Filipino-Italian Spaghetti

I am currently experimenting to come up with a recipe for monay...but I don't want to wait for the results of that before I make another post, so I thought I'd post about this recipe even though most likely, my kids will (eventually) be the only ones perusing it and actually cooking it.

I love the Italian style spaghetti...the one like that in Sbarro's...very tomato-ey. Sometimes I use my whole-packed tomatoes (drained). If pressed for time, I grab a jar of Classico pasta sauce. (When I had my own canned pasta sauce, I used that as well.)

However, my kids are not too fond of that. They will eat it, but not favorited.

One time, my nephew and niece were with us and I thought of preparing spaghetti that was sweet, and with hotdogs, like the Filipino style spaghetti. I knew it would be a winner because every kid loves hotdogs! So I set aside unsweetened spaghetti sauce for me and hubby, and the rest was sweetened with hotdogs.

Everyone, including my sons, even the BIG BOY (hubby), liked it better. (I was surprised when hubby got intrigued, him being a hotdog fan as well, and actually preferred it.) Nephew said, "This is even better than my mom's spaghetti!" (Shhhh, don't ever tell her that!). I have to admit I like it better, too.

Any truly Italian would laugh at the idea of hotdogs in spaghetti...

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil
1 onion
4 garlic cloves
1 lb ground beef
14-oz 4-cheese Classico pasta sauce
5 pcs red hotdogs (WA Bean & Sons), sliced
basil, oregano parsley
salt and pepper to taste
sugar to taste (3 tbsp for me)

Instructions:
Boil pasta as instructed in the package. (Stirring in the first few minutes the pasta is in the boiling water will prevent them from sticking together. No need for oil, as how my hubby thinks it does.)

Sautee garlic and onion. Add ground beef until browned. Add pasta sauce (rinse jar with about 1/4 cup of water twice and add to saucepan) and hotdogs. Season with salt and pepper and sugar. Simmer for about 10 minutes for flavors to blend, stirring from time to time.

Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

Meanwhile, I am gonna grace myself with the wonderful performance of Charice featuring one of her newest songs in her upcoming album...(pasensya na kayo; I am such a big fan...I am so mesmerized by her.)

Frozen Almond Brazo De Mercedes

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

From Frozen Almond Brazo De Mercedes

10:50 PM

Nephew: Oh wow! This is the best tasting dessert I have ever had in a long while!

SIL: That was good! As a matter of fact, it is a tad better then the Paris Brest! (Paris Brest is what I always hope my SIL would bring during these gatherings. I love it.)

Sons: Yummy! This is so good, ma!

Husband: Thanks, honey. That was awesome!
Me: So, is this something I should make again?
Husband: Definitely! You can make it everyday!

Me: Mom, would you like me to leave some of this brazo?
MIL: Oh yes, PLEASE! That was so good!

VERDICT: It was a HIT!!!

Gotta make one again for Filipino Christmas Party.

11:45 PM
Done assembly!

11:21 PM
Cooling the meringue now...

11:00 PM
Meringue baking and the rest of the brazo in the freezer right now...

For some reason I was craving for this. And in my head I was toying with the idea of adding almonds to it...then when I went grocery shopping last Monday I impulsively grabbed a box of almond paste aside from sliced almond nuts.

I got the recipe and how-to's for the brazo itself from stef's post on the traditional brazo de mercedes log roll type. But reading the comments, I learned that the latest craze was frozen brazo de mercedes. I thought that would be an easy solution to the usual dilemma of baked meringue/egg-y/custardy goodies (which we are always afraid to be contaminated with Salmonella when out in room temp for a long while), and will allow me as well to prepare it much ahead of time (like when I prepare leche flan -- always best when chilled for at least overnight). That way, I can still make egg pie tomorrow and bring only that as freshly baked and still warm. (My MIL is addicted to my leche flan, my SIL to egg pie. My bilas loves both. I hope this new custard type of dessert will also wow them.) If it turns out superb, I might prepare this for a Filipino Christmas Party I am contemplating on having.

While photos and flavors of such frozen BDM that I saw while researching more about it were of mango flavor, which is definitely not an option for me, I had this persistent idea in my head brewing, which consisted of adding almond paste and sliced almond nuts to the filling, then chopped caramelized sugar sprinkled on top of the meringue...Sounds sinfully good to me...I hope it does turn out good. I used the vanilla because it has been a tested favorite among my family members.

Please take note of wiping the stainless steel mixing bowl with vinegar and salt then rinsing, then wiping dry, prior to placing egg whites in it. And before I started the whole process, I made caramelized sugar first.

Ingredients and How To's:

Base:
8 oz crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup melted butter (or 1/2 cup if you want this layer more intact,less crumbly)
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 gallon vanilla ice cream (approximately; I just got thin layers using a pie server to lay on top of the graham base; you may opt to put the whole gallon for a thicker layer)

Mix thoroughly the first 3 ingredients then pack at the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish. Top with thin layer of ice cream. Cover with cling wrap then freeze.

Filling:
1 box (7-oz) almond paste, grated, sprinkled on top of the ice cream

Custard:
10 egg yolks (the egg whites should be placed in the mixing bowl and let stand in room temp for about 30 minutes before making the meringue)
1 (14-oz) condensed milk
several drops of lemon extract (to eliminate the fishy smell)
2 capfuls of almond extract

2-oz sliced almonds, sprinkled over the custard filling.

