Klyn's Kookin'

Meatball Sliders

2010-07-21T14:12:00.000-05:00

I have 15 pounds of ground beef in my freezer at the moment, and for a family of two plus a baby, that's a lot of beef! Both my grandparents and my parents have given us meat in the last few weeks. I really appreciate it; I never turn down free groceries! This is really lean, wonderful beef, and I've been looking for new recipes to try out with it. Something different from the usual standbys.

I found this on PW's site and made it that same evening. It came together really fast and was delicious! Plus, sliders are so cute...

Meatball Sliders
adapted from The Pioneer Woman

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. panko or other breadcrumbs
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 c. milk
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 jar pasta sauce, your favorite
12 small dinner rolls
6 slices provolone cheese, each cut into 4 wedges

Mix meat with bread crumbs, garlic, salt, pepper, and milk. Knead together with hands. Roll into heaping tablespoon-sized balls. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook for one minute. Add meatballs between the onions and brown for one minute. (You might have to do this in two batches). Pour in jar of marinara; shake pan gently to mix. Put on lid and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.When ready to serve, cut each dinner roll in half. Place a wedge of Provolone on the top and bottom of each roll. Spoon a meatball with the sauce onto the bottom bun; top with the top bun.

My Reason

2010-07-21T13:36:00.001-05:00

Meet Elena Coette Padilla. My reason for being, and for not posting these 9 + months. I've been a busy girl! Elena was born May 6th, 2010. She is beautiful, smart and sweet to the extreme. I'm looking forward to many kitchen memories with my little one! She'll be cooking with me before I know it..

Anyways, I am ready to get back to the blog. I have a very demanding boss now, and my cooking and baking has to fit around her schedule! I try to work things in while she's sleeping so that Mommy and Daddy get to eat, too. I'll be posting...

Dulce de Leche

2009-09-24T16:54:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I made dulce de leche to contribute to Heidi's fiesta. Dulce de leche is a rich milk-based caramel flavored sauce. It's great on toast, fruit, ice cream, and even spoons! I enjoyed mine on homemade apricot scones, and had some left over for hubby to eat on bread. Untoasted, white sandwich bread. I have yet to convert him to whole wheat, but I will keep trying. Battles must be chosen wisely! I chose to make my dulce de leche in the oven as opposed to the often-used stove top method, and it could not have been simpler.

Dulce de Leche

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
sea salt (optional)

Empty the condensed milk into a glass pie plate and add a little sea salt if desired. Cover tightly with foil and place in a roasting pan. Add hot water to the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the pie plate. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 1 hour - 1 hour 15 minutes, until caramelized. Remove from oven and let cool, then whisk until smooth. Store leftovers in the refrigerator, and microwave to warm before serving.

Barefoot Bloggers: Beatty's Chocolate Cake

2009-09-24T16:24:00.000-05:00

I was very excited to see that Mary of Passionate Perseverance chose Beatty's Chocolate Cake for the second of the barefoot bloggers' September recipes. I have been saving this recipe to try for quite some time now. I decided to halve the recipe and make a one-layer cake for my RCIA class at church tonight. I purposefully signed up to bring the refreshments for tonight when the September recipes came out. It is a small class and I am taking other food, so I think the size will work out nicely, and I won't have chocolate cake tempting me at home! A win/win outcome for sure.

I baked my cake in a 9" springform pan, and I'm glad I did as it rose pretty high and may have overflowed an 8" pan of a lesser depth. I did have to make the batter twice because towards the end of the recipe, I forgot that I was halving it, and added the called for amounts of oil, coffee, and egg. My batter was very thin! I guess I don't learn from my mistakes very well; this was the second time I did this today - made the same mistake baking cookies earlier. Anyways, the second time around, the batter was fine and the cake turned out great. The icing was okay, but I am not a fan of coffee in my icing, and ended up adding more butter, vanilla and sugar to detract from the strong coffee flavor. Next time I will leave it out of the icing completely, but I like the extra depth it adds to the chocolate in the cake itself. Visit Mary's site if you would like the recipe.

Frijoles con Chorizo

2009-09-11T12:46:00.000-05:00

Mexico's Independence Day is coming up on September 16th. Many share the misconception that Cinco de Mayo is the Mexican Independence Day; May 5th actually celebrates the victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

In celebration of el Día de Independencía, aromasysabores is hosting a Mexican fiesta featuring recipes and culture. I will be participating in the celebration and posting some favorite recetas the rest of this month.

To get things started, I am sharing Frijoles con Chorizo, homemade refried pinto beans with mexican chorizo. Please do not confuse mexican chorizo with the spanish variety, which is a drier, cured product. I buy Cacique brand chorizo (the most readily available around here), and always pork chorizo, never beef. I do not use an actual recipe with measurements for this (a tendency I have), so please feel free to make any adjustments.

