Guest Blog - Santiago's (aka Dad's) Guacamole

This past week I made the trip home to upstate NY to have Thanksgiving with my family.  I had not been home since last Christmas so it was good to be back.  Thanksgiving is my dad's favorite holiday, looking at how he piles his plate you would think it was the food that he loved best but that's not what makes him happy.  More than anything he loves the fact it's not about the presents you received or did not receive, but instead it's an opportunity to highlight what's most important, the things you cannot buy, Family.  It's a time to give thanks and appreciate the family and friends we are all so lucky to have in our lives.

Along with our traditional Thanksgiving dinner we like relaxing on the couch and watching football.  However, it was Sunday that we were most looking forward, Giants vs. Jaguars.  To snack on during the game my dad decided to prepare a batch of his famous guacamole and I thought since it was his recipe he should guest in my next blog entry.  The Giants may not be the most consistent team right now but I can guarantee you that you can count on this recipe to be a winner every time you make it!

Guacamole served in an avocado dish with Tostito's Scoops

One of the advantages of having traveled much of the North American continent, taking repast in literally hundreds of restaurants large and small, is the opportunity to sample cuisine from A-Z.  It is hard not to find at least one menu item prepared in such a way you simply wish the chef would share the recipe for a nominal fee and go on with his or her day.  Thus, one of my favorites was ‘discovered’ years ago at a small Mexican eatery in California.  I have adapted and adopted it a number of times until at last I can say with some satisfaction the only thing that could make it better would be a bigger bowl.

With fall now planted firmly on the calendar, I enjoy bringing this favorite of our summer fresh tomato recipes to the snack table along with an intense NY Giants football game or two.  I refer to guacamole.  Not the store-bought pureed green gunk that could pass for very old goose pate… No, this is the recipe that gives avocados a good name.  As our blog host Kealy likes to remind us, only the freshest of the fresh vegetables and herbs will do for this variant of an appetizer classic.

Santiago (James) Howard’s Guacamole with a Twist.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 fresh and ripe avocados [my definition of ripe is when the outer skin is pressed it yields easily to the touch]
• ½ of a large Vidalia onion, diced
• 4 medium fresh tomatoes, diced
• 2-3 large jalapenos, diced
• ¼ cup of fresh Cilantro; diced but not too finely
• 1 teaspoon of lime juice
• ½ - 1 teaspoon of sea salt to taste
• ½ - ¾ teaspoon of cumin to taste

Directions:

1. Halve the avocados and scoop contents into a large bowl.  Using two table knives in a cross-cross slicing fashion cut the scooped halves into small pieces.  Using a table fork, gently mash the pieces into a heavily textured mix.  The key is to not over mash the pieces; chunky is the consistency you are looking for.
2. Fold in the diced onion, jalapeno, and Cilantro. 
3. Next add the tomatoes and any residual juice to the mixture.
4. This is when I add the salt, cumin and lime juice. 
5. Toss the mixture gingerly; TASTE
6. Tweak to taste
7. Allow your guacamole to cool in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.
8. As the photos display, we like to serve with Scoops, as a generous dollop fits perfectly into the cup and the salty chip only complements the blend.
9. Beverage suggestion:  Anything that will help calm the burgeoning effects of capisain.

Birthday Celebrations

I am a big fan of celebrating birthdays, whether it's mine, a family member, or a good friend.  I especially like celebrating birthdays surrounded by good food and drink, and of course dessert!  There's something special about gathering your closest friends and family to celebrate another year gone by.  Is it just me or does every year seem to go by faster than the year prior?!  Each year is filled with good times as well as a few bad but it's always nice to look back on the good times and be grateful for what we have.

This past Friday we celebrated my friend Sara's birthday at Nolen Kitchen, Sara's favorite restaurant as well as mine.  You can always count on Nolen for great food, service, and a fun atmosphere.  Surrounded by her family and friends we toasted another year gone by for Sara.  Sara is a big fan of fall as well as anything pumpkin so I decided to make Pumpkin Cupcakes for her birthday dessert.  After filling ourselves on appetizers and entrees I wasn't sure if we would have room for dessert but we all made room for just one cupcake, two for some.  It was the perfect way to top off her birthday and the end of fall.

This was the first time I had tried this recipe.  I pulled it from one of the blogs I follow, Smitten Kitchen, whom I can always count on for a good recipe.  What's unique about this recipe is the special ingredient, black pepper.  It doesn't stand out like you would think but instead it blends well with the other spices creating a cupcake bursting with the taste of fall. If you don't know what fall tastes like then I highly recommend you bake a batch of these ASAP.  You are truly missing out!  So without further ado here is the recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

The Guest of Honor with her Birthday Cupcake!

Pumpkin Cupcakes With Maple–Cream Cheese Frosting
Taken from Smitten Kitchen
Yield: 17 to 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup low fat buttermilk mixed with 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin

Frosting:

• Two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (I used low fat cream cheese)
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup (I used 1/3 cup)

Directions:

Cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line a cupcake pan with 18 liners.
2. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl.
3. Add the eggs 1 at a time to the mixer, scraping down the sides after each addition. Alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat in the pumpkin until smooth.
4. Scoop the batter among the cupcake liners — you’re looking to get them 3/4 full. Rap the filled pans once on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on racks completely.

