baby rambutan

==or one fine lucky riot of a dish!

my kids look forward to this now, our New Year’s dinner of jai. this year, as husband noticed, i “pulled out all the stops!” each ingredient has a special meaning to usher in a lucky welcome for the New Year. i was aiming for 18–
and i did it!…not counting the shredded ginger, or the mashed fermented bean curd cubes in Szechuan oil, and how about the hoisin sauce and the soy sauce for the stir fry.
the vegetables and rehydrated dried ingredients are added in the order of how quickly they soften.

dried oysters
dried shiitake mushrooms
dried bean curd skin
dried bamboo pith
straw mushrooms
water chestnuts
carrots
pea pods
baby corn
dried tree ears
dried lily buds
dried mung bean sticks (sotanghon)
sea moss
boiled peanuts
fried firm tofu cubes
tofu puffs
fresh bamboo shoots
napa cabbage

previous recipe here.
bamboo pith, FINALLY located these tucked away high up in the grocery shelves, wonder why?
my MIL used to serve us these with black mushrooms and dried scallops and sometimes chicken gizzards…yummy

do i have a cheesecake problem! the problem is, i crave it very strongly and painfully, but i know that i can’t eat very much of it.
another problem: cream cheese is horrendously expensive now! gone are the days when you could get one bar for just a dollar. nowadays, it’s a stretch to see it priced under two dollars. so i grabs it wheres and whens i cans and makes sures i don’t eats too much.
all kinds of citrus are all over the place, and now that it’s almost Chinese New Year, right when oranges and lemons and limes are flooding the grocery bins, it is just the right time to make a lustrous, dreamy cheesecake to sweeten the New Year of the Dragon.

(based on a recipe from epicurious.com. i used vanilla cookies in place of graham crackers, and Meyer lemons, and put the cheesecake in a slightly larger cake pan and then on top of a bain mairie.)

lemon curd:

1 teaspoon finely grated fresh Meyer lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

crust:

1 1/2 cups finely ground vanilla cookie crumbs (5 oz)
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

filling:

3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Make lemon curd:
Whisk together zest, juice, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Add butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubbles appear on surface, about 6 minutes.

Force lemon curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a wide shallow dish, scraping bottom of sieve, then cover surface with wax paper. Cool completely, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Make and bake crust:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Invert bottom of 9-inch springform pan (to make it easier to slide cake off bottom), then lock on side. Stir together crust ingredients in a bowl, then press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of springform pan. Place springform pan in a shallow baking pan and bake 10 minutes, then cool crust completely in springform pan on a rack.

Make filling and bake cheesecake:
Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.

Beat together cream cheese and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add eggs 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in sour cream and vanilla until combined.

Pour two thirds of cream cheese filling into crust, then spoon half of lemon curd over filling and swirl curd into filling with a small knife. (Avoid touching crust with knife to prevent crumbs getting into filling.) Repeat with remaining filling and curd.

Bake cheesecake until set 1 1/2 inches from edge but center trembles when pan is gently shaken, about 45 minutes. (Center of cake will appear very loose but will continue to set as it cools.) Transfer springform pan to a rack and immediately run a knife around top edge of cake to loosen. Cool completely, about 2 hours, then chill, uncovered, at least 4 hours. Remove side of springform pan before serving.

Cooks’ Notes: ·Lemon curd can be made 1 week ahead and chilled, covered.
·Crust (without filling) can be made 1 day ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.
·Cheesecake can be chilled, loosely covered, up to 2 days. Cheesecake must be completely chilled before covering to prevent condensation on its surface.

the real name is beef pares, but i redubbed it after my youngest child’s favorite card game. this dish is just perfect for the long-dreaded/long-awaited (depends on where you’re born i think) wintry weather. me, i just dislike driving in it–it doesn’t help when the morning jolt of caffeine is accompanied by dire news of a 9-car pile-up nearby due to the black ice!
popular after i’d already left Manila, beef pares is something i’ve heard about just from bloggering, and couldn’t wait to try. since i have no point of reference i can only recommend it based on my kids’ reaction to it: yeah, mom, we love it!

