I went to Panama a few weeks ago and also noticed how much more expensive cashews are. Not only that, but I’ve been told there is a crisis with their trees. The future of those trees scare me and it breaks my heart. I encourage anyone who has the chance to taste the fruit where the seed grows from, to try it. It has an astringent taste due to its tannins, so yes, it’ll feel weird on your tongue and throat. But you must have it as a chicha and try baking with it! It also makes delicious marmalade.

The US, as far as I know, imports all of its cashews from different countries such as Vietnam, Brazil, and India. So as many things in this country that we are blessed with even though we don’t grow the fruit for commercial production, we still have access to good quality imported goods, like cashews and even cashew fruit (cashew apple).

If you find yourself a good deal price on cashews, splurge and enjoy! While I don’t eat cashews every month, I consume them more frequently than regular nuts, and my husband has joined me in enjoying this delicious treat.

What do you think about cashews? Where you live, can you purchase the fruit fresh or frozen? What’s your favourite way of trying cashews?

Burnt-Toasted Cashews
I grew up getting raw cashews and cashew fruit from my grandparents house in Rio Hato, in the province of Cocle. I remember something we’d gather cashew fruits and then twist the seed out and put them right on the fire. We did this quickly so that we wouldn’t burn with the shell’s acid. We’d set a small fire with wood to burn the cashews and then with a rock break them apart from the burnt skin. I don’t remember ever having more than 5 cashews at a time. They were precious like gold even if we were surrounded by those trees since I had many cousins and uncles and aunts to share with.

I was reading how for highly industrialised companies working with cashews they use strong steam which makes sense if you want to keep the cashew raw. I don’t recall ever using it raw because we always burn it to be able to get it and it ended up roasted.

Now I live in Maryland, I have no cashew trees around me, but I have access to cashews at almost any regular grocery store. They are pricey and that’s ok, as long as it’s because it’s the right thing for the lands who produce it.

I remembered how wonderful the pleasure of eating burnt-toasted cashews when I went to visit my parents in Panama a month ago. I brought a small bag of burnt-toasted cashews I cooked back in Maryland. Though I brought some other goods from the US, nothing brought such joy to my family than going over those cashews I had that were just a leftover snack from our flying trip.

Please do try the on-the-pan burnt-toasted cashew technique, test it with a tiny batch because if you didn’t grow up eating them like the way I mentioned I did during my childhood, I’m not sure you’re going to enjoy it. I’ve offered my cashews to friends and coworkers and they stared at the burnt looking cashews and kindly decline. Let me know what you think if you’ve never had it like this and try it for the first time. Maybe they’re not for you or maybe you unlock a new way to enjoy cashews!

Burnt-Toasted Cashews Recipe

Ingredients:
Raw unsalted cashews, at room temperature (enough to cover the bottom of your pan without crowding)
Timer (helps you stay nearby and prevents burning)
Stainless steel pan or any pan that can take heat without having to add oil to it

Directions:
– Heat a large pan over medium-low heat.
– Once hot, add the cashews. Stir occasionally to prevent pilling. Toast for 3 minutes.
– Reduce heat. Stir the cashews and toast for another 2 minutes. Repeat 2-3 times until they reach a very dark golden brown color. Some will look more burnt than others and that’s ok.
– If you have an electric stove, turn off the burner and leave the cashews in the pan for 2 more minutes. For gas stoves, set the heat to its lowest setting, stir, and leave for 1-2 more minutes.
– Let the cashews cool in the pan, away from heat, for 1-2 hours.
– Once cooled, transfer cashews to a container (jars or resealable bags work well).
– Cashews will stay fresh for several weeks, not in my house since we eat them in two days, but they last week.

NOTE: Start with a small batch if you’re new to toasting cashews. Watch the video for a bit of visual guide. Please let me know if you try this recipe!

I will have a Part 2 and maybe a Part 3 of my Cashew writing series. I’ll keep you posted! Part 2 would include how to use cashews for milk-replacement and Part 3 will be for creams and sauces.

¡a comer!

