Light Latte Flan (aka Skinny Latte Flan)

As a part of our healthy cuisine class we often take recipes and convert them to make healthier.  This recipe from Cooking Light was found on MyRecipes.com.  It was already fairly "skinny."  but in the spirit of things we modified to make it a little healthier.  The recipe follows the photo.  I will give you the original recipe and then tell you how we modified it.

 

Latte Flan
Yield: six servings

3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/4 cup water
Cooking spray
3 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
2 tablespoons instant espresso or 1/4 cup instant coffee granules
3 tablespoons Kahlua (coffee-flavored liqueur)
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine 1/2 cup sugar and water in a small, heavy saucepan, and cook over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. Continue cooking 10 minutes or until golden, stirring constantly. Immediately pour into 6 (6-ounce) custard cups coated with cooking spray, tipping quickly until caramelized sugar coats bottom of cups.
Combine milk and espresso in a medium saucepan over medium heat; cook 5 minutes or until espresso dissolves (do not boil). Remove from heat; stir in 1/4 cup sugar and Kahlua.
Combine eggs and egg whites in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Gradually add hot milk mixture to egg mixture, stirring constantly. Divide mixture evenly among prepared custard cups. Place cups in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan; add hot water to pan to a depth of 1 inch. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cups from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and chill at least 8 hours.
Loosen edges of custards with a knife or rubber spatula. Place a dessert plate, upside down, on top of each cup, and invert custards onto plates. Drizzle any remaining caramelized syrup over custards.

Modification:
To make this just a little healthier, we replaced all of the egg with no cholesterol egg substitute.  It worked like a charm.

Until next time.
Happy Cooking and Eating
Chef Leslie Bartosh

ciabatta bread revisited

It dawned on the me the other day that it had been while since I posted the recipe for one of my favorite breads.  So at the risk of redundancy:  here is the recipe for the ciabatta bread we make in the program and at my home.  It is based on the recipe by Daniel Leader.  All I have done is increase the flour by 2 ounces.

Ciabatta

Yield: 2 (19.6 oz) loaves

Biga

2.3 oz              Water, room temp

0.1 oz              Instant yeast

3.5 oz              Bread flour

Dough

5.9 oz              Biga

15 oz               water, room temperature

0.4 oz              instant yeast

17.6 oz                        bread flour

0.4 oz              kosher salt

For the Biga:

9 – 17 hours before you want to bake, prepare the biga.

Add the dry ingredients to the water in a small bowl and stir to combine into a rough dough.

Scrape out the dough and knead on a lightly dusted surface for 1 – 2 minutes to get it somewhat smooth.

Oil mixing bowl lightly and put dough back in, turning to coat.

Cover with plastic wrap and set at room temp for 1 hour.

Refrigerate until ready to make dough.

For the dough:

Use an electric mixer with paddle or hook.

Take the biga and mix with water to soften and break into clumps.

Add the yeast, and salt.

Mix to dissolve.

Change to dough hook.

Add the bread flour and mix on medium speed for 13 – 15 minutes.  (Medium high with a kitchen aid, speed# 8, do not let it walk off the counter)

Dough will climb up hook and not clear sides.  Periodically stop the machine and scrape the dough down.

Turn machine to high (kitchen aid to 10) and knead until the dough starts to clean the side of the bowl and collect around the hook.  It will be glistening, creamy and extremely elastic.

Ferment in oiled container for 3 – 4 hours until triple in size.

Prepare ½  sheet pans by covering with parchment and making a pleat down the middle of the paper.  Dust the paper well with flour.

Turn out dough and divide in to two equal pieces.

Pick up one piece of dough holding one end in each hand and in one fluid motion transfer to the parchment lined pan.

Repeat with the second piece with the pleat dividing the two loaves.

Dimple the tops of the loaves with your fingers.

Dust with flour and cover with plastic wrap.

Proof for 30 – 40 minutes until you see bubbles under the surface of the bread.

Preheat oven to 475° one hour before baking, placing a pan for ice on the bottom of the oven.

When ready to bake, pull parchment so it lays flat.

Bake bread on the middle rack.

