When your family goes on vacation without you...

It's a mountain of goods my friends

Anyone's family ever decide to go on a big family trip to somewhere and you weren't a part of the adventure? You either had to stay home because you're sick, or couldn't get away from work, or just didn't have the money. Well, 2 out of the 3 things applied to me, and it just so happened that the first did as well, right at the week they all left. Sigh. The vacation Gods were not in my favor this year.

When my cousin got engaged, we were all so happy for her. When the invitation came for the wedding, we just had one stickler, we lived a 9-hour plane ride to a different continent away from them. The good thing about her early announcement was that we had time to plan our trip. My parents, sisters, their husbands, and myself, all knew we wanted to go to Brazil and visit, it all just had to be cleverly done. All of my family were well on their way to creating their plans. I, on the other hand, got my new position at the Buffalo Diner, and with all the moving I did, my bank wasn't all that happy with me. And it would've been impossible for both Hines and I to go together, and not being able to share with him a great part of my life, Brazil, just didn't feel right. Needless to say, while my parents and sisters and their respective family boarded their Delta flights, I was in Buffalo, WV, baking another Red Velvet Cheesecake.

It may be sad, and the only regret I have is to not have been there for my cousin, but I do know that I'm lucky enough to have a family who brings me the goods. And by goods I mean a mountain of candy and local treats we only get to dream of in America.

I definitely broke into all these candies before they made it to my car. 

 The pictures show a fraction of what my parents brought from Brazil. Imagine a group of 15 people, 3 of which are toddlers, raiding each and every aisle of the supermarket store, grabbing anything and everything imaginable; that's my family, pride and joy. Oh and don't forget the image of luggage packed to the brim, and several questionable looks from the TSA Customs person.

Yesterday, being back to work after visiting my family, I had the pleasure of introducing some of the sweets to my dear co-workers. Majority of the questions and comments I got were, "Is it going to kill me?" and "I can't read it and it scares me". I managed to convince them all that I wasn't trying to kill anyone, and to their pleasant surprise, they liked it. My favorites are the BIS ( you can see it in the right hand corner of the second picture) and the Biscoitos caseiros (which translates to homemade cookies). BIS is like a kitkat that has a thinner layer of chocolate and lots more wafer. Crisp and delicious and comes in a variety of flavors. And for the biscoitos, they are like shortbread cookies with assortments of flavors. My favorite cookies are filled with guava paste and they're AWESOME!

As I was basking in the wonderfulness of Brazilian sweets, my dad showed me a cooking magazine he had picked up for recipes. The magazine was for Caseiro-style cooking and it featured recipes from an elderly lady, who I can only imagine had been making those dishes for ages. My favorite is the one below, called Beliscão "Big Pinch". It is filled with the guava paste that I love and it seems so simple to make. I'll definitely be trying it at the Diner. If anyone has questions on Brazilian sweets, definitely comment, or share some of your favorites.

Beliscão 

Beliscão "Big Pinch"

Example of Goiabada "guava paste". I got me a block and it's delicious!

Ingredients

- 4 ½ cups AP Flour plus extra for dusting 

- 1 teaspoon Salt

- 1 cup sugar

- 200g Cold Butter, cut into small cubes

- 3 Tbsp Creme de leite (Located in the Latin section of your grocery store)

- 250g Guava Paste cut into rectangles  (shown on right) 

- Sugar for dusting

MOP

- Pre-heat oven to 350F.

- In a bowl, mix the Flour, Salt, and Sugar. Add the cold butter and cut into your flour mixture until its a cornmeal consistency. I usually use my hand, but you can use a pastry cutter. Add the crème de leite and mix until a dough starts to form. Wrap in plastic and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. 

-Remove from the refrigerator and, using a rolling pin, flatten the dough until 1/4 inch in thickness. Use a cookie or round biscuit cutter to form circles (Use 2 in-2 1/2 in circles). Place a slice of guava paste into the center of each individual round dough. And as the name will describe, bring to opposite sides of the circle above the guava paste and pinch to secure in place. 

