Apple Crisp

There's nothing better than being able to make a super easy dessert -- especially an easy one that tastes really good.

This Apple Crisp recipe comes from celebrity chef Rachel Ray . All you need are apples, lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, flour, and butter. I loved the smell of the cinnamon and nutmeg as I mixed them together with the other ingredients. I also love how I could taste the ingredients nicely blended together. The ice cream makes a nice addition.

This dessert is made especially for FoodCrazee, who celebrates his birthday today. I hope you like it! I hope everyone likes it. Happy birthday, FoodCrazee!

Happy birthday, also, to those who celebrated birthdays this month of April -- Michelle and Pille. I wish you all a wonderful birthday year!

Best,
Paz

Apple Crisp straight out of the oven

Apple Crisp
6 McIntosh apples, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup flour or fine graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
1 pint vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a 9 by 12 baking dish, combine apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar.

In a small bowl, mix flour or graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and butter together using the tines of a fork and your fingers, working until even, small crumbles form.

Sprinkle topping evenly over apples and bake 15 to 20 minutes until apples are just tender and topping is golden brown.

Top dishes of apple crisp with small scoops of vanilla ice cream. YUM!

Blog Index for The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz now available!

Hi All:

Just in case you get that burning desire to reread certain posts like the time I burned the chocolate while making cordial cherries, or my attempt to make parathas that turned out as thick as car tires, or any of my other cooking adventures, I've finally managed to put together a blog index. ;-)

You can find it in the side bar links section or here.

Best,
Paz

Bobó de Camarão - Shrimp and Creamy Cassava Sauce

I decided to try the Brazilian dish called Bobó de Camarão (Shrimp and Creamy Cassava Sauce), a recipe from Karen of Kafka na Praia.

The title intrigued me a bit. Creamy cassava sauce? I've had cassava plenty of times but not as a sauce. And, of course, I've eaten rice many times (It's actually a food staple in my household). However, I'd never had the combination of rice and cassava as recommended in the recipe.

The sauce ingredients consisted of shrimp, cassava (boiled and then pureed), tomatoes, chives, parsley, onions, garlic, red bell pepper, coconut milk, cilantro (I love cilantro!!!), milk, and palm nut oil (dende oil).

While living in Africa, many of my childhood meals contained palm nut oil. I remember we even had a huge palm nut tree in our back yard. However, it is high in cholesterol and saturated fat. Especially, here in the U.S., it's not considered a heart-happy oil, so we don't often cook with it and try to avoid eating it. As a result, I had no palm nut oil in my kitchen cupboard. Some ethnic food markets sell the oil but I didn't have time to go out and buy it.

Instead of palm nut oil, I used olive oil. I know there's a big difference between the oils -- from taste to appearance. However, the olive oil worked out very well.

The cassava sauce ingredients blended together very well. Everything complimented each other to bring out a delicious taste in the sauce.

My favorite part of making the meal was adding the cilantro to the sauce. Have I told you that I love cilantro? Oh, yes, I think I have. For those who don't care for cilantro, I'm sure that you can substitute it with flat leaf parsley.

As the recipe directs, I served my cassava sauce hot with white rice.

I made one adjustment to the recipe: I added hot pepper flakes.

Onion, garlic, red bell pepper, tomatoes -- waiting to be chopped

Cassava



Cassava chopped

You can find the recipe here. Obrigada! Thanks, Karen! Different and delicious!

Paz

New York Monday # 21- 125th Street: Capital of Black America

*I've been trying to post this since early Monday morning but have been having some technical problems with Blogger. Sorry about that.


We had a rainy weekend in the city. About a month's worth of rain fell within the past two days. Yet, the weather didn't stop New Yorkers from coming out and doing business as usual.

Here are a few photos of 125th Street in Harlem. This two-way main street has been called the Capital of Black America. It stretches across town from the east to west side and is filled with lots of people, stores, and businesses.

The first two photos include the statute of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. A minister and politician, he was the first African American from New York elected to U.S. Congress.

The third and fourth photos are of a once famous hotel -- The Hotel Theresa. Known as the Waldorf Astoria of Harlem, its patrons included Fidel Castro, Malcom X, Mohammed Ali, Josephine Baker, Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong, Jimi Hendrix, and Duke Elington. John F. Kennedy compaigned for presidency at the hotel. Today the hotel has been turn into an office building.

The sixth photo includes the sign of the once largest department store -- called Blumstein -- in Harlem. It no longer exists.

You'll see a glimpse of the Apollo theater, a venue especially popular during the Harlem Renaissance for Black entertainers. Today all types of artists perform there.

