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topfygad · 5 years

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Top things to eat and drink in Key West Florida

One of the things I loved about the Florida Keys and Key West was the food. Oh the food! After driving down the beautiful chain of islands that make up the Florida Keys, we started our three-day stay in Key West by meeting up with Key West Food Tours.

They took us on their Southernmost food tour, essentially a crash-course in Key West’s culinary history. We took away so many foodie tips from our tour guide that by the end of the three hour walking tour, we had a wealth of information on where to find the best restaurants in Key West, which cultures have influenced the Key West cuisine and which signature dishes you need to try.

So as I like to share my travel tips, here are 13 of the top things to eat and drink in Key West, Florida.

Enjoy.

13 Top things to eat and drink in Key West Florida

1. A Cuban sandwich from 5 Brothers

Florida was one of the first states in America to experience an influx of Cuban immigrants and a large portion of them settled in Miami and the Florida Keys – both places where you’ll find cafes and bakeries selling the classic Cuban sandwich.

It’s thought that the Cuban sandwich – also called the ‘Cubano Mixto’ – evolved from a lunchtime staple enjoyed by cigar factory workers. These days, it remains one of the top things to eat in Key West and you’ll find the best ones at 5 Brothers.

Located on 930 Southard Street in Old Town, this sandwich counter serves up these toasted delights filled with ham, pork, swiss cheese (and sometimes tomato, lettuce, onions or gherkins), flavoured with a slather of mustard and mayonnaise.

You’ll run shoulders with plenty of locals, all popping in for their daily coffee fix, newspaper and other authentic Cuban bites. The grocery store also stocks plenty of Cuban specialties which you can peruse while you wait.

2. A Cuban coffee from Cuban Coffee Queen

The perfect accompaniment to any Cuban sandwich is of course, a Cuban coffee. And you’ll find heaps of places to try what many people dub ‘legal speed’ in Key West. El Siboney, one of the best Cuban restaurants in Key West, is a great place to pick up this super-strong beverage, while 5 Brothers (mentioned above) is also worth checking out.

If you want to join the cool crowds however, head to the Cuban Coffee Queen on Key Lime Square in Downtown or Margaret Street by Key West’s waterfront.

There are many different ways to order Cuban coffee, which we discovered during our Southernmost Food Tour. This includes the Cafecito or Café Cubano (served in a thimble-sized cup), a Café con leche (coffee with steamed milk), a Cortadito (served with a tiny splash of steamed milk) or the Bucci (a strong shot of espresso that’s served with cane sugar.) If there’s more than one of you, you can go with the tradition of ordering a Colada which is essentially an extra-large cup of the sweet Bucci, which you then share between several people in the thimble-sized cups.

Order some Pan Cubano (Cuban bread) and follow the tradition of dunking it in your cup.

sweet Bucci at El Siboney restaurant

3. Puerco Asado from El Siboney

Aside from Cuban coffee, authentic Cuban food is one of the top things to eat in Key West. See if you can book a table at El Siboney, a no-frills Cuban diner which attracts both locals and tourists and has become something of an institution in Key West’s Old Town.

The menu features all sorts of chicken, seafood and beef dishes, but if you’re only visiting once, try the Puerco Asado, a Cuban classic. This slow-roasted pork is often marinated in various herbs, garlic, onions and lime. And it’s a great dish to try alongside typical Cuban staples such as Moro (rice and beans), sweet or green plantains, fried cassava and tamale (steamed corn husk).

4. Empanadas & Arepas

We realised empanadas were big in Florida as soon as we got to Miami. You’ll find them dotted all around the city, especially in Little Havana. In Key West, these Latin American-style pasties are just as big, especially at breakfast time. In fact, empanadas and arepas (a corn meal dough filled with meat, cheese and other fillings) are among the most popular street food snacks in Key West.

Head to El Siboney, Bliss restaurant or Frita’s Cuban Burgers for some of the best empanadas and arepas. As the name suggests, the latter is also famous for its incredible Latin-inspired burgers.

5. Burritos and Tacos from Badboy Burrito

As I mentioned in my post about the Southernmost Food Tour, the burritos and tacos from Badboy Burrito are legendary in Key West.

Try the fish tacos and you’ll be surprised at how fresh they taste – a delicious concoction of grilled fish topped with sour cream, radish, jalapenos and fragrant coriander. When we visited, ours were filled with succulent chunks of tile fish, one of the most sustainable types of fish you can eat in Key West.

