Firecrackers.. But Its Not Even July?

      Ever since I was a little boy I just simply loved explosions, whether it was a bottle rocket in a campfire, a chemical reaction in chemistry, or simply the childish horseplay of using Axe body spray and a lighter as a blowtorch. So it was no surprise that when my mother introduced me to the small little saltine crackers called “Firecrackers,” I fell in love with the explosion of flavor. These days it is a must for my parents to bring a batch of these spicy crackers to any social gathering that we go to because of how simple and easy it is to make.

Creating these little bundles of zest is almost a no brainer. This was my first time crafting Firecrackers and it was one of the simplest things ever. All you need is:

1 gallon Tupperware or 2 gallon Zip-Lock bag

2 Tablespoons of Cracked Red Pepper

1 packet of Ranch Seasoning Powder. (or 4 Tablespoons)

8 Oz of Pure Canola Oil (1 and 1/3 cups)

4 sleeves of regular saltine crackers (or a box of mini-saltine crackers)

 

     Basically, you can alter the recipe depending on how tolerant you are too spicy foods. I personally, have a knack for hotter treats so I like to have my parents add up to 4 tablespoons of cracked red pepper when they make them.

Procedure:

Okay, this is where things can get incredibly complicated and intense in a hurry. Simply mix the cracked red pepper, ranch seasoning powder and pure canola oil in a bowl and stir. Next, lay out the crackers in the Tupperware or Zip-Lock and pour in the liquid concoction. Shake the bag around to get the flavoring dispersed to as many crackers as possible; use your hands if you want! After mixing the crackers and solution of flavors around let it sit for 15 minutes and then flip the container and repeat for over an hour. Presto. Your firecrackers are fashioned to give you and your guests a little bite back of taste.

Your dish should look along the lines of this:

                               

Before:                        

After:                  

Hazelnut Macarons

This past summer I had the opportunity to go to France. My mom and I were so excited about the food culture, so we decided to do some research over the different meals and pastries served. One dessert, macrons, caught my eye and I was really fascinated by it. Macarons are kind of like little cookie sandwiches and are not to be confused with macaroons. It's basically two meringues with a flavored filling in between. There are so many different flavors that you can make, but I decided to make hazelnut macarons.

Just an example of what they're supposed to look like!

Making macarons is a little difficult because it requires your measurements to be super precise, otherwise the end result will be super disappointing! In order to make macarons you'll need:

1/4 cup of ground almonds
1/3 cup of finely ground hazelnuts, plus 1 tbsp if you want to decorate
1 cup of confectioners' sugar
2 extra large egg whites
1/4 super fine sugar
1/4 cup of hazelnut and chocolate spread
Baking Sheets
Sifter
Food Processor
Whisk or Electric Mixer
Pastry bag or Ziploc bag
Nonstick Foil

First you'll need to put the almonds, hazelnuts, and confectioners' sugar into a food processor, until throughly mixed...roughly 20 seconds. Sift the mixture into a big bowl. In a separate bowl, put the egg whites in and whisk or mix until a meringue is formed with soft peaks. If you are using an electric mixer, start by mixing the eggs on the lowest speed until bubbles start to form. As soon as bubbles form, switch the speed of the mixer to medium/high speed. The egg whites will turn white and foamy. When meringue has formed soft peaks (the meringue will "melt" back down if formed into a peak), gradually whisk in the fine sugar so that the meringue has fine peaks and is glossy. Next, fold in a third of the almond mixture into the egg whites. Gradually fold the rest of the almond mixture in. Put the batter into a pastry or ziploc bag for piping. *For the baking sheets, the recipe that I found recommended using parchment paper, but I found that nonstick foil works a lot better because it doesn't stick to the macron when it is done baking.*  Pipe the batter onto the baking sheets. Once finished, take the baking sheet and hit it against the counter to get rid of any air bubbles in the batter. You'll have to leave the macarons sitting at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325. After thirty minutes, place the baking sheets in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and then begin putting the filling on!

I used Nutella for the filling and garnished half of the macarons with hazelnuts. I think they tasted okay, a little too sweet in my opinion, but I'm really happy with the final results!

A Little Touch of the Hispanic Culture

Thinking back on my culture, what are two main foods that are commonly fixed in hispanic households?  I thought about it and decided to prepare some homemade nachos and quesadillas.  I went to HEB and bought some tortillas, tortilla chips, jalapeños, cheese and of course, salsa.  I went to my parents’ apartment to start this wonderful journey.  First, I started by adding all of these condiments onto the chips.  I stuck them into the oven and within minutes my first creation was complete.  The only thing that I would have done different was layer the cheese instead of putting it on top of the chips. Overall it was a lot of fun and I now know how to cook a fast and easy snack.

For part two, I decided to make some quesadillas.  I simply heated the tortillas and put cheese and green onions inside of them.  The first quesadilla I made was filled with cheese to the point where it was overflowing onto the plate.  After that, I gradually became better and had a blast cooking these meals. 

 I had a great meal and surprised myself in many ways.  I didn't know how easy it was to make those meals.  Thanks to this journey, I learned many things about cooking and now know how to make quick ad easy snacks.  

