Tabemashou! (Let's eat!)

Sam Won With Someone Special

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:33:00 +0000

The other night was Valentine's day. JM and I didn't really have plans for it. But we wanted to eat dinner and I craved for kimchi chigae. At first I suggested that we go to Kkachi but he pointed out that it was the 14th so there would be heavy traffic in the Makati Avenue - Burgos area. What to do when such a dilemma comes your way? Well, you could check out foursquare XDDDD But it was getting rather late so we talked about it. I kidded him about going to BF Paranaque, where there are a lot of Korean restaurants etc. So yeah we did! Our friend Joel has been telling us about Sam Won. But we never got the chance to check it out until the other night. It's a Korean grill located in BF Paranaque, along Aguirre Avenue. It was crowded when we arrived. Families were enjoying the grilled delights. We ordered two dishes : kimchi chigae and sangyupsal. We were asked by the Korean lady manning the table near the entrance if we wanted to have our kimchi chigae mild. Of course not! Hahaha. We both like spicy food! While waiting for our food, it was explained to us that because we only ordered one sangyupsal they were going to grill it for us. But for orders of two or more plates of meat, we could grill them on our own. Maybe next time.

Kimchi. Chigae. This was pretty good. Not as spicy as we wished it would be but at least we know by now that we should ask for it to be spicy next time we go there. They serve this dish with one cup of rice. I forgot to take pictures of the sangyupsal :-( We were so hungry so by the time it arrived we just ate. It was pretty good too! The pork was marinated nicely. I am not sure what spices they used but it was sweet, salty and a little spicy - not in the chili kind but the spicy meaning there are spices. I was able to take pictures of the side dishes they gave us.

Next time (I will make sure there is one!) I will take pictures of the grilled meat. :) It was a rather filling meal for us considering we just shared everything. Our total bill was around 600 pesos, more or less. You could ask for house tea and it's free of charge. We got one 1 liter bottle of it! It was pretty ok. I think it was barley tea.
Google Maps doesn't seem to have an entry for this place yet. Or my internet connection's so slow it's not loading all the information. Anyhow, click this link to see the general area where Sam Won is located.
Their address is: 226 Aguirre Avenue Phase 2, BF Homes Paranaque.

Potato Love at Murphy's

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:15:00 +0000

Potatoes have a special place in my heart. Seriously. I like eating baked potatoes, boiled potatoes, french fries, potato wedges, potato chips, etc. Yes, the carbs. Gah. No wonder I find it so difficult to lose weight. I used to order baked potatoes from Wendy's but I am not sure if they're as worth buying as they used to. But I don't have to worry about that anymore. I've got another baked potato source when I am craving it and I'm in Makati. That happens to be Murphy's!

Baked potatoes with cheese and broccoli!

A closer look at the baked potato :)

I swear it is glorious! I just went to Murphy's a few times before and I didn't know unti some time last November that they serve baked potatoes and you could basically have whatever toppings you want with it. I was expecting like a potato, just like in Wendy's. But no. During the instances I ordered baked potatoes, it was always a pair of them nicely baked potatoes that have whatever topping I asked for. The price varies based on your order. I think bacon is a relatively expensive topping compared to brococoli and cheese.

I forgot how much this combination of toppings and potatoes cost. It's been several weeks since this was eaten. ~_~ (Yes, I have a whole backlog of food posts!) But I think that it's around 160-200 pesos and it's sooo filling. I think I could only eat up to 1.5 potatoes when I am hungry.

If you love baked potatoes and want a different set of toppings instead of the usual cheese and bacon, try heading to Murphy's! You could even eat this dish with a glass of your favorite beer if you so wish it.

Tapsilog Time at Sinangag Express

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:02:00 +0000

Nothing beats a hearty breakfast! And we Filipinos seem to know how to enjoy our breakfast. Whether it's pan de sal or something -silog (sinangag at itlog), we'd really make sure that our stomachs will be full before we even start our day. I happen to prefer -silog food in the morning, if it's possible. Especially if it's tapsilog with spicy vinegar!

Last month, we fetched our friends from the airport and considering we were all so hungry, we ate breakfast at Sinangag Express on Malugay Street.

Ah yes, they are open 24 hours a day! Isn't that marvelous?

And yes, of course it's a meal. Tapsilog ftw! Don't forget the vinegar!

My verdict:

I really loved it! I loved the flavor of the tapa. It wasn't too salty. And even with the spicy vinegar, you could still taste the goodness of the tapa. Considering this was breakfast and it didn't have as much rice as the usual from the other Sinangag Express in Makati Cinema Square, nor like Tapa King's meals either, it was quite filling. At least I didn't feel like I had too much rice! And I am glad that I asked for spicy vinegar. It's addicting hahaha. XD

Will I go back for this? Sure! Now I know why my boyfriend and one of our friends go to Sinangag Express in BF Paranaque to have dinner when they go home late from work. It's filling and it's not so expensive because it's less than 100 pesos (roughly 2.25 USD or so).

