Sniff Sniff

the stinky lunch

One lunch we had last week made quite a stink, literally. After having too much turkey, we were ready to move on. I decided to make a light meal of white lasagna and paired it with the leftover uncooked Brussels sprouts. Bad.Idea. The aged Romano cheese in the baked lasagna and the notorious sprouts gave off a combination of an odor so strong that I had to burn scented candles and spray the whole house with Oust in between bites. Pardon me for sounding crude but my daughter dubbed the food combo foot-and-a$$, hahaha.

A lot of websites give advice on how to prevent the unpleasant odor by not over-boiling them. They suggest roasting or pan frying which I did with half of the sprouts. We didn't smell anything then, or maybe the roasted turkey masked the odor of the sprouts. This time I steamed them in a microwave bag which helped retain their bright green color but I suspect was the reason for the smell.

Stinky aside, I loved the lasagna and the steamed, buttered, and salted Brussels sprouts were a revelation, simply delicious! They are sweetish and have just a hint of bitterness which I find strangely appealing. I've had these tiny green stink balls just once almost 20 years ago. I remember them being very pale green, bitter and almost mushy and vowed never to serve them at home. But my daughter asked for them for Thanksgiving this year and I compromised by getting the freshest sprouts. I bought a whole stalk from the grocery which costs about the same as the loose ones. The advantage in buying the whole stalk is there are more of the tiniests (is this a word?) which cook faster and have a sweeter flavor. I am loving this vegetable regardless of the smell.

delicious tiny stink balls

Lasagna Margarita
8 sheets no-cook lasagna, soaked for a few minutes in cold water to soften
16 ounces ricotta cheese, divided into 4 portions
8 ounces farmer's cheese (paneer or queso blanco), diced and divided into 4 portions
2 cups shredded Parmesan or Romano, divided into 4 portions
3 cups white sauce, divided into 5 portions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pat dry the lasagna sheets on kitchen towels.
• Ladle one portion of the white sauce on the bottom of an 8-inch square pan. Put 2 sheets of lasagna on top of sauce. Ladle another portion of sauce on top of the lasagna and spread evenly. Sprinkle the cheeses evenly. Repeat with the rest of the lasagna, sauce, and cheeses. Bake until bubbly and golden on top.

Lasang Pinoy Sundays: Silog

pink dogsilog

I love this week's theme, silog, shortened combination of the words for Filipino breakfast fare sinangag (fried rice) and itlog (egg). Any type of silog, which I have previously written about here, is a favorite of Filipinos anywhere in the world they may be. It seems that the silogs have expanded to various meats including hot dogs (Filipinos probably are the only people who eat hot dogs with rice), and dried fish such as danggit and squid. Check out Ces's squidilicious Pusitlog and the rest of the silogs at Ces's blog by clicking on the yellow button. Warning: may cause excessive drooling!:D

runny egg yolk, just the way I like it

Go 'Skins

There are only 5 more games left in the regular football season and I know I'm late to start watching which is well and good because I think American football is one of the most boring sports, second only to baseball. The only way to enjoy football is going to the actual game and have a tailgate party before it starts or have friends over for a 3-hour beer and munchies orgy. Without beer and food, watching football will make everybody fall asleep, or maybe just me.:D

I remember when we first arrived here in Virginia in 1992, we were greeted by tons of Redskins banners, pennants, caps, and tees everywhere, in the hotel where we stayed, McD's, groceries, etc. We were all wondering: what are REDSKINS? We came from Asia (Hong Kong) where we never heard of Redskins or American football. The football we knew was called soccer and the most popular sport in Hong Kong was and still is rugby. We found out that the Redskins won the Super Bowl just the night before and the area was still giddy with the win. When I saw the players's photos on the Washington Post I wondered what's up with the funny helmets and padded shoulders? Since the season was over I had to wait for late August to watch and understand the game that the whole country seemed to be celebrating. And it was to me a bit boring, nothing seemed to be happening for almost an hour and when I looked away for a second, there were large men in tights all piled up on top of each other. What the heck happened? I found out after the referee started peeling them off one by one that someone fumbled. It was odd to see a bunch of butts in tight pants staring back at me.:D

After watching and learning how the game is played and scored, I never watched ever again. And the Redskins has never won another Super Bowl, 17 years is a looong time for them and I believe this year is not good either. It's okay because today, win or lose to NYC Giants, I'll be enjoying some snacks, minus the beer because I don't drink beer. I will have vanilla malted milk, chai, hot spiced apple cider, or hot cocoa with rainbow-colored mini marshmallows and heavy cream, definitely NOT your typical football drink. For snacks: sweet potato fries with sea salt and coconut sauce, mini Pringles, homemade pink hot dogs, and mini sugar butter toasts (biscocho).

Coconut Sauce
1 can coconut milk
2 pieces raw sugar (panocha or gur), broken into pieces

• In a medium sauce pan, combine sugar and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer and stir until sugar melts completely. Turn heat to medium-low and let simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until dark brown, about 30 minutes. The sauce should be pourable.
• Transfer into a clean jar or serving container. Refrigeration is not necessary.

The coconut sauce which we always have with glutinous rice bundles called suman is fantastic with the salted sweet potato fries. Yummy to the max!

coconut sauce

 
blue sweet potato fries with sea salt and coconut sauce

suman: boiled glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves

Biscocho
white bread
soft butter or Star margarine
sugar

• Remove the crusts from bread and cut into 4 pieces.
• Combine equal amount of soft butter and sugar. Spread on both sides of the cut bread. Toast on a rack in a 275 degree oven until crispy. Do not let the toasts brown.
• Dunk in coffee, chai, or hot chocolate.

very yellow and crunchy sweet bizcocho

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

In addition to our usual Thanksgiving Day menu we will be having Baked Sweet Potatoes topped with sour cream, steamed buttered Brussels sprouts, and Sweet Potato Challah.

Challah which I regularly buy from the grocery bakeshop is one of our favorite sweet breads. For this year's Thanksgiving I wanted sweet potato challah but the store does not make them. I found and adapted this simple recipe. I like that it is has very little butter and just 2 eggs yet very rich tasting and absolutely delicious. The sweet and tart craisins (sweetened dried cranberries) that I added make me want to eat this challah all day long. I guess I won't be buying challah anymore from the store.:)

Sweet Potato And Craisins Challah

1 package instant yeast
4 tablespoons sugar
½ cup warm water, about 110 degrees
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temperature
3 to 3½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup mashed sweet potatoes
1-inch piece grated ginger
2 cup Craisins or sultanas
1 egg and ½ tablespoon water for egg wash

• In a stand mixer bowl with the paddle attached, combine 1½ cups flour and yeast. Add 2 eggs, butter, water, salt, and sugar. Mix on low speed until well combined. Add sweet potato and ginger, mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Stir in more flour, half cup at a time. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl if needed. Remove paddle and replace with dough hook. Knead on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add dried cranberries and knead on low for 1 minute, finish kneading with hands. When the dough is smooth and springy to the touch, shape it into a ball.
• Transfer the ball into a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat the surface. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Remove dough from bowl and transfer into a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly to remove gas and let rest for 2 minutes. Divide in half if you want 2 small loaves (I made one very large loaf). Divide each half into 3 pieces and roll out each piece into a 12 inch long log, making the middle portion thicker, then taper both ends. Pinch together the logs at the tips, braid, then pinch together the other end, tuck the ends under. Repeat with the other dough half.
• Transfer loaves into a silpat-lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until almost double in bulk.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat the remaining egg with water or heavy cream. Brush tops with egg wash. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until golden brown. Transfer into a rack to cool completely.