my temptations

Cream Cheese Spinach Dip

2016-03-26T23:43:00.001+08:00

Cafe George is one of my fave restaurants in Cebu. i particularly liked their salad, penang fish, beef, and of course the spinach dip.

I've decided to whip up my own version of the spinach dip. It's close to the one served at Cafe George. (I claim it! Haha Maybe i should add white onions next time. But it was a hit, the kids loved it just the same.)

Adopted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/228778/creamy-cheesy-spinach-dip/

1 bulb of garlic, chopped

Half white onion

2 tbsp olive oil

2 c fresh spinach leaves (washed in a bowl of water with salt)

2 c fresh milk

150g (arla natural) cream cheese

200g (arla) mozarella cheese

Salt

Pepper

1. In a small pot, saute garlic in olive oil over low heat. (Next time, I ought to try it with white onions to give that sweetened kick.)

2. Add in the spinach leaves and saute.

3. Remove from pot.

4. In the same pot, put the milk, simmer over low heat, stirring constantly to avoid burning and curdling.

5. Add in cream cheese and mozarella stirring constantly until melted. (For low fat alternative, use ricotta cheese.). Still watery consistency.

6. Add in the spinach with garlic and onions.

7. Blend it. Using a high powered (hand) blender, blend for a few seconds (or a regular osterizer). Make sure to leave green spots of the spinach for it to be visually appetizing. Do not overblend.

8. Serve hot (or cool over room temperature) with toasted bread. Consistency thickens further when it cools.

For home made garlic bread, simply brush olive oil and rub in garlic over bread; toast to desired perfection.

Yum!

Baked scallops

2015-08-16T20:19:00.001+08:00

The cook is on leave. I was psyched to prepare calamares for dinner. As I browsed through the freezer, it's an expected treat to find scallops in it. Browsed through the internet and found a recipe at allrecipes.com tweaked it and made it simple. Here we go...

1/4 kg shelled scallops

5 tbsp butter, melted

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 chooped spring onions or shallots

Salt and pepper to taste

Grated quickmelt cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (or 220 degrees C)

2. Rinse scallops and drain.

3. Place scallops, melted butter, garlic, spring onions in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Stir gently to combine.

4. Transfer to a casserole dish.

5. Sprinkle cheese on top.

6. Bake for about 12mins.

Fruit Salad

2015-05-18T21:28:00.001+08:00

One of the all time favorite Filipino dessert is the fruit salad which is made out of fruit cocktail and cream. Aside from being delicious, it is easy to prepare and easy on the pocket.

For less than a thousand pesos, this can generously serve 30 pax (or upto 50 pax when pre-served in a small cup).

Ingredients:

6kgs (2 large cans) del monte fiesta fruit cocktail (P204 x 2)

2000ml (8 packs) nestle all purpose cream (P46.5 x 8)

450ml (1 and half can) carnation condensed milk (P48.5 x 2)

24oz (2 bottles) nata de coco (P40.75 x 2)
2 cups grated fresh coconut meat

1. Open the fruit cocktail and nata de coco. Pour onto a coliander, to drain the syrup for about an hour.

2. In a big bowl or tupperware, place the drained fruit cocktail, nata de coco and coconut.

3. Add in the cream.

4. Add the condensed milk to desired consistency and taste. Toss the mix all ingredients.

5. Chill overnight then serve cold.

Tips:

If it tastes too milky, it means, there's too much condensed milk. You may add more cream in that case. Thus, it is best to add the condensed milk gradually to desired taste and consistency.

You may also add other ingredients like kaong and kennel corn or fresh fruits for added texture.

Avoid freezing it as it becomes watery when thawed.

Black Pepper Crabs

2015-05-18T21:01:00.001+08:00

Ingredients:

1kg crab

3 tbsp keecap manis (sweet soy sauce)

3 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp white pepper

1 large white onions

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 bulb garlic

1. Put the crab to sleep in ice water.

2. Heat pan, place the crab add rock salt, cover until orange (almost cooked)

3. Remove from fire, clean the crab, remove the gills, chop to desired serving size. Set aside.

4. Prepare the sauce mixture. In a bowl, mix the keecap manis, oyster sauce and sugar. Set aside.

5. In a pan, heat butter. Saute the onions, ginger, garlic.

6. Add the black and white pepper.

7. Add in the sauce mixture.

8. Add in the crabs to cook. Then serve.

Simple Guacamole

2015-05-06T23:40:00.001+08:00

Avocados are in season now. I'm not a fan of fresh avocados but I can eat up a bowl full of guacamole with chips.

In one of our recent trips to Mexico, I've tasted all sorts of guacamole and the one served at Casa Magna Marriott in Cancun was to die for.

Before I danced the night away during one of our girls night out in Cancun, I learned how to prepare guacamole in Carlos and Charlie's.

Ingredients:

(Single serve)

1 fresh avocado

1 small tomato

Half red onion

1 tsp lemon juice

Cilantro

Salt to taste

1. Slice an avocado, remove the seed and scoop out the meat.

2. In a bowl, mash the avocado coarsely using a dining fork.

3. Remove the seeds of the tomato then dice it.

4. Finely chop the onions. (I don't like the taste of onion so I prefer to chop it finely.)

5. You may also add chopped cilantro (but I prefer none).

6. Add lemon juice (or calamansi) to keep the color nice and bright.

7. Fold everything together, season with salt (and pepper) to taste. Don't over mix.

8. Serve with your choice of chips to complement the blandness of avocado.

The very salty tortillas of Pringles was a perfect match.

Singaporean Black Pepper Crabs

2015-01-03T20:26:00.000+08:00

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons kecap manis
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons caster sugar
2 kg mud crabs
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 -2 red chilli, finely chopped, optional
1 1/2 tablespoons black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons white pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
2 spring onions, finely chopped, optional
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander, optional

1. Clean, put the crabs to sleep and cook. Follow steps 1 to 10 here.
2. Prepare sauce mixture: mix kecap manis, oyster sauce, sugar and 3 tablespoons water in a small bowl, stir, then set aside.
3. Heat oil in wok, add the butter, ginger, garlic, chilli, black and white peppers and coriander; stir fry for 30 seconds.
4. Add the sauce mixture and stir; bring to a boil, then simmer 2 minutes.
5. Add in the cooked crabs, toss to coat the sauce for 2 minutes.
6. Remove from fire and transfer to a serving plate. Garnish with spring onions and coriander.

Crab and Sotanghon

2015-01-02T19:57:00.000+08:00

Ingredients:

1 package of Sotanghon (clear vermicelli/mung beans noodles )
4 mud crabs cut in 4
4 cups of chicken stock (with 2 chicken bouillon)
1/2 cup of green onions
1 head of garlic chopped (1tbsp)
1 thumb size of ginger chopped (2-3 tbsp)

3 tbsp sliced shallots
3 tbsp oyster sauce
4 tbsp kikoman soy sauce

1 tsp sugar
1 package of spinach
1 cup of dry black chinese mushroom (cut very thin)

2 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp regular oil
Salt

Pepper

1. Soak dry sotanghon in warm water until soft, then drain.

2. Put crabs to sleep, clean crabs and cut into 4 large pieces. See this link how to put crabs into sleep.

3. Heat up a pan and oil and when it is smoking, saute ginger, garlic, shallots and mushroom and stir briskly.

4. Add the crab pieces and toss for a minute or two, on high heat.

5. Add stock

6. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar.

7. Add the noodles and cook until soft and liquid has been sucked into the noodle and brings flavor, for about 10 minutes.

8. Add some chopped spinach and cook a minute longer.

9. Add salt and pepper to taste.

10. Add sesame oil.

Lemon Butter Garlic Shrimp

2015-01-01T19:28:00.001+08:00

A trip to El Nido won't be complete without a serving of lemon butter garlic shrimp from local seafood restaurants. How do they make it sweet and tangy? I bumped into this recipe from panlasangpinoy.com tweaked it to taste and voila! It was a finger licking, shrimp sucking feast.

Ingredients:

1 kg medium sized shrimps

200ml lemon soda (sprite)

1/2c butter

2 bulbs of garlic, finely chopped

Salt

Pepper

Chopped parsely

1. Clean shrimps, devein.

2. Soak in lemon soda for about 10 minutes.

3. Heat pan, melt butter, add a tsp of oil to avoid burning.

4. Saute chopped garlic until light brown.

5. Add the shrimps, avoid mixing too frequently, let it cook one side at a time until light orange in color.

6. Add the used lemon soda, simmer to reduce to desired consistency.

7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

8. Add chopped parsely.

9. Remive from fire and transfer to a serving plate.

Crabs with Alavars Sauce

2014-12-30T19:16:00.000+08:00

Crabs have been one of my favorite. A friend invited me over for lunch and as soon as we learned that crabs will be served, we took the opportunity to learn how she prepares them.

First things first, how to kill a crab. One can be brutal, by putting live crabs in hot couldron or cutting it half while alive or one can be a little bit humane with freezing them:

1. Wash crabs in running water.

2. Place live crabs in a big pan, put ice then add water just enough to cover half of it.

3. The ice cold water puts them to sleep after 20-30 minutes.

Ingredients:

6 kgs jumbo crabs

3 white onions

3 garlic bulbs finely chopped

Tub of Alavar Sauce

Salt

Oil

4. On high heat, heat pan, put in the crabs, sprinkle with salt and cover to steam. The crabs will produce its own fluids, if there's none, add a little bit of water.

5. Cover the pan to steam.

Halfway, cut and remove the straw tied to its claws/body.

6. Continue cooking until orange.

7. Remove from fire, then clean with water, remove the abdomen, carapace (top shell), gills, and other undesired parts and then chop. See this link http://www.chow.com/recipes/30377-basic-steamed-blue-crabs for step by step instruction how to clean it.

8. Heat the same pan with a little oil, saute chopped onions.

9. When it is half done, add in and saute the chopped garlic.

10. Add in the chopped crabs.

11. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

12. Pour in a tub of alavar sauce for a wet saucy mixture (like the cooked crab below). If you prefer to have it just slightly coated, half a cup of alavar sauce to one jumbo crab will do.

Alavar Sauce can be bought from Zamboanga.

I bumped into this facebook account that sells them in Cebu but haven't bought from them:

www.facebook.com/alavarsaucecebu

Contact number: 09772154208 for P250 for half a kilo or P400 for a kilo.

13. Mix together.

14. Remove from fire and transfer to a serving plate.

Wow that was easy. Now i'm hungry again. 😋

Steamed Rice Cebu Style

2014-09-08T21:26:00.001+08:00

We call this steamed rice Cebu style because steamed rice is usually associated with plain white rice while any Cebuano would associate it as a rice in a bowl with meat toppings as popularized by Ding Qua Qua and so many other hole in a wall restaurants.

1/2 kg diced pork tenderloin with a little fat

8pcs shrimp

1 small onion

3 cloves crushed garlic

3 tbsp kikkoman soy sauce

2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp shaoxing rice wine

2 tbsp constarch

1 cup chicken or pork broth

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 cup cold water

4 cups plain white steamed rice

1 tbsp kikkoman

Prepare thr rice:

1. Over high heat, saute garlic in hot pan.

2. Add rice and tbsp kikkoman soy sauce and fry.

3. Remove from fire and set aside.

Prepare the topping:

1. Saute onions and garlic in hot pan with oil until cooked.

2. Add pork until tender, almost cooked.

3. Add shrimp until almost cooked.

4. Add 3 tbsp soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil.

5. Over medium heat, add chicken or pork broth and let it boil for 5 minutes.

6. Dissolve cornstarch in cold water. Set aside.

7. Add worcestershire sauce.

8. Add the cornstarch mixture. Stir continuously until thickened to desired consistency.

Spinach dip

2014-08-28T23:38:00.001+08:00

Onion

1. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil over low heat.

2. Add sour cream and chopped spinach.

3. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Blend mixture to desired consistency.

5. Heat in microwave when ready to serve with grated mozzarella.

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

2014-08-28T23:13:00.001+08:00

Ingredients

1 pack elbow macaroni

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

2c milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried mustard

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1. Cook elbow macaroni as directed on the package. Once cooked, drain and rinse with running water to avoid cooking further. This keeps it al dente and prevents it from getting soggy.

2. Melt 2 tbsp butter, add 2 tbsp flour and make a roux over low heat.

3. Add 2c milk, stir constantly with a whisk. Turn heat up to medium.

4. Add spices: salt, paprika, mustard, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder.

5. Add 1c velveeta cheddar cheese, whisk to melt. Add another cup, whisk to melt.

6. Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni. Bake for 150C or 325F for 30 minutes.

Tender Juicy Crispy Pata

2014-08-28T22:39:00.001+08:00

Another comfort food is the crispy pata. Not all can serve it right. What's the secret to tender juicy crispy pata, fried or baked?

Ingredients

1 whole pig's leg

3 lemon grass (stalk only)

1/2 onion

2 tbsp Oyster sauce

6 pcs bay leaf

2 tbsp whole peppercorn

6 pcs star anise

6 tsp rock salt

2 tsp black pepper

3 tsp garlic powder

15 c water

10 c cooking oil

Procedure

1. Pour water in a deep cooking pot, let it boil.

2. Add lemon grass, bay leaf, whole peppercorn, star anise, 2 tsp salt, oyster sauce. Simmer.

3. Add the pig's leg in the simmering pot over low-medium heat until meat becomes tender for about 3 hours. The pig's leg can be just half submerged in water. Slow cooking makes the meat tender.

4. Remove the leg and set aside and hang to cool and dry. Keep it in the ref overnight uncovered.

5. Scor the leg (scar horizontally using a knife). Baste with oil, rub the leg thoroughly with garlic powder, black pepper and salt. This keeps it dry. Allow it to absorb the rub for 15 minutes.

6. Heat a pot with oil. Deep fry the leg with medium heat until one side becomes brown and crispy and then flip it to cook the other side.

For a healthier alternative or should i aptly say less sinful way, you can bake it at 475F for 30 minutes, then lower it to 375F for another 20 minutes.

7. Turn off heat. Remove leg and drain excess oil. Serve with sprite, soy sauce, onion, salt, pepper for dipping sauce

Fried Chicken ala Sunburst

2014-08-28T21:48:00.001+08:00

Fried chicken is anyone's comfort food. It looks very simple but why do KFC, Popeyes, Jollibee, Sunburst serve it better with tender juicy meat and crispy skin than any home cooked fried chicken. I bumped into Skip to Malou's modern asian series on fried chicken ala Jollibee and tried it out. My jollibee chicken turned out to be ala sunburst looking, my family thought we bought it from the local restaurant. The technique was indeed successful but the taste needs a little tweaking.

Ingredients

8-10 pcs chicken parts

Marinade:

Lemon

2tsp rock salt

1tsp black pepper

1tsp garlic powder

1/2c all purpose flour

1/2c cornstarch

1tbsp garlic powder

1tbsp five spice powder (ngohiong powder)

2tsp salt

1tsp pepper

Procedure

1. Thaw chicken completely. Clean and drain excess water.

2. Toss chicken with lemon, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight. I once omitted this step and found it very bland.

3. Prepare the batter, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder and five spice powder.

4. Heat oil in a deep wok, cast iron is best as it retains heat longer.

5. Dredge the chicken with the flour mixture. Coat it in between the skin and meat as well, this gives body and makes the skin crispy. Make sure all sections are properly coated and dried. Shake off excess flour mixture.

6. Drop a few flour mixture, if it immediately floats, the oil is hot enough. Make sure it's not smoking otherwise you'll burn the chicken. Drop 5-6 pcs into the pan at a time.

7. Deep fry until golden brown for about 10 minutes on medium-high heat. Occasionally turn it around to prevent from burning if the bottom sticks to the pan. Never under cook chicken, but overcooking makes it tough.

8. Remove from fire and drain excess oil.

9. Wait a minute to heat the oil again the cook the second batch.

How to Make Soft and Tender Squid Rings or Calamari

2014-08-28T21:21:00.001+08:00

For the longest time, I've been wondering how some restaurants manage to serve calamari that is really soft and tender to bite. Nowadays, google is the best source of information and it led me panlasangpinoy.com for their easy calamari recipe and tweaked it a little bit.

Here's the secret: To make the squid soft and tender, soak the squid rings in fresh milk for at least 3 hours. Marinating it overnight is best. It is believed that the lactic acid found in fresh milk makes it less tough. Another technique is never over cook it. A cheaper alternative would be to soak it in water with baking soda.

Calamari Recipe

Ingredients

1 kg squid

2 c fresh milk

3/4 c all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp dried parsley flakes

4 c vegetable oil

Procedure:

1. Clean the fresh squid thoroughly and remove the skin leaving it all white. Slice the squid crosswise into squid rings about 1/2 inch thick or your desired thickness.

2. Soak the squid rings in fresh milk for at least 3 hrs or overnight, keep it cold in the refrigerator to avoid spoiling.

3. When ready to cook, prepare the batter. Whisk together the flour, salt, garlic powser and parsley flakes.

4. Heat the cooking oil in a deep wok.

5. Strain the squid out of the milk.

6. Dredge the squid rings one at a time on the flour mixture, make sure its completely coated lightly.

7. When oil is hot enough, deep fry the squid rings for about a minute until it turns very light brown. Do not overcook the squid.

8. Remove from fire and drain the excess oil. I normally place it over kitchen table napkin (tissue paper).

9. Serve with lemon wedges.

Pad Thai

2014-08-05T13:34:00.001+08:00

Ingredients:

150g flat rice noodles

1/4c oil

1 bulb garlic, chopped

1/4c sliced shallots (small red onions)

1/2c chopped onions

1c thinly sliced chicken breast

1/2c peeled shrimps

1c fish tofu and/or lobster balls and/or squid balls

3/4c chicken stock

3tbsp tamarind paste

1/4c fish sauce (Rufina patis)

3tbsp brown sugar

1tsp red curry paste or 1pc chopped chili

3c bean sprouts

Green onions

Yansuy

Eggs

Lemon or line wedges

Chopped peanuts

Chili sauce

Procedure:

1. Soak rice noodles in water for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. In a wok, heat oil and saute garlic until light brown.

3. Add shallots and onions.

4. Add chicken. When chicken changes color, add shrimps and tofu/balls.

5. Add chicken stock, tamarind paste, fish sauce, brown sugar, red curry paste.

6. Bring to a boil, add in the noodles. Toss and cook and cover until done. Season to taste.

7. Add bean sprouts. Cover for a minute. Mix then remove from heat. Top with green onions and yansuy.

Omelet:

8. Beat 2 eggs for every portion.

9. Heat oil in an 8 inch non stick pan. Add eggs. Cook like omelet. Spread thinly until almost cooked.

10. Put one portion of the noodles on top of the half circle. Fold, to form a crescent.

11. Transfer to a serving plate. Serve with lemon or lime wedges. Garnish with chopped peanuts and chili sauce.

Custaroons

2014-08-03T21:14:00.000+08:00

I just came from a thai cooking class with Caro and Marie, at the end of the class, Chef Rosemarie Lim, gave us a few servings of custaroons, red velvet cupcake and chocolate decadence cupcake. I am on dukan diet and having any form of carbohydrates is absolutely not allowed. Well, well, well... not when these treats are right in front you. The custaroons was so good that I finished it up before I thought of taking a picture of it. I've tried the famous Gigi's custaroons and this one was equally good. So here I am back in the kitchen to experiment:

Custaroons is a combination of custard (leche flan) and macaroons. Some say it was accidentally discovered by underbaking macaroon. I'm a fan of leche flan but not of macaroons since I don't like dessicated coconuts. However, this combination is quite a hit for me.

Yield 12 muffin sized or 24 mini macaroon sized

Ingredients:

1 can (395g) condensed milk
2 eggs
4 egg yolks
1/4 c melted butter
1/2 c export quality fine dessicated coconut
1 tsp vanilla

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven at 325F for 30 minutes.
2. Prepare the muffin pan with muffin baking cups.
3. Prepare a heat bath called Bain Marie. Place the muffin pan on top a larger pan that can hold water. Fill up the larger pan with boiling water upto half way of the muffin pan.
4. Using a whisk, in a bowl, beat eggs lightly, add and mix in the rest of the ingredients including the dessicated coconut. Do not over mix.
5. Fill each muffin cup upto 3/4 to the brim. The mixture does not rise so much. In between, mix the mixture lightly to ensure the ingredients especially the dessicated coconut is evenly distributed.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. The dessicated coconut will float to the top as it bakes. Insert toothpick to check its doneness. Perfectly baked ones should show no signs of browning.
7. Remove from the oven then cool at room temperature. Refrigerate, best served cold.

Easy!

Beef Salpicao

2013-11-27T08:37:00.001+08:00

Filipino version of beef salpicao is made of lean beef and lots of garlic. A very simple and different twist from the Potuguese sausage salpicao. It is normally plated on top of rice and garnished with roasted garlic.

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced
3 tbsp butter
1 kg beef tenderloin, 2" cubes
2 pcs red chili, sliced (optional)
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp paprika (optional)
1 tbsp Knorr Liquid Seasoning (can be substituted with oyster sauce or soy sauce)

DIRECTIONS

1. Thaw cubed beef tenderloin, season with salt and pepper just before cooking. Seasoning early on will cause the juices of the beef to be out and will dry up the meat.

