Produce 2004

Pictures of my produce for the year 2004.

Information on Puerto Rican Food

Here is a concise introduction to puerto rican food, courtesy of
El Boricua web site.

The more I compare our puerto rican cooking to Cuban cooking, the more I realize how similar they are. Either our cooking was influenced by Cuban cooking or both evolved on similar influences during Spanish colonization. I find it intriguing there is no mention of that in this web site.

As I find more information I will post here.

Pâte Brisée Recipe

Makes enough for an open-shell 9" tart. Double for a double-crust pie or for lattice work on top.

1 1/4 cups flour
4 oz cold butter (1 stick), cut in ~8 pieces
1/2 tsp kosher salt (or 1/4 tsp table salt)
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup cold water

Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a stainless steel bowl. Add the cold butter (cut into 1/2" blocks). Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse meal (the butter chunks are pea size). You can also use a food processor using the pulse feature to get the same effect. Do not overmix! The key here is to keep the butter and flour from blending or you'll end up with doughy, elastic crust.

Add the cold water and blend quickly with a few strokes using the pastry cutter. The key here is to get the flour wet enough.

Turn onto a large piece of plastic wrap, form into a ball and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hr. The dough will seem like it doesn't come together but it will, trust me!

Turn onto a floured table and roll out.

Remember, the more you work the dough, the less flaky and more doughy the crust will be! Make sure you work the dough the least possible.