champorado blogger

Maja Mais

2009-03-31T21:15:00.002+08:00

Maja Mais
Originally uploaded by ichigo747

Something very Filipino this time and quite easy to make, too...

In a heavy saucepan, I combined three cups milk, two cups coconut cream, one large can cream-style corn and one can condensed. I brought this mixture to a boil then added one and a half cups of cornstarch dissolved in one cup milk. I also added some gelatin powder (about 4 tbsp) dissolved in a small amount of water. I stirred this with a whisk for around 10-15 minutes until very thick. For that extra richness, I whisked in 1/2 cup of butter then poured the mixture on to my greased/ buttered mould. (This will set while still warm!) I served it the following day after chilling.

Traditionally, this is garnished with "latik" on top. Not the coconut jam latik, but coconut cream and sugar that has been rendered into some brown crispy bits.

Spaghetti

2008-09-10T20:08:00.006+08:00

(Pinoy spaghetti sauce on whole wheat pasta.)

If there was one thing I looked forward to during my birthdays while growing up, it was my grandmother’s spaghetti. (Okay, I also had balloons and gifts and other party items to look forward to until I was around seven. Then the Gestapo in our house banned parties when I started school.) The culinary critic in me would go as far as saying that my grandmother’s spaghetti was no fantastic dish. Anyone born in the Mediterranean would not recognize the thing. In fact, its only resemblance to the authentic dish is its slightly reddish sauce and the ground beef, or should I say, lack thereof. It had a glaring red sauce that was both sweet and sour, with no hint of tomato whatsoever. There was the occasional bit of beef, outnumbered by slices of red hotdog. And who could forget the slivers of hard-boiled egg, and the copious amounts of grated American cheddar on top? Yes, it was one of the many incarnations of the Jolly Spaghetti that have invaded Filipino households.

My grandmother was the only cook in the family (or perhaps no one dared to share her kitchen). My mom never cooked. But the same Gestapo that banned my parties banned me from playing outside with other children. Hence, the TV became my playmate. Optimus Prime became my role model; Sesame Street became a devotion (dare I say religion?); and Nora Daza became my source of wisdom. Well, okay not entirely. But yes, I learned to cook at an early age.

Eventually, I concocted my own version of spaghetti. It had more meat. It made use of tomatoes from cans, and had nothing to do with banana catsup (and who knows what they’re really made of?). My pasta was al dente, and not soggy. Best of all, it had mushrooms! My dish was initially a hit. My folks loved it. I loved it. But nothing drew me as close to the fire as that plateful of soggy noodles bathed in glaring red catsup sauce that my grandmother makes.

Perhaps because it brings back so many memories of my childhood. Perhaps, it reminded me of the other things that my grandmother made for me and my parties. That spaghetti was her. It was her own creation, and a statement of her culinary skills. It was a product of her years of experimentation. Further, that spaghetti was my party. It always brought back memories of other children running around our house, and the times I would open the gifts they brought for me!

In medical school, I had a classmate who worshipped his mom. While that is usually an adorable attribute of any straight guy, he took it to levels that would disturb any sane person. He once brought a large tub of baked macaroni that his ‘legendary’ doctor-mom made. It was enough for maybe three hungry wrestlers; and athlete he wasn’t! He apparently wanted to “share” his treasure. A close friend of mine, imbued with much wisdom, declined a taste. But my culinary ego could not resist and he gladly offered to share some of it. I barely made it beyond the second bit of pasta. The macaroni was pasty, to say the least. The sauce was bland and anemic. Even that shaving of cheese seemed out of place. There was nothing else to say. It was like eating air. He abslutely loved it though. Well, he worshipped his mom. That was what I kept repeating in my head, and it kept me sane until I finished the spoonful.

I don’t worship my grandmother, or any other member of my family for that matter. But I have utter respect for her and the years she spent learning and toiling in front of the stove to keep our stomachs satisfied. For most of us, there is always that dish, no matter how bland or spicy or weird which will always bring back memories of our childhood, or evoke memories of our special moments. Sometimes, and especially for gastronomes and gourmands, our tongues may object to the combinations of flavors, or lack thereof, in whatever we are eating. But we have to “eat with our brains,” too. We have to treasure all those memories, respect our elders, and relive those special moments.

Over the years, I have learned to make different types of pasta sauces – Bolognese, a la puttanesca, marinara and even my own version of Pinoy spaghetti. I would like to think they are better that anyone else’s. But nothing, as I’ve said, would be as significant as the one I grew up with. And sometimes, I wonder, if somewhere down the road, someone else will grow up eating my cooking, no matter how “off” the seasonings may be.

Pinoy Spaghetti

Half a pound of chopped bacon (I know, but you won’t feel it, trust me)
One or two Spanish chorizos, chopped
Two or three sliced sausages/ hotdogs (use whatever sausage you like if hotdog gives you nightmares; even longganisa and/ or salami is okay, just don’t tell me about it)
One pound lean ground beef (I prefer lean, to lessen the guilt of the bacon)
One to two bay leaves
Four cloves chopped garlic
Two chopped onions
Chop together: one small carrot, one large stalk celery, one small red bell pepper, one small green bell pepper
Two to three large tomatoes, chopped
Two cups tomato sauce
One bottle banana catsup (if you do know, don’t tell me what they’re really made of)
Two to three cups beef broth (water and instant bouillon works, too. Go ask your conscience)
One teaspoon each of dried oregano and dried basil.
Salt, pepper, sugar to taste

In a large saucepan set on medium heat, render the fat off the bacon. Saute until lightly browned before adding the Spanish Chorizos and sausages. Add in the ground lean beef and cook until browned. Add one or two bay leaves as the beef is sautéing.

When the beef has browned, add in the garlic and onions together. When softened, add in the rest of the chopped vegetables. Deglaze pan with beef broth and tomato sauce. Add the rest of the ingredients and the dried herbs. Simmer until the sauce has thickened and the meat has become tender. Adjust seasonings.

Filipino tradition is to top the spaghetti with sliced hard-boiled eggs and grated American cheddar.

(Traditional Filipino-style spaghetti)

Black and White

2008-08-05T21:08:00.003+08:00

On one of Bobby Chinn's treks to Asia (Penang, I think), he bought a drink from a food hawker named "Michael Jackson." It was plain and simple mix of grass jelly on soy milk. The combination works, at least for me. Obviously it won't if you're not a fan of black jelly.

I think the light herby-bitterness of the grass jelly cuts through the richness of the soy milk. As far as I know all grass jelly products (usually sold in cans) taste the same. But soy milk may vary in flavor depending on manufacturer, and whether it has been sweetened or flavored. Use whatever you like.

I just thought I'd post this so there will be something to wash down the spicy Thai Chicken Basil Stir-fry.

Thai Stir-Fried Chicken in Basil

2008-08-05T21:00:00.003+08:00

I saw this recipe from Maeve O'Maera's Food Safari. I just love that program! Anyway, I thought this dish was very Thai in its selection of ingredients, yet quite easy to do - without compromising flavor of course!

I think this dish is one of the easiest and most versatile in Thai cooking. You can substitute any meat, even some seafood. And stir-frying ensures the veggies remain crisp!

You can find the orginal recipe here on the Food Safari page. I modifed it by adding two slices ginger. Instead of just soy sauce, I used a combination of soy sauce and oyster sauce. Also, I mixed the sauce ingredients beforehand on a bowl and tasted it before adding it to the stir-fry. this way, I did not have to make adjustments while cooking.

Also, I served it with regular fried egg, instead of the very oily puffed fried egg.

I'm Back!!!

2008-08-05T20:59:00.000+08:00

Sorry for my absence! I have quite a number of stuff to post here and in my other blogs...

Free Rice

2008-05-10T10:24:00.004+08:00

This has been my latest addiction: http://www.freerice.com/ . It is actually a vocabulary game that donates 20 grains of rice for every correct answer you give. It is very addictive! Read more about their program here.

Please visit and "donate" at least a few thousand grains to the needy.

Foodie Blogroll

2008-05-10T10:21:00.003+08:00

Yay! Her Majesty, The Queen has just included my blog into the foodieblogroll (links and logo to the right)! It is the first and the biggest compendium of food blogs and a forum where members can discuss foodie stuff!

Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookies

2008-04-28T10:43:00.006+08:00

Peanut butter cookies are a classic! They can be soft and chewy or crisp, but definitely rich and peanut-y! They are one of my favorites!

For some people however, peanut butter isn't enough and would need to be augmented with other things peanut - whole peanuts, peanut butter chips, etc. Throw in some oats and it makes for a healthy cookie!

I got this recipe from the marthastewart web site and the original recipe called for chocolate chips to be added to the dough. I thought of using peanut butter chips instead. But it seems local groceries have stopped selling these! So I just upped the quantities of peanuts and oats to compensate for the lack of peanut butter chips. (I really did not want to use chocolate chips as I wanted a really very peanut-y cookie.)

On another visit to the grocery, I chanced upon some Reese's peanut butter bits (sort of like M&Ms). They were perfect for the cookies!

These cookies are now one of my favorites!

WHITE!

2008-04-28T10:26:00.004+08:00

After going green, I'm going white! Whatever that means!

Anyway, I realized I've done many different types of chocolate cakes, many before the age of blogging but I have never done any cake in white!

I initially thought this was a tricky cake, since white chocolate is plain fat and milk protein without the chocolate solids. I mean a few tablespoons of cocoa powder into a cake batter will turn it into chocolate cake, but figuring out how much butter and/ or liquid white chocolate will replace is far more tricky.

Luckily, I found a recipe on the internet. I gave it a try and the results were okay. I used sour cream, by the way instead of buttermilk.

The cake came out okay. It was dense and rich and buttery. It wasn't as dense as an olive oil cake but still a bit dense for me. Perhaps I wasn't too careful in folding the batter because on slicing, it revealed some dense 'unpuffed' areas. The taste was okay, too. The milky vanilla flavor dominated. Well, white chocolate doesn't have its own flavor anyway.

For the frosting I made a simple buttercream with one cup butter, 4 oz melted white chocolate and 1/4 cup cream. I added one cup of confectioner's sugar. The icing came out lumpy as I think it needed more sugar. But I would rather have it this way than add make it sweeter.

Let's Go GREEN

2008-04-28T09:53:00.007+08:00

I just LOVE green tea! I think it is refreshing and sweet, unlike regular black or oolong teas which may often taste bitter. And the fruit infusions taste like car fresheners (not that i've tried some). Green tea, just like any natural drink or food is rich in vitamins and minerals and antioxidants. People in Japan believe drinking it everyday helps keep colon cancer away. Of course, studies have shown that you need to drink industrial quantities daily for it to have this effect. Then again, drinking it is way more nutritious than plain water and definitely healthier than other bottled or canned drinks (yes, teas come prepared in soda bottles and cans in other countries!).

You either like it or you hate it. I have a lot of friends who always order all things green tea in restaurants. On the other hand, my aunt who spent two years of her life as a missionary in Japan swears that green tea tastes and feels like warm horse saliva. I do not want to imagine how she came up with that comparison.

With the green tea theme in mind, I am posting two recipes I made previously with green tea. I used green tea powder I bought some time ago in Hong Kong. I know a lot of the local Japanese stores have it. This green tea is the one used in the ceremonies and is called 'matcha.' I am not quite sure if regular dired green tea leaves pulverized in a spice blender would work quite as well.

I got this recipe for Green Tea Layer Cake online. I did not have yogurt at that time so I used sour cream. The cake came out quite dense, but still soft and very flavorful. The combination of vanilla and green tea gave a flavor reminiscent of Green Tea Frappucino!

For the frosting, I reduced the amount of sugar by half, as I do not like my desserts too sweet. I divided the frosting into two. One part I mixed with some mashed azuki (boiled mashed red mung beans) and used it for filling. The other half I used to frost the cake.

With some matcha leftover, I then made some green tea butter cookies (sable). I think my oven temperature wasn't right as the edges have already browned and the centers were still a bit puffy. (My oven isn't calibrated.) But they tasted good! The cookies were buttery, as are all sables, and had the perfuminess of green tea.

Chicken Inasal

2008-04-10T17:28:00.005+08:00

I am not the type of doctor who will ever admit to eating grilled stuff, at least in public. I used to love them when I was a kid, so much so that our convoy to Baguio every summer would always stop two or three times during the journey just so we could buy barbecue. And yes, there was even that time when people thought grilling is *the healthiest way of cooking.* You do avoid adding oil (and burn whatever is contained in the meat), but the burnt bits are exactly what will give you cancer.

Well, I've been BBQ-free for almost two years now, so I thought one small meal washed down with copious amounts of freshly brewed tea won't hurt. Excuses, excuses, excuses...

I was inspired to make "inasal" because my parents bought some last Saturday from the Salcedo market. I had known for a long time that it is relatively easy to make, owing to the short list of ingredients. Also, I found inasal interesting in its use of achuete (anatto seeds) and vinegar. I thought it was similar to what the Mexicans call as 'adobo seasoning' which is a paste made of ground anatto seeds and vinegar. However, the Mexicans use it as a spice, and we only care for its color. Perhaps, chicken inasal is a product of the Mexican galleon trade that boomed during the Spanish colonial period.

To make the marinade, I started with a rounded tablespoon of anatto seeds. I wish I had a spice grinder so I could have turned them into powder but I only had a mortar and pestle. Anyway, I tried to grind the seeds as finely as I could.

Then, over low to medium-low flame, I steeped 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil with the ground anatto for 5 minutes.

I really think a more finely-ground anatto whould have given a stronger flavor.

There seems to be a consensus on the marinade for chicken inasal: search the web and you will find several recipes that are eerily alike in the proportion of ingredients! I found what seemed like a good recipe here.

However, I wanted to add my own touch. Besides, I did not have native vinegar and lemon grass. The inasal my parents bought tasted a bit vinegary - but closer to the taste of blasamic vinegar.

So I combined the colored oil with the following ingredients: one head of crushed garlic, one thumb-size piece of crushed ginger, one grated onion, half a teaspoon each of salt and pepper, one tablespoon brown sugar, 1/2 cup rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, and two tablespoons lemon juice. I substituted two Kaffir lime leaves from my mom's garden for the lemon grass.

I know all those recipes say that marination takes a maximum of one hour, but I wanted all the flavor to penetrate the deepest tissues of the chicken. Hence, I let the one kilo of chicken pieces marinate overnight in the refrigerator. (Besides, long marination in acid kills the meat tissue parasites)

The following day, I lay the chicken pieces on a rack and set it on a tray. I baked them for 25 minutes in a 325-degree oven, just until the thickest portions yield clear juice. Then I asked our housecook to grill them lightly for color. Baking avoids grilling them for too long that inevitably leads to burnt spots. Just compare the pics of my inasal with those from the net - they have much less black spots, which in my case are confined only to the skin.

My inasal came out perfect. Although for most of you, I think another half teaspoon of salt would need to be added.

Our housecook added some sliced pork belly to the marinade as well, and it tasted really good, too!

Chocolate Cake with Cherry Filling

2008-04-10T16:59:00.006+08:00

Sometimes it is the simplest things that are the most elegant. - Ina Garten

Your are free to accuse me of not being creative in coming up with a name for this recipe. It is no "decadent blah blah," or "rich and moist blah blah." I hate pretentious cakes. This is what it is - a simple chocolate cake with a cherry filling. And yes, this is another product of the leftovers and nearly-expired stuff I collected from my freezer and pantry. The Peotraco cocoa powder survived Christmas, New Year and Easter in my pantry, but did not last longer than three days after being made into this cake. (Three days is long for glucophobic people like us.) And you may have guessed also that the cherry pie filling was also plucked out of the bowels of my freezer.

I wanted a 'light' chocolate cake (as if such exists) for this project so I decided on using a Devil's food cake recipe (aka old-fashioned chocolate cupcakes). I removed that extra half-cup of sugar, of course. The cake ended up 'light' (read, not dense) and fluffy, but still moist - perhaps because of the two(!) cups of refined sugar added.

I tweaked the cherry pie filling a bit by heating it with one tablespoon each of lemon juice and brandy. You may want to add some sugar if you find the cherries too sour, but do not omit the lemon juice. Believe me, it will mask the 'canned-taste' (or 'freezer-taste,' in my case).

After cutting the cake in half, I then doused it with more brandy before pouring the filling.

I used a chocolate buttercream to ice the cake. You can search then net for a chocolate buttercream recipe, but i simply used equal amounts of creamed butter and the chocolate condensed milk icing my family typically uses for traditional chocolate cakes. (Scroll down this previous post and the recipe is somewhere there.)

More Vietnamese Food from Le Phi

2008-04-10T16:34:00.007+08:00

We were craving for some Vietnamese and Singaporean food, so we decided to drop by last Saturday's Salcedo Market Food Fair. To our disappointemnt, the Singaporean chicken stall was not there, so my parents and I ended up buying some chicken inasal and some Vietnamese goodies.

The Vietnamese lady not only had the usual fresh spring rolls and rice cake, but some salads as well. The shrimp salad on the left is really very tasty. The shrimp were stir-fried in garlic and lemon grass, then laid on a bed of chewy rice noodles, crisp lettuce and lots of fragrant Asian basil. It was an explosion of flavors and textures. Of course, the nuoc cham dressing, made of sugar, garlic, fish sauce and chillies rounded the whole thing up!

It seems as if business is really booming for this lady - she used to sit on her chair rolling up spring rolls herself, but this time she had two slaves (pictured here) doing that for her. Also, she is now selling dried rice noodles and salads (previously, these had to be ordered in advance). [I took this picture by the way with the intention of getting the face of the lady whose elbow could be seen on the right. Quite an annoying Chinese lady - she elbowed me and my mom out of the front without even excusing herself! Hmp!]

Of course, we had to buy several boxes of the fresh Vietnamese spring rolls and the green Vietnamese 'rice cake' (a green and yellow kutsinta/ sapin-sapin made out of rice and yellow mung beans).

Crabs, crabs and more crabs!

2008-04-06T14:33:00.009+08:00

A whole box of mud crabs was sent to my dad by one of his friends and we couldn't be happier having them the whole day! Pinoys usually just steam them, with a dipping sauce of vinegar with crushed garlic. I really would not eat it this way as I hate raw vinegar and I really think this does not do justice to the sweetness of the crab.

I really think the Pinoy way of steaming crabs is nothing but "lutong tamad" (lazy cooking). Fresh live crabs are put straight into a steamer or a pot with some boiling salted water. No cleaning. No seasonings. If they crabs then taste fishy, you deserve it! You didn't even bother to scrub off the grit and mud from the shells, at the very least!

And so I normally just pass up the opportunity to eat crabs if they are plain steamed the local way. And I certainly would turn down requests to stir-fry crabs that have been previously cooked. For sure the meat has taken on whatever flavor the mud and dirt had!

I know the thought of scrubbing and shelling live crabs sound bloody, but there is a way around it. Throw in the crabs in a deep pot of ice water and weigh down for about an hour or so. The crabs will go to 'sleep' and will be immobile (and dead) by the time you are ready to scrub them. This will not only appease whoever will be cleaning the crabs but the tree-huggers and animal lovers as well.

Scrub all the mud off the shell of the crabs, especially those in the joints. Lift the flap on the belly of the crab, then insert a knife into the cavity at the base to remove the top shell. Reserve all the fat/ tamales that falls off. Remove the gills/ dead man's fingers, and scrub at the part as it is likely to have plenty of mud and dirt. remove the mouth area as well. Cut the crab in half, then each into three segments. You can find a step-by-step instruction on how to clean and prepare crabs here, which is more or less similar to what I had enumerated.

