Kababayan (Filipino Muffins)

This recipe and photo above were shared by my fb friend Aileen Nopuente. Thanks for your generosity, Aileen!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 cup softened butter( room temperature)
2 cup all purpose flour
2 cups cake flour
1 Tbs. baking powder 1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 cup warm water
yellow food colouring,as needed for colour
28 ounces,sweetened condensed milk (2 cans)
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 190"C .
- Combine sugar,salt,sugar,cream of tartar and soft butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.blend for 4 mins at lowest speed.
- Stir together in a separate bowl the all-purpose flour,cake flour & baking powder.
- Stir togeteher vanilla,water,yellowcolour and condensed milk in another small bowl.
- Add wet and dry ingredients along with oil alternately to mixer until it forms a smooth batter.
- Fill-each well-greased muffin cup with 1/2 cup batter.bake for 22 mins. or until toothpick inserted in cake center comes out clean.
- When the muffin is almost done, turn off the oven & partially open the oven door for another 5 mins. before taking out the muffin.

Manang's Pancit Sotanghon

This is one of the many ways I cook sotanghon...my typical ingredients are the usual ingredients for pancit: holy trinity of ginisang bawang, sibuyas, at kamatis (sauteed garlic, onions, and tomatoes), carrots and cabbage, with chicken broth, chicken/pork meat or shrimps and squid, with some soy sauce, patis, oyster sauce, ground pepper, and a drizzle of sesame oil

However, one day I had an intense craving, and all I had at home were the garlic and onions, carrots, and celery, with some leftover chicken and turkey breasts. And in my pantry were (Asian ingredientrs) canned baby corn, straw mushrooms, water chestnut, and quail eggs...and I had in my freezer several pints of chicken broth.

Hmmm...seems like I can make a somewhat more-Chinese-ish version of pancit. So I did, and I managed to satisfy my cravings.

Ingredients:


2 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced thinly
3 stalks celery, sliced thinly
1/2 the contents of each canned straw mushrooms, baby corns, quail eggs, and water chestnut (don't forget to drain)
1 cup cubed chicken/turkey breasts
2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
cornstarch+water to thicken a bit

You might be wondering why only half of the canned products...well, I had to save some for another batch this time using a cup of squid and 1/2 pound of shrimps (seafood version, which I made the next day).

1 pack of bean vermicelli noodles (about 14 ounces?)
hot water to soak noodles in for 5 minutes
2-3 cups chicken broth to cook the noodles in
2 tbsp oyster sauce
soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp anatto oil (optional- see here for instructions)
drizzle of sesame oil


Instructions:


Soak the noodles in HOT water for 5 minutes. Drain well.

Sautee, in the following order, garlic (until golden brown), onions (until translucent), carrots, celery, baby corn, water chestnut, and straw mushrooms for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from pan.  Put the 2 cups broth into the pan and let boil. Thicken a bit with cornstarch-water mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place the veggies back into the pan, add the quail eggs and stir until veggies are coated with the slightly thickened sauce. When it starts to boil/bubble, cook some more, uncovered, for additional 1 minute, stirring occasionally.

Set aside. (Note: I gave some to my friend Anna, with the noodles separated. She ate this with plain rice, not realizing that it was supposed to go with the noodles, which she was saving for another meal time, thinking it was complete pancit already.)

For the noodles, bring the broth to a boil, season with the other ingredients except sesame oil, and dump the wet noodles into it. Stir, stir, stir until noodles have absorbed the broth. Bite into a noodle. If it still is too tough, add some more broth (or water).  Do not be too concerned if it is not that salty, as you can easily adjust the salt with soy sauce once you serve.  Remove from heat, drizzle with sesame oil, and stir.

Pour the prepared sauce/veggie/meat (or seafood) on top of hot noodles.

Enjoy!

Puto Pao/Cua Pao

I am not really sure what this is called. The first time I tasted what seemed like puto with filling like that of siopao, it was when a sister-in-law brought some from Laguna. I loved it then. She said it was called cuapao. The shape was rectangular.

With previous browsing on the net, some called it puto pao. The cua pao search I made led me to a photo that did not look like what my ex-SIL brought. So, I don't know what this is really called. But simply put, that pao that I had then from SIL is basically puto with siopao filling. Period.

Now, with my easy method of making puto from boxed white cake mix (and I recently bought a pint of pure pasteurized egg whites), I made some puto pao (or cua pao?). After my kids loved them paos, I thought I should have a set of rectangular or square silicone muffin cups. So I bought a set of square and triangular. Next time I make puto pao again, I will use the square ones(they are larger too than the typical muffin cup shape). We already tried them with brownies and once the brownies were cool enough, they were easy to remove from the silicone cups.

