Feeding the boys

Olive Oil Almond Cake with Brown Butter Glaze

2011-08-14T21:14:00.004-05:00

Please make this glaze. The cake is very good, but the glaze is AMAZING.

From here on, I will use this glaze at every opportunity. I imagine it would be good on banana cake, pound cake, sour cream cake, coffee cake, cinnamon rolls, cookies, brownies, or even a spoon. Enough said. Best. Glaze. Ever.

Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond flour (or finely ground almonds)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
zest of 1/2 an orange
1/2 cup orange juice

1. Whisk flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt to combine.
2. In another bowl, whisk eggs, sugar and olive oil until light yellow and slightly thick. This will take a couple of minutes. Add the zest and the juice and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
3. Add the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth.
4. Pour batter into a 9-inch round cake pan that has been greased and floured.
5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes.

Glaze:
2 tbsp. butter
1 cup icing sugar
3 tbsp. cream (or milk)
1/2 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted

1. In a light colored pan, heat the butter until its color changes from yellow to golden brown. Be careful not to burn the butter!
2. While the butter is cooling, sift the icing sugar into a bowl.
3. Whisk in the cream until the mixture is smooth then slowly add the butter.
4. You want your glaze to be pourable but not too runny. If the mixture is too thick, add a few drops of cream at a time until your get the consistency you want.
5. Add the sliced almonds and mix gently.
6. Pour over cooled cake.

Mussels with Chorizo

2011-08-14T16:19:00.006-05:00

Moules frites...is there anything better than briny, sweet mussels bathed in a sauce redolent with the taste of the sea accompanied by crisp, salty fried potatoes? Once in a while I will get a craving for this dish and yesterday was one of those days. So armed without a recipe, I just decided to wing it and make a big batch for me and the boys. I missed the frites, but the moules definitely hit the spot!

Mussels with Chorizo

2 lbs. mussels
6-10 inches of chorizo, cubed
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup tomato puree (or you could just crush some canned whole tomatoes)
1 cup white wine
1 cup water
1 tsp. sugar
salt
pepper
handful of parsley, chopped

1. Wash mussels well with cold running water.
2. In a large pot, heat olive oil and saute the chorizo until the sausage renders its fat.
3. Add onions and garlic and saute until transluscent.
4. Add tomato, white wine, sugar and water.
5. Simmer for 5 minutes to let all the flavors meld together. Meanwhile season with salt and pepper.
6. Place all the mussels into pot and cover.
7. Cook until all the mussels have opened, about 15 minutes.
8. Adjust seasoning and add parsley right before serving.
9. Serve with lots of crusty bread to sop up all the sauce.

Arugula with Grilled Portabella and Blue Cheese

2011-01-01T20:22:00.003-05:00

The title is the recipe.

Arugula (or rocket/roquette) is by far my favorite salad green. Sturdy, bitter, nutty. Yummy.

Portabellas (or portobellos) are one of my favorite mushrooms. Meaty, substantial, flavorful.

Blue cheese. Tangy, salty, creamy. Love. Any cheese for that matter.

Balsamic reduction brings all these together. Sweet, sour, smoky.

This is what makes a great salad...different flavors, different textures, all combining into one perfect mouthful.

Cider-brined pork chops

2011-01-01T19:56:00.004-05:00

For our Christmas grab game at work this year, I snagged a Williams-Sonoma cookbook, which I put to use straight away. The original recipe called for grilling the chops, but since it was below freezing outside, grilling was a definite no-go. So I followed the recipe (almost followed the recipe, that is) and the result was definitely a make-again dish for the boys. I think the most crucial part is using a good cut of meat. I bought these pork chops from Cumbrae's, a local butcher known to supply fine restaurants around Toronto. These particular chops were from a Yorkshire-Duroc pig, a cross of two heritage breeds.

When I first started cooking, I didn't think that using heritage pork breeds, or free-run eggs, or dry-aged beef, or wild (non-farmed) salmon made a difference. But when that particular ingredient was the star of a dish, like here, I soon realized that the extra $$ was very well worth it.

Anyways, on to the recipe.

4 pork chops, each at least an inch thick.

Brine:
3 cups apple cider
1/3 cup salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
10 peppercorns
3 bay leaves
3 star anise

1. Combine the ingredients for the brine.
2. Place the pork chops, making sure all the pieces are submerged in the brining liquid.
3. Brine in fridge for at least 8 hours (up to 24).
4. Remove chops from brine, rinse, and pat dry.
5. Heat a heavy oven proof pan on the stove (I used cast iron).
6. Place a bit of oil and when the oil is very hot, sear all sides of the chop, making sure to sear the top where the fat is (yum!!! crispy pork fat!).
7. Place chops in a 400 degree oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes until the pork is no longer pink but NOT overdone.

I used a thermometer to make sure I took the pork chops out just before they were done. Even though pork chops have a cap of fat, the rest of the chop can become dry and tough when overcooked.

I served this with a cranberry sauce, pan-roasted asparagus and broccolini and roasted rosemary potatoes.

Dates, Goat Cheese and Bacon

2011-01-01T19:51:00.006-05:00

This picture may not look like much, but trust me on this one.

Grab some pitted dried dates, stuff with good aged goat cheese (I imagine some sort of blue cheese would be lovely too), wrap with half a bacon strip and bake in a 350 oven for 10-15 minutes until the bacon is slightly crisp. I actually did this in my toaster oven!

This goes so well with a glass of bubbly :-)

Sausage, mushroom and apple stuffing

2010-10-11T20:01:00.003-05:00

This was our Thanksgiving table this year :-)

I made this stuffing (in the boat-shaped container on the left), which I baked outside the turkey. I find that that gives me better control of how cooked I want the stuffing and the bird to be. Plus I like my stuffing with some crisp parts, which you can't get if you cook it inside the bird. Don't forget the gravy and cranberry sauce!

500g package mild Italian sausage, casing removed
2 apples, chopped into half inch cubes
2 cups chopped mushrooms (I used cremini)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, mined
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
3 eggs, beaten
salt
pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp. dried fennel
1 whole baguette, cut into 1 inch cubes (about 7-8 cups of bread cubes)

1. Saute the sausage and break up the meat as it cooks.
2. When the sausage is no longer pink, add the onion and garlic.
3. When the onionis soft, add the celery. Saute for a few minutes until the celery softens.
4. Add the apples and mushrooms, season with salt, pepper, thyme and fennel.
5. Saute until everything is cooked and the flavors meld together.
6. In a large bowl, put the bread and pour in the sausage mixture.
7. Pour in the milk, broth and eggs.
8. Mix everything well until the bread has soaked up all the liquid.
9. Bake in a 9x13 pan at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

Pecan Tarts

2010-10-11T19:53:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!

Yesterday, I made this...a yummy, gooey, nutty version of pecan tarts. I like my pecan tarts with LOTS of pecans and not too sweet. This tart fit that bill perfectly :-) And yes, I cheated. I used premade tart crusts. But one has got to prioritize when making a full on Thanksgiving dinner, right?

24 tart crusts
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tbsp. brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
3/4 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup melted butter
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1. Mix sugars, corn syrup, vanilla, butter, eggs and salt.
2. Fill tarts with chopped pecans (about halfway full)
3. Slowly fill the tarts with the gooey mixture.
4. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
5. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream or nothing!

So good!!!

Banana Oat Bread

2010-09-19T09:17:00.003-05:00

The hubby doesn't like it when banana bread is too banana-y (they should add that word to the Mirriam and Webster dictionary). I tried this recipe and he liked it much more than this one. Plus this one kept for much longer and stayed moist for days.

I've been leaning toward quick breads that use oil as the fat rather than those with butter. I find that they stay fresh much longer and don't get tough when refrigerated. Don't get me wrong, butter is irreplaceable in some cakes, cookies, scones, short breads and whole host of baked goodies, but quick breads have so many other flavors that you don't really miss the richness that butter gives.

Anyhow...here's the recipe.

3 cups flour (I used half all purpose and half whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1 cup whole rolled oats
1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil.
3. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined.
4. Mix in bananas and buttermilk.
5. Divide batter between two 9x5 loaf pans.
6. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

Zucchini muffins

2010-09-19T09:02:00.004-05:00

I have to confess, I don't really care much for zucchinis. So when my weekly vegetable delivery service dropped off 4 zucchinis, I knew I had to get creative or to the compost bin they would go. These resulting muffins were moist, tender and kept very well for several days. The boys really liked them and were surprised that those lovely green bits were actually bits of zucchini!

1 3/4 cups flour (I used half all-purpose and half whole wheat)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup grated zucchini (don't drain!)

1. Whisk the first 5 ingredients together.
2. In another bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil.
3. Add the zucchini.
4. Stir in the dry ingredients. Mix just until incorporated. You don't want to develop the gluten in the flour otherwise, your muffin will become tough.
5. Fill muffin cups.
6. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

This recipe made 12 regular-sized muffins.

Shrimp Curry

2010-05-08T15:21:00.004-05:00

This Chinese-style curry is very mild but very flavorful. Just make sure you get Chinese-style curry powder and not the Indian one because Indian curries tend to have quite a bit of heat.

The original recipe I found called for crabs but I didn't want to cook anything so messy since we were going to serve it for dinner along with a few other dishes. So I improvised and this shrimp version was a hit!

A few tips...this dish comes together very quickly so have all the ingredients ready before you start. Also, use high heat to stir fry so that the veggies and shrimp stay crisp and sweet.

Sauce:
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine

Pork:
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 teaspoons curry
1/4 lb lean ground pork

Shrimp:
500-600 grams large shrimp, shelled and deveined
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
1 medium green bell pepper cut into squares
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Mix all the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
2. Season the ground pork with salt, sugar and curry powder. Mix well and set aside.
3. In a wok or large pan, saute the garlic until light brown.
4. Add the pork and saute until no longer pink.
5. Add the onions and green peppers and stir-fry for a minute or so.
6. Add the shrimp and saute just until pink.
7. Add the sauce mixture and mix until thick.
8. Stir in the beaten egg and cook for a few seconds more.

This dish is best served with lots of white rice to sop up all that wonderful sauce!

Chicken Lettuce Cups

2010-05-08T08:19:00.006-05:00

Another post with no exact proportions...

But, lots of pics!

Cast of characters:

lean ground chicken, chopped carrots and celery, sliced green onions, chopped mushrooms, minced garlic, grated ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, ground pepper, iceberg lettuce

1. Saute green onions, celery and carrots until soft.
2. Add garlic and grated ginger. Saute until garlic is soft.
3. Add ground chicken. Cook until no longer pink.
4. Add mushrooms.
5. Season with hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, pepper, and sesame oil.
6. Keep sauteing until all the liquid is absorbed and you end up with this:

Meanwhile, pull lettuce leaves apart very gently. I must say, this is probably the hardest part of this recipe! If you are so inclined, like I was, trim to perfect little cups...like so:

To serve, place some chicken into the lettuce cup and enjoy!

Braised lamb shanks

2010-02-19T22:42:00.004-05:00

I didn't write this recipe down (again!) but it was very, very good! If I remember correctly, it was just a basic braise.

Season meat. Brown. Remove from pot. Saute the mirepoix. Add one cinammon stick, bay leaf, oregano, rosemary. Put meat back in. Add whole tomatoes in juice. Cover and braise for a couple of hours. Remove meat. Stick under broiler while thickening the sauce. Serve with carbs of choice, in this case roasted carrots, roasted yams and herbed rice.

Sorry no proportions!

Better Than Chicharon

2010-02-19T22:34:00.005-05:00

Be still my beating heart! What could be better than thinly sliced pork belly, cooked until blistery and crunchy?

My mom gave me this recipe during her recent visit but my youngest sister has sworn me to secrecy so unfortunately I cannot, in good conscience, divulge the secret to this divine concoction. I can say though that it's boiled, dried then fried. The drying step is my own twist to the recipe.

I will live vicariously through this post, because I've decided that, for the sake of my lipid profile, I will only make this dish once a year.

Braised pork shoulder with steamed buns

2010-02-19T22:06:00.007-05:00

This dish was inspired by a visit to Foxley, a popular tapas bar here in TO. They served a braised pork belly, which you sandwiched in steamed chinese buns, and the unctuousness of the pork fat was just heavenly!

I decided to redesign the dish with pork shoulder, a much leaner cut that really lends itself well to slow cooking. The slow, steady heat breaks down the collagen between the muscles and the previously tough, sinewy meat falls off the bone in strands of deliciousness.

I went to my regular Asian grocer and bought these steamed buns in the refrigerator section. Ten minutes in the steamer and they were as good as any you could get in Chinatown. I would have preferred thinner buns, but these were all I could find.

Recipe:
3 lb bone-in skin-on pork shoulder
1 onion, quartered
3 slices ginger
4 cloves garlic
1 stick cinnamon
1 tbsp. whole black peppercorns
4 pcs. star anise
2 tbsp. dried black beans
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup chinese cooking wine
3 tbsp. oyster sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup water
3 stalks green onion, slices into shreds

1. Place all ingredients except the green onions into a bowl that's just large enough to hold the meat.
2. Put the meat in the bowl and let meat marinate in the fridge overnight.
3. Remove the meat from marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Save the marinade!
4. Heat a large heavy pot and coat the bottom with a thin layer of oil.
5. Brown the meat well on all sides.
6. Add the marinade and let it come to a boil.
7. Lower heat until the sauce is barely simmering. Cover the pot with a tight lid and cook until pork is tender, about 3 hours or so. Turn the meat gently every 45 minutes or so.
8. When the meat is done, gently lift the meat from the pot and place on your serving platter.
9. Reduce the marinade until it's thick and syrupy.
10. Strain and pour on top of the meat.
11. Garnish with green onions and serve with buns.

**I added a few rehydrated dried chinese mushrooms but they really remained untouched. The pork is the star of this dish!

Here was my finished dish!

Orange!

2010-02-19T21:42:00.005-05:00

No, I did not buy anything from Hermes. But I did get another orange thing during our trip to New York...

I was deciding between Tory Burch reva flats or my lovely orange kitchen bling...and I decided on the food thing. When it comes down to it, I don't have a shoe blog. I have a food blog. So we all know where my priorities stand :-)

I decided to make something orange in my orange, so tonight it was Aligue Pasta with Prawns and Scallops. Aligue is the Filipino word for crab fat, and my mom's recent visit resulted in a couple of bottles in my pantry. Woohoo!!!

Recipe below:
1/2 bottle of crab fat (taba ng talangka) or about 5 heaping teaspoons
450g spaghettini
400 g prawns, peeled and deveined
200 g scallops
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks green onions, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
zest of 1 lemon plus 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
salt
pepper

1. Cook you pasta until al dente and save a cup of the pasta water. Don't forget to add salt to your cooking water.
2. Meanwhile, pat the prawns and scallops with paper towels until they are dry to touch.
3. In a large skillet/pan, heat olive oil and gently saute the garlic and green onion.
4. Add the prawns, saute for a couple of minutes, then add the scallops.
5. Turn heat to low, add the crab fat, lemon zest and lemon juice.
6. Add the pasta water and stir until the sauce is thick and creamy. Taste and adjust seasonings at this point. Remember that the crab fat is a bit salty already, so taste and adjust accordingly.
7. Add the pasta and toss gently until each stand is coated with the yummy goodness.
8. Serve with additional lemon wedges.

Frozen Brazo v. 3

2010-01-02T21:47:00.004-05:00

Third attempt at Frozen Brazo.
Tried an unbaked crust this time because my two previous crusts were too crisp.
Didn't work.
Crust fell apart when sliced.
But frozen brazo itself was goooood.
Got the recipe of the brazo down pat.

