LaPiS: Slice It Up!

A favorite holiday or fiesta food in the Philippines is Chicken Relleno (stuffed whole boneless chicken). It is good either warm or at room temperature.

More photos of our Christmas 2008 lunch, all sliced up.

baked ham, queso de bola (aged Edam cheese)

challah with cranberries, fruit cake

Lasang Pinoy Sundays, a weekly gallery of food photography is hosted by SpiCes.

The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge: Anadama Bread

crunchy and chewy, excellent with just butter or Meyer lemon curd

I joined a baking group, The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge created by Pinch My Salt. The group will attempt to bake all the recipes in Peter Reinhart's cookbook, from the first one to the last, arranged alphabetically. I have been a fan of Peter Reinhart after reading and baking several recipes from THE BREAD BAKER'S APPRENTICE and learned a ton from it. I recommend this book to anyone who is just starting to bake breads or has been baking and wants to learn some more. The recipes are easy to follow and there are a lot of pictures to guide the home baker. I love all the breads I made from this book and as a result I volunteered as a recipe tester for his new book Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Everyday to be published in the fall of 2009. I had a lot of fun baking and eating all the different breads I baked (and still baking) as a recipe tester specially the croissants and I'm eagerly anticipating the issue of his book. While waiting for it to come out, the BBA Challenge will keep me occupied and happily baking for the next 40+ weeks. Thanks to Pinch My Salt for this brilliant idea.

The challenge starts off this week with Anadama Bread which is in almost all of my baking books but somehow I have never tried making it, I'm not sure why. It's a shame because this bread turns out flavorful, chewy, and has a crunchy bite that I like. The bread is good by itself, toasted or untoasted, or with butter. I do believe soaking the cornmeal makes a big difference in its taste and texture. I'm surprised that I like this bread because I am not a big fan of molasses. The taste of the molasses, I used a light colored one, is subtle and does not overpower the overall flavor of this pleasantly sweetish bread. And the aroma in my kitchen while the bread was baking was just wonderful.

I followed the recipe as written although I halved it because I thought no one in my house will like it. The dough performed exactly as the book says. When I saw that the bread was rising taller than expected I got worried it will have large air pockets but thankfully the bread came out fine. My only regret is I did not bake the full recipe. I wouldn't mind baking Anadama bread again.

the bread had an oven spring of almost 1½ inches

I love its rich golden brown crust, very crisp and crunchy when toasted

Now, let's have some fun and rate the recipe/bread from 1 to 5, 5 being the highest:

flavor 4
texture 5
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5
performance 5
worth 4
Total: 28
Average: 4.66

KULINARYA Pan de Sal

As requested by a reader here is the Pan de Sal recipe adapted from KULINARYA. The original recipe has very short rising periods both before shaping (30 minutes) and after (20 minutes) probably because it is warm and humid in the Philippines where the recipe was developed and tested. Please note that not all kitchens have the same temperatures and conditions. The recipe here is just a guide and you may need to adjust the rising periods and amount of flour. It took longer for my rolls to rise because my kitchen is always cool. For the first rising I let the dough sit in the oven with the light bulb on for about 30 minutes then turned it off until the dough has risen sufficiently, about 1 and a quarter hours total rising time. The second rising took about 50 minutes.

The sweetish rolls have soft tight crumbs and slightly crispy crust when reheated in the oven. I doubled the amount of salt which I think IMO is too little for the number of cups of bread flour. If you are using all-purpose flour, you might need 8 US cups, again adjust as needed.

Pan de Sal
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons lukewarm water
6 tablespoons sugar
1 kilo bread flour (about 7 1/3 US cups)
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cups warm water
6 tablespoons soft butter, Crisco, or extra light olive oil
1 cup very fine breadcrumbs

• Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar to the yeast mixture. Set aside.
• Measure 1 cup of the flour, set aside to be used later for dusting.
• In a large bowl (or standing mixer bowl), combine the remaining flour, salt, sugar, butter, and water. Add the yeast mixture and mix well. Knead the mixture into a smooth, elastic dough. Dust with the reserved flour as needed.
• Transfer into a lightly greased bowl, cover with a plastic film, and let rise until doubled.
• Remove dough from bowl and knead to remove bubbles. Shape into a 2-inch thick baton and roll on breadcrumbs.
• Using a dough cutter, cut the log into 1-inch thick slices, about 30 grams each. Place the dough, cut side up, 2 inches apart on baking pans lined with parchment. Sprinkle tops with breadcrumbs. Cover with plastic film and let rise for 40 minutes to 1 hour.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until light brown.

pan de sal filled with coconut jam, yummy

Here is my previous Pan de Sal post with recipes for both soft and crusty variations.