On medium low heat (#3 or 4 on my stove), blend well and continuously stir egg yolks and condensed milk until it sticks to the back of the wooden spoon. It may look still very liquidy at this stage but after removing from the heat, it will continue to cook so keep stirring, add the lemon extract, stir well, then the almond extract.

Spread this on top of the almond paste. Place back in the freezer (The short intervals of having this out of the freezer is to prevent the ice cream from melting too much while you work on it). Proceed with meringue procedure and while baking the meringue, sprinkle the sliced almonds on top of the custard. Place back in the freezer.

Meringue:

10 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar

Topping:
5 tbsp Caramelized sugar, cooled and chopped finely (The melted caramel should be poured onto a buttered baking sheet. Let harden, take off from pan, then chop in a chopper.)

As suggested by stef, since I have stainless steel mixing bowl, I wiped it first with vinegar and salt then rinsed and wiped dry with paper towel before I placed the egg whites in it.

Line the bottom and sides of a jelly roll pan (10 x 15) and spray with oil on all
sides (meringue, I realized, is so sticky!). Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and start beating, low speed first then gradually increasing to highest speed. When soft peaks start to form, pour the sugar gradually and beat until it forms stiff peaks, still glossy. (You have overbeaten if it loses sheen and appears granular. This does not take too long as soon as you start slowly pouring the sugar.) Spread this onto the wax paper and level with spatula. Bake for 20-25 minutes (it inflates so much!!! I felt I had to rotate because one side was way much higher than the other).

Place on a wire rack to cool completely (deflates). Sprinkle some chopped caramelized sugar on top of the meringue then place a sheet of wax paper. Cover with bigger baking sheet and flip over. Peel off the wax paper from the underside of meringue. (I goofed here; did not spray with oil the sides of the wax paper, so it was so hard to peel it off the meringue edges.)

Lift the meringue using the wax paper, folding at the middle a bit so it is easier to place on top of the base/filling. Tuck the edges under. Sprinkle the rest of the chopped caramelized sugar. Place back in the freezer.

To serve: upon getting from the freezer, while still hard, slice with butter knife. Rinse with hot water and wipe knife with every line of slice (or when some custard starts to stick to it). Optional: drizzle with maple syrup.

Will post photo of sliced brazo, then update on how it was accepted by my in-laws and family tomorrow after celebration of Thanksgiving...

Coconut-Cinnamon Rolls & Pan de Coco-Cinni

This post is especially dedicated to Susan of Guam, who sent me an email yesterday about MY pan de coco recipe...She is one of those who give me inspiration.

Okay, here's the recipe for my Coconut-Cinnamon Rolls

From Coconut-cinnamon rolls

that made my husband close his eyes savoring his bite as he taste-tested this the night I baked them. I guarantee you this is gonna be a hit to any cinnamon and coconut lover.

Ingredients:

Prepared dough (I used half of my buttery ensaymada dough for two logs)

Mix and put in the fridge overnight -
8-oz grated coconut (that's about 1 cup packed?)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar

Add to the above mixture the following prior to filling the dough:
2 tbsp ground cinnamon (you may add up to 4 tbsp depending on how cinn-y you want it)
5 tbsp flour

2 tbsp milk to brush on dough prior to filling

Directions (the slideshow is pretty much self-explanatory:

Prepare filling.
Roll dough to about 8x 13 in; make sure you sprinkle flour on the countertop and on your rolling pin. The dough gets stickier as it stays in room temp.
Brush milk onto the dough. Spread the filling thinly. Spare the edges that should make the seam.
Roll tightly into a log. You may have to use the dough cutter (dipped occasionally into a mound of flour) to lift up the dough as you roll.
Cut at 1-inch intervals using dough cutter (wipe the blade before every slice). Fix the roundness of the cut piece with your fingers before you place onto a greased pan.
Let rise for one hour inside the oven warmed by "baking" for 1 minute then turned off.
Take out of the oven; start heating up the oven for real baking at 350 deg F.
bake for 15-20 mins or until the middle dough is browned.
Loosen edges from the pan and invert onto a plate to remove.
Place on a cooling wire rack. If not eating right away, cool completely and wrap in plastic. May store at room temp for up to 3 days. (I guarantee you this is better than store-bought canned cinnamon rolls!).

Basically the same recipe for Pan de Coco-Cinni --

Ingredients:

Prepared dough (I used 1/4 of my buttery ensaymada dough)
Remaining filling (not sure how much was there; probably a cup)
Egg white for glaze

Instructions:
Cut dough into pieces (I cut them just so I could barely close my hand around each piece- yields pieces that are quite big one can fill you up quickly)
Flatten to disks.
Put about 1 tbsp filling at the center. Fold over the edges to seal.
Flatten the pieces. Place on greased baking sheet.
Bake at 350 deg F for 20 minutes or until browned to your liking (I should have baked this at 400 to bake at 12 minutes but since I baked this along with the coco-cinnamon roll, I used 350. End product seems too light (and uncooked) to my eyes, but actually they are done. My older son can eat two of these at a time.

I think I am gonna submit my coconut-cinnamon roll recipe to a baking contest...huwag nyo ako unahan/agawan...:)

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).