Winter treats - "Conchas"

Even though we are trying to achieve all our new year's resolutions, it doesn't hurt to have a couple of treats here and there to survive the winter season.

One of the foods I love from the Mexican culture is "sweet bread". There are so many varieties, that you can never get bored from it. The tradition of eating sweet bread with hot chocolate started with the fusion of 2 complete different cultures, when cocoa met wheat.

Nowadays, sweet bread is one of the best things you can have for breakfast almost everywhere in Mexico. Here in Canada, I cannot find those kinds of treats as easy as I wish; luckily, a couple of months ago, while going through a bunch of papers that contained my family's history, I felt there were some treasures waiting to be found. I started reading this yellowish paper when all of a sudden it hit me, I had found THE recipe. After a couple of months later I was able to bake the best home made "Conchas" I've ever had!..

For those who don't know what "Conchas" are, you'll be amazed by the sweetness and texture of the icing mixed with the fluffy, sponge like, bread in each bite. Bottom line you'll LOVE IT.

I love baking bread, it teaches you to be patient and that sometimes you have to give things a little bit of time so they can become amazing.

And of course the best of all, is that first bite that makes your mouth water!

I shared this fluffy and rich sweet bread with another great cook, who also loves to write about food, my new great friend "Cherie"!! She seemed to enjoy my home made "Conchas" which simply made my day!.

New Year's Resolution

With the beginning of a new year and the promise you make yourself to start from scratch all over again, no one can avoid making a new year's resolution. Mine was eating healthier with local ingredients. I have to say that for a while now, even if it takes me 20 min. to get to the St. Lawrence market, I promised myself I will go there every week. The quality and freshness of local ingredients is amazing, it really makes a difference in your cooking.

For a healthy eating style you have to have options!!.. and lots of options.. I remember that before started cooking I always ate the same type of salad, you know the one with tomatoes, iceberg lettuce & a drop or two of a store bought salad dressing. BORING!!!! Most of the people I know keep eating that kind of salads, that's why nobody likes them!!.. If you want to eat healthy, you can't keep eating that every day, you have to make it flavourful and interesting.

So if you want an advice from me!! don't be afraid to try different type of greens in your salads and play with flavour!!.. Once you start mixing veggies you'll find the fun in eating salads. So here, I share one of my discoveries.

Green Salad with Pomegranate Dressing

Ingredients:

Salad:

1 cup Arugula leaves
3 cups of Mixed Greens
4 Tomatoes
200 g Goat's Cheese

Dressing:

1 - 1/2 cups of Pomegranate Seeds
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon lemon
salt and pepper

Directions:

Place one cup of Pomegranate seeds, olive oil and lemon in a blender. Pulse until ingredients are pureed. Strain through a fine sieve. Season with salt and pepper. Toss with greens, add the tomatoes and goat's cheese. Add more Pomegranate seeds to the top of your salad, it will give you one more layer of incredible texture as they will explode in your mouth.

Simple and Brilliant!!

French Toast with Foie Gras.... Yes Please!!

Last Sunday, I felt the need to indulge over French Toast and Foie Gras. The combination was yummy and unique!.. We went to this nice little place at Dundas West called "The Hoof Cafe".

They have exquisite and extravagant meat dishes!!... Even though the food is expensive, if you have a craving for foie gras, this is the place to go!..

Doesn't it look GREAT!!! .. you won't be able to know how amazing it is, until you try it!!..

And, with Maple Syrup, is simply delicious!

If you want to try it, here are more details:

The Hoof Cafe

923 Dundas Street West

Phone: 416 551 8854

Rosca de Reyes!

I want to share with all my Canadian & Mexi-Canadian friends this amazing Mexican treat!

I just made Rosca de Reyes for the first time and it actually turned out pretty good. It is a very hard recipe to make. It takes 3 days to prepare so it's pretty intense and requires a lot of concentration and hard work.. but anyways here are the results!

Decorations are supposed to be the traditional dried fruit, but I hate those ... so I am adding a personal touch to it.

I can't wait for all my friends to try it.. 

More Finger Food Recipes

Just because it's Christmas I'll share with you another finger food recipe!!..

This one is tricky, as you have to be really careful with the savoury profiteroles. But don't get scared it's just a matter of paying attention.

Here it goes!..

Savoury Profiteroles

Ingredients:

6 tbsp butter

1 cup of chicken stock

1/2 tsp salt

pepper to season

pinch of paprika

1 cup of flour

3 large eggs

4 ounces of Gruyere cheese coarsely grated

milk for brushing

Directions:

Heat the oven to 375°F. Put the butter in a heavy saucepan, then add the stock, salt, pepper and paprika. Bring to a boil and then pull from heat. Dump the flour in all at once and beat until smooth with a wooden spoon. Put the pan back on low heat and beat for 1 min. to cook the dough.. Remove from the heat and let cool about 3 mins, then add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously with a wooden spoon after adding each one of them. The dough should be smooth, soft and glossy.

After getting that consistency stir in the cheese. Drop the mixture by spoonfuls forming a 2.5 cm balls onto a buttered baking sheet. Brush with milk so they'll get shiny when baked. Bake until puffed at 375°F for 35 mins. approx, or until nicely browned and feather light when you pick one up. Let them cool in a rack for a couple of mins.

Cut the top of each one and fill the profiteroles with what ever you happen to like (cream cheese with green onions, goats cheese with pesto, blue cheese and walnuts, etc). Then put the little tap on.

This recipe is very good and the best thing is that you can adapt it to whatever your likes are. Add your favourite toppings and make it your own.

Finger Food!

With all the festivities coming up it's very important to have some quick and easy recipes so you can entertain your guests!!...

We had my Chaparrito's Bday Party a couple of weeks ago and I decided that instead of cooking lots of food I was going to do something simple and tiny, but yummy at the same time..

A couple of friends also brought some yummy creations!!... They owe me the recipes!! Mike I want that pork recipe ASAP!... hahahaha ... Anyways .. knowing some of you have probably lots of Christmas parties coming up, I will share with you a couple of recipes so you can make finger food a real delight!..

Smoked Salmon on a cracker

Ingredients:

16 slices of smoked salmon
1/2 cup of cream cheese or goat's cheese
1 tbsp of mustard or if using goat's cheese you can use a tbsp of honey
2 green onions (thinly sliced)
crackers

Directions:

On your work surface lay out an approx. 45 x 30 cm plastic wrap and on top of it overlap the salmon slices to form a rectangle.

On a food processor toss the remaining smoked salmon, cheese, mustard, green onions and puree until smooth. Spread the mixture in an even layer on top of the smoked salmon slices.

Roll the smoked salmon into a tight log similar as making a roll of sushi. Use the plastic wrap to help you roll the salmon tightly. Pinch the plastic wrap on both ends and then roll the log until it tightens and forms a cylinder.

Freeze for a couple of hours to help it firm. When it's firm enough to cut, slice it into even rounds and place each one on top of the cracker.

And voilà!