Dulce de leche – a south american passion

So, what is Dulce de Leche?

I was born in South America, so for me it’s so clear, but so hard to explain what it is.

But I found this sweet explanation from Baking Bites Blog.

Here it goes:

Dulce de leche is a thick, milk-based caramel sauce. It is probably most popular in South American Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries, but variations exist in other countries and cultures as well. The most simple caramel sauce starts with sugar, and depending on the variation you have in mind, ingredients like cream and butter are added to the hot sugar to form caramel. With dulce de leche, milk and sugar are cooked together to make a caramel, a process that takes quite a long time but results in an incredibly rich-tasting sauce with a strong milky flavor behind its sweetness. It is similar to sweetened condensed milk (and can be made from it, too), although dulce de leche is thicker and much more caramelized (darker in color and flavor) than sweetened condensed milk alone.

Try out a few different brands if you are ordering, since dulce de leche, like other types of caramel, can taste different from brand to brand.

My First Successful Bread Machine Recipe

We bought a Bread Machine.
Exciting exciting.
We bought it at ALDI supermarkets. It was very cheap, only $49 and figured we would give it a try.
Also I am becoming, or at least, trying to become more healthy, not eating meat (just fish for now), bla bla bla

Anyways, the LUMINA bread maker instructions are pathetic. There is no other words for it. And unfortunately when I called in to after sales support, after waiting more than 20 minutes in line, the lady was very nice but useless.  She tried, but she reafirmed that there is no more information of the one that comes with the machine.

Anyway, I’ve tried a couple of recipes that came in the booklet and its ridiculous. So I decided to try something different and the result was brilliant.

so I called this post my first successful bread machine recipe cause I’m planning to try more soon

Light Oat Bread

Ingredients:
1 and 1/4 cup of water – i use warm water that was boiled in a kettle
2tbsp margerine
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of whole meal flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 spoon active yeast

Method:

I Put liquid first, then 1/2 of yeast
waited 5 minutes, add the dry ingredients and last, the other half of the yeast
Choose basic bread.

You should follow the instructions from your manufacturer, although mine says to put yeast in the end and I didn’t. but that’s me! 🙂

Enjoy!

Love,

Vic

Gefilte Fish- My mum’s recipe

Ok, So here is the deal:

I live in Sydney, but my mother lives in Brazil. Thanks G. for Msn! 🙂

I asked her how to make Gefilte Fish, and she explained me via MSN, Mother style, you put a little bit of this, a little bit of that.
So here is the recipe, based on what she said / how I made it.
But first, what is Gefilte Fish? For people that doesn’t know (From wikipedia) Gefilte fish are poached fish patties or fish balls made from a mixture of ground deboned fish and very popular in the Ashkenazim Jewish community.

So here is the recipe:
This quantity is enough to make what you see in this photo (Around 15 balls  – in the photo I cut them in Half)

Ingredients:

 – 1 kg of fish, deboned and without the skin. Preference for Carp / Cod / Snapper. I used 5 types. Snapper, Barramundi, Trout, Cod and something else I don’t remember the name.

 – 3 eggs

 – 3 onions

 – Salt and Pepper to taste

 – 2 tbps caster sugar

 – 4 to 5 tbsp cold water

 – 4 tbsp flour (Matzomeal during passover)

For the Fish Stock:

 – water

 – 1 fish head (Yacki, I know)

 – Carrots cut in round slices like the photo

 – an extra onion cut in edges

Or you can use ready fish stock, it should work out fine.

METHOD:

 – Prepare fish stock. Use the biggest pan you have at home.

 – in a food processor put onions and fish. Process it until looks homogeneous (Like baby food)

 – In a large bowl, beat lightly the eggs with a spoon. than add Sugar (If you beat the eggs with sugar you can burn the egg yolks), salt and pepper and bit a little bit more. 

 – add the Fish puree to the beaten eggs, than on the top put the flour and start mixing, here you can you a wooden spoon but hands are your best friends.

 – add a little bit of water if the mixture is to hard / dry.

