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

Choco Marble Chiffon Cake

When Kei and I were still kids, aside from the usual birthday cake, Papa would always buy Chiffon Cake for us. I can't say that it's the best cake I've ever tasted in my entire life but it's good enough for something that is kinda plain. Plus it's cheaper than any other cake. Back in Naga, Chiffon Cake costs only around P150. Since we came here in Manila, I haven't seen a bakeshop that sells Chiffon Cake yet. So one day, Mama and I decided to bake one. At first try, we got it perfect. It was so fluffy but really moist.

Papa likes the plain one while I like the Choco Marble cake. For merienda today, Papa requested for a vanilla flavored cake but I insisted that I won't stop baking Choco Marble Chiffon Cake until I made a perfect one. It was because the first time I baked Choco Marble, all the chocolate settled at the bottom of the pan. The second time I baked it, it was better but still, I did not get the marbling effect that I wanted. So this was the third time I tried baking it.

Fortunately, this time, it was perfect. I got the marbling effect that I've been trying to achieve. It was fluffy. It was moist and soft. But still, it's Chiffon Cake. Nothing special actually. Except for the chocolate part of course. I love how the chocolate blends in with the vanilla flavor. Papa said that I've already mastered the art of baking Chiffon Cakes. Good for me then!

Let me share with you the recipe that I used for the Choco Marble Chiffon Cake. I got the recipe for the plain Chiffon Cake from my old THE book. It really pays to keep the old books. But I modified it since I wanted a Choco Marble cake.

Choco Marble Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cup cake flour, sifted
• 1 tbsp. double-acting baking powder
• 1 tsp. fine salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 8 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cup water
• 8 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp. cocoa powder

Grease the bottom of the tube pan then put a parchment paper on the bottom part of the pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and the first 3/4 cup granulated sugar in a bowl.
Make a well at the center of the mixture then, pour in the vegetable oil and the egg yolks.
Add in the vanilla and water. Mix with an electric mixer until smooth.
Divide the mixture into two portions.
Whisk in the cocoa powder on the second portion. Mix until smooth. Set aside.
Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add gradually the remaining 3/4 cup of granulated sugar and then continue beating until stiff peaks form. (In beating the egg whites, sprinkle first 1 tbsp. sugar over the surface of the egg whites then continue to beat until well-blended. Repeat until all the sugar has been added. Make sure not to overbeat the egg whites. It should be stiff but not dry.)
Divide the egg whites into two equal portions. Fold in half of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture.
Fold in the remaining egg yolk mixture to the remaining egg whites carefully until well-blended.
Pour in the vanilla batter first into the pan. Then add the chocolate batter by spoonfuls. Pour in the two batters alternately.
Then run a knife through the mixture to create a marbling effect.
Bake in 176 degrees Celsius for about 45-50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Mama divided it into two already. Papa will bring the other half to Naga.

the crispy crust

My piece of cake

Apple Crumble a la Mode

When Nikki and I were in New Zealand, our cousin, Ate Enna, made an apple crumble for our midnight snack. She told us to pair it with the Cadbury ice cream they had in their fridge. I am not really used to combining foods especially if they look weird together. But these two made a perfect pair. Perfect for the cold autumn season.

Since then, we have never forgotten how Ate Enna's apple crumble tasted like. We sort of promised ourselves to reproduce it, but since we did not have the luxury of time before, it just remained a plan.

This morning, Auntie Myrna gave us a ring from New Zealand. Nikki was able to talk to Ate Enna and was reminded of the apple crumble. We took that as a sign. So, this afternoon, while we were preparing for our weekend grocery, Nikki and I thought of finally making the apple crumble. We searched for recipes and found some from different websites. We even thought of combining two different recipes together--a different recipe for the crumble and a different one for the filling. But we ended up with the one from All Recipes.

The recipe was just simple. Even the ingredients were readily available. We picked the freshest apples to ensure that the apples will turn out crispy and crunchy. The procedures, too, were a breeze. They did not involve any beating or cooking. It only took us around an hour to finish everything (including baking).

