Ube, Buco-Pandan, and Ensaimada Yeast Waffles

topping: lots of butter plus 

maple syrup for ube

 coconut sauce for buco-pandan, 

sugar and cheese powder for ensaimada

I love buttermilk yeast waffles. They're easy to prepare; just mix and leave in the refrigerator overnight, the next day bake the batter in a Belgian-style waffle maker. This time I divided the batter into three and added the usual Filipino flavors: ube and buco-pandan, and a new one "ensaimada" (a mixture of butter, sugar, and cheese powder). All flavors are sooo delicious with loads of butter and maple syrup or top the buco-pandan with thin coconut sauce and the "ensaimada" with finely grated cheese and sugar.

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Ice Candy

honeymansi, watermelon lambanog cocktail, and mango lime 

This year, it seems Spring took a vacation somewhere cooler because Summer arrived directly from Winter. Our Yoshino cherries bloomed almost overnight and it's so warm that for the first time we had to turn on our AC in the middle of March. It's perfect timing that our KCC hosts, Arnold and Jun, chose ice candy for this month's theme to cool us off. Thank you guys.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't bake cookies as often anymore but once in a while a recipe gets my full attention. I read at Serious Eats a review of Pierre Herme Pastries cookbook and it is not too favorable. According to the reviewer, the instructions are not very clear probably due to poor translations or the recipes just don't work as they should. Then I saw a recipe from the same book, of good old Chocolate Chip Cookies using 70% cacao dark chocolate and either pecan or macadamia nuts. The recipe and the link to the web site is at the bottom of the post.

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Mango, Cherry, and Orange Salad with Mint and Moscato

Oh happy happy joy joy. There're lots and lots of mangoes already at the Asian markets and Costco. I cubed a few pieces and made a very yummy fruit salad with pitted [frozen] sweet cherries and fresh oranges. The salad doesn't have added sugar; the fruits are mixed with cheap sweet wine and chopped mint. Very refreshing and bright, just like Spring.

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The Daring Cooks: Brave the Braise

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braised fennel bulbs, baby carrots, and onions

The March, 2012 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Carol, a/k/a Poisonive – and she challenged us all to learn the art of Braising!  Carol focused on Michael Ruhlman’s technique and shared with us some of his expertise from his book “Ruhlman’s Twenty”.

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Frog Legs Adobo

I watched yet again Andrew Zimmerman's Bizarre Foods Philippine edition currently streaming through Netflix and thought the bloated stuffed frog legs looked funny and weird. When I was a kid we used to have them adobo style with achuete (annatto). They were tiny though and not as meaty as the ones I found recently at the Asian market.  

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Homemade Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate Mix

I was going to make crispy cereal marshmallows for Food Friday this week but found out it takes at least 2 days to finish. I'll make and blog about them another day. I made Swiss Miss-style hot chocolate mix instead, recipe inspired by Bravetart of Serious Eats. 

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