Archive for CHAMORRO DISHES

Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies

My entire family loves, loves, loves cookies!  Soft, chewy, crispy, crumbly, chocolate, butter, coconut, sugar, stuffed, double-stuffed, you name it, we’ll probably love it.

One of our favorites are a crispy cookie from Guam called Chamorro Chip Cookies.  They are crispy bite-sized cookies that are perfectly sweet and chocolaty.  I still remember requesting bags of cookies be sent to me in care packages.  I was absolutely over the moon one trip home when the airline served small packages of the delicious morsels in lieu of peanuts! 🙂

Well, gone are the days of free snacks on the airlines, but you don’t have to wait until you get to Guam or for someone to send you a care package to enjoy these delicious, sweet and crispy cookies. It takes just a few ingredients to mix up a batch, ingredients you’re likely to have on hand already.

My complete recipe is at the bottom of this post.  Give my recipe a try. I’m sure you’ll like it. 🙂

Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies

~ My version of the beloved “Chamorro Chip Cookie”

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These are all of the ingredients you need.  You probably have all of these on hand already.  As I mentioned above, my family loves cookies and baked goods, so I make sure I always have flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking soda (and powder), salt, vanilla extract and chocolate chips in my pantry.

I made a double batch of cookies, which is why you see two bags of chocolate chips.  Otherwise, one batch uses only one bag of mini chocolate chip morsels.

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Mix the flour, salt and baking soda together.

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Place the butter and suar in a medium sized mixing bowl.

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Use a hand-held mixer to cream the butter and sugar together.

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Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the mixing bowl.

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Mix until creamy.

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Add one third of the flour mixture to the bowl.  Mix for a minute or until the dry ingredients are well-incorporated with the butter mixture.

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Add another third of the flour mixture; mix another minute then add the remaining flour mixture.  Mix until all of the flour is well-incorporated and a thick, creamy cookie dough forms.

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Add the entire bag of mini chocolate chips to the bowl.

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Use a spatula to fold the chocolate chips into the cookie dough.

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Place 1 tablespoon of cookie dough about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.  I use a small cookie scoop to get nicely rounded scoops of dough.  These cookies will spread while baking so make sure you don’t place them too close together.

I used a Pampered Chef large round stoneware pan in the photo below.  I fit about 18 balls of dough on this pan — don’t try to fit much more than that on this size pan or your cookies will spread and touch during baking (my daughter calls those “butt cookies” when they spread and touch during baking).

I also used the rectangular stoneware pan (also Pampered Chef), fitting 20 balls of dough on it.

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Bake the cookies in a pre-heated 400-degree oven for 12 minutes.  The cookies will be slightly brown around the edges.

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Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then place on a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Serve with a tall glass of milk and ENJOY!

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Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A crisp cookie loaded with mini chocolate chip morsels, reminiscent of one of Guam's favorite cookies, the "Chamorro Chip Cookie"
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • 2⅔ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1½ cups white granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 bag (12-oz.) miniature semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Place the flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl; mix together.
  3. Place the butter and sugar in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Use a handheld mixer to mix together until creamy.
  4. Mix in the the eggs and vanilla extract.
  5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, one third at a time, mixing until you get a thick creamy dough.
  6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  7. Scoop tablespoonfuls of dough onto the baking sheet, spacing them about 2-inches apart.
  8. Bake for 12 minutes or until the cookies are light brown around the edges.
  9. Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
ENJOY!
This makes about 7½ dozen cookies about the size of a Chips Ahoy cookie.

Judy’s Empanadas

Chamorro empanadas are high up on the list of my favorite snacks, but they can easily be a meal in and of themselves.  In fact, when I was on Guam recently, I would visit the village store and buy empanadas, fresh out of the fryer, for breakfast.

My mom taught my sisters and me how to make empanadas years and years ago.  It’s quite the labor of love, although you can make the filling ahead of time, thereby cutting back on the actual preparation of the empanada.

A tortilla press, while not essential, is a great tool to have when making empanada.  While you’re at it, a bunch of kitchen helpers is good too. 😉  I remember when I was younger, we only had one tortilla press to share among my three sisters and mom; someone usually got stuck with using the much slower rolling pin.  We did it assembly-line style, with a couple of us flattening the dough, another couple of us filling it, and then someone sealing it tightly.

