Hola,

We have a huge update today!  We recently moved to a new website:

http://www.sodikaeats.com/

This new website will allow us to expand out blog a little to include some restaurant review and more recipes!  So please come check out our new site.

Kaleb

Best Pizza dough ever!

Pizza dough


This is the best pizza dough EVER!   And so easy to make!

1 1/2 tbs of active dry yeast
1 teaspoon of salt
1  1/2 tbs of sugar
2 cups of warm water

Let this ingredients sit as the yeast rises for 15 min.

Add 1 tbs of olive oil
4 cups of flour with an additional 1/2-1 cups for kneading.

If using a stand mixer using the dough hook, start by turning it on low and slowly increase the speed until you get to medium high, mix for about 10-15 minutes stopping after 5 minutes to check if you need to add a little more water or flour. The dough should be sticky to the touch but not so sticky that your hands come out covered in dough.

If mixing by hand, slowly add the flour a cup at a time, mixing with a spoon.  Once you have mixed in all of the flour kneed by hand for 10-15 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and place it in a bowl to rise for about 30 minutes. The dough should be twice it's original size, then you punch it in the middle and form it into a ball again. If you are in a hurry you can use it to make pizza now or you can allow it to rise one more time.  Cut the dough in half and form two balls then cut those in half so you have four balls of dough.

Each of these balls is enough for 1 large thin crust pizza. I like to place 2-3 of these in the fridge to use later.

Marinara Sauce

My husband came up with this recipe, it's based on Giada's Marinara sauce but it's chunkier and simpler;)
Kaleb usually makes it for me on Sundays (isn't he the best?) and we keep it in the fridge to use on pasta, pizza dough and anything else I want throughout the week.  It's also very healthy!

Ingredients:

10 cloves of garlic chopped finely
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion chopped finely
2 carrots chopped finely
2 celery sticks chopped finely
Add other vegetables if you want to sneak them in (my husband likes adding Zucchini)
1 32 ounce can of crushed tomatoes (the Giada recipe calls for 2 cans, but we like it thicker)
1 bay leaf
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Heat pan on medium heat add oil, add onion and garlic, cook until they are translucent.
2. Add carrots and celery and cook until carrots are soft and the celery is translucent for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the can of crushed tomatoes and the bay leaf.   Mix all the ingredients together and turn heat to low.  Let simmer for a minimum of 20 minutes (the longer the better).  Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you like spicy food you can also add some red pepper flakes while it is simmering, this will give it a nice kick!

Refrigerate for up to 7 days, you can also freeze to use later.

we use the Marinara with our favorite pizza crust-recipe coming soon!

Happy 2015 everyone!

I started the year in Studio 5, showing how to make Chocoflan!



Chocoflan is amazing  because it's semi-homemade and really quick to put together-although you can also step it up and use your favorite chocolate cake recipe instead of the boxed version.

Flan is a baked custard served with caramel sauce that is very popular in the Hispanic countries.

I tell a little bit about my love for chocoflan in the Studio 5 segment.   Check it out!

Cake:

1 Jar (12.25 oz) caramel topping

1 Box of Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ triple chocolate fudge cake mix (or your favorite chocolate cake mix)

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

Flan:

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

1 cup milk

4 eggs

4 ounces of cream cheese 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 12-cup bundt cake pan with butter or cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cup of the caramel or Dulce de Leche topping in bottom of pan. 

2.  Beat cake mix, water, oil and 3 eggs with electric mixer on medium speed about 2 minutes and pour batter over caramel topping in pan.

3. In blender, place flan ingredients and blend on high speed until smooth, about 40 seconds. Slowly pour mixture over batter. (Flan mixture will mix with batter, but they will separate during baking, forming 1 layer of cake and 1 layer of flan.)

4. Cover cake pan with foil. Place in large roasting pan; add 1-2 inches of hot water to roasting pan.

5.  Bake for about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean. Remove cake pan from water bath to cooling rack; remove foil. Cool completely, at least 1 hour.

6.  Place serving plate upside down on cake pan; turn plate and pan over. Remove pan.  Serve with remaining topping or whipped cream.  

Alfajores

I have a soft spot for Alfajores, mainly because it was what I took to school for a snack to eat at recess EVERYDAY when I was growing up, pretty nutritious, hu?

 

My favorite brand of store bought Alfajores growing up, purchase at the Latino store
 

Romina and Gonzalo, two of my siblings in their "tunicas", all ready for school, aren't our uniforms funny? The white coat and blue bow bring back so many memories!

 

Alfajores are basically a cookie "sandwich" filled with Dulce de Leche, they can be covered with chocolate and the edges are usually rolled in coconut flakes.

This is the recipe for the cornstarch cookie.  The cornstarch makes these cookies soft, crumbly and delicious.

I've had these Alfajores for dessert in most Sunday dinners and holidays for the past 30 + years of my life, it never gets old!


Ingredients (makes approximately 24 alfajores)

·        1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

·        2 1/2 cups cornstarch

·        1/2 teaspoon baking soda

·        2 teaspoons baking powder

·        1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

·        3/4 cup white sugar

·        3 egg yolks

·        1 teaspoon of lemon or orange extract

·        1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

·        1-2 Can of Dulce de Leche

·        1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

1.      In a bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add butter and yolks and work them into the dry ingredients, continue with the vanilla and orange/lemon extract. 

