For the Love of Cheese

Many people today watch every gram of carb in everything they eat, me included. Well, most of the time. When I am being very strict, I love to come up with different things to snack on. I love Cheese! Anytime I can snack on something cheesy it’s a plus.

I came up with a great snack that is not only delicious but it satisfies that crunchiness that we all look for in a snack.  Decadent Havarti Cheese Crisps.

You only need 2 or 3 items to make this snack so it is quick and simple!

This is the parchment paper I use. It must be silicon coated.

This is the cheese brand I use. I get it at my local BJ’s Wholesale Store

Then add BBQ Seasoning or Salt & Pepper

The possibility of spices are endless

Microwave the cheese slice for 35 seconds

Then once the 35 seconds are up, I microwave for another 35 seconds

and the cheese crisp is done!

Not bad for something done in a minute and half.

After you microwave the second time, let the cheese sit for a

few seconds to dry and get crispy

Arepitas de Yuca- Yuca Fritters

What can I say?? Here is another one of those finger foods that really take me back to my grandmother’s kitchen. The star of this fritter are absolutely the anise seeds. They lend such a fantastic flavor to the yuca. The taste is out of this world! If you are not a fan of anise, do not add them to the fritters, they taste just as good without them.

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Ingredients

1 Pound of Cassava, Yuca

½ of a packet of Sazon con Achiote- for color and flavor or you can use a natural food color (yellow)

Canola Oil, for frying

½ tsp of Anise Seeds- optional

1 tsp of Kosher salt

Preparation

Add canola oil to a pan and heat it over medium high heat. You need about 2 inches of oil in a frying pan.

Grate Cassava on a box grater . After all of the Cassava is grated, add the salt, the seasoning packet and anise (optional). Combine all of the ingredients.

Once all the ingredients are combined, scoop the mixture with a spoon and drop into the hot oil. Fry for about 2 minutes on each side, or until the fritter is golden on each side.

Serve immediately.

Dominincan flan- Quesillo dominicano

The Dominican version of  “flan” is absolutely delicious! It is rich, decadent, creamy and just down right luscious. In certain parts of Dominican it is tradition to put raisins on the top of the flan. The raisins just add another element of sweet plumpness to the flan. Try it and you will never want another flan again!

For more recipes visit www.gardeningchicinthecity.com

Ingredients

For the Custard:
8 Egg yolks
1 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 can of Evaporated Milk
1 Tbsp of Vanilla

For the caramel:
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of water
1 Tbsp of Vanilla

Topping- Optional
Raisins- about 1/4 of a cup

Preparation

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. **I put my flan in a water bath to make sure that the oven remains moist. If you choose to do the flan by this method, make su re that you get your flan casserole to fit into a bigger pan so that you are able to add water to the bigger pan to create the water bath. If you choose not to it’s fine to just bake the flan without the water bath as well.

Combine the eggs, condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla. Beat with a whisk until all of the ingredients are well combined and set the custard aside.

In a small pan heat the sugar, water and vanilla until the mixture boils and becomes a light brown color. When the brown/amber color begins to develop immediately remove the caramel from the heat and pour it directly onto the flan casserole. Give it a swirl so that all sides of the casserole get coated with the flan.

At this point you can also add your raisins to the caramel so that they can stick to it and be held in place.

Once the caramel has had a few minutes to rest and harden, strain the egg mixture through a fine strainer(to remove any egg residue)and then over the top of the caramel.

Cover casserole with foil and place into the bigger pan and add hot water into the bigger pan until it reaches midway up the casserole with the flan mixture.

Bake for an 1 hour and 20 minutes. Midway through the baking process remove the foil from the casserole and let it continue to bake.

At the end just to check the middle of the flan with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, take the flan out of the oven and let it cool.If it does not, let it go for a few more minutes.

Once the flan is completely cool run a knife around the edges to loosen the flan, put a plate on the top of the casserole and invert! Good luck. It should come out with ease! Enjoy.