A few weeks ago, while I was making breakfast, Jake was watching Paula Deen and her sons on The Food Network (We love everything on TFN and on the Cooking Channel!) and when breakfast was almost done, he came downstairs just to turn on the TV and keep on watching the show. I didn’t realize that, until later that day that we went grocery shopping and he said “Don’t worry about dinner, I got it”- I also had to bake the Mardi Gras cupcakes, so the next morning I could frost them. Then I figured it out! He was going to grill something… While I was baking he was making this amazingly sweet smelling red wine reduction for a glaze. All I have to say is this is an amazing recipe, give it a try! Don’t be scared about the sweetness of the berries… The blue cheese and the wine take care of that!

Grilled Steak and Blue Cheese with Berry Glaze
Recipe from Paula Deen and Sons, The Food Network
Serves 6

Ingredients:

4 beef tenderloin filets, (9 ounce)
Steak Seasoning
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 ½ cups red wine
½ cups water
2 cups sugar
1 pint strawberries, hulled
1 pint raspberries
1 pint blueberries
1 pint blackberries
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Blue Cheese, crumbles

Directions:

1. Preheat a grill to high.
2. Season the fillets with steak seasoning and salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Put on the grill and cook desired doneness.
4. Add the red wine to a medium saucepan over medium heat and reduce it by half.
5. Add the water, then add sugar and berries and cook for about 5 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and stir until thickened.
6. Remove the steaks from the grill to serving dishes and top with sauce and blue cheese crumbles.

To me lentil stew is a comfort food, it would be the perfect meal to have on a cold, rainy day….like today. At my house we always have a grain day during the week.  (We playfully call it “slop day”)  I either make garbanzo beans, chili, pork and beans, or lentils. Compared to other grains lentils are easy and quick to prepare, and they absorb all the flavors so well. With the other types of beans I have to prepare the crock pot the night before to let them cook overnight, that way when I rush home from my daughter’s swim class I just finish up mixing in all the other ingredients. Another great advantage I have when I make grains, is that I can freeze half of it after it is cooked, which is very helpful on hectic days.  (Or lazy days)
For this recipe I only used half a bag of lentils, if you want to use the entire 2 cups, just double the rest of the ingredients.  You can also add bacon or pancetta, sausages, more ribs, it depends on how meaty you want it.  Just make sure you brown them first to get extra flavor. And that way you can also discard excess fat before adding the rest.

Lentil Stew

A Foodies’ Original Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup raw lentils
1 tomato, diced
½ onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 small piece of pork rib
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon oregano powder
¼ teaspoon cumin powder
¼ teaspoon paprika
5 cups of water or beef broth

Procedure:

1. In a hot pan with olive oil, sauté the onions, garlic and carrots. Add the rib. Sauté for about 5 min over medium heat.
2. Add the lentils and tomatoes, together with the oregano, cumin and paprika.  Season with salt and pepper. Let it cook for about 5 minutes more
3. Add the liquid.
4. Cover and let cook for about 40 min over medium heat.

Serve with rice.

This is a great sandwich for a light supper. The olive cheese is very flavorful and it balances out with all the vegetables in the sandwich to give it a little punch… and also make it more filling.  I used crab meat, but you can make with sliced chicken or turkey ham.  Lets face it, sandwiches are dull, so if I want to get away with making a sandwich to serve my husband for dinner, I have to try to make it with as many ingredients as I can. Even use seasonings in it.  After a long day you don’t want to sit in front of two pieces of bland bread with ham and mayo, do you? A nice tomato soup would be a great accompaniment for this sandwich.

Pita Bread Sandwich with Olive-Cheese

Serves: 2
A Foodies’ Original Recipe

Ingredients:

2 pita breads
½ cup cream cheese
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Chives, finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
10 green olives, chopped
6 Romaine lettuce leaves
1 Tomato, sliced
A few slices of cucumber
Chicken or crab slices
Dried basil leaves and pepper, as seasoning.