LaPiS: Over The Top

diced chicken with peppers and salted black beans

breakfast or brunch: corned beef rice topped with rolled omelet

Lasang Pinoy Sundays, a weekly gallery of food photography Pinoy style, is hosted by SpiCes.

Over The Top is this week's LaPiS theme.

Black And White Macarons

vanilla bean macarons with chocolate ganache filling

I received Michel Richard's HAPPY IN THE KITCHEN cookbook, an early Mother's day gift from my son. All the recipes look fantastic specially the desserts and pastries and the cooking methods seem uncomplicated for the home cook.

Naturally, I went straight to the desserts section of the book and decided the first recipe I'll try is the Black And White Macaroons. Michel Richard calls these cookies macaroons which shouldn't be confused with coconut macaroons. I have made macarons just once last year and although they were delicious, the cookies were not as chewy as they should be and they didn't have "feet" and therefore not photogenic.

The recipe in this cookbook is very simple and pretty much straightforward. It took just a little over an hour to put together and I'm happy that my macarons have feet, not to mention deliciously crunchy and chewy. I can honestly say after preparing one recipe from this book I am on my way to being 'appy in the kitchen.

Black And White Macaroons
Macaroons
½ cup slivered almonds
1 cup confectioner's sugar
½ vanilla bean
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon sugar

Ganache
¼ cup heavy cream
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces, very soft

• Place the almonds in the food processor and pulse, then process until smooth, stopping to scrape the sides and redistribute the nuts to grind them evenly. Add the confectioner's sugar and process until well combined. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds from the pod into the processor (reserve the bean for another use), and pulse to combine. Transfer into a medium bowl.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer running, add half of the sugar. Increase speed to high and sprinkle in the remaining sugar. Continue to whisk until stiff peaks form. Place the whites on top of the almond mixture and fold to combine.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch tip; or cut an opening directly in the end of a disposable pastry bag. Pipe 28 cookies into each sheet (4 cookies across and 7 down): Holding the tip of the pastry bag perpendicular and ¼ inch above the baking sheet with one hand, apply even pressure to the end of the pastry bag with the other hand while slowly pulling the bag up from the baking sheet, to pipe a 1-inch round macaroon. Once the macaroon is formed, move the bag in a circular motion as you pull it away to release the bag from the macaroon. Continue piping the macaroons, leaving 1 inch between them.
• Let the macaroons sit at room temperature for 15 minutes to air-dry and form a light crust. Position the oven racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.
• Bake the cookies for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the pans once halfway through baking. They should be firm on the outside but the centers should remain soft.
• Meanwhile, prepare the ganache. Fill a medium bowl with ice water. Place the cream and chocolate in a small glass bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, then stir the chocolate. Continue to melt and stir at 30-second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted when stirred, 2 to 3 minutes total. Stir the butter until thoroughly combined.
• Place the bowl over the ice water and stir until the ganache is thickened to a spreading consistency. Remove from the ice water and let stand at room temperature until ready to use.
• Remove the macaroons from the oven and place the pans on a cooling rack to firm up enough to move them, then using an offset spatula, transfer the macaroons to a rack to cool completely.
• Place the ganache in a pastry bag fitted with a ¼-inch tip, or cut an opening directly in the end of a disposable pastry bag. Turn over half of the cookies, and pipe about ¾ teaspoon of ganache onto the bottom of each one. Top each with another cookie and press very lightly to sandwich.
• They can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Trent And Mariqueen

Mariqueen and Trent

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails is engaged to be married to Mariqueen Maandig or Q, one of the vocalists of an indie alt rock band West Indian Girl. I am not a big fan of NIN although I have two of his CDs in my iPod. The girl is of Filipino descent and I have never heard of her and her band, I'll probably download a song or two from their website.

