Thursday, January 31, 2008

Pork Steak


INGREDIENTS

1/2 kilo pork kasim, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon calamansi juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 pack 6 grams aji - sho pepper plus
1 medium sized onion, sliced and rings
cooking pil for pan frying

Procedure:

  • Combine soy sauce and calamansi juice. Sprinkle AJI-SHIO pepper plus and mix well until completely dissolved. Add pork and marinate for at least 2 hours.

  • Pan fry pork in 2 tablespoons hot oil until cooked. Transfer to a serving dish.

  • Add another tablespoon of oil in the same pan and pan fry the onions until crisp tender. Pile on top of pork

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

My niece Keisha on a Merry Go Round

This was taken awhile ago, When we went to the mall and have our dinner at TEDS Lapaz Batchoy. I have my Chicken meal and Iced tea. My mom and the rest of the family is also ordering chicken meal for their dinner. After that, The kids decided to have a ride at the Merry-Go-Round inside the mall. They havel fun riding it. Kids really have a lot of stories after riding.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Sauce Making Tips



  • A little cornstarch and water go a long way to instantly thicken a sauce. Just add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to 2 tbsp. of water (or pineapple juice) and mix. Stir it into simmering sauces for an instant thickener. Be careful to use just enough. Add the mixture SLOWLY.

  • Prepare sauce ahead of time and chill/freeze to blend flavors.

  • If brown or white sauce curdles, smoothen it out by whisking in 1-2 Tbsp. of hot water.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Passionfruit Cake

200 g. unsalted butter
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup fresh passion fruit pulp
2 !/2 cups self-raising flour
2/3 cup milk
1 1/4 cups cream

Passionfruit cream

1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup fresh passionfruit pulp
2 egg whites

PREHEAT OVEN to moderate 180 deg. centigrade. Brush a deep, 23 cm round cake ti with melted butter or oil. Line base and side with paper; grease paper.

Using electric beaters, beat butter and sugar in a Small mixing bowl until light and creamy. Add the eggs gradually, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add passionfruit pulp; beat until combines.


Transfer mixture to large mixing bowl. Using metal spoon , fold in sifted flour alternately with milk. Stir until just combined and mixture is smooth.
Spoon mixture evenly into prepared tin; smooth surface. Bake 50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean when inserted in centre of cake. Leave cake in tin 15 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool.



To Make Passionfruit Cream: Combine sugar and passionfruit pulp in small pan. Stir constantly over low heat until mixture boils and sugar has dissolved Simmer without stirring, uncovered, three minutes; remove from heat. Using electric beaters, beat egg whited in a clean, dry mixing bowl until stiff peaks form. Pour hot passionfruit mixture in thin stream over egg whites, beating constantly until cream is thick, glossy and increased in volume.




Turn cake upside down. Cut horizontally into four layers. Divide the passionfruit cream into three even portions. Place first layer on a serving plate. Spread the cake evenly with the passionfruit cream.
Continue layering with remaining cake and passionfruit cream, ending with cake. Using electric beaters, beat cream in a small mixing bowl until stiff peaks form. Using a flat bladed knife, spread the cream over top and side of cake.






click here for more "easy to make recipes"

Cherry Teacake

60 grams unsalted butter
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon coconut essence
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup chopped glace cherries
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1 1/4 cups self-raising flour
1/3 cup cornflour

Pink Icing
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons boiling water
pink food colouring

PREHEAT OVEN to moderate 180 degrees centigrade.

Brush a deep, 20 cm round cake tin with melted butter or oil. Line base with paper; grease paper. Using electric beaters, beat butter, sugar and essence in small mixing bowl at medium speed until light and creamy.






Add eggs, beat three minutes or until just combines. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add cherries and coconut and sifted flour and cornflour, beat at low speed for 1 minute or until mixture is almost smooth. Spoon mixture evenly into prepared tin; smooth surface. Bake 30 minutes or until skewer comes out clean when inserted in center. Leave cake in tin 10 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool.



To make Pink Icing: Combine sifted icing sugar, butter and water in a small bowl to form a firm paste. Stand bowl in pan of simmering water, stir until icing is smooth and glossy; remove from heat. Tint icing with colouring as desired. Spread icing over top of the cake using a flat-bladed knife.





Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Common Ingredients in preparing healthy foods



Ever wonder what the difference is between all-purpose flour and self rising flour, or between light cream and whipping cream? Wonder no more because I will give you the basic on frequently used recipe ingredients.

