Granita de Mango con Jengibre

Una alternativa adicional de postre que intentamos servir en el menú italiano del Centro Yoga fue una granita…

Y la palabra granita suena muy italianísima, pero en realidad es un embeleco híbrido de dos conceptos muy queridos aquí en Puerto Rico – los limbers y las piraguas. Los limbers son jugos endulzados que se congelan en vasitos plásticos y te los comes directamente en ese vasito. Las piraguas están hechas de hielo raspado al que se le echa algún sirope de saber por encima. Así que si lo miramos detenidamente, una granita es como una mezcla de estos donde conceptos.

Y como soy una desesperada uso la tecnología a mi favor… para qué raspar el hielo a mano con un tenedor si tenemos un procesador de alimentos, ¿no??

 

GRANITA DE MANGO CON JENGIBRE

3 tazas de néctar de mango

1 taza de agua

½ taza de azúcar negra o turbinado

Un pedazo de 3 pulgadas de jengibre, picadito

1. Primero hacemos el sirope simple… en una cacerola coloca el agua, el azúcar y el jengibre. Pónlo a hervir un poquito hasta que el azúcar se haya disuelto completamente. Deja los pedazos de jengibre sazonen el sirope con su sabor picante. Déjalos ahí hasta que el sirope se enfríe a temperatura ambiente.
2. Cuela el sirope simple para eliminarle los pedazos de jengibre Mezcla el sirope de jengibre con el néctar de mango en un recipiente de cristal 9 x 11.
3. Congélalo en el freezer como por 6-8 horas, hasta que se solidifique.
4. Cuando lo vayas a servir, sácalo del freezer y con algún instrumento punzante trata de ir despegando pedazos de este “limber” que quepan en el procesador de alimentos. Pulsa unas cuantas veces y procésalo hasta que tengas un granizado.

Sírvelo individualmente…

Si deseas un sabor más pronunciado a jengibre, te sugiero que peles el jengibre antes de picarlo y hervirlo con el agua de azúcar. Así, podrás mezclarlo con el néctar de mango y congelarlo todo junto. No tan solo tendrá más tiempo de contacto el jengibre con el jugo, sino que podrás triturar los pedacitos de jengibre en el procesador y sentirás sin duda el interesante y prominente sabor a jengibre que tendrá.

 

Sirope Simple de Azúcar Negra

Aprendí a hacer esto recientemente…  Había visto como los chefs del Food Network preparan sirope simple usando azúcar blanca regular… pero yo no uso azúcar blanca nunca. ¿Podre hacerlo entonces con azúcar negra?

¡POR SUPUESTO!

El nombre no engaña… este sirope es muy simple de preparar y es tremendo para  endulzar té helado y jugos naturales hechos en casa.  En el centro de Yoga lo que hacemos es que molemos el azúcar negra con agua en una licuadora, pero esta técnica es buena para endulzar algo que no tuviste que hacer en la licuadora.

 

BROWN SUGAR SIMPLE SYRUP

3 tazas de azúcar negra

3 tazas de agua

 

1. Agrega el azúcar negra y el agua en una cacerola grande.  
2. Deja que hierva rápidamente y permite que el azúcar se disuelva en el agua.  Tomará de 10 a 15 minutos.

 

Deja que el sirope se enfríe antes de usarlo y úsalo para endulzar tus bebidas frías favoritas…  como este bul de parcha y guayaba.

Salsa de Fresas Frescas

Esta es otra de las recetas del evento Foodbuzz 24,24,24

Recientemente, mi ahijada Kamila me dijo que su helado favorito era el de fresas.  Así que cuando surgió la idea de esta cena para ella y sus hermanos, decidí que quería complacerla con su helado favorito. Desgraciadamente, esta madrina vive una vida demasiado agitada y no me dio tiempo de preparar el helado “from scratch”.   Así que se me ocurrió la mejor sustitución – helado de vainilla con una salsa de fresas.

Esta salsa es tremenda con cualquier berry – actually, la receta original se hace con “raspberries” y la aprendí del libro Barefoot in Paris de Ina Garten.  Ya la había hecho en su formato original, pero preferí esta vez hacerlo con fresas para complacer el gusto de Kamila y porque las fresas usualmente son más económicas y más accesibles que las “raspberries”.

