Antique Home Tools and Gadgets

We went to a tractor show sometime last year, and this exhibit was the least I was expecting, yet it was the highlight of my day...

Do you want to have an idea of how kitchen, laundry and food processing tools and gadgets looked like in the past? Watch this slideshow...

Salmon Paksiw

I don't know what the English term for paksiw is, and I did not really know whether what I was doing was really "paksiw" nor do I know if there is an accurate recipe for making paksiw.

Well, put simply, any fish cooked with crush garlic and ginger, drizzle of vinegar, some salt and freshly milled black pepper, and (as my father taught me when I was a child) a little bit of oil, can be aptly called paksiw.


Now, ever since I have been attempting to cook this, I never really measured. Everything is approximation. A friend suggested I try to taste the mixture first without the fish, but I haven't done so, mainly because of habit (well, my father's habit, that is) that you put all solid ingredients in the pan first (except salt and pepper), with the fish cuts placed as a single layer on top of ginger and garlic, then approximately sprinkle salt and pepper to taste, drizzle with some vinegar (to cover with thin layer every piece of fish you have on the pan) and about 1 tbsp of oil to top. Cover and cook on low heat for about 20-30 minutes. (Do not mix, or the vinegar won't cook!)

Well, the photo here shows tomatoes...Where are the tomatoes in the procedure I described above???

My friend Fe visited me several weeks ago with lots of tomatoes from her garden (I had processed/canned mine so I had no fresh tomatoes by that time) and suggested we add those to the paksiw. She also brought filleted salmon which she and her husband caught from the seas of Alaska, frozen right there. So, about three big tomatoes cut into chunks were placed on top of the fish cuts, and I added some more salt to approximate how much it would take to neutralize the acidity/sourness of the tomatoes. What resulted was the best-tasting paksiw I (we) have ever had!

Approximate amounts of ingredients to serve as some sort of a guide(try at your own risk!):
4 cloves garlic crushed
2-thumbs size of ginger, pelled and crushed then cut to chunks
2 lb salmon fillet cut into serving portions
1/4 cup of vinegar (this really is a big guess, maybe 1/2 cup???)
1-2 tsp salt (I am guessing here, but actually salt to taste, depending on your taste buds)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (I used the pepper mill)
1 tbsp of oil
3 big red tomatoes cut into chunks

Goodluck to anyone who will try this recipe!

Strawberry Shortcake

Pardon the lack of art in my photo...

My MIL always makes strawberry shortcake around this time of the year (or even during winter; she just thaws her frozen strawberries). This is the first time I ever attempted making my own. The shortcake is more crumbly and sweeter than hers (hers is like that of scones), but I kinda prefer this one. My older son also likes it better. My younger son, who used to pass up on strawberry shortcakes during family gatherings, felt obliged to eat what I handed to him. I was surprised he actually ate everything and said it was good! My hubby usually just eats the strawberries and whipped cream, leaving behind about 75% of the shortcake, but this time, he ate about 80% of my shortcake. I think I will stick to this recipe for my own tradition-building. (I hope my children will someday remember to look into this website for their favorite recipes.)

I had two quarts of hulled and sliced strawberries freshly picked from my MIL's garden. I sprinkled about 2 cups of sugar and let stand while I prepare the rest. Even though I had two cans of prepared whipped cream, I had to use a homemade one to complement the freshness of the strawberries...nothing beats that! And while some would prefer to use angel food cake for this, I love the old-fashioned biscuit-type shortcake (ain't that what a shortcake is supposed to be???)

Ingredients for the shortcake:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 cup milk

Instructions:
Heat oven to 450°. Grease an 8-inch round layer-cake pan. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in shortening with pastry blender or 2 forks until crumbly. Stir in milk until just blended. Pat dough into prepared pan; bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Ingredients for homemade whipped cream:

• 2 cups heavy cream
  
• 1/4 cup sugar (approximate only)

Instructions:

Before you even start on the strawberries and shortcake, chill your mixing bowl and whisk/beater in the freezer. The cold temp helps prevent making butter out of your whipped cream (especially helpful in the summer time).
Start whisking on low going to high, and when starting to form peaks, add the sugar gradually. Stop when firm peaks form.

To assemble:

Divide the shortcake into 8. Slice horizontally. Put some strawberries in between the two halves of the shortcake. Add whipped cream on top of the upper slice. Top with more strawberries and syrup.

Macapuno (Coconut sport strings) Ice Cream

I looked for a recipe for coconut ice cream just to get an idea of how I should tweak it to make it more coconut-ty. Got the original recipe from allrecipes.com and below is my revised recipe.

Before I made this, I asked my MIL and SIL to try the macapuno. They were surprised to find that coconut can be so tender!!! They are used to coconut being chewy, and they are not really a big fan of coconut. But I think I have converted them...Will let them taste this one as soon as I get the time to bring them some.

My husband, as usual, was so-so with the macapuno. He still prefers the Old-fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream, which I made earlier, for our celebration of July 4th.

A note to Debbie:
My sis in Pinas could not find a sorbetero willing to share the recipe for dirty ice cream. I hope you will give this one a try. My Pinay friends definitely rave over this.

