Banana Pound Cake.

Banana Pound Cake.

This cake is moist and it has a nice sweet jelly like syrup on top, I served it just like the captain ordered: with cream, chocolate sauce and caramel sauce … well in fact it was my nephew pretending to be Wall-e’s Captain and he said that I am Eve so I had to prepare a dessert (totica meaning tortica translation cake) for him because he is the captain and Wall-e too…well, in my opinion he is a dictator

Natural light, so you can see the jelly like syrup

At your service, Sir

Ingredients.
4 eggs.
160 gr self raising flour.
160 gr sugar.
160 gr butter or margarine.
¼ teaspoon banana essence.
½ teaspoon vanilla extract.
6 large bananas.
For the Caramel.
170 gr sugar.
3 tablespoons wáter.

1- Whisk butter, vanilla extract, banana essence and sugar until they are fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time and whisk well after each addition.
2- Add half of the milk and half of the flour whisk well and finally add the rest of the milk and flour. Set aside.
3- For the caramel. Place the ingredients in a small saucepan on medium heat until it becomes a very light golden syrup.
4- Butter and sprinkle flour on the sides of a cake pan, in the bottom pour the caramel and make sure it covers the entire cake pan bottom. Let cool
5- Cut the bananas (about 2 centimeters) and place them over the caramel, carefully cover the bananas with the pound cake batter.
6- Bake at 180°C until and inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7- Run a knife around the sides of the cake pan and invert the cake onto a plate, let cool.

The Daring Baker´s June Challenge

Bakewell Tart…er…pudding

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.
Thank you Jasmine and Annemarie for this challenge, it was easy and delicious too, I had all the ingredients at home, I decided to fill my tart with apricots and white chocolate truffle and for garnish Italian almond meringue, dark and white chocolate truffle sauce, I thought it was one of my crazy combinations but to my surprise it matches deliciously, I guess that after a year and a half cooking with the daring Bakers I am learning.
The only trouble I had was with the dough, it was too dry so after four teaspoons of water I had two add 2 more teaspoons and it wasn’t sticky at all.
I have a question, the tart name was given after the town’s name or because the tart actually bakes well???

For the recipe please visit Jasmine and Annemarie

All I can say is: YUMMMM ;9

The Venezuelan Rolls.

The Venezuelan Rolls.

These delicious rolls are among the traditional Venezuelan pastries, they are made of a sweet dough scented with anise seed and a filling that consist of grated papelón (panela, cane sugar), white cheese and more anise seeds they are glazed with melao (some say melado others say melao, which is the right one? For me melao, it is more traditional) which is a syrup made of papelón, butter and some milk and finally they are sprinkled with grated white cheese. To me they look like mountains covered with snow like the Andes in my country. Uuups I forgot: They are called Golfeados. I hope you like them.

Super soft bread

Papelón or Panela

For the dough.

2 eggs.
125 gr white sugar.
50 gr melted butter room, temperature.
1 tablespoon instant yeast.
4 tablespoons milk powder.
½ teaspoon salt.
200 ml warm water.
650 gr ap flour.
1 tablespoon anise seeds.
½ tablespoon malt extract.
½ teaspoon baking powder.

1- Mix all the dry ingredients.
2- Mix all the wet ingredients.
3- Mix dry and wet ingredients and knead un til you have a smoot and elastic dough.
4- Let rest until it doubles its volume.
Note: you may need a bit more flour, about ¼ cup depending on the flour and weather.

For the Filling.

250 gr grated white cheese.
250 gr grated papelón.
30 gr soft butter.
1 tablespoon anise seeds.

1. Mix white cheese, papelón and anise seeds.

Melao.

100 gr grated papelón.
50 gr salted butter.
3 tablespoons milk.
1- All the ingredients in a small sauce pan and heat until the papelón is melted, you may need a bit more milk if the melao gets to thick.

How to make the Rolls.

