CookingDiva

Recipe #1: Chef Melissa's Cashew & Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Ingredients:

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
• 12 oz (2 cups) bittersweet chocolate
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon dark rum, or vanilla extract
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour, sifted
• 1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 6 oz (approx. 1 cup) semisweet chocolate, OR white chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped cashew nuts, roasted, not salted.
• Powdered sugar to dust cookies at the end.

Directions:

1. Melt the bittersweet chocolate and butter according to the chocolate's manufacturer instructions, OR, in the top of a double boiler set over steaming hot water. Allow it to cool.
2. Beat eggs until frothy, add the rum or vanilla extract. Slowly add the sugar, 1/4 cup at the time and beat until doubled in volume and soft ribbons form.
3. Add the melted chocolate mixture, and combine well. Mix in the dry sifted ingredients, and stir well. Fold in the chocolate chips and the cashew nuts. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for 3 hours or overnight (until the dough is firm, like regular cookie dough).
4. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Scoop out the chilled dough and form it with your hands into a small 4 inches diameter ball. Place each ball 1-1/2 inches apart in a parchment lined cookie pan.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes, OR until the top of the cookies look cracked. Remove from oven and let sit in the pans for 3-5 minutes. Then, place them in cooling racks and cool completely. Dust with powder sugar and pack in small tins or decorative cellophane bags (for food please), and give to your loved ones this holiday season! Makes 24 cookies.

Recipe #2: COCADA BLANCA (White Cocadas)
Yields: 8 large 3-inch cocadas or 16, 2-inch cocadas.

This is the best way to use coconuts. Keep these in airtight tins or containers and serve as dessert. These cocadas keep fresh if stored tightly in tin cans for up to a month.

Ingredients: Directions:

• 2 coconuts
• 1-3/4 cup sugar
• Oil, for preparing the pan (optional)

1. Pick two large coconuts with plenty of water inside; drain, open and peel off the brown skin from the coconut meat. Shred the coconut to yield 3-3/4 cups shredded coconut meat and 2-1/2 cups coconut water.
2. Mix the coconut water and sugar in a medium, heavy pot over medium heat. Simmer for 10 minutes to thicken and create a light syrup.
3. Add the coconut, decrease the heat to low and cook stirring constantly for 15 to 18 minutes. The heat has to be very low to prevent the cocadas from turning brown, which is actually okay otherwise, but for this recipe they should stay white!
4. Drop spoonfuls of the size you desire in oil coated pans or over parchment covered pans.
5. Cool completely.

Recipe #3: Cake Tres Leches (Three Milks Cake), by Chef Elena del Amor por la Cocina Blog

I have seen many recipes for this popular Central American dessert, but my friend Maria Elena from Guatemala swears this is the original.

For the spongecake:

• 6 eggs, separated
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the cream:

• 1 can Evaporated Milk
• 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 cup whipping cream

For the topping:

• 3 egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cups water
• 1/4 cup of light corn syrup, such as Karo

Directions:

1. Make the spongecake: In a the bowl of your mixer place the egg whites. Beat at low speed first and then increase the speed to high until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, letting it dissolve well before adding more, and beat until firm. Add the egg yolks one by one, beating well after each addition. Now mix the flour with the baking powder and add to the mixture alternating with the milk. This operation has to be done quickly or the batter will loose the lightness in it. Finally, add the vanilla. Pour this batter in a large rectangular Pyrex,greased and floured, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes in a 350°oven.
2. While this is baking, prepare the cream. Very simple: just mix everything together in a blender and pour over the still warm spongecake.
3. The frosting: Place the water, sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan and let boil. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Add the hot syrup in a string and continue beating at high speed until all the syrup has been added. Beat until no longer warm. To serve the Tres Leches: Once the soaked spongecake is at room temperature you have to let it cool in the refrigerator. Then you can spread the frosting and put back in the cold. This is supposed to be served very cold. You can decorate this Cake with Silver dragées or you can also make some caramel and let some strings of it just casually over the frosting.

We invite you to visit the following related previous articles written by Chef Melissa, and other interesting blogs and websites:

• The Red Velvet Rose of Love, includes facts and useful information on cooking with "edible flowers". Lear how to prepare and use roses as garnish and delicious recipes for the holiday season meals.
• TastyRecipes - The CookingDiva´s Recipe Index, with recipes in English and Español.

• Remember you still have time to participate in our worldwide campaign "A Menu For Hope II", to help support victims of the earthquake in Northern India and Pakistan. Just donate $5 for a chance to participate in the raffle of more than 65 fantastic prizes donated by food bloggers from all over the world. For more information visit my previous post: "A Menu for Hope - Un Menu por la Esperanza II". ***Just found out about Becks & Posh new beautiful post, please take a moment to visit her blog!

