Bopper Being Cute

Cubano Inspired Tamales

In lieu of actually having a picture of the finished product, which although tasty, was not the prettiest thing to look at anyway I have a picture of Danger Butt in his outfit for Kevin's sisters wedding. He was not amused.

Ingredients
1 1/4 pounds trimmed boneless fresh pork shoulder or butt
2 1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup chicken stock
1 onion quartered
1 carrot quartered
1 celery stalk quartered
1 bay leaf
salt
1/2 tsp peppercorns
1/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup masa harina (corn flour)
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 crushed red pepper flakes
3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

In a medium sauce pan cover your pork with water and stock.
Add your onion, celery, carrot, bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and peppercorns.

Simmer for 2 1/2 hours or until the meat is fork tender, but don't let it fall apart in the broth.
Transfer the meat to a bowl and once it has cooled shred the meat with a fork.

Strain the stock and get rid of the veggies. Over high heat reduce the stock to 1 1/2 cups

Once you have 1 1/2 cups of stock lower the heat to a simmer and add1/4 cup milk. Next, whisk in 3/4 cup cornmeal, 1/3 cup masa harina, 1/3 cup vegetable shortening, 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, and 3 tbsp cilantro


Stir in the pork. Place in the freezer for a few minutes to cool the mixture down. When it is cool enough to handle for corn mixture into 8 ovals. Wrap each one in aluminum foil and steam over boiling water for 30 minutes until the cornmeal is no longer gritty.
Enjoy!!!

Happy Late Mothers Day Carrot Cake

I made this carrot cake with carrots from my garden. It was the first time I have ever used this recipe. I am used to carrot cake being a layered cake, not a sheet cake. I feel like the frosting layer for this cake was almost as thick as the cake itself and I didn't like this ratio. Also this recipe is not very spicy. It was good but I feel like it needed some clove or something. I think I may try another recipe next time. It tastes good, its moist and carrot cakey. I just don't think its the best recipe out there.
(The flowers and strawberries are from my garden too)

Hes not from my garden but hes growing like a weed thats for sure.

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 
  
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

Add 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Add 2 cups white sugar and 2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix in 2 cups of flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tsp cinnamon

Add 3 cups grated carrot
(forgot to take picture sorry)

Pour into prepared pan.Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool

To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cake.

Roasted Garlic, Avocado, and Brie Baguette

Roasted Garlic, Avocado, and Brie Baguette

So again I was slacking, (actually I was so busy trying to make dinner for guests, take care of the baby, and look fabulous) that I did not manage to take pictures of the rest of the process. It is very simple though really. No need for pictures.

Ingredients
1 clove garlic
2 or 3 ripe avocado
1 package of good brie cheese
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
lime


Break apart one whole clove of garlic
(I forgot to break mine apart)
Leave the skin on the cloves. Cover with about 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a oven safe dish. Cover with tin foil and roast in the oven on 400 F for 30 minutes.

While the garlic is roasting cut your avocado into cubes and toss with a little lime juice and salt and pepper to your taste.

When the garlic is finished remove from stove and let cool.
Once cooled, slice open each cloves skin and pop out the garlic into the olive oil you cooked with. Once you have all the skin removed start to smash up the cloves until you have a consistent paste. Spread this onto your baguette.
Place the baguette back in the oven to toast slightly, until the edges start to brown.


Once they edges are brown remove bread from oven. Spread your avocado mixture over the garlic. Slice your brie however thick you like, and top the garlic avocado toasted baguette with cheese. Place back into oven until cheese just starts to melt. You don't want the cheese to melt completely and run off the sides of the bread.

Banh-Mi Style Vietnamese Baguette

I don't really have much to say about this other than that it was super delicious and if you enjoy Asian flavors at all, you have to try it. It's very health, full of veggies, and soooo good. I mean anything with fresh basil and cilantro is good in my book. It's very spicy if you add the jalapeños so if your sensitive definitely leave them out. I think that this dish is traditionally a meat dish. I have never had it authentically but am now in search of the real deal in order to see how this recipe compares. I will let you know.

