Tarte Tatin, Dorie Greenspan, "Baking"

Ingredients:

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (preferably all butter), thawed, or sweet tart dough, chilled
1 stick butter, 120 grams (I use half)
3/4 cup sugar, about 100 g
about 8 sweet firm apples, such as Fudji, Gala or Golden Delicious, peeled, cored and quartered (I cut in halves)

Method:
Choose a 9 or 10 inches oven-proof skillet or a tarte Tatin pan.

Working on a floured surface, (if you are using puff pastry), or between wax paper or plastic wrap, roll the dough out until it sis about 1/8 inch thick (it can be thicker if you'd like). Using a paring knife, cut the dough into a circle that is 1 inch larger of the diameter of the pan you are using.
Prick the dough all over with the tins of a fork and refrigerate it while you work on the apples.

Put the skillet over medium heat and add the butter. When it melts, tilt the pan so that the sides have a thin coating of melted butter. Sprinkle the sugar over the butter. Remove from the heat.

Fit a layer of apples into the skillet, putting the apples into the pan rounded side down and making concentric circles.
What's important here is to pack in the apples-because they will shrink as they cook, you want to make sure they are snug in the pan. When you've got a tight single layer, cut the remaining apple halves (or quarters) in half and strew them over the first layer. (You might have to cut more apples to get a fairly even layer here, or you might have apple quarters left over).
Don't worry about making this layer beautiful -no one will see it, but it will give the finished tart a litte height.

Put the pan over medium heat and cook -staying close by- until the sugar turns a deep caramel color. You'll see it bubbling up the sides of the pan, but if you need a clearer view, you can gently push an apple aside. To get the color you want without burning the sugar, you may have to lower the heat after a while. Count on 15 minutes, more or less, to get the color.

Remove from the heat.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and center it over the fruits, loosely tucking in any overhang (it's okay if you have a double layer of dough on the edges), or not - the oven's heat will shrink the pastry to size.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the pastry is baked through and if you used puff pastry, puffed.

Now, cover the skillet with a large rimmed service plate and, acting quickly and confidently (and making sure you're wearing good oven mitts), turn the tart out onto the platter and remove the pan. If any of the apples have stuck to the pan, gently lift them off the pan with an icing spatula and press them gently back onto the tart.

Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Green Peas Soup, Katrien's recipe, Belgium

Ingredients:
- 500 grams green peas
- 3L Water (I did less)
- 2 pieces of leek
- 1 onion
- 1 celery
- 2 pieces of beef bouillon
- salt and pepper

Method:
Just put everything together in a pot and let boil for 1.5 hour (low fire). Blend the soup and add salt and peper, to taste.

In a pan, add some olive oil and bake the prosciutto and the bread.

Add on top of the soup in a bowl and serve.

Brownies, Jessica's recipe, USA

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup flour (unbleached)
4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 sticks of butter (unsalted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (make sure it's the real thing, *not* imitation) 3 egg

Method:
* Preheat oven to 350F

* Grease a 9"x9" glass baking dish with a bit of butter.

* Beat together sugar and butter. If you have an electric mixer, beat until slightly fluffy, if not, just beat by hand until well-mixed. * Beat in cocoa, vanilla, and eggs until well-mixed.

* Add in flour and beat just until mixed in.

* Batter should be pretty thick.* Pour the batter into the greased pan.

* Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the center of the brownies is set and a toothpick (or small piece of raw spaghetti) inserted in the center comes out clean.

* The top of the brownies should have a very slight crust, and the centers should be very cakey and dense.* Let cool for as long as you can stand it, then devour with a big cold glass of milk.

**My favorite modification: add a big pinch of ancho chile powder and 2 big pinches of cinnamon to the batter when you add the cocoa. It adds a great spice!

Empanadas, Lucila's recipe, Argentina

Meat Filling:

1.- Mix in a large saucepan, 3 tablespoons of oil with 2 cups of chopped onions. Add 1 cup of chopped red peppers.
2.- Cook uncovered, at moderate heat for 2 or 3 minutes, add 2 1/2 cups of ground meat and stir with a wooden spoon for 12 - 15 minutes at high heat.
3.- Remove from heat and add 3/4 cup chopped tomatoes, 1/2 cup of chopped green onions, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 2 teaspoons of oregano, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of mild paprika cook for 3 or 4 more minutes.
4.- Let the filling rest for 2 hours.