 – Leave the mixture to rest for a couple of minutes (Maybe 10)

Now, put water in a bowl, you will need to wet your hands to make the balls / patties.

Get a Tablespoon to use it as a measurement, so you can have all the Gefilte fish in the same size. Make little balls / oval shapes and place it in the fish stock pan to cook. (Fish stock should be hot, and in the stove, if it was put aside before)

Leave it to cook for around 1 hour in a medium high heat.

Discard the Stock. 

Tradition says you should put one slice of carrot on the top of each fish ball, to simbolize gold. 🙂

My family serves it cold. 

It can be frozen for around 4 weeks.

Empanadas si señor

Empanadas are a must try when any person goes to Argentina.

I learnt how to make them, with an Argentinean friend, when I used to live in Spain. But once I got here in Sydney, surprise surprise, couldn’t find empanadas Tapas (the already made and cut rounded dough, that only needs to be filled in and baked).
So I adapted.

Anyway, Empanadas are very similar to  pasties. The traditional ones are filled up with minced beef and here is my recipe.

For the Filling:
Ingredients
500kg good quality minced beef
Oil (no measure, to pan fry the onions, around 2 tbsp)
3 eggs
1 red capsicum – Cut very very little, like if it was a red chilli
2 brown onions chopped
2 cloves of garlic
Sugar (around a tbsp)
1 cup of green olives chopped ( I sometimes use olives filled with capsicum)
Salt and Pepper to taste
a pinch of cumin.
a pinch of paprika
1 Tbsp of Tomato Sauce (Ketchup)
a pinch of chilli (Optional)
50 g of sultanas (Optional)

Method  (By heart)

Your mince should look similar to that.

In a pan add water and the eggs and leave it to boil. We need the Hard boiled eggs. When it’s done, put it aside to cool down.
in the mean time, heat up the oil in a large pan in HIGH and put the garlic and onion.  Keep stirring and after 3 or 4 minutes add the sugar. The sugar will take out the acidity of the onion and give it a nice gold colour.
Add mince and keep stirring until its decently cooked. at some stage here add the Tomato Sauce, cumin and chilli.
If you think is too dry, you can always add a little bit of water while you are still cooking the meat.
Add rest of the ingredients and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes.
Take it away from the heat.

Cut the eggs in small pieces, add to the meat mixture and mix it well. Doesn’t require to go on the heat.

For the Dough


you can try one of these frozen sheets from the grocery store. Either Puff or Short crust. Cut in circles. or you can make it yourself:


Here is a suggestion: ( I will bring up other recipes soon)
1/2 flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup of water
50g of margarine
1 egg

Method:
In a bowl, put the flour sifter with Salt.  Add sugar and mix.
Make a hole in the middle and add the egg.
Heat the water and add the margarine and stir it until is melted.
Pour over the mixture. Mix quickly to form a soft dough.
Leave it for half and hour and then stretch it using a roll until the dough is thin.
Cut in Circles.

To assemble the Empanadas

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.

You will need a bowl with tap water to wet your hands.
and one egg or egg yolk, lightly beaten to brush the empanadas on the top (That’s optional flavourwise, but a good trick  for knowing when its ready)

If you have space, put the circle in a plain surface, otherwise, get your hand palm very slightly wet and place the dough circle in the middle.

Add the meat filling, around 2 TBSP

You will need to put the two “Ends” together now, to make it in a half circle shape.

You can make the “braidy” style or you can use a fork. It is important to use water to “glue” both ends.

Brush the beaten egg on the top to give that golden Aspect

Put it in the oven for around 20 minutes or until gold.

They can be frozen after cooked and to eat that can be even microwaved.

Basic Cookie Dough

From the amazing The Decorated Cookies here are some recipes of Basic Cookie Dough.

Here it goes:

Ingredients
1 cup (227g) of unsalted butter
1 cup confectioner sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup of  flour
1 tsp of salt

Method
Cream the butter with the  sugar. Add egg and blend well. Add extracts and blend. 
Mix flour and salt in a separate bowl and gradually add to the mixture. 