Add ½ cup – 1 cup of ice cubes to the hot pan on the bottom of the oven.

Bake 25 – 35 minutes.

NOTES:

You can make this without a mixer but it is really hard to work the dough enough.

You can make the biga in the morning and the bread in the evening.  The flavor is not quite as nice but it does work.

This bread freezes real well.  Reheat for five minutes in a 400 degree oven.

I hope you enjoy.

Until next time

Happy Cooking and Eating

Chef Leslie Bartosh

Vegetarian Boudin Sausage

If you follow my twitter (@Acc_Chef) or Facebook (Alvin College Culinary Arts)  posts you know that I am currently teaching Principles of Healthy Cuisine.  So far the food has been, for the most part, simply outstanding.
I tweeted the other day that we were going to do Vegetarian Boudin as a part of the class.  Well last night we ate the sausage and it was good!
The recipe came from the following blog:
http://chubbyvegetarian.blogspot.com/2012/03/vegetarian-boudin-sausage.html

Follow the service advice of author.  I think you will be pleasantly surprised.  This is coming from someone who grew up eating some great German/Texas country sausages.

Until next time
Happy Cooking and Eating
Chef Leslie Bartosh

My Black Board

Students, FYI:

"MyBlackboard will be down for maintenance this Wednesday morning, 3/23, from 7:00AM-8:00AM to install necessary patches to the system.

I understand that there is never a good time to take Blackboard down, but this is necessary to maintain the integrity of our system at this time. I apologize in advance for any inconvenience.

NOTE: Please do not begin tests  in the system during this time, as the system might become unavailable during your test!"

Thanks

Chef Bartosh

National Something on a Stick Day

Come out and support the Alvin Community College Culinary Arts Club as they try to raise funds to attend the Texas Restaurant Association southwest Foodservice Expo in Dallas this summer.
They are honoring national Something of a Stick Day by selling cake balls on a stick and  coated marshmallows on a stick.  They are currently set up in the student center and selling away.
All report are OMG good!

Until next time
Happy Cooking and Eating
Chef Leslie Bartosh

Poached Grouper and Shrimp with Vegetables in Ichiban Dashi

Poached Grouper and Shrimp with Vegetables in Ichiban Dashi

Grouper and Shrimp with Vegetables in Ichiban Dashi

Yield: 2 servings

2 grouper filets (or firm, white fish of your choice)

4 shrimp, peeled, deveined

1 - 3 carrots cut into desired shape, (3 for balls, 1 for other shapes)

2 small red potatoes cut in ¼s

6 oz baby spinach

2 oz sugar snap peas, stringed

2 green onions, green only, cut on diagonal

1 recipe Ichiban Dashi (recipe below)

For the stock:

Make Ichiban Dashi according to recipe.  Reserve, warm, on the side.

For the vegetables:

Cook potatoes in salted water.  Reserve warm.

Cook carrots in salted water.  Reserve warm

Steam just washed spinach in small amount of Ichiban Dashi.  It does not take much since spinach has so much moisture.  Reserve warm

Boil sugar snap peas in a mixture of 50% water and 50% Ichiban Dashi.

For the fish and shrimp:

Set up a pan to poach the seafood by adding just enough Ichiban Dashi to the pan to cover the seafood.  Heat it until it is steaming but not simmering.  Add the fish and shrimp.  They will cook at different speeds.  When one is done remove it and reserve it warm on the side.

For service:

Arrange vegetables in serving bowl.

Place fish filet in middle of bowl.

Arrange two shrimp on top of fish.

Ladle desired amount of hot Ichiban Dashi over the vegetables and seafood.

Sprinkle with cut green onions.

Enjoy.

Ichiban Dashi

Yield 2 ½ qt

2 ½ qt cold water

3 inch square Kombu

1 cup katsuobushi (dried preflaked bonito)

Bring water to a boil over high heat.

Add the kombu and let the water come just to a boil again and remove the kombu from the water.

Stir the katsuobushi into the boiling water and turn off the heat

Let the stock rest undisturbed until the katsuobushi sinks to the bottom.