SANDWICH

• 2 portobello mushroom caps, sliced
• 1 jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced
• 8 sprigs fresh cilantro with stems
• 1/2 medium cucumber, sliced into thin strips
• 4 sprigs fresh Thai basil
• 2 (7 inch) French bread baguettes, split lengthwise

RELISH

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 carrot, sliced into sticks
• 1 daikon (white) radish, sliced into sticks
• 1 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup cold water

SAUCE

• 1/2 cup chilled lime juice
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup cold water

Preheat the oven to 400 F (230 degrees C). Slice the mushrooms into strips then place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes. Cool slightly.

While the mushrooms are roasting, bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Plunge the carrot and radish sticks into the boiling water and after a few seconds, remove them and plunge them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. In a separate bowl, stir together the rice vinegar, 1/2 cup of lime juice and 1/2 cup cold water. Transfer the carrot and radish to the vinegar and lime marinade and let them soak for at least 15 minutes, longer if it's convenient.

In a small bowl, stir together the remaining lime juice, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, canola oil, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup water. This is the sandwich sauce.

To prep, slice a half a cucumber thinly, and a whole jalapeño thinly. If you end up with a mild jap, the whole thing will be fine on the sandwich, but test it first because we ended up with a pretty hot one, and had to take a lot of them off the sandwich. Of course if you don't like spicy, forget them.

Snap the stems off the basil and wash the leaves. I ripped them up a bit as I added them to the sandwich but you don't really need to.

To assemble the sandwiches, sprinkle a little of the sandwich sauce onto each half of the French loaves.

Place the roasted mushrooms onto the bottom half of each roll and sprinkle with a little more sauce.

Top with a few slices of jalapeños, a few sticks of carrot and radish (minus the marinade), cucumber, basil, and cilantro.

Close with the tops of the bread and serve.

Pork Wontons

Ingredients

1 lb ground pork
1 small can of water chestnuts finely chopped
1 bunch scallions chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 tbsp white pepper
1/8 to 1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
Pack of 60 wonton wrappers
Good chicken stock
1 small bowl of water
(you can also add chopped up shrimp)

In a large bowl combine all ingredients and mix well

With chopsticks or a small spoon if it is easier for you, place a small amount of the meat mixture in the center of wonton wrapper.

Dip your finger into the bowl of water and run finger along two sides of wonton wrapper. This will allow the wonton to stick together and stay closed when you boil them. Try and make sure you have a clean seal all around with not pork breaking the seal. If this keeps happening you may be using too much meat mixture.

Fold wonton over onto itself, connecting the wet sides to the dry sides, forming a triangle.
Again make sure you seal is clean, and make sure that it is completely sealed all the way around.

Take the two 45 degree points of the wonton and bring together. Wet this with your fingers also to make them stick.

The finished product should look like this.
Does the Pope wear a funny hat?
When you are assembling these, to keep them from sticking together place them on a tray or plate, and do not let them touch.

Cook in some good chicken stock. I just made my own and it is freaking delicious. You should try making your own. They cook pretty quickly and only need to be cooked at a gentle boil, not rolling and not a low simmer.
The wontons are done when they float to the top.
These freeze well also, but freeze them on the tray, not touching. Once they are frozen you can dump them into a freezer bag. No need to thaw them before cooking, just dump them into the hot chicken stock.

ENJOY!!

Ham and Asparagus Strata and a Little Cute Boy

Sorry I don't have time these days to write anything. Try this recipe. Its yummy.

4 split and toasted English Muffins quartered
8 eggs (you may have to add more)
1 lb asparagus
1/4 cup milk
1 package Canadian Bacon
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 400 F

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the milk. Toss the English muffin pieces into the egg mixture and let soak. Cut your Canadian bacon into bite size pieces and add to the egg and muffin mixture. Boil a pot of water. Cut the tough ends off of your asparagus and cut into bite size pieces. Cook in the boiling water until just done. 5 minutes probably. Drain and toss into the eggs mixture. Add the spices, mix well, and pour into your iron skillet or some oven safe dish, top with cheddar cheese, and cook for 20 minutes. Cooking times may vary so keep an eye on this.
Enjoy
Would be great with Hollandaise!