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.

Roasted Hot Sauce

A batch of scorpion peppers given to me by our gardener Fernando + a bowl full of tomatoes = base for a new hot sauce creation made by roasting and blending! For the first batch I used 4 scorpion peppers, 2 hot house tomatoes and a couple hand full of mixed grape tomatoes. Tossed all that with some good olive oil, salt, pepper and dried thyme, roasted it up and pureed in the Nutribullet. It was delicious, but even Fernando though it was really hot! I made a second more tame batch with 2 small but hot jalapeños from out own garden, 1 habanero, a pint of mixed grape tomatoes and about 12 Campari tomatoes (seasoned the same as the first batch). Also delicious but slightly tamer!

Our own pepper garden is about to start producing, so stay tuned for more hot sauce madness!

Skinny Broccoli Goat Cheese Soup

2—3 Tbsp Olive oil

1/2 Medium sweet onion, coarsely chopped

12 oz Briccoli florets

1/4 cup Flour

4 cups Chicken broth

2—3 oz Goat cheese

Salt and black pepper to taste

In a large pot, sauté opinion in olive oil over medium-high heat until translucent. Add broccoli and cook until soft. Remove broccoli from pan and set aside. Add a little more oil if needed and then add the flour, stirring constantly. Heat until flour is light brown. Slowly whisk in chicken broth. Add broccoli back into pan and use and immersion blender to purée. Simmer until thickened. Whisk in goat cheese. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Serve hot and enjoy—Makes a great healthy, savory snack on a chilly fall day! 

 

 

More Heat!

Ghost peppers drying for Muy Caliente Fire Powder.

Ghosts and Habaneros in the second stage of making fermented pepper mash.

 

 

Homemade Sriracha

SRIRACHA SAUCE

2 cups assorted fresh red chiles (jalapeño, cayenne, serrano, habanero, etc), stemmed and seeded
5–6 garlic cloves
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar, plus more to taste
1–2 teaspoons salt, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well blended. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust if desired.

Transfer mixture to a small nonreactive saucepan and simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until sauce loses its raw vegetable smell.

Let cool and pour into a bottle or jar.

Hot Sauce Day!

We had our biggest hot pepper harvest of the year this week — ghost peppers, habaneros, Roatan pumpkin-habaneros (mild habaneros that hail from Honduras), jalapeños and a couple cayennes.

Today I made a Sriracha sauce with ghosts and habaneros (wish I had made more... It is flaming hot but Delish!), a Puerto Rican style Pique vinegar, a pumpkin habanero sauce and a jalapeño sauce. I also set out a pound of ghosts and habaneros for a fermented pepper mash. (More on this once they dry for a few days and I start the fermentation process. :)

Passion Fruit (Lilikoi) Jelly

 

2 cups passion fruit juice (about 5 pounds of fresh passion fruit) or bottled unsweetened passion fruit nectar

1 3/4 cups water

6 cups sugar

6 ounces liquid pectin

Prepare canner and canning jars.

Combine juice, water and sugar in a large, tall pot.  Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.  Immediately add liquid pectin and bring to a full, rolling boil.  Boil rapidly for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from the heat, skim off foam using a small fine mesh strainer, and pour into sterilized jars leaving 1/8 – 1/4 inch space between the jelly and rim of the jar.  Secure 2 part lids and follow basic canning procedure.

Makes 8 half pint jars

Caprese Steak & Brown Rice Bowl

Leftover NY Strip with sweet grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, brown rice and fresh basil from the herb garden... Instant gourmet lunch!
 

Fried Chicken!

The secret, you ask? Season the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic, thyme and cayenne... Keep it cold until ready to fry... Dredge seasoned chicken in plain flour just before frying and voila! 
 

2014 Hot Sauce... so it begins!

We collected our first harvest from the back yard chili pepper garden last night and have created the first batch of Cullen & Steph's Muy Caliente Sauce! We've got a mild, green jalapeño sauce and a flaming hot ghost pepper-habañero sauce! Oh yea!!! Now it's time to design the new labels and bottle it up!

 

 

Spicy Turkey Pita's with Taziki

Last Nights Dinner with the Ghost Pepper—Spicy Turkey Pita Pockets! Seasoned with garlic, onion and ghost pepper and served with homemade cucumber-yogurt Taziki, feta crumbles, brown rice and while wheat pita bread. Healthy and yummy with a kick! 