Frijoles con Chorizo

6 oz. mexican chorizo
1-2 Tbs. vegetable oil
3-4 c. cooked pinto beans
reserved bean cooking liquid
queso fresco, for serving
hot corn tortillas, for serving

Cook the chorizo in oil in a large skillet until it resembles cooked finely ground pork and is lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Add the pinto beans and mash to your preferred consistency with a potato masher, or the back of a cooking spoon. Stir in the reserved bean broth (a couple of cups, maybe) to reach a soupy consistency. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes, again until it is at your desired consistency. Salt to taste (you won't need much), and serve in tortillas with crumbled queso fresco.

Barefoot Bloggers: Birthday Sheet Cake

2009-09-11T12:36:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I joined an online group called the Barefoot Bloggers, who twice a month make an Ina Garten recipe and then blog about it. I am so exited to be participating in this group; the contessa has some great recipes, and this way I can branch out and make some that I might have otherwise passed up.

I must admit, the first recipe for this month is one that I probably would not have made. It had quite a few bad reviews on the food network site. For one thing, the baking soda to flour ratio is off - it should be 3/4 teaspoon instead of the full teaspoon published. Also, chocolate and lemon do not tempt me together, so I left the lemon zest out.

I halved the recipe and made cupcakes (about 2 dozen). I loved the buttery sweet flavor, and the frosting was great, although a little thin and runny for me. Next time I will refrigerate the frosting, then let it return to room temp before applying. Also, I used about 3/4 milk chocolate chips and for the remainder used semi-sweet, and my frosting was still very rich and chocolatey. I opted to decorate my cupcakes with sprinkles instead of the chocolate candies called for.

Please visit Susy at Everyday Gourmet for the recipe.

Shrimp Cocktail

2009-09-01T14:16:00.006-05:00

Shrimp cocktail is a great summer dish, light and refreshing on sweltering days. This recipe is simple to prepare; I usually combine everything while the shrimp is cooking, then drain and peel the shrimp before throwing them in. If you can't find jicama, feel free to omit.

Shrimp Cocktail

1/2 c. fresh lime juice

1 lime, halved

1 lb shrimp (ideally 41/50 count to a pound)
1/2 c. white onion, diced
1/3 c. chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 c. diced tomato
1/4 c. ketchup
1-2 Tbs. vinegary mexican bottled hot sauce (I like Salsa Valentina, found in the Mexican food aisle)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 c. each diced peeled cucumber and jicama (or 1 c. cucumber)
1 small ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and cubed
salt (to taste, about 1/2 tsp)
tostadas or tortilla chips

Bring 1 quart salted water to a boil and add the juice and rinds of the halved lime. Scoop in the shrimp, cover and let the water return to the boil. Immediately remove from the heat, and pour off all the liquid. Replace the cover and let the shrimp steam off the heat for 10 minutes. Allow the shrimp to cool completely, then peel and devein. Combine remaining ingredients (save the tostadas or chips for serving), and add shrimp. Refrigerate about an hour before serving.

English Muffins

2009-08-28T14:52:00.003-05:00

I love English Muffins, especially at breakfast. They're great with sausage and cheese, butter, honey... very versatile. You can even do English Muffin Pizzas for lunch or a snack! I chose this recipe because I love to use my bread machine on the dough cycle, then bake my goodies in the oven.

English Muffins
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour (or more)
1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
cornmeal

Place the ingredients in your bread machine in the order given; select the dough cycle. When the cycle is finished, pat dough out (to about 1/2" thick) onto a surface lightly dusted with cornmeal. Cut 8-12 rounds using a round cookie cutter, a biscuit cutter, a clean empty can, whatever. The original recipe yields 8, but I think I got closer to 12. Place the rounds on a baking sheet, cover and let rise for 20- 30 minutes, until almost doubled in size. Heat a dry cast iron skillet or griddle over a low flame. I did spray mine with cooking spray. Cook the muffins about 5 to 7 minutes on each side. They should be golden brown when you turn them. Split the muffins with a fork or serrated knife and serve warm.

I ate several fresh out of the oven, slathered with butter, called it lunch. It was a good lunch! They freeze great, too - split, allow to cool, then go ahead and freeze. Reheat in a microwave or toaster oven.

Gotta give credit where it's due - I found this recipe on Recipezaar (where I find a good number of recipes). Here is the link: English Muffins (Bread Machine Method)

Coming Soon

2009-08-28T11:08:00.000-05:00

My camera is out of commision until I get to the store for new batteries, so it'll be a few days before I can post any new recipes w/ photos. I thought I was so smart to put a backup package of batteries in my camera case to have at the ready. Except they were the wrong size! And of course I did not find out until the old ones ran out in the middle of an outdoor concert in the city. There goes my preparedness!