Details:

Sinangag Express

Sinangag Express Website

Sinangag Express Malugay on FourSquare

Sinangag Express' general area on Google Maps

January 2012: Coffee Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:39:00 +0000

My very first attempt at coffee cupcakes! :)

I've decided to challenge myself to learn at least one new recipe each month. So that means I should have learned at least 12 new recipes a year! I plan to try something new once a month and tweak that as I go along. For the first month of 2012, I made coffee cupcakes because January is my sister's birth month. She happens to like coffee. ;)

I used this recipe for coffee cupcakes as basis of what I made. But of course, not everything is perfect. I didn't have all the ingredients so I substituted some stuff.

Alterations:

buttermilk -- milk with vinegar as substitute (basis: about.com's page on buttermilk substitutes)

corn syrup -- none used

Things Learned:

1. There's no need to rush out for buttermilk because you could make it at home. I usually read about people using lemon but for people like me, we don't have lemon at home often. Thankfully vinegar works too!

2. Do not burn sugar. I think that the coffee syrup didn't end up becoming sweet is because I burned it. Better set the heat to low. Or maybe I should try using a double boiler? Just to avoid the bitter flavor.

3. Pre-heat the oven long enough to ensure that the heat will be more evenly distributed. I am not sure if I got this right. But I think I pre-heated the oven longer this time compared to when I baked before. Hrmmm.

4. Buttermilk seems to have made the cupcakes less dense than what I expected. I suppose it's to be expected?

I think that this recipe would be better if it had something like a dulce de leche filling inside, I think. Especially if the coffee syrup ended up a bit bitter. I will definitely try making a new batch one of these days.

Recipe: Choco and Cream Semifreddo

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:38:00 +0000

I just saw this at the back of the tetrapack of Nestle All Purpose
Cream tonight when I was making the usual new year's eve ref cakes.
Anyway, here it goes:

Ingredients:
2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup sugar
1 pack of 250ml Nestle cream
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup kitkat wafers

Procedure:
1. On a small mixing bowl set atop a pan of simmering water, beat egg
yolks until pale yellow in color. Add sugar and beat until light in
texture. About 2 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, beat Nestle all purpose cream until soft peaks
form. Add in vanilla. Fold beaten egg yolks into whipped cream and
set aside.
3. In another bowl, beat egg whites into stiff peaks. Working in 2 or
3 additions, fold egg whites into cream mixture until no white streaks
remain.
4. Fold in chopped kitkat wafers and spread mixture onto a loaf pan
lined with plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 2-3 hours or until
solid.

I cannot vouch for the recipe yet because I haven't tried it myself.
But I am saving this for future reference. Or maybe next year's cake
:)

Because food is good... Eat Fresh!

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 11:19:00 +0000

The other night, we were hankering for good food! We thought about going to Distrito but because of certain logistical concerns, we ended up going to Eat Fresh, a place where they serve Hong Kong street food. My friends Kathy and Liyan went there before and they really swear by the food. Of course we couldn't help but be curious. ;)

We ordered a lot! And I wasn't able to take the pictures of everything we ordered ~_~ Talk about forgetting to shoot then eat. Ahaha. Anyway, here are some of the things we tried:

Milk tea with grass jelly.

This is basically nai cha XD It's not too sweet that's why I like it! Kinda reminds me of the one from Zen Tea but not really. I think this is just PhP 55. :D Awesome deal, right? They have other milk teas too but I wanted to try this just because.

The remnant of the lobster ball and the radish cake.

The radish cake is way cheaper than the one from David's Tea House and it's fried in such a nice way. :D Crunchy outside. Nom nom nom!

Takoyaki!

It's not the best takoyaki out there but it is good! So much bonito flakes. And it's tasty. :) Not too salty. The texture is ok too. Just so happy that they put quite a lot of bonito flakes which I really love about this. I think I like the one from Octoboy better but it doesn't mean this is not good.

Special Fried Rice

This is good for two people! I think this was just PhP 85. :D Then again, we were eating all those glorious dishes hahaha. XDDD

Seafood Mushroom and Stuffed Tofu

The seafood mushroom was something JM wanted to try when he saw it on the menu. The stuffed tofu was highly recommended by our friends who were also with us that night. The stuffed tofu didn't have a weird smell. (Yay! Plus points for Eat Fresh!) And it was crunchy outside, soft inside. One order has two big pieces so we happily devoured that hahaha.

Pancake Balls

These were so yummy! Just enough sweetness. It's the addicting kind of sweet. Lol. It's a bit crunchy outside and soft inside. And you could easily break off one pancake ball from the rest. You could share this sweet treat with others too. Unless this is the only thing you're ordering. Then again, it's so good, you could probably keep eating it if your appetite is that big!