-Put each cookie on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until the cookie becomes golden brown. Remove from the oven, and let cool for 10 minutes. 

-Now enjoy your new masterpiece and feel pride in tasting a bit of Brazilian goodness. 

Kikkos bake day

A small little tidbit about Kikko's day:

Part of moving to a new city is getting accustomed to our surroundings, correct? Being the bookworm that I am, I decided to visit the Saratoga Springs Public Library to see what it has to offer. To my pleasant surprise, it was a very welcoming, clean, friendly environment, with, most importantly, having LOTS AND LOTS of books (cooking books til I drop!). Who knows, maybe one of these books will inspire my next creation at the Country Corner Cafe. I got myself a library card and know that I'll be back and ready for some book action.

In other news, today was a very productive day for me. Began with 2 soups, (a seafood New England chowder and a kale and split pea soup) a blueberry pie, biscuits, and 2 muffins (a peach and coconut muffin and a banana walnut muffin). Phew. What a day. And it didn't end there. As we began closing down the restaurant, a regular customer calls in to make a 3 pie order for the next day, a blueberry pie and apple pies. Although the work will be given to Eric, the original baker, I couldn't help but remember all the apple pies I had made at my previous job. Although it won't be the same kind here, it was a trusty pie and I would like to share it with you all. So enjoy. Let me know if you have any tricks or secrets for your apple pie. Certain apples, caramel vs sugar, blind bake vs not, etc.

Apple pie :
Filling
Apples (we used Granny Smith, but any crisp apples that holds its shape works)- 8 small to med each
Brown sugar -1 cup
Granulated sugar -1/4 cup
Cornstarch-1/4 cup
Heavy cream- 1cup
Corn syrup- 1/2 cup
Salt- pinch
Cinnamon- pinch

Dough
Your choice of pie dough (9in pie pan size) or stay tuned for my go to recipe in another post

MOP (method of preparation)

1: Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all the filling ingredients, except for the apples, into a saucepan. Bring to a rolling simmer and allow the temperature to reach 225F. Use a candy thermometer for exact measurement. The caramel should be thick but still liquid. Beware of over cooking as it can lead to hard ball stage, making your caramel too hard.

2: While the caramel is working, peel, core, and cut the apples into thin slices. Approximately, when quartered, each quarter should give you 6-7 pieces.

3: Mix the apples and caramel together and set aside while you prepare your pie shell. If it is pre made, allow the dough to thaw slightly in the cooler. If the dough is homemade, roll out your dough and place it in the pie pan. Refrigerate for 15 min to harden the dough slightly. Have your top shell rolled out and ready.

4: With a slotted spoon, mix the apples again and then scoop into th pie pan. You want a small pool of caramel at the bottom of your pie, but you will not use all of the liquid.

5: Place the top shell on top of the apples. Press down carefully to let out any air pockets in the pie (this will allow for minimal air dome when baking, making a better presentation piece). Cut four small slits into the top shell for air vents. Adjust the edges with a knife for any over hang and, using beaten egg whites as glue, crimp the edges down firmly.

6: Add any decorations you would like with extra pie dough you have. Brush the top with a thin layer of egg whites you used earlier. Sprinkle a generous amount of sugar on top. When done, this will create a nice crunchy, sweet and beautiful crust.

7: Place in a 350F oven for 30 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for another 20 minutes or until you see caramel bubbling up from the slits. The bubbles should be slow and thick like. If it is fast and thin, cook longer as it shows there is too much moisture still inside.

8: Remove from the oven and let sit at room temp. Enjoy the slices warm or cold, with ice cream or plain. But remember, eat the fruits of your labor with a smile :)

Thank you for reading and I hope you all enjoy the apple pie. I will post the pie dough soon !!

Cheers and kanpai

Kikko