Capirotada

Ingredientes:

4 bolillos partidos en rebanadas
2 panochas de piloncillo
1/2 taza de cacahuate pelado
1/2 taza de pasas
1 taza de queso añejo partido en cuadros
1 rama de canela
1 cucharada sopera de grageas de colores
aceite para freír

Preparado:

Hierva el piloncillo con la canela en 2 tazas de agua para formar una miel.
Dore las rebanadas de pan en aceite y quite el exceso de grasa poniéndolas sobre una servilleta de papel.
En una cazuela coloque una capa de rebanadas de pan, cúbralas con pasas, cacahuates y trozos de queso, luego ponga otra capa de pan, pasas, cacahuates, etc. y así sucesivamente.
Bañe con la miel.
Ponga la cazuela a baño María una 1/2 hora para que se suavice el pan; espolvoree con grageas de colores.

Torrijas

Las torrijas son un dulce típico de la Cuaresma y la Semana Santa madrileña. Su elaboración es muy casera y su aspecto depende, sobre todo, del pan que se utilice. En Madrid se suelen empapar en leche aromatizada, tal y como se hacía antaño para aliviar la Cuaresma. Aprende, en este vídeo, a preparar este tradicional postre.

---

Ingredientes:
4 rebanadas de pan inglés, 2 yemas de huevo,
100 ml de leche, 1 cucharada de azúcar,
4 higos frescos, 1 copa de crema de grosella negra
(crème de cassis) u Oporto, 200 ml de nata
para montar, 2 cucharaditas de canela
en polvo, 1 cucharada de azúcar de vainilla,
2 cucharadas de azúcar glas

Pasta o masa filo

Tomado de Masa philo paso a paso


También conocida como "pasta filo", "pasta philo", "masa phylo", masa fila, masa phila. Esta masa famosa desde la antigüedad, era la base de muchos postres que pacientemente elaboraban las mujeres. Medio Oriente fue su cuna y se destacó por la riqueza de combinaciones de frutos secos junto con esta masa. Árabes, hebreos, armenios son algunos de los que hacen uso de esta masa. También es empleada para comidas saladas.

INGREDIENTES

1/2kg. de harina
1 cucharada de aceite de oliva
1 clara
1 cucharada de vinagre de alcohol
1 cucharadita de sal agua tibia
cantidad necesaria almidón de maíz ( fécula, chuño )
manteca clarificada

PREPARACIÓN

Es una masa simple que se caracteriza por el estirado que debe ser tan fino como si estuviésemos mirando a través de él.

Para que se facilite la tarea del estirado se emplea almidón de maíz en forma abundante. Se superponen pequeños bollos de masa intercalando entre uno y otro abundante almidón de maíz. Esto nos permite ir estirando de a tres juntos facilitando bastante la labor.

Se pone en un bol la harina junto con la sal. Se hace un hoyo en el centro y se incorpora el aceite de oliva, la clara y el vinagre. Se va tomando la masa con agua tibia hasta que tome consistencia de masa. La masa debe quedar con la textura necesaria como para poder estirarla fácilmente.

Una vez terminada se trabaja bien hasta que quede lisa y homogénea. Se divide en bollos de aproximadamente 50 a 60 gramos cada uno. Se dejan descansar tapados con un paño y en un lugar cálido durante media hora. Luego se toma un bollo y se aplasta un poco sobre almidón de maíz. Se realiza lo mismo con dos bollos más. A continuación se superponen los tres bollitos, separándolos entre sí con abundante almidón. Se comienza a estirar los tres juntos con el palote, hasta que la masa quede casi transparente. El ponerle abundante almidón de maíz entre uno y otro impide que las masas se unan cuando se están estirando, quedando así las tres separadas. Con este sistema, una vez logrado el espesor deseado se habrá estirado tres masas a la vez. La textura de esta masa también permite estirar los bordes con las manos en caso que sea necesario afinarlos. Para ello tenemos apoyada la masa en la mesa de trabajo y vamos estirando los bordes.

Esta masa siempre se emplea en capas ( la cantidad de capas depende de la receta ) y entre capa y capa siempre se pincela con manteca clarificada. También se puede congelar espolvoreando cada hoja con abundante almidón de maíz. Luego se apoya sobre papel manteca y se arrolla junto con una hoja de nailon ( papel plast ). Se mantiene durante mucho tiempo y para descongelarla se pone en la parte baja del refrigerador hasta que esté en su punto justo para poder estirarla. Tiene una ventaja importante que al ir formando las capas no importa si estas se rompen ya que se pueden unir sin problemas.

Se cocina como una masa de hojaldre con temperatura alta durante 10 minutos y luego se baja hasta terminar la cocción.

Revenge is a dish best served warm out of the oven

Urban legend

FWD: Free Neiman-Marcus Cookie Recipe
This is a true story... Please forward it to everyone that you can.... You will have to read it to believe it....

