CHOCOLATE FUDGE TART

Recipe from Perfect Desserts Cookbook

Ingredients:
Serves 6-8

flour for sprinkling
12/oz/350 g ready-made unsweetened pie dough
confectioners' sugar for dusting

Filling:
5 oz/ 140 g semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 oz/ 175 g butter, diced
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 eggs, beaten
2/3 C heavy whipping cream, whipped
ground cinnamon to decorate

1. Roll out the pie dough on a lightly floured counter and use to line an 8 inch/20 cm deep loose bottom tart pan. Prick the dough base lightly w/ a fork, then line w/ parchment paper and fill w/ dried beans. Bake in preheated oven, 400 degrees F, for 12-15 minutes, or until the dough no longer looks raw. Remove from the oven, take out the beans and paper, return to the oven and bake for 10 minutes more, or until the dough is firm. Let cook Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

2. To make the filling, place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and melt over a pan to gently simmering water. Stir until smooh, then remove from the heat and let cool. Place the sugar, flour , vanilla extract, and eggs in a separate bowl and whisk until well blended, Stir in the butter and chocolate mixture.

3. Pour the filling into the pastry shell and bake in the oven for 50 minutes, or until the filling is just set. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving with whipped cream sprinkled light with cinnamon.

Bought this brand new tart pan at the thriftstore for $1. I buy old cookbooks at thriftstores and i happened to spot this tart pan.

BRAISED GAI LAN WITH HOISIN SAUCE (CHINESE BROCCOLI)

Gai Lan a.k.a. Chinese Broccoli or Chinese Kale. This is a dimsum veggie staple, with a drizzle of oyster sauce on top. This dish is simple, easy yet delicious and very healthy. I'm serving mine with hoisin sauce instead of oyster sauce. I like the sweet and tangy sauce with my gai lan.

TIP: Wash and soak any green leafy vegetables with a tsp of salt and water for few minutes. Salted water will help bring out little bugs that are in every nooks and crannies in the vegetables

Cut the end stems of the vegetable just like you would with asparagus, it'll snap up to the soft part of the stem. If the stems are big you blanch them in boiling water by dipping them first for few minutes until the stems are soft yet crisp. Next dip the leafy part and blanch for few minutes until the leaves are tender and crisp.  Normally with this process you are suppose to put them in an ice bath to stop the cooking and to maintain the bright green color but for gai lan it's not necessary since they will stay bright green w/o the ice bath.

In a pan, saute some chopped garlic and onions until cooked. Put in the blanched veggies and toss until the veggies are coated w/ the flavored oil. Arrange the braised gai lan on a platter. Using the same pan heat up some hoisin sauce then pour the sauce on top of the gai lan.

This dish will be perfect as a meal served w/ rice or a side dish just like what i did w/ my PORK SATAY .

Vegetarian Stir Fry With Soba Noodles

This is a morphed dish, a no recipe recipe.

Morphed dish because the veggie and the sauce i used for this dish are "left overs" from my PORK SATAY,PLS CHECK HERE FOR THE RECIPE . I didn't want to waste the extra peanut sauce from my pork satay, thanks to LisaMichele a co-Daring Cook, she gave me an  idea on how to make use  of  the extra sauce. So, both the gai lan (Chinese broccoli) and the sauce will become ingredients to a totally different dish.

No recipe, recipe because this is an eyeball thing or taste as you go style of cooking. You may add any vegetable you like.  Oh, except for the peanut sauce!

