We had a surplus of fruits in the house and I didn’t think that I could eat everything within two days. I initially wanted to make a rerun of the plum cake since my first effort crashed and burned so spectacularly. But we didn’t just have plums, we also had gobs of blueberries.

So what can I make that would accommodate a variety of fruits? Hmmm… cobbler?

What’s ironic is that I’ve never eaten cobbler before so I cannot compare my end product to others. I have to rely solely on taste and the opinions of those who eat it. I’ve also heard of peach blueberry cobbler but I don’t remember seeing a recipe with plums in it. But since this blog is all about experimentation, then why not try?

I did the cardinal sin of tweaking a recipe of a dish that I’ve never made before, which is why I was quite anxious while it was in the oven. What if it turns out badly? Then I would have wasted a boatload of fruits. This is the last thing I want to do since my mom made sure that we would be forever cautious of wasting food considering all the starving children in third world countries.

Luckily, it seems to have turned out well. Just according to my taste, I think I’ve done a pretty good job for a maiden effort. Can it be improved? Probably. I want to make it healthier and experiment with wheat flour, maybe use other fruits. But for now, I’m quite pleased with the results.

Happy Valentines Day, everyone!

Peach, Plum and Blueberry Cobbler
Based on Smitten Kitchen’s recipe

Serves an army (Ok, fine, maybe 10-12)

For the fruit
2 cups (4 medium) peaches, pitted and sliced (or one 15 oz can sliced peaches, drained)
2 cups blueberries, rinsed and dried
2 – 2 1/2 cups (10 small) plums, pitted and sliced
1 1/3 cups packed dark-brown sugar
4 heaped tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the biscuit topping
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
6 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (one stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into little pieces
3/4 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss fruits, sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon and salt together and spread evenly on the bottom of one 11 x 14 or two 8 x 8 ovenproof pans.

Make the biscuit dough: Stir together the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Work the butter into the dry mixture with your fingertips, a fork or a pastry blender. Stir in milk with a spatula until a wet, tacky dough comes together. If the dough is too wet, add a handful of oats.

Plop large spoonfuls of the biscuit dough over the filling; don’t worry about covering entire surface. Bake until the cobbler’s syrup is bubbly and the biscuit tops are browned, about 30-35 minutes. Let cool slightly and scoop it into bowls. Top with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or plain yogurt. Or just eat it as is.

Note: This recipe can be halved if you need a smaller amount. Just shorten the baking time to 20 minutes.

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When I bought a pack of chicken nuggets in Shoprite, Chris nearly had a seizure because I was buying *gasp* junk food. I tartly told him that I do eat processed food every once in a while and I have nothing against decent breaded chicken nuggets. But this doesn’t mean that I won’t make a homemade version.

I was still despondent over my failed attempt to make lumpia for the first time so I drowned my sorrows over a plate of these crispy, delectable, spicy cutlets. Chris became instantly addicted and bragged about it to our friends. He even suggested making a batch to bring to our upcoming Atlantic City trip with the AC gang.

I do have a secret to tell you. I was actually trying to cook Korean fried chicken but things didn’t work out the way I thought they would. I ended up with this dish, which I think is quite good considering how easy and simple it is.

I served this with a side of buttered asparagus. Enjoy.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Nuggets

Serves 3

Nuggets:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 2-inch strips
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup corn starch
1 egg
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup cooking oil

Sauce:
2/3 cup sweet chili sauce (like this store-bought one I used)
1 heaped tablespoon tomato ketchup
1 teaspoon garlic chili (see recipe here)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

In a bowl, toss chicken cutlets, sea salt, garlic and onion together. Cover and leave for at least 30 minutes.

Mix corn starch, egg, and black pepper in a small bowl. Add water slowly until the corn starch mixture is dissolved. Add a little more if mixture is too thick.

Dip chicken cutlets into corn starch batter and fry in oil over medium heat, turning once until both sides are golden brown. Let rest on paper napkins to absorb excess oil.

Blend all the sauce ingredients and pour over chicken. Serve hot.

