Ultimate Pudding Pie

Here’s a quick and easy dessert recipe called “Pudding Pie” that I’ve introduced to my Honduran family. I generally make this concoction and pour it into a graham cracker crust

but I’ve found that the pre-made ones are not always readily available in La Ceiba. It works just fine if poured into a pie plate or simply left in the bowl that you made it in.

I prefer to choose a combination of gelatine and yogurt that are similar to each other i.e. strawberry gelatine and strawberry yogurt. You can also decorate the finished pie with a similar flavoured or coloured cookie and prefer the wafer type ones.

Ingredients:

2 boxes of gelatine, 85 grams

1 cup boiling water

1 cup very cold water

1 pkg flavoured yogurt, 500 grams

Do not follow the gelatine package instructions! It will be too soft to re-set after adding the yogurt. Add the boiling water to the dry powder and stir until completely dissolved, then add the cold water and stir well.

Place in the refrigerator until partially set (maybe an hour?) and stir again. Simply check occasionally over the next couple hours with mixing it well, to keep it fluffy rather than flat set. Even if you forget it, just beat vigorously until fluffy looking.

Once the gelatine is fully set, gently stir in the whole package of yogurt until thoroughly mixed together. Now you can decant it into the graham cracker pie shell, an empty pie plate or simply keep it in the original mixing bowl and place back into the refrigerator until time to serve. If decorating with wafer cookies, simply add them just before serving as they get mushy if set in too early.

This is a reasonably healthy and delightfully light dessert that goes well with either summer meals (almost all the time here in Honduras!) or a heavier meal.

Enjoy!

Stephanie's Ceviche Recipe

I will never profess to be a teacher of any merit but I do enjoy cooking and wanted to share one of my favourite dishes with folks. Keep in mind, I don’t actually use recipes and have not been known for measuring ingredients. My approach is rather akin to aim and fire, with tasting along the way!

Ceviche is basically marinated seafood mixed with vegetables and spices, served with crackers as a side dish. I happen to love it with fresh salad and good rye bread.

Ingredients:
4 Roma tomatoes
1 small field cucumber
1 small jalapeño pepper
1 medium red onion
4 large cloves garlic
1 bunch culantro (cilantro is much tastier!)
1 -2 fresh limes, juiced
1 lb large shrimp, cleaned and rinsed

Add a couple dashes of salt, pepper and chilli (hot sauce) to taste and a pinch of cayenne pepper to marry the flavours.

Finely mince the garlic, pepper and cilantro. Fine chop the remaining vegetables.
Dip the shrimp into boiling water, stir quickly, remove and rinse in cold water.
Chop the shrimp into halves or thirds, depending on original size.
Mix all ingredients together, adding more seasonings to your own taste.
Allow to marinate in refrigerator 3 – 4 hours before serving. Enjoy!