Homemade Doughnuts

Serves 5

Tired of eating stale doughnuts (is it doughnut or donut?) from a local coffee shop or bakery? Well I’ve got a quick way to whip up a batch of fresh delicious doughnuts as a treat for your co-workers or just to enjoy at home. If you’re diabetic or just looking to cut down on your sugar intake, toppings can just as easily be made with Splenda or any other sugar substitute. After trying this easy recipe, you may never buy another donut again! Believe me when I tell you that they will taste just like any other donut you’d find elsewhere.

You will need:

• 1 4-inch quart pot
• 1 measuring spoon or biscuit cutter
• 1 pair of tongs
• 1 plate or cookie sheet
• a few sheets of paper towels

Ingredients:

• 1 can of buttermilk or home-style biscuits
• 2 cups of canola oil

To make rings and pop-ems:

Start by pouring your canola oil into the pot and preheating it. I use canola oil because it has zero trans-fat and I think it tastes better when I fry certain foods in it. Carefully separate the discs of raw biscuit dough from each other, then scoop out the center of the biscuit with your spoon and place the little ball of dough aside, leaving a ring (check my new instructional video for details). The little balls will be made into pop-ems, or munchkins or holes or whatever you call them. They go by many names.

You will know that the oil is hot enough to fry the dough when you will see smoke coming from it. You can also take the end of a wooden spoon and place it in the oil then if you see the bubbles around the handle then the oil is ready. Make sure you cook them on each side until they are golden brown. After they’re done, place the donuts on a cookie sheet with paper towels to drain all of the excess oil off. These plain donuts are ready to eat once they are dry.

Toppings

Here’s where you can get really creative as well as give those plain donuts a taste you and your guests will never forget!

Powdered

You will need:

• A small resealable food storage bag (at least big enough to hold a few donuts)
• A cooling rack

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of confectionary sugar (or Splenda)
  
• 1/2 cup of ground cinnamon.

Pour the sugar and ground cinnamon together into your food storage bag. Confectionary sugar is very sweet, so the cinnamon balances out the sweet taste. Unfortunately, Splenda does not make their product in powdered form (I checked their website). If you want powdered Splenda you can put it into a hand held coffee grinder or a food processor to grind it into a fine powder.

While your donuts are still warm, drop them into the food storage bag and shake the bag up and down so the donuts can be covered as evenly as possible (check out my new instructional video for more details). Carefully remove the doughnuts from the bag and place them on a cooling rack to dry and allow the topping to stick.

Chocolate glazed

You will need:

• A bowl
• A cooling rack

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

Pour your chocolate chips into a bowl and place it in the microwave for about 2 minutes. You will know when it’s done once they are completely melted. While the chocolate is still hot, place one side of your donuts (or flip them over and cover both sides) into the melted chocolate.

Sugar glazed

You will need:

• A teaspoon
• A bowl

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• 3 teaspoons of water

Pour your sugar into a small bowl and add water. Stir with the spoon until the contents mix completely and resembles a smooth sticky glob. Place one side of your donuts (or flip them over and cover both sides) into the glaze and let dry. This method works best when your donuts are still warm.

The sticky glaze will make it easier to decorate a donut with sprinkles. Rainbow sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles, or even the sprinkles I used in my besos. The only limits are your imagination.

Chickens In A Blanket

Serves 5

I use this appetizer for all my parties and for snacking. If you’re looking for a recipe that is inexpensive as well as easy to make, look no further. Most people know this recipe as pigs in a blanket, but I use chicken franks which are healthier than pork or pork sausage, so it’s a bit different than pigs in a blanket, which is also wrapped in fried bacon. You can also use turkey, since they are also members of the poultry family and therefore chickens by association.

Chickens in a blanket are also different because they include cheese. Because this recipe involves hot dogs, an American favorite, and the original recipe is a classic at American parties, I find it fitting to use yellow American cheese. But you can use any hard cheese from mozzarella to Monterey jack to swiss to feta. You can also use flaky biscuits or home-style biscuits for this recipe.