Still looking for the perfect combination of crust and brazo.

Coconut milk bagoong

2010-01-02T21:34:00.003-05:00

I just had a flash of genius, if I may say so myself. I decided to cook a small jar of Barrio Fiesta bagoong (spicy) with a cup or so of coconut milk. I let the coconut milk simmer and evaporate until all that was left was the coconut oil and the oil from the bagoong. The bagoong tasted a_m_a_z_i_n_g.

Sotanghon

2010-01-02T19:50:00.004-05:00

For the longest time, we lived up the street from my maternal grandmother. She hailed from Pampanga, a province in the Philippines known for its zest for good food. From my lola, I learned how to eat durian, fried catfish, buro (don't ask what this is), and camaro or sosohong (don't ask either). She taught me how to eat with my hands and peel crabs like my life depended on it. I learned about matching the right sawsawan (dipping sauce) with the right food...vinegar with crushed garlic and black pepper with grilled pork, calamansi and patis with grilled fish, tomatoes with bagoong for fried milkfish, soy sauce with sili for paksiw na isda, ketchup with knorr for fried chicken. There were times when I had 3 or 4 small containers beside my plate just for my sawsawans!

One of my favorite dishes whenever we'd go to her house was sotanghon. I loved that sotanghon so much that I wouldn't eat sotanghon anywhere else. In my mind, nothing ever came close, and nothing still does. My lola has since passed and I have since moved to a different continent. But that sotanghon still remains, in my mind, an elusive ideal that no other sotanghon will approximate.

This version that I made for our New Year's celebration was very good, but it was not, and will never be, my lola's sotanghon.

Recipe:
3-4 pieces chinese sausage, sliced
1 whole chicken
1-2 heads of garlic, minced finely
3 tbsp. annato/atsuete seeds
3 celery stalks
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp. peppercorns
1 onion, quartered
300g peeled shimp, chopped or kept whole if they're small
1 cup dried wood ear mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced
5 pieces green onions, chopped, white parts separated from green parts
Sotanghon (bean thread noodles)
fish sauce, salt and pepper

Stock:
1. Place chicken in a stockpot and cover with water.
2. Place onion, celery, bay leaves and peppercorns in pot.
3. Add salt and let simmer for about 45 minutes until the chicken is cooked.
4. Remove chicken and let it cool.
5. Remove the flesh from the chicken and shred by hand into smallish pieces.
6. Meanwhile, strain the stock and remove excess fat.
7. Set aside both the chicken meat and the stock.

Topping:
1. Place annato seeds in a cup of oil (yes, that's right...one whole cup).
2. Heat gently until the seeds color the oil. Remove all the seeds and discard.
3. Place garlic in the same oil over medium to high heat and fry until the garlic is just about golden. Be careful not to burn the garlic! Drain and set aside.
4. In the same oil, saute the white parts of the green onion and the chinese sausage until the sausage is fully cooked.
5. Add the shrimp, chicken and mushrooms.
6. Season with fish sauce and pepper to taste.
7. Saute until the mixture is well incorporated and any liquid has evaporated.
8. Drain the oil and set the topping mixture and the oil aside.

Noodles:
1. In a large pan, place about a cup of the topping mixture along with the oil left over from sauteeing. Add about 3 cups of stock and bring to a simmer. Taste the stock and adjust seasoning at this point. This stock will flavor your noodles.
2. Add the noodles and let it absorb the stock.
3. Keep mixing gently, adding half-cupfuls of stock at a time and letting the noodles absorb the liquid. The amount of liquid you use will depend on your noodles.
4. When the noodles are done, set this aside.

Assembling:
1. Place noodles in serving dish.
2. Place toppings on top (where else?!)
3. Garnish with fried garlic and green parts of the green onion.

Enjoy!

Shrimp and cilantro rolls

2010-01-02T19:38:00.004-05:00

I first tried this in New Jersey, where Tito M and Tita R always host the best parties with never-ending food! I was so shocked to find out that this dish only had 3, yes THREE, ingredients: shrimp, cilantro and spring roll wrappers. The sprigs of cilantro bring a freshness and sweetness to the dish like no other herb can. If you don't care for cilantro (and I cannot imagine why, but I know some people are weird like that :P ), I suppose you could use flat-leaf parsley. It wouldn't be the same though. Well, those would be shrimp and parsley rolls, for starters.

Recipe:
1. Peel and devein shrimp/prawns. Keep the tail on. It makes for better presentation.
2. Wrap in spring roll wrapper with a sprig or two of cilantro.
3. Deep fry until crisp and golden.

I serve this with sweet chili sauce but I imagine sweet and sour sauce or plum sauce would work too.

Never too late...

2010-01-02T19:32:00.004-05:00

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!!! May these marshmallow snowmen sitting atop oreo cheesecake cupcakes bring you peace, love, and joy in 2010!

Turbo Chicken v. 2

2009-10-14T21:00:00.002-05:00

Sorry, I don't have a picture but you just have to trust me on this one. To all the Pinoys our there who have a turbo and have tried this recipe of mine, here's a variation: instead of using salt and pepper, use half to 3/4 of a packet of sinigang mix and rub it all over the chicken. Let this sit for a couple of hours (or overnight) and then follow the recipe above for cooking instructions. It sounds weird but boy, was it ever so malinamnam!

Meatloaf

2009-10-10T18:07:00.004-05:00

This was another quick, throw-it-together-in-15-minutes dinner that came out very well! I was able to make two loaf pans of meatloaf, one of which we had for dinner and the other one the boys took for lunch the next day. This is the first meatloaf I've ever made so I haven't been to tweak the recipe and explore the possibilities yet. I have to say though that for the amount of effort I put into this, the returns were certainly much greater :-)

750 g. lean ground beef
750 g. lean ground pork
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup bottled BBQ sauce
2 tbsp. onion soup mix (this is probably optional)
salt and pepper to taste
6-8 strips of bacon, cut in half

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except the bacon.
2. Mix well. I used my electric mixer so as it was doing its job, I prepared the potatoes that I roasted along with the meatloaf.
3. Line 2 loaf pans with bacon, overlapping the strips a tiny bit.
4. Divide the meat mixture into 2 and place in the pans. Pack firmly.
5. Bake in a 350 oven for 40-45 minutes.
6. Get a sheet pan, remove the loaf pans from the oven, and invert the loaves onto the sheet pan.
7. Put the sheet pan in the over and bake about 15 minutes more until the bacon browns and crisps us a bit.

A few notes...you can nuke a tiny, tiny bit of the meatloaf in the microwave for 10 seconds or so. By doing this, you can taste the product and adjust the seasoning before baking the entire thing.

Next time, I think I'm going to sneak in some veggies (like chopped carrots). I'm thinking some sauteed chopped onions will improve the recipe too.

Potato Salad

2009-10-03T11:53:00.005-05:00

It's been so long since I've cooked. Well, I've been cooking...but only functional cooking. What's functional cooking? That means cooking just because you HAVE to and not because you WANT to. When I WANT to cook something, I call that recreational cooking. Hehe!

I'm making a potato salad today since S&A are coming over and we're having a BBQ to say good-bye to summer :-(

So here's my recipe for potato salad:

1. Boil about 2 lbs. of potatoes, skin on, until soft but not mushy.
2. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, mix together:

1 heaping cup mayonnaise
3 heaping tsp. whole grain mustard
1 tsp. dijon mustard
2 tbsp. apple cider vinger
1/2 pack cooked minced bacon (or a whole pack if you want)
4 stalks of chopped green onions
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
freshly cracked black pepper
about 2 tsp. salt and 3 tsp. sugar

Here's how mine looked at this point...

By now, your potatoes are probably done so drain them well and let them dry completely. Cut them into manageable sized chunks and put them into your dressing mixture while they are still warm. Gently toss until the potatoes are evenly coated. Stick in the fridge to cool.

A few notes: make sure you like the way your dressing tastes before you put the potatoes in. Adjust the salt/pepper/sugar accordingly because once the potatoes are in, they're in. Can't adjust the seasoning anymore unless you want your potato salad to turn into mush. Also, peeling the potatoes is optional. I happen to LOVE potato skins. I like the textural contrast it gives. Just make sure you scrub the potatoes well before cooking.

Final product:

Grilled bananas

2009-08-14T19:47:00.007-05:00

I had planned a great meal for the boys tonight: grilled caesar salad, wagyu burgers, and grilled asparagus. I bought all the stuff and came home with bags of groceries only to realize that I had not planned for dessert!!! And what's a Friday night meal without dessert, right?

So I looked around, scoped my cupboard and saw bananas, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and a half-finished container of vanilla ice cream. Since we were grilling the rest of the meal, I thought...why not grill dessert too?

So what started out as this...

...ended up like this...

The hot sweet banana, with the creamy melted chocolate, accented by salty highs from the peanut butter chips, all intermingling with the cold creamy smoothness of vanilla ice cream made for a dish that was a sum greater than its parts.

Tapsilog

2009-07-26T11:08:00.005-05:00

I've been on a posting spree today. I'm just scared that I'm going to lose these scraps of paper stuck to my fridge door with my tried-and-true recipes! So here's my version of tapa. Nope, not tapas, which has become so popular these days! I mean beef tapa, the Filipino breakfast dish of marinated beef, often served with garlic rice (sinangag) and eggs (itlog). The meal therefore is called TAPSILOG from TAPa, SInangag and itLOG.

There are endless variations to the SILOG:
*Tosilog - with Tocino (sweet marinated pork)
*Longsilog - with Longganisa (Filipino breakfast sausages, of which there are as many styles are there are provinces in the Philippines)
*Bangsilog - with Bangus, or milkfish (our national fish)
*Adsilog - with Adobo
*Cornsilog - with corned beef
*Spamsilog - with Spam, obviously
*Tusilog - with Tuyo, dried salted fish
*Tinsilog - with smoked fish

Anyways, you get the pictures. So on to the recipe...

2 lbs of sliced lean beef (1/8 to 1/4 inch thick works best)
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper (freshly cracked makes a big difference here)
1 whole head of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tbsp. salt

1. In a large ziplock bag, put all the marinade ingreadients and swish around until incorporated.
2. Add beef and swish around again to make sure each piece of meat has been blessed by the vinegary goodness.
3. Keep in the fridge for about 24 hours. After this you can cook it, or store it in the freezer for a rainy day (both literally and figuratively...I just love breakfast food when it's raining outside)

To cook, place entire contents of bag in a non-stick pan with about 1/4 cup of oil. Turn heat up to medium-high and let marinade evaporate. During this time, I often take the opportunity to cut the meat into smaller, more manageable pieces (about 1x2 inches). I use tongs and kitchen shears and do this right on top of the pan. As the marinade evaporates, lower heat to medium and let the meat fry in the oil, keeping the meat moving so as not to have burnt spots. The sugar in the marinade will then become sort of like a glaze and will become sticky and shiny. Serve the tapa with eggs, rice and vinegar. Sliced fresh tomatoes with some scallions and fish sauce on the side doesn't hurt either.

My go-to cake recipe

2009-07-26T10:50:00.003-05:00

This is my favorite cake recipe. It's so simple and so reliable. It can be frosted, eaten on its own, made into cupcakes, and made into birthday cakes. In the picture above, I baked it in a 9x13 pan, cut in in half, put one half on top of the other half to make a layer cake, I frosted it with some sweetened whipped cream and put a layer of macerated strawberries between the two layers.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened and cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs

1. In the bowl of your mixer, mix the first four ingredients on low just until well mixed.
2. Add the butter and mix on low for about a minute.
3. Add 1/2 of milk and the vanilla extract and mix for another minute.
4. Add eggs and the rest of the milk and mix on low-medium for 2 minutes.
5. Pour batter into pan, tap on counter to minimize bubbles and bake in a 350 oven.

Options:
one 9x13 pan - 35-40 minutes
24 cupcakes - 20-25 minutes
two 8 inch round pans - 35-40 minutes

Salmon bulgogi

2009-07-26T08:15:00.004-05:00

I based this dish on a recipe I found in Bon Appetit. DH is not a big fan of salmon, but I was hoping that by giving it an Asian twist, he would warm up to this fish which is as ubiquitous here in Toronto as tilapia is in Manila!

4 pcs. skinless salmon fillet
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp. grated ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp. Chinese rice wine
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. chili garlic sauce

1. Mix all ingredients (except for the salmon, of course!) in a small food processor to make a marinade.
2. Marinate salmon for about 5-10 minutes.
3. Remove salmon from marinade and place in a baking dish.
4. Bake in 500 oven for about 5-7 minutes then switch oven to broil and broil for about 3-5 minutes.
5. Meanwhile reduce the marinade until it's thick and syrupy. This will be your glaze.
6. When the salmon is done, place on a plate and pour about a tablespoon of glaze.
7. Serve with whatever sides your heart desires. I did Parisienne potatoes and steamed Chinese broccoli.

All in all, this dinner was a success! DH said he enjoyed it much more than he thought he would. The two boys loved it. This is definitely a make-again dish. Healthy, yummy, and above all easy-peasy!

Roasted Branzino

2009-07-25T19:04:00.006-05:00

Roasted branzino with salsa verde and fried capers served with garlic broccolini and roasted heirloom tomatoes with balsamic reduction:

It seems like branzino, or Mediterranean seabass/European seabass, is the new "it" fish. Every restaurant I go to seems to have some version of this fish roasted, salt-crusted, grilled, etc, etc. So tonight, instead of paying $30 for one dish, I went to my local fish-monger, bought 3 pieces of branzino ( each about 1.25 lbs) and fed 3 people for the price of one restaurant dish :-)

BRANZINO (we had 3, one for me, one for DH and one for son #2...son #1 is away)
1. Have your fish-monger scale, gut and clean the fish. Mine even removed the backbone. I love my fish-monger...
2. Pat fish dry and season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Stuff the fish with 2 slices of lemon, 2-3 sprigs of parsley, and 2-3 sprigs of thyme.
4. Lay the fish on a parchment-lined baking sheet and pour about 2 tbsp. of olive oil on each fish.
5. Bake the fish in a 450 oven for 8 minutes.
6. Turn the oven to broil and cook another 8 minutes more until the skin is blistered.

SALSA VERDE
1. In a food processor, place 1 cup parsley, 1/4 cup olive oil, zest of one lemon, juice of 1/2 lemon, and 1 tsp. salt.
2 Pulse until smooth.

FRIED CAPERS
1. Take 2-3 heaping teaspoons of capers from the jar.
2. Squeeze as much moisture out with paper towels.
3. Pan fry in a bit of oil until slightly brown.
4. Drain well.

ROASTED TOMATOES
1. Cut tomatoes in half.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Drizzle with olive oil.
4. When you put the oven to broil (as you cook the fish), put the tomatoes in as well. The tomatoes will be done when the fish is done.
5. Meanwhile, reduce about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar until syrupy. Pour over tomatoes before serving.

GARLIC BROCCOLINI
1. Saute 2 tsp. of garlic in oil.
2. Add broccolini.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Cook until wilted.

This dish was excellent! The fish was extremely fresh...the mild, sweet flesh redolent with the aroma of herbs and citrus. Yum!

My go-to brownie recipe

2009-06-27T09:37:00.003-05:00

Mama, as requested :-)

2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 tbsp. corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Mix dry ingredients together.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk oil, eggs, corn syrup, and vanilla together.
3. Add to dry ingredients.
4. At this point, you can add up to 1 cup of whatever: nuts, chocolate chips, marshmallows, peanut butter chips, m&m's, etc, etc.
5. Bake in a 13 x 9 pan at 350 for about 25 to 30 minutes.