My daughter and I had just finished a salad at Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas & decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the "Neiman-Marcus Cookie". It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe and the waitress said with a small frown "I'm afraid not." Well" I said, "would you let me buy the recipe?"

With a cute smile, she said YES". I asked how much and she responded, "Only two fifty, it's a great deal!" I said with approval, "just add it to my tab".. Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement from Neiman-Marcus and it was $285.00. I looked again and remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, "Cookie Recipe - $250.00". That's outrageous!!!

I called Neiman's Accounting Dept. and told them that the waitress said it was "two-fifty," which clearly does not mean "two hundred and fifty dollars" by any POSSIBLE interpretation of the phrase. Neiman-Marcus refused to budge.. They would not refund my money, because according to them, "What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the recipe - we absolutely will not refund your money at this point." I explained to her the criminal statutes which govern fraud in Texas. I threatened to refer them to the Better Business Bureau and the State's Attorney General for engaging in fraud. I was basically told, "Do what you want, we dont give a damn, and we're not refunding your money." I waited a moment, thinking of how I could get even,or even try to get any of my money back. I just said, "Okay, you folks got my $250.00, and now I'm going to have $250.00 worth of fun."

I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the United States with an e-mail account has a $250.00 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus... for free..She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this" I said, "Well you should have thought of that before you ripped me off", and slammed down the phone on her.. So, here it is!!! Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid $250.00 dollars for this... I don't want Neiman-Marcus to ever get another penny off of this recipe....

(Recipe may be halved):
2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal and blend in blender to a fine powder)
24 oz. chocolate chips
1 tsp. salt
1 8 oz. Hershey bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
2 tsp. vanilla


Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet..Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies.. Have Fun!!!

This is not a joke - this is a true story... Ride free citizens!!!! This isn't some stupid chain letter either.. pass it on.. if you don't, you won't die or get dumped.. you'll just do the world an injustice...

Thanx...

Most Internet users are probably familiar with "The $250 Cookie Recipe" and most recently associated with the Neiman Marcus company, though it was the bane of cookie diva Mrs. Fields during the 1980s.

It isn't actually true. It's a classic urban legend, a variant of a popular tale folklorists have traced as far back as 1948, when the ridiculously expensive recipe yielded a red velvet fudge cake supposedly served at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (asking price for that recipe at the time: $25).

As for the recipe itself by most accounts it yields damn good ones (and plenty of them). No one knows whose kitchen it came from. Neiman Marcus chefs did create a chocolate chip cookie recipe after the fact, however, which the company now distributes free of charge as an antidote.

Beignet

Beignet (pronounced /bɛnˈjeɪ/ in English, /bɛˈɲɛ/ in French; French, literally "bump"^[1] ), synonymous with the English “fritter”, is the French term for a pastry made from deep-fried choux paste^[2]. Beignets are commonly known in the U.S. as a dessert served with powdered sugar on top, however, they may be savory dishes as well and may contain meat, vegetables, or fruits.^[2] They are traditionally prepared right before consumption to be eaten fresh and hot.

Variations of fried dough can be found across cuisines internationally, however, the origin of the term beignet is specifically French. In the U.S., beignets have been popular within New Orleans Creole cuisine and are customarily served as a dessert or in some sweet variation. They were brought to the Louisiana in the 18th century by French colonists^[3], from “the old mother country”^[4],and became a large part of home-style Creole cooking, variations often including banana or plantain--popular fruits in the port city ^[5][6]. Today, Café du Monde is a popular New Orleans food destination specializing in beignets with powdered sugar (served in threes), coffee with chicory, and café au lait^[7]. Beignets were declared the official state doughnut of Louisiana in 1986 ^[8].

The tradition of deep-frying fruits for a side dish dates to the time of Ancient Rome, while the tradition of beignets in Europe is speculated to have originated with a heavy influence of Islamic culinary tradition^[9]. The term beignet can be applied to two varieties, depending on the type of pastry. The French-style beignet in the United States has the specific meaning of deep-fried choux pastry^[10]. Beignets can also be made with yeast pastry^[11], which might be called boules de Berlin in French, referring to Berliner doughnuts which have a spherical shape (i.e. they do not have the typical doughnut hole) filled with fruit or jam.

In Corsica, beignets made with chestnut flour (Beignets de farine de châtaigne) are known as fritelli.

