Flan and Flancocho

Recently I was asked what would be a great birthday cake for a friend from Puerto Rico. I immediately thought any friend would appreciate a Flan or even a fairly new type of dessert being done in PR which is called a Flancocho which comes from Flan & Bizcocho (Cake in spanish). This link has great recipes for flan of many types http://www.elboricua.com/flan.html. This other site has the recipe for the flancocho, they call it custard cake, http://cielitorosado.com/receta_en.php?id=277 . Try these and enjoy a great dessert that I promise you will keep making even if it’s not on your birthday. I will soon share with you my own flan and flancocho favorite recipes and some tips to make sure they come out just perfect.

My Recipe Manager

There’s a great tool for the kitchen that can improve your cooking, shopping, organization and overall enjoyment of cooking. It’s the recipe manager. I personally use Master Cook Deluxe version 7 but it’s up to version 9. You can easily keep all your recipes together and organized with a good recipe manager. The recipe manager provides a wealth of cooking tips and techniques, helps in menu planning and even prints a shopping list for individual recipes or even menus. This planning tool can really help make cooking easier and more fun. Look around and see which one you prefer and invest in one you like. I myself am ready to upgrade and will evaluate version 9 of Master Cook but I will also look at other recipe managers before making my decision. Stay tuned to hear my results.

Tembleque de Coco

I want to share with you a classic Puerto Rican desert recipe. This one is a treat, it is light coconut custard that shakes like Jell-O. That is why it’s called tembleque, which can be loosely translated as jiggling. Here is the recipe:

2 cups of coconut milk

½ cup of cornstarch

¾ cups of sugar

½ teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

Ground cinnamon (optional)

In a saucepan, at medium hi, heat the coconut milk, the sugar and the salt. Dilute the cornstarch with some of the coconut milk and add to the saucepan. Stir continuously until it boils then simmer until it thickens. Pour mixture into a mold or single serving cups whatever you prefer. Let it cool to room temperature before refrigerating for at least 2 hours. Sprinkle cinnamon over it before serving.

Tembleque is a classic Puerto Rican desert recipe that’s both easy to make and great tasting. For all you desert lovers be on the lookout for another great recipe I will give you very soon. Until then, keep making your great cooking easy.

My Three Favorite Cookbooks

I want to share with you my favorite three Cookbooks. They are a treasure of cooking information. They are:

1. Puerto Rican Cookery (Cocina Criolla) by Carmen Aboy Valldejuli

2. Jacques Pepin Fast Food My Way by Jacques Pepin

3. 365: No Repeats, A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners by Rachel Ray

The first available in English and Spanish is the premiere cookbook of Puerto Rican cuisine. The second is one of many books from a great teacher of cooking and in my opinion the best at teaching cooking technique Jacques Pepin. You can’t go wrong with any of Jacques’ books. The last one by Rachel Ray is a great resource for great, quick recipes that build on each other giving you great flexibility in the kitchen.

These are some of my favorite books. They have great recipes, techniques and cooking tips that will help you enjoy cooking and dinner with your family for years to come.

Risotto Recipes

There are many risotto recipes. When prepared right this is a truly magnificent dish. A little patience and practice you to can cook a great risotto. Here is a great Risotto recipe with some options that can add great taste:

1 medium chopped onion

½ stick of butter, divided

Large pinch of Saffron threads

1 ½ cup Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

4 to 6 cups of chicken broth

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

¼ cup of prosciutto or (diced) bone marrow (optional)

Put the stock in a medium saucepan and heat at medium low temperature, add the saffron.
In a large skillet over medium heat Cook onion and prosciutto or bone marrow, if you have it, until soft in 2 tablespoons butter. Add rice and stir 2 to 3 minutes until completely covered in the butter.

Add wine; stir until absorbed. Keep the heat from medium to medium high; stir in ½ cup of broth. Cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until broth is absorbed. The mixture should not be dry or runny.

Continue stirring and adding remaining broth ½ a cup or so at a time, allowing the broth to be almost completely absorbed before adding more, until rice is tender and mixture has a creamy consistency. It will take between 20 and 30 minutes.

Stir in cheese, salt, pepper, cream and remaining butter. Stir until mixture is creamy, about 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning and serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy this great risotto recipe. A dish that will certainly please the whole family.