I used leftover beef pares for filling (note: the beef pares link will lead you to my blog post which had a very old unappealing photo of my beef pares, which does not do justice to how scrumptious this dish is, so please do not be discouraged. It has been a tried and tested and loved recipe by several of my readers, and a favorite special beef roast recipe in my household that even my in-laws love it). I chopped the meat roughly, mixed that with the sauce, adjusted the sauce with thickener (cornstarch-water mix), salt, sugar, pepper as necessary. Then I chilled the mixture prior to making the puto pao. The chilling enables me to shape the filling into disks which I could lay flat over half of the puto batter before I top with the other half.

I get the water boiling even before I start preparing the batter. I use any white cake mix in my pantry, with the required egg whites and oil, then mix thoroughly with a hand mixer until batter looks fluffy. I place about a teaspoon at the bottom of the muffin paper liner, then carefully top with flattened filling (I measure using cooking scoop), then finally add another teaspoon or so of white cake mix batter, or enough to cover sides and top of the filling (I avoid adding too much). The slide show has some photos with sliced cheese on top, or plain, or some puto pao with the filling on top only (I experimented to place the filling on top, expecting it to sink to the middle while steaming, but it did not).

The result got my kids excited, they had these for snacks that night, and saved some for the next morning for their breakfast.

As expected, hubby only ate the plain puto. :(

Egg Tarts

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Another recipe shared by my fb friend Leslie Ruelan. Thanks a lot, Leslie, for sharing your tried and tested recipes, especially at these times that I am too busy to bake something new or to even try new recipes.

Ingredients:
30 pcs. tart shells
10 pcs. egg yolks
1 can 300 ml. condensed milk
1 can 370 ml. evap. milk
1 tsp. vanilla


Instructions:

1.) mix all ingredients (except tart shells) until egg is well dispersed.
2.) pour into each tart shells
3.) bake at 350F for 25 mins. or until golden brown

Old Fashioned Buttermilk Bread

Makes 1 loaf. 

Do not make loaves larger than recommended by bread machine manufacturer. Use the 1-pound recipe if your bread machine pan holds 10 cups or less of water. Use the 2-pound recipe if the pan holds 13 cups or more. 

	1-lb loaf (8 slices)	1-1/2 lb loaf (12 slices)	2-lb loaf (16 slices)
Buttermilk	¾ cup + 2 tbsp	1 cup + 2 tbsp	1-2/3 cup
Butter, cut up	1 tbsp	1-1/2 tbsp	2tbsp
Bread flour	2 cups	3 cups	4 cups
Sugar	1 tbsp	4 tsp	2 tbsp
Salt	¾ tsp	1-1/4 tsp	1-1/2 tsp
Baking soda	1/8 tsp	1/8 tsp	¼ tsp
Bread machine yeast	1 tsp	1-1/2 tsp	1-1/2 tsp

Directions

Measure all ingredients into bread machine pan in the order suggested by manufacturer, addingbaking soda with flour. 

Process on basic/white bread cycle; use medium/normal crust color setting. Do not use delayed-bake feature. Remove bread from pan; cool on wire rack. 

Sugar Twists/Siakoy/Pilipit/Linubid

Another recipe from Leslie Ruelan. He shared three of his favorite Filipino snack recipes with me (after he added my supersoft ensaymada to his favorite recipes).  Thanks, Leslie!

Ingredients:

5 tbsp. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 c warm water (to be used with the yeast)
1/2 c oil
1/2 c sugar
2 tsp. salt
6 ~ 7 c bread flour
1 c milk
3/4 c water

Instructions:
1.) mix yeast with the 1/2 c warm water (set aside)
2.) mix all dry ingredients first before placing all the remaining ingredients
3.) knead the dough for about 10 mins. (if using the manual method)
4.) cover the dough and let it rest for 10 mins.
5.) cut and roll the dough like you're making ensaymada then twist it as shown in the picture
6.) let rise for 1/2 hour or more depending on the size you want
7.) deep fry the twists on medium heat until golden brown
8.) remove and let the oil drip by placing it in a wire rack
9.) when its not too hot anymore, you can dip in a bowl of sugar* or use a zip lock with sugar then shake.

*Note from me: You can make vanilla sugar by placing a vanilla bean pod (cut in half) inside a jar of sugar.

Torta Mamon Cebuano

The photo above and the recipe below are courtesy of my online/fb friend Leslie Ruelan (I did have the same recipe shared to me long ago by another online friend/ED nurse Glenn A. through email he sent me, but he did not have photos, and I lost my photos of it when I made them. They are so good!).  Thanks for these generous people who were willing to pass on recipes handed to them through generations. I never really heard of torta cebuana until I met friends online. Just a reminder for those who do not know what to do with the egg whites, turn them into lengua de gato or sans rival (both recipes available in this kusina).