Lost thoughts

2009-06-27T09:20:00.002-05:00

I found this entry in one of my long un-touched social networking sites. I wrote it a year ago and still the feelings ring true...

TORN

Here I am, back from a four-week trip back home. And I've been vacillating between the feeling of relief of being home, in my house, my bed, away from Manila heat and traffic, and the feeling that I've somehow left a piece of myself behind.

Being away for years and years makes one forget how one is truly connected to his or her family. When we first came here, it was exciting, and new, and full of promise. Missing the family I had left behind was the last thing on my mind. The preoccupation with the endless possibilities before me made the sacrifice seem inconsequential. But now, those possibilities have become realities, and although they are good realities, the fact still remains...the rest of my family is half a world away.

For the past four years, missing them has become a constant reality, a steady undercurrent that stays in the background of every little thing. You get used to the feeling. And after a while, you don't even notice that it's there. But going home and going through the separation once again brings those feelings to the surface and makes the longing so acute.

And so I sit here torn. I love my life here. The opportunities, the peace, the conveniences, the uncomplicatedness of it all. But I can't shake the feeling that something, a huge chunk of something is missing.

Creme Brulee

2009-01-17T18:28:00.004-05:00

I am such a custard girl. Make me choose between any custard-based dessert or chocolate and it will be the custard one every time. Pie or custard? Custard. Cake or custard? Custard. Fruit or custard? Custard. Anyway, you get my point. From leche flan, to creme caramel, to creme anglais, to brazo de mercedes, to canonigo, to portuguese egg tarts, to creme brulee, I love them all. Especially creme brulee. There is something about the purity of eggs, cream and vanilla...smooth and velvety against the tongue, accented by the occasional crunch of the caramelized sugar. Heaven.

I don't know why I never attempted to make this dessert. I always thought that it would be hard. I don't know why. I was really surprised at how simple it was! Mix the cream, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Bake in ramekins in a water bath. Top with sugar. Caramelize the sugar. That's it!

I used Mark Bittman's recipe from his book How to Cook Everything. His recipe calls for:

6 egg yolks
1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups cream
1 cup sugar

1. Heat the cream just to the brink of steaming. If using the bean, let the split bean steep in the hot cream for about 10 minutes. I used extract so I skipped the steeping step.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the yolks and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Gradually pour in the hot cream and mix well. Add the vanilla extract at this point if you're using extract.
4. Pout the custard mixture into ramekins. I think that wide, shallow ramekins work best since there's a larger surface area:volume ratio, which means more crunchy sugar topping. Yum!
5. Bake the creme brulee in a water bath in a 300 decree oven for about 30 minutes until set.
6. Cool in fridge.
7. Just before serving, sprinkle top with sugar and caramelize under the broiler or with a kitchen torch (which I hadn't bought then and just procured today).

I made 2 batches to bring to our Christmas dinner with S&A (which is why I used disposable ramekins). To one batch, I added 1/2 cup of Bailey's. It was good but I prefer the plain one. This will definitely make many more appearances on our table!

Macarons

2009-01-17T17:55:00.008-05:00

I overcame one of my culinary fears...the macaron. This French confection has been taunting me for quite a while now. And I've always been scared to try it. I've read other people's blogs and have heard the horror stories and the tales of utmost failure. I was petrified.

But, the holidays gave me the perfect opportunity. I used the egg yolks to make creme brulees (more on this in another post) and I had the egg whites sitting on the counter. I had almonds. I had icing sugar. And most of all, I had time. Precious time. Time to finally take on this challenge.

Recipe:
1 1/4 cups icing sugar
1 cup finely ground almonds
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsps egg whites, let sit at room temperature overnight
pinch of salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar

* Before you start, prepare your pans. Take a sheet of parchment and draw circles about 2 inches in diameter, spaced about an inch or so apart. Turn the parchment paper over and set it on your baking sheet. You will need about 3 baking trays.

1. With a food processor, pulse the ground almonds and icing sugar together. Sift to make sure there are no lumps. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer, whip the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Gradually add the granulated sugar until the egg whites form stiff peaks.
3. Gently fold in the icing sugar/almond mixture in 4 batches.
4. Mix gently until the batter "flows like magma." Apparently, this step could make or break your macarons. It has to be magma-like. Because we've all mixed magma before and we all know how magma flows when you mix it with a wooden spoon. Whatever.
5. Put mixture into a piping bag with a plain, large round tip.
6. Pipe the mixture onto your prepared pans, using the circles as your guide.
7. Let sit for 1-2 hours at room temperature until a skin forms or until the batter loses a bit of its shine. This will form a tougher shell which will prevent the macarons from breaking when you handle them later.

As you can see, I made ones that were about two inches in diameter and the excess batter I piped into small bite sized dots. Cute, eh?

Here's a close up. See how they're not very shiny anymore?

Anyway, on to the baking...

Bake the macarons in 325 oven. About two minutes into the baking, open the oven door and keep it ajar using a wooden spoon. Bake the macarons for about 10-11 minutes. Let cool.

Now I didn't have time to make the filling so I used Nutella instead. That's why there's a bottle of Nutella behind the macarons in the first picture. I also had some dulce de leche, so I filled some of the macarons with that too.

All in all, I thought the macarons were pretty good! Not perfect, but they exceeded all my expectations!

Spaghetti with garlic, anchovies and capers

2008-12-29T19:43:00.006-05:00

After all the festivities of Christmas, I was in the mood for something clean and simple. This pasta dish has always been a favorite and you can't really get much simpler than this. Because this recipe has so few ingredients, technique is crucial in bringing out the best in the dish. And when I say technique, it's not that this dish is difficult to make. On the contrary, anyone can make this! There are just a few minor details that make a whole lot of difference in the end product.

1 lb spaghetti
2 whole cloves garlic, peeled and minced finely and uniformly (crucial point #1)
6-8 anchovy fillets
1/2 to 1 tsp. chili flakes
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/2 cup capers, drained and chopped

1. Cook the spaghetti according to package directions. Don't forget to salt the water and make sure not to over cook the pasta. (crucial point #2)
2. Meanwhile, place olive oil, garlic, anchovies and chili flakes in a large pan. Cook over low-medium heat (crucial point #3), stirring occasionally and breaking up the anchovies as you go along. Cook until garlic if soft but not brown. The point of using low heat is to cook the garlic very slowly until it becomes sweet, soft and mellow. If you use high heat, the garlic will burn and will acquire a bitter edge to it. That's definitely not what we want for this dish!
3. When the garlic is soft, turn off the heat and mash the garlic and anchovies together with the back of a spoon or spatula. You don't need to make a homogeneous mass, but you want the flavors of the anchovies and garlic to meld together as one. (crucial point #4)
4. Add the capers at this point.
5. By this time, the pasta should be about done. Drain briefly and put the pasta into the pan with the "sauce." Toss well and make sure each strand of spaghetti is coated with garlicky goodness.

That's it. Done!

Cheesecake on a stick

2008-12-23T09:52:00.004-05:00

This was my Christmas "project" this year :-) I thought it would be a fun thing to bring to our office holiday potluck.

Some of my coworkers said that these 2-3 bite versions were perfect because cheesecake is such a rich dessert. I agree, but really now, who can ever stop at just one piece!?

Cheesecake:
5 blocks cream cheese
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
pinch of salt
5 eggs + 2 yolks
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup cream or half-and-half

melting chocolate
sprinkles
sugar
graham cracker crumbs
etc., etc.

1. Cream the cream cheese with the sugar, flour and salt until well mixed. The trick here is to make sure that you start with room temp cream cheese so that you can get it smooth and creamy.
2. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Finally, add the vanilla and cream. Mix well (again).

Pour the cheesecake batter into a 9x13 cake pan and place this pan in a larger pan. Fill the larger pan with boiling water until the water comes halfway up the sides of the 9x13 pan. Bake at 325 for about 40 minutes. Cool the cheesecake slight then place in the freezer until very firm.

Once the cheesecake is firm, scoop out balls and place them in a single layer on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. I have a small cookie scoop that worked very well for this step. Insert a stick into each ball and place the cookie sheet in the freezer until the cheesecake balls are frozen.

When everything is good and frozen, melt your chocolate over a double boiler (or you could microwave it). Dip the frozen balls in the chocolate and decorate before the chocolate hardens up. Place the finished balls on another lined cookie sheet and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

This recipe isn't difficult but does take some planning since you have to cool the cheesecake, freeze the balls, cool the finished products, etc. I must say though that this is probably the most fun I've had in the kitchen in quite a while!

Cheese Pimiento

2008-12-23T09:36:00.004-05:00

Cheese + mayo + pimiento (roasted red peppers) + a secret ingredient = one of my favorite spreads in the world! Nothing brings back memories of afternoon meriendas like cheese pimiento sandwiches. I think this spread is best on simple white bread (none of this 7-grain, flax seed stuff) or Fita crackers (which I guess is the Filipino version of Ritz crackers).

To make this spread, I used one small block of Cracker Barrel extra old cheese, one jar of roasted red peppers (which contained about 8-9 whole peppers), Hellmans low fat mayo, and the secret ingredient....don't gasp....condensed milk(!!!)....yes, yes, it's unusual to say the least, but trust me on this.

This recipe couldn't be simpler:
1. Grate the cheese into a large bowl.
2. Mince the pimiento and drain very, very well. You may need to push the pimiento against your colander to get out as much liquid as possible. Add this to the cheese. The chopped pimiento, not the liquid, ok?
3. Add 6 heaping tablespoons of mayo.
4. Add 2-3 heaping teaspoons of condensed milk.
5. Mix well.

The intermingling of the saltiness of the cheese, the tangy creaminess of the mayo, the kick of the pimiento and the hint of sweetness from the condensed milk is truly addicting.

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-02T21:32:00.005-05:00

I carved a pumpkin for the first time! The boys and I had a blast!

Roast Chicken with Garlic

2008-11-02T19:42:00.003-05:00

Do you have a favorite steak rub? Mine is this one and I use it on practically everything...steak (of course), porkchops, chicken,potatoes, ribs, roasts, gravies, fish, etc, etc.

To make this super simple roast chicken, spatchcock a 2-3 lb bird and sprinkle it with your favorite rub. Preheat oven to 350. Meanwhile, in a cast iron pan, brown chicken with the skin side down for 5-7 minutes. Flip chicken over and scatter 2 quartered onions and 10-15 cloves of unpeeled garlic around the chicken. Stick the entire pan in the oven and roast for about an hour until the juices from the chicken run clear. Skim off fat from drippings and pour drippings, onions and garlic on top of bird.

Roasted Cauliflower

2008-11-02T19:32:00.004-05:00

If you think you don't like cauliflower, think again. Cauliflower used to not be be one of my favorite vegetables, but prepared this way, it's a revelation. Son #2 actually requests for this dish! The cauliflower is made sweeter by the roasting and the caramelized, slightly crunchy edges makes for a much more interesting texture.

1 head cauliflower cut into florets
olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Toss florets in olive oil.
2. Season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Roast in a shallow baking pan in a 400 oven for 10-15 minutes until tender but not mushy.
4. If you don't get the caramelization you like, turn on the broiler for a few minutes.

Simple, no?

Panna Cotta and Pomegranates

2008-11-02T18:11:00.003-05:00

Who can resist the smooth, velvety texture of panna cotta? This dessert is ridiculously simple to make but looks so elegant, especially when served with fruit. Don't you just love how the translucent orbs of pomegranate arils lay against the creamy whiteness of the panna cotta?

Panna Cotta
1 envelope gelatin
3 tbsp. water
1 1/2 cups cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract

1. Sprinkle gelatin over the 3 tbsp of water and let it bloom for a few minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat cream, milk and sugar over medium flame.
3. Once the cream/milk mixture comes to a boil, turn off flame and add gelatin, stirring gently until it dissolves.
4. Add the extracts.
5. Pour mixture into 6 lightly oiled ramekins and chill until set (about 4-6 hours).
6. Loosen panna cotta gently from mold and serve with fresh fruit or a fruit puree.

Variations: Today, I made a coffee version. I added 2-3 tbsp. of instant coffee granules to the boiling cream. Lovely. Be forewarned though, this dessert is deceptive. One cup of cream weighs in at 800 calories! (Sorry to be a party-pooper...)

Another Ham

2008-10-17T14:46:00.002-05:00

Sorry, I forgot to take a photo so the one above is recycled :-) But I finally made another ham yesterday. And this time I had the presence of mind to jot down what I used.

1 large can pineapple juice
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tbsp. whole grain mustard
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tbsp. peppercorns
1 tsp. dried fennel
1 tsp. coriander seeds
few gratings of nutmeg
1 medium onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, peeled

and of course, the ham.

I buy this smoked pork shoulder at the grocery. It's not available all the time so when I find it, I grab one and keep it until I feel like making a ham. It's uncooked and the package says to boil it in water for 2 to 3 hours. Instead of water, I used the mixture above. The pork shoulder simmered in my enamelled cast iron pot for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. I took it out of the liquid, sprinkled the top with sugar, and stuck it in a 350 degree over for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, I skimmed the cooking liquid to remove the fat, reduced it down til it was thick and syrupy, and used that as a glaze/sauce. Yummy! And the best part, lots of leftover ham to get creative with :-)

Spaghettini alle Vongole

2008-10-04T10:08:00.006-05:00

We had a very memorable farewell meal for my father-in-law in a small, quaint Italian restaurant the other night. They had the BEST spaghetti alle vongole I had ever tried. The pasta was redolent with the taste of the sea and the clams were fresh, clean and flavorful.

So of course, I just had to try making the dish at home. My end product was not quite as transcendental, but better than most generic pasta with clams that I've tried. The trick to making this dish special is removing the pasta from the boiling water a couple of minutes before it's done and finishing the cooking process in the clam sauce/broth. The pasta then absorbs all that rich brininess and garlicky goodness in the sauce which makes for excellent eating.

1 lb. dried spaghettini (any other long noodle such as spaghetti or linguini would work too)
1 whole garlic, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
3 lbs. fresh clams, soaked to make sure they have no sand in them
1 can clams (yes, I cheated), drained, juice reserved
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley

1. Put clean clams in a deep pot with white wine. Steam until the clams open.
2. Discard clams which did not open.
3. Remove the clams from the liquid and strain the liquid to remove any sand. You can use a cheesecloth, which I didn't have, or a coffee filter, which I did have.
4. Combine the liquid with the juice from the canned clams. Set aside.
5. In a large pot, saute the garlic in the olive oil until the garlic barely has a hint of gold.
6. Add the whole and canned clams.
7. Add the clam juice and most of the parsley, reserving some for final garnishing.
8. Taste and season with salt (I didn't need to) and freshly ground pepper (this I did).
9. Simmer until you have about 1 and 1/2 cup of liquid left in your pot.
10. Meanwhile, boil pasta in lots of salted water. A couple of minutes before it's done, drain it and throw it into the pot with the sauce.
11. Toss the pasta with the sauce over low to medium heat until the pasta absorbs the rest of the liquid.
12. Serve with a sprinkling of fresh parsley on top.

Note: Remember, no cheese with this dish, please. Traditionally, seafood based pasta dishes are never served with cheese. Although as you can see here, I've never been a stickler for rules.

Molo Soup

2008-10-04T09:45:00.005-05:00

The fall weather is upon us and when the chill in the air is beginning to show its face, there is nothing more comforting than a bowl of soup.