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I was debating whether I should post this as a recipe since it’s really very simple. But since I use this condiment in many dishes, especially the Asian ones, I think it deserves its own post.

I don’t use particular measurements and just add as I go so the measurements listed below are merely guides for you to customize as you wish. Mom prefers an oilier mixture with the garlic crushed to near-liquid texture. Dad likes it a bit drier and crunchier. I like it in-between and use copious amounts of pepper to make it extra spicy. Fresh red chili peppers are better but if you don’t have the patience to mince teeny-tiny pieces of peppers after you just dealt with a pound of garlic, then dried crushed red peppers like this will do.

Warning: It’s extremely tasty and magically transforms any dish. But it’s very VERY hot so use sparingly.

Garlic Chili

1 packet (1.5 – 2 oz) dried crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound of garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Saute the garlic for a minute in the EVOO. Add the red pepper. Fry over medium heat until the garlic is lightly browned.  If desired, add more of any of the ingredients according to taste.

Let cool and store in an airtight container.

I’m not sure how long this will last but my family makes enough and it lasts around a month in room temperature. We eat so much of it that we usually finish it off in just a few weeks. If you feel anxious about keeping it on the table, store it in the fridge when not in use.

[print recipe]

Who can resist a warm, fruity snack in the middle of winter? No one. Besides, I need to do something with the blueberries sitting in the fridge since I’ve been dreaming about them for the past two nights.

I didn’t want to bake a huge cake since my husband isn’t really an eater. (Tip for brides-to-be: grill your fiances about their eating habits because there is nothing more horrible than having a husband who eats less than you do.)

I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen and tweaked a few things like adding a bit more zest and loads and loads of butter. This cake is so buttery that it’s useless to stress about calories. Just remember that everything is good in moderation and that we all need to spoil ourselves once in a while.

It’s also very easy to make and doesn’t take long to prep and bake. I usually like this with my afternoon coffee or tea but it’s also good for breakfast if you want to deviate from your usual muffin or pancakes. Hey, they do say that it’s healthier to eat most of your carbs in the morning for an early pop of energy plus you’ll have the whole day to burn it.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Butter Cake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (100 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (146 grams) sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 large (57 grams) egg
1/4 cup (60 ml) blueberry yogurt
1/4 cup (60 ml) whole milk
1 cup (5 ounces or 140 grams) fresh blueberries

Topping:
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla and zest. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, gradually mix in flour mixture until just combined. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter blueberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and cinnamon powder.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

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I will never forget Tita Edith’s potato soup. She brought some at work last year and I loved it so much that I ate a lot of it. I wanted to replicate the recipe but failed miserably the first time I tried. When C got sick, I thought it was about time to try making this comfort dish again.

One essential tool needed is an immersion blender to get that smooth perfect texture. But if you want a chunkier version of the soup, you can just use a regular masher.

This recipe is very versatile. You can add any vegetables you like. Most use celery but since C hates it, I chose broccoli and carrots. Any type of precooked meat (ham, cold cuts, etc.) can also be used.

The soup can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated. For some reason, it tasted even better the day after.

Potato Anything Soup

4 cups of chicken stock (or 4 cups of water with 2 chicken bouillon cubes)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
Any vegetable(s) of your choice, chopped finely (approx. 2/3 – 1 cup) – I used 1 slim carrot and a small head of broccoli
2/3 cup diced cooked ham (or any precooked meat of your choice)
6 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 can (12 oz/354 mL) evaporated milk
1 teaspoon dried parsley
salt
ground pepper

Heat chicken stock. When boiled, lower heat and add the potatoes. Cover and simmer until potato pieces are soft and crumbly (around 20 minutes).  While waiting for the potato to cook, prep the other vegetables.

Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until completely smooth. Drop the onion, carrots and broccoli and simmer for another 15 minutes.

In a separate pan, heat the milk and butter. Right before it boils, turn the heat off. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the flour. I found that even if I use a whisk there would still be little bits of flour so I used the immersion blender again for that flawless texture.