Fun fact – Badboy Burrito featured on the Food Network. You’ll find a second shop further up the Keys in Islamorada too.

6. Quesadillas from Bistro 245

Quesadillas are another South American street food that are vying for your taste buds in Key West. And to be honest, I hadn’t paid them much attention until I tried the incredible lobster quesadillas from Bistro 245 at the Margaritaville Resort.

We visited this waterfront restaurant for dinner one evening and their stylish take on the quesadilla – enhanced with tomato, caramelised onions, manchego cheese, mango salsa, cumin sour cream and juicy chunks of lobster – was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. Don’t miss out!

7. Key lime pie from Key West Old Town & Bahama Village

There are so many different ways to enjoy Key Lime Pie and I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to try them all as it’s not just one of the top things to eat in Key West, it’s also one of the most famous dishes you can eat in the whole of the Keys.

You’ll see Key Lime pies presented in various different ways across the region – some are presented with a meringue top (more traditional in Key West), some without; some are topped with whipped cream and most are baked on a graham cracker base. We even discovered chocolate-coated Key Lime Pie on a stick. (I know, amazing, right).

You can guarantee that whichever version you try, they’re going to be good.

The most famous Key Lime Pie shops in Key West include Key West Key Lime Pie Co, The Key Lime Bakery and Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe.

You can also try these gorgeous mini Key Lime Pies (pictured) at the legendary Blue Heaven in Bahama Village. They are out of this world.

8. Other Key Lime treats

From Key Lime cookies and Key Lime jelly beans to tea, chutney and taffy, the use of this citrus ingredient doesn’t stop at pie. Floridians have become quite inventive with its use and you’ll find a whole host of Key Lime-infused treats across Key West and Florida Keys.

Put aside some time to explore the various Key Lime shops across the Old Town. We found all sorts of delicious Key Lime hot sauces which you can try before you buy. And on the none-foodie front you’ll find scrubs and toiletries infused with this tangy ingredient).

9. Conch – fritters, cracked, chowder and burgers

Key Westers (or Conchs as they nickname themselves) pride themselves on cooking with this locally-caught specialty. So whether these squidgy sea snails tempt you or not, you’ve got to try them at least once!

Ease yourself in by trying cracked conch (flash fried in tempura batter) or the conch fritter with your beer at Mangoes. Then if you like it, I can highly recommend the conch sandwich at Fishermans Café on the waterfront. It’s served on a Kaiser burger bun with lettuce, tomato and Key Lime tartare sauce and their sweet potato chips are excellent.

For the best conch salad in Key West, I hear that it’s Johnson’s Grocery, an unassuming shop in the heart of Bahama Village.

And finally, when it comes to conch chowder, try El Siboney, Willie T’s or the Conch Republic Seafood Company on the waterfront and you won’t be disappointed.

10. Hogfish sandwich from Geiger Key Marina

I don’t actually know what hogfish tastes like but I heard a lot of people talking about it while we were in Key West. And the hogfish sandwich – chunks of this white fish encased in soft Cuban bread with Swiss cheese and onions – is a favourite way to enjoy it here.

While not technically in Key West, the Hog Fish Bar on nearby Stock Island, is renowned for this Florida Keys staple. But Geiger Key Marina restaurant is probably one of the best places to try either hogfish, mahi-mahi or grouper sandwiches if you’re staying on Key West island. You’ll be asked whether you want your fish fried, grilled or ‘blackened’. If you go for the latter, the fish will be cooked in a spicy ‘blackening’ seasoning that’s used over the Keys.

Blackening seasoning made by Chef Bobby Stoky of Marker 88 restaurant

11. Rum Runner from the Speakeasy Inn & Rum Bar

When it’s time for a tipple, a rum runner is one of the top things to drink in Key West. It’s a mix of light and dark (or aged) rum, banana, blackberry, grenadine, pineapple juice, orange juice and Bacardi, lime juice or sours and was actually invented in Islamorada in the Upper Keys, as a nod to the rum runners of the prohibition era.

In Key West, you’ll get the best rum runner cocktail at The Speakeasy Inn & Rum Bar, a characterful place in the Old Town, on Duval Street. It was originally owned by Raul Vaquez of Key West’s Gato cigar factory and it stocks over 250 types of rum.

12. Caribbean inspired cooking

Thanks to its proximity to the Caribbean islands and its strong Caribbean community, the food in Key West has many West Indian influences (which made me very happy).