You can see a few more photos of 125th Street in the New York Monday #7 post.

Have a good week!

Paz

Weekend Herb Blogging #29 - Daffodils

I've been seeing a lot of daffodils (botanic name Narcissus) around the city. That's because it flowers mainly during Spring time. However, certain Narcissus bloom in autumn.

These cheerful looking flowers are poisonous. If eaten, the consequences can be fatal. To read more about daffodils, look here.

Paz

*One can blog about herbs, plants, vegetables, or flowers for Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB). To see the list of other interesting WHB posts, go to Kalyn's Kitchen, Sunday afternoon.

Uova e Pomarola - Eggs in Tomato Sauce

There have been a number of foods that I never liked... until I started to cook and learned to prepare them. The tomato is one of those foods. Lately, I've been finding a lot of good tomato recipes on other foodblogs.

Ilva of Lucullian Delights posted a wonderful and simple recipe -- Uova e Pomarola/Eggs in Tomato Sauce -- that caught my eye the other day. I had all the ingredients and was in the mood for eggs and tomatoes. So, I gave it a try. Very pleased with the recipe, I've made it more than once.

The first time, I used cherry tomatoes but didn't have enough. I ended up with more onions than tomatoes and an egg. However, the dish still tasted really good.

First time -- More onions than tomatoes

The second time I made this recipe, I used regular-sized tomatoes. The instructions warn against making a watery sauce before adding the egg to the tomatoes. However, my sauce had turned watery. I'm not sure why. Can anyone tell me? Is it because I did not seed the tomatoes before cooking them? At one point, I had to take the pan off the stove and pour out the excess liquid.

My Uova e Pomarola/Eggs in Tomato Sauce still tasted divine. I plan on continuing to make it till I get it right. In the meantime, if you haven't already, you really have to see Ilva's photo of the dish. It is so enticing. Look here! Thanks Ilva for the tasty recipe and beautiful photo.

Paz

Uova e Pomarola or Eggs in Tomato Sauce

1 egg

8-10 cherry tomatoes or 250 gr ripe fresh tomatoes

½ onion

½ clove of garlic

½ peperoncino or some other type of chili pepper

Salt
Olive oil

- Chop the onion and the garlic. Put that and the crumbled peperoncino in a pan (of a size that suits the number of servings you are preparing) and fry it gently in some olive oil.

- Chop the tomatoes and add them to the pan. Add salt and some sugar as well if the tomatoes need to be sweeter.

- Let it simmer until the sauce has thickened, it is important that it isn’t watery when you break the egg into it.

- Make a little pit, break the egg (is it called like this??!!) and slip it into the pit. Cover the pan and let it cook until the egg is ready.

-Serve and enjoy!

New York Monday #20 - On the Streets

On the streets....

Have a great week, everyone!

Paz

Blessed Easter! Joyous Passover! Happy Spring!

Roast Chicken with Peppers

The recent Around the World meme, asks what recipes I've bookmarked while reading other foodblogs. Here is an example of one of the many recipes that I've noted -- a Roast Chicken with Peppers recipe from CJ's Food Fantasy.

I love that it's a filling, tasty, healthy, colorful (I like colorful meals), and easy recipe to prepare. According to the recipe, you roast the chicken for 15 minutes before adding the peppers and onions. However, I let the chicken roast a lot longer before adding them. It worked out better for me that way.

Thanks, Tin! You'll find her recipe below.

Paz

Straight from the roasting pan

Roast Chicken With Peppers
1 cut-up chicken (3 to 31/2 pounds) but I prefer to use chicken thighs
3 tbsp. olive oli, divided
1 1/2 tbsp. chopped rosemary or 1 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/4 tsp. salt, divided
3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, divided
3 bell peppers (preferably 1 red, 1 yellow and 1 green)
1 medium onion

*Heat oven to 375F.

Rinse chicken in a cold water; pat dry with paper towel.

Place on shallow roasting pan.

Combine 2 tbsp. of the oil, rosemary and lemon juice; brush over chicken.

Sprinkle 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper over chicken.

Roast 15 minutes.

*Cut bell peppers lengthwise into 1/2 -inch thick strips. Slice onion into thin wedges. Toss vegatables with remaining 1 tbsp. oil, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.

Spoon vegetables around chicken; roast until vegetables are tender and chicken is cooked through, about 40 minutes.

New York Monday #19 - A Spring Day in the City

A spring day in the city.

Have a wonderful week!