A pesar de que los muffins son uno de los postres más básicos para hornear, tienen un encanto y pienso que toda persona que tenga aunque sea una mínima curiosidad de crear algo delicioso en su cocina, debe probar hornear muffins.

Hace ya casi 10 años compré este libro que me inspiró sobretodo por las ilustraciones, Mad About Muffins  y aunque algunas recetas no me gustaron del todo fue buena motivación para hornear muffins en casa.  Puedo comprender que todo sea un poco abrumador al buscar recetas y no saber por cuál empezar y lo principal que recomiendo es que empiecen probando muffins de panaderías, vean videos de personas haciendo muffins y ya luego cuando sepan algúnn sabor que les fascine de allá­ buscan alguna receta que quieran probar.

Igual en este episodio les digo más de cómo queda haciendo muffins, mucho cuento y una receta que les agrego también agua, y bueno el que no quiere hornear igual acompáñame escuchando el episodio con un café y riéndote de mis locuras.

—

—

Muffins de Fresa y Chispas de Chocolate
Receta de LittleLadyCook:

6 cucharadas de mantequilla
1/4 taza de aceite vegetal
1 1/2 taza de harina de todo propósito
3 1/2 cucharadita de polvo para hornear
1/2 cucharadita de sal
4 huevos a temperatura ambiente
1/3 taza de azúcar
1 taza de fresas picadas
1/2 taza de chispas de chocolate
cáscara de limón rallado 1 cucharada
1 cucharadita de extracto de limón
1 cucharadita de extracto de fresas (o de algún licor que vaya rico como Grand Marnier, o más extracto de limón)

INSTRUCCIONES

1. 350F grados precalentar el horno
2. Molde de Muffins para 12, liners para que no se peguen los muffins al molde y nonstick spray.
3. Cernir los ingredientes secos (harina, sal, polvo para hornear en un bol y tener listo)
4. En un bol separado batir mantequilla, cáscara de limón o de naranja y azúcar hasta que queden bien mezclado, ya sea con una batidora de mano o una manual o con el Kitchenaid si tienen uno.
5. Batir los huevos uno a uno hasta que queden mezclados y el aceite.
6. Una vez mezclado todo agregar los extractos y las fresas picaditas.
7. Agregar en 3 vueltas los ingredientes secos mezclados al bol con una cuchara o espátula agregar las chispas de chocolate (o nueces si prefieres) y mezclar hasta que todo quede mezclado.
8. Porcionar la masa en el molde, asegurarte que sea lo más balanceado posible.
9. Hornear 15-18 minutos y luego voltear.
10. Hornear 8-12 minutos, después de los 8 minutos revisar cada 2 minutos para asegurarse no sobre-cocinar los muffins, pero que te queden bien horneaditos.

NOTAS:

1. Mi extracto de fresa es este y me gusta, el de chocolate no lo he probado pero huele delicioso, este es el enlace en donde compré en Amazon:  OliveNation
2. Usé chispas de chocolate semidulces así­ que no olviden mi receta es super baja en azúcar así­ que si desean pueden ajustar el dulce de la receta ya sea con el chocolate o la azúcar.

Espero que puedan probar esta receta y me cuentan qué tal les va, coman mucho por mí­!

¡a comer!

I’ll keep this post short since I already shared some of my bread stories on my latest Podcast “How A Panamanian Fell In Love With Bread – LittleLadyCook – S2 | Ep7”

If you already listened to the podcast and how I fell in love with baking bread, awesome, if you don’t care and all you want is a recipe and some photos as a guideline, no judgement: I gotchu, but, there is probably better material all over YouTube.

As I mentioned on the podcast the reason I first got excited with making ciabatta was when I started learning how to properly bake bread at a restaurant and became a bread baking apprentice for a few months.

The feeling returned after watching Paul Hollywood go on about bread at the Great British Baking Show. I saw how practical and easy making ciabatta looked like, or so I thought before I figured about the timing with folding.

Also you can’t even play much this dough, which is such a drastic contrast from enjoying baking challah. The challah dough is so yummy to touch and shape, but the ciabatta only likes rough touching or none, oh all the terrible puns and jokes I’m thinking, I can’t even lol.

