Bubut's House

Quinoa mango breakfast

2012-03-10T14:27:00.001-08:00

At some point we all come into a point in life where we have to be more careful about what we eat. We have to pay for those days of unlimited fat consumption someday. Now, I am quite determined to eat clean and healthy. It's clean eating time at "Bubut's House!

I will start with my favorite breakfast meal, the quinoa mango breakfast. I love quinoa for breakfast because it keeps me going all day. I recently discovered this south american grain and I like it a lot. Of course, I eat it not only because it tastes good but also because it is high in fiber, iron and all the essential amino acids.

Quinoa Mango Breakfast
1/2 cup quinoa (any kind)
1 ripe mango, sliced.
Almond/oat/rice milk

Directions

1. Wash quinoa in water.
2. Boil for 15 minutes ( or as directed in package)
3. Cool boiled quinoa.
4. Add sliced mango pieces.
5. Top with milk of choice.
6. Enjoy.

PS
I usually prepare a big pot of quinoa and keep it in the fridge. It saves time (and electricity!) in the morning.

Tart Tartin - Upside down Apple Pie

2010-02-19T11:27:00.000-08:00

I did not blog here for a long time. Sorry. We moved apartments and somehow I lost my cooking mojo. My new kitchen is too modern that I found it difficult to cook. Not enough homey for cooking. When I am cooking in my new kitchen I have a feeling that I am in a star-ship cooking a meal for Captain Piccard. It is difficult to feel like Julia Child inside The Enterprise ( for those of you who don't know, that's the spaceship from Star Trek). Anyways, I like my kitchen a lot but I really hate messing it up. It's difficult to cook when you are afraid to mess up your kitchen. Oh well...If the last few weeks is any indication, it seems that I have regained my cooking mojo. I guess I have finally managed to perfect the cooking-cleaning dance. Anyways...

I love caramel. Caramel is my poison. Tarte tatin is the first type of apple pie that I learned to make. It is easy, fast and best of all full of that caramel goodness that I love. Also it reminiscent of that famous Filipino street food, the one and only banana-q. It is like a classy banana-q. Sometimes I use bananas instead of apples when I am homesick.

Enough babble. Here is the recipe:

8 medium gala apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 pack frozen puff pastry (blätterteig)

1. Caramelize sugar, butter and apples in a pan over medium heat.
2. Place caramelized apples in an 8 inch round pan carefully filling all the space with the mixture.
3. Cover with pastry sheet and cut to fit pan. Pinching the pastry onto the sides of the pan.
4. Poke a hole into the pastry.
8. Bake for 30 minutes at 200 C or until pastry is brown.
9. Cool a little bit , then carefully invert to a platter. Serve with ice cream.

Caramelize apples in pan

Cover with pastry sheet and cut to fit pan

Best way to cook rice

2009-10-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

I always had pain in cooking rice without a rice cooker. The first few years, I always get the bottom burned. I then learned a new system which I had been using these past few years. That system is Jurassic now so I won't bother describing it to you. A few days ago I learned the easiest, fastest and fool-proof way to cook rice and it is using the .....microwave!

1 cup rice
2 cups water
cook for 15 minutes in microwave (high, 700 W)
cool for a while

Depending on the rice variety used, you may need to use less water. My advice is to try it this way first then if the rice is too soggy, adjust the amount of water.

Chicharon nga!

2008-09-23T01:56:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we went to the schlacthof (slaughterhouse). It is the only place in Zürich where I can find meat as I know it. Not the aseptic, museum-type ones that are so nicely packed at the Migros and Coop. I saw the pork skin and immediately asked for it. The butcher, I think, was just happy to get rid of it that he gave it to me for free. I think he gave me enough to make a few leather jackets. =)

I remembered I saw a recipe for chicharon in Reynaldo Alejandro's cookbook. It seemed easy enough. I decided to give it a try without any expectations.

So, I cut the pork skin (the ones I had was already clean---shaved and everything) into 4 cm by 2 cm rectangles. I boiled the skin in water with salt for about 30 minutes. I didn't measure how much salt I added but probably it was about 2 tablespoons. After boiling, I laid the skin on a baking pan and baked for 3 hours at 150C . After baking, the skin looked brown, dry and leather-like. I heated oil in a pan and deep fried the rectangles one by one.

