My Mom, Christmas Gifts, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Tartlets

If you haven't noticed already, my mom and I are very close. We have a very "Gilmore Girls" type of relationship in the sense that she is a single mother, and I'm an only child on my mother's side. She is my best friend and my mother. I talk to her every single day, 5-10 times a day.

For many years, she and I had been graduate students at the same time. When she started working on her dissertation, I invited her to live with me in order to expedite the PhD process so she could graduate sooner. Only two semesters later, I was able to call her "Dr. Mom", and she became a professor of English Literature. I am immensely proud of my mom. She is my inspiration and my role model.

For Christmas, she bought me a bunch of stuff for my somewhat new cooking/baking/photography addiction to make up for all the times she couldn't give me everything I wanted while she was a struggling student. So, I thought I'd share all the kitchen-related gifts I received because the non-kitchen stuff like clothes and batteries (yes, she even wrapped up my batteries!) is just boring haha!

A beautiful Canon EOS XSi with a 50mm lens! I love this camera!

Left to right: glass cake stand; steamer (used to make the tamales; was on sale for 30 dollars at Bed, Bath, & Beyond); mortar & pestle (yes!); in and near the Pyrex cup: pastry cutter, grater, candy thermometer, offset spatula, zester, egg separator; pastry mat; roast pan (no more foil pans anymore!)

Ahh, a cast-iron dutch oven! My mom actually bought this a few years ago and never used it (GASP!) because well...she doesn't cook much. After a bit of coaxing, she reluctantly let me have it! Yes!

In return, I cooked and baked for her. Most importantly, I bought her a standing globe, which is something she's wanted for years. She would always say, "Whenever I become a professor, I want to have a standing globe in my office." I got to admit, out of all the presents I saw on Christmas Day, her present, not mine, was my favorite because I got to make her happy. She even cried happy tears, and she doesn't cry very often. I love you, mom! Thanks for everything!

Okay, enough of the mushy stuff! I promised to post this tart a long time ago but never got around to it because of the tamales and the rosca for Three Kings' Day. I made these tarts for Christmas because I thought the crust looked very interesting and indulgent. It is comprised of melted chocolate and chocolate wafers (I used Oreos)!

Unfortunately, the crust was really hard, and after discussing this problem with the blogger who posted the recipe originally, we figured that it may be hard because of the thickness of the crust. So, if you decide to make this dessert, make the crust thin around the edges.
In order to remedy the hardness factor, I placed the next tart in a small pool of milk to soften the crust. That worked perfectly. Unfortunately, I'm not a great fan of peanut butter, and I'm getting tired of chocolate. Nevertheless, this dessert was good. If you're craving chocolate and peanut butter make this dessert while keeping the abovementioned pointers in mind. Enjoy!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
adapted from Once Upon a Chef (She made one large 10-inch tart)
Note the differences in how much each layer yields if you're making small tarts! I would half the peanut butter layer for the small tarts.

Chocolate Crust (makes about 5 small tarts):
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I use Ghirardelli)
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
8 ounces Nabisco chocolate wafer cookies (about 32 cookies from a 9-ounce package), finely ground in a food processor (2 cups)

Peanut Butter Filling (makes 8-10 small tarts):
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (1 small tub or box)
1 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy peanut butter)
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup well-chilled heavy cream

Chocolate Topping (makes enough for 5 small tarts):
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli)
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup salted roasted peanuts, chopped (I didn't use this; I'm not a nut lover)

Chocolate Crust: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium glass bowl, combine the chocolate and butter and microwave at high power in 20-second intervals until the chocolate is just melted. Stir well, then stir in the cookie crumbs. Press the cookie crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the rim of the tart pans (Be sure not to make the crust too thick in any one spot, especially around the rim. Keep it thin throughout, otherwise it will come out too hard.) Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then cool on rack.

Peanut Butter Filling: In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese with the peanut butter, sugar and vanilla extract until blended. In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, whip the chilled cream until firm. Fold one-third of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture to loosen it, then fold in the remaining whipped cream. Spoon the filling into the crust, smoothing the surface. Refrigerate uncovered for about 1 hour.