Flour: All purpose flour is a must in every kitchen because it is used in all kinds of baking and to thicken sauces. For specialty breads or cookies, you also may want to keep whole wheat flour, rye flour, or other special flours on hand. Store all purpose flour in airtight containers either at room temperature or in the freezer. Keep whole wheat and other whole grain flours in the refrigerator or freezer because they may become rancid quickly.

Self- rising flour is an all-purpose flour that contains leavening and salt. It may be substituted for all-purpose flour in quick breads. Be sure, though, to omit the salt, baking powder, and baking soda from the recipe.

Some cooks prefer cake flour in angel and chiffon cakes. Because cake flour is made from a soften wheat, it produces a more delicate cake. If you choose cake flour, sift it before use.

Sugar: Granulated sugar is used to sweeten beverages, cereals and many other foods. Powdered sugar, sometimes called confectioners' sugar, is crushed granulated sugar with starch added to prevent lumping. It's used in uncooked frosting's and for dusting cakes and cookies. Brown sugar is a less refined form of granulated sugar that gets its special flavor and moistness fro the molasses that clings to the granules. Dark brown sugar has a stronger flavor than light brown sugar. You'll need brown sugar for baking and for some main dishes and vegetable dishes.

Other sweeteners: Honey is made from flower nectar by bees. It is sweeter than sugar and adds characteristic flavor. Honey is used in baking and to sweeten many other foods. Corn cane, maple, and maple-flavored syrups are used as toppings and in recipes.

Cooking oils and flavored oils: Vegetable oil or salad oil is light yellow with a mild flavor. It';s often used in baking and for salads. It works well too, for deep fat frying. Vegetable oil usually is made from corn, soybeans, sunflowers, or peanuts. Olive oil made from pressed olives, gives a full-bodied flavor and aroma to salad dressings. It is not suitable for deep fat frying because it smokes easily, and its strong flavor makes it a poor choice for baking. Nut oil and sesame oil have pronounced flavors and are used in small amounts to add zest to salads or stir-fries.
Shortening: Hydrogenated vegetable shortening is made from oils such as soy or palm. The oils are processed to give the desired consistency and flavor. Shortening is commonly used in baking., but also can be used for deep-fat or shallow frying. Store at room temperature.
Leavenings: Baking Powder and baking soda are used to leaven cakes, quick breads and cookies. For yeast breads, you'll need either active dry yeast or quick raising active dry yeast. Yeast, a microscopic plant, makes bread rise by producing carbon dioxide.
Cornstarch: Cornstarch is used to thicken sauces, puddings, and pie fillings. It gives a more translucent product than flour and has about twice the thickening power.
Tapioca: Tapioca is used to thicken pie fillings and puddings.
Margarine and butter: Margarine and butter give flavor to baked goods and shallow fried foods. They are not suitable, however, for deep fat frying. Many people choose margarine over butter because margarine is made from vegetable oils and has no cholesterol.
Milk: Whole Milk, low fat milk and skim milk may be used interchangeably in cooking. They differ only in the amount of fat they contain, and in the richness of flavor they lend to foods. Whole milk contains at least 3 percent fat, low-fat milk has from 1/2 percent to 2 percent fat, and skim milk has less 1/2 percent fat.
Milk products: Commercially cultured buttermilk is made by adding bacteria to skim milk Whipping cream contains 30percent to 40 percent fat. Light cream (half-and-half) contains 10 percent to 30 percent fat. Dairy sour cream is a commercially cultured light cream. Yogurt is fermented milk.
Nonfat dry milk is milk with both the fat and water removed. It's sold as a powder that mixes easily with water. evaporated milk is milk with 60 percent of the water removed. It's sold in cans.
Sweetened condensed milk has about half of the water of regular milk and is sweetened with sugar. It , too, is sold in cans.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

2008 Chinese New Years Predictions can still be overcome


This year is the year of the rat and based on what I heard from the beliefs of the traditional Chinese individuals, they said that people will be experiencing hard life less food to eat and difficulty in business. Many people will get starve due to inflation rates on the price of the prime commodities such as rice, oil, sugar, flour and the like... but in spite of all the negative things that they said I am still hoping and praying that people can still survive to make a living. I believe in the sayings that we can cope up and surpass all the negative effects in our life and in our country as long as we stand together as one and help hand in hand for a better future.