You will need:

• 1 lightly greased baking sheet
• 1 knife
• 1 bowl
• 1 spatula

Ingredients:

• 7 oz. of canned butter milk biscuits (it should yield about 10 biscuits.)
• 2 chicken franks
• Quarter of pound of thinly sliced American cheese

The first thing that you will need to do is defrost the chicken franks. You cannot place a frozen hot dog in the center of the biscuit because it will not be cooked properly. So what I like to do is place the franks in a bowl full of hot water (from the tap, not boiling hot water) and let them thaw out. While you’re waiting for the franks to thaw put, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

After the chicken franks have defrosted place them on a paper towel and pat them dry.

Then slice each frank into five chunks. Open the biscuit can and lay the biscuits on the baking sheet before placing a strip of cheese on top (in the center) of the biscuit and your hot dog chunk on top of that. Using your fingers, wrap each biscuit around the cheese and frank until they are completely swaddled by the dough with both ends of the dough touching each other. As you place the wrapped “blankets” back on the sheet, be sure they are at least a half inch apart from each other as the dough will rise and expand.

Leave the chickens in a blanket in the oven for about 8-10 minutes and remove them with a spatula. You may find that the cheese in some of the biscuits have oozed out and become burnt on the baking sheet. Feel free to physically remove the burnt cheese with you fingers, but personally, I think the burnt cheese tastes great, so eat some burnt cheese before deciding to remove it from the biscuits and throw it away.

Italian String Beans

Serves 6-8

If you're looking for a tasty way to enjoy vegetables, my Italian string beans may be just what you've been looking for. Boiled in olive oil and garnished with garlic, this is a delicious vegetarian/vegan side dish guaranteed to even make meat eaters' mouths water! Italian string beans are very versatile; they can easily be used as a side dish with pasta or rice or by itself as a healthy snack or an hors devour.

You will need:

• a large pot
• a large strainer
• a teaspoon
• a tablespoon
• a large knife
• a measuring cup
• a cutting board

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of water
• 1 lb. of fresh (not canned) green string beans
• 6 sliced garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• 6 tablespoons of olive oil
  

Note: It is important that you use fresh string beans for this recipe and not string beans from a can, as they are too soft and will turn into mush in the boiling water. Also, you should use 1 cup of water for each pound of string beans you plan to use. For example, 8 ounces of string beans would require half a cup of water; two pounds need two cups.

Start prepping the string beans by cutting off their tips, then place the cut string beans into the strainer and rinse under cold water. If you're not sure how much of each end you should cut off, your tipless string beans should look like this.

Place the rinsed string beans and sliced garlic into a large pot. Add one teaspoon each of salt and pepper along with 6 tablespoons of olive oil. Then let the ingredients boil for about 90 minutes, until the string beans are nice and chewy.

nce the water begins to boil, you will notice that the garlic turns to mush and fuses itself with the string beans and both flavors fuse with the water. You can use this leftover juice as a garlic marinade for another dish; it tastes great poured over a light, lean meat like chicken or fish. You will want to make this dish in a large quantity because it goes very quickly.

ItaliaRican in the News

I almost forgot to mention that last month's appearance at the Gong Show at Arlene's Grocery actually got some attention from the New York Press, a weekly alternative newspaper.

For those unfamiliar with the original Gong Show, it was a televised talent show that ran in the 1970s and 80s with the main attraction being the giant gong that was hit to let crappy performers know it was time to get off stage. I was allowed to enter myself as a contestant, with my talent obviously being cooking and although I didn't win the grand prize, the judges didn't bang the gong, either!

I am mentioned briefly in the last paragraph.

There were also spring rolls going around the room made by Missy from the "italiaricankitchen." The whole experience was pleasantly bizarre.

It's only a blurb, but not a bad start.

ItaliaRican at Disco Crisco Twister!

I was at Disco Crisco Twister again last Sunday at Arlene’s Grocery handing out free samples of my kottonmouth kookies and pineapple inside-out spot cupcakes. The place was packed with people flooding through the doors for Disco Crisco Twister, a monthly event at Arlene’s where adults can unwind and play games like musical chairs (with a live band), sing that tune (with a DJ), pop culture trivia and Disco Crisco Twister, a more slippery version of the classic game. Disco Crisco Twister even has its own theme song which was performed by PuppetBox. No , I didn't get to sing the theme song on stage, but I still had a great time.