Sourdough

Starter

• Select a container. A wide-mouthed glass jar is best. Metallic containers are a bad idea; some of them are reactive and can ruin your starter (for the same reason, avoid using metal utensils to stir your starter).
• Blend a cup of warm water and a cup of flour, and pour it into the jar.
• Every 24 Hours, Feed the Starter. You should keep the starter in a warm place; 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit is perfect. This allows the yeast already present in the flour (and in the air) to grow rapidly. Temperatures hotter than 100 degrees or so will kill it. You can take comfort from the fact that almost nothing else will do so. The way you feed the starter is to (A) throw away half of it and then (B) add a half-cup of flour and a half-cup of water. Do this every 24 hours. Within three or four days (it can take longer, a week or more, and it can happen more quickly) you should start getting lots of bubbles throughout, and a pleasant sour or beery smell.
• Refrigerate the Starter. Keep the starter in your fridge, with a lid on it. Allow a little breathing space in the lid. If you're using a mayo or pickle jar, punch a hole in the lid with a nail, that kind of thing. Once the starter is chilled, it needs to be fed only once a week.

Proofing

• Take your starter out of the fridge.
• Pour it into a large glass or plastic bowl.
• Add a cup of warm water and a cup of flour to the bowl.
• Stir well, and set it in a warm place for several hours.
• Watch for Froth and and Sniff. When your sponge is bubbly and has a white froth, and it smells a little sour, it is ready. The longer you let the sponge sit, the more sour flavor you will get.

The proofing-time varies. Some starters can proof up to frothiness in an hour or two. Some take 6-8 hours,

Basic Recipe

• 2 Cups of sponge (proofed starter)
• 3 Cups of unbleached flour
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil or softened margarine
• 4 teaspoons of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of salt

To the sponge, add the sugar, salt, and oil (the oil is optional - you can use softened butter instead, or no oil at all). Mix well, then knead in the flour a half-cup at a time. Knead in enough flour to make a good, flexible bread dough.
Keep in mind that flour amounts are approximate; flour varies in absorbency, and your sponge can vary in wetness. Let the dough rise in a warm place, in a bowl covered loosely with a towel (if you're using a bread machine's dough cycle, let it rise in the machine). Note that sourdough rises more slowly than yeast bread; my starter takes about an hour or so, but some starters take much longer. Let the dough double in bulk. Punch the dough down and knead it a little more. Make a loaf and place it on a baking sheet (lightly greased or sprinkled with cornmeal). Slit the top if you like, and cover the loaf with a paper towel and place it in a warm place to rise again, until doubled in bulk.
Place the pan with the loaf in your oven, and then turn your oven to 350^o Fahrenheit and bake the bread for 30-45 minutes. Do not preheat the oven. The loaf is done when the crust is brown and the bottom sounds hollow when thumped with a wooden spoon. Turn the loaf out onto a cooling rack or a towel and let it cool for an hour before slicing.

Reference

Sourdough Baking- How to Begin - by S. John Ross

Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

Buttermilk biscuits are not so much a recipe, as they are a mythology. Secret knowledge passed down from generation to generation, mother to child, blogger to people like you.

This deceptively simple recipe can come out a million different ways with some very minor variations on the ingredients and amounts.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into thin slices, chilled in freezer
3/4 cup cold buttermilk

---

I tried to make biscuits with some leftover plain yogurt and they would have been perfect but I used too much baking soda. Therefore, nothing is critical in this recipe but there are limits and the cook's hand will show.

---

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour , plus more for dusting the board (if you can get White Lily flour, your biscuits will be even better)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder (use one without aluminum)
1 teaspoon kosher salt or 1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter , very cold
1 cup buttermilk (approx)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 450°F.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor.
3. Cut the butter into chunks and cut into the flour until it resembles course meal.
4. If using a food processor, just pulse a few times until this consistency is achieved.
5. Add the buttermilk and mix JUST until combined.
6. If it appears on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk. It should be very wet.
7. Turn the dough out onto a floured board.
8. Gently, gently PAT (do NOT roll with a rolling pin) the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick. Fold the dough about 5 times, gently press the dough down to a 1 inch thick.
9. Use a round cutter to cut into rounds.
10. You can gently knead the scraps together and make a few more, but they will not be anywhere near as good as the first ones.
11. Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet- if you like soft sides, put them touching each other.
12. If you like"crusty" sides, put them about 1 inch apart- these will not rise as high as the biscuits put close together.
13. Bake for about 10-12 minutes- the biscuits will be a beautiful light golden brown on top and bottom.
14. Do not overbake.
15. Note: The key to real biscuits is not in the ingredients, but in the handling of the dough.
16. The dough must be handled as little as possible or you will have tough biscuits.
17. I have found that a food processor produces superior biscuits, because the ingredients stay colder and there's less chance of overmixing.
18. You also must pat the dough out with your hands, lightly.
19. Rolling with a rolling pin is a guaranteed way to overstimulate the gluten, resulting in a tougher biscuit.
20. Note 2: You can make these biscuits, cut them, put them on cookie sheets and freeze them for up to a month.
21. When you want fresh biscuits, simply place them frozen on the cookie sheet and bake at 450°F for about 20 minutes.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/southern-buttermilk-biscuits-26110#ixzz1gX1dWGN3

---