November 26, 2014

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Recipe

November 26, 2014/ Marta M. Darby

Going Old School

It’s November, people.

Of course you know what that means: It’s time for the holiday "comelatas" to begin.

At our house the main course menus don’t vary much from year to year. But then there are the desserts.

Ah, yes. Desserts. Plural.

I don’t know of a Cuban anywhere who doesn’t love something sweet with their after-dinner cafécito.

But which dessert? There are so many to choose from!

There are dozens of classic “old school” desserts, like flan, pudin de pan, natilla, cascos de guayaba con queso crema, not to mention our classic pastelitos.

But I decided to try something new with an “old school” flavor.

This week’s recipe is a two-step affair. First we’re going to make Dulce de Leche.

Then we’re going to put it into a cheesecake.

It’s incredibly easy, but it looks really impressive and it tastes even better.

Okay. I admit it. I get a little stressed around this time of year.

But you know what they say:

“Stressed is just DESSERTS spelled backwards.”

Dulce de leche cheesecake

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Recipe

Homemade Dulce de Leche:

2 cans of sweetened condensed milk

Dulce de leche cheesecake2

Crockpot method:

Remove the labels.
Place the still sealed cans in a crockpot.
Cover the cans with water so they are completely immersed.
Cook on high for 5 hours.
Remove from the crockpot and let them cool completely.

Here's a video to show you how:

Pressure cooker method:

Remove the labels.
Place the still sealed cans in a pressure cooker.
Cover the cans with water.
Cook on high pressure for 40 minutes.
Let the pressure drop on it's own for about 15 minutes. Remove. Let the cans cool completely.

For the Crust:

(you can also use a ready-made graham cracker crust if desired)

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp. butter, melted

Filling:

3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
1/3 cup whole milk
1 can Homemade Dulce de Leche

Reserve about 1/3 can of Dulce de Leche to drizzle over finished cheesecake.

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 400°

2) Mix crust ingredients together, and press into the bottom of a lightly buttered 9-inch springform pan. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.

3) Reset oven temperature to 325°

4) With an electric mixer beat cream cheese, sugar and flour together until well mixed and smooth.

5) Add vanilla and beat until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until smooth. Add milk and mix until well blended.

6) In a smaller bowl, stir up the Dulce de Leche quickly to soften up. Measure about 1/2 cup of the cheesecake batter and pour into the softened Dulce de Leche. Stir until well combined.

Dulce de leche cheesecake 3

7) Pour plain batter over crust. Top with Dulce de Leche batter by placing rounded spoonfuls over the cheesecake batter and gently swirl into plain batter with the tip of knife or spatula.

Dulce de leche cheesecake 4

8) Bake in preheated 325°F oven for one hour or until center is almost set.

9) Remove from oven and gently run metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cheesecake (this helps prevent cracking). Release the springform pan. Let cool 20-25 minutes before covering and placing in the refrigerator. Refrigerate 4 to 6 hours or overnight before serving.

10) Stir the reserved Dulce de Leche quickly to soften and drizzle over finished cheesecake.

(NOTE: you can heat the Dulce de Leche slightly if it’s not soft enough, but don’t OVERcook it!)

Dulce de leche cheesecake 5

Oh WAIT! I told you to cook two cans, didn’t I?

Here’s what you do with the second one:

You grab a knife and some galletas and you go “old school.”

Dulce de leche cheesecake 6

Buen Provecho!

// <![CDATA[ var pfHeaderImgUrl = '';var pfHeaderTagline = '';var pfdisableClickToDel = 0;var pfHideImages = 0;var pfImageDisplayStyle = 'right';var pfDisablePDF = 0;var pfDisableEmail = 0;var pfDisablePrint = 0;var pfCustomCSS = '';var pfBtVersion='1';(function(){var js, pf;pf = document.createElement('script');pf.type = 'text/javascript';if('https:' == document.location.protocol){js='https://pf-cdn.printfriendly.com/ssl/main.js'}else{js='http://cdn.printfriendly.com/printfriendly.js'}pf.src=js;document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(pf)})(); // ]]</p></div>

December 09, 2013

My Big, Fat, Cuban Family Cookbook for Christmas

December 09, 2013/ Marta M. Darby

If you'd like to own your very own copy of My Big, Fat, Cuban Family Cookbook; A celebration of Cuban-American life around our family table or (even better!) would like to give it as a gift, my publisher, Blurb Books is offering a very nice promotion right now.