Molo soup is a Filipinized version of wonton soup and it's basically made from very similar ingredients. I personally think that Molo soup tastes better...but that's just me :-)

1 lb. lean ground pork
1 lb. peeled shrimp, finely chopped
1 onion, minced finely
1 carrot, minced finely
3 tbsp. oyster sauce
salt and pepper
70-80 wonton wrappers
1/2 chicken or 2 bone in chicken breasts, boiled and shredded (use this to make your chicken broth)
2 heads garlic, minced
4 spring onions, chopped
8 cups chicken broth

Step 1: Make the filling
1. Combine pork, shrimp, carrot onion, and oyster sauce.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Mix well until thoroughly combined.
Note: The food processor makes very quick work of this.
4. Set aside 4-5 tablespoons of the mixture and use the rest to make the wontons.
5. Place half a teaspoon to a teaspoon of filling in each wonton wrapper. Seal edges with a bit of water. Set aside.
Note: To see if seasoning is ok, I usually nuke a small bit in the microwave for 10-15 seconds so I can actually taste it before I go ahead and make the wontons.

Step 2: Fry garlic in oil until slightly golden.
This is a very important step. The savory, crunchy bits of garlic floating on the soup makes this dish. No garlic, no molo soup.
Note: Do this in the soup pot where you will actually make your soup so you can use the garlic infused oil to saute the soup base.

Step 3: Make the soup
1. Saute half of the chopped spring onions in the garlic infused oil for a few seconds.
2. Add the meat/shrimp mixture and break it up as you saute.
3. Add the shredded chicken.
4. Pour in the chicken broth.
5. When the soup is boiling, drop the wontons ever so gently in the broth, stirring gently after every few pieces so they don't stick to each other.
6. Season to taste with salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper.
7. Simmer for 15 minutes or so.

Step 4: Assemble the dish
Ladle soup into bowls and top with fresh spring onions and fried garlic. Enjoy with eyes closed. Feel the warmth of the broth take away the chill of the nippy fall air.

Note: This recipe serves 8-10 people. If that's too much, keep some of the wontons and fry them up another time. It's excellent dipped in sweet chili sauce.

Mystery Ham

2008-08-29T21:53:00.003-05:00

See, this is the reason why I blog. I made this ham sometime in May. It was excellent. But now I've forgotten what I used because I made it up as I went along. I remember pineapple juice, star anise, nutmeg, brown sugar, and mustard. Was that all? I don't know. Note to self...do not trust your memory. Write it down!

Halibut and Pancetta in Lemon-Caper Sauce

2008-08-29T21:29:00.004-05:00

I rarely follow a recipe to the letter but this was one that sounded so good that I felt that I could use it as is. Tyler Florence is one of my favorite Food Network hosts. His food is simple, flavorful and unapologetically straight-forward. I've tried many of his recipes and they've always come out well. The halibut I bought for dinner tonight was NOT cheap ($22.99/lb!) so I definitely did not want to mess it up. Tyler's recipes (naks, first name basis) are always easy to follow and extremely doable so I was optimistic things would go well.

4 halibut fillets (about 200-250g each) -- I actually used 5 since there were 5 of us
1 cup flour
salt
pepper
4 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
1 cup white wine
juice from one lemon
4 tbsp. chopped parsley
4 tsp. drained capers
8 slices pancetta, cut into strips

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Mix salt, pepper and flour in a shallow bowl.
3. Dredge halibut fillets in seasoned flour.
4. In an oven-proof skillet (I used enameled cast iron), heat 2 tbsp of olive oil and brown the fish skin side up for 2-3 minutes.
5. Flip fish over and add pancetta pieces.
6. Place skillet in oven and cook for 10 minutes.
7. Remove fish and pancetta from pan, add butter and deglaze pan with white wine.
8. Add lemon juice, capers and parsley. Adjust seasoning.
9. Reduce sauce to about half.
10. To serve, place pancetta pieces on top of fish and pour a few tablespoons of sauce on top. Garnish with fresh parsley.

I served the fish on top of some cauliflower puree. On the side we had haricots verts in brown butter and rosemary-garlic potatoes. I thought the dinner was a success. Everyone at the table seemed to really like to food! Thanks Tyler!

St. Lawrence Market haul

2008-08-29T21:08:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite things about Toronto is this market. I can spend hours and hours just browsing through the many stalls. I have a few favorites that I just have to visit each time I go. There's this guy who makes all his own jams. One day he made me try his durian jam and it was excellent! There's a wonderful kitchenware store overflowing with with all sorts of paraphernalia. I also love the mustard stall with their more than 30 flavors of mustard. My favorite is the balsamic, figs and date mustard. So good!! By the way, did you know that Canada is the largest producer of mustard in the entire world? See, there's more to this country than snow :-)

Today, I decided to take the kids and my mother-in-law, who's visiting from the Philippines, to the market for lunch and to shop for dinner tonight. I've been craving some excellent fish and so it was off to the market to buy my ingredients.

I bought some halibut fillets, fresh figs, goat cheese, triple cream brie, manchego cheese, parsley, lemons, new potatoes, haricots verts, and pancetta. Oh, and I also bought a citrus reamer and some mineral oil to treat my new kitchen bling...a John Boos cutting board. It heavy and huge but I love it!

Farmer's Market

2008-08-16T18:29:00.002-05:00

It was so much fun to look at the varied produce at my local farmer's market. There's nothing more inspiring than seeing fruits and vegetable being sold by the very same people who tilled the soil, sowed the seeds, and tended the plants until they were just ripe for the picking. It's amazing how each seasons brings forth its unique gifts from Mother Earth.

Top row (L-R): so many mushrooms, squash blossoms, lovely bouquets
Middle row: tree-ripened peaches (some of which made it into my pie), onions, carrots
Bottom row: beets and radishes, heirloom tomatoes, pattypan squash

Peach-Blueberry Pie

2008-08-16T17:16:00.010-05:00

My trip to the farmer's market this morning inspired me to make this pie. Actually, a trip to The Pie Plate in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where I had the most excellent version of this pie, inspired me to go to the farmer's market. The fresh Niagara peaches at the farmer's market inspired me to try my hand at baking this pie. And baking this pie has inspired me to try baking other fruit pies! :-)

Admittedly, baking a pie is not a quick proposition. You have make the crust, chill it, roll it out, make the filling, assemble the pie and bake it for over an hour. Not something to do on a busy weekday night. But on a weekend, when the mood strikes to make something heart-warming and soul-fulfilling, a fresh fruit pie definitely fits the bill.

Crust

2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar
1 cup cold butter, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 c. ice cold water

1. In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar and salt.
2. Add half the butter and pulse for 6-8 seconds.
3. Add rest of butter and pulse another 5-6 seconds. The textire at this point should resemble very coarse corn meal with larger peas sized lumps of butter and flour.
4. Add water a tablepoon at a time, pulsing for a few seconds in between. The final texture of the crust should be sticky enought to hold when pressed with you fingers. The crust should not resemble a dough.
5. Empty the food processor bowl onto a work surface and divide the dough into two balls.
6. Flatten each ball into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Keep in fridge for at least an hour.

Filling

5 cups sliced fresh peaches
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup water
pinch of salt
4 tsp. cornstarch
Few dollops of butter

1. Mix sliced peaches and blueberries with salt and sugar.
2. Let sit for about an hour.
3. After an hour, drain the juice from the fruit mixture into a saucepan.
4. Simmer "syrup" until reduced to about 1/3 cup.
5. Return drained fruit mixture into bowl and add cornstarch.
6. Mix until cornstarch is uniformly dispered.
7. Add back cooled syrup.

To assemble

1. Tip: Work quickly. You want your crust to stay as cold as possible.
2. Roll out bottom crust into a 9-inch pie pan. Roll out top crust into a 10- to 11-inch circle.
3. Pour fruit mixture into bottom crust. Top with a few dollops of butter
4. Put top crust to over fruit mixture.
5. Crimp sides.
6. Put slits on top crust to let steam escape.
7. Wrap aluminum foil around sides of pan to protect the crust edges from browning too quickly.
8. Place pie on a baking dish.
9. Bake in a 425 oven for 30 minutes then decrease temp to 350.
10. Bake 30-40 minutes more until top crust is done.
11. Cool for a few hours.
12. Resist the temptation to cut into the pie. This is probably the hardest step in the entire process!

Apricot-Glazed Chicken with Prunes

2008-08-08T19:24:00.004-05:00

I'm a huge Food Network Fan. It's my default channel when I can't find anything else to watch in the 24,578 other cable channels we have. Watching it gets my culinary creative juices flowing. Besides, some of the hosts are not bad looking. Hehe!

I found this Dave Lieberman recipe and I decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was! Next time though, I'm going to tweak it a little bit more. I think a tablespoon of whole grain mustard should give it a nice kick of acidity to act as a counterpoint for the sweetness of the apricot glaze. Plus I'm going to add more garlic. Lots more. Like 2 whole heads more. Seriously. :-)

Apricot-Glazed Chicken with Prunes

6 chicken thighs and 6 drumsticks
1 cup apricot jam/preserves
15 whole prunes
1 head garlic, peeled, cloves kept whole
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. pepper
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
30 sage leaves

1. Mix everything in large bowl.
2. Arrange chicken pieces in a single layer in a large baking dish.
3. Tuck the prunes, sage and garlic cloves in between chicken pieces.
4. Pour the marinade on top of the chicken.
5. Bake at 400 for an hour or so until brown.
6. Transfer chicken, prunes, sage and garlic pieces onto a serving platter.
7. Pour liquid in the baking dish into a bowl.
8. Skim off the fat (there will be LOTS).
9. If the sauce is too watery, you can reduce it a bit to thicken it.
10. Pour sauce on top of everything.

We had this for dinner with some garlic mashed potatoes. Yum!

Frozen Brazo

2008-08-08T19:13:00.004-05:00

This has been my most recent obsession. Ever since Tita N brought one to the "welcome back" potluck, this dessert has not ceased to torment me. I lamented the fact that this marvelous creation could not be had in Toronto! I just HAD to make it. I had no choice.

This was my first attempt...

I brought to Tita M and Tito O's home when we had lunch there, and my oh my, was it good! BUT...not as good as I'd like. The crust was bit too crunchy rendering the dessert almost impossible to slice gracefully. Plus, the meringue layer was too small for the rest of the "cake."

Second attempt...

Sorry for the pic. I couldn't wait to dig in.

I made a thicker custard layer for this version, which I really liked. The crust though was still not what I wanted. But the meringue layer was perfect for the size of the rest of the brazo, so at least aesthetically, it looked better than the first one.

I haven't had a chance to make a third one. I'm afraid I might go into a diabetic coma if I have Frozen Brazo more than once a month.

So next time we have guests, I will try another version. Maybe the third time will be a charm.

Birthday Dirt Sundae

2008-07-01T11:32:00.002-05:00

I made this birthday cake version of the springtime sundae for Son #2's 10th birthday and because it was a boy's party, I decided not to use flowers but used gummy worms instead. I also used a bigger planter instead of individual pots. The boys found it quite amusing :-)

Just a tip though, do not serve this straight out of the freezer. Frozen solid ice cream is very hard to scoop and will lead to oreo crumbs everywhere. Trust me, I learned the hard way...

Springtime Sundae

2008-07-01T11:10:00.007-05:00

This was a dessert too cute to pass up :-)

I found a similar "project" on one of my regular blog reads and thought it would be perfect for a "welcome to spring" gathering we had at S&A's house.

Start by buying a few small plastic pots and baking a batch of brownies. Get your biscuit cutter or other round thing-a-ma-jig and cut out a circle of brownie to fit the bottom of the pot. Like this...

Then spread a layer of dulce de leche over the brownie. Just like so...

Stick a trimmed drinking straw in the middle then fill the pot with vanilla ice cream, chunks of your favorite candy bar (Mr. Big, in this case) and more brownie chunks. Really, at this point, go wild :-)

Keep the entire thing in the freezer and just before serving, cover the entire thing with crushed oreo cookies, get a nice flower, stick it in the straw, and voila!

Aren't they just adorable?!

Another attempt at chocolate cake...

2008-06-28T12:10:00.005-05:00

"O, chocolate cake! Why art thou such an elusive prize? Where, oh, where shall I find thy perfect recipe?"

Yes, I am still on this journey to find the perfect chocolate cake recipe. My previous chocolate cake fiasco will not deter me. I am resolute in this quest.

This time I tried a version of the Texas Sheet Cake, combined it with a butterscotch filling recipe from Joy of Baking, and used a loose version of the Texas cake icing to frost it. It was good, at least better than the aforementioned attempt, but it was still not what I was looking for. At least it looks good, right? Plus, I didn't set anything on fire :-)

Chocolate Cake with Butterscotch Filling

CAKE
PART A: In a mixing bowl, sift together
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

PART B: In a saucepan
1. Melt 2 sticks of butter.
2. Add 5 heaping tbsp. cocoa and 1 tsp. instant coffee granules. Mix well.
3. Add 1 cup boiling water. Turn off heat and mix together until smooth.
4. Pour Part B mixture into Part A mixture.

PART C: Mix together
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Add Part C Mixture into Part A/B mixture. Pour into 2 9-inch cake pans and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool the cakes before frosting them.

BUTTERSCOTCH FILLING
1. Melt 1/2 stick unsalted butter, 1/8 cup water and 1 tbsp. corn syrup in a saucepan.
2. Add 1/2 cup sugar and mix gently until sugar is dissolved.
3. Cook over low-medium heat until caramel in color.
4. Turn off heat and add 1/4 cup heavy cream.
5. Whisk together until smooth.
6. Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla and a pinch of salt.
7. Cool in fridge until thick and spreadable.

FROSTING
1. Melt 1 1/2 sticks butter in a saucepan.
2. Add 4 heaping tbsp. cocoa and mix until smooth.
3. Turn off heat.
4. Add 6 tbsp. milk and 1 tsp. vanilla. Mix.
5. Add about 400g powdered sugar until you get the right consistency.

TO ASSEMBLE
1. Slice off the top of one of the cakes to make it flat.
2. Spread about 3/4 of the butterscotch filling and place second cake on top.
3. Frost with chocolate frosting (you will have left-overs here).
4. Put the rest of the butterscotch sauce in a pastry bag with a round tip, or in my case, a small ziplock bag with a corner snipped off. Drizzle the cake with the butterscotch.

Baked Beans

2008-06-28T12:03:00.003-05:00

This is my new favorite side to baby back ribs. Whenever I make ribs, like I did a couple of nights ago, I just HAVE to make these beans. Sometimes I even begin to think that I like the beans more than the ribs!

Baked Beans
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tbsp. ketchup
1 heaping tsp. whole grain mustard
1/2-1 tsp. dried rosemary
salt
pepper
3 bacon strips, cut in half

1. Mix first 5 ingredients together in an oven-proof dish.
2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Lay bacon strips on top of the beans.
4. Bake in a 350 oven for about 20-30 minutes until bacon is slightly crisp around edges.

So good and so easy :-)

Callos ala Madrilena

2008-03-28T22:13:00.010-05:00

I've mentioned that being under Spanish rule for 300 years has left an indelible mark on Filipino culture. This dish is another testament to that.

I grew up with my mom's Callos frequently gracing the buffet table during special occasions like Christmases and birthdays. As a child, I often skipped over this dish and gravitated toward more mainstream fare like pasta and fried chicken and lechon. But as I got older and my tastebuds matured, I began to appreciate the complex marriage of the tripe, chorizo and ham, slowly simmered until the flavors became one. It's been a while since I've had my mom's Callos...years and years and years. But the memory has been imprinted in my culinary consciousness.

