I {HEART} Cooking- Croquetas de pollo

I've been wanting to post this recipe for a long time but always forget to do it :/

Bayohan told his friends at Los Cacaos how good I make this and asked me if we could take some so they would try it, of course I agreed :)

This is my kitchen, no fancy messure cups, just regular ones :p and spilled milk in the oven and all, too real!!

I call this Croquetas de pollo instead of the translation in english, chicken croquettes, because it is not really the same.

Chicken croquettes are done with leftover mashed potatoes and chicken, or shredded chicken pass over egg and bread crumbs, and here Croquetas de pollo are done with flour.

Either way this are delicious little appetizer and I want to share the way I do them.

So get yourself:

-1 pound seasoned chicken breast

-2 cups of water

-1 can of evaporated milk

-1 cup of flour

-1/4 stick of butter

-1 small onion

- salt

- bread crumbs

Boil your seasoned chicken breast in the 2 cups of water with the onion until the water is reduced to one cup, reserve the broth.

Shred your chicken.

In a saucepan add your chicken with the broth and the rest of the ingredients on medium heat, and prepare to stir constantly until it has this consistency

It becomes like a dough and separates from the saucepan.
Allow it to chill.
Form little football shaped balls with the dough, and roll them over the bread crumbs. It will be really sticky so you might want to put some crumbs on your hands to be able to mold the croquettes.
They should look like this before frying them in really hot oil until golden brown.I didnt fry mine because I freezed them to fry them at Los Cacaos. They can be freezed and hold for weeks!

This is how they look fried (not my pic, just one I found online) .
You could serve them with lemon or any other sauce :)

Enjoy!!

I {HEART} Cooking - Caramel Flan

Because I love you all so much, and because I bought this super cute molds that I HAD to use!

I am posting a recipe for Flan :)

I love Caramel Flan so much!! in fact there was a time in my sister and my life were we though that Flan was the only dessert in the world, gnochi the only food and Frozen lemonade the only beverage, but that is a different story.

So I will leave you here with a fast, easy and great recipe:

Caramel Flan

10 egg yolks
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
3 tablespoons margarine
3 tablespoons brown sugar

Whisk together the yolks, condensed milk, and evaporated milk; set aside. Melt margarine in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar; keep stirring until the brown sugar has dissolved, and is smooth. Evenly spread the sugar over the bottom of a pie plate, then pour in the custard. Cover with foil. (See note at bottom.)
Fill a large pot approximately 3/4 full with water and bring to a simmer on the stove. Place the pie plate over the simmering water and cook for 65 to 70 minutes, until flan has set. Remove flan from the boiling water and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.
To serve, loosen the flan from the pie plate by running a knife around the edges; invert onto a serving plate. Serve at room temperature or cold.

I love my molds :) I have four mini (the one in the first pic) and a big one with a changeable bottom for a star or a heart.

Enjoy!! Just like my Step father did :)

I {HEART} Cooking

It's been so long since I've posted a recipe here, I really miss my big kitchen and baking supplies all the time, and Fonsy as my taster :)

I decided to post this really traditional Dominican recipe, good for breakfast, lunch or dinner here, and this is Bayo's favorite meal of all time, he would choose this over anything in the world!

It is called Mangu con Queso Frito, there is really no translation for this but you could say is mashed plantain and fried "fresh" cheese.

Legend says the name of mangu (mashed plantain) comes because one day the dish was serve to an american and he said "Man, Good!!" but this could be just that a big old legend.

The fried cheese is not just any cheese is a special kind of fresh one used just to fry it, I guess you could substitute for any other cheese that will allow to fry without melting, you could find queso fresco under the latin foods in the supermarkets.

This dish MOST be serve with onions, wish I will also tell you how to fix them to have the complete deal :)

Lets start with the Mangu, for a 2 person serving get:

-4 green plantain

-2 tbs of butter

-salt

Boil the plantain in water with salt for about 20 minutes, reserve 1/4 cup of the water were the plantain were boiled and mash them with that water and the butter. It should be really soft like a mashed potato.

For the onions, cut them round and fry them a little with olive oil,when they are soft add some vinegar, balsamic one is great and stir for about one minute, serve them on top of the Mangu.

And for the cheese, cut it in squares of half an inch and cover them with cornstarch and fry them on both sides until golden.

You could serve the Mangu with regular melted cheese or with anything else that you would use to serve mash potatoes.

Enjoy!!!

I {HEART} Cooking and EASTER!!

Caution: The following post has some serious cuteness overload, continue reading under your own risk!!

I have a new addiction and is so hard to stop!!! is the CUPCAKES, those tiny cute little things and I want to make them EVERY single day!
I said to myself, "no more until you take the test!", but I cant stop. I just HAD to make the easter ones ;p

This are really special to me and I hope you like and enjoy them as much as I did making and taking a gazillion pictures of them!!
Since is Easter they had to be really special! So this are Surprise Easter Cupcakes with a special treat inside!