Pour the milk mixture into the soup and stir until soup thickens. If soup is too thick, add a little water. Season with parsley, salt and pepper before serving.

[print recipe]

Last night, C suggested seafood. “Let’s do something with the cod.” I’ve eaten cod a few times but I’ve never tried cooking it. I tried looking for an appropriate recipe in The Filipino Cookbook and I found one in minutes.

Technically, a whole lapu-lapu — red grouper fish — should be used for authentic escabeche. But according to Ms. Garcia, alternatives like red snapper, cod, carp and bass could be used. Talking about the dish eventually led to this discussion:

Me: Lapu-lapu is also the name of one of our heros. He killed Magellan.
C: Ferdinand Magellan? Do you know how famous that guy is?!
Me: Um… yeah. (doh!) Everybody does.
C: I didn’t know he died in the Philippines.
Me: He did. They refused to bow to Spain and pay tribute so LL killed Magellan with a bolo and pestle.

Chris thinks it happened a lot like this: (see 1:40 onwards)

I could just imagine Magellan arriving all cocky and rudely interrupting Lapu-lapu who’s making dinner. Next thing you know someone yells “Pay tribute to WHO!? F*** YOU!” just before Ferdie gets brained with a pestle. Hero or not, I bet Lapu-lapu’s wife made him buy a new one.

Of course, that’s what not really happened but I like my version more than the official one.

Back to food. It’s the first time for me to make sweet and sour fish so I was worried that it would fail big time. Making Chris eat Filipino food is an experience. He’s still traumatized about that time when I made him eat dinuguan (pork blood stew) and now he thinks I’m going to feed him random innards when I say “Pinoy food.”

Cod is a very light, creamy fish that easily absorbs flavor. But it could just as easily fall apart if overcooked. Luckily, my escabeche was not bad at all.

Note: Red text means I changed or used a substitute for an ingredient.

Escabeche
Sweet and Sour Fish

from The Filipino Cookbook by Miki Garcia / p. 75

4 tablespoons freshly-squeezed calamansi or lime juice - I used juice from half a lemon

1 tablespoon salt
2 pounds (1 kg) whole fish, scaled, gutted and cleaned OR 1 1/2 lbs (750 g) fish steaks or fillets (grouper, red snapper, carp, cod or bass) – I used 1 lb cod fillets
2 tablespoons oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed with the side of a knife
1 onion, sliced
2-inch piece fresh ginger, finely sliced - skipped this since I used the last of our stock for salabat hehe
1 bell pepper, deseeded and finely sliced
1 carrot, peeled and finely sliced
3 tablespoons Filipino cane vinegar (suka) - Due to the unavailability of Datu Puti suka, I used 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
4 tablespoons of water - Used approx. 1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon banana ketchup - No Jufran here so I used tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

Combine the lime juice and salt in a small bowl and stir until the salt is dissolved. Place the fish in a large casserole dish and pour the salted lime juice over the fish. Let stand for 30 minutes.

Heat a skillet over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil and fry the fish for 10 minutes on each side or until cooked. (It only took 3-4 minutes each side for the cod fillets.) The fish should be flaky when done. Transfer to a serving platter and set aside.

Heat a skillet over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil and saute the garlic until lightly browned. Add the onion and saute until translucent. Add the ginger, bell pepper, and carrot and saute for 3 minutes. Stir in vinegar, water, soy sauce, sugar and banana ketchup. Bring to a boil, stir in the cornstarch mixture and simmer over medium-low heat until it thickens. Pour the sauce over the fish. Serve with steamed rice.

Miki’s original recipe could serve 4 but my revised one serves 2-3.

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I was pleasantly surprised that making risotto was pretty easy. The ingredients were not complicated and I already had most of them in the fridge.

