Mothers Day Special

Mothers’ Day Special

I’ve been wanting to make these cakes long time back, but it was just a project in my mind waiting for an occasion. Mothers’ Day seems to be perfect for this project. 

Originally the project was mini cakes covered in fondant, but I personally don’t like the taste of fondant icing, however they really look neat and majestic.  I’m more considering of the consumption of the icing rather than seeing the icing on the side of the plate uneaten. That would break my heart to see that.  Of all the effort you’ve spent making the cake beautiful, they are not eaten in most cases.  This is why I prefer tasty icing on my cakes and try to make them look beautiful as I can. But for this project, I have put myself up to the test of making my own fondant flowers. This took so much of the time making individual flowers but it was worth the effort when I saw them on the cake!  I searched high and low on how-to videos how to do them, some are really great instructional videos in YouTube.  Thanks for that.  I really plan to make my own how-to videos one of these days as some of what I’m doing I’ve learned from other crafts in other medium like soap moulding and most of the time playing with play-dough with my daughter.

The idea of small baskets is inspired by the theme, mothers day.. I just think a bouquet of flowers is just wonderful for every woman, hence I made these little basket filled with fondant flowers of carnation of different shades, roses, drop flowers and calla lilly.

The cake is made of madeira cake, as it last long without the need of chilling, iced in butter cream.  The handles are in fondant.

Where do these cakes ended up? Nope I didn’t eat all of them.  I gathered some mommy friends around, had tea at home and gave each one edible bouquet of flowers in a basket.  We had one of the cakes to go with the tea, I kept the pink rose basket for my daughter and gave them the rest.  I can't be happy enough for this project.

Tiramisu

TIRAMISU

make the swiss roll and leave it in the oven
until it cools down to room temp. Do not roll it up

Tiramisu is a famous Italian dessert made of layers of coffee soaked savoiardi biscuit (popularly known as Lady Fingers)or sponge cake and eggs mixed in whipped cream with mascarpone cheese. 

Warning:  This Contains Alcohol.  Not suitable for minors! however, alcohol can be omitted if desired.

Hundreds of tiramisu recipe are around the internet to choose from, but I personally prefer the one that doesn’t contain raw eggs.  As part of the tiramisu evolution, hence this is my home made version.

Making this tiramisu is a result of a frustration from what I bought from a cake shop, which I thought tastes heavenly as it looks.  Actually I bought it for Hubby hoping it would make him feel better as he wasn’t in good shape that day, but was so disappointed with that heavenly looking tiramisu.  That challenged me to make tiramisu on the weekend. There’s nothing better than making something the way you like it.

SWISS ROLL, which is never rolled. Cut into the same
width of the pan.

line the pan with aluminum foil for easy removal of the cake

I’ve searched a lot of tiramisu recipe but most of them have raw eggs, which I wasn’t keen to eat raw eggs on the cake.  I have got a good recipe from a friend with egg too but cooked, so I was supposed to give it a go but couldn’t find mascarpone.  Anyhow, I have found an easy recipe in epicurean.com but the portion is in goblets; which is not the kind of serving I have in mind.  I like that perfectly rectangle or square slice which you can see layers of goodness in it, topped with dark cocoa powder.  That is exactly the picture of tiramisu I have in mind.  The one I was addicted to in Rennaissance Hotel – Mumbai.  They serve a real slice of heaven for me.

Most of the home made tiramisu are placed in a dish. Though it tastes good, it lacks the element of presentation when you serve a slice.  It just gets disintegrated specially for left-over.  You don’t see the beauty of it unless you have that slice on your plate which is somehow deformed by the time you like to take a bite. My point is, even if things are home-made, you can make it look as appetizing as the commercial ones. And why not? “The Eyes eat first” according to a friend.

Spoon over coffee mixture onto the cake
(this is the middle layer, the layers at the bottom
are cake,cream and cake again, cream will be the
last layer

So, it takes a little cake engineering  (winks J) to achieve that precise layers of cream,coffee,cocoa and cake, I’ve got to make my own cake that would work well with the flavors.  I think swiss roll recipe would go with it because it’s dry, spongy and tastes close to lady fingers which is the authentic ingredient for tiramisu. This time, I didn’t roll it.  I kept it flat and let it stayed a little bit longer in the oven until it cooled down to room temp.  The best thing is, it is so quick and easy to make and I am sure it is at least half the cost of that pack of lady fingers. 3 minutes of mixing and 10 minutes of baking, that’s what it takes.