On our first night in Key West, we dined at Blue Macaw Island Eats where you can order Caribbean-style dishes such as jerk rum glazed chicken with plantain, ‘island-style’ salads made with fresh papaya and mango and sandwiches made with authentic Cuban bread.

Over at Blue Heaven in Bahama Village, you’ll find a bounty of Caribbean-inspired curries on the menu with jerk spices and Red Stripe Beer making their way into the chef’s cook books.

Meanwhile, for no-frills Creole food that’s cooked from the heart, check out Mo’s, a Haitian restaurant where the servings are as big as the flavours.

Find authentic home cooking that’s transports you to the Caribbean

13. Stone crab, shrimp and spiny lobster

If you like seafood, you’ll be in your element in the Florida Keys. So once you’ve tried the local conch and lobster, you might like to try a few other types of locally-caught shellfish.

Shrimp here can be served in all sorts of ways. So look out for crispy tempura batter, the famed Floridian ‘blackening’ or jerk sauce. You’ll find it’s used in all sorts of Caribbean curries too.

The Caribbean spiny lobster here is served straight up in its shell (most commonly you’ll order the lobster tail), blackened, in a curry, or used inventively in Latin-inspired dishes such as tacos and quesadillas. I actually tried both the lobster and local shrimp together in a very indulgent fettuccine at Bistro 245 and it tasted incredible.

If crab’s more your thing, Key West and the rest of the Florida Keys are known for their stone crab. Try the popular Stoned Crab restaurant on North Roosevelt Boulevard for expertly-made dishes such as stone crab bisque and their famed ‘steamers’.

And you don’t have to wait for dinner to try Key West’s best seafood. Both shrimp and lobster make their way onto many breakfast menus here. Try the famed shrimp or lobster eggs benedict at Blue Heaven in the Bahama Village.

Have I got you feeling hungry? What are your tips for the top things to eat and drink in Key West? Feel free to leave your comments.

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Some of my restaurant visits mentioned were hosted by The Florida Keys & Key West Tourist Board. All views here are my own.

from Cheapr Travels http://cheaprtravels.com/top-things-to-eat-and-drink-in-key-west-florida/ via http://cheaprtravels.com

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resultnorth1-blog · 5 years

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The Best Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

posted on September 3, 2018 by Averie Sunshine

The Best Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies – One of my absolute favorite recipes for chocolate chip cookies thanks to a special ingredient!! Just one bite and I think you’ll agree!!

Battle of the Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a repost of this 2014 recipe and while I’ve made many other chocolate chip cookies since then, these are some of my absolute favorites.

These really are my new favorite chewy chocolate chip cookies. Now, that’s a big statement because I haven’t cheated on this recipe in two and a half years! I’ve used it for Twix Bar Cookies, Snickers Cookies, M&Ms Cookies, Smores Cookies, and many others when I want a hearty, but buttery dough base. Any cookie I’m going to stuff with add-ins or candy, that’s not a peanut butter cookie, I use that base.

MY OTHER RECIPES

But all good things eventually get knocked off their pedestal and something better, shinier, and newer comes along: enter cookies made with pudding mix.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pudding

The pudding cookie craze certainly isn’t new. I’ve used it in Soft M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies, Dark Chocolate Chunk and Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies, and Quadruple Chocolate Soft Fudgy Pudding Cookies and I wanted to create a classic soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe with it.

This chocolate chip cookie recipe is nearly a carbon copy of my old standby. The significant change is:

omitting 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and replacing with one packet instant vanilla pudding mix. (If you don’t like pudding mix or can’t find it in your area I recommend you use my old standby recipe because there’s really no substitutions here.)

Big, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The cookies are slightly larger than you may be used to baking. There are about 4 tablespoons of dough (1/4 cup) per cookie, and the batch makes just 14 large-ish cookies.The cookies are still so much smaller than cookies I see for sale at bakeries and coffee shops, and 8 comfortably fit on a baking tray.

I’d rather bake fewer bigger cookies because frankly, it’s less work. But also because the size and the related surface area does matter in terms of the final taste and texture.

Smaller cookies tend to dry out faster and relatively speaking, and there’s more chewy edge than soft center.

Conversely, bigger cookies have softer, tender, juicy bites loaded with chocolate due to a greater interior surface area. Christina Tosi speaks very eloquently about this in her book.

Be Cool to Your Dough

As with all my cookies, you must chill the dough before baking. It’s absolutely crucial for thick, puffy, full cookies. If you bake with warm, limp dough, your chocolate chip cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter. Why bother. Plan ahead and chill your dough.

