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!

Spicy Garlic Shrimp or should I say .... "Camarones al Ajillo"?

The extreme Canadian COLD is just around the corner, and for me, it's inevitable to envy all those people who are just now in a pair of flip flops just chilling at the beach!!!!. Anyways, my philosophy is that if you can't go to the beach ... you have to bring the beach to you!.. Period.

So the other day I was just in the mood for a tropical Mexican dish. Every time I go to the beach, and most of the times it happened to be in Mexico..... I always, always have to eat Camarones al Ajillo (spicy garlic shrimp). It's one of my favourite seafood dishes. The spiciness, the shrimp, the garlic... I don't know what it is, but the mix of all those flavours together are a delight!!..

So I will share my beach day with you guys!!!

Camarones al Ajillo

Ingredients:

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3 dry red chiles or chili flakes
1 pound of shrimps
the juice of 1 lemon
sea salt
2 tbsp of Paprika (add more if you like)
steamed white rice

Directions:

In a large sautee pan, add the olive oil, garlic and chiles. Let it cook for 3 mins in high heat until you start smelling the garlic. Bring the pan to medium high heat, add the shrimps and sautee until pink.

Remove the pan from the heat, add the lemon juice, salt and paprika. Mix everything together until it gets an even coating.

Serve immediately while it's super hot, on top of the steamed white rice or any other thing you like.. I happen to love spinach so ...

ENJOY!

Celebrating the day of the dead!

So, Halloween came and went in an instant and soon Christmas will be here.... Life goes by pretty quickly and Mexicans know how to joke and have a good laugh from it. One of the festivities I love the most from the Mexican culture is the way people celebrate the Day of the Dead on Nov 1st all Saints' Day and Nov 2nd All Souls' Day. Traditions include building altars for friends and family members who have died.

There are lots of details in those altars; people cook the favourite food of the departed, light candles to guide them on their way back and place glasses with water so they don't get thirsty when they come down to visit us. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so that the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them. Families visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and decorate their graves with ofrendas (offerings), which often include orange marigolds called xempoalxochitl. These flowers are thought to attract souls of the dead to the offerings. Toys are brought for dead children, and bottles of tequila, mezcal, pulque or jars of atole for adults. Pillows and blankets are left out so that the deceased can rest after their long journey. Is part of the tradition to write creative and fun poems as well, called "calaveras" (skulls), mocking epitaphs of friends or funny anecdotes.

One of the best things from this celebration is that you get to eat lots and lots of "Pan de Muerto" or Bread of the Dead which is a type of sweet bread that is very yummy. I was really worried that I wouldn't get the chance to taste it this year ...So I decided to bake "Pan de Muerto". Why not?!.. I mean, I do love to cook. I started looking for online recipes and found really crappy ones BUT.. ended up finding one from a Mexican baker which was great. It has been the most complicated recipe I have ever made! I spent a whole day working on the bread and kneading the dough for almost 45 mins.... it's not an easy task. But I did it!! I made Pan de Muerto and it was great!!!!...

Even though I am not in Mexico we had the chance to celebrate this festivity at Harbourfront Centre. Every year the Mexican embassy organizes it. We heard mariachi, saw great costumes and enjoy the Day of the Dead in Canada.

Meeting my favourite CHEF!

Last Wednesday I met my favourite Food Network Chef!!..

Not only he is one of the best Canadian Chefs, but he is also one of the tallest guys I've ever met!!.. I have to say he has inspired me to become a better cook!..

Now I have his new book specially autographed and I can't wait to start cooking, all recipes look so yummy !!..

One of the things I loved about the book is that he gives freestyle variations in every recipe, and that is a great way to start getting creative!

And as he said in his interview at Indigo last week, "It doesn't really matter what you end up with, when you've decided to cook, you've done it, you've succeeded! Cheers!"

Thanksgiving my Way!

It's the second year we welcome the thanksgiving festivity in our Mexican home!.. But as Thanksgiving means lots of food and basically enjoyment.. it really doesn't matter what you have for dinner as long as you fully enjoy it. My thinking is, if you are thankful it should be because you are having a hell of a dinner... am I right?? .. Turkey for my isn't that important, what's important for me is to prepare what my audience is asking for.. and in this case the ask was for some Homemade Pizza and Apple Pie.

I suppose this time is all about sharing so .. here it goes ..

Salmon Pizza

Ingredients:
Pizza Dough
1 cup lukewarm water
1 tsp sugar
1 envelope yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour, more if needed

Topping
2 cups milk
1 x bay leaf
1 piece of onion
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 tin crab, about 4-1/2 ounces, drained
1 cup goat cheese
6 ounces hot-smoked salmon, cut into small, bite-sized pieces
2 x slices cold-smoked salmon (optional)
About 5 green onions, chopped

Directions:
For the Pizza Dough

Sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the water in a large bowl and let sit 10 minutes. Add the oil, salt, and half the flour. Beat smooth. Knead in the remaining flour, more as needed, to create a soft dough that doesn’t stick to the hands. Cover in a bowl and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Punch down the dough and stretch it out to fit on a pizza sheet.

While the dough is rising, make the béchamel: Bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan with the bay leaf and onion. Turn off the heat, cover, and leave to infuse 15 minutes. Melt the butter in another saucepan, then whisk in the flour, and keep whisking on the heat for a full minute to cook out the flour taste. Slowly whisk in the milk, until smooth, and cook, stirring until thick, 3 minutes. Stir in the crab, and half the goat cheese.

Heat the oven to 400ºF/200ºC. Distribute pieces of hot-smoked salmon over the pizza crust. Spoon the sauce over top (this will protect it from overcooking). Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and the chopped white part of the green onions, reserving the chopped green for garnish later. Bake 25 minutes until the crust is crisp. Scatter the green of the onions over. To finish it, lay on a few slivers of cold-smoked salmon for extra colour and extra flavour.

Enjoy!!..

AND....

Happy Thanksgiving!!