Muffins with maple butter

I baked these muffins last Thursday for the screening of Miss Representation (I hope you all can watch the documentary as it is great, and it is definitely food for thought!). I hosted a house party and invited my friends over. We had so much fun eating sweets and talking about feminism. I think they will be great for Halloween parties as well, so I submitted this recipe to the Spunky Coconut for the Halloween round-up. Make sure to check the compilation of great recipes on October the 26. If you bake these muffins, please let me know if you like them.

These muffins are plain on purpose to enjoy in tandem with maple butter (a new discovery in my kitchen to remember Canada)… you will love them.

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La próxima receta es en español lo prometo!

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Ingredientes

1 cup almond flour

1 cup amaranth flour

½ cup golden flaxseed meal

½ cup  palm sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoons baking soda

Pinch of salt

½ cup grape seed oil

1 apple finely chopped

12 oz coconut cream

2 eggs

1 cup coconut flakes

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven at 350 F (180 C) and get ready a muffin tray.
2. In a medium bowl mix wet ingredients and on a large bowl mix dry ingredients.
3. Blend the wet ingredients into the flour (dry) mixture with a handheld mixer or spoon until thoroughly combined.
4. Incorporate the apple and coconut flakes and mix.
5. Use an ice-cream scoop server to put uniform amounts of batter into each prepared muffin cup.
6. Bake about 30 minutes or until you insert a knife or a toothpick in the center of the cupcake and this comes out clean.
7. Let the muffins cool and decorate with maple butter.

This post was submitted to Our Spunky Holiday, Halloween

Tamales de Rajas (Corn husk, vegetarian)

I’m a tamal lover. I fell in love with tamales when they became unreachable (as often happens). Instead of missing them bleakly, I decided to learn how to prepare them. To my surprise is not as hard as I imagined (although is definitely a long process).  Last spring my grandmother taught me her secrets to prepare the traditional huastec banana leave tamales, and later during the summer I ventured to create my own recipe using corn husks, I served them at a party and I’m very happy to say that I received rave reviews. I was inspired by Ricardo Muñoz Zurita’s recipe from the book ‘Verde en la Cocina Mexicana’ (green in the Mexican cuisine).

I hope you like this recipe as much as I do. Accompanied by a hot beverage, these tamales de rajas are perfect for the upcoming winter days. You can prepare a large batch and freeze them in small batches and store them on Ziploc bags in the freezer and then unfreeze whenever you crave them (like me!).

Tamales de Rajas (http://blogderecetas.wordpress.com/)

Ingredients

3 medium size poblano chiles

2 sweet red bell peppers

1 medium onion

1 clove of garlic

Vegetable oil

1 tea spoon of cumin

3 cups of maseca (you can get it at whole foods)

4 oz/ 1 bar of butter

1 tea spoon baking powder

salt

Herbal seasoning (I use herbamare asian blend)

3 cups of (vegetable or chicken) broth

17 oz (500 grams) of queso fresco cut into sticks

1 bag corn husks

Filling

1.  Put poblano peppers on a skillet over high heat. Roast until the skin blisters and turns black
2. After the skin turns black, place poblanos in a plastic bag, allow them to sweat for 5-8 minutes
3. Let them cool, peel and discard the outer skin, remove the seeds and veins
4. Slice into strips (that is what rajas stands for) and set aside
5. Chop the onion and garlic, and slice the red peppers into strips, remove seeds and veins
6. Heat up 2 or 3 spoons of vegetable oil, cook the onion and garlic until tender (5-8 min), add red bell pepper slices and after 5 minutes add the poblano stips
7. Season to taste, add about 1 tea spoon of salt, herbal seasoning to taste and cumin
8. Reduce the heat to low while you prepare the masa

Masa

1. Beat the butter with the baking powder and 2 table spoons of salt and 2 table spoons of herbal seasoning until it looks like a meringue. This will take about 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Mix the maseca and the buttery blend vigorously with your hands until completely combined.
3. Pour the vegetable (or chicken) broth, and continue mixing, nothing better than to use your hands to squeeze and crush the crumbles.
4. The consistency of the masa should be something similar to play dough. Neither to liquid nor to solid.