I wasn't able to take pictures of the fried noodles. I should ask JM if we ate other things I can't recall at the moment. But right now, just thinking about Eat Fresh's delicious food is making my mouth water. We were thinking of going back there on the 15th. XD

The place isn't that big but it's alright. It's not a fancy restaurant so it's quite relaxed there. They also serve food fast, at least during the time we were there. You could bring your barkada there and enjoy a great time eating and laughing together. One more thing I love is that they have a nice assortment of food on their menu so there's probably something for everyone in your group. I wish we could've ordered more but we were quite full already. Between me and JM, we had all that yummy food and our total bill was around PhP 550. It was way better than eating out in Makati because of the variety of food and also because of how filling the dishes were all in all.

For more details, check out Eat Fresh's Facebook page. And if you want to go there, here's the address: 100-A Maria Clara Street, Quezon City
Sorry but I don't recall where Eat Fresh is located exactly. But you could click this link to get an idea of the general area. ^^;;;

Their store hours: 10:30am - 12:00 am

Lychee Pocky

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:14:00 +0000

I went to Singapore 2 weeks ago and on my last day I noticed that Fair Price had Pocky! Good grief, why didn't I check earlier? Anyway, here are some pictures of this delicious treat and my thoughts.

I don't remember the price of this Pocky because I was in a rush. I think it was cheap enough but I wasn't very sure if I would enjoy the flavor. Graah. I now regret not buying more of this. I like lychee and the flavor is just right. It doesn't taste like medicine at all! The lychee bits were nice too. I couldn't help but keep on eating each stick. Just so happy that none of them got squished on the way back to Manila!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Double Bianco for the win!

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:30:00 +0000

That is a foldable spoon that's part of the package!

This is the goodness known as Double Bianco ♥ ♥ ♥

Working along Rada Street has been wonderful. We're near a wonderful sisig seller, Shakey's, Mini Stop, KFC, Starbucks, Jollibee and a whole lot of places to eat. Whatever day it is though, we like going to Rada Mart, a Korean grocery on Rada.

To be honest, I've eaten different kinds of noodles and ice cream but I've only thought of starting the reviews now. Lol. Yeah, I end up eating first then never blogging about them. It's just that this Double Bianco ice cream was so good, I have to tell the world about it.

The packaging of this icecream is fascinating. The swirl looks so attractive, doesn't it? I was afraid of breaking it when I tried to pry off the cover. I even asked someone else to take off the cover for me. When the cover was already off and I tried scooping out the icecream, it wasn't as soft as I expected. No wonder it's able to hold its shape with the swirly shape and all.

The swirly top of this treat is mildly flavored vanilla icecream with strawberry syrup. It's so good because it's not overpowering. And as you reach the other half, you will taste apple flavored icecream (or is it frozen yogurt?) :)

One great thing about this is that it doesn't melt easily. I would type stuff, eat and then it would melt a little but not too much compared to the usual icecream sundae.

For PhP 58, this is a great buy! I think my other co-workers will also try this instead of the usual Melona when they can. If you're a fan of Korean icecream, try to check if your neighborhood grocery has it. :)

Experimenting with Chocolate Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 07:52:00 +0000

I found this recipe and tried it last week. And yes, I forgot to blog about it because I got a bit lazy. I will note what happened in this blog entry. Anyway, here it goes.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="choco mini cupcakes, chocomint cupcakes"][/caption]

Recipe

Moist chocolate cupcakes - This recipe is eggless and it's not necessary to use a mixer for it either.

Variations:

For all variations, I didn't use vinegar. I wasn't sure what kind of vinegar was needed.

More cocoa powder - 1/2 cup instead of 1/3 cup. Additional 3 tablespoons of water.

More cocoa powder, milk instead of water - 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 1/3 cup of milk

More cocoa powder, milk + water, mint -1/2 cup cocoa powder, 2/3 cup milk, 2/3 cup water, 3 drops mint extract

Results:

More cocoa powder - A bit dry. The chocolate flavor was just right. The cupcakes looked lumpy at the top, as if it has bumps and lumps, literally.

More cocoa powder, milk instead of water - Good texture all around. Smooth at the top. The flavor isn't as chocolatey.

More cocoa powder, milk + water - The flavor isn't far away from the second variation, in terms of sweetness and chocolate-ness. But there is a hint of mint. Not strong enough to be a turn off.

