Potato Pancakes

Hi everyone! Stephanie here sharing another one of my favorite recipes. It can either be served as a side dish or an appetizer depending on the size you make them. I always have fun making these cause potatoes are so versatile that anything can be made with them from sweet to savory. What I also like about this is that the base of the recipe works for any type of vegetable. Don't want regular potatoes? Go with sweet potato. Not a fan of sweet potato? How about some zucchini or carrots. Want to go for a bit more of a Spanish style, make it plantain cakes.

The main thing to always remember, have fun while cooking.

Potato Cakes

Ingredients: *TT- to taste

• 1 lb of potatoes
• 1 eggs, beaten
• 4 oz onion, minced
• 1 oz flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• salt and pepper TT

Procedure:

1. Peel and coarsely grate the potatoes.
2. Transfer the grated potatoes to a bowl and add the eggs, onion, flour and baking powder.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Heat the oil. Form potato mix into uniform-sized pancakes and pan-fry them until tender, turning once when welled brown on the first side. 
5. Remove from pan and drain well.

 Very simple and you can always make them smaller as appetizers and  get creative with toppings.

What I like to do is form them into balls so they are easier to handle and when I put them on the pan, I will press down with a spatula to get the shape.

  

Ricotta and Ground Turkey Quiche

Hey everyone Stephanie here. So the other day became somewhat hectic. I was literally running around all day doing errands and to top it off, I had to somehow do all of that, get to work at 7 P.M. and I didn't get off till almost 2 AM. Then the next day also involved some running around.

Well in all that chaos and it was also crazy outside since everyone has to go do their Thanksgiving shopping, I said to Antoinette, "You know that bariatric ricotta bake you make? What if we get a pie crust, add some ground turkey, omit the red sauce and kind of turn it into a quiche?" She really liked the idea so we bought all the things we needed which was 3 things, and we got to work.

I was actually very surprised and very pleased with how it turned out. It was light and airy and somehow the turkey kind of got a breakfast sausage taste to it. Not as in sweet but it tasted like breakfast at 7 PM. All in all it was simple, tasty and if in a rush, the prep time was quick. I made two one with crust, one without. Both ways was very good.

Here is the recipe and I hope you enjoy.

Ricotta and Ground Turkey Quiche

Ingredients: (TT= To taste)

• One pre-made pie crust
• 2 Tbsp Italian seasoning divided
• 8oz of Ricotta cheese
• 1 Cup mozzarella cheese (I use the block and cut it into pieces)
• 1/2 lb ground turkey
• Half an onion, small dice
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 eggs
• 3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
•  TT Salt and Pepper  

Directions: Preheat oven at 375 degrees F.

1.  In a saute pan, heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil. Once its hot, add the onion and garlic and saute for about 30 sec. Add the ground turkey, 1 tbsp of Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and cook all the way through.
2. While the turkey cooks, in a large bowl, add  the ricotta cheese, salt, pepper, italian seasoning, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and 4 eggs. Mix well until everything is incorporates. 
3. Once the turkey is cooked, remove from heat. Dock the pie crust, add some of the turkey, ricotta mix, and some of the mozzarella. Keep layering until pie crust is filled almost to the rim
4. Place in oven and cook for 40 minutes. Crust should be golden brown on top edges.
5. Serve and enjoy.

If you don't want it to the crust follow the same steps but omit the crust. The ricotta mix held everything together pretty well. 

Turkey Empanadas ( Pastelillos de pavo)

Hey everyone Staphanie here. So I decided to dig into my roots the other day and turn a party classic into something more healthy and no as fatty. We normally make empanadas aka pastelillos as a party snack. We fill them with a lot of different things, guava paste and dusted with powder sugar, sauce and mozzarella, ground beef, shredded chicken. You name it we might have done it.

So instead of some of those options, we decided to use lean ground beef, 93% meat, 7% fat. We also added chickpeas into the mix for more protein. No deep frying. Oven baked is the best way.

I have to say I was very happy with the recipe. We also made them with country style pork, bbq and sharp cheddar cheese. Also a good pair.

Well here is the recipe and we hope you enjoy it. Buen probecho!

Ground Turkey Empanadas

(Pastelillos de pavo)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 pack of empanadas disks (10)
• 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed 
• 1 onion, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• TT Salt & pepper
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1/4 cup of water.
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup of mozarella, grated 

Procedure:       Preheat oven to 400°F

1. In a medium saute pan, add the olive oil. Once is hot brown the meat with Onion, garlic, salt and pepper.
2. Once cooked, add the chickpease, cook for a minute then add the tomato paste and water. Lower heat a bit and let the water reduce. (If you feel bold, semi sweet white wine goes well with it).
3. Once the meat is cooked, turn off and let it cool some so not to burn yourself when assembling.
4. Once assemble, brush the empanadas with olive out and place on baking pan.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I personally like to cook some spiced with the olive oil before brushing it over the empanadas. It helps the dough not taste so bland. It also helps it taste more as if it was deep fried instead of baked. We all deep fried food who doesn't.

