Pasteles Wrapped in Banana Leaves

This is a time consuming project. I strongly suggest that you get together with friends or family members to make these.  I normally make the meat a couple of days before and freeze until I’m able to find the green bananas.   They need to be a deep green, and sometimes they can be difficult to find.  Once you have gotten the green bananas... its showtime!  Don't wait because they will ripen before you know it and you can no longer use them for Pasteles! 

Ingredients for the masa:

40 green bananas (they need to be completely green!!!)

3 Yellow Plantains

2 pounds yautia (taro root)

2 pounds calabaza

1 medium carton chicken stock or beef stock

3 tablespoons annatto (natural color)

Salt to taste

½ cup olive oil (using a good quality olive oil is key!!)

3 packs sazon Goya with Achiote Seasoning  

Thread to tie Pasteles

2 packs frozen banana leaves. (I use the frozen ones because it saves time, no need to wilt them…just rinse and dry them)

Parchment paper…you’ll need 3 ½ doz. Which is the same amount you’ll get from the banana leaves

The juice of 2 sour oranges

Makes 3½ doz. medium to large Pasteles

Preparing la masa:

Peel the veggies and place in cold salted water (enough water to cover them - this will keep them from turning dark until you’re ready to grate them.) After all veggies are peeled, remove from water and dry with towel. Grate all the veggies (you can also use a food processor - which will make the process faster and easier!)  In a bowl, add sazon packets to oil.  Add it to the masa ( the grated veggies) and blend by adding the broth, and sour orange juice. Add salt to taste. Set aside.

Meat filling:

I find that cutting the meat into small cubes helps the meat absorb all the marinade better and it cooks faster as well!

2 pounds beef or ground pork leg or cuts

1 box raisins (optional)

2 large red peppers

2 large onions diced

5 hajises gustoso

6 cloves garlic minced

3 tablespoons of olives
3 tablespoons of capers

1 tsp oregano

3 tablespoons tomato paste

Juice of 1 sour orange

3 chicken cubes, knorr

Rinse meat and place in a bowl and set aside.

In a food processor, place all the seasoning ingredients with the exception of the raisins, olives, capers, chicken cubes and tomato paste. Add the seasoning mix to meat.  Add the olives and capers and let it marinate over night.

Preparation:

Heat a large skillet that will accommodate all the meat without crowding it.  Add 1 tbsp oil to the skillet, when oil is hot, but not burning, add the meat and saute. Once meat turns a nice golden brown, reduce heat to medium and simmer until meat is tender and falling apart.   Add the chicken cubes, tomato paste and raisins (if you chose to add them). Simmer just until cubes have dissolved. Make sure you have enough sauce as you will need some when you’re filling the Pasteles.

Now here comes the best part…assembling the Pasteles!!!!

As you can see, I place the parchment paper under the banana leaf before spreading the masa onto the banana leaf.  You'll need to brush olive oil onto the banana leaf…to do this, pour olive oil into a cup and using a BBQ brush apply the oil as if you were painting a wall.

Don’t add too much oil, you don't want your Pasteles to come out greasy.  The only reason for brushing the oil is to prevent it from sticking. 

The picture below gives you an idea of  how it looks.

Add meat filling on top of the masa. 

Sorry, I should have illustrated how to wrap the Pasteles and I totally forgot to

Take a picture of that process; it took me a couple of them before I got the hang of it.

You can always Google on how to wrap Pasteles.

You can elect to freeze them to cook at a later day,

or you can cook it straight away!

Depending on how many you want to cook, You'll have to determine the size of the pot you’ll use. 

Bring a pot of water to a boil - you'll need enough water to cover the Pasteles.  For every gallon of water add 1 tbsp of salt.  Make sure water is boiling before adding the frozen Pasteles. 

Add Pasteles and cook for 1 hour.

Serve as a side dish or as a main dish.         

Some people like to add ketchup or hot sauce…its your choice.  Enjoy! 

Coconut Delights

These coconut cookies are an amazing treat!

I came across this delightful recipe at www.PastryPal.com 

These are filled with chocolate ganache and strawberry rhubarb....let your imagination take flight and go wild! 