Black Rice And Spicy Prawns

black rice and prawns with spicy hot-bean sauce

The Chinese black short-grain non-glutinous rice also called forbidden rice is becoming more popular and now available in most supermarkets in my area, along with the red variety from Bhutan. A 15-oz package of the LOTUS brand black rice is $2.75 at my grocery, online it's $4.50. The uncooked rice is very fragrant, and when cooked is nutty and chewy. I boiled the rice according to the package directions with 1 teaspoon of salt and half a tablespoon of butter. It took a little over 30 minutes to cook and I don't recommend making it into paella because it cooks longer than ordinary rice and because everything, meats and vegetables, will turn purple. It's better to cook this rice separately and mix with the other cooked ingredients just before serving.

I paired the simply boiled black rice with Chinese-style spicy prawns. It's yummy, but then again I love Chinese cuisine for its simplicity, ease of preparation, and great flavor and the prepared dish always looks beautiful.

Spicy Stir-fried Prawns
1½ pounds large prawns, peeled with tails on
3 tablespoons light olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon chopped scallions
1 teaspoon hot bean paste
1 tablespoon fermented rice wine or plain rice wine
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ teaspoon salt
½ tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch

• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small wok and stir-fry prawns for 2 minutes. Transfer prawns into a plate and set aside.
• Add 1 tablespoon oil in the same wok and stir fry the garlic, ginger, and scallions until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the bean paste, rice wine, and ketchup and stir fry for half a minute.
• Mix the salt, sugar, water, and cornstarch and add to the wok along with the prawns. When the mixture begins to boil, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and toss lightly to mix all the ingredients and to coat the prawns with the sauce. Transfer into a serving platter and serve while hot.

I will prepare the rest of the uncooked black rice into Spanish Rice and Beans (Moros y Cristianos) with left-over cooked flageolets but in reverse, black rice instead of white and white beans instead of red or black beans.

LaPiS: Shades of Spring And Summer

buco pandan ice cream and ice pop

The lawn and everything else are growing and turning bright green at last after months of boring and colorless winter months. My pimiento, lara (Philippine sweet pepper), and Meyer lemon plants are now fruiting and the markets have abundant supply of USA-grown vegetables such as asparagus. I can't wait for the burst of yellows and reds at the farmers market as well as my own potted vegetable garden. And I'll be making lots of buco-pandan ice cream and ice pops to cool us off during the steamy summer season.

this Spanish pimiento will turn bright red and very sweet when ripe

Lasang Pinoy, Sundays (Shades of Spring And Summer) is hosted by SpiCes.

Movies That Make Me Really Really Hungry

ramen soup à la Tampopo

Although I never eat while watching movies on DVD, reading fiction (and cookbooks), or listening to music, food and these 3 favorite activities of mine are somehow linked. I sometimes get inspiration from movies, music, and book for cooking the specialty of the day.

I made a list of my most favorite food-themed movies that never get old. Watching them over and over always makes me hungry as well as entertained.

These are my top 3 foodie movies:
1. Tampopo (Japan)
2. The Chinese Feast (Hong Kong)
3. Babette's Feast (Denmark)
I also love these:
Mostly Martha (Germany)
Big Night (USA)
Like Water For Chocolate (Mexico)

And these 2 are the most disturbing (anti) food flicks which I enjoyed regardless:
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, And Her Lover (England)
La Grande Bouffe (France)

What are your favorite foodie movies?

KULINARYA Update

cassava bibingka

I have good news! I just learned that KULINARYA has been available for purchase here in the US. You can order the guidebook and other books by Filipino authors from this Filipino-owned mail order store:
Philippine Expressions Bookshop
2114 Trudie Drive
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275-2006
Tel. No (310)514-9139

I was told all the copies were sold out over the weekend but will be available very soon. Email Linda Nietes to reserve your copy.:-)Meanwhile, enjoy KULINARYA Cassava Bibingka
Bibingka
4 cups grated cassava
1½ cups coconut milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup evaporated milk or fresh whole milk
1 tablespoon soft butter
banana leaves, cut into 4½ inch pieces
twelve 3-inch tartlet molds (or 12-inch round pan)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease banana leaves with soft butter and line molds snugly.
• Combine cassava, eggs, coconut milk, evaporated milk, sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix well. Spoon mixture into the molds about ¾ full.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until set with the center still soft.
• Prepare the topping while the bibingkas are baking.