1. Roll out the dough, and spread the 30 gr of butter, sprinkle the papelon and cheese mix.
2. Roll the dough as you do for a Swiss roll and cut portions of about two fingers.
3. Place the portions on a jelly roll sheet greased and floured ( you better line it with aluminum foil and then grease and flour the foil, if you don’t want to scrub your jelly roll sheet for two days).
4. Let rest until the rolls double its size and bake at 200°C until they are light brown.
5. Take the rolls out of the oven and glaze with the melao and sprinkle some white cheese.
Note: golfeados are so good whit coffee with milk

Chicken Filled Tortellini and Pesto Sauce

Chicken Filled Tortellini and Pesto Sauce

Today, I cook without a recipe I cook “eye percent” as I call this way of cooking or doing things, when I do not measure…it is great working like this
Let’s say on Saturdays I feel lazy, after 5 days in a row feeling (not that I like) like a tornado and doing things without a decent rest from 6:00 am toooo… let’s say, 9:00 pm, I see Saturdays like my personal oasis. Well today, I said I am not going to the butcher’s and the supermarket .I’ll cook with what is left in the fridge and so I did: there was 1 chicken breast, vegetables, some cream and 4 eggs … I had flour , almonds and parmesan cheese too, I went to the backyard and took some basil leaves and made tortellini filled with chicken and basil pesto, the verdict it: delicious and I stayed at home but tomorrow I’ll have to go to the butcher’s. *SIGH* I NEED A VACATION


For the Filling
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast.
Half medium onion.
Half red bell pepper.
¼ cup chopped green onion.
1 tablespoon cappers.
2 tablespoons cream.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Place all the ingredients in the food processor and process until they are smooth.


For the Dough
3 eggs.
2 ½ cups ap flour.
1 teaspoon water.
1 teaspoon oil.
¼ teaspoon salt.Knead all the ingredients until the dough becomes satiny and smooth, let rest for about 7 minutes.

Then roll the doug as thing as you can, place some small amounts of the filling over it.

Dip your finger in some water and make a line of moisture around the filling,

fold the dough over the filling and cut, finally press the edges with a fork.

Brush off any excess flour on the tortellini before throwing them into the boiling water.

Water, salt and 2 tablepoons oil. whisk the water before trowing the tortellini in, this way you will not end up with a "cluster" of testellini

You will also need white sauce and more parmesan cheese.

In a Pyrex dish, place a layer of white sauce then a layer of tortellini and sprinkle parmesan cheese to taste then repeat the process and then bake it , I wanted mine pale because I decorated it with the pesto as soon as I took it out of the oven

For the Pesto
1 cup basil leaves.
½ cup almonds.
½ cup grated parmesan cheese.
1 big garlic clove.
About 2/3 of a cup of oil. (maybe a bit more)
Place all the ingredients in the food processor and process until they are smooth.

It was kind of tic tac toe

One tortellini cut, I love these colors

With the left over dough my mom made these fried forms and sprinkled some sugar with cinnamon over them, they were delicious . sometimes she fills this forms with mermelade yummmm

So crunchy

Corn Bread

Corn Bread.

Hello, its been a long time since my last post but so many things happened these past days: we finished the “security system” around the house, I finished my detective work too but we are still working on my dad’s pick up truck … well no I am not a bricklayer nor a mechanic but I have to be there just telling the guys what to do and helping my cousin with the pick up truck. the sun is been so… so splendid , as a result I do not recognize myself on a mirror, my skin is reddish, tanned and like bloated also itchy. The good news is that I began my English classes again. We are getting our passports done, yes you cannot do that yourself online, in this country you hire someone to make the passport for you…but you pay a lot for that “favor”, A LOT. The Italian passports are for July when Michele is on vacation because we have to travel to Valencia to get them but these are cheaper because there is no corruption there so I gladly pay the cost; we think we will have to leave the country if things get worst.But I HOPE the big ape leaves the country first.

Compare my leg and my arm. By the way I am not a shaman those bracelets were given to me by my nephew, he thinks they are beautiful and so do I.

The most common Venezuelan security system… ha.

I found the reason why my mom’s ferns are brown and not green.

I feed it cheese hi hi hi don’t tell her please.

Corn Bread.

Ingredients.

350 gr all purpose flour.
150 gr corn flour.
350 gr warm water (or milk and water).
Tablespoon instant yeast.
1 tablespoon malt extract.
3 tablespoons corn oil.
½ teaspoon baking soda (optional)

1- Mix all the ingredients and knead for about 5 minutes or less, until the dough is smooth.
You may need 5 extra tablespoons of all purpose flour is the dough is too sticky do not add more or the bread will be too heavy.
2- Place the dough in a floured bowl and cover with a bag and let rest until it doubles its volume.
3- Form the bead and let rise again until doubled in size, make some decorations with knife spray the loaves with water and sprinkle some corn flour over them.
4- Bake at 190 °C until you hear a hollow sound when you tap on them.
5- Let the loaves get room temperature before eating.

