New York Style Cheesecake

Ugly Christmas sweater?  Check.  White elephant gift?  Check.  Where am I going tonight?  A Christmas in July party of course!  For the dish I decided to make a New York style cheesecake.  Why you might ask?  Because I make bomb cheesecake that's why.  I used a simple recipe that I have no idea where I got because it is written down on polar bear stationary I had as a kid.  (Don't judge.)  First preheat the oven to 300ºF.  Then mix ⅓ cup of melted butter with 1 ¼ cups of graham cracker crumbs and ¼ cup of sugar.  If you can't find graham cracker crumbs in the store (just like I couldn't) then just buy graham crackers and put them in a food processor.  Next firmly press the mixture into the bottom of a springform pan.  The filling is also very basic.  Whip four 8 oz. packages of cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and then add one 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk until smooth.  Next add four eggs, ¼ cup of flour and one tablespoon of vanilla.  Once creamy and smooth, pour the mixture into the pan.  Bake for one hour or until slightly browning on the edges.  When cooled completely, enjoy plain or with a topping of your choice.  Merry Christmas (in July)!

Pie de Manzana

El día de hoy hice un delicioso postre, pie de manzana, en realidad es bastante sencillo de preparar, solo necesitan harina, huevos, mantequilla, polvo para hornear, manzanas, azúcar, y canela en polvo.

Para preparar la masa deben mezclar una taza de harina (200g aprox.) con dos huevos, 50g de mantequilla y una cucharadita de polvo para hornear, mezclarla hasta que luzca como una masa, ustedes saben cómo es eso, les debe quedar de color amarillento, luego de obtener la masa deben envolverla en plástico y ponerla dentro del congelador por unos quince minutos, después de hacer esto, deben conseguir un molde de torta, pero cualquiera es útil, deben esparcir la masa y luego colocara dentro del molde, de modo que cubra toda la superficie, si sobra en los bordes, no importa, guarden un poco para poder cubrirlo después.

Después debemos agregar la primera capa de manzanas, limpias,  (sin semillas y sin cascara) cortadas en delgados trozos, cubrir toda la superficie y luego agregar azúcar, pueden hacer esto las veces que quieran, claro… depende de que tan dulce quieren que les salga el postre, pero ojo con esto, en la última capa deben agregar a parte de azúcar, la canela molida, solo un poco para que le dé un buen aroma al postre, luego con lo que les quedo de masa deben cubrirlo. Existen muchas maneras de cubrir todo, pueden estirara la maza u cortar tiras, u creara una especie de tejido sobre él, o solo aplanarlo y cubrir toda la superficie del molde. Y como toque visual, deben clavar uno pequeños agujeros sobre la cubierta, con un tenedor basta, y luego agregar unas cuantas pinceladas con una yema de huevo, para que se vea de un color más llamativo, luego al horno por unos veinte minutos y listo!!!

Espero que les guste… a mi me encanta…! Y a todos en casa también, es por eso que no logre tomar más fotos,  el pie de manzana simplemente desapareció, como en los dibujos animados, lo deje un momento para que enfríe y cuando volví ya no había… hahaha!!!

Chobani Chewer

In the morning I am easily annoyed. I am not one of those people who wakes up much earlier than necessary to read the paper. I don't arrive 45 minutes early to work to make small talk and gossip over coffee. I don't think it's cute when people take up seats on the train with their giant bags or don't offer their seat to elderly women. Loss of my time and rudeness bother me exponentially when I am not fully awake.
It is also during these early morning hours that trivial things that shouldn't bother me drive me crazy. Sometimes I want to punch the man wearing the horrendous eau de toilet (not toilette) musk that only he can possibly think smells good. And then there are those annoying couples who ride the train together in the morning and feel the need to nuzzle and give sloppy kisses when the rest of us want to vom in the laps. But today was different. Somewhere between Chambers Street and 14th Street a seemingly normal-looking girl sat down across from me and proceeded to eat her breakfast. Chobani Greek yogurt. Strawberry banana. Normal enough, right? How wrong you are my naive little reader. How wrong you are. Her choice of food was completely normal. I myself would have gone for a better flavor like honey, mango or pomegranate, but no one is perfect. No, dear friends, it wasn't her mediocre flavor choice. It was the fact that she masticated her yogurt. No gulping involved like us normal yogurt eaters; she straight up chewed that Chobani! I wasn't sure why she was bothering me so much at first, but then I realized it: she was actually chomping on yogurt! Who does that? Greek yogurt is thick, sure but the act of chewing is absolutely not necessary. What is there to chew? Does this chewing (with her mouth open I might add, gross) make the Chobani more flavorful? I had to find out. I bought a strawberry banana Chobani yogurt and tried to chew it as the woman on the train had this morning. Would I find yogurt enlightenment? Absolutely not. It was actually more difficult to chew that Chobani than to simply swallow it like normal people. If I am feeling more assertive rather than passive-aggressive the next time I see her, I will let her know about my discovery and her ignorance. Fool.