Cover dough with plastic wrap (or Ziploc bag) and chill dough for about 2 hours. 
Working with about 1/3 of the batch at a time, briefly knead the chilled dough and roll about 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch thick. 
Cut out shapes. 
Bake cut out cookies on parchment lined baking trays at 190C for 12-14 minutes. 


Note: You can also freeze dough. After mixing, put dough in a Freezer ziploc bag (or wrap well) and freeze. Thaw overnight or for at least a few hours in the refrigerator in the ziploc bag. If too chilled to handle, let sit at room temperature for about 1/2 hour to 1 hour until it’s workable. Chilled is good, though, don’t let it get too mushy.

Crunchy Salad Idea

I’ve been making this salad this week, and people seem to love it.

Its very very easy and I don’t have measurements, you gonna have to use your heart!

Crunchy Salad:
1/2 red cabbage
1 bunch of Buk choy (or 2 smalls)
a bunch of cranberries
some sesame seeds
some raising
Pepitas / pumpkin seeds

For the dressing:
3 parts of a good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 part of red wine vinegar
some caster sugar.

Method:
Chop Buk choy and Red Cabbage very thin.
TIP: Buk choy needs to be really well washed. I think I’ve never got a bunch without a live worm. (I hate this part)

Is yum yum and although has some sugar is not too bad in calories given is mainly buk choy and cabbage.

Hope you like it.

the 5 Minutes chocolate cake in a mug

What about that for a Saturday treat?

This  is sooo good.
And very easy to make.

Ingredients:
4 tbsp of flour
2 tbsp of sugar
4 tbsp chocolate powder / Cocoa
1 egg
3 tbsp of milk
3 tbsp of oil – Some people say use less oil to get less oil flavour. Its about making trials
3 tbsp of chocolate chips (Optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
a Mug, obviously

Method:

1.	Add all dry ingredients to the mug, and mix well with a fork
2.	Crack the egg and add it to your mug. Be sure to mix it well to avoid any pockets of flour in the corners. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the vanilla essence. Mix it again.
3.	Pop your mug into the microwave & zap for 3 minutes on maximum power (1000watt). The cake will rise up over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed. Wait until the cake stops rising, and sets in the mug.
4.	If necessary, run a knife around the sides of the mug, and tip the still warm cake out of the mug and onto a saucer.

Melon Brain

This is one of the most fantastic things I’ve seen lately.
It is good fun for Kids and “older” kids.
Definitely it  goes in a budget and it’s friendly to everyone, vegan, vegetarian, kosher…you name it.
The idea (And full instructions) come from here

you will need:
1 watermelon (seedless)
– a vegetable peeler
 – a paring knife
 – a large knife
 – patience.

Method:
 – Slice of the bottom of the watermelon so it wont roll around. Like building a base for it.
 – peel the green skin off the watermelon.
 – score brainy folds in white flesh.
– Using a sharp paring knife, carve channels out of melon to resemble the cortical folds
– Done!

A Cinnamon and Honey "Must know"

I got this information via email a while ago, and I definitely think is real and worth it knowing it.

Cinnamon and  Honey

Honey  is the only food on the planet that will not  spoil or rot. It will do what some call turning  to sugar… In reality honey is always honey..  However, when left in a cool dark place for a  long time it will do what I rather call  “crystallizing”.   When this happens I  loosen the lid, boil some water, and sit the  honey container in the hot  water, turn  off the heat and let it liquefy. It is then as  good as it ever was. Never boil honey or put it  in a microwave. To do so will kill the enzymes  in thehoney.

Cinnamon and  Honey
Bet the drug companies  won’t like this one getting around.  Facts  on Honey and Cinnamon:  It is found that a  mixture ofhoney and Cinnamon cures most  diseases Honey is produced in most of the  countries of the world. Scientists of today  also accept honey as a ‘Ram Ban’ (very  effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases.   Honey can be used without any side effects  for any kind of diseases.

