Friday, October 5, 2012
8:34 PM
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| Mamina's pressure cooker |
For me, one of the most challenging things about cooking for my family every day is coming up with ideas of what to cook. My mother had the same struggle, "No se que hacer hoy", she would say. However, she was aware that this was a good problem because she had many choices, as opposed to when we were in Cuba and the challenge was to find something to feed the family, because even the most basic ingredients were scarce.
On the flip side, she would get very excited when she had a new recipe or the grandkids wanted her to cook something special.
I'm finding that blogging contains a similar challenge. I wonder which recipe to post when and just like with cooking dinner I love requests!
So I am excited to respond to this email I received a few days ago from Tamara:
I was reading your recipe for puding de pan and I would love the directions for the pressure cooker method. My grandma used to do it like this but no one in my family ever learned before she passed away. I would appreciate it tremendously. Thank you!
My mother, like many Cubans, cooked almost everything in her pressure cooker. I imagine this practice began in Cuba because ovens create a lot of heat, and who wants to heat up the house when you live in a tropical island. Using a pressure cooker also shortens the cooking time trememdously, and who wants to be cooking all day when you live in a tropical paradise... This practice also served well after Castro reduced the island to poverty and there was no gas for the stoves or ovens.
My mother went through several pressure cookers in her life, they were all similar, not very fancy or expensive. When I decided to buy one, I researched them all and bought one I thought was much better than my mother's. It certainly was more expensive. But it leaks, and it doesn't build up pressure properly or cook evenly. Very annoying. I use Mamina's now... If you would like to do some research on pressure cookers, here is a great place to begin:
“Top 5 Pressure Cookers for Quick and Easy Meals”
So this is how you bake in a pressure cooker:
Put the round metal rack (Isis says it's called a trivet) on the
bottom of the pressure cooker.
Pour the blended ingredients for Pudin de Pan, Cake, Flan (recipe still to come), etc. into any kind of oven proof metal mold that will fit into the pressure cooker.
Here is a store bought one with a nice lid and clamps that keep the lid in place
My father usually made these molds for my mother. He used a #10 can, like the one in the picture, cut it in half and turned down the sharp cut edge so it was smooth and safe to touch. He liked to make all kinds of things and Mamina seemed to prefer to use his home made molds to the store bought ones.
My sisters and I didn't appreciate his efforts, when it came to these metal molds, so we threw them away when we cleaned out her kitchen.
The pressure cooker instruction booklet will tell you to cover the mold securely with aluminum foil, like this
Mamina would cover hers with wax paper and tie it with a string. I was called many times to put a finger on the string so she could knot it securely. I didn't have string this time, so I used a shoe lace.
Then she would trim the wax paper. Yup, she really did. I asked her why a couple of times, but she changed the subject and did not answer. I think she just liked things to be neat.
Pour a cup of water in the pressure cooker and set the mold on the trivet. By the way, my cousin MaConcha, who is a terrific cook, does not even cover her mold, so don't worry too much that it has to be perfectly sealed.
Put the lid on your pressure cooker securely and heat on high until steam scapes from the little chimney (or vent pipe), then put the little pressure regulator on it. Or put the pressure regulator on from the beginning.
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| I was hoping you could see the steam in the picture... |
If you are using a canning pressure cooker, one of those that has a pressure gage, bring to 15 lbs of pressure. Otherwise wait till the pressure regulator is rocking to start counting the time. Turn heat down to medium and cook for 15 minutes. Let the pressure cooker cool and all the pressure dissipate before you take the lid or even the pressure regulator off.
Or you can cook it for 20 minutes, and cool it under running water immediately and completely (you will hear the pressure escape).
Then you can take the lid off. It's going to be very hot, so be careful taking the mold out of the pressure cooker. Chill before you take the Pudin or Flan out of the mold. Let it cool it if it's a cake.
Thank you for this request, Tamara!
Here are some yummy desserts that were made in the pressure cooker
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| Flan |
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
10:58 AM
This was one of my mother's favorite desserts. It dates back to her childhood, so I will tell you a little about that. She was the fourth of seven children. Her family lovingly referred to her as “La Niña”, so as you see, long before I decided she was my Mamina she already had a nick name, and to make things more complicated outside the family circle she went by her middle name, Erundina. It was not until we came to the United States that she began to use her first name, Monica.
Her family lived in the small sugar mill town of Manati, in the province of Oriente. If you agree with me that the island of Cuba looks like a crocodile, this would be right around where the crocodile’s eye would be located.
Her father was an accountant for the railroad and the sugar mill. He was one of my favorite people! Her mother had been a teacher before her marriage and played the piano. My mother says her parents doted on her and her siblings.
The children attended a one room school house, where all the children from first to sixth grade were taught by the same teacher. My mother loved school and was an excellent student. La Niña often finished her assignments first, and would then assist the teacher in helping other students. At the end of the sixth grade, the teacher had a great surprise for her, Erundina had earned a full scholarship to a boarding school in the city! My mother was delighted! Here was her opportunity to continue her studies.
Unfortunately, her father decided that she was too young and innocent to live away from home. She told us this was the greatest disappointment of her life. However, she loved to learn, so though her formal education ended early she was a voracious reader and continued to find opportunities to learn many things, by reading or doing, throughout her life.
My mother always spoke of this dessert as something wonderful, she would save up “old bread” to make it. I am not a fan, maybe because wheat does not agree with me, but I hear from those who like bread pudding that it’s very good!
PUDIN DE PAN
INGREDIENTS:
½ loaf of white bread
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cooking wine
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup raisins
DIRECTIONS:
Melt sugar slowly in a metal mold or quart size baking pan, over medium-low heat. (Yes, you do put the baking pan on the stove, I'm hoping Katie will make this recipe and post simpler instructions) Stir constantly so it won’t burn. When the sugar turns golden brown, immediately pick up metal mold with hot pads or oven mitt. Turn it in all directions so the melted sugar covers the bottom and sides of the mold. Be careful not to burn yourself.
Remove crust from the bread, break it up and soak with milk. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, add the melted butter, cooking wine, cinnamon, vanilla, raisins and bread. Put it all into the container you coated with the caramel (melted sugar). Put this container inside another pan with 1 inch of water in it. Bake at 350 for about 2 hours, or until a toothpick stuck in it comes out dry. Let it cool before taking it out of the pan.
By the way, Mamina made her Pudín in a pressure cooker, rather than the oven. I had to do some experimenting to make the conversion. Let me know if you want the directions for the pressure cooker version.