I have baked this bread now 13 times at least, you can see some photos on my Instagram story highlight and some of my struggles during winter (it takes longer to raise unless you have a neutral temperature in the house). Now that it is warmer, I’m having a blast baking it.

(video clips I put together of several of my ciabatta baking days)

Ciabatta might just be my favourite bread, when it gets proper raising and folds creating beautiful pockets of air and I now I finally get to do a lovely baking getting the prize of a crispy crust and a perfect touch of chewy dough.

Paul Hollywood’s recipe works just fine if you find yourself craving ciabatta bread and not wanting to wait until the next day to create a starter (Poolish), but I highly prefer a Ciabatta with Poolish and so this is the recipe I recommend if you want to bake a delicious ciabatta at home.

This is the basic recipe that I’ve tested from the ‘Advanced Bread and Pastry” cookbook by Michel Suas.

You can use a google calculator to change from weight measures to cup measures, but if you’re planning on continue to bake breads I suggest investing in a scale at least, not because of “perfection”, but because you will regret the day you finally make the bread of your dreams and you can’t repeat the recipe.

On the book there is a lot of explanations from Poolish, percentages of fermentation, temperature, etc. But if you’re in my blog you are most likely just like me an enthusiast and a beginner, so don’t let that overwhelm you, I baked before even learning what ‘folding’ meant, sometimes making mistakes that take you through a different path, just enjoy the process and worst case scenario if you screw up the bread, as long as it is not raw, use it for bread pudding and try again another day.

CIABATTA WITH POOLISH (notes from Michel Suas Cookbook)
Makes 2 Ciabattas 1lb each, or 6 rolls.

Poolish Recipe
6.75 oz  Bread Flour
6.75 oz  Water (room temp)
1/8 tsp Instant Yeast

Mix in a bowl with a fork for a minute, cover with plastic wrap, set timer 12 hours don’t wait more than 16 hrs, your Poolish might die. Keep in place that’s not colder than 65F nor hotter than 71/72F.

12-16 HOURS

Ciabatta Recipe
10.9 oz Bread Flour
6.8 oz Water
1/8 tsp Instant Yeast
0.2 oz Salt
0.5 oz Oil
Poolish

Put flour + salt in the stand mixer (hook attachment)
Add water to your poolish bowl and softly mix/folding with silicone spatula
Add poolish + water combo to the flour bowl, add oil and yeast
Mix in med-low speed until combined, stop at times and use your spatula to make sure all the flour is mixed in.
Mix another 2 more minute in medium speed
Placed in a greased bowl (I use a square one to maintain ciabatta square shape, but use whatever you have)
Cover with clean kitchen towel and let it rest 3 hours
DURING THESE 3 HOURS 2-3 folds (this video shows well, I do my folds every 35/45 minutes and let the longer rest for the end).

NOTE: if you don’t have a stand mixer, this guy’s method looks pretty legit (click for video).

UPDATE WHOLE WHEAT CIABATTA: I’m still testing whole wheat ciabatta. I’m doing the Poolish with whole wheat flour (same amount) increased water so using 7oz of water for the Poolish. So far I’ve only tested at 12 hours and there’s not a lot of bubbles on top, but yes at the bottom of the poolish, plus it is growing just the same.

The regular recipe I testing first 75% whole wheat and 25% bread flour. The second test is happening as I’m typing this which is only 2 oz of Bread Flour in the recipe. I’ll come and update and hope to continue testing. I’ll share photos too.

3 HOURS

Add generous Flour surface
Add generous Flour long Kitchen Towel or bread cloth if you have
Invert your ciabatta container on top of the floured surface and let it slide softly, tap on top a little if needed, but it should be pretty smooth at this point.
Pastry cutter or a sharp knife cut as you prefer, two loaves or 4 or 6 rolls and place each on floured cloth, move as little as necessary your dough, if it’s your first time you might be clumsy and that’s fine, just make sure you get it all separated on the towel and cover with another towel. (see pics).
Preheat Oven at 450F with large cast iron or baking sheet inverted inside so it gets pretty hot, it helps for bottom crust, etc.
Let it rise again 30-45 minutes
Get water boiling a few minutes before you plan to bake your bread. and place in a small baking pan inside of the oven (unless you have a fancy steamer oven). Also save a few ice cubes and if you have a mist spray bottle, fill it up with warm water before baking the ciabatta.

