Video From the Tropics: Chocolate Snowballs with Almonds (en/es)
We love the land and the many gifts Mother and Father nature share with us, specially in the Tropics. After traveling the world and experiencing the wonders and learning one step at the time, we feel proud for always coming back to our country Panama to share the bounty. Just share what you know and love, after that...everything will make total sense. It maybe is your purpose in life or just a hobby, but just do it and you will feel reinvented and well loved.
It feels fantastic to me, but...how about you, how do you feel when you share your love?
Oh! Regarding the video, it is show #6, cooking segment of "Living Made Simple in Panama." It has been really exciting to work with Aimee Arnold de Lindo. Now you will be able to learn how to prepare "Chocolate Snowball Cookies with Almonds." Let us know how do you like them!
There will be many good things to come, we will keep you posted. Its a promise!
Have a fantastic and extra tasty rest of the week!
Love,
Melissa
Getting Hot in May: Limonada Caliente con Ron, Canela y Clavo (Hot lemonade with rum, cinnamon and clove)
It has been raining cats and dogs recently in the tropics, that's why sometimes a warm drink, with a full body and delicious spices is the best answer to warm all us up. Pure coziness.
Why would you enjoy preparing this drink? Well, just because I can sense the sinfully delight it will bring to your life, AND because:
- You probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen.
- It is easy to prepare, just a few steps, that's it.
- It looks beautiful and it is really fragrant. Convinced?
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup fresh lime juice (or lemon if you prefer)
- 1/2 cup honey or light brown sugar to taste
- 1 stick cinnamon and 2-3 whole cloves
- 1/2 cup dark rum
- Garnish: lime or lemon slices
Directions:
- Combine the water, lime juice, honey, cinnamon and cloves in a saucepan. Simmer over medium heat, stirring, until honey disolves. Remove from heat and stir in the rum. Pour the beverage into mugs or glasses and garnish with lime slices.
Enjoy hot or cold! Try it and you will experience what I am talking about. Trust me on this one!
Delicias en Phyllo: Deditos de Almendra y Pepitas de Marañon
Publicado el viernes 19 de enero de 2007 - Edición No. 878 de la Revista Ellas, Diario La Prensa.
Pruebe otras recetas con phyllo: Pizza Vegetariana, Tarta de Mango!
Rinde para preparar 8-12 deditos
Ingredientes:
- 1 taza de almendras peladas, blanqueadas (blanched almonds)
- 1/2 taza de pepitas de marañón, asadas y sin sal
- 1/2 taza de azúcar blanca
- 1 huevo, ligeramente batido
- 1 cucharada de extracto de vainilla
- 1 cucharadita de canela en polvo
- 8-12 hojas de pasta phyllo (phyllo pastry)
- mantequilla derretida o aceite en aerosol (cantidad necesaria)
- azúcar impalpable (opcional, para decorar)
Procedimiento:
Colocar los 3 primeros ingredientes en el procesador de alimentos y
moler muy fino. Incorporar el huevo, la canela y el extracto de
vainilla y procesar hasta formar una pasta homogénea. Con la masa
formar una bola y colocarla en una bolsa plástica para alimentos
(Ziploc), o en un recipiente con tapa hermética, en el refrigerador por
1 hora. Precalentar el horno a 350° por 10 minutos.
Colocar una hoja de pasta phyllo en una superficie limpia, sobre una lámina de papel encerado. Cubrir el resto de las hojas de pasta phyllo con un papel toalla, limpio y húmedo para que no se resequen. Remover la mezcla de almendras y pepitas del refrigerador. Tomar 2-3 cucharadas de la mezcla y darle forma de cilindro de aprox. 2 pulgadas de diámetro (ancho). Con una brocha para cocinar, untar la hoja de phyllo con mantequilla derretida, o rociar con aceite en aerosol. Colocar este cilindro en uno de los lados más cortos de la hoja de pasta phyllo, dejando 1 pulgada libre desde el borde para facilitar el enrollado. Enrollar la pasta estilo cigarro, doblando los extremos para adentro. Esto ayudará a que el relleno permanezca dentro. Una vez terminado de enrollar, colocar en una bandeja engrasada. Repetir la operación hasta utilizar todo el relleno y hojas disponibles. Hornear por 15 minutos o hasta que estén doraditas. Remover del horno y dejar enfriar por 15 minutos. Luego, con la ayuda de un colador seco y limpio, decorar con azúcar impalpable y canela molida. Servir con una taza de café calentita o té de menta para cerrar con broche de oro una velada con sus amistades o familia.