Jamie Oliver has a basic risotto recipe, risotto bianco, which is his base for all types of risotto in his book. I can’t go on and on since this dish speaks for itself. And all I can say is C and I enjoyed every bite.

risotto bianco
white risotto

from Jamie’s Italy, page 130 / Jamie’s website
serves 6

approx 1.1 litres/2 pints stock (chicken, fish or vegetable as appropriate)
1 dollop of butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
½ a head of celery, finely chopped
400g/14oz/2 cups risotto rice
2 wine glasses of dry white vermouth (dry Martini or Noilly Prat) or dry white wine
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
70g/2.5oz/5tbsp butter
115 g/4 oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese

stage 1

Heat the stock. In a separate pan, heat the olive oil and butter, add the onions, garlic and celery, and fry very slowly for about 15 minutes without colouring. When the vegetables have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat.

stage 2

The rice will now begin to lightly fry, so keep stirring it. After a minute it will look slightly translucent. Add the vermouth or wine and keep stirring — it will smell fantastic. Any harsh alcohol flavors will evaporate and leave the rice with a tasty essence.

stage 3

Once the vermouth or wine has cooked into the rice, add your first ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to a simmer so the rice doesn’t cook too quickly on the outside. Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring and almost massaging the creamy starch out of the rice, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 15 minutes. Taste the rice — is it cooked? Carry on adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite. Don’t forget to check the seasoning carefully. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add some boiling water.

stage 4

Remove from the heat and add the butter and Parmesan. Stir well. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes. This is the most important part of making the perfect risotto, as this is when it becomes outrageously creamy and oozy like it should be. Eat it as soon as possible, while the risotto retains its beautiful texture.

[print recipe]

***

risotto con cipolle bianche dolci, cotechino, e timo
risotto of sweet onions, cotechino sausage, and thyme 

from Jamie’s Italy, page 148 / Jamie’s website
serves 6

500g/1lb cotechino sausage
3 white onions
1 risotto bianco (see above recipe)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a small handful of fresh thyme, leaves picked
Parmesan cheese, for grating

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. Place the cotechino on a small roasting tray with the unpeeled onions and pop into the preheated oven. Bake for about an hour until the onions are soft and sweet and the sausage is cooked. Remove everything from the oven and turn it down to 150ºC/300ºF/gas 2.

Start the risotto as usual and continue through the recipe, adding the stock little by little. While doing this, you’ll have plenty of time to peel the cooled onions. Cut one of them into quarters, put them in a dish and keep them warm in the oven. Finely chop the other 2 onions, peel the thick fatty skin off the sausage and discard it. Crumble up the sausage meat inside. When the rice is three-quarters cooked, at Stage 3, stir in the chopped baked onions and the crumbled sausage, and continue cooking the risotto until the rice is perfectly cooked.

At Stage 4, when you add the butter and Parmesan, taste, season carefully to perfection, and fold in the chopped thyme leaves. Divide between your plates, break up one of the onion quarters over each, and serve sprinkled with grated Parmesan.

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I was craving for French toast for days. And I had to do something with the two packs of fresh strawberries C and I bought a few days ago. And I figured he could use a little cheering up.

I made the honey-wheat bread myself using Danielle’s recipe. I haven’t perfected it yet so that will be a whole post of its own sometime in the near future when I feel more confident and have photographic evidence. I’m sure most of us already have our own recipes for French toast but I added mine here for those who do not.

This is quite heavy so we had this for brunch and skipped lunch altogether. Have fun with your own stay-at-home date!

Here’s my husband’s deconstructed toast:

Stacked Strawberry French Toast

French Toast:
1 tablespoon butter
4 slices of your favorite bread
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon sugar

Beat the milk, egg and sugar in a shallow bowl. Melt the butter and coat the surface of a wide frying pan over medium heat. Quickly dip each slice of the bread in the egg mixture on both sides and place them on the pan. Fry for 30-60 seconds on each side or until it turns a light golden brown.

Stacks:
12 strawberries, cut in half
Cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)
Chocolate or hazelnut spread like Nutella
Whipped cream
Chocolate syrup

Spread cream cheese over a slice of french toast. Generously spread chocolate or hazelnut cream over another slice. Top the cream cheese slice with 6 pieces of strawberries (3 fruits). Place the other slice (hazelnut/chocolate side down) over it. Cover the with 6 more strawberry halves. Top with whipped cream and drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Assemble the other exactly the same way with the remaining ingredients.

