Tapsilog

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.

Dutch Baby

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 :-)

Baked Chorizo and Eggs

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!

Eggs

Whenever we have anyone joining us for breakfast in our home, and I'm cooking up some eggs, I will never fail to ask them how they want their eggs done. I know from first hand experience that people will have their own egg preferences and one cannot assume that just because they come from the same household, they will all want their eggs the same way.

Concrete example here...

This was the platter of eggs that I cooked this morning. It looks like the United Nations of eggs, doesn't it?

Son #2's sunny side up egg is on top. He likes his sunny side up just barely done, with a very runny yolk and no hint of caramelization whatsoever.

I, on the other hand, like my eggs overcooked. Hence the brown egg on the right. I cook my eggs overhard resulting in a solid yolk. Plus, I like the edge burnt so that it becomes almost crisp.

Hubby like his in between. A hint of browning on the bottom and a yolk that is in between runny and set. So his egg is the one on the bottom.

And Son #1 doesn't like sunny side up eggs. He will only take his egg scrambled or hard boiled. He likes his scrambled egg firm (not fluffy). Almost like an empty omelet. His egg is on the left.

Even though our egg preferences differ, we all agree on one thing though...eggs taste best when eaten with tocino/longganisa/spam/bacon/tapa and rice, of course :-)

How 'bout you? How do you like your eggs?

The Easiest Scone Recipe Ever

I just love scones. Freshly baked and slightly crumbly, with a little pat of butter, they make a lovely simple breakfast or snack. Of course I've had truly bad scones...stiff as a cardboard and just as tasteless. But a well made scone, as Martha Stewart would say, is "a good thing" albeit hard to find. So for a while I went on a scone baking spree and this recipe has become my favorite. I'm not even sure where I found it but it has never failed :-)

Fifteen minutes for prep and 15-18 minutes for baking. That's all you need and you have fresh baked goods sitting on your breakfast table in no time at all. Today, I made some to bring to work (since I start at 10 a.m.)...

Cream Scones

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 cup heavy cream (NOT reduced fat)
• 1 tsp. vanilla

1. Mix all dry ingredients together.
2. Add cream and vanilla.
3. Mix until everything comes together and knead 4-5 times.
4. Pat into a circle about an inch thick.
5. Cut into 8 slices (like a pizza) .
6. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 16-18 minutes.


This recipe lends itself to infinite variations. Sometimes I'd sprinkle raw sugar on top before baking. Or glaze with a cream/confectioners sugar mixture. You can use raisins (like I did today) or dried cranberries (my favorite). You can add nuts, orange or lemon zest, flax seeds, chocolate chips. If you think about it, this would be an excellent way to unleash your creative potential. Enjoy! :-)

Dried Beef Tapa

Yay! It's the weekend once again, which in our household means it's time for our favorite meal...BRUNCH!

My mom brought (smuggled, actually) some dried beef tapa from Lucena when she came to visit last year. She brought 5 bags and the one we cooked today was the last one :( :( :(

This tapa is different from the usual marinated beef slices. Because it's dried, it has a crunchy-chewy texture and the flakes of salty meat go so well with a simple tomato/green onion/vinegar/fish sauce salad on the side. Truly the ultimate tapsilog.

We savored each and every bite, knowing that this batch was the last of our precious stash. Ma, next time ulit ha!

Buttermilk Pancakes

Once you've made pancakes from scratch, you can never go back to using a ready-made mix. The little bit of extra effort is worth it! This pancake recipe produces fluffy, non-cakey pancakes. One recipe makes about 12.

Buttermilk pancakes

2 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3 tbsp. sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

3 c. buttermilk

4 tbsp. melted butter

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients, preferably using a whisk. Mix just until ingredients are incorporated. Do not attempt to make the batter look smooth. It will have lumps and that's ok.

Alton Brown says you should count to ten when mixing pancake batter. Once you reach ten, stop. That way the flour doesn't develop its gluten and you won't end up with bread-like pancakes. I take his advice to heart. Alton Brown rocks!

Liege waffles

My parents-in-law fell in love and got married in a small chapel in Louvain, Belgium. They often spoke of waffles that were sold in street stands and were eaten as midday snacks. Starbucks in Manila sells these sweet treats as Belgian Pegi Waffles and I loved having them with my coffee back home.

I searched Toronto high and low but alas could not find these slightly crunchy, slightly chewy, slightly sweet, and oh so delicious little morsels of waffle heaven. So, I decided to make my own...

Belgian/Liege Waffles

Batter 1:

4 tsp. instant dry yeast

1/4 cup water

1 cup all purpose flour

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup warm milk

Batter 2:

8 tbsp. butter, room temp

6 tbsp. all purpose flour

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 tbsp. sugar

3/4 cup pearl sugar

Make batter 1.

1. Dissolve yeast in water, 1 tbsp of flour and sugar.

2. Let stand for 5 minutes.

3. Make well in remaining flour, add in yeast mix, egg and milk.

4. Mix and let rise until double or triple in volume.

Meanwhile, make batter 2.

Mix butter, flour, salt, vanilla, baking powder and sugars.

Mix batter 1 and 2.

Heat Belgian waffle maker until good and hot. I use a Cuisinart 4-waffle Belgian waffle maker (mine is an older model though) and I put about 1/4 cup of batter per square. The waffles come out roundish, which is how they're supposed to look anyway. For my waffle maker, I cook each batch at power number 4 for 4 minutes.

The waffles taste best on the day they're made but keep for a day at room temperature. They may also be frozen and reheated in a toaster.