Pandebono (Colombian cheese bread)

Ever since trying Colombian Pandebono a few months ago, I've been trying to replicate the recipe.  I've tried several different ones. Some have been chewy whereas others have been light and springy.  Some cheesy and salty and others more sweet and less cheesy.  I've figured out one important thing in my quest: Don't substitute ingredients.  Since pandebono is made with a minimal number of ingredients, it's crucial to get the right ones in the right proportion and using the right technique.  I learned this the hard way and ended up with hard pandebono.  No more.  For this savory cheese bread, you will need Queso Fresco, a crumbly and dry cheese from Latin America.

Also you will need Masarepa, a cooked corn flour, and not regular fine milled cornmeal.  Also, the yuca or tapioca starch is crucial for the success of this recipe, giving the bread it's springiness.  Here is the last recipe I tried from Pachi's blog: http://www.creativeculinary.net/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=324:pandebono&catid=36:secrets-of-colombian-cooking&Itemid=8

2 cups (3/4 pound) Queso Fresco
1/2 cup Tapioca Starch (Yuca flour)
2 Tbsp Masarepa (cooked cornmeal)
2 tsp sugar
1tsp salt
1 egg

1. Finely grate the cheese.  Transfer it to a food processer and process until finely ground.

2. Add the tapioca starch, masarepa, sugar and salt.  Process.  Then add the edd and process for about two minutes, until the mixture forms a ball.  The texture of the mass should be very fine.

3. Grease a baking sheet with butter and preheat oven to 425 F.  Make balls out of the dough and place 1 1/2-2 inches apart on the baking sheet.  Place the baking sheet on top of another baking sheet or pan to prevent the pandebono from browning too much on the bottom. 

4. Place the double pans in the oven and bake 10-15 minutes. Mine took 20 minutes so monitor your pandebono to see when it is done.  It should be puffed up and light golden brown when it's ready.


I like the way these came out.  They're very pillowy soft on the inside.  They have a cheesy and salty taste.  However, next time, I'll try adding more tapioca starch, masarepa and sugar.  I'll also add less cheese and possibly salt to make the pandebono more chewy and sweet.  Looking forward to testing the possibilities!

3 Bean Salad, Ddeokboggi, Italian sausage pasta and Ecuadorian food

An improvement on the bean salad I made previously.  I added chick peas.  Beans, beans, they're good for your heart...

Ddeokboggi thanks to Maangchi's recipe: http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/ddukbokkie.  I added cabbage, onion and vegetalble fishcake for added flavor and texture.  I would add the higher amount of gojuchang to make it spicy hot.  I also didn't have the dried anchovies so I used anchovy paste imported from Spain.  Make sure you boil the ddeok and cabbage long enough to make them soft.  The onion and green onion don't need as much time.  Also, boiling helps reduce and thicken the liquid for added flavor density.

 

Italian sausage pasta with the following ingredients: 7 ounces of whole wheat spaghettini, 3 hot Italian sausages, fried and diced, 2 cups of baby spinach, about 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley, 2-3 minced garlic cloves, 1/2 can chicken broth, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup sliced Kalamatta olives, salt and a generous amount of freshly cracked pepper.

Spanish/Ecuadorian food at an Ecuadorian restaurant in Queens.  Too much to consume in one sitting.

Bean Salad and Veggie Burgers

Today's lunch: A veggie burger with mayo, ketchup, pickle, avocado, tomato and spinach.  And a bean salad to go with it.  The bean salad is easy and delicious.  One can each of kidney beans and black beans, drained and rinsed, 2 stalks of finely chopped green onion, 1/2 small diced green pepper, some finely chopped parsley, 1 finely chopped garlic clove, 2 Tbsp of Balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp of olive oil, and a pinch of pepper, cumin and cayenne to round it out.  The best summer lunch ever minus the grill!

Moist 'n Fluffy Pancakes, Banana Coconut Rum Bread, a Spinach Bake and Japanese Ramen

All my cooking is based on the fact that I have a leftover ingredient in the fridge that begs to be used up. I'm often in this situation because it can't be avoided when you cook a lot. Recently, it was buttermilk, fresh spinach and over ripe bananas. To find out what I made with each ingredient, keep on reading.

With the buttermilk, I made the best buttermilk pancakes.  Really...the best.  I ususally make them from the mix but these are beyond compare to any commercial brand.  The buttermilk acts as a leavening agent in addition to the baking soda, making for a very light and airy pancake and adding so much moisture to the pancakes.  I made the pancakes with sliced apples too and they were delicious that way too



Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 1/8 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions
1.Preheat and lightly grease a large skillet or electric griddle.
2.Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl. Add the egg, buttermilk, and butter; stir together lightly, but keep it lumpy. The batter should look thick, spongy, and puffy.
3.Drop 1/3 cup of the batter onto the cooking surface, spreading lightly with the bottom of the cup. Cook until lightly-browned on each side, 1 to 2 minutes per side.