Cucumber Avocado Gazpacho

Hi everyone Stephanie here. How crazy has this summer been? Here in NYC they have said its been one of the hotter  summers they have seen in a while. My grandparents are from Puerto Rico and last time I talked to them, they had a drought and they shut down the water in their town. I believe two days without water. They have a storm going their way so hopefully it does bring rain and no damage what so ever.

We have pretty much been lucky. We are still getting rain and cool mornings until we get hit with the afternoon sun. The weather here has been doing very wonderful things towards people that like to grow their own vegetables. We know someone that got an abundant amount of cucumbers and tomatoes. Now when I say abundant, we have so many cucumbers that we ran out of ways to make them.

So yesterday we decided to have a seafood day and with that the idea of the gazpacho was born (that and the humidity). Salmon, crab legs and shrimp. The shrimp we kept them simple. Salt, lemon pepper and olive oil. After when they were almost cooked through, I added a small amount of butter. Sometimes the simpler the better.

Enough ranting, on to the recipe.

Cucumber Avocado Gazpacho 

(I wanted to call it Cucumado but I figure that might be weird)

* TT= To Taste

Ingredients:

  

•  3 Tbsp of Olive oil
• 1 lb cucumber, peeled and seeded.
• 1/2 onion, small diced
• 3 garlic gloves, minced
• 2 avocados, split in half and pit removed
• 1 C plain yogurt or Greek
• 3 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp fresh dill
• 1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• TT Salt & pepper

Garnish:

• 1 lb of shrimp, shelled out and cleaned.
• TT Salt & pepper
• Olive oil to coat shrimp

Instructions:

1.  In a saute pan over medium heat, add 3 Tbsp of olive oil. Once its hot add the onions and cook  for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, cooking for 1 minute. Lower the heat and slowly cook for another 5 minutes. Turn heat off and let cool a bit.
2.  In a blender, add the cucumbers, avocado, lemon juice, onion and garlic with oil, apple cider and fresh dill. Blend for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the yogurt and blend again for about another minute.
3.  Place in a air tight bowl, add as much salt and pepper as desired, cover and let it sit in the fridge for 3 hrs or over night. Serve cold and enjoy. 
4. Cook the shrimp about 3 minutes on each side. 
5. Spoon cold soup into a bowl and garnish with cooked shrimp.

There are endless possibilities of garnishes since the soup has more of a creamy consistency. Maybe make some Pico de gallo or some roasted corn salad to pair with it. Anything acidic or smokey will help.

We hope you enjoy.

Cheeseburger Chili

Good evening everyone,

This is Stephanie from Kicken Confections about to post a recipe done at the last minute and it coming out very delicious. We all know how the cheeseburger soup has become very popular this days and I was actually going to try a slow cooked version of it from Pinterest but that didn't turned out as I wanted. I had all the vegetables, stock, and spices ready in the slow cooker, set it up on high and I left to let it cook for 4 hrs. Yeah that was a fail. I never realized the slow cooker was not plugged in so 3 hrs later I go to taste it to see if it needed anything else, yeah.... no it was still raw.

So after almost blowing a fuse for not paying attention, being 4:30PM, to late to cook it for 4 hrs in the slow cooker, I decided to throw everything on a pot and cook it that way. I say that was the best decision I made. It was literally ready to eat by 5:30 PM. So the reason I call it Cheeseburger chili is because of the consistency. Its as stick as chili, and I added a touch of hot sauce to give it that little kick in the back of the throat. I've had cheeseburger soup before and not to brag or anything, but this version is awesome.

Cheeseburger Chili

 Ingredients:

- 2 Lb uncooked beef, 80/20 (80% beef, 20% fat)

- 1 Whole onion

- 4 red skin potatoes, peeled and medium diced

- 3 celery stalks, diced

- 3 carrots, peeled and diced.

- 4 Tbsp Olive oil

- 1/4 cup flour

- 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup Half and Half, warmed

- 4 cups of chicken broth

- 1/4 cup sour cream

-  2 cups Velveeta  shredded cheese

- 1-8 oz extra sharp cheese, cubed

- 2 cups shredded lettuce

- 3 tomatoes, seeded and medium diced. 

- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

- 1 Tbsp A1 sauce

- 1 can of mushrooms

- 1 Tbsp dry oregano

- 1 Tbsp garlic powder

- 1 Tbsp dry mustard powder

- 1 tsp cumin

- 1 Tbsp of Franks Red Hot Sauce

- Salt and Pepper TT (to taste)

Procedure:

1) Add the potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, chicken stock, oregano, cumin, dry mustard powder, and garlic powder to a pot, and bring to a boil. Once it boils, bring it down to a simmer, about 30 min.

