I’m thankful to be able to share this second webisode with you.  It was certainly a labor of love and we (my crew and I) are more than thrilled with the outcome.  Enjoy yourself some egg rolls!

Directors: Mando Lopez and James Ford

Producer: Lacey Reilly

Director of Photography: Tony Molina

Editor: James Ford

Set Design:  Linda Sena

Equipment: Paul Hopkins

Eggroll costume: Kristen Warren

Music: Anger Bros

Photos: Luz Gallardo

Make- up/Nails: Janine Presley

A photo of the crew and I after the webisode wrapped at 3:00 in the morning.

From Left to right: Ford, Janine, Myself, Mando, Lacey, Kristen, and Tony.

My egg roll recipe was originally featured on Nibbles and Feasts and still lives there. Click here for the printed recipe! 🙂

My english teacher in high school asked the class to write an essay describing what type of animal best describes each of our own personalities.  Based on the mere fact that I love cheese, I quickly knew I would be a mouse and could have written an encyclopedia on it.

Since then nothing has changed in the love for cheese department, except now I am familiar with many varieties and at that time I was limited to a few.  I bring my cheese love forward when it comes to pizza-making….. and let me tell you, I’ve been to many of the pizza capitals of the world, Chicago, New York,  and all over Europe to name a few, and mine (imagine me honking my own BIG OBNOXIOUS HORN here) is SUPER FRICKEN DELICIOUS!  I enjoy mixing different types of cheese together and usually the results are FAB-TACULAR!

Ingredients for pizza:

1 – batch of dough,  click here for recipe.

8 – tablespoons olive oil

corn meal

1 1/2 – cups pizza sauce (recipe below)

1 1/2 – cups grated mozzarella cheese

1 – cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 – cup grated cotija cheese

dried salami

sliced onion

basil

sliced black olives

An hour and a half prior to making your pizza,  rub a baking sheet lightly with olive oil.  Then pull dough out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature.  You will need to punch down dough and smooth into balls.  Then cover with plastic wrap while you wait for dough to come to room temp.

About 45 minutes before ready to bake, place a pizza stone on rack 3/4 of the way down from top of oven.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees fahrenheit.

Time to work the dough…  Take one of your dough balls and place on a lightly floured surfaced and shape into a disk.  Then continue to pull out into the desired size of your pie by draping it over the back of your hands, and continue to rotate dough with the back of your hands in a clockwise motion with the aid of your thumbs.

Then take your lightly olive oiled baking sheet and sprinkle it with cornmeal then place pizza dough directly on top.  Continue to go around the edges forming a slightly raised rim with the tips of your fingers by pinching and gathering the dough.

Once the dough is ready.  Place a tablespoon of olive oil on the inside of the dough and then spread it around the inside circle avoiding the rim.

Then take 1/3 cup of pizza sauce and spread on inside of dough.

Then top with 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese,  1/4 cup cheddar cheese, and 1 tablespoon of cotija cheese.

Then top with salami, onion, basil and olives.

Then sprinkle a pinch of cheese over the top salami and veggies.

Place in oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until crust is golden!  Cook each pizza one at a time.

You could always make a vegetarian option and swap out the salami for fresh sliced tomatoes instead.  Its just as delizioso!

Enjoy!

Ingredients for pizza sauce:

1 – 8 ounce can tomato sauce

1 – 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

2 – teaspoons red wine vinegar

1/2 – teaspoon garlic powder

1 – teaspoon dried basil

1/2 – teaspoon oregano

1/4 – teaspoon black pepper

1/2 – teaspoon salt

1/3 – cup water

How to make the pizza sauce: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  There will be a little left over for those who love extra sauce or for future pizzas. 🙂

PIZZA PIE!  PIZZA PIE!