25% off with the promo code: BLURBGIFT-1 at checkout.*
Here's the link: MBFCF Cookbook

What are you waiting for? Merry Christmas to YOU!

Or, if you prefer...Feliz Navidad!

*Offer valid through December 15, 2013 -11:59 pm PST

September 07, 2013

Carne Con Papas Recipe

September 07, 2013/ Marta M. Darby

The Question

I work from my home, and I homeschool my kids, which means I field all kinds of questions from them all day long. And even though I love to cook and try out tons of recipes and nothing makes me happier than hungry mouths to fill, there is one particular question that always makes me feel pressured:

“What’s for dinner?”

(I hear it in a growling, distorted, horror-movie voice with scary harpsichord music playing.)

Even though I plan menus and usually know what I’m making, the question still paralyzes me.

It’s probably some latent test anxiety left over from high school. I somehow feel like I’m on the spot and I’d better get the answer right - or . . . DIE. (buahahahaha! Insert crashing thunder and lightning effects here.)

Enter my crockpot, which I (obviously) love. I love being able to fix something in the morning and forget about it all day. It gives me a happy feeling of accomplishment. It's like having a Cuban grandmother in the house serving up the very best comfort food there is.

But here's the most compelling reason for my unnatural attachment to my crockpot: it preempts the dreaded question, because, they can peek in the pot early in the day and know what they can look forward to at dinnertime. Not only that, but the smell of whatever is happening in the kitchen starts wafting through the house and all I get is positives: “Dinner smells awesome.” "Whatever you made is going to be great!" "Should we set the table now?" (ok, that last one was really more of a fantasy. . =D)

I usually set the timer on the bread machine so that the smell of freshly baking bread coincides with dinnertime and the olfactory overload completely disorients them. They get so focused on what they are smelling, that all other senses become useless. It doesn’t even matter what I’m making any more, because the smells are making them salivate and sing my praises before they get to the table. Yes, I admit it’s manipulative. But it works.

Too bad this process doesn’t translate to the internet, because on Wednesdays I usually find an email in my inbox from Val wondering what I’m cooking for Babalú on Thursdays.

Can you guess the subject line?

Carne con Papas Recipe

Olive oil (twice around the pan)
½ small white onion, chopped
½ green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
½ tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
2 tablespoons bijol
2 bay leaves
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
2 lbs. beef stew meat
2 white potatoes (cut into small cubes)
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups beef boullion (6 cubes)

1) Make the boullion with 6 cubes and 4 cups water.

2) Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion, green pepper and garlic until the onion is translucent.

3) Add cumin, salt, pepper, bijol, and bay leaves.

4) Add tomato sauce and cook for about a minute. Just to heat through.

5) Put the rest of the ingredients into the crockpot.

6) Cook on low setting for 6-8 hours.

NOTE: If you’re impatient and not intimidated by it, you can make this same thing in a pressure cooker.

Follow steps 1-4, but put in a pressure cooker instead of a crockpot.

Following manufacturer’s directions, cook under 15 pound pressure for about 45 minutes.

July 02, 2013

Whole Roast Chicken - Pollo Asado

July 02, 2013/ Marta M. Darby

Lost In Translation

My son, Adam is a handsome guy. (Okay, I know I’m his mom and all that, but I am being truly objective here. Shut up.) And even though he’s not fluent in Spanish, he can defend himself pretty well for the most part.

Adam

So he was visiting my mom (his grandmother) the other day. She speaks as much English as he does Spanish. (Ay Dios mio!)

Adam to me via text: What does ‘mono’ mean?

Me in reply: Monkey.

Adam: Doesn’t ‘pollo’ mean chicken?

Me: Yes. Why do you ask?

Adam: I think she’s insulting me.

Me: She’s not insulting you. Take whatever she’s saying as a complement.

Adam: She called me a monkey and then said I was chicken.

I know there’s been something completely lost in translation, so I call my mom and ask what it was that she said to Adam.

