Crust
Pastry for Filled One-crust pie

Filling

3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (16-oz) can (2 cups) pumpkin or prepare from real pumpkin
1 (12-oz) can (1 1/2 cups) evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup nuts (walnuts or pecans, chopped)

* ( you can make Pumpkin Pie spice by mixing 1 teaspoon ginger, 4 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon cloves and store in cool, dark place)

Topping
1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped

Directions

1. Prepare pastry for filled One-crust pie.

2. Heat oven to 425 F.

3. In a bowl, combine all filling ingredients. Blend Well.

4. Pour into pastry-lined pan. Bake at 425 F for 15 minutes.

5. Reduce oven temperature to 35 F. Bake an additional 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

6. Cool until ready to serve.

7. Serve with whipped cream. Store in refrigerator.

You can make variations by using maple-flavored syrup for the 1/2 cup evaporated milk

Anyway, this recipe is called the Apple Cobblestone Pie because coconut is added for texture to the pie topping. Here are the ingredients:

Crust

Buy ready made pastry from the grocery or make your own using
One Pie Crust recipe.

Filling

6 to 10 medium apples, peeled, quartered (TIP: Make sure the apples form a nice heap on the pie plate)
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

Topping

1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons margarine, butter, softened

Directions

1. Prepare pastry for Filled One-Crust Recipe using 9 inch pie pan. Use my One-crust Pie Recipe

2. Heat oven to 375 F.

3. In large bowl, combine all filling ingredients until apples are well-coated.

4. Arrange apples, rounded side up, in pastry-lined pan, placing close together to resemble cobblestones.

5. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over apples. Set Aside.

6. In a bowl, combine all topping ingredients until crumbly. Use fork to mix them all together.

7. Sprinkle over apples in number 5.

8. Bake at 375 F for 40 minutes or until apples are tender.

Yield: 8 servings.

Tip: Large apples can be subsituted for medium apples cute each into 6 pieces.

Source: recipe was modified from “Pillsbury, The Complete Book of Baking”

Ingredients

1. Fruit Mixture

6 cups peeled Apples or 8 to 9 pieces of tart apples (In the Philippines, buy the small tart gree/red apples from Taiwan)

1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon lemon juice

2. Topping

1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened

Procedure

Heat oven to 375 F.

1. Pare the apples.

2. You can use an apple slicer to cut the pared apples.

3. Set aside 6 cups of apple slices

4. Place apples in ungreased 2-quart casserole or 8-inch square (1 1/2 quart). Sprinkle with cinnamon, water and lemon juice.

5. In large bowl, combine all the topping ingredients. Mix until crumbly.

6. Toss 1 teaspoon cinnamon on the apples.

7. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over apples.

8. Bake at 375 F for 25 to 35 minutes or until fruit is tender and topping is golden brown.

9. Serve with ice cream, or whipped cream if desired.

I use Kemps Frozen Yoghurt vanilla flavor.

Yield: 12 (1/2 -cup servings)

You can always use variations too:

Apple Cheese Crisp - Top baked crisp with 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese; bake an additional 2 t0 3 minutes or until cheese melts.

Blueberry Crisp- Subsitute blueberries for the apples.

Peach Crisp- Substitute sliced peeled peaches for the apples

Ingredients

2 packs frozen grated cassava ( you can get this at local Filipino stores)
2 cans coconut milk (or frozen pack coconut milk)
2 1/2 cans condensed milk
2 eggs (beaten)
1/4 cup macapuno or sweetened coconut strings
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping
2 egg yolks, whipped
1/2 condensed milk
Mix and blend the egg yolks and condensed milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 C

2. Thaw cassava or coconut milk if you bought the frozen one. Mix all ingredients and blend well.

3. Line a pyrex dish ( 9″ x 15 x 2″) with aluminum foil or better yet with banana leaves.

4. Pour the mixed ingredients (in number 2) onto the pyrex dish.

5. Bake at 325 C for 25 to 35 minutes. You will know it is done when the top solidifies.

6. Remove from oven.

7. Spread the topping on top. (see above mixture)

8. Bake an additional 10 more minutes until the topping thickens.

9. Remove from oven. Cool.

Remember, it’s the sesame oil that gives this dish a piquant flavor. Let’s make sure our children eat their veggies!