Frosting:

1. In a stand mixer beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy.  Add more maple syrup to taste if needed.
2. Frost or decorate cupcakes as you like.

Optional:

1. To make Sara's cupcakes extra special I used dark chocolate candy melts to create S's for the top of the cupcakes.  They are very easy to make and for a quick how-to check out this link.

Mary Katherine, Me, Laura, and of course Nick!

The guys enjoying the cupcakes.

The Chidester's

What Is All When All Is Told

It's only been a month since our trip to Ireland but it seems like an eternity ago that we were there. It was an amazing trip and I cannot wait to go back again one day.  The scenery is beautiful, the Irish are kind and fun-loving, the country is filled with rich history, pubs are overflowing with laughter and good music, and the Guinness there cannot compare to any pint poured here in the US. During our trip one of our stops was at the home of Margaret & Paddy Fenton where we were warmly greeted with fresh scones, Guinness cake, tea, coffee then given a tour of the Molanna View Dairy Farm.  We had just eaten breakfast so I wasn't that hungry but I'm glad I "forced" myself to eat two scones and a piece of Guinness cake along side two cups of hot tea.  They were delicious and I had to stop myself from having thirds.  One of the sweetest things was just seeing the love Margaret & Paddy share, it is one to be admired and I am so glad I was able to meet them.  This was certainly one of my favorite stops along our tour.

Killarney National Park

Growing up we never made homemade scones or even homemade biscuits.  The closet we got to homemade was mixing Bisquick with milk and making dumplings for our Chicken & Dumplings.  Our family favorite was Pillsbury's canned crescents, biscuits, and breadsticks.  I can remember pulling out the can from the fridge and popping it open with a quick pull of the paper (or banging it against the counter if that didn't work) then ever so carefully rolling up the dough into crescents or twisting it into breadsticks.  Baking them until just golden then wrapping them up in our bread basket to keep them warm.  This was a staple in our house with a lot of our meals.  I hate to admit this but there are days I would take a Pillsbury crescent roll over any homemade crescent roll.  Just the familiar smell and buttery distintive taste of Pillsbury brings me right back to being a kid again. 

I don't make scones a lot because I haven't found too many recipes that I just love and that are not tough and dry.  But these scones, these are absolutely amazing.  They have just the right amount of sweetness and the dough is tender but sturdy enough to be covered with whatever topping you choose.  They are sure to be a new staple in my ever growing pile of recipes.  I ate my scones with a dollop of strawberry preserves and a large cup of hot tea.  This time I stopped myself at one but I may just have two tomorrow with breakfast.  I hope you enjoy this little taste of Ireland from the Fenton home to yours.  Enjoy!

 

Jam and Cream Scones

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. Self-raising Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 2 oz. Butter, cold and cut into small pieces (I used Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter)
• 2 oz. Castor Sugar (You can buy extra fine sugar or grind granulated sugar in a food processor for several pulses)
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 4 tbsp. milk (I used low fat buttermilk)

Optional Toppings:

• Jam, any flavor (I used one of my favorite brands, Hero Strawberry Preserves)
• Fresh Whipped Cream

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and line your sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Sift flour and baking powder together in a medium bowl.
3. Rub in the butter with your hands until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter.
4. Stir in the sugar then add the beaten egg and milk and mix with a wooden spoon just until everything comes together.
5. Generously flour your workspace and knead the dough until smooth.
6. Roll out dough to about 1/2 inch thickness and cut into rounds using a small round cutter.
7. Bake for about 10 minutes or until just barely golden.  Depending on how big you cut your scones will determine the cooking time.  Mine were smaller so they only took about 7 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.
8. Split scones in half, spread with jam, and place a little whipped cream on top.

During our tour we were also treated to a poem that Paddy recited to us by heart.  It was such a beautiful poem that I just had to share it with all of you. 

 WHAT IS ALL

WHEN ALL IS TOLD

O' What is it all when all is told,
The ceaseless toiling for fame and gold,
The fleeting joy of bitter tears,
We're only here for a few short years.
Nothing's our own but the silent past,
Loving or hating, nothing can last,
Each pathway leads to the silent fold,
O' what is it all when all is told.

What is it all a grassy mound,
Where day or night there is never sound,
Save the soft low moan of the fanning breeze,
As it lovingly rustles the silent trees.
Or a thoughtful friend with whispered prayer,
May sometimes break the stillness there,
Then hurry away from the gloom and the cold,
O' what is it all when all is told.

What is all just passing true,
A cross for me and a cross for you,

Ours seems heavy while others seem light,
But God in the end makes all things right.
He tempts the mind with loving care,
He knows the burden that each can bear,
Then turns life's grey into heavenly gold,
O' what is all when all is told.

Margaret & Paddy Fenton

Can you tell me how to get, How to get to Sesame Street...