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

Peanut sauce  CHECK RECIPE HERE
Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli) about 8 leaves including stems (leaves chiffonade, stems thinly sliced)
Soba Noodles -2 bunches
Firm tofu ( I used Japanese firm tofu but Chinese firm tofu is better)
Bell peppers - diced (tri color peppers would be great to add color to the dish)
Sesame oil - 1/2 tsp
Scallions - chopped (sweet onions could be used)
Garlic - 2 cloves chopped
Water - to thin out the peanut sauce
Ponzu - 1 T (Japanese citrus seasoned soy sauce) or use plain soy sauce
1 lemon - you'll need just the juice.
Sriracha sauce or Sambal Oelek - 2 tsp (optional)

1. Follow Soba noodles cooking instructions (they are cooked like spaghetti noodles)

2. While your noodles are boiling, cut tofu into cubes or dice. Shallow fry them. Set aside.

3. Using the same pan you used in frying the tofu, saute' garlic and onions until tender. Mix in the veggies cook until gai lai stems are cooked. Set aside.

4. In the pan, mix peanut sauce, sesame oil, ponzu, lemon juice, sriracha sauce and let simmer. Add little water if sauce is still thick. Taste and re-season if you want.

5. Add the the noodles, the veggies into the sauce and carefully toss everything together until they are incorporated.

6. Serve and place the tofu on top.

7. You can garnish this w/ chopped peanuts or toasted sesame seeds.

SOBA NOODLES

VEGETARIAN STIR FRY SOBA NOODLES

YOU CAN ADD SEAFOODS AS WELL.

PORK SATAY- DARING COOKS CHALLENGE FOR JANUARY 2010

Wow! I thought i couldn't make this months challenge due to weather, job schedule etc..etc.. who am i kidding, not a chance, i want to give my 2 cents on Cuppy's challenge. So this was a photofinish, we just had this for our lunch today, but my pork had been marinating overnight.

Forget the -0 degree weather and the snow, i decided to brave the weather and grilled my satay in lieu of the oven broil! I admit, it was a bit weird and funny grilling on a snowy winter day=;).

This months challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious . Satay! Thanks for this challenge Cuppy I love satay, sate, bbq however it's called. This kind of food is ubiqitous in Asian countries, you'll see satay/bbq booths in every street corner in majority or i'd say all Asian countries.

As i was skiming through the recipe i immediately noticed that it wasn't an authentic Thai Satay recipe, but as i perused Cuppys' message she mentioned that her recipe is a Thai inspired dish which then made sense. Authentic or not this recipe is worth the grilling on a snowy day. I followed the recipe closely with a little bit of tweaking on the acid ingredient. I used lime instead of lemon just because i know that lime is used more than lemon in Asia. I deliberately didn't add fish sauce/patis just so i can compare a satay recipe sans the fish sauce and my satay recipe w/c calls for fish sauce. Really, this is great as well! I'm definitely using this recipe again, this time w/ chicken.

I opted to use porkbelly. I took out the skin w/c i saved, to be made into chicharon later. I love the marbling of the porkbelly, it'll help keep the satay moist and more flavorful for sure.

Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce


Satay Marinade

1/2 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 T ginger root, chopped (optional) (2 cm cubed)- I only used the juice

2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)- 2  lime and zest

1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)

1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)- I used cilantro roots

1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)

1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)

2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls)

1 pound of pork (loin or shoulder cuts) (16 oz or 450g)

Feeling the need to make it more Thai? Try adding a dragon chili, an extra tablespoon of ginger root, and 1 tablespoon (0.5 oz or 15 mls) of fish sauce. (I keep some premature (still green) dragon chili peppers in the freezer for just such an occasion.)

Directions:

1a. Cheater alert: If you have a food processor or blender, dump in everything except the pork and blend until smooth. Lacking a food processor, I prefer to chop my onions, garlic and ginger really fine then mix it all together in a medium to large bowl.

2a. Cut pork into 1 inch strips.

3a. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.


Faster (cheaper!) marinade:

2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (1 oz or 30 mls)

2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)

1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)

1 tsp ginger powder (5 mls)

1 tsp garlic powder (5 mls)

1 tsp cayenne pepper (5 mls)

Directions:

1b. Mix well.

2b. Cut pork into 1 inch thick strips (2-2.5 cm thick), any length.