2) In a saute pan, add a little bit of oil, when the pot is nice and hot, brown the ground beef, season with salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and A1. Strain and add the meat to the vegetables and cook for 10 minutes. Clean pan to use later.

3) As that cooks, in another pan, add the  4 Tbsp of olive oil, 1/4 cup of flour and mix until a paste forms and there are no lumps. Add the warm milk mixture and whisk until it starts to thickened and boil for 10 seconds.

4) Add the milk mixture to the beef and veg mixture, add the sour cream and stir. Reduce the heat to low and add the shredded cheese and the cubed of cheese, stirring occasionally to not let the dairy products scorch. 

5) In the pan you cooked the beef, add a small about of oil, and saute the mushrooms. After they start to brown, add the lettuce and tomatoes. Add a small amount of water so the lettuce doesn't crisp up and cook until the water reduces.

6) Add the mushroom mixture to the chili mixture, add the hot sauce and stir, bringing it back to a boil. 

7) Once it boils, turn off the heat and is ready to serve. 

Top with anything your heart desires. We used croutons  but I've heard some people like to use tortilla chips.

Also, remember you can always change up the spiced to your taste, and just like chili, it does taste even better the next day.

One more tip: remember to taste as you go. I was afraid to add salt since most stocks come already season and if I didn't taste it after adding the cheese, my product would have been bland. Always taste as you go.

Green Market Potato Salad

Good evening everyone.

Today we are going to add our potato salad recipe. We recently got a chance to go to the Greenpoint Brooklyn farmers market in McCarren Park were we got to buy a lot of summer produce. We made our way to the last tent and went nuts. Onions, scallions both white and red (which I have never seen red), Dill, cilantro, carrots, chamomile, chives (which are expensive in the regular supermarket), radishes, long leaf arugula, etc. I got a sniff of the dill and I just got a craving for potato salad.

The reason is called Green Market Potato Salad is because a lot of the ingredients I used in it came from the market, with some pimiento for added taste and color. If you live in Brooklyn or happen to be near the park on a Saturday, make your way to the market. Their products won't disappoint.

Green Market Potato Salad

Ingredients:  *TT= To taste

- 5 Lb  red skin potato, rinsed and cut into fours

- 3 Tbsp of fresh dill

- 3 Tbsp of fresh cilantro

- 2 Tbsp of fresh chives

- 4 Tbsp of Goya pimiento 

- 4 Tbsp of pimiento juice

- 1/4 Cup of sour cream

- 1/2 Cup of Mayonnaise

- Salt and pepper *TT 

Procedure:

1. Bring the potatoes to a boil until tender. I say a good 10 minutes should get them nice and tender, but also it depends on their size.

2. While that is cooking, dice the pimiento,chives, and measure out the juice of the pimiento. Set aside.

3. Mince the cilantro and dill. Set aside

4. Once the potatoes are cooked, carefully drain and rinse in cold water until they are warm.

5. Place the potatoes in a bowl and add all the greens, pimiento and juice. Stir until combine.

6. Add the sour cream, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and mix well together.

7. Cover and chill in the fridge for a good 2 hours before serving.

You can use less Mayonnaise and more sour cream or visa-verse. Also for a healthier substitute, replace mayonnaise for plain Greek yogurt, and maybe add a little bit of fresh lemon juice.

Also you can always add more or less of the greens to your personal preference.

Enjoy!

 

Extra Sharp Cheddar Biscuits

Good evening readers!

It has been one very busy week, specially since it has been so gorgeous outside, it has been a little difficult to stay in doors and work on the blog. We recently did our monthly 100 treat drawing and because it is close to Easter, we made our Sweet potato and carrots dog treats. We just found out they got them last night and we are patiently waiting for pictures of the foster mom's giving the treats to the fur kids.

Alright so now lets talk about the biscuit recipe. So far it has been a hit but I was lucky to get my hands on a nice block of extra sharp cheddar and it brought the recipe to a whole new level. They were moist, flaky, cheesy, and literally melt in your mouth deliciousness. I recommend this biscuits to be paired up with a nice thick brown gravy, a pot roast and a nice glass of sweet red wine.

Biscuit

Ingredients:

-1 lb Self rising flour

-6 oz Butter

-8 Fl oz Milk, buttermilk, or cream

-1/2 tsp Salt

-7 oz grated extra sharp cheddar

Procedure: (Preheat oven to 450 degrees F after step 5)

1.In a medium size bowl, mix in the flour with the butter until you reach a peas size chunks.

