Coconut rice with pigeon peas

One of my fondest childhood memories is of being in the terrace of my grandparents’ house with my cousins ​​peeling pigeon peas (guandú for us). It is very likely that at that time, the task seem tedious; but the years and the distance make us see things with different eyes. Don’t you think?

I wish you could smell it!

The pigeon peas came from a small plot my grandfather had just in front of his place or from some friend or relative who brought them from his land.

But there is a problem with these idealized memories and flavors, when you finally manage to put your hands on a few cans of pigeon peas with coconut milk (thanks Aunt Fina!) and cook a coconut rice with pigeon peas… then you realize that it “lacks something” and that it hasn’t reached the level of your expectations.

But I’m going to share with you this recipe anyway. Another typically Panamanian dish and one of my favorites, by the way: Coconut rice with pigeon peas. Of course it would be better made by my mom, but well… it was very good all the same.

The pigeon pea, gandule bean, tropical green pea, etc., is a popular staple in America, although its origin is probably Asian (Indian) and African. Its cultivation goes back at least 3,500 years. One theory is that it traveled from India to East Africa and West Africa. There, it was first encountered by Europeans, so it obtained the name Congo Pea. By means of the slave trade it came to the American continent, probably in the 17th century.

For making this rice, the best results are obtained with fresh coconut milk and fresh and fragrant pigeon peas. However, these canned pigeon peas with coconut milk are perfect for when you are in a bit of a hurry or if, like me, you’re away from your homeland.

Ingredients

• ½ cup chopped onion
• 3 tbsp. chopped red bell pepper
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cups long-grain rice
• 2 cups hot water or vegetable broth
• 1 can pigeon peas with coconut milk of 312g
• Salt to taste

If you can find fresh pigeon peas, then you will need for 2 cups of rice:

• 1 cup pigeon peas
• 1 cup coconut milk

Directions

Sauté onion, red bell pepper and rice together for 2 minutes.

Add the can of pigeon peas with coconut milk and two cups of broth or water. Correct the seasoning.

Bring to boil, cover the pot and cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes until rice is cooked.

If you are going to cook the rice with fresh pigeon peas, cook them first with the coconut milk and water until reduced slightly, then add the rice and salt. And continue as said above.

Enjoy!

Adapted from Nestle page.

Saint Isidore’s donuts

Click on the image to find out more

Two years ago I published the recipe for these very typical treats from the festivities of Saint Isidore the Labourer, patron saint of Madrid. These rosquillas are very popular and a must during this month of May. Their names are quite interesting; they are called silly, smart, there’s the French and those of Saint Claire.

The four types have in common the dough and differ only by their toppings: The silly don’t have any, hence its name, the smart are topped with a glaze made with sugar, vanilla or lemon and water; Saint Claire’s have a white coat of merengue and the French have a coating of ground almonds.

I’m reposting the recipe because it was one of those from the beginning of me blogging that were written both in Spanish and in English in the same post, and I’m afraid that is why it escaped the attention of many of my English speaking readers. So here they are again. Enjoy!

Ingredients for the rosquillas

• 1 kg of flour
• ¼ kg of sugar
• ¼ liter of oil (preferably olive oil)
• 9 eggs
• 2 teaspoons anise
• Ingredients for coatings
• Eggs
• Water
• Sugar
• Icing sugar
• Ground almonds
• Vanilla

Directions

In a mortar crush the anise, and mix it with oil, eggs and sugar. Then slowly add the flour, the dough will become increasingly difficult to mix, it is best to use the appliance to mix bread of the mixer or finish it with your hands. Work it a while to make it easy to form cylinders and bent them to form the donuts.

Preheat oven to 220 º C (430 ºF) and as it warms, place the donuts on a baking tray (usually not necessary to grease) and paint them with an egg wash. To prepare this mixture use the same amount of whole eggs and egg yolk, I just needed one egg and one egg yolk.