The output?
It tasted just like Ate Enna's apple crumble. The cinnamon and nutmeg stood out you could easily identify them. They gave this dessert a pleasantly sharp flavor. Plus the apple's juice was oozing out. As for the crumble, the texture was perfect. It kinda resembled crushed graham crackers. We paired our warm apple crumble with the ice cream we bought this afternoon. It was a fabulous dessert indeed.

However, Papa complained about the sweetness. It was a little too sweet for him (he doesn't like sweets so much. LOL), especially because we still paired it with ice cream. So, we suggest that you reduce the amount of white and brown sugar if you don't want to be overwhelmed by its sweetness.

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients:

Filling

• 3 large apples
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Crumble

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 tbsp butter

Directions:

• Dice the apples. Sprinkle lemon juice to prevent it from turning brown.
• Mix white sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Toss until the apples are evenly coated.
• To make the crumble, mix the APF and brown sugar. Cut in butter.
• Pour the apple filling into a 9" square pan. Top it with the crumble.
• Cover the pan with an aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes at 190 degrees. Remove the aluminum foil then bake for another 25 minutes.

The apple crumble with the juice oozing out

Cooling the apple crumble on a wire rack

halfway there

Nikki's apple crumble a la mode serving

To end this entry, I would like to share what my law school friend told me a few days back. This is one hell of a line. It made me laugh really hard.

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away. But when the doctor is cute, forget the fruit."

Kei's Chicken Nuggets

I am not fond of eating chicken nuggets. I only eat them whenever I feel like to. Maybe it's because the chicken nuggets, which are being sold in grocery stores are not made of pure chicken, thus the starchy texture and fastfood-ish taste. I wouldn't have liked this breakfast favorite at all had it not been for Alton Brown's chicken nuggets recipe.

Again, since I have the ingredients at home, I decided to make some and bring them to the office for lunch. It's just a simple recipe, but I had to put my personal touch to it so I made some modifications by adding ingredients and frying them instead of baking. I was too sleepy to get up and bake.

The outcome wasn't bad at all. It tastes just like the usual chicken nuggets, only crunchier and cheesier. And I believe they would have been way better if I seasoned them more with salt and pepper. I hesitated to put too much salt and pepper on the chicken nuggets because I wanted to give room for the dips I made.

Here's the modified recipe of Alton Brown's chicken nuggets:

Ingredients:

• 2 c bread crumbs (Alton's recipe used crushed sour-cream-and-onion-flavored potato chips
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsps milk
• 2 c flour (I just added this one)
• 6 chicken breast fillets, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tsps garlic powder (I just added this one)
• salt and pepper
• grated cheese (I just added this one)
• 1/3 cup butter
  

Directions:

• Spread the breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. Mix in grated cheese.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour and garlic powder.
• Beat together the egg and milk in a shallow bowl.
• Season the chicken cubes and dip them into the egg mixture. Dredge them in the bread crumbs.
• Melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan.
• Place the chicken nuggets on the pan and fry them.

Hot and crispy chicken nuggets

Don't you just love how the cheese was incorporated to the chicken cubes?

The original recipe does not include bread crumbs, garlic powder, APF, and cheese. You only have to bake them for 15 to 18 minutes. The baked chicken nuggets may also be frozen after baking.

I served the chicken nuggets with two dis: honey mustard and garlic mayo.

KEI

Japanese Cheesecake

I'm really not a big fan of cheesecakes. Just looking at the cream cheese layer of a Blueberry Cheesecake makes me a bit woozy. I don't even understand why my sister likes cheesecakes.

Everytime we go to Bread Talk to buy Papa's priced Hokaido Dome, I can't resist looking at their Japanese Cheesecake. It looks so soft. But I was wondering why it doesn't even look like a cheesecake. It looks like a sponge cake to me or maybe just any other cake. I want to try the cake but I don't want to spend my money on something that I am doubtful of. So I just decided to make one.