I baked my chocolate chip cookies for 11 minutes, but if you choose to make smaller cookies, you’ll need to bake for less time. How much less? I don’t know. The secret to these chewy chocolate chip cookies is keeping them a touch underbaked. I think that’s the secret to most good cookies.

**Tips For The Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies**

Make sure the butter is truly soft. If it’s not, cheat and zap it in the micro for 5 to 10 seconds. It’s best to plan ahead and set your butter out 2 to 4 hours ahead of time, but it’s better to cheat with the micro than try to cream cold butter. Your dough will seem overly dry and crumbly after adding the dry ingredients if your butter wasn’t sufficiently softened. I used Trader Joe’s unsalted butter.

Use a high-quality flour like King Arthur. It has just a bit more protein (gluten) than other brands so your baked goods have more structure and will rise higher.

Chill the dough so the cookies bake up thick and don’t spread as much.

Underbake so the cookies are (almost) as good on the third day as they are right out of the oven.

Bake on a Silpat because it provides traction so the cookies don’t slip-and-slide around a slippery greased baking sheet.

Use a cookie scoop. I first portion out the dough with the scoop so all the mounds are the same size, and then I smooth them out with my hands so they’re perfectly smooth.

Strategically re-positioning the chocolate chips while smoothing the mounds.

Obsessive? Yes, but I am asked all the time what my tricks and secrets are, and now you know.

The Verdict Is In: Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

These homemade chocolate chip cookies are thick enough to sink your teeth into, with slight chewiness at the base and edges. It’s just enough to balance the very pillowy soft centers and give me the mouthfeel I want in a perfectly baked, chewy chocolate chip cookie.

The dough is buttery and moist with hints of vanilla, and it’s the perfect canvas for the melted chocolate chips.

So it’s ‘the best’ according to me and my family, and of course, this can change. Food bloggers, we change our minds if you haven’t noticed. But for now, these chewy chocolate chip cookies are the top dog.

I can’t wait for you to try them and let me know if you agree.

Here’s a video showing you exactly how I make the cookies.

The Best Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: 14 med/large cookies

Total Time:3+ hours, for dough chilling

Prep Time:15 minutes

Cook Time:about 11 minutes

This is my new favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies. They’re soft, moist, buttery, and thick enough to sink your teeth into. There’s a hint of chewiness at the base and edges, and it’s just enough to balance the soft pillowy centers and give me what I want for my idea of the perfect chocolate chip cookie. The secret to these cookies is instant vanilla pudding mix and there’s no substitutions. The cookies are larger than some and the batch makes 14 cookies. About 11 minutes works perfectly for this size cookie, and if you alter the size of the cookie, you’ll need to alter the baking time. The dough must be chilled before baking so the cookies don’t spread and bake thin and flat.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

one 3.5-ounce packet instant vanilla pudding mix (not sugar-free and not ‘cook & serve’)

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch salt, optional and to taste

one-12 ounce bag (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Trader Joe’s)

Directions:

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) combine the butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 4 minutes.

Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, optional salt, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.

Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the chocolate chips, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.

Using a large cookie scoop, 1/4-cup measure, or your hands, form approximately 14 equal-sized mounds of dough, roll into balls, and flatten slightly. Tip – Strategically place a few chocolate chips right on top of each mound of dough by taking chips from the underside and adding them on top.

Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.

Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet) and bake for about 11 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center; don’t overbake. Cookies firm up as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack.

Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Adapted from Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies and Soft M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

Only Eats

Recipe from Averie Cooks. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.

Related Recipes

Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies – My gold standard Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe for over two years

Soft M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies – These cookies are what helped inspire today’s recipe and a Pinterest hit

Quadruple Chocolate Soft Fudgy Pudding Cookies – For true chocolate lovers, these super soft cookies are loaded with chocolate

Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies – Move over butter, cream cheese keeps these cookies soft and extra thick

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks – No butter used in these fast and easy cookie sticks that can’t spread because they’re baked in a pan

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies – A trifecta of favorite ingredients, all rolled into an easy, soft, and chewy cookie. No mixer needed

Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies – No butter in these soft, moist, chewy cookies that have tons of texture from shredded coconut and oats, and are loaded to the max with chocolate

Dark Chocolate Chunk and Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies – Soft and chewy cookies packed with peanut butter and oozing with dark chocolate

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups – Prone to cookies that spread? It’s impossible with these.Thick, soft & chewy cookies baked in a muffin pan that are so rich from the browned butter

Source: https://www.averiecooks.com/the-best-soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/

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barvan51-blog · 6 years

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Frozen Bread Dough Pain au Chocolat

Last week I bought a bag of frozen bread dough so I could make Food & Wine’s Breton Butter Cake. The dough worked so well for the buttery pastry, I figured it would also work as a shortcut to Pain au Chocolat. It did!