 All photos taken by: Mando Lopez and Nicole Presley

Super Bowl is less then two weeks away…. Let the party planning begin!  Is Tom Brady your man?  Or are you Eli Manning all the way?  To be honest with you, I’m not a big football fan, but I LOVE Super Bowl.  Guess why?  You got it….. Yummy snacks all day long.  Okay, the noshing isn’t the only part I enjoy,  I take pleasure in  watching the commercials and the halftime show too.

My family is no different then all the rest of the feverish fans celebrating the big GAME! I’m sure my Tia is in a frenzy right now coming up with a perfect menu to cheer her team on with.  She asked me to bring an appetizer to her party for Super Bowl Sunday and said she wanted something slightly on the fancy side but easy to make.  I called on the help of my beloved Maseca and came up with a little nibble for people to snack on come game time.  May the best team win and I hope the commercials are good too!

Ingredients for corn blinis:

1 – cup maseca corn flour

2 – tablespoons fine ground yellow cornmeal  

4 – tablespoons corn kernels

2 – eggs

2 – tablespoons butter (melted, and cooled)

1 – cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Topping:

sour cream

smoked salmon

grated cotija cheese

chopped chives

Add Maseca corn flour and cornmeal to bowl of a stand-up mixer. Then add in corn, eggs, butter, milk, salt and pepper. Mix to combine all ingredients.

Spray a large frying pan with a non-stick cooking spray and allow to get hot.  Then take a tablespoon of batter and pour into pan.  Batter will spread.

Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side.

Repeat until all corn blinis are made. Place on a platter and top with sour cream, smoked salmon, a pinch of grated cotija cheese, and a dash of chives.

A super yummy appetizer for game day….. Easy to make!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored campaign for Maseca and Latina Bloggers Connect.  All opinions and recipe are my own.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

“Pizza Pie, Pizza Pie” is the chant that is sung in my home in a big burly voice.  It is the call that let’s the tribe know there will be pizza in the oven soon.  We will mark the day in a bite of cheesy laced crust and celebrate every morsel.  This is how I live… like a disciple committed to the art of pizza.  Let’s take the first steps towards our pie and begin with the dough.  Believe me I wasn’t always this confident in my dough making, in fact I shivered in my boots the first time the ingredients sat before me, but now I know just how easy it is…. with that being said let’s sing….. “Pizza Pie, Pizza Pie.”

Ingredients for pizza dough:

1 – packet highly active dry yeast (rapid rise)

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon warm/hot water

1 – tablespoon honey or sugar (I use honey)

2 – tablespoons olive oil

4 – cup all purpose flour or bread flour

1 1/2 – teaspoons table salt

1/2 – tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped (optional)

In the bowl of a stand mixer add yeast and water and allow to dissolve. Mix it a few times until you know all yeast is dissolved. Then add in honey and mix to combine.  The water will be cloudy. This is the perfect sign.

Next add in olive oil and give another mix.  Let water mixture sit for 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl mix flour, salt and rosemary.

Then add flour mixture all at once to the water mixture in the stand up mixer.

Fit a dough hook onto your stand up mixer, knead at low for 5 minutes allowing all ingredients to come together.  Increase the speed to medium and continue mixing for 4 minutes the dough will comes away from the bowl with it wrapped around the the dough hook.  This is exactly what you’re looking for. Dough will be tacky but not sticky.

Remove dough from mixer and place on a clean flat surface and knead with hands for a minute.

Then lightly grease a bowl with a teaspoon of olive oil and transfer dough into lightly oiled bowl.  Once dough is placed in bowl form into a ball turning to coat the surface with oil.

Then flip bowl over on a large plate and leave dough covered in bowl for an hour and a half at room temperature allowing dough to rise.

Once dough rises uncover and knead dough for a minute or two then divide dough into 4 equal balls.

Form each ball into smooth dough by kneading for a minute or two. Then place all balls on a plate and cover with plastic wrap.

Leave them covered for another hour at room temperature. They will continue to rise.  Then refrigerate over night or up to 3 days covered in plastic wrap.  Dough will continue to rise until the cold of the refrigerator makes it go dormant.