With the bananas, I made banana bread.  Only mine is low-fat and has shredded coconut, raisins, pecans and a touch of rum.  It was extremely moist but not greasy which I love.  Try it.

Banana Coconut Rum Bread
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large or 3 small eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3 tablespoons dark rum or 1/2 tsp rum extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
1/3 cup raisins, soaked in hot water
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
Cooking spray or butter to grease pan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
3. Place sugars and butter in a large bowl.  Beat until well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, rum extract, and vanilla.  Beat until blended.
4. Add flour mixture to wet mixture.  Beat just until moist. Stir in the coconut, raisins and nuts.
5. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray or butter. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack completely and then remove from pan, if desired.


Then there was a spinach casserole.  It used a lot of spinach which is what I was looking for.  It has a nice crispy crust and spinachy goodness within.

Ingredients
1 1/4 pounds spinach

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese or goat cheese
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 quart baking dish.


Clean spinach thoroughly. Remove all excess water. Chop spinach. Arrange spinach and flour in layers, nestle beaten eggs about midway between the layers.

Combine cheese and bread crumbs. Mix in optional parsley, if desired. Sprinkle over top of spinach. Mix butter or margarine, milk, salt and pepper. Pour over all ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes to one hour.

And finally, my Japanese ramen with bean sprouts, pickled root vegetable and green onion.  Delicious and warming since I've been sick lately.



Tasty baked falafels

My cravings come in waves.  The current wave I'm riding is the falafel wave.  I love putting some on a fresh pita with some rich hummus and leafy greens.  I decided to make mine healthier by frying them in a shallow amount of oil rather than submerging them.  The results are still great and any lack of oil on the outside is compensated for with the richness of flavor on the inside.

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 (15 ounce) cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 small eggs, beaten

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 teaspoons olive oil

Directions
1.Wrap onion in cheese cloth and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Set aside.

2. Place chickpeas, parsley, cilantro garlic, cumin, coriander, salt, and baking soda in a food processor. Process until the mixture is coarsely pureed.  As an alternative, you can mash the mixture with a potato masher.

3. Mix the chickpea mixture and onion together in a bowl. Stir in the flour, eggs and lemon juice. Put mixture in refrigerator and let rest for at least 1/2 hour. 

4. Take mixture ouf of refrigerator and shape into small round patties.


5.Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the patties in the skillet, turning them over to brown evenly. on all sides.

6. Serve in a warm pita with hummus, Greek yogurt mixed with mint and lemon juice and lettuce.

One type of pasta and one type of cheese, made two ways

Since starting this new diet of mine, I've become increasingly interested in making pasta salads of all types.  I normally don't eat much pasta but it's a dish that's easy to make and won't have me slaving in the kitchen for long, not to mention the varieties are endless.  It's also easy to incorporate leftovers into pasta salads and make a meal out of it.  So as part of my new pasta obsession, I was faced with a few ingredients making an overdue stay in my fridge and cabinet--Orechiette pasta, some red peppers and ricotta cheese.  I decided to make two types of sauces from these ingredients since I often can't eat 1 pound of pasta with the same sauce for a whole week. 



First, for the lemon ricotta pasta...I got this recipe by doing my standard internet search:   http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/pasta/recipe-lemony-ricotta-pasta-with-basil-057215  With a few minor modifications, I made it.  I added broccoli because pasta without veggies or meat is too boring, heavy and non-filling to me.  I also didn't have basil so I used the parsley I had instead.  Here's the recipe.

Lemon Ricotta Pasta (serves 3)

250 grams/1/2 pound of Orrechiette pasta or any type you prefer

1 cup (1/2 pound) ricotta cheese

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

grated zest of 1 small lemon

juice from 1/2 small lemon

1/2 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup finely chopped parsley

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup steamed chopped broccoli

1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water until it's the texture you desire.  It took 12 minutes for my Orechiette to be cooked al dente but yours might take less.  Drain the pasta with cold water and set aside, covered.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and incorporate the pasta. 