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut premium milk (I use Thai brand)
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
2 (14-oz) cans cream of coconut (I use Lopez brand; available in the alcohol section of Hannaford)
3 cups heavy cream
1 jar of macapuno (coconut sport strings; available at Asian/Filipino stores)
Buko pandan flavor (optional)

Macapuno	Buko Pandan Essence

Instructions:

1. Scald milk and coconut milk plus salt over low heat.
2. Remove from heat and add heavy cream and cream of coconut.
3. Chill for at least 4 hours.
4. Freeze using an ice cream maker. (Mine is Rival.)
5. When done, immediately stir in macapuno. (Optional: Add several drops of buko pandan. That's the greenish ice cream in the picture. Personally, I like the plain one.)
6. Freeze overnight. (You might have to stir every 30 minutes or so for the first 4 hours to make sure the macapuno is distributed evenly.)
7. Optional garnishings: additional macapuno, kaong, or nata de coco (available in Asian stores).

My Bibingka Cake was featured on GMA-7's 100% Pinoy (Fusion Desserts)

I seldom blog nowadays (I feel guilty about it) because I have been very busy, especially in the most recent months with a skin allergy that I have been suffering from for two months now (better now and almost back to normal), plus the recent change in work (from rehab dept to ER).

But recently I was contacted by Ces because GMA-7 wanted to feature my fusion dessert bibingka cake on their 100% Pinoy segment on Fusion Desserts (they needed a foodblogger based in Manila to re-create my recipe as well, and Ces asked for my permission. Needless to say, it did not really take a lot of convincing on her part. I was thrilled, and ChefCK, who agreed to appear on the TV in re-creating my recipe, is a Culinary Institute of America graduate and is going to open a school in the Philippines. I am just honored!

Here's a youtube video of the said segment:


Thanks to Ces, ChefCK, and GMA-7!

Now that I have made this post, this reminds me that I have not actually posted about publications that have also featured my online kusina. Thanks to Catherine Bolandrina of planetphilippines for featuring me on the 09-14-07 issue of Planet Philippines; the article was entitled "Pinay Can Cook!"

Another publication that got interested was Hannaford's "fresh" Magazine, which they publish every two months and which shoppers could get for free with purchases of at least $25. I "got" their attention when I joined a contest for recipes using any of their "Inspirations" line-up (I did not win, but they got interested as to how I, a Filipina, was adapting in an American kitchen, especially in a rural area where the nearest Filipino/Asian store is a two-hour drive). The article appeared on the May-June 2007 issue under the segment "Food Lover's Favorite", and was entitled "When in Maine..." with a photo insert that mistakenly featured the face of a friend who was with me in the photo that I submitted (I did not bother to correct them). My recipes featured were the beef pares, spinach-haddock laing, and leche flan (links are from the hannaford website). I have not featured my laing on my blog, but I submitted the recipe per their request. They changed some ingredients in the recipes they asked for, with my permission, for them to re-create the recipes to what they thought tailored more to the American palates, and which would also reflect more their healthy approach to food (e.g., changing the premium coconut milk to a light one). Some of my co-workers back in the rehab department saw this article and said, "I did not know you were that popular!" I almost choked! Some of my newfound online friends also got in touch with me through email because of this article.

Now I wonder if I will have additional visitors to my site because of this??? Well, I gotta post more often! But I am foreseeing more posts on quick-fix types of meals, using more of ready mixes (they are my best friends nowadays).

Potato Peasant Bread

My husband is so fond of whole wheat type of breads. This one combines whole wheat with mashed potatoes, and is very soft and tender, like my pandelimon de patatas (which my husband also loves because they are so soft even on reheating), only healthier. Any leftover is good for garlic bread. So if you are like me who end up wondering what to do with leftover mashed potatoes, this is another wonderful way to use it. Of course I got the recipe from my favorite baking site, breadworld.com .

Makes 2 loaves

3 to 3-1 / 2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 / 4 cup sugar

2 envelopes FLEISCHMANN’S RapidRise Yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1-1 / 2 cups potato water or tap water

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

3 / 4 cup mashed boiled potato*

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions
In a large bowl, combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, undissolved yeast, and salt. Heat water, butter and mashed potato until very warm (120o to 130oF). Gradually add to flour mixture. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough in half. Roll each half to 8 x 12-inch oval. Beginning at short end, roll up tightly as for jelly roll. Pinch seam and ends to seal. Place on large greased baking sheet; flatten loaf slightly. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

With sharp knife, cut 3 diagonal slits (1 / 4-inch deep) on top of each loaf. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon flour. Bake at 400oF for 15 to 20 minutes or until done. Remove from sheet; cool on wire rack.

Pleasant surprise from a friend

One of the many joys of blogging about something that is truly shared by many is that I get to meet a lot of Filipino/Filipina friends online. Whether it remains an online relationship or I get to meet them in person does not really matter. These friends are as real as my friends who live here, sometimes even better (as in no intriga, no envy, no judging, if you know what I mean).

I came home the other night very tired from work, and had this pleasant surprise: bottles of pandan essence and various mixes (palabok, tocino, and pancit bihon). Who sent it?

My new friend Deb L from NY sent these goodies. And I want to thank her for sympathizing with me, being very far from the nearest Filipino store, which, actually to date, has closed. So now I only have the Chinese-owned Asian stores to go to. She has read about my plight in one of my previous posts and was very thoughtful to ask me what I wanted/needed and offered to send some to me.

Thanks so much, Deb! No I have to marinade some chicken and pork pieces. My hubby (and of course, the kids and I) loves tocino.