• 

Tags: a menu for hope, food blog events, cookingdiva, chef, panama, latin america, holiday menu, recipes, desserts, cocada, tres leches, navidad

The best quality flowers for consumption are the young and fresh. Consumers have to be cautious to eat only flowers that were produced for that purpose and to avoid flowers from retail florists where they may have been treated with modern systemic pesticides and chemicals not intended for consumption; they have made the flowers highly toxic.

For some edible flowers, it is important to eat only the petals to avoid the bitter taste found in the rest of the flower. But, when it comes to roses, petals from all varieties are edible as well as the leaves which are used in some concoctions with curative properties that are prepared in Latin America.

The following excerpt has been extracted from "Rosita Arvigo's: Rainforest Remedies, One Hundred Healing Herbs of Belize":

"Red Rose (Rosa Roja, in Spanish): Traditional Uses: As a "cooling" plant for fevers and as a binding or astringent for infantile or childhood diarrhea, 1 red rose flower and 9 leaves are steeped in one cup of boiling water for 15 minutes; this is strained before drinking. A stronger infusion using 3 red roses and a handful of leaves steeped for 15 minutes in 1 cup of hot water is consumed for adult diarrhea and uterine hemorrhage. All infusions are allowed to cool before drinking. To treat red, inflamed eyes in people of all ages, including newborn babies, 1 flower is steeped in 1 cup of boiling water; when cool, this is strained through a cloth and 3 drops are placed in the affected eye 3 times a day until cured."

Anyone wanting to buy roses or other flowers to eat should purchase them directly from an organic farm or from a farmer or gardener who has raised the flowers to use as food.

Roses and other flowers generally taste similar to their fragrance, or in the case of herb flowers they taste similar to the leaf of the plant. Most herbs that we use in the kitchen produce edible flowers, such as garlic, chives, dill, mint, sage and thyme. So, in your quest for the perfect tasting rose, do not forget to put your nose to work and check out the bouquet of each one! Remember that its aroma and the texture, in association with their eye appeal which makes them a "very sensual food".

"Flowers are the plant's sex organs, and they evoke the sex-drenched, bud-breaking free-for-all of spring and summer." An explanation of the aphrodisiac power of flowers as only Diane Ackerman can say it. A Natural History of Love.

We have to thank the organic farming movement for the return of edible flowers to the American cuisine. The chemicals & pesticide-free roses used to cook by most American chefs come from organic gardens in California who send them by air to specialty food suppliers around the country. Chefs pay around $15- $ 20 for fifty fresh thumbnail-sized blossoms.

Now, the fabulous recipes:

Recipe #1: CRYSTALLIZED ROSE PETALS (for garnishing salads, soups and desserts)

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg white
• 1 tbsp water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• handful of fresh, organic rose petals

Directions: Beat the egg white in water until foamy. Use a small pastry brush to paint each of the flower petals with the egg white mixture. Then, dip the petals into sugar. Allow petals to dry overnight on waxed paper.

Recipe #2: BOUTONS DE ROSE INFUSION

To prepare this infusion I use the "Fauchon's Boutons the Rose".  They are dried miniature red rose buds that come in a small 50g plastic jar directly from France. The 50g jar costs $17.50 here in Panama City. In a future post I will teach you how to dry your roses to assure the best taste and texture.

The procedure to prepare the infusion is very simple: just bring water to a boil and put a handful of dried rose buds in an infusion pot. Then, cover with the hot water and let it brew for 10 minutes, or more if wanted.

Recipe #3: ROSE-THYME VINEGAR

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh organic red rose petals (or pink, or a combination of both)
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 l., distilled white salad vinegar

Directions: Place the rose petals and the thyme in a container with the vinegar and close hermetically for 1 month. Store in a dark place. Then, strain the liquid through a fine sieve or cheese cloth and discard the rose petals. The thyme sprigs could be saved for future use as garnish.

If you bottle this beautiful and fragrant vinegar (with the help of a funnel), into decorative bottles, it would be the perfect holiday gift for your loved ones and foodie friends!

For best flavor: store the bottled rose vinegar for no more than 6 months in a dark, cool pantry.

Uses for this vinegar: in addition to using this vinegar to prepare your favorite vinaigrette, you can also use it to create a "rose homemade mayonnaise". Yes, I know..., it sounds deliciously beautiful Just the way we like it!

To prepare this "mayonesa con esencia de rosas" or, "rose mayonnaise", just use the "rose-thyme vinegar" when your favorite homemade mayonnaise calls for vinegar or lime juice.

Recipe #4: ROSE COCKTAIL

Ingredients:

• the juice of 4 lemons
• 1 l. water
• 2 teaspoons-rose water- (store purchased or home made)
• 3 tablespoons organic honey, or agave syrup
• a pinch of salt

Directions: combine all of the ingredients and stir until the honey and salt are dissolved. Serve COLD, garnished with a lemon wedge.

Tags: rose, edible flowers, cookingdiva, rosa, panama, sensual food

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