the recipe for the dark thick syrup in the middle is provided below
August 23, 2015
Golden Syrup
Labels: golden syrup, Lyle's golden syrup, mooncake
the recipe for the dark thick syrup in the middle is provided below
August 13, 2015
Sourdough Barley Bread
Labels: bread, Jeremy and Jessica Nolen, New German Cooking cookbook, pearl barley, rye flour, sourdough
August 10, 2015
Lacto Fermented Vegetables
Labels: buro, good for you food, lacto fermented vegetables, pickling
Supercrispilicious!
Fermenting with sea salt brine called buro in Tagalog language has been a Philippine method of preserving vegetables for as long as I can remember. I specially like the spicy mustard greens bought from the wet market. My mother added them to sour soups. I really love burong mustasa with the Chinese-Filipino steamed bun sandwich, cua pao. Another favorite of mine is green mango. I have made both several times but with a shorter period of fermentation and never used the airlock system.
July 3, 2015
Dinuguan (Blood) Sausage
Labels: dinuguan, Filipino, pork blood, sausage
Pork blood stew (dinuguan), is a Filipino dish I rarely eat. I cooked it once and I actually liked it. It's made with pork blood and meat, and stewed in vinegar and spices. It's usually eaten in the Philippines together with steamed white rice cakes. Recently, I've read about dinuguan made into sausages and smoked, kinda like the Spanish morcilla. What a brilliant idea!
May 22, 2015
Limoncello Lemonade
Labels: lemonade, limoncello, mint
I don't know why I make Limoncello and other fruit flavored liqueur. I hardly drink alcohol and forget I have them to enjoy once in a while. This batch is almost 3 years old and it's time to check if it has aged enough. I ended up diluting it with mint-infused sugar syrup and freshly squeezed lemon juice. I like it. Sweet, tart, and refreshing with a hint of mint.
May 18, 2015
Rice Krispies Ice Cream Bars
Labels: coconut oil, ice cream bar, ice cream hard shell coatng, rice crispies
It's ice cream season! Actually I make all year round but I make more frequently during late Spring and all Summer long.
March 27, 2015
Salt Cod Croquettes
Labels: croquettes, salt cod
For those who still have fish for Fridays during Lent season, here is a recipe for salt cod croquettes. Although I've had croquettes before in restaurants, I've never tried making them at home. If you can't find salt cod in grocery stores you can salt and dry your own. They are good specially with Tartar sauce mixed with sriracha or Frank's hot sauce for a little kick.
March 16, 2015
Strawberry Ice Scramble
Labels: chocolate syrup, Filipino, ice scramble, summer treat
1 more day and it's officially Spring. Everyday, temperature has been rising and the last patches of snow have finally melted over the weekend. I'll miss the white stuff...not really, but it's time to try the Filipino icy street snack or drink. It's called Ice Scramble which is shaved ice mixed with evaporated milk, sugar, and flavoring, usually banana, and red food color, then topped with milk solids and chocolate syrup.
March 9, 2015
Flour Tortillas
Labels: flour tortillas, homemade
I cookedPuerco Pibil for the umpteenth time which I always have with white rice. I suddenly wanted the pork dish wrapped in flour tortillas. I made a small batch of tortillas using a recipe that doesn't have baking powder (not recommended). Rolling the dough into thin rounds was time consuming and the dough tends to shrink when transferring to the skillet. Then I remembered I have an electric tortilla maker I bought from eBay many years ago. It was for baking something else, not for making tortillas, but I have forgotten about it after storing it. Story of my life: Buy it, store it, and forget it!
February 28, 2015
Portuguese Muffins and Korean Walnut Bread
Labels: bolo levedo, King Arthur Flour, Korean walnut buns, Portuguese muffins
King Arthur Flour catalog sells Portuguese muffins mix. I've never heard of these flat bread before. They are similar to English muffins but a bit sweeter and don't have "nooks and crannies". The Portuguese call them Bolo Lêvedo. They are cooked just like English muffins, in a griddle or cast iron skillet on a stove top, not in the oven. KAF recipe bakes them in the oven.