Sprinkle cocoa powder on top of the cream layer

The proportion of the ingredients of this tiramisu is just by luck, I crossed my fingers at the beginning if it will work or not on actual; because it works in my imagination only.  And luckily it did, that’s why I’m itching to post this for reference before it gets off my mind.  Which is the purpose of this kitchenjournal.

Note, I added cognac because me and hubby loves it, and I didn’t had the time to look for a coffee liquor.  Therefore, this tiramisu contains alcohol.  You may skip this ingredient if you intend to serve to kids. (I just told my 3 daughter that it is spicy and its only for mommy and daddy.  She is not keen on cocoa powder, its bitter for her).

After Chilling for atleast 4 hours,Remove tiramisu
 from the pan and ready to be sliced

For sure I will be visiting this post every now and then because this will be my basic proportion as it has proven its deliciousness.  Honestly, this tiramisu vs. cheese cake is a close call to us couple. It’s tough to judge which one is faved. I voted TIRAMISU, my other-half is still undecided but indeed he admits that the two cakes are rivals as to our taste.

The recipe:
Yields two 4x4x8 loaf pans

Swiss Roll

3 eggs

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 cup plain flour

1 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Whisk the eggs until pale and soft peak forms, continue beating while adding the sugar teaspoon by teaspoon.sift together flour and baking powder and fold-in into the egg mixture using a wooden spoon.  Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and then smooth the surface, being careful not to press out any air. Bake in the center of the oven for 12-15 minutes.  To test if cooked,lightly press the center of and if it springs back, it is done.  Turn off the oven and leave it there until the oven cools down.  You must have a crispy crust and pungent spongy texture in the middle.

cover the sides of the remaining tiramisu with plastic
before storing it in the fridge. This will keep the cream
from absorbing odor and bacteria in the fridge.

400 g cream cheese

400 g. whipping cream

1 cup icing sugar (sifted)

cognac (optional)

cocoa powder

1 cup espresso coffee

Make the swiss roll, but don’t roll it up, just let it cool down in the oven until at room temperature.  Cut it according to the size of your dish or pan, in the picture, I’m using 2 loaf pans; so I cut 4 rectangles.

Whip the whipping cream until soft peak, add icing sugar slowly whilst continue beating until stiff.  Do not over-whip the cream; it will turn into lumpy butter! Place the whipped cream in the fridge while preparing the other ingredients.

Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until soft and creamy; add in cognac (optional) until well blended. Fold-in the cream cheese to the whipped cream until well combined.

To assemble:

Place a foil on the pan contouring the shape of the pan and overlay at least half of the opening of the pan. Place 1 slice of  the cake at the bottom, spoon over coffee mixture evenly on to the cake. (if the coffee is still hot, let it cool down before adding the cream). Add cream mixture and evenly push it gently with the back of a spoon to make a layer of cream. Sift cocoa on top of it. Add another layer of cake soaked in coffee, add another layer of cream and lastly dust the top with cocoa powder. Cover the cake with the foil and Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.  Keep the tiramisu chilled.

Enjoy a slice of tiramisu with a cuppa coffee.

To serve:

Trace the sides with a spatula to separate the cake from the foil. Remove the tiramisu cake by lifting the foil and transfer it on to a cake board. Gently remove the foil. Cut in slices and serve.  When the cake is not consumed in one setting, cover the sides with plastic. This will prevent the cream from absorbing the odors and bacteria from the fridge.

I think a cuppa coffee is a must.

Note, thanks to that cake shop who sells nice looking tiramisu, I made one myself the way I like it.

Chicken Pop Corn

Chicken Popcorn

The nostalgia…

This post brings me back to the years when my brother cez and I used to have KFC Chicken Popcorn in Abu Dhabi when ever we pass by KFC, we always get 1 large box of chicken popcorn and share over a chit-chat break; digging our fingers alternatively in that box that our hands barely fit in. We both just love it every now and then.  We were just one sweet couple in that place and everybody is buzzing that brother Cez got a girlfriend! We just exchange smiles to let them believe so and we laugh it out loud after..  Yeah, those were the moments.. Chicken Popcorn moments.

