Lasang Pinoy (LP 24) Loco over coco

It has been ages since I haven’t participated in Lasang Pinoy, a monthly food blog event that features a taste of Filipino Cuisine. For this month’s theme of Lasang Pinoy hosted by Kai of Bucaio features one of the most important ingredient which has been intertwined with Filipino cuisine as well as Philippine culture. I’m talking about the famous COCONUT. For more details about this month’s Lasang Pinoy theme,click HERE

“Thou shall not underestimate the Coconut”
Coconut does not only plays a huge part in Filipino cooking but it signifies life to many Filipinos who depended on their livelihood in coconut industry in the old days up to the present. To name a few products of coconut that has imparted in the lives of many; Copra (dried coconut), desiccated coconut, coconut milk, coconut oil, coconut lumber, and the list goes on.. etc.

The wonders this plant had brought to us are countless. In the field of construction, the trunk is used as lumber while bark is used as decorative slabs. The coconut leaves are weaved to make walls to some native houses or soaked and weaved to make roofs for nipa huts, the sticks are made into brooms while the rest is used as firewood. The fruit itself plays a major influence in Philippine cooking and it can be eaten by itself or as a thirst quencher. Women used as beauty regimen to oil their hairs. For beauty regimen uses, I came across this website:COCONUT HAVEN which is worth a visit.


Buko Halo
Buko Halo is one of the specialties of Jo’s Chicken Inato restaurant in Dumaguete City. Personally one of my favorites. Made of Fresh Coconut intact in its shell, crushed ice, sweetened ube, milk, mango, jackfruit, large sago or gulaman, and banana. Perfect for a summer treat or anytime of the year.

This is our nipa hut which we placed in front of our house. The framings are made of coconut lumber and roof is made of Nipa or coconut leaves. The walls are made of bamboo. It is great for afternoon siesta where you just like to lie down, put your feet up and catch your zzzzzzzzzzzzz…. I guarantee you, you don’t need an air conditioning unit coz the light breeze gives you the perfect temperature.

In Philippines, nothing is wasted in a coconut tree. It has a number of uses from roots to leaves in various many ways. “Tuba” is a famous alcoholic drink made from coconut sap. It is sweet when it is fresh and will turn sour after a few days and eventually become an organic vinegar after few weeks. Tuba is also used as a leavening agent in making breads.

In cooking, countless recipes of main courses and desserts can be made using coconut as the main ingredient and each dish is varies from one region to another.

One of the popular desserts is coconut macaroons which I have posted long time back. Picture below:


Browse recipe of coconut macaroons by clicking HERE


The picturesque Philippine landscape is not complete without coconut trees. Can you imagine these photos with out the coconuts as an element of each picture?

Dumaguete City Boulevard


Dumaguete City boulevard

Sta. Monica, Dumaguete City

Bahura Resort, Bacong, Negros Oriental

Somewhere in between Bais and Mabinay, Negros Oriental.

French Apple Tarte - Tarte Aux Pommes -

Apple Tarte

It’s my first successful tarte ever! I finally had perfected the sweet pastry crust where usually I go wrong. I had a number of mistakes with the temperature and the pastry recipe itself. I had overly sweet crust, burnt crust, or tough crust as hard as stone! So I did not make tarte for ages after those attempts. Now, I’m challenging myself to do it, and this time I couldn’t be prouder with the success. Finally! It turned out great. But the pastry crust is just one story.


I got the recipe of Tarte Aux Pommes - French Apple Tart from TEA CONCEPTS.

The first time I read it, I have no idea what is a pastry cream. So then, it took me a little digging up of what it is and found out that it is like a custard with creamy spreadable consistency. A little bit thicker than custard. I can’t find a certain recipe for pastry cream, so I made my own custard and just mixed it with a little cornstarch to make it thicker. With my French hubby as my reference and a little bit of research about pastry cream, I had an idea what to do because, I’ve been making custard since before. It worked quite well. Something new I learned from this recipe.




I have a few deviation of the original recipe as per my preference. I preferred to use margarine than butter for the sweet pastry dough, increased ½ cup the amount of flour, and used icing sugar instead of normal refined sugar. I preferred icing sugar because the sweetness is not overpowering and it has this subtle sweetness that just melts in your mouth, (as long as you don’t put too much) and as far as I have experienced icing sugar helps make dough more crumbly. Another alteration is I pre-baked the crust and sprinkled with cinnamon powder instead of sugar.

Here’s my version of the recipe with my alterations.