Today’s  science says that even though honey is sweet, if  taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does  not harm diabetic patients.   Weekly  World News, a magazine in Canada , in its issue  dated 17 January,1995 has given the following  list of diseases that can be cured by honey and  cinnamon as researched by western scientists:

HEART  DISEASES:
Make a paste of  honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread,  instead of jelly and jam, and eat it regularly  for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the  arteries and saves the patient from heart  attack. Also,  those who have already had an attack, if they do  this process daily, they are kept miles away  from the next attack. Regular use of the above  process relieves loss of breath and strengthens  the heart beat. In  America and Canada , various nursing homes have  treated patients successfully and have found  that as you age, the arteries and veins lose  their flexibility and get clogged; honeyand  cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins.

ARTHRITIS:
Arthritis patients may take daily,  morning and night, one cup of hot water with two  spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of  cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic  arthritis can be cured. In a recent research  conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was  found that when the doctors treated their  patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before  breakfast, they found that within a week, out of  the 200 people so treated, practically 73  patients were totally relieved of pain, and  within a month, mostly all the patients who  could not walk or move around because of  arthritis started walking without pain.

BLADDER  INFECTIONS:
Take two  tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon  of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink  it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.

CHOLESTEROL:
Two tablespoons of honey and three  teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces  of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient,  was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in  the blood by 10 percent within two hours    As mentioned for arthritic patients,  if taken three times a day, any chronic  cholesterol is cured… According to information  received in the said Journal, pure honey taken  with food daily relieves complaints of  cholesterol.

COLDS:
Those suffering from common or severe  colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey  with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three  days. This process will cure most chronic cough,  cold, and clear the sinuses.

UPSET  STOMACH:
Honey taken with  cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also  clears stomach ulcers from the root.

GAS:
According to the studies done in India and   Japan , it is revealed that if Honey is taken  with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of  gas.

IMMUNE  SYSTEM:
Daily use of honey  and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune  system and protects the body from bacteria and  viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey  has various vitamins and iron in large amounts..  Constant use of Honeystrengthens the white  blood corpuscles to fight bacterial and viral  diseases.

INDIGESTION:
Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two  tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves  acidity and digests the heaviest of meals

INFLUENZA:
A scientist in Spain has proved that honey  contains a natural ‘ Ingredient’ which kills the  influenza germs and saves the patient from flu..

LONGEVITY:
Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder,  when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old  age. Take four spoons ofhoney, one spoon of  cinnamon powder, and three cups of water and  boil to make like tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to  four times a day It keeps the skin fresh and  soft and arrests old age. Life spans also  increase and even a 100 year old, starts  performing the chores of a 20-year-old.

PIMPLES:
Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon  of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on  the pimples before sleeping and wash it next  morning with warm water. If done daily for two  weeks, it removes pimples from the root..

SKIN  INFECTIONS:
Applying honey  and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the  affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all  types of skin infections.

WEIGHT  LOSS:
Daily in the morning  one half hour before breakfast on an empty  stomach, and at night before sleeping, drink  honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of  water. If taken regularly, it reduces the weight  of even the most obese person. Also, drinking  this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to  accumulate in the body even though the person  may eat a high calorie diet.

CANCER:
Recent research in Japan and Australia  has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach  and bones have been cured successfully. Patients  suffering from these kinds of cancer should  daily take one tablespoon of honey with one  teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month three  times a day.

FATIGUE:
Recent studies have shown that the sugar  content of honey is more helpful rather than  being detrimental to the strength of the body.  Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon  powder in equal parts, are more alert and  flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research,  says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a  glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon  powder, taken daily after brushing and in the  afternoon at about 3:00 P.M. when the vitality  of the body starts to decrease, increases the  vitality of the body within a week.

BAD  BREATH:
People of South  America , first thing in the morning, gargle with  one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed  in hot water, so their breath stays fresh  throughout the day.

HEARING  LOSS:
Daily morning and night  honey and cinnamon powder, taken in equal parts  restores hearing. Remember when we were kids? We  had toast with real butter and cinnamon  sprinkled on it!

Very Easy Salad

Very easy Salad.
Is quite fancy but it’s so easy to make it. Ive been making it a couple of times a week.

Ingredients:
Rocket
pear
Granna Padana Cheese
Olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar

Method:
Are you serious?

🙂