Chicken Cubes coated in
bread crumbs

Cooking this at home, makes me miss u much brother. Hope we get to catch up each other soon.

Chicken Popcorn was one of my favorite take-away finger foods of KFC-Abu Dhabi.  Other KFCs from other countries are not making chicken pop corn, so it has been a while for me that i didn't get to taste this crispy on the outside and soft inside, popcorn shaped chicken.

The Recipe

Chicken breast, cut into cubes

Bread crumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Oil for deep frying

Cooked chicken popcorn
drained in kitchen paper towel

There’s nothing to be precise about measurement, you just have to estimate the proportion of bread crumbs according to the amount of chicken.

Season chicken breast with salt and pepper, toss it into a bowl of bread crumbs to coat the chicken and deep-fry by batches.  Fry in low fire until golden brown. Drain in Kitchen Paper Towel so that oil will will be absorbed and keeps the chicken popcorn from getting soggy.

If I am in Phil, I'll be tempted to add into the breadcrumbs some seasoning like, crispy fry or magic sarap just because there is.  Here, I don't stock them in the pantry so I wont be tempted to use ready-made seasonings with MSG.

Doll Cakes and Butterfly Fairy Cakes

A cake marathon

 

My daughter just celebrated her 3^rd Birthday and she’s so thrilled to have doll cakes on her special day.  Since I love making doll cakes,  I intend to make her 3 on her third birthday.  I searched high and low for new designs to make.  I have seen how to make a butterfly cake from  HOWDINI. (video here) and gave it a go. 

Add caption

The first inspiration was Leila’s birthday dress, which I tried to imitate the design but couldn’t really get the right color.  Somehow, its similar to that dress.

Second inspiration was butterfly cakes, like that of Barbie Mariposa as it’s her chosen theme.  So butterfly fairies tickled me.  They turned out good and its something new for me to do as well.  The pleasure of making them was such an adventure.

In total, her birthday cakes were 2 doll cakes, 2 butterfly fairy cakes, 60 cupcakes. 1 Doll cake and 30 cupcakes for school. For home party there were 2 butterfly fairy cakes, 1 doll cake and 30 cupcakes. 

1 dollcake for the school and 30 cupcakes

All were made in two days despite the normal day-to-day activities. I can tell that I have improved my speed!  Sigh!

It was fun to do especially the cupcakes with different flowery designs.  The most detailed one is the embroidery on the doll cake for school.

Cupcakes for take-away.  Guest choose any of the designs
and packed in a plastic box at the lower left photo

The chocolate cake is just perfect for a doll cake as it is stable and firm. I’d like to thank my friends, Gwen & JC and Fritzielou for their generosity in sharing my new favorite chocolate cake.  I just love the moisture at the center and soft texture.

Here is the original recipe, but I prefer to reduce the sugar because I like it slightly bitter than sweet. Instead of 4 cups, I put 3 and it was fine for me.

Cookie Monster

3 1/2 c. flour

4 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. cocoa

3 tsp. baking soda

3 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. salt

4 eggs

2 c. milk

1 c. oil

4 tsp. vanilla

2 c. boiled water

1. Pre-heat oven 350 F
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl
3. add remaining ingredients except boiling water, beat at med speed for 2 min.
4. remove from mixer and stir in boiling water
5. pour in baking pan
6. bake at 350 F for 30-35 min.  For cupcakes, 15 minutes per tray, at the middle shelf.

Birthday Girl Doll Cake - A cake the resembles the celebrant's birthday dress.

I used the same recipe for the cupcakes as well. I personally love its texture. I love it with coffee.

For Buttercream, It is based on the recipe of SERIOUSCAKES but I don't like the taste of the shortening that I could find it here in KL. It has a weird odor and aftertaste, so i used buttercup luxury spread and butter.  It turned out good and the crusting as well works great in this proportion. I'm more concerned on the taste and texture.  I use usually use salted butter to cut the sweetness.