I chose the pineapple inside-out spot cupcake because this month's Disco Crisco Twister had a Hawaiian theme because they were holding a raffle with the prize being roundtrip airfare for two to Hawaii with seven nights hotel accommodation. Everyone was wearing plastic lays and enjoying the sweet pineapple taste and coconut shavings of my cupcakes. I had also planned to bake the kottonmouth kookies in honor of 4-20 before I knew about the Hawaii trip, so I decided to serve those too.

I've been coming to Disco Crisco Twister for about four months now, serving edible freebies to promote my catering services and blog, and am now officially "the resident Disco Crisco Twister chef". Everyone asked me what was in my kottonmouth kookies. "It's not what you think!" I replied. So many people asked me privately if there were any "special herbs" in the cookies. Give me a break, folks! If there were, I certainly wouldn't be giving them away!

Much thanks to Dana Sterling, the founder of Disco Crisco Twister for letting me serve my food and participate in all the fun and games too. Arlene’s grocery is located at 95 Station Street (between Ludlow & Allen), in the Lower East Side at the 2nd Avenue station on the F line. Below are some pics from last Sunday's event, as well as a pic of myself and this month's co-host, Rich.

Kottonmouth Kookies (Legal Version)

Serves 25

In celebration of April 20th, I decided to come up with a sweet little cookie sure to keep you in the spirit of the holiday. This leaf-shaped green sugar cookie is sure to leave your mouth dry and your spirits high! This tasty treat is best enjoyed with friends in a circle. For this recipe you’ll need a leaf-shaped cookie cutter, like the one I bought from Stonerware. The guys at Stonerware must be botanists, they like plants so much!

You will need:

• 1 rolling pin
• 1 leaf-shaped cookie cutter
• 1 lightly greased cookie sheet
• 2 sheets of wax paper
• 1 teaspoon
• 1 pair of disposable latex gloves
• 1 cooling rack
• 1 mixing bowl
• At least 25 small disposable zipper storage bags (optional)

Ingredients:

• 1 18 oz. tube of sugar cookie dough
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of green food coloring
• At least 2 oz. of green sugar crystals

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Because you’re going to shape the dough and not just slice little discs of dough from the tube, it’s best to simply cut open the tube and squeeze the dough into a mixing bowl. Get your latex gloves ready, because this is where it gets too messy, even for me! Put on your gloves and add the green food coloring to the dough. Knead the dough until it is completely green. Place a sheet of wax paper on a stable flat surface and position your green glob of dough on it.

Remove the gloves and cover the glob with a second sheet of wax paper so the dough won’t stick to the rolling pin or the flat surface. Push the wax paper-covered dough down with your hand when you flatten it to about one half inch thick. Make sure the rolling pin rolls the dough horizontally as well as vertically so the dough isn’t stretched out into some oval shape. To do this, simply turn the wax paper and dough 90 degrees in either direction and roll the pin in the same vertical motion.

Once flattened, peel the top layer of wax paper off and firmly push the cutter down into the dough. Lightly grease the cookie sheet with cooking oil and place the shaped cookies on it. If the dough seems to be sticking to the cutter, gently push the dough out of the cutter with your fingers. When you run out of available space on the dough for your cutter, simply join together all the excess dough, cover it with second wax paper and flatten it again with the rolling pin. Keep this up until you have run out of unshaped cookie dough.

In the event that you end up with a piece of dough that is not big enough for the cookie cutter, simply roll it up in to a ball and slap it on the sheet with the rest of the cookies. After the cookies are baked, gobble up that little green cookie ball so no one else will ever know of its existence.

For more detailed instructions on how to roll dough and shape cookies, check out my new instructional video.

Sprinkle the green sugar crystals onto the shaped dough until the surface of the dough is completely covered. For chewy cookies leave them in the oven for about 8 to 10 minutes. But if you like your cookies with a crunch then keep them in for about 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheet or on a plate before storing them away or the cookies will stick together. I usually store my cookies in a tin with wax paper between them. The cookies should hold up for about two weeks or so, but kottonmouth kookies may end up being consumed before April 21!

