comida latina Archives - ¡HOLA! JALAPEÑO

Flan de Jamaica {Hibiscus Flan}

October 12, 2015 by Kate Ramos 23 Comments

CONGRATULATIONS TO DENISE! You’ve won the Pairings Box. Thank you to all who left a comment and shared the post on social media.

As we enter into the gift-giving season may I make a suggestion? Be cool. Give gifts that make the recipient exponentially cooler and in turn making yourself look pretty swank too. A really cool gift is one that just keeps on giving. No lie.

I bring this up because I have probably the coolest gift you can give anyone….and I’m giving you the chance to win a preview, so you can be like, “Oh, your welcome. I’ve been getting it forever.” Say it very nonchalant for maximum affect.

Ok, here it is.

It is called a Pairings Box and it is put together by my friends Kasey and Matthew over at Turntable Kitchen. It is a monthly subscription service that includes an exclusive 7″ vinyl, digital mixtape, a premium ingredient, 3 seasonal recipes, and tasting notes. Essentially, the latest music + beautiful food all in one box. Every. Month.

When Kasey asked if I’d lend a hand with the September box (because she just gave birth to the most beautiful twins the world has ever seen) I was so excited to come up with something fun, bright, and of course, Mexican. I chose dried hibiscus flowers (flor de jamaica) as my premium ingredient and came up with three recipes that flaunt the tart bud’s character.

I was swimming with so many ideas that I had a hard time narrowing it down to three. To tempt you I’m sharing one more hibiscus recipe today. A silky flan steeped with the bright, floral flavor of hibiscus. One more reason to get a Pairings Box subscription….or throw your name in the hat for the giveaway.

To win the September Pairings Box just leave me a comment below and tell me your favorite way to enjoy dried hibiscus flowers or if you’ve never had them before then let me know what your favorite Mexican ingredient is. For extra chances to win, share this post on the social media platform of your choice (Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram) along with the hashtag #holajalapeno. You can even share on all three for three entries. A winner will be picked at random on Monday, October 19th.

Flan de Jamaica {Hibiscus Flan} Recipe

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart The hibiscus flowers need to steep in the milk overnight and then the finished flan needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours so plan ahead. If the milk curdles slightly when you add the flowers don't worry, any lumps will get strained out with the dried flowers, but be warned, the more you stir the milk-flower mixture, the more it will curdle. So it's best to give a quick stir to combine, then leave to steep undisturbed. The easiest way to get caramel-coated pots and pans clean is to fill them with water and bring to a boil, the caramel will instantly melt away. You can watch a pregnant me demonstrate it here.

Ingredients

3 cups whole milk
2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup dried hibiscus flowers (flor de jamaica)
1/4 cup water
4 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Heat milk and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Heat gently until milk just starts to bubble around the edges, do not boil. Pour into a heatproof bowl and stir in hibiscus flowers. Let cool then cover and refrigerate overnight.
Heat oven to 325°F. Place a 9-inch ring mold or 8 (4-ounce) ramekins in a roasting pan. Bring a large kettle of water to a boil.
Combine 1 cup of the sugar and the 1/4 cup of water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to dissolve sugar then let cook, undisturbed, until amber in color, about 8 minutes. Immediately pour the hot caramel into the bottom of the ring mold, or divide it evenly between the ramekins, swirling to coat.
Whisk eggs, yolks, remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
Strain the hibiscus-milk mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat just until little bubbles form around the edges of the pan.
Slowly add warm milk into the egg mixture, whisking continuously until smooth. Strain mixture one last time then pour into mold or ramekins.
Place roasting pan in the oven then add boiling water, making sure it reaches halfway up the sides of the mold or ramekins. Bake until set, about 30-35 minutes.
Remove to a wire rack and let cool 30 minutes. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
To serve, run a sharp knife around the inside edge or the mold or ramekins, place a plate on top, invert and lift mold off. If flan is not releasing briefly dip the bottom of the mold or ramekins in hot water and try again.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 319Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 195mgSodium: 169mgCarbohydrates: 55gFiber: 0gSugar: 55gProtein: 9g

One More Thing

Did you love this post? I want to know! Leave me a comment and snap a photo for Instagram. Tag @holajalapeno so I can see your beautiful creation! Your feedback is super important to me. If you run into trouble shoot me a message on Instagram and I’ll walk you through it.

