Learn how to make authentic Espresso and Cuban coffee with this tutorial presented by TLC’s “Ultimate Cake Off” host, George Duran.

IMUSA y George Duran le Explican Como Hacer Café Expreso y Cubano Usando la Cafetera IMUSA.

Valentine’s Day, also known as the “Lover’s” holiday is one of those days that either people love it or hate it. Even though, I’m luckily in love, Valentine’s Day is not only a day for lovers; it is a day to celebrate the love of your family, children, parents and other siblings.

As a single mother, I remember placing a mini-heart full of chocolates in my children’s backpacks, this way they’d know I’m thinking of them and how special they are. I fondly remember as a child, my father would honor my mother on Valentine’s Day with a small, loving gesture. My siblings and I would honor my mother by either buying her a store-bought card or making one in school. Where did those times go, when the simplest things in life meant the world to people? Nowadays, people’s expectations are so high; we go around scrambling, like we did over the holidays to buy the right gift for that special someone.

From my personal experience, I say to you, start your own tradition. Why not try to cook a fabulous meal for that special someone or your entire family? For breakfast, try boiling some sweet plantains using your IMUSA Enamel Pot or Caldero until nice and tender. After draining the water and letting cool, place the plantains in your IMUSA Molcajete. For a sweet Mangú taste serve with eggs (sunny side up) and a mimosa. For lunch, try making some delicious Roasted Peppers and Garlic muffins using your IMUSA muffin pan. For the children, I recommend regular Cranberry muffins, this way the red surrounds your table. For a more intimate dinner, use IMUSA’s mini-calderos, which are awesome to make individual Paellas or Mofongo. The best thing about these “mini-calderitos” is that they can either go straight to the dinner table after cooking, giving your table a restaurant feel, or you can keep your dish warm in the oven simply by removing the cover and lining it with aluminum foil until ready to serve.      With all these dishes, you have definitely sent “Cupid” right to their heart and stomach!

To Our Valued Customers,

Great news,

Very soon our Imusa products line will be the focus of a national media blitz.  As you already know,  Tadin Herb and Tea Co. is the leading West Coast Distributor for Imusa products, and as our loyal customers we want you to be prepared to take advantage of potential new sales and interest in Imusa.

In an effort to improve brand recognition, well-know Hispanic chefs will be appearing on several local newscast cooking traditional Latino recipes with the Imusa line of cookware.

Here in California, Chef Ana Garcia will appear alongside two Hall of Fame Football players on KTLA’s Morning Newscast at 9am on February 4^th 2010.

Chef Ana will make similar appearances on ABC7’s “The View from the Bay” with Spencer Christian, the hosts, in a six minute segment, and on February 6, on KUSI’s “Good Morning San Diego”.

Just when you thought you were done eating pasteles (Puerto Rican tamales) or drinking coquito (Puerto Rican eggnog) on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, comes Pa’ la Parranda on January 5^th.  It is also known as Three Kings Day or Los Tres Reyes.

Growing up in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, my mother fondly spoke of how Three Kings Day was their Christmas.  Every child would go out into the fields and collect some grass and sticks to place in a shoe box for the camels.  The Kings would ride in on the camels and in return, were rewarded with a gift.  While most families celebrate Christmas the way we do in the States, some still continue the traditions practiced in Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries.

Los Tres Reyes was the day of the Big Feast.  Back then, my grandmother didn’t make turkey or pernil (pork), it was gallina (hen), taken straight from their farm and cooked for the celebration supper.  My mother laughs when she talks about my grandmother’s caldero because she said that it looked more like a witch’s cauldron. I guess that’s what they used back then.  Of course, now IMUSA’s calderos are front and center in my home and in my family’s homes. My mother and I, however, share the same superstition that our rice won’t come out as good if we use someone else’s.  So, we travel with our own IMUSA calderos wherever we go. Silly I know, but then every good carpenter works with their own tools, right?

We’ve come a long way since the calderos.  Now, we have the IMUSA arrocera, the electric rice cooker. Similar to a crock pot, it is a one pot machine that works wonders if you don’t have the time to stand around and watch.  Simply add all of your ingredients and set it to cook! This holiday, I made arroz con coco or arroz con dulce for dessert. I simply added all my ingredients and switched it on.   While setting the table, the dessert cooked quickly and with less fuss. I will still cook my old fashion way, using my IMUSA caldero, but if you don’t want to keep the Kings waiting, try the arrocera for less cleaning and more time pa’ la parranda…

Read the rest of this entry »

IMUSA and George Duran, new host of “Ultimate Cake Off” on TLC, shows us a new, refreshing and tropical recipe using an IMUSA non-stick griddle.

IMUSA’s double burner non-stick griddle has a large cooking surface that allows you to cook up pancakes, tortillas, vegetables and meat for the whole family at once!

Video in Spanish:

Click on the image below to watch Chef Ana Garcia and IMUSA in KTLA sharing some of her traditions for “Las Posadas”

Las Posadas is a nine-day tradition which originated in Spain and is celebrated by many Mexican Catholics as well as other Hispanic people. From December 16th through 24th, participants of this tradition re-enact Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter before the birth of Jesus.