3. Serve at room temperature or warm with some more parsley sprinkled on top.

Next was the roasted red pepper pasta.  Again, I found a recipe on-line that sounded and looked good.  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/03/pasta-with-roasted-red-pepper-sauce-groan/  Again, I needed veggies or meat in my pasta so I added the other half of my broccoli.  Since the red pepper has a sweet flavor, I wanted to veer away from veggies that are sweet.  I also added almonds instead of the pine nuts since I didn't have any pine nuts around.  I think this pasta would also go well with some diced chicken though I had none on hand.  Here's the recipe:

Red Pepper Ricotta Pasta (serves 3)

3 medium red peppers, broiled

2 Tbsp almonds

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup (1/2 pound) ricotta cheese

1/2 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 cup steamed chopped broccoli

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

1. Broil red peppers in oven until skin is blackened on top.  Remove and cover until they cool.  Remove the skin.  The skin separated easily so it shouldn't be too tough a task.

2. When all the peppers have had their skins removed, cut them in half and remove all the seeds, washing them off your hands, if necessary. 

3. Put the peppers in a blender and puree until smooth.  Add the almonds in and puree again until smooth.

4. In a saucepan, heat the olive oil and saute the onion until it begins to soften.  Add the garlic and saute  until it becomes fragrant.  Add the red pepper puree, salt, pepper, ricotta, parsley and broccoli.  Stir in the pasta.

5. Serve warm with more chopped parsley on top.


On an aside, here's my onion sprouting on my utility rack while my herbs are dying.  Oh well, at least something's growing!

Greek pasta salad, German apple cheesecake and a fruity salad

I'm having some digestive problems lately so I have to watch what I eat and not eat foods that are on my no-no list for now at least.  That doesn't mean though that I'm going to sacrifice taste for some boring diet.  For lunch, I had a wonderful salad of chopped spinach, sliced Granny Smith apples, dried cranberries, crumbled goat cheese, almonds and raspberry vinaigrette.  It's wintertime now but this would be awesome in the summer to share with others.  I thoroughly enjoyed it for its sweet, tangy, crunchy goodness.

I also made a cheesecake with apples I started getting a craving for after getting flashbacks of the wonderful Apfel Kasekuchen I had in Germany.  It was manufactured under the name "Belbake" and it was tangy and light unlike American cheesecakes which are very heavy and fatty.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the German quark cheese that's needed to make this cake so I made it with some non-fat ricotta I had in my fridge.  It came out good but I think a tangy cheese would go better with the sweetness of the crust and apples.  Oh, well, next time!  It is still delicious nonetheless.  Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

Dough

2 cups flour

1/3 cup softened butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

Cheese filling

1 pound of dessert cheese like ricotta, twarog, quark, farmer, etc.

1/2 cup sugar

1 package vanilla sugar

3 eggs, separated

pinch salt

2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, quartered and cut in this slices

Directions
1. For the dough, soften the butter and cream it with the egg and sugar.  Add the flour gradually and make into a soft dough, mixing it just enough for it to come together and not stick to your hands.  Cover and refrigerate.

2. For the cheese filling, cream the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla sugar.  Combine with the cheese and a pinch of salt.  In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until it holds stiff peaks and is white.  Set aside.

3.  Roll out refrigerated dough using a roll a pin on a board, adding a small bit of flour, if necessary.  Line a baking pan with the dough, making sure to fill it to the edges.

4.  Peel, quarter and core apples.  Cut into thin slices and lay out evenly on top of the dough in the pan.

5. Take the whipped egg whites and fold them in quickly and gently into the cheese/yolk mixture.  Pour and spread it evenly over the apples in the pan.

6.  Place cake into preheated 325 degree oven and back 50-60 minutes until it starts to brown.  Cool and regrigerate.  Serve cold.

Because of my digestive problems, I've been getting into eating different foods which, I might add, is pretty fun.  I'm on a pasta salad kick and since I can't have my Greek salad with tomatoes and all that vinegary dressing, I decided to use my feta and make a pasta salad.  This is by far one of the best pasta salads I've ever eaten and I'm not just saying that because I made it.  Maybe it's because I love feta's salty and rich goodness so much.  Try it and you'll see what I mean.

Ingredients
1 pound pasta, such as penne rigate (I made it with whole wheat pasta), cooked al dente
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large shallots or 1 medium onion, finely diced
4 cups of fresh spinach, chopped into bite-size pieces
24 Kalamatta olives, diced
8 ounces of crumbled feta cheese
1/4-1/2 cup fresh minced mint, and/or parsley
salt & crushed black pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Saute the garlic and onion in the oil until onions turn transparent, adding a pinch of salt during the cooking process.  Add the spinach and cook until just beginning to wilt.

2. Add pasta and sautee all ingredients until heated through.  Add mint and turn off heat.

3. Put pasta on a plate and top with some olives and feta cheese.  Enjoy!