Serves two. ♥

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It’s always handy to have a go-to recipe for banana muffins since we always seem to have a few bananas that everyone forgets to eat and are in danger of becoming overripe. In my case, it’s this one.

I thought it was about time to try a new recipe. I found one from All Recipes that had an unusual ingredient: mayonnaise. I’m used to seeing yogurt or even sour cream in the list for banana muffin recipes but never mayonnaise. Plus this recipe had no eggs or butter so I was intrigued. Besides, I ran out of yogurt. Heh.

I was feeling experimental so I thought it would be funny to combine a couple of koffee kake Tastykakes with the extra dough. For those who are not familiar with the brand, Tastykakes are various baked goods produced in Pennsylvania and are primarily found in the East Coast of the US. I very rarely eat store-bought baked goods but these cupcakes are dangerously addictive. My favorites are the cream-filled chocolate and buttercream cupcakes. I love them so much that I could eat 6 in one sitting! I’m in the process of trying to avoid them since they go straight to my thighs. *sigh*

Chris thinks that I wasted two perfectly good Tastykakes. But I thought it came out lovely. Hmph.

Banana Muffins Part Deux
from All Recipes (scholzy)

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup white sugar
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional, I didn’t use any)
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

Stir the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar together in a bowl. Add the bananas, mayonnaise, and chocolate chips; stir until well combined. Pour into prepared muffin cups to about 3/4 full. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes.

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I think it’s disgraceful that the small pack of Chinese noodles (or what my mother would call pancit canton) cost me $3.50 in Shop Rite. That’s more than three to four times the cost of perfectly good noodles in the Philippines. *grumbles*

The local grocery also had a very limited supply of Asian food stuff. The only Pinoy thing there was adobo seasoning. I mean, who the hell uses powder seasoning for adobo when one could make a perfectly wonderful dish with perfectly ordinary ingredients. Maybe I can ask Danielle if there is a nearby Asian store that at least has bagoong or alamang to keep me satisfied for the next few years.

I was craving for noodles so I naturally visited my Asian food guru, Jaden from Steamy Kitchen. I didn’t have lots of the fancy stuff needed for the recipe so I had to improvise and make something that is edible. If I need to convert my husband to becoming an Asian food-lover then I need ammunition.

Thankfully, there were no leftovers. Yay!

Pork and Broccoli Stir Fry Noodles
Adapted from Steamy Kitchen

4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons rice wine
2 tablespoons sugar
350 g (.75 lb) pork sirloin, thinly sliced into strips
8 oz (1 pack) dried noodles
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 large garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
1.25 cups chicken stock
250 g (.5 lb) broccoli, cut into bite-size chunks or florets
85 g (3 oz) king oyster mushrooms (around 3 or 4), sliced
Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons each soy sauce and rice wine. Add the sugar and continue to whisk until completely dissolved. Add the pork and mix well. Marinate for 30 minutes. Drain and discard the excess marinade.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the noodles until 1 minute shy of done and drain. (We’ll finish cooking the noodles at the end.)

Heat 1 tablespoon of the canola oil in a skillet or wok over high heat and stir-fry the garlic until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the beef and stir-fry until tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and when hot, add the broccoli and mushrooms, stir frying so that the oil coats the broccoli. Pour in the 1/4 cup of the stock, turn the heat to medium-low and cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the broccoli and mushroom to the same plate as the pork.

Add the remaining cup of stock and the remaining 2 tablespoons each of soy sauce and rice wine to the same skillet and bring to a boil over high heat.

Add the noodles and cook until the liquid has almost completely evaporated, leaving the noodles lightly moistened, 2 to 3 minutes. Return the pork, broccoli and mushrooms to the skillet and toss to mix the ingredients thoroughly. Season with pepper to taste and serve.

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