2. Gradually stir in the milk until you reach a soft dough.

3. Add the 7oz of the cheese and knead lightly several times until cheese is well incorporated.

4. If the dough is to soft or sticky, add a little more flour.

5. Let it rest for a good 30 minutes in the fridge. The colder the dough the better.

6. Roll dough to a 1/2 inch thickness and with a round cutter (Nice decent size cookie cutter works fine) and transfer to a parchment lined pan. Dust top of biscuit with flour or brush with milk. We prefer milk)

7. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes depending on the size you cut them.

*TIPS: When the biscuit is nice and golden on the bottom is ready to be taken out of the oven. If the top is brown, then they are over cooked.

CHILI time!

Hello Folks!

This past few days have been very nice and cold. It even snowed without me realizing it over night. I thought it was going to be a nice regular temperature day but nope, cold air everywhere!

So yesterday we decided to make chili, and for the first time ever there was no left over. We all literally stared in awe at the empty pot. I've always used about 2lbs of ground beef. I like my chili meaty specially since I do add beans to it, and there is always at least a little bit left over, but this time nope, zero, nada. It was actually very satisfying as a cook to see it all gone. But as promised I will post the base of the recipe to leave room for anyone who wants to make their own chili and add their own flavors.

On to the recipe:       TT= To Taste*

2 lbs ground beef
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp chili powder
1 onion med diced
6 cloves garlic minced
1 Tbsp garlic powder
6 or 7 mini sweet pepper (Red, orange, yellow. If you want instead of the mini use the large ones, in that case just 2 would be good) Roasted to remove the skin, seeded, and medium diced.
Salt and Pepper TT
Cayenne pepper TT
1 Tbsp Cumin
2 tomatoes pealed and seeded
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 cans of kidney beans, drained
1 can chick peas, drained
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup of water
1 Tbsp tomato paste

1. In a large pot, add the vegetable oil, let it warm up. Add the ground beef, 1/4 cups of water and all dry seasonings.
2. Once the meat is cooked, add the onions and garlic and cook until they become translucent, about 5 min. Add the roasted peppers and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Add the tomato paste, then add all the beans, cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add the crushed tomatoes plus one can of water that the crushed tomatoes were in.
5. Cover and cook over medium high heat, let it come to a boil for 5 minuted then reduce to a simmer and cook for 6 hrs.

Serve with sour cream, cheddar cheese if desired.  Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie!

Soooo, we can finally post about the Chicken Pot Pie! There has been so much chaos going outside the house since they are putting in new water pipes, it has been difficult to do anything. Tonight we finally get a break. Unfortunately they will continue to shut the water down until Friday. Yay for us.

Now to the recipe. Sadly because it was an order we do not have a picture of the final product. We do have it before it was baked.

We made our pie with a sour cream dough but you can use any type. You can even use the store bought if  that's what you prefer. Because this order was only a 9 in, we were able to put crust on the bottom of the pie tin and on the top which was exciting. We normally get orders for bigger ones (Usually about 5lb! Holy cow!) and since we want to keep the prices reasonable we only do the crust on top. We cut a few pieces of crust and put them into the pie to try and give it the a slight effect of crust on bottom.

Okay so for the inside of the pie you will need:
-Preheat oven at 400 degrees F.
-Chicken
-Green Peas (You can get the bag of frozen peas and carrots and use that instead, I recommend to stay away from the can)
-Carrots        
- Salt TT (To Taste)
-Pepper TT
-Garlic Powder TT (or you can do a few cloves of garlic)
-Potatoes
-Chicken Stock
-Flour
- Butter

-If doing pie on the bottom, spray the pie tin or pan with cooking spray and line with dough.
-Cut potatoes into cubes and boil until almost done. Remember they will cook again ones inside the pie as well.
-Cut the chicken into cubes, season with salt, pepper and saute for about a minute or two depending on the size of the cut. Do not cook all the way thru or it will over cook in the oven. Set it aside and let it cool.
- Mix in chicken, potatoes, peas, and carrots. Pinch of salt and pepper,garlic powder and spoon the mixture in to your pie pan tin with the bottom crust fitted to the pan.
- In a saute pan, put equal parts of butter and flour to make a roux which is a thickening agent used for sauces.
-In a sauce pan, put chicken stock, bring to boil, reduce heat and add roux, mixing with whisk to get rid of lumps. Bring the stock back to a boil. You will see it thicken. If to thick add more stock, if not thick enough add more roux. (We like using the unseasoned stock but you can use any preference.)
- Let the thicken stock cool then add to the pie filling mix.
- If you are going to bake it the same day, after it's lined with the top layer of dough, make a few cuts in the dough to let the steam out. Do either an egg wash, milk wash, or olive oil.
-Bake until the crust is golden brown.

If you want to cook it the next day, don't do the wash on the top until desired, cover and place in the freezer.

That's how we did our design, you can make it prettier if you would like. This is before the wash and before the baking was done.
If you want to know more, comment.