Christmas Dinner 2007

We had so much food during Christmas lunch. So I decided to cook a simple dinner, minced Beef pie and a carrot muffin. I will post the recipe for the minced beef pie once I get the chance to measure the ingredients. I promise the presentation will be much better as well.

Christmas Lunch 2007

We had our Christmas lunch at the Grand Hyatt hotel, Jakarta. It was the best Christmas ever. The first plate had salmon with spinach stuffing, beef stew, fried rice, broccoli cooked in garlic and salmon ball. Second plate had sliced turkey with cranberry sauce, sliced ham with apple sauce, mashed potato in garlic and salmon. The third plate had a fresh oysters and salmon sushi. The roast beef was well done; it was juicy and just plain perfect. The last photo had tiramisu, black forest, lemon cheesecake and other to die for desserts.

Patrick's Birthday CAKES

My husband celebrated his birthday 2 days ago. We had a buffet lunch at Ritz Carlton hotel. Food is fantastic; there are lots of choices from Mongolian, Chinese, and Italian, western, Indonesian and Japanese food. A happy birthday song was played all over the place and then there came the cheesecake with strawberry on top and nuts on the side with candles of course. The staff along with a musketeer once again sung a happy birthday song.

After dinner he blew the candles of his second birthday cake. I bought this vanilla and chocolate ice cream cake a day before his birthday. I had it delivered at our home.

Before the night was over another cake came. It came from his office; it was another cheesecake with variety of fruits on the top with greetings on it. The bag and the box of the cake says Four Seasons hotel, it was obviously bought there.

Well, I had to invite kids in our house to eat the cakes. It was way too much for the 3 of us.

Nilagang Baka

I was thinking of cooking tinolang manok for lunch but I thought I better do nilagang baka. We haven’t had red meat for 2 weeks now so this is just right. Since it’s only me and my daughter eating it I decided to cook just enough of it. I promise I will give the exact measurements of the ingredients next time. However these are the ingredients for nilaga, you can add different vegetables if you like. You can also use fish, chicken, pork or prawn if you don’t have beef. Adjust the water if you need more and adjust the taste with more fish sauce or more beef stock to acquire the taste you like. You can also add more vegetables if you like vegetables. I totally forgot to measure everything this morning because our tummy was already grumbling hehehe. I looked for some ingredients in the fridge and these are what I found.

YOU NEED:

Tenderloin beef cut into 6 chunk cubes
1 medium size onion
1 potato
1 sweet potato
Bokchoy
Water
Beef stock
Fish Sauce
Pepper

WHAT TO DO:

1. Boil enough water in a medium size pot.
2. Add beef and onion. Let it boil for 5 minutes.
3. Add sweet potato and potato. Stir well.
4. Add stock and pepper. Let it simmer for another 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
5. Stir well. Adjust the taste by adding fish sauce.
6. Add bokchoy and let it simmer for 1 minute.

Cinnamon Whole Wheat Rolls

Whole wheat flour is rare in our province in the Philippines. When I was a child this flour has to be ordered in Manila to be able to make a nice and hot whole wheat bread. Ohhh I just remembered how delicious it was while I was eating with my church mates. I am enjoying making my own bread and cakes now because I can control how much sugar and salt I can put in. The last time I went to Ormoc City, Leyte (where I was born) Dad was able to buy whole wheat sliced bread. But I still didn’t find the flour in the supermarket. During my parents visit here in our home in Jakarta my Mom was talking about cinnamon whole wheat rolls; and this gave me the idea to try making it. I thought it is a bit of a work but it wasn't really difficult. After researching for a recipe on the net this was my first attempt and it was a success. We got so excited after it was baked that is why there was a few rolls left on the photo.

YOU NEED:

2 tbsp yeast
2 cups lukewarm water
¼ cup honey
¾ cup olive oil
2 fresh eggs
6 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp salt

Cinnamon Filling:

3 tbsp melted butter or margarine
1 ½ cup granulated brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon


WHAT TO DO:

1. Dissolve yeast in water and honey for about 5 minutes.
2. Place all ingredients in the mixing bowl and knead until it loosens from sides of the bowl.
3. Place in large oiled bowl and let it rise until about double. Be sure it is in a warm place.
4. Mixed the cinnamon filling mixture in a bowl.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently shape the dough into a rectangle with the long side nearest you.
6. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough.
7. Roll up each rectangle, jelly-roll style, starting from one of the long sides. Pinch seams to seal.
8. With a knife, cut roll into 1 1/2-inch.
9. Arrange rolls cut side down in the baking dish; cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for 2 to 24 hours.
10. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or till golden brown.

Chicken with Quinoa pasta soup

I bought quinoa pasta a month ago. And finally I was able to do what I always wanted to do with it, a soup. This soup was made with just a 2 handfuls of pasta, chicken stock, 2 small pieces of chicken meat, carrot about an inch size, 4 tablespoons of milk and a teaspoon of onion. The last time I had this was 11 years ago so I was looking for a quinoa pasta soup recipe. I haven’t found the recipe yet but decided to try cooking it according to what I feel is right. And hey, my daughter loved it!

Quinoa pasta Pronunciation: KEEN-wah Notes: This is a high-protein pasta alternative for people with wheat allergies. It may contain corn flour as well. Substitutes: corn pasta OR kamut® pasta (Kamut® contains gluten, but it's tolerated by many people with gluten allergies.) OR spelt pasta (Spelt contains gluten, but it's tolerated by many people with gluten allergies.) OR rice pasta OR Asian rice noodles. ( http://www.foodsubs.com/Pasta.html )

Pandesal

According to Wikipedia, Pandesal (or pan de sal; literally, salt bread) is a rounded bread usually eaten by Filipinos during breakfast. It is a bread made of flour, eggs, lard, yeast, sugar, and salt. It has a soft, powdery texture and can be prepared in a number of ways by using numerous sandwich spreads. Its taste and texture closely resemble those of the very popular rolls of the Dominican Republic called Pan de Agua and Mexico’s most popular type of bread Bolillos for the reason that they all use a lean type of dough and follow similar techniques that were learned from Spanish or Spanish trained bakers early in their history. For more information please visit the website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandesal . I guess nowadays a lot of people are using cooking oil not lard though, I use olive oil. I also use skim milk and a wholemeal flour, but you can use a normal milk and an all-purpose flour.

YOU NEED:

¼ cup evaporated milk
½ cup milk
½ cup water
1 egg
¼ cup sugar
¾ tsp salt
5 tbsp softened butter
2 tbsp oil
4 cups flour
4 tsp dry yeast
Breadcrumbs

WHAT TO DO:

1. Combine evaporated milk, milk and water. (My evaporated milk and milk came from the fridge so it was cold I added a very hot water so my liquid mixture will be lukewarm not hot. It is important that your liquid mixture is lukewarm.)
2. Put egg in a cup with a hot water for 1 minute to warm it.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, salt, butter, oil, flour, yeast, egg and the lukewarm liquid mixture.
4. Mix well for about 5 to 10 minutes or until it loosens from the sides of the bowl.
5. Sprinkle some flour on your clean kitchen counter or table. Knead the dough with your hands by folding it then pushing it with the base of your palm for about 3 to 5 minutes or until the dough is elastic. Don’t be tempted to use too much flour, make sure dough is still a bit sticky.
6. Put the dough back in the bowl. Cover it with cling wrap and let it rise until about double. Be sure it is in a warm place.
7. Spray the baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray.
8. When the dough is ready get a small amount and make an oval shape.
9. Roll in the breadcrumbs and place on the baking sheets.
10. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.
11. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place.
12. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden browned.