When I first made the cake, I was a bit worried because the consistency of the mixture looked a bit thin but when it was already being baked, I could smell the cream cheese. It looked like the one I saw in Bread Talk only that it was thinner because I baked it in an 8-inch springform cake pan. I made the cake for the second time this afternoon for our merienda. But this time, I decided to bake it in a 6x6 in. square cake pan. But it's still a bit thin so next time, maybe I'll use a llanera or maybe just double the recipe to have a thicker cheesecake.

The first time I made Japanese Cheesacake, Mama was not really going gaga over it but she said it was delicious. But Papa-slash-Mr.-Simon-Cowell said it lacks sugar. So this afternoon, I added more sugar and I must say, Papa was right. Mama and my aunt said it was so good. For me, it was too good to be true. Biased? No. Honestly speaking, it was so moist, so soft, so fluffy, not too sweet nor too salty (because of the cream cheese). Just right. It was so light, it felt like I was eating air. It was cotton-soft. I'm starting to love cream cheese. It's so milky and creamy.

Next time, I'll be thicker!

Drizzled it with wild honey and paired it with chocolate ice cream

My Merienda (Cheesecake a la mode)

Japanese Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 3 oz. cream cheese
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup plus 1/2 tbsp. sugar, divided
• 2 egg whites
• 1/3 tsp. cream of tartar
• 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch

Grease a small cake pan with parchment paper on the bottom of the pan.
Melt cream cheese in 1/4 cup of milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until the cream cheese until it's melted then, remove from fire and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and half of the sugar using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Fold the cream cheese mixture into the yolks.
Sift in the flour and cornstarch and stir until well-blended.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks. Then gradually sprinkle the remaining sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks.
Fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes at 150 degrees Celsius.

Roast Pork Belly

Before we had our trusty and user-friendly turbo broiler, our pork bellies in the freezer just end up as sad and oily fried bellies (Lechong Kawali), and take note, we had to shield ourselves from all the tilamsik everytime we fry them. The process of frying pork bellies involves a lot of screaming (out of fear because of the tilamsik) and bunong-braso with the pork. It's really one tough guy.

But one day, Super Turbo came to the rescue and saved as from the nights of sad and oily fried pork bellies. I've been searching through internet articles regarding the best roast pork belly rub for quite a long time now, not knowing that I'll find the perfect concoction in our very own kitchen. And the person responsible for this? Mi Mama! Mama's really a great cook. She got it from her dad. Kei and I got our cooking skills from her. Mama doesn't need those measuring cups and spoons. She once told me that all you've got to do to come up with a perfect dish is feel it. It's all about the instinct.

Mama's Roast Pork Belly recipe never fails to fill my growling tummy. Her recipe being really really flexible is a plus factor. You can have it really spicy or you can just have it mild. Since I was the one who cooked for dinner, I opted to have it mild. But if it's my sister who made it, I know she'd go for the Oh-God-it's-freaking-hot flavor. Another thing that's really good about Super Turbo is that it cooks the meat inside and out but still, it's crispy on the outside but juicy and tender on the inside. The Roast Pork Belly goes well with the famous and Pinoy na Pinoy na Mang Tomas (The All-Around Sarsa). But Kei ate it with a new dip, the THAI CHILI SAUCE!!!! It was so so so so so hot that I did not even have the guts to try it. But my aunt did and she said it's too spicy. Our maid even tried it and at first taste, it looked like she was stunned by something or what. It was truly maanghang.

The dish was really tasty. The combination of garlic and chili gives the meat its character. It's as if it has two sides. It has that strong flavor at first but when you start chewing the meat, you'll taste the juiciness and tenderness of the pork. Yummy!

As I said, Mama's recipe is really flexible so I altered the amount some of the ingredients depending on my taste.