 

HELADO DE VAINILLA CON SALSA DE FRESAS FRESCAS

1 pinta de fresas frescas, quitándoles la parte de arriba y picadas en 4

½ taza de azúcar negra

¼ taza de agua

½  taza de preserves de fresa

 

1. En una cacerolita pequeña sobre fuego mediano, coloca las fresas, el azúcar y el agua.  Cocínalas como por 5 minutos, hasta que el azúcar se disuelva y las frutas comiencen a romperse un poco.
2. 
3. Apaga el fuego y deja que la mezcla se enfríe un poquito.  Transfiérelas a un procesador de alimentos y añádele los preserves.  Púlsalo varias veces hasta que se convierta en una salsa homogénea.
4. Pásalo a un bowl con tapa y ponlo en la nevera a enfriar por unas horas antes de servirlo.

 

 

Para mi sorpresa, a los más chiquitos fue que les gusto esto más… los grandes prefirieron helado solito.  Kamila hasta me sugirió que al de ella le incluyéramos una fresa de verdad como decoración.

Rosemary Almonds

I love almonds.  They’re one of my favorite nuts, next to cashews, pistachios and hazelnuts.  I love almonds, not only for their flavor and crunchy texture, but also because they’re a great source of protein.  I read somewhere that eating 5-10 almonds a day gives you all the protein you need for that day.  Great news for me… because I rather eat almonds than beans any day of the week.

I wanted to treat the mothers in my life with something I made… instead of something bought.  I read this recipe in the Barefoot in Paris Cookbook where Ina uses cashews to re-create these bar nuts she ate at Union Square Café in New York.   I decided to go with almonds instead of cashews because I needed to make a large batch and almonds tend to be less expensive than cashews. 

I loved the results…  and as Ina says in her book, these taste best when they’re still warm.

 

ROSEMARY ALMONDS

3 cups peeled raw almonds

2 tbs minced fresh rosemary

½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

2 tsp brown sugar

1 tbs kosher salt

1 tbs unsalted butter, melted

 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread thee almonds on a baking sheet and toast for about 10-15 minutes, particularly if you soaked the almonds to peel them.  If you prefer to keep the almonds with their skin, toast them for a shorter time to avoid burning them.
2. While the almonds are in the oven, combine the rosemary, salt, pepper, sugar, and butter in a large bowl.
3. Add the toasted almonds to the large bowl with the salt/sugar/rosemary mixture.  Toss well to combine.
4. Serve warm if possible.

 

These are great as a snack, as a hostess gift… you name it.  They’re super delicious.

 

Coconut Tembleque

Tembleque is a Puerto Rican dessert, traditionally made mainly during Xmas time.   However, it can be enjoyed year round.  And it’s a special treat when you can taste it outside of Xmas… very unexpected.

The name “tembleque” comes from the verb “temblar” or “to tremble”.  The dessert is a jiggly/trembly custard made with coconut milk, sugar and set with cornstarch.  I added the word coconut in the name for the benefit of those who are unfamiliar to the tembleque dessert.  But, we do not add the word coconut in front; it would be “redundant”, because tembleques are only made with coconut milk… there are no other versions… yet. (This explanation is giving me ideas…)

We decided to make this because so many people in the Center who are avoiding wheat, spelt and dairy products so dessert options need to get more creative each time.  Plus, this would be a good accompaniment to other true Puerto Rican delicacies such as Arroz con Gandules and Alcapurrias.

It’s easy and super delicious…  check it out.

 

 

 

COCONUT TEMBLEQUE

Makes about 24 servings

 

12 cups of coconut milk

1 ½ cups of brown sugar

6 cinnamon sticks

1 ¼ cup cornstarch, diluted in some reserved coconut milk and ½ cup water

Ground cinnamon, to garnish

 

1. In a large pot, pour about 10 cups of coconut milk, sugar, cinnamon sticks and bring to a simmer.
2. In a small mixing bowl, mix together the remaining coconut milk, the cornstarch and water.  Whisk together well and pour into the simmering coconut milk. 
3. Whisk in the whole coconut milk mixture until it thickens slightly.
4. While it still hot, CAREFULLY (because it can burn you – I speak from experience), divide in individual servings, about  1/3 – ½ cup each.  
5. Garnish with a sprinkle with ground cinnamon on top.
6. Refrigerate for about 2-3 hours.  Serve cold.

