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Guava & Cream Cheese Macarons

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Guava & Cream Cheese Macarons

If you’re going to make macarons for the first time, purchase you go to the master. And the master of almost all things food is inarguably Thomas Keller. Another Thomas I know – my very own husband – gave me the Bouchon Bakery cookbook for Valentine’s Day because nothing says love in our house more than cookies, prothesis cakes, population health pies and tarts. (Though I would argue that this present is as much for him as it is for me. He’s the sweet tooth around here.)

As I was saying. This was my first time making macarons. And I’m not going to lie – I was pretty much convinced they would be a disaster. Especially after reading the recipe and seeing that egg whites were listed in GRAMS. However, rest assured that this recipe is not as complicated as it seems. Not to say that it’s as easy as throwing some cookie dough together, but if you’re looking for a special (and beautiful) treat, these are definitely doable as long as you have a mixer.

Guava & Cream Cheese Macarons

I based these off of Keller’s Raspberry macaron recipe and subbed Cream Cheese icing for the French Buttercream and guava jam for raspberries because if you’re from Miami, you always pair cream cheese with guava. It’s a magical combination. See here and here. The macarons were so much better than I was expecting. Crispy, crackling crust with a sweet and chewy interior. Keller recommends wrapping them individually and freezing them for a couple of days, which allows for the flavors to develop. I can attest that these were quite magical out of the freezer. My only complaint is that they are fairly large, especially for a macaron. I would make them 1-inch in diameter next time and reduce the baking time by 2 minutes or so. But they are almost perfect just the way they are.

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Guava & Cream Cheese French Toast

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Guava & Cream Cheese French Toast

I often hear people commenting on how they’re not breakfast people. Or how they can’t eat for a few hours after they wake up in the morning. I do not understand these people. Am I the only one who wakes up hungry? Now that I’m pregnant, sale I actually wake up starving and usually have two, help sometimes three, doctor breakfasts. A small one before I work out – a piece of fruit, a little bit of cereal – and then a more substantial one before I get ready to go to work – usually a fruit and peanut butter smoothie or oatmeal and an egg. If I’m still hungry, I’ll have cheese and crackers when I get to work. Am I boring you with my daily routine? Sorry about that. I just mean to say – I am really into breakfast.

And breakfast on the weekend is even better. You get to stay in your pajamas while you make something good to eat and you don’t have to worry about how long it will take or how much of a mess you’ll make. There’s plenty of time for special treats. This breakfast definitely falls into the “special treat” category and it’s not for those of you on diets. 07 19 30

I got the idea when I had brunch at my favorite restaurant – Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink. They serve a Guava and Cream Cheese stuffed French Toast which was one of the highlights of our meal. Granted, my version is not as pretty or as well-executed, but I can promise you that it’s delicious.

Guava & Cream Cheese French Toast

The secret is to use non-sweet bread. While I love regular french toast made with brioche and challah bread, I think those would make thing dish overly sweet. Instead I opted for something called a “Neo Tuscan Boule” from the bakery. It was basically a sourdough boule and it was the perfect contrast to the sweet guava and maple syrup. If you’ve never had guava and cream cheese together, then shame on you! It’s amazing. Like chocolate covered pretzels or gorgonzola and pears. A match made in breakfast heaven.

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Homemade Guava BBQ Sauce

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Homemade Guava BBQ Sauce

I know I’m completely off-season with this post, traumatologist but as I mentioned last week, hemophilia I just got a grill for Christmas and am slightly obsessed with it at the moment. So, please pardon my seasonal inappropriateness, but January really is the perfect grilling weather in Miami!

And nothing says Miami or Cuban food like guava, so it’s just natural that when I get a grill, I think to make guava BBQ sauce. Some of you may think it’s weird, but everyone’s heard of peach BBQ sauce. This version has the same sweet flavor with a little tropical twist. Since I use canned guava shells and guava paste, this also makes it an all-season sauce.

Pork chops and pork tenderloin are especially yummy covered in guava BBQ sauce, but chicken and turkey taste pretty darn good, too. Grill, broil or sear for a caramelized, sweet and tangy taste that will make you feel like it’s summer already.

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guava & cream cheese cupcake remix

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guava & cream cheese cupcake

Guava and cream cheese. Some people reading this will probably think I’m crazy, medicine but it’s really an amazing combination. Every day after school, medicine my grandmother would layer soda crackers with a slice of guava paste and a little cream cheese. Sunday mornings my grandfather would deliver fresh-from-the-oven Cuban pastries filled with guava and cream cheese. And on the 4th of July, ask the guava and cream cheese empanadas were the first to go. They just feel right together.

