Café con Leche

Although St. Martin's life was austere and sober, his day was always celebrated in the Old World manner, with feasting, merriment, and thanksgiving for harvest foods. In Poland rich cookies shaped like horseshoes were baked for St. Martin's snow-white horse, on which he "comes riding through the snow" when one least expects him.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats, uncooked

DIRECTIONS
Cream butter or margarine; add sugar gradually while continuing to cream; beat until fluffy. Stir in vanilla, flour, and salt. Blend in rolled oats. Roll out about 1/4 inch thick on lightly floured board. Cut in strips 6 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. On ungreased cookie sheets shape strips to resemble horseshoes. Bake at 325° for 20 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove carefully, as cookies are very rich and break easily.

Posted by Rosa at 04:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Butter a dish well, either square glass pan or rectangular glass pan
In a middle sized sauce pan:
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup
1 stick butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream (or cream)

Bring to a boil while stirring, over lower heat.
Pour in 1 more cup of cream.
Stir well and cook until the color turns to a delicious butterscotch color. This takes 15-25 minutes depending on the heat so sing, and tell stories and take turns stirring.

Have a small cup of water with ice cubes nearby and once the color begins to turn, drop in a little spoonful and see if it is setting up or not. Make sure it forms a hard ball before you pour the mixture into the buttered pans. Sometimes I pour it out too soon and we don't care really we just enjoy softer caramels....

You can add 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts at the end if you like or sprinkle them over the buttered pan.

Let cool if you can stand it, and cut into squares and wrap in waxed paper, twist the ends. A delicious and sweet treat for the holidays, reminding us of when the farmer wives had too much cream and too much butter on hand to use up!

Posted by Rosa at 04:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ingredients
1 cup long-grain white rice
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3 whole cloves
4 cups water
1 egg
3 cups whole milk
1 (12-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions
Soak the rice, cinnamon sticks, lemon zest and whole cloves in the water in a heavy saucepan for 1 hour.

After soaking, bring the rice mixture to a boil on high heat, uncovered. When it starts to boil (about 5 minutes), lower the heat to medium and cook for 10 to 12 more minutes or until water is almost evaporated.

While rice is cooking, beat the egg in a bowl. Add the milk and stir well to mix. Add the egg mixture, vanilla extract and condensed milk to the rice and cook over medium-low heat, stirring carefully, until it thickens slightly or until desired consistency, about 25 to 35 minutes.

Posted by Rosa at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ingredients

1 medium (1 ¾ pound) fresh coconut, with plenty of water inside
OR 12 ounces coarsely shredded frozen coconut meat
OR 10 ounces dried unsweetened coconut flakes
1 ¼ cups (9 ounces) sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 inch cinnamon stick
2 tablespoon milk

Directions

1. The fresh coconut. Turn on the oven to 325 degrees. Twist a corkscrew (or drive an ice pick) into 2 of the “eyes” of the coconut (the dark indentations on one end), then drain the trapped liquid into a cup (strain if it contains any bits of coconut shell). Place the coconut in a preheated 325 oven for 15 minutes to help loosen the flesh from the shell. With a hammer, crack the coconut into several pieces, then use a small knife or screwdriver to pry the flesh from the shell. Use a small knife or a vegetable peeler to peel away the dark skin from the coconut flesh. In a food processor (or, with determination and stamina, using a four-sided grater) grate the coconut into medium-fine shreds. If you are using frozen or dried coconut, measure it out.

2. Cooking the Coconut. Combine the sugar (if using dried coconut, use only ½ cup sugar), corn syrup and cinnamon stick in a medium, heavy saucepan. Add enough tap water to the coconut water to bring the volume to 1 cup, stir into the sugar mixture, bring to a boil and wash down the sides of the pan with a brush dipped in water.
Add the coconut and cook for 15 to 20 minutes over medium to medium-low heat, stirring frequently, just until all the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated (do not let it brown). Remove from the heat and pick out the cinnamon stick.
Mix together the milk and egg yolks, stir in a few spoonfuls of the hot coconut, then stir the yolk mixture into the pan. Set over medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, until the yolk mixture has thickened and been absorbed, about 5 minutes. (The liquid will come to a simmer: if heated gently, it will NOT curdle, though it is boiling gently.)
Remove from the heat, spread out on a tray or baking dish and cool to room temperature.

3. Baking the Coconut Candies. Preheat the oven to 325 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (or heavily grease and flour it). Scoop up about 2 tablespoons of the cooled coconut mixture, form into a 2-inch cake (about ½ -inch thick) and lay on the baking sheet; form the remaining coconut mixture into patties in the same manner.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until thoroughly browned. Let cool on the baking sheet, then remove, freeing any that stick by sliding a knife underneath and twisting the blade to pop them free. Let stand upside down for an hour or so, for the bottoms to firm and harden, then store in an airtight container.

Makes about 16 2-inch candies
From Mexico One Plate at a Time

Posted by Rosa at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Churros and hot choclate are what you need with this cold wether.

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter ( 1/2 pound)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon
4 large eggs
1 large egg white
1 quart vegetable oil, for frying
sugar and ground cinnamon to taste

Chocolate for Dipping
4 1/2 cups whole milk
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring 1 3/4 cups of water to a boil with the butter and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Remove from the heat, add the flour and stir vigorously until incorporated. Return to moderate heat and cook, stirring, until the dough pulls away from the side, 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat the dough at low speed for 1 minute, just until slightly cooled. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat in the eggs and egg white, one at a time. Transfer the dough to a bowl, press a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerate until cooled to room temperature, about 15 minutes.

3. In a large saucepan, heat the oil to 375°. Set a rack on a large baking sheet and cover with paper towels. In a pie plate, combine the sugar with the cinnamon. Scoop the dough into a large pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.

4. Working quickly, squeeze 6-inch lengths of the dough into the hot oil, cutting them off with a knife. Fry no more than 8 churros at a time; they expand a bit as they cook. Fry over moderately high heat, turning once or twice, until browned, about 8 minutes. Drain the churros on the rack for 2 minutes, then toss with the cinnamon sugar in the pie plate.

Dipping Chocolate
In a large saucepan, heat the milk until small bubbles appear around the edge. Add the chocolate, cocoa powder, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the sugar and a pinch of salt and whisk over low heat until the chocolate is melted. Keep warm over very low heat.

Posted by Rosa at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)