Caesars Palate: A Culinary Journey

BERRY FRANGIPANE TART

Craig — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:04:32 +0000

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Totally delicious. Always a hit with the gang. Best of all, simple to make! The simple elegance of this tart makes it suitable for any gathering from a BBQ and when individually made, for dinner parties!

BERRY FRANGINPANE TART

INGREDIENTS

PASTRY

350g plain flour

50g icing sugar

200g butter, chilled, cut into small cubes

1 egg

FRANGIPANE

125g butter

125g icing sugar

125g almond meal

3 eggs

20ml rum

Strawberries

Blueberries

Raspberries

Strawberry Jam

METHOD

Heat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 20cm tart tin with removable base.

For pastry, combine flour, sugarand butter in food processor. Pulse until it looks like breadcrumbs.

Add egg and process until just combined. Knead lightly, shape into a disc, wrap in cling wrap and refridgerate for at least 1 hour.

Roll dough out to approx 4 mm in thickness and line tart tin, trimming off excess.

Refridgerate pastry case for at least 15 mins before use. This helps keep its shape when baking.

Prepare frangipane by creaming butter and sugar in electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time making sure it is well incorporated into the mix.

Fold in almond meal and rum.

Brush pastry base with jam then fill pastry case with frangipane.

Arranged halved strawberries pressing them lightly into the mix.

Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes until golden and cooked through.

Remove and allow to cool slightly then brush top of tart with warmed jam.

Just before serving, top with combined berries and dust with icing sugar. Serve with cream.

LECHON KAWALI

Craig — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:00:37 +0000

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This is one of my favourite foods to have when having a few drinks with friends – we call it “Pulutan”, literally translated as “something that is picked up”. It can also be served as part of a meal. I have served it here here with Achara (pickled pawpaw) although many like to serve it with a palm vinegar dipping sauce.

LECHON KAWALI

Although the end product is deep-fried pork belly, getting to that stage requires braising for at least an hour or so.

INGREDIENTS

1 kg pork belly
2 bay leaves
6 cloves garlic
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp peppercorns
Oil for deep frying

METHOD

Peel and crush garlic using the side of a knife. Place all ingredients in a stock pot and fill with water to cover the meat well. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. Simmer for an hour or until meat is tender. Make sure to remove the scum from the water surface.

Remove pork from liquid and allow to dry. Now some people will dry the pork belly in a very low while others will place the meat the fridge uncovered. The reason for this is simple – you want a dry surface when deepfrying to achieve crispness on the outside while retaining all the moisture inside. Whichever way you decide to do this, just make sure the meat is dry and at room temperature before frying.

Now this is where the health conscious get a little bit disturbed. The meat is now to be deepfried – twice! Yes, twice!

The first frying is designed to trap all the moisture inside. The second frying, just before serving, makes for a fantastic crisp outside.

For the first fying, make sure you heat the oil to about 180C. Deep fry the whole pork belly skin side down until you get a great crispy texture all over – about 7-10 minutes. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.

The second frying takes place just before serving. To maintain the moisture inside, some will fry the whole slab again just before serving.

I prefer to cut the slab into 2-3 cm strips before frying. This of course creates a larger surface area of crispy, crunchy goodness. Whichever method you decide on, just make sure the oil is nice and hot in the beginning, and make sure to drain on paper towels in the end.

To serve, I like to slice the strips into bite size pieces. Enjoy!

KARE KARE

Craig — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:36:42 +0000

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This has to be one of my all time favourites. I think its because it turns such a basic cut into something spectacular and the shrimp fry really gives it great depth.

KARE KARE – Braised Ox Tail

INGREDIENTS

1 kg ox tail
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
3 bay leaves
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
1 tbsp annato oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp shrimp fry
100g peanuts
2 tbsp rice flour (or 1/4 cup glutinous rice)

4 baby eggplant
1 bunch string beans

METHOD

Place ox tail in a deep pot of cold water. Bring water to boil then drain oxtail, discarding liquid. Return ox tail into a clean pot and fill with enough water to cover. Add halved onion, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or until tender. Remove ox tail from the liquid. Set aside. Strain braising liquid reserving 1 1/2 cups to make the sauce. Discar solids and remaining stock.

In a clean saucepan, heat the annato oil on medium heat. Add the finely chopped onion and sweat for 3-5 minutes until transluscent and cooked. Add shrimp fry and cook for a further minute. Return reserved stock and oxtail to the pot and simmer for a further half an hour.

Process peanuts in a food processor until creamy. Stir into the simmering stock. Alternatively, a couple of tablespoons of good quality smooth peanut butter works just as well.

Take a quarter cup of the simmering stock and place in a cup or shallow bowl. Mix into this the rice flour. Return mixture to the pot and stir until well incorporated. The sauce will thicken as the rice flour is incorporated. Traditionally, glutinous rice flour is used. All you need to do is to lightly toast 1/4 cup glutinous rice in a pan until lightly golden brown. Allow the rice to cool, then process into a fine powder in a food processor.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Heat a small pot of salted water in a medium pot. Cut string beans into 8-10 cm lengths. Gather beans into small bunches and tie together using spring onions. Make 2 cuts into the eggplant as if cutting it into quarters lengthwise. Do not cut all the way through as you want the stem end to remain intact.

Boil vegetables until cooked and refresh quickly in iced water.