Apple Tarte

Ingredients:
4 green apples
1 cup Pastry cream (cooled)
Sweet pastry dough
Cinnamon powder
Pastry Cream:
3 eggs
1 cup milk
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch (mixed with 2 Tbsp. milk)
2 tsp. vanilla essence

Sweet Pastry Dough
½ Cup and 1 Tbsp. margarine
½ cup icing sugar (sifted)
1 egg
2 ½ Cup All Purpose Flour
1/8 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla essence

Procedure:

Make the Pastry Cream:
1. In a bowl, beat eggs and sugar lightly until well mixed.
2. Heat 1 cup of milk in a sauce pan until just before it comes to a boil.
3. Gradually add the warm milk to the egg mixture whilst beating continuously.
4. Place the mixture back to the pan return to the heat (very low heat) and continue mixing, taking care not to bring the mixture to a boil to avoid curdling. (if it boils, it will make the eggs scramble)
5. Add cornstarch mixture (1 tsp. cornstarch and 2 Tbsp. milk)
6. Continue mixing over low heat until the mixture becomes thick.
7. Set aside to cool, and chill in the refrigerator.

Make the Sweet Pastry Dough:
1. In a mixing bowl, mix margarine and icing sugar until creamy, add eggs and mix for another minute until soft and creamy.
2. Add flour and baking powder. Continue beating.
3. Add vanilla essence
4. Bring the mixture altogether to form a dough and mix with the hand.. Form the dough into a ball, Cover with Clingfilm and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Peel apples in half and remove the core.
Slice apples lengthwise as thinly as possible and set aside
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and knead for a few minutes on a lightly floured surface.
Flatten the dough into 5mm thick.
Roll out dough with a rolling pin onto a pie pan.
Press the dough to form the pattern of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven to cool down, chill in the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove from freezer.
Spread the cooled pastry cream over the base of the pastry shell.
Arrange the sliced apples on top of the pastry cream.
Glaze with melted butter
Sprinkle cinnamon powder on top.
Bake for about 45-50 minutes until the apples are caramelized and crust turns golden.
Turn off heat and allow to cool down before removing the tarte from the pan.
Use a dinner plate to flip over and another dinner plate to flip over again so that the tart shows its top.

Pesto Pasta with tuna

Pasta Pesto with Tuna

I could have been proud if I made this, but I did not. In fact I’m even prouder coz DH made tonight’s dinner which is fantastic! How it all started? Well, he was just quietly playing his PC game at the terrace and I was just hanging around looking at our fast growing herbs when I asked him how to make a pesto.

He just pouted his lips and said, “I don’t know …hmmm… u may need some pine nuts and of course olive oil and the herbs. Why do you ask?”
“I’m just thinking of pesto with pasta” since we got nice fresh herbs (Thai basil, purple basil, sweet basil and parsley)

Then I settled for his answer and told him; “Okay, let me do a little research” then went back to the study room to search for a recipe of pesto. But before I could finish my research, my Dear Hubby is already in the kitchen pounding some fresh herbs in the mortar and pestle. I can’t really tell the details of what he did coz, once he is in the kitchen I leave him alone to do his stuff, otherwise, two chefs in the kitchen would often argue. So I left him alone. After some time, the whole house smells heavenly with the herbs. Pasta was done and he is mixing pesto with tuna, then tossed together with the pasta. Dinner was ready! Yumm! it was unforgettable…

“Wait, can I take a picture and put in my journal for my reference?”
“But you didn’t make it yourself”
“Of course I’m not going to claim it myself that I did’ it”

Obviously, I had his approval before he had his first bite.

Tuna Sandwich

Tuna Sandwich

Tuna sandwich could be very ordinary but a little effort on to make the tuna filling is worth every bite.

Ingredients:
6 loaves of sandwich (toasted)
2 tomatoes (thinly sliced)
Lettuce

Tuna filling:
1 can tuna chunks
1 red pepper/capsicum (finely chopped)
1 white onion (finely chopped)
½ cucumber (finely chopped)
2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
½ lemon (use the juice only)
Pepper

Procedure:
Drain the tuna and use a fork to crush the chucks roughly. Add finely chopped red pepper, onion and cucumber. Then squeeze the juice of ½ lemon (This refreshes the flavor of the tuna and removes the fishy smell). Add enough mayonnaise and mix with the tuna mixture. Season with freshly ground pepper.

Assemble the sandwich.

Tinolang Manok (Chicken Soup)

Tinolang Manok (Chicken Soup)

We haven’t had soup for quite some time but with our growing kangkong in the terrace is growing so fast and are twining with the other herbs, I finally came to a moment like “you’ve got to cook something with kangkong tonight!” Checked the freezer what to get for dinner and yeah, something came up! Chicken soup (Nilat-ang Manok). What made this special is the lemon grass that I have sautéed with the onion and garlic that gave a magical asian aroma in the whole flat. I have to be honest, I am not used to sautéing with lemon grass because in Philippines, we use only the leafy part of lemon grass and we don’t sauté with it. Usually we tie the leaves into a knot and just include it while the soup is boiling. Little did I know about the white part of the lemon grass, near the roots, can be used. Usually, in the region where I grew up, we just discard them and use the green leaves instead. Here in Malaysia, they sauté it with almost everything with vegetables, rice or meat. The flavor is so mild and the aroma brings magic to anything fleshy.

Picture below is the lemon grass


Another factor that made this soup great is cooking the chicken a long time. Simmer for 2 hours. The flavors will just come out gently and cooking the chicken slowly until very tender.