Also, don’t forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!

Lamb and White Bean Chili with Masa Dumplings

January 12, 2015 by Kate Ramos 3 Comments

Look for me today over on Turntable Kitchen! I’m honored to be contributing to such a lovely space that husband and wife team, Kasey and Matthew Hickey have created. If you are not familiar with their site let me sum it up for you in three words: food plus music. It is such a fantastic pairing of creative recipes, interesting new tracks, and gorgeous photography. The storytelling is phenomenal and did I mentioned the cocktails?

It has been ridiculously cold all over the country so I wanted to come up with something comforting and warm to share with you today. I decided on this Lamb and White Bean Chili because, really, can you have enough chili recipes in January? I think not.

Lamb is not that easy to come by in my neck of the woods but luckily there is a family raising lambs in Kathryn, about a 30-mile drive from here. From time to time they bring them up to be butchered at our local meat locker, but not all that often. I got word from my Bulgarian friend who shares my affinity with lamb that they had slaughtered some over the weekend and I went as soon as I could before all the meat was bought up. Not much was left but a few pieces of leg and some ground meat. I bought the bone-in leg and butchered it myself, but if I were you I’d either buy lamb stew meat or boneless leg meat and cut it up into 1-inch pieces.

The masa dumplings are something I’ve been playing around with for a while. Normally I would just scoop the dough by the spoonful right into the simmering stew but I recently came across a recipe on Pati’s Mexican Table for chochoyotes, basically a corn flour masa dumpling like the ones I’ve been making but with a dimple on one side where all the flavorful broth can nestle as it cooks. I love the look of these precious, delicate pillows and that little indentation ensures a mouthful of delicious sauce with every bite.

Get the recipe for Lamb and White Bean Chili with Masa Dumplings over on Turntable Kitchen. Bundle up and have a great weekend!!

Looking for more cozy recipes? Here are a few suggestions and check out my Cozy Winter Meals board on Pinterest.

PIN IT FOR LATER!

Pineapple and Pecan Capirotada

January 9, 2015 by Kate Ramos 6 Comments

I’m a sucker for a good bread pudding. Ask my husband, he’ll tell you.

He’ll for sure tell you about how there’s an ever present bag of cubed bread in our freezer taking up precious space that could be used for the frozen fruit he needs to make his morning smoothie. He’ll also tell you that on at least a monthly basis he asks if we could maybe throw away the cubed bread and how I screech “NO! I’m going to make one of my famous bread puddings”.

He might appreciate the pathetic looking bag of frozen bread more if he could actually eat one of my famous bread puddings but I have yet to make a dairy-free version that is anywhere close to being edible. So consequently he doesn’t believe that my bread puddings are actually famous to anyone but me.

Then on New Year’s Eve we were at a party where, in his presence, someone asked if the recipe for the Mexican bread pudding I’d made at Thanksgiving is on the blog?!!! To which I wanted to look him straight in the eye and say “Haha” in the tone of someone uncovering the truth. Because you see, here was evidence that my bread puddings are indeed famous…..to at least one other person.

Trying to hold in my enthusiasm I had to sadly say that no, it wasn’t, but that I would put it up soon. So here you go Beth, and the hundreds of thousands of you other fans of my bread pudding. I know you are out there and I’m only giving you what you’ve been waiting for.

This one’s pretty good too: Raspberry and Goat Cheese Bread Pudding

Pineapple and Pecan Capirotada {Mexican Bread Pudding}

Yield: 10-12 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Steeping Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 40 minutes

The beauty of Capirotada as compared to European versions of bread pudding is the inclusion of the semi-firm, mild Mexican cheese called Queso Fresco. If you can't find it you can use Monterey Jack instead.