Buen provecho!
Melissa
From the Tropics: Red Hibiscus Tea Pops with Yogurt
Certain flowers are not only for decoration, they could also be in your salad and satiate your thirst with an invigorating, magically sensual brew. Do I have your attention now?
The benefits of cooking with tea seem endless. In many cases, when you cook with tea, it retains many of the essential vitamins as well as the antioxidants. Tea is not only a refreshing and delicious beverage, but also very versatile and exotic ingredient that is hitting the kitchens of the adventurous cooks all over the world. How about cooking with tea today? Here we are sharing a simple, yet fantastic recipe to tickle your creativity. It could be prepared with fresh hibiscus petals, or red hibiscus tea.
Ingredients
- 1 cup boiling water
- 4 tablespoons red hibiscus tea (or the petals only of 4 red hibiscus, washed)*
- 1 cup sugar or honey (or to taste)
- 3 cups original flavor yogurt (regular or low in fat)
Preparation
Pour boiling water over hibiscus tea, or hibiscus petals. Brew 5-10 minutes, or until it has reached a very intense red color. Remove tea bags, OR put the liquid through a very fine sieve to remove solids. Discard solids / used tea bag.
Combine tea with sugar and stir until dissolved. Cool completely and then add the yogurt and stir until the tea has been distributed evenly. You will get a pink beautiful yogurt. So sexy!
Pour mixture into ice pop molds and freeze until firm. To serve, press firmly on bottom and sides of molds to remove. If using paper cups, freeze mixture until almost firm and then insert Popsicle sticks into centers. Freeze until firm.
Recipe yields 6-8 Popsicles.
Important: if you are using fresh hibiscus petals, make sure they have not been exposed to pesticides.
Related posts:
- Cooking with Saril = Jamaica = Roselle, Hibiscus Sabdariffa
- Edible Flowers: The Marvelous Hibiscus
- Edible Flowers: The Red Velvet Rose of Love
- Hibiscus: More than just a Beautiful Flower
This post is my contribution for this week's Kalyn's Kitchen Weekend Herb Blogging.
Don't forget to visit her blog on Sunday night to check out all the
other great posts that always get submitted for this event!
Tags: weekend herb blogging, hibiscus, cookingdiva, cooking, panama
From the Tropics: Champagne Sorbet
Sorbet is the French name for sherbet, long popular as a cooling sweet made from fruit juice, liqueur or wine. Sorbets are so versatile, they can be served as a first course, between courses or as dessert. The champagne added before freezing creates an interestingly flavored sorbet. Use about 1 cup alcohol to 1 pound of fruit or two cups of fruit juice.
This sorbet is easy to make. When the sorbet comes out of the ice cream maker, it can be eaten immediately, although it will be very soft. For a firmer consistency, transfer it to a freezer container and freeze for two to three hours to allow the sorbet to harden. If you do not have an ice cream maker, you can freeze the mixture in a large metal pan, stirring occasionally as it begins to freeze. However, the texture will be fairly icy. If sorbet is too hard, it can be crushed and serve as a granita.
Still Kickin' - Divine Wine from South America
The confession: The popping noise gives me goose bumps. I have always loved wine, but now The Enthusiast woke up and life would never be the same. Being passionate about the world of wine makes my mission in life to search and purchase wine to enjoy with family and friends. If this requires traveling the world, then so be it.
Nothing gets my juices going like a wine tour in the most exotic of places, wearing, of course a t-shirt that proclaims me as the "Wine Diva." Nevertheless I am not afraid any more to spit and criticize or swirl and admire as a wine demands.
Now, I am finally back home from the Wine Tour.
I missed you very much, but have to admit the Wine Tour was an unique and espectacular opportunity to explore my beloved Argentina and Uruguay in a new way. Loved to argue over a chardonnay and found the romance of corks irresistible.
Andres Rosberg, a fine gentleman that happens to be the President of the Argentinian Association of Sommeliers, traveled with our small group trough the top vineyards of his country and Uruguay. Winery after winery, I lost track of how many wines we tasted, but I sure remember the places we visited:
First, Cafayate in the Salta province. There we stayed at the Cafayate Wine Resort. We visited Bodega El Esteco, and later we went to Bodega Laborum and vineyard. We had lunch at the home of the Laborum owner, Marcelo Romero, who is the brother of the governor of the province.
