Have you made your way over to The Latin Kitchen yet? If you haven’t, what are you waiting for?
The longer you wait the longer you will miss out on all sorts of Latin deliciousness, like my latest contribution – this Coconut Rum Tres Leches Cake, where dessert and a cocktail are all rolled into one amazingly satisfying treat.
In this reinvented classic, creamy coconut milk and dark rum dance along to perfume your mouth to make this cake the perfect end to just about any meal.
So hurry on, check it out and let me know what you think.
My secret to entertaining is to keep it simple. I take enormous pleasure from feeding my friends and family. But as much as I love to cook, bake and feed (and eat) even the smallest of parties can turn into the biggest productions. So as far as the food is concerned, I tend to entertain with recipes that are easy to execute but still have deep delicious flavor. And I always like to include one homemade treat to give the party an extra special touch. Enter these nuts – Read more
Cooking and baking are all about the details – those little touches changes that make it extra special. They are subtle but add that little yo no se quoi to anything you’re making. Like searing meats before they go into a braise to lock in their flavor. Or adding a touch of lemon zest to your seafood for extra brightness. Or sprinkling fresh baked chocolate chip cookies with a touch of sea salt to enhance the chocolate flavor.
Another one of my kitchen secrets is roasting nuts. Before adding nuts to any of my recipes, from cookies to pesto, I take an extra 10 minutes to roast them in the oven. Just 10 minutes is all it takes to wake up the nuts and make them robust and oh so … nutty.
So when I came across this recipe for Roasted Pistachio Ice Cream I knew it was going to be awesome. It starts with a paste made with ground roasted pistachios that is combined with the milk/cream mixture. Read more
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to an exciting new destination on the Internet – The Latin Kitchen.
The Latin Kitchen is a new online destination and authority on Latin cuisine, recipe & menu ideas, food how-to’s, entertaining tips and the latest food news where you can learn how to make your favorite Latin American dishes and Latin fusion cuisine from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Spain, Cuba and more. The site is a beautiful compilation of all the Latin deliciousness that I hold near and dear to my heart. And I am honored to be one of their regular contributors! Some of A Chica Bakes’ most popular posts have found a second home on The Latin Kitchen. Among them – my pernil, Dominican seasoning, flan and rice pudding. Find them as well as the rest of my contributions on my contributor page.
My most recent contributions are a piece on essential tips for home baking success as well as this grilled churrasco steak with cilantro chimichurri. It’s the perfect dish to enjoy on these last few days of warm weather. And even good enough to make you want to fire up the grill in the winter! So hurry on and check it out.
To many, vanilla is the simplest and sometimes most boring of all ice creams. It’s plain, predictable and pretty straightforward. What you see is what you get with vanilla ice cream. No fun swirls or chunks and certainly no surprises.
But to those who see vanilla as such I ask one simple question – have you come across anything that won’t taste better a la mode, with a big scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream? A slice of apple or pumpkin pie. A warm nutty brownie. Or even a fresh out of the oven blueberry cobbler. By themselves all of them are delectable. But paired alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream takes them to the next level.
At first glance this vanilla ice cream seems like one of those predictable, what you see is what you get ice creams. But upon closer inspection you will see little black flecks of vanilla bean, which is the first indication that this ice cream is going to be extra special. Then the instant it touches your tongue you will discover this is no ordinary confection. Read more
I know the last thing you want to read right now is another post about soup when we are all trying to enjoy what little is left of summer. Nonetheless, trust me – this is one soup you are going to want to make…NOW! I promise that after this, I will give you something sweet and summery. But for now, don’t miss out this delicious creation, which celebrates one of my favorite things to eat – CORN!
There are a few things I love about this recipe. First – it will taste just as great with fresh corn cut off cob and frozen corn. Second – the bacon gives it a great smoky flavor (so don’t skip it). Read more
Few things are more comforting than a bowl of tomato soup. I shudder to think that up until a few years ago, I was ignorant to its bliss. That’s because growing up in a traditional, Spanish speaking, Dominican household, tomato soup fell into the “American food” category that was off limits to my sisters and I. We Dominicans had our own pleasures, which will be a part of me forever. Still to think that as a child I was denied things like tomato soup, mac ‘n cheese, pie and brownies is just crazy.