Before slicing the Roast Pork Belly


Mr. Belly meets Mang Tomas


Perfect combination

Mama's Roast Pork Belly

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg. pork belly
• olive oil
• salt
  
• ground black pepper
• garlic powder
• chili powder
• cayenne pepper
• Maggi Magic Sarap

Drizzle olive oil on both sides of the meat. Rub some salt and ground black pepper on it. Then, sprinkle it with garlic powder, chili powder and cayenne pepper. Lastly, rub some Maggi Magic Sarap on the belly. Let it sit for 20-30 minutes.
Roast in the turbo broiler for 20 minutes at 190 degrees Celsius. After 20 mins., turn up the other side of the belly and prick the meat with a small knife then, roast for another 10 minutes.
Serve with Mang Tomas! XD

Chocolate Overload Cake

I have always been on a hunt for the best cake recipes. In fact, I've already collected a lot, but I seldom got the chance to try them. Since Nikki is still waiting for her culinary school year to begin, she would often try at once every recipe she finds. She'd try them all until she gets the perfect one, which suits her taste. As for me, I just wait for the weekend or a free weekday so that I could cook, bake, and try the recipes which I've found myself.

Last week, I found a really cool chocolate cake recipe from Chef Garvin. It seemed easy and I have the ingredients at home except for the buttermilk and confectioner's sugar (screw you, Rustan's for running out of stock!). Since I have been wanting to bake the perfect chocolate cake, I decided to try it this afternoon.

Everything went well, except for the "cooling" part. It would have come out nice had Nikki followed what I told her to do. Cakes must be allowed to cool first before turning it upside down. My very obedient sister (I am being sarcastic here) told me to turn it upside down already because that's what she does when she bakes. When we were about to remove the cake from the pan, we found it deformed. I was supposed to frost it already, but when I saw how pitiful it looked like, I lost interest and decided not to push through with the frosting.

Mama was too persistent. She immediately fixed the cake and trimmed the upper part. I checked it again and saw that it's already ok. I immediately made the chocolate frosting and finished it. Luckily, the output wasn't bad after all, appearance-wise.

I tried modifying the chocolate recipes I got. I added, removed, and modified some ingredients. Since we did not have buttermilk, I made it myself. I combined a cup of whole milk and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. As for the sugar, I used caster instead. I achieved the same sweetness, only that caster gave more texture to the frosting. As a topping, I made use of the white chocolate bar I bought the other day. I put chocolate shavings on top of the cake, as well as on its sides. In making the cake, I used imported cocoa powder to achieve a dark, moist chocolate cake.

Nikki named the cake Chocolate Overload Cake because everything about the cake is chocolate-y. The cake itself is chocolate, as well as its frosting and garnishing.

Chocolate Overload Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 Teaspoon Baking soda
• ½ Teaspoon Salt
• 8 Tablespoons softened butter (1 stick)
• ¾ cup light brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

• Preheat the oven 350F.
• Lightly butter and flour two 8-inch round cake pans, tapping out the excess flour.
• Sift the flour, Cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
• In a large bowl, using an electric mixer at high speed beat the butter until creamy about 1 minute.
• Add the brown and granulated sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• One at a time beat in the eggs, then the vanilla.
• Reduce the mixer speed to low.8. In three additions, beat in the flour/cocoa mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, scraping the bowl often with a rubber spatula until the batter is smooth.
• Spread evenly in the prepared pans.
• Bake until the tops spring back then lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Cool for 10 Minutes on wire cake racks.
• Invert the cakes and un-mold onto the racks.
• Turn right side up and cool completely.

Frosting:

• 1 stick butter
• 2 cups caster sugar
• 6 tbsps cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

• Sift together caster and cocoa powder.
• Cream butter until smooth, then beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla extract.

Garnishing:

• White chocolate shavings

My cake in its chocolate-y glory.

Excuse the plate. We put the cake on it when we store it inside the fridge.

White chocolate shavings

Look how dark the cake is. Using a good brand of cocoa powder plus a proportionate amount of it resulted to the dark and moist texture. The dots are Nikki's pathetic attempt to garnish.

