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Father's Day Treat

A rose by any other name could be Strawberry!  The strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) is a member of the scientific family of Rosaceae(rose) and the sub-family of Rosoideae, along with blackberries and raspberries. The very word signals the summer season.  These red succulent morsels are fragrant, juicy and sweet. In addition,  their unique combination of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients and high Vitamin C content does the body good.  Who can resist their  ready availability in stores, farmers' markets and off roadside stands.   This year I decided to honor the father of my children with a dessert that incorporated his favorites of white chocolate and whipped cream into summer’s quintessential dessert, the strawberry shortcake. Personal substitutions and tweaking of Sandra Lee's recipe for White Chocolate Chip Shortcake with Basil Strawberries yielded a delicious Father’s Day Treat well remembered!

Strawberry Shortcake with White Chocolate & Mint
MA Rodriguez - (Tweaked from Sandra Lee’s original recipe)

Ingredients

1 quart strawberries, hulled and sliced, reserve a few for garnish

1/4 cup sugar, plus 3 tablespoons

1 1/2 cups baking mix

1/3 cup milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup white chocolate chips

2 tablespoons chopped mint (or basil) leaves

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

3 hours before serving combine the strawberries with 1 tablespoon of sugar in a zip lock baggie and refrigerate.

In a large bowl, whisk together the baking mix and 1/4 cup sugar. Stir in the milk and butter, and then fold in the chocolate chips. Make 6 biscuits by dropping spoonfuls into 6 mounds leaving 1-1.5” between them. Bake until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

45 minutes before serving take strawberries out of fridge and add the chopped mint or basil and toss to combine.

With an electric hand mixer, whip the cream in a medium bowl, with the remaining sugar and the vanilla. Slice off the top half or third of each shortcake. Put the bottom halves of each shortcake on serving plates and spoon some strawberries over each half. Dollop each with whipped cream and cover with the shortcake tops. Garnish with a bit more whipped cream and a strawberry slice before serving.

A Halloween Quickie!

I'm referring to a meal quickie, you ghastly ghoul! LOL!  After making a "Creepy Crawly Cake" for church and finishing up decorating for Halloween, I had not given much thought to tonight's ghostly repast.  I'd quickly perused different recipes all month  but had made no decision.  Then posting on FaceBook it came to me! Tonight's to-die-for Haunted House menu: Putrid Poultry encased in Dragon Epidermis, Screaming Green Stakes, "Boo" Spuds with Ghoulish toxic waste, Decomposed Baker's Fingers...and then a creepy cocktail..Dracutini's with gorged out eyeballs! Dessert??? Jack O'Lantern's Brew-Ha-Ha & Black Widow Grave Plots!  

Putrid Poultry encased in Dragon Epidermis = roasted turkey breasts wrapped in bacon, sort of like the old filet mignon trick.  Screaming Green Stakes = fresh green beans tossed with crumbled bacon, olive oil & wakame sprinkles. "Boo" Spuds with Ghoulish toxic waste = hot mashed potatoes piped in ghostly forms (more like the Michelin Tire Man!)with black peppercorn eyes. Decomposed Baker's Fingers = refrigerated pack of bread sticks shaped into long fingers, pressed red painted (food coloring) silvered almond "nail" and then a tinted green egg wash with parsley sprinkles.  The results were quick, easy and spooktacular.  Dracutinis were simply black vodka and pomegranate juice and black olives.  Jack O'Lantern's Brew Ha-Ha = A hearty Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale and Black Widow Grave Plots = spider decorated devils food cupcakes.  The Count, Mummy and the Werewolf were happily sated and no need to feed on the Trick or Treaters was necessary!