So for those of you interested in making Pain au Chocolat but don’t want to deal with making the dough, here’s a convenience recipe for Pain au Chocolate made with Rhodes frozen bread dough.

I’m mentioning Rhodes brand because it’s the only brand I can find around here and it’s what I’ve been testing with. It comes in a 3 pound bag with 3 individually frozen loaves of dough. For this recipe, you’ll only need a 1 pound loaf of frozen dough . You’ll need a large work surface and you may want a pastry mat. You can get by without a mat, but having a pastry mat makes dough projects so much more fun.

For this recipe you are turning the frozen bread dough into laminated dough, so the first thing you’ll need to do is pat 10 tablespoons of butter into a large rectangle. My favorite way to do this is in a gallon size freezer bag. It curbs the mess, plus when you cut the butter out of the bag you get a big greasy piece of plastic that you can put between the dough and the rolling pin, use to transfer the dough back and forth, and cover the rising pastry. The greasy bag gets a lot of mileage here!

Next, you roll the bread dough into a rectangle and place half the butter in the center.

Then the top is folded over, the second half of the butter is stacked on top and the bottom part of the dough is cut and stacked on top.

You then gently seal the butter into the dough making a square “ish” dough packet which gets chilled briefly so that the butter firms up before you begin your series of “turns”. A turn is when you roll out the dough and fold to make layers. For this recipe you will do three turns, chilling the dough for 20 minutes between each turn to keep the butter from soaking too much into the dough. This is where it gets time consuming, but it’s passive time and you can do other things.

Once you’ve rolled and folded the dough three times, you cut it into chunks which you will roll individually with the chocolate. For this batch I made 16 chunks so the pastries are on the small side. You may want to go with 12. I like a high ratio of chocolate to pastry so I make them fairly small.

Here’s the reward for all your turns. Lots of layers! When you fold each pastry, you’ll want these cut sides on the sides. That is, you position each chunk so that the smooth top part is lengthwise and the chocolate goes on top of it.

French Pain au Chocolate is filled with chocolate batons. Our European grocery store sells them and they are very good, but I usually fill my Pain au Chocolate with bittersweet chocolate chips or whatever chocolate I have around. Sometimes I use Dove Squares and sometimes I use hazelnut flavored dark chocolate. The dough gets pressed down slightly and rolled around the chocolate enchilada style.

Here are 12 of them (I put the other 4 chunks in the freezer for an experiment.) The dough then sits for 40 minutes, gets brushed with egg and sprinkled with sugar, then baked.

Now back to that experiment with the four chunks of dough I set aside to freeze.

I thawed them out the next morning and rolled them with different chocolate. The frozen chunks took about an hour to thaw in the refrigerator and I was able to make fresh Pain au Chocolat that morning. Then again, I could have just made them all at once and frozen all 16 because these freeze perfectly.

Frozen Bread Dough Pain Au Chocolat

Total time

2 hours 20 mins

Pain au Chocolat with Frozen Bread Dough. This recipe is more fun if you have a pastry mat and a rolling pin.

Author: Cookie Madness

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Serves: 12

Ingredients

1 pound frozen bread dough, thawed

10 tablespoons (5 oz) butter, cut into 8 to 10 chunks

2 teaspoons flour

Beaten egg for egg wash

Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate for filling

Instructions

Make the butter rectangle first. Put butter chunks in a gallon size zipper freezer bag. Sprinkle butter with 2 teaspoons flour and shake bag to coat. Pound butter into a rectangle about 5 1/2 inches by 11 inches (it should take up half the bag), using your hands to shape it through the bag. Lay it flat and refrigerate for about 20 minutes or until it is firm enough to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 5 ½ x 16 inches, with the short side closest to you. If using a pastry mat, you may want to position it lengthwise.

Take the bag of butter from the refrigerator. Open the bag and cut away the sides of the bag (or cut one side and the bottom) and pull the bag away from the butter so that you have a big greasy plastic sheet with a rectangle of butter stuck to it Cut the butter into pieces. Hang onto your greasy cut bag because it will come in handy later.

