Rainbow Cupcakes

Christmas is just around the corner and I am already planning of what to bake to give away or sell (if there are orders). For sure I will be baking Red Velvet cupcakes.  Today, I experimented on Rainbow Cupcakes which I picked from the internet.  Instead of buttercream or marshmallow icing, I used the same Cream Cheese Frosting that I use for the Red Velvet Cupcakes. (refer to Cream Cheese frosting posted with the Red Velvet Cupcakes)  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:  (makes 24 cupcakes)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1.2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. butter

1 c. sugar

3 eggs

red, blue, green, yellow food coloring

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two 12 cup muffin pans with paper baking cups. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl until evenly blended; set aside.
2. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Pour in the flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture, mixing until just incorporated.
3. Divide the cake batter into four separate bowls. Add a few drops of food coloring into one bowl of batter and stir; add more food coloring, if necessary, to reach the desired shade. Repeat with the remaining colors and bowls of batter.
4. Using a different spoon for each color batter, spoon a small spoonful of each color into the cupcake liners, until 1/2 to 3/4 full. Do not mix the batter once it is in the cupcake liner. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes clean, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I love Red Velvet cakes and was thinking of giveaways when cupcakes came up.  I researched and found a good recipe from Portuguese Girl Cooks.  She shared Georgetown Cupcake's Red Velvet recipe.  For TLC viewers, DC Cupcakes stars two sisters who own Georgetown Cupcake.

Here's the recipe:

Red Velvet Cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake
Makes about 24 Cupcakes   
3 1/4 cups all-purpose 
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
4 tablespoons liquid food colour, preferably no taste food colour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons natural cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 cups whole milk, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Cream Cheese Icing
Makes enough to generously frost 24 cupcakes or one 2 layer 9” cake
16 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups confectioners sugar
16 ounces cream cheese (2 bars), cold and cut into 8 pieces
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the cupcakes:1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line muffins tins with paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, whisk flour and salt together. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and the sugar together and cream on medium speed until it is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5. In a small bowl, whisk the food colouring, cocoa powder, and vanilla together until throughly combined and no lumps remain. Very slowly add to the mixer, and mix at low speed until well combined.
6. Add in one third of the flour mixture, mix until combined, then add in one third of the milk. Mix until combined and repeat adding in the flour then milk, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
7. In a small bowl, add the baking soda to the vinegar. Mix well and add to the batter. Mix until just incorporated, about 10 seconds.
8. Scoop batter into the muffin tin, filling them two-thirds full. Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost when completely cool.
For the icing:1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and confectioners sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add in the cream cheese, 1 piece at a time, until well blended, about 30 seconds. You may need to scrape the bowl after every other addition. Add in the salt and vanilla extract. Whip the icing on high speed for about 1 minutes to make it light and fluffy.
3. Use immediately, or refrigerate until ready to use.
Cupcakes from The Cupcake Diaries: Recipes and Memories from the Sisters of Georgetown Cupcake and frosting from Cooks Illustrated; Holiday Baking 2010

Cebu Style Pork Belly

I have been craving for Cebu style lechon for the longest time and decided to recreate the Cebu flavor at home instead of buying lechon.  I researched and experimented until I finally came up with the taste that is quite similar and easy to make anytime, anywhere.

The three basic ingredients of the belly are tanglad leaves, sampaloc and green onions.  The first time I made the belly roll, I baked it all throughout.  It took more than four hours to finish (I had gone to the mall by then!) until it came out done.  The belly was good but a bit tough.  The second time I tried it, I boiled the pork belly in tanglad leaves, sampaloc powder, green onions in water with lots of salt.  This came out better and a lot more tender.  However, just make sure that the belly has generous layers of fat (don't worry, it will melt while boiling and baking!) so as it comes out juicy and tender.  There were times that my lechon came out dry because my mom always insists on using belly without too much fat.