Ingredients:

1 c sugar
10 egg yolks
1/2 c water
1 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
3 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. anise powder
1/2 c butter, melted
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 can 300 ml. condensed milk

Procedure:
1.) boil sugar and water for 5 mins. to make a syrup. Set aside to cool.
2.) combine flour and anise powder in a bowl.
3.) pour in melted butter, prepared syrup, oil, condensed milk and egg yolks
4.) stir using mixer until smooth
5.) sift in baking powder
6.) pour into wax paper-lined torta molds and
7.) bake at 350F for 22 mins. or until inserted toothpick comes out clean
8.) brush the top with margarine and sprinkle with refined sugar; enjoy with prepared syrup.

Lukban Hardinera

Please welcome Jun Avila as my guest blogger for this post...Everything below is his own words...I got his permission to share this recipe. While I am too busy at the moment, I figure I'd post recipes shared by my online friends (with their permission, of course!) and probably blog about some gadgets of mine.  Bookmark it for your next handaan with your Pinoy friends because this one sure sounds like a winner!

Description:
WHILE most meat loaves have ground meat as base, there’s a kind of meat loaf in Lucban that instead uses diced pork. Called hardinera, it’s unique in other ways as well. For one thing, it’s cooked in a llanera, an oval pan commonly used for leche flan. For another, it is not baked in an oven, like most meat loaves, but is instead steamed.

What also makes it different is the garnishing of hard-boiled eggs, bell pepper strips and pineapple slices that go into the bottom of the pan. When inverted onto a serving platter, these garnishings form a colorful topping. The beaten raw eggs poured into the llanera form a coating that gives the hardinera the look of an aspic.

Ingredients:

¼ c cooking oil, divided
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 kilo pork kasim, diced into cubes
(See tips.)
1 tbsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1-2 c pork broth (See tips.)
1 c tomato sauce
1 c finely diced sweet mixed pickles or pickle relish
½ c diced frankfurters
1/3 c raisins
1 c canned pineapple tidbits, well drained
1 small can red pimiento, drained and diced
1 85-g can liver spread (1/3 c)
½ c grated Cheddar cheese
1 c bread crumbs
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
3-4 canned pineapple slices, each cut into 3-4 pieces
1 small green bell pepper, cut into fine strips
1 small red bell pepper, cut into fine strips
3 uncooked eggs

Directions:
Grease 3-4 small llaneras and line with banana leaves or with nonstick baking paper. Set aside.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pan and sauté onions and garlic about one minute (do not let garlic burn).

Heat remaining 2 tbsp oil and add pork. Season with salt and pepper and stir-cook pork until brown.

Pour in pork broth and tomato sauce and simmer until pork is tender, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Meanwhile, mix together pickles, frankfurters, raisins, pineapple tidbits, red pimiento, liver spread, cheddar cheese and bread crumbs. Add the cooked pork. Do not include the sauce in which it was cooked. (See tips.) Mix until well combined.

Arrange slices of hard-boiled eggs, pineapple, and green and red pepper strips on the bottom of the prepared llaneras. Beat the 3 eggs and pour into llaneras, dividing equally. Spoon the pork mixture equally among the llaneras, pressing top to smoothen.

Cover tops of llaneras with foil and steam in a large steamer for about 45 minutes or until firm. If the four llaneras do not fit into the steamer, cook them in batches (two at a time).

To serve: Run a spatula or the dull edge of a knife along the sides of llaneras to loosen the jardinera. Invert onto a serving platter and tap llaneras lightly to release the jardinera. Remove llaneras and peel off banana leaves or baking paper before serving.

TIPS

Llaneras are small, oval-shaped aluminum pans often used for making leche flan. This recipe makes enough to fill four small llaneras.

If llaneras are not available, you can use loaf pans. The recipe can probably fill two loaf pans.

The pork should be diced into pieces slightly smaller than that used for menudo.

To make pork broth: boil one pork broth cube (or one pork bouillon cube) in 2 c water until cube dissolves. Use as per direction above.

Instead of pork broth, you can use plain water.

If desired, use the broth and the tomato sauce in which the pork was tenderized as sauce: Simmer in a small saucepan. Dissolve 1 tbsp cornstarch in ¼ c water and pour into sauce. Season to taste with salt, pepper and liquid seasoning. Simmer until slightly thick. Add one to 2 tbsp butter and heat until butter dissolves. Serve with the hardinera.

Drain the canned pineapple tidbits and the canned pineapple slices very well so mixture doesn’t become soggy.

Thanks for sharing this recipe, Jun!