The donuts can be glazed twice. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until donuts are browned and slightly cracked.

Now, here come the differences.

Silly donuts

Just use the egg wash and then bake.  Allow to cool and sprinkle them with icing sugar

Smart donuts

In addition to the egg wash, once baked and while still hot, we are going to dip them into a bowl with syrup made with ½ liter of water and ¼ kg of sugar.  Then we bathe them with a glaze.

The one I used is very simple but you can use any glaze you like. Simply mix 175 g of icing sugar with 2 or 3 tablespoons of hot water and ¼ teaspoon vanilla essence. If you want to make lemon flavor, substitute the vanilla with a tablespoon of lemon juice for every two of water.

Give them two baths with glaze; the first covering the entire top of the donut. The second is applied after the first one has dried, pouring the glaze irregularly on top of it. Place them on a rack to do so.

French donuts

These ones, need a generous layer of ground almond (coarsely ground) after the egg bath. Then bake like the silly ones.

Saint Claire’s donuts

These are the ones that take a little more work. Once baked they need a coat of white meringue. To prepare the meringue you will need:

• ¼ kg of sugar
• 125 ml of water
• 1 egg white beaten until stiff

In a saucepan put together water with sugar on the stove until you obtain syrup. When you achieve a thick strand, add the egg whites and mix until you get a thick white bath. Bathe the donuts with that mixture and bake again at 150 ° C (300 ºF) until the meringue has dried.

It seems too much work but once we have all the coatings, the process is very fast and success is assured.

Monkey Business

Homemade biscuits Monkey bread

This month the I made it challenge was to make a monkey bread. This was the first time I heard about it! So I was really looking forward to taste it.

But I encountered one big problem: All the recipes that I found for Monkey bread listed 2 or 3 cans of buttermilk biscuits and I couldn’t find those anywhere. So I decided to make my own, but then, of course, I couldn’t find buttermilk… So I choose a recipe for basic biscuits and once those were done, I proceeded with the recipe for monkey bread. I imagine, the texture is a bit different, but I was very happy with the result.

It seemed to me that it was a little dry, so I made a caramel sauce to go with it and at that point I lost consciousness… it was amazing!!

The biscuits recipe is from all recipes.com, the monkey bread is from The Pioneer woman and the Caramel Sauce from My baking addiction.

Thank you Ange for introducing me to this amazing recipe, I’ll be baking this bread again and again…

Monkey Bread

I halved this recipe, but I’m giving you the complete version.

Ingredients

• 3 cans Buttermilk Biscuits (the Non-flaky Ones).
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 teaspoons (to 3 Teaspoons) Cinnamon
• 2 sticks Butter
• ½ cup Brown Sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 ºF 180 ºC.

Cut each unbaked biscuit into quarters.

Next, combine the white sugar with 2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon. (3 teaspoons of cinnamon gives it a fairly strong cinnamon flavor. If you’re not so hot on cinnamon, cut it back to 2 teaspoons.) Dump these into a 1 gallon zip bag and shake to mix evenly.

Drop all of the biscuit quarters into the cinnamon-sugar mix. Once all the biscuit quarters are in the bag seal it and give it a vigorous shake. This will get all those pieces unstuck from one another and nicely coated with cinnamon-sugar. Spread these nuggets out evenly in the bundt pan.

Melt the two sticks of butter together with ½ cup of brown sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. This can be light or dark brown sugar. Cook butter/sugar mixture, stirring for a few minutes until the two become one. Once the brown sugar butter has become one color, you can pour it over the biscuits.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the crust is a deep dark brown on top. When it’s finished cooking, remove it from the oven. If you have the willpower, allow it to cook for about 15-30 minutes before turning it over onto a plate.

Basic Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup shortening
• ¾ cup milk

Directions

In a large mixing bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening with fork or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Pour milk into flour mixture while stirring with a fork. Mix in milk until dough is soft, moist and pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and toss with flour until no longer sticky. Roll dough out into a ½ inch thick sheet and cut with a floured biscuit or cookie cutter. Press together unused dough and repeat rolling and cutting procedure.