October 8 was the perfect day to visit the Domingo Hermanos Winery. It was sunny with a refreshing breeze that accompany us through our journey. Thirty minutes away was the San Pedro de Yacochuya winery waiting for us. The delicious lunch was as good as their wine.
Then, Mendoza. What an unique place. We stayed at the Park Hyatt Hotel, and to tell you the truth I could NOT resist the temptation to nurture my wine-loving body with one of their beauty treatments with wine. Oh my! It was quite sticky, but I loved every second of it. Ahhh...
Tomorrow I will write about the places we visited in Mendoza, including a great video featuring "the making of empanadas in a rustic oven made of mud." Stay Tuned!
Now, I leave you with a link to Asado Argentina, a very nice blog on Argentinian Asado. They have an array of recipes and tips to cook the perfect asado and side dishes to accompany such a delicacy.
AND, if you are in the mood for some Argentinian Empanadas and Chimichurri Sauce, check out this scrumptious recipe. You WON'T regret it.
Have a tasty afternoon!
Melissa
Tags: argentina, food blogs, cookingdiva, cooking, panama, recipes, food & drink, food, chef melissa
Luscious Thai Truffles
This is an unusual combination of sweet flavors with spicy, hot sensations. Traditionally, cuisines from temperate regions of the world, as such as Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and the Mediterranean have always combined these ingredients. This time we are celebrating this widely known aprhodisiac in the form of a truffle. Enjoy!
Yield 50 truffles
Ingredients:
1 lb(16 oz) Semi sweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon “Thai Curry Paste for desserts” or to taste, recipe follows.
- 1-1/2 cups heavy
cream
Important Note:
- 1 stalk lemon grass, finely sliced. Use only the bottom 6”of the stalk.
- 1 teaspoon lime zest, preferably kaffir lime, but any lime will do!
- 1-2 dried Thai bird chilies, seeds removed.
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cardamon pods, husked
- 1- 1/4 teaspoons turmeric
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1-1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon fresh galangal or ginger root, minced (see Chef's note)
- 1 tablespoon coconut
milk (optional)
- Dry toast cumin, coriander, cardamom and cinnamon in a skillet under medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Do not leave unattended, and shake the pan often to prevent burning. Remove from heat, cool.
- If making in a
mortar and pestle, pound all the ingredients into a smooth paste. If making in
a blender or food processor, blend everything into a smooth paste. Transfer to
a small container and keep refrigerated or frozen. Read Chef’s note.
Enjoy,
Chef Melissa
Tags: chocolate, food blogs, cookingdiva, cooking, panama, panama chefs, food & drink, food, recipes
You will LOVE this recipe: Champagne Sorbet
Sorbet is the French name for sherbet, long popular as a cooling sweet made from fruit juice, liqueur or wine. Sorbets are so versatile, they can be served as a first course, between courses or as dessert.
The champagne added before freezing creates an interestingly flavored sorbet. Use about 1 cup alcohol to 1 pound of fruit or two cups of fruit juice.
This sorbet is easy to make. When the sorbet comes out of the ice cream maker, it can be eaten immediately, although it will be very soft. For a firmer consistency, transfer it to a freezer container and freeze for two to three hours to allow the sorbet to harden. If you do not have an ice cream maker, you can freeze the mixture in a large metal pan, stirring occasionally as it begins to freeze. However, the texture will be fairly icy. If sorbet is too hard, it can be crushed and serve as a granita.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound fresh, ripe, unblemished apricots or mangos.
- 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
- 1 cup champagne
Directions:
Peel apricots and cut into wedges. Place apricot wedges, sugar and champagne in blender or food processor; blend until pureed. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions, OR for 3 hours, stirring 3 times during freezing. A well made sorbet will have soft, smooth consistency. Serve immediately and Enjoy! Yields 4 servings
Felices Pascuas!
Melissa
Visit Tasty Recipes - Chef Melissa's recipe and post index.
Tags: champagne, food blogs, cookingdiva, cooking, panama, recipes panama, food & drink, food, chef melissa
Coffee Paradise I: not only for the coffee lovers!
***Free Hao Wu!***
In my every day quest to find artisan, unique gourmet products, and obviously being under the influence of some highly rated Andean coffee, I found Cafe Galletti's Chocoffee (chocolate coverd coffee beans) in my last day in Quito, Ecuador.