ideal for the cheapchewy cuts of beef–tendons/ligaments welcome!–just make sure to skim off the nasty scum and bloody bits off the broth while it’s just starting to simmer. pressure cookers might work well too but i simmered the beef shanks until almost fork tender, removed the bones and threw them back into the broth, then proceeded with the rest of the recipe. with garlic fried rice and snipped watercress added to the soup it was a complete meal to fortify us on a winter night.
(recipe adapted from here and there on the blogdom, and i will post it soonest.)

yey, we made it to another year . i’ve recovered from all that holiday-ing, and once more my resolution about that is to start out earlier. we’ll just have to wait and see. i always am so full of hope .
i’ve been cooking a lot, A LOT! i’ve really renewed vows with my baking and cooking love*, but have just been so pressed for time. the world’s just spinning so much faster. why is that?

our New Year’s eve, we splashed out and made sure the refrigerator, pantry, and table were full and/or laden with our favorites.
we decided on a table full of appetizers and savory snacks, a combination of take-out and home-cooked, among them:

appetizer table with assorted savories and cheese fondue…

not-quite-7 layer dip (black bean, guacamole, sour cream, tomatoes, black olives, pickled jalapeños, topped with cilantro), great with corn tortilla chips.

smile, you’re a honey-baked ham!

orange-soy glazed ribs

Bon Chon chicken…try the sweet soy-garlic and the fiery fearsome hot wings, dare!
and for the desserts,

coconut lemon tea cake–not too rich, not too moist, perfect with hot tea,

halayang ube, purple yam pudding, something sweet and sticky to catch good luck for 2012, also year of the fierce Dragon. wait, that means another celebration in a couple of weeks! yey!

*a whole other story, worth its own chapter.
bold means recipes provided on demand upon request!

meringue roll with almond custard filling
i enjoyed making this dessert for our Christmas eve dinner…because it turned out so well, when i was expecting it to be not. i guess i have become pessimistic over my attempts at making this.
i kept in mind that the beating of the egg whites makes or breaks this popular dessert that’s served for very special occasions. Christmas included.

will post the recipe upon request! thank you to everyone who visit here and i want to wish you all a hahahappy healthy 2012 !

i’ve never really understood why a lot of people dislike fruitcake, referring to it they use words like “brick,” “doorstop,” and adjectives like dry, heavy. i’ve even heard “deadly weapon”!
i’ve always had moist, tasty fruitcakes, owing to my mom’s version which she sold for Christmas orders or gave away as presents, a long long time ago. she can’t bake this year…

so i had a bright idea of sending her a big loaf.
i used figs, dates, dried cherries, glacé cherries, maraschinos (both red and green), sultanas, raisins. i steeped the fruits overnight in the “hot toddy” mix of strong black tea, whiskey and Grand Marnier and cane sugar. ( my mom used to steep the fruits in molasses and brandy or rum.)


i went nutty with the mixed nuts: Brazil nuts, macadamias, pistachios, almonds, and pecans.
i’ll supply the recipe upon request. happy happy, merry merry! best wishes for peaceful holidays.

that about says it all yes?

everyone seems to be running around being Santa’s helpers. sometimes dinner becomes an oopsy afterthought: “oops! what shall we have for dinner then?!”
this is a quick pasta dish which came about from rummaging through the refrigerator and pantry shelves. my kids all were happily sniffing about in the kitchen while i was cooking.
it could be a side dish or the main dish–we served it alongside tilapia tempura and arugula salad.
recipe? Read the rest of this entry »

i haven’t baked a layer cake in such a long time, so long! that my family asked me, “what’s the occasion?!” when i set this plump and dark and fragrant cocoa cake in front of them. after a dinner of IKEA meatballs, roast fingerling potatoes and steamed broccoli…they were very perplexed.

eh. i said. just because. sometimes a chocolate cake is all you need to make things feel right.

i only had a little bit of heavy cream: when whipped there was only enough for the in-between and the top of the layers. i also had it with a scoop of pistachio ice cream. i am so so bad.

this is our current favorite chocolate layer cake. yah i know, i always say that about the latest recipe–but this is just so moist and intensely cocoa-ey and if you’re a fan of alkalized cocoa, as we are, you’ll reel from the chocolate buzz and almost dizzy feeling. it must be love.

