Apple Crisp
April 28, 2006 | Filed Under Apple Crisp, Baking | Leave a Comment
There’s nothing better than being able to make a super easy dessert — especially an easy one that tastes really good.This Apple Crisp recipe comes from celebrity chef Rachel Ray . All you need are apples, lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, flour, and butter. I loved the smell of the cinnamon and nutmeg as I mixed them together with the other ingredients. I also love how I could taste the ingredients nicely blended together. The ice cream makes a nice addition.
This dessert is made especially for FoodCrazee, who celebrates his birthday today. I hope you like it! I hope everyone likes it. Happy birthday, FoodCrazee! Happy birthday, also, to those who celebrated birthdays this month of April — Michelle and Pille. I wish you all a wonderful birthday year! Best, Paz
Apple Crisp straight out of the oven Apple Crisp 6 McIntosh apples, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces 1/2 lemon, juiced 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1/2 cup flour or fine graham cracker crumbs 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 stick butter 1 pint vanilla ice cream Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a 9 by 12 baking dish, combine apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. In a small bowl, mix flour or graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and butter together using the tines of a fork and your fingers, working until even, small crumbles form. Sprinkle topping evenly over apples and bake 15 to 20 minutes until apples are just tender and topping is golden brown. Top dishes of apple crisp with small scoops of vanilla ice cream. YUM!
Blog Index for The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz now available!
April 26, 2006 | Filed Under Cooking Adventures | Leave a Comment
Hi All:
Just in case you get that burning desire to reread certain posts like the time I burned the chocolate while making cordial cherries, or my attempt to make parathas that turned out as thick as car tires, or any of my other cooking adventures, I’ve finally managed to put together a blog index. 
You can find it in the side bar links section or here.
Best,
Paz
Bobó de Camarão – Shrimp and Creamy Cassava Sauce
April 25, 2006 | Filed Under Cassava, Cereals/Grains, Fellow Bloggers, Kafka na Praia blog, Rice, Seafood, Shrimps, Vegetables | Leave a Comment
I decided to try the Brazilian dish called Bobó de Camarão (Shrimp and Creamy Cassava Sauce), a recipe from Karen of Kafka na Praia.The title intrigued me a bit. Creamy cassava sauce? I’ve had cassava plenty of times but not as a sauce. And, of course, I’ve eaten rice many times (It’s actually a food staple in my household). However, I’d never had the combination of rice and cassava as recommended in the recipe. The sauce ingredients consisted of shrimp, cassava (boiled and then pureed), tomatoes, chives, parsley, onions, garlic, red bell pepper, coconut milk, cilantro (I love cilantro!!!), milk, and palm nut oil (dende oil). While living in Africa, many of my childhood meals contained palm nut oil. I remember we even had a huge palm nut tree in our back yard. However, it is high in cholesterol and saturated fat. Especially, here in the U.S., it’s not considered a heart-happy oil, so we don’t often cook with it and try to avoid eating it. As a result, I had no palm nut oil in my kitchen cupboard. Some ethnic food markets sell the oil but I didn’t have time to go out and buy it. Instead of palm nut oil, I used olive oil. I know there’s a big difference between the oils — from taste to appearance. However, the olive oil worked out very well. The cassava sauce ingredients blended together very well. Everything complimented each other to bring out a delicious taste in the sauce. My favorite part of making the meal was adding the cilantro to the sauce. Have I told you that I love cilantro? Oh, yes, I think I have. For those who don’t care for cilantro, I’m sure that you can substitute it with flat leaf parsley. As the recipe directs, I served my cassava sauce hot with white rice. I made one adjustment to the recipe: I added hot pepper flakes.
Onion, garlic, red bell pepper, tomatoes — waiting to be chopped
Cassava
Cassava chopped
You can find the recipe here. Obrigada! Thanks, Karen! Different and delicious!
Paz
New York Monday # 21- 125th Street: Capital of Black America
April 24, 2006 | Filed Under Harlem, New York Monday | Leave a Comment
*I’ve been trying to post this since early Monday morning but have been having some technical problems with Blogger. Sorry about that.
We had a rainy weekend in the city. About a month’s worth of rain fell within the past two days. Yet, the weather didn’t stop New Yorkers from coming out and doing business as usual.
Here are a few photos of 125th Street in Harlem. This two-way main street has been called the Capital of Black America. It stretches across town from the east to west side and is filled with lots of people, stores, and businesses.
The first two photos include the statute of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. A minister and politician, he was the first African American from New York elected to U.S. Congress.
The third and fourth photos are of a once famous hotel — The Hotel Theresa. Known as the Waldorf Astoria of Harlem, its patrons included Fidel Castro, Malcom X, Mohammed Ali, Josephine Baker, Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong, Jimi Hendrix, and Duke Elington. John F. Kennedy compaigned for presidency at the hotel. Today the hotel has been turn into an office building.
The sixth photo includes the sign of the once largest department store — called Blumstein — in Harlem. It no longer exists.
You’ll see a glimpse of the Apollo theater, a venue especially popular during the Harlem Renaissance for Black entertainers. Today all types of artists perform there.
You can see a few more photos of 125th Street in the New York Monday #7 post.
Have a good week!
Paz
Weekend Herb Blogging #29 – Daffodils
April 22, 2006 | Filed Under Weekend Herb Blogging | Leave a Comment
I’ve been seeing a lot of daffodils (botanic name Narcissus) around the city. That’s because it flowers mainly during Spring time. However, certain Narcissus bloom in autumn.
These cheerful looking flowers are poisonous. If eaten, the consequences can be fatal. To read more about daffodils, look here.
Paz
*One can blog about herbs, plants, vegetables, or flowers for Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB). To see the list of other interesting WHB posts, go to Kalyn’s Kitchen, Sunday afternoon.