I’ve had a lot of requests for my empanada recipe, but my good friend, Judy Fernandez Dillinger, has an amazing recipe and she was gracious enough to allow me to feature it here.

As a side note, this is the packet of achote powder used in Judy’s recipe below.  Each packet contains 1/3 ounce of powdered achote, which is roughly 2 teaspoons.  Use this as a guide.  Some people like more or less achote to make the crust lighter or darker.  I also know someone who doesn’t use achote at all.

So, without further ado, here is Judy’s empanada recipe.  Give it a try.  I KNOW you’ll love it. 🙂

Judy's Empanadas
 
Author:
Recipe type: Snack
Cuisine: Chamorro
Serves: 2 dozen
Ingredients
Filling:
  • ½ cup cream of rice mixed with ½ packet of achote powder*
  • 2 cups of chicken broth (you can use water but will have to season with salt)
  • ½ onion, minced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ cup chopped chicken or imitation crab meat
  • black pepper to taste
  • hot pepper (optional)
Crust:
  • 2 cups masa harina
  • 1 packet achote powder*
  • ½ cup corn starch
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 teaspoons oil
  • 1½ - 1¾ cups chicken broth or water (if using water, increase salt to 2 teaspoons) - warm
*If you don't use achote powder, just make sure you soak achote seeds in the broth or water for color.
Instructions
For the filling:
  1. Saute onions and garlic in a large pot. Cook till onion becomes transparent. Add chicken and saute for about 2 minutes.
  2. Add chicken broth or water. Remember, if you use water you'll have to season it with salt (to taste). Bring to a boil.
  3. Using a whisk, gradually add the cream of rice. Keep stirring so that there are no lumps. Bring heat to medium and cook for about 3-4 minutes.
  4. Add hot pepper (as hot as you want it) and then remove from heat.
  5. Completely cool before filling the shells.
For the crust:
  1. Mix masa harina, corn starch, salt and achote powder in a bowl. Add oil and broth or water to the flour mixture. Kneed with hands until dough is pliable.
  2. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Use a tortilla press to flatten to form a circle. Be sure that you press the dough between 2 sheets of wax paper.
  3. Fill the bottom half of the circle with the cooled filling. Fold over the top of the dough to meet the bottom and press to seal the edges.
  4. Deep fry until nice and crispy. The trick is to fry at a very low heat. I like to set my dial at the 4th interval, right below the middle. If you fry it at high heat it will burn and the crust will not be crunchy but stale.
Enjoy!

 

Månha Pie

This has got to be my most favorite Chamorro dessert!  For non-Chamorro-speaking friends, månha means the sweet, tender meat of the young, green coconut.

My recipe makes 6 — yes, SIX — pies, but in my family, we eat one or two when they’re done, save another two for breakfast, then give two to family members.  So, really, six is NOT ENOUGH.  😉

If you make this for a party, then six pies really won’t be enough!  Two might end up on the dessert table and the rest will be “set aside” for påtte (sharing or distributing amongst family) later! 🙂

My recipe uses “regular” pie crusts, not the deep-dish ones.  If you use ready-made deep-dish pie shells/crusts, you can probably make this into four pies instead of six.

I usually only make månha pie when I’m visiting Guam, and that’s because I prefer to use fresh månha.  You can used canned månha and juice, however.

It takes a while to make these pies, but the end result is worth every minute you spend slaving over the hot stove.

Give my recipe a try.  I know you’ll love it! 🙂

Månha Pie

Manha Pie

 

Ingredients:

  Filling:
  • 3 cups månha juice
  • 2 cups chopped månha
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 cans (12 oz) evaporated milk
  • 2 cans (12 oz) water (use the milk cans)
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • ½ box cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ cup water
  Meringue:
  • 6 large egg whites
  • 1 1/2 cups superfine or granulated sugar
  Additional ingredients for making Meringue in High Altitude areas: (see NOTE below)
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup water
  Other ingredients:
  • 6 “regular” 9-inch pie crusts (or 4 deep dish pie crusts), pre-baked
  • 1 egg plus 1 tablespoon water, beaten together

Directions:

1.  Pre-bake the pie crusts; this is also called “blind baking”:

If your pie crusts are frozen, remove all packaging material and place the crusts at room temperature until they are completely thawed.