Prepare the corn husks

1. Sink corn husks in boiling water to make them a little bit more flexible and easier to fold.

Prepare the stock pot

Before wrapping the tamales we need to prepare the stock pot. Put a steam racket at the bottom of the stock pot and add enough water to reach the level of the steam racket, seafood or lobster steamer will work. Cover the racket with corn husks and start placing the tamales in the stock pot as you assemble them.

Assembling the tamales

Corn husks look like a triangle, make sure that the narrow edge is closer to you while you assemble them

1. Lay out the corn husk and put a handful of masa in the center of the husk and spread it with your wet palms. Is really important that you soak/wet your hands to spread the masa on the husk.
2. Add about 2 table spoons of filling  and a stick of cheese

1. To wrap you need to take the two long sides of the husk and tuck one edge over the other and fold again and then fold the other two sides.  If is hard to fold them, you can also use a string to keep them together. Place the tamales in layers and cover with corn husks when you have finished. Steam cook for approximately one hour.

Wait about 40 minutes before eating them

Makes about 20-25 (delicious)  medium-small tamales.

Get creative, venture to create your own filling and let me know how it goes. Please leave your comments and recommend this post!

Chocolate Amaranth Cupcakes

Dry ingredients

1 ½ cup almond flour

½ cup amaranth flour

½ cup arrowroot powder (or rice flour)

¼ cup cocoa powder

½ cup maple syrup (you can substitute with agave nectar)

1 spoon baking powder

Wet ingredients

1 ripe banana

½ cup (almond) milk

1 table spoon vanilla extract

1 table spoon apple cider

1 egg

¼ cup grape seed oil or melted butter

1. Preheat the oven at 350 F (180 C) and get ready a cupcake tray.
2. Use a blender or hand mixer to puree the ripe banana
3. In a medium bowl mix wet ingredients and on a large bowl mix dry ingredients.
4. Blend the wet ingredients into the flour (dry) mixture with a handheld mixer or spoon until thoroughly combined.
5. Use an ice-cream scoop server to put uniform amounts of batter into each prepared muffin cup.
6. Bake about 30 minutes or until you insert a knife or a toothpick in the center of the cupcake and this comes out clean.
7. Let the cupcakes cool and decorate with cream cheese frosting

Watermelon Sorbet

I’ve been receiving large (!) watermelons from our CSA share these past weeks. And they keep coming. As usual, we have been eating them in many ways, including smoothies, sliced for breakfast, in salad and as frozen popsicles. But my favorite way of eating watermelon so far, is in the slushy/sorbet format (or non-alcoholic margaritas). And is so easy to prepare you will want to make it too. There are 2 ways of doing it. One way is slicing and freezing the watermelon over night. Next put in the blender with water and frappé, keep adding water until you reach the desired consistency. The second way of doing it is slicing and blending the watermelon with water and then putting the mixture on the ice cream maker. You don’t even need to add a sweetener, as ripe fresh fruit is delicious enough to satisfy your sweet tooth.

I’ve been preparing lots of sorbets and ice cream lately, making the most of these hot summer months, knowing the fall is around the corner…

I prepared vegetarian (corn husk) tamales for a party I hosted last Saturday… and I was so happy to hear everyone loved them! I regret not taking them a picture, but hopefully I’ll have one soon and will upload the recipe in English in a couple of weeks…

Quínoa con moras azules

Julio es el mejor mes para cosechar y comer moras azules en DC… como es tradición en muchos lugares en Estados Unidos, aquí las personas también recogen fruta que congelan y preservan para los fríos días de invierno.  Las moras azules son dulces y deliciosas, sin importar como te las comas.  Este año fui con mi amiga a recoger moras azules a la granja Larriland

Después de regresar con casi 7 libras de moras azules, las he comido de todas maneras. En pastel, con quínoa, en mermelada, en helado y por supuesto en licuados verdes.