You may roll the belly before boiling it.  Just spread a layer of the stuffing, roll the belly and tie it all up.  Another method (easier to bake too) is boiling the whole belly, cooling it off, making some slits and stuffing them with the tanglad, sampaloc, onion green onion mixture.  The trick to making the skin crispy is putting the belly in the freezer just before baking it.

Here's my recipe:

3 kilo boneless belly (liempo)

salt

tanglad (lemongrass)

sibuyas na mura (spring onions)

4 garlic segments

pepper

1 pack sinigang mix

water

Procedure 1:  Wash liempo and put in a pot.  Cover with enough water.  Throw in the tanglad leaves (leave the tender parts for the stuffing), a bunch of spring onions, half pack of singang mix, garlic and lots of salt and pepper.  Boil until tender.  Meanwhile, chop the tanglad and a bunch of green onions.  Mix in some salt, pepper and the rest of the sinigang powder.  Once the belly is cool enough, make some slits and stuff with the mixture.  Put the belly in the freezer for at last 2 hours.  Bake  for 1 hour in 350ºF.  Cool, chop and serve.

Procedure 2: (Rolled Belly): Wash liempo, put in mixture of tanglad, sinigang mix, green onions, salt and pepper and roll.  Tie securely.  Put in the pot, cover with water, throw in tanglad leaves, a bunch of spring onions, garlic, sinigang mix, salt and pepper.  Boil until tender. Put the belly in the freezer for at last 2 hours.  Bake  for 1 hour in 350ºF.  Cool, slice and serve.

Chicken in Shaoxing Wine

So here's the recipe for the simple and yet delicious chicken dish which I fell in love with during a short trip to Shanghai:


Ingredients:

3 lbs chicken, dark meat preferably
2 Tbsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
0.5 oz. ginger, thinly sliced
4 – 6 green onion, white parts only, sliced lengthwise
1 1/2 C Shaoxing rice wine2 tsp white sugar

Ice cubes and water

Mix the salt with the two peppers. Rub the chicken all over with the salt and pepper and let it sit for an hour.

Now chose between poaching or steaming the chicken:

Steaming Method:  Bring water to a boil in the steamer. Place the chicken in an even layer, scatter the green onion and ginger all over and steam over medium heat for 30 – 40 minutes or until the internal temperature near the bone reaches 165 – 170 degrees F. If the chicken pieces are larger, they will take longer to steam. If any of the pieces are touching make sure to redistribute them in the middle of cooking so they cook evenly. Mix the ice cubes and water and shock the chicken in ice cold water for 2 minutes. If you poached the chicken, shock it after the chicken has cooled to room temperature. If you steamed the chicken, shock it immediately after steaming.


Poaching Method:  Bring 1.5 liters  of water to a boil in a  large pot, add the green onion bottoms and ginger. Add the chicken, make sure there is enough water to cover the chicken, and return to a boil. Lower the heat to simmer for 10 minutes. If you’re using a whole chicken, when the water is simmering for 10 minutes, lift the chicken out of the water and make sure the stock in the cavity empties back into the pot. Do that 3 times for a whole chicken. For chicken pieces or leg quarters, gently stir the pot once or redistribute the leg quarters so they cook evenly. After 10 minutes, cover, turn off the heat, and allow the chicken to poach undisturbed until the water cools almost to room temperature.

Serving: After cooking, cut the chicken into bite sized pieces, or score the chicken meat with a knife. Put the chicken pieces into a large container. Mix 3/4 cup to 1 cup of the chicken stock (the liquid you poached the chicken in or the liquid that comes out of the chicken after steaming) with the sugar and rice wine. Taste the marinade and add salt if needed. Pour it over the chicken pieces and let this sit in the fridge at least overnight before serving. Serve cold.

Pancit na Puti, Max's Style Fried Chicken and Cassava Cake

Yesterday was Mama Rosa's birthday and we had some homestyle Pinoy cooking - Sotanghon na Puti, Cassava Cake and bottomless Max-style Fried Chicken. 

For the sotanghon, I use the Pancit na Puti recipe but instead of bihon, I always use sotanghon. I first tasted this dish during one of our office parties where we would always order from our "suki" Mang Julio.