                                                    

Gazpacho and the Evil Mango

Is there anything worse than a bad mango?  I think not.  Seeing as it's the best fruit in the entire universe, I am always disappointed when I buy a mango that smells sweet, feels the proper maturity and then low and behold when I cut into it, the evil stringiness comes out and attacks my poor teeth like possessed floss.  You won this round Mango, but don't think I'm giving up your deliciousness this easily.  I'll be back for more.  Oh yes, I will be back for more.  I digress…

As for dinner, I was unsure of what to cook tonight.  I didn't really feel like cooking, but I wanted to use some of the vegetables my roommate and I got from our food share this week.  Should I make something with the kohlrabi?  Should I use those greens that I can never remember the name of? In the end I was very un-resourceful and I bought bread and tomatoes for a gazpacho.  (I also bought the aforementioned evil mango which I will explain shortly.)  I have never made gazpacho but I figured it couldn't be that hard.  Everything gets blended together anyway so how much could I mess it up?  The good news is it wasn't awful, but the flavor did not seem

right.  I loosely followed a gazpacho recipe, but loosely is the key word.  I was too lazy to measure anything and I knew from the beginning that the mediocre tomatoes I bought at the bodega down the street were not going to give me the luscious and earthy tomato taste that I wanted.  In the end, I used a mixture of tomato, bread, garlic, salt, sugar, vinegar (only a little because I am one of those weird people that doesn't like vinegar very much), a little cucumber, and Spanish olive oil.  It turned out more of an orangey color rather than the pinkish-red I was expecting but that was probably due to the bread, which I may have added too much of, and the lackluster tomatoes.  As a garnish, and for texture, I toasted some pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and sprinkled them on top, which both looked and tasted nice.  Although the bodega did not have good tomatoes, I do love that they have a great assortment of seeds, nuts, and produce that you wouldn't be able to find most other places around the city.

For dessert I thought it would be a great idea to whip up some Greek yogurt with diced mango and the rhubarb compote I made for Sunday's brunch.  This is where the evil floss monster came into play.  Right when I cut into his rubbery flesh I knew I was doomed.  I could feel my knife catching on his fibrous innards as I sliced away.  I went along with the plan even though I knew my teeth would be screaming at me later.  first I placed a layer of the evil being in the bowl, then I scooped out a few dollops of Greek yogurt and I fished it off with the rhubarb compote and three pathetic chunks of the sweet devil on top.  The final product looked like what I was going for if it had been eaten first and then vomited back into the bowl.  The compote got all runny and watery on the sides and bottom and it made the yogurt look like it was cracking and drowning.  Poor Yogurt.  Drowned by the compote, molested by the stringy mango, and then eaten by me.  Rough day.  In all fairness, the taste was actually pretty good, but it did look a little like death.  Hopefully next time will be better.

I should go floss…

El Adobo Arequipeño

Pocas comidas son tan reconfortantes como esta, será por eso que se hizo ya costumbre, sobretodo de los jóvenes, degustar de un buen plato de adobo dominguero, para recuperar las fuerzas desperdiciadas durante la noche del sábado… particularmente lo hice muchas veces ya.

Bueno… debo comenzar diciendo que este plato tradicional de mi ciudad natal, es exquisito y bastante laborioso, requiere de mucha paciencia y tiempo, pero el resultado es espectacular.

Este es un plato de dos días de preparación, claro, si queremos que salga un adobo delicioso, lo primero que deben hacer es conseguir unos buenos trozos de carne de cerdo, puede ser lomo o pescuezo, dependiendo de su gusto por la carne seca o jugosa, también deben hacerse de un par de litros del mejor concho de chicha de jora que puedan conseguir, cebolla, ají colorado, sal, ajo, comino, pimienta y orégano son todos los ingredientes necesarios.

Para prepararlo, debemos moler o procesar el ají colorado junto con el ajo, a esto debemos agregarle sal y pimienta, para luego untar esta mezcla sobre los trozos de cerdo, colocarlos en una olla, agregar el concho de chicha de jora,  el comino y el orégano. Toda esto se debe dejar macerar al menos 6 horas. Luego de esto, debemos cortar las cebollas en cuatro y agregarlas al caldo, poner a fuego medio durante dos horas. Y listo, se sirve con pan y una taza de té, junto con una copita de Anís Najar.

 

Pero eso no es todo, como es todo plato tradicional existen diversos secretos en la preparación, por ejemplo, si gustan de un caldo de mayor espesor, pueden hacer lo siguiente, licuen un par de cebollas y agréguenlas durante el proceso de cocción, esto le da un toque más de espesor al caldo.