Buttercream: 

1 Cup Buttercup Luxury spread

1/2 Cup Salted Butter

4 cups icing sugar

4 Tablespoons corn syrup 


Beat the buttercup luxury spread, add butter and beat 1 minute more, slowly add the icing sugar whilst continue beating. Add the corn syrup. Note that Butter and Luxury spread should be at room temperature before starting. Should be soft but not melted.

Butterfly Fairy Cake

Butterfly Fairy Cake

Triple Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake

Hubby and I love cheesecakes, seriously, who doesn’t? We are not having it very often considering our love handles are getting impossible to hide.  Yes, I’m talking about that flabs on the waistline.  This time, I’m blaming it on the magazine that he brought with an irresistible picture and a complicated recipe that is getting myself up to a challenge.  I love to challenge myself in my laboratory-that is my kitchen, using new ingredients that I haven’t used before and imagining its chemical reaction whether it will work or not… that gets my heart beats faster. Perhaps another way of working on my cardio instead of going to the gym. Grin :-),

Anyway, this recipe is taken from “Australian Gourmet Traveller” The latest edition of “Annual Cookbook, Our Favorite Recipes”.  I find the recipe complicated so I made it easier with some modifications and I was happy with the result. That prompted me to blog it otherwise, I’ll completely forget it after few months.

The original recipe is made with chocolate sable pastry as the base and served with hazelnuts in caramel, which I opted to skip.  For the base, I replaced it with Oreo biscuits because I was quite sure it will work, minimizing the time to do the pastry myself. Yes, I love shortcuts when it’s possible.

This is really easy to make, easier than the cheesecakes I’ve made before.  All I did was to bake the base and the rest of the mixture just sets in the fridge. The base, however, I realized there is no need to bake. I realized it too late.

A note to remember when making cheesecake: always start with ingredients at room temperature i.e. cheese, eggs, etc.

Here it goes…

Ingredients:

For the base:

Chocolate Oreo biscuits (without filling)

50 g. butter

For white chocolate ricotta filling:

250 g. white chocolate, finely chopped

500 g. spreadable ricotta cheese

For Dark Chocolate ricotta filling:

250 g. dark chocolate (at least 65% cocoa), finely chopped

500 g. ricotta

20 g. icing sugar

Top layer:

250 g. dark chocolate (at least 65% cocoa) finely chopped

150 pouring cream

2 egg yolks

30ml water

cocoa for dusting

note: original recipe requires 600 g. firm ricotta in each kind of filling, but I only found spreadable ricotta and in 250g/pack so I settled at 500g. each filling, it worked though.

Procedure:

1.     Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease 9 inch spring form pan.

2.     Make the base. Blitz the Oreo biscuits in a food processor until it becomes fine crumbs. Melt the butter and mix with the crumbs.  Press it onto the prepared pan and bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool at room temperature.

3.     Make the white chocolate ricotta filling: melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water 2-3 minutes until completely melted. Process ricotta cheese in the food processor until smooth, add chocolate, process to combine. Spoon over the prepared base. Refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes)

4.     Make the dark chocolate ricotta filling: Melt the dark chocolate on a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water 2-3 minutes until completely melted. Process ricotta cheese and icing sugar in the food processor until smooth.  Add melted dark chocolate and process further to combine. Spoon over the white chocolate ricotta filling. Chill in the fridge to firm (about 30 minutes)

5.     Make the topping: Combine dark chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stir occasionally until smooth (2-3 minutes).  Whisk yolks and 30 ml water in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes), fold in chocolate mixture and beat with an electric beater until thick and cooled to room temperature (6-8 minutes).  Spoon over the dark chocolate ricotta filling and refrigerate until set (2-3 hours). 

6.     Now take the challenge to remove it from pan.  Trace the sides and loosen the pan.  If you are not using a spring form pan, trace the sides and soak the bottom of the pan quickly hot water just to loosen the bottom, cover the cake with plastic and put a plate on top. Flip it quickly onto the plate (this time it’s the bottom up) use another plate and flip it again to have to right side up.  Remove the plastic. (The plastic is just to prevent the top later from sticking onto the plate when flipping over). Using a sift, dust cocoa over the cake.  Serve chilled.