30-40 MINUTES

This part is tricky, I use a pizza peel with parchment paper on top and place the bread in there and just slide in oven.
If you don’t have that, don’t be afraid, it’s going to get hot, but you are going to have to work quickly: use your oven mitts/towel and place the EXTREMELY HOT inverted baking sheet on top of your stove, place parchment paper on top and quickly place the bread on top of parchment paper (carefully so you don’t lose any air in that dough).
Spray once or twice the warm water on top of the dough and quickly place inside of the oven that already has boiling water inside of a pan on the rack below. Throw in one or two ice cubes and spray a few times, and close the oven door carefully.
Bake 30-35 minutes depending on how you cut your dough and on how baked you like your bread, try different times every time and take notes.

30-35 MINUTES

After the bread is baked, let it rest, some people wait hours or the next day, I wait until it is just a touch warm because I like warm bread with butter, but once it was cooled off completely you can wrap in plastic and place in freezer if you have to much bread, you can thaw overnight inside of the fridge another day and toast in oven at 375F for 2-3 minutes before serving it.

This post is going to be super short because I have already written about Patacones in the past, I’ll make sure to film the process the next time! I know you can find it on YouTube, but I think my terrible joking and awkward comments will make your frying plantains experience much more interesting… I think =)

I will also share my experience of doing this whole season, 6 episodes of my Food Podcast, crazy amount of hours and so much learning.  I’m happy and proud because if technology has given us something, it has been the resources to share our voices and at least archive it. A non-scholar latina, panameñita Podcast lady, ha!

And though for now I haven’t been invited to any podcasts, nor have my ideas been accepted for me to be a guest, I will continue to study, learn, and share everything I can on this journey. Hopefully a lot of Patacones will be part of the adventure.

—– listen to podcast here —–

—– end of podcast —–

These are other photos of patacones as I mentioned how we eat it with fried fish, ropa vieja, but I don’t have the most common one you can find at any fonda probably: patacones with salchichitas, maybe I should make this for brunch this weekend!

RECIPE on this older blog post (click here)

I’m not recording a new podcast episode for this week, I’m taking a break and it was good timing: I really needed it this pause.

In regards to Patacones, I shall have a whole episode only on my research of plantains in general, but my main wish is for you to plan to give them a try soon and let me know when you do, they’re incredible delicious and I hope we can enjoy a lot of them in 2019.

¡a comer! ahem… ¡a comer PATACONES!

Fotografía por The Shooting Espresso

Con la llegada de las lluvias, los días grises y calores intensos fue muy fácil que se me antojara hacer un batido refrescante. Usualmente me preparo batidos de vegetales y frutas durante la semana, bajos en calorías, para snack o para reemplazar una comida. Pero, algunas veces quiero un helado o un batido, o un trago, así­ que ¿porqué no tenerlo todo en un mason jar?

Es muy fácil crear cosas deliciosas que no sean nutritivas y llenas de componentes dañinos para nuestra salud. Sin embargo, también podemos preparar recetas que sean deliciosas y que al mismo tiempo aporten algún aspecto nutritivo a nuestras dietas.

Definitivamente este batido tiene muchísimas calorí­as, pero también muchos componentes nutritivos, haciéndola algo más que una bebida deliciosa. Solo recuerda comprar siempre que puedas ingredientes de calidad, no solo las hace más deliciosa, pero también para cuidar de tu salud lo más que sea posible.

Cada vez que pueda costear ingredientes orgánicos y locales, procurar hacerlo. Para evitar lo más que se pueda los pesticidas y para apoyar productores locales que están apoyando a florecer nuestras comunidades.

Volviendo al batido, y al hecho de que lleva whisky, porque es mi licor de preferencia, y porque este es un batido para adultos que necesitan lo mejor de dos mundos. Este lleva toques crujientes, dulces, salados y amargos por el chocolate oscuro.