Chocolate Topping: In a medium glass bowl, combine the chocolate with the heavy cream and microwave at high power in 20-second intervals until the chocolate is just melted and the cream is hot. Stir the chocolate topping until blended, then let cool to barely warm, stirring occasionally. Spread the chocolate topping over the chilled peanut butter filling and sprinkle the chopped peanuts around the edge of the pie. Chill uncovered in refrigerator for 3 more hours.

Carefully remove the rim from the pan by gently pressing upwards on the bottom while holding the rim in place. (If using a springform pan, run a thin knife around the crust to loosen it, then remove the springform ring.) Use a sharp knife to cut the pie into wedges. Run the knife under hot water and dry it between each cut. Serve chilled or slightly cooler than room temperature.

Can be made one day ahead of time.

P.S. Here is the red mixer I won on Pioneer Woman! The mixer my mom gave me last year is the black one.

Espresso Ice Cream

When I was staying with my mother over the holidays, she asked me when I was going to make ice cream for her. I asked her to tell me what kind of ice cream she wanted, and she said she wanted one with coffee in it. Well, even though I had placed the ice cream bowl in the freezer and made my own chocolate-covered espresso beans because we couldn't find any in Small Town, Arkansas, I never got around to making the ice cream for her. Sorry, mom!

She wanted to try out this espresso ice cream, and I finally made it...here...at home...far away from my mom. For the espresso beans, I just dipped them in melted chocolate. I didn't temper the chocolate since looks were not an issue because the beans were just add-ins. I then flashed froze the beans and transferred them to a Ziploc bag for later use. In my opinion, the beans distract you from the delectable ice cream base. However, if you still want to include them, I suggest grinding them finer than I did. Even other commenters who tried this recipe said the same thing. I thought I had ground them fine enough, but I guess I didn't. Alternatively, you could grind up some chocolate chips or chocolate bars.

I will be making this again with different add-ins. It is fantastic and has a smooth mouthfeel. Enjoy! For you non-drinkers out there (like me), mix espresso with hot water to substitute for the coffee liqueur.

Espresso Ice Cream

adapted from Ina Garten on Foodnetwork

3 cups half-and-half
6 extra-large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch salt
2 1/2 tablespoons ground espresso coffee beans, decaffeinated or regular
1 tablespoon coffee liqueur (recommended: Kahlua) (I used 1 tsp espresso with 2 tsp hot water)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 ounces (1/2 cup) chocolate-covered espresso beans, chopped

Heat the half-and-half until it forms bubbles around the edge of the pan and steam starts to rise. Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks, sugar, and salt until mixed. Slowly add the hot half-and-half until combined. Wipe out the pan and pour the mixture back into the clean pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 5 to 10 minutes (if your mixture is already thick from the beginning like it was for me, only cook the mixture for about 2 minutes), until it's thickened and the cream coats the back of the spoon.

Pour the cream through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl. Add the ground espresso beans, coffee liqueur (or espresso/coffee mixture), and vanilla and refrigerate until completely chilled.

Pour the espresso cream into an ice-cream freezer and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. Mix in the chopped espresso beans, spoon into a container, and allow to freeze for a few hours. Soften slightly before serving.

Rosca de Reyes

¡FELIZ DÍA DE LOS REYES!

In Mexico, many other Central and Southern American countries, and some parts of the U.S., they celebrate el Día de los Reyes on the 6th of January, which is TODAY! Traditionally, on the 5th of January, children leave their shoes out by a miniature nativity scene so that the three kings can place gifts in them. They also leave food, hay, and water for the kings and camels to express their gratitude for gifts. Later, everyone celebrates this day of epifanía or Epiphany by sitting around an oval-shaped, chewy, lightly sweetened Rosca de Reyes and Mexican hot chocolate or atole.

The rosca is shaped this way to symbolize the crown of Jesus; the candied fruits represent the jewels on the crown. Traditionally, the rosca is filled with baby Jesus figurines. The people who get the slices of rosca with the baby Jesus figurines in them will have to make and serve tamales (or whatever else you want to serve) on the 2nd of February (I still owe a party or two…oops!)!

Aren't they cute?!! I bought these from a grocery store that specializes in Latin-American food for 50 cents each.

After doing a bit of research on rosca recipes, I realized that there are many disparate versions out there depending on which region you follow. So, based on the knowledge I acquired, I created a "new" version. My goal with this version was to recreate the rosca I remembered eating while living in East L.A. There was no edible filling like raisins or cajeta, so I didn't include that, but I did post it in the recipe below as an option add-in, along with directions on how to add it, for anyone who would like to include it.