Sprinkle the crab pieces with some salt and pepper (and some chicken powder, if you like), then with about a tablespoon or two of cornstarch (preferrably sweet potato flour) for every whole crab. Fry in oil until lightly browned. The crabs will continue cooking in the sauce later on.

The crabs we got were a bit fatty, so i scooped out all the tamales, dredged them in cornstarch and fried them lightly as well. This will become the thickener for the sauce.

The crab pictured above is the Vietnamese Tamarind Crabs (Cua Rang Voi Sot Me). Think sweet and sour sauce, only that tamarind was used to sour the sauce.

It is important to mix and taste the sauce ahead of the stri fry. For two pieces of medium crabs, mix together one tablespoon of tamarind paste, three tablespoons fish sauce, 1/4 cup rice wine and about one teaspoon each of brown sugar and crushed white pepper. Adjust the proportions according to your taste. You may need to add more sugar, depending on how sour the tamarind is. Again, this should taste sweet and sour, with the fruity acidity of the tamarind being a bit more predominant. Set aside the mixture.

In a hot wok with about three tablespoons of oil, saute three spring onions cut into segments, four cloves crushed garlic and one thumb-size piece of sliced ginger. You may add in about four lemon grass roots as well, as I did. Add in the crabs as the mixture becomes fragrant. Pour in the sauce and the fried crab fat pieces. You may need to add an additional 1/4 cup water and increase the heat to high to boil off the excess liquid as the crabs stew.

Serve with rice.

I had a few more prepared fried crabs left and decided to do a Malaysian-style dish. I saw it prepared on Discover Travel and Living. I did not have any ginger torch, so I used plain ginger root. I did not have sambal as well, so I made use of the regular chili garlic sauce.

This Ketam Sri Wangi is much more flavorful than the tamarind crabs, but less fruity. I still prefer the Vietnamese version, but I like this one as well.

Roast Tenderloin of Pork

2008-04-05T14:54:00.005+08:00

I've been making roast porkloin for quite some time now and I really could not get the seasonings and cooking time right. The "pork roast" or "pork loin" available at local supermarkets are always end up rubbery and bland after coming out of my oven. Things have improved, but I'm not there yet.

Just the other day, I decided to try the more expensive cut of meat - pork tenderloin. With just a few hours of marination, my roast came out juicy, tender and really flavorful. I don't think I want to do roast pork with other cuts of meat ever again!

First, I marinated the two pieces of tenderloin in a mixture of chopped garlic (four cloves), a bunch of fresh thyme, half a teaspoon of salt, black pepper and extra virgin olive oil. I left it for about three hours in the ref, then I wrapped them with bacon and tied it with kitchen string to even out the shape. I know, bacon and pork! It actually sounds worse than it actually is. Tenderloin is very lean and will undoubtedly become rubbery and dry when cooked. Bacon helps keep it moist. Further, I only use thick cuts of lean bacon. I set the roast on a pan with about two chopped onions, two garlic cloves and one chopped Granny Smith apple. I tucked in a few bay leaves as well.

I baked the pork in a 400 degree preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes (well done). Fifteen minutes cooking time would have yielded a medium-rare to medium well pork. I let this rest a good 30 minutes before cutting.

For the sauce, I poured in a half a cup of orange juice, half a cup of fresh mango puree and one tablespoon balsamic vinegar and reduced it on the stove. Then I pureed and strained it.

Bacon and Seafood Pasta

2008-04-05T14:26:00.005+08:00

I wouldn't really credit the Italians for this one. (My previous pasta blog isn't Italian anyway.) As far as I know, bacon and seafood isn't a classic combination, at least by European standards. (And the 'bacon' Italians use - pancetta - is not smoked!) Yes, the Italians are quirky about their seafood - 'cheese and seafood do NOT go together,' 'only white wine can be used,' 'smokiness of the bacon masks the flavor,' etc. I quite agree, and this is probably the first time I am making a pasta with both bacon and seafood combined. Well, blame my freezer. I was only trying to dispose of the bits I found while cleaning it.

On a hot pan, add in about a handful of chopped bacon, around 200g (nowadays you can just buy bacon bits, so no need for chopping). Render the fat until the bacon bits have become crispy. Push them to one side of the pan then add in one chopped onion and about three to four cloves of chopped garlic, more if you like.

Then toss in about 200g each (about a handful) of shelled and deveined shrimp, and scallops. Make sure the seafood are really fresh, and should not smell fishy at all. Also, the meat should be firm. If they're spongy, then they've probably been in and out of the freezer too many times, and you'll notice them shrink to the size of raisins as they get sauteed. Toss the seafood around the pan just until most of the shrimp are pink. Quickly, scoop all of the shrimps and scallops with a slotted spoon and set aside. We only want them to be slightly cooked at this point.

Then, deglaze the pan with a cup of white wine and reduce by at least half. Make sure to scrape the bits sticking at the bottom. Add in about one teaspoon of fresh thyme. After the reduction, pour in two cups of cream (or two cups half and half). Add in the seafood, then adjust the seasonings. As the sauce comes to a simmer, dump in the pasta (I prefer linguine) and toss until all strands are coated. Finally, sprinkle with a handful of chopped Italian parsley. Serve with garlic bread. NO cheese!

Quick Chorizo Pasta

2008-04-05T14:18:00.004+08:00

This one is really quick and simple. On a hot pan set on medium heat, dump in around 200g of chopped chorizo. I prefer the fresh ones that you buy from delis, not the ones that come canned. The fresh ones tend to crisp up during cooking, and tastes better.

The pan has to be set on medium heat in order to render the golden fat out fo the chopped sausages slowly. A pan that is too hot would have just burned the outside of the chorizo bits while the inside is still rubbery. This takes around five minutes - just until the sizzle has died down a bit.

Next throw in one chopped onion, and cook until tender. Then dump in two cloves of chopped garlic and two large (or four small) chopped fresh tomatoes. Cook until tender, which takes absolutely no time at all (about a minute). If the pan gets a little too dry, pour in half a cup of white wine or water.

Dump in the pasta and cook one minute. Dish up.

Nigella's Crab Pasta

2008-04-01T15:54:00.004+08:00

I just love everything Nigella! I love the simplicity of all her recipes. And they are quite flavorful, too!

A friend of my dad's recently sent us a shipment of mud crabs from his farm. I made several batches of stir-fried crabs - one a Vietnamese-style tamarind crab then the Malaysian Ketam Sri Wangi. (will post the recipes when I have the time).

The small crabs left after we sorted out the large ones for the stir-fry were steamed for later use. I was pondering what to do with them as I almost never cook with already-steamed crabs. I decided to make some pasta with the meat.

I just followed Nigella's recipe, but left out the watercress which is rather hard to find locally, and I am a bit squeamish of raw greens grown on freshwater plots (but I do eat a LOT of veggies).

I used up two medium-sized crabs, although I think I should have used more. There were only two crabs left, so I used crab sticks as extenders. However, I do caution against using too much of it as it has a different flavor versus the real crab meat. This "sauce" tastes better if you leave it to marinade about a day in the refrigerator before tossing it with the freshly-cooked pasta.

Hot Cross Buns

2008-04-01T15:38:00.005+08:00

I was browsing for a Good Friday bread recipe when I came across this one. The moment that blog mentioned Good Friday, then I knew I just had to make this bread.

I did not have a spice mix, so I just used 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg with 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, and the zest of one lemon and one orange. They made for a very fruity aroma combined with the cinnamon.

This bread is much more dense than previous breads I've made, at least during the kneading process.

I know the recipe calls for a paste to be piped out into crosses on top of the buns. I couldn't care less for tasteless paste, so I omitted that step.

And instead of adding a sweet sugar glaze, I just topped the buns with a mixture of powdered sugar and melted butter that people can peel off if they find it too sweet.

Yes, this bread is as good as that blog claims it to be and I will definitely make this again!

Tuna Macaroni

2008-04-01T14:53:00.004+08:00

In the good old 80s, and thanks to the absence of cable tv, Pinoys had absolutely no knowledge how the Italians had their pasta - simple, often meatless, and prepared just before the meal with only a handful of quality ingredients. Or at least that was my impression. After all, with the mention of spaghetti, only one thing came to mind in those days - spaghetti noodles with a sweet Bolognese sauce (ground beef in tomato sauce). Baked macaroni likewise was Bolognese-based, had elbow-shaped pasta and was baked with tons of cheese, and apart from these three things was basically the same as spaghetti.

Pinoys were largely oblivious of pasta puttanesca as well as the seafood-based sauces. Hence, recipes like this tuna macaroni were largely a novelty, especially during Lent. I think it was a good way for manufacturers to advertise products, like tomato sauce and cream that can be used on Lenten seafood dishes apart from the usual caldereta and fruit salad, respectively. Why the mention of advertising? Because recipes like these usually come out as features on broadsheets the week before Lent. In fact, this one was from a newspaper clipping that my aunt pasted on her cooking diary. She used to make it for Lent. Everyone, even myself I suppose, loved it. Keep in mind, this was the time that tomato-based dishes, for them to be special had to have a touch of cream; and the cream-based pasta dishes had to have a hint of tomato. During the pre-Asian Food Channel/ Food Network, this was a really good. This is your typical back-of-the-carton Magnolia Cream or back-of-the-label Del Monte tomato sauce recipe.

My aunt, who by the way is a pious old maid, gave me a copy of this recipe in the hope that it would one day inspire me to be more religious as I would be eating fish instead of meat during Lent. So I took the recipe and inserted it on an old notebook and forgot about it for years. Fastforward 2008, this recipe fell off that old notebook as I was clearing away some of my things. I thought of making it, for old times' sakes, and because I thought that it required ingredients that needed to be disposed from the pantry. I updated the recipe, of course with other stuff from the pantry.

Tuna Macaroni
On a large saute pan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Saute one chopped large onion and one medium carrot until tender. Add in three cloves of chopped garlic and saute until you can smell the garlic.

Add in one can of drained sliced mushrooms, one cup sliced olives (green or balck, whichever you prefer) and two cups of canned (or leftover) tuna (salmon works well, too).

Pour in 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce, one cup cream of mushroom soup and one cup milk. Simmer. Season with salt, pepper and one teaspoon fresh thyme, and a bunch of chopped basil. Turn off the heat and add in one cup of cream. Adjust seasonings.

Toss in one package of cooked macaroni (I used fusili). Arrange in ove-proof dishes and bake until top is browned.

The original recipe calls for two cups to cheese to be incorporated into the sauce, plus another cup for topping. I try not to blaspheme the Italians, so I did not bother adding cheese to my seafood. No one missed it.

Cream cake

2008-03-12T11:34:00.007+08:00

Armed with leftover sponge cake frome my previous project, I decided to make some cream cake, or whatever you'd call this cake layered with cream/ pudding the the tradition of trifles.

I layered the sponge cake with the cream filling.

I made the cream filling by folding in 2 cups of custard which I made from an instant mix. It is actually used quite a lot in Hong Kong for making desserts, and even breading some meats!

I followed the instructions on the back of the can. While still warm, I mixed in around a tablespoon of butter. After it has cooled completely I folded in one package of cream that has been whipped. Lastly, I added some diced mangoes.

It is best to refrigerate this overnight so the cream will set. It doesn't tolerate heat well.

This dessert is really quick and simple, and you can fold in whatever fruit you like. The cream and sponge are both very light and airy.

Cheesecake with sponge crust

2008-03-10T19:17:00.011+08:00

They say there are only three general types of cheesecake - New York style, Italian and Japanese. (Yes, I agree that frozen or no-bake cheesecakes are mere flans!) New York style is dense and rich and relies on industrial amounts of creamcheese, with the traditional Graham cracker crust. Italian uses mascarpone. Japanese, on the other hand is more like sponge cake, but made with creamcheese. Others contest that there are more.

So when I recently bought some European creamcheese (which for some reason I thought was Danish) at the supermarket (the usual brands were out of stock), I was rather intrigued on reading a cheesecake recipe calling for a sponge cake crust! (I later googled "danish cheesecake and it seems that the Danes use either bread for cheesecake crusts!)

Further, on opening the package at home, this French creamcheese was a bit less watery than the American brand, and less sour, too. It was sold in boxes of 200g as opposed to 225g (American).

The recipe called for only one creamcheese to I thought it was worth a try.

Kiri Chef (brand) Baked Cheesecake

Line springform pan (18cm) with parchment paper. Preheat oven 325*F.

Line the bottom of the pan with a 1cm-thick sponge cake. (I baked the sponge cake in the same pan the day before. I used a simple sponge cake recipe - more like lady fingers instead of the traditional sponge cake.)

In a bowl, cream 200g creamcheese with 70g icing sugar and the zest of one lemon (I used orange). Add in 150g sour cream, 2 eggs, 20g cornstarch, 150g cream, and 10g lemon juice (I used orange as well) mixing well after each addition.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 60 minutes.

After baking for an hour, the cake comes out puffy. Let cool completely on the pan set on a rack. Chill before unmoulding.

I put the cheesecake in the refrigerator overnight to allow it to completely set, before I unmoulded and sliced it. It developed a crack while cooling. This is normal for cheesecakes.

Variation: you may add 30g dried raisings soaked in rum and 30g toasted pine nuts into the batter.

The sponge I used was rather dry (expected as it was designed for making trifles), but had become moist as it steamed during baking. The cheesecake layer was creamy and rich. It was not as dense as the New York style, but was a bit softer. I quite like it as the cheese layer was a melt-in-the-mouth experience!

Pear Upside-Down Cake

2008-03-09T10:02:00.008+08:00

What to do with a stash of ripe fruits? Make cakes... upside down cake!

I had a stash of D'Anjou pears in my refrigerator, and they were already quite ripe. I have been having these pears for several straight weeks since they first appeared in the local market. So I had to use them, rather than let them go bad. I am not tired of these pears, I'm just salivating at the sight of Philippine mangoes (carabao mango) I haven't had for weeks. Believe me, I am as much a fan of Red D'Anjou pears as much as I am of Philippine mangoes.

I first came across these red pears during my stay in Munich (2006). I used to have them everyday for breakfast. They were sweet, juicy and somewhat soft compared to the Japanese and Korean pears. Above all, it had a perfumy quality - the smell and taste of this pear was quite strong compared to the Asian pears. It's aroma rivalled that of a musk melon (in intesity, not the actualy scent). It was like none I've eaten before! I first bought a few, then bought kilos after I've tasted them. I never found out the name while in Germany as the storekeeper near my apartment never spoke English. I had to search for it on the internet. So it was indeed a blessing when these appeared in the local supermarkets.

So off I googled and searched for a pear cake recipe and what came out were upside-down cake recipes. I adapted the one I got from marthastewart.com.

The upside-down cake I grew up eating were the pineapple ones my grandmother always bought from Princess Delan's, or those she made herself. That bakeshop was a small store in our town, and sad to say it closed down already (unless they relocated). The pineapples they used were tart, but was bathed in an overly sweet dark brown syrup, and accented with some cinnamon. The sweet and sour flavors cancelled each other, but it was an explosion of flavors, nonetheless. How can a kid not like that? Its cake base was, like most commercially-made cakes, was light, fluffy but rather dry. The syrup was supposed to help. The cake bought from the store wasn't the best, at least for me (and I know many will disagree), but it was a fun and interesting cake and definitely better than any birthday cake from any party, even my own.

Since I didn't have pineapple on hand (and I'm not a big fan of the fruit anyway - unless eaten fresh in its purest form), I decided to use the stash of pears ripening in the ref, and this cake, I thought, was one of the best ways to use them.

I thought the vanilla in the batter wasn't the most appropriate flavoring as it might come in conflict with the perfuminess of the pears. Instead, I added the grated zest of one lemon plus one teaspoon of finely grated fresh ginger. I thought of adding ginger since some recipes I came across added dried ginger and molasses. I'm not a fan of molasses, so I never gave those recipes a second thought. Ginger, especially when fresh accents the freshness of the fruits and actually complements the lemon flavor. I always use fresh instead of dried as the latter sometimes tastes "off."

Following the recipe, I arranged the pear slices on the bottom of a pan with the topping. By the way, I tossed the sweet pears with the juice of a lemon prior to arranging them. What better way to use the zested fruit than trowing it away?

The batter, even after folding in the whites was rather thick and dense. I was really concerned, but the cake came out soft and moist. Not as fluffy as a sponge cake, but moist and crumbly enough to require a fork when eating it.

I quite like this cake, and would definitely make this again, with pears or other fruit. It is good served warm or cold. Perhaps, when I need a break from my mangoes, then I will try and make a Mango Upside-down cake!

Stewed Beef, Chinese Style

2008-03-07T13:24:00.006+08:00

I am actually not a big fan of beef, no matter how lean it is. It has a very strong flavor and is quite rich. I don't mind beef every now and then, but I definitely can't have it everyday.

It's been a while since I last had beef when I came across this Oxtail Stew recipe. With the anise seeds and soy sauce, I thought it was similar to the braised beef that the Chinese often make and use for noodles. So I modified the recipe a bit and made a batch using beef short ribs. I boiled the beef until it was extremely tender and even the cartilage (not only the tendons) were all soft and falling off the bone. The dish was quite rich (because of gelatin-steeped sauce from the beef) but the seasonings made for a refreshing flavor that cut through the richness of the meat.

I saved the leftovers and used them for topping some beef-flavored noodles. If I still had any more leftovers, I would have added them to vegetable stir-frys, but they were all gone the following day!

To make the braised beef, I followed the recipe for braised oxtail, but substituted the cloves with one dried tangerine peela and one cinnamon stick. These two added a pungent fruity flavor to the dish. Also, I pan-fried the short ribs until brown instead of browning them in the oven. I did this for no reason at all except that I was in a bit of a hurry to finish browning the meat.

More Chocolate Cookies!

2008-03-05T11:45:00.007+08:00

Having successfully made Martha Stewart's chekerboard cookies, I was inspired to experiment with more of her cookie recipes from her site. So I was basically making cookies for the whole month of December - another batch as soon as the previous had been completely devoured.

I came upon this recipe for Mocha Slice cookies. The technique was simple. It was a dough cookie, so it was similar the the checkerboard cookies I made. However, I did not have cocoa nibs, so I used some toasted walnuts instead.

I skipped rolling the cookies in sugar.

Then I simply could not resist making a cookie with the classic combination of dark chocolate and mint. The original recipe was reminiscent of after-dinner mints. But I could not resist being generous with the filling.

I added pepermint oil to both the dough and filling, by the way
to offset the bitterness of the dark chocolate (instead of sweetening the filling.)

Dark Chocolate Cupcake with Coconut Topping

2008-03-05T11:10:00.013+08:00

When it comes to cupcakes, this lady rocks! She makes cupcakes with very interesting combinations of exotic ingredients. Amazingly, most of her creations come out fantastic. The best part is that she shares her recipes and insights behind the ideas.

Inspired by the cupcakeblog, I decided to make my own chocolate cupcake. I wanted something dense and rich and moist - no the ordinary fluffy and sometimes crumbly devil's food cake. I searched her web pages and came across an interesting combination of chocolate cupcake with a coconut topping. She called the combination "German" so I just assumed that chocolates and coconuts are a classic combination for the Germans. (After all, this combination comes out when you google "german chocolate cake," and about all of the German pralines I bought in Munich some years ago were filled with coconut.)

The cupcakes for that recipe was the plain old devil's food cake. So I searched some more and came across a really rich chocolate recipe. I decided to use this instead.

The cupcakes came out perfect!

They were a bit fluffy, but not as domed-up as the cupcake lady's.

So I then set them on a rack to cool completely before icing.