Conclusion:

I am ok with the current texture of the cupcakes after 3 batches. In terms of flavor, it's ok with the first batch. But of course the amount of liquid components did change the flavor while it improved the texture. I need to figure out how to bring out the chocolate flavor more. I used the Hershey's cocoa powder that's available here instead of plain cocoa powder in the baking supply store. I should also look into using other baking cocoa powder because there might be a difference. At least I know I am getting somewhere. :)

Pre-Valentine Lunch at Twenty One Plates

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:47:00 +0000

My boyfriend and I go to Twenty One Plates on special occasions. Like birthdays, anniversaries, etc. We went there last Saturday, a pre-Valentine's day date. And they had a special menu with set meals on that day. Before setting out on our lunch trip to Twenty One Plates, we were discussing the menu. I was partial to the something new set and he was partial to the something old set. So guess what happened on that day? I had the something new set and he ordered the something old. Haha. XD Seriously, there's tuna ceviche and the interesting dessert with white chocolate wasabi! I couldn't help but be biased and order that. And of course he wanted something very filling. It's the meat, I tell you, it's the meat. And because of his very hearty appetite, we also ordered kimchi rolls, a favorite at Twenty One Plates!

Our table had cute flowers:

So yeah, this is really something special. ??? I like how simple the table is set there. We sat in a different area than our usual. XD It was the first time we sat in the room on the right side. I think we were near the kitchen.

Kimchi rolls - always ordered because they're so delicious!

We can't help but order them. I told him I wouldn't eat a lot because I needed to make room for everything else, especially the dessert! But as always, the kimchi rolls are spicy in the right way. :D

Something Old set:

The Classic Caesar

Salt and Pepper Wagyu and Smashed Potatoes

Frozen Brazo de Mercedes

Something New set:

Tuna Ceviche with Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar, Sesame and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Prawn Tempura with Balsamic and Wild Honey Reduction

Glazed Mangoes with Korean Vanilla Icecream and White Chocolate Wasabi

The Verdict:

I could only speak for myself. The tuna ceviche was lovely. Sweet, tangy, spicy. I had to remove the chili bits from the other slices because it's overwhelming. I love spicy food but I think I wanted to savor the sweet and tangy flavors more that day. And the tuna was fresh so it was all good. :D

The prawns of the tempura were soft and oh so yummy. I really loved every bite. I thought I wasn't going to ever eat the rice and just enjoy the prawns but I couldn't leave the rice alone ahaha. I felt it was such a waste to not eat it. But really, the tempura and salad were already so good together.

I was able to taste the Caesar salad and potatoes. The salad wasn't too salty, which is a good thing, I think. And the bacon bits were scrumptious! You really want to eat them all. And the potatoes were good too.

I loved the dessert. Chef Tinette let us rest for a bit before serving the lovely and yummy desserts. The glazed mangoes were just right. Not too sweet and the vanilla icecream melting on top of it was heavenly. The intriguing part: white chocolate wasabi. It made sense with the mangoes and icecream haha! XD Who would've thought?! I drank hot chocolate with chili before so I guess white chocolate with a mild wasabi flavor is a good combination ;) It's not overpowering the white chocolate. And it has a nice kick.

My dearest seems to have enjoyed his meal as much as I did. And like all the other times we've been to Twenty One Plates, we were so giddy. They must have put something special in the food every time they prepare them. And incidentally it was Chef Tinette's birthday last weekend. We didn't know until much later, when we were already sipping our milk teas in Serenitea.

Would we go back to Twenty One Plates? Hell, yeah! And would we recommend it to you? Of course! :D

Creamy tuna and eggplant pasta

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 10:43:00 +0000

We love tuna, we love eggplant, we love pasta. So yeah, they have to be together in one dish. Lol. We have some cute ribbon-shaped pasta here so I decided to use them today.

Ingredients:

400g pasta

5 small eggplants, sliced thinly

1 can tuna in oil

1 can mushroom soup

6 cloves garlic, chopped

garlic powder

pepper

olive oil

Procedure:

Prepare the pasta according to the pack. Set aside.

Heat up a pan. Put maybe 2 tbsp of olive oil.

Sautee the garlic.

Fry the eggplant in the oil.

Add the tuna. Make sure that you fry the eggplant well enough.

Add the mushroom soup. And maybe a little water if you think it's too thick. Let it simmer.

Add garlic powder and pepper to taste.

Put the pasta in the sauce and mix them all together.

Remove from the heat.

Results:

Mom likes it XD So yeah, I think I am happy cat. Even without cheese, it could be tasty enough because of the pepper and garlic powder.

Other Notes:

You could use any pasta, I would think. But I'd rather use penne, ribbon pasta or fusili. :) I tried to make a similar dish before but with chicken and cauliflower. My sister seems to be allergic to chicken now so we're avoiding it. If you don't have mushroom soup, maybe cream and mushroom would work. I'd most likely add some cornstarch dissolved in water to make it thicker.

Fun with potatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 11:45:00 +0000

Potatoes with cheese and spices.

Ingredients:

marble potatoes

grated cheese

olive oil

pepper

salt

parsley

garlic, chopped

dried basil leaves

Procedure:

Boil the potatoes. When they're done, set them aside.

In a pan, heat some olive oil. Then put the garlic, sautee until they're brown. I just used medium heat.

Add the potatoes.

Put some salt and pepper to taste. Mix them all.

Add the parsley, cheese and basil leaves. Mix them all together.