(Crown) Roast of Pork (South Beach Diet recipe)

I was at the kitchen at work when someone else was reheating his food in the microwave...smelled like pork adobo so I got curious. I told him it smelled like a Filipino pork dish cooked in garlic with vinegar and soy sauce. He said those (except vinegar) were the main ingredients indeed. I asked for the recipe, which I received later in the week (he had to ask his wife for it). This year we have pork cuts in our freezer, as this was the first time we had a pork raised by my MIL and we had slaughtered for our family's consumption. When I tried this recipe, although not using a crown cut (whatever that was), my husband was reminiscing the days he had same pork roasts made by his mom. Needless to say, it was a hit among my sons and I. I just substituted dried basil in place of fresh sage as I did not feel like making a special trip to the grocery store for that.) The recipe called for asking the butcher to trim the fat and french the bones, mainly for presentation purposes, which I did not bother with.)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp plus 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp crushed dried oregano
1 tbsp crushed dried basil
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 (6- to 7-pound) roast of pork
4 celery stalks, cut into 1&1/2-inch pieces
2 medium onions, quartered
2 medium carrots, cut into 1&1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp water
1/4 red wine

Instructions:

Whisk together 2 tsp of the oil, garlic, oregano, basil, pepper and salt in a small bowl. Rub pork all over with garlic mixture. Cover pork with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Position rack in lower third of oven and heat oven to 425 deg F.

Toss celery, onions, and carrots with remaining 2 tbsp oil in a roasting pan; set pork on top. (I actually tossed the veggies in an hour before my "done" time.)

Roast pork for 30 minutes, reduce heat to 350 deg F, and continue roasting, turning pan halfway through, until thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a few of the chops reads 155 to 160 deg F, 1&1/4 to 1&1/2 hours (I actually cooked mine for 3 hours to make sure it is well done, as hubby never likes less cooked meat).

Remove roast from oven. Carefully transfer roast to a platter, loosely cover with foil, and let rest for 20 minutes.

while roast is resting, remove vegetables from pan and discard (I did not discard, although I placed them side by side with the roast). Place roasting pan over lowheat and add water and wine. Bring to a simmer and, using a wooden spoon, scrape browned bits of pork from bottom of the pan. Simmer until you have a flavorful juice, 3-4 minutes (if I remember it right, I added some soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper to it and kept tasting until I was satsisfied.)

Carve roast into thick chops and serve with pan juices. (The gravy in the last photo in the slideshow is something else I made from leftover ham dish, which my husband also liked a lot. Will post about it later.)

Total Caloric Requirement and Food Intake

During my early months of blogging, I made a very loooooong post on calculating Total Caloric Requirement and "promised" to tackle its application to actual food intake on the next "nutrition" post, but I totally forgot about that supposed next post...

well, it would have been another looooong post including food exchanges and choosing foods to include in your menu so you will have your targeted caloric intake.

But while I was working as an MT, I have stumbled upon a lot of medical-related websites from fitness to neurology.

I have found out the quickest way to do those without you really doing the calculating...

Calculating your BMR the long and painful way is to go to my blogpost here. Calculating it the easy way is by using a free web-based TCR calculator. While my post calculated my TCR as 1800 cal, the calculator is pretty close at 1746.62 cal per day based on my acitvity level. My results were as follows:

1343.55 calories per day is your Basal Caloric Rate. This is:
no more then 44.78 grams of fat (30%) for your Basal Caloric Rate
50.38 grams of protein (15%) for your Basal Caloric Rate
184.74 grams of carbohydrate (55%) for your Basal Caloric Rate

1746.62 calories per day recommended for your Active Caloric Rate. This is:
no more then 58.22 grams of fat (30%) for your Active Caloric Rate
65.50 grams of protein (15%) for your Active Caloric Rate
240.16 grams of carbohydrate (55%) for your Active Caloric Rate

No less then 1200 calories per day recommended for safe consistent Weight Loss. This is:
no more then 40.00 grams of fat (30%) for your Weight Loss Caloric Rate
45.00 grams of protein (15%) for your Weight Loss Caloric Rate
165.00 grams of carbohydrate (55%) for your Weight Loss Caloric Rate

At this safe consistent Weight Loss Caloric Rate,
you will lose 1 pound every 24.38 Days

As it shows, it gives you a target caloric intake per day for consistent and safe weight loss.

Someone recently asked me how this relates to food intake, and that query prompted this post.

Okay, to translate that TCR to food intake, we are to convert it to protein, fats, and carbohydrate mainly (other nutrients do not have calories; they only serve as minerals and vitamins). As you will note, the conversion is ideally 30% fat, 15% protein, and 55% carbohydrate. (During my medical school days, it used to be 15% fat, 30% protein, but probably that was changed because it is really hard to stick to 15% fat, even with the leanest meat you will find. In other words, unrealistic goal???)

The conversion is that 1 gram of fat equals 9 calories; 1 gram of protein or carbohydrate equals 4 cals. So you will have to take into consideration the amount of protein or carbohydrate or fat you are eating in a day...but to plan that, you have to start with a certain food item you eat, let's say, a cup of milk, and consider how much fat and protein and carb is in that cup of milk, calculate the calories in it then subtract that from your TCR, then do the same with other food items you have eaten, during breakfast, for example, then using the food exchange guide, plan the rest of your meals for the day without exceeding the TCR (if you want to maintain or lose weight). BUT THAT PROCESS IS TEDIOUS, and might possibly be confusing. Maybe that was the reason I decided not to post it...and presenting it logically in a manner comprehensible enough to the ordinary blog reader would be quite challenging.

Anyway, I have discovered (since my MT days) an easier way to do just that without you having to flip through pages and pages of food exchange list and holding a calculator and a table of your actual food intake and their caloric contents. The goal anyway is to check your present diet against your caloric requirement, then planning your menu so you will stick to that caloric limit, right?

The NHLBI (National HeartLung and Blood Institute) Menu Planner gives us an easy way to do just that. It is a public service from the government to have this handy web-based menu planner.

