food

As Tortas Que Mudaram Minha Vida

A chef Monti compartilha suas histórias e receitas junto com a gente. Nesse episódio, ela conta quais são as saborosas duas tortas que literalmente mudaram o curso da sua vida para sempre!

food

As Tortas Que Mudaram Minha Vida

A chef Monti compartilha suas histórias e receitas junto com a gente. Nesse episódio, ela conta quais são as saborosas duas tortas que literalmente mudaram o curso da sua vida para sempre!

Supplies

  • 1 pound ground beef (1/2 lb short rib, 1/4 lb brisket, 1/4 lb sirloin)
  • 2 tablespoons salt pork finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons sofrito
  • 1 cup yellow onion, fine dice
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
  • 1 green bell pepper, fine dice
  • ½ teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon sazon
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • ½ cup alcaparrado (capers and sliced manzanilla olives with pimento in them)
  • ¼ cup raisins
  • ¼ cup prunes, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon sherry
  • ½ tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1 cup tomato sauce
  • Salt, to taste
  • 1 package frozen Goya Sweet Plantain, thawed
  • 1 (12 oz) package of frozen french cut green beans, thawed
  • 3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • 3 eggs, scrambled

Passo a passo

  1. Render salt pork in olive oil over medium-high heat.
  2. Add onions and sweat, then add garlic. When aromatic add peppers and sofrito, stirring occasionally until softened.
  3. Add oregano, sazón, salt, pepper, and beef.
  4. When the beef has browned, add capers, olives, raisins, prunes, sherry, vinegar, and tomato sauce. Taste for salt.
  5. Cook over medium heat until beef is done. Keep warm in a 200°F oven.
  6. Divide the green beans into 2 batches and add salt to taste.
  7. In a greased lasagna pan place one layer of plantains.
  8. Top with half the picadillo. Add a layer of green beans. Add a third of the eggs. Top with 1 cup of cheese.
  9. Add a second layer of plantains, picadillo, and green beans. Add a third of the eggs. Add 1 cup cheese.
  10. Top with a final layer of plantains, then with a beaten egg and the remaining cheese.
  11. Bake in a 400-degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the mixture is bubbly. Finish with parmesan.

Supplies

  • 1/4 cup annatto seeds
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons onion powder
  • 2 tablespoons ground coriander
  • 2 tablespoons ground cumin
  • 2 tablespoons dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons dried cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper

Passo a passo

  1. In a spice grinder or coffee grinder, blend the annatto seeds to a fine powder.
  2. Sift them through a fine-mesh strainer and process the remnants that were too big to make it through until they are also a fine powder.
  3. Add the annatto powder back into the blender jar and add the rest of the spices.
  4. Blend until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed together into a fine powder. Store in an airtight container.

Supplies

  • 1 medium yellow onion, quartered
  • 8 large garlic cloves
  • 2 cubanelle peppers or 1 green bell pepper
  • 5 ajis dulces or 5 sweet peppers or 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 bunch of recao or 2 bunches of cilantro with stems, chopped
  • 1/4 cup olive oil

Passo a passo

  1. Add the onion, garlic, peppers, cilantro, and oil to a blender or food processor.
  2. Puree all the ingredients into a chunky paste. Congratulations! You’ve just made sofrito. You can freeze what you don’t use in an ice tray and use the cubes whenever your recipe calls for sofrito.

Supplies

  • ½ cup of sugar
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 1 pinch nutmeg
  • Juice and zest from one lemon
  • 8 cups thinly sliced baking apples (about 1/2 inch thick) I use 2 gala, 3 large granny smith, and 3 large honey crisp

