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Sep

18

Project Food Blog Challenge #1: Who Am I?

Challenges  Posted by / 22 comments

donalupes 1024x1024 Project Food Blog Challenge #1: Who Am I?

Project Food Blog ay, ay, ay….what did I do?  Project Food Blog is a contest run by the amazing Foodbuzz social network for foodies.  When the contest first came into my email, I blindly signed up thinking, “Wow, que cool!”  PFB is a contest where Foodbuzz Featured Publishers are competing in a series of culinary blogging challenges.  The prize is $10,000 and a special feature on Foodbuzz for one year.

The competition is stiff.  1855 contestants, 1 winner.  Wow.  The first cut is brutal.  Only 400 will advance.  Intimidated?  Scared?  You bet I am.  So why am I even doing this?  One answer: To preserve a rich legacy and pass it on.

I started this blog three years ago on my birthday as not only a tribute to my beautiful, gentle grandmother who cooked like a goddess, but as a legacy to my grandchildren.  I’d had some pretty hairy health scares and illnesses which got me thinking about legacy, about what a rich culture and family history I had and how often those things fall through the cracks.  How many times had I sat in a room with family members bemoaning that certain thing my grandmother had made that we didn’t have the recipe for?  Enough times to have it worry me that what had been saved, remembered and maintained would also be lost.  My granddaughter Jasmine once asked me, “Did your grammy cook with you like you do with us?” and that was what fueled me into starting Doña Lupe’s Kitchen.

This blog isn’t just about food, though food is a constant presence.   Food is a large part of our Mexican cultural patrimony.  Doña Lupe’s is about the traditions, the love, the memories.  It’s about culture, family, music and even poetry.  Occasionally, my rather outspoken opinions about politics or random things work their way into it, but I just see it like that brightly colored sarape of my Papa Chava’s that was woven so expertly.  We Mexican’s have a saying that holds very true for me; we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors.  Doña Lupe’s Kitchen is in a way those shoulders I stand upon, the traditions and food handed down from mother to daughter, grandmother to granddaughter.  It is the  love that got me through my life, the dreams I have of a future where my grandchildren and their grandchildren all know where they came from, who their ancestors were as well as know the smells, tastes and memories that came from our collective ancestry.  This blog is far more than a food blog – it is a legacy, the one I am trying to leave.  It is my way of preserving something precious that absolutely cannot be lost.

I don’t know if I have what it takes to be the next Food Blog Star or even if I will make it past the first cut, I do know that no matter what, my grandchildren will be proud of me.  I know that my grandmother’s recipes will live on not just in my family but perhaps in yours.  Maybe they will even start new traditions in other families, other cultures.  I truly believe that food transcends borders and helps us understand each other. Project Food Blog gives my family stories and recipes a chance to be spread to a wider audience and for that, I am grateful.

This post gives you an idea of what drives me, what this blog is about but I strongly encourage you to visit the About page to get to know more about the wonderful woman who inspired it.  Wander amongst the recipes and stories and get to know me, my family and most of all the food.  Nuestra casa es tu casa.  Feel free to comment, linger, have a cafecito and a recipe or two.  You’re always welcome in my kitchen.

Voting begins on September 20th…more details to come.

Sep

07

Fig and Custard Tart

baked goods / desserts  Posted by / 0 comments

figtart1 1024x710 Fig and Custard Tart

I have the little fig tree that could growing in our backyard.  This place we moved into had been left in disrepair and the yard was buried under 6 foot tall weeds and dry brush.  My son Phillip and my roommate David took turns with the weed whacker and one day, we found a fig tree.  It was small, literally buried under weeds, bone dry and yet it was brimming with little green figs.  My heart stopped.  I LOVE figs.

Growing up, whenever we’d go to my Tia Luz’ house she’d have peaches and figs fresh from her trees and they were always so delicious.  Like eating warm candy when you picked them from the tree.  She’d always send my grandmother over baskets full of delicious black mission figs and whenever they’d show up, I’d be jumping up and down dying to get one into my mouth.

We weeded around the little tree, watered it faithfully and it astounded us with it’s bounty.  At first, it was giving about a pound a day which disappeared as soon as we’d pick them.  The following week it was giving about two pounds a day and I made jam.  Just the other day, I went out and picked at least ten pounds.  I sent five of those pounds to a friend in Chicago and we’re still brimming with figs.  More jam is planned.  I want to try a fig marmalade with lemon rind.  The grandkids were here and I felt like making pastry, so I thought, “why not a tart?”

My recipes called for custard with the tart but I wanted something lighter and then I found a Greek-based custard recipe here with one of my fellow Foodbuzz Featured Publishers.  It was almost what I wanted, but of course I changed it.  I can’t help myself.  Can never leave a recipe alone.

I used Julia Child’s perfect pie crust recipe because it’s my favorite flaky pie dough and is uber simple.  I didn’t use honey for the custard, I used a syrupy balsamic with agua de azahares (orange flower water) and tangerine zest.  I loved the tart but the next time I make it, I’ll slice the figs thinner like I would for a French Apple Tart.  I halved these and while it was good and everyone loved it, it was a little much.

Custard (adapted from Gastronomer’s Guide)

2 pounds ripe black Mission Figs, sliced
16 ounces of plain Greek yogurt
3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons
3 tablespoons balsamic cream plus more to drizzle on figs
Zest of two tangerines or oranges
1 tsp. Orange flower water

Mix together the yogurt, eggs and 1/4 cup of the sugar till well blended.  Add the balsamic creme, tangerine zest and orange flower water and mix.  If the mixture seems runny, don’t worry it will set just fine.

Pour the mixture into a pre-baked tart shell – I used a large oval baking dish so if you are using a smaller one you will have enough batter for two possibly.  Arrange the sliced figs all over the custard, slightly layering them.  Drizzle more balsamic cream over the figs and sprinkle with the remaining two tablespoons of sugar.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until the custard is set and the crust and figs are well browned.

Allow tart to cool for about 15-20 minutes before serving to give the custard time to set firmly and the juices from the figs to soak in.  Serve warm.

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