I was walking around the grocery one day, and lo and behold, they had lots and lots of tripe! Cleaned, parboiled and packaged ever so neatly, they called to me and gave me the perfect opportunity to finally try my hand at making one of my mom's specialties. After I bought the tripe, off to the Latin market I went to buy fresh chorizos and a day later, there it was.

I didn't have a recipe so I cooked it al oido (which literally translates to by ear...my mom uses this phrase a lot to mean just play it by ear/just wing it/make it up as you go along...anyway, you get the idea). It turned our really well. Really, really well. And there was A LOT of it. Much more than what our family of four could consume. Besides, the 2 kids weren't crazy about tripe. It was seredipitous that a day later, we were going to Tito O and Tita M's house to celebrate Lola H's 96th (!!!) birthday. So I brought this huge container of Callos and it became part of a wonderful celebration, just like the Callos of my childhood.

Callos ala Madrilena

400 g beef tendon, sliced into 1-inch pieces
500 g tripe, cleaned and sliced into 2 inch long strips
3 pcs. chorizo (sliced if using canned/dried, removed from casing and crumbled if using fresh)
1-2 cups chopped ham
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 red pepper, diced
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 can tomato paste
1 can whole tomatoes
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. chili flakes
1/2 cup grated sharp cheese
1 cup green olives, drained
2 tbsp. knorr seasoning
1-2 cups beef broth
1 large can chick peas/garbanzos, drained
sugar to taste
salt to taste

1. In a large, heavy pot, saute the onion and pepper in the olive oil until soft.
2. Add the chorizo and saute until it renders it fat.
3. Add ham, paprika and tomato paste.
4. Add the tripe and tendon and saute for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, pepper, chili flakes, knorr and pepper.
6. Cover with a tight lid and simmer slowly for 4-5 hours, until the tripe and tendon are very tender. Check every so often to stir and make sure that it doesn't dry up. Add beef broth as needed just to keep the sauce going.
7. When tender, add garbanzos, olives and cheese. Adjust seasoning with salt and sugar.
8. Simmer for 15 minutes more to help all the flavors meld together.

The seasoning of this dish will depend a lot on the flavor of the chorizo that you use. I was lucky enough to find fresh chorizo. But I'm sure canned or dried chorizo would taste just as good. The amount of salt you will need depends on how salty the other components of the dish are, so wait until everything is tender and adjust your seasonings then.

Sugar is something that I think many people underuse when cooking savory dishes, especially tomato-based ones. Vine-ripened tomatoes are very sweet and when picked at the peak of their flavor probably would not need any additional sugar. However, I find that canned tomatoes lose a lot of that sweetness and they often do not have that balance of sugar and acid. So I often will add a pinch (or more) of sugar to many of my tomato-based dishes. Of course this is a matter of preference and if you don't like any hint of sweetness in your savories, just omit this ingredient. You will regret it though. Hehe!

Oreo Cheesecake

2008-03-28T21:32:00.005-05:00

Here's another variation of the cheesecake recipe I posted before...

The picture above was actually leftover batter that I baked in individual cupcake holders. I topped them with a mixture of oreo and graham cracker crumbs and baked them at 350 for 20 minutes.

For the crust of the real oreo cheesecake, I used 2 cups of crushed oreos mixed with 1/4 cup butter. Note that I used half the butter I would normally use for a graham crust. The white filling also acts as a binder, thus decreasing the butter requirement. If you are using boxed oreo cookie crumbs, which does not have the filling, use 1/2 cup of butter, like the original recipe. Bake this crust for 10 minutes at 350.

For the cheesecake itself, just omit the lemon extract and add a cup of chopped oreos to the batter. Same baking time, same temp.

Guinness Stout Ice Cream

2008-03-28T21:13:00.006-05:00

We had a few friends over for the Hubby's birthday/Easter and S&A brought a pint of this very unusual ice cream. Apparently, Ed's (the ice cream shop) only makes this flavor once a year...for St. Patty's day. And once it's gone, it's gone. At least until the next year.

I really, really, really liked it! At first I thought it would taste all weird, but it actually reminded me of coffee ice cream with its slight bitter edge. The malt definitely came through, giving this ice cream a very sophisticated flair. The stout flavor didn't assault your taste buds but instead crept up stealthily, lingering at the very back of your mouth. Subtle but sublime.

The texture of the ice cream was excellent too. Smooth and creamy with a full mouthfeel. The people at Ed's might not know how to spell. But they sure make a d@mn good pint...of ice cream.

Black Bean Dip

2008-03-28T21:00:00.004-05:00

As requested, A, here's the recipe for the black bean dip :-)

This dip was introduced to me be a Costa Rican friend and it has made many an appearance on our table. The original recipe she gave me called for canned refried beans but when I looked at the label on the can, I was shocked at how much fat and salt it had! So I now make this from plain, unsalted canned whole black beans and I save on all that fat, which I reserve for the chips. Hehe!

Because it's low-fat and healthy, it makes me feel less guilty about indulging in corn tortillas :-)

BLACK BEAN DIP

1 large can black beans, drained
2 tbsp. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
salt and pepper
pinch of sugar
2 tbsp. lizano sauce

1. Saute the onions in oil over medium high heat until slightly brown.
2. Add the chopped pepper and saute until peppers are also slightly brown.
3. Pour in beans and stir until combined.
4. Puree with a hand blender (or with a normal blender).
5. Season with lizano sauce and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and sugar.
6. Serve with chips.

Lizano sauce or Salsa Lizano is like the ketchup of Costa Rica. It's a condiment made from vegetables and some people liken the taste to worcestershire. I kinda agree, but not quite. Lizano has a distinct latin flair to it that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe they roast some of the veggies before making the sauce because it has a smoky background that adds to the depth of flavor.

Salsa Lizano has become a mainstay in my pantry. I add it to store-bought salsa, beans and rice, chili, beef for my tacos, etc., etc. Such a great discovery!

Dutch Baby

2008-03-07T20:54:00.004-05:00

I was watching some show on the Food Network and they featured a restaurant that serves Dutch Babies. I had never heard of this billowy puffs that were the German version of the pancake. Why it's called a Dutch Baby if it's German is beyond me.

Ok, I googled it, and this is what Wikipedia says...

German pancake? Dutch baby?

Don't you just love Wiki.

I googled a recipe, found one that many people had tried and made one.

It was very pretty and tasted good. But I much prefer normal pancakes myself. And the boys did not like it.

So thus ends my Dutch Baby experimentation.

Dutch Baby

3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. confectioners sugar

1. Place an oven proof 10-inch skillet in the oven and preheat to 425.
2. Meanwhile, mix all ingredients except confectioner's sugar together.
3. Take out skillet, place butter and swirl around until melted.
4. Pour batter into skillet and bake for 15 minutes.
5. Decrease heat to 325 and bake another 8-10 minutes.
6. Take out from oven, sprinkle with confectioners sugar and serve immediately.

Note: The pancake deflates VERY quickly so serve it as soon as it comes out of the oven for maximum drama and flair :-)

Crispy Pata

2008-03-07T19:56:00.003-05:00

Filipinos have a long-standing love affair with crisp, crackling pork skin. That's understandable, right? Who can resist biting into a piece of lechon or chicharon or bagnet or lechon kawali? But I think my favorite of all crunchy-skinned pork dishes is crispy pata. Because not only do you have the crackling skin, you also have the tender, gelatinous sinews of the pork hock.

Traditional crispy pata is a pork hock, boiled in seasoned water, dried for a while, then deep fried until the skin turns blistered and golden. I don't have the time, patience or equipment to do all that, so I tried crispy pata in my turbo broiler and it came out great! Yay!!! No longer do I have to go out to partake of this gastronomic delight...I can't have it right here, in the comfort of my own home, where I can gnaw on the bones to my heart's content.

1. Take a pork hock and rub generously with salt and pepper.
2. Cook in the turbo at 300 until skin turns brown and crisp. Mine took about an hour.
3. Flip the hock and turbo for about 20 minutes more to get everything cooked just right.
4. Serve with a sauce made with 1 part soy sauce, 1 part vinegar, sugar and chopped onions. Chili peppers are optional.

Jam Bars

2008-03-07T19:35:00.004-05:00

It's not I haven't been cooking. It's just that the past few months have been so hectic that I haven't been inspired...inspired to cook, inspired to write, inspired to create. BUT...I'm baaack! :-)

Why? Because procrastination(unemployment + major life-altering exam) = creativity. Do you still remember your algebra? Hehe!

So anyway, I made these jam bars for our Valentine's get-together and they were very well received. I personally favor fruit desserts over chocolate ones (gasp!) so these were right up my alley. Plus it allowed me to use up some 5-fruit jam that remained untouched in the fridge because it wasn't the "right brand."

Jam Bars

2 sticks cold salted butter, cut into pieces
1 3/4 cups ground almonds
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups jam of choice (the one I used was a combo of strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry and grape)

1. In a bowl, mix together almonds, flour, and sugar.
2. Using a pastry cutter (or your hands), cut butter into dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly.
3. Transfer half the mixture into a 9x13 baking pan. Press firmly into pan.
4. Bake in a 350 oven for about 15-18 minutes until lightly golden.
5. Remove crust from oven and cool for about 30 minutes.
6. Spread jam evenly over crust.
7. Scatter the rest of the crumb mixture over the jam.
8. Bake again for about 22 minutes.
9. Cool then cut into 2 inch bars.

Butternut Squash Soup

2008-01-18T22:58:00.001-05:00

What could be better than a steaming, hot bowl of sweet, rich butternut squash soup topped with salty, crispy bacon bits?

Butternut squash soup
1 whole butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 2 inch pieces
1 carrot, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
6 strips of bacon, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
6 cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp. curry powder
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup milk or cream
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a pot, fry bacon until it renders its fat. Reserve bacon bits and remove all but 1 tbsp. of the bacon fat.
2. Saute onion and carrots.
3. Deglaze pan with chicken broth.
4. Add the squash, nutmeg, curry powder and bay leaf.
5. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until squash and carrots are tender.
6. Puree with a hand blender (or use a real blender or food processor).
7. Add milk and season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve topped with bacon bits.

I love making this for dinner and bringing the left-overs for lunch the next day. It's also a great way of getting the boys to eat more veggies. It's true the bacon makes it slightly evil, but it's definitely worth it! :-)

Pork Braised in Milk

2008-01-18T22:35:00.000-05:00

Milk?! Pork in Milk?!!!

That was my first reaction too when I read this Marcella Hazan recipe. But pork was on sale (2 lb roast for $5) and I had a liter of milk on the verge of its expiration date so I decided to jump in and try it. And boy am I glad I did. I will never doubt Marcella Hazan again. Ever. Tomato sauce with butter and, now, pork with milk. Two super simple recipes that have worked wondrously well. Thank you to my Secret Santa for the Marcella Hazan cookbook. I can't wait to try more of her food!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lb. pork rib roast or 2 lb. boneless pork roast
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. cooking oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper
6 whole garlic cloves (not in the original recipe)
2 1/2 cups milk (the recipe called for whole but I used 2%)

1. In a heavy pot (I used an enamelled cast iron one), heat butter and oil over medium high heat. Season meat with salt and pepper and brown well (and I mean well..don't be impatient, this step is VERY important) on all sides.
2. When meat is nicely caramelized on all sides, throw in the garlic cloves, brwon for a minute or two then pour in 1 cup of milk.
3. Bring to a simmer and turn heat down to low just until you see bubbles breaking the surface. Cover partially and simmer for about an hour until almost all the milk has evaporated and all that is left is this wonderful sauce of browned milk solids.
4. At this point, add another cup of milk and simmer covered for 30 minutes. Partially open lid and simmer for another half hour until once again most of the milk has evaporated.
5. Add the last 1/2 cup of milk and simmer for another 20-30 minutes, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan every so often to make sure that there are no burnt parts. Adjust seasonings at this point too.
6. Once all the milk has evaporated into this nutty, thick sauce, turn off heat and remove pork. Transfer to a cutting board.
7. Let the pork rest for about 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, spoon off the fat from the sauce.
8. Slice pork and spoon milk sauce on top.

Meyer Lemon Blueberry Muffins

2008-01-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

Meyer lemons used to be the "it" thing in the culinary world for a while. It seemed like all the cooking shows on The Food Network and all the menus of all the restaurants (ok, I exaggerate, not ALL) had some Meyer lemon thing or other. Because I was back home then and Meyer lemons couldn't be had, I could only imagine how this citrus fruit, described as a cross between an orange and a lemon, tasted.

A few days ago, I saw a bag of Meyer lemons at the local grocery store. One bag of 8 lemons for $1.50. How could I resist, right? And that's how my very first Meyer lemon venture came into fruition.

Meyer Lemon Blueberry Muffins

1/2 c. milk
zest of 2-3 Meyer lemons
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp. Meyer lemon juice
1 c. frozen blueberries

1. Heat milk but do not boil. Remove from heat and add zest. Let cool.
2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile, add milk and lemon juice to butter mixture and mix well.
5. Add flour in 2 batches and mix just until incorporated.
6. Finally, fold in blueberries.
7. Fill 12 muffin cups and bake at 400 for 20 minutes.
8. If you want, you can glaze the muffins with a mixture of Meyer lemon juice and powdered sugar.

Baked Brie

2008-01-01T19:05:00.000-05:00

This is my new favorite "fancy" appetizer. It's super easy, looks impressive, and tastes wickedly delicious. There's really no recipe. Just buy a wheel of double cream brie, wrap it in 4-5 layers of phyllo (also store bought), bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until the phyllo turns golden brown. Serve with flatbreads or crackers with a fruit jam/jelly on the side. Yum-yum.

For our Christmas dinner, we started with a plate of arugula salad with pears and walnuts plus the baked brie with lingonberry preserves (from Ikea...sshhh, don't tell anyone). This was followed by a roast served with rosemary potatoes and asparagus and dessert was cheesecake with blueberries.

From our family to yours...

2007-12-31T10:42:00.000-05:00

May your 2008 be filled with food, fun, friends, and family!

Happy new year!!!

Brown Butter Almond Shortbread Cookies

2007-12-17T21:37:00.000-05:00

I love shortbread. And I'm always on the lookout for a good shortbread recipe. I think I can stop looking now because I've found what is possibly the best one.

Browning the butter gives the cookies a nice, rich, deep flavor and adds a nutty dimension to the recipe. You can use any nut you like. The original Bon Appetit recipe called for pecans. But I had almonds on hand so that's what I used.

Brown Butter Almond Shortbread Cookies

2 sticks butter, room temperature (1 cup, divided)
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup almonds, processed until texture is like coarse cornmeal

1. In a heavy bottomed pan, melt one stick of butter over low-medium fire and cook until amber in color. It will take about 6-8 minutes. Make sure butter doesn't burn.
2. Strain butter and cool in fridge until semi-solid.
3. Meanwhile sift flour and salt together. Set aside.
4. Cream butters and sugar until fluffy.
5. Add vanilla and nuts.
6. Add flour and mix just until incorporated.
7. Form one inch balls with your hands and place on a cookie sheet.
8. Flatten balls slightly with your palm and bake in a 300 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.
9. Cool on a wire rack.

Tomato Sauce

2007-12-17T21:20:00.000-05:00

Marcella Hazan is considered to be a goddess of Italian cooking. Her Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking remains to be one of the ultimate Italian cooking resources today. I've borrowed the book from the library but have still yet to get my own copy. Maybe my Secret Santa will give me one this Christmas :-)

This highly unusual tomato sauce recipe is inspired by her. It might not sound like much, and I admit I was a skeptic, but the end result is rich, simple and oh so good. On spaghetti, with some freshly grated parmegiano, it truly is what Italian cooking is all about.