(One cupcake came out marbled - another reason to cover it up with a topping.)

The topping came out a bit more "runny" than in the original recipe, but that was because I used equal amounts of evaporated milk and condensed instead of milk and sugar.

Yummy, yummy!

Checkerboard Cookies

2008-02-29T22:17:00.003+08:00

I made these cookies some time before Christmas, intending them as giveaways. They never made it to the packaging!

The dough is actually quite simple, and the process of assembling seems complex, but it is actually quite easy.

Check out the recipe at this site. Enjoy!

Creamy Prawn Pasta

2008-02-29T15:59:00.004+08:00

Everyone kept complaining that my prawn chowder was too rich and creamy. I admit, I may have needed some watering down.

I was already too tired of this chowder that I decided to just make in into a pasta sauce. I know, I put in potatoes in that chowder, but if I water (err, maybe milk) it down a bit more, then it wouldn't matter.

So that's what I did, I boiled the chowder with two cups of milk added and some chopped fresh basil leaves for added flavor. I adjusted the seasonings and tossed it with some pasta.

The chowder that no one dared to touch for two days in my ref was gone in less than an hour!

Two more doses of Satay!

2008-02-14T15:34:00.005+08:00

After making a plateful of beef and kangkong satay some days ago, I was determined to make several more dishes using the really wonderful spicy and flavorful satay sauce I bought on trip to HK. It was a good thing we had a lot of greens stocked up in our refrigerator!

So I made this dish the same manner I made the satay kangkong, except that I substituted half a head of cabbage and one carrot for one bunch of kangkong. I substituted the beef with some fishballs. I added a few pieces of julienned mushrooms as well. The veggies, especially the carrots made the sauce somewhat sweeter this time, but still spicy anf flavorful nonetheless.

The next day, I sauteed some beef and Taiwanese pechay (choy sum) in satay, adding some carrots and tofu. I watered it down with some beef broth then added some sotanghon (mung bean noodles). The amount of water you put depends on the package instructions. It was again fantastic!

Prawn Chowder

2008-02-14T15:27:00.003+08:00

I originally wanted to make a New England clam chowder, but clams were not in season. I had a stash of prawns in my freezer and made some prawn chowder instead.

I merely followed the recipe on Martha Stewart's site, but substituted one pound of pelled and deveined prawn meat. I used the shells and heads to make prawn broth to water down the soup.

My version ended up a bit thicker, perhaps because I used Nestle thick cream. I also grated the potatoes into the broth instead of cutting them into cubes.

Satay Kangkong

2008-02-08T20:53:00.002+08:00

We ate at a Chiu Chow restaurant in Hong Kong and we were served a plateful of beef and broccoli leaves sauteed in satay sauce. The combination worked. I mean, how could you go wrong with broccoli and beef? But I never liked satay that much - perhaps because it tasted as if they toned down the strong flavors of satay with something that resembled oyster sauce or fisch sauce.

Anyway, I bought a bottle of satay while in HKG and brought it home to use. I made my own version, but this time using a bundle of Chinese kangkong (grown on land instead of water - making them more tender).

On a very hot pan, saute a handful of sukiyaki-cut beef that has been marinated in one teaspoon each of soy sauce and cornstarch. Cook until seared but still rare. Set aside.

On the same hot pan, saute a tablespoon each of chopped garlic, ginger and onions. Add one stalk of sliced celery (believe me, the sweetness and fragrance of the celery really complements the spiciness of the satay). Add the kangkong stalks and cook until bright green in color. Add the leaves and the beef.

Add one tablespoon each of satay sauce and oyster sauce. Dilute with water and simmer until kangkong is of desired tenderness.

Taro Cake

2008-02-08T20:41:00.001+08:00

Everybody likes dim sum! And what dim sum meal would be complete without the fried turnip/ radish cake? As Chinese New Year was just around the corner when i visited HKG, almost all the food shops were selling their own version of radish cake.

It is common to find them here, so I decided to buy Taro cake instead. I am not a fan of taro as it is "heavy" and rich. But I do eat it once in a while especially when cooked a special way. So I bought one tub of taro cake from Wing Wah for my parents.

Surprisingly, it was quite "light" and soft. It was also very flavorful. It tasted almost like the normal radish cake except it had the perfumy-ness of taro. Yum!

Hong Kong

2008-02-08T20:38:00.000+08:00

I've not really been busy...just plain lazy! Sorry I have tons of stuff to post!

To begin with, I just came from HKG a week ago. You can find some of my pics here. I am yet to post the pics I took last November when i travelled for free using my mileage.

Shrimp Salad

2008-01-12T15:11:00.001+08:00

Plump and crisp pieces of shrimp in a smooth tangy dressing. Yum!

I saw a couple of shelled fresh white shrimp in the supermarket today and Shrimp salad was the first thing that went into my mind!

I could never forget the rows of seafood stalls at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco when I visited in 2004. Every one of them was selling the same thing - shrimp salad on crusty bread, or pieces of king crab legs. The colors were so fresh and vibrant - attesting to their freshness. I just wish I could say the same about their taste. Everything was bland and flat. They did not skimp on the salt but that was basically it. I pity the fresh seafood had to bathe in a very lifeless and boring dressing!

For a really good Shrimp Salad/ Spread, make sure the shrimp are fresh! Peel and de-vein the shrimp and rinse with salt and water. Dump the prepared shrimp in a pot of boiling stock (I add celery leaves, lemon, onions, and or dill stems to my stock - basically the leftover of the dressing ingredients). Cook for a good two or three minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp, then shock in a bowl of ice water.

For the dressing, mix the following: 1/2 cup chopped celery stalks, 2 tablespoons chopped onions, one chopped garlic clove, one cup sour cream, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, two tablespoons mustard. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss in the shrimp. This salad is best when allowed to "cure" one day in the ref. Serve with crusty bread.

Leftover Turkey?

2008-01-12T14:43:00.004+08:00

As usual, we had a whole turkey roasted and carved for Christmas Eve dinner. We usually have Butterball turkey but the supermarket only had Norbest in stock. This brand turned out to be better - it was easier to cook as it came with its own "thermometer," and the bird roasted just until the inside was cooked through but still juicy and tender.

Six very hungry persons weren't able to devour the whole bird. So what did I do with the leftovers?

Sandwich

I flaked some of the leftover meat, tossed it with some gravy just to moisten them up, then stuffed them into crusty baguettes with some veggies.

I also made some Turkey Pie

I basically made a white sauce, folded in the flaked turkey with some sauteed mushrooms, carrots, potatoes and peas.

Then I experimented with some crusts, sort of. I used a basic flaky pie-crust for my first pie.

Then I ran across a recipe for a cream-cheese pastry which was easy to make, but unbelievably flaky!

I always experiment with turkey leftovers! After all, this bird only comes to our house once a year!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-12T14:43:00.001+08:00

A new year and a new look!

Greetings, everyone!

Diploma?

2007-12-26T12:23:00.000+08:00

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After greeting everyone in a few foreign languages, I just got a diploma for my blog!

Merry christmas again!

Christmas Dinner

2007-12-26T12:11:00.000+08:00

Tonight is born our Savior, Jesus Christ! Rejoice!

Christmas had always been a time to reflect and spend time with family. Tonight, we are having a simple dinner: Roast Turkey with Orange Gravy, Buttered Vegetables and some Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Maligayang Pasko sa inyong lahat!

Kurismasu Omedetou Gozaimasu!

Froehliche Weinachten!

My Blog's Readability

2007-12-26T12:07:00.000+08:00

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You need to be at least a college undergrad to read my blog. Ahem, ahem.

Baked Salmon Steak

2007-12-23T13:52:00.001+08:00

Salmon, though moist and tender when eaten raw (smoked or sashimi) can get very tough and dry when cooked. It may even taste off. Hence, it has to be seasoned well and cooked in the right amount of time.

I recently bought a small piece of salmon fillet and thought of baking it with a simple seasoning. I seasoned the slab of fish with plenty of pepper, then applied a generous amount of garlic spread I made earlier on the surface.

I baked the fish at 350 degrees for around 10 minutes. Remember, roasts continue to cook even after you have taken it out of the oven due to residual heat.

Garlic Butter

2007-12-23T13:43:00.002+08:00

Many think it is a mere combination of garlic and butter. But I always try and add a few other stuff to make things more flavorful.

This "spread" is quite versatile. I spread it one bread then toast them to make garlic bread. On occasion, I smear it on cuts of meat or seafood then bake it, much like the French baked escargots. For quick sides, you can melt spoonfuls of this compound to saute some cut or precooked veggies.

I used up three whole heads of garlic, peeled and chopped. This makes for a very strong garlicky paste. You can use two or even one head if you want it milder. I also added some chopped parsley both for color and flavor. I used flat-leaf parsley as it gives a more herb-y flavor that curly-leaf parsley.

In a blender or mixer, beat one cup of butter. Add in the chopped garlic and chopped parsley. Mix well. Slowly add in 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil. This will make the mixture spreadable and of course, healthy. Season with salt and pepper.

Salcedo Village Saturday Market

2007-12-23T12:57:00.000+08:00

I typically hate going to markets. Markets are almost always a disorganized place. Goods are scattered everywhere, hawkers shouting, and some of the produce reek of foul odor. So this was one of the really rare occasions I visited a "market."

This market being on a Saturday, and at the heart of the city's posh business district, one could only surmise that their standards should be a bit higher. True enough, half the stalls were selling cooked food - specialty cuisine you won't get anywhere in Manila. Most of the vegetables were clean and crisp, and the fresh seafood were typically frozen.

We entered from the side of the Saturday market, from Salcedo park, and we were immediately greeted by a waft of fresh seafood air! It wasn't really foul, but you could tell there was fish blood somewhere. They were selling freshwater prawns by the way. (Ulang in the local language).

Other stalls were selling ornamental plants and other inedible goods.

An heirloom restaurant was selling their famed lengua in white wine, fabada asuriana and the really scrumptious slow roasted pork. They also had a whole rack of bottled queso de bola spread, so it is apparently very popular.

There was a Singaporean lady selling some chicken rice. I just had to get myself some! Half of that whole stack of chicken was gone by the time we circled her store a second time.

A French guy had a whole army of maids selling some really yummy French food. The price was reasonable, so we just had to buy a whole roasted chicken and some duck. We totally forgot he had some pate with armagnac on sale.

The French guy was also selling some fine savory tarts.

I just thought a picture of the buko jelly was worth posting.

Another stall specializes in carabao's and goat's milk products. They even have sugra-free pastillas!

We were done shopping for food when we came across this Vietnamese lady selling fresh spring rolls. We had to make room in our basket for one pack. It was simple, healthy yet really heavenly. We are sure to return, if only for this!

One end of the market was actually flooded with barbecue stalls. This is just one of the "hundreds" of other stalls selling barbecue.

My father could not stop ogling at the lechon kawali. But he is on a diet in preparation for Christmas eve dinner, so he eventually let go.

More to come about this market on succeeding visits. Also watch out for features about the food!

Brandy Prune Cake

2007-12-22T15:17:00.001+08:00

I was craving for something decadent the other day and was actually planning on making a really rich chocolate cake, perhaps the flourless type. But then I learned we ran out of chocolate! Ugh! Bordering on a nervous breakdown, I grabbed the remianing bottle of brandy on the pantry and opened my aunt's moldy recipe box. I was hoping to come across a recipe calling for copious amounts of alcohol. I was not disappointed when this old acquaintace popped out of the files.

This cake brings back memories of the 80s. Not that I am capable of remembering much of it! LOL! Not many bake shops offered this cake during those years, at least not Red Ribbon and Goldilocks, but mostly specialty cake stores and hotels instead.

The texture of this cake is reminiscent of a fluffy Food for the gods, yet has some other-wordly characters to it. The cake is typically doused with quality brandy before being iced with a prune buttercream. The prunes are really sweet, yet they retain a fruity flavor, unlike dates. It is a truly indulgent treat!

A picture of the recipe shows that the index card where the recipe was written may even be older than I am. Reading it is even more disturbing: the person who came up with this recipe is so obsessive-compulsive that she calls for 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder, 3/4 cup evap + 1 tablespoon vinegar. I rounded off all ingredients to the nearest whole or half.

Cake

Prepare the prune paste: chop 1 1/2 cup of prunes and boil with 1/2 cup of water (or more) and 1/4 cup brandy. Add more water or brandy so that liquid barely covers the prunes on the pan. Simmer until half of this liquid has evaporated. Turn off heat and let cool, mixing occasionally. The prune pieces will soften, and remaining liquid will evaporate as it cools. Cool completely.

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Line pans with parchment. Alternatively, you can butter and flour the pans instead. To make a large cake, prepare two 9-inch cake pans to end up with two 9-inch layer cakes. I prepared two 6-inch deep pans instead to come up with two medium-sized cakes.

Sift together the dry ingredients: 2 1/4 cups cake flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, one teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt (I reduced the amount because I used salted butter). If you like nuts, toss in one cup of toasted chopped walnuts. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat 1 cup butter with 1 1/2 cups sugar (I used only one cup as I already found the prunes sweet). Beat in eggs one at a time until mixture is light and fluffy. Add one teaspoon of vanilla and two tablespoons brandy.

At low speed, add the dry ingredients alternating with the wet ingredients. I started with 1/3 of the flour mixture, then one cup of sour cream plus one tablespoon lemon juice (or vinegar, as the original recipe calls for). Then I added another third of the flour mixture, then one cup (only!) of prune paste, then the remainder of the flour.

Pour into pans and bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cakes on pan for 15 or so minutes before turning over on a rack. Cool completely before icing.

Cakes can be stored in the freezer if wrapped tighly in plastic wrap.

Icing

Instead of pure butter, I used one cup of butter and another cup of cream cheese. Beat these with a mixer and add the remaining 1/2 cup of prune paste. Add in two tablespoons or more of brandy. I then mixed in one and a half cups of powdered sugar. I should have added three cups of powdered sugar of a full and stiff icing, but the thought that diabetes runs in the family got the better of me.

For the small cakes, cut them in half and fill the centers before icing. For one large cake, the two 9-inch layers go on top of each other. Do not forget to brush the layers with brandy before icing! No one should skimp on brandy, especially if they're missing chocolates!

Pasta alla Puttanesca

2007-12-22T14:56:00.000+08:00

My brothers and I used to snicker at the name of this pasta. "Puttanesca" sounded the local word for the lady of the night. Lo and behold, this dish IS named just after that. Check this out. I did not know that Italian and Filipino (by way of Spanish, of course) shared more words in common that spaghetti (ispag-get-tee, as pronounced by the natives)!

I saw Martha Stewart whip this up so quickly on one of her shows and thought of making good use of the canned tomatoes in my pantry. I however, used a combination of canned tomatoes (for flavor and sauce) and freshly chopped ones (for texture). A simpler recipe could be found here.

It is really amazing that this recipe is so simple yet so flavorful and filling! It sauced up a whole pound of cooked pasta and most was gone the moment i dished up.

A note about the pasta: cook it about two minutes less than package directions, then add them to the simmering sauce just before it thickens to desired consistency. The remaining liquid and heat from the sauce will cook pasta through and it will even absorb most of that flavorful sauce.

Serve this as a main course with some crusty bread, or as the "starch" dish with some roast meat or fish.

Technical problems...again

2007-12-11T15:45:00.000+08:00

I'm back from my *free* trip to Hong Kong and will post some pictures of what I ate soon.

I won't be able to post entries until after this weekend. My computer crashed - for good! It will take until Friday to have the memory and hard drive replaced. Then will sort the recovered files after that.

I have a few entries for publishing that was recovered, but I lost more than half when my computer started crashing some weeks ago.

Oyster Omelet

2007-11-19T21:04:00.001+08:00

I generally don’t eat oysters, well at least the Pinoy way. People here give them a brief hot water bath then make them swim in a pool of vinegar and chopped onions. To be honest, I have never even tried it. The thought of eating slimy green blobs swimming in vinegar and raw onions is just nauseating. I hate vinegar (but not in pinaksiw, or when vinegar is cooked).

I first tasted oysters in Bangkok. In Thailand, almost everything is served swimming in chili and I thought it was an appropriate time to be adventurous. We were at a Thai-Chinese seafood restaurant and were served a plateful of oyster omelet on a sizzling platter. It was buried in a mound of julienned leeks and served with some chili paste. I actually enjoyed it, and could not believe myself. The chili and onions (!) helped initially, but I soon realized the egg actually stole away the show from the oysters. And the little blobs weren’t slimy at all. It became one of my favorite Thai/ Chinese dishes.

So, confronted with a mound of fresh oysters, I decided to make some omelet:

You can buy oysters on the shell or get the ones from the market shelled. Whatever the case may be, you need them shelled, cleaned, rinsed and briefly doused with hot water. You will need 1 cup of oyster meat. Strain then set aside.

If the oysters are “leaking out” some juice, add this to three eggs and beat until combined. Otherwise, substitute three to four tablespoons chicken stock. Season with some pepper and salt.

On a VERY HOT oiled pan, preferably non-stick, add a tablespoon of chopped garlic and two slices of ginger that have been slivered. You may adjust the proportion, but this dish is usually garlicky. Dump in the oysters (DO NOT include any water dripping from the oysters) and toss briefly. The pan has to be H-O-T so as not to make the oysters sweat, otherwise this will turn into a stew. Toss for around 20 to 30 seconds.

Lower heat to med-high, then pour in the eggs. Let the bottom part set before mixing. We are not making a pancake or the western omelet. This is more like scrambled eggs. It is difficult to give an amount of time, but you have to inspect the eggs for the doneness that you prefer.

Serve garnished with julienned spring onions, coriander leaves and chili sauce.

Fried Rice

2007-11-17T18:48:00.001+08:00

(leftover steamed rice works best for fried rice.)

It is so easy making fried rice. Not to mention the fact that it is the best way to use up leftover steamed rice!

Leftover rice works best for several reasons. First, because this is relatively dry and will absorb most of the seasonings you put. Second, the rice grains are much easier to separate once they have cooled.

You can use whatever leftover meat or fish or even vegetables as the flavoring for your fried rice. But I usually use fresh ingredients when I make some as I like having a “theme” to my dish.

Today, I made some mixed dried seafood fried rice with preserved mustard and mushrooms. Quite a long name, only because I named almost everything that’s in it!

I a small saucepan I boiled some dried seafood: shrimp, scallops and cut up dried squid (make sure you use the skinless “premium” dried squid or don’t bother at all!). I also tossed in some dried mushrooms. I find it easier and less messy to cut up the squid and mushrooms using kitchen shears prior to boiling. Add enough water to cover and boil for 30 minutes or so, just until the scallops fall apart into threads and the other seafood are tender.

Drain seafood and cut up the shrimp into small bits. You can boil off the rest of the liquid until you have around ½ cup.

For this dish, I also used up some preserved mustard. I refuse to call them pickled mustard as some Pinoys would translate “burong mustasa” as such. Firstly, they were not preserved in a sour liquid. Nor were they fermented. Rather, they are merely salted and allowed to “cure” for a couple of days.

Remove mustard from the bottle, rinse with water and squeeze. Then cut them up to small pieces.

I a large wok, heat around 2 tablespoons oil. I prefer using a non-stick pan as this would consume less oil. Sauté 3 cloves chopped garlic, one thumb-size piece of ginger chopped or cut into slivers, one medium onion sliced. Sauté until fragrant. Add the boiled dried seafood and the mustard. You would need around two to three tablespoons dried seafood and around the same amount of chopped mustard. You need to cook the mustard until its color has changed to a bright green, around a minute.