So to join me in my addiction do the following:

You can make your favorite cupcake recipe, I did this one and they came out really good.

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the first one, and finish with the milk, until everything is well incorporated.
Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow them to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled we move on to the next part.

I told you this were Surprise Easter Cupcakes, but why??... Well, because they have a surprise filling inside :) YUMMY!!!

I used Dulce de Leche, but you can use any filling you want, mine was an argetinian one, but you can make yours at home, just click here to see a recipe.

And to fill them just scope out a cone shape from the top of your cupcake.

See the cone shape? to get that exact shape just insert the knife in the position of the second pic and go round.

Fill your cupcake and place the top back (you may need to cut the end of the cone piece so that you can get more filling inside).

Now is time to get some frosting on these babies :) and what better than a rich, colorful Butter Cream Frosting!!

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1b. 10X powdered sugar

1-3 teaspoons milk

Cream softened butter and vanilla until smooth. Add sugar gradually.
Add a teaspoon of milk at a time and beat until you get the right texture.
Then, just use icing colors to tint the frosting the color you need.

And here comes the best part, the part we've all been waiting for, DECORATE!

Get all sorts of candies, whatever you can think that will help you.

I used Hershey's Kissables, tiny starry sprinkles, Trident Splash Gum, M&M's, Gumdrops and Starburst.

I will tell you what I did for each cupcake.

First my favorite one ;) BABY CHICKS!

For this I used:

Yellow buttercream frosting for the body, for the beaks in some I used orange Hershey's Kissables and for others orange Starburst (just put them on the microwave for 10 seconds and they will be soft enough for you to shape them), for the eyes either chocolate buttercream frosting or brown M&M's and for their feets orange starry sprinkles or Starbursts.

Here are the Pink Fluffy Bunnies :)

Pink buttercream frosting for the body, for the eyes some are starry blue sprinkles, some chocolate buttercream and some blue M&M's or Hershey's Kissables (the one with the blue M&M has a dot of white frosting; the ears pink gumdrops and pink Startburst; the nose brown M&M's, red Hershey's Kissable and M&M's; the bunny teeth are Tridents gum and the whiskers are chocolate buttercream frosting.

Last but not least Easter Eggs!

Green buttercream frosting for the grass, starry sprinkles for the field flowers, eggs made out of Startburst or M&M's and a nest out of chocolate frosting.

One is a decorated Easter egg, just have fun with this one and decorate how ever you like!! I used white, pink and green buttercream frosting, Hershey's Kissables and starry sprinkles.

Arent these the cutest little things? And I bet you can make them even prettier! Trust me if I did you can :)

ENJOY THEM!!! and Happy Easter!

I {HEART} Cooking - Easter Bake!

Easter is almost here, so we need a recipe to go with that, dont we??

I just baked this today, a request from Bayo to do a Carrot Cake with Almonds!!

This recipe is from The Pioneer Woman Cooks, all of her recipes (that I've tried so far) are delicious!!! so I just followed it and added the almonds.

Want to try some? Get this then ;)

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup of Almonds (they are better cut in big chunks instead of the thin slices).

And do these :p
Mix sugar, oil, and eggs. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add to first mixture and combine. Add carrots and almonds and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured pan (Bundt, sheet cake, 9 x 13 Pyrex) and bake until done, 25 to 50 minutes, depending on the pan you use, for example I used a loaf pan and had to bake it for 50 minutes, I also ended up with extra batter and did some muffins but those only took 25 minutes, like Pioneer Woman said: "Just give the pan a very gentle shake if you’re unsure. If it jiggles, it ain’t ready". This tip really works!!!

You could add a Cream Cheese Frosting, Pioneer Woman also has a great recipe on the same page with the Carrot Cake one, we like ours plain to eat it for breakfast or snack, and it is good like that too!!

I just had to play with the picture ;p it has become an addiction and I cant stop!!! Do you like the bunnies on my carrot?

I've got a Dominican Easter Dessert coming up soon (actually after easter) this is a really popular dish here, if you go to a house on easter you are going to get this serve, Bayo LOVES it and this is my first time making it :) I will try to do a step by step photo instuctions on the recipe, so if you are feeling adventurous come back, is really different and kind off exotic, but trust me this is TO GOOD TO BE TRUE. Come back to find out what I am doing :)

PS- If you are my sister, you are not aloud to say what it is ;p

I {HEART} Cooking - or is it Baking?

Yes I am on baking roll :) and I LOVE IT, I never in a thousand years would have though I was going to like baking as much as cooking, I used to be a box cake kind of girl but NOT ANYMORE (not that there is anything wrong with that, I love my cakes from a box and frosting from a can too ;)

Bayo doesnt like sweets to much, but yesterday he told me he wanted something sweet, I asked him what and he said just something super chocolaty!!! PERFECT, because I wanted to try a recipe for some time. It is called HERSHEY'S "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" Chocolate Cake, and you can find the original at Hershey's Kitchens. They also have one for the frosting at the bottom of the page, but I wanted to try a different one I had.