How it works:
You select first your meal: breakfast, lunch or dinner. That is, after entering your calorie target for the day. If you take note of my BMR results up here, I have to eat no less than 1200 cal for safe weight loss. It is a coincidence that the Menu Planner has that as default.
After selecting your meal, you go to the Meal Menu on the left and select food items, enter the servings that you are gonna eat. Everytime a food item and # of servings is entered, it will update, so as to show you how many calories are already taken into consideration. If you enter a food item and makes you exceed your TCR, a notice pops up.

One drawback is that it does not have a wide range of food items. If you ate mousse or a chocolate bar, you would not be able to take that into consideration. You will be pretty much limited to what they have on the list. Another is, you will not be able to put in the exact amount of food you take and they should be 0.5 oz at the least.

So if you will still be interested to do it the painstaking way, here's how to approach it.

Convert your TCR in terms of protein, fat, and carbohydrate.

Using mine, with the above results, for example, with the target of 1200 cal to lose weight safely, I am to eat no more than 40 g of fat, 45 g of protein, and 165 g of carb in a day.

Then get a food exchange list, and get crazy taking into consideration the weight in each serving, and then create your menu as dictated by the limitations given by the above calculator. You have to keep in mind that even in bread slices, there is some protein and maybe some fat. If you are willing to get away from sweets and most fats, the online exchange lists will suffice, as they contain the healthier food items.

Some gave good reviews in amazon.com about the FitDay PC Diet and Nutrition Software.
You might want to check it out.

Sauteed Mussells

 It was only recently that I tried to cook these mussells. I was hesitant at first because the ones available at the Hannaford here in my area have very black and thicker shells that those I was accustomed to back in PI. After trying them, I now want them regularly on our dining table. My kids, as usual, love them. They are being sold by bags worth about $3-$4, weighing around 2 lbs, enough for the boys and I. Satifies my craving, as always.
My father used to cook this frequently because it was relatively cheap in PI, and he always told us not to put additional water, since the soup that comes out of steaming the mussells is loaded with flavor, and he did not want to dilute that. This was in contrast with my late ex-father-in-law, who was so fond of sipping a cup of the soup so he wanted to literally drown the mussells.
Based on some recipes I have seen in other's foodblogs, I added some sherry. And while my father used to add pepper leaves (dahon ng sili), I used baby spinach.

Ingredients:
1 bag mussells, washed and drained well with cold water
2 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
thumb-size ginger, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1/2 cup sherry
ground pepper to taste
salt to taste (if at all needed)
some dash of chopped dried basil
2 cups of baby spinach

Instructions:
1. Heat oil in medium high.
2. Sautee garlic and ginger for about 30 seconds, followed by onions. Sautee until onions are translucent.
3. Add the mussells and stir.
4. Pour the sherry. Cover and lower the heat to #4. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Add pepper, basil and salt (if needed) to taste. (Optional: Add 1/2 cup water if you want to have more soup, and return to boil.)
6. Add spinach. Turn off heat and stir until spinach wilts. Serve right away with plain rice.

Merry Christmas to Everyone!!!

Here's an early Christmas offering...




We dedicate this song to those who are away from their family this Christmas. We know how hard it is not to see your family sit around the tree opening gifts, or having dinner together. We sympathize. We hope you try to get the most of what you have, who you're with and where you are. We wish you all the happiness in the world. Most of all.... We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year!





Performed by:

elapot, Hazelcute, Ylla, Pinay, Manang, Lilnanz, ana_f_ever, grjdemuynck, Mai725, vgnia, iwunder, jemima, Nisrine, Angelene, --ja--, junix, kitz, Beambam, Bluepepper, mamaberry


Special Thanks To:

Garci (Founder of the PSS Allstars)
Mamaberry (venue sponsor)
Reynaldo (video editing)
Aubzie (audio mixing)
Pinay (banner)
Neutrongirl (upload)
Lark (Coordinator)

Pls. support our upcoming projects as well. Our aim is not to separate ourselves from the rest of the SS Community but to touch hearts and encourage people to share to one another our gift of music. Thanks to all who care and most of all to Singsnap for giving us this opportunity to reach out to the whole world.

Paris Brest

No misspelling here.

According to Wikipedia:

Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) was originally a 1200km long bicycle race from Paris to Brest and back to Paris. It is the oldest bicycling event that is still regularly run.

But I am talking about this wonderful dessert that I always look forward to annually from my sister-in-law. Paris Brest is "classic French creation — a large ring of airy choux pastry filled with the richest praline pastry cream —" (from epicurious.com). I fell in love with it the first time I tasted it. I did not bother to try to make it myself, because I love looking forward to having it during holidays. And of course, I love wolfing it down without having to sweat a drop to make it.

But I asked my SIL for the recipe and instructions to share with those of you who might want to try serving this to your relatives (and I am sure you will impress them!) She warned me not to try making it, and I gladly said, "That's your specialty, so I am not even gonna try."

So here it is:

DOUGH
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 cup flour
pinch of salt
4 eggs

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 deg F. (IMPT)
Boil the butter and water then cook on low. Add the flour and salt, and cook for about a minute stirring constantly until it leaves the sides of the pan.
SET 5 MINUTES on the countertop. (This is critical).
Break an egg and drip into the mixture, beat by hand with a woden spoon. Repeat 3 times more (so that makes it a total of 4 eggs added).
Using a pastry bag (or whatever you can use as substitute. I usually use ziploc bag with a corner cut), pipe and form into a circle with 7-inch diameter on a greased baking sheet.
Bake at 400 deg F for 15 minutes then lower the heat to 350 and keep baking for 30-40 minutes more until top becomes dark brown.
Let cool.

