CHICKPEA HUMMUS

Looking for a quick dish to bring to a party, make for a snack or have for guest.  This is your dish! I make this usually with Chickpeas (aka Garbonzo beans), but it can be made with black beans, white beans or just about any bean you might like.  This recipe is the traditional Greek or mediterranean  hummus, with a little bit of my own twist.  My own twist usually consists of me substituting what I have in the house.  This recipe usually calls for Tahini (sesame butter), but I was out.  So I used sesame seeds and sesame oil.  If you have it great, buy it if you want or substitute.

Basic Hummus recipe
1 can of Chickpeas (rinsed or with some of the liquid is fine)
1/4 cup of sesame seeds (or Tahini)
1/4 cup of sesame oil or olive oil if you don't have sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic
juice from one medium lemon or more (about 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon of sea salt or seasoned salt like garlic salt, lemon pepper, or taco seasoning salt (I use McCormicks because it has no MSG & is tasty on everything)
1 teaspoon of pepper

Put all the above ingredients in a blender to puree on high.  Then voila you have a healthy dip.  I also like to make a mexican black beans dip; add a lime, cilantro, salsa, garlic, cumin, tomatoes or sour cream.  I have also made italian white beans; added sundered tomatoes and artichoke hearts, capers or olives with garlic.  Experiment with what you like! Any version is a great dip with cracker, chips, veggies or spread on a sandwich. My husband likes to top on his salads instead of dressing.  So simple!

COTTAGE CHEESE OATMEAL PANCAKES

When I was a kid I used to love it when my mom made cottage cheese pancakes.  She used flour instead of Oatmeal, my own variation of her recipe, to make it extra heart healthy.  I was never a big fan of the pancake mix that comes in a box.  The box kinds are so dry and you have to add a bunch of butter and/or syrup on them to make them taste good.  I like this recipe for my toddler, because he likes it and he is getting in a lot of food groups in one sitting.  Its another recipe that can be made in my blender!

1 cup of oats (preferably the regular kind- but you can use instant or flavored packet kind is available)
1/2 cup of cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 very ripe med size banana or a half of large banana
1-2 Tablespoon of honey (optional)
1 Teaspoon of of vanilla (optional)
butter for the cooking in the pan

Put everything in the blender mix on high for a few minutes or until everything is well blended and smooth.  I don't use baking powder or soda, if you want them more fluffy go for it!

Put a little butter in a small nonstick pan on med heat.  When melted pour 1/2 cup of batter in pan.  This is a nice size for flipping and small enough for toddler to eat a whole one or two.

So simple, quick and healthy.  Great topped with fruit, butter, jam, syrup or what ever! I have also varied the recipe by adding nuts or whole wheat flour.  Feel free to change it up how you like...

GUATEMALAN (VEGETARIAN) TAMALES

This tamale recipe I would consider a little more time consuming then difficult, probably not so simple, but definitely delicious! I made this recipe 'with a little help from my friends', Heidi on my right & Magaly on my left.  When we aren't busy raising kids or kite surfing, we are able to spend an afternoon making tamales together!  

My friend Heidi's mom, Emma, is Guatemalan, not only was she kind enough to share this awesome recipe with us, during her past holiday visit to St Croix, she also held a tamale cooking class for about 15 other moms at my house.  In latin cultures this is a very traditional dish made around the holidays, when we started making the tamales Heidi said 'it feels like Christmas'.  Thank you Emma for sharing your recipe and skills with us, we will hopefully pass this recipe on to our children.  To respect the authenticity of this recipe, we wanted to make it as close as possible to Emma's recipe, but we didn't have everything that was listed.  We didn't have the dried red or black chillies, so we used small little Puerto Rican peppers and a jalapeno in the red sauce.  I also couldn't find any chicken bouillon that didn't have MSG, so we used vegetable seasoning salt. Guatemalan tamales are usually wrapped in banana leaves and made with chicken on the bone.  In the tropics banana trees are abundant, we luckily have a bunch in our back yard.  I have seen banana leaves in the frozen section with international foods stateside.  If you can't find banana leaves, you can use corn husk. The tamales I had when I lived in Texas are commonly wrapped in corn husk and made with shredded pork or chicken. We decided to omit meat and use vegetable protein.  You can add what ever meat you like; chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, or just veggies!   

Here is Emma's recipe typed exactly as she had it written;

Guatemalan Tamales

15 cups of water

4 cups of Maseca (Harina de Maiz)

1 cup of oil

3 chicken flavor bouillon Maggi

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup of juice of green olives















In a large pot add the water and Maseca, dissolve very well, to make sure there are no clumps.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Turn on the stove to medium heat and stir until the corn mixture starts to boil.  Keep stirring, preferably with a whisk. Until mixture is well blended and thickens.  Approximately 5 min or more on med to high heat.