También si gustan de un adobo con mayor sabor, pueden agregarle unos cuantos rocotos verdes al caldo durante la cocción.

Todo esto viene de muchos años de historia culinaria de mi ciudad, antes este caldo se hacía solo los domingos en el barrio de Cayma, pero ahora es común encontrarlo en muchos lugares… la calidad no ha bajado, pero algunas maneras de prepararlo cambiaron, en épocas de antaño lo preparaban a leña, lo que le daba un aroma muy particular. Yo lo prefiero de la manera en que se prepara en estos días…

Espero que haya sido un post de su agrado, les pongo unas cuantas fotos que encontré por ahí, disfrútenlo! sobre todo si tienen planeado un sábado muy alocado.

Sunday Brunch

For my first post of actual cooking I thought it would be fitting to do something typically "American."  Because it is Sunday I thought, why not brunch?  So in an effort to showcase one of my favorite meals, I decided to make a delicious brunch for myself and two great friends.

For people outside of the US who aren't familiar with the term "brunch," allow me to elaborate.  Brunch is a combination of breakfast and lunch (hence the name, brunch) typically eaten on a weekend or perhaps a holiday.  It can include both sweet and savory items such as pancakes, sausages, eggs, omelets etc., but my family tends to veer toward the sweet side.  Sometimes my mom and brother will make light and succulent fruit crepes on New Year's Day, which are always a hit.

Today I decided to make stuffed french toast with rhubarb compote and brown sugar bacon.  The rhubarb compote was basically a way to use the rhubarb my roommate and I got from our farm share.  I have never cooked with rhubarb before so it was a unique experience for me.  I expected the rhubarb to have more of a stringy celery-like texture because it looks very similar but it was different than I expected and it was also much more pleasant!  The compote turned out less syrupy than it was supposed to, which I believe is because I must not have boiled the mixture long enough.  It still had great flavor even though it was the wrong consistency.  The recipe I used for the rhubarb compote was from Bon Appétit on Epicurious.

As for the french toast, I sort of just made that up as I went along.  Although all of the bakeries in my neighborhood were closed today, I managed to find some decent challah-like bread that I cut into half-inch slices.  The stuffing was a mixture of plain cream cheese and sugar that I spread between two slices at a time making little sandwiches if you will.  Then I dunked each "sandwich" into the egg mixture (eggs, milk, bourbon vanilla) and then cooked in in a buttered pan.

The idea for brown sugar bacon came from family friends of ours.  One holiday my family had a brunch at our house and our guests made this unbelievable bacon that my family now makes anytime we have bacon (which isn't often).  It is very simple to do: all you do is start cooking the bacon in a pan and then sprinkle brown sugar over the bacon to your liking.  Healthy?  Absolutely not.  Delicious?  Most definitely.  Just make sure to not set the bacon on paper towels to soak up grease if that is your normal routine.  This bacon is way too sticky for that and you'll end up eating pieces of paper towel, not a good look.

To finish it off, my amazing friends decided to make mimosas to go along with the brunch.  They bought a peach champagne to mix with the orange juice to make an extra-fruity morning pick-me-up!

All in all it was a great first entry!  Until next time...

LA MISMA PASIÓN

Sé que le encanta hacer esto tanto como a mí, tal vez más. Es genial la manera en que nos dimos cuenta que compartimos la misma pasión, no es la única, pero sí la mas fuerte de todas, los aromas, colores y sabores son lo mejor de todo, un poco de imaginación y mucha gracia van de la mano con nuestra pasión.

Siempre estuvimos en contacto, siempre. Es así que poco a poco fue creciendo esta idea, tal vez ambos sin siquiera imaginarlo, pero el simple deseo de hacer algo juntos impulso esto. Espero estar a la altura y que todo aquel que visite nuestro blog, se lleve una grata sorpresa y sobre todo una buena receta.

Nos deseo mucha suerte en esta nueva pero fantástica etapa... me despido, pero  antes debo decir que no podría hacer esto con otra persona en el mundo, GRACIAS por la oportunidad de compartir algo contigo.

Gracias Lu!!!

Food is Universal

As the American author James Beard said, "Food is our common ground, a universal experience."  This blog is a way for people to experience food from a different culture through pictures, recipes, stories, and dialog.  There will be trials and errors, successes and failures, but above all there will always be the enjoyment and satisfaction of completing a dish and sharing it with others.  Over the years Diego and I have always kept each other informed on the happenings in our lives, our families and our jobs, despite living on different continents.  What we love to talk about most however, is our endless passion for food and the art of cooking.  In nearly every conversation we have, we talk about food.  What did you eat today?  What did you make for lunch? Who makes that dish best? What is it similar to?  What ingredients did you use?  And ultimately it ends in sending each other pictures of the deliciousness we've been describing.  Here's to you, D.  Thank you for always being there and for agreeing to be my partner in culinary crime!