PRALINE:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 pint whipping cream

Instructions:
Whip cream then let sit in the fridge for 4-5 hours.
Cook sugar and almonds in a small saucepan over low heat and keep shaking (do not stir) until sugar is all melted.
Pour onto buttered tin foil. Let cool and solidify.
Break into pieces then use a FOOD PROCESSOR (not chopper) to break further into powdery form.
Fold the praline into the whipped cream.

ASSEMBLY:
Cut the top off the dough ring and scoop inside. Fill with praline in the middle. Return the top portion then sprinkle with sugar.

Serve as fresh as you could.

Karaoke Addict Again! Plugging...

Lalo tuloy dumalang and posting ko rine...

Need proof? Visit my Online Karaoke Blog.

And I am not alone (oh no, no no no no!). There are a lot others hooked to SingSnap.com, including people from all over and from all walks of life. Needless to say, hindi pahuhuli ang mga Pinoy. PinoySingSnappers came up with a project in time for the Christmas Season. Check it out. You may wanna send it to your relatives and friends.

Egg (Custard) Pie

I first came across the recipe of CeliaK (God bless her!) that looks like the traditional egg pie back in PI -- custard with dark brown topping. So, getting the ideas from her recipe, I tried mine with some variations to save time (using graham crust instead of making my own pie crust; I rarely have the time nowadays because of work) and use up some of the ingredients in my pantry given by relatives (i.e., honey). If you are interested in making your own graham cracker pie crust, I have copied and pasted a recipe down below.

My first attempt created that dark brown but too spongy topping, and I wanted the top thinner, and I wanted the custard sweeter (guilty of having a sweet tooth!). But in wanting to see how my in-laws would receive it (my husband is hopeless), I did not make the top dark, but golden brown. Now, my SIL is a very opinionated person who cares not a bit if you will like what she is gonna say or not, but when she got her first bite of this egg pie, her comment was: "Oh my God, this is to die for!!!" and helped herself to a second serving.

My MIL raises chicken layers so we could get the freshest eggs, and right now she gets 18 eggs a day! What to do? Give us some, and sell the rest. In return, I try to make this egg pie or leche flan, which she and FIL both love (makes me wonder why my hubby does not).

Here is my final recipe (my kids like the leche flan better, though):

Ingredients (good for one pie)

Keebler's Graham Crust (with 2 extra servings - see slide show below)
2&1/3 cup milk
1 beaten egg for brushing the crust (the excess goes into the mixture)
3 eggs Plus 1 yolk
1 egg white
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1&1/2 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 deg F.
2. Place the crust onto a baking pan/cookie sheet and brush with beaten egg. and bake for 5 minutes. (This procedure is actually found under the label.)
3. Meanwhile, combine the rest of the ingredients (except the 1 egg white) in a blender using pulse setting.
4. Pour the excess beaten egg (from step 2) into the mixture that you are gonna prepare.
5. In a separate bowl, beat the egg white until it forms soft peaks.
6. Using a wire whisk, cut the egg white into the mixture by gentle mixing until just a thin layer of egg white floats.
7. Increase the oven temp setting to 400 deg F and immediately take out the crust and pour the custard mixture into it and fill to capacity.
8. Bake immediately for 15 minutes then lower the temp to 290 deg F and bake for 30-60 minutes more (depending on how many pies you are making; you kind have to keep watching). When the middle part is a bit wiggly like soft jelly, take the pie out (don't when it seems liquidy still). [If you do not bake right away after pouring the custard onto the crust, the custard starts disintegrating the crust and you will see the custard impregnated with graham cracker. I have done that!]
(EDITED- removed the confusing extra lines - thanks to Teresa for her query!
EDITED again12/06/07 because I noticed my step-by-step instructions were not too clear, thanks to Dona's query. I think was busy SingSnapping while making this post...lol!)

This is a great Christmas give-away idea for your Filipino friends!

Graham Cracker Pie Crust recipe from Southernfood.
This crust is simple to make, and may be used for a 9-inch pie or cheesecake.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 10 minutes
Here's How:

1. In a small saucepan or the microwave, melt 6 tablespoons of butter.
2. Place about 24 graham crackers in a plastic bag. Roll with a rolling pin until finely crushed. This may be done in small batches.
3. Measure 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs into a medium bowl.
4. Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the graham crackers.
5. Add the melted butter.
6. Stir or blend together with your hands.
7. Press into the pie plate or other pan.
8. To pre-bake the pie crust, bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F. oven.

Bunuelos (fried dough or doughnuts)

This is one of our favorite snacks. I got it from a Chinese cookbook, and while the photos in the cookbook reminded me of buchi-buchi (?), the taste is very much like fried dough. Here in Maine, fried dough is a very popular item sold by food vendors in carnivals/fairs. But I made mine pretty much like doughnuts, and shared some with my in-laws. They called it fried doughnuts. It easily became a favorite snack/dessert item in our house, and you can serve it to American visitors as well, guaranteed to be a big hit, especially when they dread/expect you to come up with "exotic" Filipino dishes.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
oil for frying
cinnamon-sugar for dusting (you can combine 1/4 cup sugar + 2 tbsp ground cinnamon)

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, whisk the egg and the milk well together. Gradually stir in the dry mixture, then beat in the melted buter to make a soft dough.

Heat wok. Pour oil about 1 inch deep and let heat at #6 setting for about 1 minute. (You may use a deep-fryer).