I made a lot of mistakes on this rosca, so bear with me through this post. I'm glad that it looks pretty well, though. I'll do better next year!

I made the bread a bit sweeter by adding sugar to the baño (literally means "bath", but is the glaze, in this case) that goes on top of the bread. The pasta (sugar/flour paste) browned a lot because I didn't realize that I was supposed to put it on until after it was done baking! DOH!

Also, I candied the pineapples myself from a fresh pineapple. I also candied the cherries. Not surprisingly, I couldn't find fresh papaya, so I bought the candied papaya. The candied papaya was dry and kept poking and popping out of my rosca. The fruits I candied, however, looked shiny and beautiful and were sticky enough that I didn't have to worry about them popping up.

Candying sugar is a lot easier than I thought it would be. If you ever make this rosca, I highly suggest you candy your own fruit instead of buying it. If you can't find fresh papaya (I couldn't around this time of year), try dipping the store-bought kind in the leftover sugar syrup from the other fruits so that they adhere to the rosca. I followed this recipe to candy the fruits.

I am submitting this bread to yeastspotting!!

Rosca de Reyes

adapted from various sources

Dough:
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/4 c warm water (105-110°F)
1/4 c warm milk (can put both milk and water in one measuring cup and microwave mixture for 30-45 seconds. Check the temperature!)
1 Tbsp sugar
4 - 4 1/2 c AP flour (I needed 4 1/4 cups. You could also use half wheat and half white flour. Be prepared to make adjustments with the liquid, though!)
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 c butter, softened
1/2 c milk (I used whole)
2 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
Zest of one orange (optional)
Zest of one lemon (optional) (I used orange zest only)
1/4 c leche condensada
1 tsp vanilla extract (I forgot to add this!!)

Baño:
1 egg whites (use the white from the pasta below)
2 Tbsp powdered sugar (I accidentally used granulated sugar. Don't make my mistake.)

After baking, add the pasta:
Pasta (I halved this part of the recipe from What's Cooking and still had more left):
1/2 c sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 c flour
1/3 c butter, softened

Add-ins:
3-5 Baby Jesus figurines (I used 4)

Raisins

Cajeta or dulce de leche

Melted chocolate

Proof yeast in 1/4 cup of water and milk (105-110°F) and 1 Tbsp of sugar. While yeast mixture is proofing, mix the flour and cinnamon together in a large bowl or on a table, and form a well (alternatively, you can use a stand mixer). In the middle of the well, put in the yeast mixture, butter, egg yolks, whole eggs, condensed milk, and vanilla. Mix the wet ingredients together and then gradually blend in the flour until you form a ball. Knead the dough or use a stand mixer for about 8-10 minutes. Cover the dough with a clean towel, and allow the dough to sit in a warm place in a greased bowl for one hour or until its doubled in size.

Once the dough has doubled, take out the dough and knead the dough for a few seconds to remove the air out of them. Roll the dough back into a ball, place a dough scraper or knife in the middle of the ball to create the rosca, which should be oval-shaped with a large hole in the center. Make sure the hole is larger than you would think it should be since the hole will close up after the second rising. Allow the shaped dough to rise for about 45 minutes.

If adding cajeta, dulce de leche, or melted chocolate: Once the dough has doubled, take out the dough and knead the dough for a few seconds to remove the air out of them. Roll the dough back into a ball, and then roll out the dough to form a long rectangle. With the long part of the rolled-out dough in front of you, pipe or spread the filling on one side of dough. Add raisins on top, if desired. Brush egg wash on the side facing you. Fold the opposite side of the dough on top of the egg-washed side. Then, roll the dough into a thick, snake-like shape, pinching the ends together really well so that they don't come apart (the dough should now look like in the photo above).

Mix the baño mixture with beaters or in a mixer, and brush it on top of the shaped, risen dough. This mixture will also help the dried fruit adhere to the rosca (it didn't help at all for me).

I actually allowed the rosca to rise with the decorations on them. Don't make my mistake. The dried candy from the store kept lifting up after baking.

Bake the rosca for 25-30 minutes in a 350°F oven. Next, spread the pasta in 6-8 sections on top of the rosca, leaving enough space in between them for the fruits. Cut the fruits and place them on the rosca to the left and right of the pasta.