1/3 cup lean pork, sliced into strips
1/2 cup carrot strips (julienne or matchstick-sized)
1/2 cup ubod, juilienne strips (substitute with canned heart of palm, a.k.a. palm heart, palmito, chonta or swamp cabbage)
1/3 cup green peas
2 pieces of mushrooms (tenga ng daga or crimini, soaked to soften; then cut into strips; drain water)
1/3 cup cashew nuts (or use walnuts, pili nuts; it’s your choice)
1/4 cup green onions or spring onions, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
cooking oil (I use extra-virgin olive oil)

The seasoning: Mix until well-blended.

1/4 tsp. rock salt
1/4 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
2 tsps. soy sauce
1 tsp. oil
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. cold water

The sauce:

1/4 tsp. fine salt (iodized salt is good)
1/4 tsp. sugar
2 tsps. cornstarch
2 tsps. soy sauce
dash of pepper
1/4 tsp. sesame oil
1/3 cup water (cold water)
1/2 tsp. MSG (optional)

1. Marinate the pork slices with the blended seasoning mix.

2. Blanch the carrots, green peas, and ubod for around two to three minutes, adding a little salt for flavor. Drain the contents in a strainer or colander.

3. In oil, saute the seasoned pork until 3/4’s done. Add the nuts and mushrooms.

4. Add the rest of the vegetables and the sauce mixture. Cook until the sauce thickens and attains a glossy sheen. Cook for one more minute. Serve hot.

SINANGAG (GARLIC FRIED RICE)
Serves 4

6 large cloves garlic, minced
Extra virgin olive oil, as needed
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 cups steamed jasmine rice, cooled
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In large nonstick skillet over medium heat, saute garlic in about 1 tablespoon oil until fragrant and lightly golden in color.

2. Add fish sauce to pan and cook, stirring, until liquid evaporates and the sharp fish smell turns more mellow.

3. Using spatula, stir in rice and let cook on medium-high until a slightly crunchy bottom is achieved.

4. Toss rice once again and keep repeating until all the rice has had a chance to crisp.

5. Add more oil if needed. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper if needed. Transfer to a platter and serve.

The recipe above contains patis or fish sauce which I normally won’t use for my garlic fried rice. The substitute for patis is sea salt or rock salt. When cooking garlic rice in the States, I notice that the large garlic cloves is not as sharp as our native garlic. So adjust the garlic cloves in the rice to achieve that distinct garlic flavor.

Ingredients for pork

1/2 kilo pork tenderloin
4 tablespoons vinegar
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 head garlic, minced
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
Extra cornstarch for rolling pork
Oil for deep fat frying
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Slice pork tenderloin into one inch pieces.

2. Marinate pork in vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and garlic for around 2 hours.

3. Drain.

4. Mix together with egg, flour and cornstarch.

5. Roll each pork in cornstarch mixture and deep fat fry.

6. Drain. Set aside and prepare sauce.

Sauce

6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 cup water
4 tablespoons catsup
1 teaspoon worcestershire or oyster sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch (dilute with 2 tablespoons water)
2 tomatoes, sliced in wedges
2 medium sized onions cut into 8 pieces
1 stem celery , cut into 1 inch pieces
1 carrot, cut into round shapes
1/4 cup pineapple tidbits
1/2 cup green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch x 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch x 1 inch piece

Directions in cooking sweet sour sauce

1. Mix the first 6 ingredients in a Kawali

2. Thicken with cornstarch mixture.

3. Add onions, carrots, celery, pineapple tidbits, tomatoes, red and green bell peppers.

4. Boil once, then add pork.

5. Serve hot.

I had some left-over saba bananas from the Pochero so I turned it into turon saba a caramelized sweet Pinoy Merienda fare. The crisp dessert is such a delight.

Here is a recipe for Turon na Saba

Ingredients:

12 pieces saba bananas
native lumpia wrapper
light brown sugar
flour and water to seal the edges
langka in slivers (optional)

Procedure:

1. Peel saba bananas
2. Prepare the lumpia wrappers to fit the peeled saba. Half a portion of the wrapper
3. The half wrapper will be used to roll the turon in case of breaks in the wrapper
4 . Roll the bananas in sugar.
5. if you want, add a sliver of langka on top of the saba
6. Roll the saba on the lumpia wrapper and double wrap if needed.