KEI

Nilagang Baka

Aside from Adobo, Filipinos are also famous for cooking the best versions of Nilagang Baka, which is boiled beef short ribs with various vegetables. Mama has a lot of versions of this dish. One version is beef short ribs with cabbage and sigarilyas. Another version includes saging na saba and another version includes squash. She even has an east-meets-west version of Nilagang Baka which has fresh button mushrooms and broccoli in it.

Mama's different versions cater to the different tastes and cravings of the members of the family. Kei likes the beef-squash tandem while I like the beef-saging na saba combination. Papa digs the east-meets-west version. But for lunch, I gave Mama's Nilaga my own touch. The new addition to the bunch is the famous Japanese Corn. For someone who lives along Katipunan, it's very easy for me to find this variety of corn. No sweat.

At first, I was a bit hesitant about the corn fearing that it may affect the overall taste of the dish since it has quite a strong flavor but still I tried. Poof! The result? Papa loved it! Of course, he's also a Japanese corn fan. The strong flavor of the corn was indeed an asset, not a liability. It really worked with the rest of the group. Upon putting the soup in the bowl, Papa took the first bite of the corn. The flavor of the corn even made the dish smell heavenly.

Meet the bunch: beef, corn, cabbage and squash


Still smoking hot!


A closer look at Philippines' famous Nilagang Baka

Nilagang Baka Overload

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg. beef short ribs
• squash, sliced into bite-size pieces
  
• cabbage
  
• Japanese Corn, sliced into smaller pieces
  
• water
• half a piece of onion, sliced
  
• ginger, sliced
  
• fish sauce
• Maggi Magic Sarap

Boil beef and corn in a pot with enough water to cover the meat. If the meat is not yet tender and most of the liquid has already evaporated, add more water. (You can also use a pressure cooker to tenderize the beef.)
Once beef is already tender, add the onions and ginger. Boil for another 10-15 minutes.
Add the cabbage and squash.
Add fish sauce to the sauce bit by bit. (The amount of the fish sauce to be added depends on your taste as long as it's not too salty.)
Sprinkle some Maggi Magic Sarap to add flavor. (It really works like magic!)
Serve while hot with rice.

This is worth all the wait! Certified Pinoy taste!

Grilled Porkchop with Garlic Jam

I am Kei, Nikki's sister. She asked me to blog about the food I cooked for dinner. I am actually a guest blogger here, so expect to read posts from me every now and then.

I was scouring the internet for some recipes the other day. I dropped by the Food Network website and saved every single recipe, which I thought is easy and whose ingredients are available at home and at the grocery.

Most of the recipes I found involve chicken. Then, I got this one from Chef Emeril Lagasse, called Grilled Porkchop with Garlic Jam. I thought, "What in the world is garlic jam?" I only know fruit jams, but I haven't heard of garlic jam or whatever it is made of. Seeing that I have the ingredients at home, I decided to try cooking it. I added a Filipino touch to it by putting a pinch of Maggi Magic Sarap. I also made an additional Garlic Mayo Dip to give my family two options as to what to pair with the grilled porkchops.

Since Filipino chops are way smaller than the American ones, I used 5 porkchops and cut down the ingredients into smaller portions.

Grilled Pork Chops with Garlic Jam

Ingredients

• 4 thick-cut pork chops (I used 5)
• Canola oil
• Essence, recipe follows
• Garlic Jam , recipe follows
  

Preheat a grill to medium-high. Brush pork chops with oil and season with Essence. Place pork on grill and grill on both sides until a meat thermometer reaches 150 to 155 degrees F. Serve pork chops with garlic jam.

Garlic Jam

• 4 large heads garlic (1 1/2)
• 1/2 cup olive oil (1/4 c)
• 1/4 of a sweet onion
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Bring a medium saucepan with salted water to a boil. Cut the garlic heads in half crosswise and blanch for 5 minutes. Remove the garlic heads and any loose garlic cloves from the water with a slotted spoon and drain well. Pour olive oil into a small baking dish and place the garlic heads cut side down into the oil. Add any loose garlic cloves and the onion quarter to the oil. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.