Tomato Sauce inspired by Marcella Hazan

1 can whole plum tomatoes (get the best ones you can buy, San Marzano preferably)
1/4 cup butter (or 1/2 stick)
1 medium onion, halved
salt to taste

1. Open can.
2. Dump everything into a heavy pot and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
3. Add salt.
4. Puree with hand blender.
5. Serve on top of your favorite pasta with freshly grated parmegiano reggiano.

Chicken with Szechuan Peppers

2007-12-17T00:41:00.000-05:00

I'm always on the look out for new spices. So when I saw these Szechuan peppers in my regular Asian supermarket haunt, I quickly put them in my cart to use for my next cooking adventure.

Normally, when I cook, I don't measure. I open my pantry, see what I have, take it from there, and play it by ear (or by tongue, I suppose). This also means that I normally don't use measuring spoons. I often pour and sprinkle, going mostly by gut feel, and taste as I go along. But once in a while, I regret not using a measuring implement. Today was one of those days...

I snipped a corner of the Szechuan pepper bag and poured what I was planning to be about a teaspoonful of pepper. Instead, I must have put 2 tablespoons worth! I tried to get as much of it out of my already sizzling pan, but I could only do so much damage control. Luckily, the dish turned out okay. The peppers added an unintended "crunch" which I'd much rather not have with my chicken :-P

Chicken with Szechuan Peppers
400g ground chicken
1 asian eggplant, minced into 1/4 inch pieces
5-6 fresh shiitake mushrooms, minced into 1/4 inch pieces
2 tsp. minced garlic
6 slices ginger
2 stalks green onion, sliced thinly
1 tsp. szechuan peppers
2 tbsp. chinese cooking wine
1/4 cup chicken broth
2+2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. oyster sauce
2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
1 tsp. chili garlic oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. rice vinegar

1. Marinate ground chicken in 2 tbsp. soy sauce and cooking wine. In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, chili oil, sesame oil, sugar, vinegar and chicken broth. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok/pan until very hot. Put szechuan peppers and saute until fragrant.
3. Add garlic, ginger and green onions.
4. Saute aromatics for a couple of minutes.
5. Add chicken, cooking until it is no longer pink.
6. Add eggplant and mushrooms, keeping the food moving in the pan. Cook until vegetables are soft.
7. Pour in sauce mixture and saute just until the chicken and veggies are coated with the sauce.

Score!

2007-12-17T00:28:00.001-05:00

We went on a roadtrip to New York/New Jersey last week to meet up with family. It was sort of a pre-Christmas thing. We drove (with our dog!) and spent a few days with my dad catching up, shopping, and eating :-)

We went to TJ Maxx and take a look at what I snagged!

Yup, a Le Creuset 5 1/2 quart dutch oven for $99.99!!! I almost jumped when I saw it in the store. Plus the color matches my 12 inch skillet. Happy dance! :-)

P.S. The hubby got a dSLR camera as an advanced Christmas gift. I've started using it for my photos. What a difference! Another happy dance! :-)

Chicken Casserole ala Campbell

2007-11-27T22:22:00.000-05:00

What can you make with chicken thighs, a can of Campbell Cream of Mushroom Soup and some imagination? You can come up with a dinner that's surpisingly very good and extremely easy to make!

Chicken Casserole ala Campbell
8 chicken thighs, trimmed of excess skin and fat
garlic seasoning (which I got from Costco...I think any steak seasoning would make a good sub)
3 shallots, sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 can water
1 tsp. pepper
salt to taste (if necessary)
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. whole grain mustard

1. Sprinkle chicken generously with seasoning.
2. Over medium-high heat, heat oil in an oven-proof skillet (I used an enamelled cast-iron one).
3. Brown chicken on all sides. Set aside.
4. Saute shallots until soft.
5. Add soup, water, pepper, worcestershire sauce and mustard. Mix with a whisk until smooth.
6. Taste and adjust the seasoning at this point.
7. Place chicken in the skillet.
8. Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes.
9. During the last 5 minutes or so, turn on the broiler to brown and crisp up the chicken skin. Watch that it doesn't burn! (I'm notorious for this!)

I served this with smashed potatoes with the sauce as the gravy. Another "make again" dish for me.

Chili

2007-11-27T22:04:00.000-05:00

I will not claim that this chili is authentic. There are chili fanatics out there who feel that chili should not have beans, or tomato paste, or should only used chopped and not ground beef. What I will attest to is that this chili is gooooood...at least we here in our humble home think so :-)

Chili
500 g lean ground beef
1 can red beans, rinsed and drained
1 small can tomato paste
1 cup beef broth
2 tbsp. texmex seasoning (I used clubhouse, but you could sub this with a mixture of cumin, paprika and chili powder)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. sugar
salt to taste (I used a full sodium beef broth so I didn't use much)
1 ancho chili in adobo sauce, sliced
2 tbsp. salsa lizano

1. Saute onion and pepper until soft.
2. Add garlic and sute a few minutes until fragrant.
3. Add beef and cook until no longer pink.
4. Add tomato paste, texmex seasoning, sugar, and ancho chili.
5. Pour in beef broth and beans.
6. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
7. Season with lizano sauce and salt to taste.
8. Simmer 5 more minutes unti flavors come together.

I like this topped with a bit of cheese and some sour cream on the side. I also had a bag of corn chips lying around that I had bought from a latino grocery. It was a perfect supper for a cold winter night.

Toffee bars

2007-11-25T23:20:00.001-05:00

This has got to be the easiest toffee bar recipe ever. Prep time is maybe ten minutes max. And the results...excellent. Chewy and sticky, with just the right crunch from the nuts. Yum!

Toffee Bars
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 can condensed milk
1/2 cup toffee chips (I used Nestle Skor chips)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped almonds (or whatever nut you like)

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. In a bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs and butter until well blended.
3. Press firmly into a lined 9x9 pan (I used parchment to line it).
4. Bake for 10 minutes.
5. Pour condensed milk on top of crumb mixture.
6. Sprinkle toffee chips, chocolate chips and nuts evenly .
7. Press down with spatula (or the back of a large spoon) until the "solids" have "embedded" into the condensed milk.
8. Bake for 40 minutes.
9. Cool completely.
10. Put in fridge for 30 minutes, remove from pan and cut into desired slices.

Cioppino

2007-11-19T20:11:00.000-05:00

And now back to our regular programming...

It's been so long since I had a good seafood meal. Actually, that's not entirely correct. Last week, we had dungeness crabs for dinner. One whole steamed crab for each one of us. It was heavenly!

Anyways...

I've always wanted to try making cioppino, which is an italian seafood stew made with an assortment of the freshest seafood. So off I went to Bill's Lobsters in Chinatown East and bought my ingredients. I googled cioppino recipes, found one that I could use as a launching point, and here's what I came up with.

Cioppino

3 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
3 tsp. chopped garlic
1/2 fennel bulb, sliced thinly
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. chili flakes
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 can whole tomatoes in juice
6 cups shrimp stock (or fish stock)
1 lb. halibut fillet, cut into cubes
1 lb. mussels, cleaned
1 lb. headless shrimp, deveined
1/2 lb. sea scallops, cut into fourths (or bay scallops would work too)
1/2 lb. squid, cleaned and cut into rings

1. In a very large pot, heat olive oil and saute onion, shallots and fennel until soft.
2. Add garlic and chili flakes and saute for a couple of minutes.
3. Add tomatoes, stock, salt and fish sauce.
4. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes.
5. Adjust seasonings, remove bay leaf, then puree with a hand blender.
6. Add mussels and cook until they open.
7. Add the rest of the seafood and simmer gently for about 5 minutes just until everything is tender and opaque. Be careful not to overcook the seafood!
8. Serve with some crusty garlic bread.

We had this last night for dinner. It was perfect with a few glasses of Riesling. We had LOTS of leftovers so we gently reheated them tonight and it was even better! I think the stew develops its flavors over time. Very, very, very good! Definitely one to make again another night, maybe when we have guests :-)

The Chocolate Cake of My Childhood

2007-10-23T19:15:00.000-05:00

Looking at my finished product, one could never tell that this baking adventure was pretty much a disaster. The batter overflowed, spilled on the oven floor, caught fire and almost tripped my fire alarm!

I started out fine. The batter tasted really good and I was in high spirits as I put the cake pan in the oven. But 15 minutes into the baking, I saw that the batter was rising higher than I expected and so I hurriedly slipped cookie sheets underneath the cake pan to catch the batter drippings. I thought I had averted the disaster but it wasn't enough. The batter dripped out of the the cookie sheets too! The batter spilled onto on the oven floor and caught fire. So I had to find a way to wipe it off. I decided to use wet paper towels and used my BBQ tongs to reach in. Of course, as soon as the paper towels touched the heating elements, they ignited and I had to run to the sink to douse them with water! So there I was, trying my best not to keep the oven door open too long so my cake could bake properly but at the same time trying to get all of the spilled batter cleaned up and prevent things from catching fire. Whew! The lengths we go to for chocolate cake, eh?

In the end, despite everything, the cake turned out fine. More than fine, actually. The edges were a tad bit over cooked but the center was chocolatey and tender. I really liked the frosting, even though I wasn't expecting much from the recipe. This recipe will see a repeat performance, but I'm going to use a bigger cake pan. And I will have a fire extinguisher nearby.

Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 1/4 cups cake flour
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp. white vinegar
3/4 cup boiling water

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk mayo, milk, water and vinegar together.
4. Add the dry ingredients alternating with wet ingredients to the butter, starting and ending with the dry. I did 3 batches of dry and 2 batches of wet.
5. Add boiling water last and mix batter until smooth.
6. Bake in a 13x9 pan (that's what the original recipe called for, but keep my (mis)adventure in mind) in a 350 oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Cool in pan and invert onto a serving tray.
8. Frost with chocolate frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup milk
1 tbsp. butter

1. In a saucepan, whisk ingredients together until there are not lumps.
2. Heat over low-medium fire until mixture begins to thicken.
3. Remove from heat and add butter.
4. Whisk occasionally until mixture cools.

I'm going to try this next time with a caramel layer in the middle of the cake. Just like the "Cookie Monster" chocolate cake of my childhood.

Short Cut Kare-Kare

2007-10-23T18:49:00.000-05:00

Kare-Kare is one of those uniquely Filipino dishes. A rich stew of oxtail, ground rice, ground peanuts and vegetables, eaten with shrimp paste...it doesn't sound like much, but every special occasion back home would be incomplete without this family favorite.

Normally, when this dish is made, it takes almost a whole day. The meat needs to be boiled until tender, the rice needs to be toasted then ground, the peanuts need to be ground finely into a paste, etc, etc. In this busy world, having that much time to make a single dish would truly be a luxury. Thankfully, there are ready-mix packets of sauce that one could easily tweak. With a bit of adjusting here and there, a more than adequate kare-kare is mere minutes away.

Short Cut Kare-Kare
3 lbs. oxtail, cut into 2-inch pieces
6 cups water
1 onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp. salt
1 1/2 packs Mama Sita's Kare-Kare mix
2 cups long beans/sitaw, cut into 2 inch pieces
10-12 pcs. okra
3 cups bok choy
1 cup smooth/creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup sugar
fish sauce to taste

1. Boil oxtail in water with onion, garlic and salt until tender. I used a pressure cooker for 20 minutes. Set aside meat. Drain and skim fat from stock.
2. In a bowl, mix 2 cups of stock with the kare-kare mix and peanut butter. Set aside
3. In a heavy pot, simmer rest of stock and cook okra and long beans until almost tender.
4. Add the kare-kare mix/peanut butter mixture and the meat.
5. Add sugar and fish sauce to taste.
6. Put in the bok choy last.
7. Simmer for a few minutes until bok choy is done and sauce has thickened.
8. Serve with bagoong/shrimp paste.

Other veggies that normally go into kare-kare include eggplants and banana hearts. Tripe and other internal organs can be used too. But my kids just like the oxtail, so oxtail it is.

Sisig

2007-10-22T18:50:00.000-05:00

I posted about my first sisig attempt a few months ago but I never really got to jot down the recipe. I often cook without a recipe and so it becomes a problem when I attempt to recreate something that I cooked a long time ago. Such was the case with this dish.

This is actually why I decided to start blogging anyway. I figured that I had better start writing down my "burst of inspiration" creations lest my memory starts to fail and the dishes get lost in oblivion.

So here's the recipe (or at least my approximations)...

Sisig
3 pcs. pork ears
4 cups water
1 tbsp. salt
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. whole peppercorns
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 slices ginger
2 onions, 1/2 sliced and 1 1/2 minced
1 cup pureed beef liver (use a food processor)
1 cup crushed chicharon
1 thai bird chili, sliced into thin pieces
1 cup beef or chicken broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp. knorr or maggi seasoning
1 tsp. ground black pepper

1. Boil pork ears in water, salt, bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic, ginger and sliced onion. Boil until tender. Or you could use a pressure cooker x 15 minutes.
2. Drain pork ears well and mince into 1/4 inch pieces. Set aside.
3. In a non-stick pan, saute 1 minced onion and add pureed liver.
4. Once liver is no longer pink, add pork ears, 3/4 of the chicharon, pepper and the chili.
5. Add 1/2 of broth and season with 1 tbsp. maggi/knorr and half of the lemon juice.
6. Cook until liquid is almost gone then repeat step #5.
7. Cook until some bits have become crisp and you get good caramelization.
8. Add the rest of the onion and chicharon just before serving.
9. Squeeze additional lemon juice and seasoning (plus hot sauce as desired) on top.
10. Eat with lots of garlic rice.

I also made garlic kangkong on the side. It felt like we were back home eating in Gerry's :-)

Bang-Bang Beef Curry

2007-10-22T18:27:00.001-05:00

I got the "bang-bang" idea from someone who makes her roast chicken with whatever sauces and condiments she has in her fridge. Bang-bang refers to the banging on the bottom of the bottle to get every bit of sauce out. Great way to use up those bottles, eh?

Anyway, I had some beef shank, half a cup of left-over coconut milk, a cup of left-over canned whole tomatoes and half a bottle of Indian curry paste. With a bit of tweaking here and there plus some hot mango chutney on top, it was another successful dinner :-)

Bang-Bang Beef Curry

1 kilo beef shank, cut into cubes (any stew cut will do)
6 cups water
1 onion, sliced
10 slices ginger
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp. salt
4 tbsp. curry paste (I used Patak's mild curry paste)
4 tbsp. tamarind sauce (I had the Maggi brand)
1 tbsp. turmeric
1 tbsp. cumin
1 cup canned whole tomatoes (about 4 tomatoes plus juice)
1/2 to 1 cup coconut milk

1. Simmer beef, water, 1/2 of the onion, garlic, 5 slices of ginger and salt until beef is tender. I used a pressure cooker for 20 minutes. Reserve broth and set beef aside.
2. In a heavy pot, saute rest of onion and ginger.
3. Add curry paste, beef, tomatoes, tamarind sauce, turmeric, cumin and coconut milk.
4. Add about a cup of the broth.
5. Simmer for another 20 minutes, adding broth as needed to keep the dish "saucy."
6. Skim off fat as the dish is simmering. Adjust salt to taste. I didn't need to add any more since the broth already had salt and the curry paste was adequately flavored as well.
7. Serve with rice (or naan) and mango chutney.

The boys really liked it! The level of heat was perfect and the sweetness of the chutney went with the curry flavors very well.