Pear Spread

Pears have been on sale for the longest time every time I visit the grocery store.  So I decided to buy some the other day to make my roasted pears for the French Dinner.  I love these roasted pears, but it was time for some diversity…  so I decided to make butter – Pear Butter.

I am not going to question how the name came to be… especially after my previous post about a punch called a “bull”.  If I were to name this in Spanish it would probably be something like “Compota de Peras” or Pear Compote.  However, I believe the name Pear Spread is truer to the final application.

Here’s how I made it…

 

PEAR SPREAD

2 ripe Bartlet Pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces

½ cup water

2 tbs white balsamic vinegar

2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

 

¾ cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla powder

1 cinnamon stick

Pinch of salt

 

1. Combine pears, water, vinegar and lemon juice in a medium heavy saucepan.  Cover and simmer until pears are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20-25 minutes.
2. 
3. Puree the mixture using a hand blender or in a food processor.  If using the food processor, be careful transferring the mixture to the food processor and back into the saucepan again, because the liquid is very hot.
4. 
5. Add the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt to the pureed mixture.  Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
6. Increase the heat to medium and boil gently uncovered until mixture reduces and thickens, about 1 hour.  Stir occasionally to prevent any scorching in the bottom.
7. Discard the cinnamon stick.  Spoon the spread into canning jars if canning.  I do not know how to do that, so I just waited for the mixture to cool down some and transferred to a plastic container and ate it all within a week.

 

Carrot Burfi

This is another of the dishes I made with my friend Rosani.  This is actually her recipe, and she’s super excited to be published via this blog.

This is a very nutritious and healthy dessert she had originally on her first trip to India.  It’s traditionally made with carrots, ghee and powdered milk.  Our version is trying to be dairy free, and I say trying because we ended up adding evaporated milk for the mixture to get the consistency we wanted.  And I will be TRUE to the recipe we actually did, which ended up super delicious.  I guess you at home can follow our example of just go with the dairy-free version… I’ll tell you where to adjust.

 Again, we did this for a crowd… so I am using a recipe I found on the Internet to guide me with the quantities.

CARROT BURFI

4 medium-sized carrots, finely shredded

2  cups of sugar

1/2 pint of soy creamer

1/2 carton of evaporated milk

2 tablespoons of ghee or clarified unsalted butter

1/2 cup of shredded coconut

1 teaspoon of cardamom (optional, it’s traditional, but we didn’t use it on our version)

               

** If making the recipe dairy-free, use 1 pint of soy creamer and omit the evaporated milk all-together.

1. In a large skillet, cook the grated carrots and sugar, covered for about 20 minutes.
2. Add the grated coconut, soy creamer and evaporated milk, if using.  Stir often to avoid it to sticking to the bottom.
3.  
4. Stir in the ghee and mix in the cardamom, if using.
5. 
6. Cook over medium heat until the mixture has absorbed most of the liquid and when a spoon is scraped across the mixture, you can see the bottom of the skillet.
7. Spread in a baking dish to cool off.
8. Spoon into dessert dishes and enjoy.

Brown Rice Krispies Treats

This is my Xmas present to all my vegetarian friends.

I’ve always been a fan of Rice Krispies Treats but they’re made with marshmallows, which are made with egg whites. This version is a mixture of a bunch of recipes I found on the Internet. And I even made a few adaptations of my own.

I hope you and the rest of my friends enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making them.

 

BROWN RICE KRISPIES TREATS

1 cup light corn syrup with brown sugar (Karo brand)
1 cup almond butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
6 cups brown puffed rice krispies
1 cup carob chips

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, mix together the sugar, corn syrup and almond butter until their all pretty warm, mixed together and syrupy.
2. Remove from heat and pour in the puffed rice cereal. Stir well until all the cereal is covered in the sticky mixture. This is where going to the gym will some in handy…
3. After all the mixture is combined, stir in the carob chips. They’ll melt a bit, but that’s part of the charm, in my humble opinion.
4. Pour mixture into a greased 9 x 13 glass dish. I greased using my Canola Oil Spray.
5. Spray your hands with the Canola Oil Spray too and press flat.
6. Let cool for 1 hour before cutting into squares. Don’t put in the refrigerator, it gets rock hard there. I had a tough time cutting it.

Makes 18 nicely sized squares.