Paz

ED NOTE: Thanks to The Chocolate Lady's clarification, the white flowers in the first photo are from the Callery Pear. I did not post a close up, but the second two photos are of big tulip-shaped pink and white flowers. These are Magnolias. They are not to be confused with Japanese cherry blossoms, which are soft, pink and puffy and have an unusual horizontal grain of bark. The last photo of a yellow bush is a Forsythia.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

These muffins are made in celebration of Jan's birthday. She's such a witty and fun-loving person.

I got the recipe from Tania and made some minor adaptations to the recipe:

She made mini muffins but I made mine regular size. It calls for semi sweet chocolate chips, but I didn't have enough, so I added white chocolate chips.

The recipe also calls for ground allspice. I didn't have that so I substituted it for cinnamon, which seemed to work well.

Lastly, the recipe mentions grated nutmeg. Instead I used a smaller amount of ground nutmeg.

The muffins taste good, especially with the banana and chocolate chips blended together.

However, when I make this recipe again, I plan on leaving out the whole wheat flour. I prefer the taste of the All Purpose flour alone (although I'm sure the whole wheat makes the muffin healthier).

The muffins still taste good, so help yourselves, everyone to a Chocolate Chip Banana Muffin. There's plenty for everyone! I think they are perfect for a Sunday treat and birthday celebration.

Thanks for the recipe, Tania and Happy birthday, Jan!

Paz

Chocolate Chip Banana Mini-Muffins

adapted from Pillsbury’s Best Muffins & Quick Breads


1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground allspice

1 egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana

1/3 cup oil

2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400F.

Spray 36 miniature muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

In a large bowl, combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and allspice. Mix well.

In a small bowl, beat egg. Add buttermilk, banana, and oil. Mix well.

Add to flour mixture along with chocolate chips. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.

Bake in prepared oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until muffins are light golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Immediately remove from pan. Serve warm.

Makes 36 mini-muffins.

Enjoy!

Weekend Herb Blogging #27 - Pansy Flower

The Pansy flower

Initially, I only posted a photo of the Pansy flower. Ilva accused me of cheating because I didn't write anything about it ("You BLOGGED a flower, you didn't blog ABOUT a flower," she wrote.). So... here's a little info and an extra pic to go along with the flower. ;-)

A garden flower, the Pansy (also known as a Pansy Violet) is edible (but I don't think I'd eat it.). It comes in an array of varieties and colors -- gold/orange, purple/violet, and a deep blue that looks almost black.

In the Northern part of the United States and Europe, pansies start blooming in the spring. In warm climates, they bloom in the wintertime.

This flower has a life span of two years. They produce greenery in the first year and flowers and seeds in the second year, before dying.

To read more, go here.

Paz

*One can blog about herbs, plants, vegetables, or flowers for Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB). To see the list of other interesting WHB posts, go to Kalyn's Kitchen, Sunday afternoon.

Around the World meme

Photo (c) Copyright 2005 Lucullian delights

Ilva thinks I’ve been slaking off on my blog posts lately. So, she has tagged me for this Around the World meme.

Sorry about the decline in the number of my posts but at the moment, my schedule no longer allows me much time. Also, I’ve been having some serious Internet connection problems, which makes it difficult for me to sometimes access my blog and many of the blogs that I normally read. Oh well, such is life. I’m sure things will get better and I’ll be more active to everyone’s liking again. ;-)

Okay: Here are my answers to the meme:

1. Please list three recipes you have recently book marked from food blogs to try:

Hmmm… that’s hard because I book mark many recipes from various blogs, all the time. To name a few: The Traveler's Lunchbox. As a matter of fact, I think I’ve book marked almost all of the recipes there. The same applies to recipes from Lucullian delights. Oh, and there are recipes from The flying Apple and the Domestic Cat. There’s a wonderful Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Vinaigrette recipe on de Arte Coquinaria. Yum! There’s a Slow Roasted Salmon with Chive Oil recipe on Beyond Salmon… There’s more. I could go on, but I’d better stop here. Oh, wait a minute – I recently saw an okra recipe on Fran’s Flavors… and some recipes from Trembom in English… and more… It’s terribly unfair to ask me to only name three blogs….


2. A food blog in your vicinity
For a long time, I only knew of Mona’s Apple. I’ve since found out there are more like: Foodite, Hold the Raisins, The Hungry Rose, Iron Stomach, and In Mol Araan.... Sorry, I have to name more than one. ;-)


3. A food blog located far from you
Again, I can’t only name just one: Sailu’s Food (India), Rosa’s Yummy Yums (Switzerland), Kafka na Praia (Brazil), 80 Breakfasts (the Philippines), Nami-Nami (Scotland)....


4. A food blog (or several) you have discovered recently (where did you find it?)
Posie’s Place, Kai-Vegan, I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream, and Food for Thought, and Naughty Curry – I believe they’ve all stopped here. Gastronome – I discovered on Cream Puffs in Venice.


