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Monday, March 28, 2011

Spanish Flan - via Germany

Flan, courtesy of Yecla, made at Christmastime.

My friend in Germany sends recipes to us from time to time and the kitchen wench is very grateful for this. I enjoy learning about others' cultures through food.

Yecla said this recipe comes courtesy of http://www.pasarlascanutas.com/flanhuevo/flanhuevo.htm. She notes that she makes her own caramel (as opposed to buying it) and she cooks the flan in "una olla express" on top of a double boiler. She prefers condensed milk, she says this way she can make it with less eggs and the batter is smooth.

From now on, I'm on the flan diet.

Did any of you see Real Women Have Curves? There's a scene when the mother and daughter are in a bodega, the mother has just been told she's not pregnant but instead she's going through menopause. She is getting ready to eat a piece of flan when America Ferrara's character says, "Mama, the doctor just told you that you're blood sugar is too high and now you're eating flan?" The mother says, "but I'm having a craving." The daughter says, "But mama, you're not pregnant!"

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Sour cream coffee cake with blueberries

The finished cake. It looks prettier dusted
with powdered sugar.

The kitchen wench tried a slice last night -
for good measure. It's a tasty cake.

This is one of my favorite cakes, since it is moist and not too sweet. It works for dessert, as well as breakfast or a snack. It travels great since it is not frosted - just a dusting of powdered sugar will do.

Sour cream coffee cake:

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Cream your butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream, vanilla and beat until mixed. Add dry ingredients and mix. Place half of batter into greased 9" tube (bundt) pan and sprinkle with 3/4 cup blueberries. Place remainder of dough into pan. This bakes at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

I found frozen wild blueberries at Food City yesterday for $3.19 a bag. Didn't seem like too bad of a deal. They are tiny, and perfect for this cake.

Last night a tasted a sample for good measure. It is a tasty cake. The blueberries make it sing. Make one today for your special event.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Michelada a la kitchen wench and penne pasta salad

Penne pasta salad with lots of veggies and
a michelada. The perfect light Saturday dinner.

These ingredients will make you a great michelada.
Make one for yourself today!
(or a pitcher to share)

The kitchen wench has been working her tail off lately so she (I) deserves a michelada tonight. I picked up some Kern's clam and tomato juice today at Food City (3 cans for $1!) and I mixed a half a can with one bottle of Fat Tire, some lemon squeezes and added a celery stick for good measure. First though, I rimmed the glass with lemon and dipped it in aleppo chile salt, courtesy of Didi Davis Food. It was in my Foodzie tasting box this month, and I immediately knew that meant I was to have a michelada, very soon.

Typically I would make micheladas with a milder beer like Tecate, but the kitchen wench had only Fat Tire (fancy beer). It still tastes great.

I'm enjoying my michelada with a pasta salad that I made for tomorrow's soiree at my Mom's. She's cooking a turkey and making rolls; my aunt is bringing wine and I am in charge of pasta salad and sour cream blueberry cake. It will be a great dinner, as always. My family are foodies, after all...it's in the genes.

Lolo's lemon cake and Carlsbad Danish Bakery t-shirt

Lolo's gifted me a piece of lemon cake!
Yummy.

Got danish?

I was at Harkins Camelview theatre today to see Nora's Will. This is a great foreign film (Mexico) that you should go see if you don't mind subtitles and/or speak Spanish. It is very funny.

After the movie I sauntered over to Lolo's and had a Betty Boop plate again like last week (it's been a week already?) and the manager gave me a free (FREE!) slice of lemon cake to take home. He said he messed up when he was slicing it but I think it was more like I was ogling the last piece and he took pity on me. He mentioned that Lolo's makes cakes to order for your special event (they have a red velvet cake that looks delicious) and they only need 24 hours notice. This is good to know if you don't have time to bake.

My tokus is expanding since I am frequenting Lolo's these days. But, according to my neighbor, this is not a bad thing. ( You know who you are ~ cheeky!)

Soon I will be taking a trip to see my Dad in Carlsbad. I am so excited, it is way overdue. The kitchen wench is ready for a vacation in S. California. When my Dad was at Carlsbad Danish Bakery the other day, he picked me up a shirt. I'm pretty sure it says "Got Danish?" in Danish, but I can't be sure since my command of the language is non-existent. Regardless, I can't wait to put it on. Dad thinks red will be a good color on me.

We'll take a picture when I have the shirt on, and you guys can be the judge.




Hot chocolate on a stick - what's for breakfast

Hot chocolate on a stick makes for a
great breakfast (with a Wasa cracker).

I'm up early this morning (really?) and it's a weekend. Yup, no hot date for the kitchen wench last night. But that's not entirely true. Jason's Mom treated us to Pei-Wei and it was so yummy. We had sweet and sour chicken, white rice, vegetable fried rice (this is the best) and egg rolls. Their egg rolls are quite tasty. The right combination of salty, crispy and pork. Isn't it Emeril that says, "Pork fat rules!" I have to agree. Also, you must try their chili sauce. They must make it in house. It is fiery hot and just the right dipper for egg rolls vs. sweet and sour.

We watched Bill Maher on Jason's fancy large screen tv while we dined and it was very enjoyable, as it always is. One is lucky to have good friends, whom you can say anything to. It's a rare thing I think.

Anyways, I was spying my fruit bowl this morning, looking for a breakfast inspiration. It came in the form of hot chocolate on a stick from The Ticket Kitchen. It was in my Foodzie tasting box this month. This hot chocolate is great, and for me it is a cross between the Spanish Cola Cao and Abuelita's Mexican hot chocolate. If you have tried either of these, you will know what I mean. It is just delicious and perfect for breakfast. No funny aftertaste or fake chocolate taste here. It is not too sweet and I found that I was able to save half of the chocolate for breakfast #2.

Tomorrow, perhaps??

I'm having my hot chocolate this morning with Wasa crispbread (an odd combination I know) that was given to me yesterday by my brother Mike. He is a huge fan of this cracker type snack and buys them by the case at Amazon.



Friday, March 25, 2011

Baked sweet potatoes


I'm a fan of the humble sweet potato. They are oh so good for you. I like to bake them in a 405 degree oven for 40 minutes. Just poke holes in them with a fork and drizzle them with a tiny amount of olive oil. When they come out, hit them with kosher salt.

The skin gets a bit browned; this is a very yummy way to eat sweet potatoes.

On both a sad (and happy) note, Jason informs me that Pei-Wei at 7th St./Glendale is open again - you will remember the shenanigans that took place recently with said "Sheriff Arpayaso." A lot of hard working nice folks lost their jobs, and their residence here in the U.S.

Grrrrr! The kitchen wench sympathizes with hard working kitchen people, hotel people, landscape people who come here from Mexico in search of work to feed their families.

Enough said.

Gelato Spot chocolate confuso shake

Lunch on the go means a chocolate confuso shake from
Gelato Spot for the kitchen wench.

I'm on the run today - so I'm having a liquid lunch. A yummy liquid lunch, that is.

At the Gelato Spot today I spied their "monthly menu" which had chocolate confuso. This gelato is confusing, but delicious. Imagine chocolate with hazelnuts and pistachios. Mmmm. These nuts are competing flavors in my mouth, but I like it.

Also I have the inside scoop that these guys are opening a pizzeria at their Downtown Scottsdale location. This summer is the expected opening. Stay tuned for details. I may be going to a ballgame with Lorenzo (their pizza chef) next week. I will try to get the inside scoop.

Sorry, couldn't resist that.