Procedure:

1. Slice open the pita bread.
2. In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, mayonnaise, chives, olives, salt and pepper. (use salt sapringly, remember the olives are salty)
3. Spread this mixture inside both pita bread halves.
4. Arrange lettuce leaves, chicken or crab meat slices, tomato, cucumber.
5. Sprinkle with pepper and basil

Enjoy.

We were invited to a end-of-summer BBQ, Mardi Gras Themed. I jumped right at the chance to make dessert. Cupcakes are great for BBQs since you don’t require a plate or silverware to eat them. You can also have fun and make them different colors. I decided to make Yellow Cake cupcakes with Purple Buttercream frosting and Yellow sprinkles… and Purple Chocolate cupcakes with Yellow Buttercream and Purple sprinkles. You can’t get any more Mardi Gras than that! The end result was great, although I will buy purple coloring next time, I used a mix of blue and red, but the purple color wasn’t as vibrant as I wanted it to. They tasted great!

Purple Chocolate Cupcakes (Mardi Gras Version)
Adapted from Paula Deen’s Recipe, The Food Network
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cocoa powder
1 cup buttermilk
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons Purple Food Coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder.
4. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer.
5. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.
6. Add vinegar to the baking soda on a small bowl (this will have a chemical reaction and it will start to foam up- it’s what we want!) and add that to the batter. You should see the colors pop-up.
7. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled.
8. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness.
9. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

Yellow Cupcakes (Mardi Gras Version)
Adapted from MarthaStewart.com
Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
Yellow Food coloring

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line the cups of a standard (12-cup) muffin tin with paper or foil liners.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a liquid-measuring cup, mix milk and vanilla; set aside.
4. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. With mixer on low speed, add half of dry ingredients, followed by milk-vanilla mixture, then remaining dry ingredients. Add a few drops of yellow paste or food coloring as you go, when you get a very bright yellow batter, you got it! Remember not to over-mix.
7. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.
8. Place tin on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
9. Cool cupcakes 5 minutes in tin, then remove and cool completely on a rack before frosting.

Buttercream Frosting
A Foodies’ Original
Yield enough to frost 12 cupcakes

For the frosting, I made one recipe for the Yellow Cake Cupcakes and two for the Purple Chocolate Cupcakes. I didn’t feel comfortable doing the three recipes at once, well, because it’s plenty of frosting and I’m using a hand mixer.

Ingredients:

1 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
Yellow and Purple Food Coloring

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter until smooth.
2. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar; beat until smooth, add the food coloring until desired color is achieved. If too thick to spread, beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons milk.
3. Frost the cupcakes when they are completely cooled. Add colored sprinkles for decoration.

Note:

• To fill up the cupcake liners with batter, you can use either an ice cream scoop (a 2-ounce or 1/4-cup ice-cream scoop is good for this) or two teaspoons: One for  scooping and the other one for sliding the batter out.

I saw an episode of the F Word the other day, and it featured an Argentinean restaurant that served empanadas, among other things. Gordon Ramsay was so delighted by them, that I felt like trying to make some of my own and see if I could pull it off. I had some ground beef in the freezer, and as you already may know… I’m not crazy about ground beef, so making a filling for empanadas sounded like a good way to eat it.

A couple of days later I made the dough, from a recipe I found online.  It was very easy to make, and I was surprised to see how easy it was to handle. It didn’t break appart at all, so forming the disks was easy.  The ground beef filling is my own recipe, I always use lean beef to avoid that awful taste that lingers in your mouth all day. These empanadas are winners, I made 12 and gave some to my mother in law, they didn’t last one day. Don’t be afraid to try this recipe I promise you it is not hard to make.

Beef Empanadas

Empanada Dough
This recipe is an accompaniment for Beef Empanadas.
Recipe From: Epicurious
Yield: Makes enough for 12 pastries

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg
1/3 cup ice water
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

Procedure:

1. Sift flour with salt into a large bowl and blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal with some (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
2. Beat together egg, water, and vinegar in a small bowl with a fork. Add to flour mixture, stirring with fork until just incorporated. (Mixture will look shaggy.)
3. Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and gather together, then knead gently with heel of your hand once or twice, just enough to bring dough together. Form dough into a flat rectangle and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 1 hour.