Serve them.

Results:

It was pretty tasty. I didn't put a lot of parsley so it wasn't overwhelming.

Notes:

I didn't put exact measurements here because I just put everything together. It depends on how cheesy you want it to be or maybe if you don't like cheese, you could remove it. Without parsley's ok too. It just so happened that Mom was craving this potato dish so I whipped it up earlier :D I think it's a fun thing to make. I would assume you could do this in a different way. Like bake them. So if you're going to bake them maybe put all the potatoes in a baking pan, put olive oil, then add the spices. As for the cheese, maybe add it a bit later? I am not sure.

It's something you could experiment with. I would imagine it would also be a good side dish to fish dishes.

Bagoong Rice with Tuna

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:49:00 +0000

Bagoong rice or shrimp paste fried rice is something I haven't eaten in quite a while. I decided to make my own version with the ingredients we had, as well as catering to my sister's preference for tuna. She doesn't like pork but normally, it's served with caramelized fried pork.

Ingredients:

Please note that all these ingredients are estimates because I just used what we had at home.

1/3 cup bagoong or shrimp paste

4 cups cooked rice

1 small green mango, sliced thinly

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 can of tuna

chopped cloves of garlic -- it depends on you (I personally prefer a lot of garlic!)

oil to grease your pan

Procedure:

Heat the pan. Add the oil.

When the oil is hot enough, put the garlic and sautee them.

Add the tuna and bagoong. Sautee them all together.

Add the cooked rice. Mix them well together.

When they're all mixed enough, set that aside.

Beat the 2 eggs. Add some sugar for a bit of sweet taste.

Fry them aka scrambled eggs. (In my case, I used a rectangular pan so it looks like tamagoyaki, but not really.)

Slice the cooked eggs.

Serve the rice with eggs and mango slices on the side.

I used to put some tomato sauce in the bagoong rice before. It is possible too. Put the tomato sauce before you put the rice in the pan, if ever you want to try it with it. Enjoy! :)

Cream cheese brownies attempt #2

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 14:09:00 +0000

I didn't bother about attempt #1. It was a huge failure. Orz Because it was really burnt. Lessons learned have been incorporated in attempt #2. It's in a cookbook my sister got from her friends. Title of the book: Good Housekeeping: Easy Everyday Meals Volume 3. It is similar to the recipe to be found on the Joy of Baking site: cream cheese brownies.

Ingredients:

Brownie Layer:

3/4 cup butter

1 cup chopped unsweetened chocolate

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Layer

2 eggs

1 bar cream cheese, softened

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Recipe:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan.

Start making the brownie layer. In a pan, melt the butter with the chocolate.

Remove from the heat and add the sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add flour and salt.

Pour into the prepared pan.

Start making the cream cheese layer. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth.

Spread over the brownie layer.

Bake until done or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool then cut into bars.

Modifications:

The recipe I followed said use unsweetened chocolate. We had semi-sweet at home (or dark sweet! It's my sister who knows...) so I used only 1 cup of sugar instead of 2 cups so it won't be too sugary. I doubled the amount in the brownie layer because we find the McCormick vanilla syrup weak. I forgot the vanilla in the cream cheese layer. Orz Oh and this time, we used two pans. And I am glad we did because having two pans meant that there'd be a second chance if the pan near the bottom of the oven got burnt -- which happened.

Lessons Learned:

Check on your brownies if you smell the brownies already. Turns out that one of the brownie pans was already burnt because I was thinking that there was still time, etc. That brownie pan was at the most bottom layer in the oven so maybe it was the reason why it got burnt. I could've moved it and switched it with the one on top.

Maybe I didn't use enough cream cheese. The recipe said 1 bar of cream cheese. But it was too liquid. I am not sure if it's the eggs or the cream cheese in that layer that made it not so thick and so it settled at the bottom.

Overall opinion:

It tastes ok :) One of the brownie pans got burnt. But the other one was way better. It was sweet enough so I guess I made a good call regarding the amount of sugar to put in the mixture. I still have to figure out how the cream cheese layer should be though. Because it doesn't look like the one in the picture in the book. Here's a picture of the page in the said book:

Swirly Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 12:51:00 +0000

Pat of Baon Ko Bento posted her Nutella swirl cupcakes for her 52 week challenge and I knew I just had to try it myself. She made self-frosting cupcakes and they look so great. She got the inspiration and recipe from Connie of Home Cooking Rocks! Connie has a great food blog and I knew that any recipe from her would be great to try at home. This is my second attempt at making cupcakes because I am meeting some friends tomorrow morning.

Recipes:

For the main cupcake, I still followed the basic cupcake recipe I used before: http://cupcakeideasbook.com/basic-cupcake-recipes/ We don't have a lot of eggs at home so I just followed this. But for the swirl idea, I got it from this recipe of self-frosting cupcakes by Connie.