Topping
3 egg yolks
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups thick coconut milk (cream)

• Combine the egg yolks, milk, butter, and vanilla extract. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes thick. Add the coconut cream and continue to cook until thick.
• Spread a thin layer of topping on top of the cakes. Return to the oven and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve hot.

Lasang Pinoy Sundays: Swirls And Twirls

ube, maple paste
matcha and chocolate, chocolate buns, rye

Swirls and twirls must be two of my favorite words in the English language. How else do I explain my obsession in making swirly bread loaves, buns, and cookies. I seem to be attracted to anything swirly. A few weeks ago I made meringues with swirls. It's very easy to do: Using a small brush, draw three thin lines of paste food dye on the whole length of a disposable icing bag, form the meringues with a large star tip, and you'll have swirly pattern on the cookies. Next time I make these meringues I'll use Filipino flavors such as ube, langka, and buco-pandan. I bet those will taste good.

matcha and lemon meringues

Lasang Pinoy Sundays, a weekly gallery of food photography is hosted by SpiCes.

The Ube Swirl bread recipe is here for those who are interested. :-)

Nutella Zebra Cheesecake

extra yummy with a sliver of hazelnut brittle

less than perfect zebra swirls

I have bookmarked the recipe for Chocolate Cheesecake Swirls in my Filipino recipe collection magazine for 2 years already but was hesitant to make it because the cake is super rich and utterly bad, health wise. The crustless cheesecake recipe by Alice Medrich in Baking With Julia cookbook that has low-fat cottage cheese, Neufchâtel cream cheese, and hazelnut praline paste is a better choice. I adapted her recipe using Nutella and making the zebra swirl effect just like the Filipino recipe. I like that the cheesecake is much lighter and the Nutella is just perfect. I used the hazelnut brittle I made for the original recipe to decorate and enhance the hazelnut flavor of the cheesecake. The zebra effect is not perfect but the cheesecake is very yummy.

Nutella Zebra Cheesecake
2 cups low fat small curd cottage cheese
½ cup sugar, add more to taste
8 ounces Neufchâtel cheese, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup Nutella, whipped
hazelnut brittle, optional

• Drain the cottage cheese for at least 1 hour.
• Butter sides of an 8-inch cake pan and line with parchment paper.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Spoon the drained cottage cheese into the work bowl of a food processor and process for 3 minutes until cheese is silken. Add the soft Neufchâtel cheese along with the sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt. Pulse until smooth, scraping down the sides a couple of times during the process. Don't overdo or you'll have a thin batter.
• Divide the batter and transfer into measuring cups with pouring spout. Stir in the Nutella in one batter, mixing very well.
• To create the zebra pattern: Pour half of the Nutella batter into the prepared pan. Then from 1 foot above the pan, slowly pour the white batter into the center of the Nutella batter. Repeat with the batter 3 times, pouring into the center of the pan, lessening the amount of batter with each pouring.
• Place the pan on a roasting pan, fill roasting pan with hot water halfway up the side of the round pan. Bake for 50 minutes. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in the oven for 30 minutes. Transfer on a wire rack, loosen cheesecake with a thin knife, and cool completely in the pan. Chill for 24 hours before slicing. Serve with hazelnut brittle if desired.

Canonigo

Canonigo and mango: heavenly!

I have never heard or eaten this dessert called Canonigo, the Filipino version of the French dessert ile flottante or oeufs à la neige, and have no clue where in the Philippines the dessert originated. The Spanish word canonigo means parish priest and so I am guessing the dessert as the name implies is a recipe from a priest (not improbable, Father Leo comes to mind), the cook in a priest's household, or a Filipino family whose name is Canonigo. If anybody knows, please enlighten me, I'll appreciate it.:-)

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Glutinous Rice Snacks

betcha can't eat just one of these crispy chewy glutinous rice macapuno balls
Several months ago several readers emailed me asking if I can post the recipes for bilo-bilo, buchi, or bicho. These, I believe are variations of the Filipino snack made with glutinous rice and water or coconut milk formed into tiny balls or flat ovals usually boiled in coconut milk, or steamed, fried or baked. The balls I made today are a combination of several recipes I found online. I don't know what it should be called, I think glutinous rice balls or bilo-bilo are both okay. Or Crispy Chewy Sweeties. BTW, I prefer these tiny snacks without any sauce, except for the plains ones which I like with caramelized sauce flavored with a little soy sauce.