2. In a heated pan, add olive oil and butter then saute garlic until brown.

3. Add beef tenderloin over high heat, worcestershire sauce, paprika, Knorr Liquid Seasoning and red chili. Saute until desired doneness of beef.

Homemade Baklava

2013-05-25T21:54:00.001+08:00

I've not like baklava until I've had this!

Ingredients:

1 (16oz) package phyllo dough
1 pound chopped nuts (1:1 pistachios and walnuts or cashew)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup butter, softened for brushing
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup white sugar
1 cup water

Procedure:

Preheat convection oven at 350•F.

1. Melt butter in very low heat, set aside.

2. In a bowl, toss the chopped nuts with cinnamon and set aside.

3. Unroll the phyllo dough and cut according to the form/size of pan.

4. Place 2 sheets of dough in pan. Brush with melted butter thoroughly. It's the butter in between that creates the flake.

5. Sprinkle a layer of chopped nuts mixture (2)

6. Layer them by repeating steps (4) and (5) upto 6 to 8 sheets layered.

7. Bake for about 50 minutes or until golden and crisp.

8. While the baklava is baking, prepare the sauce.

Sauce:
9. Combine honey, vanilla extract, sugar, water together. Let in simmer in a pan:

10. Once baklava is cooked, remove from oven, and immediately spoon the sauce over it. Let it cool at room temperature.

11. Cut into squares with a sharp knife and serve as desired.

How to Make Tomato Salsa Brushchetta

2011-12-03T20:51:00.002+08:00

Bruschetta is a famous Italian antipasto. A friend of mine makes really good bruschetta with tomato, much better than the ones served at La Tegola. So I'm off to the test kitchen and made this:

Ingredients:

6 Medium sized Baguio tomatoes cubed
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Pesto
2 cloves finely minced Garlic
1 tsp Lemon/Calamansi
Salt and pepper to taste
Baguette/French Bread

Prepare the Salsa:

Chop tomatoes, place them in a bowl. Add balsamic vinegar, olive oil, pesto, lemon and season with salt and pepper to taste. Store in the refrigerator. Serve a few hours later when the tomatoes have sipped in the flavor. Adding some fresh basil or cilantro will enhance the flavor.

Prepare the Bread:

Toast the bread without coating it in olive oil first. Toast on a griddle for 1 minute on each side. Take a sharp knife and score each slice 3 times. Rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice. This is the more traditional method of making bruschetta. Alternatively, simply brush olive oil on one side, rub with garlic then toast.

This also goes well with paper thin pizza bread, you may use this pizza dough recipe and roll it really thin, you may add some herbs to give it a kick.

You might also want to try mushroom bruschetta.

Popular Homegrown Restaurants in Cebu

2011-11-28T23:43:00.001+08:00

Cebu is a melting pot of homegrown restaurants, that's uniquely owned and operated by Cebuano (or Cebuano by heart) entrepreneurs. Here are my top picks (in no particular order):

Filipino food:

Golden Cowrie (unlimited rice, crispy garlic shrimps)
Hukad by Golden Cowrie (fish kinilaw and grilled pork belly in one, bibingka)
Cafe Laguna
AA's Barbeque (grilled pork belly and bangus)
Cheaverz (ngohiong, grilled pork belly and smoked bangus)
STK (grilled panga and scallops)
Alejandro's (crispy pata)
Abuhan (sizzling pochero)
Lighthouse Restaurant (lechon de leche)

Chinese food:

Manila Foodshoppe (garlic buttered chicken)
Ching Palace
Grand Majestic Restaurant (peking duck buffet)
Dimsum Break (steamed rice and spring rolls)
Shabu way
Red House Shabu-shabu

Mexican food:

Maya (queso fondido)

Italian food:

Michael Angelo (biancaneve pizza, four cheese gnocchi)
Idea Italia (four cheese pizza)
La Tegola (salsa and foccacia)

Japanese food:

Yumeiya
Nonki (salmon sashimi)
Wakamatsu (eat all you can yakiniku)
Kamikechi Ramen (Tonkatsu Ramen and Gyoza)
Kanyoen

Continental:

Cafe George(angus beef, salad, spinach dip)
Sunburst Fried Chicken
The Ranch (pot roast)

Coffee shop:

Bo's Coffee

Gyoza Recipe by Kamekichi Ramen

2011-11-28T00:05:00.005+08:00

During my visit in Tokyo, I can say that we are lucky that there are a couple of Japanese restaurants sprouting in Cebu serving authentic Japanese Cuisine. For one, I particularly love the gyoza at Kamekichi and I'm happy to learn the techniques how to make them from their very own chef.