Los ingredientes principales en este batido los escogí­ para agregar textura y sabor tomando en cuenta el aspecto nutritivo, por ejemplo:

Mantequilla de Maní: proteí­na, potasio y grasas saludables.

Banana: ayuda a la digestión, potasio y antioxidantes.

Leche de Almendras: calcio, hierro, magnesio y fósforo.

Chocolate Oscuro: magnesio, hierro y manganeso.

Whisky: es un licor bajo en calorí­as, se dice que ayuda a la digestión, y al no contener carbohidratos es una de las mejores opciones de licor para diabéticos.

Batido de Mantequilla de Maní­ y Chocolate con Whisky

Rinde 2 porciones (1 mason Jar como en la fotografí­a)
1 banana congelada, en trozos
4 oz de leche de almendras chocolatada (frí­a)
2 oz de bark thins (chocolate oscuro en barra)
2 cdas de mantequilla de maní­ (fría)
1 cdta de extracto de vainilla
1 pizca de sal
2 cdas de whiskey con miel
1 cda de Frangelico

Opcional: chocolate regular para que no sea tan prominente su sabor amargo.

Direcciones:

– Congelar trozos de banana la noche anterior
– Asegurarse que la leche chocolatada está sumamente frí­a
– Con una licuadora o un bullet, licuar todos los ingredientes hasta la consistencia deseada.
– Ajustar la cantidad de whiskey dependiendo de tu tolerancia al alcohol y si es fin de semana o no ;)

Variantes:
– Dependiendo de preferencia en azúcar sugiero utilizar chocolate no tan oscuro, o agregar miel.
– Servir con crema batida para agregar más textura cremosa. Para esta receta no pude conseguir deslactosada ni vegana, por eso le he puesto como opcional.

Muchas recetas se pueden alterar al punto de mantener que sean deliciosas, pero reemplazando algunos ingredientes y así­ al romper la dieta, también darle un poco de amor al cuerpo que tenemos, al final del día, solo nos toca uno.

¡a comer!

Si tienes alguna receta en mente que quisieras mejorar su aspecto nutritivo, enví­ame un tweet a @LittleLadyCook y le echaré un vistazo para darte algunas ideas.

(English recipe coming up this week!)

Siempre he estado pendiente de las publicaciones de comida de Magdalena ya que su cocina hace ver la comida vegana como una exquisitez. Personalmente puedo decir que aunque mi cocina no sea todo el tiempo vegana, cuando lo es, es igual de deliciosa que comer con derivados de animales, es cuestión de tener un mejor entendimiento de ingredientes y claro está, una mejor relación con la comida.

Celebrando #MeatlessMondays, aquí­ les paso la primera colaboración de Magdalena en Cocinerita.com

—

Por: Magdalena Perez-Puelles

Yo era una de esas personas que “no podí­a ser vegana” porque me gustaban demasiado los quesos. Era adicta a ellos (literalmente), y estaba demasiado acostumbrada a comer todo con queso, de alguna manera sentía que sin ellos, la comida no tení­a sentido.

Respaldada en esa excusa pasó 10 años siendo vegetariana, de los cuales durante 4 años sentía cierto remordimiento, ya que sabí­a que no era natural comer derivados de la leche de vaca, y además ya sabía en cierta forma que el queso y la leche de vaca también implicaba violencia, sufrimiento, problemas de salud y también daños al ambiente. Y como seguía en mi necedad de seguir queriendo comer quesos, empecé a crearlos a partir de ingredientes vegetales y solo así  logré soltar esta gran atadura y volverme vegana y tener mi conciencia tranquila.

Les invito a que prueben este delicioso sustituto de queso, 100% vegano, facilísimo de hacer, sin ingredientes raros (bueno, la levadura nutricional y el miso son un poco “raros”, pero si no tienes, no se los pongas y no pasa nada). Les va a encantar ya está lleno de proteí­nas, así que es perfecto para un desayuno o para rallarlo en una pasta o pizza casera (lo congelas y los rallas estando congelado).