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Pierce the bottom and sides of each crust with a fork.  This keeps air pockets or bubbles from forming during baking.

Line each crust with heavy-duty aluminum foil.  If you don’t have heavy-duty foil, just double regular foil.  Make sure the foil covers the entire bottom of the crust and up the sides.

Fill the foil with pie weights (I just use dried beans).  Use enough dried beans to fill the pie crust at least halfway up the sides.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.  The pie crust should be a pale brown.  Remove from the oven.

To prevent your crusts from getting soggy after baking the pies, brush with egg wash (the egg mixed with water) and return to the oven to bake for an additional 3 minutes.  Remove from the oven; set aside.

Save the dried beans for the next time you blind-bake pie crusts.

2.  Make the Meringue (low-altitude areas):

TIP:  Make the meringue first then prepare the filling. Place meringue on the HOT filling (the hot filling will start cooking the meringue, keeping it from shrinking too much during baking). When topping the filling, ensure you push the meringue all the way to the edge of the pie crust; this “seals” the meringue to the edge of the pie.  Using a stainless steel or glass bowl (ensure the bowl is completely dry before putting in the egg whites), beat the egg whites at medium-high speed until soft peaks form.

Once soft peaks have formed, gradually add the sugar, a few spoonfuls at a time, beating the entire time.  Keep beating on high speed until stiff peaks form.  The peaks are stiff enough when the tips stand straight (don’t droop over) when the beaters are lifted.  Once you start beating the egg whites, do not stop in the middle of the process or your meringue won’t form properly.

Spoon the meringue over the hot pie filling.

Make the Meringue (high-altitude areas):

*NOTE:  I live in a very high altitude area (approximately 6,300 feet above sea level).  If you live in an area with high elevation, prepare your meringue as follows in order for the meringue not to turn out weepy after baking.

In a microwave-safe bowl, mix together the sugar, cornstarch, salt and water.  Microwave for two minutes on max power.  Stir once more then set the mixture aside to cool.

Beat the egg whites as directed above, until soft peaks form.  Gradually pour the cooled cornstarch mixture into the bowl of egg whites, beating on high speed as you pour.  Continue to beat the mixture until stiff peaks form.  Cover the pie filling as directed above.

3.  Make the Filling:

Place juice, månha, butter, and sugar in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the evaporated milk and water; stir and bring to a boil.

Mix the egg yolks, cornstarch, vanilla extract, and ½ cup water in a bowl. Add the egg yolk mixture to the månha mixture and cook until the mixture thickens, whisking constantly to prevent lumps from forming. The combined ingredients should thicken before it begins to boil. Cook a few minutes more then remove from the heat.

Pour two cups of the mixture into each prepared (baked) pie crust (or three cups if you are using deep dish pie shells).

4.  Bake the meringue and serve:

Top the hot filling with meringue, making sure to cover the pie filling all the way to the edge of the crust. Use a small spoon to make decorative meringue swirls before baking.

Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes or until the meringue is golden brown.  If you’re in a hurry, bake at 450 degrees for 7-8 minutes, but then the meringue won’t turn out as “dry” as when you bake it longer at a lower temperature (it’ll still turn out delicious, though).

Let the pies cool then serve and ENJOY!

TIP: To make clean slices through the meringue, dip your knife in cold water before slicing the pie.

Refrigerate any uneaten pie (WHAAAT??? — uneaten pie???  Trust me, this pie will get eaten). 😉

Manha Pie

Tamåles Gisu

Tamåles Gisu is a Chamorro tamales with one red side and a non-spicy white side.

I make my tamåles by making the red side corn flour or cornmeal-based (I prefer cornmeal) and the white side rice-based.  I also add hot peppers to the red side and leave the white side non-spicy. I add cooked bacon to both the red and white mixtures, but if that weren’t enough, I also top the tamåles gisu with a slice of delicious bacon.

