Garlic Fried Rice with Salted Egg Yolk

Kulinarya Cooking Club challenge is finally back after a loooong break. The food chosen by Trisha is salted duck egg, called itlog na maalat (salted egg) in the Philippines, a long-time favorite side dish. I haven't met a Filipino who has not eaten salted duck eggs or doesn't like them. The eggs are usually served simply sliced with chopped fresh tomatoes.

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Red Rice

crispy pork hock with steamed red rice and roasted vegetables 

There are various Philippine heirloom rice available to buy online but I find the prices of the rice too steep. I had to settle for the cheaper, at $10.00 for a 5-pound bag, Thai red rice which are sold in nearby Asian grocery stores. Thai red rice is a long grain non-glutinous rice similar to brown rice but the color of the bran is red. According to Wiki, only the husks of the rice grains are removed during the milling process, retaining all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals intact in the bran layer and in the germ. Red rice is a good source of thiamine, riboflavin, fiber, iron, and calcium.

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Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bacon! Yes, these cookies have crispy bacon chips and they go really well with extreme bittersweet chocolate chips. When I read about these unusual cookies I just had to make some. They are not too rich nor greasy; they're sooo good.

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Matcha Daifuku

We've been addicted to mochi ice cream since we first tried them 24 years ago. Nowadays we buy a variety of sweet filled mochi called Daifuku from the Asian store but mochi ice cream is still our favorite.

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Cider and Black

For Christmas last year we had a drink called Cider and Black, a mix of dry hard cider and blackcurrant cordial. Hard cider, which has the same alcohol content as beer at about 5% in volume, is becoming popular at least here in Virginia. I like the combination of hard cider and blackcurrant because it's very light and slightly sweet. It's a ladies' drink, I guess.

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Crema Catalana

I've had this Spanish dessert just once in a restaurant many years ago. I don't know why I never prepared it at home but then again I've never made its French version, Crème Brûlée, either. The Spanish sweet cream is lighter than its cousin as it has fewer egg yolks and uses milk instead of heavy cream.

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Homemade Rice Wine

I was trying to make Manapla-style puto which I was told years ago has wild yeast or rice yeast as leavening agent. I looked online for white rice yeast, found this website about Philippine rice wine called tapuy and several other blogs on how to make rice wine at home, then quickly abandoned the puto. White rice yeast from the Philippines is impossible to get here in the US but I was able to buy from our local Asian store a packet of Chinese red rice wine yeast. I used this yeast and a cup of black glutinous rice and followed the recipe from the Filipino website. 

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Champagne Mini Cakes

Here's a nice idea for New Year's Eve celebration: cute mini cakes baked with champagne or non-alcoholic sparkling wine. I got the idea from here but used a different recipe for the cakes, frosting, fruit, and chocolate garnish.

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Bimuelos for Hanukkah

Happy Hanukkah to all my readers!

Searching for fried food to make for the Jewish festival of lights holiday, Hanukkah, which began December 8 and will end on the 16th, I was surprised to find that the sweet snack called bimuelos which are very similar to the Filipino buñuelos are actually related. Although the recipes are different, they are both deep fried and served with syrup or honey or simply dusted with sugar. The tiny snacks are really really delicious drizzled with honey. It's also good with caramelized condensed milk but I prefer them with honey. I had for lunch all the bimuelos in the picture after photographing them. I couldn't resist the crispy crust and light as feather puffy honeycombed crumb.

these bimuelos have a light puffy 

honey-combed crumb and crispy crust

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Red Velvet Doughnuts

I'm seeing red food items everywhere, it's the season after all. One of the baked items I wanted to make since I saw them in one of the blogs I visit are those cute red velvet cake donuts. I never liked cake donuts so baked them with yeast and topped with slightly sweet maple flavored whipped cream. You can also dip them in cream cheese glaze, if preferred. Yummy with either topping.  

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Butter Babycakes

The recipe for these cakes had been in draft for many months already but I couldn't find the time to bake them. These are supposed to be Filipino style butter cake made with Danish butter. The photo of the individual mamon-like cake that inspired me to look for a recipe was on one of my facebook friends' weekend breakfast table.

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Chicken Confit

For Thanksgiving I made chicken drumstick confit in place of the usual turkey. Duck is my favorite fowl to confit but I wanted to try if chicken is worth the trouble, and they are. These are the most delicious chicken dish I had in a while. It takes 2 days to marinate and slow cook in the oven but the result is very tasty and moist chicken. 

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Squid Sisig

The dish inspiration for November 2012 Kulinarya Cooking Club is Sisig. This appetizer has become so popular it has spawned numerous variations and fusion including sisig pizza. Thank you Iska, Erwin, and Jenn for choosing one of my favorites.

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Sicilian Pork Skin Roll-ups

pork skin roll-up with tomato sauce, crusty Italian bread

 and Parmesan cheese "lacy cookie"

Ah yes, pork skin is still a favorite of mine. It is cheap and protein rich, can be prepared barbecue Korean or Filipino-style, and a great addition to Cassoulet and Italian Sunday Gravy. I adapted a simple recipe for Sicilian pork skin roll-up and simmered the roll-ups in Sunday Gravy tomato sauce. You may use your favorite Italian tomato sauce. For decoration and to add crunch and more cheese flavor, I made Parmesan cheese "lacy cookies". The dish is good...really really good.

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Fresh Pineapple Pie

I was on the phone the other day with a friend and she mentioned Philippine-style pineapple pie is becoming almost as popular as buco (young coconut) pie. Some have layers of both pineapple and buco. Because I haven't been introduced to this pie, I just have to bake.

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Pumpkin Waffles

I've expanded my use of pumpkin and squash this season. I already made [and demolished] pumpkin pastillas de leche (milk candies) and also added mashed cooked pumpkin to yeast waffles. These waffles are really delicious specially with heavy cream sweetened with maple syrup and sprinkled with pumpkin seed brittle. I love pumpkins!

Pumpkin Yeast Waffles

2 cups all-purpose flour

1½ cups mashed pumpkin
½ tablespoon instant yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 cup water
6 tablespoons light olive or grapeseed oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• In a large bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients. Mix in the rest of ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 2 days. Preheat waffle maker and bake according to manufacturer's directions.

Maple Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

¼ cup pure maple syrup

• Beat together syrup and cream until thick but still pourable. Transfer into a squirt bottle if desired.

Pumpkin Seed Brittle

¼ cup sugar

½ cup toasted pumpkin seeds

• Cook sugar over medium heat in a skillet until caramelized and golden in color. Quickly stir in toasted seeds and transfer in one layer into a buttered piece of aluminum foil. Let cool completely; break into small pieces.