Optional:

Before filling pastries add to the filling mixtures some raisins, 1/2 cup of chopped olives and or 2 chopped hard boiled eggs.

Preparing the empanadas:

1. Lay each pastry disc on a flat surface.
2. Put 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoon of filling in the center of each pastry disc.
3. Fold dough over filling and make the edges of the pastry meet.
4. Press the edges with a fork to seal them or bend de dough inch by inch to seal them.

Baking procedure

1. Preheat the oven at 400° F.
2. Lay empanadas in a large cookie sheet, previously sprayed with a nonstick cooking spray, and bake at 400° - 425° F for 15 - 20 minutes, until they get a golden brown color.

Pan de Jamón (Ham bread), Mabel, Venezuela

Cut preparation time in half by using premade white-bread dough, available in the frozen-food section at your local grocer, (Byerlys, Target, Cubs. Brand: RHODES)

Ingredients:

1-pound loaf premade frozen bread dough, thawed
4 tablespoons melted butter, divided
4 to 5 bacon strips
1/2 pound deli-style cooked ham, thinly sliced
1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed green olives, sliced

1/4 cup raisins

Preparation:
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to make a rectangle of approximately 12 by 20 inches. Brush on 3 tablespoons of the melted butter, and stagger the bacon strips lengthwise along the center. Layer with the cooked ham, overlapping the slices, and leave a 1/2-inch edge along the perimeter of the dough. Sprinkle the olive slices and raisins evenly on top.

Starting at the short end, carefully roll the dough—jelly-roll fashion—to enclose the filling completely. Pinch both ends closed, and tuck them underneath the loaf. Place in a lightly buttered 12-inch loaf pan or baking dish. Prick the surface a few times with a fork and cover with a clean cloth.

Allow the bread to rise undisturbed in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour. Remove the cloth and brush the surface of the loaf with the remaining tablespoon of butter. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes. Cut into 1-inch-thick slices and serve. Makes 1 loaf.

King Pie from Franche Comte, France

Colette's recipe

This is a traditional pie served for Twelfth Night. The one who finds the bean hidden in it, is proclaimed King or Queen, and receives a paper crown.

Ingredients:

150 g flour
25 cl water (or milk)
75 g butter,
5 CS sugar,
1 TSP vanilla extract,
3 eggs,
1 pinch of salt,
1 CS orange blossom flower,
2 CS heavy cream.

a charm, a coin, or a bean

Directions:

In a pan, combine water, salt, butter, sugar and vanilla. Bring to a boil, and remove from heat.
Add flour in a batch, then continue to cook on low heat. Mix well until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Remove from heat, and add the eggs, one at a time, with a wooden spoon, until the dough is smooth and shiny.

Add cream and orange blossom water.

Spread the dough on a pie pan (or a pizza pan), 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick. Don't forget to hide a bean or any charm in it.

Apply the egg yolk and then draw lines with a fork.

Bake in the oven 20 to 25 minutes at 210 C or 410 F.

Be careful, the pie can burn very quickly.

Venezuelan Sweet Cheese

Mabel's recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar.
1 tablespoon water
1 can condensed milk.
1 can whole milk (measure it with the condensed milk can)
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

Put the water and sugar in a metal mold over medium heat until it starts bubbling and gets darker.

Turn off the fire and cover the inside of the mold with the caramel by stirring it around.

Mix the eggs, condensed milk, whole milk and lastly the vanilla in a blender for three minutes.
Pour the mix into the mold with the caramel and cover.

Bake in a double boiler at 350 degrees for an hour and a half or until you attempt to insert a knife in the dessert.

Remove the mold from the hot water and let it cool to room temperature.
Then put it in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.

Serving suggestion and comment:

The quesillo has to be turned out carefully loosening the edges with a thin knife. Serve in a deep dish so the caramel won’t spill.

Published by Escape Latino

Minestrone

Catherine's recipe

*Heat over medium heat a large soup pot 2 to 3 minutes:*

2 tbsp olive oil
2 slices bacon chopped ( I trim as much fat as possible)

*Add and cook, stirring, 5 to 10 minutes:*

1 medium red onion, chopped
2 carrots peeled and chopped
2 medium celery stalks minced
One 4" sprig fresh rosemary (I use some frozen from the garden)
1/4 cup basil, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small head green cabbage (I use 1/2 Napa cabbage)
3 swiss chard leaves washed and chopped.

