Exciting New Adventures on the Horizon

It's hard to believe we are nearing the end of the first month of 2017! I have lots of exciting ideas for expanding my business this year, including some product development and new cooking demo/class offerings. I have been longing to customize my business to suit not only my creative and design expertise, but my culinary skills at the same time! As I finally take this leap, I am excited to see where my ideas take me and share my new ventures with you all. Stay tuned as I develop my ideas and begin revealing my plans so you can see just what I am talking about!

National Taco Day!!

Just on the other side of Puerto Nuevo lies a stretch of road with some of the best tacos I have ever had. The carnitas stand was by far the most amazing, but the Adobada stand across the street and the little liquor store that sold the "Salsa Extra Picante" for a mere 15 pesos must not be forgotten either. Dreaming of these tacos today in celebration of National Taco Day! Viv la Mexico!!

Pops' Favorite Peach Cobbler

A family favorite comfort dessert. Easy and delicious! Excellent with vanilla ice cream!

1 stick butter, melted

1 cup + 2–3 tablespoons sugar

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

2 cups frozen sliced peaches 

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Melt the stick of butter and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, milk and 1 cup of the sugar. Whisk in the melted butter. Pour batter into a buttered 9x9 pan or equivalent. Nestle peach slices into the batter evenly across the pan. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons or so of the remaining sugar over the peaches. Bake  for about an hour, or until brown and bubbly. Dust with a touch more sugar just before it finishes baking if desired.

 

 

New Recipe Challenge: Cornish Pasties!

My father-in-law has been sick, and in the hospital the last couple weeks. When I asked him what I could make for him, sky's the limit, he came up with the challenge of making a batch of traditional Cornich Pasties. I did my research homework and came up with the following tasty recipe:

Cornish Pasties

Pastry:

3 3/4 cups all purpose or bread flour

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces and chilled

1/2 cup shortening, cut into small pieces and chilled

1/2-3/4 cup ice water

Filling:

1 lb raw beef flank or skirt steak, cut into small prieces (about 1/3-inch cubes)

1/2 of a large sweet onion, diced small

4 small russet potatoes, diced small

3-4 carrots, diced small

2-3 teaspoons salt

1-2 teaspoons pepper

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons flour

Egg Wash:

1 large egg

2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 400°F. 

Make pastry dough first, so it can spend some time chilling in the fridge. Place the flour and salt in a food processor fitted with an S-blade or the bowl of a stand mixer. Pulse/stir to mix them together. Add the cold butter and shortening. Pulse/stir until the mixture resembles course cornmeal. Add enough ice water until the dough just comes together. Do not over mix.

Pat the dough togeher with your hand as, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator while you make the filling. Pastry dough can be made up to a day ahead of time.

Chop meat and veggies so that they are all roughly the same size, small dice. Place all filling ingredients in a large bowl and toss to combine evenly. 

Cut the pastry into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece out into a flat disk on a lightly floured surface. Place 1 cup of filling in each round and fold the pastry over to make a semi circle. Crimp the edges of the pastry around to seal in the filling. 

Place pasties on a heavy sheet pan, brush with egg wash and bake for 40-45 minutes. You will probably need to use 2 pans, so be sure to rotate halfway through baking. Serve hot with mustard on the side and a fresh green salad! 

Pasties will keep for a couple days in the fridge, but also freeze well for easy reheating in the oven! Enjoy!!

new look and new inspirations!

Part of my 2016 plan is more blogging, more yoga and yoga study, new websites and working some e-learning and self discovery to expand my business goals. I want to make Stephie O./Stephaine's Cucina/The Meatball Mama shine and explore business opportunities that highlight and make the most of my talents and specialties. So to start it all off, the first step is simply blogging more and setting aside time each week for business development. Stay tuned for fun new post, recipe ideas and hopefully sooner than later and great new website! 

Prize-Winning Chili Recipe!

Spicy Pork & White Bean Chili

4 pounds boneless pork (shoulder, picnic ribs, roast, etc.)

1 pound thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 jalapeño peppers

5-6 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound great northern beans, soaked and ready to cook

1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes and green chilis

1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes and jalapeños

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes 

1 (7 oz) can chipotle en adobo (pureed)

1–2 cups chicken broth (start with 1)

1 (16 oz) can Modern Times Coffee Stout

1 tablespoon medium-hot chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

2 tablespoons chicken bouillon

Juice of 2–3 limes

1/4 cup brown sugar

Brown pork on all sides in a small amount of olive oil and set aside. Cook bacon until browned and fat is rendered, set aside. Remove and discard all but 1–2 tablespoons of bacon grease from pan. Sauté onion, garlic and chopped peppers in bacon grease until soft. Add bacon, sautéed veggies and all remaining ingredients to crock pot and mix well. Add pork, set crock pot to high and let cook for an hour or so. Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer for hours. Serve with hot sauce, crumbled chicharrones and avocado-cilantro-lime crema.

Avocado-Cilantro-Lime Crema

1–2 avocados

16 oz sour cream

8 oz cream cheese

1 bunch cilantro

juice and zest from 2 limes

Combine ingredients in a food processor or blender. Recipe makes a lot, so you could cut in half OR just make the whole batch... it is great on tacos, wraps, sandwiches and more!

Pig Roast!

Our friends bought us a La Caja China Roasting Box as a wedding gift. Needless to say, we had a pig roast party put together as fast as we could put the box together! And it was AMAZING! I'll let the pictures say the rest... along with the recipes for the Cuban mojo we injected the pig with and the dry rub (Adobo Crillo).

Cuban Mojo

• 3 heads garlic, peeled 
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns 
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt 
• 1 cups freshly squeezed sour orange juice
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice 
• 2 teaspoons oregano 
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 1 teaspoon ground bay leaves

Place garlic, peppercorns and salt in a large mortar and grind with a pestle to form a paste. (I did not have a mortar and pestle large enough, so I made fast work of this with my NutriBullet.) Stir in orange, lemon and pineapple juices. Add oregano, cumin and bay leaves; stir to combine. Let stand at least 1 hour before using.

Adobo Criollo

• 1/2 cup coarse salt 
• 1/2 cup garlic powder 
• 1/4 cup onion powder 
• 1/4 cup ground oregano 
• 4 teaspoons ground bay leaves 
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin 
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix together all ingredients in an airtight container; cover and let stand at least 12 hours before using.