Comfort Food = Diner Fare

So as the iguanas go into a stupor and fall out of the trees due to the 40 degrees and below temperatures in Miami, I started thinking of winter “comfort” foods. You know, those dishes that make you feel safe, warm and so unstressed that it also puts you into that iguana stupor mentioned above! Having grown up in New England, most of my comfort foods are from the menus of diners. Those wonderful creamy, heavy and filling dishes from the plethora of stainless steel facade diners in southern Connecticut.  I remember sitting in long Naugahyde-covered booths and gray formica tables covered with paper placemats printed with Connecticut maps. There were mini juke boxes where you could for a quarter, listen to Michael Jackson’s sweet falsetto voice singing “Got to Be There” or “Rockin Robin” and simultaneously nosh on gravy-full tender pot roast with a ton of creamy mashed potatoes or the best grilled-to-order hamburger with the works and fries.  Then came time to pick dessert from glass display cases (some even rotated!) or from the many covered pie stands with giant portions of bakery bliss. These cake and pies  were usually topped with at least 3 inches of frosting and/or a mountain of whipped cream.  Heaven, I’m in heaven!!  Eating at diners certainly opened up my palate to different ethnic cuisines including Greek, Italian, Russian, Hungarian, Slovak, Irish and even Soul Food. One of my most favorite dishes was the Beef Stroganoff.  This entrée consisted of beef strips cooked in a sour cream sauce with onions and mushrooms and then served over hot buttered egg noodles or rice. Even the name “Straw-go-noff” still brings to mind a huge castle in Russia with Czars sitting at a lavish table feasting on this delicious recipe.
The origin of Beef Stroganoff has many legends. Many cuisine historians insist the dish by this specific name, was the creation of chef Charles Briere who worked for the Russian diplomat Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov, a member of one of Russia's grandest noble families. Chef Briere, while working for the Stroganov family in St. Petersburg, decided to submit his Beef Stroganoff recipe to L 'Art Culinaire competition in 1891, and won first prize award. This original recipe had beef, mushrooms and sour cream much like our present version. Legend has it that Beef Stroganoff was invented by the chef as a special dish to accommodate Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov’s misfortunate of having lost all his teeth!  Beef Stroganoff did not appear in English cookbooks until the early 1930’s and it was not until the late 1940s & 1950s that it became a popular American dinner party entrée. This was probably due to the fact that it was an elegant dish that could be prepared easily and in large quantities fairly inexpensively. Recipes varied from classic cuisine to “quickie” versions using hamburger meat and canned mushroom soups. The “red” Stroganoff seems to be an American version from the 1960s where tomatoes soup, paste or ketchup was added to the sauce tinting it pink. 
Beef Stroganoff is a classic Russian dish that has proved its delicious worth over centuries. Serve it with a nice Merlot or an American Cabernet Sauvignon wine. In today’s world where everyone is so fixated on caloric and fat content, eating a serving of Beef Stroganoff now and then is not a bad thing. Moderation is the key along with a healthy lifestyle so that once in awhile you can splurge. Remember that home cooking is healthier than eating fast or processed foods since you are in control of the ingredients and their preparation. You only live once, so enjoy one of life's pleasures such as Beef Stroganoff and К хорошей пище и хорошим временам! (Russian for “To good food and good times!”) Following is my kick butt recipe for Beef Stroganoff:

Going bananas with bananas!

Three years ago my beloved father-in-law sent us 5 banana plants from his garden in Puerto Rico.  My husband planted them, fertilized and watered them.  After awhile, three plants survived and FINALLY one of them gave us fruit!  It was pretty amazing to see the gorgeous banana flower emerge, bloom and morph into “hands” of bananas. (see pictures)

Following is a little botanical background on the banana: 

Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa (Musa acuminata Colla, M. X paradisiaca L. )and for the fruit they produce.  They are thought to have originated in Malaysia, and later spread to the Philippines and India. The genus name of “Musa” honors Antonius Musa, who supposedly cured Caesar from his deathbed using medicines derived from the banana plant.  The perennial banana plant is the world's largest herb arising from underground rhizomes, which can grow up to 30 feet tall!  The large oblong or elliptic leaf blades extend upward and outward , becoming as much as 9 feet long and 2 feet wide.  The banana flower shooting out from the heart in the tip of the stem, is at first a large, long-oval, tapering, purple-clad bud. As it opens, the slim, nectar-rich, tubular, toothed, white flowers appear (called “fingers”). They are clustered in whorled double rows along the floral stalk, each cluster covered by a thick, waxy, hood- like bract, purple outside and deep red within.  The fruit "fingers" grow in clumps which are in turn called “hands”. The stem will grow about 9 - 12 hands which circle the stalk, meaning that a single banana plant can yield up to 240 bananas! This plant is totally biodegradable, aids in soil regeneration and absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide.  The Cavendish banana is the popular yellow banana we know in the U.S. and Canada.  Bananas were introduced to the USA at  the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, where each banana was wrapped in foil and sold for 10 cents.

Bananas are shipped all over the world and are prepared in a myriad of recipes.