Espero que lo disfruten, ya saben, no hay excusas!

RECETA: Mozzarella de Garbanzos

Ingredientes
– 1 taza de harina de garbanzos o garbanzos remojados en agua durante 8 horas.
– 2 tazas de agua.
– Jugo de 1 limón
-Ajo en polvo al gusto
– Sal al gusto
– Media taza de copos de levadura nutricional (opcional)
– 2 cucharadas de pasta de miso (opcional)

Procedimiento:
Mezcla la harina de garbanzos (o los garbanzos remojados y escurridos) con el agua hasta que quede
una mezcla homogénea. Pasa a una olla y calienta la mezcla removiendo constantemente para que
no se pegue. Cuando llegue a ebullición agrega la levadura nutricional, el jugo de limón y el ajo en
polvo. Sigue removiendo hasta que la mezcla se torne bastante espesa. Apaga el fuego de la estufa y por último agrega la pasta miso, prueba, y si necesita, agrega la sal necesaria.

Pasa la mezcla a un molde de silicón o a cualquier recipiente deseado. Deja enfriar al menos 4 horas
y desmolda cuando está totalmente frío. No te preocupes si cuando lo vayas a desmoldar tiene un agua arriba, solo escurre esa agua y disfrútalo.

Me llamo Magdalena Pérez Puelles, me dedico a la cocina vegana en @Veganistmo y mi objetivo es veganizar cualquier tipo de platos. Entiendo que dejar de consumir las comidas que nos han gustado toda la vida es una tarea muy difí­cil para muchos, ya eso es lo que me inspira a crear todo tipo de productos, pero sin ingredientes de origen animal. Nada es imposible en la cocina vegana, todo se puede preparar, desde pizzas, donas, quesos, cinnamon rolls, todo es posible.

Sígueme @magda_vegam, @veganistmo.
Contáctame para lo que necesites 620-95998

Bread is my favourite guilty pleasure, I just lied, I don’t feel guilty after eating bread. Just how much do I love bread? All types, organic, local, factory, with preservatives, without, with fake oils and without. Seriously, as long as it’s fresh enough, I’ll most likely love any piece of bread. Toasting it or using it for bread pudding!

As shown on this image, I toasted bread (egg and whole wheat) using two different methods. Using a regular toaster (which was convenient and quick), the other was toasting it on a pan with butter (which was more delicious and my preferred method to toast bread), I mean, come on, it’s butter ;)

If you’re not familiar with the trend of toast, just picture it as an open sandwich. I’m not sure how the rules to eat it go, with fork and knife, or grabbing it. I’m not crazy about following rules when it comes to eating, so I do as the toast tells me to, if it’s heavy and might crumble down, a fork it is!

Another reason to love toasts over sandwiches is that you get more filling (toppings) over bread, which is usually one of my complains when ordering sandwiches, the lack of cheese, meat, or vegetables. Also, if you are having a cheesy toast, perhaps you can ask for it broiled, just like pizza. (I’m so hungry right now…)

On this post you’ll find four types of savoury Toasts I very much enjoy making for myself and family.

Toast 1: Shrimp & Bacon Salad
Toast 2: Beet Salad
Toast 3: Chorizo & Mushrooms
Toast 4: Egg & Fried Cheese

I chose these toasts keeping in mind who I was making them for, my family. These toasts take you through different layers of flavours, textures, and temperatures. You wouldn’t be making a foie gras Toast for picky eaters. Of course I wanted to use avocado for my toasts, it’s probably after eggs, the most popular topping, but my avocados were not ready, which pushed me to be creative and find solutions with other ingredients, sour cream for instance, it always comes in so handy!

Toast 1
1/4 kilo Cooked Shrimp
2 oz Green Apple
2 oz de Red Apple
2 tbs Scallions, chopped
1/4 cup Veganaise
1/4 cup Crispy Bacon
Salt & Pepper to taste
Dipping Sauce: Sour Cream, Smoked Hot Sauce & Dijon Mustard

—

Toast 2
1 Beet salad
1 Oz goat cheese
2 tbs Parsley, chopped
Pistachios
1 tbs Olive Oil

Toast 3
Chorizo
Garlic
Onions
Mushroom
Sour Cream
Fresh Oregano

Toast 4
Eggs
Queso Fresco Prensado
Butter
Coarse Salt & Pepper

Choosing the right Toast for a day should be a fun little project. Whether you decide to go fancy and complicated or simple and affordable, bottom line it’ll come down to the quality of ingredients and a delicious slice of toasted bread.