Leaving the nest when I went off to college meant more to me than becoming the independent lady I am now. I stepped out of my comfort zone in every way imaginable, particularly with food.
Pernil and
tostones were always on the back burner. But moving away opened me up to a whole other delicious world that tomato soup was an intricate part of.
I know it’s August and I should be talking about fruity pies and crumbles, ice cream and popsicles. Yet tomato soup is one of those things I can indulge in all year ’round. (And by tomato soup, I mean the homemade stuff; not the stuff you get out of a can.)
Read more
My Big Summer Potluck story started off a bit different from most others in attendance at this year’s gathering.
I snagged a ticket to the event a few minutes after they went on sale back in February.
Fast forward three months later – Memorial Day weekend my husband and I took a trip to nearby Philadelphia. During one of our dinners, we found ourselves seated next to a couple who was very helpful in suggesting items for us to order off the menu. Our conversation continued and, as it turned out, she was a food blogger who I was twitter friends with but had never personally met. She asked if I was going to this year’s Big Summer Potluck, as she was hoping to get off the waitlist soon. When I told her I was, she told me I was going to love it.
A few weeks later, she sent me a message saying she got a ticket. I immediately asked her if she wanted to be roomies, as I had a hotel room all to myself. She said yes.
Fast forward to just a few weeks ago, when my husband realized I would be sharing a hotel room with someone who was (technically) a stranger. He thought it was strange and I in turn thought it was strange that he thought it as strange. All I needed to know was that she was a food blogger and that she was going to Big Summer Potluck. That was enough for me.
What he doesn’t get is that there is an unspoken (or actually spoken) bond between us food bloggers. We are a family, united by our love of food.
Big Summer Potluck was everything I thought it would be, and then some – mostly because its message transcends food blogging. Read more
One could say that I have a bit of a Type A personality. I love a good list (I mean c’mon, who doesn’t). Love making plans. And have a strategy for just about everything – from where to sit/stand on a subway car to vacation planning. This is probably why I love baking so much. You’re given a list of ingredients, step-by-step directions and even, sometimes, a picture of the finished product.
However, the more I bake the more I realize that things don’t have to be so rigid. Even though it’s a science, there is always room for some fun. Take whoopie pies. Most of the ones that I have come across are filled with some sort of vanilla cream. But when I saw that this one had a dulce de leche filling, I just could not pass it up. And throw some bananas in there – and it’s a whoopie pie party!
I personally would have never thought to combine bananas with dulce de leche but they worked perfectly in this whoopie pie. Read more
One of the things I enjoyed most about growing up in my Big (Crazy) Dominican Familia is that life was never boring. I could write a separate blog devoted to all the reasons why. Let’s just say that life with almost 30 (yes 30) aunts and uncles and over 100 (yes 100) first cousins is quite…vivacious. Our vibrancy is evident in just about every aspect of our lives, particularly in our food!
For the past few years, trying to develop a recipe for the roast chicken I enjoyed in my grandparents’ backyard during my childhood summer vacations in the Dominican Republic. The chickens were the freshest of fresh – raised by my grandpa, free to roam around the yard and the house and “laid to rest” by my grandma who then roasted them over an outdoor coal burning stove. We even had our own Dominican barbecue sauce. The result was finger lickin’, bone suckin’ delicious.
I always knew I would never make that same chicken out of my urban Brooklyn kitchen. But my belly craved something close to its robust, juicy goodness. Most roast chicken purists may turn a blind eye to this recipe. But seasoning chicken with just salt, pepper and a little olive oil is not how my family gets down.
So I want to say thank you to Latina Chef Daisy Martinez for this recipe which, I think, captures the essence of my familia – never boring, vibrant and chocked full of flavor. Read more
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