Filling:
A Foodies’ Original

1 lb ground beef, lean cut
½ white onion, finely diced
½ red bell pepper, finely diced
½ carrot, finely diced
1 garlic clove, diced
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
¼ teaspoon Oregano
½ teaspoon Cinnamon
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon cumin
1 cup tomato sauce
2 teaspoons sugar ( to correct the taste if tomato sauce is to acidic)

1. In a large pan, heat a bit of olive oil and sauté the onions, bell pepper, carrot and garlic clove for a few minutes, until the onion is translucent.
2. Add the beef, the bay leaf, season with salt and pepper and add the rest of the spices. When the beef is no longer pink and has started to brown, add the tomato sauce. Correct flavoring by adding a little sugar if the tomato sauce is too acidic.
3. Let this mixture cool to room temperature.

Form and bake empanadas:

1. Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and form each into a disk. Keeping remaining pieces covered, roll out 1 piece on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 5-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick).
2. Spoon about 2 tablespoons filling onto center and fold dough in half, enclosing filling. Press edges together to seal, then crimp decoratively with your fingers or tines of a fork. Transfer empanada to a baking sheet. Make 11 more empanadas in same manner, arranging on 2 baking sheets.
3. Lightly brush empanadas with some of egg wash and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer empanadas to a rack to cool at least 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

So, one monday afternoon I wanted to make something really nice for dinner. I thought: Chicken with a Mango sauce (and a little kick of Cayenne pepper). Sounds harmless, right? Wrong. I added Cayenne Pepper, tasted: not enough kick. Added a bit more, saw the paprika and thought… why not? A “kick to it” is an understatement. This was a sauce meant for spicy food lovers. We are not big on really spicy foods. With a kick, yes. Spicy, no. What to do?! I panicked- of course, and after a minute or so, we went online (I was chatting with Helga) and found this bit of advice “add more of every ingredient except the peppers”. I had used my two mangoes! What else can it go with this? Then I saw it on the fridge: Kiwis! Still spicy. Needed salt- but that was not the issue… What else… Think Kitty, think! Aha! Apple Cider Vinegar and a bit of orange juice. That did the trick. Saved dinner and got a Foodies’ Original recipe all at once!

Chicken with a Mango & Kiwi Sauce
A Foodies’ Original Recipe
Serves Three (or two very hungry guests)

Ingredients:

2 ripe mangos, diced
2 ripe kiwis, diced
1 tablespoon of orange juice
2 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon of Red peppercorns, ground
1/2 teaspoon of Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon of Garlic powder
1 teaspoon of Rosemary Leaves

Directions:

1. Dice the chicken breasts and mix with the ground red peppercorns, salt, garlic powder and rosemary leaves. Set aside.
2. Cut the peeled kiwis to 1/2 inch slices and then on half. This will make it easier to remove the kiwi’s seeds with a spoon. I’ve made this recipe twice and the seeds add a bit of bitterness to it.
3. Using a food processor or a blender, combine the mangos and kiwis. A few pulses should do.
4. Add the fruit sauce to a hot pan on medium heat, and sprinkle the cayenne pepper and paprika on top. Let it cook for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the orange juice and apple cider vinegar. Reduce heat to low.
6. Toss the chicken with a teaspoon of olive oil, and cook them over medium heat, letting them get brown on the sides.
7. To serve, put some mango and kiwi sauce on the plate, place the chicken on top and garnish with parsley.

I made this for my mom and husband last weekend. We were in the mood for something fresh, so we made Ceviche.

Ceviche is a very popular dish in Latin American countries. It consists of raw seafood being marinated in a lot of lemon juice. Since the seafood is not cooked with heat, but with the acid in the lemon juice, it is imperative to use fresh fish, shrimp, or whatever kind or seafood you want to use. You can mix your ceviche with fish and shrimp, or scallops, calamari…. Whatever you want.

I made two versions, which are the most popular ones. The traditional one with tomatoes is the most common type, we added some shrimp to that one. The other one, which is the Peruvian Ceviche (my favorite) has jalapeños in it, so it can be quite hot. This type is always made with red onion, and served with sweet potatoes.