Ghost pepper tip: For 1.25 lbs of meat, I used 1 ghost pepper, diced very fine and seeds discarded and the heat was perfect! 

 

Ghost Peppers are ready!

About to try our first ghosts pepper from the garden!

 

Getting Back to the Heart of It!

Things have been very busy in our lives lately... We've been traveling, we bought a classic sail boat that we are restoring, and work (very thankfully) has been busy for us both. Life is good!

I've been using the excuse of a busy life for too long now as I have been neglecting my blog, but I hope to change that FOR REAL this time and get back to the heart of my writing and cooking by using a mobile app to write and post pics and recipe ideas on the fly.

Hopefully I will also soon be unveiling my full website as well as a second blog chronicling the travel and everyday adventures of me and my loves — Cullen, Chloe the wonder-dog and Fernando the ninja-Kat ! :)

Stay tuned, much more to come soon...

Love!

Stephanie

 

Hawaiian Manapua

A few weeks ago, I decided to try my hand at something totally new to me. Our neighbor Dennis was about to have a birthday and as a surprise, I decided to try and make a dish from his native Hawaii. I remembered him bringing back some delicious lightly sweet rolls that were stuffed with a delicious sweet and savory barbecue pork filling. After a little research, I realized that these Hawaiian delights are called Manapua. I am proud to say that my first attempt at making them was a success and was greatly appreciated by both our neighbor and our other friends who got to try them.

Hawaiian Manapua

Bun Ingredients

1 package dry yeast 

3 tablespoons lukewarm water 

2 cups warm water 

1-1/2 tablespoons cooking oil or shortening 

1/4 cup sugar 

3/4 teaspoon salt 

6 cups sifted flour 

1/2 tablespoon sesame oil 

Filling Ingredients

1 cup pineapple juice

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 pound char siu, diced

BUNS: Sprinkle yeast over 3 tablespoons water and allow to stand until yeast begins to bubble. Heat water, add oil or shortening, sugar and salt, stirring until melted or dissolved. Cool. Add yeast mixture. Place flour in a large mixing bowl or a heavy-duty mixer and add most of the liquid. Begin kneading. Add remaining liquid to make a very heavy dough. Continue kneading or mixing until you have a smooth ball that springs back to the touch of a finger. Remove dough from bowl and rinse out bowl. Pour sesame oil into bowl, return dough and turn it around until covered with a thin layer of the oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until double in bulk -- about an hour in a warm room. Placing the dough in the refrigerator and allowing it to rise there, 3-6 hours, develops the flavor. Proceed with the filling or gently deflate the dough and allow it to rise for a second time, which will further enhance the flavor. 

FILLING: In a pot, combine pineapple juice, cornstarch and salt until dissolved. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add char siu.

ASSEMBLY: Heat a steamer with plenty of water. Cut 12 (3-inch) squares of waxed paper and coat 1 side with 1/2 second coat of nonstick cooking spray. Punch down dough and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each into a ball. Flatten into a circle about 6 inches in diameter. Make the dough as thin as you can and try to keep the edges thinner than the center. Place the circle of dough in the palm of your hand. Spoon in a couple of tablespoons of filling, cupping the dough around it. Then, with the thumb and finger of the other hand, pinch the edges of the dough as if you were making a fluted edging on a pie crust. Pinch the folds together, twisting them as you do so. Local manapua are usually served fold-side down, and Vietnamese manapua with the twirl of dough on top. Place the completed manapua on a square of greased waxed paper. Allow to plump up into a globe with a taut exterior. Place in steamer on their squares of paper about 1 to 2 inches apart. Cover and steam vigorously for 15 minutes. If using a metal steamer, place a folded tea towel across top of steamer, holding it in position with the lid. This will prevent steam from dropping onto manapua. If using a bamboo steamer, this is not necessary. Remove steamer from heat, let stand 5 minutes, then open. Serve hot. Makes 12 buns. 

NOTE: Tradionally Manapua are steamed, but they can also be baked. Brush the tops of the buns with a little canola oil and bake 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Char Siu Recipe

4 pounds pork butt, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons Hawaiian sea salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon whiskey
1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder 

Rub pork with Hawaiian salt and refrigerate 1 hour. Combine marinade ingredients. Soak pork in marinade in refrigerator 24 hours. Place meat on a rack over 1/4 inch of water in a shallow roasting pan. Roast 1-1/2 hours at 300 degrees. You can also roast overnight in a crock pot on low heat.