Modifications:

I used strawberry preserves, as well as those chocolate snacks in plastic tubes. Oh and like the last time, I also used the macaroon pans. We only have one muffin/cupcake pan at home.

Lessons learned:

No need to heat up the strawberry preserves. They are gooshy enough as they are. Just take them out of the fridge about 15 minutes before baking.
Use those chocolate in tubes if you have no Nutella. They are cheap and will be ok enough.
Don't put a lot of the strawberry preserves if you're using the macaroon pan. It would overflow and the little cupcakes will get sticky paper bottoms. Seriously.

Overall opinion:

These cupcakes are easy to make and they taste good. :) When I ran out of chokochoko/chocolate in tubes, I just added Nips on top and voila~! Colorful and sweet. ?

Basic cupcake with marshmallow as frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 11:11:00 +0000

It's my sister's birthday tomorrow so I decided to make cupcakes. Being a newbie to baking, I didn't dare go into cake territory just yet. Just little cakes. XD I looked up a recipe using ingredients we already have at home. Mom used to want to try baking before so we have muffin pans and the smaller versions for macaroons which I used.

Recipes:

Followed this cupcake recipe: http://cupcakeideasbook.com/basic-cupcake-recipes/

Used this method to add frosting: http://www.chicaandjo.com/2009/07/21/easy-marshmallow-icing-recipes/

Modifications:

Additional vanilla extract.
Margarine instead of butter. (That was the available item in the ref.)

Lessons learned:

Check the cupcakes earlier. The first set had browner bottoms because they were already cooked when I added the marshmallows on top.
Don't get distracted by the doorbell/phone/etc. when you just put the mallows on top of the cupcakes. If you forget them, they look weird after you squish them with a spoon because the edge of the mallow sticking up will retain it's shape. It looks weird. Really.
It's ok even if you pour a little over half of the cupcake paper. At least it won't be flat. ;)
If you're using the macaroon pan, you could half the mallow so that it won't overflow.

Overall opinion:

This is a fun thing to bake. Not everyone might enjoy the texture of the melted mallows though. My sister and I used to put marshmallows in aluminum foil to be cooked for a little while in the oven so this recipe makes sense to us. Colorful marshmallows are fun to use too because they add color to the food.

Mmmmm... baked macaroni!

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:44:00 +0000

My mom requested that we eat baked macaroni for dinner.

And so we did. She already boiled some ground pork so I used half of that. For this I used the following ingredients:

approx 500g of ground pork
approx 200g of macaroni
1 pack of spaghetti sauce
1 can of mushroom soup
1 onion
5 cloves of garlic
Italian seasoning
salt
oil
pepper
half a block of processed cheese
1/2 cup of milk
2 tablespoons of butter

The procedure:

Prepare the macaroni. Set it aside. (Note: I don't really look at the pack anymore. I boil water, but add a bit of oil and salt before it really boils. When it's boiling I put the pasta and wait for it to cook. I stir occasionally.)
Chop the onions and garlic. Set them aside.
Saute the garlic and onions.
Add the ground pork.
Add the spaghetti sauce. Let it simmer.
Add the mushroom soup. Let it simmer.
Add salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Mix it all up. Let it simmer.
Mix the pasta into the sauce.
Put the macaroni and sauce mixture in a pan. Shred cheese on top of it.
In a microwavable container, put the milk and butter. Heat it up a little. Maybe 1 minute on medium high. The butter will melt in the milk, the milk will be hot.
Grate some cheese into the milk and butter mixture. Spread that on top of the cheese.
Bake for 10-20 minutes.

Ok, as you could see, I don't really measure a lot of things when I cook. I have no idea what temperature the oven was but I did check the dish from time to time to see if it looked ok. I go by gut feel. Yes, I am weird that way. It turned out ok. I have yet to learn to properly use the oven, swear.

As for the sauce, it's my lazy method because I didn't want to turn on the stove for the sauce.

Lasagna Attempt #2

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 03:50:00 +0000

A much better looking, much better tasting lasagna!

Mom wanted lasagna again so I tried making it, this time with all the other tips in mind. Thanks to Lasagna Attempt #1, I learned a lot. Ryan and Diane shared with me a whole lot of tips when it comes to cooking lasagna. I tried making bechamel sauce again. It tastes better when you use butter, compared to margarine. I added grated cheese to the bechamel sauce. Ryan's tip, which was to add a cheese sauce after arranging the lasagna's layers, was helpful. This time the lasagna wasn't dry on top.

Things I did this time around that made things better, I think:

I cooked the pasta properly. There weren't a lot of broken pieces. Because I put them one by one in the huge pot.
The meat sauce was more evenly spread on each layer.
Bechamel sauce using butter! Hooray!
Cheese sauce on top. It made the top layer soft, not brittle :D
Using Italian seasoning in the meat sauce. I like the taste better with it. So did my family. :D

Things I'd like to improve on next time:

Add more cheese to the bechamel sauce so that the layers with that sauce taste way better.
Add more cheese to the cheese sauce. Because it's yummier that way.

