The other day I went to the store and a large bag of spinach was on sale so I found a general recipe on Allrecipes and adapted it for what I wanted. Instead of butter I cooked two strips of bacon to saute the onions and garlic in, but I didn't actually use the bacon in the quiche.

Original recipe makes 6 servings

 2 tablespoons butter
 1 onion, minced
 1 teaspoon minced garlic
 1 cup chopped fresh spinach
 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
 4 eggs, well beaten
 3/4 cup milk
 1 teaspoon salt
 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
 1 tablespoon butter, melted


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large saucepan or crisp two strips of bacon and remove.

Add onions and garlic and saute until translucent not brown. Let cool.

Stir saute mixture into spinach and sprinkle with cheese. Spoon filling into crust

Combine eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in melted butter. Pour egg mixture over vegetables and cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until center has set.

Pumpkin Bread

I've this recipe for a while and had been meaning to make it since before Thanksgiving, yet never got around to it. So now that I'm on vacation and have to classes to attend, I decided it was as good a times as any to finally make some pumpkin bread. I love making breads because there's always plenty to share. Not to mention it makes the house smell homey. Below is a recipe I got from Allrecipes that I substituted oil for applesauce. Enjoy!

Original recipe makes 3 - 7x3 inch loaf pans

 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
 4 eggs
 1 cup applesauce
 2/3 cup water
 3 cups white sugar
 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
 2 teaspoons baking soda
 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Because Its Fall

I bought broccoli last week and couldn't decide what to do with it. I thought about just eating raw or steaming it with some fish; the usual. Then I remembered I had a recipe for cream of broccoli soup from last fall. Since the weather is getting cooler I thought it would be perfect. Again I got this recipe from allrecipes.com and tweaked it.

Ingredients

4-5 cups of chicken broth
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom, cream of celery, or cheddar soup
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 or 2 stalks of chopped celery (depending on your taste or leave it out if you use the soup)
1 pinch ground white pepper
2 cups milk
1/3 cup cornstarch
3 crowns of fresh broccoli
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese

Directions

In large saucepan, combine broth, cream of mushroom soup, onion, celery and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add milk and bring to a boil.
In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Gradually add mixture to soup, stirring constantly. Simmer for 5 minutes and then add broccoli and cheeses, mixing until melted.

                           

 

Muffins

Allow me preface this by saying I am not a baker. I love to cook, but baking is its own arena. Occasionally, I like to bake breads, muffins, and cookies. Lately I have been craving banana nut muffins. I finally bought some reasonably priced walnuts so I was able to make them today. The following recipe was adapted from one I found on allrecipes.com. I replaced the butter with applesauce and added vanilla and cinnamon. They came out great!

Ingredients

Makes 1 dozen

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large bananas, mashed
3/4 cup sugar, half white half brown
1 egg
4 ounces of plain or cinnamon applesauce
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch of cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray, or use paper liners.

3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

4. Combine bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and applesauce in a large bowl.

5. Fold the flour mixture into the wet mixture. Stir as little as possible. Only about 15 turns with a spatula.

6. Scoop into muffin pans.

7. Bake in preheated oven. Bake mini muffins for 10 to 15 minutes, and large muffins for 25 to 30 minutes. Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped.