Food Indulgence

KitKat New Flavor

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 22:24:00 +0000

I received this email this morning and I'm excited to get my hands on their mint flavor. I just love minty chocolates! I remember making one way back 2008 but failed to take a picture of it. I might try making another one if I can find mint oil *crossing my fingers*

Transform Sugar into Syrups and Caramels

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 10:07:00 +0000

This has always been my weakness in candy making. But I'm really thankful for my mother's old recipe book, I've finally learned how to determine the different stages of caramelizing sugar.

Ingredients:
sugar and water (amount will depend on what the recipe requires)

First Step: Place sugar and water in a pan. Stir gently over low heat to dissolve the sugar. With a pastry brush dipped in hot water, dissolve any sugar crystals on the side of the pan.
Second Step: Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring, put the thermometer (if you'll be using one) and increase the heat a little to bring the syrup to a boil.

Stages:
Small Thread Stage - Allow some of the syrup to dribble from a spoon. It should fall in a fine, short thread (thread-like). Thermometer reading: 102°C (215°F)

Soft Ball Stage - drop a little into a bowl/glass of iced water. Lift out the solidified lump. You should be able to roll the syrup into a soft ball between your fingers. Thermometer reading: 115°C (238°F)

Hard Crack Stage - drop a little into a bowl/glass of iced water. Lift out the solidified lump and bend it. It should snap apart.. Thermometer reading: 157°C (315°F)

Caramel Stage - once it begins to turn into a pale amber color. Thermometer reading: 173°C (345°F)

*Depending on your stove, it can transform from one stage to another in just a couple of minutes (much faster from caramel to *burnt* stage LOL). If you want to stop in any stage, immediately remove it from heat and place the pan on a basin with cold water to arrest cooking.

There's so many things you can do with these from glazes to icing.

My Chili Beef

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 03:33:00 +0000

A couple of years ago, I made Chili Beef with potatoes and melted cheese for my office friends. It was something I made up at that time. Until now, I'm still using the same recipe which I used as filling for our Shawarma.

Ingredients:
1 clover garlic finely chopped
1 small onion finely chopped
oil for frying
1 kg ground beef
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Lee Kum Kee chili garlic sauce

Heat oil on frying pan. Saute garlic and onion. Cook ground beef. Put in worcestershire sauce and chili garlic sauce. Let simmer for 10 minutes.

Creamy Garlic Sauce - my recipe

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:33:00 +0000

Last week, I blogged about the Pita bread and Toum I made. This morning, I made another batch (with different recipe) of Pita bread and mixed my own creamy garlic sauce. We've been using the same sauce for my version of shawarma and my version of Shakey's Mojos.

Creamy Garlic Sauce

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons white vinegar
250ml All Purpose Cream (1 pack)
125g Eden Cheddar Cheese (1/4 of the pack)
3 tablespoons beef broth

Mix garlic powder, vegetable oil and white vinegar until smooth. Set aside. Heat all purpose cream on medium heat. Just when it's starting to boil, lower the heat and put in cheddar cheese until melted. Remove from heat. Mix in garlic-oil-vinegar mixture and beef broth.

My version of Shakey's Mojo Potatoes

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 12:03:00 +0000

I love Shakey's Mojos but they can be pretty expensive so I made my own version. They might not look exactly the same but I think it's a good and cheaper substitute.

Shakey's Mojos substitute

And of course, it tastes better if dipped into my creamy garlic sauce

Ingredients:

5-6 large potatoes sliced
water for boiling potatoes
1 pack Crispy Fry Original Breading Mix
1 cup flour
oil for deep frying

Boil potatoes until tender. Mix flour and Crispy Fry Original Breading Mix in a container with cover. Put potatoes in, cover and shake ;) until all potatoes are covered on both sides (you can do it few potatoes at a time too) Then fry until golden brown.

Just in case you're wondering, I moved all my Food & Drinks posts from Realm of a Dreamer to this site.

Devil's Food Cake Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 09:19:00 +0000

Several of my blogger friends requested for the recipe so here it is:

Ingredients:
2 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 egg yolks
1 1/3 cups cold water
3 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar

Grease and lightly flour baking pan. set aside.

In mixer bowl, beat shortening on medium speed of electric mixer about 30 seconds. Add 1 cup sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating on medium speed for 1 minute after each.
Add dry ingredients and cold water alternately to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition until just combined.

Wash beaters thoroughly.

In mixer bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form; gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter; blend well. Turn batter into baking pans; spread evenly.

Bake in 350 oven for 30-35 minutes or until done. Place cakes on wire racks; cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool. Frsot as desired.

Makes 12 servings.

NOTE:
*the recipe required two of 9x1 1/2-inch round baking pans but you can also use cupcake baking trays (makes 21 cupcakes)
*my parents are diabetic so I made another batch of cupcakes but reduced the amount of sugar to 3/4 cup and 1/2 cup so it doesn't have to be too sweet. It's not as moist though.
*If baking soda is not available, you can use 3 teaspoons of baking powder instead.

And just because I wanted to try my hand on frosting, here's a picture of what I made this afternoon:

Devil's Food Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 04:50:00 +0000

I've been watching reruns of Junior Masterchef Australia and in one of the episodes, the kids were asked to bake a chocolate cake. So I thought I'd try making some cupcakes again but this time, instead of vanilla, I used my mom's Devil's Food Cake recipe to make these:

Devil's Food Cupcakes

I like these better than the first ones I made because, well, these are chocolates :D and they are moist inside. No need for frosting :D

Food Trip

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:40:00 +0000

Last night, I made some ganache which I covered with chocolates this morning.

Chocolate Truffle

Chocolate Truffles (after I took it out of the freezer)

This afternoon, I was craving for something salty and specifically Persian food. When I was in Manila, I usually go to Cafe Mediterranean but since I have all the ingredients on hand, I decided to just create my own starting with pita and toum.

Pita

Toum

I was planning to cook kebab but my mom has something else in mind. I'm not sure what it is yet... :D But for now, I'm going back to my ebooks. If you're interested, you might want to join GirlTalk Book Club

Post-Valentines...

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 12:18:00 +0000

I was thinking of writing something related to love & relationship since these past few days, I've been lurking in that particular board in GirlTalk and although I know what I wanted to write, I can't seem to make my hands move to type them down. I just figured if most threads I visited already shown how I felt, how I'm feeling and how I will feel if... (fill in the blanks :P ), there's no need to put them in here. So I opted to just post our Post-Valentines Brunch. Out of nowhere, I just decided I wanted to cook something, after experimenting and putting whatever is in our pantry, here's the result:

Spicy Tuna and Corn Pasta with lots and lots of cheddar cheese topped with parmesan cheese

If you still remember, I made some cupcakes few days ago. I thought they looked boring so few minutes after posting about it:

cupcake with chocolate frosting

miniature cake :D

Cupcakes, anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 20:14:00 +0000

My very first [batch of] cupcakes:

More Chocolates

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:38:00 +0000

I started molding chocolates way back 2008. But because of work, I didn't have enough time to do it as often as I want to. Back then, I only get to work on chocolates on weekends and I remember getting frustrated because I can't seem to get it right or at least for my chocolates to look nice. 2 years and some months later, I haven't improved a bit *LOL* but heck, at least I'm still trying :P

I was suppose to make a bouquet out of these chocolate roses. But I didn't want to use lollipop sticks and we don't have anything around the house that I could use as alternative

Chocolate covered Cherries :D

Ever thought of proposing with the engagement ring inside a chocolate cup? No I'm not proposing to anyone. I was watching something on TV when I was making this and the guy proposed to the girl, so that's where I got the idea :P but since I don't have an engagement ring, I used a silver cachous instead

The chocolate cups can be used as chocolate candy holder! :D

Masterchef US

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 20:13:00 +0000

I have been watching Masterchef US in StarWorld since the first episode and has been hooked to it. I just love watching those chefs create something spectacular in just a limited time. I know that the competition is over and the they already annoounced the winner but this is the first time it's being shown here in Asia so I didn't get to see it the first time. But then I love spoilers especially in competitive game shows like this so I looked up the winner and I am glad that it was Whitney Miller.

I liked her since day 1 maybe because she is so young (I think she's the youngest, correct me if I'm wrong though), looks so sweet and very humble. So far, I've never heard her say anything bad about the other contestants but then I've only seen 6 episodes so who knows what will happen when the pressure starts to build up in her(Okay, maybe that's not really one of the criteria in becoming a Master chef but I'm an idealist and after watching several seasons of ANTM, I really want someone nice to win this time).

I guess the main reason why I want her to win is because she knows how to make use of what she has even if she doesn't seem to know what she is doing. It seemed so natural for her to be in the kitchen, cooking something that she never tried before and producing a great meal. Now I'm more excited to watch the rest of the show.

Hookah

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 02:20:00 +0000

The first time I saw a hookah, I thought it was just a table decoration. Maybe because I was too young then but they are so colorful that I found them interesting. These hookah pipes are usually made of glass filled with water. If you have not seen one, it looks like a tall, thin vase with rubber hose attached to its side. Juices may be added to the water to enhance the flavor of the smoke. I am sure most of you already heard about it by now. After all, it is now one of the favorite pastimes especially to young adults. Even high end bars and clubs around the metro already added hookah in their menu. If you have friends from Dubai or Saudi Arabia, they might have referred to it as shisha but they are practically the same.