Homemade Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup
• ¼ cup water
• ½ cup heavy cream, heated until warm
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

In a heavy saucepan (at least 5 cup capacity), stir together the sugar, syrup, and water until the sugar is completely moistened.

Heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is bubbling. Stop stirring completely and allow it to boil undisturbed until it turns a deep amber (like the color of Bass Ale). Immediately remove it from the heat and slowly and carefully pour the hot cream into the caramel. It will bubble up furiously.

Use a high-temperature heat-resistant rubber spatula or wooden spoon to stir the mixture until smooth, scraping up the thicker part that settles on the bottom. If any lumps develop, return the pan to the heat and stir until they dissolve. Stir in the butter and salt. The mixture will be streaky but become uniform after cooling slightly and stirring.

Allow the sauce to cool for 3 minutes. Gently stir in the vanilla extract.

Enjoy!

Sachertorte

As a said in my last post, I made a sachertorte for Pilar’s Confirmation. I baked it because when Pilar went to Vienna last year she came home with a post card of a sachertorte and told me she wanted me to bake one just for her; she has tasted it and felt deeply in love… with the cake.

I didn’t bother to investigate too much about it before baking (as I usually do). It is now that I sit to write this post that I discover the interesting history of this cake. I also found out that I made a version of the “Eduard-Sacher-Torte” not the “Original Sacher Torte” from Hotel Sacher.

Why? Well, long story short, because of a case of intellectual and commercial property rights… I know! I’m a geek! Lawyers!! The eldest son of Mr. Sacher (Eduard) perfected his father’s recipe while working at the Demel bakery. Later on, Mr. Eduard Sacher founded The Sacher Hotel and started selling the Sacher Torte there. After a bankruptcy, the new owners wanted to keep selling the popular cakes at their establishment but Eduard’s son started working for Demel and…well, the story goes on. If you would like to know more about it, here’s a link.

The funny thing is that you can find Mrs. Anna Sacher’s original recipe (the widow of the son) on Wikipedia!!

Here’s the recipe that I used, took from BBC, by Mary Berry.

Ingredients

• 140 g semi-sweet chocolate
• 140 g unsalted butter, softened
• 115 g caster sugar
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 5 eggs, separated
• 85 g ground almonds
• 55 g plain flour, sieved
• 6 tbsp apricot jam, sieved

Chocolate icing

• 140 g semi-sweet chocolate
• 200 ml double cream

Writing

• 25 g milk chocolate

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180 ºC (350 ºF). Grease a deep 23cm (9 inches) round cake tin. Line the base with greaseproof paper.

Break the chocolate into pieces; melt gently in a bowl set over a pan of hot water, stirring occasionally, then cool slightly. Beat the butter in a bowl until really soft, and then gradually beat in the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the cooled chocolate and the vanilla extract and beat again. Add the egg yolks, fold in the ground almonds and sieved flour.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are stiff. Add about one-third to the chocolate mixture and stir in vigorously. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Bake in the oven for about 45-50 minutes, or until well risen at the top and the cake springs back when lightly pressed with a finger. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out, peel off the paper and finish cooling on a wire rack.

To make the topping, heat the apricot jam in a small pan and then brush evenly over the top and sides of the cold cake. Allow to set.

To make the icing, break the chocolate into pieces. Heat the cream until piping hot, remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted, cool till a coating consistency.

Place the cake over a wire rack placed over a piece of parchment paper.

Pour the icing onto the center of the cake. Spread it gently over the top and down the sides with an offset spatula, and leave to set.

For the writing, break the milk chocolate into pieces and melt gently in a bowl set over a pan of hot water (or in the microwave). Spoon into a small icing bag and write ‘Sacher’ (or whatever you want) across the top and leave to set.