This is why I love cooking...a few left over ingredients, a hint of creativity, a sense of adventure and voila...instant gratification on a plate :-)

Definitely not about food...

2007-10-15T22:30:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in a week. One whole week. I think that's the longest period of time I've gone without putting up something, anything on this blog. Why have I not been posting, you ask?

Exam coming up. Check.
Dental issues. Check.
Work til 6pm on some nights. Check.
Hubby enjoying his new cooking skills. Check.
And lastly...

New dog. Check.

Oh, I did make Ina Garten's lemon cake using key limes. It was "amazing" according to one of my colleagues. Definitely worth a repeat performance.

See. I said this post was not about food. But it always comes back to food. In the end, it's always about the food :-)

Pickled Peewee Eggs

2007-10-08T20:21:00.000-05:00

I was browsing the aisles of my favorite Asian grocery when I saw a box of peewee eggs. Now, normally eggs come in small, medium, large and extra large. But they had extra small ones, and even tinier, these peewee eggs (shown beside a normal large egg). So cute!

At a dollar a dozen, I couldn't resist. So I bought some and pickled them :-)

Pickled Peewee Eggs

2 cups white vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 dozen peewee eggs (or you could use 2-3 dozen quail eggs), hard-boiled and peeled

1. Simmer vinegar, sugar and salt for 5 minutes.
2. Place eggs in a sterilized wide mouth jar.
3. Pour pickling solution over eggs.
4. Keep in fridge for at least 3 days before eating (I can't wait!!!)

Toasted Coconut Cupcakes

2007-10-08T18:57:00.000-05:00

I used to not like coconut in my baked goods. But ever since I left the Philippines, I've been craving all things coconut...coconut scented soaps (like the one by my kitchen sink), coconut flavored ice cream (Ben and Jerry's is THE BEST!), and now coconut baked goods. I saw Anna Olson's show which showcased this recipe and I just had to try it.

Toasted Coconut Cupcakes

2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 + 1/4 cup coconut milk
2 eggs, separated
2 1/4 cups pastry flour
1 + 1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

1. Toast coconut flakes in a 350 oven for 3-4 minutes, just until the edges turn light brown. Set aside and increase oven temp to 375.
2. Mix egg yolks, oil and 1 cup of the coconut milk. Set aside.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and 1 cup of the sugar.
4. Mix dry ingredients into the wet and stir in 1 1/3 cups of the toasted coconut.
5. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites and 1/2 cup sugar until soft peaks form.
6. Fold the egg whites into the batter.
7. Pour batter into 16 muffin cups (or 1 8x8 pan).
8. Bake for 20-22 minutes (or 25-30 minutes for square cake).
9. Cool cupcakes.
10. Brush tops with remaining coconut milk and dip into the coconut flakes.

The cupcakes were very good! Light and coconutty. I think next time I'm going to try filling them with pineapple curd, maybe with a hint of rum. Kind of like a pinacolada cupcake :-)

Moroccan Beef Stew

2007-10-05T19:47:00.000-05:00

This was a big hit tonight! It was so good that I've decided that the next time I have guests over, this is what I'm going to serve. With couscous, a green salad and maybe some pita, I think it would make a perfect fall meal.

Moroccan Beef Stew

4 pieces beef shank or 2 lbs. stewing beef
salt and pepper
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, cubed
2 cinnamon sticks
3/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
2 cups tomatoes (I used canned whole tomatoes with the juice)
1/4 cup soy sauce (I know this isn't Moroccan but it adds so much flavor)
1 cup raisins
1 cup green olives

1. Season beef with salt and pepper.
2. In a heavy pot (I used an enameled cast iron one), brown the beef well. Set aside.
3. In the same pot, saute onion, garlic and red pepper until soft.
4. Add the tomatoes, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, fennel and soy sauce.
5. Put beef back into pot and lower heat to a slow simmer.
6. Cover pot and simmer for 45 minutes.
7. Add raisins and olives. Cover and simmer for another hour until beef is tender.

A whole lot of chicken

2007-10-03T21:02:00.000-05:00

Last week...

Son #1: Oh, BTW mom, I volunteered to bring chicken for our thanksgiving lunch next Thursday.
Me: Oh really? How many people will be going?
Son #2: Well, there are 22 in my class plus our teachers and the parent volunteers.
Me (trying hard to be calm): Ok then. Chicken it is.

Today:

Me: Holy cr@p! The thanksgiving lunch is tomorrow!

So what do you do when you need to make chicken for 22 kids and their teachers?

1. Run to the grocery and buy 36 chicken drumsticks.
2. Season chicken with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder.
3. Add a cup of oil and toss chicken around until pieces are uniformly covered with seasoning.
4. Marinate for an hour.
5. Preheat oven to 400. Bake chicken for 20 minutes. Flip and bake 15 minutes more.
6. Meanwhile, mix together 2 cups of bottled bbq sauce, 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1/4 cup hoisin sauce.
7. Once chicken is cooked, toss in sauce.
8. Bake 5 minutes per side.
9. Done.

Whew, that wasn't so bad. I even had time to wrap some foil around the drumsticks. I'm sure the teachers wouldn't appreciate 22 pairs of sticky hands.

Mango Torte

2007-09-30T13:19:00.000-05:00

No matter what anyone says, I think the Philippines has THE BEST mangoes in the world. Nope. Save your breath. No one can convince me otherwise.

This recipe combines two of my favorite things: mangoes and dacquoise. Dacquoise is basically a nut-meringue which is used as a base for cakes and other desserts. Its chewy-crunchy texture is a perfect foil to creamy frostings and fillings, like buttercream. Back home, one of the most popular desserts, sans rival, is basically cashew dacquoise layered with decadent buttercream.

I had never attempted to make a dacquoise before, although I've tried my hand at pavlova a few times. Since we were going to Tita M and Tito O's for dinner, I figured that this was a perfect time to be brave and wander into the world of dacquoise making.

Dacquoise (based on The Joy of Cooking)
3/4 cup almonds
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
4 egg whites
1/2 tsp. white vinegar (the recipe called for cream of tartar but I didn't have any)

Prep: Preheat oven to 200. Draw two 8-inch circles on parchment then cut about an inch outside circles and place on cookie sheet. I used 2 cookie sheets since I had medium sized ones.

1. In a food processor, pulse nuts, cornstarch and sugar until mixure looks like breadcrumbs.
2. Set aside.
3. Beat eggwhites and vinegar on medium speed until soft peaks form.
4. Gradually add sugar while beating on high speed until stiff peaks form.
5. Gently and gradually fold in nut mixture, taking care not to deflate the meringue too much.
6. With a spatula, form the dacquoise into circles on the parchment using the drawn guides.
7. Bake at 200 for 2 hours.

Mango buttercream
1 cup pureed mango
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1. Using the whisk attachment of the mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add mango puree and mix well.
3. Add cream and whisk over medium high heat until stiff and frosting holds its shape.

To assemble, place one dacquoise on a serving platter. Frost with 1/3 of the mango buttercream. Put second dacquoise and frost with second 1/3 of buttercream. Use last 1/3 to frost sides.

You could probably decorate this torte with mango balls on top, but I didn't have any.

Verdict: It was ok. Hubby didn't like it too much but Tita M said it was very good. I don't know. I couldn't decide. I think there was too much buttercream between the layers. This recipe defnitely needs to be tweaked a bit. I think thinner dacquoise layers would work better. So next time, I'm going to try dividing the dacquiose into 3 and putting less buttercream between layers.

Caldereta

2007-09-28T17:50:00.000-05:00

This dish is proof of the immense influence the Spanish had on Filipino cooking. It's difficult not to imbibe so much of a culture that was around for more than 300 years, pretty much permeating everything from our religion, to our names, our language, and our food. I think this is what makes Filipino food so different from those of our Southeast Asian neighbors. Because the Philippines was under Spanish rule for so long, add to that the omnipresence of the Chinese, Filipino food, as a final product, is truly an amalgamation of Malay, Hispanic and Chinese cuisines.

Caldereta is essentially a beef stew, along the lines of osso buco and other occidental stews, but the use of coconut milk makes it decidedly Filipino. This dish is considered "celebration food," served during birthdays, fiestas and other gatherings. It's a Friday. In my book, that is always cause for celebration.

Caldereta

2 lbs. beef, cubed
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 can whole tomatoes (about 4-5 pieces and half the juice)
salt
pepper
1/2 cup beef broth
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 cups coconut milk
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 red pepper, cut into strips
1 cup drained whole olives

1. Season beef with salt and pepper.
2. In a heavy pot, like a dutch oven, brown beef on all sides.
3. Add onion and garlic.
4. Add tomatoes, crushing them as you add them.
5. Add soy sauce, bay leaves and beef broth.
6. Cover pot and simmer over low heat until beef is tender, about 2 hours.
7. Add potatoes, red peppers, olives and coconut milk. Adjust seasoning with salt as needed.
8. Simmer uncovered for 15-20 more minutes until potatoes are done and sauce has thickened.

Tonkatsu

2007-09-27T18:43:00.000-05:00

Breaded fried meat. Every culture has its version. The Italians have parmigiana. The Viennese and Germans have schnitzel. The Polish have kotletschabowy. And the Japanese have tonkatsu, which is my favorite. Somehow panko stays crisper than traditional breadcrumbs and cooks more evenly, giving you that golden brown, crunchy coating that makes breaded cutlets so good!

The key to frying up these babies is to keep the oil at a constant temperature, which means not overcrowding the pan. Fresh oil with a high smoke point is crucial too. When you bread the meat, you want the first layer of flour to be as thin as possible, just enough so that the egg has something to adhere to. After dipping the meat in the panko, let it rest for 5-10 minutes, so that the panko stays on.

Alton Brown says that you should keep one hand "wet" and one hand "dry" to prevent what he calls "club fingers." That piece of advice is good in theory, and it does minimize "clubbing" (and I mean this in a very non-medical way), but I find that clubbing is inevitable. You just need to keep a dish towel or some paper towels nearby.

Anyways, here's my version of tonkatsu.

Tonkatsu

6 pork cutlets (I use center cut quick-fry porkchops which I pound until they're about 1/4 inch thick)
1 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 tsp. salt.
1 tsp. pepper

1. Put flour, egg and panko in three separate wide dishes.
2. Add 1 tsp. of salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper each to the egg and the flour. Mix well.
3. Make sure pork cutlets are dry. Dip cutlets in flour, making sure to shake off excess.
4. Dip in the egg, then into the panko. Press the panko onto the meat, making sure that the meat is well coated.
5. Set aside meat while you heat up your pan.
6. Fry over medium-high heat until golden on both side.
7. Slice into 3/4 inch strips and serve with tonkatsu sauce*.

*There's a brand of tonkatsu sauce that I really like, but you could substitute this home-made version in a pinch. I didn't have tonkatsu sauce tonight, so I made this. The kids couldn't even tell the difference.

For the tonkatsu sauce, mix together:

4 tbsp. tomato ketchup
2 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. kecap manis (or 1 tbsp. soy sauce with 1 tsp. sugar)

In the picture above, you can see garlic kuchay, which we also had, beside the tonkatsu. Always good to have some veggies to lessen the guilt of eating something fried :-)

Pork and Long Beans in Coconut Milk

2007-09-26T18:10:00.001-05:00

I mentioned before that I come from a region in the Philippines which is known for cooking everything with coconut milk. I've successfully passed on my love for coconut milk to the hubby and the boys, hence the ubiquity of coconut milk-based dishes in this blog :-)

Pork and Long Beans in Coconut Milk

1 lb. lean pork, cut into strips
1 can coconut milk (about 2 cups)
1 medium onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 slices ginger
2 thai chilis, chopped (optional but highly recommended)
3 tbsp. shrimp paste (Barrio Fiesta brand)
salt to taste
1 bunch long beans, cut into 2-inch pieces

1. Simmer coconut milk, pork, ginger, garlic, onions, shrimp paste and pepper until pork is tender and coconut milk has rendered some oil (about 20 minutes).
2. Season with salt to taste.
3. Add long beans.
4. Simmer for 5 minutes more until long beans are cooked but still has some crunch.

Baked Mussels with Butter, Cheese and Garlic

2007-09-26T17:53:00.000-05:00

This is the simplest version of Baked Mussels there is.

Son #2 loves it and could probably eat a couple of dozens if I let him!

This dish is exquisite with freshly steamed mussels, but you could definitely use pre-cooked frozen mussels in a pinch (which is what I did today).

BAKED MUSSELS WITH BUTTER, CHEESE AND GARLIC

36 cooked mussels on the half-shell
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp. butter
2x2x2 inch cube of sharp cheese
2 tbsp. olive oil

1. Put all ingredients except mussels in a food processor and pulse until you make a paste.
2. Put about 1/2 tsp. of the paste on each mussel.
3. Bake in a 400 oven for 15 minutes until the topping is sightly brown.

Adobo sa Gata (Adobo in Coconut Milk)

2007-09-21T18:34:00.000-05:00

Adobo is probably the quintessential Filipino dish. This dish, which is a stew of a protein in vinegar, garlic, black pepper, and soy sauce, can be found in practically every Filipino household. There are endless variations...more soy sauce, no soy sauce, dry, saucy, twice fried, chicken, pork, chicken and pork, etc., etc.

I posted a favorite recipe a few weeks back, but today I decided to try something new. Adobo sa gata is a dish popular in Marinduque, an island province in the Philippines. I based my recipe on the one in "The Best of Food Magazine Cookbook" and I just tweaked it a little bit.

12 chicken pieces (I used legs)
2 tbsp. cooking oil
4 tbsp. vinegar
2 1/2 tsp. salt (to taste)
1 tsp. ground black pepper
3 thai chilis
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 slices ginger
2 bay leaves
1 medium onion, sliced
2 tsp. turmeric powder
2 cups coconut milk

1. In a pan, heat oil and brown chicken pieces well.
2. Lower heat and add salt, pepper, onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, bay leaves and vinegar.
3. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes until almost all of vinegar has evaporated, flipping chicken pieces once.
4. Add coconut milk and simmer for about 20 minutes.
5. Best served with white rice (like many other things).

This recipe was a hit with the boys! Definitely a "make again" dish!

Baked Oatmeal v. 1

2007-09-18T21:21:00.000-05:00

This method of preparing oatmeal transforms this plain jane grain into a wonderful breakfast treat. This version is soft and resembles some sort of pudding, with oats instead of bread. My second version, which I will post sometime time in the future, is more granola like. I like both, so it really all depends what I'm in the mood for :-)

Baked Oatmeal

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

3 1/2 cups oats

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1. In a large bowl, beat eggs.

2. Add oil and sugar and mix well.

3. Stir in oats, baking powder, salt, milk and vanilla

4. Pour into a 9x13 pan and bake for 40-45 minutes in a 325 oven.

5. Cut into 8 squares. Serve with milk.

Me and http://

2007-09-14T14:35:00.000-05:00

Thanks to this blogger for the cartoon :-)

Banana Bread Beauties

2007-09-13T19:45:00.001-05:00

Whenever we buy a bunch of bananas, we always end up with one or two overripe ones. I guess the boys get tired of them after a while and they sit there, languishing in our fruit basket, attracting fruit flies (which I absolutely abhor). So I throw the overripe ones in the freezer until I have enough to make banana bread, most recipes of which call for at least 4 bananas. Just thaw the frozen bananas and they're ready to use.

Tonight, I reached my 4-banana minimum, so I decided to experiment and make different flavors of banana cupcakes, which is actually just banana bread baked in cupcake holders and baked for roughly half the time. So practically any cake recipe can be made into cupcakes. Just watch your oven closely so you don't overbake them

Anyways...