I also wanted to do some Cheesy Muffins I found at The Pionner Woman, and added that to my baking list.

So I will describe each one in separate ;p

First lets start with the Cheesy Muffins and after we'll move to dessert

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups shredded colby-jack cheese (I used Cheddar instead, because I am that cheap :p)

1 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter (I used salted)

Whisk together dry ingredients, then stir in cheese.
In a separate bowl, whisk egg, milk, and butter together. Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and stir with a spoon to combine.
Bake in greased muffin tins at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

This little babies are to die for, great warm just out of the oven, and EVERYONE loved them and kept asking for more!!!Now just look at that Cheesy piece of heaven :)

They are also great out of the fridge, just put them on the microwave for 15 sec and enjoy them for breakfast :)

And for dessert we have:

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups AP flour
3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa (I used another brand and they came out perfect, again cheap!)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with bake cups.
Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter onto prepared pans.
Bake 22-25 minutes for cupcakes until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from cups and cool completely.

YUMMY!!!!!! Even my picky mother ate four!!!

For the frosting I took the recipe from Cupcake Blog, and this thing was also to die for :)

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1 stick butter

1/2 cup cocoa

4 cups confectioner’s sugar

1/4 cup milk

Beat butter for about 30 seconds until soft. Add cocoa and 1 cup of sugar and beat until incorporated. Add half of the milk and the remainder of sugar and beat until incorporated. Continue to add milk until you get to the consistency you want.

And put to work your piping skills (mine where zero) so I think they came out real pretty!!!

Enjoy!!!

I {HEART} Cooking - Mini Cheesecakes

I dont want to turn this into a food/recipe blog, but I just realized that I've found my passion, allow me to explain, everytime someone would ask me: what's your hobby or what do you like doing?, I would end up with a bunch of answers that are things I like but not THAT much; for some time now I've notice how much I LOVE cooking and trying out new recipes, and now that I think about I've always had, I just didnt know how much :)

This blog is a journey of our life together, but everytime I try or think of some good recipe you bet it will be here :)

Now about the actual recipe, I've always wanted to do cheesecakes, but I was afraid of them, silly I know, I found this recipe and was finally brave enough to give it a try, plus they are small and cute and nothing is better than that ;P

My mother in law is a cheesecake junkie, so I decided to make this for her, and when she saw them she was so happy, but even more after she tried them; my brother in law who is very picky also loved them; this is a keeper for me, they are beautiful and yummy!!! I will be making them a LOT!!!!

Ingredients
12 vanilla wafers
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1 (21 ounce) can of pie filling
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Line muffin tins with 12 paper baking cups. Place a vanilla wafer in each one.
3. In a medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add eggs, lemon juice, and sugar. Beat until smooth and thoroughly combined.
4. Fill each baking cup with cream cheese mixture.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 17 minutes. Let them cool. Top with fruit pie filling just prior to serving.

I wanted to do it with strawberries so I bought 1 can of strawberries in syrup, and blended them with half the liquid and 1 tablespoon of sugar (next time I will leave some of the fruits for deco).

When I saw this colorful baking cups I knew I HAD to have them :) I took the picture with one without the topping so you would know how they look like.

I {HEART} Cooking - Layered Taco Dip

I made this today for a family get together at the beach and let me tell you it went out in a second, everyone LOVED it!!! (I really enjoy seeing people eating and liking what I cook, is such a pleasure for me :).

Here in Dominican Republic we call it Cielito Lindo (beautiful small heaven), this is also like saying sweetheart to someone you love, anyways the name comes from a popular mexican song, I've seen similar recipes for this and they also call it Layered Taco Dip.

Want to make this?

Then follow me...

The first layer is Cream Cheese, just spread it at the bottom of your pirex or bowl.

Then you will need the meat layer, you could use ground beef with taco seasoning, but I used shredded chicken, for this I boiled 1 pound of skinless, boneless chicken breasts with 6 cups of water, 1 onion, salt and pepper (I put this much water to get some chicken stock to use for other recipes), after it is cooked I put it in my food processor and it goes to a pan with half a cup of water and seasoning until the liquids are gone. If you dont feel like complicating yourself this much just use the chicken breast that comes in a can (like tuna) and add the taco seasoning.

Add some veggies to the next layer, I like to do a picadillo, I use the same amounts of chopped lettuce, fresh cilantro (coriander), diced tomato and onion.

Then comes the mexican salsa layer, I like Tostitos, but you can use any brand.

And top it with shredded cheddar cheese or the 4 mexican cheese mix they sell already shredded and pack (I used the first choice).

This are some layers of perfection...

I even made a smaller one with hot salsa (because the other one was mild) for those who like it spicy :)

You can add or substitute some of the layers, get creative!!! You could use Guacamole, Rotel, refried beans, take the meat out for a vegetarian delight!

But always put the cream cheese in the first layer.

Serve it with tortilla or corn chips, Tostitos or the scoop ones to get more dip in :D

ENJOY!!!