We really enjoyed eating this lasagna all the more. I hope to make it even more awesome next time.

Using Eggplant and Sausage in Pasta

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 13:59:00 +0000

We usually have pasta at home because that's easy to cook, all things considered. And one can easily store pasta too, as well as the other ingredients used for it. Anyway, Ryan's blog posts make me think of what else to do with the food at home. I've used Hungarian sausages in pasta before and it was really good. It's just so happened he wrote about using eggplant and sausage in pasta so I just had to try it. Admittedly, I liked the combination.

Yay! Cheese on pasta!

Instead of the usual tuna, beef or chicken, sausage and eggplant slices taste good.

I'm thinking if there are other recipes which use eggplant in pasta. I'd like to try them out soon too.

Attempt at Tuna Casserole

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 08:33:00 +0000

This was today's lunch :D

We usually have lots of canned tuna at home so I thought I'd come up with chicken casserole because I miss chicken casserole. Yeah, I know, it doesn't make sense. Those two different things. But hey, both are casserole dishes. ;)

Ingredients:

200 grams macaroni
1 can century tuna flakes in oil
1 small can of sliced mushrooms
3 tbsp margarine or butter
3 tbsp flour
1.5 cups of milk
1 pack spaghetti/tomato sauce
cheese
garlic
onion
pepper
salt

Directions:

Chop the onion and garlic.
Prepare the pasta. Cook it according to the directions on the pack.
Prepare the bechamel sauce. In my case, I prepared kneaded margarine and flour. Then I heated up the milk and then whisked the kneaded margarin and flour.
In a skillet, saute the garlic. Saute the onions.
Add the tuna into the mix. Then the mushrooms.
Add the tomato sauce/spaghetti sauce. Let it simmer. Then add the bechamel sauce. Mix. Add salt and pepper according to your preferred taste. Wait for it to simmer.
Add the cooked pasta. Mix it well.
Add grated cheese. Cover.

It was my first time making bechamel sauce and I wanted to use up all the margarine. It was ok. The mixture of the spaghetti sauce and bechamel sauce tasted ok but not as good as I wished it was. It was a thick enough sauce for the casserole, for me, that is. I should try it with butter. Everything is better with butter, lol. Next time, I'd make sure there's green bell peppers too. I like green bell peppers in chicken casserole and I think it will be fine with the tuna. :)

French Toast in the Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 02:03:00 +0000

French toast with cinnamon!

Ryan blogged about french toast some time ago and I felt like I haven't eaten it since goodness knows when. I woke up today with a determined mindset: I will have french toast for breakfast!

However, I ended up using wholewheat bread. I had no nutmeg. And instead of putting the cinnamon in the mixture, I sprinkled it on top of the toast. :) We actually had some tocino this morning so I could have experimented pairing it with that but I thought it was just too weird. I ended up eating this by itself.

Lasagna Attempt #1

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 11:52:00 +0000

This is the first time I made lasagna. This is the simple and comparatively cheap version of lasagna because I didn't use ricotta cheese.

I had to make do with what was at home but the recipe was based on this no ricotta lasagna recipe except that I just used regular processed cheese. That was interesting.

Some snags I hit:

The lasagna wasn't really ok by 10 minutes. So it had to be cooked longer but I wasn't so sure how much longer. I added 5 more minutes but after baking it, it seems like it wasn't really that ok either. The pasta was soft but not for all the pasta pieces.
The pasta ended up shredded. I am not sure if it was because of how I put it in the water when I was cooking it.
I overcooked the cheese topping. I think the oven might have been too hot.

I really must learn to use the oven because I had to ask my mom to be the one to make sure the oven was pre-heated. ~_~

Anyway, the lasagna tasted ok. It wasn't too tough but there were bits of pasta which ended up crispy. It was quite cheesy so I liked it. I also think I did the sauce right, at least it wasn't so oily.

I'm going to have to do this again another day. Ryan of KainPinoy.com gave me some tips regarding lasagna earlier:

Check the pasta when cooking it because sometimes the packaging's instructions are not enough.
Make a cheese sauce using the following ingredients: a can of evaporated milk, grated quick melt cheese, a bit of butter and a slurry of cornstarch and water. Combine the milk, and grated cheese in a sauce pan and simmer until cheese is melted. Stir constantly. Use low heat. Add the butter. When it has melted, the mixture should have slightly thickened already. Add in teh slurry, mix and turn off the stove. Once you've arranged the lasagna, top with grated cheese before pouring the cheese sauce. This also works for baked mac, baked spag, red and white sauce.

