Cuban Black Beans

Cuban Black Beans Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups black beans, dried


9 cups water


1 1/2 cups onion, chopped


1 1/2 cups green bell pepper, chopped


3 cloves garlic


1 teaspoon salt


1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns


2 tablespoons olive oil for sautéing


1 teaspoon oregano


1 teaspoon cumin, ground


1 bay leaf


3 tablepoons vinegar


3/4 cup dry Spanish wine


2 teaspoons sugar


2 tablespoons olive oil (to drizzle over beans in final step)

Cover dry beans with water and let stand covered overnight. Drain and discard water.

Place the cleaned black beans in a large 6-quart saucepan. Add water and olive oil – this will prevent the beans from foaming. Bring the beans to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until the beans are tender, about 1 hour.

Whichever method you use, do not drain the water from the cooked beans.

Meanwhile, chop onion and green pepper. Mash the garlic with salt and peppercorns in a mortar and pestle.

Sauté the onions and green pepper in olive oil until the onions are translucent. Add mashed garlic and sauté another minute or so.

Add the cooked beans, oregano, cumin, bay leaf, vinegar, and wine. Cover and simmer over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf.

Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in the sugar; then drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over the beans. Immediately cover the pot, remove from heat, and let stand for 10 minutes.

Serve the by now fantastically prepared black beans over white rice.

You may garnish the beans with cilantro and chopped white onions. Not only do they look good presented this way, they taste even better than they look.

Thanksgiving Roasted Carrots

Ingredients:

4 bunches of organic Dutch carrots
Ground cinnamon
Cinnamon sugar
Garlic salt
Cumin
Extra virgin olive oil spray
Foil

First take your carrots and clip off the tips and stems...wash the carrots and place them on a foil covered oven sheet.  Spray extra virgin olive oil over the foil and carrots.  Sprinkle the ground cinnamon, cinnamon sugar, garlic salt, cumin and spray a bit more olive oil over the top of the carrots.  Place them in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit) for about 25 minutes. They are ready when you see the carrots glazing over.

Challah Bread

A really good friend of ours who is Jewish decided to contribute to the celebrations by bringing a typical bread that is eaten on Shabbat. That is the best part of  thanksgiving is can be celebrated by any religion and by anyone. Through the years in the United States with the multitude of immigrants Thanksgiving diners include an array of non traditional American dishes. Everyone for the majority celebrates Thanksgiving as a national holiday, each family adds a tradition from their home land. Like Miami where you wouldn't have Thanksgiving with out the staple black beans and rice... or my mother's lasagne.

Challah bread taste delicious and I will be making some for Christmas. 

Kids loved it because it a sweet bread!!!

photo taken from http://thebakersguide.com/challah-bread

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of raisins (plumped) 

1 ¾ cups of warm water

2 tablespoons of dry yeast

1/3 of a cup of sugar

1/3 of a cup of light honey

3 ½ tablespoons of salt

½ of a cup of oil

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

6-8 cups bread flour

Egg Wash Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of water

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 egg

1 yolk

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the yeast and water.  Let stand for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to swell and dissolve (you should notice a difference. Briskly stir in the sugar, honey and salt.  Add oil, eggs, yolks and about 5 cups of flour...stir into a shaggy mess and let stand 10-20 minutes to absorb the flour. 

Knead by hand or with a dough hook, then add the remaining flour as much as it requires to be soft and elastic, and no longer sticks (the bowl should be clean if doing with a dough hook.) 

If adding raisins let the dough rest for 10 minutes on a lightly floured board and then press the raisins in as evenly as possible, and knead the dough over to tuck them in.  Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel...let it rise in a draft free place until it double in size (45-90 minutes.)

Now punch it down and let it rise again until it doubles again (45-90 minutes.)

Divide the dough in two and braid each half into its own challah.  Spray the sheet pan (you can use two pans, one for each.  Brush the egg wash on, and let it rise until it puffs (20-30 minutes.)

photo taken from http://thebakersguide.com/challah-bread

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit) and bake the bread for 12 minutes. Then reduce heat to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) and place it back in he oven for another 25 minutes or until the bread is browned (if you want to keep it light put tin foil over the top for the last 20 minutes.)