Add in three to four cups leftover steamed rice. Mix thoroughly. Season with one tablespoon chicken powder (substitute chicken bouillon cube), two tablespoons oyster sauce or soy sauce and some pepper. Add also some of the cooking liquid from the dried seafood. If using a bouillon cube, dissolve it in this liquid prior to adding. I never add salt as the previous two are already salty. Stir fry until well-mixed.

(pardon the funky chopping board - I just borrowed my mom's.)

(preserved mustard should be rinsed to remove its saltiness prior to cooking.)

(saute ingredients before adding the rice and other seasonings.)

Mango Cream Pie

2007-11-16T19:49:00.001+08:00

(this pie needs to be chilled well as it melts at room temperature.)

Mango cream tart

My mother just could not resist leaving Conti’s without buying a cake. I got her to grab the mango cream tart as we’ve never tried their version before. We have always been crazy for anything mango. In fact, during the height of Red Ribbon’s 80s success, we would always buy their mango cake, mango cream pie and mango tart.

In case you’re wondering, we did not pick the Mango Bravo (although I had to convince my mom from doing so), because I have serious issue against this thing. No, I don’t have allergies to it. But I think it does not have any right calling itself a “cake.” It is merely a toasted ground-nut meringue, iced with cream and decorated with mangoes. And oh, they put chocolate syrup on top! Sacrilege!!!

To my disappointment, their mango cream tart was just, well, mango cream in a tart shell! I was expecting something more elaborate – just like the ones at Red Ribbon. (I don’t know if they still have it.) The ones at Red Ribbon had a shortbread crust, a layer of pastry cream, I think it also had a bit of whipped cream, then a layer of mangoes, and lastly a layer of gelatin.

Today, we had some over-ripe mangoes and someone had to intervene! I did not have much time, so I made my mango cream tart in the fashion of Conti’s, but of course, mine tasted better and less commercial.

Shortbread Crust
Preheat oven 350°F.

In a bowl, mix together 2 cups flour with ½ cup confectioner’s sugar and a pinch of salt. Add in ¾ cup melted butter. Mix until mixture comes together. We are not making a traditional pastry crust here so we don’t have to worry about cutting the butter – that is why we add it in melted. This is not a flaky crust.

Press on a tart pan (8 or 9-inch round pan) and bake for 20 - 30 minutes until edges begin to brown, and surface is lightly browned. Cool on pan.

For the mango cream tart, you need to

Filling
Make some pastry cream: on a saucepan on medium heat, scald 2 cups milk (you can use half and half, or even all-cream). Add sugar (usually ½ cup or more, depending on how sweet you like it), and also around two tablespoons of powdered gelatin. Be sure to mix the gelatin with the sugar before adding them, or the gelatin will clump together.

Meanwhile on a bowl, beat together three yolks and one whole egg. When milk is about to boil, pour the milk over to the eggs while whisking to prevent them from coagulating. Pour this mixture back into the pan. Now switch gears to a wooden spoon and mix constantly until this mixture thickens to coat the back of a spoon. When thick, remove from pan and pour onto a bowl. Stir in ¼ cup of cold butter. This will help cool the mixture. Continue stirring until combined. You may also add in one teaspoon of vanilla extract. Cool completely.

When custard is cool/ room temperature, whip one cup of very cold cream until fluffy and doubled in volume. Fold in the custard. The gelatin in the custard will “gel” the whole mixture together.

Pour this mixture on to the chilled crust. Chill. When completely set and firm, decorate top with some sliced mangoes.

(press the crust on a pie plate and bake until golden and cooked through.)

(when shell is completely cooled, pour in the filling and decorate with sliced ripe mangoes. Chill until set before slicing.)

Garlic Chicken Wings

2007-11-14T19:41:00.000+08:00

(this dish has tons of garlic! but also with an Asian twist.)

Garlic lover’s Buffalo wings – that is the best I could describe this dish. This is an Asian take on that spicy chicken dish, especially for people who cannot tolerate that much heat. This dish however, is not really that mild – the flavors are strong with all that garlic and coriander stems and leaves. You can even had hoisin sauce for a stonger Asian flavor. But the combination of garlic and oyster sauce works best for me.

You can leave out the coriander if you happen not to like that herb. The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. It keeps in the ref for around a week, but the coriander flavor overpowers the garlic towards the end of several days.

Chicken
You can marinate one kilogram chicken wings or parts in a marinade similar to that for the buffalo wings, or leave it seasoned with salt and pepper.

Dredge the chicken pieces lightly in some cornstarch and fry until cooked through. Drain on a paper towel.

Sauce
Combine together the following ingredients: one tablespoon minced fresh garlic, one tablespoon chopped fresh coriander/ cilantro, two tablespoons good quality oyster sauce, one teaspoon sugar, one teaspoon lemon juice, one teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper. You may also add about one tablespoon of hoisin sauce.

Mix sauce ingredients thoroughly. Toss the hot wings or chicken parts into the sauce to coat evenly.

(season and fry the chicken parts however way you want, but leaving it a bit on the bland side is probably best so that the garlic sauce has no other flavor to compete with.)

(I made the sauce a few days ahead when i had an abundant supply of coriander/ cilantro, hence the stems and leaves have lost their bright green color, but not their flavor.)

(toss the fried chicken with the sauce to coat evenly, then serve.)

Cinnamon Rolls

2007-11-13T17:56:00.001+08:00

(Moist sweet rolls of bread perfumed with cinnamon.)

I know I swore never to come anywhere nearer than 10,000 miles of a cinnamon roll. Yes, I just hate stale (or at least dry, as you get them from food stores) bread stuffed with a gargantuan amount of cinnamon it overpowers even the tons of sugar glaze it swims in.

But I am not a hater of all bread that is rolled. I just don’t like the way most shops and people make their cinnamon rolls. It is either too sweet, has too much cinnamon, or the bread is plain thrash.

Like what I previously said, I do make my own rolls and more often than not, I fill them with stuff other than cinnamon sugar, like monggo (azuki or red beans) or apples.

So why did I finally decide to make plain old cinnamon rolls for only the third time in my life? Because, I chanced upon Peter Rheinhart’s recipe for it (here and here), and I have been dying to have his book for a very long time now (There, for all those who would be buying me something this December, here’s an idea. I pledge a year of baked goodies to whomever will give me a copy.) The recipe was taken from The Breadbaker’s Apprentice – Reinhart’s award-winning book.

The concept put forward in the recipe – that cinnamon rolls and sticky buns are two DIFFERENT entities has really won me over. On the one hand, you have a roll perfumed with cinnamon with an ample amount of sugar glaze that balances the cinnamon’s perfuminess. On the other is a roll bathing in caramel and nuts with no cinnamon to confuse its taster. And yes, the ones we see at malls and bakery fairs are the bastardized cinnamon rolls bathing in caramel! Also, Reinhart’s addition of lemon zest to the dough gives it a fruity aroma.
I made cinnamon rolls and I urge you to try one of his versions. I’ll be making sticky buns in the coming days.

(Leave enough space in the pan for rising.)

(The rolls are fully risen when the sides begin to touch each other.)

(It isn't burned! It really is a deep brown. Some glaze will conceal it later.)

(The amount of glaze looks a lot but it will "flatten out" as it dries, if you get what I mean. You can always peel off the dried glaze later on.)

I'm Back!

2007-11-13T17:53:00.000+08:00

Nope, my internet connection is still a bit iffy but i will at least try and post on this blog whenever I can...I never stopped cooking and experimenting and I have some interesting recipes coming. Stay tuned...

Indisposed

2007-10-25T20:21:00.002+08:00

I have not been posting for a long while! I was down with a flu for an entire week some time ago. Then my connection went bust. My server is apparently in the middle of fising some cables and antennae.

Stay tuned for more posts. I have been typing many of my experiments and will post them when the system clears. I still takes an eternity just to load a single pic. And this is the third time I am attempting this post. Hopefully I won't be given the "error" message when I hit "publish."

2007-10-25T20:21:00.001+08:00

My airport is slowly coming to life...

2007-10-09T14:26:00.000+08:00

With a few more details, I will finally be able to complete my airport diorama. I reached a milestone yesterday when I completed the main terminal building. I will soon link this to my satellite terminal, which I earlier made.

I would only need to draw my airport matt and buy some accessories and I will have a completed airport in the 1:500 scale.

Tuna a la pobre

2007-10-09T14:06:00.001+08:00

Fish Steaks in Garlic Oyster Sauce
(oyster sauce gives this dish an Asian twist)

This is a really quick and simple recipe for any fish steak or fillet you have. You can marinate the fish steaks ahead of time, or leave it without any seasoning until the very last minute prior to cooking when you season it with some salt and pepper.

My grandmother makes this dish a lot when we get fresh tuna or salmon steaks from the market. The sauce also works well with lightly stir-fried shrimp or fresh mushrooms lightly sautéed in butter.

Fish
Marinate fish by rubbing with this mixture: salt, pepper, garlic and lemon juice. I typically use a wedge of lemon and a clove or two of garlic for every piece of fish steak. Again, you can leave the fish unseasoned until the last minute when you sprinkle it with some salt and pepper.

Heat up a skillet to med to med-high heat. Grease pan with two tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Fry the steaks until half done. It usually takes 30 secs to one minute on each side, depending on the thickness of your steaks. You only want to give color to the fish and not cook it at this point.

Sauce
On the same pan, sauté some garlic (around three to five cloves, chopped for every steak) until lightly browned in some butter (add a tablespoon for every steak). You may drain the excess olive oil prior to adding the butter if you think there is too much. Season with some pepper and lemon juice. Add around a tablespoon of good quality oyster sauce for every steak, and around a tablespoon of water or stock.

You may add back the fish and gently cook until medium-rare. The fish will continue to cook with the residual heat on the sauce and plate. Let rest five minutes prior to serving.

Best enjoyed with white steamed rice or a crusty baguette.

Daing na Pusit (dried squid)

2007-10-09T13:29:00.001+08:00

Comparative Anatomy: Imported vs Local
(the ones i get from HK are much "sweeter" in flavor - it does not have any of that bitterness.)

Though I am crazy for everything squid, I have never liked “daing na pusit” – dried squid fried in boiling-hot oil. It is too salty and slightly bitter. Perhaps because it cooks and toasts quickly, the adherent skin always ends up slightly burned. Then it is eaten dipped in vinegar – my arch enemy! (but I do eat paksiw! And cook with it to come up with sweet and sour stir-frys!)

One December morning, while on a hunt for dried shrimp and preserved pigeon legs at Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong we chanced upon a stash of so-called “premium” dried squid. I was told it is special because of the extra cost of labor of having to skin them individually prior to drying. I bought one catty to bring home to Manila. That began my love affair with this dried seafood.

When raw, it has an ivory-beige color. Fried, it has a golden color (not brown) and sweeter taste compared to what we get locally. Crisp, but not as salty or burnt-flavored as the local variety. And it does NOT curl up on cooking!

It is also good cut up finely or otherwise (I use kitchen shears) to flavor seafood broths. The local type simply will not work as it will only impart a fishy bitter flavor.

I am still dumbfounded why no one has thought of making this locally. Skinning the squid takes it to a level of its own in the dried seafood world!

I bought a kilo of this goodie and ran out of it in less than a month!

(the local version is always dried with its skin on, making it slightly bitter when fried.)

Smoked Salmon Spread

2007-10-09T13:19:00.001+08:00

(best served over toasted bread)

Smoked salmon, an imported product has been available locally for years! Yet few seem to appreciate it. Not all major groceries have it, or at least keep large stocks of it. One would think that these groceries keep it for the expat community. Perhaps it is because Pinoys know that temperate-water fishes have that oily fishy flavor – the type that not only gives you bad breath that people around you can smell, but the breath you belch all day, intoxicating just about anyone who comes within three meters of you. Smoked, salmon is several times more oily and fishy than its natural raw state.

Yet, through all these years, smoked salmon has become more and more available, albeit in still limited quantities in a lot of groceries. Some of the local European style sausage manufacturers like “Swiss Deli” have their own smoked salmon. For years, Santi’s Deli has had its smoked tanigue.

Having seen Ina Garten in Barefoot Contessa do a spread with smoked salmon, I thought of trying out her recipe. But I had to think long and hard how to squeeze the fishy-ness out of this oily fish!

I laid out the smoked salmon slices on two sheets of kitchen towel, and covered it with another sheet. I let all the oil drain out for about 10 to 15 minutes. I know the Europeans will cry sacrilege with this, but really, most of the smoked salmon we get are too oily and fishy for our taste. You can skip this procedure depending on how much you appreciate fish oil.

I like using the Swiss Deli brand of smoked because it is not too salty and tastes and feels fresh after all that oil has been drained out. Other brands tend to have some liquid in it, making it even fishier! The Santi’s Smoked Tanigue works well with this recipe, too as it is not oily nor juicy.

On a mixing bowl, cream a whole bar (8 oz) of cream cheese with a tub (~1 cup of sour cream). Add in a finely grated small red onion. (chopped if you like them chunky). Season with salt and pepper, about two tablespoons of lemon juice, half a teaspoon Worcestershire sauce and a few drops of hot sauce (Tabasco). Taste the mixture. It should be slightly sour to offset the saltiness and the fish flavor. For a more lemony taste, you can add the zest of half to one lemon - depends on how “fragrant” you want this to be.

For some texture, I usually add in two chopped hard-boiled eggs. The yolks I mash with the dressing. The whites I chop and add later with the salmon.

Next, add in around three tablespoons of chopped fresh dill. They come in small packs in the grocery and I usually add all the chopped dill leaves this pack will yield – usually between 2 – 4 tablespoons. Don’t include the stems as they are woody! Dill adds a certain fresh flavor to this spread. Its fragrance reminds me of McDonald’s Fillet-o’-Fish!

Cut up the fish into small cubes, but do not chop! Handle them gently! Chopping or “mashing” them will release juices and make it taste “off.” Add the fish to the dressing and fold gently.

Serve over toasted bread!

(i make sure to remove all the fishy oil from the salmon fillets with the use of paper towels)

(store in an air-tight container)

Scallop Cakes

2007-10-09T13:10:00.001+08:00

(scallops - instead of crab - give this a more delicate texture and flavor.)

I previously made some prawn cakes and posted the recipe in this blog. It was inspired by Nigella’s very simple version (Forever Summer with Nigella), but of course I had to add some flavorful herbs to pull it up to my standards.

I could not find (for the past three months) any raw crab meat on the market. But there have been a lot of fresh frozen scallops. So I thought I would try substituting these for the former. Of course, it still had some prawns to give it texture and body. The result was a more delicate seafood “cake.” They were softer with a much sweeter flavor. Do make sure your raw seafood is very fresh, or was frozen fresh.

(blitz the herbs ahead of the seafood to ensure you can control the texture of the meats. this is around 70-80% scallops with the remainder being prawns/ shrimp)

(it is softer, compared to prawn cakes)

Fruitcake...Five years old

2007-10-09T12:47:00.001+08:00

(even after all that time, the cake had remained moist, but not soggy, perhaps because i doused the cake every four months or so with a bottle of rum.)

About 5 years ago today, I made this fruitcake while on sem-break during my freshman year at medical school. I graduated last year. I passed my licensure exams two months ago. And this fruitcake is still in my ref. No, it is not spoiled. It is actually delicious and quite intoxicating!

I had no intention of curing this cake this long when I baked it. I was trying out several fruitcake recipes that time and this was my third one, and the one that beat the other two. I used only dried fruits that were soaked in red wine for this recipe, and none of the candied citron peel that people still call candied dried fruits (ehem, it’s actually the PEEL of only ONE fruit). Being the third cake of the same category in a period of 10 days, people at home were pretty tired of fruitcake, a good two months ahead of the Christmas season. So I cut up the cake, placed it in an air-tight container and drowned it in a full liter of rum and cherry brandy. See you on December 25, I said.

I opened the tub on Christmas day and a waft of sweet fruity alcohol greeted my nose. The most of the liquid had evaporated and somehow escaped and the cake was now sitting on a puddle of brown syrup. I took as slice and tasted it. It was sweet but still had a very strong alcohol taste to it. The syrup, on the other hand was heavenly! It was as if I were licking fruity honey, with a hint of rum! Superb! But thinking the alcohol taste was still too strong for the octogenarians in my family, I put back the lid and saved it for New Year’s.

I forgot about this cake, until around February. The cake had aged and developed a sweet fruity mellow flavor. But there was no one to appreciate it. Everyone was tired of fruitcake. So I got a new bottle of rum, poured everything in and stored it in the ref again. This cycle went on for the next years, with me pouring a new bottle every four to six months.

It had survived all these years! The flavor had remained the same, perhaps preserved by the copious amounts of alcohol. And it wields the utmost fruitiness because I only used dried fruits – dried apples, pears, apricots, cherries, golden raisins and blueberries. I also added some walnuts and pecans. Surprisingly, the texture is quite good, too. The area that remain soaked in syrup was a bit soggy, but the upper areas were soft and moist!

I’ll be posting this recipe soon. (I obviously need to search my files as I haven’t done fruit cake in years!) I’ll be doing a fresh batch of fruitcake that I’ll store and eat perhaps when I finish residency training! Haha!

(the cake had developed a brown syrup - ffuity and intoxicating- made from semi evaporated rum.)

Two-Face Pizza

2007-10-05T17:31:00.001+08:00

(best of both worlds: the humble vegetarian on the left, the elitist carnivore's pizza on the right)

For several rainy days last June, I found myself stuck at home – hungry but not really wanting to build up all that fat. So I thought of making bread, from scratch. Kneading BURNS calories. Believe me, it IS a good workout! I would have burned all the calories I was to accumulate after the feasting.

And yes, I decided on a vegetarian pizza just so I could keep on track with the “healthy eating” theme. But I had to appease the carnivores at home as well. So I made an imaginary line on the tray and made a two face-pizza.

Dough
This is the same Focaccia dough I used for my other veggie pizza.

Veggie Toppings
Unlike the Veggie pizza I made for my birthday, this one does not have any mushrooms. There is the complete absence of any meaty flavor. But a trio of flavorful cheeses more than makes up for that!

I basically smothered the dough with the same tomato pesto for the first veggie pizza. I laid down slices of onions, tomatoes, sliced black olives and zucchini. Then I added a bunch of sliced romaine lettuce. Then I sprinkled a trio of cheeses: parmesan, mozzarella and feta. The crumbled feta has a very strong creamy but salty flavor. I think feta deserves its own pizza. Any meat would have stolen the show.

Prosciutto and Blue Cheese
This is my take on the ham and cheese pizza. But of course, with the elitist gourmet twist! We are not adding plastic pepperonis and artificial ground meat like most fast-food meatlovers’ pizzas.

On the same dough smothered with tomato pesto and herbs, I scattered a few slices of onions. Then, I sprinkled it with some chopped Prosciutto di Parma – the legendary Italian ham. It has a very strong salty-porky flavor, so I chopped only two thin slices. Then I crumbled around a tablespoon or two of blue cheese. Then loads of mozzarella. That is all there is to it.

Bake and serve.

(two-face pizza)

(the carnivore's never noticed the absence of meat - the lettuce leaves are even showing through!)

This one isn't edible either

2007-10-04T19:04:00.001+08:00

but you can certainly try...

(waling waling in bloom)

My mother is extremely proud of her flowering plants and orchids. She had been naggin me to get pictures of her blooms.

Today, two of her five waling-waling orchids are in bloom! The original plant was handed over by a grand-aunt (sister of my paternal grandfather) years ago. The mother plant, as well as the one given to my own grandmother had already died. But my mom's thrived and budded several more plants.