“Typically, each family in a neighborhood will schedule a night for the Posada to be held at their home, starting on the 16th of December and finishing on the 24th. Every home has a nativity scene and the hosts of the Posada act as the innkeepers. The neighborhood children and adults are the pilgrims (peregrinos), who have to request lodging by going house to house singing a traditional song about the pilgrims. All the pilgrims carry small lit candles in their hands, and four people carry small statues of Joseph leading a donkey, on which Mary is riding. The head of the procession will have a candle inside a paper lamp shade. At each house, the resident responds by refusing lodging (also in song), until the weary travelers reach the designated site for the party, where Mary and Joseph are finally recognized and allowed to enter. Once the “innkeepers” let them in, the group of guests come into the home and kneel around the Nativity scene to pray (typically, the Rosary). Latin American countries have continued to celebrate this holiday to this day, with very few changes to the tradition. In some places, the final location may be a church instead of a home. Individuals may actually play the various parts of Mary (María) and Joseph with the expectant mother riding a real donkey,  with attendants such as angels and shepherds acquired along the way, or the pilgrims may carry images of the holy personages instead. At the end of the long journey, there will be Christmas carols (villancicos), children will break open piñatas by striking these colorful papier-maché objects with bats while blindfolded to obtain candy hidden inside, and there will be a feast. Traditionally, it is expected to meet all the invitees in a previous procession”. (Wikipedia)

Having grown up in Venezuela, some of my most treasured culinary memories center around one of the most indispensable items in a Latin kitchen: the caldero. The caldero is the ideal pot for everything from soup to stew to rice and beans. A really good caldero is worth its weight in gold—which is why so many families pass theirs down for generations. IMUSA knows this well, setting the standard for quality and durability—so I jumped at the chance to develop a simple, delicious rice and beans recipe to get you started on your fabulous caldero career.

Calderos come in several sizes and styles, and IMUSA graciously sent me more than ten different options with which to experiment. The traditionalist in me gravitated toward the cast aluminum, which “seasons” with use (like a cast iron skillet), while the realist in me opted for the largest size—because I never lack for friends willing to drop by to taste-test (translation: gorge on) one of  my Latin-inspired concoctions.

After a recent trip to the Caribbean I fell in love with one of the tastiest local culinary customs: rice and beans made with coconut milk. Each sweet, silky bite of that rice is pure heaven in my mouth. But I, for one, just can’t imagine eternity without my beloved bacon. So I set out to marry these two flavors—and the results were astonishingly good!

Read the rest of this entry »

IMUSA and Food Network’s George Duran show you how to create his delicious Pumpkin Pie Tamales using IMUSA cookware – including the famous IMUSA Tamalera.
For complete ingredient list and preparation please visit: http://www.imusausa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=110&Itemid=21

Read the rest of this entry »

Piña Coladas: They’re not just for breakfast anymore!

Hold on, scratch that. They’ve never really been for breakfast. Unless, of course, you’re unemployed. Or at an all-inclusive Caribbean resort. Or both.  But that, my friends, is about to change. Because thanks to the fine folks at the Latin kitchenware company IMUSA, I’m about to bring everyone’s favorite tropical cocktail into the land of pancakes! That’s right, I said pancakes. Because when IMUSA asked me to help develop recipes for use with their products, they knew to expect the unexpected.

My tool of choice was their non-stick griddle. That was the easy part. What wasn’t so easy was figuring out the best way to incorporate the essential flavors of coconut and pineapple into the finished product. For time-saving convenience, I chose to use instant pancake mix. This way, you don’t have to get up an hour before everyone else to make breakfast. I also opted to use canned pineapple—since fresh isn’t always available in many supermarkets. This yielded an unexpected solution to my primary problem: rather than waste the flavorful syrup the pineapple comes in, I simply mixed it with some coconut milk to substitute for the liquid component in the pancake mix. The result was a batter with some serious tropical pop.

Read the rest of this entry »

DORAL, FL- IMUSA USA’s chef program has shifted into full gear with the four spokesperson chefs in the program making appearances across the country in honor of Hispanic Heritage month, which began September 15. The chef program is comprised of Latin cookbook authors, reality TV stars and other “foodies” who will create recipes, cooking ideas, tips and additional content relevant to Latino cooks as well as cooks interested in experiencing the flavors and passions of virtually all Latin cuisines. Currently involved with the program are Chef Ana Garcia, the owner and operator of La Villa Bonita Cooking School and Culinary Hotel in Tepoztlan, Mexico; Hell’s Kitchen finalist Elsie  Ramos; Cuban cookbook author Ana Quincoces and television personality and professional chef George Duran. The chef program has launched a nationwide tour in celebration of Hispanic Heritage month and will visit retailers in major cities across the country demonstrating Latin dishes with a twist. The chefs and IMUSA USA will be working with Macy’s stores on assortments and placement of the IMUSA products. “We’ll be putting it where Hispanic and non-Hispanic shoppers alike can see the demos and taste food, and get familiar with the product,” said Manny Gaunaurd, IMUSA’s president. Beyond the Hispanic heritage month demonstrations, each chef is featured in promotions and demonstrations across the country as well as online and on IMUSA packaging, demonstrating delicious recipes from each individual’s country of origin.

Read the rest of this entry »