"Wow! Ang galing-galing!" I exclaimed while jumping up and down. My husband was looking at me in amazement wondering I guess if we had won the lotto. "I made chicharon!" I shouted as the pork skin started to expand and pop in my frying pan.
I think I have reached a peak in my quest for Filipino cuisine culinary expertise. Not even in my wildest dreams have I thought I could make chicharon.

After frying, I placed the chicharon on a strainer to allow the oil to drain. Of course, after draining, I immediately tried it. It tasted like "real" chicharon!
Shallow? There is a reason why chicharon is found in every street corner in the Philippines. Filipinos love chicharon. Some dishes are not complete if not laced with this cholesterol-filled wonder. La paz batchoy without chicharon? Incomplete. Palabok without chicharon? Definitely incomplete. Me eating chicharon? Happiness.

Don't forget to dip it in vinegar for best results! =)

chicharon chicharon+recipe how+to+make+chicharon Filipino+food Filipino+recipe

Apple and Sage Stuffing

2008-09-15T01:58:00.000-07:00

As soon as I saw the pumpkins at Coop, I knew I have to work on this post. Since Thanksgiving last year, my good friend Mike has been asking me for the recipe of the stuffing that I prepared for our Thanksgiving dinner (the picture below was taken by Mike from this dinner). Today, I willed myself to look for my recipe which my husband seriously hid under some papers.
The first time I tried stuffing was maybe about 7 years ago at a Thanksgiving party thrown by American students in my hometown in the Philippines. It was such a revelation for me. My Japanese friend, Kazumi and I "camped" near the buffet at the party and together we ate all the stuffing. I never forgot the taste of that stuffing. So, years later in Zurich, I tried to recreate that beautiful stuffing recipe. I realized that "the new taste" I was so fascinated about was the combination of apples and sage. So, armed with the memory of that stuffing from 7 years ago, I put together this stuffing recipe.

2 tbsps garlic, chopped
3 onions, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
4 apples, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsps dried sage
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp thyme
2 whole wheat bread loaf, diced
1/2 cups chicken stock
milk

1. Saute garlic and onion in butter;
2. Add apples, celery, raisins and bread;
3. Add chicken stock;
4. Slowly add milk until all the bread is soaked;
5. Add the herbs;
5. Season and taste;
6. Remove from heat;
7. Place inside turkey or bake in a pan at 180 C for 30 minutes.

Note: Adjust the amount of sage to taste.

So, my dearest Mike and Christina, I am sorry for the delay and advanced happy Thanksgiving!

stuffing+recipe stuffing thanksgiving thanksgiving+recipe

Puto Cheese Nga!

2008-08-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

After 5 long years I made it! My husband was grinning at me this afternoon after tasting it. He had to endure, 5 years of my failed puto attempts after all. He was more surprised than me that I got it right this time.

All these years, all I've been missing is the egg white! That's the secret to the soft and delicate puto.

For more of the drama surrounding this recipe, please proceed to my travel blog "Cat's walks".

Puto Cheese

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
8 egg whites
1 1/2 cups water + 2 tbsps water or milk
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp cream of tartar
cheese (cut into strips or grated)

1. Mix all ingredients except the egg whites and the cream of tartar until smooth.
2. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks stage at maximum speed. Remember to add the cream of tartar when the bubbles are already even before the whites reach the soft peaks stage.
3. Fold the egg whites into the batter.
4. Spoon into muffin pans lined with paper. Top with cheese.
5. Bake in a baño maria (put the pan inside a pan with about an inch of water inside an oven; make sure your fire is only at the bottom otherwise cover the big pan containing the puto with aluminum foil to protect the puto from being cooked from the top) for 15 minutes at 180 C.

If you want to make puto pao, just put asado or Filling 1 of my siopao recipe in the middle of the puto.

Technorati tags: puto+recipe puto+pao puto+cheese puto+puti puto puto+pao+recipe puto+cheese+recipe puto+puti+recipe Filipino+food Filipino+recipe

Siopao

2008-07-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

To read about the drama at finding this siopao recipe, please read my travel and adventure blog "Cat's Walks".

