Author: foodjules

Boston Cream Pie Heaven

I love reading the Food Network magazine…. actually, I love looking at the beautiful pictures of all the gorgeous food in the magazine! Well, it isn’t just me in this house who reads this magazine, so does Mike and the kids. They look at the gorgeous pictures too and then they ask ME to make the food in those beautiful pictures!

Well, last month we received the Chocolate Edition and it was filled with tons of recipes, all made with sweet, delicious chocolate. So, I knew it was just a matter of time before the requests came in…. the first one being the Boston Cream Pie which is one of Mike’s favorite desserts! So, today was his lucky day!

Boston Cream Pie

This was so light and not too sweet and oh, so delicious! Making this cake is very simple, really it is, but it does require many steps which I made throughout the day but it was so worth it! You can find this recipe on Food Network.

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Bacalhau

Did you know that Bacalhau (salted codfish) is the national dish in Portugal? This fish is so popular that there are over 365 recipes for it, one for each day of the year!

Last week was our final session in “Cooking Around the World with Food Jules” as part of Stepney Elementary’s Arts & Imagination winter session. So, we decided to visit my family in Portugal, eat some of their delicious food and experience their fun culture. Portugal was a whole new experience for all of my students, as none of them (except Lilliana) had ever eaten Portuguese food and they loved it.

We started by making a classic Bacalhau appetizer, Pasteis de Bacalhau (Codfish Fritters). At first, the kids were hesitant to try a “new” type of fish but as soon as they took a bite out of them, they were all in love. YUM!

Pasteis de Bacalhau

The Portuguese love to talk about food and eat a lot of good food, so much so that they take a two hour lunch break and eat a three course meal, starting with a soup. A classic Portuguese soup is Caldo Verde (Green Kale Soup), made with Kale Greens, Potatoes and Chorizo (Portuguese Sausage). We made a vegetarian version without the sausage. I was so proud of all my students for doing such an amazing job making this soup and for eating it. It is nutritious and delicious, loaded with vitamins!

Caldo Verde

We also made Rabanadas (Portuguese style “french” toast). Oh my goodness, the kids were all over these! They are a classic treat during the Christmas Season, so sweet with cinnamon sugar.

We, Portuguese folks, love dessert and enjoy many different types of sweet treats but my absolute favorite are these rich custard cups from a town in Portugal, named Belem. So, for our final dish, we made Pasteis de Nata, delicious pastry cups filled with a sweet custard. This was so popular in my class that we will be making them, along with other delicious cultural foods, as part of our cooking class in preparation for the International Festival on March 30th. You must try to make these at home, they will be your new favorite sweet treat!

Thank you to all my Food Jules students for another fun and successful cooking program. See you in April!

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Sawatdee (Hello in Thai)

Wow, it’s been a busy week for Food Jules! We had our weekly classes at Stepney, a catering job for a business forum, a birthday cooking party and a girl scout brownie troop cooking class. It’s been awesome!

Last week, our Arts & Imagination students and I traveled to Asia and visited both India and Thailand. What an adventure in our kitchen with so many wonderful smells and tastes. I absolutely LOVE both Indian and Thai food. It is delish and really makes an impact on those taste buds.

To start, we baked some Indian Samosas (pastries filled with potatoes, peas and carrots) and Thai Spring Rolls (vegetarian style). Yes, we baked them. I have this obsession with taking a typical “fried” item and learning how to bake it so it comes out just as crispy and delicious without all that added fat from deep frying. Well, we got it right with these delicious Samosas and Spring Rolls. No need to fry these, at all!

Then, for our main course we made some Indian Malai Kofta (vegetarian style “meatballs” filled with potatoes, peas and carrots and cooked in a tomato and cream sauce with fresh ginger and lots of other Indian spices) along with the popular, Chicken Pad Thai (stir fried noodles with chicken, red onions, carrots, eggs and green onions). For a little crunch, we topped off the Pad Thai with sesame seeds instead of peanuts.

Oh and for the finale, we ate some creamy, Kheer (Indian Rice Pudding). Everything was amazing! So much so, that I am getting so hungry right now as I write this post.

The students are doing such an incredible job, creating all these delicious, cultural dishes. They are going to be cooking extravagant meals for their families really soon. It’s great and I am so very proud of their accomplishments this semester.

Well, this week is our final week for the Winter Session. I think you all can guess where we’ll be heading on Tuesday! Here’s a hint, “Pasteis de Nata, here I come!”

Namaste (Goodbye in Hindi)

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Celebrating America

Last week, we decided to stay in our home country, the United States of America, in honor of President’s Day. There is so much to explore here with 50 different states, many with their own regional cuisine.

America has so much more to offer other then hamburgers, chicken nuggets and french fries. We have New England Clam Chowder, Texan Chili, Southern Corn Bread, Chicken Pot Pie, Boston Baked Beans, New York Cheesecake, Apple Pie, Blueberry Pie and of course, Pancakes! Plus, much, much more.

So, we went on an adventurous train ride and visited some of our beautiful states. We made Buttermilk Pancakes for breakfast, New England Clam Chowder for lunch, Texan Chili and Cornbread Muffins for dinner and a beautiful, sweet, warm, delicious Apple Crisp for Dessert! It was fan-tastic.

Apple Crisp made by Team Food Jules!

This week, we’re boarding up the private airplane again and flying to Asia. Stay tuned!

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Life Changing

“They” say that losing someone to death is life changing, that it isn’t something that happens to you but rather something that shapes the person that you are or will become. BUT, what about if you loved the person you were before the death, then what? What if you don’t want to change, what if you were happy then and loved yourself then and now every day all you feel is anger towards everyone and everything, including yourself. What then?

Even a bigger question. If God is good then why would he allow such things to happen and destroy a person, a family, a beautiful, happy life? Why would he want to see unhappiness and hatred instead of love, hope and faith?

I will never understand why this has happened or what it all means nor do I have the energy to figure it all out. It takes so much just to live each day, to survive the constant disappointment, sadness, confusion, anger, frustration. I go to bed each night hoping that the next day will be better but as soon as I open my eyes, I realize it isn’t going to get any better, it’s just another day and I just have to do my best to survive the day.

 

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Double Chocolate Heaven!

Sometimes, you just need a little chocolate to make you smile, even for just a few minutes…. Well, yesterday I needed a whole lot of chocolate so I made these delicious, sweet, moist DOUBLE CHOCOLATE MUFFINS!

If you need a little bit of chocolate heaven, go out and get all of these ingredients and make these yummy muffins. Trust me, you will thank me as you devour them right out of the oven!

Double Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1½ cups brewed hot decaf organic coffee
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1½ cups organic sugar
  • 1½ cups cocoa powder (Ghiradelli Double Chocolate)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 3 large organic eggs
  • 1½ cups organic buttermilk
  • ¾ cup safflower oil
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper liners.
  2. In small bowl, mix 3oz. chocolate chips with hot coffee until melted.
  3. In a large bowl, combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and remaining chocolate chips.
  4. In separate bowl, whisk eggs until creamy. Add buttermilk, safflower oil, vanilla extract and melted chocolate/coffee mixture.
  5. Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture and stir just until combined. DO NOT OVER MIX! Spoon batter into muffin cups.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Yields 18 standard muffins.

GRADE: A+++

Delicious, Moist, Sweet Muffins! I’m going to go eat another one right now!

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