Red Sauce

6 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds (toasted in frying pan)
4 teaspoons of sesame seeds (toasted in frying pan) - I added more by accident
1 teaspoon of oregano - we used fresh since I didn't have dried
1/2 onion in pieces
1 garlic clove - we used about 3 cloves
1/2 cup of green olive juice
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of tomato paste
2 cubes of chicken flavor bouillon
16 oz of tomato sauce or canned tomato
2 dried chillies - we substituted small island peppers
2 dried black chillies - we substituted one jalapeno
1 piece bell pepper; red and green
1 big tomato
In a blender mix all these ingredients well.  Then cook put in a big frying pan or deep pot, add about 2 cups of meat and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally to mix well.
You will need to have banana leaves washed, cut into about 5 inch square, ready to start rolling tamales.  After you make all the tamales, steam for about 45 min.
Makes approximately 26-40 tamales.

You will also need tin foil to wrap the banana leaves so when you steam them the stuffing doesn't fall out.  Make an assembly line with the corn filling, red sauce, olives and peppers.  Put about a half cup or more of the corn filling then a big spoonful of red sauce, with one or two olives and peppers.   We also had some capers so added a few of those on top for extra flavor.

Then wrap the banana leaves around on just the sides.  The tin foil is wrapped more tightly like a present, on the top and sides to keep the corn filling in the banana leaves, like below photo.

 

You will need to have a large pot and strainer (or aluminum pie pan with holes) to put on the bottom of the pot to steam tamales.  Put a little water in the bottom of the pot about an inch so the tamales don't sit in water.  Fill pot with tamales and steam for about 45min to an hour.   

After the tamales have cooked, they are best if they have a chance to cool and set.  The corn will thicken once cooled.  They are best reheated and served the next day or after a few hours or so.  I like to top with hot sauce or salsa and a good side dish is rice and beans.  Or just served alone. Enjoy!

BREAKFAST CREPES

As most of you Crepe lovers know Crepes can be made with all kinds of things and eaten not just for breakfast.  Pancakes and waffles are so last year, crepes are lighter, tastier and all the rage at Casa Stamper! The kind I make often are the breakfast kind and they are surprisingly simple! I always use my blender to mix the batter, have a good non stick pan and non metal spatula handy for flipping.  I also make a non-flip bake Crepe (Crepe pie) that is even simpler.  The bake Crepe is great to make if you have brunch group to feed and don't want to stand over the stove flipping Crepes.  The ingredients for both recipes are the same; one is flipped & the other is baked.

Crepe recipe - makes about 5-6 if using a 9" pan (I usually double the recipe)

2 eggs

1/2 cup of milk 

1/2 cup of flour

1 tablespoon of sugar (optional)

1 tsp of flavoring like almond or vanilla extract (optional)

Put all ingredients in blender & mix

Traditional thin Crepes

Pour about 1/2 cup of batter in a buttered or oiled pan on med heat.  Its important to spread batter around in the pan to coat pan as thinly as possible.  I do this by lifting the pan & tilting pan so batter has evenly spread.  

Then cook until it starts to kind of bubble, is crisp at edges and cooked enough to flip.  Cook both sides so they are lightly fluffy and browned. 

Easy non-flip or bake Crepe pie

Pre-heat oven at 400, then put 3-4 tablespoons of butter in a non stick 9" pie dish.  Put pie dish with butter in oven for a minute or two, just till the butter is melted. 

Then pour entire crepe mixture in pie dish (2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk & 1/2 cup of flour).  I often will make 2 or more of the crepe 'pies' at a time.  I double or triple ingredients in blender then just put enough in each pie dish till they look even.  Cook for 5-10 minutes, until puffed up, crispy & brown on top.  

Its best served just out of the oven.  I put on a plate, cut into 8 pieces and sprinkle with lemon & sugar or just let guests put Nutella on.  

I prefer mine with lemon & sugar,  (I use regular or cane sugar, any will do).  My kids love Nutella on their Crepes.  My toddler loves Nutella too, so I try to only put a very little and mix it with peanut butter.  He hasn't yet figured out my trick.  They can be served with fresh fruit, whipped cream or even with ice cream for a desert.  Crepes are the national dish of France and served on most street corners from a cart or in a Creperie restaurant (which serve a variety of salty & sweet crepes with beer).  

Yummy!! 