Banoffee Pie

This is a recipe shared by one of kusina's reader, Joy C.  I am using photos she submitted for the slideshow.

Thanks to Joy C. for this recipe and the photos!


INGREDIENTS:

1 pack graham crackers (crushed); you can use less  if you want
nuts of your choice (Joy used chopped almonds)
1/2 cup butter, melted
5 or more pieces of ripe bananas, sliced into discs
1-1/2 cup whipping cream (depends on how much you want)
1/4 cup sugar or use more according to your taste, added to whipped cream towards the end of whipping
1 can (pressure-cooked) dulce de leche to serve as toffee
optional: chocolate shavings (you can buy this in small packages in the baking section)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Crush graham crackers either by using a chopped or food processor (best) or placing in a ziploc bag and crushing with rolling pin.

Mix crushed graham, nuts and butter then press onto a springform pan.  Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until the crust hardens.

Pour the dulce de leche/toffee on top then chill again.

Whip the cream and add sugar to taste.

Distribute sliced bananas on top of the toffee then top with the whipped cream.

Garnish with chocolate shavings if desired.

Manang's Lechon Manok

Syempre hindi kumpleto ang Pinoy food cravings ko kung walang lechon manok. That is the main reason why I got myself a rotisserie. Actually, my friend Ana has it, and cooked lechon manok in it using cornish hens. That's what gave me the idea of getting myself this rotisserie.

My favorite back when I was in Pinas was the Baliwag style, although Andok's was more ubiquitous. But I had a different experience when I bought some at one of the MRT stations near JR Memorial Hospital (can't remember the name of the stall). The outlet was small, yet the machine was more high tech, and I love the spicy taste (although it was a bit too hot for my kids). I think the different spice flavor was due to the five-spice, which I tried below. And I added some other spices to experiment. If you notice, the two chickens below have different colors. That's because of different flavors. The chickens were the smallest ones among our very own homegrown chickens. Love them with atsarang papaya and steamy rice, plus sarsa ni Mang Tomas, of course. Hubby had the potato with it, and does not care for veggies.

Ingredients:
Whole chickens (that will fit in the rotisserie)
5 cloves garlic each
1 onion each
lemongrass stalks
celery stalks
whole peppers
several fenugreek seeds (I love the smell of it)
kosher salt to taste (in the cavity and on the skin)
various spices (I experimented with five spice, paprika, curry powder, ground pepper, etc -- up to you to experiment. Use your nose to see what you think will give you superb flavor)
Blocks of butter to keep skin moist.

Instructions:
Photos below pretty much self-explanatory. Cooking time depends on weight of chicken (about 2 hours for these two small chickens to make sure they are done. You can always check by prying with a fork or using a thermometer).
Add the veggies one hour before done.
Let sit on the platter for about 10 minutes before attacking to allow for the juices to redistribute.

Choco Cornets

My older son was intrigued because of some anime cartoon show that featured this pastry. So I went on to search for a recipe, and got one from a Japanese site, which luckily has an English translation. I modified the dough by looking at the ingredients and finding a similar one from breadworld.

Ingredients & Instructions:

Dough --

Place in bread machine the liquid ingredients at room temp.
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp + 1 tsp (that's 95 ml) of water
2 large eggs
3 tbsp butter

Add the dry ingredients.
3/4 tsp salt
2-1/4 cup bread flour
2 tbsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp BM yeast

Run on dough cycle.
Transfer to lightly floured surface. Flatten with palm of your hand and divide in two (sprinkle flour as needed for easier handling). Fold the ends of each so that you make 2 layers and create a square. Fold each lengthwise, then cut into 6 portions each (so you have a total of 12 pieces).
Starting at the middle going outwards with your hands and the surface well greased, roll with your palms to make into ropes.
Wrap around the greased cornets (I found it easier to do if I let the rope stay on the table and start wrapping by rolling the horn mold along the rope).
Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Let rise about 20 minutes (or 10 in warmed oven)
Brush with egg wash*.
Bake at 400 °F for 10 minutes.
Remove from molds and place on cooling rack. Cool completely (maybe 10 mins or more).
Pipe custard into the cooled cornets.

*Egg Wash --

1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp sugar

Chocolate Custard Cream --

Whip together --
2 tbsp sugar divided
2 egg yolks
Sift together --
3 tbsp Cake flour
2 tbsp + 1 tsp Cocoa powder
Heat up until steamy –
¾ cup milk
4 tbsp sugar
Add some of this to yolk mixture and blend well,
Pour the yolk-milk mix to hot milk mixture.
Continue cooking on low until creamy thick.
Add –
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
½ tsp chocolate syrup
2 oz (1 square) Baker’s bittersweet baking chocolate

Cool and beat with ½ pkg (4 oz) of softened cream cheese.