So there's more stuff to look forward to the next time I try cooking it again. For now, I'd have to enjoy a slice of lasagna.

magnetic-rose.net's birthday contest: win a voucher to eat your favorite japanese dish

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 07:15:00 +0000

Speaking of magnetic-rose.net, there's contest running there for her birthday and the site's birthday too so you might want to check it out :D

The contest has simple rules:
1. Answer the question: "What is your favorite Japanese food?" on her blog as a comment.
2. Create a blog entry with your answer and a trackback.
3. Post about it on an SNS.

For more details check out her blog.

To answer her question: For now I'd have to say it's okonomiyaki. I love the combination of flavors and textures in okonomiyaki. I've tried the one with noodles too and it's really interesting how the meat, the bonito flakes, cheese, the veggies all mix together and give you a rich tasting dish.

I used to crave for kakiage a lot. I also had a phase for salmon sashimi. (Then again, maybe I'd always like salmon sashimi~! *nom*) But right now, I have been craving okonomiyaki often enough to say it's my current favorite. Too bad I have to say only one dish. I'd have a list, to be honest. XDDD

Milk tea = happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 06:08:00 +0000

Over at Rotch's blog is a post with the five local milk tea shops and kiosks. Mainly Metro Manila based ones so I don't really know any in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. I've never been to Tokyo Cafe but I swear by Serenitea's milk tea selection. Seriously. I love their milk teas. And because of her blog post, I had to post something about the topic because milk tea = happiness.

The closest kiosks and shops to me are Bubba Tea in SM Fairview and there's Ersao in West Avenue, as well as BubbleTea in the Block (SM North). Among the closest to me, I find BubbleTea has the most flavorful milk teas whether hot or cold. I like their matcha and their strawberry milk teas. Price is more than PhP 100, if I recall correctly. But it's worth it. :D The milk tea they serve is not overwhelmingly sweet. They also have a new menu now so there's ramen, takoyaki, etc. Their ramen is good for sharing. At least when you have ramen and takoyaki, it's better to share both.

Ersao would be my next destination for milk tea in this part of the metro. Aside from milk tea (I love their taro milk tea and almond milk tea), they have Taiwanese food and they sell packs of frozen dumplings which I love eating. Their pork with kuchay dumplings are yummy and economical, good for those who want to bring packed lunches to work or school. Anyway, a cup of milk tea is around Php 45 - PhP 60, I think. But you could buy set meals or snacks with the milk tea or shake of your choice. It's cheap and good. Though sometimes they run out of pearls for the milk tea, if you're unlucky. Compared to Serenitea and BubbleTea, the one they have is more watery but still has enough flavor and sweetness. Their milk teas come in one size only.

BubbaTea in SM Fairview is the closest to me but my last choice when it comes to milk tea because I find it a bit too watery sometimes. Or too sweet. But at least my milk tea cravings are satisfied. I regret trying their strawberry one though. So with this one, I'm sticking with the almond milk tea and royal milk tea.

Dang Dee at Legazpi Village

noreply@blogger.com (Clair Ching) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:50:00 +0000

Looks like there's this new place in Legazpi Village. It's called Dang Dee Fast Food, and it's located at 200 Benavidez Street, Legazpi Village, Makati City. Basically, they're selling meals from 68-108 pesos. Each meal will have a viand, rice (quite a generous amount of it!), some vegetables, half of a soy egg, pickled goodies and juice. They also include something spicy. I ought to ask what it is exactly but they kind of look like garlic bits to me.

They use a partly wooden bento box. Probably like what they use in matchboxes as they are thin. The cover of the box is cardboard. They advertise that they have an environment-friendly bento box design. Hmmm. But they seem to still use a number of plastic bags when delivering. It's an interesting concept nevertheless.

Taiwan sausage bento meal

Price: 78 Pesos
This has sweet Taiwan sausages which are fried and sliced. I like the sweetness of the sausages but I find it overwhelming. Too much of something is bad, that's what people say. And I guess it's true in the case of the Taiwan sausage. Good thing there are veggies and pickles to offset the sweetness. This is what I had last night.

Dang Dee classic bento

Price: 78 Pesos
This is something I haven't eaten myself but my friends swear by it. It reminds me of asado in Chinese fast food. Especially because of the sauce.

Fried chicken bento

Price: 68 Pesos
Fried chicken wings - Got two pieces of them in the meal. I like the flavor but it's a bit too oily for me. It's filling though, that's for sure. Maybe I'd try ordering again next time and see if it's really that oily.

So yeah, maybe I really ought to try their Dang Dee classic. After all, they named the fast food after it!

Dang Dee Delivers!

We were being lazy earlier so we had food delivered at the office. Because we're nearby, we got the food quickly. It took only probably 15 minutes. And they have free delivery XD When I want soemthing really filling on a budget, Dang Dee's food is pretty good. Much better than buying from Ministop, except, well, if you're hankering for fried chicken.

Dang Dee's Fast Food:

Address: 200 Benavidez Street, Legazpi Village, Makati City

Number: 8080643, 8364188

Mobile: 09228080646