If you want you can place each cookie in an appropriately-sized "baggie". Be sure to drink lots of water with your cookies. And remember, when handling a plate full of Kottonmouth Kookies among friends, munch, munch, pass!

Pineapple Inside-Out Spot Cake

Serves 16-20

Hey every one, happy spring! I hope you have been enjoying my recipes.

Since the weather is getting warmer and the outdoors are becoming more inviting, I decided to share a recipe that embodies warm weather and warm welcomes. It’s called pineapple spot cake. You may ask why it’s called pineapple spot cake and not upside down pineapple cake. I figured, why not use pineapples throughout the entire cake instead of only the bottom? Also, if you’ve ever seen the outside of a pineapple, you’ve noticed it is covered with brown spots. So I thought it would be cute to make a cake that looked like a pineapple turned inside out with chocolate chips for spots.

Pineapples always remind me of tropical weather and in many cultures pineapples are associated with the idea of welcoming someone. So try my new tasty recipe and enjoy it with your family and friends, or welcome someone new to your neighborhood, school or workplace with a slice or two.

You will need:

• 1 greased medium sized square pan
• 1 large mixing bowl
• 1 whisk
• 1 colander
• 1 non stick pan
• 1 teaspoon
• 1 small bowl (optional)

Ingredients:

• 18-20 oz. of any cake mix you like
• 20 oz. of unsweetened crushed pineapple
• 3 oz. of coconut flakes
• 3 large egg white
• 1/3 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 12 oz. of mini semi sweet or bitter chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon of green food coloring (optional)
• 16 oz. of whipped cream (optional)
• 3 oz. of coconut flakes (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place your coconut flakes in a non stick pan and lightly toast them for about five minutes. Put the toasted coconut aside as they will be used to garnish the top of the cake later. Drain the juice from the crushed pineapple in a colander and taste the juice to see if it’s too tart for you so that you can choose a proper topping later.

Take your cake mix, pour it into the mixing bowl and add the egg whites, drained pineapples, water, vegetable oil and chocolate chips and mix it all together. If you’re wondering why this recipe calls for unsweetened pineapples and semi sweet or bitter chocolate chips, it’s because the coconut flakes and whipped cream should make the cake sweet enough.

Once the ingredients are all incorporated, grease your square pan with some butter and pour the mixture into the center of the pan. Place the whole thing into the oven and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes until it turns a golden brown. If you're not sure if the cake is ready, insert a tooth pick into the center of the cake and pull it out. If it comes out clean the cake has fully cooked. If not, leave it in the oven for another 15 minutes and try the toothpick test once more.

* * *Topping your pineapple cake * * *

With this recipe I usually use either whipped cream or pineapple syrup. This is why I advised tasting the pineapple juice to see just how tart or mild it is. If the juice is a bit too tart for your personal taste, then the whipped cream is probably the best option for you as a topping, as its sugary base will counter against the tartness. But if you decide to use the juice as a topping, simply pour it into a saucepan and let it simmer over a medium flame until the water evaporates, leaving a thick syrup. Wait for the syrup to cool a bit before carefully pouring it onto the baked pineapple cake. This is what I meant by using the pineapple throughout as opposed to just on the bottom.

I like using coconut flakes for this recipe because like pineapples, they are also a tropical fruit. It’s necessary to use a glaze on the cake (either the whipped cream or the syrup) so the flakes can more easily stick to the cake. By now your toasted coconut flakes should have cooled down. Using your fingers, evenly sprinkle the flakes onto the cake’s surface.

I also like to mix the toasted coconut flakes with green coconut flakes to keep up the whole tropical theme. It’s a little extra work but it sure does make the cake even prettier. Place about 3 ounces of coconut flakes into a small bowl and douse it with about a half teaspoon of green food coloring. Mix everything with the teaspoon until the white flakes are completely green and use your fingers to sprinkle the green flakes onto the cake.

P.S. If you'd like to sample my pineapple inside-out spot cake in cupcake format and meet me, you can do both this Sunday, April 27 from 7 to 10pm at Arlene's Grocery, 95 Stanton Street (between Orchard & Ludlow) in the Lower East Side, near the 2nd Ave. station on the F line.