* make sure to use only Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa; i searched high and low, far and wide until i found this at the newly opened Wegman’s in Northborough, MA, but there are other brands like Droste, and Hershey’s used to make one.
* have ingredients at room temperature unless specified otherwise.

decadent cocoa cake
(adapted from the Rademayer Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa back-of-the-box)
3 cups flour
2 tsps. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa (with alkali)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup melted butter
2 & 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups warm water
1/ & 1/2 tsps. pure vanilla extract

preheat oven to 350°F. prepare two 9-inch round cake pans: butter the bottom and up the sides of the pans, line with parchment paper, then rub with butter and coat with flour. shake off excess flour.
sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. set aside.
in a large mixing bowl, combine oil, sugar and eggs.
add water and vanilla extract.
slowly add flour and cocoa mixture. mix only until thoroughly combined. pour batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean.
allow to cool in pans.

one-&-only daughter’s request for her 17th birthday: something chocolatey, something cheesecakey, Ma!
cheesecake! i breathed a sigh of relief. after a rich black forest cake from the fancy schmancy cake shop for the baby brother, #2son,

who turned 12, and oodles of cupcakes for their joint family birthday party, cheesecake is easy breezy. i flipped through a couple of favorite cookbooks but ended up choosing something different from an untested recipe. i made up the crust with what i had on hand, and ended up with “my” new invention of an almond-coconut-crust, what i call my Almond Joy inspiration–one of my favorite chocolate bars when i first arrived in the good old U.S. of A.
break down the steps to making a cheesecake and it becomes gosh-durn-it-easy-as-pie.
recipe! plus cook’s notes… Read the rest of this entry »

my two younger kids are five years apart but their birthdays are within 11 days of each other.
that means cakes: birthday cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes, ice cream cakes…whatever their hearts desire. after all they wait and wait all year for this extra special occasion .
honestly i selected the pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes for their decorative quality–there being an explosion of orange and green coloured candies and sprinkles around this time of year. i mean, they were really heartily delicious, but i noticed that everyone, including yours truly, adored, and devoured!,the orange-almond cupcakes.

pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes with cream cheese frosting,(recipe from Julie Riven, Boston Globe October 26 2011):
frosting
4 tablespoons ( ½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoon solid-pack canned pumpkin
½ teaspoon vanilla
3c ups confectioners sugar, sifted into a bowl
1. In an electric mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Mix in the pumpkin and vanilla. Gradually beat in the sugar until the mixture is smooth. 2.Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour before using.

cakes
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
½ (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup whole milk
¾ cup solid-pack canned pumpkin
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup each candy corn, chocolate bits, jelly beans, sprinkles, dried cranberries, and raisins (for decorating)

Set the oven at 400°F. Have on hand a 12-cupcake pan. Line each with paper liners.
In a bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.
In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar for 1 minute. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl. Beat in the milk and pumpkin.
With the mixer set on its lowest speed, add the flour mixture just until blended. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand. Stir in the chips. Divide the batter among the cupcake pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cupcakes spring back when gently pressed in the center.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool. Remove the cupcakes from the pan. Frost the cupcakes. Decorate with candy corn, chocolate bits, jelly beans, sprinkles, cranberries, and raisins.

orange almond cupcakes, adapted from Cupcakes, Susanna Tee, Parragon Publishing, 2006:
(this recipe makes 12 cupcakes)
6 tbsps. butter, at room temperature
generous 3/8 cup superfine sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
scant 5/8 cup self-rising white flour
generous 1/4 cup ground almonds
grated rind and juice of 1 small orange

preheat the oven to 350°F. line cupcake pan with paper baking cups.
cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. gradually beat in the egg. add the flour, ground almonds, and orange rind and, using a large metal spoon, fold into the mixture. fold in the orange juice. spoon the batter into the paper cups.
bake for 20-25 minutes or until well risen and golden brown.

[i frosted these with lightly sweetened whipped cream, and skipped the extra step of pouring a simple-sugar-orange syrup over the cupcakes for extra moisture.]