Making Won Kim Proud (sort of)

Won Kim's Peach Pudding is a popular dessert served at Hyde Park Bar and Grill in Austin. It's basically a sweet spongey cake with fresh peaches baked over its top. The pudding is served warm, in a shallow bowl, and partially submerged in sweet cream. A good friend and I have long considered the Won Kim to be the best dessert we've ever tasted, so I thought it would be a fun (and slightly daring) cooking challenge.

The procedure is actually quite simple, and my friend and I had no trouble, even though we had never made anything remotely pudding-like before. Here are the ingredients:



Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 3/4 cups and 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cups buttermilk

4 cups peeled sliced peaches (from about 3-3 1/2 pounds)

Whipping cream (sweetened as you like)

In reality this pudding is really just a cake with peaches on top, and the baking procedures are very much like baking a cake. Fresh, ripe peaches are essential if you want to achieve a taste on par with the restaurant's incarnation. 

Procedure

While the oven is pre-heating to 350 degrees, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Beat the butter with a mixer until smooth, then beat in the sugar gradually. Repeat with vanilla and the eggs (one at a time) in that order, remembering to mix well in between each addition. Next, beat in the buttermilk and the flour alternately, in 3 additions each, incorporating well.


Transfer mixture to a baking dish that is 13x9x2, and sprayed with vegetable oil. Arrange peaches evenly across the entire mixture, covering all batter.


 

Place a sheet of tinfoil, sprayed with oil, oil-side down across the baking dish and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the tinfoil and bake an additional 40-45 minutes, or until peaches are golden brown and awesome looking. Allow 1 hour for cooling, and serve warm with cream!


Ours turned out great! Unfortunately not as good as Hyde Park's, but definitely a dessert I'll be trying out again sometime soon!

Pancit Canton

One of the signature Filipino dishes is Pancit. Pancit is noodles that were introduced to the Philippines by the Chinese. They are very similar to chow mein and lo mein. There are various forms of Pancit such as Pancit Bihon and Pancit Canton.  I have grown up eating the various Filipino dishes such as bistek, which is thinly, sliced beef cooked with soy sauce and lemon juice along with onions and caldereta is basically a Filipino beef stew with various vegetables. Another popular Filipino dish are egg rolls. At your typical Filipino party you would most likely all of these dishes.  A Filipino almost always eats Pancit on their birthday because according to Filipino tradition the noodles represent long life and good health.

            Pancit Canton differs from Pancit Bihon because of the noodle used. Pancit Bihon uses rice sticks while Pancit Canton uses flour sticks. I prefer Pancit Canton because I think the flour noodles taste better but that’s just my opinion.  So I decided I would attempt to cook Pancit Canton.

So I decided I would use this recipe:

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1 med. onion, finely chopped
1 c. shredded cabbage

1/2 c. celery, cut in strips

1/2 tsp. salt and pepper

1 pkg. pancit canton

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp. soy sauce

2 cups chicken broth

You can add pork, chicken and shrimp, but I decided I would keep it simple since this was my first time making Pancit Canton.

I heated up the oil to brown the garlic cloves and then added the onions. I then added the some soy sauce for flavor. Next, I added the cabbage and celery season them with salt and pepper. Then I added 2 cups of chicken broth and stirred it for 2 minutes. Lastly, I added the Pancit canton noodles and cooked over low heat for 3 minutes.

Although they weren’t as good as my grandma’s, I thought they came out pretty well especially for my first time.

Baklava

Baklava is really good. really good. It is a Turkish dessert but is also very popular in Greece and along the Mediterranean. I mean its just an amazing concept, isn't it? Layers of buttery flaky dough sprinkled with nuts and cinnamon all covered up in a an amazing sticky honey sauce. A wonderful invention. So I thought it would be a great second recipe, and since I've never made pastry before, a great challenge.
The recipe I found I thought would be pretty reliable since it was from a blog written by a Greek woman, and traditional recipes written by experienced matriarchs are always the best, right? Philo dough was the most important ingredient the recipe said, this is what gives baklava the flaky layered texture, something like a croissant, only completely different. Between the layers of philo dough there is a mixture of nuts, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla that is sort of like the 'meat' of the pastry. This assemblage goes into the oven for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Poured over the top once it comes out is a boiled mixture of honey, sugar, vanilla, and water that is the delectable take-me-home-to-die part of baklava. I went to H-E-B and bought a package of frozen philo dough, sugar, butter, and the nuts, the rest of the ingredients we fortunately had in the common room or the kitchen already.

Done

I put the dough and nut layers together like the recipe said, alternating with painted layers of melted butter. Then I sliced the surface diagonally into diamond shapes and put it into to oven. While waiting, I boiled the water and sugar then let it simmer with the honey in it; this was the part I was sure I would mess up since it seemed there were so many things that could go wrong with melting sugar. Sugar just doesn't seem like its supposed to melt. Thankfully Gabby and Kali were there to keep me sane and stir it when I forgot. The insane part of this recipe was that when the baklava came out of the oven and once the honey mixture had been poured over the top, the author of the recipe was asking me to wait 8 hours for the honey to soak in. A ridiculous request, but we made it. I think maybe I put in too many nuts that maybe weren't chopped small enough, but other than that I am glad to be able to say that Ive made baklava, and even happier that it went so well with coffee the next morning.

Photos of Dinner at Dr. Piedmont-Marton's House!

Thank you again for a very tasty meal! We appreciate your hospitality!