Passion Fruit Pudding

A few weeks ago I attempted making a passion fruit pudding for the second time. While it was a better effort than my first time (I didn't cook the mixture long enough, so it was more of a cream than a pudding), it wasn't passion fruity enough for me. I used store bought passion fruit juice which is great for drinking, but it felt like a watered down version of passion fruit when using in a recipe. I knew instantly that I needed to use real passion fruit and extract the pulp myself in order to get that pungent tart flavor I wanted in the pudding.

Luckily as I was perusing the aisles at Whole Foods this afternoon, I saw in a small corner a basket full of Passion Fruit! I picked up half a dozen and as soon  as I got home, I made fresh juice! If you've never seen or opened a Passion fruit, its kinda creepy looking. The pulp is gooey and filled with black seeds. Similar to pomegranate, you can eat the seeds too. I first scooped out the pulp and sieved it to allow all fresh juice into a bowl. With the remaining pulp I put in the food processor with the juice of 1 lime and blended for about 30 seconds. Sieve into the bowl to extract all the seeds. Set aside.

Ingredients:
3 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
Juice of 6 passion fruit (see above)

In a sauce pan, heat 2 cups of the milk and bring to a boil. While the milk is warming up, in a heat proof bowl mix the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Make sure there are no clumps. Slowly add the remaining cup of milk to the mixture, beating constantly to ensure that you have a smoothe mixture. Add the egg into this mixture. Once the milk comes to a boil, remove from heat and slowly add into the other mixture.

You want to temper the remaining of the milk/cornstarch/egg mixture SLOWLY, so you don't end up "scrambling" the egg. Once you have it all mixed, return to the sauce pan and cook until it simmers. Add the vanilla extract and the fresh Passion Fruit Juice. Turn the heat off and continue mixing until the its got a creamy consistency. Pour into serving dishes and refrigerate for 3-4 hours before consuming.

DIY Taco Seasoning

When it comes to quick and easy meals, particularly when I'm in no mood to make too much of  a fuss in the kitchen i usually settle for tacos. I absolutely love tacos. Beef tacos, fish tacos, hard or soft- I don't really discriminate.

They are such an easy go-to meal which is probably why we have tacos for dinner at least once every 2 weeks. I always have tacos in my pantry, and I usually keep corn tortillas in the freezer. The only thing I never use is those taco seasoning packets that come in the taco or tortilla boxes. To be honest, I'm sure most people would have the majority of these seasonings in their cupboard, not like Monosodium Glutamate, as listed on some of those packages. The great thing about making your own seasoning mix, is you can easily adjust the flavors to work with your palate.

Ingredients:

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Chili Powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Mix all condiments in a bowl, and set aside until you're ready to make your tacos. Feel free to use whatever meat you have on hand. I happened to make Tacos this week with ground beef. As a good rule of thumb, figure the blend above to be enough for 1 lb. of meat.

Milanesas

One of my favorite things about having lived in Miami for so many years was the amount of Latin American markets everywhere. Even our basic supermarket was stocked with great Goya products as well as specialty meat cuts such as chorizo,(sausages) from different countries, and my all time favorite: Milanesas.

My love affair with Milanesas started years ago in Argentina. They are similar to what a southerner would call a "chicken fried steak". In reality its a pretty name for a piece of meat, or chicken that is pounded flat, breaded and lightly fried. Whats amazing about milanesas is that they pretty much can go with anything. Typically they are served with fries or a salad or on a sandwich... the list could go on for days as they go with almost anything. You can also put toppings like ham,cheese and tomato sauce (a la napolitana) or a fried egg (a caballo). Today I've chosen to go with a basic milanesa, served with some cheese filled ravioli.

Ingredients:

Beef round bottom round steak (4)

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

Onion Powder, to taste

In separate bowls:
Flour
Milk

Bread crumbs

Start with placing one steak at a time between 2 large cuts of saran wrap. (If you have large Ziploc bags would work great too.) Pound the steaks with a meat tenderizer using the flat side until they are about 1/3" to 1/4" thick. Lightly salt, pepper and add a sprinkle of the onion powder to all steaks.

 In 3 separate large shallow bowls add flour in one, milk in the other and breadcrumbs in the third. Once the steaks are seasoned dip into the flour mixture and get rid of the excess flour. Dredge into the milk and then into the breadcrumbs. Repeat with all the individual steaks. Pan fry in a shallow pan with vegetable oil until golden on both sides. Remove and strain excess oil on paper towels. Serve immediately.