Dino Nuggets!

I bought a bag of dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets by mistake. That's okay, I'm fast approaching my second childhood anyway, so no big deal. I also have plenty of fuji apples which I made into Waldorf salad which is usually served with broiled chicken breast, the dino nuggets are fine. My daughter and I posed them as if they're dining on the salad, just for fun.:D

Waldorf Salad
3 fuji apples, skinned, cored and diced
3 celery sticks, sliced
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup chopped walnuts
broiled chicken breast, sliced (or chicken nuggets, if preferred)

• Mix apples, celery and mayonnaise. Sprinkle with walnuts. Serve with chicken slices. I had the nuggets with honey-mustard-mayo sauce.

Also, I want to share this with my Filipino readers who like kiamoy. About a month ago, I read from one of the blogs I visit often, apple slices sprinkled with plum powder which she had in Malaysia on her recent trip. She told me to grate kiamoy over the sliced apples if I'm not able to find plum powder. I can't explain it, but the combination of super salty & sweet kiamoy and sweet & tart crunchy apple is just excellent, I love it! The apple slices have to be eaten immediately because the color and salty flavor become more intense after several minutes, or you can sprinkle the grated kiamoy right before eating.

George Harrison's Savoy Truffle

George Harrison is my favorite Beatle and I love a lot of his songs, one of them is Savoy Truffle from The White Album. The song warns that over-indulging in sweets specially Savoy truffles will ruin all your teeth (not to mention will make you morbidly obese, heheh). But I ignore the caution and listening to this song makes me crave for pies and candies. ;D

Savoy Truffle lyrics

Cream tangerine, Montelimar
A ginger sling with a pineapple heart
A coffee dessert, yes you know it's good news
But you'll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy truffle

Cool cherry cream, nice apple tart
I feel your taste all the time we're apart
Coconut fudge really blows down the blues
But you'll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy Truffle

You might not feel it now
But when the pain cuts through
You're gonna know, and how
The sweat is going to fill your head
When it comes too much
You'll shout aloud

You know that what you eat you are
But what is sweet now turns so sour
We all know Obla-Di-Bla-Da
But can you show me where you are?

Cream tangerine and Montelimar
Ginger sling with a pineapple heart
Coffee dessert, yes you know it's good news
But you'll have to have them all pulled out
After the Savoy truffle

I think the Montelimar mentioned here is a town in France known for its nougat. I found Savoy truffle recipe but I'm not really sure if this is the one George wrote about, it looks more like the coconut fudge. (I tried to link the site but was not able to). Anyway, I made one recipe today, it's very easy to make. I like the subtle brandy taste although dried coconut is not one of my favorite things.

4 T butter
1 egg yolk
½ cup icing sugar, sifted
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoonT vanilla extract
1 tablespoon brandy
dessicated coconut

• In a small saucepan, over very low heat, melt butter and whisk in the egg yolk until thick, add sugar and whisk until smooth. Add brandy and vanilla extract. Add the chocolate chips and stir with a rubber spatula until chips are completely melted and mixture is smooth and no longer glossy. Transfer to a glass container and cool in the fridge for 30 minutes. Shape into 1-inch balls, roll in coconut. Refrigerate leftovers.

Chinese Style Boiled Chicken

I have written earlier that I regularly prepare Chinese style dishes, at least the ones I ate growing up and continue to eat as an adult, usually in restaurants, not at home. One dish I will never get tired of is boiled chicken with a dipping sauce of finely chopped fresh ginger, scallions, sea salt and sesame seed oil.

Chinese Style Boiled Chicken
1 whole chicken
4 bunches green onions
1 large piece fresh ginger
sea salt
roasted sesame seed oil

• Put chicken in a large pot, add 2 bunches washed and halved green onions, 2 tablespoons sliced ginger, and 1 tablespoon sea salt salt. Add water to cover, let boil rapidly, turn heat to medium, boil for 1 hour, turning once.
• Prepare the dipping sauce: Finely grate ginger to measure 3 tablespoons, thinly slice green onions. Mix together with 2 teaspoons sea salt and 2 tablespoons sesame seed oil.

I did not prepare dessert because there won't be any space in the fridge for leftovers. I just served orange smiles (sliced oranges).

And....

I'm sure most Filipinos have eaten haw flakes. I used to buy the really big ones and sometimes they also came in squares. The only size available here in the US is the tiny quarter dollar size. They are also now being sold in fruit roll up form, they are soft and leathery and a little bit tart.

Baba Au Rhum

I love baba au rhum, these open-textured breads/cakes moistened with rum syrup. They are easy to make, there's no need to bring out the food processor or stand mixer as there is no kneading involved, and rising time is fairly short. I like them with fresh figs but they are not in season, preserved fruits are okay. These should be baked in baba molds called dariole molds which are thin, long and tapered at the bottom but they are $32 for 6 pieces, very expensive in my opinion. For one recipe I would need 10 - 12 molds which will cost me $64 and if I want non-stick that's $35 for 4 pieces or $105 for 12, that's just crazy! I used my mini cheesecake pan which are fatter and squat and unfortunately not non-stick and the cakes got stuck and some got broken, no problem really, I just put them back together after dipping them in the syrup. I will line the sides of the molds with parchment paper next time or will use mini muffin molds instead.

Baba au Rhum
1½ cups flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup lukewarm milk
¼ teaspoon salt
3 beaten eggs
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, chopped
1½ cups sugar
2 cups water
½ cup dark rum

• Brush molds lightly with oil. Place 1 T of the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and milk in a small bowl. Leave, covered until foamy, for 10 minutes. Using your fingertips rub the butter into the remaining flour in a large bowl, until the mixture has a fine crumbly texture.Add the yeast mixture and eggs to the flour mixture. Beat with wooden spoon for 2 minutes until smooth and glossy. Scrape the mixture down, cover and let rise for 1 hour.Preheat oven to 400°F. With a wooden spoon, beat the mixture again for 2 minutes. Divide among the prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and leave for 20 minutes until well risen. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

• Prepare the rum syrup: In a medium saucepan, combine the water and sugar and let boil for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly then add rum. Dip the still warm babas until completely saturated. Keep leftovers in a covered container in the fridge. Strain leftover syrup and refrigerate. Drizzle some of the syrup on the plate and on top of the babas. I love the babas swimming in rum syrup.