Stay tuned for a the rest of my pizza making adventures…..

All photos taken by: Mando Lopez  

 Snackas of the day:  I am such a huge fan of all candy Kinder.  Being a lover of toys and chocolate, I fell head over heels with the Kinder Egg many many moons ago.  So it came as no surprise when I stumbled on it’s cute cousin called Kinder Happy Hippo.  This cookie candy hybrid in it’s playful hippo shape entices the kid in me but satisfies my adult palate.  It’s crunchy crisp wafer like shell is filled with a creamy hazelnut and milk filling, then dipped in white chocolate and meringue crumbs.  So yummy.  They make a chocolate cream version too….. I heart them both.  They are hard to find here in the United States but when you run across them, grab with both hands.  Or if you find yourself in Europe, load your suitcase up and bring them home to your friends and loved ones.

Side note: Kinder Happy Hippo is made by Ferrero SpA, they also make Nutella…. That’s what I’m talking about.

Photos taken by: Mando Lopez

Here’s what the packaging looks like:

Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post…. Just a candy/cookie I love wholeheartedly and purchased with my own dough. 🙂

The gorgeous salmon cake takes the spotlight.  This is the dish you pull out when you simply want to show someone you love them.  Packed with omega 3s, and one of the tastiest little cakes known to man.  This cake also works well as an apology.  Oh let me count the ways to express my heartfelt sentiments.  Place a top a salad for a heart healthy meal, or gobble them down fresh out of the pan.  My honey bunny likes me to make him french fries on the side.  Either way…. it’s all going to be a great meal. Cheers to your love with salmon cakes.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for salmon cakes:

2 1/2 – cups poached and shredded salmon (click here to see poached salmon instructions)

1/2 – cup diced yellow bell pepper

1/2 – cup grated carrot

1/4 – cup chopped green onion

1/2 – cup chopped mushrooms

1/2 – cup diced red onion

1/4 – teaspoon dil

1/2 – teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

1/2 – teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 – teaspoon black pepper

1 – teaspoon Lawry’s seasoning salt

1 – heaping teaspoon spicy brown mustard

2 – eggs

4 – tablespoons mayonnaise

1/4 – cup bread crumbs

2 – tablespoons vegetable oil

Dipping cream for salmon cakes:

1/2 – cup sour cream

1 – tablespoon spicy brown mustard

In a large bowl combine shredded salmon, yellow bell pepper, grated carrot, green onion, mushrooms, and red onion. Mix well to combine.

Then add in the flavorful stuff: dill, sesame seeds, garlic powder, black pepper, Lawry’s, and spicy brown mustard. Mix well.

Let’s add the stuff that will make it all come together. Eggs, and mayonnaise. Mix that in then add in the bread crumbs. Presto. We are ready to fry.

In a large sauce pan over a medium heat add vegetable oil and allow to get hot.  Then take 1/4 cup of salmon mixture and pat in your hands to form a patty.  Place in the pan and cook on either side for 5 minutes or until golden brown.

Make the dipping cream: Mix sour cream and mustard together. Serve atop  salmon cakes for a sensational experience. ENJOY!

I usually poach salmon first in order to make salmon cakes….. That’s exactly what I’m doing.  Here is part one of a simple two day process. Day one is just for poaching…. honestly if you want to quit right here and just have your poached salmon it will be delicious. If not, flake salmon to make your cakes!

Ingredients for salmon:

1 – pound wild Alaskan salmon

1 – tablespoon chopped ginger

1 – tablespoon chopped garlic

2 1/2 – cups orange juice

1 – teaspoon sriracha hot chili sauce

1 – tablespoon soy sauce

1 – tablespoon vinegar

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.

In a baking dish add in all ingredients and mix to combine. Then cover baking dish with a piece of aluminum foil and place in oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Perfectly poached.

Refrigerate for one day to make salmon cakes, or enjoy immediately for a healthy dinner served with veggies or salad.

All photos taken by : Nicole Presley