Lighting McQueen Car and Halloween Spider Cake

The first "advanced magnitude" cake I ever made was Lighting McQueen for the love of my life, my Grandson!

 My first mistake, when attempting to take on the making of the "Lighting McQueen Cake", was making the cake too far in advance!  I can't tell you how stressed I was.

It took about two weeks to complete, only because I elected to carve and make a "tester" cake.  I thought this way any challenges I had to face would be head-on and when it was time to make the actual cake, it would be a walk in the park.....not so FAST my friends!!!    

 I quickly learned that unexpected and unpredictable things do happen, and they force you to think outside of the box!!!! 

This was truly a labor of LOVE!

My latest creation - The Halloween Spider Cake!

 This time it only took me two full days to create...but trust me when I say it was a challenge!

You see, I'm not an artist that can draw a picture or a sketch.  The sketch/picture is in my head and nowhere else.  I start the project and step by step, it starts to come together. 

Don't get me wrong, I tried to draw a picture and I ended up discouraging myself.  So I quickly gave that up and went with the image I had in my head. 

 This is an 11 x 15 x 3 

Initially, I iced it all in orange the night before.  However, when I woke up the next morning I thought I was going to pass out!  All of the icing had dried and cracked so bad that it wasn't presentable...  I had to think fast! 

This is where thinking outside of the BOX comes in handy...

I scraped off as much of the icing as I could, and instead covered it with chocolate fondant.  The saving grace was the fact that it was a Halloween-themed Birthday Cake - so the color scheme worked and it all came together beautifully!

I was very happy with the outcome and so was my client!!!  

Chayote Squash Salmon Salad

Not only is this salad a fantastic dish, it is filling and satisfying and loaded with Omega oils!!

The fruit is roughly pear shaped with coarse wrinkles. It has a thin light green skin, and a single large flattened tip. The flesh has a fairly bland taste and it's texture can be described as a cross between a potato and a cucumber. 

The fruit does not need to be peeled and can be eaten raw in salads. It can also be boiled, stuffed, mashed, baked, fried, or pickled. Both the fruit and the seed are rich in amino acids and vitamin C.

Chayote Squash

As a child,  every so often my mom would make this salad and at times she would pair it with pork and white rice.

 Another option would be to baked and stuff it with spinach, feta cheese and sundried tomatoes.  Let your imagination run wild!

What you'll need....

4 to 5 medium to large potatoes-scrubbed and washed

1 to 2 Chayote squash-quartered lengthwise

2 to 3 eggs 

1 Tbsp salt

1/3 lb to 1/2 lb Smoked Salmon 

1/2 each of a yellow, red, and orange Bell Pepper - cut Julian style

1 medium red onion-cut into rings 

1/4 cup apple-cider vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

1 Packet Italian seasoning

1 to 2 crushed garlic cloves   

Cooking Directions 

Place onion rings on a dish and add vinegar till all are covered.

Place potatoes, squash, eggs, and salt into a pot and cover with water.  Cook on medium heat for about 1 1/2 hours or until tender.  The chayote squash tends to take a little longer to cook than the other vegetables.  When vegetables become tender, remove and set aside to cool. Once completely cooled, peel all vegetables and remove the heart of the chayote (which is in the center part of the squash). 

Using a large casserole dish, start slicing the potatoes into circular pieces as illustrated above and arrange around the dish leaving the center clear, as this is where the salmon will be placed. Now cut the chayote julian style and arrange over the potatoes, doing the same with the eggs.  

Remove any skin from the smoked salmon, crumble the fish, and place it at the center of the casserole dish. 

Last step... you're almost there.

Over medium-high heat, add the olive oil to a pan allow it to heat.  Once hot (not burning), sauté the garlic for approximately 30 seconds.  Remove the onions from the vinegar and add them to the pan with the garlic and continue to sauté.  Add the peppers, vinegar, and Italian seasoning packet.  Sauté for another 30 seconds.  Pour over the salad making sure every bit of the salad gets coated with this mixture.

I’m calling these “Last Minute Cookies”!

I came across this cookie recipe on the internet, these are unbelievably simple to make.  All it takes are 4 ingredients!!

Preheat oven to 350°

Ingredients:

1 box chocolate cake mix

½ cup veggie oil

2 eggs

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix the first 3 ingredients.  Once mixed completely, add the chocolate chips.