(the nets protect it from birds pecking on the sweet flowers.)

Chocolate Cake

2007-10-04T18:43:00.002+08:00

Some pics of the original...

Having just published a blog on sugar-free chocolate cupcakes, it pains me not to pay homage to the original chocolate cake. The recipe is identical, except for the use of brown sugar (I used isomalt for the sugar-free version), and the condensed milk icing I already posted. So here are some pictures of the original cake:

(it is human instinct that if you get smudged with that icing, you just have to lick it off!)

(brown sugar makes the cake moist and dense.)

INDULGE...

2007-10-04T18:08:00.001+08:00

It's Guilt-Free!

(why do i like making cupcakes out of cake recipes? simple: portion control!)

Sugar-free Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate cake. What more can I say? A soft, moist and fudgy treat that everyone loves! And the best part about these batch of cupcakes I made is that they’re sugar-free!

Over the last few years, I have tried various chocolate cake recipes in search of the perfect one. I have always wanted it soft – but not as airy and fluffy as sponge or chiffon. Maybe more like butter cake – dense enough to hold its moisture and suitable for light soaking in some alcohol. Then comes the perfect icing – rich, fudgy and indulgent.

I grew up eating the rich dark, almost black chocolate cake from Cookie Monster’s Bake Shop. It was so rich and sweet and moist! My father would always buy one whole, eat only a spoonful then give away the rest of the cake! Being a diabetic is never easy!

My aunt makes a similar cake that she makes for me during my childhood birthday parties. It wasn’t as dense as Cookie Monster’s, but equally indulgent because of its rich creamy icing (recipe below). She makes a chocolate chiffon iced with condensed milk icing.

For today, the following recipe is one I modified from Alton Brown’s baking book (Chocolate Fudge Cake). His recipe is a bit weird at first in that he pulverizes the baking chocolate to tiny bits and adds them to the flour. But then it makes sense: the bits melt during cooking and become the “fudge” in the cake. I’ve made this cake several times, and I once added the chocolate melted into the butter. The cake came out okay too, although a bit denser.

This recipe works best with BROWN sugar. If you can’t find a brown sugar substitute, then use the ordinary (white) sugar substitute. I could not find one, so I just used an equivalent amount of regular (white) granulated isomalt. (NOTE: excessive consumption of isomalt may lead to diarrhea.)

No, I do not need to go on a diet. I am not overweight, yet. So why did I make it sugar-free this time? Because my dad has been nagging me to. He IS on a diet.

Cake
Preheat oven 350°F. Prepare cake pans. If making a cake, line a 9x3 inch cake pan with parchment. If making cupcakes, line 24 muffin tins with paper.

In a mixer, combine 2 cups isomalt (or brown sugar/ dark brown sugar if you don’t need this to be sugar-free) and ½ cup butter. Beat until well combined. Beat in two eggs, one at a time, and also 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract.

In a food processor, pulverize 3 oz (three squares) of unsweetened chocolate (or baking chocolate for diabetic). Add in the dry ingredients: 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, one teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder.

Now add the dry ingredients to the butter and egg mixture, alternating with 1 cup sour cream, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mixture will be very sticky. Do not overbeat. Mix only until combine.

With the mixer running on the lowest setting, slowly add in 1 cup boiling water. This will thin out the mixture.

Pour batter on cake pan or muffin tins. Bake the cake at 350 for ½ an hour, reduce temperature to 300 then finish baking for another half hour. Toothpick inserted will come out wet – this is after all a fudge cake! Cake made from white sugar or sugar substitute will not be as fudgy. But cake will be springy when lightly touched. For cupcakes, bake them at 350 for 10 minutes then 300 for another 20 minutes or so.

Remove from oven and cool in pan for 15 minutes before unmoulding. Cool completely before icing.

Icing
Sugar-free: melt two oz unsweetened chocolate, ¼ cup butter and 1 cup milk or cream. Cool. Add in 2 cups icing sugar substitute (isomalt) and whip in a mixer until icing holds shape.

Traditional icing: on a double boiler, mix together one can (1 cup) condensed milk, 1 cup fresh milk or cream, three oz unsweetened chocolate, and three tablespoons. Cook until thickened (same consistency as the condensed milk before you added it.), stirring occasionally. This usually takes around 45 minutes to 1 hour when using a double boiler. Cooking time is excruciatingly slow, but is not prone to overcooking or burning. I usually cook this over direct flame – low-medium, and with CONSTANT vigorous stirring. It’s a nasty workout for your arms but cooking time takes only 15 or 20 minutes.

I usually make big batches of this traditional icing and store them in the freezer.

To ice the cake, cut cake in the center and fill with some icing. Spread the remaining over the top and sides.

To ice cupcakes, spoon icing over top and spread.

(let the cupcakes cool on the pan a few minutes prior to unmoulding.)

(moist and fluffy - not bad for something sugar-free!)

This one isn't edible

2007-09-30T19:14:00.000+08:00

In fact, it has nothing to do with food!

(At long last, a skytrain travels to my satellite terminal.)

Yup, my blog has been quiet most of last week. It was because i was trying to complete my satelite terminal, pictured above. It is for my collection of 1:500 die-cast airplanes.

I'm building a complete airport. I am currently working on my main terminal building, then will proceed with the ground mats/ layout.

(Several flights have arrived!)

Buffalo Chicken Wings

2007-09-30T18:53:00.000+08:00

(I served it with a blue cheese dip.)

How American can you get? Traditionally, these are chicken wings fried straight from the grocery, then dipped in mixture of pure fat (butter) and an instant seasoning sauce (Tabasco). It is quick, simple and indulgent.

Of course, I decided it needed a twist, so I seasoned the meat prior to frying, added some other stuff to the sauce to make the flavors more interesting.

For one kilogram of chicken, I seasoned it with some salt, pepper, juice of one lemon, two cloves of chopped garlic and a teaspoon of fresh thyme. You don’t need to flavor the chicken. We only want enough flavoring to mask the “off” meat flavor. Set this aside for a day or two in the refrigerator.

(I marinated the chicken the left it in a freezer bag in the ref for a day.)

Heat up some oil, then fry the wings after dredging them in a small amount of cornstarch. The cornstarch (or flour) will form a coating that will absorb our sauce. Drain on a paper towel.

(Drain the chicken well, but make sure they are still warm when you toss them with the sauce so they absorb much of it.)

Mix the sauce: one teaspoon chopped garlic, ½ teaspoon seasoning sauce/ soy sauce, three tablespoons chili catsup/ tomato catsup, ½ cup melted butter, one teaspoon maple syrup and 30 mL chili sauce (Tabasco, Sriracha, sambal, etc).

(Toss the chicken with the sauce to evenly coat all peices.)

Trust me, the combination of maple syrup, tomato catsup and chili gives a smoky- sweet and sour flavor!

I made a dipping sauce of cream cheese (1/2 cup) and blue cheese (two tablespoons).

Veggie Pizza

2007-09-30T18:03:00.001+08:00

Pizza, together with spaghetti is the one of the most ubiquitous Italian dishes. They have become so popular that many have indigenized it. So you hear of Hawaiian pizza, New York pizza, etc. The most recent insult has come from Pizza Hut: the cheesy pop pizza! Yuck! They basically stuffed the crust with artificial cheese, then rolled up the crusts so you can pick the so-called cheesy-pops. This garbage came after they stuffed the crust with hotdog, then hotdog and cheese.

I know where they’re coming from – they only want people to eat and enjoy even the pizza crust. But this wouldn’t be a problem if the crust were edible in the first place! To top the pizza with all those artificial cheese (and yes, most of the cheese they put in is not the real parmesan and mozzarella) and meatballs is one thing, to stuff the crust with more garbage is, well more garbage.

So, wanting pizza for my birthday meal, you could guess that I would only use healthy and authentic ingredients. And guess what, the carnivores at home did not notice, or complain about my pizza. They did not notice the absence of any meat! My secret? Fresh mushrooms! Yes, mushrooms when sautéed lightly in some garlic takes on a meaty flavor, not to mention the interesting texture!

Dough
You can use any Focaccia recipe you like, but I keep using this simple one.

On a large bowl, pour in 1 ½ cups warm water. Dissolve one tablespoon yeast and one tablespoon sugar.

When yeast mixture has begun to bubble, add one teaspoon salt, three tablespoons olive oil, and around three cups of flour. You will be using a total of 4 to 4 ½ cups flour for this recipe, but I add in three cups all at one time during the first addition.

Mix. Turn dough over on to a kneading surface and knead for around 15 to 20 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. You will need to add more flour as you knead to prevent it from sticking. I usually add in increments of ¼ to ½ cup.

Roll dough into a ball and place on a greased bowl. Let rise until doubled in volume. For a really soft and fluffy dough, you can let it rise until 2 ½ to 3 times the original volume, not just doubled. This trick works well with this dough. Most other dough turn sour when over-risen due to the accumulation of lactic acid.

After the first rising, punch down dough and deflate. This will even out all the large air pockets. Roll on a floured surface and transfer on a greased tray. (I do not have a pizza stone in my oven, so I just use a tray. I line it with parchment instead of greasing it.) A 12 x 24 inch (approximate measurement) pan works best, but you can roll it as thin or as thick as you like.

Top with desired toppings.

Toppings
I start out by brushing the surface of my dough with a mixture of: ¼ cup tomato pesto (1/2 cup tomato sauce if you can’t find red pesto), one tablespoon each of fresh chopped basil and oregano (one teaspoon if dried), and one tablespoon olive oil. You can use whatever herbs you like: Italian parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme.

For the mushrooms, you would around two handfuls of sliced fresh mushrooms. I emphasize FRESH, because you will never get that meaty flavor if you use canned. And you will never get to chew it if you use dried, even after re-hydrating it. Use the meaty mushrooms: cremini or Portobello. But since they’re difficult to find locally, I usually use fresh button mushrooms or fresh shiitake.

Dump in the mushrooms on a pan with one tablespoon heated olive oil, and three cloves garlic and one sliced onion. Sauté until tender. Cool mixture before pouring over dough.

Other toppings include sliced tomatoes (RIPE! About 4), some sliced black olives and one zucchini.

Top with freshly grated parmesan and mozzarella. If you can’t find these, cheddar or quickmelt may be acceptable. Both the former cheeses were out of stock at the grocery when I made this, so I used two cups of grated quickmelt cheese.

Let dough (with toppings) rise again for around an hour, or until doubled in thickness. Bake for 350° for about 30 minutes, or until cheese has browned and toppings are bubbly.

(let rise after topping the dough.)

(it is best to slice it while hot.)

Cornered

2007-09-25T15:25:00.000+08:00

For the last 10 years of my life, I have stayed away from “instant” food and committed my life to so-called slow food as much as I can. I get enough fast-food and instant food when I’m out at school and have no option for a decent meal but McDonald’s, Jollibee, etc.

Hence, when it comes to cheese, I only buy real parmesan, and grate it myself. Nothing comes close to the taste of fresh parmesan – salty yet creamy. It even has a “sweet” smell to it!

For the past few weeks however, fresh parmigiano has been out of stock from most groceries. I was forced to buy the bottled version. It does smell cheesy, and tastes salty. But it has a real gritty texture! Read the label – it has some sort of anti-caking agent!

Spaghetti alla Bolognese

2007-09-25T10:20:00.000+08:00

A kiddie birthday party would not be complete without the spaghetti with red meat sauce: strands of soggy white pasta doused with a glaring red ground beef and hotdog sauce that is in no way reminiscent of tomato. In the Philippines, spaghetti sauce is always sweet, slightly spicy and not a single bit sour. Not surprising since many put catsup to the sauce. It tastes more like the Neapolitan sauce the Japanese are accustomed to. Perhaps because of its sweetness, or the tons of cheese heaped on it, children just love spaghetti.

Here in our country, we just call it “spaghetti.” The spaghetti that the Americans introduced has evolved into a Pinoy dish of its own. Today, this Pinoy version is served from the lowliest of street stalls to fast-food chains to well-established restaurants.

Over the years, however, I have developed a taste for the authentic Italian spaghetti alla Bolognese – a red sauce rich in tomato flavor, accented by meat and herbs. The dominant flavor is of course is that of ripe tomatoes – slightly sour, but sweet on its own without the addition of sugar or catsup.

Hence, this recipe foreshadows the Italian version, but you can always modify it to your taste by, yes, adding catsup and sugar. It is a versatile sauce. You can pour it over spaghetti or penne, or use it for lasagna!
This recipe, by the way, can dress up to 1 kilogram (weight of uncooked) pasta. I make this big a batch and store the excess in the freezer in small containers. It is very handy if you need a quick fix – just boil some pasta and heat up the sauce! Then grate some fresh parmesan over it.

Sugo di Carne (tomato and meat sauce)

On a large sauce pan set over medium-high heat, add in 200 grams chopped bacon (but preferably pancetta). Let the bits sweat and release all its oil. When the bits have started to brown, add in enough olive oil to cover the pan, around three tablespoons. Sauté the chopped vegetables: one large onion, four to five cloves garlic, one medium carrot and two stalks celery. Cook until wilted.

Dump in the meats. I usually use a mixture of ground beef and Italian pork sausage. If you cannot find FRESH/ raw Italian pork sausage (or any sausage you like), then use ground pork. (Make sure to take the sausage out of its casing. You want to mash it into the sauce together with the beef.) Break the meats into the pan and sauté until “browned.” At this point, you can add in some fresh mushrooms. I usually use a cup of mushroom stems, rather than throwing them away. But this is really optional and will not affect the flavor much.

Next, add in two cups of red wine. Make sure the wine you add in is good enough for you to drink. Taste it before adding. You may even add white wine if you like a milder flavor. But red wine in this recipe goes well with the beef. Add a little more wine if the two cups was not enough to cover the mixture. Now, increase the heat to high and boil away half of this liquid. Stir occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.

When the wine has reduced to half, pour in around two cups of canned crushed tomatoes (one large can – I only use the Italian brands), two cups of tomato sauce, one cup of milk and around two cups of water or stock.

At this point, you may now add in your seasonings. I prefer fresh herbs: one tablespoon of fresh chopped oregano leaves, and one bunch of fresh chopped basil leaves, plus a pinch of nutmeg. If you have only dried, add one and two teaspoons, respectively. You may need to add more towards the end if you feel it needs to be more herb-y. Feel free to add some sage or thyme, but oregano and basil is okay for me. Season with some pepper and half a teaspoon of salt. I only worry about the salt towards the end. You can always add more, but adding too much now may only ruin an afternoon of hard work!

The sauce at this point will be very soupy or watery. Cover pan and reduce the heat. Simmer for around one and a half hours, or until meat is tender. The sauce will also reduce and thicken. I usually leave the pan only slightly covered to allow evaporation. By the way, you need to stir this once in a while to prevent it from sticking, maybe around every 30 minutes but other than that, you can pretty much leave it alone.

At the end of the cooking time, stir the sauce and check for the right consistency. If it is still soupy, then increase the heat and boil away the excess liquid. If it lacks some more tomato flavor, then troubleshoot with some tomato paste. Add only a little (a teaspoon or so) at a time. I only add salt at the very last minute. Season accordingly.

You may add some more fresh chopped basil to liven up the taste. Just before serving, dump in the pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve on a plate topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
If you are heating this sauce from the freezer, it is best to add a leaf or two of chopped basil to the sauce while heating. This will “wake up” the flavor, so to speak. Enjoy!

(huge amounts of liquid are boiled away towards the end of the cooking process, giving a rich thick tomato meat sauce.)

(more about the other party grub on the coming days - buffalo wings and veggie pizza)

Happy Birthday to...Me

2007-09-23T12:48:00.000+08:00

For someone who was born into a family who refuses to cook, I had to cater for my OWN birthday. I will not rant.

Every year, for most of my pre-school days, my family would organize a birthday party for me. Those were the fun days. I would wake up with a stash of gifts waiting for me. Everyone would greet me, and pamper me. Then in the afternoons, we would have the party. I remember my yaya setting up the pabitin and the many palayoks for the parlor games. It would always be a busy day – all our maids helping set up the tables, balloons and wrapping prizes for the games, not to mention the frantic pace in the kitchen.

Then visitors would arrive bringing even more gifts. All my cousins would come – most of whom I only see a few times a year: on my birthday, on their birthday and on Christmas. Then there were those children of my parents’ friends, my aunt’s office mates' nieces and nephews, etc. I guess I didn’t mind as long as they brought with them gifts. Well, what could you expect? I was a kid!

And it wouldn’t be a party without all those food! My mother would always order a birthday cake from Red Ribbon – orange-flavored sponge iced with royal icing, and decorated with as much of that gelatinous radioactive blue paste my brothers and I used to call “toothpaste icing.” Then we always had barbecue ordered from the stall two blocks away (and you have to excuse me for having that, as no one knew during the 80s that burnt ends can be carcinogenic!). Of course, there is the mandatory Filipino spaghetti – a sweet spicy ham and hotdog tomato sauce the Italians would not even recognize. Then there are other “regulars” in the traditional Pinoy party – gelatin, fruit salad, ice cream, fried chicken, etc. I didn’t eat much then; I merely enjoyed the sight of food. I was interested only in tasting some of them, especially those brought by some of our guests. (Feeding me as a kid was a serious chore.)

And like all children, I had to grow up. My cousins had to migrate. My yaya ran away with our driver. Pabitin, palayok and children’s parties as we knew them in the 80s came out of fashion. School and work became more rigorous. So, I’m a licensed doctor now. And if I end up marrying, then I’ll have parties for my own kid!

Looking back, I count all my blessings and thank my family for all they have given me. And of course God, for making those things possible. And now I hope and pray for a bright and prosperous future. So today, I’m cooking – to celebrate life and all its blessings.

(more about my birthday menu on later posts.)

Peach Custard 'Cake'

2007-09-21T09:52:00.001+08:00

(it is actually a fruit and custard set on a crumbly shortbread crust.)

I found this recipe on my aunt’s cooking “diary” scribbled over on a browned paper stained with egg whites, flour and butter. So there’s indication the opened this page quite often! The recipe is probably older than I am since the manufacture date of the diary says “1980.”

This recipe is actually a fruit custard set on a shortbread crust. It is not in any way a fluffy cake whatsoever. Blame the 80s for the misleading title.

Funky as the name may be, I have always loved this treat since childhood. I learned to make this since I was eleven.

Mango and Peach Custard Tart

Shortbread Crust
Preheat oven 350°F.

Mix together 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ cup softened or melted butter. Just mix them together with a pastry blender, or with your bare hands just until it comes together. This is not a flaky crust, so you do not have to worry about cutting the butter into pieces into the flour. This is the reason why the butter is melted or softened.

Press crust on the bottom and about an inch up the sides of an eight-inch baking pan. Bake for around 10-15 minutes.

Cool on pan.

Filling
The recipe calls for a pound of canned peaches. You can use fresh if you like. But they might be too sour. I usually use fresh mango slices laid down alternating with sliced canned peaches. Use whatever soft fruit you like. But canned peaches and fresh ripe mangoes work best for me.

Arrange fruit slices on partially cooked crust. Sprinkle fruit with a mixture of ½ cup sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. (Again, adjust sugar to your taste. Skip the cinnamon if you wish.)

Mix together 1 cup cream, ½ cup peach syrup from can (or you can use milk, mango juice, peach juice, etc.), 1 egg and one yolk. Pour over fruit arranged on crust.

Bake on a 325°F oven for 30 minutes. Top surface with look dry and sometimes may “crack.” Center will still be soft if pan is jiggled, but will set as the custard continues to cook with some residual heat during cooling.

