Ranch or Chipotle Ranch Dressing/Dip

This is an easy recipe for a Ranch Dressing or Dip. You can kick it up a notch by adding a hot Chipotle pepper. This is delicious on salads, or wraps. One our our favorite wraps back in the old country was a chicken wrap at Hungry's Cafe in Houston. This wrap was made with a whole wheat tortilla, diced grilled chicken, avocado, feta cheese, lettuce, tomato and black beans. The Chipotle Ranch dressing makes this wrap over-the-top yummy.

Ingredients:
¾ cup mayonnaise (I use light mayo)
¾ cup sour cream (I use natilla in Costa Rica)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice (I've used key lime juice as a substitute)
¼ to 1 cup buttermilk (You can substitute with 1 cup regular milk and a tablespoon of white vinegar)
1 small bunch of chives or 2 scallions, roughly chopped (I’ve used regular onion as a substitute)
Small handful of cilantro or parsley, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp seasoned salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Optional Ingredient:
1 dried Chipotle Morita Chili pepper, finely minced (with or without seeds, depending on how hot you like it)

Directions:
Place all ingredients with ¼ cup of buttermilk in a blender and blend for 10 seconds. Check consistency and add additional buttermilk as needed. A Ranch “dip” should call for less buttermilk, whereas a Ranch Dressing for a salad will use more buttermilk. Store the dressing in an air-tight jar in the refrigerator. It should keep for 2-3 weeks.

Sauce

0

Applesauce

I found a bag full of apples tucked back in the refrigerator today. They either needed to be eaten, or cooked, so I put together this recipe for applesauce. It's really delicious!

Ingredients
8 apples - peeled, cored and chopped
1¼ cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

Directions:
In a saucepan, combine apples, water, lemon juice, sugars, cinnamon and salt. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Allow to cool, then mash the apples with a fork or potato masher.

Enjoy!

Snacks

0

Homemade Vanilla Extract

After 2 days of aging

A couple of years ago, our daughter, Mary, gave us some wonderful homemade vanilla extract. As luck would have it, I dropped the bottle and broke the cap. I never did find a replacement cap, or bottle, so all of the contents evaporated while sitting in a kitchen cabinet.

Needing to replace it, I went to our favorite local grocery store Coopeatenas and found they only carry artificial vanilla flavoring. Not one to settle for less than the best, I started searching the internet for different recipes and finally cobbled this one together.

I just happened to have plenty of vanilla beans stored in a vacuum sealed bag that I had shipped in our sea container when we moved to Costa Rica last year.

Ingredients:
8 whole vanilla beans
1¾ cups of cheap vodka
¾ cup of cheap dark rum

Directions:
Slice vanilla beans in half and then lengthwise. Using a funnel, or a very steady hand, pour the alcohol into a clean, empty bottle. Add the vanilla beans to the bottle and store it in a dark place for a couple of weeks. Once a day, shake the bottle to help speed up the extraction process.

As you use the vanilla in your favorite recipes, you can top off the bottle now and then with some additional vodka and dark rum in a 2:1 ratio. The beans will eventually break down and dissolve, so add more vanilla beans when necessary.

Note to self:  Buy small bottles and more vanilla beans.  May need to make lots more of this for future gift-giving.

Miscellaneous

0

Ripe Plantains w/ Sour Orange & Coffee Liquor - Plátano Maduro con Limon Mandarina y Liquor de Café

Plátano Maduro, or Ripe Plantain, is a staple of the Costa Rica diet. It ranks right up there with saying "buenos días." There must be 100's of ways to cook plantains and all the recipes will vary depending on whether the plantain is green, or ripe. When they are still green, plantains can be cooked in many recipes like a potato. When the plantian is ripe, you will find in on the daily casado (blue plate special) in almost all the small restaurants known as "sodas." I put this recipe together today when I tried to recall the recipe my boys' Tico grandmother used to make some 40 years ago. This is not her recipe. She didn't use the coffee liquor in her's, but I think it is a great addition. I think you'll find this Plantain recipe makes a wonderfully sweet, and slightly, tart dessert. ¡Buen Provecho!

Ingredients:
1 large ripe plantain (the skin will be starting to turn black and it will give a little when you press on the skin)
1/4 cup bitter orange juice (you can substitute equal parts or lemon/lime juice and sweet orange juice)
1/4 cup coffee liquor
1/2 cup grated tapa de dulce (or brown sugar, well packed)
1/4 cup of raisins or cranberries
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions:
Peel the plantain and slice in about 1/4 inch rounds. Heat the butter and oil in a non-stick skillet and add the plantain slices. Brown on both sides over medium heat and drain them on a paper towel. Add all the remaining ingredients and simmer on medium/low heat until the sauce begins to thicken. Add the plantain slices back to the skillet and simmer on low for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the skillet and allow the plantains to cool for about 20 minutes before serving.

Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Platano

1

Pico de Gallo Frittata

A Frittata is defined as an Italian style open-faced omelet with other ingredients, such as cheese or vegetables, mixed into the eggs rather than used as a filling. This frittata recipe puts a Tex-Mex spin on the traditional Italian Omelet.

I came across a similar recipe on Pintrest that sounded intriguing, but as always, many of the ingredients are not to be found in Costa Rica. The original recipe called for pre-packaged Pico de Gallo and frozen diced hash brown potatoes. Both of which are items unheard of in Costa Rica. Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and peppers is part of my substitution, because I can get this here, even if it's not the Ro-Tel brand.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups finely diced potatoes (about 2 medium size)
½ cup fresh Pico de Gallo (see easy recipe here)
½ can Ro-Tel diced tomato & peppers (regular flavor - 10 ounce can)
8 eggs
½ cup finely shredded Monterrey Jack cheese or other mild white cheese
½ cup finely shredded Cheddar cheese
½ cup diced ham or pre-cooked bacon (optional)

Directions:
Soak the potatoes in cold water for a few minutes while preparing the Pico de Gallo. Rinse the potatoes well and pat dry on paper towels.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat the oil in a 10-inch oven-safe nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the potatoes and cook for about 5-7 minutes, until they are starting to get soft.

Beat the eggs, Pico de Gallo, Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and peppers, and cheese in a medium bowl with a fork or whisk. Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and cook for 3 minutes or until the eggs are beginning to set.

Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on the size of the eggs) or until the eggs are set. Cut the frittata into 6 wedges and serve.

Eggs

0

Mocha Brownies

Since our move to Costa Rica, most of our stuff is still boxed in the casita's garage, waiting for our imminent move into our new Casa. This should occur in within the next couple of week, but that doesn't help me now... I still can't get to my cookbooks. I've been hungry for some chewy, homemade brownies and decided to browse for recipes online. I finally came across a couple of recipes that sounded yummy and cobbled them together. As I started to gather all the ingredients, I discovered my wonderful bottle of vanilla had totally evaporated due a cracked plastic cap.

How do you make brownies without vanilla?

Sitting on the casita's kitchen counter was a bottle of "Cafe Rica," which I think is even better than "Kahlua," and it's less than half the price. I substituted the "Cafe Rica" for the vanilla and the brownies came out "over the top" yummy. I may never make brownies with vanilla again.

Ingredients
1 cup butter
2 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon coffee liquor
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup of walnuts or pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 9x13 inch pan.

In a large saucepan, melt 1 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 tablespoon coffee liquor. Beat in 3/4 cup cocoa, 1 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

I didn't frost my brownies, but if you want to, go ahead. Here is a simple recipe:

Mix these ingredients and frost the brownies while they are still warm.

5 tablespoons butter, softened
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, or 1 tablespoon coffee liquor
1 and 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

Snacks

0