Fresh Cherries and Hibiscus Holiday Sauce Recipe

Hola Amigos: Today I'm mixing it a little bit and sharing with you a twist on side dish eaten by all throughout the holiday season, Cranberry Sauce. This year since I'm not hosting any of the holidays for family and friends, just my guys I get creative freedom when it comes to dishes and do things outside the can.

We only serve or eat cranberry sauce of juice when we have guests or we are sick, lol. This time of the year coincides with summer in my country so we instead of cranberry juice we have Hibiscus Cooler or "Saril" very popular drink around the holidays there. As refreshing and vibrant colored as Cranberry Juice Cocktail only a bit spicy since we add ginger to the infusion! Anyway, it is this Hibiscus Cooler concentrate infusion what I have used to prepare the base of this sauce.

It's not only good by itself, but goes great with ice cream, cake, pancakes anywhere where you use sauce you could use my plain Hibiscus Sauce.

To make it more festive and to resemble the whole cranberry sauce thing, I made a little cherry reduction with some sweet Moscato and mixed it all up!

The result made me skip dinner because I just got a bowl of my favorite ice cream and pour this still warm over it and at it all! Oh my guys! this stuff is addictive!

You can taste the sweetness and tartness of the hibiscus with notes of ginger and a bit of the Moscato on every cherry bite! yumm

I made enough of the hibiscus sauce to use for future recipes and this particular combination makes about 1 1/2 cup of goodness to have with your turkey or ham.
Thank you so much for visiting the blog today! I hope you enjoy this recipe a little bit our of the ordinary but delicious and easy to make. Remember my friends, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Cherry and Hibiscus Holiday Sauce
Ingredients
For the Hibiscus Infusion and Sauce
1 Cup Hibiscus Flowers
6 Cups Water
1 Inch piece Ginger, peeled
1/2 Cup Corn Syrup
8 TBSP Sugar
1/4 Cup Fresh Orange Juice
2 TBSP Cornstarch
Directions:
In a large saucepan, bring 6 cups water to a rapid boil. Add hibiscus flowers, remove from heat and cover with a lid for about 20 to 30 minutes.
Using a large colander, separate the infusion from the flowers, but do not discard the flowers. They will be use to prepare something delicious soon.
Add 2 cups of the infusion, ginger, corn syrup and sugar to saucepan on medium high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
Combine orange juice and cornstarch and add it to the infusion mix, continue cooking until the mix begins to boil, reduce heat at cook for abut 5 more minutes until the sauce coats a spoon. It will thicken a bit more as it cools.Remove and discard  ginger piece and  remove the sauce  from heat.
For the Cherries
1 Cup Fresh Cherries (could be frozen too), pitted
4 TBSP Moscato wine
1/2 tsp Orange Zest
In a small hot saucepan, add wine, cook for about 1 minute until the alcohol evaporates. Add cherries and orange zest. Cook until  the wine reduces to almost nothing, about 8 minutes. 
Add Hibiscus sauce to the fresh cherries, mix until everything is well blended. Serve and Enjoy!

Prep Time   20 minutes                           Cook Time 13 minutes                            Serves 2 Cups

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Bacon and Cheese Cornbread Recipe

Hola Amigos! For the next couple of weeks it's most likely we will be eating a lot of  corn bread! All kinds of cornbread, some spicy, some sweet, some that are hard as a rock and best fed to the birdies in the yard, corn bead in  stuffing, in muffins you name it! This is my super easy and savory recipe with a twist from all the other corn breads you will have these season.

There is no flour measuring, no creaming of the corn or using the can stuff, just mix a few ingredients, most of them in your pantry at this moment, bake and enjoy.

It has the things my guys love to no end, bacon and cheese! I added the things I love a bit of smokiness spicy and broccoli! I know it's different, but so good!...believe me when I say this was one veggie that wasn't picked out of the plate like it happens almost on regular basis here by my little one

Give this Corn Bread a try and mix in the elements you love the most, if you are not a fan of broccoli, leave it out and substitute it with your favorite one or add corn! This is a very flexible recipe and that's what I love about it, gives you the foundation for you to do it your way and make it your own.

Thank you for your visit today, I hope you include this quick recipe as one of the many holiday dishes you will have this season! Remember my friends, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Bacon and Cheese Cornbread Recipe
Ingredients:
2 (8.5 oz) Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
1 (8 oz) Package Cottage Cheese
1 Cup Cheddar Cheese
1 TBSP Chipotle in Adobo Sauce
4 Eggs, beaten
4 Strips of Bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 (8 oz) Package Frozen Broccoli 
1 Small onion, chopped 
1/2 Cup Butter + 1 TBSP extra
Directions:
Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees. Melt butter in a 9 x 13 inch pan. 
In a medium skillet melt 1 TBSP butter and saute onion until transparent. Remove from skillet.
Mix all the ingredients and add saute onions. Add this mix to the previously buttered baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm and Enjoy!

