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Baked Lechon

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When C got his job offer to Qatar one of the question was is pork sold there? Nope it’s not. And when we all move to Dubai that question pop up once again. Yes it is available in selected stores here. 






I think one food/dish that’s included on the list of things we miss back home is Lechon (Suckling Pig). Did you know that the Philippines is #1 on Anthony Bourdain’s Hierarchy of Pork List? Imagine our hunger after watching the shows feature of our home country at 11pm. That led me to prepare our very own version of lechon away from home.


Pork belly is boiled with different spices and then baked for 3 hours to achieve that crunch that sends us back home. Little V easily proclaims this crunchy as his favorite! I can put him on the table with a cup of steamed rice, Mang Tomas Lechon sauce and the crunchy pork skin happily praising me “this is yummy mommy. V’s favorite.”

To prepare bake lechon: boil pork belly with 2 laurel leaves, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 tsp of whole black pepper, 3 star anise, 1 whole red onion, 1 head garlic, and about 3 tbsp of salt for 30 minutes to an hour. Marinate the meat on the boiled water overnight. While you preheat oven (top and bottom heat) at 220C remove belly from water and let dry for 20 minutes. Bake for an hour or two till skin is golden brown.

Bye-bye Bottle Nanan

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In four months little V will start kindergarten. We have been slowly preparing him for the big day since he turned two years old. He was potty trained and completely weaned off breastfeeding before we celebrated his 2nd birthday. It was a full dreadful drama month with V (and me) crying whenever he pleaded to breastfeed and me about to lose my patience cleaning after every pee accident. All of those is a thing of the past and V would refer to those memories as “when I was a baby.”





He’s a little boy now and it’s once again time to let go of something – toddler cup.  I would know that he’s tired and sleepy when he asks for a “bottle-nanan” this is also what he asks for upon waking up. “Nanan” by the way is breastmilk or bottle milk, it’s not a Filipino word but something we just came up with. V would wake me up at 3am and ask for a bottle nanan and some nights he would sleep without having one. 


C calls him a baby whenever he asks for one, V then replies “Daddy bottle nanan just helps V sleep” and we would always give in. Yesterday we told V it was time to say bye-bye to his bottle and be a big boy drinking milk in a cup like how Mum and Dad enjoys coffee. Last night he finished 2 big cup of milk before going to bed and slept through the night….ohhh bliss!


While preparing breakfast V cried in his sleep.
“Mommy I want bottle nanan please. Please mommy bottle nanan.” 
“I will carry you and we can drink milk in the cup.” 
“No mommy I want my bottle nanan” – he went back to dreamland


After an hour V once again crying went out of the bedroom asking for his nanan. I have to be firm and I’m the boss! “Look love mommy is cooking nuggets for breakfast and we have warm water for your milk. Will make you one chocolate milk in a big boys cup.”  Still crying I lay him on the couch he asked for his blanket and went back to sleep. 


Delivered: Bag & Shoe Cake

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I accepted a cake challenge for a friends birthday with a red and black color theme. G had a particular cake design in mind-a red shoe and red bag with some black outline on top of a carrot cake. With two weeks to prepare I searched net and found lots of help watching youtube and blog tutorials on how to carve a bag cake and shape a shoe. PinkCakeBox tutorial on high-heel shoe and ChefGRFX bag tutorial helped me to complete the cake as well as the lovely cakers over at CakeCentral. 




A week before my deadline I made some practice cake and shoe using a homemade fondant . First I had a hard time with my usual fondant recipe it just won’t hold it’s shape, after I cover the cake I see holes on the side of the bag it seem that the fondant was melting. As the deadline came closer and my warm hands and fondant wont just work together I decided to buy a ready rolled fondant and gumpaste mix at Tavola. 



Another challenge was to keep the high-heel shoe stand up, I shaped 6 shoes and as soon as the heel is attached and dried it breaks. So the night before the cake was due carefully I laid the shoe on top of the cake turn my back and brewed a cup of tea a minute after guess what?! Yes the shoe gave up on me once again. It’s 1 am and I knead my gumpaste color it red and shaped shoe #7 and #8 and whispered a prayer to fondant fairies for please let it dry. G’s party was at 7pm the sole and heel had enough time to dry I have to stick them together 4 hrs before we head out to give it some more time to dry. 


The next day in between preparing food, entertaining V and cleaning I attach the heel to the sole and let it rest hoping and wishing luck was on my side besides it was Friday the 13th. 



Slowly I lift G’s red shoe from the mat and place it beside the bag, stared at the shoe for a minute grab the camera and snap photos to have some proof that I did finish the cake as required now on to the next challenge of travelling the cake from Al Ghusais to Al Riqqa. 


I’m happy to announce that the both shoe and bag stayed on top with no signs of falling. G’s  happy reaction was priceless! Other guests loved the design as well.  

Happy Birthday Gladhies!




Next challenge will be at #BakeFestDXB – read more about it here and here


***
Dubai Cake Decorating Stores:
Tavola
Mirdiff City Centre, Mirdiff
Tel: + 971 4 284 35 48


Century Plaza, Jumeirah Beach Road, Jumeirah 1, 
DubaiTel: + 971 4 344 56 24 


Cake Decorating Center
Tel: + 971 4 268 1196



Searching for Pandan

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0513 update


I found Pandan! well I didn’t buy it but a friend gave me her stash 🙂 She bought the leaves at Karama Fish Market.