Ceviche de Pescado: Two Ways
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Tomato Version:

3 tomatoes, finely chopped
½ white onion, finely chopped
1 small cilantro bunch, finely chopped
1 lb fresh fish, such as snapper or corvina
1/2 lb shrimp (optional)

————-

Peruvian Version:

2 sweet potatoes, cooked and cubed
½ red onion, sliced
1 jalapeño pepper
1 small cilantro bunch, chopped
1 lb fresh fish, such as snapper or corvina

1 1/2 cups of lemon juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

Procedure:

1. Cut the fish into cubes
2. In a deep ceramic, or glass bowl: Add the fish cubes (the whole 2 lbs used for both versions) and the cup of lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. About 1 teaspoonful.   In a small bowl, put the shrimp and add the remaining lemon juice. Use enough to cover them, if you need to squeeze some more lemon juice, do so.  Put the bowls in the refrigerator and let the fish and shrimp sit for at least 1 hour, to let them “cook” in the lemon juice.
3. Meanwhile, in a small pot of boiling water cook your chopped onion for about 3 minutes. You can use your onions raw, but personally I prefer to cook them a little bit first to take that excess oniony flavor out.
4. Do the same in a different pot with your red onion.
5. The Peruvian version calls for chopped jalapeños. Use rubber gloves or sandwich bags in your hands when cutting this pepper, otherwise it will burn your skin. If you take all the seeds and veins out, it won’t be hot at all. You can leave some in for a little spice, or you can just slice it as it is and incorporate it into the Peruvian version bowl. (This version is supposed to be hot)

Mixing the Ceviches:

For the Tomato Version:

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix the “cooked” fish, tomato, white onion and cilantro. Add some of the lemon in which the fish was cooked. If you are using shrimp, add them.  Serve.  (Let each person adjust the amount of salt to their liking)   I am allergic to shrimp, so we kept them in a separate bowl the whole time and my mom and husband just added them to their individual bowls.

For the Peruvian Version:

2. In a medium sized bowl, mix the “cooked” fish, sweet potato cubes, red onion, cilantro and jalapeño. Add some of the lemon in which the fish was cooked. Serve. (Let each person adjust the amount of salt to their liking)

Typical ways of accompanying Ceviche, is to serve with one, or all of the following dressings so each person can add them to their liking:

• Worcestershire Sauce
• Ketchup
• More Lemon: Serve it cut into quarters
• Salt

And also with:

• Saltine Crackers
• Avocado
• Beer! Please don’t forget the beer.

I have to confess. This is not the first time I’ve made the recipe. The first time, I prepared it but the apples came out too soggy and I didn’t have the all-spice at hand, so I replaced that with pink peppercorn, garlic and some other recipes. It wasn’t as good and between this and that, I served dinner about 30 minutes later- we know, life gets in the way some days!-  and the result was the soggy apples. But, next time around (about 2 months later) I re-did the dish and with the all-spice at hand, it made it so much better!

Apple Chicken Skillet
Adapted from AllRecipes.com
Serves two.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 chicken breast, diced
1 apple, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon all spice
¾ teaspoon dried tarragon
pepper to taste
salt to taste

Directions:

1. Take the cubed chicken and season it with the garlic, salt and pepper.
2. Sprinkle the apple with half of the all spice, sprinkle with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and set aside.
3. Add the remaining olive oil to a hot skillet, wait for it to get hot and add the chicken. Let it brown on the sides first, this seals in the flavor!
4. Cook it for about 8 minutes, making sure to stir the chicken around. After the chicken is browned and cooked, add the apples and the remaining all spice. This will bring out the flavor in your dish.
5. Keep on stirring and cook until the apple is starting to cook, but make sure not to overcook the apples. The best thing about this dish is to take a bite and feel the crunch of the apple. You can scoop out one apple bite with a spoon to test it as you go. Serve immediately.

Notes:

• You can prepare this recipe with Green Apples, but try out with red apples. The All-spice is what makes the difference!
• If you don’t have All Spice handy, mix 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon plus 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves and 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg.