3b. Cover pork with marinade. You can place the pork into a bowl, cover/seal and chill, or place the whole lot of it into a ziplock bag, seal and chill.

Cooking Directions (continued):

4. If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak your skewers in warm water for at least 20 minutes before preparing skewers.

5. Gently and slowly slide meat strips onto skewers. Discard leftover marinade.*

6. Broil or grill at 290°C/550° F (or pan fry on medium-high) for 8-10 minutes or until the edges just start to char. Flip and cook another 8-10 minutes.

* If you’re grilling or broiling, you could definitely brush once with extra marinade when you flip the skewers.

Peanut Sauce:

3/4 cup coconut milk (6 oz or 180 mls)

4 Tbsp peanut butter (2 oz or 60 mls)

1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)

1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)

1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)

1/2 tsp ground cumin (2.5 mls)

1/2 tsp ground coriander (2.5 mls)

1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)



1. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.

2. Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often.

3. All you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat.

Pepper Dip (optional)

4 Tbsp soy sauce (2 oz or 60 mls)

1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)

1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)

1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)

1 finely chopped green onion (scallion)

Mix well. Serve chilled or room temperature.

Tamarind Dip (optional)

4 Tbsp tamarind paste (helpful link below) (2 oz or 60 mls)

1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 finely chopped green onion (scallion)

1 tsp brown or white sugar, or to taste (about 5 mls)

 

Braved the -0 degrees and snow just because i want my Pork Satay grilled=;)

Fresh grilled Pork Satay on a Snowy day!

Lovely!

I made 2 dips, the peanut sauce dip w/ Thai bird chili and ground peanuts for texture

and the pepper soy sauce dip

I prefer the peanut sauce for this dish.

Served the pork satay w/ white rice, w/ the 2 sauces, Shrimp chips and some braised Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli)

This is a great tool to extract ginger juice.

Braised Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli) with Hoisin Sauce

Shrimp Chips - these are always served w/ your soup in every Thai Restaurant.

Again, Khob Khun Ka, Cuppy! Sawasdee!

My First Pan de Sal (Popular Filipino Breakfast Bread)

I've been craving for hot pandesal and the only way to satisfy my craving is to bake some.  It took me a while to find a good recipe that doesn't call for bread machine. I finally found two recipes that didn't need any bread machine.

Pan de sal means Salt Bread. This is a popular Filipino breakfast bread. Check HERE
for some fyi about the bread.

This first recipe is adapted from My Love for Food with some tweaking. Over all, this recipe is close to the pan de sal that i use to like. Although, it could use a little bit of sugar and more proofing time the next time i'll use this recipe.

Baking this pan de sal brought out the impatience in me, i knew that the bread needed another proofing w/c i did but for a short time. I also knew that my bread will not be as high as what a pan de sal is suppose to be. I know , i know, i'll give it more time to proof the next time i make them.

Ingredients:
1 C milk (lukewarm)
1/2 C water (lukewarm)
1 egg (room temperature)
1/4 C sugar (i'd probably add a little more)
3/4 t salt
5 T softened butter (i used unsalted)
2 T oil
4 C flour ( I used bread flour)
4 t dry yeat (I used 2 packets of fast rise yeast sometimes called rapid yeast)
Breadcrumbs (I used cornmeal)

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients first. Mix well for about 5 minutes or until ingredients are incorporated.

2. Add in the wet ingredients, mix for another 5 minutes or until the dough loosens from the sides of the bowl.

3. Sprinkle some flour on your bench table. Knead the dough with your hands by folding it then pushing it w/ the base of your palm for about 3-5 minutes or until the dough is elastic.

4. Put the dough back in the bowl. Cover it with cling wrap, put the dough in a warm place and let it rise until double in size.

5.  Sprinkle some cornmeal on the baking sheet pans.

6. Form the dough into logs about 2 inches wide and long enough to make about 24 pieces of small size bread.

7. Arrange cut up breads on the baking sheet pans then sprinkle the top with cornmeal.

8, Let these proof again until they double in size.

9. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes or until golden browned.

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES WITH BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

This recipe is from THE COMMON GRILL COOKBOOK by Chef Craig Common

Buttermilk Pancake Mix:
1 1/4 C flour
2 T sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2  C buttermilk
1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1 egg
2 t vanilla extract.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; mix thoroughly.

In a separate bowl. whisk buttermilk, creme fraiche, eggs and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and stir until blended.

Set aside until ready to serve.

BLUEBERRY COMPOTE:
1 C blueberries
1/4 C sugar
1/4 water

In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 C of the blueberries with the sugar and water. Simmer over low heat until berries burst, approximately 5 minutes. Add remaining berries. Continue cooking until mixture covers the back of a wooden spoon, approximately 3 to 4 minutes.

TO PREPARE BUTTERMILK PANCAKES: For each pancake, pour 1/4 C of the buttermilk pancake mix onto a hot griddle or pan. Cook until golden on both sides.

Place 3 or 4 pancakes on a serving plate and ladle Blueberry Compote over pancake. Top with whipped cream. Serve with warm pure maple syrup.

Vincenzio's Cioppino

One of my favorite soup. This is my brother-in-law's recipe. To check the history of this Italian/American soup check Cioppino .

FRESH SEAFOOD IS BEST FOR THIS DISH IF YOU HAVE THE ACCESS BUT FROZEN FRESH SEAFOOD WOULD BE GREAT AS WELL.

Ingredients

Part I
• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1 large sweet onion, chopped medium

• 1 cup tomato sauce ( I used my homemade tomato sauce )

• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper  (optional)

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped fine

• 1 small sprig of fresh rosemary

• 2 bay leaves

• 3 cloves of garlic, minced

• 4 celery, finely chopped

• ½ cup carrots, chopped

Using a soup pot or Dutch oven, sauté the chopped onion, garlic, celery and carrots,  in olive oil, until translucent. Add the herb and spices, sauté for another minute. Add tomato sauce and cayenne pepper. Simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste

Part 2

• 1 lb raw shrimp, cleaned

• 1 lb bay scallop

• ½ lb sea bass, cut into1-2-inch cubes

• 1 fresh cracked dungeness crab (I used Snow crab on this occasion)

• 1 lb mussels, in shell

• ½ cup white wine (Always use a wine that you will drink, never use cooking wine)

• 1-2 cups shrimp broth or clam juice (I used homemade shrimp broth)

Arrange the seafood into the Dutch oven (Part I). Add crabs first, then the mussels, shrimps, fish and the bay scallops last. Pour the rest of the liquid. Cover and bring to a boil on medium high heat. After it reaches a boil, lower heat to low. When shrimps, crabs, fish are cooked and mussels are open, the soup is ready.

I love to serve this w/ any artisan bread or any crusty bread.

CHRISTMAS ZEBRA CAKE

So i mentioned that i will try the zebra cake with a twist. I call this a Christmasy Zebra Cake. The process in making this cake is basically the same with my Zebra cake version. The only change i made this time are the colors, i didn't use any cocoa powder. I used a red and a green food color hence the Christmas effect. It'll all depend on how dark of a red and green shade you would like your cake to have. For my version of the Zebra Cake recipe pls check  http://bisayajudkaayo.blogspot.com/2009/11/zebra-cake-my-way.html .

PRIME RIB

Yes, You can make your own prime rib even for a small family of 3! This is what we had for Christmas aside from the usual ham w/ pineapple glaze, potato and egg salad. Roasted asparagus with butter and garlic and drizzle of lemon juice.