I think it should this cake should be done the day before you need it or at least the night before so it stays in the fridge overnight.

I highly recommend it with coffee.  Just a small slice goes a long way.

Persian Vanilla Cupcake

Prep: 12 minutes cooking 20 mins

3 eggs

1 Cup butter, softened

1 Cup superfine sugar

½ Cup milk

1 ½ Cups Plain Flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees F or 160 degrees C.  Line a 12 cupcake tray with cupcake papers.

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, beat until light and fluffy.

Add milk, flour and baking powder. Add vanilla and stir to combine.  Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes until light and creamy.

Pour mixture into prepared cupcake papers until 2/3 full.  Bake 18-20 minutes until risen and firm to touch.  Allow to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.  Allow to cool fully before Icing.

Buttercream topping:

½ cup butter

½ cup shortening

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 cups icing sugar

3 Tablespoons milk

Beat butter and shortening together until light and fluffy.

Slowly add milk in a steady stream

Add vanilla

Stir in icing sugar, beat until well combined

Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes.

To get the consistency you like, you may add more milk (for thinner) and icing sugar (for thicker).

Tint butter cream with food coloring you like.


source: " cupcakes for all occasions "

Cupcakes with Butter Cream Flowers

 This is a new adventure for buttercream icing.  I never realized that butter cream is so much fun until I saw pictures and videos of cakes made by the lady in "Seriouscakes".  She is such a talent.  If you  like this post, you may like check the link to all videos of seriouscakes and the stuffs she is doing. 

Now for the cupcakes, I chose to make vanilla flavor and I copied the proportion of the ingredients from "cupcake collection" but i rephrase the method because this method works well for me rather than putting all the ingredients in the bowl altogether and mix. 

 Persian Vanilla Cupcakes

Prep: 12 minutes cooking 20 mins

3 eggs

1 Cup butter, softened

1 Cup superfine sugar

These cupcakes I've made for Janet

½ Cup milk

1 ½ Cups Plain Flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees F or 160 degrees C.  Line a 12 cupcake tray with cupcake papers.

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, beat until light and fluffy.

Add milk, flour and baking powder. Add vanilla and stir to combine.  Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes until light and creamy.

Pour mixture into prepared cupcake papers until 2/3 full.  Bake 18-20 minutes until risen and firm to touch.  Allow to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.  Allow to cool fully before Icing.

Buttercream topping:

½ cup butter

½ cup shortening

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 cups icing sugar

3 Tablespoons milk

Beat butter and shortening together until light and fluffy.

Slowly add milk in a steady stream

Add vanilla

Stir in icing sugar, beat until well combined

Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes.

To get the consistency you like, you may add more milk (for thinner) and icing sugar (for thicker).

Tint butter cream with food coloring you like.

Spaghetti With Mussels and Basil Pesto

Spaghetti with mussels and basil pesto.
The half shelled mussels were grilled with garlic butter

Spaghetti with Mussels and Basil Pesto

While the mussels are grilling in the oven as the appetizer, the main course is on the way as well.

Ingredients:

Fresh basil leaves (a good harvest from our tiny garden)
Olive oil

Spaghetti (good for 3 persons)
2 Tablespoons Vegetable oil
1 pc. Onion, finely chopped
3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 pack mussel meat (about 500 g)
salt to taste
cheese

Cook spaghetti until al dente. Meanwhile, blitz basil leaves in a food processor, add olive oil and blitz further until combined. Season with salt and set aside.

Sauté onion and garlic, add mussels’ meat, stir occasionally until mussels are done. Add the prepared basil pesto.

Drain the pasta and add directly to the mussel mixture. Stir to combine. Sprinkle parmesan cheese. Serve hot.

Grilled mussels with garlic butter

Grilled Mussels with Garlic Butter

Craving for seafoods? That’s how I felt when I saw an array of frozen mussels in different packages.  One pack of large half-shelled mussels sparked an imagination of barbequing it. I didn’t hesitate to grab one and another pack just the meat if incase I want to compare the intensity of flavors preserved.  Just like I thought, the pack with shells on still got the fresh aroma from the sea. An instant thought was garlic butter on it and grill. But that’s just good as an appetizer since they weren’t enough.  To compliment with it, I made spaghetti with mussels and basil pesto. Hubby had a good harvest of fresh basil from our tiny garden. 

