Jan D'Atri

Jan D'Atri > cinnamon

cinnamon

Raivas de Aveiro – Portugese Butter Cookies

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Whenever I travel, one of my top priorities is to seek out authentic, old world recipes specific to the region I’m visiting. Recently, in the beautiful country of Portugal, I ended up in the seaport city of Aveiro, known as the “Portuguese Venice” because of its system of canals and boats similar to Venice, Italy, my Momma’s home town.

That’s where I found the craziest looking and most delightful snack called Raivas de Aveiro. I had no idea if they were a cookie or bread; I just fell in love with their silly shapes peaking out of a cellophane bag. I’m much more curious than worried about spending money on something I know nothing about, and this time, it paid off big!

I bit into a slightly sweet, crisp butter cookie with a hint of cinnamon. One bite led to another and another. I was heading for another part of Portugal and my bag of cookies was quickly dwindling. I was told that these fun treats are specific to Aveiro so I was worried I’d never taste them again. After chatting with bakers and shop owners, I got enough information to research recipes for Raivas and got lucky with this one! Once you have the recipe, how do you turn cookie dough into long, worm-like strings? You can roll them by hand, but if you have a pasta machine, the work is a breeze. Just run the dough through the machine to make sheets, and then feed the sheets through the fettuccine roller. Once you get the strings, just bunch them up to make random shapes. They’re fun, delicious and a tasty piece of Portuguese history.

Sheet Pan Lasagne and Cannoli Cupcakes

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Finally! A recipe for Lasagne lovers who don’t love the assembling! Here, you’ll get all of the goodness of lasagna in a simple sheet pan method! And, if Sicilian Cannoli are a favorite dessert but a bit intimidating, try these scrumptious Cannoli Cupcakes!

Greek Meatballs “Soutzoukakia”

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Growing up Italian, homemade meatballs were a dinner staple enjoyed over pasta, in a sub roll or as savory appetizers before the main meal. But last week, while teaching a cooking class on Greek foods, I had to set my Italian roots aside and absolutely drool over Greek Meatballs known as Soutzoukakia. These morsels of magic have a wonderful combination of spices like cumin, cinnamon and oregano with a red sauce that completely enrobes them with even more flavor! Greek Meatballs are delicious with seasoned Orzo, rice or, dare I say, on a bed of Italian pasta?

Ice Cream Churro Cones

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It’s always on the list of favorite treats for summer; Ice cream in any shape, flavor or form. And if you want to create a cone with a real Southwest twist, how about a home-made, hand-crafted ice cream cone that tastes just like a Mexican churro, and it holds as much ice cream as the cone you are willing to create! While homemade churros are pretty tough to tackle (churro dough is very dense and sticky), this cone is made with store-bough biscuit dough, making the process a whole lot easier. The dough is wrapped around a homemade paper mold. It is then baked, rolled in cinnamon and sugar, baked again and then coated on the inside with dipping chocolate which seals it, preventing a soggy cone. Load it up with scoops of your favorite ice cream for a cool and festive way to celebrate summer, Southwest style!

Whipped Coffee and Coffee Cake

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As TIKTOK goes, so does the youth of the world. The short, often dazzling video clips have hooked us on everything from dare-devil stunts to over the top recipes. As a recipe creator, I’ll admit I’ve been hooked and reeled in a number of times, and I’ve learned the hard way that many TIKTOK food videos are fabulous eye-candy, but lacking in accurate ingredients or technique. Not so with DALGONA, the newest TIKTOK trend. It’s whipped coffee that, with only 3 ingredients, makes the most delightfully luxurious, frothy caffeinated foam! The word Dalgona comes from the Korean candy made with melted sugar and baking soda. Whipped Coffee has the same caramel color with a powerful hit of coffee flavor. It’s so fun and easy to blend up, and my advice is to start with a delicious instant coffee or espresso. The better the coffee, the better the Dalgona. Also, this method works beautifully with sugar substitutes like Monkfruit and Allulose. It’s delicious over iced coffee, milk or a hot cup of Joe. I was thinking that you’ve gotta have a great coffee cake recipe to go with your Dalgona. Enjoy both!

White and Dark Chocolate Cigars   

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Celebrations like Cinco de Mayo come and go, but certain specialties that make up a delicious fiesta could…and should be enjoyed all year long. A perfect example; chocolate pecan “cigars.” They are so simple to make and just the right little “something something” when you’re having a chocolate craving or you want to surprise you dinner guests with a unique twist on dessert! With southwestern grocery stores so plentiful in Arizona, it’s easy to pick up the most important ingredient, corn husks. The next things you’ll need are delicious, decadent white and dark chocolate and some pecans. You’ll caramelize the pecans, chop them up, stir them into the melted chocolates and then spoon the chocolate into the corn husks. Then you wrap them up like little edible gifts and tie a corn husk bow around them. I originally made these for special occasions, but now I keep a container of them in my frig to satisfy my sweet tooth. Some southwestern traditions are just too good to make only once a year!