THE FLAVOR SERIES WEEK-PART #2: MORE OF MY ACHIOTE OIL TO MAKE YOUR MEALS DELICIOUSLY GOLDEN!8/30/2022  Achióte is a natural food coloring spice, obtained by simmering the Achióte (Annatto) seeds in oil, strain them and then, discard the seeds. You can compare it with saffron, which is extremely expensive or to other similar options that are affordable such as; ground cumin, paprika, turmeric or those little coloring packs called Sazón, smile. The Achióte seeds are deep red, they grow inside some hairy pods. They also come from a tree that grows only in tropical areas like the Caribbean. Once you simmer the seeds in oil, they infuse the oil with this rich orange, reddish kind of color. Furthermore, it adds flavor and is also sweet-smelling. You can use it as you would any other cooking oil to cook your meals. In Puerto Rico Achióte oil is used a lot and my favorite use is to provide color and flavor to the famous Pasteles de masa, or dough! Smile. Love it! You can purchase Achióte Seeds in any Latin or Asian Market where you live. Category: NATURAL ORGANIC FOOD COLORING Approx. Prep and Cook Time: 15 Minutes Approximate Cost: $3.00 Difficulty Level: Easy Allergens, Other: Gluten Free __X__ Vegetarian __X__ Servings: 1 C. Ingredients 1 c. olive oil ($2.00) ½ c. Achióte seeds ($1.00) Directions In a saucepan over med-low heat, combine the oil and Achióte seeds. Simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes until you see the oil colored by the Achióte. Remove from stove, drain, discard the seeds and allow to cool. Pour into a glass container with lid and use to provide amber color to meals such as yellow rice, or simply use it as you would your oil for cooking. Refrigerate if you want, however, it doesn’t need to be refrigerated.
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 Ok friends, you got to have my Basting Oil in your fridge. I have been cooking almost everything that calls for oil with it. Plain olive oil taste good; however, if you infuse the oil with dried herbs and garlic, then you elevate it to another level. That’s what I am talking about, FLAVOR! I purchased several brands in the past but at the end of the day, I decided to develop my own by using the flavors that I like in my meals. I am giving you 2 options today, one with Rosemary, and one without. However, you can use any herbs that you want or that you have in your pantry or garden to make this recipe. Then, alternate every time you run out of it, smile. So Good! Prep Time: 10 minutes Approximate Cost: $4.54 Serve: Multiple Servings Ingredients 8 oz. Olive Oil (Kirkland Organic EVOO-8 oz. = $3.49) 1/2 tsp. Parsley Flakes (.15) ¼ tsp. Cilantro Flakes (.15) ¼ tsp. dried Oregano (.15) ¼ tsp. dried Thyme (.15) ¼ tsp. dried Basil Leaves (.15) ¼ tsp. of Garlic Powder (.15) ¼ tsp. Rosemary (optional) (.15) Directions Get a clean 8 to 10 oz. glass bottle. Add all the her- ingredients and shake well. Fill the bottle with olive oil (or your preferred oil; canola, vegetable, sunflower, peanut oil…) Shake well and leave it at room temperature for few hours. Then Refrigerate if you do not use it often, I never refrigerate it since i run out of it often. Shake well before using. HACK: Drizzle my basting oil on meats, pork, chicken, fish, shrimp, scallops, lamb, and anything that you want to grill such as veggies. You can also use it on fried eggs, and to sauté mushrooms. I use it a lot when I oven roast mixed veggies together such as beets, carrots, sweet potatoes and Brussel sprouts. The sky is the limit.  This is really a quick meal to make, especially over the weekend. Time to treat yourself for the prior week hard work in a “fancy”, super healthy and delicious way, smile. Category: Entrée Approx. Prep and Cook Time: Under 30 Minutes Approximate Cost: $22.15 or $11.13 per serving Difficulty Level: Easy Allergens, Other: Gluten Free Servings: 2 Ingredients 2 Filet mignon steaks ($16.00) Salt and pepper to-taste (0) 1 garlic head peeled (.80) 2 c. kale ($1.15) 8 Mapén Tostones (plantains) ($1.45) ¼ c. Angie’s basting olive oil (2 tbsp. to season & sauté filets, 2 tbsp. to fry Mapén 1 tbsp. sauté kale and garlic) ($1.50) 1 avocado ($1.35) Directions Season the filets with 2 tbsp. of my basting olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate. Add 2 tbsp. of my basting olive oil to a cooking pan, sauté the garlic until golden brown. Add the kale and wait until it wilts. Set aside. In a skillet with 2 tbsp. of my basting olive oil, cook the Mapén-Tostones until golden. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet sear the filet, add the cooked kale-garlic to warm up, slice the avocado and you are ready to start plating. Angie’s Basting Olive Oil: www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oil  So, many people feel that when the economy get this tight, you have to sacrifice your meals in order to save money. If you are a family of 2 you don’t have to that much. Take for instance this filet mignon cut. After you clean it of any visible fat, you can cut them into reasonable size filets, so you can eat a filet mignon meal once a week. The total cost of this pack was $62.97 and I was able to divide it into 5 reasonable packs to serve 2 people over 5 times. Meaning, the total cost at the end was $12.59 per bag or $6.30 per filet. I believe that for this kind of meat cut, $6.30 per filet is more than reasonable. Don’t you think? TOMORROW: A FILET MIGNON RECIPE FOR YOU  I decided to add other ingredients to my basic Panatela recipe to celebrate Isabelita’s 20th birthday. It worked, she liked it, smile! Category: Dessert Approx. Prep and Cook Time: Under 1 hour Approximate Cost: $7.92 OR .99 CENTS PER SERVING Difficulty Level: Easy Allergens, Other: CONTAINS GLUTEN Servings: Approximate 8 to 10 Ingredients 2 c. cake flour (Softasilk, Presto, Swans Down or any cake flour) (.90) 1 tbsp. baking powder (.10) ½ tsp. baking soda (.10) ¼ tsp. salt (.10) 1 tbsp. Amaretto Disaronno Liquor (.90) 1 tbsp. Godiva Chocolate Liquor (.90) 1 stick of unsalted butter at room temperature ($1.10) 1 c. sugar (.99) 2 eggs at room temperature (.40) Guava Paste ($1.18) Cream Cheese ($1.10) Powder Sugar to sprinkle over (.15) Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use round 8 ½ by 2” baking pan or the traditional rectangular (meatloaf pan). Prep. The guava and cream cheese in ¼” slices. Set aside. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy, then add the eggs, one by one until all is incorporated. Add the Amaretto Disaronno Liquor and Godiva Chocolate Liquor and keep mixing. At this time, add the flour mix slowly and mix only until all the ingredients are incorporated and no flour is visible. (Do not over beat) Divide the mix in half, add to the bottom of the baking pan making sure it is evenly spread. Place the guava slices on top then, the cream cheese slices on top of the guava. Finally, cover with the remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes, depending on your oven calibration. When done, remove from oven, allow to cool down completely. Then, sprinkle with the powder sugar. ENJOY!  Simple meals, simple life, more time to enjoy with the family. Don’t you think? Category: Entrée Approx. Prep and Cook Time: Under 30 Minutes Approximate Cost: $5.45 or $2.72 per serving Difficulty Level: Easy Allergens, Other: Gluten Free Servings: 2+ Ingredients 2 fresh cod fish filet ($4.70) 1 tsp. Granulated garlic (.10) 1 tsp. Webber Garlic Jalapeno (.10) 1 tbsp. Lemon juice (.15) 1 tsp. Angie’s basting olive oil (.40) ½ jar of sun dried tomatoes with its oil ($1.20) 2 c. kale, rinsed, spin dry, remove the center rib and cut in med-size pieces ($1.40) 1 Avocado ($1.40) Directions Clean, pat dry and season the cod with 1 tsp. Granulated garlic, 1 tsp. Webber Garlic Jalapeno, 1 tbsp. Lemon juice, 1 tsp. Angie’s basting olive oil and refrigerate. Sauté the kale in a skillet with 1 tbsp. of the sun dried tomato oil until wilted. Then add 1/3 to ½ c. of the sun dried tomatoes. Remove from skillet and set aside. In the same skillet sear the cod filets until they cook thoroughly looking solid white. To plate, add the kale and sun dried tomatoes, top it with the cod and add the avocado. Angie’s Basting Olive Oil: www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oi  Breakfast is the first meal of the day and it should sustain us at least until lunch time. Therefore, try to include some protein(s) and for sure, you will not get hungry until the next meal. Smile! Category: BREAKFAST Approx. Prep and Cook Time: 45 TO 1 HOUR Approximate Cost: $11.00 or $1.38 per serving Difficulty Level: Easy Allergens, Other: Gluten Free Servings: Approx. 6 to 8 Ingredients 6 large eggs beaten ($1.00) 1 c. milk (.90) ½ tsp. granulated garlic (.10) ½ tsp. pepper (.10) ½ tsp. Angie’s dry seasoning (.30) 1 9oz. pack of fully cooked Jimmy Dean’s Pork Sausage Links sliced in half ($4.80) 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, divided ($1.20) 3 ½ c. frozen tater tots (or to-taste) ($2.60) Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prep. with nonstick cooking spray a 9x13 baking dish.