This is an easy recipe to make.  The time-consuming part is wrapping the tamåles in individual packets.  The traditional tamåles gisu is wrapped in banana leaves.  Living in the mainland U.S., however, I rarely find fresh banana leaves (I prefer using fresh over frozen leaves), so I wrap the tamåles in aluminum foil and place a strip of banana leaf in each packet to give it a little bit of flavor of the “real thing.”

If you’re really pressed for time, forego wrapping individual tamåles.  Instead, use a large dish and place the red side in half of the dish, the white in the other half.  Add slices of cooked bacon on top and let your guests scoop out the tamales.

Give my recipe a try.  I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Tamåles Gisu

Tamales gisu

Ingredients:

  Red Portion:
  • 4 teaspoons chopped garlic
  • 1/2 medium onion, chopped
  • 4 slices bacon, chopped
  • 4 cups water
  • 2 packages achote powder
  • 2 tablespoons powdered chicken bouillon
  • 1/2 to 1 cup white cornmeal or masa harina (corn flour) (Note: start with 1/2 cup first; if you want it thicker, add more)
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • Hot pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 cup reserved bacon fat
  White Portion:
  • 4 teaspoons chopped garlic
  • 1/2 medium onion, chopped
  • 4 slices bacon, chopped
  • 4 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons powdered chicken bouillon
  • 1 cup cream of rice
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 cup reserved bacon fat

Directions:

In two separate pots, sauté the garlic, onion, and bacon over medium heat; reserve about 1/2 cup of melted bacon fat from each pot (or a total of 1 cup of bacon fat), drain remaining fat.

Tamales gisu

One pot is for the red portion, the other is for the white portion

For the Red Portion:

Add the water, achote powder, and chicken bouillon to the bacon mixture; return to a boil. Slowly whisk the cornmeal into the bacon mixture; the mixture should start to thicken.

Add black pepper and hot pepper to taste.

Continue to cook over low heat until the mixture thickens. Add some of the reserved bacon fat if the mixture is too thick to stir; the consistency should be like thick oatmeal.

Tamales gisu

For the White Portion:

Add the water and chicken bouillon to the bacon mixture; return to a boil. Slowly whisk the cream of rice into the bacon mixture; the mixture should start to thicken.

Note: If you don’t have cream of rice, toast 1 cup of uncooked rice in a shallow pan.  Let the toasted rice cool then use a blender to grind the rice into a fine powder.  Use this in place of the cream of rice.

Add black pepper to taste. Continue to cook over low heat until the mixture thickens. Add some of the reserved bacon fat if mixture is too thick to stir; the consistency should be like thick oatmeal.

Tamales gisu

Cut the aluminum foil into 8-inch squares. Top each piece of foil with both mixtures (red and white portions side by side) then place one strip of bacon on top of the red and white filling before sealing the foil. For those of you worried about placing uncooked bacon in the tamales, the bacon will cook as it steams.  Or, you can pre-cook the bacon before adding it to the tamåles.

Fold the sides of the foil over the tamales then fold together to seal.

Tamales gisu

Tamales gisu

Tamales gisu

Steam the freshly wrapped tamåles for 15-20 minutes (steam frozen tamåles for 30-40 minutes).

Unwrap and ENJOY!

Tamales gisu

Spam Kelaguen

Spam is a staple on Guam.  In fact, Spam has been called the “poor man’s steak” by many, although a can of Spam is not cheap!  I have a friend who lives in an area where Spam sells for about $5.00 per can!  At that price, I’d rather buy real steak! 😀

Chamorros can be quite innovative when it comes to creating Spam dishes.  An easy and classic dish is Spam Kelaguen.  This is my sister’s version.

Give it a try; I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Spam Kelaguen

Spam Kelaguen - Carol's

Ingredients:

  • 1 can Spam, cut into thin strips
  • 4-6 stalks green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup freshly grated coconut
  • Lemon juice, to taste
  • Salt, to taste
  • Hot pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Lightly pan-fry the spam (for only 1-2 minutes) then place in a bowl.

2.  Add green onions, coconut, lemon juice, salt, and hot pepper.  Mix, taste, and adjust seasonings and lemon juice, to taste.

3.  Serve with titiyas or hot steamed white rice.

ENJOY!

 

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