Pastelitos de Guayaba {Guava & Cream Cheese Pastries}

Woo-hoo... it's the weekend! This entire week I've squeezed as much relaxation as I possibly could during the weekend because the weekend ahead is a busy one again for me. What plans do you have? Any fun eats for you in the horizon? Hopefully you'll enjoy something cool and creamy since Sunday is National Ice Cream Day! But until then, I do have something sweet to share. Since I tend to share something sweet on Fridays, here's the last dish to share from our recent Havana Nights Cooking Party. These Pastelitos de Guayaba combine a favorite pairing of guava paste and cream cheese tucked inside layers of flaky puff pastry. Enjoy this with a hot cup of cafe con leche or a shot of espresso to start off your morning, Cuban style...

In Cuban cuisine, guava is a common and popular fruit. In many Cuban kitchens, it won't be surprising to find a tin of guava paste because it's commonly used as a spread for breakfast just as many use jams and jellies. Guava paste is much denser and can easily be cut into slices or wedges, then slathered on toasted bread. In Cuban bakeries, you'll even notice how guava is used in pastries like in this recipe. To find guava paste, look in Latin markets and some supermarket chains do carry them too. They will either come packaged in a round tin or plastic container, or sometimes in a long brick.

Pastelitos de Guayaba
recipe adapted from Hispanic Kitchen

1 package of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets

Guava paste, 1/3 of a 14 oz package

4 oz Cream cheese

Cut the guava paste and cream cheese into 1 inch pieces. Set aside.

Lightly dust a clean, smooth surface with flour. Roll out the thawed pastry dough. Have a small cup of water handy to moisten the edges if needed.

Cut the dough into nine squares. (18 if you are using both sheets of dough).

Place a piece of guava and a piece of cream cheese on each square.

Take the corner of each square and fold it over, forming a triangle. Press down on the edges so the triangle stays closed. 

Place all pastelitos on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until golden.

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Platanos Maduros

If there's anything Joel loves, it's bananas. Often times, I'll call him my little monkey because he loves them so much and can eat his weight in bananas alone! Aside from your usual everyday banana, he is especially fond of plantains. For our recent 'Havana Nights' cooking party, I included these Platanos Maduros on our menu since plantains are a staple in Cuban cuisine. Ripe plantains are sliced and pan fried until lightly browned just enough for the natural sugars to come out, resulting in sweet slices of slightly caramelized bananas...


When I was a child, my mom would take ripe plantains, slice them, coat them in brown sugar and pan fry them until cooked through and all the natural sugars would come out to caramelize with the brown sugar. Now as a mom myself, I've done the same for Joel and he loves them. For our 'Havana Nights' party, I skipped the brown sugar coating and pan fried, allowing for the natural sweetness to shine through.

You can find plantains at most supermarkets these days, but I would recommend going to a Latin market if possible. They will not only have plantains available at various stages but most likely will be at a better price and quality. When shopping for plantains, you'll probably notice a few kinds - those whose skin that are green, yellow, or even black. Plantains are used in various dishes depending on the color of their skin. Green skinned plantains are typically unripe or young, resulting in a much more starchier dish. These are often used to make tostones, which are plantains that are twice cooked. Yellow skinned plantains are ripe, that don't have as much starch content and are sweeter than green plantains. These are often used in stews or salads because they can hold its shape in cooking. Lastly, black skinned plantains are overripe and are the sweetest of them all. Very similar to regular everyday bananas, these black skinned plantains are often used in sweet applications. For these Platanos Maduros, I would recommend using black skinned plantains so they are nice and sweet. If you have trouble finding black skinned plantains, you can help with the ripening process by placing green or yellow skinned plantains in a paper bag with an apple. The natural ethylene gas apples give off will help the plantains (and other fruit) ripen faster.

Plantains are a staple in my kitchen since Joel is such a fan so I usually have ripe ones on hand just in case Joel has a craving. These make for a nice snack or side dish to accompany any Latin inspired meal...

Platanos Maduros
recipe from my mom

1 very ripe plantain with black skin
Canola or corn oil

Heat enough oil in a skillet so that the oil is about ¼ of an inch deep. Peel the black skin from the plantain and slice it diagonally into rounds that are about ½ inch thick. 

Add the plantain slices and cook until the bottom is golden brown. Turn over each slice and cook until both sides are evenly golden, with a hint of caramelization on the edges. 

Remove from oil and transfer to paper towels to drain; pat off any excess oil. Serve hot. 

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Cubano Sandwiches

Our recent Havana Nights party is still very fresh in my mind and I'm hungry just thinking about the wonderful dishes we made. While our main dish, Arroz con Pollo, was cooking up, we all whet our appetite with one of my favorite sandwiches - Cubano Sandwiches. The seasoned slices of pork roast and bite of dill pickle elevates this sandwich into something beyond the typical ham and cheese you may be familiar with...


