baby rambutan

if like me you stalk the baking blogs waiting to pounce on hapless delectable goodies–cakes, cookies, breads, mine mine mine!–then you’ve heard of this no-knead bread from Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City.

tiptup baked it, as did breadbasketcase , and i’m just your basic generic easy pushover.….so the detailed instructions here (plus video if you sign up for a free subscription) were so easy to follow; all you do need is plenty of patience (for the long slow rise). maybe a dab of supreme self-confidence? nerve? gall? too to overcome the self-doubt as you handle the sticky gooey dough. oh and also a heavy cast-iron pot with that tightly-fitting lid. definitely need that for the crunchy crust. oh and one last thing! a wedge of Brie cheese….

[YIKES! i forgot the atbp. part of this post! check out aling kikay….20 March]
i took a little break from this blog…in fact, to be honest, my blog and i broke up . we’ve since kissed and made up and here are my recent experiments:
blackberry and apple bread:
this recipe has been winking at me “bake me! bake me!” ever since i stumbled upon it and i must say, it’s very easy and delicious, with a brioche-like-bready-hearty crust and Golden Delicious apple and studs of fresh blackberries on top. i told the kids, it’s a fruit pizza. and they really loved it. wonderful for breakfast!


after baking, with streusel topping.
the recipe is from the joy of baking. next time i’m going to use a proper smaller baking pan to get it more cake-like.

special request for this time of the year when we are gifted with bags and bags of fresh oranges:
gulao rou or sweet and sour pork with fresh fruit juice.

this time i added fresh pineapple and red and green sweet peppers. i missed my little sous chef though–he likes to help peel the tiny little shallots– who was at school during the March nor’easter. our school system just never ever cancels school ever! kids come home looking like little snow people.

to think that just this past Wednesday, a full two days before, it was 70F and i wore flip flop tsinelas and we went to the playground and broke out in a sweat.

this is my nod to the St. Patrick’s day celebrations this weekend, a recipe based on Ben O’Donoghue’s, via olive magazine. i’ve seen many recipes for stews enriched by Guinness stout so Sunday dinner was just the perfect time. i added aromatics to the stew (carrot, celery, bella mushrooms) and ahem quite a lot more lashings of sea salt and pepper to the broth. i also skipped the Stilton cheese supposed to be incorporated into the puff pastry crust (to increase the likelihood my children will eat it; their tastebuds aren’t ready for blue cheese yet). nothing leftover–the kids had it with boiled buttered new red potatoes.

recipe follows… (more…)

a lovely little appetizer from The Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking, Reader’s Digest Books. i wanted to taste the difference when almonds are added into the breading mix…it enhanced the squid’s sweetness and added crunch and munch.

(more…)

many readers stumble into this blog looking for kakanin, or rice and/or coconut-based sweet treats. when we were kids in the Philippines it was sold in most wet markets and brought home to us kids by our ma or Lola from early Saturday morning shopping.
winter somehow wakes up these cravings, especially for those wrapped or cooked in banana leaves. could it be the comforting fragrance, the belly-filling and nostalgia-evoking feelings? whatever–”hungry pinay”’s email nudged me out of my hypothermia-induced stupor, and i went rummaging in my freezer for cassava and grated coconut.
(more…)