Turkey Gravy

Ingredients:

1 cup of turkey drippings (the juice that drips from the cooked turkey)
1 can of gravy mix (store bought upon preference)
1 cup of chicken stock
1/2 a cup of butter


Heat the turkey drippings in a pot and when warm pour in the gravy mix. Once the mixture is thickening pour in the chicken stock and the butter.  Stir until the consistence is thickened but not creamy.

If you wish not to use the gravy mix- from the store..

Just add flour slowly to the drip pins, and a bit of Worcestershire Sauce or Red Wine...
The trick is to mix the flour in slowly until you reach the desired consistency..

No photo sorry of my own gravy I think I deleted it by accident.

Cornbread

Ingredients:


2/3 cup of butter or margarine (softened)
1 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups of plain flour
1 cup of cornmeal or polenta
4 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt

In a bowl mix the softened butter and sugar...in another bowl combine the eggs and milk.  Then mix the flour, cornmeal or polenta, baking powder and salt in the food processor while adding the butter/sugar mixture and the egg mixture alternately until even.  Pour the mixture into a greased baking pan and bake at 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit) for about 20-25 minutes.  To check if it's ready, stick a toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean it's done.  I like to cut mine into cubes and serve warm.

Roasted- Parsnip Bread Pudding

This recipe is from www.marthastewart.com

I have followed it word for word and it was very successful...the only alterations I made was to add more salt & pepper than the original recipe asked for.

This is the link to the webpage for the recipe I used. http://www.marthastewart.com/335713/roasted-parsnip-bread-pudding

I have a motto “ When in doubt Martha Knows best.”

Ingredients:

450 grams of parsnips (peeled and cut into 1.2 centimeter pieces)
Extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling
Coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) of unsalted butter, plus 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons), melted butter (plus more
for the dish)
2 large leeks, white and pale-green parts only (halved lengthwise, thinly sliced, and rinsed well...about 3
cups)
1/3 of a cup of dry white wine
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh thyme
2 cups of heavy cream
5 large eggs
1 cup of finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 loaf (340 grams) of brioche (crust removed and bread cut into 2.5 centimeter cubes)

Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius (425 degrees Fahrenheit.) Drizzle parsnips with oil, and season with
salt & pepper. Arrange on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast, shaking occasionally, until caramelized and
tender, 23 to 25 minutes. Let cool. Reduce heat to 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit.)

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a medium saute pan until melted. Add leeks, and cook,
stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; add wine, and return to heat. Let
simmer until reduced, 1 minute. Add thyme, and remove from heat. Stir in roasted parsnips.

Whisk together melted butter, heavy cream, eggs, and 3/4 cup of Parmesan in a large bowl. Season with
salt & pepper. Add leek-parsnip mixture, then fold in bread. (Mixture can be refrigerated overnight.)

Butter a shallow 2-quart baking dish, and pour parsnip mixture into dish. Cover loosely with parchment,
then foil, and bake until golden brown and puffed, 50 minutes. Remove parchment and foil. Sprinkle
with remaining cup of Parmesan, and return to oven. (I sprinkled more salt & pepper.)

Bake for 10 more minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Martha’s Note:

To make this savory pudding ahead of time, assemble and refrigerate it for up to one day. Let stand at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes, and bake as instructed.

This is my Roasted- Parsnip Bread Pudding so if yours looks like mine and not the one that is carefully edited for a photo shoot in Martha Stewart's website, you still have done a great job and it will taste perfect!!! ( I should have taken it out of the over a couple minutes before but I had to many things happening in then kitchen at once..so remember to keep an eye on it while its cooking;)

White Truffle Oil Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

Kosher salt
Vegetable oil
1/2 kilogram of elbow macaroni
1 quart of milk
8 tablespoons of unsalted butter (cut into cubes)
1/2 a cup of plain flour
340 grams of grated Gruyere cheese
226 grams of grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 a teaspoon of nutmeg
1 1/2 cups of panko bread crumbs
White truffle oil

First preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit)...in a large pot of boiling salted water drizzle some vegetable oil and add the pasta...cook the pasta for about 8 minutes or to what your directions read.