Allow rosca to cool for 5-10 mins, and add in the figurines, if using, underneath the rosca by punching a hole at the bottom with the figurine itself. Tuck the figurines in the rosca well so that they don't fall out.

Reclining on top of the rosca; awww, can you see his little feet poking out?

Eat the rosca with your family and friends.

Tamales Part 3: Assembly & Finale!

Finally! We have reached the last step - assembly. Now, that the filling, corn husks, and masa are ready, we just need to put everything together and steam the tamales.

Here's how I did it: Open the corn husk with the smooth side facing up,

Smooth side on top, and rough side on the bottom.

and place the masa on the bottom 2/3rds of it with the back of a spoon, leaving a 2-inch space to the left of the husk. Try not to add too much masa (I added a bit too much in the photo below, and this masa ended up looking different because I had added more masa harina to it).

Spread the masa over the husk (don't forget to leave space to the left of the husk, so it should be off-center) and then add the filling. You'll only need 1-2 Tbsp of filling for a large husk and 1/2-1 Tbsp for a smaller one. Make sure you center the filling in the middle of the MASA filling, NOT the center of the corn husk.

Fold or roll the husk around the filling starting from the right side or the side with the filling. Ensuring that the flap of the husk is facing up, fold the skinny tip of the husk over the base of the tamal.

Tie the tip to the base with a slivered section of a random husk (I picked out the small, torn husks out of the big batch and reserved them for this purpose). Tying the tamales is not mandatory, but it helps keep everything together while they sit in the steamer, and they look prettier, too.

Place the tamal in the steamer pot, and continue making the other tamales.

To add the rajas y queso filling, just do the same thing:

Once all the tamales are in the steamer, fill the bottom of the pot with about 2-4 cups of water. Place a few pennies at the bottom of the pot so that you know there is enough water down there (I found out that my pot makes its own noises when the water level is low; it was scary!). Once the water starts boiling, place the steamer pot in the main pot.

Cover the tamales with additional corn husks (this is when I use the husks that didn't fully hydrate during the soak) or aluminum foil, and cover. Steam the tamales on medium heat for 1-2 hours (it took 2 hours for me).

The filling should be pretty firm and dry, but not too dry. Also, when you unroll the tamal, most of the filling should no longer stick to the husk when fully unrolled.

Add leftover salsa verde to the undressed tamal...

...and enjoy!! YUM! ¡Buen provecho!

ALL GONE! Oh, there are more in the freezer!

Tamales Part 2: Masa (RECIPE REVISED!) and Corn Husks

Okay, let's move on to part 2 of the series. Yesterday, I posted about the filling I used: salsa verde con pollo. Today, I will share with you all how I soaked the corn husks and made the masa.

Corn Husks: (printable version)
You can buy these husks at most stores, especially around the holidays. I've seen them at Wal-mart and at some regular grocery stores. They come in a large bag. Here is a photo of them fresh out of the bag. Aren't they photogenic?
Place the husks in a large pot of boiling water. They will not all fit without a bit of coaxing. So, try to submerge all of them in the water.

While they're soaking, work on the masa:

Masa for tamales REVISED!!:
2 cups of masa harina (Maseca is a popular brand and is the one I used)
1 tsp salt (I used kosher)
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups of reserved chicken broth (remember that broth from yesterday?)
2/3 cups of manteca or lard (you can render your own or get freshly-rendered lard from a grocery specializing in Latin-American products. They have less fat than butter.)

Place and mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl or mixer.


Pour in the broth until the mixture starts to look clumpy...like pie dough with too much water, or like the photo below. The mixture should not be watery at this point!


With another mixer or by hand, beat the lard (or manteca) until it reaches a lighter consistency. This step is optional, but I tried it out to see what would happen.

Pour the manteca (that word sounds better in Spanish, doesn't it?) into the masa mixture until the it looks like thick cake batter.


I had to later adjust the below mixture by adding more masa harina (I started with 2 1/2 cups of masa instead of what I posted above), so the batter or masa should look a bit thicker than this.

Now you're done with the masa!

