Bread Pudding

Don't know what to do with leftover baguette? Don't throw them away, make this super easy recipe and its ingredients for sure are in your pantry!

Delicious served hot, and if you want to add other spices like nutmeg, go ahead!

Bread Pudding

Ingredients 

6 slices day-old bread 

2 tablespoons butter, melted 

1/2 cup raisins (optional) 

4 eggs, beaten   

2 cups milk   

3/4 cup white sugar   

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon   

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.  

ENJOY!!!

Caesar Salad

Easiest and most famous salad.  Can be done as side dish with anything or even as a snack.  You can add chicken, shrimp, anything you want as meat.  Usually chicken is the most asked addition to the salad, but plain is also delicious!

Caesar Salad

Ingredients

Around 10 cups of lettuce cut in slices

1/3 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese

Croutons(I did these homemade, but you can buy ready made ones)

Dressing

Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

3 tbsp mustard

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 garlic clove - peeled

2 anchovies (you may need to add another one) [optional]

around 4 tbsp of olive oil

1/3 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese 

Method

Mix in a bowl the lettuce, cheese. Set aside.

Blend all ingredients of the dressing and they are ready to be mixed with the salad - check if you need another anchovy - the taste should reach the perfect saltiness - adding too many anchovies can lead the sauce to taste like fish!.  Salt is not needed because anchovies are already salty. 

Add the croutons and mix slowly. 

PS: You can do this salad without the anchovies, but these add the secret flavor to the salad itself. 

ENJOY!

Beef Strips with onion and Mashed Potato Balls Gratin

This recipe was invented by a cousin of mine.  She is a genius chef! all her food is so delicious! 

The first thing that caught my attention was the look of it.  Seriously, so gorgeous.  Why ruin it? hehehe, but then again, it tastes amazingly good as well, so it's ok, go ahead, and have a piece!

The dish has beef which surely can be substituted with chicken if you want, and the rest are basic ingredients.  Go ahead.  Do it.  And report back!

Beef Strips with onion and Mashed Potato Balls Gratin

Ingredients

1kg of beef (tender) cut into strips (or chicken)

2 onions - cut into sliced wedges (cut it a little thick because they will shrink)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 kg of potato, peeled and washed (6-8 potatoes)

Handful of parsley, chopped

Handful of coriander, chopped

1 tsp of garlic in powder

1tbs of butter

Few tbsp of milk

Salt

Pepper

Shawarma condiment (optional) (This is a Lebanese condiment, its ok if you don't have from it)

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Bechamel

2tbsp butter

2tbsp flour

500ml milk

Grated nutmeg

Sprinkle of Paprika

Salt 

Bay leaf (optional) and half an onion

Method for the beef

Stir fry the onions until golden with little oil.  Set aside.  On same pan, stir fry the beef, sprinkle salt, pepper and shawarma condiment along with the minced garlic.  Once cooked pour on them cooked onion and flip them around.  Turn off the heat once cooked and put them on a rectangular pirex, set aside.

Method of the mashed potato

To cook quickly the potato, slice the potatoes in medium slices and put to boil with little salt.  Once tender, sift them to remove water.  

In a bowl pour in the butter, parsley, coriander, garlic powder, and few tbsp of milk (as per your desire) and put the cooked potatoes on it.  The heat from the potatoes will melt the butter.  Start mashing the potatoes with a potato masher.  Pour salt and pepper and mix them with your hands until well incorporated.  Start making balls and put the balls on top of the beef/onion mixture, one next to the other.  The size of the ball depends on how you like it, can be small, medium or big.

Method for the Bechamel

Melt in a pan the butter, pour the flour and mix quickly it will become as a paste.  Pour in the milk and keep mixing.  If you get pieces like it did not dissolve, just use a hand mixer and keep mixing to boil.  Sprinkle nutmeg, paprika, and salt.  Sometimes in bechamel sauce I put in it a bay leaf plus half an onion (excluding the nutmeg and paprika) it gives an amazing taste, remove them before serving.  Pour in the cream and mix, and set aside to be served.

Pour the bechamel slowly on the potato balls, all around the pirex, and then sprinkle with grated cheese.  Gratin it for few minutes.  Serve hot.

ENJOY! 

Crepe with Nutella and sliced bananas

Crepes are these little thin pancake that are well known everywhere, mainly in France, which is where they come from.  They are good for breakfast or dessert, or seriously, anytime of the day.  They can be filled with sweet ingredients, or savory ones.  They are easier to make than you might think!

 

You can use jam, peanut butter, or nutella and banana stuffing, or any other fruit you like to use! how about nutella and strawberries? topped with sweetened whipped cream?? AHH!!

Also, this recipe suits well for savory stuffing like ricotta and spinach, and bolognese sauce, sooo delicious - I always make these for lunch.  Let alone it being so tasty just sprinkled with sugar and drizzled with honey.  OMG!

 

This crepe recipe is what I always use and I personally think its the best!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• Nutella
• Slices banana (or any other fruit)

Directions

1. Mix everything in a large bowl.
2. Pour 1/4 cup of the mixture into a lightly buttered pan heated at medium.
3. Tilt the pan and turn so that the mixture evenly coats the entire bottom of the pan.
4. Cook the crepe until golden brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes.
5. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown.

Pour nutella on an opened crepe, use a spoon to even it out around it, top if with banana or really, any other fruit you like to.  Fold it, or roll it, or just eat it the way you like it!

