Nikki's Grilled Prawns with Lemon Butter Sauce

This is Nikki's first project in culinary school. I can't really blog about it coz I did not cook it and this is supposed to be her secret recipe, sooo.. I'll just post a photo of it here. LOL.

Grilled Prawns with Lemon Butter Sauce, served with Mushroom Couscous and Grilled Vegetables.

Thanks to JB, the very talented photographer. You owe me one Facebook profile picture. LOL.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

As mentioned in my previous entry, I made cupcakes this afternoon. Per Papa's suggestion, I made something not chocolate-flavored: VANILLA! Even the frosting was vanilla-flavored. I know it's redundant, but what can I do? He bought me the ingredients for the cupcakes. I'm planning to make a new set tomorrow or on Sunday because I found new cupcake recipes.

The vanilla cupcake recipe I used was from Cupcake Bakeshop by Chockylit, but it originally came from Martha Stewart. I love how the cupcakes turned out. They have a smooth texture plus most of them were saved from the usual cracks. I finally got the technique to spare them from cracking!

As for the frosting, I used a yellow food color to add some color to the cupcakes. I had a hard time frosting the cupcakes because the buttercream kept on melting. I had to cool both the icing and cupcakes inside the refrigerator for easy frosting.

My sister brought her camera with her, so I was left with my 2mp-cellphone camera. As expected, the pictures I took were not great.

Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stick butter
• 1 c sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 c milk

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 175degrees Celsius.
• In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
• In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla.
• Add flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
• Divide batter evenly amg cupcake liners, about three-quarters full each. Bake for 20 minutes.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-3 c powdered sugar

Directions:

• Beat the butter at medium speed until creamy.
• Add the milk, vanilla extract, and 2 c of powdered sugar and beat at low speed, occasionally stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar to arrive at the consistency and sweetness you like.
  

The first group of cupcakes after coming out of the oven

My pathetic attempt to frost the cupcakes. I will use a different decorating tip next time.

Inside the refrigerator

Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding

Long weekends are great, but they sort of make me idle for a long time. I am not the type who would take opportunities like these to go clubbing or stroll somewhere. I would rather stay at home and read, watch movies, listen to my songs, or bake. I am boring like that.

So now that there are two consecutive long weekends for us, I decided to spend them baking or cooking. This afternoon, I will make some cupcakes for Papa. These will be the first bunch, which I'll be making after what.. 4 or 6 years?

While I am waiting for the ingredients to finally arrive, I am making this entry about the self-saucing chocolate pudding I made last weekend. I'm supposed to be writing today for work, but since we are on a Philippine holiday, I am stuck here at home writing something else, not work-related. This.

It was the first time last weekend that I made a pudding. I was able to make six pieces using our ramekins. It was not hard, but it's a little complicated. I did not even know that there's "water bath" involved. So, what I did was just religiously follow the instructions in the recipe. Fortunately, I got them right! They came out really soft, and yeah, chocolate-y. The chocolate sauce was oozing out of the cakes, as if luring you to eat them. What I love most about my chocolate pudding is that they are not too sweet. For someone who doesn't adore too much sweets, this is the best recipe for you. But of course, you can always adjust the amount of sugar you put into the pudding.

Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients:

For the pudding

• 1 c all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 c caster sugar
• 4 tbsps cocoa powder
• 1 c milk
• 3 oz unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the topping

• 1 c soft brown sugar
• 2 tbsps cocoa powder
• 1 c boiling water

To serve

• thick (double) heavy cream

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 175degrees Celsius.
• Sift the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cocoa powder into a bowl. Add the milk, butter, egg, and vanilla extract and mix with beater until combined. Pour into the ramekins.
• Stir the brown sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl to combine.
• Sprinkle it over the pudding batter.
• Pour boiling water carefully over the puddings, then bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
• Serve with thick cream.
  

My self-saucing chocolate-y pudding

Before frosting the pudding

My frosted chocolate pudding.. ready to be devoured.

Kei

Kei's Creamy Tenderloin Tips

It was early this year when I started cooking. It was practically a new experience for me because I'm never really a kitchen person. The first and last time that I tried my luck in the kitchen was when I was in high school when home economics was part of our curriculum. So this year, I decided to "try" being a domesticated person by learning how to cook and bake.

As a starter, I looked for recipes online and tried them one by one. Some were successful while some were not. I just used whatever basic knowledge I had in cooking and baking. I also looked for some cooking tips online and applied them whenever I did my kitchenworks.