Place in Ziploc bag and cool completely until cornets are ready.

Reader's Gallery #14

This is long overdue!!! Lowiela Ellen sent me these photos of mamon late last year, with the following email.

hello manang,

i tried your special mamon yesterday and tasted so good!!!!though the first batch was just too short in the oven so the 2nd batch i do it bit longer...

tried also the leche flan using whole eggs but was not able to take photo it turned out also perfect with the 2nd batch and so so the first batch but was own mistake and learned from it!!!

thank you manang!!!!

Thanks, Lowiela, and sorry for this delayed posting...

Butter Spritz Cookies

My new favorite spritz cookies because they are easy enough to press out the cookie press, bakes for 6-8 minutes only, tender enough for me, great-tasting, and easily slides off the traditional aluminum (non-insulated pan using a little nudge by a brownie spatula. Most of all, hubby does not really notice the difference from the first two recipes (or so he says).

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salst
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1-1/3 cups confectioners sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Sift together the flour and salt; set aside.
Cream together the softened butter and sugar. Mix in egg yolks, almond and vanilla extracts. Blend in dry ingredients. Fill cookie press and shoot cookies 1.5" apart on ungreased aluminum non-insulated cookie sheet. You may decorate with sprinkles or sugar before baking.
Bake 6-8 minutes until slightly golden brown at the edges.

Chocolate Oat Cookies

I got this recipe (original name Double Chocolate Oat Cookies) from a booklet sampling of favorite brand recipes. However, when I made this the first time, I found it too soft/gooey, although very good. So the second time I made it, I used the one on the internet, but that gave me very tough and dry cookies. So this time, I resorted back to the first one I used, but I doubled the amount of oats (which makes it healthier, doesn't it? Ok, ok, at least I have less guilt with this choco-laden recipe), and I got the consistency and taste that I expected.

Kids and hubby love these cookies, and so do I.

Ingredients:
2 cups swemisweet chocolate chips, divided in two
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup all purpose-flour
1-1/2 cup Quaker Oats (quick or old-fashioned, uncooked)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (optional)

Instructions:
Heat oven to 375° F. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in small saucepan; set aside.
Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.
Stir in melted chocolate, egg, and vanilla.
Combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix this with the liquid ingredients.
Stir ini remaining chocolate chips.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto parchment sheet placed on cookie sheets (I used a cookie scoop).
Bake 8-10 minutes or just until set (Do not overbake. Centers should look soft.)
Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; transfer to wire rack and cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Frenchie Minute Steaks (or Frenchie Beef Lengua)

Minute steaks are very thin cuts of beef sirloin or round, so thin that you can cook each side for one minute and it is done.

I cooked this for the first time just googling french onion soup with beef and got the idea to
add frenchies, basing on my husband's favorite beef dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse, Chop Steak. While not exactly the same, my husband excitedly exclaimed that they look and tasted almost the same. Chop steak is "ground beef, seasoned, grilled and smothered with sautéed mushrooms, red wine Bordelaise sauce and crisp onion straws." This dish quickly became a favorite in my household. It is so good, that I decided to make my beef lengua last Pinoy Christmas Party the same way.


Ingredients:
1 lb minute steaks
1 small can (4 oz) sliced mushrooms
2 envelopes Lipton Recipe Secret Onion soup mix*
1-1/2 cup red wine (or water)
Frenchies french fried onions for topping.

*Note: If you are using the Campbell's french onion soup, use only 3/4 cup red wine/water.


Instructions:
Prepare the french onion soup as directed in the package, except use red wine (or plain water if you don't have red wine) for the liquid. Double the amount of red wine (or water) to allow for evaporation during pressure cooking. (alternative: Campbell's French Onion Soup)
Drain and sautee mushrooms. Set aside.
A few pieces at a time, brown each side of the minute steaks and set aside on the same platter you placed the mushrooms on.
Place back everything in the pot and add the soup mixture (or campbell's french onion soup with red wine/water). Let boil.
Cover. Pressure cook for 10 minutes (if you are using thicker slices like in stir-fries, you can extend to 15 minutes).
Stir and place on a platter.
Sprinkle with Frenchies fried french fried onions and serve with mashed potatoes or plain rice.

Note: If you are going to use beef lengua, prepare the lengua first (pressure cook for 30 minutes then peel off the white coating, then slice at 1/2-inch thickness. These will now be the substitute for minutes steaks.

