March 15th Bread Braid with HBin5 Part Uno (I)

Assignment: 1/2 recipe of Avocado-Guacamole Bread, pgs 160-161
1/2 recipe Pesto Pine Nut Bread, pgs 98-99,
We can make substitutions, but share what and how we substituted with the group in our blogs.
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Avocado-Guacamole Bread
Substitutions:
4 c AP, 3 1/4 c WWW (white whole wheat for whole wheat)
Added 2 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Added 1 ½ c chipotle salsa
3 tbsp sliced pickled jalapenos

I love any kind of Mexican food…as I’ve mentioned before we were sailing along the Pacific Mexican coast for 9 months on our way to Panama a few years ago. We stopped in many ports and coves, enjoyed so much wonderful food, both peasant and haute cuisine types. One of our favorites were empanadas. These wonderful stuffed doughs ran the gamut from savory to sweet, and were always best from the places the locals frequented.

So when I saw the ingredients required in this dough, I couldn’t even think of making a bread with it at first. But, I will say, the very first thing I thought of with this dough was a wrap. I tried making some with the ½ recipe but they were awful. I couldn’t get the dough to roll out well. I’m not sure if it was because I had originally used the Pesto dough or not.

What I did was make a full recipe of the dough for the Pesto dough which calls for spelt flour as well as whole wheat and all purpose. After mixing the dough, I then split it apart, in half, and added the pesto to the first hal.   In the other I added the guacamole which I made by mashing an avocado and adding a cup of chipotle salsa I bought at Sam’s. I was very surprised that the avocado stayed bright green. Yet, the pesto (homemade last summer from basil I grew) turned brown due to oxidation.

Anyway, as I said the wraps were a dismal failure (no pictures). The pesto dough did do well made into pitas. I’ll talk about those in the next segment.

But I didn’t want to give up on the Avacado-Guacamole dough. So I mixed up a full batch of the recipe but added 1½ c chipotle salsa, and 2 c shredded sharp cheddar. Then I couldn’t resist adding 3 tbsp pickled jalapenos to add that extra kick. The dough rose beautifully, and felt much resilient and very workable.

In the morning I mixed the filling:

From a roasted chicken debone and dice 1 breast, 1 leg and thigh, put into a bowl and add the following, then mix it all up:

1 c chipotle salsa
9 oz frozen corn
1 small can green chilis, chopped
One 14.5 oz can black beans
8 oz. queso fresco (Mexican cheese)
Fresh cilantro

I weighed out 5 ounce lumps of dough and formed them into balls. Then let them rest for a few minutes. At first I tried using my turnover shaper that my sister had given me a few years ago. But the rolled out dough stuck to the form. I then switched to just forming the empanadas by hand. After I rolled the dough out into a round about ¼” thick, and brushed it with beaten egg around ½ of the round edge, I put about 3 spoons of filling it in, then folded over and pinched the edges together.

The filling recipe made 12 empanadas before I ran out of filling. With the last of the dough I made 5 rolls that will be perfect for chicken sandwiches or hamburgers. After letting them rise for about 30 minutes, I brushed the tops with a beaten egg, and baked in a 450 degree oven for 30 -35 minutes. While there was a bit of leakage out of a few of the empanadas, they all came out beautiful and delicious smelling.

I let them cool for about 10 minutes, and then cut one in half and put on a plate.

Again harkening back to our time in Mexico, I could only think of serving the empanada with tropical fruits. So I cut up a perfectly ripe papaya and placed about ½ c of it on slices of pineapple. But wait…it wasn’t a perfect meal yet!

Agua de sabors were a big part of our days in that tropical heat in Mexico and Central America. The “water of the day” as it translates was whatever fresh fruit was available…watermelon, papaya, mango, guanabana, banana, passion fruits. Another big favorite is rice milk laced with cinnamon. The first time I was offered rice milk I thought it was made with milk and declined it since I am lactose intolerant when it comes to straight milk. But then I learned that it is made by cooking rice in about 2x the amount of water you would normally use to cook rice, and you can add a vanilla bean to it. After the rice is cooked you blend it until very smooth, strain it and then add more water to taste. Once I learned THAT’s what rice milk is I drank it every chance I got. Here in the states I’ve usually bought rice milk but it’s loaded with sugar! So I’ll be making my own soon now that I’ve found a good and easy recipe for it.

http://www.recipezaar.com/D-I-Y-Rice-Milk-51109

OK, back to how rice milk enhanced this meal, I simply poured rice milk into a glass and sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on top. What a wonderful breakfast this was! Even Ken loved the empanada!

Wanetta and Wayne, and another taster, Rosalind also loved the empanadas…in fact all three said they wanted them again, soon!