ENJOY!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This upside-down cake is a very beautiful and delicious cake.  This cake is usually made in a pan with a curved bottom in which we place pineapple slices and maraschino cherries. Once baked, turned over and allowed to set, the cake is eaten upside-down along with butter and sugar to avoid it sticking to the pan once inverted.

In Brasil, they do the same process their banana cake, where they place sugar, butter, and banana slices and once inverted the cake looks beautiful!

The cake batter also has a tingle of pineapple juice, which we thought it added a delicious taste to it.  Along with not being at all difficult, this cake takes no time to be done and delicious to be served on any occasion.

Ingredients for topping : 
6 slices of can pineapple (drain)
6 maraschino cherries
4 tbsp of butter
4 tbsp of brown sugar

Ingredients for cake :
3/4 cup of sugar
1 1/2 stick of butter (3/4 cup)
3 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of vanilla
1/4 cup of pineapple juice (from the can pineapple)

Method

1. Pre-heat to over to 350 degree F. Grease an 8" round cake pan. Prepare the topping by melting the butter in the microwave oven and pour it into the baking pan.

2. Srinkle the brown sugar on top of the butter and then arrange the pineapple slices over the brown sugar. Place the cherry in the center of each pineapple slice. Set aside.

3. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

4. Cream the butter with the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

5. Add the flour mixture in three parts alternately with the pineapple juice, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat well after each addition. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

6. Bake cake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge, and invert the cake onto a plate. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature. 

ENJOY!

Chicken Rice / Arroz con Pollo

Colombian-Style arroz con pollo is one of the best recipes you could do! Rice with chicken is one of the most popular dishes in Colombia and South America, but every country has their own variation.

It is somehow like the seafood Paella we know, but instead it is made of chicken, and achiote/annatto powder which will give it a nice orange/yellowish color, and we add to this dish lots of garlic and coriander.  The garlic will not make the dish taste garlicky, instead, it will make it delicious.

 

Chicken Rice / Arroz con Pollo

Ingredients:

1.2kg chicken, assorted pieces

1 tbs achiote powder

1 tbs ground cumin

½ tbs ground coriander

10 garlic cloves, crushed

2-3 tbs oil

1 white onion, diced

2 celery stalks, finely diced

4 tomatoes, peeled and diced

half red pepper and half green pepper, diced

6 sliced hot dogs (Optional)

3 ½ cup water or broth

2 cups rice

2 medium carrots, diced

1 cup peas, fresh or frozen

3 tbs finely chopped cilantro

Salt and pepper

Preparation: 

Mix the crushed garlic, achiote, cumin, coriander and salt together.

 Rub the garlic seasoning on the chicken pieces. 

Heat the oil or butter on medium high heat in large sauté pan, add the chicken pieces (skin side down) and cook until browned on each side. 

Add the diced onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, and celery, mix well and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

 Add the sliced hot dogs

Add the rice, peas and carrots, mix well.

Add the broth or water, and coriander, also the salt and pepper.

Cover and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes. 

Reduce the heat to low and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the rice is tender but still slightly firm. 

ENJOY!

Russian Salad

This is a very delicious salad and a very good side dish with everything! Mostly it is made to accompany beef and poultry recipes, specially grilled barbeque.

There are so many variations of this classic potato salad, some even without the potatoes, but this one  is the main one we make at home: potatoes, peas, carrots, and mayonnaise. I like to add a little bit of vinegar, sometimes lemon juice.

Some people add to it eggs, pickles, apples, green onion, depends on the taste.  Add any if you love it!

Russian Salad

Ingredients

2 large potatoes, diced

3 carrots, diced

1 cup and half of frozen peas

handful of chopped parsley

1 cup and half of mayonnaise 

Salt

1 teaspoon and half of white vinegar

Olive oil

Method

Cut the vegetables into cubes and cook them in boiled water separately, because each has its own cooking time. The ideal point is al dente.

Place cooked vegetables in a bowl.

 

Season with olive oil, salt, vinegar and then add the mayonnaise and the parsley.  Mix gently to avoid any veggies from breaking out/mashing.

Serve cold.

ENJOY! 

No Bake Brownie Balls

Looking for a healthy nutritious snack? something to satisfy your sweet tooth but does not ruin your diet?  Then you need to make some No Bake Brownie Balls!

The recipe for No Bake Brownie Balls does not include eggs, butter, or processed sugar but they taste like they do. Why? I think it is the combination of the dates and almonds (sugary and buttery) and trust me no one would ever know they contain dates.

You should make these just because they include chocolate, take almost no time to make, and are super healthy and yummy!

No-Bake Brownie Balls

Makes 15 balls

Ingredients

15 pitted dates
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (plus extra for dusting)
1 cup roasted almonds (no salt added)
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons water

Method

Add almonds to food processor and pulse until ground. Add dates, cocoa powder, honey, and water. Mix until it just forms a sticky mass. Wash hands and attempt to make a ball with the dough (it may need more water to get to the perfect consistency). Put a tablespoon of cocoa or confectioner's sugar on a plate. Roll balls in your hand and then roll in cocoa. Eat! These can be store in the fridge for a week.

For one brownie bite: 109 calories, 6.8 g fat, 12.2 g carbohydrates, 3.6 g protein, 3.5 g fiber

ENJOY!