This is not your regular ham and cheese sandwich. To make it special, slices of pork and dill pickle make their appearance alongside ham, swiss and mayo/mustard. There's something about the combination of all these ingredients that really work! But it's not just the fillings of this sandwich that make it so delicious. There's magic in the bread used. Your everyday sliced bread isn't going to cut it. Not even French bread. Cuban bread is ideal in making this sandwich because toasts up so beautifully with a buttery crispness on the outside, yet soft and delicate on the inside. Granted, Cuban bread may not be easily available in your area but there is a good substitution. If you have a Latin market, look for bolillo bread. Some supermarket chains also carry this in their fresh bakery section. Bolillo bread is traditional Mexican and is football shaped. When toasted or pressed, as in this sandwich, it comes out wonderfully and can really hold this sandwich together. That's what I used for our Havana Nights Party and it worked perfectly in lieu of traditional Cuban bread...

Cubano Sandwiches
recipe adapted from Alton Brown

1 loaf (12-inch) Cuban bread or Mexican bolillo rolls
2 tablespoons mayonnaise or mustard, or to taste
2 slices kosher dill pickle, very thinly sliced lengthwise
3 to 4 slices Swiss cheese
4 slices of seasoned roast pork
4 slices black forest ham
Melted butter or cooking spray


Heat the panini press to 350 degrees.

Slice the bread or rolls in half lengthwise and spread the mayo or mustard on the bottom bread. Layer the roast pork, ham, pickle and cheese {in this order} onto the bottom bread.

Place the sandwich on hot panini press and spread a little melted butter on top of the bread or spray with cooking spray. Press down the top part of the plancha and allow to toast and crisp up until cheese melts through, roughly 7-10 minutes. Slice on a bias and serve hot.

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Dear Anna Kennedy: Please Stop Misrepresenting Autism, Autism Is A Health DISORDER NOT a Gift

Anyone  described as "having autism" or "being autistic" 

would have received an autism disorder diagnosis 

pursuant, in all likelihood, to either the DSM or the ICD 

Dear Anna Kennedy

My 17 year old son Conor who was diagnosed 15+ years ago with "autistic disorder" (now autism spectrum disorder) and profound developmental delays ( a euphemism for intellectual disability) is truly a gift. Conor brings great joy to our lives as shown on the sample pictures that follow.  While Conor is a joy, however, his autism disorder is not.  Nor is his autism disorder a GIFT or a SUPER ABILITY.

Conor's autism is a disability and a disorder and that is WHY he received a medical diagnosis of autism (autistic disorder).  While there may be some autistic individuals with special gifts he is not one of them.  Conor is one of the 40% of persons with autism and intellectual disability.  As you probably know that combination also makes him more likely to suffer from epileptic seizures and indeed Conor has suffered two grand mal seizures in six months.  He also suffered a life threatening reaction to his anti-seizure medication at the time. Other challenges brought by his autism disorder are wandering, self injurious behavior (self biting and head banging) and obsessive behaviors.  There is abundant literature indicating that those with autism, ID and epilepsy are at particular risk of shortened life expectancy.

Drake and Cole deserve to be admonished for their denigration of persons with autism AND for their denigration of persons with intellectual disabilities.  The solution, however, is not to circulate a petition which claims that autism is a gift or a super ability. In doing so you mislead the public about serious, challenges faced by the vast majority of persons with autism DISORDERS.  If you continue to misrepresent autism to the world you will probably cause harm to people like my son who in fact suffer from their autism disorders.  

I have been advocating publicly in my home province of New Brunswick, Canada for 15 years with other parents and we have achieved some success in ensuring that NB children with autism receive evidence based early intervention and that autistic students receive assistance from autism trained education assistants and resource teachers.  I have visited two psychiatric hospital facilities and met severely autistic adults living out their lives in those institutions and I continue to advocate for modern residential care and treatment options for adults with autism.

Any successes we have achieved, or hope to achieve, are based on presenting accurate, informed, evidence based portrayals of the realities of autism disorders to government decision makers and to the public at large.  Portraying autism as a gift misleads everyone about the real challenges faced by many with these very serious disorders.

Please reconsider your misleading public characterization of autism as a gift and super ability and acknowledge clearly that autism disorders are exactly that ... disorders.  My son is a gift, his autistic disorder is not. 

Respectfully,

Harold L Doherty

Fredericton, New Brunswick

Canada

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Conor's Fredericton Adventures 2013 Part I

Conor & Dad, couple of hosers enjoying the snow, eh?

Conor's Saint John River view clear day, above, not so clear below

Conor helps Dad with a visit at the Chalmers Hospital Acute Care Unit

Conor and Mom head out for  a stroll on the North Riverfront Trail

Conor changes his mind about the strolling part

Conor enjoys a late March snowstorm eh?

Conor isn't the only one who gets to fly along our North Riverfront Trail

The Run Jump Fly Boy lets it all loose on the North Riverfront Trail, Fredericton

Just days after Conor was running, jumping and flying down the trail he was taken by ambulance to the Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton where he spent 6 days in the Intensive Care Unit, and a total of 2 weeks in hospital, as a result of a life threatening adverse reaction to his anti seizure medication. 

Many thanks to the incredible doctors, nurses and staff at the Chalmers Emergency and Intensive Care Units for saving our Conor.

Conor didn't take too long to fully recover and there was no better way to show it than heading out on the trail with Mom and Dad ... where he had to wait from time to time for us to catch up.

Looking forward to lots more fun with Conor on the trail and elsewhere in 2013.  I hope he continues to enjoy the wonderful outdoor environment that Fredericton and friends like the Ospreys shown below offer. 

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