In my attempt to combine ingredients and procedures from different recipes, I was able to come up with my own version of tenderloin tips. I used quick marinade, which was composed of calamansi juice, soy sauce, pepper, in marinating the pork tenderloin. As for the sauce, I used a creamy chicken gravy, which I found online. I had to personalize it by adding garlic flavor to it. I used a generous amount of garlic powder in the dish and added mushrooms too as extenders.

The result? I swear it's a great dish for lunch or dinner. The creamy garlic chicken gravy complements the marinated tenderloin tips. Surprisingly, unlike other cream-based dishes, my version of the creamy tenderloin tips is not overwhelming. You can adjust the amount of garlic powder you put into the dish depending on how garlic-y you want it to be. You can also cook it in a sizzling plate if you want to.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg. pork tenderloin tips
• 2 tbsp calamansi juice
• soy sauce (enough to cover the meat)
• pepper

GRAVY

• 3 tbsp. butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 can mushroom

Directions:

• Marinate the tenderloin tips in soy sauce, calamansi juice, and pepper. Refrigerate for an hour.
• Put a small amount of oil in a skillet. Brown the meat. Do not include the marinade.
• In a separate pan, heat the butter. Add flour and mix until it forms a sticky mixture. Do not let it curdle. Add chicken stock and milk. Mix until it form a thick mixture. Add the garlic powder. Mix in the mushrooms and the tenderloin tips. Adjust the taste by seasoning it with salt and pepper.
• Transfer to a deep bowl.

Tenderloin tips with creamy garlic chicken gravy

This is supposed to be a secret recipe, but I decided to share it because it's really worth the time. And I am really proud of it.

Kei

Moist Banana Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

If I would be asked what my favorite fruits are, I would only give two answers--mango and banana. I love them no matter how they are cooked. I love them as desserts and I love them when cooked with meat or fish. Their sweet and sometimes sour (for mangoes) taste are not too overwhelming that you can always go back to eat more. For me, they always go well with cream and honey. Just thinking about the combination already makes me drool. LOL.

I have been collecting recipes these past weeks. One of them was Bake and Shake's Moist Banana Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. Since it is a Sunday and Papa is around, I decided to recreate the recipe. Papa doesn't like chocolates much so he did not complain when I told him that I will be baking this instead of the usual chocolate cakes.

I wasn't able to encounter any problems in making the cake except that I almost forgot to put baking soda in it. Another funny moment was when it almost got burned. Although I already expected it to happen, I still got worried so I lowered the temperature and put it one rack lower.

Bake and Shake was right. The banana cake came out soft and moist. The sweetness was just right and the banana flavor was recognizable. Of course, you can always adjust the amount of sugar you put into the cake mixture. You should not forget that the frosting still has powdered sugar and white chocolate, which add more sweetness to the cake. It is actually similar to the frosting I used for the carrot cake sans the cinnamon. I used unsalted cashew nuts to garnish the frosted moist banana cake.

Forgive me if the cake looked similar to the carrot cake. I will try to learn more ways of frosting the cake and also buy more baking equipment, such as cake molds and cutters so that I can come up with various cake presentations.

After frosting my moist banana cake

I love how the white chocolate cream cheese frosting looks. So creamy.

Want a bite?

Here's the recipe for the cake:

Ingredients:

Moist Banana Cake (Adapted from Recipezaar.com)

• 1 stick + 6 tbs butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 3 cups AP flour, sifted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups milk + 2 tbs lemon juice, stirred together (This is how to create a buttermilk mixture)
• 4 very ripe bananas, smashed or pureed
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 275º F.
• Spray or grease two 9-inch cake pans and set aside.
• Sprinkle the mashed bananas with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
• Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale yellow. Add the eggs, one at a time and mix well after each. Add the vanilla, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, blending well.
• Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, and mix just until combined. Follow with half of the milk, blend, then another third of the flour. Add the rest of the milk, blend, and finally add the rest of the flour and mix just until combined.
• Pour the mashed bananas into the batter and stir with a spatula or mix on low speed until they're just incorporated.
• Bake for up to one hour and 30 minutes, testing after one hour and then every ten minutes -- a toothpick or skewed should exit the cake with no wet batter clinging to it.

White Chocolate-Cream Cheese Icing

• 6 oz Cream Cheese, softened
• 3.5 ounces good-quality white chocolate
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

• In a glass bowl over a small saucepan full of gently simmering water, melt the white chocolate completely, until smooth and glossy. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Cream together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the melted white chocolate and whip until smooth. Spread over cooled cake immediately. Top it with ground cashew nuts.

So what happened to the burnt trimmings of the cake?

Well, they did not go to waste because Mama, Nikki, and my cousin feasted over them even before I finshed frosting the other one. Hehe.