Macapuno Bilo-bilo
1 cup glutinous rice flour
½ cup water
½ cup chopped macapuno
light olive oil for frying
coconut sauce or brown sugar sauce (boil 1 cup brown sugar and ½ cup water until syrupy), optional

• In a mixing bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour and water until a dough is formed. Adjust water or flour as necessary. Add the macapuno to the dough and mix well.
• Form dough into 1½ inch balls and place on a platter.
• Heat half an inch of oil in a medium non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Fry the dough balls a few pieces at a time until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately with or without sauce.
• For simple bilo-bilo, omit macapuno and fry as above. Serve with preferred sauce.
• Variations: omit macapuno and add chopped sweetened ripe jackfruit or grated young coconut.
• Sauce variation: caramelize 1 cup white sugar and ½ water, add a few drops of soy sauce.

Buchi
1 cup boiled and mashed yellow mungbeans
1 cup sugar, or to taste
2 cups glutinous rice flour
¾ cup to 1 cup water
½ cup boiled and mashed taro
light olive oil for frying

• Combine mungbean and brown sugar. Form into 1-inch balls. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour and ¾ cup water until a stiff dough is formed. Add more water as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix in the mashed taro.
• Form the rice taro dough into golf ball size rounds, flatten a little bit, place a mungbean ball in the middle, gather rice dough together and seal. Flatten to about half inch thick ovals.
• Fry in hot oil until golden brown. Serve immediately.
• Variation: fill with a mixture of sugar and toasted sesame seeds.
• Keep leftover mungbean paste in an airtight container and refrigerate.

eat them while they're hot and puffed

Rabo de Toro (Oxtail Stew)

rabo de toro (Spanish oxtail stew)

My daughter says this dish is rather unusual for Easter Sunday lunch. I told her growing up in the Philippines, my family (excluding my atheist dad) celebrated Easter by going to church, and that's about it. My older sister and I used to join the 2 separate dawn processions to re-enact the meeting of the risen Christ and Mary (His mother, not the other Mary); this is called Salubong (meet and greet). The processions, one led by the statue of the risen Christ and the second by Mary, start out from church going in different directions, they meet on the main street, then back to church for mass, with Christ and Mary together side by side at the front of the now joined procession. Holy Week and Easter when we were children were exclusively about Christ, I'm not sure if this is still being practiced in my hometown of Sta. Rosa, Laguna, though. In several places in the Philippines, Lenten season is a serious religious event, check out Sidney's Salubong photos.

Now, back to food, we had ordinary everyday food on Easter Sundays. We also never had Easter egg hunts nor we associated the Resurrection with the carrot-muncher lagomorphs, not even as a dinner fare. Hmm, maybe next year I'll make Conejo en Salmorejo, a Spanish spicy stew with sauce made of hot chili, wine, vinegar, garlic, and paprika. Sounds delicious! ^__^

Spanish Oxtail Stew
Serves 4
4 pounds oxtail, jointed
flour for dredging
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 medium carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 cup dry white wine
beef stock or water

• Wash oxtail, pat dry with paper towels. Season the flour with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Dredge the oxtail pieces, shaking to remove excess.
• In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and brown oxtail on all sides. Lift out and transfer into a Dutch oven or deep casserole.
• Discard the fat in the skillet and wipe with paper towel. Add the remaining oil to the skillet and saute the onions until soft, add the garlic and saute for 1 more minute. Add to the casserole with half of the carrots, celery, bay leaf, and thyme. Pour in the wine and enough stock or water to barely cover the oxtail. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 hours or until oxtail is tender. Add the rest of the carrots and simmer for another 30 minutes.
• Lift the meat out onto a warmed platter, cover with foil, and leave in a warm oven.
• Skim as much fat as possible, taste and adjust sesoning. If the sauce is too thin, reduce by boiling uncovered until of desired thickness. Return meat to the casserole, remove bay leaf and thyme, and serve with fingerling potatoes and green beans.

the pesky cottontail wabbit that was plaguing my vegetables last year

Happy Easter peeps!

