Chai

Although we are coffee drinkers, my pantry is bursting with a variety of teas: English breakfast, Earl Grey, Chinese jasmine both loose and bagged, Korean corn, Japanese green, mango and vanilla flavored black, salabat (ginger) and today I bought Indian tea leaves. I am not a fancy tea drinker, I have always taken English breakfast tea just with cream, no sugar, the jasmine with dim sum and Chinese food but recently have been brewing vanilla and mango flavored to take with Japanese food since I discovered they go well together when we ate at Pauli Moto Asian Bistro (co-owned by Iron Chef Morimoto where by the way food is excellent, if you know which dish to order). I have always wanted to try chai ever since we had over an Indian guy for lunch a few months ago. After lunch I offered coffee which he refused and tea. With the variety of teas I have I thought he would be able to pick one but he again refused and said he only likes chai. He proceeded to lament that since his girlfriend left him he doesn't eat home cooked meals and doesn't get to drink homemade chai anymore, boo hoo. How good could this chai be? Well, apparently he is right, it is extremely good. This afternoon I made a pot of slowly simmered tea leaves with a variety of spices and it could be addicting, specially now that it's getting cold. I nibbled on Pocky sesame seed sticks while sipping this wonderful brew, yummy.

These are the spices I used: cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, cloves, black pepper, fresh ginger, and nutmeg. My daughter likes it with a little honey, I prefer ½ tsp of raw sugar in mine and my son who doesn't drink coffee or tea also liked it. An added bonus is the house smells wonderful for hours.

To prepare: measure 1 ½ cups water and ½ cup milk in a stainless steel pan. Spices: 1 inch piece fresh peeled sliced ginger, 6 cloves, 6 whole black peppers, 4 cardamom pods, 1 small cinnamon stick, dash of nutmeg. Crack or pound lightly the cloves, black pepper, cardamom (make sure the seeds inside are cracked) and the cinnamon stick. In the pan add 1 tablespoon Darjeeling blend tea leaves and all the spices. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and slow simmer for 30 minutes. Strain into a teapot, add sugar to taste. Enjoy.

I got this tinned loose Indian tea leaves from the Korean grocery store. It's a bit pricey, although it's a pound of excellent tea leaves, it's worth the money. Don't use the tea bags you find in the grocery, only loose Indian tea blends will make excellent cups of chai.

Indonesian Soto Ayam (Chicken and Noodle Soup)

I read about this soup in MarketManila's blog, his description and photos inspired me to make it and I was not disappointed, it is delicious. I have an Indonesian cookbook which I use once in a while to cook meat dishes but have never cooked any of the soup recipes because there are so many ingredients and steps to do. It is tedious if you don't have a domestic helper to do all the chopping and cleaning up. This soup/noodle is different from the Filipino style sotanghon (mung bean noodle) dish, it's spicier of course. You can make it even spicier with the addition of the home made sambal (chili dipping sauce). For the soup I followed my cookbook's recipe but I prefer and used Marketman's sambal recipe. I will definitely make this again in autumn and winter, yes definitely.

The Bad Plus

Last night, I went to see THE BAD PLUS concert at Ram's Head Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland with my daughter. This is the second time the two of us heard them live and they have gotten "badder" than ever, really awesome. And David is King (of drums)! Goodness, he was wild and seemed tireless with all those almost violent acrobatic acts he was doing but he can be very gentle when necessary. I did not want to look elsewhere or I might miss one of his antics, haha. They are also very funny when they explain the story/reason behind the titles of their songs. Ethan Iverson (piano) announced they will be recording their new album next week (in England I'm sure), woohoo. Something to look forward to. The venue is intimate and the crowd was very enthusiastic. The best birthday gift to myself.

Also got one of my birthday wishes, a Last Holiday film soundtrack cd, good music, except for one track, The Awful Madeleine Peyroux (lousy copycat, create your own style!, how dare she to imitate one of my music icons, Billie Holiday, hmpph). I tried to listen to it but can't even finish half of it, I get irritated and had to make a copy WITHOUT HER SONG, grrr..... Ah, Nina Simone's Feeling Good and Isaac Hayes' Never Can Say Goodbye, goood music. I'm calm now..
By the way, Last Holiday is one of the best movies I saw this year, no sex, no violence, no swearing, no mindless car chases, excellent soundtrack, funny sweet comedy, Queen Latifah very good. She plays a very shy laid back woman whose passion is gourmet cooking. She prepares food then catalogues them and dreams of having her own restaurant and the man of her dreams... Recommended for everyone.

I was given by a reader two ice cream flavor recommendations, Choc-Nut, a Filipino peanut and chocolate candy, and dulce de leche. I was so excited to try Choc-Nut but our Philgrocer ran out of stock and will have to wait another 2 -3 weeks for their next shipment. I'll try the other flavor, dulce de leche or maybe I'll substitute Reese's Pieces. What to do.

Venezuelan Hallaquitas

This is a Venezuelan delicacy, hallaquitas or hallacas are usually eaten during the Christmas season. It is like tamale but the meat filling is so much different, it is more like the Filipino/Spanish pastel but encased in corn meal instead of pie shell. Like the Filipinos, Venezuelans also use banana leaves, not corn husk. I was given these bundles maybe 5 years ago around Christmas time by a Venezuelan couple friends. The wife told me they make it only on special occasions. I love it and had made it once, this is just the second time I made them. This delicious treat reminds me of the Philippines, both the banana leaves and the filling.

Meat filling: ½ pound each diced lean beef and boneless skinless chicken breast, 1 small can sliced vienna sausage, 1 cup raisins, ½ cup each diced tomatoes, red bell peppers, potatoes and carrots, 1 diced chorizo, ½ cup each chopped black or green olives and capers, 1 chopped onion, 5 chopped garlic cloves, 1 cup sherry, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Heat olive oil, add onions and garlic, saute for 2 minutes, add meats, saute for 5 minutes, add the rest of the ingredients, simmer for 30 minutes, making sure the stew does not dry out completely. It should have a little bit of sauce. Let cool completely before filling cornmeal.

Cornmeal: Mix 3 ½ cups lukewarm chicken broth, 2 cups of PAN cornmeal (this is the only brand that I use as do the Venezuelans I know in my area), 2 tablespoons olive oil. Mix well.

To assemble: You should have plenty of rectangular banana leaves already cleaned. Tear thin pieces for tying the bundles. Place about 2 -3 tablespoons of cornmeal mixture in the middle of leaves, spread into an oval. Spoon the meat in the middle of the corn, gather leaves towards the center, fold then fold both ends. Take another leaf and repeat, tie loosely at both long ends, each bundle should have 2 leaves to ensure filling and corn do not come out while boiling. Boil a large pot of water, submerge all the bundles and simmer for 20 minutes.