*Cover and cook until the vegetable are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in:*

One 14-ounce can diced tomatoesone
16 ounces pinto beans or Northern.
4 ounces wheatberry
10 cups chicken broth, veggie broth or water
2tsp salt

*Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, partly covered, 45 minutes.*

*Drizzle olive oil over each serving.*

*Sprinkle with ground black pepper to taste.*

Adapted from the Joy of Cooking cookbook.

Corn bread,

Sabine's recipe

From Moosewood cookbook, by Mollie Katzen

Ingredients:

1/4 cup honey

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk and 1 TBS lemon juice)

1 egg

1 cup yellow corn meal

1 cup unbleached white flour

3 Tbs melted butter

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Beat together egg, buttermilk and honey.

Mix well together all dry ingredients.

Combine all ingredients, including melted butter, and mix well.

Spread into buttered 8-inch square pan, and bake 20 mnin a 425-degree oven.

Serve hot with butter.

Goes well with chili or hearthy, chunky soups.

Cheese Puff

Catherine's recipe

A Burgundian recipe served as an hors-d'oeuvre.

Ingredients:

250 g sifted flour
1 1/2 cups water
1stick butter (8tbsp)
5 eggs (or 4 big eggs)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups grated gruyere or swiss cheese

Instructions:

Preheat the oven at 400 F.In a large saucepan, combine butter, salt and water.

Bring to a boil on medium heat. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Continue to cook for about one minute, to eliminate excess moisture.

Transfer to a bowl or in a mixer and let cool for a few minutes.

Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time by hand with a wooden spoon, or on low speed with a mixer.

Beat the dough until it is smooth and shiny.

Stir in the grated cheese.

Shape the dough into about 24 puffs on a baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes at 400F then reduce the temperature to 350 F and continue to bake until golden brown and very firm at the touch, 20 to 25 minutes more.

Tamagoyaki, Rolled Omelet Ritsu's recipe Ingredients: 4 eggs 3 tbsp dashi soup stock (Japanese fish stock) 2 tsp sugar 2 tsp soy sauce 3 tbsps chopped green onion Preparation: Beat the eggs in a bowl. Add soy sauce, sugar, dashi, and green onion and mix well. Heat little bit of vegetable oil in a square omelette pan on mid heat. Pour a scoop of egg mixture in the pan and spread over the surface. When the egg is firm enough, roll it up and slide it toward the end of the pan, then oil the rest of the pan and pour more egg mixture in the empty space and under the rolled egg. This will allow you to join another section of cooked egg onto the roll, for a longer continuous omelette. Cook until half done and roll the egg again so that the omelette becomes thicker. Repeat this process until the egg mixture is gone.

Tonkatsu, Fried Pork

Ritsu's recipe

Ingredients:

4 pork chops
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 egg
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Vegetable oil for frying
Tonkatsu Sauce

Preparation:

Cut the edge of pork chops in several places.

Sprinkle salt and pepper on the pork.

Put flour lightly on it. Dip the pork in beaten egg.

Put panko on the pork and pat them well. Fry the pork in 320F oil for a few min.

Turn over the pork chops and fry a few more minutes.

Take out the pork and put it on a paper towel to drain the oil.

Cut each Tonkatsu into small pieces.

*Serve with shredded cabbage and Tonkatsu Sauce.

Simple Spinach Salad with Mandarin Oranges

Gail's recipe

This recipe can brighten a winter day.

Salad:

Use as many greens as you want:

1/2 baby spinach leaves (sold in a bag prewashed, or chop large spinach)
1/2 lettuce (romaine, green leaf or red leaf)
1 large can mandarin oranges (drained but save juice)
3 chopped green onions (or 1/2 red onion)
1 handful sliced almonds

Dressing:

1 tablespoon orange marmalade or apricot preserves
1 tablespoon saved mandarin syrup
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball the amount
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Mix marmalade with vinegar. Add olive oil in a stream while whisking. Taste and adjust.Arrange salad greens on platter or individual plates. Top with orange segments, onions and almonds. Pour dressing over salad. Season with salt and pepper.