Set one of the butter sections in the center of the rectangle and fold the top exposed portion of the rectangle down over the butter. Set the second section of butter on top of the folded down dough. Cut off the bottom exposed part of the rectangle and set it on top so you have a sandwich of two layers of butter and three of dough. Pinch the edges of dough in to seal in the butter making sure it’s fully enclosed. Put the dough in the refrigerator and chill for 20 minutes. I like to wrap it loosely on the greasy bag, put it all on my cake lifter and transfer it to the refrigerator.

First Turn: Take the dough out of the refrigerator and put it on the lightly floured work surface. Roll into a long rectangle approximately 6x16 inch making sure the butter spreads out as you roll. Fold one-third of the dough down and then fold the other third up so that you have kind of a bricklike thing. Put the dough back into the plastic bag and chill for another 20 minutes.

Second Turn: Repeat what you did before. Take the brick thing out of the refrigerator, roll it again into a rectangular shape. Shoot for 16 inches in length (top to bottom) and a width of at least 6 inches. You may get a wider width and that’s okay, but try fold top third down, fold bottom up and over and return to refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Third Turn: Repeat the fold as you did in the first and second turns, rolling into a rectangularish thing that is about 16 inches and however wide it happens to get.

Chill the dough for another 20 minutes or so or until you are ready to shape the Pain au Chocolat.

When you are ready to shape the Pain au Chocolate, line a large rimmed (this is important because the dough may leak butter) baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick foil.

Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and pat it into as big a rectangle as you can. You can roll if you want to, but just patting should be fine. The goal is to get it into a shape that will allow you to cut 12 to 16 equal chunks.

With a chef’s knife, score into 16 equal chunks. Gather all the chunks except 4 and put them in the refrigerator while you roll the first 4.

Working one chunk at a time, take a chunk of dough and turn it so that the exposed layers (cut sides) are on the side. Press the chunk into a rectangular shape, then lay chocolate at the bottom. Press down and wrap the dough up and around the chocolate sealing it in the best you can to make a little bundle. Set seam side down on the baking sheet. Repeat, using all the dough.

Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap or the greasy bag you used for the butter and let rise for about 45 minutes.

Brush lightly with beaten egg and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully transfer the hot pastries to a wire rack. Note: There will most likely be leakage and it might look like a mess. Just get the pastries off the pan and onto a cooling rack and you'll be fine. Also, chocolate tends to leak out, especially with the smaller size pastries. To keep your pastries full of chocolate, keep some chocolate chips or chocolate chunks next to the oven. When you are removing your pastries from the baking sheet, carefully poke extra chocolate into the sides or wherever there's a nice entry point between the layers. The new chocolate will melt in with the baked chocolate as the pastries cool.

These freeze well. After pastries have cooled, stick them in a freezer bag and store them in the freezer. Reheat in the toaster using your favorite method – 350 for about 5 minutes works for me.

3.5.3251

Source: https://www.cookiemadness.net/2018/09/07/frozen-bread-dough-pain-au-chocolat/

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jmuo-blog · 6 years

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How to Make Homemade Chipwich Ice Cream Sandwiches

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Sandwiches

Tips and tricks for making the best sandwiches at home.

You’d think that something as simple as a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich would be easy. Two chocolate chip cookies, plus a scoop of ice cream, done. What more could possibly be involved?

But if you’ve ever made such a thing at home, you’ll know the reality doesn’t quite live up to the Chipwiches, Big Wheels, and Tollhouse Sandwiches of childhood. That’s because old-school chocolate chip cookies are meant to be consumed at room temperature; once frozen, they become rock hard and bland, their full flavor muted in the cold. Double them up around a scoop of ice cream and you’ll need to unhinge your jaw and chip a tooth just to get a bite.

It takes a special cookie to stand up to the freezer. You need one that’s thin enough for sandwiching, and it also needs to be crunchy but tender and flavorful even at 0°F. Fortunately, it’s easy; all it takes is a one-two punch of malted milk powder (a.k.a. the umami bomb of dessert) and a splash of fresh milk.

Together, these ingredients shift the flavor and texture of the cookies into something that tastes better when frozen, toasty and crunchy rather than bland and hard. And, of course, to complete the look, you’ll need mini chocolate chips. I may be a die-hard for chopped chocolate in a classic chocolate chip cookie, but mini chips are just the right size for frozen cookies, since larger chips and chunks can present some textural challenges when frozen.

Initially, the cookie dough starts out like any other, with butter and brown sugar (plus malted milk powder) creamed until fluffy and light. But, instead of adding an egg, I mix in flour, vanilla, and milk.