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La receta de este post: quínoa con moras azules, es una excelente alternativa para un desayuno práctico que requiere de poco tiempo de preparación. Después de hervir la quínoa, base de la receta, puedes guardarla en el refrigerador hasta por siete días y servirtela cuando quieras desayunar, comer o cenar. Yo he estado preparando una taza de quínoa los domingos y disfruto de este platillo a media mañana casi toda la semana. Mis moras están congeladas, así que si sólo puedes conseguir moras congeladas, no hay problema!

Base de la receta

1 taza de quínoa

2  tazas de agua

Guarniciones para una porción (incrementa las cantidades de la guarnición dependiendo el número de comensales.)

2 cucharadas de miel de abeja o jarabe de agave

2 cucharadas de mantequilla de coco (básicamente necesitas comprar coco rallado sin preservativos y licuar/moler constantemente hasta que adquiera una consistencia uniforme. dale click aquí para ver una receta de mantequilla de coco casera, y dale click aquí para ideas en donde comprarla).

2 cucharadas de crema de nuez de la india (puedes usar crema de cacahuate o un molino para hacer crema de nuez de la india o substituirlo por algún otro ingrediente que te guste)

Moras azules al gusto

1 taza de leche (almendra, soya o de vaca)

Preparación

Enjuaga la quínoa y ponla en una olla a con  las dos tazas de agua. Espera hasta que hierva y se consuma el agua y las bolitas de la quínoa se abran. La quínoa es similar al amaranto, sino puedes conseguir quínoa en donde vives intenta usar el amaranto y cuéntanos si te gusto la receta.

Pon la cantidad de quínoa que quieras comer, la crema de coco, la crema de nuez de la india y la miel en un tazón. Agrega leche y moras azules (pueden estar congeladas) y disfruta. Si la leche o las moras están frías, el coco se endurecerá y le dará una consistencia más crujiente al desayuno…

Calabacitas rellenas

5 calabacitas zucchini medianas

1 taza de queso mozzarella rayado

1 chile serrano

1 diente de ajo pequeño

1 cebolla blanca mediana

3 tomates medianos

1 cucharada de sal de mar celtic

2 cucharaditas de aceite de oliva

250 gramos de rebanadas de pechuga de pavo ahumada

 

1. Precalienta el horno a 280 C
2. Pon a hervir las calabacitas por 30 minutos o hasta que estén suaves
3. Mientras las calabacitas se ablandan, pica la cebolla, el tomate, el ajo y el jamón de pavo en cuadritos pequeños
4. Abre el chile por un costado y quítale las semillas. Pícalo finamente.
5. Pon las dos cucharaditas de aceite de oliva a calentar en un sartén, espera 5 minutos y añade  el ajo, la cebolla, el chile, el tomate y el jamón. Ásalos hasta que la cebolla se ablande y adquiera un color caramelo, alrededor de 5 a 8 minutos.
6. Parte las calabacitas por la mitad, ahuécalas, saca la pulpa y añádela al sartén y mueve el guisado constantemente. Sazona con sal al gusto
7. Después de sazonar, rellena las calabacitas, espolvorea el queso mozzarella y pon en el horno hasta que el queso se derrita.
8. Sirve y disfruta!!

Tip

Puedes convertir esta receta en vegetariana substituyend el jamón por quínoa.

Dairy-free Maple-Ginger Ice Cream

I love ginger’s spicy flavor. It is a regular in my fridge and goes well with everything, from beets to smoothies. This recipe combines ginger great healing properties with the delicious, smooth and creamy flavor of coconut milk, yielding a savory treat for the summer. It will take you no more than 10 minutes to prepare this healthy dessert with premium ingredients. I’m sure few ice-cream brands can beat them…

Ingredientes

1 (13.5 ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup almond milk

(I like using whole foods brand of unsweetened almond milk, as is one of the few brands that does not contain carrageenan).