Skim any surface scum.

Strain the stock through a double layer of cheesecloth. 

Reserve the Kombu and the katsuobushi for making niban dashi.

The stock is ready to use or can be chilled and refrigerated. 

Hope you enjoy.

Until next time.

Happy Cooking and Eating

Chef Leslie Bartosh

Green Chili Chicken Tamales

Spring break and what do I do?

I know make tamales!  My family really likes this recipe and it is not too hard.
I found this recipe on line at: PlateOnline.com.  It is by Chef Charlie Baggs of Chicago.

The raw ingredients assembled and ready to go.  The lime is not mentioned in the recipe.  I used inside the chicken when I roasted it.

The tomatillos husked and ready to go.  I roasted the tomatillos, jalepeno pepper and garlic all together.  The recipe just calls for the tomatillos to be roasted.  I did coat them with a little canola oil.

 The roasted veggies.

 The roasted chicken.  I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, cumin and stuffed the inside with cilantro and lime.  You could also use a store bought rotisserie chicken for this recipe.
I planned on having a picture of the roasted chicken but someone snuck into my house and ate the crisp skin off the roasted chicken while I was here by myself!  I am still trying to find out who did this!

 The sauce for the filling.

The chicken and sauce combined to make the filling.  I added 3/8 of a teaspoon of chipolte chile powder to the filling.

The tamales assembled and in the steamer.  Mine took 1 1/4 hours in my oven roaster to cook.

Done!
All that is left now is too enjoy.

The recipe:
Please note that you can produce 1/2 the masa recipe and it will come out just about right.

GREEN CHILE CHICKEN TAMALES  

Yield: 24 tamales

Tomatillos, husked, rinsed 12 each, medium

Jalapeños, seeds removed, minced  2 each or 1/4 C

Garlic cloves, minced  4 each or 1 TBS

Corn oil 1 1/2 TBS

Chicken stock    2 C

Chicken, roasted, shredded  6 C

Cilantro, chopped    2/3 C

Kosher salt   1 TBS

Freshly ground black pepper 1/2 tsp

Masa batter       3 C

Sugar     as needed

Cornhusks, large, soaked in water 26 each

Instructions:

1. Preheat broiler. Place tomatillos on baking sheet and broil on all sides until soft and charred; set aside until cool enough to handle. Purée roasted tomatillos with jalapeños, garlic and any tomatillo juices from baking sheet.

2. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, heat oil for about 1 minute; add purée and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken stock and reduce until sauce coats spoon, about 8 minutes. Mix in shredded chicken and cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste. If filling is too sour, add a pinch of sugar to taste.

3. Drain cornhusks. Tear 2 cornhusks into 24- by 1/4-inch strips; set aside for tying the tamales. Place 1 cornhusk on work surface with tapered end down. Moisten fingers in water to prevent sticking; form 1/4-cup masa batter into a rectangle in the center, leaving a 1-inch border on bottom and sides. This will produce a rectangle approximately 4 x 2 inches. Spread 2 tablespoons chicken filling on top of the masa. Bring in both sides of the cornhusk and wrap around to form a cylinder to completely surround the filling. Bring up bottom tapered end and tie closed with 1 cornhusk strip. The top will remain open. Make sure they are not tied too tightly; the tamales need room to expand. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

4. Set up a vegetable steamer in a large pot with 2 inches water. Stand tamales on sealed end. Cover and steam for 60 minutes. Tamales are done when cornhusk easily pulls away from masa.

Masa Batter

Yield: 48 Tamales

1 1/3 c Lard, chilled

2 t Kosher salt

1 ½ t baking powder

6 c Maseca ( see note)

3 c chicken broth

With an electric mixer at medium speed, beat lard, salt and baking powder until well incorporated, about 1 minute.

Reduce speed and add maseca in thirds, scraping down bowl and bearing between additions.

Add chicken broth and beat until batter resembles soft cooking dough batter.

Cover with a damp towel if not using right away.

Note:  Maseca is a dry, instant masa mix.

Hope you enjoy.

Until next time

Happy eating and cooking

Chef Leslie Bartosh