Passo a passo

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Peel and core the apples, and then slice them thinly, no more than 1/2 inch thick.
  3. Put the sliced apples in a large bowl and toss them with the lemon juice. The acid in the lemons gives them a fantastic tanginess but most importantly stops the apples from oxidizing and turning brown.
  4. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and salt. Sprinkle the apples evenly with this mixture and toss again.
  5. Put the coated apples in a deep pan and sauté them on medium heat until steam starts to rise from them and they have started to soften. Make sure all the flour has been cooked out, and the juices have thickened. Mix frequently with a wooden spoon during this process.
  6. Take the apples off the heat and transfer them into a container and refrigerate.
  7. While they cool make a quick caramel sauce and an egg wash.
  8. For the egg wash, crack one egg in a small bowl and whisk in a tablespoon of heavy cream. Put it in the fridge.
  9. Your dough should be seriously chilled by now.
  10. Flour your work area lightly and roll out both discs of pie dough. Pretend they are a clock and roll from the center of the clock out to 11, 12 and 1. Rotate a quarter turn, and roll from the center out again. If the dough cracks, simply press it together.
  11. Roll the dough out quickly (remember you want to keep it cold!) until it is a ¼ inch thick. If it sticks to the rolling pin, dust it with a little more flour. Cut out a circle of dough 14 inches in diameter and a second that is 10 inches in diameter.
  12. Grease your pie pan with a little canola oil. Press the 14-inch dough circle into it and dock the dough with a fork. Just stab it gently to create holes at the bottom of the dough. This helps the dough cook evenly.
  13. Cover the pie pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough again for thirty minutes.
  14. Then brush egg wash on the edges of the dough.
  15. Fill the pie with apples all the way to the top.
  16. Finish with the 10" circle of dough and crimp or flute the border.
  17. Cut steam vents into the top layer of dough and brush all of it lightly with the egg wash.
  18. Bake the pie for about 40 to 45 minutes at 375 degrees. It's done when the dough is crispy, and the topping is bubbly.
  19. Let the pie cool for ten or so minutes. Top each slice with caramel sauce and fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Supplies

  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
  • ¼ cup butter
  • ½ teaspoon high-quality vanilla extract or vanilla paste
  • ½ cup chopped pecans

Passo a passo

  1. In a small saucepan mix together the water and sugar. Do not stir.
  2. Let the water evaporate and the caramel turns amber.
  3. Add the cream and a tablespoon of butter. Let it foam and whisk until everything is incorporated.
  4. Carefully mix in the whipping cream. It will snap, crackle, pop all over the place so again be careful.
  5. Whisk, whisk, whisk until the caramel sauce is nice and creamy.
  6. Take off the heat, add the vanilla and mix again.
  7. Add the pecans and mix again.

Supplies

  • 12.5 ounces all-purpose flour, frozen and divided in half
  • 2 sticks of salted European style butter (at least 82% butterfat), frozen
  • ¼ cup of water, chilled
  • ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar, chilled

Passo a passo

  1. Place half the flour in a food processor.
  2. Using the grater blade of a food processor (or a hand grater and a whole lot of elbow grease) grate 1 stick of the frozen butter into the flour.
  3. Mix the apple cider vinegar into the water.
  4. Add 2 tablespoons of the vinegar water into your dough mixture and pulse until the mixture starts to resemble cornmeal.
  5. Pinch a clump of the mixture together. If it crumbles add more water, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture forms a dough when pinched.
  6. Take everything out of your food processor, put it in a ziplock bag, label it bottom, and put it in your fridge.
  7. Place the last half of the flour in the food processor.
  8. Rough chop the last frozen stick of butter into big chunks and add it to the flour.
  9. Add 2 tablespoons of the vinegar water into your dough mixture and pulse just a few times, until the butter is the size of marbles.
  10. Pinch a clump of the mixture together. If it crumbles add more water, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture forms a dough when pinched.
  11. Take everything out of your food processor, put it in a ziplock bag, label it top, and put it in your fridge.
  12. Take your bottom dough out of the fridge and press it into a ball without removing it from the bag. Press that ball into a disc that’s about 6 inches wide and place it back in the fridge.
  13. Repeat this step for the top crust. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out.
  14. Use the refrigerated dough within three days. You can store the dough in the freezer for up to 3 months, as long as you cover the discs tightly in plastic wrap and seal them in a freezer bag.
  15. You can make the dough vegan by substituting the butter for frozen vegetable shortening and adding 1 teaspoon sea salt to the mixture.