Starter Dough:

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
160 ml water

Main Dough:

starter dough
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp milk
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup bun flour or cake flour (as long as it is low gluten flour)
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Filling 1:

500 g pork cut into shreds
2 tbsps cooking oil
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsps oyster sauce
2 tbps soy sauce
1/4 cup water
pepper to taste
2 tbps sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
2 hard boiled eggs, cut into 4

Filling 2:

500g ground pork
1 tsp ginger powder
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsps flour
2 hard boiled eggs, cut into 4

Dough:
1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in water water. Wait until frothy (about 10 minutes, if it doesn't then throw it away and start again). Add all purpose flour. Mix. Keep overnight in the refrigerator. It should double in volume. This will be the starter dough.
2. Take the starter dough from the refrigerator then wait until it's in room temperature.
3. Add milk, baking powder, sugar and vegetable oil into the starter dough then mix well.
4. Add flour gradually by kneading. Add flour until dough is not sticky anymore this can be between 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cup of flour. You can also use the hook of your mixer.
5. Shape dough into a log.
6. Let dough rest for about 5-10 minutes.
7. Divide into 6 pieces for big siopao or 8 for small siopao
8. Flatten, then put filling in the middle.
9. Steam immediately (15-20 minutes).

Filling 1:
1. Saute pork in garlic and onion until pork is cooked.
2. In another bowl mix, oyster sauce, soy sauce, pepper, water, sugar, and cornstarch.
3. Add into pork. Cook until sauce is thick.
4. Put in the middle of dough with a slice of egg.

Filling 2:
1. Add all ingredients together except egg, mix well. (Tip: I usually fry a small part of the filling to check if my seasonings are alright).
2. Shape into balls (make sure the size fits your dough).
3. Put in the middle of dough with a slice of egg.

If you prefer the siopao to be really white then just use bun flour. Here in Zurich I buy the bun flour from the Asian store. We don't have cake flour in the supermarket so I have no choice.

Technorati Tags: siopao+ recipe mantou+recipe bao+recipe siopao mantou bao pao pao+recipe Filipino+food Filipino+recipes

Quick Salmon Pasta

2008-05-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

This is really easy to make and! Cooking time is 10 minutes and preparation time is also 10 minutes.

200g pack smoked salmon
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp butter
250 ml full cream
salt to taste
pepper to taste
300 g spaghetti

1. Chop smoke salmon into squares. Set aside.
2. Saute garlic and onion in butter.
3. Add cream. In low fire, simmer until think.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste. Just keep in mind that the smoke salmon you will add later is also a bit salty.
5. Switch off the fire then add chopped smoke salmon. It should be cooked just a little bit.
6. Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
7. When pasta is cooked, combine with sauce then serve.

Technorati tags: Salmon+Pasta Pasta Salmon quick cream recipe

Easy Focaccia

2008-05-12T01:15:00.000-07:00

Did it ever happen to you to go through your fridge thinking you have nothing? Anyway, it was Sunday and we are entitled to a good meal. Focaccia is a real treat because you can create something special with flour and herbs. I had tomatoes yesterday so I decided to throw some in...This focaccia should come out nice and chewy. It is so eay to make that I made it while cooking pasta!

Focaccia

Dough
1 package dry yeast (7g)
1 1/3 cup warm water
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsps oil
3 cups all purpose flour
3 tbsps oil

Topping
5 tbsps olive oil
3 cloves garlic
salt to taste
rosemary
oregano
parmesan cheese
3 tomatoes (cut a few mm thick)

To make topping:
Crush garlic using mortar and pestle (or blender, like you wish). Gradually add the olive oil onto the mortar while continuing to crush the garlic. This will blend the garlic into the olive oil. Add salt to taste. Set-aside. This should give time for the garlic and olive oil to blend better.

To make dough:
1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water and let stand in a warm place until frothy.
2. Stir in the oil and the flour.
3. Knead until smooth. The dough should be soft.
4. Clean bowl and then put the dough back in the bowl coating it with oil.
5. Cover and let rise until double (about 30 mins) in a warm place.
6. Place dough in a pan and spread it until half an inch think.
7. Make indentations (like dimples) using the handle of a spoon.
8. Spread the garlic-olive oil mixture evenly on the flattened and dimpled dough.
9 Sprinkle oregano, rosemary and parmesan on top of the oil.
10. Place the cut tomatoes last.
11. Place in a cold oven to bake
12. Set temperature to 220 C.
13. Bake for about 20 minutes or until done.

Technorati tags: Focaccia Italian+recipe bread Frugal+cooking

Pork adobo sa gata

2008-03-16T12:56:00.001-07:00

This is my current favorite. I add dessicated coconut to make up for the lack of body of canned coconut milk.