Kei

Chocolate Walnut Cookies

Whenever we do our weekly grocery, I would make it a point to buy Mrs. Fields' milk chocolate chip cookie. I just love how soft and tasty the cookie can get whenever you take a bite from it. It's not your usual chocolate chip cookie; there's something unforgettable about it--something (which i cannot point out obviously) that sets it apart from other cookies.

So, in my attempt to replicate Mrs Fields' cookies while of course, putting my personal touch to it, I decided to purchase cookie sheets later this afternoon. I bought them in different sizes so that I can use each depending on the number of cookies I want to make. Upon arriving home, I hurriedly looked for a recipe for chocolate cookies in the internet. Joyofbaking.com gave a pretty easy one, which involves white chocolate chunks. Since I did not have white chocolates to fold into the chocolate cookie mixture, I used walnuts instead.

The whole process went pretty smoothly except for the baking part. I should have just baked the cookies for around 8 to 10 minutes, but I extended it longer for fear that they might come out undercooked. Unfortunately, my first batch came out a little burnt. They still tasted chocolate-y, but I wasn't able to achieve the texture I was aiming for. After learning from my first batch's mistakes, I baked my second batch feeling a little more confident than what I felt with the previous ones. They were, of course, a lot better.

I dusted the cookies with confectioner's sugar. It added a hint of sweetness to my chocolate walnut cookies.

Here's the original recipe which I got from JoyofBaking.com:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (110 grams) light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) white granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup (140 grams) all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (30 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups (260 grams) white chocolate chips or chunks (In my case, I used chopped walnuts)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. First sift together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and salt and then add to the butter and egg mixture. Mix just until incorporated. Fold in the the chocolate chips.
• Using a small ice cream scoop or two spoons, place about 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart.
• Bake for approximately 8 minutes or until the the cookies are still soft in the center but are firm around the edges. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Additional: Using a strainer, dust your cookies with confectioner's sugar.

Kei's chocolate walnut cookies dusted with confectioner's sugar

Yummy!

Kei

Pork or Chicken Tonkatsu

I've always had the hots for Japanese cuisine, except for the raw ones. It just feels weird eating something uncooked. Maybe it's just me and my sensitive stomach. But anyway, just like what I said, I enjoy eating katsudons, tempuras, teriyakis, ika fry, ebi fry, etc. There's always something in their taste that will set them apart from other cuisines.

I think cooking my favorite Japanese dishes is not hard at all, except of course if they require ingredients which are rarely available in the Philippines. Just last Sunday, I stumbled upon a website, which demonstrates how pork tonkatsu is cooked. I must say that it's a pretty easy one. It's just the same as cooking breaded chops or chicken. The only difference between the two is that a tonkatsu is accompanied with a katsu sauce - a sauce with a strong sweet and sour taste. The worcestershire sauce is overwhelming (in a good way) you can easily identify it.

I accompanied my pork tonkatsu with a side dish composed of mixed mongo sprouts, shredded carrots, and shredded cabbage. I felt like I was eating at Teriyaki Boy or some Japanese resto, only at a much cheaper cost.

For this dish, I used boneless pork loin chops. The chops being sold in the Philippines are too small compared to the size being sold in markets abroad. I didn't like to spend too much time removing the bones anymore. The same goes for chicken tonkatsu. I suggest that you have them filleted as well.

The recipe came from Nook and Pantry. As for the side dish, my mom helped me make it. She's good with cooking vegetable dishes.

Pork or Chicken Tonkatsu

• 1/2 kg boneless boneless pork loin chops or 1/2 kg chicken breast fillets
• salt and pepper
• flour (about 1/4 C)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 C breadcrumbs

Katsu Sauce

• 1/4 C ketchup
• 2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• oil for frying

Side dish

• 2 C mongo sprouts
• 1 C shredded carrots
• 1 C shredded cabbage
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• salt and pepper
• oil

Directions:

• Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chop then dredge the pork cutlet in flour and shake off the excess. Coat the chop in beaten egg and bread with bread crumbs. Repeat for each cutlet.
• Heat 1/4 in of oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Place the pork chops in the hot oil and fry each side until golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes per side.
• Drain on paper towel and pat off the excess oil.
• Cut into bite size pieces before serving. Serve with rice and katsu sauce (The katsu sauce is made by combining the abovementioned ingredients).
• For the veggies, heat the oil in a skillet.
• Put the vegetables. Stir in oyster sauce.
• Season with salt and pepper.

Can you imagine how crunchy and tender it is?

My Pork Tonkatsu

Kei