5. Any people or bloggers you want to tag with this meme?
Anyone who wants to participate in this meme is very welcome to do so.


Thanks, Ilva, for tagging me!

Paz

Baked Fish and Angel Hair Pasta

Rachael Ray made a Baked Fish and Angel Hair Pasta recipe on her show, and it caught my interest. Why? Guess? Because it’s simple! ;-)

The main ingredients are the fish (cod fish although haddock may be substituted), stewed tomatoes, garlic and parsley. I think the most energy I exerted making this meal occurred as I opened a wine bottle for the stew to go with the fish. I have a small corkscrew in the shape of the Mannekin Pis, which was given to me as a gift in Belgium. I think it's more for show instead of function, but I use it when the need arises. This time I had quite a bit of challenge using it.

Oh, another important ingredient: Angel hair pasta. Let’s not forget that. After I made the baked fish, I mixed the pasta in the juices of the baked fish, giving it flavor. I recommend this recipe.

Paz

Mannekin Pis corkscrew

Baked Fish and Angel Hair Pasta

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, twice-around-the-pan

1 small onion, finely chopped, about 1/3 cup

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 (15-ounce) can stewed tomatoes

3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 pounds cod or haddock, rinsed and dried

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 pound angel hair, cooked just shy of al dente, about 4 or 5 minutes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

To a small skillet preheated over medium heat, add extra-virgin olive oil, onion and garlic.

Cook onions 5 minutes, until translucent.

Add wine to the pan and reduce for 30 seconds.

Add tomatoes and break up the sliced stewed tomatoes with a wooden spoon as they heat through. When the sauce comes to a boil (2 or 3 minutes) remove it from the heat and stir in the parsley.

Season the fish with salt and pepper. Pour a few spoonfuls of sauce into the bottom of a shallow baking dish. Add fish to the dish in a single layer. Add remaining sauce and bake 15 to 17 minutes until fish is firm and opaque.

Remove fish to serving plate or dinner plates. Spoon a few bits of tomato and sauce over the fish.

To the remaining sauce in the baking dish add 2 tablespoons butter cut into small pieces.

Add hot pasta to butter and sauce and turn pasta in dish to coat evenly and to allow pasta to absorb juices.

Pile pasta alongside fish and serve.

If you are entertaining, try bundling portions of pasta around a large, 2-pronged meat fork, by twisting the fork in the pasta allowing it to curl up the fork. Shimmy the twisted pasta off the fork on to a plate you will create pasta "nests." This simple "twist" adds a lot to the plate presentation.

New York Monday #18 - Trees with Name Tags

City trees with nametags -- Callery Pear, Maidenhair Tree, London Plane... Siberian Elm, Japanese Pagoda Tree, Honey Locust, American Elm.... Willow Oak, and Red Oak.

Have a great week!

Paz

Callery Pear

Maidenhair Tree

London Plane



Siberian Elm



Japenese Pagoda Tree



Honey Locust




American Elm



Willow Oak



Red Oak

Rum Butter Cake

The second of April is a very special day. It is the birthday of my dear friend, Angelika. So, I wanted to make a cake for her. A nice and special cake.

Ivonne mentioned a Rum Butter Cake recipe on her blog, which she highly recommend. I take all her recommendations very seriously and decided this would be the cake I'd make for Angelika. You can find the recipe here.

The preparation for the cake went fairly well. After combining the ingredients, then baking the cake, the recipe called for using a bamboo skewer to poke holes into the cake and then drenching it with a butter-rum sauce.

I made the sauce but I didn't have a skewer of any type to poke nice deep holes in the cake. I tried to improvise by using other devices -- toothpick, candle, straw and fork. It just didn't work.

Then it was time to drench the cake. For some reason, I was nervous to pour the entire sauce on the cake; I suppose because I hadn't poked "proper" holes in the cake. I'm not sure. So, instead of drenching the cake, I lightly poured the hot sauce on the cake. I only used a few spoonfuls of the sauce on the cake. The end result was that instead of a Rum Butter Cake, I produced a Cake-with-a-Hint-of-Rum-Butter-taste.

Oh, well! Next time I make the cake, I'll be sure to use a skewer to poke the holes AND drench it good and proper.

In the meantime, I added an extra key ingredient not mentioned in the recipe. I made the cake with lots of love. I hope this makes up for the insufficient taste of rum butter sauce in the cake. ;-)

Happy Birthday, meine liebe Angelika! I wish you a wonderful new birthday year. May all your dreams continue to come true.

Viele Tausend Bussi,

Paz