Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

I didn't know what to do with these gigantic (6 inches) portobello mushrooms that I got from Costco. I used to just saute them in lots of garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and some Knorr seasoning served as a side dish, but this time I wanted a little variation. I read a variety of recipes for stuffed portobello and settled for this one: panko breadcrumbs, bacon, garlic, onions, romano cheese, and butter or olive oil. I sprinkled half a tablespoon of crisply fried chopped bacon on each mushroom before topping with the breadcrumb mixture, this way the flavor of bacon is absorbed more by the mushrooms. They turned out to be a very light, very tasty main dish. I served them with hot Italian bread and good Spanish extra virgin olive oil. I sauteed the really large ones, at almost 8 inches, the usual way, they pair well with bistek tagalog (Filipino style beefsteak).

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

We had this flavor of Breyers many many times perhaps 3 years ago when it first came out and then got tired of it. Now that I'm still in an ice cream frenzy I made it last week. I used the store bought dulce de leche spread, it tastes just as good as the home boiled canned sweetened condensed milk and it's even better because of its deep caramel color. I mixed in about 3 tablespoons of the spread while the machine is churning then added swirls in between layers when transferring into the container.

Notice how funny the lower portion (dulce de leche) of this picture looks like lips, ready to MWAH!

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.