This is a very Latin American sauce, more commonly credited to Mexican cuisine.  It’s use is widely spread all over Latin America and can be added to tacos, chicken recipes, eggs,  nacho platters, etc.   I use it to add to sunny side up eggs accompanied by slices of toast to dunk in the yolk.

Salsa Verde

Ingredients:

1lb tomatillo
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and deveined
2 garlic cloves
2 spring onions
A few cilantro springs
Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

Make sure you remove the seeds and the veins from the inside of the jalapeño! That’s where all the fire is! You can leave some in if you want a hot sauce.
To seed and devein the peppers cover your hands with plastic gloves (or sandwich bags, like I did) to protect your skin, otherwise the jalapeño will burn your skin, and be careful not to touch your eyes! Take off the stem and tip, and remove all the seeds and the white veins.

1. Cook the tomatillo for 3 min in a pot of boiling water, together with the jalapeños and the garlic. (boiling the jalapeños for a little bit helps make them milder as well, but you can use them raw)
2. Let them cool a bit before transferring them to the blender, otherwise you’ll make a mess in your kitchen… and kitchen ceiling.
3. Add the spring onion, green parts included, a few cilantro springs with their stems, salt and pepper to taste and add some water to thin it out to your liking.
4. Blend until you have a somewhat smooth sauce.

So I’m feeling adventurous this week. I wanted to try to use Yogurt on something else than a salad dressing or breakfast. Reading online, I found out that you can substitute for sour cream or buttermilk. Since at Foodies’ we want to take the flavors from Guatemala to the world, what other than Roselle (Rosa de Jamaica) for the Buttercream! The end result of my daring baking day is a Foodies’ Original Recipe double take: Vanilla Yogurt Cupcakes and a Roselle Buttercream Frosting. Hope you enjoy!

Vanilla Yogurt Cupcakes
with Roselle Buttercream Frosting
A Foodies’ Kitchen Original Recipe
Yield:  12 cupcakes

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites
½ cup milk
¼ cup vanilla yogurt*
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 350ºF. Line standard muffins tins with paper liners.
2. Sift together the flour, kosher salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
3. Whisk together the milk, vanilla extract and yogurt. Set aside.
4. Cream the butter and the sugar on medium speed. Add the egg and beat just until they become together nicely (careful not to over beat). Add the egg whites, one by one beating for 25-30 seconds each.
5. Using the Dry-Wet-Dry method, add both the dry and wet mixes: Add one third of the dry ingredients, mix, add half of the wet ingredients, mix. Then the second part of the dry ingredients, the remaining half of the wet ingredients and end up with the remaining flour mix. As before, just mix until combined.
6. Divide the batter into the 12 muffin tin, and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Make sure to keep an eye on these cupcakes, since they can be over-baked quickly. A good tip is to time them exactly for 18 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean. If it comes clean. it’s ready!
7. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely to frost!

*Notes: If you can’t find vanilla yogurt at your local store, you can use regular yogurt and increase the vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon.

Roselle Buttercream Frosting
A Foodies’ Kitchen Original Recipe
Yield: Enough for 12 heavily frosted cupcakes or one big cake

Ingredients
2 cups butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1 ½ tablespoon roselle syrup, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Beat the butter for about 3 minutes, until it’s creamy.
2. Add the confectioner’s sugar already sifted, mix until it’s together.
3. Add the roselle syrup and watch magic happen! The consistency of the buttercream will be more stiff and will be able to hold it’s peaks, it’s color will be slightly pink.
4. Last, add the vanilla and mix together.

Notes: It’s crucial that both the butter and the roselle syrup are at room temperature. When working with buttercream, how you achieve the correct consistency is with the butter (so it must be at room temperature) and when mixing it with other ingredients, that those won’t distort that balance. Remember, you’re working with butter! We suggest 2 cup of confectioner’s sugar if you follow our Roselle Syrup recipe. If you made it with less sugar, increase the confectioner’s sugar on this recipe in increments of 1/4 cup.