¡a comer!

All photos taken with a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

A few days ago I was working on a chocolate boozy milkshake recipe for Yoy Magazine, I couldn’t help myself and think about a fruity version.  I love chocolate, yes, but I’ll always choose a fruity/citrusy dessert, pastry, or like in this case, milkshake, over a chocolate one! Of course, you shouldn’t have to choose, you can have it all! As soon as the whiskey peanut butter, chocolate shake recipe is up on the Magazine I’ll post the link here!

Raspberries are not the most affordable fruit, so if you can’t afford fresh, go with frozen ones, or any other berry of your preference. You could even use pineapple chunks or peaches!

If you’re here for the recipe, skip this and go straight to the bottom of this post ;) (no judging). Now, if you’re curious about some of the nutritious aspect of this drinkable boozy dessert, here you go:

Raspberries: vitamin C, manganese, fiber, and copper. (These are great if you’re trying to lose weight)
Banana: vitamin C, vitamin B6, manganese, and potassium. (Same as above, but differently)
Pineapple Juice: bromelain (anti-inflammatory), vitamin C, and beta carotene. (Yup, more weight loss help!)
Unsweetened Almond Milk: calcium, vitamin D & E, and no sugar.
Cereal (depending on which one you choose) the one I used: dietary fiber, iron, and protein.
Grand Marnier: used in low quantities should be ok, don’t use too much of it, it is a sugary liquor after all.

Ingredients:

3 oz of Raspberries
1 frozen Banana, in chunks
1/2 cup of Hearty Morning Cereal (any cereal of your preference should work, I’d use corn flakes next)
2 oz of Unsweetened Almond Milk, cold
1 oz of Pineapple Juice, cold
1 oz Grand Marnier
Optional: whipped cream / vodka and orange zest instead of the Grand Marnier / honey if you have a sweeter tooth.

Instructions:

– Blend all the ingredients, if you’d like a crunchier texture in your shake, add the cereal after you’ve blended everything and just give it a few seconds more.
– I really don’t like my drinks or desserts too sweet so you might want to adjust the sugar level, for me the banana, the cereal, and the Grand Marnier, make this shake sweet enough for me.

¡a comer!

After so many delicious meals at Bangkok Golden thanks my sweet friend Chef Seng, I feel a bit of an expert in tasting Papaya and Mango salads.  Which one is the best? It will always be a matter of personal taste, some prefer Thai style, some others will prefer the Laotian flavours.  For me it all depends on my mood and what my palate feels like, and today is more like a semi sweet/sour with a kick, but not too spicy.

Depending on the season and your budget choose your ingredients, as long as they’re good quality and fresh I’m sure it will exquisite.  The whole point of this dish and the combination of flavors is to work with what you find at the market or grocery store, can’t find green mango? Get a green papaya! Can’t use fish sauce? Try it with soy sauce!

If you’re lucky like me, visit your fish market and get the freshest prawns available for this salad!

Green Mango Salad w/ Shrimps & Cashews

Serves 2-3 people
Ingredients for Salad:
1-3 Green Mangos (depending on the size), sliced into julienne strips
1 Mangotin (June Plum), sliced into julienne strips
1 Garlic clove, pureed
3 tbs of Raspadura (or dark brown sugar)
4 tbs Lime Juice
2 1/2 tbs Fish Sauce (I recommend Three Crabs or Golden Boy)
1/2 cup salted roasted Cashews, chopped and a few whole for serving
1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper, finely chopped
Avocado (1 small or 1/2 med/large size) (I used a buttery kind of avocado for this salad)
Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients for Prawns:
1-3 large prawns, deveined/cleaned
1 Garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tbs of Olive Oil + 1 tbs of more oil or butter
Salt to taste

PRAWNS (if you prefer to eat them hot then cook them before finishing mixing the salad)
– In a bowl mix the prawns with the oil and salt.
– Heat up pan on high temperature.  Once it’s hot, add prawns with oil 2-3 minutes per side, depending on the size of your prawns.  Once it starts getting orange/reddish flip them and lower the temperature.
– You could add more olive oil, or the butter and garlic, sauteed for another minute and reserve.