Arrange the asparagus on a baking sheet, put cubes of butter and minced garlic on top of the asparagus then roast for about 15 minutes in the preheated 360 degrees F oven

This is a 5 lb. standing rib roast (3 bones). Bring the rib roast to room temperature before baking. Finely mince medium sized sweet onions, 4 cloves of garlic, parsley and rosemary. Season this w/ Montreal Steak Seasoning. Rub the meat w/ 3 T soften unsalted butter (room temperature), this will not only add flavor, moisture to the meat but this will serve as the paste to the seasoned spices you will be rubbing to the meat as well.

The bones will serve as the rack so i just used a deep casserole pan, i nestled the rib roast on top of the mirepoix and little of beef broth w/c later served as the au jus.

I found this great site about Prime Rib. It's thorough and detailed, i highly recommend that you check this site Cooking Perfect Prime Rib. I followed the instructions step by step and it came out perfect. Just exactly how we liked it. Medium to Medium Rare.

I deliberately left the crust because i like the flavor and see the first slice...i had to taste it! Yum!!! and oh the bones? We gnawed on it w/ gusto! yes, there.. i said it...lol!

This is how our Prime Rib came out after 1 1/2 hrs. in the oven at 375 degrees F with an internal temperature of 130. Took it out of the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes covered w/ foil, which had a carry over cooking. Final internal temp was 136 degree.

See!!! If i can do it you can do it!!! You can make perfect prime rib at home!

PAN SEARED ASPARAGUS AND SUNDRIED TOMATOES

Ingredients:

1 bunch trimmed and washed asparagus

1 lemon use the juice and zest

2 T olive oil

2 T balsamic vinegar

2 pcs. sundried tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Blanch  your asparagus and shock in ice water first if they are as big as what i had.

Pan sear with olive oil if they are small or medium sized asparagus.

Add the chopped sundried tomatoes and cook for few minutes until asparagus are soft and tender but still crisp,  then drizzle w/ the lemon juice, balsamic vinegar.

Season w/ S&P, taste and adjust the flavor. Garnish w/ the lemon zest.

Serve as is or w/ rice.

SALMON EN CROUTE

Yes, it's Daring Cooks Challenge time. Decembers' host was Simone of Junglefrog Cooking
I have been planning on making this but never got the chance to do it. Thanks to Simone, the procrastination is over=;) We love love it!

I didn't have time to make the shortcrust pastry so i used the store bought puff pastry. I wanted some acidity on the filling, i decided to use piri-piri sauce in lieu of the orignal filling.

The only issue I wanted to address the next time i make this are the sides, they were half baked because they were thicker than the middle part. Maybe i should have baked it a bit longer?, but then i was worried that the salmon will be overcooked. I will definitely try Audax suggestion to cover the middle part with foil and bake the sides a bit longer.

I wanted to make the beef wellington before the reveal date but due to time constraint i just couldn't do it. I am planning on making them New Year.

Pls. check HERE for the entire recipes (Shortcrust Pastry, Salmon En Croute and Beef Wellington)

PIRI-PIRI SAUCE

Y: 1 ½ Cup
4 red bird’s eye chilies, take out seeds and ribs on two. (Original calls for 8 but I find it too much)
½ C fresh lemon juice
1 preserved Meyer lemon **
Cilantro (few bunches)

Parsley (few bunches)
3 garlic cloves
½ C olive oil (add more if needed)

Instructions:

Puree the ingredients until smooth. Add oil in a slow and steady stream until you get the right sauce consistency.
**I added 1 whole homemade preserved Meyer lemons.
**Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

PRESERVED MEYER LEMONS RECIPE HERE

Parsley, Cilantro, Sundried Tomatoes, Preserved Meyer Lemons

Pureed Piri-Piri Sauce

Check my other dish using the piri-piri sauce Shrimp Piri-Piri

Alaskan Sockeye Salmon

Spread the Piri-piri sauce with chopped sun dried tomatoes then top it w/ the other half of the salmon

Salmon En Croute ready for the oven

Fresh off the oven

Served this beautiful Salmon En Croute w/ Pan seared Asparagus with Sun Dried Tomatoes. Check HERE for the recipe