I made 4 kinds: butterscotch, chocolate chip, peanut butter and sugared. I haven't tried them all so the verdict is still pending as to which one is the best. But they all look so good, don't you think?

Banana Bread (inspired by Elise)

4 bananas, smashed (my preference is to use 3 super overripe ones and 1 just on the brink)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup flour

1. Mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg and vanilla. Make sure everything is room temp or else the butter will solidify.

2. Sift in salt and baking soda. Mix well

3. Add flour and fold into wet mixture. Do not overmix so as not to develop the gluten.

4. Scoop into 12 cupcake container or a loaf pan.

5. Bake at 350 for 3o minutes (cupcakes) or 50 minutes (loaf).

You can add the "flavors" once you've mixed the batter. I like to add them after I've put the batter into the cupcake holders so that I can make different flavors in one batch. Gently mix in whatever your adding and sprinkle some on top. For the peanut butter, just swirl in a teaspoon or so.

Addendum:

Ok, I've tried them all (took a small piece from each, didn't eat 4 cupcakes in one sitting). The peanut butter is my favorite. The saltiness of the peanut butter balances the sweetness of the bread. I'm not surpised actually, since I routinely eat bananas with peanut butter anyway. Next flavor to try: Nutella!

Ginisang Munggo (Sauteed Mung Bean Stew)

2007-09-13T19:26:00.000-05:00

This is another one of those comfort foods that bring back fond memories of my childhood. I don't even use a recipe for this because I've been cooking this dish for as long as I can remember. It's only been recently though that I've discovered that a tablespoon or so of shrimp paste elevates this dish to whole new level. The shrimp paste adds so much umami, which I think translates best to the Filipino word malinamnam.

Ingredients:
*Remember, these are approximations...
6 cups boiled mung beans
1 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 medium onion, slices
2 tomatoes, cubed
1/2 lb shrimps, peeled
1 tbsp. shrimp paste (bagoong)
salt (or fish sauce) and pepper to taste
2-3 cups green leafy vegetable, such as spinach or water cress

1. Boil the mung beans in lots of water until soft, about 30-45 minutes. Watch that the beans don't dry up. Add water as needed during the boiling process. Once done, set aside.

2. In a large pot, heat oil and saute garlic, onions and tomatoes, waiting until the garlic and onion are slightly brown before adding the tomatoes. Saute until tomatoes are very soft.

3. Add mung beans and cooking liquid. Season to taste. This is the time to add the shrimp paste, salt or fish sauce, and pepper.

4. Add shrimp. Simmer until shrimp turns opaque.

5. Add greens. Traditionally, bittermelon leaves are used, but I've used spinach and watercress with much success.

Some people will saute some pork with the garlic, onions and tomatoes. But this meat-free version is more healthful and tastes just as good :-)

Baked Chorizo and Eggs

2007-09-09T19:30:00.001-05:00

After a two-week trip back home, our friends S&A came over for breakfast today to catch up and bring pasalubong. We listened to their adventures over coffee, Montreal bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, baked oatmeal, fruits and baked chorizo and eggs.

Baked Chorizo and Eggs

4 spanish chorizos, sliced diagonally into 1/4 inch pieces

1 medium onion, cut into wedges

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into strips

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tbsp. olive oil

6 eggs

3 tbsp. grated sharp cheese (I used parmegiano since that's what I had, but I think Manchego would work better)

freshly ground black pepper

1. In a skillet, heat olive oil and saute chorizo until it renders some fat.

2. Add garlic and onions and saute for a few minutes.

3. Add bell peppers and cook for a minute more.

4. Divide mixture and place in oven-proof dishes.

5. Crack an egg into each container and top with cheese and a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper.

6. Bake in a 4o0 oven for 10 minutes.

Watch the eggs as you're baking them because they can become overdone quite quickly (mine were a bit too done, oops!). Take the dishes out of the oven as soon as the eggs begin to set because the residual heat will cook them through.

I'm thinking this dish would be so much prettier if I used the traditional Spanish cazuelas. But since I didn't have any on hand, I used glass ramekins instead.

I quite liked this dish! As I was telling S&A, anything with chorizo (or bacon for that matter) is bound to be good. Hehe! Thanks for the stuff, S&A!

Cheesecake with Balsamic Strawberries

2007-09-08T21:55:00.000-05:00

I baked three cheesecakes a few days ago, 2 to bring to work as a good-bye treat for my wonderful co-workers, and 1 I kept at home for the boys. One of my co-workers has gluten sensitivity and so for her, I made one of cheesecakes with a walnut crust. The walnut crust was surprisingly good. I was a bit worried that it would crumble when I sliced the cheesecake, but it held up very well. I just tossed 2 cups of walnuts in a food processor and mixed it with 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar. I baked it like a graham cracker crust, 10 minutes at 300.

For the 2 cheesecakes I brought to work, I made a blueberry-lemon-sage topping and a dulce de leche topping. To make the dulce de leche, I pressure cooked a can of condensed milk for 15 minutes. Make sure the can is fully submerged when you do this. And do not, I repeat, DO NOT open the can until it is completely, and again I repeat, COMPLETELY cool.

The last cheesecake, I served to my boys with a balsamic strawberry topping. Hull and slice a container of strawberries, place in a pot with 2 tbsp. sugar and 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar. Heat through and add a slurry of 1 tsp. cornstarch in 1 tbsp. water. Simmer until it has thickened a bit.

The strawberry topping and dulce de leche were good, but I must say that the blueberry topping is still my favorite. :-)

Cheesecake recipe here...

Shrimp with Special Sauce

2007-09-08T21:34:00.000-05:00

This simple recipe is always a hit with the boys. The sweet-salty sauce coating the shrimp requires one to eat with the hands. Using forks and knives (or spoons) is simply an injustice. There is requisite slurping and licking as one tries to get every bit of garlicky goodness before peeling the shrimp. One then breaks of the head, and savors the shrimp fat within. Each segment of the shell is then peeled away to reveal the tender sweetness. The peeled shrimp is then used to scoop up more sauce, placed on a mound of steaming white rice, and popped into the mouth whole. Yum!

Shrimp with Special Sauce

1 kilo shrimp (I usually cut off the long antennae and the tip of the sharp barb on the head)

3 tbsp. minced garlic

2 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. cooking oil

1/2 cup oyster sauce (Lee Kum Kee is my preferred brand)

1/2 tsp. sugar

2 tbsp. water

1. In a pan, melt butter and oil and saute garlic until light brown.

2. Add in the shrimp, oyster sauce, sugar and water.

3. Stir-fry for a few minutes, just until shrimp turns pink.

4. Serve with lots of rice.

Food and Wine Tasting

2007-09-07T21:26:00.001-05:00

A good friend came to visit from Calgary and right after we picked him up from the airport, we headed straight to Ontario's top tourist destination...Niagara Falls. Big mistake. It was the Labor Day holiday, a long weekend on both sides of the border, so Niagara Falls was PACKED! Agoraphobia, here we come! But we had trekked all the way, so we decided to grin and bear the maddening crowd. We even rode the Maid of the Mist (first time for us!) and the kids had a blast getting soaked.

My favorite part of the trip was a visit to Niagara-on-the-Lake. We wanted to visit more wineries but the traffic was so bad that we only had time to do one. We decided to do the Art of Food and Wine at Peller Estates. This particular tasting combined different wines with different foods to demonstrate how food and wine can clash or complement. For this tasting, we were given a sauvignon blanc, an unfiltered merlot, and a vidal ice wine. And for our food, we had a cucumber mint soup, smoked beef ribs on rice with artichoke hearts, and for dessert, an oatmeal cake with brown sugar cream cheese frosting. You can see from the picture that the servings were pretty tiny. But for $12, you can't really expect much bigger morsels, I suppose.

The sauv blanc was crisp and light and it really enhanced the grassy notes of the soup. The freshness of the cucumber came through even after we had sipped the wine. Excellent pairing. Of course, our host asked us to try the soup with the merlot. Bleh. The merlot was definitely too strong for the soup.

Next up was the meat and merlot pairing. The merlot we were given was very rich and full-bodied. Lots of tannins and very robust. This was definitely not a sipping wine. In fact, I didn't quite like it when we first took our sips. Our host asked us to try it first with the soup. Not good. But when we had it with the smoked beef, the proteins in the meat broke down some of the tannins and smoothed out the wine a great deal. Gone was the mouth-puckering bite and the background flavor of fruit, mostly berries, began to come through. Amazing what the right food will do to a sip of wine and vise-versa.

For dessert, we had an ice wine, which is Ontario's biggest wine product. The grapes for ice wine are harvested in the dead of winter, when the freezing temperature concentrates the sugar in the fruit. The resulting wine is very sweet, almost syrupy. And the first time you try it, it's actually quite a shock to the palate. Our host, though, put it quite nicely. She says that a sip of ice wine at the end of a meal is like the clash of a cymbal in a symphony. Done with restraint, it gives that necessary oomph, that point of emphasis, that fleeting high. But repeated cymbal clashes deafen the ears like a whole glass of ice wine overwhelms the taste buds.

All in all, it was a lovely experience. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Just not on Labor Day weekend.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara with Sea Scallops

2007-09-07T20:11:00.000-05:00

What do you do when you have a pound of excellent bacon and a wedge of parmegiano reggiano? Make carbonara, of course! The name of this simple but delicious pasta dish comes from the Italian word carbone, which means coal. Pretty ironic since the pasta is white, no? But many believe that the origin of the name comes from the fact that this pasta was a staple meal of coalminers because it could be made with very few ingredients, all of which kept well without refrigeration: pasta, eggs, hard cheese, and dried meat.

I used the recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything and just fiddled around as I went along. Sea scallops were on sale, so why not make a good thing even better?

Spaghetti alla Carbonara with Sea Scallops

1 pound spaghetti (I used spaghettini)

1/2 pound bacon, sliced into 1 inch pieces

2 eggs

1 cup grated parmegiano

freshly ground black pepper

seared sea scallops*

1. In a skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Drain most of the fast, leaving about 2 tbsp. in the pan. (In an ideal world where calories wouldn't matter, I'd use all the drippings. But, oh well.)

2. In a separate bowl, mix eggs and cheese together.

3. Cook pasta according to package directions.

4. Add pasta to egg and cheese mixture. Add bacon and season generously with pepper. Mix well.

5. Top with sea scallops and a sprinkling of sea salt.

*For the sea scallops, melt butter in a small skillet. Pat scallops dry and season with salt and pepper. Sear scallops until caramelized, about a minute per side.

Chicken Wings

2007-09-01T22:45:00.000-05:00

1/4 cup butter

3 tbsp. tomato ketchup

2 tbsp. bbq sauce

2 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tbsp. sweet chili sauce

2 tsp. sriracha hot sauce (add less or more depending on how hot you want your wings)

1 tsp. worcestershire

salt to taste (amount really depends on whether you're using salted or unsalted butter)

1. Mix everything together in a saucepan over low flame until the butter emulsifies into the rest of the ingredients.

2. In large container with a lid, put cooked wings and pour sauce on top.

3. Shake, shake, shake until all the wings are coated with the sauce.

4. Serve with blue cheese dressing* and celery sticks.

*Mash blue cheese into sour cream. Add a splash of worcestershire.

Traditionally, this recipe calls for deep fried wings but I actually cook my wings in the oven. No fuss, no muss. Plus I can do LOTS of wings without having to slave over a splattering pot of hot oil. For instance, today, I made about 50 wings, which fit nicely in my oven all in one go.

Place wing pieces in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment (to prevent sticking). Bake in a 450 oven for 15-20 minutes. Flip chicken pieces over and bake 15-20 minutes more until nice and golden brown.

Oven-grilled Pork Ribs

2007-09-01T21:03:00.000-05:00

I don't understand how some people can eat ribs with a fork and knife. For me, the entire point of eating ribs is so you can use your fingers, get down and dirty, and bite juicy, saucy chunks of meat off the bone. Maybe that's why I'd rather eat ribs at home than in a restaurant. At home, no one will stare if at the end of the meal, I'm wearing sauce on my face like some sort of war paint. And I can lick the sauce off my fingers and make smacking sounds to my heart's content :-)

My favorite way to make ribs at home is in the oven. I don't have the space for those huge grills that will allow me to cook ribs over indirect heat and smoke them with wood chips so I can't really say if that cooking method will give me superior results. But the oven gives me consistent heat and thus produces a tender and juicy product every time.

The key to falling-off-the-bone ribs is to use low heat. This principle holds true whether you use the oven or the grill. Some people like to boil their ribs to tenderize them. I used to do this a long time ago, but I've found that a lot of the flavor was lost during the boiling process. A low, slow stint in the oven breaks down all that connective tissue between the bones and makes the ribs succulently soft but not mushy.

Anyways, enough of the chatter. On to the recipe...

1. Rub the ribs (I used 2 whole racks) with a good steak seasoning or sprinkle with the rub ingredients below.

Rub:
salt
pepper
garlic powder
paprika

2. Wrap ribs in foil, place on a tray and cook in a 300 degree oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
3. Take ribs from oven and pour off the fat that is rendered. Increase oven temp to 450.
4. Glaze both sides of the ribs.

Glaze:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. sriracha hot sauce (optional)
1 tsp. smoked paprika
2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
2 tbsp. apricot jam
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
*Simmer everything in a saucepan for about 5 minutes.

5. Return ribs to oven, unwrapped, top side down. Cook for 8-10 minutes.
6. Flip ribs over and glaze the top a second time. Return to oven for another 8-10 minutes or until the sugar from the glaze has caramelized and you get a few dark areas.
7. Let ribs rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Asian Brined Chicken

2007-08-29T19:54:00.000-05:00

It's been a crazy week. Son #1 needed surgery and the past few days felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster. Fortunately, everything went well and he's home now, recuperating.

I've missed my kitchen, I've missed cooking, and I've missed blogging. And after preparing tonight's dinner, laying out the table, saying grace and eating together, I feel some semblance of normalcy already.

I brined this chicken last night and the 24-hour soak really worked wonders. The chicken was very juicy and amazingly flavorful. Even the breast meat, which can sometimes taste bland, was excellent. Of course having each bite with a bit of crisp skin helped.

Asian Brined Chicken

1 3-4 lb. chicken
4 cups water
1/2 cup oyster sauce
1/2 cup dark soy sauce
1 tbsp. sriracha hot sauce (optional)
2 tbsp. grated ginger
1 tbsp. minced garlic
3 stalks lemongrass, chopped into 1 inch pieces
3 kaffir lime leaves
1/4 cup chinese rice wine
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. five spice powder

1. Mix all the ingredients except the chicken until well blended.
2. Soak chicken in brining liquid for 12-24 hours. Keep chicken in fridge.
3. Butterly chicken (or not, if you so prefer) and roast at 325 for 45-50 minutes.
4. Raise oven temperature to 400 and roast chicken for 15 minutes more.
5. Alternatively, you could use a turbo broiler and roast chicken at 175, skin side down for 30 minutes. Flip chicken over and roast another 30 minutes.
6. Allow chicken to rest for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

The low roasting temperature for this dish allows the chicken to cook without overbrowning. The soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar will burn if you roast the chicken at a high temperature. So start low and then increase the temperature toward the end of cooking to brown and crisp the skin.

Son #2 had his chicken with hoisin sauce, but I enjoyed mine with a sprinkling of Eurasian Black Sea Salt, which has an "eggy" flavor due to its higher sulfur content. It was a very nice "welcome back home" meal indeed.