My mom: “Nada. Lo encontre muy mono y le dije que esta hecho un pollo.”

I clarify: “Adam, she thinks you’re handsome and you look great.”

Adam: “Damn Cubans.”

Me: “I’ll just take that as a complement.” =D

Chicken

Pollo Asado (Roast Chicken)

2- 4 lb. Roasting chickens
Freshly ground salt and pepper
Ground cumin
Ground thyme
1 bunch of fresh thyme
2 large heads of garlic, cut in half, cross-wise
2 lemons – cut in half
4 Tbsp. Melted butter
2 large red onions, sliced

(Instructions are for one, but I always make two)

1) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2) Remove the guts (giblets and such) from the cavity and rinse the chicken inside and out.

3) Pat the outside completely dry.

4) Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the cavity.

5) Liberally sprinkle the ground cumin and ground thyme also inside the cavity.

6) Stuff the cavity with a bunch of the fresh thyme, all of the cross-wise sliced head of garlic, and both halves of the lemon. (Yes, just fearlessly shove them in there!)

Stuffed

7) Brush the outside of the chicken with the melted butter and sprinkle again with salt, pepper, thyme and cumin.

8) You can tie the legs together at this point if you prefer, with kitchen string.

9) Place chicken on a foil-lined pan that’s been scattered with the onion slices.

10) Roast the chicken for about 1 and 1/2 hours. The juices should run clear when it’s done.

11) Remove to a warmed serving dish and cover with foil.

12) I like to serve it with smashed red roasted potatoes.

13) Here’s an added bonus, when the chicken has been carved, dig into the cavity, past the lemons until you find the garlic and thyme. Butter a piece of bread and carefully spread the roasted garlic and thyme over the bread.

Bread

Now that’s what I call doubling my pleasure. Buen Provecho!

October 30, 2012

Bacon-Wrapped Dates Recipe With Pictures

October 30, 2012/ Marta M. Darby

Thanksgiving (el Sanguibin) with my big, fat Cuban family is always a wonderful and fun celebration.

As Cuban refugees who are now proud American citizens, we are mindful of just how much we have to be thankful for. In my family, while we’re waiting for the birds to fry, (oh yes, we do!) we have appetizers and play games. It’s noisy. Sooo noisy! In that talking-yelling-over-each-other way that only Cubans can do and still follow all the conversations within a two mile radius. God, I love that.

So we start with the appetizers, and because we’re frying the turkeys, everyone has to come out (all 40 of them) and see just exactly how it’s done. Of course, everyone has an opinion (a really loud opinion) on the very best way to fry turkeys even if they’ve never done it before. God, I love that.

But back to the appetizers . . .

What’s the point of appetizers?

I know I’m sounding all Andy Rooney, but hear me out.

Are appetizers designed to make you have more of an appetite for the main dish?

To get your taste buds warmed up and ready for the rest of the meal?

Fine. Delude yourself into believing that there is a logical reason for appetizers, but I’m going to tell you a secret:

Appetizers exist just so that you can eat more and sooner.

There. Don’t you feel better now that you’re out of denial?

Anyway, I know everyone has their traditional favorite holiday foods, and I do too. So today I’m offering you my very favorite your-mouth-will-just-say-wow! appetizers. My family has been making these for as long as I can remember for every special occasion. In fact, I served these the other night, and my guests were amazed and delighted and even mentioned they had first tasted these in a real chichi restaurant in L.A. (Shut. Up. Who knew?)

I guarantee that when you serve these, your guests will be delighted and confused. And if they are Cuban, they will start guessing and arguing about what they are.

God, I love that.

Bacon-wrapped dates

Bacon-Wrapped Date Appetizers Recipe

1 lb. Fresh pitted dates (you can use regular dates and pit them yourself, but I’m just lazy.)
1 lb. Bacon (not thick - thinner works better)

1) Pre-heat oven to 350°

2) Cut the bacon slices into fourths.

3) Wrap each date with bacon.

Wrapping dates with bacon

4) Bake at 350° for about 20-25 minutes or until bacon just starts getting crispy. (be careful not to overcook)

Bacon&dates

Nochebuena variation:

1) Slice the dates down one side.