Ingredients (Serving 24 pcs)

use this type of ginger grater

150g ground pork
100g minced cabbage (quarter of a large cabbage)
80g minced pechay (two large leaf)
2 stalks minced spring onion (use ganda leaves if available for stronger aroma)
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp minced white onion
2 pinch of salt (1/2 tsp)
1 tbsp white sugar (brown will do)
1 tbsp chicken powder
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tbsp shoyu (Kikoman Soy Sauce)
1 1/2 tbsp sake (Japanese wine or chinese wine or white wine)
water for pleating the wrapper
1/4 cup hot water
sesame oil

Dipping sauce: shoyu, rice vinegar, chili oil or sesame oil.

Prepare the meat:
1. In a bowl, hard massage (in kneading motion, gather and throw em back repeatedly) ground pork for about 10 minutes until some fats (white ones) are sticking on the sides of the bowl. Tip: This is the secret to tenderize the meat.

Prepare the vegetable mixture:
2. Mince cabbage, spring onion and pechay. Set aside in a separate bowl.

3. Add garlic, ginger, onion into the vegetable mixture. Mix them lightly with your bare fingers.

4. Add shoyu, sake, salt, sugar, sesame oil, chicken powder into the vegetable mixture and mix lightly with your bare fingers.

Prepare the meat - vegetable mixture:
5. Add the meat into the vegetable mixture, knead them with your hands until the mixture thickens. When kneading, the meat absorbs the moisture.

6. Settle the mixture flat in the bowl with your fingers, tilt the bowl from side to side. If the mixture does not slide, it's the right consistency; not too wet, not too dry.

Prepare the wrap:
You need not get yourself into trouble by making them from scratch, head to a Japanese grocery. I grabbed a pack of wheat cake wrapper for gyoza at Machiya Mart for P110 for 24 pcs.

7. Thaw frozen wrapper.

Tip: Remove from plastic, cover the wrapper with wet towel to keep it moist. Leaving it inside the plastic will cause some wrapper to be wet and hard to handle. Put inside the ref to thaw.

Tip: The wrapper and wrapped gyoza must be covered with moist towel at all times while working to keep it moist and prevent it from breaking.

8. Take one wrapper on your palm and with one finger, wet the outer sides of the wrapper.

9. Put 1 tsp of the mixture in the middle of the wrapper.

10. Fold in into half over the filling and pinch the middle.

11. Holding the wrapper in that middle spot that you just pinched with your left hand, make a pleat on the top part of the wrapper, pinching it against the flat edge of the wrapper at the back using your right fingers. (Tip: I find it easier when I let it stand on the plate/table while holding the middle to keep the filling from slipping while pleating.)

12. Holding the filled half-circle in the left hand, pleat the top of the wrapper from the middle out, pressing it to the flat edge of the wrapper at the back (only the front edge will be pleated, the back edge stays flat). Proceed to make two or three more pleats to the right of the first pleat.

13. Then switch sides and pleat the other side (to the left of the pinched middle) with your left fingers.

Note: Store them in the freezer when not yet ready for consumption. When ready to eat, place frozen gyoza onto pan in the same manner below. It may just take a little longer for its wrapper to turn translucent because of the thawing process.

Pan Fry Gyoza:
14. With no fire, oil the pan with 1 tbsp of oil, spread it over the pan with paper napkin.

15. Line the gyoza on the pan with small distance as it expands when cooked.

16. Put 1/4cup of hot water into the pan. (make sure water is equally distributed on the pan covering the bottom of the gyoza)

17. Cover the pan.

18. Turn on the stove in high heat, for about 4 minutes, until the wrapper turns translucent. The steam will cook the gyoza. Add hot water if it dries up before it becomes translucent.

19. When it turns translucent (just in time when water has evaporated), open the pan, put little sesame oil over the pan to pan fry the gyoza. (This will make the bottom brown and crisp.) Keep the pan open.

Tip: On fire, avoid adding oil onto water, as this will cause it to splatter.

