Pinky, Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?

tapioca flour donuts

Remember Pinky and the Brain cartoons? Brain always asks "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?" and Pinky would answer something that is completely irrelevant to the question and he'll be bonked on the head by Brain. The quote kept appearing while I was searching for the recipe for the Asian donuts called Pon De Ring which I read about here. Sorry if I seem to be channeling Pinky myself.:)

Unfortunately I couldn't find the recipe anywhere but some sites say the donuts are based on the Brazilian cheese rolls Pão de Queijo. I made half a recipe which is too much for a donut experiment. I also didn't bother to glaze them. I love the texture of the donuts, the crumb is chewylicious similar to fried mochi and the crust is so crunchy. Since I have not eaten the donuts from Asia I can't recommend the recipe 100%. If you are crazy adventurous like me here is the recipe, it's somewhere in the middle of the post, add maybe a third to half a cup of sugar and omit the cheese.

I ♥ the slightly sweet chewy crumb

New Year's Eve 2008 Recipes

A few recipes from our New Year's Eve 2008 dinner menu.
Deep Fried Adobado Cornish Hens

2 Cornish hens, about 1 pound each

½ cup white or coconut vinegar
½ cup dry sherry
6 cloves garlic, smashed
1 small onion, thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon whole black peppercorns, cracked
1½ tablespoons sea salt
2 bay leaves, crumbled
¼ cups extra virgin olive oil
peanut or light olive oil for deep frying

1. Rinse and pat dry the hens, set aside.
2. In a gallon freezer bag, combine all the ingredients except hens and oil for frying. Mix until salt is completely dissolved.
3. Put the hens in the bag making sure they are equally coated with the marinade, refrigerate for 24 hours, turning once.
4. The next day, remove hens from marinade, pat dry. Tie legs with kitchen twine.
5. In a deep pot, heat oil over medium-low heat. Add the hens, cover the pot, and fry for 30 minutes, turning once. Increase the heat to medium-high and fry until hens are golden brown.

Embutido

2 lbs lean ground pork, or combination pork and chicken
1 Spanish chorizo, finely minced
1 cup Vienna sausage, finely minced
2 slices white bread, finely cubed and mixed with 1 C milk
½ cup sweet pickle relish
½ C finely minced raisins or sultanas
1 cup grated aged edam or aged cheddar cheese
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons sea salt or to taste

1. Mix all ingredients gently in a large bowl. Fry a small portion, taste, and adjust salt seasoning.
2. Divide meat mixture into 3 portions.
3. Spoon each portion on a piece of non-stick aluminum foil and form into a 2½-inch thick log. Close the foil tightly making sure there is enough foil all around. Twist ends.
4. Bake in a 350 degree oven or steam for 1 hour.
5. Let cool completely, cut into ½ inch thick slices, fry in lightly oiled non-stick skillet until brown.

Pão De Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Puffs)
These rolls are so delicious and quite addicting. I can't stop eating them!

500 gms tapioca flour (manioc)
250 ml skim milk
125 ml vegetable oil
12 gms sea or kosher salt
2 large eggs
50 ml skim milk
350 grams cheese, finely grated

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Put the flour in a stand mixer with paddle attachment.
3. In a small pan, boil the 250 ml milk, oil, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, drizzle the milk mixture slowly into the flour and stir until all the flour is moistened.
4. Add the eggs and mix well. Mix in the 50 ml milk, beat well. Stir in the cheese, making sure it is well distributed.
5. With oiled hands, form into walnut-size balls and place on a cookie sheet 1 inch apart.
6. Bake for 10 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes or until light brown.

Note: This is half a recipe I got online and I did not bother to convert from grams to U.S. cups. I used my kitchen scale to be able to make the recipe as accurate as possible. Conversion table is here.

Ube Kalamay With Latik

8 oz frozen grated ube, thawed
8 oz glutinous rice flour
1 large can coconut milk
2 cups sugar
banana leaves
1 can coconut milk for latik

1. Line a 9-inch cake pan with wilted banana leaves, set aside.
2. In a medium non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat, mix ube, glutinous rice flour, coconut milk, and sugar.Bring to a boil , lower heat to medium, cook, stirring constantly to prevent the bottom from burning until the mixture becomes sticky, about 15 minutes.
3. Spoon mixture into the prepared pan and bake in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes. Serve with latik.
4. To make latik, cook 1 can coconut milk over low heat in a non-stick skillet.
5. Let the milk simmer for around 30 minutes until very thick. Increase the heat to medium and continue cooking, turning the coconut as it gets brown. Cook until slightly dark brown and crumbly.