In the meantime heat the milk in a pot until warm, but not boiling...in another large pot melt 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter and then add the flour...cook over low heat and whisk while adding the warm milk, for about 2 minutes or until it thickens and smoothes.  Take the pot off of the heat and add the Gruyere, Cheddar, salt, pepper, nutmeg and macaroni's...stir evenly.  Place the mixture in a casserole dish and drizzle white truffle oil sparingly (to taste) over the top.  Melt the left over 2 tablespoons of butter and combine it with the panko bread crumbs...then sprinkle them evenly over the top of the macaroni and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top of the bread crumbs are browned.

( I would like to apologise for the bad photos..Cooking, serving guest and everything else got in the way of good photography)

Sweet Potatoes Pecan and Marshmallow Casserole

This recipe is one of the most traditional American Thanksgiving recipes…I will warn you this is not one for the hips but it sure is tasty… 

Ingredients:

4 cups of mashed sweet potatoes (this is about 1 kilograms of raw sweet potatoes)

1 cup of brown sugar

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

1 teaspoon of vanilla

½ cup of whole milk

½ cup of melted unsalted butter 

Ingredients for the topping:

½ cup of brown sugar

1/3 cup of flour

1/3 cup of melted butter

1 cup of chopped pecans and some whole

10 large white marshmallows, cut into 4’s  (or half a cup of the mini marshmallows)

Boil the sweet potatoes until soft, drain and mash. Combine the sweet potatoes with brown sugar, 2 eggs, vanilla, milk and unsalted butter...mix it all together evenly.

I let it sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes or even overnight so that the flavors set but also because I like to prep the day before.

In a casserole (greased lightly with butter) that is no more than 5 centimeters deep spread the sweet potatoes evenly.

Then mix all the remaining ingredients (except for the marshmallows)...

Mix: flour, brown sugar, butter and pecans.  Then sprinkle the mix of nuts on top of the mashed sweet potatoes. Add the cut marshmallows or the ½ a cup of mini white ones over...you don’t have to cover the whole pan just add the marshmallows here and there.

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes until hot and the marshmallows have browned.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie and Pate Brisse Pie Crust

photo belongs to http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/suzannes_old_fashioned_pumpkin_pie/

Pate Brisse Pie Crust Ingredients:


2 1/2 cups of plain flower
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 cup of unsalted butter (chilled and cubed)
1/2 cup of iced water

Combine the flour, salt, sugar and butter into a food processor and mix.  While the food processor is running, slowly add ice water until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky (about 30 seconds)...to test if your dough is ready, squeeze a small amount of the dough together and if it crumbles just add some more ice water (a tablespoon at a time.)  Once it is ready divide the dough into two equal balls, flatten each ball into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for an hour.





Pumpkin Pie Ingredients:


1 pumpkin (about .6 kilograms) 
1 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of corn flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon of cardamon
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups of evaporated milk
1 tablespoon of heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit.)  With a sharp paring knife, cut several slits in the pumpkin (pierce the skin all the way through) to allow steam to escape.  Place the pumpkin in a baking dish, pour about an inch of water at the bottom and bake for about 1 1/2 hours, until the skin is easy to peel off.  Once the pumpkin is ready, cut off the top and scoop out the seeds...peel the skin and mash the pumpkin until it becomes a puree.  Once it has been pureed place it in a drainer for about 10 minutes to discard of the excess water.

Now raise the heat of the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (425 degrees Fahrenheit.)  In a food processor combine the sugar, corn flour, salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, cardamon, pumpkin puree, 3 eggs and evaporated milk...mix until even.

Between two pieces of plastic wrap, roll the pate brisee into a 30 centimeter circle. Fit pastry into a 22 centimeter glass pie plate. Trim the dough evenly along the edge, leaving about a 1 centimeter overhang...pinch to form a decorative edge. If the dough begins to soften, chill for 15 minutes. To make the glaze just beat the remaining egg, and combine with heavy cream. Brush the glaze very lightly on the edges of pie shell. 

Fill the pie shell with the pumpkin mixture. Bake for 10 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius (425 degrees Fahrenheit) then reduce heat to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) and continue baking for 30 minutes more. Now just let it cool on a wire rack.
Your pie should look like the above..I will be honest this was my first time making it. So ill look into perfecting the look of the pie. The taste was perfect and I couldn't have served a better tasting Pumpkin Pie. 