Use a tablespoon to drop the cookie dough onto cookie sheet about an inch apart.  Using the back of a spoon,  flatten the cookies before baking (but don’t over do it)!

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes

For variations, try using yellow cake mix or any cake mix you wish. Add nuts, raisins, white chocolate chips, coconut etc. Let your imagination take flight!!

  

Hearty White Bean Stew.....Are you ready for it?????

This soul-warming dish is unbelievable! With the flavor of smoked turkey swirling around every spoonful, you’ll barely notice the cold weather outside.

Ingredients

2 Smoked Turkey Drumsticks (Pick out the largest ones you can find)

Dutch oven or an 8 quart pot

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 Knorr chicken bouillon cubes

1 cup large sweet onion chopped

1 large bay leaf

¼ tsp good quality oregano

2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic (Do not substitute)

1 pound white beans, soaked overnight

1 quart chicken stock

4 to 5 medium potatoes diced 

3 long thin carrots sliced in circles

1 ½ cups auyama (which is a Spanish style squash) peeled and cut into cubes

1 Habanero pepper's seeds - (use only the seeds, use half if you prefer less heat)

1 Packet Sazon Goya

Salt to taste

1 tsp tomato paste

Make sure all your veggies are cut into small cubes, this will allow it to cook in a shorter amount of time…since the beans tend to get tender fast. 

Directions

Rinse turkey and place into the Dutch oven, adding enough water to cover the turkey completely. Cook over medium-high heat for about an hour or until the meat separates from the bone.  Remove turkey from broth and set aside. Add the beans and chicken stock to the pot and cook for 45 minutes. Once the beans are tender but NOT overly tender, add the following: potatoes, carrots, and auyama and continue cooking for 15 minutes.

In a separate pan, heat up the olive oil and add the onions and sauté for about 1 minute. Add the garlic, oregano, sazon, habanero pepper seeds, bouillon chicken cubes and tomato paste and cook for an additional 2 minutes.  Then add it to the beans. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer.

Remove turkey meat from the bone and add meat to the beans.  Add the bay leaf and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Serve over steamed white rice or with french bread

Adjust the salt to taste.

It wouldn’t be complete without an avocado slice!!!

The Keefer Event

The Menu

Mini BBQ Meatballs

Killer Artichoke Dip

Cheese filled Dates Wrapped with Bacon

Chicharrones de Pollo

Greek Cucumber Sauce

Prosciutto Pinwheels

Spicy Chicken Dip

Sweet Tomatoes Mozzarella Cheese Ball Skewers

With a Basil sauce

Key Lime Cake

This recipe was given to me by Mary, owner of Chef On The Go. 

Don't let the color deter you from trying it.... It's to die for!

What you'll need:

1 box lemon cake mix

1 small box lime jello

1 cup oil

1/3 cup apple sauce

4 eggs

¾ cups Orange Juice

Mix together and pour into 2 cake pans.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 

OR bake in 9x13 for about 30– 35 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Cool cake and remove from pans. Make sure your cake is completely cooled before icing it.

Icing:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter, softened

1 small box powdered sugar

Shake of salt

3 Tbs. Key-lime Juice

Mix together and ice your cake.

Finger Lickin BBQ Chicken

1 Package Family size chicken drumsticks

1 Package Good Seasoning's Italian salad dressing

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp French’s Worcestershire sauce

4 Tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp garlic powder no salt

1 Ziploc bag

Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towel

Place chicken in Ziploc bag

Pour all other ingredients in a large measuring cup and mix to incorporate all ingredients.

Pour the seasoning mixture into Ziploc bag and toss until the chicken is all coated with the marinade.  Let marinate for 2 hours or longer.

Preheat oven to 350

Transfer chicken on to a cookie sheet and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.  Then, turn heat up to 400 and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Once chicken is tender, add the BBQ sauce and bake another 10 minutes making sure

chicken is coated with BBQ sauce. 

Cherry Tomatoes and Mozzarella Cheese Balls with a Basil Sauce!!!

           This Recipe doesn't need a whole lot of introduction...it pretty much speaks for it self.      

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes - My girls used to love when I would make these for them!

               Simple and Tasty!!