In the Southeast Asian countries the banana flower, also called the banana heart, is stripped of its outer reddish leaves, sliced and then added to salads, curry dishes and vegetable stews.  The leaves of the banana plant are an essential ingredient for nearly all tropical cuisines. They are for baking, steaming, or barbecuing foods, much like parchment paper, tin foil or cornhusks (corn husks).  Banana leaves function as a natural wrap while imparting a subtle sweetness to the enclosed ingredients. They also make for an excellent and artistic way to present and serve food, such as an under plate, doily or table mats.

Green bananas are a great source of beneficial fiber.  Green bananas contain short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which are indigestible to humans but preferred by the cells in the small and large intestinal linings.  When these cells are well-nourished and healthy, the body's ability to absorb nutrients and prevent diseases such as colon cancer, are increased  dramatically.  Bananas contain three natural sugars: sucrose, fructose, and glucose. They give an immediate boost of energy and are a good source of potassium and fiber. Today the banana is America's second best selling fruit (the apple is first)!

So now that you know all about banana, following is a traditional Puerto Rican dish called “Guineitos en Escabeche con Mollejitas” (Green Bananas Escabeche with Chicken Gizzards) you can go bananas with!  Escabeche is an acidic Spanish marinade and pickling used for seasoning fish, poultry or vegetables. This dish should be made 1-3 days ahead for the flavors to really mingle and develop.

Si me dan pasteles...

Pasteles (pronounced pas-tell-les) is a Christmas culinary tradition in Puerto Rico and to all Puerto Ricans globally.  They are basically meat filled pies whose dough is made from different vegetables. Pasteles are one of the most important elements in a Christmas Eve meal, the others being arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas) and lechon asao also known as pernil (roasted pork). 

So yesterday was our official “pasteles” making day.  Every Christmas season, I dread this day like the plague. The whole process of buying the ingredients, preparing them and washing 50 million kitchen thingies sends me into a Navidad tailspin.  I told my mother emphatically, that this year I would buy all the ingredients and the rest of the “trabajito” was hers.  My husband, who is filled to the brim with Christmas spirit this year, offered his services to assist her.  Que bueno yerno!!

To give you a quick breakdown on how the pasteles are made, you make a meat filling and a “masa” dough.  For the filling, you take a fresh pork shoulder roast, cut all the meat off of it and prepare it as a stew with onions, recao (culantro), green peppers, garlic, sofrito, fresh oregano, salt, capers, olives, Sazon and some additional “secret” ingredients.  My mother cuts the “cuero” (the thick fat cover of the pork roast) in small pieces and fries it separately until brown and crispy. She then adds this to the meat so no one gets a glob of white fat in their pastel. The masa consists of a combination of green bananas, green plantains, “yautia” (taro root) and calabaza (tropical pumpkin) which are peeled and then pureed in a food processor with a little milk, liquid from the pork “stew” and a touch of annatto oil (vegetable oil infused with annatto seeds). My husband was in charge of pureeing the vegetables and his “masa” came out beautifully, almost mousse-like! Suavecita!!

Now we are ready to start making the pasteles.  White “papel de pasteles” (parchment paper) or aluminum foil, banana leaves, achiote oil and butcher twine are used.  You take a sheet of paper or foil, place a piece of banana leaf in the center and paint the leaf with achiote oil to prevent the pastel from sticking.  If you don’t use a banana leaf you still paint the paper. The large spoonful of  “masa” is then spread on the banana leaf and the pork filling is placed on top.  You can add garbanzos, green olives and a bit of chopped red pimientos (red pepper) if you desire. You then fold the paper almost like you are wrapping a gift, making sure to double even triple fold the ends to prevent leakage of the masa.  Tie the packets of “pasteles” in pairs (seam sides together)securely with the twine.  You now freeze the little suckers for Christmas Eve.  Of course, the “helpers” get to eat one right away for their “ayuda”!  The “packets” are boiled in salted water for approximately 45 mins, turning occasionally to insure the entire pastel is cooked.  Once done, remove from the water, cut the string, drain off any water that may have gotten in the pastel, and slide on a plate.  Eating one of these is like spending a moment in heaven and having memories of Christmas-pasts rushing all over you!!  So what did I do while all this action was taking place in my kitchen?  I took a nap and woke up just in time to eat a pastel!!

Every Puerto Rican family has their own unique way of making pasteles. The following websites have pretty good recipes:

http://www.whats4eats.com/vegetables/pasteles-recipe%20

http://members.tripod.com/~apadilla98_2/recipes/cuisine.html

http://welcome.topuertorico.org/cocina/