20. When it starts to smoke, lower the heat.

21. Remove from heat and serve on the plate up side down.

22. Consume while hot with dipping sauce.

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Kamekichi Ramen
F. Cabahug Street, Cebu City
(032) 4224511

Machiya Mart
TPE Building
Corner Gov. Cuenco Avenue (Talamban Road) and AS Fortuna Street, Cebu City
(032-5056592) or (032) 344-0355

Substitution for Sweeteners

2011-10-11T20:52:00.004+08:00

There are several factors at variance among the different types of sweetener, among them weight, moisture, acidity, and, of course, taste. You can manipulate most of these variables, though, to allow you to substitute one for another selectively.

First of all, consider the difference in weight. A cup of granulated sugar weighs 8 ounces. A cup of brown sugar weighs only 6. But a cup of maple syrup weighs 11 ounces and a cup of honey weighs 12. So if you were to substitute honey in a recipe that calls for brown sugar, you’d be adding twice the amount of food. Maybe that’s OK, but since honey is sweeter than sugar, you’re not only adding more material, but more sweetness as well.

In addition, honey and maple syrup add moisture to a recipe, which can upset the texture of what you’re making. Honey adds acid to a recipe, which you might have to neutralize with the addition of a pinch of baking soda. And honey can cause baked foods to brown more quickly. Brown sugar, on the other hand, attracts moisture, so it will keep baked goods from drying out so quickly. Also, brown sugar includes molasses, which adds moisture, and certainly changes the taste. On that question of taste, you’re on your own.

Having babbled enough now, here are the general substitution rules for sweeteners, but remember, most people consider these emergency substitutions, not daily rules to live by:

In spite of their difference in weight, you can substitute brown sugar for granulated white on a 1 to 1 basis, and the most significant difference will be taste.
Substitute white sugar for brown sugar on a 1 to 1 basis, but add 4 tablespoons of molasses per cup, and decrease the total amount of liquid in the recipe by 3 tablespoons.
To use honey in place of sugar, use 7/8 cup for every cup of sugar, and reduce the liquid in the recipe by 3 tablespoons.
To use sugar in place of honey, use 1-1/4 cups of sugar plus 1/4 cup more liquid.
To use maple syrup in place of sugar in cooking, use 3/4 cup for every 1 cup of sugar.
To use maple syrup in place of a cup of sugar in baking, use 3/4 cup, but decrease the total amount of liquid in the recipe by about 3 tablespoons for each cup of syrup you use.
To use sugar in place of a cup of maple syrup, use 1-1/4 cups of sugar plus 1/4 cup more liquid.
Finally, granulated sugar has 46 calories per tablespoon, brown sugar has 50, maple syrup has 53, and honey tops them all with 64.

Red Velvet Cupcake

2011-10-10T21:57:00.002+08:00

Yields 2 doz cup cake

3/4 c sugar
1/4c unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4c vegetable oil or extra light olive oil

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk (1/4c evaporated milk + 1/4c hot water + 1.5tsp vinegar)
1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
2 Tablespoons red food coloring

Dry ingredients:
1 1/8 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F, bake at 325F.
Whisk together all dry ingredients, set aside.
In the bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Turn mixer to high and add the egg (one at a time).
Add the vanilla and vinegar.
Add dry ingredients to the batter, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat on high until smooth.
Add the red food coloring to desired color.
Spoon batter into a paper lined cupcake baking pan and bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean.
Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them of a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting

Chahan: Japanese Fried Rice ala Ginza

2011-10-10T21:18:00.000+08:00

Ginza has been Cebu's longest operating Japanese Restaurant, known for it's quality and pricey menu. Ginza's fish head is their bestseller. Our family's favorite is their mizuno table cooking service, where food ordered is cooked right in front of you. The kids especially loves it when the chef does acrobatics by throwing eggs up in the air.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3uKPqHZKH0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

1 cup cooked Japanese rice
1 egg
1 tbsp sake
1 tbsp kikoman soysauce
Diced crown onion
Diced carrots
Diced baguio beans
Ground shirmp
Ground beef
Ground chicken
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil or butter

1. Heat pan or mizuno table, put oil or butter.
2. Cook the onions, carrots, beans.
3. Add ground chicken, then later add the shrimp and beef, add sake.
4. Add the rice, put the egg on top then mix.
5. Add soysauce, salt and pepper to taste. Press and mix all ingredients but don't overmix.
6. Once cooked, remove from fire.