The Daring Baker's May Challenge: Strudel

The Daring Baker's May Challenge: Strudel

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

He he I guess I added to much toasted ground almonds, it was something between a baklava and a strudel. I used green apples, ground and coarsely chopped almonds because I could not find raisins in the super market also I forgot how to properly fill the strudel and spread the filling all over the stretched dough, the dough was so elastic that I began to play with it like a child and I think it was to thin, I could see the pattern of the cloth under it.

Tank you so much Courtney of Coco Cooks and Linda of make life sweeter! for this challenge it was so much fun, I learn new things and It was delicious.

The recipe for this Strudel here and here

Also it is my birthday today and my sister made a cake WHAT??? Gina cooking??? no way she bought a delicious cake at a bakery, it was a chocolate cake filled with white chocolate mousse and dark chocolate mousse the kitchen was flooded with delicious scent of chocolate yummm :9

Fast Food

Fast Food.

Hello! After so many days out of the blogosphere I’m back again. I had so many things to do that my back began to hurt then I had to take a while to heal, the pain was so bad that it was hard to walk, or sit or lay on my bed, I could not move very well. we had to reinforce the walls around our house and find the best security system, we had two options an electric fence over the walls or a very Venezuelan system… we chose the second one because we have little animals and a little boy who is very curious besides I’m not the tree of awareness so we better use something less harmful but that will discourage the thieves that abound in this area (and country) now, many of which come from other nations…but you know, they vote … and always for the bad guy, we are plentiful of thieves but we lack all purpose flour, cream cheese, skim milk powder and so many other items that are necessary for people. Also my cousin and I were working on my daddy’s pick up truck a Chevy 69, everybody wants to buy it but I say sorry it belonged to my daddy so it is priceless .
Back to the kitchen too, I prepare something easy that did not demand physical effort, I cannot knead …Mua Ha Ha we’ll see dear Doctors*… kneading is my hobby.
*The doctors are my brother and sister.
The first day in the kitchen: I prepare hamburgers with Milanese, when my nephew saw them he shouted “Pambomaaaa” it means McDonaaaalds but when he bite the hamburger he said “no e pamboma chia dada” it means it’s not McDonalds aunty dada and he put it away he was very disappointed. Well I only ate half of my hamburger because it was too big for me.

Spread ketchup on the one part of the hamburger bread and Dijon mustard on the other, place as much Milanese as you like cover it with some slices of cheese and ham, over the ham place some strips of tomato and roasted bell pepper add some onion rings and mayonnaise sprinkle dried oregano and black pepper then 30 second in the microwave on high and you are done.

Today:, I prepare rolled chicken steaks filled with roasted bell pepper, basil leaves, crushed almonds and cheese and then seasoned with light soya sauce and grated garlic then I pad each roll with a mix made with dried oregano, salt and bead crumbs cover each roll with a strip of bacon and finally cooked them , also I made cachapas a traditional Venezuelan dish, using a cachapa mix, only add water and you are ready to cook cachapas… my opinion: I prefer the real cachapa made with real corn but this is easy to make so it’s one option if you don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen.

The Cachapa mix

Roasted bell pepper

Another use for electric grill

Cover the steak with cheese, ok, this was to show the fillin

I forgot the bacon , but I added it later hi hi hi

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day

The Sad Mother
By Gabriela Mistral

Sleep, sleep, my beloved,
without worry, without fear,
although my soul does not sleep,
although I do not rest.

Sleep, sleep, and in the night
may your whispers be softer
than a leaf of grass,
or the silken fleece of lambs.

May my flesh slumber in you,
my worry, my trembling.
In you, may my eyes close
and my heart sleep.

This is true, I remember how I feel when my nephew Michele is sick; a few days ago he was very sick with fever and pharyngitis. I just wanted to take his place.

This morning, my sister and I went to the store to buy my mom a present she wanted : a black and Decker electric grill, so for mom’s day celebration lunch, the food was very healthy and I made an apple sponge cake without sugar and without butter just for her, for those who prefer not so healthy cake I made and Italian cake very sweet and tasty. My mom is very special (I guess every body says the same thing ) but she loves hand made gifts, so I made a crystal bracelet that kept me awake until 2 am fishing beads and these beads are so clear that I didn’t know where they were or where the hole was, Gosh it was a pain… but she was so happy to see such a “big” gift that it was worth it the effort :) (good girl, god girl)

This is mother’s day celebration at Michele's school last Friday. We had Mariachis too, by the way, when they entered in the school, I almost dropped dead, they scared me to death with that fist loud sound of the trumpet, I was NOT expecting that .... GOSH

My negrito, perfectly suntanned due to looooong playing at his pool.