This past weekend I traveled north to my sister, Amanda's home in Connecticut for a special weekend.  I had the extreme privilege of becoming my niece, Addison's, Godmother.   Not only did we celebrate her baptism but her 1st birthday.  I don't travel home a lot so I was very excited to see everyone.  It was a weekend filled with celebration, laughter, games, and CUPCAKES!  I thought what better way to celebrate than with Sesame Street character cupcakes.  I loved Sesame Street as a little girl.  I watched the show, had the stuffed animals, read the books, you could say I was a little obsessed but what child under the age of 5 isn't?!  My favorite character was and still is Elmo.  He is also a favorite of my nephew Ethan, who owns several Elmo paraphernalia.  I was nervous about taking on this challenge but they turned out better than expected.  Below is my take on a few of the Sesame Street Characters.

To start, there were several people coming over so I made 4 dozen cupcakes.  I chose to make two flavors, Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting from one of my favorite blogs, Joy the Baker, and Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake.  The baking was the easy part, it was the decorating that made me nervous.  These were for my niece's 1st birthday, I couldn't mess them up!

Oscar the Grouch, Elmo, and Cookie Monster

MY FAVORITE RED VELVET CUPCAKES
Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook
makes one dozen cupcakes (I doubled the recipe to make two dozen.)


Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 Tablespoons red food coloring
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Turn mixer to high and add the egg.  Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.
2. In a separate bowl mix together cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring to make a thick paste.  Add to the batter, mixing thoroughly until completely combined.  You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.
3. Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk.  Add half of the flour and mix until combined.  Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour.  Beat on high until smooth.
4. Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar.  Turn to high and beat a few more minutes.
5. Scoop batter into paper lined cupcake baking pans and bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean.
6. Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them of a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
double recipe to frost 2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 2 1/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 4 ounces cream cheese, cold (I used room temperature)
• scant 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Beat the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and butter together in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment.  Mix on medium-slow speed until it comes together and is well mixed.
2. Add the cream cheese all at once and beat on medium to medium-high until incorporated.
3. Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes, or until the frosting becomes light and fluffy.  Do not over-beat as the frosting can quickly become runny.

PERFECT PARTY CAKE
From Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”
makes two dozen cupcakes (I altered the recipe slightly and used a different buttercream recipe, which is listed below.)

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

• 2 ½ cups cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter – room temperature
• 1 cup shortening
• 1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
• 2 pounds confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)
• 4-6 tablespoons very cold milk

For Filling:

• 2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves warmed gently over low heat on the stove
• About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut
• Decorating Bag

Directions:

To Make the Cake:

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Whisk together the buttermilk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
3. Put the sugar and lemon zest in the mixing bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
4. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
5. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
6. Beat in half of the buttermilk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
7. Add the rest of the buttermilk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
8. Finally, give the batter a good 2 minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
9. Scoop batter into paper lined cupcake baking pans and bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean.
10. Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them of a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

To Make the Buttercream:

1. Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. 
2. Add the vanilla extract and combine well. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. 
3. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk, one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach the desired consistency.

Filling Cupcakes:

1. Prepare a decorating bag with your jam filling and very small round decorating tip (ex: #230)
2. Insert tip in top center of the uniced cupcake and squeeze out a small amount of filling.

Decorating the Cupcakes:

Tools: 

• Decorating Tip #233
• Decorating Bags
• Wilton's Icing Colors in Red, Green, and Blue
• Ready-to-use Gel Icing in black for the eyeballs and Elmo's eyebrows
• White Candy Melts for the eyes
• Oreo Cookies cut in half with a serrated knife for Elmo and Oscar's mouthes
• Chips Ahoy Cookies cut in half with a serrated knife for Cookie Monster's mouth
• Orange Candy Slices cut in half for Elmo's nose

Directions:

1. I divided the buttercream into 3 bowls and the cream cheese icing into 3 bowls.  Then colored each of the 2 sets of icings green, red, and blue.
2. Fill the decorating bag fitted with the #233 tip and create hair on one cupcake at a time.  I only had one tip so I had to do 6 different bags, washing the tip before filling another bag.   Click here for a helpful tutorial on making hair.
3. Working quickly so the icing doesn't have time to harden, decorate the cupcake accordingly before moving onto the next one.

Addison enjoying her Cookie Monster cupcake

Ethan & Addison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall it was a lot of work but I had a great time making them and eating them.  They were delicious!  I'm looking forward to trying something like this again.  Maybe Disney characters?!  We will see!


Notes: I made 16 of each character with 8 of them being red velvet cupcakes and 8 being perfect party cupcakes.  I also had leftover frosting so next time I may not quite double the recipe  but do 1 1/2 times the original recipe for the cream cheese frosting and cut the buttercream recipe by 1/3.  Be sure to not use plastic white bowls when coloring the icing.  I accidentally stained the inside of one of my sister's bowls and a spatula.  After scrubbing vigioursly it lightened to a shade of pink.  My hands were also a light shade of red for a couple of days. :)

Ideas taken from Time for Supper!, Lovely Sprinkles, and Kitchen Dough Dough.