3 table spoons palm sugar

1 table spoon vanilla extract or vanilla flavor (I like using vanilla flavor from frontier organics)  

20 grams or .70oz (about the length of an index finger) of fresh ginger root

¼ cup pure maple syrup

2 eggs

 

1. Grate ginger (using a ginger grater is the easiest, but you can also use a normal grater), or if you have a powerful blender, there is no need to grate the ginger first. Just make sure there are no big chunks of ginger in the ice cream, as ginger chunks have a very strong flavor.
2. Place all ingredients: coconut milk, almond milks, eggs, palm sugar, vanilla extract, maple syrup and (grated) ginger in a blender.
3. Blend thoroughly until smooth and pour in the ice-cream maker
4. Enjoy!!

I hope you like it !

Have you ever read the list of ingredients of your regular ice-cream brand?

Mini panqués de zanahoria

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2 tazas de harina de almendra

½ taza de harina de quínoa o amaranto

½ cucharadita de sal

1 cucharadita de canela

1 cucharadita de bicarbonato de sodio

1 pizca de nuez moscada

1 taza de puré de manzana o plátano

2 tazas de zanahoria rayada

3 cucharadas de azúcar de coco (se puede substituir con azúcar morena)

½ taza de aceite de semilla de uva

1 cucharadita de sabor o extracto de vainilla

1 huevo

1.       Precalienta el horno a 180 C (350 F) y  prepara una bandeja para mini panques

2.       En un tazón mezcla el huevo batido, el puré de manzana, la vainilla,  y el aceite de semilla de uva

3.       En otro tazón mezcla la harina de almendra, la de quínoa, el bicarbonato de sodio, la canela, la sal y el azúcar de coco

4.       Junta el contenido de los dos tazones y cuando estén perfectamente mezclados, añade la zanahoria

5.       Hornea alrededor de  30 a 35 minutos o hasta que los panques empiecen a dorarse, otra manera de saber que los panques ya están listos es    cuando clavas un palillo en el centro del panque y éste sale limpio

6.       Deja enfriar los panques y después puedes decorarlos con coco molido

Otras recetas que pueden gustarte

Cupcakes de Higo

Panqués de Manzana y Carob 

Helado de Vegano de “Galletas con Crema”

Primero, haz galletas de chocolate, puedes ver la receta  aquí. Después de hornearlas, deja que las galletas se enfríen y mientras haz el helado de vainilla. Una vez  que se hayan enfriado, desmorona las galletas. El helado es vegano porque no lleva ningún producto animal.

Para darle la textura espesita que tanto nos gusta, utilice crema de coco. La crema de coco le da al helado  cuerpo y un sabor dulce, sin opacar el sabor de la vainilla o el de las galletas

Ingredientes para el helado

2 tazas de leche de almendra (se puede substituir con leche de soya)

1 lata de crema de coco sin endulzante

3 cucharadas de azúcar de palma de coco (se puede substituir con azúcar morena)

 3 cucharaditas de sabor de vainilla. Si tienes un extracto muy puro o concentrado usa una menor cantidad.

Para hacer el helado

1. Mezcla todos los ingredientes

2. Guarda la mezcla en el congelador por 30 minutos. Bátela y vuelve a congelarla por 30 minutos.

3. Repite el paso numero 2 varias veces hasta que adquiera la consistencia deseada o viértela en la maquinita para helados.

4. Una vez que el helado esté listo, mézclalo con las migajas de galletas.

5. Guárdalo en un contenedor de vidrio o disfrútalo de inmediato

Chard-Peach Smoothie

½ cup almond milk (I use the 365 brand from Whole Foods because is one of the few that does not contain carrageenan or evaporated cane juice)

2 large chard leaves

1 large nectarine or peach

½ cup of ice

1. Use a superblender to mix all

2. Enjoy!