OPTIONAL: Add herbs of your choice, or use bacon instead of links, add sour cream, etc.  Yep, there are some basic traditional herbs and veggies that are used to make the good old traditional P.R. Sofrito, and as a real Ponceña, I done it that way many times. However, since I have these herbs in my garden now, I decided to step it up a notch and use them. In my area, I cant find ajicitos, so I must improvise. The end result was amazing and the flavors totally enhanced! Boom. Category: HACK Approx. Prep and Cook Time: 15 MINUTES Approximate Cost: Under $4.00 dollars Difficulty Level: Easy Allergens, Other: Gluten Free __X__ Vegetarian __X__ Servings: 20 cupcake mold size frozen Sofrito Ingredients 1 large garlic head, peeled (.60) 1 bunch Cilantro, rinsed, chopped (.85) 1 bunch Culantro, rinsed, chopped ($1.90) Onion, peeled and cut (.60) Greek oregano leaves to taste, rinsed Cuban oregano leaves to taste, rinsed Rosemary needless to taste, rinsed Sage leaves to taste, rinsed Basil leaves to taste rinsed 1 c. water at room temperature Directions Prep. all the aforementioned ingredients as indicated above. Place them in a blender or food processor. Add the water to help the blender chop the ingredients. Pour into a cupcake baking pan, use an ice cream scoop. Place in the freezer until solid. Remove from freezer, give them about 5 to 10 minutes out to detach from the molds. Place them in Ziploc bags and freeze until time to use.  I believe that the most important thing that you need to know about making fresh vinaigrette is the ratio between the two basic ingredients. They are:
3 parts of oil (I prefer extra virgin olive oil or avocado) and 1 part of acid (I prefer fresh lemon juice or balsamic vinegar) I will provide you with other options so you can make a salad dressing with the ingredients that you love. Start with the following Basic Ingredients: ½ c. extra virgin olive oil (the oil, see oil list for your favorite as follows) ¼ c. vinegar of your choice (the acid, select from the acid list for your favorite as follows) 2 Crushed garlic (I love to add this) Salt and pepper to-taste NOW, SELECT YOUR FAVORITES FROM THE FOLLOWING LISTS: ACID OPTIONS LIST (Remember, 1 part of this) Lime or Lemon juice Balsamic Vinegar White or Red Wine Vinegar Apple Cider Vinegar OILS OPTIONS LIST (Remember, 3 parts of this) Avocado Oil Peanut Oil Coconut Oil Canola Oil Any other vegetable oil OTHER MIX-IN LIST, this depends on the flavor that you intent to accomplish; Italian??? Greek??? Extra sweet, Tangy??? Etc. Dry Herbs like: basil, cilantro, parsley, thyme, oregano, etc.… Brown sugar, parmesan cheese, honey, mustard, chopped shallots, etc. Finally, all you need now is a Mason Jar with a lid, an electric hand mixer or a whisker to combine the ingredients that you selected. Mix it all well and refrigerate. Done! Enjoy! Also, This is My Link to another one I made: Angie’s Vinaigrette: http://www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/angies-basic-salad-dressing-homemade-vinaigrette-for-few-dollars  What a nice meal. So tasty and healthy at the same time. To eat healthy, we do not need to sacrifice our desire to eat these kinds of meals. A burger? Yes, of course but this way. None of these ingredients will kill me, make me fat or unhealthy, smile. This recipe will take a bit more time to make but trust me, it is so worthy! Category: Entrée Approx. Prep and Cook Time: 45 Minutes Approximate Cost: $11.65 or $5.83 per burger serving Difficulty Level: Intermediate Allergens, Other: Gluten Free Servings: 2 Ingredients for the Burgers 1 large eggplant, rinsed and sliced in 1” pieces ($1.75) ½ lb. 99% fat free ground turkey ($2.50) 3 tbsp. Angie’s Basting Olive Oil (1 to season, 1 to sauté the burgers, 1+ to sauté eggplant) ($1.20) 1 tbsp. Roasted garlic and herbs (.10) 1 tsp. Paprika (.10) 1 ½ tsp. Turmeric (.10) Ingredients for the Filling and Sides 1 tomato sliced (.50) 2 c. baby spinach ($1.50) ½ large onion, peeled, sliced and sauté in 1 tsp. basting oil (.40) 1 tsp. Angie’s Basting Olive Oil (.40) 2 c. broccoli florets ($1.75) 1 tsp. Roasted garlic and herbs (.10) 1 avocado ($1.25) Directions Rinse, pat dry, slice the eggplant in 1” rounds, salt briefly to allow to sweat, rinse and pat dry again. Meantime, prepare the burgers with the ingredients listed, (except the eggplant). Refrigerate. Prep the ingredients for the fillings and sides, set aside. Brown the onions. Also, boil the broccoli briefly until bright green. Drain, and sauté in the onions skillet. Cook the eggplant wheels until tender and golden brown. (they are your bread, smile). Cook the burgers until golden brown, then add the tomato slices briefly. Slice the avocado and start plating. Angie’s Basting Olive Oil: www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oil |
ABOUT THE AuthorI am a blogger, a photographer, a jewelry designer, a gourmet cook, and a recipe book writer. I am also a flea market flipper, an avid gardener, an interior/ outdoors designer, an avid golfer and traveler. Categories |
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