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead until it is smooth and elastic. Shape to make a log then pinch off golf-ball sizes, flatten with your hands into disks. Poke a hole through the center of each disk using floured handle of wooden spoon (make the hole wider by swirling the dough around the handle).

Fry in batches, taking care not to overcrowd the pan, until they are puffy and golden brown on both sides. Lift out with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

I like pouring melted butter, and sprinkling confectioner's sugar or cinnamon-sugar, then I pour maple syrup. Honeyko likes only cinnamon-sugar on them.

Instead of the syrup recipe included in the cookbook, I just use maple syrup and sprinkle cinnamon-sugar onto these treats.

Spanish Bread

I managed to take photos the last time I made spanish bread, so here goes the step-by-step how-to's. For some reason, my computers (both PC with Windows XP and laptop with Linux) do not currently work well with slide.com. I have not had the gumption to make a new account with Flickr to attempt making slide shows, so I resorted to posting a series of photos here instead.

This is another kid-favorite rolls, they like these more than they do ensaymada, although I made both using the same dough (see my posts on Ensaymada).

RECIPE: Please see the BM ensaymada recipe here for the ingredients list and to prepare the dough on the bread machine. The following is the step-by-step guide on how to actually make the rolls.

For the butter-sugar mixture: 1 stick of softened butter (1/2 lb) + 1 cup white sugar.

Instructions:

Prepare the dough. Divide into portions the size of a golf ball. Mix sugar (your choice: brown or white. I prefer white.) and softened butter/margarine (I can't specify the proportions because I approximated. I just kept adding sugar and mixing until I got a consistency that was gritty yet spreadable.)

Flatten each piece with a rolling pin as shown. Go ahead, don't be afraid...Start from the middle outward up and down, especially adding pressure at the ends so they stick to the table. That way, they don't roll back or spring up.






Spread a good layer of sugar-butter mixture. Avoid the ends so you can seal properly.









Roll tightly. Make sure end seals.








Coat with breadcrumbs.








Place on baking pans with seam side down. Cover with plastic. Let rise for 15-30 minutes (depending on what yeast you used and the humidity/temperature of environment). Bake at 350 deg F for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. (If you have too much for one-time serving and want to reheat these in the future, bake only for about 10 minutes initially, so when you reheat they won't look burnt. I reheat 2-3 pieces for merienda in an oven toaster at 350 deg F for about 3 minutes or so.). Transfer to cooling wire rack right away.

STORING: When you cannot eat all freshly baked spanish bread, after cooling in the wire rack for about 30 minutes, they should be warm (not hot) or almost room temp. That is the perfect timing to place them in ziploc bags and close. Observe after several minutes if they sweat. If they do, open the bag and let the excess moisture evaporate some more, wipe the sweat inside the bag with paper towel. Whey they do not sweat anymore, close bag tightly. When done at the right timing, your spanish bread will remain soft for 3 days without having to reheat them. But then, I myself prefer heating them up in oven toaster for about 3 minutes. And these do not last more than 3 days (or even a day!) for my family.

The Face Behind the Blog

This (rather too late post) is in response to babyrambutan's tag (see her post here). She was originally tagged by thess.

Me as a singer-wannabe, used to be a videoke addict (with some withdrawal symptoms up to now; well-controlled). See how I was holding the mic. I had it for essentially the whole night that time...singing and dancing, hindi naman ako lashing...hik!








Used to work as a general medical practitioner back in PI. Nagpapaka-nars ngayon, and quite happy about my choice (less headaches, more time with family). Favorite thing to do back then was to deliver babies (via NSDs). Had some inaanak because of patients-turned-friends. I would have wanted to be an OB-Gyn (though some friends told me I could have been a good internist, and some patients suggested I become a psychologist -- bleh!!). Things turned out differently mainly because I had no connections in DOH when residency matching was implemented. Mahirap talaga maging mahirap.









Nature-lover (Philippines-type of nature, though. I still have some aversion with the cold winter and would rather stay home. I also have not had enough courage to engage in winter activities). Notice my short hair here? I used to wear my hair short, until I discovered that I look much better and younger with long hair when straightened and cellophane treated at Freshair (naks, me plugging pa!). Noon yun. Now I don't have enough dough for that type of luxury here in the US. I just use the electric hair straightener coupled with virgin coconut oil treatment once in a while. Still the envy of many Ams here because of my hair.








Did I mention I was a videoke addict??? I am now out of it...pretty much...I do have the Magic Sing...but someday I would like to get the USB-type one. Di nga...not an addict anymore...I swear. Peks man!









Since I rarely blog nowadays, I am afraid I cannot think of other bloggers who could qualify, nor do I really have the time to notify them that I am tagging them, so please bear with me.

(Best?) Ensaymada Recipe #2 (Bread Machine)

UPDATE (11/16/08): Just for fun I googled ensaymada recipe and found a yahoo answers webpage that voted this particular recipe as best answer to the question pertaining to ensaymada. Two yahoo users posted a copy-paste of my recipe and how-to's below, although they did not provide reference to my kusina (which, I think, is a disservice for those whose question they answered, and was quite unfair to me not being credited, but it's okay. As long as it gives me the satisfaction that there are those who have tried this recipe and actually recommend it to others, even without letting me know, I still feel honored...
After getting tired of kneading using the first recipe I posted about earlier, I experimented twisting some other similar recipes for bread machine, and came up with this recipe. I now prefer this (less messy) method. It still gives me that familiar taste of ensaymada I used to eat from our cheap bakery when I was a kid (This ensaymada is NOT goldilocks or red ribbon-type, but it is the type I used to eat a lot when I was a kid. If you want the soft, fluffy, light-colored ensaymada that will remind you of Goldilocks or Red Ribbon, try the supersoft ensaymada). Everyday when it was being baked, I would eagerly wait for the first batch to come out, and would wait patiently until I could brush it with margarine without melting, then dip into a bowl of sugar. Yum-yum!