The Perfect Empanada de Kaliskis Dough

Bago ang lahat, salamat po sa mga loyal na tagasubaybay na nakakaalalang magpipindot ng mga gugelads ko. :)

I had been experimenting with different recipes for this type of empanada which reminds me of my favorite empanadas in the Philippines I used to buy from Merced Bakedshop. I had no idea it was what some regions in the Philippines would call empanada de kaliskis. And I don't know how the consistency is in those regions, because apparently, they don't taste as good as they look like. However, as far as my tastebuds remember, the gorgeous scale-like appearance, flaky, yet very tender dough of empanadas that I bought from Merced Bakeshop then was what I would call as the perfect empanada crust.

I was browsing a Malaysian food blog sometime in September when I chanced upon the gorgeous layers of what looked like empanada, but they called it spiral (curry) puffs. More searches led me to other sites showing detailed photos of how to create the layers, and they called it in their native tongue as "karipap". Around December, I tried a recipe but it did not get my approval, so no empanadas for Christmas give-aways. That recipe had egg, but it resulted to chewy yet flaky dough which was not really tender for me, and the flavor was so-so. (I am not talking about the filling here; just the dough. Filling is easy enough to make and to adjust according to taste preference). It probably is the same recipe used by the ones featured by Market Manila here.

I got back to trying out such recipes this January when I chanced upon a Filipino blog post on empanada de kaliskis. This second recipe I tried left a very greasy feel to my mouth, albeit flaky and tender enough. While my kids liked them, it was not what I was looking for, so my search continued.

So, it took me a total of three recipes to finally settle for this one below which I would consider the closest to what I am craving for. The characteristic appearance and flaky layers are a result of overlapping water dough and oil dough. I am settling for this one, as this was not only easy to manipulate and fill (did not easily crack), it also had a seemingly good proportion of flour to lard (or shortening) that (1)-the oil dough did not easily leak out of the water dough despite repeated rolling/folding, (2)-the dough remained intact while filling and crimping, and (3)-the cooked empanada was not too fragile to handle. I am not sure if substituting shortening would give the same results, but I am very satisfied with the results I got using pork leaf lard (that I rendered myself) for the dough, then using pork lard from fat back (that I rendered too) for deep frying. (I know, it is cholesterolific, but hey, no trans-fat here!). One of these babies is enough to satisfy a hungry tummy during merienda.

Now like most Filipino goodies I have on my site, this recipe and method are here for the purpose of (1) satisfying my gluttony for punishment hunger for challenges, (2) satisfy my curiosity on how things are made, and (3) making use of leftovers. So I probably will not be making this too often (as is the case with siopao and hopia and monay and siomai and lumpia and the other labor-intensive, time-consuming recipes). I do hope, however, that some entrepreneur (especially in the Philippines) will find this helpful.

This post has two parts: dough and filling. Filling recipe way below.

The dough recipe here is courtesy of ch3rri-blossom for her flaky taro mooncake recipe. Although she cut both water and oil doughs into 4, I chose to make mine one whole piece, so as to have more open edges (her 4 pieces each cut into 3 led to the end slices having only one open end, so that the un-open end had the water dough covering the oil dough so less layering effect on that -- don't bother to try to understand this if it confuses you).

I did not bother to convert to cups. So get yourself some digital kitchen scale with grams/oz measurement. And please do not ask me for the conversions. I am sure you can use google for that purpose if you really want to try this.

Water Dough:

200 gm all purpose flour
1/2 tsp white vinegar
50 gm pork lard (or shortening)
30 gm sugar
100 gm water

Oil Dough:

180 gm all purpose flour
100 gm pork lard (or shortening)

Method:

1. For water dough, mix water, sugar, and vinegar. Mix in flour then add pork lard (or shortening). Knead to a soft dough. Wrap in plastic and let rest for at least 30 minutes.
2. For oil dough, use a food processor to blend well (use short bursts to make it crumb-looking).
3. Use a rolling pin to flatten water dough (please see slideshow below). Distribute oil dough on half of water dough. Cover the oil dough with the other half of water dough so the water dough completely envelopes oil dough. Leave as little of the water dough at the edges just so you can seal water dough nicely all around oil dough.
4. Flatten and pop any bubble, but seal tightly so oil dough does not leak out.
5. Fold into thirds (the ends of the long rectangle) then fold in two so you end up with a squarish form. Flatten again to make it rectangular then fold in two again to make it square.
6. Flatten again to make it rectangular, about 9x13, then roll like jelly roll to form a log using the longer side.
7. Tap the ends of the log to make them flatter before starting to slice.
8. Slice every 3/4" to 1 inch (or slice and fill one at a time).
9. Use your palm to initially flatten, then use the rolling pin. Flatten the edges more since those are going to be crimped/pleated (and therefore, if you make it thick at the start, pleating will make it thicker). The middle should be thick enough so it does not break open when you put the filling in.
10. Place about 1 tbsp of filling. Pinch the edges and pleat/crimp. See here for a demo.
11. Deep fry in 375 deg F oil for about 2 minutes, then drain on paper towel.