Far from imagining that the casual find of such an overcaffeinated, awakening treat will lead me to meet one of the most dedicated and talented couples I have ever met, I proceeded to contact them through the information provided on the cute label. Yes! I've got to like the label, that is the first rule, baby! :)
To my surprise, Ena Galletti was as charming as anyone could be, and her husband Don Galleti, even after ten years living in Ecuador, has not lost his one hundred miles-per minute Italian-New Yorker spirit. Their product offering was more than I could have ever imagined: immaculate, organic, fresh, carefully crafted, artfully presented, uplifting fragrant, naturally energizing and ready to give you the bust needed, just when you want it. I was in heaven...Coffee and Herbs heaven to be more specific!
From a life achievement of trolling from north to south and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, you've got to believe me when I tell you that I know about good coffee when I feel its perfume, admire the perfect roast, or enjoy the cracking beans.
Far from denying the popular belief "Nothing beats a cup of coffee," I challenge your coffee knowledge and Starbucks expertise with the following question: "What makes a gourmet espresso coffee so special?, What is the secret to prepare the best espresso ever?"
I'll be back soon with the answers, and you will learn about the why and the when of the espresso making, and also will get the scoop on some fantastic recipes elaborated with Ena Galletti's organic herbal-fruit-flower blends.
Con mucho sabor,
Melissa
Visit Tasty Recipes - Chef Melissa's recipe and post index.
Tags: ecuador, food blog, cookingdiva, chef, food, recipes, food & drink, coffee, cooking
Holiday Sweetness: "The Sweet Tooth from the Tropics"
Now, ...every time I close my eyes, the spirit of the "holiday baking fairy" arrives with all those magical, almost baked perfumes. Oh, how vivid and fragrant those cookies, cakes, breads, puddings, brownies and cocadas are. Once the holiday baking fairy arrives, the best way to handle the situation is to surrender, to love and enjoy the experience. Do not tell me later I didn´t warn you! :)
It is such a magical time to spend with the family and friends, just the perfect time to explore and honor your roots. Give, give, and give; bake, bake and BAKE as much as you can (AND as far as your pantry credit allows you!). If you are feeling a little nostalgic or sad, because of the "Forgotten", ...I have the right answer for you. It has worked wonders for me and many others. For sure, every little soul that you share your love with, will love you back and will remember you for a long time. PLEASE have a bake-down. Bake, bake and bake until you drop. Do not forget to share, share and share with others your holiday baking bounty, OR you will be putting on some graciously tasty holiday extra pounds! I have been there.
By now you may KNOW (I think), that I was born with a privileged sweet tooth (well, ...lets forget about that time when I was 6 yo and ate the complete tube of "peppermint toothpaste", please??? It was only once, I promise!). Other than that little incident my sweet tooth´s record is impeccable. So, to honor the worldwide sweetness and specially the sweet tooth from the tropics and my dear Latin American countries, we will share with you three delicious recipes:
- First: "Chef Melissa's Cashew & Chocolate Brownie Cookies"
- Second: "Cocada Blanca", by Chef Patricia McCausland-Gallo, the talented chef behind "Secrets of Colombian Cooking". This is a very special recipe, dear to the heart of the children and grown ups in Colombia, Panamá, and most of the Latin American countries. Chef Patricia shares with Us, one of her favorite recipes with delicious step by step photos.
- And third: "Tres Leches", by Chef Elena Hernandez. She has shared with you already her "How to roast a pig the Cuban way", and now is time for some sweet stuff! :)
Come with me now to get the delicious recipes!...
Edible Flowers: The Red Velvet Rose of Love
I discovered flowers were edible back in my early pre-chef adventures, when I had the perfect height to hide in my great grandmother's garden and eat her favorite miniature white roses without being found. Those were great days full of pure innocent adventure and joyful rewards from mother and father nature.
The diversity and mystery of our tropical rainforest always captured my attention. Learning the value of natural medicine through my life, the healing benefits of plants and flowers, have helped me develop a natural instinct to preserve the traditional knowledge that has been carried by our cultures over the ages.
In the kitchen, this beautiful flower has a very important roll. It might sound a little odd because of the rose's romantic connotations, but in fact, roses have been eaten since ancient times. Romans were used to sprinkle rose petals on food, the table, and all over the banquet hall.
Rose petals, fresh, dried and crystallized can be added as a garnish to a salad, made into an infusion for tea and other beverages, desserts, as well as prepared into candies, marmalade, sauces, rose sugar, and soups. Rose petals, rose water and rose syrup are still widely used in the cuisines of the Middle East. Greek baklava, for instance, is originally served with a drizzle of rose syrup.
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