Strawberry puffs

Happy New Year! This is a delicious, awesome-looking dessert! Very easy to make...we love it! Wishing you a happy and peaceful year of 2010.

Ingredients:

• 16 oz of heavy whipping cream
• 1 package (17.5 ounces) of puff pastry sheets (we like Pepperidge Farm)
• A dozen strawberry's cut in thin slices
• 8 tablespoons of sugar

Directions:

Take one sheet of puff pastry. Cut each it into 3rds vertically. They should look like squares. Do this to all the sheets. Then let them thaw. Then put them in the oven for the amount of time it says on the package (12-17 minutes). While they are cooking you can make the whipped cream we call it "crème Chantilly". 

 You need a bowl and an electric mixer. Before you make the Chantilly you have to put the bowl and the wands of your electric mixer in the freezer so that they are cold when you make the Chantilly.  They stay in the freezer for at least one hour. Once the bowl and wands are cold enough take them out. Pour the whipping cream in the ice-cold bowl and put the wands into your electric mixer. You can start whipping the cream. While you are whipping it add the 8 tablespoons to sweeten your Chantilly. Once you have stiff peaks in the Chantilly you can stop mixing. Don't over whip it because then it will turn into butter.

Once the puff pastry squares are done baking take them out of the oven and let them cool so they are easy to handle. Once they have cooled down you can assemble the strawberry puffs. First you put a square on the bottom  and you put a dollop of Chantilly and some strawberries slices and another dollop of Chantilly and another square on top. You can add some powdered sugar to the top and make it look even prettier and taste delicious! Enjoy!

Easy Crêpes

We love to eat crepes for breakfast. Of course we don't have them everyday but once in a while, right? They are easy and very simple to make. If you eat crepes in the morning your day will start great. I hope you like them as much as we do! So go ahead try them!

Ingredients:

1/3 a cup of granulated sugar
½ a cup of all purpose flour
4 eggs
1/3 a cup of warm water
2 tablespoons of butter melted

a dash or two of lemon zest

Directions:

Mix the sugar, flour, and lemon zest in a bowl. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Then add the water and mix until smooth. Then add the melted butter and mix until smooth. Use a non-stick pan and more butter to fry the crepes.

Finally, you can sprinkle them with some powdered sugar or sugar and ground cinnamon and sprinkle it on top.

Pea and leek soup

For our New Year Resolution we decided to eat healthier so we thought we could eat soup at least once a day. So this is one of the soups we like the most because it is delicious and nutritious. Soups replenish our body with essential nutrients and water.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 cups of chopped leeks (approx. 2 leeks, only the white and light green parts are used)
1 cup of a chopped yellow onion
4 cups of water
5 cups of freshly shelled peas or 20-ounce package of frozen peas
2 large leaves of chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons of sea salt
1/2 a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the leeks and onion, and cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the onion is tender. Add the water, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Add the peas and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until the peas are tender. Take off the heat and add the basil, salt, and pepper.

Puree the soup in batches: place 1 cup of soup in blender, place the lid on top, and puree on low speed. With the blender still running, open the venthole in the lid and slowly add more soup until the blender is three-quarters full. Pour the soup into a large bowl and repeat until all the soup is pureed. If you have an immersion blender use it and just blend the mixture in the sauce pan with the heat off.

Serve soup hot and enjoy it!

Bacon+Cheese Crescents/Rolls

We got the idea from those pizza rolls first; it's just we wanted to make our own. We decided to get crescent dough instead of puff pastry. Then we didn't want to use pizza sauce so we just got some bacon and cheese.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 5 strips of bacon (fry the bacon in advance)
• 2 rolls of Pillsbury Crescent Big and Flaky
• 1 egg
• Butter and flour to grease the sheet pan

Directions:

1. Break the bacon into small bits.
2. Open the crescent packages. Start making them by putting some cheese and bacon in the middle and roll it up to look like a crescent.
3. Pre-heat oven to what the crescent package says. Mine says: 350 degrees F.
4. Beat the egg and brush the egg wash over the crescents.
5. Take a large sheet pan. Butter it and cover with flour so the crescents will not stick.
6. Put the crescents on the sheet. Put them in the oven for the amount of time it says on the crescent package. Mine says: 16 to 19 min. or until all of them are golden brown.

Classic Carrot Cake

For Ana's Birthday she wanted a different cake. Since that it would be her cake so found the recipe. She mixed it up, changed ingredients and added ingredients, and the result is here. So we hope you like it! It's a little plain but you can decorate it if you want.


Ingredients -- For the cake:
2 cups of granulated sugar
1 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
3 extra large eggs at room temperature
2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon of kosher salt
1 pound of carrots (5-6 large carrots also works) grated


Ingredients --- For the frosting:
1 4oz package of butter
1 8oz package of Philadelphia cream cheese
1 cup of confectioners sugar, sifted

Directions -- For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (or just 1 pan for a thick cake!) 8-inch cake pans (round).

Beat the sugar, oil, and eggs together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light yellow. (Or just whisk together till it becomes light yellow!) In another bowl sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet little bit by little bit. Fold in the carrots to the mixture. Divide batter evenly into the two buttered cake pans. (or just one) Bake for 55 to 60 min. Or until a toothpick come out clean. Allow the cakes to cool overnight. (Put a towel on top.)