So when my parents and their friends decided to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversaries with a 70’s Party, I volunteered to make cupcakes for dessert. My special guava and cream cheese cupcakes, to be exact. In keeping with the groovy theme, I tried out a tie-dye look on the frosting, but I’m not sure how successful that turned out. Mostly, they looked confused. Some were yellow, some orange, some a swirly combination of the two. They may have been a little ugly, but they were darn tasty.

If guava paste weirds you out (it shouldn’t!) or if you can’t find it, you can substitute any kind of chunky fruit preseves. Just fold some orange marmalade, apricot preserves or strawberry jam into the batter just before you bake the cupcakes. The fruit makes is the perfect compliment to the cream cheese icing.

I posted this recipe here about a year ago, but was never really happy with the huge amounts of butter in the frosting and batter. I’ve tweaked the recipe and I think it works much better this way.

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empanadas three ways

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empanadas three ways

The 4th of July just might be my favorite holiday. Especially when it lands on a Friday and the rain clouds stay away. We wake up early, human enhancement pack the food, physician the coolers and the Bocce set and head to the beach. We set up 3 tents, tons of chairs and a buffet for our friends and family. We open our first beer before noon and we eat empanadas, roast pork and tamales with our toes in the sand all day. The barge with fireworks makes it’s way over to our beach, parks right in front of our party and we drink champagne while they burst over our heads. A perfect day.

I bring the empanadas, which means that I turn my kitchen into an empanada factory the eve of 4th. This year I managed to churn out 80 empanadas in 3 varieties – Guava and Cream Cheese; Sausage, Roasted Red Pepper and Feta; Ham, Cheddar and Green Apple. They were all gone by 3pm, which means that next year I’ll somehow have to make more. I think my favorite was the ham, cheddar and green apple, though the guava and cream cheese were the first to disappear.

empanadas

Just like arroz con pollo empanadas differ regionally. Cubans generally deep fry their empanadas, creating a flaky, bubbly crust. While these are quite delicious, I just don’t deep dry at home. Too messy. I baked them in batches of 20 – 30 and they emerged golden and delicious.

Empanadas are fairly easy to make and great for large crowds. They’re also hand-held and portable which make them perfect for a BBQ or beach picnic. And they were just perfect for my perfect 4th of July.

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guava stuffed pork shoulder

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photo credit: Not me. Meutia Chaerani / Indradi Soemardjan from Wikipedia.

Tom and I had a dinner party for some friends and family on Saturday night and I did not take a single picture. I’m not really sure how that happened, viagra dosage except for the fact that I was completely exhausted by the time my guests arrived. In fact, my mom brought us cortaditos (Cuban coffee with a bit of evaporated milk) at my request because I didn’t think I’d make it through the festivities otherwise.

The day began before sunrise when Tom’s alarm went off and he got up to film some videos on a Carnival ship. Then there was a flurry of last-minute shopping, de-boning, marinating, cleaning and cooking and suddenly it was 7:30 and my guests had arrived. The menu looked something like this:
Hors d’oeuvres: Crispy Hominy (one day I’ll get around to posting this recipe), Pita Chips and Black Bean dip, little toasts with chorizo/cherry tomato bake and Manchego cheese

Main course: Roasted pork shoulder stuffed with guava shells, bacon and prunes, and roasted with a brown sugar/malt soda glaze. Side dish was pine nut and green onion pilaf.

Dessert: Berries with cardamom whipped cream, fancy vanilla sugar crystals and Ghiradelli toffee and dark chocolate squares

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guava surprise!

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cupcakes

A couple of weeks ago, capsule Tom read about a cupcake place in Miami that serves Guava and Cream cheese cupcakes. Ingenious! But instead of seeking them out at the source for the big birthday celebration, I decided to make my own. I figured it’d be easy enough – just plop a piece of guava paste in the middle of some batter and top with cream cheese icing.

They were everything I’d ever dreamed of and more! To me, there’s nothing that says comfort food like a slice of guava paste and some cream cheese on a soda cracker. I’m sure it sounds positively bizarre to most people, but it’s the Cuban staple for afternoon snacking. The cupcake is a fancied-up, birthday version of that snack.

cupcake

birthday tom

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