ASIAN BROCCOLI & SHRIMP

Asian dishes are a staple in our house.  My step kids are half Vietnamese and like to eat rice as much as three times a day.  Similarly, pasta was a staple dish in my Italian childhood home.  We often have rice made to accompany with any main dish.  So, to get the three food groups in,  I like to saute up spinach, kale or broccoli with tofu, shrimp or chicken and mix with rice.  Tonight, we had broccoli and shrimp ready to cook up.  The only seasoning I like to use other than fresh ginger and garlic is Dr Braggs Liquid Aminos (similar to soy sauce).  I love this stuff! It tastes like soy sauce, but is better for you.  Luckily the Heath Conscious (small health food store) & Plaza supermarket carry it.


Okay the super simple recipe

1lbs of shrimp (de-shelled), chicken or tofu (cubed up)
2 cups of fresh chopped broccoli
1/2 slivered red onion
2 large cloves of garlic minced
2 tablespoons of fresh grated ginger
2 tablespoons of sesame oil
2 tablespoons of soy sauce or Dr Braggs liquid amino if you have it

Put oil in wide lip frying pan (I like to use non-stick pans for sautéing), saute broccoli and onion for a few minutes on med-high.  Then add ginger, garlic, shrimp & soy sauce.  Cook for another five or more minutes until the shrimp is pink and broccoli is crisp and bright green.  Pair with rice or eat alone.

I often cook with tofu or chicken.  For using tofu, cube, saute in 2 tablespoons of oil on high heat, Saute until browned and crisp.  Then add ginger, garlic, soy sauce & veggies.  If using chicken follow the same steps as the shrimp, but saute chicken and veggies at the same time.

MANGO PIES

Mango season in the Caribbean has arrived!  And today was the Mango Melee festival on St Croix.  My hubby and I take this season very seriously! The first summer we dated, every weekend for the season consisted of mango hunting adventures around the island.  Each weekend we collected a bin or two.  A full bin held atleast 100 mangoes or more (we counted).  We must have collected eight or more bins.  We were almost sick of them.  We gave a bunch away to friends, cut, ate and froze a ton, and even tried smuggling a bunch with us stateside for family (only to have customs find & throw them away - so sad!!).   We put mangoes on everything; salads, cereal, ice cream, sauces, pies...or best just plain.
Here are a couple pie recipes I whipped up before leaving to go to the festival.  Every year at the festival is a competition and this was the first year I made it in time to try the winning dishes.  Next year I might enter.

Mango Tart

Ready made crust (I used graham cracker crust or any other will do)

3-4 med mangoes

1 small box of instant pudding

2 large eggs

1 cup of milk

Cut up mangoes in slivers and place in a pinwheel design.  In a blender, mix eggs, milk & pudding.  Pour pudding mixture over mangoes to the top of dish.  Bake at 375 until lightly browned and puffed up.  Pie will settle when cooled, refrigerate to serve chilled or serve warm.

Mango Crisp

3-4 med mangoes

2 eggs

1 cup of milk

1 box of instant pudding mix

For crumb topping mix

1 instant oatmeal mix (like natural maple flavor) 

1/2 cup of flour

1/2 stick of melted butter.

Arrange sliced mangoes in pie dish.  Mix eggs, milk & pudding in blender then pour over mangoes.  Add melted butter to flour & oatmeal packet.  Sprinkle crumb mixture over mangoes.  Bake at 375 until the top is lightly browned, about 30 minutes or less. Enjoy!

**If you don't have mangoes, no worries, this is great with fresh peaches and/or berries***

PASSION FRUIT JUICE

Passon fruit are one of my favorite caribbean fruits.  Besides being tart & tasty, the blooms are amazingly cool!  Luckily, we have the perfect place for our huge vine on the trellis at the entrance of our house. When passion fruit are ripe they turn yellow and drop to the ground. So, whenever I come home, I find ripe passion fruit on the ground.  Lucky me.

Passion fruit can also be found at the local farmers market, specifically the one at Lorainne every Saturday morning.  I have never seen them fresh at the supermarket here or stateside, only in a carton in the juice aisle (not nearly as good as fresh juice).  I have seen them in Hawaii and am sure they grow Florida or Cali.

Okay now the super simple juice... It makes about 1 gallon.
8 cups of water (more or less)

8 passion fruit (about one cup of pulp)

1/4-1/2 cup of sugar
1. Scoop pulp & seeds into mixer
2. Add water and sugar to the mixer (Add less sugar at first.  You can always add more)
3.Pulse on low 20 seconds or so, till the pulp seperates from seeds (the lowest setting on my Kitchen Aid mixer doesnt break up the seeds. 
4. Wait a few minutes before pouring a glass.  The seeds will drop to the bottom of the mixer.
 You can also use a strainer.  Passion fruit juice is good by itself, over ice, with rum, vodka, champagne, or mixed with OJ if you like it more sweet.   Some passion fruit juice I have bought in the store is overly sweet. To me I think it tastes like a tart version of OJ.  Well, better then that. Enjoy!