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.