2) Stuff with some Turron de Llema before wrapping in bacon. (Yeah, baby!)

August 23, 2011

Cuban Food Review ... Or is it?

August 23, 2011/ Marta M. Darby

*The following post was written by Kikita, la hija de Marta.*

Here in "The Bubble" (as Mami likes to call it), there is not much Cuban food to be had. That's why Mami posts recipes over on Babalú Blog. That's why we cook so much. If we want to eat out and we want to eat Cuban food, we have to take a road trip.

So, imagine my excitement when I hear that the Souplantation (which is known as Sweet Tomatoes in some states) is having a special where they will be serving Cuban Cuisine for two weeks in August!

Then I saw the menu, and I got worried. There was a whole lot of "chorizo" and nowhere did I see the word "platano."

Did I let that stop me?

Of course not!

Even though their list had me thinking that whoever planned there menu must have had Cuba confused with some other country (Spain, maybe) and that the person had never heard of the internet or how to do any kind of research (because if they had would they really have thought "Chorizo" said "Cuban Food" - nevermind that we put chorizo in boliche, that's not imporant right now), I decided I would go and give these plantation people a chance.

First up, the Havana Banana Salad.

No, the "Banana" was not platano. It was just your basic, everyday banana. And since it was a chip, it was really just acting as a tasteless crouton. Was the salad delicious? Of course. A delicious citrus blend of happiness. I daresay it tasted like summer. But it didn't taste Cuban, not even with the black beans added for effect.

Not ready to give up hope, I continued on and found this:

I'm sure there are ways to Cuban-ify potato salad, but this wasn't it. Switching out bacon for chorizo (which, again, says "Spain" before it says "Cuba", right?) and adding lime with that dash of cumin (which ARE two Cuban food staples, we just don't staple like that) only makes your potato salad taste limey. Yummy, if you're the type who likes potato salad, but not Cuban.

I held my breath as I continued on. Telling myself that there really was no way to mess up "Cuban beans and Rice." It's too traditional. It's impossible to get wrong. Impossible? Not for Souplantation!

E'CU'E ME!?!

Garbanzos?

Y que es turmeric? Isn't that an INDIAN spice?!

AGAIN WITH THE LIME?

And did they add the honey to make the beans sweet? They were the wrong color.

We call them Black Beans and White Rice for a reason. This reason must have been lost on the Sweet Tomatoes. If they were going for a Moros y Cristianos style, the were still the wrong color whether you make it with black beans or the red ones. Plus, all that lime was really pushing that "summer" taste. And if you like cold beans and rice, it was really quite delicious. An untrained palatte might even go so far as to call it "Tropical" because "Lime" really does scream "Tropical," but "Tropical" was not the scream I had bubbling up in my throat.

In a state of shock, I moved to the soups.

They're the Souplantation, right? So maybe they'll do better with that... or not.

Ay! Again with the chorizo! And sweet potatoes? Well... I guess that's the closest thing to boñato. (Technically speaking, sweet potatoes ARE in the boñato family, they just aren't the ones most commonly used in Cubano boñato dishes.) I was not fooled for one second. I was eating chili, without the cheese and with black beans and sweet potatoes thrown in to confuse me. A delicious chili, but I didn't come for a chili cook-off. I came for Cuban food.

I was grateful when I saw the sign that told me, this time, no one was trying to pretend this food was really Cuban. Just because you put the word "Cubano" in front of Focaccia, does not make your pizza Cuban.

I knew it was trying to be "just like the classic sandwich," but putting ham and more chorizo on top of a pickle pizza just makes it a pickle pizza with ham and chorizo. (Yes, I know Focaccia is not exactly pizza, but it's flat and there was cheese on it and it tasted like a pizza with ham and chorizo and pickle - a good pizza, but not even a Cuban pizza: which DOES exist, by the way.)

Once I got past my utter disappointment at not finding the promised Cuban food anywhere, I really did enjoy the taste sensations dancing on my taste buds.

All in all, the food was good, it just wasn't Cuban.

Thanks Souplantation & Sweet Tomatoes, if you ever think about adding a Cuban Cafecito to your menu, please call me, Kikita, first and let me teach you how to Taka Taka.

It will be more better. Te lo prometo.

I promise.