Prep Time 5 minutes                                                                 Bake Time 45 Minutes                          

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Yuca Frita-Yuca Fries

Hola Amigos! Happy Weekend...this is a make up post for the absence of Quicky Friday yesterday, so I worked really hard trying to find something fun and different for you to enjoy.

I found what I was looking for in a very odd looking root, Yuca! yes,,,if you are tired of your usual french fries or  even sweet potato fries...keep reading, you are going to love these.
Yuca, also known as cassava, manioc or mandioca is a shrub from South America, Africa, Asia and any other tropical weather region. It's root is rich in starch which makes it a main source of carbohydrates. When it's dry and powdery is called Tapioca (I'm sure you have heard and tried this before).

I was happily surprised that one of my favorite restaurants, Bahama Breeze serves them as appetizers under Crisp Yuka Fries (this spelling is actually the name of a Mammoth from Yukatia, a whole different thing, but it sell I guess, lol). So if you happen to be at a Bahama Breeze, after reading this post perhaps you'll feel more comfortable ordering them.

This is a Pic of Crisp Yuka Fries from Bahama Breeze

The location of the restaurant is quite far from where I live, so since I like them so much I made my own batch as I'm showing you here so you can also make them at home if  you see this funny looking root at your local market.

Yuca Frita- Yuca Fries

1-2 Yuca Roots

oil for frying 

salt, pepper or lemon pepper to taste.

First you need to take a good look at your yuca so you can assess  where to cut it in chunks, you know, 3 or 4 chunks out of one, pretty much the same thing you do when you have to cut a potato or a squash.

Once they are cut, peel the thick skin until they are all white, again, just as you would do with a potato.

(I went and cleaned these chunks a bit more after this pic)

Drop them in a large pot with salt and boil them until they are soft but still somewhat firm (imagine you are making a potato salad and not mashed) about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and drain them, let them dry on paper towel for a minute or 2, cut them in little chunks while your heating up the oil in your fryer.

  Fry them until they are crisp and golden brown.Sprinkle them with salt, or if you want a little bit of pepper or lemon pepper to kick them up a notch.

Listo! 

They are so good! As a snack by themselves with some ketchup if you want.

As a side dish with your hamburgers

or instead of hash browns for breakfast

They are addictive I tell you...if my picky 4 yo loves them you would too!

Hope you enjoyed this post and give my Yuca Fries a try this weekend. Remember, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Sharing a tropical snack at these Fabulous Parties:
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With a Blast

Rapidito en Viernes=Quicky Friday #2

Hola Amigos! I can't believe how fast this week went by but I'm very happy is the weekend and I get to share with you another quick but delicious recipe.
Today I'm traveling back to my beloved Panama where this dish is a staple for every big celebration, Birthday Party , Carnavales or just any day of the week when you need a little cheer me up for your eyes and tummy. We called it Ensalada de Fiesta or Party Salad, and you soon will find our why!

I did a little research to see if this was a dish enjoyed only in my country, but to my surprise in another Latin country across the ocean we also find this dish, in France is known as Salade Russe! and you can find it anywhere there is a take out restaurants. It's usually mixed with carrots, peas and other vegetables. who would have thought!

 No matter where you decide to have yours, Panama, France or in the comfort of your dinning room it's a tasty recipe you can't miss! Here are the ingredients:

Ensalada de Fiesta=Salade Russe

3 Medium Potatoes

3 Boiled Eggs

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1/8 cup onions

1/2 cup  Pink Mayonnaise* 

10 ounces of canned beets cut into small cubes save the juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Green Onions for Garnish

* Pink Mayonnaise is made by mixing it with as much beet juice as you want, depending on the intensity of the color you want at the end.

Cut your medium potatoes in half so they cook evenly and fast in about 15-20 minutes. Once they are cooked, chopped them into small cubes and set season it with salt and pepper to taste. My mom once told me the secret to a great salad was to cube the potatoes very small and everything else the same way. Big chunks are not a good way to save time if you want to have a tasty dish when it comes to salads. Then add your green veggies layer, the celery and onions. Add your beet cubes followed by your chopped boiled eggs. Finally top it all  with your pink mayonnaise. Mix it all together, check seasoning and sit's ready to serve. It refrigerates well and will serve 4-6 people.

Listo

Tell me this doesn't look like a tropical party! And the taste fantastic, so fresh! 

My grandma, Rest Her Soul, used to make the best Ensalada de Fiesta ever! I remember going to her house on Sundays just to eat this! and always coming back for seconds!

Perhaps because everything was chopped so tiny or maybe because it was Abuelita Marina and everything she made was special and oh, so good. 

What she and my mom taught me was that everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Enjoy

Besitos, 

Lizy

I'm sharing this recipe at this Fabulous Parties:
Dear Creatvies
Rattlebridge Farm
This and That
Life on Lakeshore Drive
The Tablescaper
Flamingo Toes
Funky Junk Interiors
Food Done Light
Brown Gingham Creations