Grilled mussels with garlic butter

1 pack of frozen mussels

garlic butter

Ingredients: Garlic butter and a pack of half-shelled mussels

Add a pinch of garlic and butter paste into each mussel, place it on a baking tray and grill for about 20 minutes until the sides of the mussels turn brown.

Note: I used a ready made garlic butter because I just had it in the fridge for a while.  Otherwise, you may make your own garlic butter simply by crushing 2 cloves of garlic until paste consistency with a mortar and pestle. Add to 50g of butter, season with salt to taste.

 Did you know:

 Did you know that mussels is high in iron and protein but low in fat? and it contains Omega 3?

That's what the packet says...  Hmmm, should I call my sister who is a nutritionist to verify or should I wait for her to comment? :-)

Birthday Cake : Ben10 and Princess Doll cake

Schenker's and Samantha's Birthday


I haven’t made cakes lately until last week, I got a message from a friend Janet in Kuala Lumpur asking if I’m around to make the birthday cake for her son and daughter to be held in one occasion and she would like to have cupcakes as well. It was a huge celebration as they are celebrating with it their wedding anniversary as well as their parent’s. So there were 2 wedding anniversaries, 2 birthdays and other guests’ birthday. Her son likes Ben10 and her daughter likes Princess. Instead of making 2 cakes she planned to have combined motifs in one cake. This is how it turned out:

The base cake is Madeira Cake, which recipe I got from one of my books. I chose Madeira cake so that it has a solid base for the princess which would be towering above it. The princess cake itself is a plain madeira cake while the base is chocolate marbled madeira cake.


Madeira cake

Good for 12 inch round or 11inch square

Ingredients:

6 cups flour
4tsp. b.powder
2 1/4 Cups Margarine or butter
2 1/2 Cups sugar
10 eggs
4 T. lemon juice



Sift together the flour and baking powder.

Cream margarine/butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time.

Add flour mixture.

add lemon juice.

Beat until mixture is smooth and glossy.

Baking time, approx 2hours 15mins.




This cake is iced in fondant. I will have to make a separate post for fondant recipe that I used and how to dress up the doll. By the way, the doll is not edible. The cake part starts from the waist down.

IMBUTIDO

Imbutido is a Filipino meatloaf made of minced meats,vegies and spices. It is one of the mostly loved occasional recipes at all times.

Imbutido can be prepared ahead of time that's why I love making them because I can make it in advance. It is a big job of chopping the ingredients finely but with a food processor, it does the job well in no time therefore saving a lot of my energy. I prefer to buy lean meat and grind it with the food processor together with onion and garlic. It makes the meat well flavored before I add in other ingredients. Another advantage is you choose the meat that goes into it, rather than buying minced meat that has plenty of fat in it.

For shaping the imbutido into a log shape, you will need aluminum foil (10" x 12" per log) and sushi mat for easy rolling up.

This mixture yields 12 logs about 2.5 diameter each.

Ingredients:
3 pcs. Onions
1 whole head of garlic
½ kg. minced beef
1 kg minced pork
6 pcs. Chorizo (bilbao)
1 jar (180 g) pickles (baby gerkins)
¼ kg carrots
¼ kg green and red bell pepper
5 pcs eggs
¼ kg flour
100 g. raisins
Salt and pepper

For filling: boiled sausage or hard boiled egg (sliced into quarters)

Procedure:

Finely chop onion, garlic, chorizo, pickles, carrots, red and green peppers. In a large mixing bowl, mix the finely chopped ingredients with the minced beef and pork until well combined. Add eggs and mix well, add flour and mix further until well combined. Season with salt and pepper, add raisins and mix well.

On a flat working surface, place a sushi mat and lay aluminum foil flat on the mat. Place a portion of meat mixture about 3 inches wide leaving at least 2 inches at the end of the length of the foil for sealing the ends. Place the filling either sausage or hot dog at the center of the mixture along with its length. Roll up the sushi mat making the mixture round making sure that the foil is tight as you roll. Start sealing the ends after the first roll and continue rolling up until the end of the foil. Seal the ends by pressing and twisting the ends of the foil taking care not to make it overly tight so that foil will not break up.