Ingredients:
4 chicken drumsticks (or any bony part of chicken)
1 Onion (sliced)
1 clove Garlic (crushed)
2 sprigs of lemon grass (white part) (finely sliced)
Kangkong leaves
2 Spring onions (finely sliced)
4 String beans
1 carrot (sliced)
4 Potatoes (sliced in quarts)

Procedure:
Sautee onions, garlic and lemon grass until onion is translucent, add chicken and sauté few minutes more, add potatoes and carrots. Add enough water to cover the chicken. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer for 2 hours.

Add the remaining vegetables on the last minute just before serving to avoid over cooking. Add the beans first, then kangkong and lastly the spring onions.

Pavlova with Strawberries and cherry

Pavlova – Strawbery and cherry

I’ve been wondering what to do for dessert for a birthday dinner and I’d wanted to try something that I haven’t done before. My inspiration is from a fellow food blogger Margaret of KITCHEN DELIGHTS. Her Kiwi and Passion Fruit mini pavlovas inspired me to do this. My version is a little bit bigger than Margaret’s, as I made 1 pavlova per person.

Although I had pavlova before, made by hubby but I wasn’t so curious by then until now. I can’t find kiwi and passion fruit in the market but I got cherries and strawberries instead. It turned out great but first, it took me a little research on the dessert.

I think its worth to have a little bit of history of this dessert.

Pavlova is a popular merigue dessert in Australia and New Zealand to which both countries believed to have claimed the origin of the dish. The dish is named after Anna Pavlova, a Russian ballet dancer, who had a tour in 1926 and 1929. She was a famous ballerina of her time and her dances best described as light and airy, just like the dessert. Hence, the famous dessert “Pavlova” was named after her.

Well, after knowing such, its time to get to work! Do it!

The good thing with this dessert is you can make the base which is the meringue in advance and just add the whipped cream and the fruits just before serving.

If you have been working with meringue before, you must have been familiar with the stages of the egg white when beaten. Say “soft peak” and “Stiff” stages are very important as to when to start adding sugar and when to stop beating.

Make the meringue:
Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1 pinch cream of tartar, (alternatively salt can be used)
2 tsp. vinegar
1 ½ cup sugar
2 tsp. corn starch
1 tsp. Vanilla essence


Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. (Gas 4)
2. Cut baking paper into 5 inch squares (make 6 squares)
3. Draw a circle at bottom side of the baking paper. Use this as a guide when you put meringue in each portion. Set aside.
4. In a dry clean bowl, place the egg whites and cream of tartar.
5. Beat the egg white using electric beater until soft peak
6. gradually add sugar whilst continue beating until
7. Add vinegar and cornstarch
8. Add vanilla essence
9. continue beating until stiff. The meringue must look smooth, silky and holds a stiff peak when you lift the beater.
10. In the prepared baking paper, spoon in the meringue making a circular pattern as per the guide, working from the center, create a small well and spread the meringue to the edge of the pattern.
11. Pipe around the meringue to create a little well, where you will put the whipped cream later on.
12. Bake for 1 hour and half. Turn the oven off and leave the meringue to cool completely inside the oven. It is best to do this at night and leave the meringue in the oven overnight. The meringue should be firm and crisp.
13. Store the meringue in an airtight container until you will use them.




Assemble the Pavlova

1. Whip the cream until soft peak. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. of icing sugar, beat for few seconds more.
2. Spoon in the whipped cream on top of each of the prepared meringue
3. Place the desired fruit on top of the cream
4. Serve immediately.

Tomato Roses

Here's a garnish that amazed everyone, they thought these were candles! Actually they are tomato roses which I put in each plate with the main course. This garnish makes the plate looks so stunning. Ohh, sorry I haven't took a picture with main course as I was so busy for the preparation. I just got this picture because I prepared it ahead of time and just garnished it when everything was ready. It was a birthday dinner for 6 persons, seated with 3 courses, you can imagine how tight to prepare things on time, no time for picture taking (for foods) we just ate and drank.

The main course was grilled skinless chicken breast served in a bed of asparagus, with mashed potato with parsley.

To make tomato rose, click here to see my old post.

Mixed Fried Rice

Mixed Fried Rice

Have you had one of those days when all you need is a one pot meal? Yeah, that’s how we feel sometimes, when we don’t know what to cook and suddenly this lazy idea comes in mind. Looking at the pantry… Bling! Bling! Mixed Fried Rice! Why? Because its easy and you will never go wrong… Just throw in different veggies, canned goods or left over meat.

Ingredients:
Onion (minced)
Garlic (minced)
Cooked plain rice
1 tin can tuna chunks
1 pc. Smoked Chorizo
1 egg, fried separately
1 carrot (diced)

Procedure:
Fry egg separately, slice in thin strips and set aside. Sauté onion and garlic, add tuna, chorizo, and carrot. Stir-fry for about 3 minutes, add cooked rice, stir-fry for another minute until all the flavors are incorporated. Add the thin strips of egg, fry for another minute. Done. Serve while it is still warm.