Back to the corn husks:

After 1 to 2 hours, take the husks out with tongs. Then, place them in a large open container for easy assembly. If some of them are not completely soaked (i.e., there are dry spots), use those later for when you steam the tamales). (Can you tell I live in graduate-student housing? :D)

Now that the filling, masa, and corn husks are ready, we can move on to the assembly process....tomorrow. Then, we can eat them gleefully! :)

Tamales Part 1: Pollo con salsa verde

Whew! I returned home a week ago only to find out that my internet connection is not working again. So, I was unable to update and wish you all a Happy New Year. I also haven't been able to post the chocolate peanut butter tart I made, and I want to show you all the kitchen-related loot I got for Xmas thanks to my generous, loving mom.

However, since the year has already started and this will be my first post of the year, I wanted to start it off with these tamales I made because they were a major (yet delightful) project for me. I had never made tamales by myself before. The first and only time I made them, I assisted my ex-girlfriend's mother, and all I really did was help her fill the corn husks. I remember putting too much masa in them (what a great help I was! haha).

Three days ago I made tamales for the second time, and I made them all by myself with the assistance of various recipes, blogs, and Youtube videos. Since the making of tamales is a tedious, yet doable project, I have decided to break up the process into three parts:

1) the filling,
2) the masa and corn husks,
3) and the assembly of tamales.

So, today I will be posting about one of the fillings I made - salsa verde with shredded chicken. I also made a filling of cheese and jalapeños, but I will talk about that later.

Before we start, just a little factoid: The singular form of "tamales" is "tamal" without the lone "e" hanging on at the end.

Let's move on to what I did for these yummy tamales...

Pollo con salsa verde (printable version)

First, I placed the chicken breasts (you could also use whole chicken cut up into pieces) in a big pot, along with chopped carrots, onions, black peppercorns, and 2 cloves of garlic. I then covered the chicken with water and boiled it for about 50 minutes. (The photos for the raw chicken just looked too gross to post, so you'll just have to picture it in your minds.) Instead, you can look at the pot I bought in Mexico a long time ago. I love it, especially when I make "trying-to-be-as-authentic-as-possible", Mexican dishes.

After it was done, I reserved the resulting broth by pouring it through a strainer into a 1 liter measuring cup. Big mistake! I forgot that I had added more than 4 cups of liquid to the chicken, so some of the broth overflowed to the floor. I then transferred everything quickly to a big bowl.

While the chicken was boiling, I worked on the salsa verde:

Whenever I made a traditional, Mexican dish, I go to a popular, Latin American grocery store in the South, called "Fiesta". Well, almost everyone there must have had the same plans as I because all the good, pretty tomatillos (green tomatoes) were gone. So, these weren't the best looking tomatillos, but they resulted in some delicious salsa verde. That's all that matters in my opinion.

Anyway, I peeled the cáscara (papery skin) off of the tomatillos by starting from the back. (I love this photo for some reason...)

Then I placed the peeled tomatillos in the bowl. See the dirt? Make sure you wash them after you've peeled them.

Ahhh! Bathed and ready to be boiled!

Next, boil the tomatillos, 2-3 jalapeños, 1-2 cloves of garlic (not pictured), and 1/2 of an onion (not pictured) for about 10 minutes.

(I boiled mine a little too long...) Then drain them... You can reserve the liquid for the blender, if the salsa is too thick. I didn't need it, though.

Place the boiled mixture in a blender, and add a few sprigs of cilantro and salt (Look! My first bokeh...of an olive oil bottle!).

Blend the mixture for a few seconds, and now you have salsa verde! Make sure you taste the salsa to make sure you've added enough salt. I always forget to do that.

Back to the chicken:

Once the chicken is ready, shred it, and then pour in one capsful of vegetable oil in a skillet. Add the chicken and cook the chicken for about 2 minutes. Then add most of the salsa verde, reserving the rest for the tamales once they're done. If you forget and use up all the salsa, then you'll have to make more later. Cook the salsa and shredded chicken mixture for about 2-3 minutes, then add about 1/4-1/2 cup of chicken broth. Just don't make it too "liquidy". Then, you're done! NOTE: Reserve the rest of the chicken broth for the masa. You will need about 2-3 cups of it.

Now, you can just refrigerate this mixture and make the rest of the tamales the next day, or you can keep chugging along the same day. I'm going to assume you want to take a break at this point. So, I'll be back tomorrow with the rest...

P.S. Here is the rajas y queso (jalapeños and cheese) filling cut and ready to be placed in the tamales! I used Monterey Jack.