For a taller sachertorte, you may want to bake two cakes and place one on top of the other with a coat of apricot jam in between before pouring the chocolate.

My verdict about this cake is that it is delicious; the dark chocolate with the apricot jam is a wonderful mix. The cake is very moist and rich. I strongly recommend it.

Enjoy!

Pork chops with a manchego cheese filling

No time to wait for it to set

These last few days I’ve been busy, busy…With 3 of my children going on trips with their school, I had a lot of laundry and ironing to do… and cookies to bake, because they wanted to take some treats with them.

Furthermore, last Saturday Pilar made ​​her Confirmation and we entertained a few guests at home. The menu was very simple and 90% Panamanian (rice with chicken, potato salad and tamale). For dessert I decided to do something new (for me) because I love trying new recipes and the occasion called for it, so I made a Sachertorte, very good and easier to make than I thought.

This is just a sample

Also, I’ve been invited to participate again at the Kitchen Community that is taking place in a mall nearby. This time I’m planning on teaching how to decorate a cake for a First Communion because normally May is the month for this Sacrament here in Spain, so I’ve been practicing a bit.

Now I only have little Fernando with me, which may sound like tons of time for myself, but moms and dads knows that that is only wishful thinking…

As you can see, I’ve been spending some time in the kitchen; one my favorite recipes from last week were these stuffed pork chops, they were incredible. Fill with flavor, tender and juicy. I’m sure you’ll love them!

Pork chops with a manchego cheese filling

Ingredients

• 1 kg. pork chops
• 8 slices of semi-hard manchego cheese
• 1 onion sliced
• 1 clove of garlic chopped
• ½ cup dry white wine
• ½ cup water
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh rosemary
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 180 º C (350 º F)

Open each pork chop like a book with a horizontal cut and put inside the cut one slice of cheese.

Place them in a baking dish, bathe in white wine, spray with a bit of olive oil, add water to the baking dish and season to taste.

Spread over the meat, onion, garlic and rosemary.

Put into the preheated oven and cook until chops are golden brown and the sauce has reduced. Approximately 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Mama Elsa’s lentils soup

Today would have been the 88th birthday of my grandmother, Mamá Elsa. To honor her memory, I’m re-posting this recipe that brings so many memories from my childhood. This is the way she used to do it, and this is the way I like it!

This is for you, Mama.

Ingredients

• 500 grams of lentils
• 500 grams of beef diced
• 1 medium yuca
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 green plantain
• 1 pork bone
• 3 medium potatoes (If you are able to find these, it is better to replace the potatoes with one otoe and one ñame)
• 1 medium onion
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 1 handful of cilantro / culantro
• Salt

Directions

Soak the lentils for a few hours before cooking. Drain, place in a large pot and cover with fresh water.

Cook along with the onion and garlic, for about 45 minutes or until tender.

Once soft, puree the lentils with a stick blender or in a food processor until smooth. Put them back in the pot and over the fire, adding more water if they are too thick.

Add cilantro, beef and bone. Cook until meat is tender, about one hour.

Add the yuca and the diced potatoes (or otoe and ñame)

Fry the plantains as if to make patacones* (but fry only once) and add to lentils too.

Pour some olive oil, correct the salt if it is necessary, and cook over low heat until the yuca and the potatoes are tender.

Enjoy!

* Patacones: For those of you not familiar with patacones, is a way of cooking plantains, very popular in Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador and, under other names, also in Puerto Rico or Dominican Republic. To make patacones plantains must be green (unripe). It is cut into thick slices, about 5 inches, and fried in hot oil for a short period of time (until they are golden in color), then crushed (with a glass, cup, cutting board, pataconera, roller …) The plantains are then fried once again until they are crisp. You have the recipe here.

Tuna with Onions

The simplicity of this dish contrasts with the complexity of its flavors. It has a strong taste from the vinegar, which has to be of a good quality, mixed with the sweetness from the onions.