7. Pan fry gently the turon till these are caramelized and crispy. Drain to remove extra oil.

Isn’t that delicious?

For those of you who want to bake Fruitcakes for the Holidays, here is a recipe which I call Golden Fruitcake. I’ve modified this based from my mom’s original fruitcake recipe. My Golden Fruitcake does not have a strong taste of brandy nor is it too sweet. Anyway, there’s a lot of preparation so make sure you run down the list carefully.

Here is my Golden Fruitcake recipe

Ingredients

1 Cup butter (I use Golden Crown)
1 1/1 Cup Brown Sugar
4 large eggs (1 cup) or 5 medium eggs
3 cups all purpose four
1/2 cups flour (to dredge fruits and nuts)
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 teaspon salt
1/2 cup milk
5 Tablespoon prune juice
3 Tablespoons Molasses
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (mix in molasses)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoon cinnamom
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 1/2 cups nuts (Combination of walnuts, pecan, cashew, pili)
1 1/2 cups dates
1 1/2 cups fruit glaze
1/2 cup cherry brandy

Extra Cherries, fruit glaze,nuts for decorating on top of cake
Cherry brandy to brush top of the cake

Preparation

Fruit Mix

1. Soak fruits in 1/2 cup cherry brandy overnight.
2. Drain the fruits for 1 hour.

Preparing the Baking pan

1. Don’t use waxpaper.
2. Use thick cellphane (1 piece only) and use enough to cover the cake after baking.
3. You can also use aluminum. More messy but more sure.

Batter

1. Heat oven to slow.

2. Cream Shortening and add sugar slowly until fluffy.

3. Beat in egg one at a time, beating after each addition until light.

4. Blend Flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg.

5. Stir in alternately with milk, molasses, juices and vanilla beginning and ending with flour.

6. With 1/2 cup flour. add to fruit mixture.

7. The batter is then mixed to the fruits. Add the nuts on top of the batter.

8. Put batter in cellophane lined or aluminum lined pans (4 pans)

9. Bake for one (1) hour at 300 F. ( But do check the temperature based on the pan you use. Sometimes baking can be as short as 45 minutes to 1 hour at 325 F)

10. At 45 minutes baking time, remove pans from oven and decorate top with cherries, buts and fruits.

11. Cover pan with overlapping aluminum foil to prevent burning.

12. Bake 15 more minutes until done.

After Baking

Tips

1. It’s important to drain the fruit mix for 1 hour. This is because alcohol destroys the cake batter.
2. Nuts are not placed in the batter; rather it is placed ON TOP of the batter. I still mix in the buts anyway. I use a combination of nuts.
3. Never use peanuts but do use pili, cashew, walnuts, or black walnuts.
4. The batter is mixed to the fruits so that the emulsion in the batter is not destroyed.

I have 5 recipes for fruitcake but based on my past experience, the above recipe gave me the best results.

My managing editor at Filipinas Magazine, Gemma Nemenzo, is rarin’ to try the Torta a la Argao. Since the Torta’s secret is the use of tuba, I’ve been putting off making this particular treat especially since it is so cholesterolific. She has the “hulmahan” or the molds — which are actually brioche molds, if you want to order them at Sur La Table. The challenge will be to find a close cousin of tuba in the US. I’m thinking about a light beer, which is slightly fermented. I’ll update you all with my experiments.

A reader shared this I would suggest instead of tuba for the torta visaya, some sparkling wine, such as ricadonna or asti spumanti, or even a sparkling rose if you dont want it so sweet. - Thanks Tony!
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However, for those of you in the Philippines, you have no excuse. Go ahead and try this one!

This recipe was contributed by Annie Osmena Aboitiz. It is found in Nora Daza’s cookbook, “A Culinary Life: Personal Recipe Collection.”

5 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup tuba
3 cups sugar
20 egg yolks
1-1/2 cups cooking oil
1/4 tsp. salt
a pinch of anise

sister’s note: use an electric mixer.

1. Pour the tuba into the flour. Add the salt. Mix well.

2. Add the sugar gradually into the egg yolks while beating well.

3. Add the oil. Blend well.

4. Put the mixture into a pan lined with paper and greased with butter or oil. Add anise.

5. Wait for 7 hours before baking (to allow the batter to rise). However, if the weather is cold, wait for 8 hours before baking.

6. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit until cake tests done.