Ingredients:
1kg pork liempo with a good amount of fat (loin)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 tbsp blackpepper
1 head garlic crushed
1 bay leaf
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
water
1 tbsp sugar

1. Put pork, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, pepper, water, and bay leaf in a pan;
2. Boil in medium heat until half the water has evaporated or until meat is tender (You can add more water if longer boiling time is required);
3. Take out the pork from the sauce;
4. Sprinkle sugar over pork then fry until brown in hot oil;
5. Put back in the sauce;
6. Add coconut milk and desiccated coconut; and then
7. Simmer until sauce is thick.

Technorati tags: Filipino+recipes adobo+sa+gata adobo Filipino+food

Vietnamese Cold Spring Rolls

2008-03-15T02:11:00.000-07:00

This is a very simple recipe to make and always a big hit at dinner parties. You can also use a pack of pre washed salad if you are really in a hurry, omit the rice noodles and use chicken pieces instead of shrimps. It really doesn't matter so much what you put inside the rolls because the sauce is the key.

Ingredients:

12 rice paper wrappers, large, round
2 carrots cut into strips
4 oz rice noodles
1 cup bean sprouts
24 cooked shrimps
1/4 cp mint leaves
1/4 cp basil leaves
12 lettuce leaves

Spicy peanut dipping sauce:
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsps roasted peanuts
a bunch fresh coriander (cilantro)

Directions:

1. Cook the rice noodles as directed in pack. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain well. Set aside.
2. In a large plate soak the rice paper wrappers (one at a time) for about 45 sec. in warm water and then drain water.
3. Place one lettuce leaf over the surface of the rice paper. On the bottom half of the roll, place a part of the noodles, bean sprouts, carrots, cilantro, basil leaves, 2 shrimps and 2 mint leaves.
4. Fold the bottom of the rice paper over the vegetables. Tuck in the sides and continue to roll.
5. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Dipping sauce:
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until peanuts are chunky. Try not to puree the peanuts.
Technorati tags: vietnamese+spring+rolls appetizer recipes

Fish Curry

2008-03-06T03:22:00.000-08:00

What I like about Zurich is you can find exotic ingredients needed for international cooking easily. Let me share with you my fish curry recipe:

Fish curry

2 lbs fish fillets
2 tbsps ginger powder
2 cloves garlic
4 tbsps mustard seeds
4 bay leaves
1/2 tbps coriander powder
2 onions
red chili to taste
1 tbsp cumin seeds
3 tbsps turmeric powder
salt to taste
2 tomatoes cut into cubes
water

1. Grind onions, ginger, bay leaves, red chili, mustard seeds, cumin seeds together.
2. Marinate fish in salt, turmeric garlic.
3. Deep fry fish then set aside.
4. Saute ground spices and tomatoes.
5. Add water covering the the sauted tomatoes. Simmer until conserved.
6. Add fish and simmer for 5 minutes

Technorati tags: fish+curry Indian+recipe

Fluffy Pancakes

2008-03-06T03:20:00.000-08:00

Due to the absence of hotcake (pancake) mixes in Switzerland 4 years ago, I was forced to invent my own pancake recipe. When I arrived, there were only 2 groceries feeding the whole Swiss population of 8,000,000, Coop and Migros. Thanks to the EU, Switzerland was forced to open it's doors to new groceries and new kinds of foods, like the American pancake (vs the french crepe which is paper thin)!. Now, it is possible to find pancake mixes in Coop and Migros but I don't need it anymore because I have found the perfect pancake recipe.

Pancakes are made from flour, baking powder, eggs, milk, salt and butter. When you prepare pancakes using a pancake mix, you would need to add eggs, milk and butter. This means that when you buy a ready-mix, all you are buying actually is flour, salt, baking powder and the recipe!

Injected by the Americans into Filipino cuisine, pancakes have become a big Filipino favorite!

Pancake

11/2 cup flour
3 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp vanilla
2 tbsps oil
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk

1 tbps oil for frying

1. Beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer (or by hand if you want) until smooth.
2. Heat non-stick frying pan add 1 tbsp oil.
3. Using a tissue paper spread the oil evenly into the pan (also remove excess oil).
4. Cook about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.