Here's my recipe:

1/4 kilo sotanghon (soaked in water)

2 chicken breasts

1 cup chopped lechon kawali

1/4 cup minced garlic

1 medium onion, sliced

1/3 cup sliced green onions

1/4 cup cooking oil

freshly ground black pepper

salt

chicken bouillon

1/3 cup patis (fish sauce)

Directions:

Boil chicken breasts until tender in 1 liter of water. Set aside broth. Cut chicken into small pieces once cooled. Saute garlic and onions in cooking oil. Add chicken pieces and patis. Let patis boil for 2 minutes then add chicken broth and bouillon. Let the broth simmer for 5 minutes then add sotanghon. After 5 minutes, add the spring onions, salt and pepper.  Top with the chopped lechon kawali as served.

For the Max's style fried chicken:

Chicken fryer

cornstarch

salt

pepper

oil for frying

Directions:  Split the chicken lengthwise. Rinse well. Coat will cornstarch and season with salt and pepper.  Steam for 30 minutes. Let the chicken halves dry. (May be kept in the freezer also!). When about to serve, heat oil and fry the chicken. Drain and serve with, of course, Jufran banana catsup.  

And for the Cassava cake, I picked this recipe from the internet:

For the cake:

2 lbs. grated cassava

1 14 oz condensed milk (reserve 1/3 c. for topping)

1 14 oz. can coconut milk (reserve /3 c. for topping)

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk

2/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup grated young coconut

For the topping:

3 yolks

1/3 c. reserved sweetened condensed milk

1/3 c. reserved coconut cream

Directions:  Pre-heat oven to 325F.  In a large mixing bowl, combine cake ingredients. Mix well. Pour equally into 2 large greased rectangular pans. Bake until top is no longer liquid (30 minutes). Mix topping ingredients well and spread evenly on the two cakes. Bake for an additional 20-30 minutes. Cook cakes completely.

   

Pichi-Pichi

I was on my way home and happened to drive by a small store selling Pichi-pichi at Php6 per piece. This caught my attention so I decided to experiment. Yesterday was market day so I asked my mom and Yaya Sai to get kamoteng kahoy (cassava), lihiya (lye) and coconut so I could test the recipe I googled.

Here is the recipe I tried:

Ingredients:

• 1 – 1/2 cups grated cassava
• food coloring (optional)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 bundle of pandan leaves, boiled in 2 cups water until reduced to one cup, and cooled ( or canned pandan concentrate, or a few drops of pandan essence in a cup of warm water)
• 1/2 tsp lye water* “lihiya”
• grated coconut for topping

Directions:

• Mix the sugar and the pandan flavored water and mix until sugar is dissolved. mix in the cassava and then add the lye water drop by drop mixing well as you do so.
• Pour into a mold or bowl that fits your bamboo steamer. steam until the mixture becomes translucent.
• While still hot scoop out the cooked mixture (use ice cream scoop or a tablespoon the same size as the scoop) and roll into grated coconut.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Roasted Vegetables

The Mafia-gang's having a get together this coming Saturday and I am already planning what food to bring to our Italian-themed dinner. Definitely, I will be brining Ip-Ip's favorite grilled vegetables with Balsamic Vinegar dressing. I do not have an exact recipe for this but let me share how I do it.

Ingredients:

4 Eggplants

3 Zucchinis

2 Red Bell Peppers (large ones)

1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

freshly ground Black Pepper

1/2 teaspoon minced Garlic

Salt to taste

Directions:

Cut the eggplants and zucchinis into 1/5 inch slices while the eggplants into 3/4 inch wide strips.  Place on a stove top grill (or onto a charcoal grill) and roast them until cooked and grill marks appear. Mix the rest of the ingredients and shake in a bottle. Drizzle the dressing on top of the vegetables.