Cool completely on rack, then chill.

Serve chilled so that custard will be fully set.

(canned peaches and sliced ripe mangoes work best for me. arrange the slices neatly on the cooked crust.)

(smooth over the custard before baking. I know the recipe says an 8x8 inch pan, but I did not have that today, so I just used an equivalent-sized rectangular pan.)

(when done, surface may look dry and cracked. if there are spots that turn brown, that's okay. but if the custard boils over, turn the heat down. you need gentle heat to cook the custard.)

Chunky Muffins

2007-09-21T08:42:00.001+08:00

Cherry Muffins

(i made another batch of muffins, this time using cherries of various forms!)

A variation on my previous muffin recipe, I added some dried cherries to this. Also, I used cherry preserves, plus three tablespoons of cherry liqueur.

No, it did not have that cough-syrup taste! I know a lot of people associate cherry flavor with the kiddie meds we hated while we were growing up. Dried cherries taste much like raisins – just a bit tart and a less sweet. Also, with a much more fruity flavor.

(the cherry preserves i used was really chunky.)

(dried cherries can be mistaken for giant raisins, but the flavor is definitely much more sophisticated!)

(you can use any cherry liqueur you like. i got my cherry brandy from a shop at Rothenburg ob de Tauber in Germany. but there are many local brands out there.)

(dried fruit adds texture to this recipe!)

Muffin Muffin Muffin

2007-09-21T08:25:00.001+08:00

(i made this recipe originally with some Pfeuffer's (brand) mango preserves to end up with some yummy mango muffins)

I’ve probably tried a gazillion muffin recipes in search of the perfect soft and moist blueberry muffin. I have never been successful except for that one occasion when I followed the Betty Crocker label of a muffin mix – replete with artificial blueberries. I was only 11 then, so I still wasn’t educated about the virtues of eating fresh or real food.

I used to buy most of my muffins, but often find them too sweet for my taste. Often, I find them lacking in taste of whatever they were named after. The blueberry muffins always lack blueberries!

Blueberry or not, I still like muffins. They may not be as soft and fluffy as cakes, but definitely not as tough as breads. They’re in-between. They can be sweet or savory; served warm and freshly baked in the morning, or cold as a snack.

Whereas cupcakes have icing, muffins often do not. In most cases, they come with their built-in “icing” – the crumb topping. They’re really good, but I skip them in most recipes as its sweetness may overpower the flavor of the muffins.

I got the idea for this recipe from Alton Brown’s “I’m Just Here for More Food.” I modified it quite a bit to suit my preference. I don’t think he would even recongnize this recipe after all my modifications.

His original recipe calls for cranberry sauce, which is usually tart. For this recipe, I use fruit jam. I only use jams which I like for spreading on to my bread. Flavor is important! Because jam is sweet, I reduce the sugar to ½ cup. But it really depends on how sweet you like your food. Taste the jam. Now take note that you will be adding a CUP of sugar to this recipe! Do you think you need to add all that sugar? Ask yourself. You might need another spoon of that jam!

To make the muffins chunky, I add some chopped dried fruit. If you’re making this with mango jam, you have to use dried mangoes. Strawberry jam goes with dried strawberries, etc. If you can’t find the appropriate dried fruit to go with the jam, then just use FRUIT PRESERVES instead of plain old jam. Preserves have enough chunky fruit in it.

Fruit Muffin

Preheat oven to 350°F

Line muffin tins with muffin paper/ cupcake paper. Depending on how large you want these muffins to be, you will be making 12-24 muffins.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl: 2 cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon, baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon salt. At this point, you can mix in 1 cup of dried fruit, if’ you’ve decided to add some in. Set aside.

With a beater, cream ½ cup unsalted butter with 1 cup sugar. Beat in 2 large eggs, one at a time.

To the butter mixture, mix in the following: zest of one orange, zest of one lemon, ½ cup plain yoghurt, juice of one orange (around ¼ cup), ¾ cup fruit preserves, jam/ marmalade/ cranberry sauce, etc.

Then, dump the wet ingredients/ mixture on to the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon just until the mixture comes together. Do not worry about the very small lumps.

Scoop or spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Cool on tins before unmoulding.

(second time i made this, i used strawberry preserves and strawberry yoghurt. the result is this obscene pink hue. of course it was delicious!)

(i used strawberrye preserves and skipped the dired strawberries because i could not find any. but as you could see, the muffin ended up with small strawberry bits! yummy!)

Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop

2007-09-18T16:53:00.001+08:00

(a plate of noodles with dumplings)

This shop, I was told had been in operation at the same spot for decades! Fifty plus years, if I remember correctly!

It was my second time at this shop and my parents’ first.

Like most noodle houses, patrons are given a seat at a table, not the whole table. There were five of us and my Auntie Betty, our Hong Kong friend, had to share a table with a stranger.

I ordered the “dry” noodles with dumplings. “Dry” means the soup is served separate from the noodles. Their soup is a clear broth with a slightly peppery taste, with a predominant dry shrimp flavor. The dry shrimp flavor resembled that of the “dried alamang” (small shrimp dried whole with shell) that we find locally, not the “hibe” (dried shrimp meat) flavor.

The small bowl of steaming hot soup was served with a plateful of noodles. For a moment I thought my dumplings would be served on a third plate. Beneath the pile, however were around eight or ten dumplings. Quite a lot for one serving, I thought. I could only dig up two at a time as the plate was so crowded. By “dumplings,” it means wonton wrappers stuffed with a mixture of pork and shrimp with some finely julienned mushrooms. As always, it was superb! There seemed to have been an equal mix of pork and shrimp, yet you could taste the two individually as you chew. The pork was tender and did not have that “off,” porky flavor. The shrimp was crisp, as is the case with freshly cooked prawns.

My father had the shrimp dumplings (pure shrimp with some pork fat), whereas my brother asked for a bowl of beef noodles. I was too busy with my plate, they had finished theirs before I could ask for a taste!

When the words “pork trotters” were mentioned, we begged that we be served a plateful of it! It may not be the healthiest or most glamorous of dishes, but it certainly is heavenly in all its porkiness. My parents have asked for this dish in just about all of the Hong Kong noodle houses we have eaten at.
It is a stew of cut up pork feet, simmered in a delightful sauce - made thick by the pork’s tendons melting away as the meat becomes tender, and reddened by the local favorite, the spicy fermented tofu. We all know this type of “tofu” as “tahure,” although if one reads the label carefully, the mainland Chinese made bottles declare it as being made of flour! I only buy the ones made in Hong Kong, so I know it was made from soy beans.

(pork trotters stew)

Two plates of pork trotters later, we were ready for another round of shopping!

Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop

51 Parkes Street

GF Kowloon

(Jordan MTR Station Exit C2)

Tel +852-2736-5561

PAL Inflight Catering: MNL-HKG-MNL

2007-09-18T16:39:00.000+08:00

PR 300: MNL-HKG

(for breakfast, I opted for the ham and scrambled eggs with garlic rice)

I still maintain that PR serves the best inflight breakfast, at least for those of us who can only afford to travel cattle class.

I just love their scrambled eggs - soft and fluffy, yet still juicy and creamy in the center!

Today on PR 300, I chose to have the ham and rice. The ham was marbled with fat which made it tender. There were two thick slices on my tray, along with some scrambled eggs (to my delight), a roasted tomato and some greens. Amazingly, the garlic fried rice was not oily!

The tray also came with some fresh fruits and a Red Ribbon ensaymada.

PR 307: HKG-MNL

(fish over a bed of noodles)

Our return trip home was delayed one hour as the control tower grounded all departing flights due to a lightning warning. The crew served us our meals to keep us busy during the delay. (smart move, on their part!)

I chose the Fish and Noodles option over the Chicken with Rice. Believe me, it looked worse that it tasted. The fish was moist and tender. The noodles were soft, but not soggy. My only objection perhaps is that the sauce is a bit too sweet. But the slight peppery flavor offset the sweetness.

The main course also came with a carrot and crab salad, and a dessert cake whose taste I could not remember.

PAL may not be known for their gourmet meals, but most is edible, and on many occasions surprisingly good for airline food.

Guangzhou Barbecue Restaurant

2007-09-18T16:32:00.001+08:00

For the two previous meals, my parents had been too lazy to go hunt with me a lunch or dinner place around our hotel area, and settled for whatever we could find at CitySuper. It had been raining hard in Hong Kong. Come dinner, I demanded we find something other than soggy tempura or salmon sashimi. Not that I did not like those (but not the soggy part), but Hong Kong is known for its authentic Chinese cooking! Even better than Mainland restaurants, I hear.

We ended walking for thirty minutes around the area between Nathan Road and our hotel, The Gateway, arguing what or where to eat. I pointed at a Chiu Chow restaurant, but my father insisted we have something more local. My brother pointed to the adjacent Macanese restaurant, but my father finally declared he wanted roast goose and some suckling pig. So I said, “Yung Kee!” But my mother declared she cannot bear walking any longer than a few meters, and that Yung Kee, which is all the way to the other side was too far a trip. We ended up eating at a place called “Guangzhou Barbecue” near Kowloon Park.

It was the same restaurant where my father and I bought our first roast goose to take home to Manila around 10 years ago. Tourists can’t miss its huge yellow and gold signage. And the staff, though lacking in English skills, are armed with picture menus.
We had our usual fill of roast meats. The barbecue pork was surprisingly lean and tender. Most served here have too much fat. The slices were thick. The seasoning did not overpower the meat. Not that it needed to – the pork was not gamey at all.

(roast pork - nice thick slices of lean meat!)

(roast goose - meat tastes too game-y for me)

(suckling pig - crisp skin and tender meat. the only downside is the layer of fat. then again, how else youl you make the skin crispy)

We also had the mandatory roast goose. Again, compared to Yung Kee’s, this was too gamey (that wild meat flavor). But was tender as usual.

The suckling pig skin was crisp, and the meat was so tender. My only complaint is that the thickness of the layer of fat was the same as that of the meat. Then again, the skin would not be crispy if not for the generous layer of fat.

I was later told by one of our friends that most locals actually prefer their roast meats this way – gamey and cut into thick slices. Home-style, in other words.

Hong Kong's CitySuper

2007-09-18T16:19:00.000+08:00

After Singapore’s Cold Storage Grocery, Hong Kong’s CitySuper are my parents’ favorite shopping place. They always pick the Marco Polo Hotels as it is near this grocery where they could buy anything from sliced fruits to meals-in-a-go.

I think it is convenient though a bit expensive. After all, all meals are packaged neatly in elegant (if you could rightly call them) Styrofoam ware. I’m the adventurous type and always prefer visiting the local market and eating at less expensive (street) restaurants.

No doubt that it caters to expatriates as it showcases food, fresh or otherwise from all parts of Asia and the world.
They even have green cauliflower! The picture proves it! My university ecology (would you believe!?!) professor refused to believe me when I told her there was such a thing! No, I did not photo-shop this!

(green cauliflower beside broccoli and the regular white cauliflower)

(These eggplants are cute!)

(One of these days, I’m going to buy some of these mushrooms to take home! All the way to Manila!)

A Trip to Hong Kong

2007-09-18T15:45:00.000+08:00

(I made this trip to the Territory last 25 - 28 June with my parents.)

(my plane for today - a PAL 747-469M, registered N754PR. It was the same plane that took me home from San Francisco more than two years ago on my last PAL flight.)

It was going to be my first trip to Hong Kong in almost three years. I used to fly to this territory three to five times a year, typically on weekends so as not to miss my classes. Then the rigors of medical school set in so I was grounded for the most of the three years.

Hong Kong is one of my favorite places after Manila (because it is home) along with San Francisco and Munich. I like Hong Kong because of all the wonderful food: exotic fruits, rare ingredients and authentic Chinese cooking. And of course the shopping!

You can get the best dim sum only in Hong Kong. Their har gou (shrimp dumplings) are simply the best! They always have a slightly elastic but thin, almost translucent skin. And the filling is unmistakably shrimp – fresh and “crisp.” Unlike the blob of flour and pork lard you get elsewhere – producing a dumpling that can go from soggy to just plain tough. But usually soggy and impossible to pick up with chopsticks!

And you get the best roast meats from Hong Kong, too! Yung Kee at Wellington Street, in Central serves the best roast goose! Undoubtedly because it is multi-awarded restaurant! They even cater some meals for Cathay’s first class! Their roast goose is simply the best! I know duck is much more popular (Peking Duck), but trust me, goose is much better. Goose has a delicate meaty, slightly game-y flavor – owing to its herbivorous diet. And the meat is much more tender. The opposite goes for roast duck. Ducks eat just about anything! I know this because we used to have several in our backyard.

Then comes the shopping… the best time to come is late August as it is the end of summer sale. The price of most branded goods go rock bottom!
But I was not willing to wait for August before I make this trip. I have been away for so long already!

Federal Palace

(Federal Palace)

As always, we were met by friends on arrival. It was sort of like barter: we would bring them boxes of gifts – fresh mangoes, ensaymadas and ice cream! Then they would take us for lunch and dinner!

Today, we were brought to Federal Palace, said to be a popular chain in Hong Kong. I could not find their web site as they are probably well-known for their Cantonese name (which I failed to ask).
For starters, we had goose feet, choy sum (kale) and a pan-fried scallop and prawn dumpling. The goose feet was rather difficult to eat as it was a bit “crunchy” but otherwise tasted good! The dumplings were soft and fluffy on the inside, yet you can still bite the bits of prawns and scallops! Yum!

(fish ball made with dried mandarin orange peel and served with preserved clams. it was actually quite yummy!)

(more Yum Cha - dim sum - goose feet, choy sum and a pan-fried prawns and scallop dimsum.

Then came a fried fish ball made with tangerine peel. It was so fragrant. It came with a very curious sauce – one made with fresh clams fermented in wine! I first tasted this dish at a noodle house at Times Square. The fish balls were so-so while the sauce was completely disgusting. But for some reason, today I found the combination marvelous! Perhaps I have been away too long!
There were other dishes served to us that day, but I failed to take pictures as my hands got a bit oily.

Canton Road Market

After half a day of business, my mom and I asked out friend to take us to market. We walked outside the office through the market at Canton Road.

(one of the many roast meat shops scattered along Canton Road.)

Yum! Roast meat stores like this are everywhere! Roast duck, suckling pig, fried pork, pork barbecue, soyed chicken, white chicken, etc. Yum!

Whenever in HKG, my mom and I make it a point to shop for rare ingredients, like dried squid. I know we have them locally, but the type you get in HKG is skinned which gives it a beige/ ivory color. This gives it a sweeter flavor, much like the taste of the sea.

Likewise, the quality of their dried shrimp is far superior. The shrimp are shelled whole and are firm, and smells like the sea. The ones we get here are soggy, discolored and smell fishy!

(almost every type of seafood is dried and available in various forms. here you see dried peeled shrimp, dried shrimp with shells, dried mussels, and others.)

And who could resist the cherries! We always go cherry hunting! They are always sweet and soft and juicy!

(we bought several kilos of cherries but only half of it made it to manila - we ate them at the hotel!)

Seafood Dinner

For dinner, our friend forgot to make reservations at her favorite Peking Restaurant, so we ended up eating at a seafood place. I forgot the name of this restaurant at Prince Edward. We even got lost looking for it!

(most of the creatures you see here alive...we ate)

Our first course was our favorite, roast goose! It was tender and juicy, but slightly too geme-y for me. I still like the ones they sell at Yung Kee, although I suspect Yung Kee’s would be several times more expensive!

Soup was served in a giant egg-shaped golden pot. It was a wintermelon soup. The wintermelon was steamed whole and had stuff floating on a clear broth inside – chicken, scallops, mushroom and others. The broth was mild and smooth, complementing but not overpowering the little ingredients. The melon scooped out at each ladling of the broth was crisp. It was neither sweet nor bitter.

(soup was cooked and served inside a whole wintermelon. it was placed inside a golden egg. you see the floating yummy bits - ham, dried scallops, mushroom, and melon pieces.)

(after a dramatic entrance, soup was served individually)

(this half goose fed six very hungry people!)

Other courses included the usual, Steamed Black Garoupa – Hong Kong Style (in seafood soy sauce), Stir-fried Crabs in Ginger and Onion, and Fried Mantis Shrimp. The latter seafood seemed to have gone extinct from local markets.

The final course was Spiny Lobster on a Bed of Noodles. It was superb! I thought I could die after eating this. The lobster was stir fried in a velvety buttery sauce. The noodles were slightly flat, and were soft and smooth, but definitely not soggy. The lobster tasted fresh and sweet with a buttery accent. It was still crisp yet juicy. Its flavor permeated all aspects of the dish - the sauce and the noodles. I survived the meal not touching a single article of food, but I found myself licking my fingers after I struggled to snatch every bit of meat from its shell.

(lobster pieces resting on a bed of rich noodles in a buttery sauce! how could you go wrong? i was stuffed, yet i managed to gobble up a whole bowl of this last dish!)

Overfed as I was that evening, I did not even remember what we had for dessert. But I know there were several bowls of sweet stuff after the lobster.

Surprise Bread

2007-09-18T15:33:00.001+08:00

Ham and Cheese Loaf

My mother and my brother are just crazy for BreadTalk’s Crouching Tiger Hidden Bacon Bread. I do say, it is yummy! Tender white bread with a swirl of juicy peppery ham in the middle!

I have always wanted to make something similar, but with a twist!

The bread I used for this recipe is the same bread I used for the corned beef roll I made some time ago – the Challah, an egg bread.

After the first rising, I rolled out the whole dough on a lightly oiled table. I spread some tomato pesto on top. I used tomato pesto as it comes in bottles seasoned and ready to eat. At least I would not have to worry about chopping herbs, then drizzling olive oil, had I decided to use the tomato sauce from the pantry. I didn’t want it oozing with tomato inside, so I used just enough to “color” the dough. I left around an inch of margin around so it would seal shut once rolled.

I then laid out some slices of pastrami. I originally intended some ham, but decided I would go for the more peppery meat. You can use whatever sliced meat you like. Then the best part, some grated cheese. I figured that the cheese, as it melts, would “cement” the meat and dough together.

(leave clean margins so that the bread will seal shut when rolled. you don't want all of the filling oozing out into your pan.)

Then I rolled the bread on its long side. Leave some room for expansion – do not roll it too tightly! I then placed it on a greased 5x9 loaf pan and let it rise another 40 minutes (until doubled in volume). I put it on a 375° oven for 40-50 minutes until it was golden.

(i may have rolled this one too loose - the expanded dough did not obliterate all the space.)

Prawn Cakes

2007-09-18T15:14:00.001+08:00

Shrimp Pancakes

Back in the early 90s, the Thai restaurant Flavors&Spices was all the rave. It was one of the first few Thai restaurants in Manila. This fine dining restaurant dressed up the exotic preparations of Thailand. Too bad it closed shop. Perhaps because casual dining has become more popular.

One of my favorites at Flavors&Spices was their shrimp pancakes. The golden brown crumb-coated “cakes” were crispy on the outside and soft, fluffy on the inside, and served with a fresh lemony fish sauce dip! Of course, the real shrimp pancakes in Thailand had more exotic flavorings and a simpler breading, but I still love Flavors&Spices’ take on it nonetheless.

It was on Nigella Lawson’s cooking show, Forever Summer with Nigella that I first came across a prawn ‘cake’ recipe and thought of making some myself. It seemed very simple, but I thought of modifying it a bit.

Prawn Cakes
In a blender, mince together two stalks spring onions (white part only), one ½ inch size ginger, one clove garlic, and coriander stems (and leaves) amounting to one teaspoon.