Technorati tags: pancake hotcake pancake+recipe hotcake+recipe Filipino+food

Barako Coffee

2008-03-06T03:16:00.000-08:00

Barako Coffee or Coffea liberica is a rare and exotic coffee species found in the Philippines. Brought by the Spanish from Brazil in the 1800s, it now exists in only 3 countries in the coffee producing world. Barako coffee has a strong, bold aroma and a pungent, nutty flavor that I love. Unfortunately, my beloved Barako is nearing extinction. Programs trying to revitalize the Philippine coffee industry are on their way but public awareness and participation is neccesary. So, everytime I go home I make it a point to buy as much coffee as I can carry in my luggage for personnal consumption and as a gift to my coffeholic colleages and friends. Even my husband prefers Barako to Lavazza now. Nothing can compare with Barako's powerful body and smooth flavor .
Recently, I started brewing Barako the Italian way. Ninety percent of Italian households brew coffee using the Moka machine. Brewed this way, the flavor of Barako becomes deeper and more intense. It is unbeatable! It is so much better than Nespresso. The moka machine is cheap too! No need to buy a very expensive espresso machine. For 20USD (18 sfr) and a bag of Barako coffee, you will get the ultimate coffee experience. But be warned this coffee is not for the sensitive. Afterall in the vernacular, "Barako" is a term that refers to male strength, vitality and machismo.

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Siomai from Scratch

2008-03-06T03:13:00.000-08:00

My craving for siomai was so great one weekend that I learned how to do siomai from scratch out of extreme desperation! This favorite is an product of chinese influence on Filipino cooking.

Dough
4 1/2 cups (500 g) flour, sifted
1 tbsp oil
100 ml water

Filling
500 g minced pork
2 tsp salt, or to taste
2 big onions, chopped
3 tsp ginger, chopped
1 tsp sesame oil
1 carrot, chopped
Spring onions, chopped

Instructions

1. Mix the flour with 100 ml of water and oil to make a dough. Knead until smooth

2. To prepare the filling, mix all the remaining ingredients.

3. Divide the dough into 2 portions and roll like a jelly roll. Cut each into 50 pieces. Flatten each piece and roll into thin circles about 2 inches in diameter. Place 1 tbsp of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough over it, enclosing the filling. Pinch the edges together to seal. Makes about 50 dumplings depending on the size.

4. Steam until cooked and enjoy

Dipping Sauce

Mix the following together in a small bowl:

6 tbsps soy sauce
2 tbsps lemon/calamansi juice
Chili as desired
Dash of sesame oil
1 tsp sugar

siomai steamed+dumpling Filipino+food Filipino+recipe

Pan de Sal

2008-03-06T03:09:00.000-08:00

It is with great pleasure that I share with you my pan de sal recipe. I worked very hard to get this one right. The first ones I made were like rocks and then after 10 more attempts I could shout-- SUCCESS! I was really obssessed in doing this correctly (read: I made it everyday until I got it just right), it didn't help that my standards are quite high. I want it to taste exactly like how they made it in the bakeshop in my hometown in the Philippines. My ultimate success was when I made it for my mother and she said that it is the best pan de sal she ever tried! Honestly, having the luxury of having pan de sal anytime I want here in Switzerland changed my life.

Pan de sal

Ingredients: 2 cups water, 6 cups flour, 14 grams yeast, 1 cup of plain bread crumbs, 1 cup of dark brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Procedure
1. Dissolve yeast into 1/2 cup of warm water and 1 tbsp sugar. Wait until frothy. While proofing the yeast, mix & dissolve 1 cup dark brown sugar & salt into 1/2 cups warm water . Sift 6 cups of flour into large mixing bowl.
2. Fold 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil evenly into sifted flour. Add sugar & water and yeast & water mixtures to flour then add remaining 1 cup of water. Stir dough mixture with the hook of your mixer for about 5-10 minutes . The dough should be sticky. Take the dough out, clean the bowl then put oil in bowl. Place the dough back in the bowl then coat it with oil. Cover with saran wrap. Let rise until doubled in size probably about 1 hr in a warm place. Punch it down when it rises over the bowl.
3. Knead the dough on a board then flatten it to about 3/4 inch thick. Reshape it into a ball then again place dough in bowl, cover and let rise again until doubles in size.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. After dough has doubled in size place dough on a board then flatten dough to about 3/4 inch thick.
6. Spread dough across board. Cut dough into four columns & eight rows to yield 32 pandesal rolls . Shape each piece into a roll then roll it onto breadcrumbs and then place on a baking paper lined baking pan. Arrange all 32 pandesal evenly on baking pan.
7. Let rise until doubled.
8. Place pan de sals into 350-degree fahrenheit oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until brown.

This recipe was modified from Manong Ken's Recipe of the Month (http://www.carinderia.net)

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