Tomasita’s Torticas de Morón

Tomasita’s Torticas de Morón

 

On December 25, 2004 I was invited to Abuela Tomasita’s kitchen where she taught me how to make her famous torticas de Morón.  I felt very privileged to have this opportunity as she closely guarded this particular recipe.  Abuela had me sit as I took notes in my green notebook, and showed me how she made the cookies directly on her kitchen table.  She didn’t use a recipe (she had it memorized), used a coffee mug to measure, and mixed the dough with her bare hands. 

These tasty sugar cookies were originally created in the city of Morón, in the province Ciego de Ávila in Central Cuba. Abuela came from a family of bakers, so it can be assumed that this was something that her family baked for the family business.  She would often make huge batches of these cookies and give them as gifts for Christmas.  I am sure that Abuela Tomasita would be happy to know that we are still enjoying her cookies during the Christmas season.

 

Picture of my Abuela Tomasita with my niece Danielle on November 5, 2005

Ingredients:

·       1 ½ Lb. (24 oz) of white granulated sugar

·       1 Lb. of Vegetable Shortening (such as Crisco)

·       3 egg yolks

·       1 pinch baking powder

·       2-3 coffee cups of flour

·       Sprinkles, sanding sugar, or white sugar (to decorate)

·       *1/2 teaspoon salt (Annette’s addition)

·       *1 tsp vanilla extract (Annette’s addition)

·       Line cookie sheets with 3 layers of brown paper bags and newspaper cut to fit

 

Directions:

Create a mound of sugar (reserve at least a cup to add as needed) with a hole in the middle of your work surface.  Put half the can of vegetable shortening in the center of the ring of sugar.  Add the three egg yolks, baking powder, vanilla, and salt.  Start mixing by hand, keep one hand clean so you can slowly add other ingredients.  Once the ingredients are mixed start slowly adding at least two cups of flour.  You want to achieve a soft almost playdough texture.  

 

You will now form the dough into small balls.  Take a tablespoon of dough and form the dough into a golf ball size ball.  Place the balls either on a cookie sheet or in a container.  Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or freeze up to a month.  

When you are ready to bake preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line pans with paper and newspaper, you will want at least three layers to absorb the oil from the cookies as they bake. 

The balls never get too solid, so when you are ready take them out of the cold and dip the top of each ball in sprinkles, and place on your lined cookie sheet.  Even though the dough is formed into small balls they will flatten out as they bake.  If you flatten them now they will melt in the oven and make a puddle.  Lower oven temperature to 300 and bake until the tops of the cookies look cracked and lightly browned 40-45 minutes. 

 

 

Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients:
3 cups old fashioned oats
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar stevia
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped cashews
2 tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1tbsp vanilla extract

**coconut oil to grease muffin tins, or you can use cupcake liners.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix all wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Combine and mix thoroughly.

Recipe makes 12 muffins, scoop batter into a well greased tin using the 1/4 cup measuring cup. And bake for thirty minutes

Chicken Sliders

The idea for chicken sliders came about when I was thinking of a cooked meal I could make for my son that I could freeze, and have ready in a few seconds after a quick defrost in the microwave.  So voila, the idea for homemade chicken sliders came about.  I ground the meat for these sliders at home, so there's no ammonia or pink goop in them.  There's no salt and can be frozen so they're great for babies.  However, these sliders taste awesome to my adult palette, and would be a fantastic appetizer If served with a dip, or served on a cute Hawaiian bun with some toppings would be an awesome little meal.

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breasts, partially defrosted

1 small onion chopped

3 medium carrots 

1 cup of cooked white rice (brown rice, quinoa, or cooked barley would work well)

1 egg

1 tsp garlic powder, smoked paprika, and cumin

1/2 tsp kosher salt (optional)

Directions:

Break the carrots into small chunks and place in food processor.  Pulse carrots until they're chopped, and place in a bowl. Repeat this step for onion, or chop by hand.  Place veggies in a bowl.

Cut the still partially frozen chicken into large chunks, and place in food processor.  Pulse for about 15 seconds and scrape sides of bowl.  Pulse for ten more seconds or until chicken looks crumby (you want to avoid making chicken paste). Scrape sides of food processor and place the chicken in same bowl as veggies.

Add egg, spices, and rice to chicken and veggie mixture.  Mix with a spatula until combined.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.  After time has passed, divide mixture in bowl into four sections.  Take about a tablespoon and a half of the mixture and roll into a small ball.  Squish the ball flat into a patty and place on a plate.  You should be able to make 7 patties per section (about 28 total patties).

Pour about a tsp of olive oil in a sauté pan and heat on high.  Place about six to seven patties in the pan and brown.  Flip the patties, drop the heat to low, and cover sauté pan.  Cook patties until they reach internal temperature of 165 degrees.  Place cooked patties on a plate. Wipe pan with paper towel before sautéing each batch of patties in a fresh teaspoon of oil.

 If not serving immediately allow patties to cool down, and place in a large freezer bag and freeze for later use.

Serve with ketchup, BBQ sauce, or spicy mustard.