I guess the reason why some people enjoy it is because of the different flavors available. They could be fruit flavored like apple, which is the most common, mango, strawberry and pineapple. However, there are also other flavors like cafe latte or cappuccino and even bubble gum flavor. And those are just few examples.

As its popularity rises, more and newer designs are being manufactured. But these shisha pipes are not only limited to Arab countries or Asia. I am pretty sure there are shisha pipe users in almost every country and there are shisha pipes being sold everywhere. If you are from US or UK, you can easily buy one of those pipes online and for a cheap price too.

Aside from pipes, you can also purchase accessories, bowls, hose, charcoals and tobaccos in different flavors. But no matter what design or what flavor you are going to use, the most important thing is to enjoy it with your friends.

biggest sundae I've ever had

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 17:19:00 +0000

Last week, I met with my college friends and went to Shakey's in Gaisano Mall Davao for lunch. I've always loved their mojos so I ordered for a basket of that along with a large sized pizza and a basket of chip n chips (there were only 3 of us, by the way). After a couple of pizza slices and some mojos, we asked for our desserts which are 3 orders of sundae with bananas and peaches (I'm not sure what they call it). When we ordered for it, we didn't know how big it was. We just stared at them for a couple of seconds with wide eyes when they were served. They were placed in big bowls with 5 big scoops of ice cream each, bananas, peaches, cream and syrup around them.

It looks nice and tempting but after eating 2 scoops of ice cream, I just have to stop. And after all the food I ate, I just have to skip dinner that night. :)

Beef Adobo with Crab and Corn Soup

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 09:10:00 +0000

This is just your regular adobo but instead of pork, we used "tenderized" beef. Coupled with Crab and Corn Soup, it's definitely one of the best meal I've had.

Leche Flan a la mode

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:57:00 +0000

Truth is, I've tried making Leche Flan several times already but was unsuccessful. The last one was actually fine except it's too thin. *lol*

So what I did was roll it (yes that's supposed to be rolled but since it's leche flan, it would look like that) and put ice cream on top. Yum! (too sweet though *lol*)

Here it is:

Fried Chicken with a twist

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:39:00 +0000

Actually it's just a simple fried chicken. I just put sauteed peas and corn and hot sauce on the side. :)

Chocolate Babies

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:03:00 +0000

I used to make chocolate lollies and even made one for my goddaughter Brielle which were used as giveaways for her christening more than a year ago.

At that time, I've already regretted not checking out 3D molds in Chocolate Lovers. But there's no point crying over spilled milk. Few weeks after, I found a mold shaped like a sleeping baby being sold in ebay so I bought it and here it is.

Spicy Pasta

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:48:00 +0000

Yay! I'm back and hopefully I'll be able to update this blog more often. To start off, if you noticed, I changed the "Recipe of my favorite food" to "My favorite food" basically because as much as I love to cook, I can't write them down. Why? Well, first, my memory's really bad. And I can't write while cooking else I'll burn everything *lol*. Also, I don't use measuring cups/spoons (so how am I supposed to explain how much to use of a certain ingredient if I don't even know the exact measurement). So I decided to just make this a food blog, which does not necessarily require me to post recipes, right? ;)

Anyways, here's my Spicy Pasta.

And here's the story: One rainy Saturday night, I decided to take a break from blogging and give way to my mom who has been waiting for me to finish so she can play The Sims 3. *lol* I don’t usually eat at night but on that particular day, I didn’t eat anything except a cup of Milo early in the morning so I headed to our tiny kitchen to look for food and viola! Nada! Now, we usually buy groceries on Sundays and since it was Saturday night, most of the food we bought from previous Sunday is already gone. All that's left are a pack of pasta and corned tuna. So to make the story short, I used San Marino Chili Corned Tuna on Clara Ole Spaghetti Sauce topped with McCormick Basil Leaves to make this spicy pasta. Good thing my family loved it.

Craving for chocolate!

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:41:00 +0000

I've been craving for chocolate since last week! Unfortunately, when I had a chance to go to Greenbelt last weekend, Max Brenner is closed! I'm not sure what happened, nor did I bother to ask anyone. But I'm hoping its not permanent... Or I'll be really disappointed...

Food Indulgence

noreply@blogger.com (The Peregrinator) — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:16:00 +0000

I've found my passion in cooking just recently when I realized that it can be therapeutic. This is my food blog where I post about food I made, food I tasted, food I love and food I'd recommend.