Adding the flour up front helps limit gluten development by coating it in fat, while the vanilla and milk loosen the cookie dough into something closer to a cake batter, which will encourage the cookie to spread more in the oven. This produces a thinner cookie better suited to being doubled up in an ice cream sandwich.

After you’ve folded in the mini-chips, a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop is the fastest, easiest way to divide the “dough” into even portions—just be sure to level each scoop against the side of the bowl.

With a little water to grease your palms, flatten the dough into a thick disc. This creates a more uniform shape, so the cookies spread symmetrically, but it also provides a flat “shelf” to hold a few extra mini-chips, giving the cookies a snazzy, commercial look.

The cookies are baked until puffed and golden all over, but still a little soft so that they’re crunchy, not crumbly, when frozen. While they’re still warm, I sprinkle more mini-chips on top to fill in any bare spots that need some extra love.

When the cookies have cooled to room temperature, transfer them to an airtight container and freeze until needed. This will help minimize melt when the ice cream is sandwiched between the cookies.

As for the ice cream, we have a lot of options. The cookies can obviously be filled with any ice cream, whether homemade or store-bought, and you don’t need me to explain how to scoop ice cream and sandwich it with cookies.

But for those us with Chipwich nostalgia, scoops of ice cream don’t quite capture the look and feel of the real thing. To get those perfect wheels of ice cream, I whip up the same ultra light and fluffy no-churn ice cream filling that goes into my homemade Klondike bars.

For ice cream sandwiches, the method remains exactly the same. But instead of cutting the frozen brick of “ice cream” into bars, I use a round cutter instead. If you have a set of nested cookie cutters, it’s easy to find the perfect size to match the cookies.

Punching out the ice cream rounds is, surprisingly, a lot faster and easier than scooping, and none of the scraps need go to waste—just gather them up and cram them on a cookie.

After rolling the exposed edges in some extra mini-chips, no one will know which ones were perfect rounds and which ones were cobbled together from scraps.

The ice cream sandwiches can be enjoyed right away or individually wrapped and then tucked into an airtight container to freeze long-term (they’ll keep at least a month in the freezer). When fully frozen, the cookies will be crunchy and tender, not hard, so you won’t have to worry about chipping a tooth or having the ice cream squish out the sides with every bite.

Instead, you’ll have the perfect ice cream sandwich: your favorite filling—whatever that might be—sandwiched between two flavorful chocolate chip cookies.

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topfygad · 5 years

Text

Top things to eat and drink in Key West Florida

So as I like to share my travel tips, here are 13 of the top things to eat and drink in Key West, Florida.

Enjoy.

13 Top things to eat and drink in Key West Florida

1. A Cuban sandwich from 5 Brothers

2. A Cuban coffee from Cuban Coffee Queen

If you want to join the cool crowds however, head to the Cuban Coffee Queen on Key Lime Square in Downtown or Margaret Street by Key West’s waterfront.

Order some Pan Cubano (Cuban bread) and follow the tradition of dunking it in your cup.

sweet Bucci at El Siboney restaurant

3. Puerco Asado from El Siboney

4. Empanadas & Arepas

Head to El Siboney, Bliss restaurant or Frita’s Cuban Burgers for some of the best empanadas and arepas. As the name suggests, the latter is also famous for its incredible Latin-inspired burgers.

5. Burritos and Tacos from Badboy Burrito

As I mentioned in my post about the Southernmost Food Tour, the burritos and tacos from Badboy Burrito are legendary in Key West.

Fun fact – Badboy Burrito featured on the Food Network. You’ll find a second shop further up the Keys in Islamorada too.

6. Quesadillas from Bistro 245

7. Key lime pie from Key West Old Town & Bahama Village

You can guarantee that whichever version you try, they’re going to be good.

The most famous Key Lime Pie shops in Key West include Key West Key Lime Pie Co, The Key Lime Bakery and Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe.

You can also try these gorgeous mini Key Lime Pies (pictured) at the legendary Blue Heaven in Bahama Village. They are out of this world.

8. Other Key Lime treats

9. Conch – fritters, cracked, chowder and burgers

For the best conch salad in Key West, I hear that it’s Johnson’s Grocery, an unassuming shop in the heart of Bahama Village.

And finally, when it comes to conch chowder, try El Siboney, Willie T’s or the Conch Republic Seafood Company on the waterfront and you won’t be disappointed.