THANKSGIVING

I’m really enjoying this blog and I would like to thank all the people who follow it because you have all really inspired me to keep going and I would like to thank my family for always being hungry. All of you have made me more conscious of my goals in setting up this blog, and in a way I hope to entertain you. I have lots of (I hope) funny stories, anecdotes, etc. to come.

When I said I passed on the traditions of my family on to my new family what I meant is I try my best at instilling the values that are important to me, and of course those which are important to my husband. What a blessing having a family is!!! 
I also like to think that in teaching good morals, sound judgment with an incentive to use common sense and what children believe is true to their hearts; parenting is always a challenge. I truly believe that food and the dinner table are a blessing. We are blessed by God (or whatever you believe in) when you can sit across a loved one and share food. From the beginning of time eating together has always been a peaceful event and one to give thanks for. I don’t like many holidays and quite often I forget birthdays, but I will always treasure and celebrate Thanksgiving with the most joy.

Thanksgiving is an American holiday and besides Canada I do not think it is celebrated anywhere else. The holiday is in memory of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans sitting together at a table eating and giving thanks. (Many other political arguments can be drawn from the festivities but I would like to focus on the positives of it.)

For me Thanksgiving is a day when we celebrate the gift of having each other.  We give thanks to the Lord for even the small things we have; but most importantly it’s a day I like to give thanks for having a family, for being healthy and for being surrounded by people I love. It is also a day that I like to remember all our loved ones that are not here with us and thank them for watching over us.

My childhood and teenage years where spent mostly in the United States, Miami to be precise. So my Thanksgiving dinners had Cuban Latino influences. This is one of the things that made me realize how important family is. When I was growing up in the States being a small family of 3 (my mom, dad and I), it was hard to fill a house for an event like Thanksgiving. Our relatives respectively all lived in different countries; however my mom and my second grade teacher, Aidita, became very good friends and I remember all Thanksgiving's and many other festivities spent with Aidita's family. They had the warmth and love that big families have and they embraced us into theirs. I loved Thanksgiving at Aidita's and to this day consider her family my family. Through the years we have gone through loss, divorce and the birth of many new member of our families. We always gathered at Thanksgiving and gave thanks that we had each other and thanks for the love and commitment each person had to the other.  That is what family is about and all the same values remain, even when things go pear-shaped.

Aidita is of a Cuban family that exiled to Miami in the 1950’s, they have gone through it all. They know what it is like to flee a country in only what you have on, leave all your belongings and the ones you love behind and come to a country where you have to start over. When you surround yourself with people that have lost everything, but have had the faith and hope in themselves and their families and the love to keep them together, you are in the company of some really amazing people. I had the privilege of being a part of that family.

Hey, everyone knows no one parties like a Cuban…so when the praying and eating are done…we hit the dance floor with salsa and merengue music...laughter and joy of all fills the air and that is what Thanksgiving is to me…

 PRAY LOVE  EAT & PARTY

This Thanksgiving was my first in Australia and as I have been asked by the kids, "can we please, please have this every year"..I happily said "yes we will"…

It was with great joy that I cooked for our closest friends some new some old. A total of 60 guest!!!

I think everyone enjoyed the food, the atmosphere and the genuine ceremony of giving thanks. For many of my guests it was their first Thanksgiving.

So the Thanksgiving menu that I will slowly post is a collection of traditional Thanksgiving recipes along with other recipes that have there own and personalized twist. I would like to thank Martha Stewart for her amazing blog that has helped me fill some of the gaps and has added tremendous value to my dinner party.

I celebrated Thanksgiving a week early so that I could post before the big day and hopefully give you all time to cook these recipes for the actual day.

I had 60 people over at my house (between adults and children.)

I cooked a total of 3 Turkeys (2, 5 kilo ones, and one 7 kilo.)

I also served 14 other dishes that I made from scratch at home. Including the ultimate Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie. 

The biggest challenge of Thanksgiving is the turkey...a good turkey is moist and therefore must be cooked slowly.  Allow up to 6-7 hours for a 5-7 Kilo turkey to cook at low heat.

I have made many Turkeys but this year for the 1^st time I cooked mine on a BBQ (closed grill). I think from now on I will always cook my turkeys this way. However any oven big enough to fit a Turkey will still give you an amazing Turkey. So here are my Thanksgiving recipes..xx