After frying two batches, I wrapped each individually then froze for future merienda use (or to add to the stock, possibly to cook when we have another gathering). For frozen ones, what I probably will do is to deep fry for two minutes and finish cooking the filling by placing them on a rack in a heated oven (350 deg F, partially open).

If you are interested in the filling, here's how I made it.
Roughly chop some turkey leftover meat (about 2 cups).
Dice potatoes and carrots; boil in chicken stock for 10 minutes. Drain.
Chop about 1/4 cup of raisins.
Heat up some turkey gravy (about 1 cup) then add the meat and veggies. Adjust taste with salt and pepper.
Cool completely (easier to scoop it up to fill the dough when it is chilled in the fridge first).

Classic Spritz Cookies

This is the second recipe I tried for use with my new toy cookie press. I must say I and my kids prefer this recipe, as this is lighter than the Marcato biscuits. Plus, the dough itself was very easy to squeeze out, I did not have to use the force of my body. The downside only was that it was harder to remove from the baking pan than the Marcato biscuits once baked, even after cooling for some time. So maybe next time I can experiment by actually greasing the pan with butter before squeezing out the dough (with the possibility of the dough not sticking to the pan). Or I can just try using parchment paper and holding the paper before pulling the cookie press up after squeezing out the dough.

Hubby, as I said in my previous post, preferred the denser Marcato biscuits (although he found it hard to admit it to me).

Just a note on the cheaper Norpro brand (link shown here):
I received it already. Made of aluminum, it is lighter and thinner than the Marcato I bought earlier (which, interestingly, also bears the Norpro mark on the box, but is made in Italy). I would think it will not be up to denser cookie dough like the Marcato biscuits. However, I think it is still a better option than plastic ones. I will also someday try its butter spritz cookie recipe included in the manual. The light dough below should not be a problem with this cheaper Norpro cookie press.

Wilton's Classic Spritz Cookies

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon no-color almond extract
Makes: 7-8 dozen cookies.

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk, vanilla and almond extract; mix well. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat until combined. Do not chill. Fill cookie press with dough and with desired disks, press cookies onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet on cooling rack. Remove from sheet; cool completely.

Marcato Biscuits (Cookies)

I bought a cookie press sometime last year, foreseeing some cookie-making for cookie swap come Christmas...but in the busy-ness of the Holidays, I did not actually get to practice with my new gadget until after Christmas.

The motivation I had to get myself a cookie press was when hubby previously commented on lengua de gato that made me recall this neat gadget which my Nanay used to have (although I never actually saw her use it).

I got one that I realized now is too pricey, it seems, as I perused amazon.com for the same item. (Probably, amazon did not have the $14.99 at the time I purchased mine).  But I guess,  with this price and the good reviews as to how sturdy it is, I think I made a good choice nevertheless. Just out of curiosity, I got myself this $14.99 to see if it is the same sturdy construction. Then I will update you readers who might be interested to get it.

My first cookies were overbaked, tough, and brown.  I let hubby try one and he suggested I bake them for a shorter time. He then liked the ones baked only up to the point that edges start to turn brown.  I also had to get used to pumping out the dough, and to try not greasing the baking sheet. Probably oven temps and environmental conditions and baking pan differences accounted for my initial results despite following the recipe in the manual.  After I adjusted the baking time and omitted greasing the baking sheets (I used insulated nonstick aluminum), my hubby now has a new favorite homemade cookie. He can finish a whole batch in two days. (Sadly, my kids and I are not that crazy over this; we like the lengua de gato better.)

This is the first recipe I will post for cookie press.

Basic dough recipe:

500 g (~ 1 lb) flour
250 g (~1/2 lb) sugar
250 g (~ 1/2 lb or 2 sticks) butter
pinch of salt
2-3 oz milk
3 egg yolks

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F and place the rack at the middle.

Melt the butter in the microwave for about a minute and stir; set aside in room temp. Place the flour into a bowl mixing it with the sugar and a pinch of salt. Pour the egg yolks in the center and mix the dough with a fork. Add the butter previously melted, then the milk, and knead with your hands until completely uniform and soft.

Coming up is another recipe that I and the kids preferred, but my husband likes ok (he still prefers the more dense recipe above).

How to Use the Cookie Press

I bought a cookie press last December, triggered by a my husband's comment in relation to lengua de gato. Somehow, the image of my Nanay's plastic cookie press flashed in my mind, and I knew I had to get myself this toy.