***
This is my final work week to finish a Girly Cake for my friend. And in between finishing the cake I have strong craving for Buko (Coconut) Pandan dessert and Ube Cake. 


Pandan is one leaf that’s hard to get by here in Dubai. Oh so please help me find one 🙂 or a whole plant! and I promise to share my produce.


Empty Ref led to Pinakbet

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An empty refrigerator always make me smile. why? It means I have not wasted what we bought and I have actually managed to cook for three. Cooking for us three has always been a struggle, I always somehow have a whole lot of leftover which tends to be forgotten and disposed at the end of the week. Also for last week we do grocery shopping every two days cause I need the space for my cakes.


Before C left for his basketball game I told him to buy takeOut for lunch, by 11am he still no call so I decided to make use of what’s available and darn yesterday’s dough is in the freezer bread was out of the menu. The only available ingredients: Tomato, onion, garlic, ginger, ampalaya (bitter melon), talong (eggplant), kalabasa (squash), okra and crispy chicken skin (chicharon). V asks what are you cooking mama? I want soup miso weed. 


 

As a kid I hated eating vegetables I remember being bullied by my cousins. They would put a whole chunk of veggies on my plate and tell me not to stand up till I eat up all the vegies in my plate. I would cry to our manangs’ (nanny) for help and would sometimes end up sleeping in the dining table. Thankfully our Manang would remove the plate and shoo away my cousins for bullying me. That eventually changed over the years. Spending summer with my Lola mommy taught me to love eating veggies. She would always remind me that eating veggie will make me pretty. 

 


Little V before he turned 3 ate every veggie we give him even the bitter ampalaya! Right now he’s only veggie intake are broccoli, carrots, potato, tomato, eggplant and cucumber. While plating up I happily announced “we’re eating vegetables today so V will win and Daddy will lose.” One of our trick to make him eat his share of greens. 

To cook Pinakbet: Heat olive oil in a wok or some thick bottomed pan. Saute onion, garlic, ginger and tomato till juice comes out. Add in a 1 spoonful of shrimp paste (Barrio Fiesta Shrimp paste). Mix for less then a minute then add veggies (squash, okra, and eggplant) let it simmer for one minute then add bitter melon give it a quick stir and simmer for another minute. Turn off the heat add in crushed chicharon (crispy chicken skin). Enjoy Pinakbet with steamed rice.



Now this is not the only way to prepare your pinakbet. Any meat will do or no meat at all. Back home we use pork belly and heat it in the pan till its oil comes out (you would omit the olive oil from above) and saute as is.


A Girly Cake Challenge

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My friend G requested that I make a girly cake for her birthday, a shoe and bag cake. *gulp I got excited and scared I haven’t done anything like that and I have always refused friends request to make them some cute fondant cake. Sad to say i’m not artistic not like my mom and sister, I can’t for the life of me draw a straight line without a ruler. G insisted that she wants me and no one else to make the cake for her because she knows I can do it. A little voice inside me whispered “ofcourse we can do it” and so I told her to give me a day or two to decide but to not worry in case I wont be able to do the cake I have a friend who has been making fondant cakes. 


Searched the web for inspiration, tutorials, and read forums that would help and encourage me to make the cake. I told hubby C about it and he too was convincing me that I can do it and that he would help. And so I agreed. I showed G several cakes on flickr and agreed on the look.


I have exactly two weeks to practice and prepare the cake. Below is my very first purse cake and beside it the sole of a shoe. Though the cake is not perfect I am overly happy how I managed to make one which actually look like a purse (I think). 



What have been little V doing while I’m working with the cake? Well we bought him his set of crayola dough. Before I start with my work he gets to work first shaping his dough and using animal cookie cutters to make shapes. I always remind him that his dough is not a fondant and he can’t eat it. About after an hour or two he declares he’s finish with his work and it’s time for me to do mine. He get’s his stool and stand beside me while I work asking a whole lot of why and what for. (i’ll take photos of him with his play dough and post it soon)

Egg Morning

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I love mornings. I have my quiet time while preparing breakfast @ 5:30am. Enjoying the early morning music of boiling water for my coffee. 



Fresh brewed coffee makes me start my day with a smile on my face.



C and I get to enjoy quality time eating breakfast. Talking about what his day will be and me asking and planning dinner with him. It’s just breakfast and we’re talking about what to eat for dinner.

Today’s breakfast I prepared Garlic Fried Rice, Sunny-side-up Egg, and Ham. All fried in my trusty wok. 



Filipinos love a heavy breakfast and would almost always require an egg. We have a lot of “*silog” breakfast menu: TapSilog – beef tapa, LongSilog – longganisa (sweet pork sausage) , BangSilog (daing na bangus), HamSilog (ham). *”Silog” stands for Sinangag na Kanin (Fried Rice) and Itlog (Egg). If you have notice we use the first 3 letters of the main meat that goes along rice and egg.





How do you crack your eggs? 
I used to crack my egg on the side of a bowl or counter but I always end up having bits of shell at the end. One TV chef suggested to crack the egg on a flat surface. I did just that and no more shells. 


Wishing each one of you an Eggirriffic Morning!