One final note:
Since I was in the mood for agua de sabors, I decided to use the last of the pineapple, some of the papaya, some rice milk, and blended it with ice and a bit of Splenda. What a refreshing drink! I sometimes throw in some soda water but this time thinned it with just regular water. We drink this type of concoction a lot during the hot days of summer.

See part II to see how I had fun with the pesto dough!

Tuna Stuffed Jalapenos

As I have mentioned before, we cruised from San Diego, CA, to the Panama Canal and then through it on our sailboat, Cadenza. During those 18 months, we captured many wonderful memories both in the camera and in our hearts.

Such is the case with Tuna Stuffed Jalapenos!

When we were stuck in Acapulco for the summer, something you don’t want to experience believe me, we met John. At the time John was a university student planning to be an English teacher. He was also a sailor, as was his dad and his brother. John joined us on Cadenza to learn English, and he helped us sail from Acapulco on down the coast to Panama and beyond.

John

I was always begging John to bring me some of his mother’s recipes so I could learn to make some of his favorite dishes for him, and for us. He never seemed to be able to remember when he would come back from visiting his mother. But one day when we were in a little tienda (store) in Huatulco, he pointed at a can of pickled jalapenos with a big smile on his face. John said they always reminded him of the parties he and his friends had. They would buy a big can of them, and stuffed the jalapenos with tuna fish. At last! I finally had a recipe to work with, and an easy one at that!

When I told Ken about it he decided we would stuff them with his favorite tuna fish recipe. Ken’s tuna fish recipe is one that he and his daughter, Kim, love, but frankly for a long time I did not. But over the years I’ve learned to love it! So he would make the tuna fish and then we would stand around and stuff the jalapenos.

There’s a saying in the cruising community that you have to have 200 tuna fish recipes because that is the one thing you can get reliably almost anywhere on the coasts. So now we had 201 tuna fish recipes!

But we ran into a real shortage of jalapenos problem once we were out of Mexico! Due to the climate conditions and the different cultures and eating habits of those in Central America, it’s almost impossible to find jalapenos! When we were in Costa Rica we really had a problem! Remember I said that John used to buy the big cans of pickled jalapenos? Well, down there you are lucky if you can find even a 6 oz can of them!

In fact one day I came out of the grocery store with a sad expression on my face. John, who was waiting for me, asked what was wrong. “John, they have no jalapenos! “

“NO jalapenos! “ He exclaimed. “Si John, NO jalapenos!” I emphasized!

“Bloody Hell!” He said in a perfect parody of our English friend Alan. I stood there laughing like a loony, as I realized just what a variety of English John was learning!

In Panama I did actually find fresh jalapenos. It was a bit confusing finding them however! We were staying on a mooring ball at the main marina in Bahia Panama awaiting our turn to go through the canal. On the morning radio net I asked if anyone knew where we could find jalapenos, either fresh or canned as we were completely out!

Someone called back letting us know about a grocery store that she knew carried them. She gave us directions and off we went. When we found the store we were delighted! They did in fact have jalapenos and I was willing to pay the exorbitant price to have them! But it was very confusing to be in a store in the Jewish section of Panama that was owned by a Chinese family! On the counter were Israeli papers in Hebrew, local papers in Spanish, and others in Chinese! I was at a loss as to what language to say ‘Thank you!” in!

Ah, good memories and fun times!

The reason I am writing about this today is all Diane’s fault! She is one of my co-workers and has been bugging me since last year to make her some Tuna Stuffed Jalapenos. I brought them to the International Potluck last year and it was a very popular dish.

Just recently I had discovered that our local Wal-Mart was finally carrying cans of jalapenos and I was telling Diane that. So on the way home I picked up a can of them and started in making them right away.

When I asked my husband to taste the tuna mixture, Ken said it wasn’t right. He’s a good guy but very particular about his tuna fish! So he came downstairs from his office and made it for me. Here is his recipe:

1 can (6 ounce size) white albacore tuna fish (any brand)

6 tbsp mayonnaise

3 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

Juice from ¼ lemon

¼ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp celery salt

3 tbsp vinegar

1 pinch dill weed

You have to mix all the ingredients together very carefully.

Watch the video to see how precisely Ken does it.

Once mixed, open a 12 oz can of Green Pickled Jalapenos. These should be whole or halved. I am lucky to find the whole ones so I buy those. If you have the whole ones, cut the jalapenos in half lengthwise. With a small narrow spoon scoop out the seeds and membranes carefully.

Then using the same small spoon or even a pastry bag filled with the tuna mixture, stuff the jalapenos. You can garnish them with hot pickled carrots that usually come in the can with the jalapenos, or put a sliver of pimento on top. Or if you want to be fancy, put some fresh dill or capers.

Arrange on a plate and serve. Be sure to have some good beer, or tequila on hand to go with it!

Salud Diane!