At the time I got mine, it was the $41, chosen because of some good reviews on amazon.  Then as of typing this, I saw the $14.39.  I was intrigued by the cheap price. The gadget itself seemed the same. So I decided to order this just to see if it was made of the same material, and if constructed the same. Will update this post once I got a hold of the cheaper one.

I never saw my mother use hers. So I looked at some videos on how to use the cookie press. Got some ideas from Wilton's.

I used the ONLY recipe (coming up next) that came with the gadget, and while it said to grease the baking sheet, I found out that if I don't, the dough stays on the sheet after coming out of the press. If I did grease the baking sheet, the dough just would not stay on it. The Wilton video I saw suggested ungreased sheet anyway.  I also had to shorten the baking time, and I placed the rack at the middle of the oven to not burn the cookies.  After I developed the rhythm of pressing and baking, my husband is now a happy cookie muncher.

The baking pan I used is a nonstick insulated aluminum pan as pictured below in the link from amazon.


How to use the cookie press:


Unscrew the closing ring and raise the piston. Fill the entire cylinder with part of the dough prepared. Insert the desired die-plate into the closing ring.
The raised part of the die-plate must be facing downwards. Screw the closing ring onto the cylinder. Grrease a cookie sheet evenly.  Choose the size of the biscuits you wish to obtain by rotating the regulator (1=small biscuits; 2=large biscuits).
Turn the knob so that the jack on the lever meets the notches on the rod. Pump the lever a few times until the dough comes out of the holes of the die-plate evenly. Remove this first dough so that the die-plate stays clean.Place the machine on the cold cookie sheet and push the lever downwards.
Raise the lever and move the machine to make another biscuit.
Bake the oven for approximately 12-15 minutes (or until the edges start to brown). You might have to rotate the pan to brown the cookies evenly.
Take the sheet out of the oven and let cool for about a minute before transferring the cookies onto the cooling rack.

Here's a video of me pressing the cookie out onto sheets. Sorry I am not a good video editor. No words here. But you will get the gist anyway...Pardon the mess, please. I was also making empanada at the time; hence, I had flour and bowls around.

Goodie Bars

Last time I worked, one of the CNA's came at 2PM and brought a tin can of cookies and bars. I had a taste of some of them, but this one really made me ask for a recipe. She did not have the recipe on hand, and just described the ingredients somehow, but promised me that she would write it down sometime and leave a copy in my mailbox.

You see, there was a time I was in a baking frenzy making "bars" using the recipes on Nestle and Hershey's chocolate websites, but after tasting several of them, I was sick all too soon with the sweetness, and I had a tough time cutting through the bars that they did not look at all like the ones in the photos (must be something I did wrong, but the results discouraged me from making them again). I cut them bite-size (because I could not tolerate a big chunk) but they lasted a whole month with nobody in the household taking a second serving. I chucked the whole batch then...hard and dry already. What a waste.

On the contrary, that goodie bar was something that I had to restrain myself from getting some more, so as to leave enough for the other co-workers. It was that good.

Well, as soon as I got home, despite the start of a migraine attack, I dreadfully faced the glare of my laptop to look for a recipe with the few ingredients I remembered my co-worker told me it had. This one came close. So last night I baked it (without the almond toffee bits because I mistakenly got a package of milk chocolate toffee bits instead and opted to just leave that out). The result???

It was the right recipe although it seemed sweeter.

After baking it for 45 minutes (because I was afraid the 50 mins recommended might dry up the whole thing), I let it stand overnight, with the pan resting on a cooling wire rack, the top protected by a sheet of paper towel. It was still super moist by the time I cut it (completely cold then) and I made a mental note to bake it for the full 50 minutes next time). I had a hard time cutting through because it was sticky, but nevertheless, it was so good, crunchy at the bottom and gooey at the top. After cutting them into bite-size pieces, I let them stand with enough space in between to further dry up the pieces.

The kids loved these. They munched quite a lot when they came home from school. They said, "This is really good!"

I let hubby taste it and he liked it alright. He said his mom made something like it when he was a child, but it was called Congo squares and with chocolate bits. However, he told me not to bother with those, because as long as I make the cookies that I made today with a cookie press, he'd be happy (I will post about it next).

Goodie Bars recipe by Mike and Alicia Orth of Creative Pixels

Cake:
1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 large egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar (optional to save some for sprinkling on top)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup almond toffee bits (optional)



1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.

2. With an electric mixer stir together the butter, cake mix and 1 egg. Spread into the greased pan and pat down. (I used a hand mixer.)

3. Still using an electric (hand) mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce the speed and slowly pour in the butter. Mix well. Fold in the toffee bits (I did not).

4. Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. (Optional to sprinkle some confectioner's sugar on top). Bake for 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point!