10. Hogfish sandwich from Geiger Key Marina

Blackening seasoning made by Chef Bobby Stoky of Marker 88 restaurant

11. Rum Runner from the Speakeasy Inn & Rum Bar

12. Caribbean inspired cooking

Thanks to its proximity to the Caribbean islands and its strong Caribbean community, the food in Key West has many West Indian influences (which made me very happy).

Over at Blue Heaven in Bahama Village, you’ll find a bounty of Caribbean-inspired curries on the menu with jerk spices and Red Stripe Beer making their way into the chef’s cook books.

Meanwhile, for no-frills Creole food that’s cooked from the heart, check out Mo’s, a Haitian restaurant where the servings are as big as the flavours.

Find authentic home cooking that’s transports you to the Caribbean

13. Stone crab, shrimp and spiny lobster

If you like seafood, you’ll be in your element in the Florida Keys. So once you’ve tried the local conch and lobster, you might like to try a few other types of locally-caught shellfish.

Have I got you feeling hungry? What are your tips for the top things to eat and drink in Key West? Feel free to leave your comments.

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Some of my restaurant visits mentioned were hosted by The Florida Keys & Key West Tourist Board. All views here are my own.

source http://cheaprtravels.com/top-things-to-eat-and-drink-in-key-west-florida/

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topfygad · 5 years

Text

Top things to eat and drink in Key West Florida

So as I like to share my travel tips, here are 13 of the top things to eat and drink in Key West, Florida.

Enjoy.

13 Top things to eat and drink in Key West Florida

1. A Cuban sandwich from 5 Brothers

2. A Cuban coffee from Cuban Coffee Queen

If you want to join the cool crowds however, head to the Cuban Coffee Queen on Key Lime Square in Downtown or Margaret Street by Key West’s waterfront.

Order some Pan Cubano (Cuban bread) and follow the tradition of dunking it in your cup.

sweet Bucci at El Siboney restaurant

3. Puerco Asado from El Siboney

4. Empanadas & Arepas

Head to El Siboney, Bliss restaurant or Frita’s Cuban Burgers for some of the best empanadas and arepas. As the name suggests, the latter is also famous for its incredible Latin-inspired burgers.

5. Burritos and Tacos from Badboy Burrito

As I mentioned in my post about the Southernmost Food Tour, the burritos and tacos from Badboy Burrito are legendary in Key West.

Fun fact – Badboy Burrito featured on the Food Network. You’ll find a second shop further up the Keys in Islamorada too.

6. Quesadillas from Bistro 245

7. Key lime pie from Key West Old Town & Bahama Village

You can guarantee that whichever version you try, they’re going to be good.

The most famous Key Lime Pie shops in Key West include Key West Key Lime Pie Co, The Key Lime Bakery and Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe.

You can also try these gorgeous mini Key Lime Pies (pictured) at the legendary Blue Heaven in Bahama Village. They are out of this world.

8. Other Key Lime treats

9. Conch – fritters, cracked, chowder and burgers

For the best conch salad in Key West, I hear that it’s Johnson’s Grocery, an unassuming shop in the heart of Bahama Village.

And finally, when it comes to conch chowder, try El Siboney, Willie T’s or the Conch Republic Seafood Company on the waterfront and you won’t be disappointed.

10. Hogfish sandwich from Geiger Key Marina

Blackening seasoning made by Chef Bobby Stoky of Marker 88 restaurant

11. Rum Runner from the Speakeasy Inn & Rum Bar

12. Caribbean inspired cooking

Thanks to its proximity to the Caribbean islands and its strong Caribbean community, the food in Key West has many West Indian influences (which made me very happy).

Over at Blue Heaven in Bahama Village, you’ll find a bounty of Caribbean-inspired curries on the menu with jerk spices and Red Stripe Beer making their way into the chef’s cook books.

Meanwhile, for no-frills Creole food that’s cooked from the heart, check out Mo’s, a Haitian restaurant where the servings are as big as the flavours.

Find authentic home cooking that’s transports you to the Caribbean

13. Stone crab, shrimp and spiny lobster

If you like seafood, you’ll be in your element in the Florida Keys. So once you’ve tried the local conch and lobster, you might like to try a few other types of locally-caught shellfish.

Have I got you feeling hungry? What are your tips for the top things to eat and drink in Key West? Feel free to leave your comments.

Pin Me

Like this:

Like Loading…

Some of my restaurant visits mentioned were hosted by The Florida Keys & Key West Tourist Board. All views here are my own.

from Cheapr Travels http://cheaprtravels.com/top-things-to-eat-and-drink-in-key-west-florida/ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Cheapr Travels

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