Eggplant Salad

eggplant salad with coconut milk dressing

I like the sweetish small Indian eggplants with an unusual name Hybrid Black Chu-Chu. The size of these eggplants, about 3 inches, is perfect for the Filipino eggplant salad recipe from the guidebook KULINARYA. I love the salad's refreshing coconut milk, vinegar, and ginger dressing which goes well with the deep smokey flavor of the stove-charred eggplants. The simple eggplant salad I usually make has grated fresh ginger, salt, and chopped tomatoes which is also very good but I'm liking this KULINARYA version better because of the dressing, sweet red onions, and crunchy sweet green and red bell peppers. Simply delicious spring or summer salad.

 Eggplant Salad
adapted from KULINARYA
1 small red onion, sliced into thin rings
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 cup diced sweet red bell pepper
1 cup diced sweet green bell pepper 1 green finger chili, thinly sliced
10 small Indian eggplants (or 6 Asian eggplants)
1 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
coconut milk vinaigrette: In a small bowl, combine ½ cup thick coconut milk, 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger, ¼ teaspoon finely minced seeded green finger chili, 3 tablespoons white cane vinegar, and salt to taste.

• Pierce surface of eggplants with the tip of a paring knife. Roast over an open flame until skin is charred all over. Peel off skin under cold running water. Flatten each eggplant with a fork. If using long-ish Asian eggplants, cut into 3-inch pieces. Season with salt.
• Lay one piece of eggplant on a plate, top with 1 slice each of tomato and onion ring, sprinkle with red and green bell peppers, spring onions, and chili. Top with another piece of flattened eggplant, decorate with a few bell peppers, chili, and spring onions. Repeat with the rest of the eggplants.
• Drizzle with coconut milk dressing. Serve at room temperature or chilled, if preferred.

slightly sweet and tart eggplant salad, specially good with any fried dish

Eggplant Salad is the second entry in my KULINARYA recipe series.

Lasang Pinoy Sundays: MELTed Bliss

Croque Madame and Croque Monsieur

One of the simplest but satisfying treats is grilled cheese sandwich. All you need are 2 slices of bread, a little butter, plenty of cheese, and a hot skillet to cook the sandwich until the cheese has melted. The French version is the Croque Monsieur with added ham in the filling, the Croque Madame has a fried egg on top. This is a rather heavy and filling sandwich, perfect for brunch or lunch.

Lasang Pinoy Sundays, hosted by SpiCes, is a weekly gallery of food photography. Melted Bliss is this week's theme.

Croque Madame: brioche slices smeared with Dijon mustard, filled with sliced Black Forest ham, sliced Swiss cheese, then topped with grated Swiss and Parmesan cheese, and a fried egg

Tourte Milanese

  

I have seen on PBS more than 4 times the episode of Baking With Julia with chef Michel Richard making Tourte Milanese. The recipe is in the companion cookbook with the same title which I regularly borrow from the library. *I should probably get my own copy already but my cookbook cupboard cannot take anymore cookbooks*

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It's Easy Being Square

glazed fudge brownies

There are so many choices of baking pans with all sorts of shapes and designs in the baking aisles at chain stores and discount kitchen shops. Last year I got a coated metal with 2-inch squares and a silicone with 1-inch squares. I use them for single serve brownies and cakes. Baking the brownies in these pans eliminates the step of cutting it into squares. They are easier to store and serve, and I like it for portion control. Isn't that cool? The flexible silicone is more versatile as it can be used for the cutest mini-cakes and to freeze embedded liquids to decorate drinks, or for freezing lemon juice or stock.

glazed fudge brownies, calamansi cupcake squares

Strawberry Blondies

Hip To Be Square is this week's Lasang Pinoy Sundays, a weekly food photography meme, hosted by SpiCes.

Biryani

seitan biryani

I'm new to Indian food. It's only recently that I started liking this highly seasoned cuisine. I finally got an Indian cookbook after making and loving Chicken Kerala a few months ago. The Lamb Biryani in the book appealed to me right away but I substituted seitan for the lamb because I wanted a meatless dish. I made seitan by mixing vital wheat gluten with water, then cooking the cubed/sliced seitan in water seasoned with soy sauce and chopped onion. For the vegetables I steamed green beans, carrots (purple and regular orange), and skinned baby lima beans. This dish is very yummy and healthy too.