This is a very typical dish from Panama; we call this way of cooking “encebollar” (to onion?) because of the big amount of onions used in the recipe. It is very popular too to encebollar steaks and we call that “bistec encebollado” very popular for breakfast in my country, served with patacones (fried plantains) or corn tortillas.

I hope you’ll like it. This is my contribution to the menu for this Holy Friday.

Ingredients

• 800 g of tuna
• 3 medium onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 10 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• ½ cup of water
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and black pepper

Directions

Chop the onion into julienne strips and slice the ​​garlic.

The tuna should be cut into squares about 2 cm wide. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a shallow pan over medium-high, heat 6 tablespoons of oil. Sauté the tuna until golden brown, remove and set aside.

In the same pan, add the remaining 4 tablespoons of oil, sauté the garlic and the onion with the bay leaf and a bit of salt. Lower the heat and cook until the onion is soft (20 to 30 minutes).

When the onions are soft and golden brown, add the tablespoon of vinegar and scratch the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to recover what was left by the tuna.

Remove from heat, add the oregano and paprika, stir and add water and the tuna. Bring the pan to the stove again and cook everything over medium heat until the water evaporates.

Check the seasoning and serve.

Enjoy!

I Made It Challenge: Zabaione

Tandy Sinclair from Lavender and Lime has proposed a new challenge for bloggers, called I Made It.

It does not matter where you live in the world; this is a challenge open to everyone and anyone.

How will it work? On the 2nd of the month, the host will put up the I Made It challenge. Each blogger who takes part will post the I Made It recipe anytime during the month, but all posts have to be done in the same month as the challenge is issued.

For the first month the chosen recipe was sabayon or zabaione, one of the classiest and more appreciated desserts in the Italian cuisine. The ingredients are very simple, egg yolks and sugar enriched with Marsala wine (or other liqueur), cooked over a Bain Marie. But we have to be careful with the execution. The temperature marks the difference between a soft and light cream and a lumpy mess.

Of course, there are many variations to the classic recipe and that’s what I bring you today: a zabaione made with Grand Marnier and cardamom.

The flavors here are very strong, so is better to tune it down a bit with some whipped cream.

Grand Marnier and cardamom zabaione

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
• 40 g sugar
• 6 tbsp. Grand Marnier
• ¼ tbsp. ground cardamom

Directions

In a heatproof bowl, mix the egg yolks with the sugar.

Whisk until the mixture is thick and creamy. Add the Grand Marnier and cardamom and continue whisking until everything is well incorporated.

Immerse the bowl in a large pot filled to 1/3 of hot water, the heat must be very low and the water should not boil ever to prevent lumps.

Whisk for about 10-15 minutes, until the cream thickens. Now remove sabayon from heat and serve immediately in crystal glasses.

If you want it cold instead, you have to stir occasionally until it cools, to prevent the liquor to separate from the cream and settle to the bottom.

Enjoy!

Stuffed flank steak

This post has to be a fast one, why? Because there’s always someone lurking in the dark trying to sneak in and use my computer…Is tough to have 2 teenagers at home with so much things to talk with their friends…through Twitter, Tumbler, Facebook, Tuenti… because God forbid that they talk in person!!

What ever happen to spend hours on the phone with your BFF? Just when the phone companies decided to establish the flat rates for national calls, some moron goes and creates the social medias… Dude!!

But don’t get me wrong, I love Social Medias; they are very useful and entertaining…when you are able to use them!

Anyway, here’ today recipe (I think I hear them at the door…)

Ingredients

• One piece of flank steak of about 750 g
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• ½ cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

• 2 tbsp. grated Panela (if you can’t find it, use cane sugar)
• ½ onion chopped
• ½ green pepper chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Filling

• 2 tbsp. parsley chopped
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1 leek chopped
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove chopped
• 250 g bacon chopped
• ¼ red pepper chopped
• 100 g Gouda cheese diced

Directions

Filling

Sauté the bacon in a large sauce pan, when it is golden and crispy, remove from the pan and set aside. Add carrot, leek, onion, garlic and red pepper to the pan and sauté until soft (add olive oil if necessary). When the vegetable are done, add the bacon and stir.