Set up the steamer and steam the wrapped imbutido for 45 minutes.


To serve: slice imbutido into rings. Remove the aluminum foil and serve. It can be served warm or chilled in cold cuts.


Storing: Imbutido can be stored in the fridge for 1 week.

ICE CREAM SANDWICH

This is honestly yet another experiment. It worked but it could be improved. One good thing of homemade food is you can customize it according to your liking. For this, I opted to use low fat milk instead of full cream milk for a healthier choice.
An inspiration of this is an ice cream in a box that I had in India way back when we resided there, and it was really easy serving it in slices than scoops. That made me think one day, I will make an ice cream sandwich of my own.
I had made ice creams before in different flavors and I’m trying something different with a different way of serving it. The ice cream is served in slices like sliced bread instead of usual way of serving it by scoops. This way, it is easier to serve and you don’t have to wait for the ice cream to melt a little bit in order to scoop. So the idea is to make an ice cream in a loaf bread shape.
For this recipe, I made a separate thin layer of angel cake for the base and the top of the ice cream. I will not post the procedure of the cake here since the post is an ice cream, I may post the cake recipe some other time.
For this recipe, I did not use an ice cream maker and it turns just fine.
The verdict: It was just average, but will soon make it again improving on the flavors, H suggested adding berries in it, and if I could find real vanilla pods out of luck would be a plus! And oh, I should put more chocolate next time.

Procedure:
1. Make the ice cream. Basic Ice Cream recipe is posted in my older post. You may access it HERE. I can’t find real vanilla pods here, so I used only vanilla essence which is incomparable to the real vanilla pod. You may substitute the flavoring with any other flavor you like.

2. Assemble the sandwich:

Using a rectangular shaped container, place a cling film and press it with your fingers covering the whole area of the container and overlay extra at the sides for the top.

Place the thin layer of cake which is cut into the same size of the base of the container.

Add ice cream mixture and spread it on top of the cake.

Add another thin layer of cake on top of the ice cream mixture.

Add melted chocolates on top of the ice cream mixture. Add the remaining ice cream mixture.

With the remaining cling film that was overlaid on the sides, fold it inside ways to close the mixture in and close with the lid of the container.
Freeze for 4 hours.


Serve in slices by cutting a knife just like slicing a loaf of bread.

BONELESS BANGUS (MILKFISH) COOKED OVER A BED OF SALT

This is one unforgettable dish for me which was taught by my late brother Roy, who passed away last year. He taught me the quickest, easiest, oil free of preparing bangus (milkfish) by cooking it over a bed of salt.

Bangus is the national fish of Philippines, known for its hundreds of tiny bones. I like the fish but I hate the bones but I'm not helpless at that because there is boneless bangus available. It is done by deboning the fish manually, I have seen it being done and it looked easy, but I wouldn't dare to do it myself not unless I want to test my patience.

If I am in Phil, I could easily get deboned milkfish from the super market or in the wet market, would just pay additional P10 for deboning which they do expertly for you. In KL, I saw milkfish in supermarkets but they don't sell deboned or they won't debone it for me either, so I didn't bother to buy until my friend Tess, offered me her boneless bangus. I didn't hesitate to get a couple of packs for the weekend's lunch. The first thing that came to my mind is to prepare it like my brother had taught me. It's healthier and quicker to prepare. Another alternative way of cooking without frying.



Here's how:

Prepare the fish by marinating it with soy sauce, calamansi and crushed garlic.

In a pan over high heat, spread a lot of rock salt enough to cover the base of the pan. The salt adds heat, while preventing the fish from sticking into the pan. The fish is literally cooked by its own steam from its moisture. You can tell when its done when the fish has turned completely pale and the skin is slightly burnt.



Place the fish skin side down over a bed of salt. Cover the pan and cook on high heat for about 10-15 minutes without opening. You will hear some popping sound, but that's the way it should be.

Serve it with rice and soy sauce with calamansi or lime.

The skin should look like slightly burned like the picture below.