As a bonus, I am using part of the dough to make mini-Spanish bread, which my kids (including stepd) are crazy about, they're gone in minutes!

Ensaymada Recipe #2: Bread Machine Method using bread machine yeast

URGENT NOTE as of 07/21/07: I am making this recipe while editing this post. I should have included this note before any of you tries making this recipe. If your BM is like mine with tall bucket instead of horizontally long (loaf-shaped), this recipe might HAVE TO BE CUT IN HALF. (The ingredients here are for a total of 3-lb loaf, and my BM can only accommodate up to 2-lb loaf without problems for dough cycle.) If you do use the same proportions here,make sure you stay with your BM, initially put only 4 cups of bread flour, help mix the dough using silicone spatula, then add the rest of the flour when you already have the soft dough (takes about 15 minutes). Keep watching, as you might have to add more flour by the tbsp (I had to add 4-5 tbsp at this time) depending on the size of egg you used. You have to poke with your finger a bit to see if the dough will NOT stick to your finger to know you have enough. Do not add too much that the dough appears flaky, because then it becomes tougher and dry.

So if you want not to worry about guarding the BM while it does its job, cut the recipe in half (1-1/2 lb loaf), or use the alternate recipe below.

If your BM is horizontally long with 2 paddles, I do not think it will be a problem to prepare the 3-lb recipe.

Ingredients (3-lb dough):
1 cup milk
3/4 cup water
1 egg
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 tsp salt
6-3/4 cups bread flour (plus some more; see note above)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp BM yeast

(2-lb dough) - [This yielded 9 ensaymadas and 12 pcs spanish bread]
2/3 c milk
1/2 c water
1 egg
2 egg yolks
6 tbsp butter
1-1/2 tsp salt
4-1/2 c bread flour
1/2 c sugar
1-1/2 tsp BM yeast

Topping: softened butter, granulated sugar (or sugar-cinnamon, which hubby prefers), and optional grated cheese.
Directions:
Add ingredients to bread machine pan in the order suggested by manufacturer. Set in dough cycle.
Once done, punch dough, lay on the table and roll with a rolling pin to make it flat. (NOTE: To keep the surface of dough from drying up, cover with plastic while you work on the ropes.)
Using dough cutter, make long ropes (about a foot long) about 3/4 of an inch wide, and coil.
Apply melted butter on coils and let rise for 10-15 minutes (or up to 30 if you want them really fluffy) in a draft-free moist enough area (I like putting them in oven with a bowl of hot water).
You may apply egg glaze prior to baking (if you want it darker brown upon baking).
Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes (depending on your oven).
You may apply melted butter as soon as they get out of the oven. Helps keep them soft by preventing too much moisture loss. Then apply softened butter and roll in sugar when ready to consume. (Please see slideshow for step-by-step how-to's).
Bonus: I use the smaller sides of the flattened disk of dough to make mini-spanish bread. Just mix together softened butter and sugar (approximate - butter should have enough sugar to make it super gritty but still spreadable), and apply a not-so-thin layer leaving about 1/4 inch at the edges for sealing(if too generous, it becomes gooey caramelly when baking and overflows out of the buns and make the bread quite tough when they get colder. So when you do make them like so, eat right away while they are still soft and fresh from the oven.) Roll tightly as shown. Then coat with bread crumbs. Put on baking pans seam side down. Bake at 350 deg F for about 8-10 minutes.
Sorry no pics for the finished spanish bread. They were gone too quickly before I had a chance to take photos.

Whoopie Pies

These, in my opinion, are more like soft cookies, or small cakes, instead of pies.

The photos shown below were taken way back in 2004 (payat pa ako nun). One picture shows my niece when I was receiving the lesson from my MIL and we were in my SIL's house then. The rest of the photos were during my first try to bake them.

Whoopie Pies are a favorite of my in-laws, and my husband gave me a Kitchen Aid standing mixer on our first Christmas together that I may learn how to make them for him. "You can never buy them the same from any store around," he says. And I guess the reason is that we use fresh egg whites for the creamy filling. The commercial ones taste like plain lard mixed with confectioner's sugar and vanilla (yuck!).

Caution: If you do not trust the freshness of the eggs, I do not recommend that you try this recipe. If you can get fresh eggs from a neighboring farm, then by all means, make these! (that is, if you are not allergic to eggs nor is your tummy squeamish)

Ingredients:
Filling -
2 1/4 cup shortening
6 cups confectioner's sugar
6 egg whites
3 tsp vanilla

Dough -
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
6 egg yolks
1 whole egg
2 cups milk + 2 tbsp vinegar
8 heaping tbsp cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups flour
2 tsp vanilla

Instructions:
Filling -
1. Cream (beat together) the shortening and sugar well under moderate speed.
2. Add egg whites one at a time under slow setting, gradually increasing in speed until high.
3. When fluffy and forms soft peaks, turn speed to moderate then add vanilla and increase speed again until the right spreading consistency is achieved. Place in a ziploc bag then put inside the fridge until ready to use.