Directions -- For the frosting:

Mix the cream cheese and butter in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (This one just comes out better with the electric mixer don’t recommend to do this with whisk or spoon.) Wait until the 2 ingredients are fully combined. Add the sugar and mix until smooth.

Place 1 layer, flat-side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and the sides of the cake. Or if you just made it one piece put cake on a flat plate or a cake pedestal and put icing on the sides and top.

Optional: I don’t add any decorations to the cake but if you would like you could add: walnuts, rasins, anything that you like.

Sweet Angel Hair (Aletria)

On Christmas Day something special...a traditional Portuguese Christmas dish. We always prepare it for Christmas Eve and have it cold for brunch on the next day. It's simple to cook and nutritious for you (who said Christmas sweets are all bad for you).

Serves 10-16.

Ingredients:

1 pound of angel hair pasta

2 1/2 cups of sugar

2 cups of whole milk

3 egg yolks

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

1 teaspoon of salt

1 stick of cinnamon

1 lemon rind

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta in an half full pot of boiled water with salt. Let it boil for 10 min on medium-high until it is entirely cooked. Drain thoroughly.

2. In a saucepan pour the milk in with the sugar, butter, cinnamon, and lemon rind. Mix everything with a wooden spoon and bring it to a boil. Let it simmer for 5 min.

3. After it is done simmering, add the pasta to the mixture. Let it cook at medium-low and mix it with a wooden spoon at all times until most of the fluid is evaporated (it should have the consistency of a pudding). Remove the cinnamon stick and lemon rind.

4. The last step is adding the beaten eggs to the mixture. Be careful as this is the most difficult part of the process. You have to mix them together quickly otherwise you will get small pieces of cooked egg in the pasta. After you have added the egg yolks, mix quickly with a wooden spoon until the eggs have been evenly distributed to the whole mixture. It should not take more than 4 min. After that remove from the heat.

5. Pour it on a serving dish or small bowls and decorate with ground cinnamon. You can make little designs or write something down on it. Be creative! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Roasted Chicken with Lemon

This is the perfect dish for Christmas Eve (in case you do not like fish or are allergic to seafood). It is roasted chicken that we cook on special occasions. It is easy to do and looks spectacular.

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons sea salt (coarse)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1 lemon cut in half
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• cranberries
• cilantro


Directions:
1. Mix sea salt (coarse), paprika, butter, garlic, pepper. Rub the whole chicken with it. Cut the lemon in two halves and put them inside the chicken. Cover it and leave it in the fridge overnight.

2. The next day, take the chicken out of the fridge; add two spoons of extra virgin olive oil. Preheat the oven at 350 F. Roast the chicken for 2 hours (every 45 minutes turn the chicken over – after 1 hr. remove the lemon from the inside). When golden, remove from the oven, let it sit for a few minutes and garnish with cranberries and cilantro. It looks fantastic and it is great for the holidays.

Creamy Rice Pudding

We had to Skype in grandma in Portugal for the recipe. She gave us some advice and we made some changes of our own. We came up with this delicious, creamy, and out of this world rice pudding.

Serves 4 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of whole milk
• 10 tablespoons of granulated sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 lemon rind
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cup of rice
• 1 dash of sea salt
• 1 dash of ground cinnamon (for garnish)

1. Cook the rice in plenty of water and a dash of sea salt. Let it boil for 8 min. remove from the pan and drain so all the excess water.

1. In a sauce pan put the milk, sugar, lemon, and the cinnamon sticks. Before it starts boiling reserve 1/4 of the milk mixture in a cup. This will be used later temper the yolks. Then add the rice. Let it cook in medium low, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove the lemon rind and the cinnamon sticks.
2. Beat the egg yolks in a different bowl then in the same bowl ad the 1/4 of a cup of the milk mixture that we saved earlier. while whisking constantly. Add this into the sauce pan with the rest of the mixture. While whisking energetically. Do this for 5 min or until it is thickened. 
3. Serve warm or cold. Add a dash of ground cinnamon and enjoy! :D

 

Brigadeiros

This is a recipe that we learned from our Brazilian friends, Karina and Clyciane.

Ingredients:
1 (14 ounces) can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon of butter (Pride of Iowa!)
3 table spoons of cocoa powder (Nestle Quick will do it)
1 small package of chocolate sprinkles

Directions:
1. In a saucepan over medium heat mix the condensed milk, cocoa and butter. Cook, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon for about 15-17 minutes or until thickened. You will know that is ready when you are able to see the bottom of the pan when tilting it.

2. Remove from the heat and carefully transfer the hot mixture to a separate greased bowl to cool. Cover your hands with butter and roll the mixture into small balls. Roll the ball over the chocolate sprinkles until completely covered.

 

Variation: You can add to the mixture, while still warm small pieces of cookies (we like to use shortbread cookies) and serve it in a large bowl. This is called Brigadeirao, and it is an easy option as you skip all the work that making the small balls and covered them with chocolate sprinkles requires.

First Post

This is our first post (Yeah!) It doesn't say much but we have to start somewhere right? We spent most of the day getting backgrounds doing settings etc. And of course cooking for your viewing pleasure! Today we tried a Brazilian recipes called: Brigadeiros it was delicious we will post it right after this one for more recipes visit this food blog. Whatcha u cooking?