To serve, place vegetables and pieces of oxtail onto a plate or shallow bowl. Spoon sauce over. Serve with boiled rice and a little bit of shrimp fry on the side.

Note: Annato is a seed used specifically for its capacity to colour food. You can find this in asian grocery shops and is also known as Achuete. To make annato oil, simply warm some oil and add some annato seeds. Remove from heat and set aside to infuse. Strain, reserving the oil and discarding the seeds.

LUMPIA

Craig — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:47:03 +0000

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This is one of those absolute favourites when it comes to party food. It is made literally in the hundreds for large parties. Then again, if you’re Filipino, and expecting 10 guests, you cook at least for 15-20 anyway. It’s just the way we roll!

LUMPIA

INGREDIENTS

1 pack frozen mini spring roll wrappers
500g pork mince
5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2.5cm piece of ginger, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

METHOD

First, prepare filling. Combine pork mince, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, pepper, and beaten eggs. Make sure mixture is well incorporated. This is best achieved using your hands.

Take spring roll wrappers out of freezer and allow to thaw. Separate individually.
If using large wrappers, cut into half diagonally then separate individually. Make sure you cover the remaining unused wrappers with a damp tea towel to prevent drying.

Place a spring roll wrapper with one point towards you. Place a heaped teaspoon of filling towards the middle. Start rolling with with the edge of the wrapper closest to you. When about half way through, bring the right and left edges towards the middle and continue rolling. To seal, wet your finger and moisten the last 3 cm of the wrapper then finish rolling the lumpia. Rest the lumpia on its seam while rolling the others.

If using larger wrappers cut in half, start the long side towards you. Place the filling about 2 cm inside this then start rolling. Finish in the same way as above.

It is important not to overfill the lumpia or make the filling too thick as it will risk not being cooked in the middle.

If you are planning to cook the lumpia at a later date, I suggest placing them separately on a tray lined with non stick paper then placing the tray in the freezer. Once frozen, they can all then be stored in plastic containers. This simply ensures that the lumpia separate easily when required.

To cook the lumpia, simply heat about 5 cm of vegetable oil in a deep frying pan to about 180C. Place the lumpia into the hot oil gently and cook until golden brown – approximately 3-5 minutes. If using frozen lumpia, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from oil when cooked and drain on paper towels. Serve hot with sweet and sour sauce.

Variations
You can use a mixture of beef mince and pork mince. Finely chopped prawns are also a great addition.
If frozen spring roll wrappers are not available, dry Chinese or Vietnamese spring roll wrappers can be used.
Of course this method of cooking lends itself well to other flavour combinations. You’re only limited by your imagination. I have made these with a crispy chicken filling, duck and prawn, and even pulled pork.

LUMPIA FRESCA

Craig — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 01:57:27 +0000

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There is a traditional Filipino fresh spring roll that uses what we know as the ‘heart’ of the banana. As this is not readily available, this is an alternative vegetable combination. Then again, maybe this is just my family’s version.

LUMPIA FRESCA

I have never really used specific amounts of ingredients and am only guided somewhat by the number of rolls I have to make. I gauge this by allowing 1/4 cup of filling per roll.

INGREDIENTS

Equal quantities of:

potatoes, peeled and finely julienned
carrots, peeled and finely julienned
green beans, finely sliced on a diagonal
bean shoots, browned ends removed
cabbage, finely sliced
onion, finely julienned (I allow one onion for every two cups of filling)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 head of lettuce
frozen spring roll wrappers

For the sauce:

1/2 sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 cups vegetable stock
2 tbsp cornflour dissolved in 1/4 cup water
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp peanut butter

METHOD

Heat a wok or large saucepan on medium heat. Saute garlic in a little oil until fragrant but not coloured. Remove garlic from pan. This will allow the garlic to flavour the oil without having to eat the garlic. Saute onion, potatoes, carrots, cabbage and green beans until just cooked. Remove from heat, add the bean shoots, the allow vegetable mixture to cool.

Prepare to assemble spring rolls by first taking spring rolls out of the freezer. Allow to soften a little and separate individually. While working on a spring roll, cover the remainder with a damp tea towel.

Set a small bowl of water on one side.

Cut lettuce into strips about the length and width of each spring roll. The lettuce serves two purposes. Firstly, it adds colour to an otherwise ‘white’ roll, and it stops the amount of moisture absorbed from the vegetables into the spring roll wrapper.

Place a spring roll wrapper with one point towards you. Place a quarter cup of filling in the middle. Bring the bottom of the wrapper over the filling and do a half roll. Bring both sides of the wrapper to the middle to enclose the filling. Place a piece of lettuce down making sure part of the lettuce remains visible. Continue to finish rolling and just before the end, using your finger, dab a little bit of water on the end the finish rolling. Repeat the process until all the filling is used up. Try maintain consistent sizes.

Do note that if these rolls are made well before serving, avoid the rolls ‘touching’ as they will stick together. In this situation, I cut some wax paper into square about 3/4 the length of the roll and wrap each roll individually. Store prepared rolls in the fridge covered in cling wrap.

For the dipping sauce:

Combine sugar, soy sauce, and stock. Bring the mixture just to the boil in a small pot. Add the dissolved cornflour into the mixture and whisk until the sauce thickens.Remove from the heat. Stir in the peanut butter and garlic.

To enjoy, simply remove wax paper, and dip the roll into the sauce. I often have teaspoons next to the sauce as I also like filling the roll with more sauce after the first bite.