Dough -
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 deg F.
2. Cream the shortening and sugar first. Beat well.
3. Mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
4. Add eggs/egg yolks one at a time to the creamed sugar and shortening and beat on low going to medium until lemony creamy.
5. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk-vinegar mixture under low setting into the cream. Scrape bowl with spatula from time to time.
6. Add vanilla.
7. Place in ziploc bag. Cut one corner of the bag and squeeze out about 1 tbsp of dough onto baking pan lined with aluminum foil (makes it easier to change pans if you make bigger batches), 2 inches apart.
8. Bake for 10 minutes.
9. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.
10. Put the filling and sandwich between two cookies.
11. Refrigerate those which you will not consume right away. (Remember, there are raw egg whites there).

Ensaymada Recipe #1 (Manual)

Quite late, but here it is as promised.

As with the bread machine method, the ensaymada resulting from this recipe is like the ones I used to eat a lot when I was a kid, the kind of ensaymada you can get from the nearby bakery in the Philippines, not from goldilocks or red ribbon. This is only made more special by virtue of its very ingredients: more eggyolks and butter.

I have tried both manual and bread machine methods. I still prefer using the bread machine, but the manual was my first attempt, so here goes the recipe.

Recipe #1: Manual method using Rapid Rise Instant Yeast

6 to 6-1/2 cups all-purpose flour – (measure separately and put in 3 separate bowls 2 cups first then 1/2 cup then 4 cups to make a total of 6-1/2; reserve the last ½ cup for dusting while kneading)
3/4 cup sugar
2 envelopes FLEISCHMANN'S RapidRise Yeast - If you do not have this, just look for anything equivalent to instant yeast (this is mixed with the flour before the hot liquid. 1 envelope = 2-1/4 tsp )
1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup milk (You may want to experiment using buttermilk instead of milk)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 large egg
3 egg yolks (reserve 1 egg white for Egg Glaze – optional; if you are wondering what to do with egg whites, you can use it for meringue or just use for tortang talong and the likes)

about 1/2 cup melted butter for brushing prior to rising

Topping:
Softened (not melted) butter or margarine
Granulated sugar
grated white cheese or any other cheese you fancy (optional)

Directions (See earlier post for slide presentation)
In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, undissolved yeast, and salt. Heat milk, water, and butter until very warm (120o to 130o F). Gradually add to flour mixture. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add egg, egg yolks, and 1/2 cup flour. Beat 2 minutes at high speed. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough (leave about ½ cup for dusting while kneading). Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. (If preparing one night ahead, you can refrigerate at this point, a method I prefer because it is then easier to manipulate the dough. Grease a big bowl with shortening, put the dough in it and turn it over so that the dough is covered with grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap then refrigerate. The plastic wrap will prevent the dough from drying up on the exposed surface.)

Divide dough into 24 equal pieces (I do it by halves - cut in half first then cut each half into another half so that I have 4 big pieces. Then I cut each into half again, then cut into 3 to make 6 pieces for each of the 4 big pieces). Using both your hands, roll each piece to make ropes about 1 foot long or more, with the diameter about the same as your middle finger. Make a loose coil with each rope (parang katol; you can even give more allowance for rising), tuck the end under and lay flat on the greased baking sheet (or use parchment paper). Brush each piece right away with a generous amount of softened margarine or melted butter (so that the coil’s grooves are more pronounced. If you don’t, the dough sticks at the grooves and it appears as pyramid instead of a nice mound). Let rise until doubled. (I usually place them inside the oven, along with a bowl filled with hot water, then I heat the oven for 1 minute then turn it off and let the warm air speed up the rising process. Usually they are ready after 15-20 minutes, but you may extend some more if you want puffier buns. I then open the oven door carefully and gradually so as to avoid creating draft then take out the sheets carefully to avoid jarring them -- these might flatten the dough if you are not careful; what we term as "bumagsak.") Put the baking sheets on the countertop where there is no draft.
You might have to prolong the rising time to more than 40 minutes depending on the level of humidity and the temperature where you are (I was told by some that theirs did not rise too much so the buns turned out quite too solid). Keep eyeballing if the buns have doubled in size. You can now start heating the oven.
Brush with Egg Glaze (optional). Bake at 375o F for 12-15 minutes or until done and top is golden dark brown if with glaze or golden light brown if without. (I usually start checking periodically after 10 minutes for the individual rolls. Remove from baking sheets (this avoids sweating at the bottom part so it won’t turn soggy there); cool on wire racks until lukewarm just so that the softened butter or margarine will not melt when brushed. Dip in a bowl of granulated sugar to coat (or you can just sprinkle on top). If storing some pieces, it is better not to put butter/margarine and sugar yet. Cool them completely (about 10 minutes or so; keep touching them) then immediately store in an airtight Ziploc bag to avoid sweating (which will make them soggy and also will encourage faster mold growth). If you live in an area where humidity is too low, avoid exposing to air beyond the time for complete cooling, or the buns will dry out and will be hard. When reheating, place in the microwave for 10-15 seconds (depending on the microwave) to make it lukewarm before applying butter/margarine and sugar. As advised by breadworld.com, leftover breads are better left in room temp instead of inside the fridge. Refrigerating makes them stale faster.

Egg Glaze: Combine 1 egg white and 1 tablespoon water; beat lightly until well blended. This will create a very dark golden brown top. (I like the contrast. For those who usually think a dark crust means overdone, it will be such a surprise to bite into the softness of the ensaymada, and that wonderful first bite will reveal a yellowish-whitish interior).

You may want to bake them braided or in rounded pans if you want to wrap them as gift (as I did for Christmas) to friends.

Tuwang-tuwa sila!

UPDATE as of 4/2/09: Vincent posted his own take of ensaymada on thefreshloaf, with changes involving omission of milk and adding an extra yolk. Hmmmm....yum!