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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.


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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!

Farmers Market and Cucumber Salad

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First of all I’d like to say a big Thank You to Rajani of EatWriteThink for my new kitchen toy a Braun MultiQuick Cordless. If you want a chance to win one go visit MyCustardPie she’ll pick a winner on April 26.



Rajani was also the one who invited me to be part of Famished Arabia, a group of food bloggers here in GCC. Such an angel! You can find links of fellow famished bloggers on my links. I attended my first activity last Friday a Group Photo share and learn session at Bakers and Spice which also was a host to a weekly Farmers Market which sells organic produce. 

When I told C about the session he was happy for me and I was too. Being a stay at home sometimes give me an overwhelming feeling of being stuck to just cleaning and cooking which leads to bad days that makes my hormones and emotions go wild. That’s why we are both happy that I have this new thing to keep my mind busy beside household chores. I am thankful for the group and most specially to the lovely ladies that I met for welcoming me. 

V was a breastfed baby and along with that decision is a challenge to only feed him the healthiest meal we can provide (with a few sweet cheat). When the doctor gave me a go signal that he can start solid food he had homecooked and organic baby food. 

V at 1 yr old ate every vegetable I give him but when he reached the age of 2 everything suddenly change. He became choosy and right now only eats  broccoli, carrots and mushroom without force and with fruits oranges, strawberries, and banana are his only chosen “sports candy”. I have to be creative in tricking him to eat unwanted veggies  and fruits. 



That’s why when he saw me preparing my staple side dish he announced “that’s your food mama not for Vierte.”  I bought this juicy tomatoes and cucumber at the market which tastes much sweeter than those I buy at the grocery. Live chickens and ducks are also available in the market as well.



This salad is best paired with something grilled or fried. I baked some pork liempo marinated with dark soy sauce, kikoman soy, tomato ketchup, sugar and ground black pepper. 

Cucumber Salad for Two
1 Tomato
3 Cucumbers
1 Onion
2 cloves Garlic
thin slice of Ginger

1 tbsp Bals
amic Vinegar
1 tsp White Vinegar
1 tbsp Sugar
Pinch of Salt and Pepper

First combine balsamic vinegar, white vinegar, sugar, some salt and pepper then set aside. Thinly slice cucumber, tomato, and onions. Crush garlic and ginger. Toss all together and enjoy.

Kutsinta

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Kutsinta is one famous kakanin (local dessert) in the Philippines. My Mama would always bring home different kinds of kakanin for us after visiting the palengke (fish market) every Sunday.

The result of my first kutsinta was not perfect, it tastes good but it was a bit hard. Texture should be soft and firm. Friends who got to taste my first batch suggested to cook it at a lesser time (first batch was steamed for almost an hour).

My mom’s bestfriend uses the plastic mold in making Kutsinta but Mama refused to let me use those and instead sent me muffin like tin cans similar to what she was using. Btw, see that stain on the second photo of my steamer made me sad because I just spent 1 hour scrubbing the whole oven.

Above photo is my attempt to be creative. I even used C’s D80 to learn basic photography for an upcoming class. I spent more than hour editing photos in picnik a much more simply program compared to photoshop.

Finished cooking the whole batch  for 1 hour and 30 minutes and all the time V was dreaming. The recipe yielded 24 kutsinta.

Lye water is one of the main ingredient, if you search around some sites would say that if not properly use it could be poisonous. I grew up eating Kutsinta with lye water and I didn’t get sick. But if you would want to try making one without using lye The Aubergine Chef substitute lye water with baked baking soda.

Kutsinta
1 1/2 cup Rice Flour
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup Brown Sugar
3 cups Water
1/4 cup Milk
1 1/2 tsp Lye Water
1 tsp Anatto Powder
Grated coconut

Boil water for the steamer.
In a mixing bowl sift all dry ingredients. Combine water and milk on a separate bowl. While mixing the dry ingredients slowly add water milk mixture until all ingredients are completely distributed and lump free. Add lye water then continue mixing. Half-fill small muffin pans. Steam for 10-20 minutes. Serve kutsinta with grated coconut.

Enjoy your kutsinta with a cup of brewed coffee or tea. It really is important to serve this yummy treat with fresh grated coconut.

Now I have to go back and scrub my muffin cups.