Dump in around 350 to 400 grams raw shrimp (I used 250 grams raw prawns plus ¼ cup raw crabmeat that I got from ColdStorage. Use pure prawns if you cannot get good quality raw or cooked lump crab meat). Season with a dash of fish sauce, some cracked black pepper, and about 50 g of cornflour or sweet potato flour. Cornstarch will give it a fine texture and hold it well together. Sweet potato flour on the other hand will remain as distinct jelly-like blobs interspersed inside the prawn cakes. The particles swell and absorb flavor! So choose which binding agent you like. Pulse blender just until prawns are partially chopped. Do NOT turn into a fine paste! You want texture. You want to bite into prawn bits and realize it was made of real shrimp!

(do not turn mixture into a paste! pulse it and check that you still have chunks. you can always use a spoon or spatula to mix it if you think it is about to turn into a paste.)

Dredge tablespoons of the mixture with some cornstarch then deep-fry until golden.

Serve with lemon or lime wedges or your choice of dipping sauce.

(you can serve it with the sauce of your choice - chili sauce, catsup, or the dipping sauce below.)

(dipping sauce made of fish sauce, lemon juice, herbs and garlic)

Dipping sauce

Mix together:
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped Thai basil
1 tablespoon chopped mint
1 minced clove of garlic
1 tablespoon pureed onion
Chili to taste

You may adjust saltiness or sourness by adding more or less of fish sauce or lemon juice, respectively.

Troubleshooting...

2007-09-17T18:03:00.000+08:00

Two Questions from a Reader:

Wow! People are reading this blog and trying out my recipes! (At least one person is! Hi Christian!) I just got a question from one of my friends about some of the bread recipes featured in this blog!

Distressed Reader:
“I followed all your instructions for the cinnamon rolls and corned beef rolls, but my dough did not seem to rise even after an hour. My bread ended up a bit hard. What could have gone wrong? I used self-rising flour, because I was told that it is the counterpart of all purpose flour here in Amsterdam. What do you think?”

ANSWER:
I believe you have two question: first about how a dough manages to rise to end up being a soft and fluffy bread, second, about self rising flour.

Yeast Physiology
In general, breads rise because of yeast. It is available in the market in two general forms: active dry yeast which is sold in packets or cans and looks like light brown granules. The other is cake yeast which is a frozen block of yeast. These are live, but temporarily “deactivated” microorganisms.

In every bread recipe, they always ask you to dissolve the yeast in warm water plus some sugar. This is to ACTIVATE the yeast. Warmth wakes up these little critters, whereas sugar acts as their food. I always dissolve my yeast in this solution (warm water + sugar or warm milk + sugar) and then I wait for it to BUBBLE or froth. It usually takes five to 10 minutes for it to do so. If it bubbles, then you know it IS ACTIVE. The yeasts are alive!

At this point, the things that may possibly go wrong are the following:
Ø Water is too hot – I usually take warm water and test it on my wrist (much the same way you test if the water is the right temperature for making baby formula. If it burns your skin, then it is too warm!
Ø Salt – some recipes ask you to add salt to the water. I only add salt when the mixture has bubbled, and I am ready to add my other ingredients: oil, eggs, flour, etc.
Ø Yeast is expired! Check the label. That is why it is important to wait for the solution to bubble and not rely on the package alone.

Some recipes ask you to skip the above step and instead mix the yeast with flour. Again, you won’t know if the yeast is active or not. I always do the above step.

The bread rises as a result of gaseous substances accumulating in the dough. Once activated, yeasts metabolize, grow and multiply. They produce gaseous substances that get trapped in the dough, producing the “cells” or bubbles in the bread when you view them on cross section. Air makes the bread soft and fluffy!

Rising time
Rising time is not fixed. It is more reliable to judge your dough based on the volume it has raised rather than on the time it has spent rising. I imagine Amsterdam to be cold, even this time of the year compared to Manila. So rising time should be longer there.

My aunt sometimes makes bread in the evening and bakes it in the morning! First, she kneads it and lets it rise. She then shapes it and sticks it in the refrigerator until the following day. The cold temperature does not stop the activated yeasts from metabolizing, so the dough continues to rise, but at a very slow rate! She only needs to pop it in the oven the following day.

My grandmother, on the other hand puts the bowl of dough in the oven during the first rising. Of course, the oven has to be turned off! The enclosed space traps heat and humidity making yeast metabolism more conducive. Warning though, do not close the oven shut when actively rising bread is inside! You need gas exchange! Close the door but do not shut it tight. Wedge a potholder or wooden spoon, or whatever. On taking it out, she preheats the oven. By the time she is finished shaping the dough, the room would have been warmed by the preheating oven. She sets the moulded dough beside the oven to capture heat. She then bakes it after an indefinite period of time – usually shorter than an hour – just until it has DOUBLED in volume.

Self-rising flour
No, no, no! Self-rising flour is NOT equivalent or ordinary all purpose flour! Self rising flour is flour with SALT and BAKING POWDER added! Baking powder makes cakes rise via a chemical reaction. This is not a substitute for yeast!

(I don't know how they make their bread there in Amsterdam, i never tried any as I left in a hurry, remember?)

I hope that helps!

Corned Beef Pie

2007-09-14T18:10:00.001+08:00

Corned Beef Cups

Having made corned beef buns before, now I’m making corned beef pie!

I was craving for something savory and creamy, so I thought of adding cream soup to the filling!

Filling
I began by sautéing a large can of corned beef with some minced onions, garlic, carrots and celery. Next, I poured in a whole can of cream of mushroom soup and some water to thin it out. I tasted it and adjusted the seasonings. I like it peppery. Add more water to yours if it comes out too thick.

Pastry
I used the same pastry recipe I used for my summer fruit pie. In fact, I use only one pastry recipe.

However, I added some flavorings:

To the flour and salt mixture, add ½ teaspoon each of paprika, black pepper (adjust according to your taste), dried basil, and dried oregano.

Form dough according to recipe. Chill then roll out on a lightly floured board.
Cut into small circles, then press on to cupcake tin. Fill. You can opt to leave it open or cover with some dough if you have extra.

(i covered the cups with some extra dough, but it wasn't enought to cover the whole surface)

(having run out of muffin tins, i opted to stuff the remaining dough with the filling empanada-style.)

Bake in a 325° oven for 20 - 30 minutes, or until edges turn golden brown.

(remove from pan and cool on a rack).

Summer Fruit Pie

2007-09-14T17:51:00.001+08:00

Mango and Apple Pie

(the combination of mangoes and apples with cinnamon complement each other)

Everyone in my family loves apple pie, especially American apple pie. American apple pie is a pie with a soft-flaky crust filled with a sweet cinnamon apple filling. It is really nice, but I find it a bit too overpowering, especially the sweetness combined with the strong cinnamon flavor.

In the past, I have made several variations to this common pie – I substituted caramel for the cinnamon-sugar; topped the pie with an oatmeal-crumb topping; and mixed in various fruits with the apples. The latter is this pie – a combination of apples and mangoes.

Pastry
I have used only one pastry recipe for everything – from sweet fruit pies to savory meat pastries. I got this from “Meta Given’s Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking.” My grandmother’s copy was printed in 1974 (long before I was born) and has been out of print for decades.

I use the proportions for a two-crust 9-inch pie.

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter or ¾ cup vegetable shortening
Ice water (around ½ cup)

Mix the flour and salt on a bowl. Drop in cut up pieces of shortening or butter. Cut the shortening into the flour until you end up with some pea-sized pieces of butter coated with flour. It doesn’t have to be uniform. Overmixing may result in a tough and non-flaky dough. Add enough ice water until mixture comes together in a ball. Perhaps two tablespoons at a time. Do NOT knead! Flatten dough and chill, wrapped in plastic.

Cut pastry in half. Roll on a lightly floured surface then slide on to a 9 inch pie plate. Fill. Roll the remaining half and cover the pie. Flute edges.

Filling
I like my pie with a tall dome - before and after baking. The key is to stuff it with enough fruit, then leave it in the oven just until the fruit has become soft, not turned into mush! I usually use six apples for a nine-inch American apple pie.

Granny smith is the best apple for pies – it is tart and firm. It holds its shape even after baking. The red table apples tend to turn into applesauce even if cut into large chunks. They simply melt away in the heat! But you can certainly mix equal amounts of the two to cut on the tartness, change the texture and add more flavor to the pie.

For this pie, use three medium sized granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into one inch chunks. Cutting them into thin slices tends to turn them into applesauce after an hour of baking. You can even substitute a pear in lieu of an apple.

I also used two to three ripe Philippine mangoes, cut into chunks larger than the apples so they will hold their shape after baking. If you live outside the Philippines and cannot find Philippine mangoes, use ripe or canned yellow peaches instead. The flavor is much closer to Philippine mangoes.

Toss the fruits in a large bowl. Add the zest of one lemon. Add the juice of the lemon as well. Taste the fruits. It should be tart. Add more lemon to adjust the sourness.

In a small bowl, mix one cup sugar with three tablespoons cornstarch and one teaspoon cinnamon. Add ¼ teaspoon each of nutmeg and cardamom. The latter two spices complement the cinnamon. They also cut its sharpness.

Sprinkle the bottom of the pie crust with one tablespoon of the sugar mixture. Scatter some pieces of butter (around one tablespoon). Cover with fruit. Repeat the process using up all the fruit and ending with the sugar mixture. Cover with the remaining crust. (or with crumb topping). Leave slits in top of the pie if using the pastry crust.

(repeat the layers of fruit, cinnamon sugar and butter, starting and ending with the sugar and butter)

Bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes until top is lightly browned. Reduce temperature to 300° and bake for another 45 minutes. To test for doneness, poke the center of the pie through the pastry slit with a toothpick. If you can sink it all the way to the bottom with slight resistance, then pie is done. It will still cook outside of the oven with some residual heat. If filling is already soft and done while still inside the oven, then it will turn into a mush when it cools.

(you can test for doneness by inserting toothpicks through the slits and poke the fruit pieces for desired tenderness - but remember that residual heat will continue to cook the fruit pieces)

Cool completely on rack, then serve.

Creamy Chutney Spread

2007-09-14T17:46:00.002+08:00

(this creamy spread is best enjoyed smeared on white bread - toasted or not.)

I’ve seen several TV cooking shows put chutney into their cream-based spreads. It was quite intriguing.

Chutney is not exactly one of the more popular sides here in the Philippines, though we do have some locally grown brands, owing probably to the abundance of green mangoes (or Indian nationals). I never tried one as I never liked pickles, except in cheeseburgers.

But having seen it on TV, I thought I’d buy one to try it out. I picked one which looked like it was chunky. Sorry I forgot to take a picture. Well, there were only two choices at Unimart, the bottled brand with whole peppercorns and what appeared like mango chunks. The other brand was in a frosted plastic jar. I picked the former.

As I’ve said, I’ve never tried it before, so I have no point of comparison. On opening, it looked like a yellowish brown opaque marmalade. It had a fruity, slightly curry-like scent. It was tart, but slightly savory. It is probably good to eat with something fried that is also salty. I have no idea how the Indians eat this.

I dumped the contents of one jar (around 1 cup) in a mixer with some creamed cream cheese. I added around 100 g (half a bar or so) of grated local cheddar (because I saw on FoodTV that you can eat chutney spread on dinner rolls with a slice of cheese). I adjusted the seasonings with some pepper (add some salt if you like but I prefer mine on the bland side).

It goes well with bread, toasted or not. It reminds me of a popular children’s party cheese spread made of pineapples, cheese and mayo. Of course, chutney spread is less oily (no mayo) and has a bit of a kick to it due to the spices!

Penne with Five Cheeses

2007-09-14T15:44:00.001+08:00

Five Cheeses Cream Sauce

(The 5 cheeses: cottage cheese, cheddar, mozzarella, blue, and parmigiano reggiano - not shown here, plus the other dairies: milk, cream and butter.)

Ina Garten’s Penne with 5 Cheeses on her cooking show looked really sinful yet simple to make. But I thought the addition of tomato and basil ruined the whole cheese thing. I decided to make my own version, without the tomato and basil and with some bacon instead.

This is basically a milk or cream-based sauce with tons of cheese in it. It doesn’t really need any other flavoring as it would only spoil the creaminess and richness of the cheeses. I decided to add some bacon just to give it a slight smoky flavor. And to appease the carnivores here at home. You can leave it out, or add something else, like ham or leftover shredded chicken – basically anything that would complement, but not mask the flavor of the cheese. Prosciutto, I feel is too strong. Its porkiness steals away the show from the exquisite combination of cheeses.

Penne with Five Cheeses
Cook 500 grams of penne according to package directions.
On a large sauce pan, preferably non-stick, add in 100 grams of chopped bacon. Allow to sweat and brown over medium to medium-high heat. Add in ½ a bar of butter (equivalent to one stick) and melt. Add in two cups of milk. And bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and dump in one cup of cream, one cup (250 grams) creamed cottage cheese, 100 to 200 grams each of grated mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan - depending on how cheesy you want this dish to be. I find adding too much cheddar and parmesan can make the dish too salty, especially with the bacon already in. Last, add in two to three tablespoons of blue cheese. Finally, season with freshly cracked black pepper.

(use only freshly grated cheeses!)

Do NOT use bottled parmesan!!! Use only freshly grated parmesan!

Pour sauce over pasta and toss. You may garnish with more parmigiano reggiano and cracked black pepper on top.

(to make it soupier, you may add more milk or cream.)

Sugpo sa Taba ng Talangka

2007-09-14T15:05:00.001+08:00

Prawns in Crab Fat Sauce

Taba ng Talangka
I grew up eating taba ng talangka. That rich buttery “paste” made out of crab fat sautéed in garlic. By crab, I mean the small native scavenging crabs (talangka) that live in brackish water – near fish farms.

We used to get them from a neighbor, Manong Barenggot (we never got to ask him how he earned that nickname, or if it means anything). He was my grandmother’s fishmonger. He usually comes to our house during Tuesday afternoons, the same day he buys his supply of talangka from Malabon. He comes to our house with his wife carrying their most fancy lacquer tray with five to six small glass jars filled with the freshly cooked taba ng talangka, as if presenting a most exotic gift to royalty! And the queen would have to be my grandmother – his most important suki!

His version of taba ng talangka is not the same as the orange - colored paste you buy almost everywhere nowadays. It is cooked aligue in its purest form! Each of his jars contains bits of coagulated aligue suspended in a rich and golden garlic oil! And you can even make out some pieces of fried garlic in the oil.

On almost every meal, I would heap a spoonful of that orange “paste” on to my freshly steamed white rice, turning it a rich greasy orange. Move over Star Margarine! Some people like eating it with a sprinkling of lemon juice. My grandmother eats it with sinigang. I guess it works – sinigang takes the place of lemon juice? And every time I enjoy that rich treat, my grandmother always reminds me not to waste a single drop of taba ng talangka – as one whole bañera of talangka produces a mere three small bottles of aligue!

All good things come to an end. Some time during the early 90s, we received news that Manong Barenggot had died of stroke. And that marked the end of our aligue days. Never again would we taste authentic taba ng talangka. The canned and bottled ones we get from the supermarket and specialty shops have so much flour and bread as extenders! They are really nothing but artificially colored pastes! Yuck! And I actually wonder if it even contains real aligue.

God Bless Manong Barenggot for having let us taste the real taba ng talangka!

Sugpo sa Aligue
Our cook took a day off to attend her relative’s party in the province. She came back with a jar of taba ng talangka. Of course it is nothing compared the the taba ng talangka of my childhood, but I thought I would put it to good use by sautéing it with some prawns stocked up in my freezer anyway.

The success of this dish relies solely on two things: the taste and quality of the taba ng talangka; and the freshness of the prawns. If the aligue is good enough for you to eat, then it is good enough for this dish. Very little seasoning and dressing up is involved.

To prepare the prawns, peel the bodies, leaving the head and tails intact for purposes of presentation. You may discard them if you like. I used an entire kilogram of prawns for a bottle of aligue (around 1 cup).

On a pan, heat up three tablespoons of olive oil. Saute an entire head of chopped garlic - around three tablespoons. When the garlic is beginning to brown, throw in the prepared prawns. Toss them around to coat with the garlic oil. After a few seconds, deglaze the pan with two tablespoons of brandy/ cognac/ vodka/ white wine – whichever alcohol is available. Toss a few more times, then set aside on a plate or bowl. The prawns should be pink, but not cooked through. We just “seasoned” them at this point.

On the same pan, heat another two or so tablespoons of olive oil, then sauté another head of chopped garlic, plus a thumb-sized piece of ginger and a laurel leaf. Add the taba ng talangka. Again, add a splash of alcohol, and some water if the it is beginning to get too dry. Add back the prawns – juice and all and simmer until the prawns are cooked through, around five minutes. Adjust seasonings with some salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

To serve, arrange on a plate with the sauce and garnish with some more cracked black pepper and olive oil.

My grandmother makes this same dish but with coconut milk. It makes for a wonderful dish. But I think if you have really good aligue or fresh prawns, then very little dressing up is necessary. Besides, Ginataan sa Aligue would only necessitate the addition of several more spices leading to a more complicated stir-fry.

(garnish the dish with some more olive oil and cracked black pepper)

Bismarck - German Fried Donuts

2007-09-14T14:33:00.001+08:00

Bismarck

(bismarcks can be stuffed with filling - jelly or custard, or simply dusted with powdered sugar)

When I was growing up, my grandmother would always make doughnuts for us siblings. They’re fried then rolled on granulated sugar. They were a bit tougher than the ones we get from Dunkin or Mister Donuts, but definitely fresher and less sweet! And best enjoyed freshly cooked. I used to eat mine dipped in condensed milk! Yum!

Craving for some donuts, I thought I’d make some today! I used a German recipe – a type that is fluffier and more delicate.

In a medium bowl, combine together 1/3 cup butter, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1 cup warm milk. Stir until butter is melted. Add in one package (around one tablespoon) active dry yeast. Stir until mixed Whisk in two eggs, one at a time, and then add one teaspoon salt.
Slowly add in 2 cups all purpose flour and stir until dough comes together. Turn dough to kneading surface. Dough will be sticky. You may add up to one cup flour to make the dough manageable. Knead until smooth and elastic. Put dough into a greased bowl and let rise until doubled in volume, around 1 ½ to 2 hours.

(roll risen dough into a 1/2 inch sheet then cut with a 3 inch cookie cutter)

After rising, punch down dough and roll into ½ inch thickness. Cut into 3 inch rounds with a cookie cutter. Drop dough pieces into a 360° deep fryer and fry until golden brown on both sides. They cook fast – 2 minutes total for both sides.

(bismarcks cook very quickly - turn them over as soon as edges brown. Cooking time can even take less than 2 minutes total for the whole donut!)

(drain bismarcks on a paper towel)

Remove and drain on paper towels. When cooled, centers may be slit and filled with jam or custard. Dust with powdered sugar.

(they can be stuffed with jams or custards. I stuffed mine with a strawberry cream - i basically made a pastry cream with strawberry milk instead of plain cream.)

(dust with powdered sugar before serving)

(bismarcks are lighter and fluffier than the conventional home-made fried donuts.)

Coconut Pandan Chiffon Cake

2007-09-14T14:03:00.001+08:00

Coconut Pandan Cupcakes

This recipe is very Southeast Asian. And I believe it is one of the few recipes that uses authentic Southeast Asian ingredients in a successful cake. By successful, I mean a soft and fluffy western-type cake – not a hard pudding.