February 25, 2015
Sriracha Caramel Corn Puffs
Labels: caramel corn puffs, sriracha sauce
February 20, 2015
White Chili Spaghetti Bake
Labels: garlic bread, white chili spaghetti casserole
February 18, 2015
Kung Hei Fat Choi 2015
Labels: Chinese New Year 2015, steamed rice cakes
For this year's Chinese New Year, steamed rice cakes, the ones with cracked tops, tested my patience. I almost gave up but third time's the charm. I don't know what I did wrong the first 2 times but the tops were smooth and a bit too sweet for my taste. I removed 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and somehow they came out soft, fluffy, and have cracks (smiles) on top.
February 16, 2015
Homemade Powdered Ginger
Labels: homemade, powdered ginger
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I use fresh ginger regularly but not a lot of the commercial ginger powder. A small container becomes stale, bland, and not as aromatic before I'm able to use it all up. I can't remember the last time I bought and I was shocked that it costs so much. The smallest container of McCormick® is $7.00 and some fancy bottled "gourmet" brand is $15.00. Really?
February 5, 2015
Black Forest Cake
The last time I made Black Forest cake was maybe 4 or 5 years ago. The urge to make was triggered by a cookbook called The Art Of French Pastry by Jacquy Pfeiffer. I borrowed the book after reading so many glowing reviews specially the Black Forest cake which one rater said "the best recipe ever". Well, I didn't try the recipe, returned the book, and rated it 1-star because the recipes are the same ones you can find in many many baking books. The author offers nothing new or revolutionary and I didn't like the endless anecdotes about his childhood, etc. I can't understand why cookbook authors have to talk about their past and the people who influenced them. They should either write a cookbook or a separate memoir, but please don't mix the two. But the most disappointing is the supposed to be great Black Forest Cake. Pfeiffer adds gelatin to both the cherry liqueur syrup and the heavy cream frosting. I'm sorry, but no. The cake shouldn't have gelatin, nah uh.
December 16, 2014
Honey Cake (Lekakh)
Labels: honey cake, Jewish, Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook, lekakh
The ingredients in this Jewish spiced honey cake (lekakh in Yiddish) remind me of fruitcake but without molasses. Honey cake is usually served during Rosh Hashanah. Joan Nathan (I adapted her recipe) says "it's also served at the birth of a son, weddings, and generally all happy occasions".
December 3, 2014
Napa Cabbage And Radish Kimchi
Labels: baby radish, kimchi, Korean, napa cabbage
I always have cabbage kimchi in the fridge. I love it in fried rice and with roasted Korean sweet potatoes. I have never made it though because it's always available from the Korean grocery store. The other day, I ran out of Kimchi and the store surprisingly also didn't have any and I was in the mood to snack on the pan-roasted sweet potato I have. I binged (yeah, I don't google anymore) the recipe right there at the store and decided I'll make for the very first time. I already have the seasoning ingredients in my cupboard; all I had to get was a piece of Napa cabbage and 2 pieces of very tiny baby Korean radish. It is an easy recipe to make in a day. The recipe I chose doesn't have fish sauce. I can definitely say the flavor is exactly like the store-bought which doesn't have fish sauce either.
November 7, 2014
Goldilocks™-Style Ensaymada
Labels: Filipino sweet bread, Goldilocks-style ensaymada
I've loved ensaymada (the Filipino version of the Spanish ensaïmada) since I was a small child but I have rarely eaten the fluffy cake-like Goldilocks™ version. To me it's not ensaymada; it's more like a variety of sweet bread and the only thing it has in common with the Spanish ensaïmada is the procedure of rolling the small pieces of dough, brushing with butter, and shaping into a coil. The coil serves no purpose because the bread becomes one fluffy thing, no visible layers in the crumb. Filipinos often call it Philippine brioche but I again disagree. I've made brioche many many times and they are not the same; not even close.
October 10, 2014
Kefir Cheese Ranch Dip
Labels: bacon, kefir cheese, kefir cheese ranch dip, ranch dressing powder
