2 tablespoons light olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 scallions, chopped
1 pound whole chicken breast, bone-in
2 stalks lemon grass, white parts only, pounded
4 whole black peppercorns
¼ cup fish extract
2 cups buco (young coconut) water
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup buco meat, cut into 2 x 1-inch strips
4 scallions, chopped
pepper leaves for garnish, optional
In a large pot, heat the oil and add garlic, ginger, and onion. Add the chicken breast, lemon grass, and peppercorns. Add the fish extract, buco water, and chicken broth. When it begins to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Remove chicken from bone and slice into strips.
Strain broth and remove fat with a fat separator if desired. Return broth to the pot and bring back to a boil. Add the chicken strips and buco meat and simmer until heated through. Serve topped with chopped scallions and pepper leaves.
let's toast the Oscar winners with chocolate martini (creme de cacao, vanilla vodka, and Bailey's Irish cream)
It's that time of year again, folks. Yes, my own annual Academy Awards rant night and my choice for best picture is Toy Story 3 because in my humble opinion IT IS THE BEST PICTURE of 2010. I've seen some of the nominated films and 2 of them are my worst films of 2010, the highly overrated Inception and the odious and misogynistic The Social Network. And what's up with the Academy's obsession with awarding actors playing people with disability. This year it's Colin Firth's turn in The King's Speech. Didn't the Oscars already honor lead actors for My Left Foot, Rain Man, I Am Sam, Shine, A Beautiful Mind, and the gawd awful Forrest Gump? Give me a break! Woody, Barbie, or Mr. Potato Head should win. Oh, they're not nominated. Well, they should have been.
MY best pictures of 2010
Toy Story 3
Ken and Barbie meeting for the first time is priceless. Ken: "I like your leg warmers", Barbie: "Nice ascot".
The Book of Eli
What's not to like? A machete wielding Zatoichi-like character chopping off body parts of unsavory characters trying to steal The Book he has been carrying and reading from for over 30 years. Not even the prune-faced boss (Gary Oldman) and his thugs will be able to stop Eli from fulfilling his mission.
Kick-Ass
Based on a comic book. A high school boy wants to be a superhero and becomes Kick-Ass. Without any training, he is bound to get beaten up and he is, twice. He is rescued by a team of masked father and daughter superheroes, Big Daddy and Hit-Girl. They don't have superpowers like Superman but they train in weapons and martial arts. On her 11th birthday she gets a balisong (Philippine fan knife) from her Dad who trains and home-schools her (one of her assignments is reading comic books). This movie is not for everyone and specially offensive to the politically correct crowd as the little girl swears like a sailor although her father doesn't. The best comedy action movie of 2010.
Let Me In
A sort of love story between a young girl vampire and her new friend who is being bullied at school. This film is a brilliant remake of Let The Right One In, a movie from Sweden. I saw both films and I like the American version better. Incidentally the heroine, Hit-Girl, on Kick Ass and the vampire on this movie are played by the same child actress, Chloë Moretz. She's very good.
Tron Legacy
A feast for the eyes and ears. Daft Punk's music is perfect with the visuals. I can't believe that 2 of my top favorites are Walt Disney productions.
Since this is a food blog, I recommend these 2 documentaries that are worth watching
Kings of Pastry
I was craving for small cakes after watching the judges in the tasting room.
Blood Into Wine
THE rock star, Maynard James Keenan, becomes a winemaker. He is the lead singer of the bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer. This is not purely documentary on wine-making. It has a little bit of his story, his cult followers, and wine tasting, with some comedic scenes too. My favorite line from Maynard: "I'm in my 40s, I can't scream forever."
A sample of Tool's music, The Pot, from the album 10,000 Days. The pot he refers to here is the pot calling the kettle black, you know, hypocrites. This video which is just the song and lyrics is dedicated to all the hypocrites out there. Enjoy!:D
The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.
I use a one-tablespoon cookie/ice cream scoop for even-sized cookies
And I couldn't resist making a panna cotta with my favorite Nutella. I crushed the cookies that broke and scattered them on the plate. The crumbs add a crunch to the creamy panna cotta.
Nutella Panna Cotta, rolled Florentine cookie and crumbs, a sliver of hazelnut brittle
Nutella Panna Cotta 1½ teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder water 1 ounce finely chopped bittersweet chocolate 1 cup Nutella ½ teaspoon kosher salt 1½ cups heavy cream ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup whole milk
In a medium bowl, whisk gelatin with 4 tablespoons cold water.
Place chopped chocolate in another medium bowl.
In a large bowl, combine Nutella and salt.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring cream to a boil. Pour half the cream over gelatin mixture and whisk gently to combine; stir in vanilla. Pour remaining cream over chopped chocolate; whisk until smooth. Combine the two mixtures and whisk well.
Pour a third of the gelatin-chocolate mixture over Nutella; beat using an electric mixer on low speed until a smooth paste forms. Pour in remaining mixture and milk; beat until fully combined.
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into six lightly oiled ramekins. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator until set, about six hours or overnight.
After watching s'mores pizza being prepared here I just have to make it. It's a salty, sweet, doubly crunchy, gooey, chocolaty, chewilicious dessert pizza. Try it, you'll love it!
S'more Pizza
pizza dough, homemade or store bought
extra virgin olive oil
coarse golden raw sugar
milk or dark chocolate bar, broken into pieces
marshmallows
crushed graham crackers
Place a pizza stone or quarry tiles on oven rack. Preheat oven to the highest setting.
Shape pizza dough. Brush edges with olive oil and sprinkle with raw sugar. Place chocolate pieces evenly on the dough. Slide onto the baking stone and bake until edges are puffy, about 4 minutes. Pull out rack halfway and put marshmallows evenly on the pizza. Bake until marshmallows are puffy and golden brown all over.
Remove from oven and transfer to a cutting board. Sprinkle top with crushed graham crackers. Cut with a sharp knife into wedges.