Squeeze around a pound of coconut for its cream or no. 1 milk. You will need 6 to 8 oz of cream. Alternatively, you can just open a can of coconut cream. But be sure to taste the coconut cream before using it for the recipe. Some brands are too sweet, whereas others have a “chemical” or soapy taste. Over low heat, reduce the cream to half its volume. I like adding several leaves of pandan and/ or Kaffir lime to flavor the coconut cream. It ends up having a greenish hue. Cool mixture.

(to make coconut cream more flavorful, reduce it over low flame with some pandan leaves)

If you can get bottled pandan juice (for cooking) from Southeast Asian markets, you will need it here. Otherwise, juice a bundle of pandan leaves in a blender with around ½ cup water. Strain.

Preheat oven 350°.

On a mixer with the whisk attached, beat 9 egg whites with one teaspoon cream of tartar until frothy. Slowly add in 100 grams castor sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Combine the dry ingredients: 140 grams flour, two teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt. You may also add one cup of desiccated or flaked coconut.

On a separate bowl, beat together 9 egg yolks with 155 grams castor sugar, 170 mL corn oil, one teaspoon vanilla, two tablespoons pandan juice, and one teaspoon green food color. Mix well, then sift in the dry ingredients. When mixed, gently fold 1/3 of the egg white mixture to lighten batter. Then pour this mixture over the remainder of the egg whites and fold.

Pour into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until cake springs back when touched. Invert pan and cool for one hour before loosening edges and unmolding.

(lining the muffin tins with cups will leave the cake with no edges to "cling on to" as the sponge cells develops - but the outcome was still favorable!)

I chose to make cupcakes out of this recipe and lined my tins with cupcake paper. Of course, this goes against the principles of making a true sponge cake, but my cupcakes ended up soft, fluffy and springy nonetheless!

Cinnamon Rolls

2007-09-14T12:55:00.001+08:00

Cinnamon Rolls

A LOT of people love cinnamon rolls. I happen not to be one of them. And I do not like the old fashioned American Apple Pie either (though my folks cannot get enough of it). Don't get me wrong, I do a lot of rolls and apple pies, they just don’t contain too much cinnamon for anyone to recognize them as familiar. In many cases, I go a step further and change the filling altogether. So I’ve come up with things like red bean rolls, apple rolls, butterscotch apple pie, and many others.

I had earlier published a recipe for Red Bean Rolls. Then I got a request for old-fashioned cinnamon rolls. So I’m bowing to the request of a good friend. (Christian, this is for you and your hubby!)

As mentioned in the Monggo Bread/ Red Bean Rolls Recipe, I use only one dough recipe for all my rolled sweet breads. To make cinnamon rolls, the filling would have to be different: cinnamon sugar.

Filling

With the dough neatly rolled out into a rectangle (as in the recipe for the Red Bean Rolls), brush the surface with two to four tablespoons melted butter, more if you like. Be sure to leave a one-inch margin on all sides so that the dough will stick or seal when rolled. In a small bowl, mix together ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup white sugar and two tablespoons cinnamon. Sprinkle this mixture over buttered surface. At this point, you can even add ½ cup of toasted chopped nuts such as walnuts or pecans and/ or ½ cup of raisins or any other dried fruit. Roll the dough on its long side then pinch the edges to seal. Leave a bit of space for it to expand as you roll. In other words, do not roll tightly!

Cut the log of dough into twelve to fifteen slices then place on a pan earlier sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. You may also use a non-stick pan. Bake as directed in the original recipe.

The rolls would then need to be iced after cooling:

Icing

Cream an 8-oz package of cream cheese. Add one teaspoon vanilla extract. Add in 1 and a half cups of confectioner’s sugar (you may reduce the amount if you do not like it too sweet). Cream until mixed. You may add a few tablespoons of milk to the icing if it gets too thick. Ice rolls.

For old-fashioned rolls, my aunt usually drizzles the cooking pan with around ½ cup or more of maple syrup prior to laying out the dough. After baking, she immediately turns the rolls over on a wire rack as the syrup usually hardens as it cools, making removal from the pan impossible! This version of the recipe would obviate any icing.

2007-09-12T13:13:00.002+08:00

Corned Beef Rolls

Almost all bakeries in the Philippines have their own version of corned beef roll. But all of them taste more or less the same. They only differ in their bread. The filling usually consists of (leftover?) corned beef – complete with softened onions and diced potatoes. There’s probably more potato inside than beef that you could even count the number of corned beef fibers at each bite.

I happen to like corned beef – so I try to find new ways of enjoying it. I prefer the brand that comes in large flat cans - from Australia or New Zealand, I think. They tend to be in real chunks! Not like the “pureed” local or American versions. I take comfort in knowing I’m getting real meat fibers stuck between my teeth, not some mushy mashed “meat.”

Filling

On opening a can, I skim the surface for fat. This, you can discard or use for sautéing. I take out the large chunks and remove any fascia (medical term for muscle covering – “ligament” or “tendon” perhaps in layman’s terms, or litid in the local language).

On a sauté pan, heat up around 3 tablespoons oil. Sauté the following: two diced medium onions, two diced small tomatoes (I like removing the seeds), 3 cloves chopped garlic (more, if you like!), one small minced carrot and one stalk minced celery. Add the whole can of corned beef. Sauté until the meat is heated through. Pour in one cup of water. Adjust seasonings. Boil away water to desired "soupiness." If the mixture gets too thick, thin out with some water. Cool before stuffing into dough.

This is my basic sautéed corned beef recipe. Yes, I always add carrots and celery when possible as they add more flavor to the beef. They, together with the garlic, perfume the meat to hide the “canned” flavor.

My very minimum for sautéed corned beef is tomatoes, onions and garlic. Tomatoes make the meat moist and juicy. My grandmother always omits it as she believes the dish spoils much more quickly with tomatoes.

I leave out the potatoes as I usually have this dish eaten with bread or rice.

Dough

You can use any dough or bread that you like. But I used an egg-bread for today as its soft, rich consistency goes well with the heaviness of the filling. I used the Challah recipe from Nick Malgieri’s “A Baker’s Tour.”

Sponge
2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
½ cup unbleached flour

Dough
1 cup warm water
½ cup oil
2 large eggs
2 large yolks
¼ cup sugar
2 ½ teaspoons salt
5 ½ cups all purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in water, then whisk in flour. Let sponge rise, around 10 minutes.

When bubbly, add the rest of the ingredients to the sponge, except the flour. Mix. Now add the flour. I usually add only 4 cups or just enough so you can handle the dough on the kneading table. Add more flour as you knead, around ½ cup at a time, just enough to prevent it from sticking as you knead. Knead for around 10 to 15 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Place dough on a greased bowl. Cover with damp cloth and let rise for an hour or until doubled in volume.

After rising, gently punch down to release some air. Roll the dough and divide into desired size. This recipe makes approximately three dozen 50-60 g pieces.

Gently flatten each piece on your palm or on the table top. Place a spoonful of filling on the center – around a teaspoon. Gather up the edges then twist. Place the filled dough seam-side down on a greased pan, two to three inches apart.
Let rise another 30 to 60 minutes until dough has doubled in volume again.

(brush dough with eggwash prior to baking)

Brush with eggwash prior to baking. Bake at a 375° for around 15 minutes or until golden brown.

(remove dough from pan and cool on a wire rack)

I had consumed all of the filling, making 36 buns when I still had a piece of dough remaining. I decided to stuff it with some bacon leftover from breakfast. I first brushed the flattened dough with some tomato pesto, laid out some basil leaves, then the bacon, and some sandwich cheese. It was also quite yummy!

(i stuffed the leftover dough with some bacon and cheese, etc.)

Squid and Fishballs in Green Curry

2007-09-12T10:36:00.001+08:00

Squid and Fishballs in Green Curry

My Curry Experience in Thailand

It’s funny that I’ve been to Thailand so many times yet have not had a proper “curry meal.” I’ve been to the kingdom dozens of times the past ten years, yet have only tried a type of local “curry” perhaps only once. Meanwhile, I’ve tried almost every green (and red) curry I could find in most of our local Thai restaurants. Perhaps it is because of this healthy “fear” of eating overly spicy food. I actually like spicy food. But not the type that would make all your brain juice seep out of your nose, and leave your tongue numb for the next two days. Not to mention the frequent trips to the toilet!

My first trip to Thailand was in 1996, when my aunt visited her Thai friend, and brought me and my mom along. I was 15 then. It was during this trip that I first tasted authentic Thai curry. Auntie Noree, my aunt’s close Thai friend, brought us to a seaside seafood restaurant at Pattaya. She ordered the staple Tom Yum Goong, Grilled river prawns and Steamed Bamboo fish for us. She also ordered one of her local favorites – a clam curry. I believe the main ingredient was shelled razor clams in a turmeric – based southern curry that seemed to lack in coconut milk. The dish arrived during the middle of our meal, when we were already gluttonously devouring the plates of prawns with our bare hands. The orange color of the dish was so intense, it seemed radioactive! Its color was a forewarning of its lethal heat. But these unsuspecting tourists were too overcome with the hunger we so carefully fostered the last few hours, and did not succumb to that premonition. (We only had a small bowl of noodles each for lunch, by the way.) And so we dug in – each of us heaping a spoonful of the dish on our plates. My mom and my aunt both waived the white flag after one bite. As for me, I was not about to give up on a single serving of this southern curry. I was a growing man! I bravely and willingly shoved three spoonfuls into my mouth, finally finishing off my plate! By that time, my nose had clogged with secretions and my tongue was all numb. I was shoving in more white rice into my mouth hoping to wipe off whatever taste or sting left in my mouth. I used up almost a whole roll of tissue wiping my sweat and blowing my nose, while simultaneously groping for that glass of water! Auntie Noree offered a second helping to which I replied, “Please, no!” She took half, then passed on that plate to her driver Mr. Ung who heaped the remainder to his bowl of rice and devoured the whole thing! We watched with our mouths open (and me panthing).

And so, when the Thais say that this or that dish is “not too spicy,” then it IS very spicy! The best way to enjoy a dish without having to risk burning your tongue is to deliberately request that it be NOT spicy at all. Or simply say “no chili.”

Our local restaurants have adjusted their curries to suit the Filipino taste, more accustomed to sweet food. But by doing so, the Thai curries we get here seem to have lost that fresh herb-y taste. Perhaps because they use instant or ready-made Thai curry pastes, or they have diluted the seasonings to lessen the heat, or they simply put too much sugar.

The best place to sample curry, at least for non-Thais like me who can tolerate, or actually like some heat, is aboard Thai Airways (or on any flight that leaves Bangkok).
My father and I both agree that Thai’s pork panaeng curry is the best! It is a stew of tender pork slices with a smooth coconut milk sauce. It is spicy without overpowering the freshness of the citrus leaf taste.

Squid and Fishballs in Green Curry

Craving for some curry, I looked at my pantry and saw a small packet of green curry. Perfect! My favorite curry! All I had to do is raid our freezer for some seafood!

For this, is used up some fish balls and squid strips. I got the fish balls from Little Store at Wilson Street. I used up around ten balls, cut up in two. I bought the pack of ready-to-fry frozen squid (around 500g) from the grocery some days before.

(a pack of frozen and cut up squid ready for frying from a local supermarket)

I fried the squid prior to making curry to remove some of that fishy taste. The squid was actually good fried in itself (a la crispy calamares).

(the squid came out pre-seasoned, otherwise you can marinate it in some salt. pepper, garlic and lemon juice or vinegar before dredging and frying)

(crispy calamares can be enjoyed as is, or incorporated into other dishes like this curry)

I am a veggie person so I had to put almost *everything* in the pot.

(cut up the eggplant and soak in salted water to prevent them from turning brown)

I cut up a small carrot, one leek, two stalks celery, one eggplant, a thumb-size piece of ginger and around 3 cloves garlic.

(the aromatics all prepped-up prior to sauteeing)

I sautéed the garlic, ginger and leek stalks (white part) in two tablespoons of hot oil. I added the green curry paste (around two tablespoons). You can add as much as you like. I usually start with one tablespoon, then add more later after I have added the coconut milk (because that is the time when you can taste the stew and adjust the seasonings). I also added a tablespoon of fermented shrimp paste (bagoong – as the packaged green curries don’t seem to have enough).

Deglaze the pan with one can of coconut milk. (that is around 1 ½ cups if you like yours fresh). Add around half a cup of water together with the fish balls and squid. Simmer until thick – around 15 minutes.

Finally, adjust the seasonings with some fish sauce (patis), fresh lime juice (I use dayap), julienned kaffir lime leaves (one grows in my backyard) and cilantro leaves.

(some garnishings and final seasonings)

Best served on top of steamed rice!

Taiwanese X.O. Sauce?

2007-09-11T20:26:00.001+08:00

VSOP

I have heard of X.O. sauce, which is a spicy blend of dried flaked Chinese ham and scallops. It has a very strong “Chinese-y” flavor, and also very spicy and oily. I have, on occasion ordered dishes flavored with X.O. sauce from several Chinese restaurants but failed to appreciate any flavor other than the soy sauce or garlic! Apparently, local chefs have been instructed to use the said sauce sparingly as it is very strong and at the same time expensive.

Lately at Unimart, I came across a Taiwanese product labeled “VSOP.” It seemed like their version of the Chinese XO sauce. With my limited knowledge of kanji, I know the individual meanings of the first three characters: five – star – up. I take that to mean superior quality. The ingredients listed chili, buccaneer anchovy, shrimp, blackbean, garlic ginger, sugar, rice wine, and soybean oil. I bought a small bottle to try on some stir-fry.

On opening, the bottle contained whole pieces of dried anchovies, dried shrimp and fermented black beans. There were also chili seeds. It wasn’t a paste at all, but a misture of different dried stuff. It was extremely spicy! It wasn’t as salty as I expected, or perhaps the heat numbed my tongue!

For the stir fry, I added some of the VSOP oil onto a non-stick pan. I sautéed some julienned scallions then added some leftover tofu. I added the VSOP “paste” then the handful of bean sprouts. I tossed them for less than a minute before adding a final touch of light soy sauce (around one tablespoon).

I enjoyed this side-dish with some fried stuff! But my mom could not stop coughing because of the chili!

Monggo (Red Bean) Rolls

2007-09-11T20:07:00.002+08:00

The monggo bread I grew up eating was a soft loaf of bread rolled with crushed red beans. No, it wasn’t one of my favorites, but my grandmother’s, so we always had one around when I was growing up. It was extremely popular during the ‘80s but somewhat took a back seat during last few years, perhaps because of the rise in popularity of other “creative breads.” (tsk, tsk, BreadTalk)

Last Sunday, however I had a craving for monggo bread. I was too lazy to go buy one at the grocery. (but apparently not lazy enough for a serious bread-making workout!) Besides, the monggo loaves you can buy these days always have that pervasive moldy “panaderia” taste. I thought of making my own. After all, I had some sweet red bean “jam” (halaya) leftover from the other day’s experiment.

I then pondered what form I will craft my bread into. Should I make buns with a bean filling (a la BreadTalk’s Mr. Beans)? Nah, too tedious. Or maybe I should shape it into the traditional loaf? Nope, too old fashioned. My Mom came up to me and requested that I make some cinnamon rolls. Bingo! I’ll roll the bread and stuff it with the read bean paste! Perfect!

Red Bean Paste
I took a package (around 500g) of dried red beans (monggo), washed them and soaked them in water for around an hour. (Don’t soak them too long or they might start to germinate!) I drained them, then boiled them in enough water to cover the beans until they are tender – take a piece and it should crumble as you lightly pinch.

Once cooked, drain the beans and add mash them. I prefer lightly mashing them so as to leave some texture. Anyway, further cooking will mash them, especially as you stir. Throw the lump back into the pan and mix in a large can of condensed milk, and an equal amount of fresh milk.

Over medium-low heat, stir constantly until the mixture boils down to a paste. Remove from flame and toss in ¼ cup of butter. Cool mixture.

Dough
This bread recipe I’ve been using for making different types of cinnamon rolls. The addition of sour cream to this egg-bread recipe makes it really soft and delicate. I actually got the original recipe from a Gold Medal® cookbook, and modified it a bit.

In a large bowl, dissolve one tablespoon of active dry yeast and two tablespoons sugar in ¼ cup warm water or milk. I usually let it foam a bit before proceeding just to make sure the yeasts are alive. Add in one cup of sour cream, a large egg, one teaspoon salt and two tablespoons melted butter. Whisk together then add the flour gradually.

I use around three and a half to four++ cups, depending on the weather. I turn the dough on the surface usually after having added three cups of flour. I add more flour while kneading, a little at a time until I come up with a nice and smooth elastic dough.

Turn the dough to a greased bowl and let rise for an hour or until doubled.

Syrup
Meanwhile, mix together 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup butter and ¼ cup corn syrup (dark or light) on a saucepan. Heat until sugar is melted. Cool, then pour on a 13x9x2 inch pan.

After the dough has risen, punch it down to deflate it a little. Roll into a rectangle, around ¼ inch thick. Spread the cooled bean paste, leaving about an inch on one long edge to be able to close the roll.

Roll the dough, beginning on the long end. Roll it loosely so as to allow some space when the dough rises and expands during the second rising and during baking. Cut the roll into 1 ½ to two inch rolls, or divide the whole log into as many pieces as desired. I use a string to “strangulate” each section. Cutting a log of dough is much easier this way than using a knife. Arrange on prepared pan. Again, leave some space in between the buns. Let rise another hour or so until doubled in volume. Preheat oven 375˚.

(make sure the rolls have enough space to expand or rise on the pan)

Bake for 20-25 minutes on middle rack until golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped. Invert immediately over a cooling rack. Make sure the bread is loose from the pan, otherwise it will be stuck there forever! Let pan remain over buns for around five minutes prior to removing so as not to loose all that moisture.

Best served warm for breakfast!

(immediately turn the bread over so as not to stick on the pan as they cool)

I recently met up with a friend at Starbucks and learned they now serve “azuki Danish!” I never tried it, but I would like to think my bean roll is better!

The Champorado Blogger

2007-09-11T19:58:00.000+08:00

Many people cringe at the thought of cooking, yet almost everyone loves food and eating! Cooking, baking, or any form of food preparation for that matter is an art. Thus, cooking is an expression of one’s thoughts and emotions. So perhaps in a society bounded by complex rules of behavior, people are afraid or constrained to express themselves?

For me, cooking has a Zen-like quality. In times of stress and depression, I run to my kitchen, open my fridge, and then ponder. Not on the too little time I devoted to reviewing the principles of Surgery that I flunked my Exams, or why the girl I like turned me down for a date, or simply what to do after I passed my Licensure Exams, but on how I could transform a few bars of chocolate into an even more sinful and indulgent treat – the type with moist centers and a rich fudge icing.

I preheat my oven, look up to my shelf, then consult Julia (Child) and Alton (Brown) on how best to carry out my “meditation.” Should I start by creaming the butter? Do I whip the egg whites into stiff peaks? Cocoa powder or baking blocks? Should I make a custard filling? I “feel” my way through.

In an afternoon of baking, I leave behind that mess outside my kitchen, and forge that decadent cake in the fires of my MagicChef (oven). That cake is a reminder of my human self – not of my failures – but of the things I can accomplish, even as a mortal being. And I am reminded that my previous failures is not THE end, but only the beginning of a pursuit to undo myself.

This blog is dedicated to all my escapades with food – wholesome or not. This will document all my experiments in the kitchen and adventures elsewhere.

Why champorado blogger?
Champorado is a porridge made with Filipino chocolate and sticky rice. It is both indulgent and humble in its use of chocolate and rice, respectively. It is homey – a comfort food. Above all, it is uniquely Filipino!