Remove the garlic from the oil and squeeze the softened garlic cloves into a medium bowl. Peel the onion quarter and finely dice. Add the diced onion to the garlic cloves and mash with a fork until smooth. Stir the Worcestershire and lemon juice into the mashed garlic and continue stirring until smooth and creamy. Season with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. The garlic jam will keep refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika (1 1/2 tbsp)
• 2 tablespoons salt (1 tbsp)
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder (1 tbsp)
• 1 tablespoon black pepper (1 tsp)
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder (1 tsp)
• 1 tablespoon onion powder (1 tsp)
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (1 tsp)
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano (1 tsp)
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme (1 tsp)
• pinch of Maggi Magic Sarap

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Kei's Garlic Mayo Dip:

• 1 sachet of mayonnaise
• 2 tsps garlic powder
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• pinch of Maggi Magic Sarap
  

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

The grilled porkchops had a smokey taste because of the dry rub. We could actually taste the oregano and thyme.

The combination of garlic and sweet onion resulted to a sweet and spicy taste. It also had a bit of tanginess because of the lemon juice.

Grilled porchops with Kei's garlic mayo dip

My version of garlic mayo dip, garnished with parsley

My family loved what I cooked, especially the garlic jam. I'm really looking forward to cooking it again in the coming days.

Fish en Papillote

I'm so fond of eating that while eating my Banana Cue and Coke combo for snack, I was already thinking of what's for dinner. There were still tilapia left in the freezer. I thought of having grilled fish for dinner but then, my tastebuds are looking for something new. Something with a distinct taste. Then, I remembered the dish made by Chef Rosebud Benitez in an episode of Quickfire. It was Fish en Papillote! Perfect! Just what I was looking for. But too bad, all I remember from the ingredients used were lemon and parsley. And of course, who could ever forget the unbeatable tandem of salt and pepper?

Fish en Papillote is a dish wherein the fish is cooked by wrapping it in a baking or parchment paper together with the other ingredients. Papillote is French for paper hence, the name.

Yummy and still smoking hot

My Fish en Papillote

Fish en Papillote

Ingredients:

• 6 tilapia fillets (You can also use cream dory, lapu lapu or any fish with white meat.)
• 1 lemon, cut into 6 rings
  
• salt
  
• pepper
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• dried thyme
• sprigs of parsley
• red bell pepper, julienned
  
• parchment or baking paper

Make a circle out of the parchment paper. The paper should be at least 12" in diameter.
Place one fillet (In my case, I placed two fillets in one parchment paper) on the center of the bottom half of the circle.
Rub some salt and pepper on both sides of the fillets. Then sprinkle some dried thyme over the fish.

Drizzle 1/2 tbsp. of olive oil over the fish.
Top with some julienned paper and at least 3 or 4 sprigs of parsley. Place 1 lemon ring on each fillet.
Fold the top part of the parchment paper over the fish. Roll the edges to close the packet.
When using turbo broiler, bake at 150 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes. When using oven, bake at 175 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.

The dish was soooooo good! It did not fail me. It had that sour-salty-lemony taste. The lemon gave it the sour taste while there's a bit of an aftertaste from the thyme and the julienned peppers. When I first opened the paper, the aroma was so good that I wanted to dig in right away. The smell of baked lemon and thyme was dominant. I loved how the fish was cooked. It was neither raw nor overdone.

I asked Mama to rate it from 1-5, 5 being the highest, she gave it a 4! Woohoo! Not bad for someone who made Fish en Papillote for the first time. I really recommend this dish especially to those who are watching their weight. Just a piece of advice, once the fish is done, wait for at least 10-15 minutes before you open it to preserve the aroma and to somehow, keep it hot. Also, don't use wax paper in place of parchment paper. The heat of the oven or the turbo broiler will make the wax covering of the paper melt therefore, making the fish taste a little waxy. You don't want a Waxed Fish en Papillote for meal right?

The dish is absolutely good. No regrets at all especially for those on a diet.