Adobo

There are a thousand versions of Adodo.  At home, we already have at least 3 versions: Adobong moderno, Adobo without soy sauce and Adobo with leaf (named by my niece Peppe).
As Wikipedia describes it: Adobo is the name of a popular dish and cooking process in Philippine cuisine that involves meat or seafood marinated in a sauce of vinegar and garlic,  browned in oil, and simmered in the marinade.
Although it has a name taken from the Spanish, the cooking method is indigenous to the Philippines. When the Spaniards conquered the Philippines in the late 16th century and early 17th century, they encountered an indigenous cooking process which involved stewing with vinegar which they then referred to as adobo, which is the Spanish word for seasoning or marinade. Dishes prepared in this manner eventually came to be known by this name, with the original term for the dish now lost to history.While the adobo dish and cooking process in Filipino cuisine and the general description adobo in Spanish cuisine share similar characteristics, they refer to different things with different cultural roots. While the Philippine adobo dish can be considered adobo in the Spanish sense—a marinated dish—the Philippine usage is much more specific. Typically, pork or chicken, or a combination of both, is slowly cooked in vinegar, crushed garlic, bay leaf, black pepper, and soy sauce then often browned in the oven or pan-fried afterward to get the desirable crisped edges.
Peppe likes my version of Adobo so when she describes it to my mom, she would describe it as Adobo with leaf.  Here’s my version of Adobo:
1 kilo pork liempo ( a few pieces of chicken as desired)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup vinegar
2 tsps. crushed black pepper
3 T. minced garlic
1 T. salt
2 pcs. bay leaf
water
Directions:  Mix all ingredients and let marinate for at least half an hour.  Put meat in a hot kawali and let liquid evaporate. Let pork render its own fat and brown a little.  Add around 2 cups of water and simmer with a lid on until tender.

Pancit Malabon

I was craving for a good Pancit Malabon one time so I decided to experiment on preparing one.  I researched on various recipes and tweaked  them a bit.  The finished product…. voila!

PANCIT MALABON INGREDIENTS

1 kilo fresh rice noodles (soaked for 10 minutes in water and drained)

For sauce

6 tbsp atchuete oil
6 cups shrimp juice
2 tbsp garlic, minced
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup of water
salt and pepper to taste

For toppings

1 cup kintsay, sliced
1 cup pechay Baguio, sliced
1 cup chicharon, crushed
1 cup smoked tinapa, flaked
1 cup oysters, cooked
1 1/2 cup shrimps, cooked and peeled
1/2 kilo squid, sauteed in oil and garlic
1 cup pork, cooked and cubed
4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
1/2 cup spring onions, chopped finely
4 tbsp fried garlic
4-6 pcs calamansi, sliced

PANCIT MALABON PROCEDURES

1. Dissolve 1 cup of flour in 1 cup of water. Set aside.
2. To make sauce: Heat atchuete oil in a pan. Sautèe garlic, then add shrimp juice. Allow to boil. Pour in water with dissolved flour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
3. Boil water in a wok or large saucepan. Fill a luglugan or bamboo strainer with noodles, pechay Baguio and kintsay.
4. Dip into the boiling water and drain. Put in a large bowl.
5. Add sauce, crushed chicharon, and tinapa flakes. Toss, then transfer to a plate.
6. Top with oysters, shrimps, squid, pork, egg slices, spring onions, and fried garlic. Serve with sliced calamansi.

Banana-Walnut Bread

Here is a good banana walnut bread recipe that I have tried and tested. I was craving for delicious banana bread I “googled” and found this recipe.  This one is supposedly a US Starbucks offering.  After trying it out, I replaced the mashed bananas with shredded carrots and crushed pineapple and added a dash of cinnamon to come up with a carrot walnut bread!  Here it goes:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 1/8 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 ripe medium-large bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (in addition to 1/2 cup)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan and dust with flour.

2.  Blend the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

3.  Mix the egg, sugar, and vegetable oil until combined.

4.  Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and when blended, add the buttermilk, vanilla, and mashed bananas; mix well         

5.  Fold 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

6.   Top the batter with remaining 1/3 cup of walnuts.

7.    Bake for 45-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.