SALAD
– In a mixing bowl mix garlic and hot pepper, until fully combined then add the raspadura/sugar and mix until it has mixed and disolved.
– Add fish sauce and lemon juice and mix the dressing until fully brought together.
– Depending on how sweet your fruits are you can adjust the amount of lime juice/sugar for more or less acidity.
– Add pieces of avocado, mix in and break apart with a spoon.  Add into the bowl the tomatoes, mango and mangotin, mix all together, add chopped cashews, but be careful to not overmix, it could break apart your sliced fruits.

Serve salad with extra cashews, add prawns and add extra slices of limes for presentation (I love sour flavours so I always end up adding more lime juice to mine).

I could have used a mandoline, pestle and mortar for a much better finish and mix of flavors, but I know you all don’t usually have such tools at home, so a knife, chopping board, and a bowl will get the job done!

If you have any questions about this dish, tweet them my away!

¡a comer!

I don’t always find Panamanian ingredients in the US, luckily, yuca is one of those that you can even find at a Whole Foods.  To stay in budget, I usually get my yuca from Mexican supermarkets, sometimes I buy it fresh, but I always get a frozen package to keep extra in the freezer, you never know when the yuca cravings might come.

There are so many ways to serve this dish, by itself, or with slices of a melting salty cheese, queso fresco, and/or fried eggs.  Maybe chorizo, roasted chicken, or fried fish. I can enjoy it for breakfast, lunch or dinner, it’s pretty versatile.

You can prepare yuca al mojo in many ways, I have friends who use orange juice, or lime juice, but this is one of my favorite ways to make it at home:

My Yuca Al Mojo Recipe

Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 tbs Green Onions, chopped
2 tbs Garlic, chopped (4-5 garlic cloves)
1 Culantro leaf (if you can’t find, add more cilantro or parsley)
2 tbs Cilantro, sliced
Lemon Juice
2 lbs Yuca, boiled (If you’re using fresh yuca, instead of frozen, here is a video demonstrating how to peel it first).
Olive Oil
Butter 

Directions:
– While you’re boiling the yuca, prepare your ingredients.
– Sauté the garlic in olive oil at low heat (less than 2 minutes), add a bit of butter, chopped scallions, and pinch of salt, and remove before they go too brown (don’t let it burn or you’ll have to start again). (reserve the garlicky oil/butter).
–  On the same pan with olive oil (add extra if necessary), increase temperature to medium-high heat, crisp the boiled yuca, (I like mine crispy it on all sides).
–  Once the yuca is browned to your preference, add pinch of salt, 1 tbs of butter, stir, lower heat, add garlic, scallions and fresh herbs.
– Turn off the heat and add lemon juice to taste (I like mine a bit sour so I go with half a lemon).

The key to a good Yuca Al Mojo, imho, is about quality of ingredients, even if your yuca is fresh, if you end up using a crappy olive oil, non fresh herbs, etc, you will end up with a ‘meh’ dish.  I used frozen yuca #NoShame, boiled it in salty water, and cooked it with great oils + fresh herbs, it makes the whole difference in the world.

As you can see, my result is different from most recipes you’ll find around, I add A LOT of herbs, I fry the garlic, and I also add butter!

I suggest eating this dish right on the moment, if you have leftovers (which I doubt it’s going to happen), use them in soups or you can reheat them within two days in an oven, I like to keep my yuca crispy, if it becomes a bit dry after reheating, you can always make more mojo on the side ; )

¡a comer!

Other Blog Posts:

Carimañolas (stuffed yuca fritters)
How To Make Fried Green Plantains (Patacones / Tostones)