2.      Start forming the dough with your hands, when you have made the dough into a ball (it takes some work to form dough) bring it to a floured surface.

3.       Divide dough in half.  Using a rolling pin, roll dough into 1/4 inch thickness (the dough may crack but can be easily put back together). 

4.      Cut out cookies using at 2 inch round cookie cutter, you may also use a heart shape but the dough is too delicate for more complicated shapes.

 

5.      Preheat oven at 350 Fahrenheit and line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place about 12 cookies at a time and bake for 12-15 minutes, until they are firm and start showing some color in the bottom (top remains pale), don't leave too long or they come out too hard.

6.      Let cookies cool, spread about two tbsp. of Dulce the Leche on cookie bottom and add a second cookie to form the "sandwich", press softly together (cookies crumbles easily) and top with melted chocolate, roll edges in coconut flakes or sprinkles.

Fast Uruguayan/Argentine ground beef empanadas

Empanadas are a very popular food in South America, they are fun and easy to make. 
My kids love to help make them, they actually like to take them to school for lunch and that doesn't happen very often-they are very attached their PB &J sandwich... They even take extra ones for friends, not ashamed of taking Mom's Uruguayan food to school at all when it comes to empanadas!

Remember "Moose Kaka" from My Big fat Greek wedding?  None of that happening here ha!

They are versatile and can be made really quick if you need a fast dinner or appetizer.  To be honest, we usually fill them up with ham a shredded cheese and go, but they can be filled with anything from egg, cheese and bacon for a breakfast version, chicken, cheese and spinach, etc...

We love the beef filling, our absolute family favorite.

I get the pre-made empanada dough discs, always have these guys in my fridge, total lifesavers!!

                                                 Homemade dough recipe coming soon!

Get these at the Latino store, some grocery stores have in the freezer aisle (the GOYA brand) or even the Mexican stores carry "Tapas para Empanadas", my favorite brand is "La Saltena"

Ground beef filling:

Ingredients:

      1 tablespoon olive oil      

1 small onion, chopped      

1 small green bell pepper, chopped      

1 pound ground beef            

3/4 cup green olives, sliced (optional)     

3/4 cup raisins (optional)  
1/2 cup parmesan cheese   

Salt and pepper     

3 large eggs, boiled and cut up 



1. Heat a large pan over medium heat, swirl in the olive oil. Add the onion and bell pepper, saute until the onion is translucent for 3 to 4 minutes. Raise the heat to high and add the beef. Cook, stirring constantly to brown, about 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Stir in the olives, raisins, salt, pepper. Cook until the meat is golden brown, about 5 more minutes, add the eggs.
3. Drain any remaining liquid and cool the mixture completely.

Make the empanadas

1. Fill the pre-made dough with a spoonful of beef filling (or for a really easy filling, cut up sliced ham and shredded cheese).  Place filling on the center of the dough disc, wet edges with water and fold disc in half forming a semicircle, fold over edges.
   
   
   
   
2. Grease baking sheet or line with parchment paper. 
3. Place each empanada on the baking sheet and pierce each one with a fork a couple of times. 
4. Crack 1 egg in a small bowl and beat it lightly (to create an egg wash) brush each empanada with the egg wash.  This helps give each empanada the golden brown color! 
5. (Optional) In our family we like to sprinkle a little with sugar over the top of each empanada, or you can also sprinkle a little shredded parmesan cheese!
6. Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit.  Bake for 30 min until tops are golden brown.  Serve with a green salad for a great lunch or dinner.

 

Sweet potato gnocchi

Image via www.cleaneatingmag.com

Gnocchi is a very popular pasta in Uruguay, we have a tradition there involving this dish, every 29th of the month, everyone has gnocchi!  The whole family gets together and have a big gnocchi lunch or dinner, you also put a coin under the plate to bring on prosperity. 

My aunt Laura making Gnocchi for the Whole fam on our last trip to UY.

Yes, all of that in the counter are Gnocchis!

We usually make the potato version, my husband Kaleb started making this sweet potato version when he was eating Paleo a while ago, I totally fell in love with it.  I love the bittersweet taste the sweet potato brings.  This is a super simple healthy version. Enjoy!

Ingredients. Serves 3-4           
1 Large sweet potato
1 egg
1-2 cups of flour
Salt and pepper.            


1. Pierce the potato several times with a fork and cook it either in the oven or microwave until it is soft.  Let it cool down (something you can do the night before if you want) and then it easily comes out of the skin.

2. Cut in half and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add 1 egg, salt, pepper and blend until well mixed. Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Use less or more flour as needed to create the dough.

 

3. Divide the dough into balls. Roll out each ball into a 1-inch wide rope. Cut each rope into 1/2 inch pieces. Roll the gnocchi over the tines of a fork.  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. .

4. Drop the pieces into the boiling water, and allow them to cook until they float to the surface. Remove the floating pieces with a slotted spoon.

5. Serve with marinara, Alfredo or garlic butter sauce, top it with Parmesan cheese.