Add parsley and remove from heat. Set aside

Meat roll

Remove all the fat from the meat and open the piece like a book, making one or two cuts with a sharp knife. Laid over a board and beat with a meat mallet to soften it.

Season with salt, pepper and the chopped garlic cloves. Place the filling on top and the cheese.

Roll the flak steak and tie with a string.

In a Big heavy-bottomed pot, heat the rest of the oil, add the panela and brown the meat roll all around.

Meanwhile, blend the ingredients of the sauce and pour this mixture into the pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover the pot and cook for about 1 hour.

If the sauce turns too thick, you may add some water.

To serve, remove the string and slice the roll. Place on a hot plate and pour the sauce over, reserving some in a gravy boat, in case anyone wants more (and they will!). Oh, and don’t forget the white rice!

Enjoy!

Habemus Papam

Today we have a brand new Pope; Francisco I. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Buenos Aires was elected this March 13 as the 266 º Pope of the Catholic Church.

To celebrate this event I leave you with a delicious Argentinian dessert, Alfajores (this is a repost from 2011). Catholic or not, I’m sure you will love these.

Alfajores

This is another Hispanic delight that comes with an origin denomination: Argentina.

But truth be told the alfajores came to America from Spain, during the conquest, and before that they originated at the Arabic cuisine. Its name comes from the term “al-hasú” that means “filling”.

You will need two things, Shortbread Cookies and Dulce de Leche (milk caramel). To make dulce de leche takes time, I will give you the procedure, but you can either buy a can of it or make it yourself by simply cooking a can of sweetened condensed milk until thick and golden colored (3 to 4 hours).

 Ingredients

Shortbread cookies

• 2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• ½ cup (60 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Milk Caramel

• 4 cups (1 quart) (1 liter) whole milk (cow’s or goat’s milk)
• ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¹/₈ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Shortbread cookies

In one bowl whisk the flour with the salt and in the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer); beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Gently beat in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Flatten the dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill the dough for at least an hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 180 ºC (350 ºF) with the rack in the middle of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough until it is about ¼ inch thick. Using a lightly floured 2 inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds. Place on the baking sheets and place in the fridge for about 15 minutes. (This will firm the cookies so they maintain their shape when baked.) Bake 7 – 10 minutes, or until cookies are brown around the edges. Cool on a wire rack. Shortbread cookies with keep in an airtight container for about a week.

Milk Caramel (Dulce de Leche)

Put the milk, sugar, corn syrup, baking soda and salt in a heavy-duty 8 quart (8 liter) saucepan or Dutch oven. Place over medium-high heat and bring just to a boil. Watch carefully, and as soon as the milk begins to foam up, stir with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon, and reduce heat until the milk is just at a low rolling boil. Continue to cook the milk, stirring the bottom and sides of the saucepan frequently, until the mixture becomes very thick and sticky and caramel colored (this will take about 40 – 60 minutes). It is important to frequently stir the milk so it does not burn.

Note: There are several stages the milk goes through during the cooking process. When the milk first comes to a boil there is a lot of foam. Eventually the foam subsides and after about 15 minutes, the milk turns a light beige color. As it continues to cook, the milk thickens and gets darker in color. Once the Dulce de Leche has been reduced to about 1 ¼ cups (300 ml) remove from heat and strain. Stir in the vanilla extract. Let cool before covering and storing. The Dulce de Leche can be stored in the fridge for a month.

Assembly

Take two shortbread cookies and sandwich them together with a heaping teaspoon of Dulce de Leche. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with confectioner’s sugar. They can be covered and stored for a few days in the fridge.

Source: Joy of baking