Lamb Biryani
2 pounds boneless lamb leg or shoulder, cut into 1½ inch cubes
3-inch piece of ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons garam masala*
½ teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
4 green chillis, finely chopped
2/3 cup chopped cilantro
¼ cup chopped mint leaves
2 teaspoons salt
2½ cups basmati rice
4 onions, thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup light olive oil
2 ounces melted butter or ghee
1 cup plain thick yogurt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon saffron strands, soaked in ½ cup hot milk
steamed vegetables for topping: sliced carrots, green beans cut into half inch pieces, green peas, cauliflower

• Mix the lamb cubes in a bowl with the ginger, garlic, garam masala, chilli powder, turmeric, green chilli, coriander, mint, and salt. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Wash the rice in a sieve under cold, running water until the water runs clear. Set aside.
• Put the sliced onion in a sieve, sprinkle with the salt and leave for 10 minutes to drain of any liquid that oozes out. Rinse and pat dry.
• Heat oil and butter in a large saucepan, add the onion and fry for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Drain onions, reserve the oil and butter.
• Transfer the lamb and marinade into a casserole and add the browned onion, 2 tablespoons of the reserved oil and butter, and the yogurt, and cook on low heat, covered, for 40 minutes, or until lamb is tender.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a separate saucepan, boil enough water to cover rice. Add the rice to the pan. Return the water to the boil, cook the rice for 5 minutes, then drain well and transfer into a bowl. Mix in 2 tablespoons of the oil and butter, the lemon juice, and a little salt and gently mix. Spread the rice evenly over the meat. Spoon the saffron milk over the rice.
• Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Serve topped with salted steamed vegetables.

*Garam Masala
from my cookbook THE FOOD OF INDIA a journey for food lovers:

Garam Masala means "warming spice mix". It can be a mixture of whole or ground spices. Recipes are numerous but they are all aromatic, rather than "hot" mixes.

makes 3 tablespoons
8 cardamom pods
2 bay leaves, torn into small pieces
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 two-inch cinnamon stick, broken into small pieces
1 teaspoon cloves

• Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods. Put all the ingredients in a spice grinder or coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder. Store into a small airtight container until needed.

saffron milk and garam masala, ghee

uncooked seitan, steamed vegetables

very colorful and delicious meatless biryani

Seriously Citrusy

Meyer lemon curd and lime curd

There's an abundance of assorted citrus fruits at Costco and I couldn't resist their bright sunny spring colors. I haven't stopped buying Cara Cara oranges, got a large bag each of limes and Meyer lemons, and one humongous bag of Jaffa Sweeties, a cross of pomelo and white grapefruit. They are soooo deliciously sweet I want to eat them all day long everyday, the whole year round if possible. These citrus fruits are developed in Israel and just like Cara Cara this is the first time I heard of them. To my dismay when I went back to get another bag they were all gone after only a week in the store.

Jaffa Sweetie, Cara Cara Orange, Calamansi

Jaffa Sweeties, I love you so

Meyer lemons

I have so much limes and lemons there isn't space in the refrigerator to store them. I froze some of the juice in a Wilton silicone baking mold with 1-inch squares for tiny cakes or brownies. Each square holds exactly 1 tablespoon of liquid, perfect for freezing citrus juices for later use. I made some into lime curd and lemon curd, both are utterly yummy, sweet and slightly tart. Next week, I will be busy baking lemon, lime, or calamansi pound cakes.

Lime or Lemon Curd
½ cup butter, diced
1 cup sugar
½ cup lime juice (or Meyer lemon juice)
grated zest of two limes (or Meyer lemons)
4 extra large eggs or 5 large eggs, lightly beaten

• Put butter, sugar, juice, and zest into a glass bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Let butter melt, then gradually whisk in the beaten eggs. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened to the consistency of instant pudding, about 15 minutes.
• Remove from heat, wipe bottom of bowl, and cool for a few minutes. Transfer the curd into a clean jar, cool completely, cover jar, and store in the refrigerator.
• Spread on buttery biscuits, crumpets, English muffins, crisp Belgian wafers, fruits...

great on chewy crunchy toasted English muffins