Michele and his teachers
I LOVE my new muuuug

Apple Sponge Cake

3 eggs.
½ cup corn starch.
¼ cup all purpose flour.
¼ teaspoon baking powder.
½ teaspoon vanilla extract.
4 packages of splenda.
3 apples (peeled, seeded and cut in slices)
Cinnamon to taste.

1- Whisk the eggs until they are pale and foamy, then add the splenda and the vanilla and whisk until the mixture gets a thicker consistency.
2- Sieve the corn starch, flour and baking powder. Add to the eggs with folding movements.
3- Pour the mixture in a greased and floured spring cake pan .
4- Place the apple slices over the mixture and dust with cinnamon.
5- Bake until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

The "big" gift

Starch Cookies

These past two weeks were so difficult, we started on Thursday with an explosion of the electrical transformers on the electric pole in front of my house, the explosion was huge and my mom and nephew were really scared but I said “gooooool” somehow I knew…the one that got damaged was the one that feeds four blocks…yes, including ours J we spend two and a half days without electric power, on Saturday they “fix” it, Sunday I was with my nephew at home, and a burglar tried to broke into our house but I faced that son..#&$ , he ran away scared (I guess I am too ugly)but in the afternoon he broke into my grandma ’s house, that is next door. Plus every evening we have a power cut of about 4 hours sometimes more, specially at night (guess what, the new transformers the nation bough with our money are now in Nicaragua as a gift from the president of a bunch of people of this country to his friend the president of that country). Last Wednesday my five year old nephew Michele got sick with 40 degrees of fever, chills and he was vomiting too, he denied eating or drinking something different from water, I did not know what to do and was so nervous to see my “Negrito” feeling so bad, we spend 5 hours with him in the clinic, one thing I can not stand is to hold him while the nurse injects him. Thanks God he is fine now, only he does not like to take his medicine…*sigh* ok , to my business: cooking :D
These cookies are traditional in my country they are called Almidoncitos, they can be made of (mandioca )Yuca starch or corn starch. They are delicious, crunchy and they melt in your mouth, this is one of those recipes you want to make every time because they are easy to make and they are really delicious. Also these cookies are good for celiac people.

Michele my nephew with his friend and neighbor Isabel, he says she is his girlfriend

Ingredients.
500 gr mandioca starch. *
100 gr corn stach.
250 gr white sugar.
250 gr margarine.
2 large eggs.
½ teaspoon cinnamon powder.
¼ teaspoon clove, ground.
2 tablespoons azahar water (orange blossom )

1- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, until they are well blended, the dough should be soft but will hold the shape.
2- Form a log and cut every 5 cm and make some desins with a knife on each one.
3- Place in a greased and floured cookie tray and bake until they are ligh brown and feel dry and a bit hard.
4- Let them cool before eating.
5- * Note: you can use corn starch instead of mandioca starch, so you will use 600 gr of corn starch, always add the last 100 gr little by little so you do not end up with a very dry dough

Two Easy But Dangerous Recipes

Two Easy But Dangerous Recipes

The first recipe was given to me by Donna, it consist of a chocolate cake in five (5) minutes…the danger with this recipe is that from now on you will only be 5 minutes away from a delicious chocolate cake that has a very fine texture and can be served with ice cream or chocolate fudge or your imagination is the limit…
The second recipe is lemon dessert I made when I was at the university, very easy to make and perfect for hot days but….the dangerous part is that this dessert is sooo addictive.

5 Minute Chocolate mug Cake

The original recipe in my mailbox said:

“5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Ingredients.

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired..
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world ?
Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!”

Lemon Delight.

Lemon Delight.

Ingredients.

2 cans sweetened condensed milk.
1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice.
½ can liquid milk, use the one condensed milk can to measure (I use full cream powder milk and not much water :9 Yum).
Maria cookies or your favorite sweet cookie
Milk

1- In a bowl place the sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and milk, whisk until all the ingredients are smooth and the mixture is thick.
2- To assemble the dessert place a layer of cookie (slightly moisten in milk) a layer of lemon curd and keep working like this until you use all the lemon curd.
3- Place the dessert into the freezer for 45 minutes or less if you are like me or in the refrigerator for 3 hours.