Sloppy Joes

This weekend, my boyfriend and I decided to try making some sloppy joes. My sister made it before, using this recipe, but I also found a recipe by Rachael Ray that got great reviews, and decided to incorporate some elements from that as well. We mainly followed the first recipe, but instead of using 3/4 cup of ketchup, we used 1/2 cup, and substituted the remaining 1/4 cup with barbecue sauce. We also added some Worcestershire sauce (per Rachael Ray's recipe). Delicious!

Sushi Night!

This weekend, my boyfriend and I decided to be a bit more adventurous with our meal--we both love sushi, so we decided to stop by a Japanese market and make some for dinner!

It was super easy (considering we were able to buy sushi rice, which normally takes up almost 50% of the work), and just cut up different types of sashimi (in our case salmon, tuna, and hamachi), some green onions, avocado, and imitation crab.
We made three different rolls using different combinations:

Salmon roll with avocado and green onion

To make the spicy rolls, we took some tuna/hamachi and minced it, then mixed in some Sriracha sauce to get that kick:

Spicy Tuna roll with imitation crab

Spicy Hamachi roll with green onion and avocado

And used the leftover fish as sashimi:

Overall, a huge success! We stuffed ourselves silly while watching the Oscars (when I showed my mom the pictures, she said, "you ate all that?!"). What better proof of success do you need? ;P

Fajitas!

This weekend was definitely a cooking weekend. This time, it was a team effort, with my boyfriend and sister helping as well. We decided to have some fun and make some fajitas! 

We marinated some steak (I believe it was flank steak?) using this recipe, and left it in the fridge for a whole afternoon. Unfortunately, our steak didn't look as mouth-watering as that recipe's, but it was still delicious!
As luck would have it, we had some Rice-a-Roni in the cupboard for Spanish rice, so we decided to throw that in as well, for some added flavor. 

After stir-frying some bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms, we were done!

 Overall, a success!

Mushroom Soup

It's been pretty cold, so I wanted to make something warm and hearty, but relatively easy to make. I decided to visit 101 Cookbooks, which I used for a lot of my recipes in the past and found a Mixed Mushroom Soup recipe that looked too good to pass up.


Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good variety of mushrooms at the local grocery store, so I just got one kind, and cut it up really small. I also used green onions instead of chives. I was afraid that the soup would not be a success, considering I was straying so much--I didn't have any barley or rice to add either, but it turned out great! Huge success, according to the boyfriend :)

Will definitely try again!

Chinese Corn Soup

I've been on a soup obsession recently, and have been looking for different soup recipes to try. This one is an oldie but goodie for sure:

It's really easy to make, here are the ingredients:
2 cans chicken stock
2 eggs (beaten)
2 cans creamed corn
1 can corn kernels
cornstarch
salt/pepper
green onions, chopped


Place chicken stock and creamed corn in soup pot and let boil. I like to put water in the empty chicken stock cans and swirl it around to get any chicken stock left, and add that to the soup pot. Use your judgement: if you feel that the amount of liquid is not enough, add more water (be careful though, I've added too much water before and ended up with really watery tasting soup). Once it's boiling, add corn kernels (as well as any meat/veggies you want to add--soft tofu is delicious with this soup) and let simmer. Make a cornstarch/water mixture in a small cup/bowl and add to soup until you reach the consistency you want. Remember that soup gets thicker once cold, so don't add too much cornstarch to the soup! Mix in eggs. I like to stir while adding about 1/2 of the eggs to get that nice wispy quality to it, and then not stirring as much with the rest, to leave bigger egg portions in the soup. Finally, add some salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with green onions. Enjoy!

Tri-berry Muffins

Ever since I made the cream of fresh tomato soup, I've been itching to try another Barefoot Contessa creation. There was one that I've been eyeing for a while now though, and now that berries are in season, I've finally gotten the chance to try it out!


From the Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook, Tri-Berry Muffins!

It turned out great! Relatively easy to make also--the main berries were strawberries (chopped), blueberries, and raspberries. The only thing was, I thought I put the oven temperature for 375, but apparently, I actually put it on 325. Whoops.

So I'm not exactly sure how that affected the muffins, but for next time, I'll definitely make sure to double check. And probably put a little less sugar. And butter. Try to at least make it a bit healthier. :)

Chicken and Orzo with Parmesan and Basil

After such a long cooking hiatus, I finally made something! (Mostly because I had some orzo leftover and needed to make something with it). I found this recipe online and decided to give it a shot.

It turned out pretty well! And the recipe is actually really easy to follow. After prepping everything, I melted some butter over the pan, and put some garlic in for taste. I sauteed the orzo in the pan until it was brown (just a warning, once the orzo starts to brown, it burns pretty fast). After taking out the garlic, I poured a can of chicken broth and let the orzo cook. Once all the liquid had evaporated, I added the parmesan cheese (a bit less than what the recipe called for), basil, and some cilantro. Salt and pepper to taste.

For this dish, I decided to add some ground chicken also, which I cooked beforehand (with some salt and pepper) and added at the very end. I was afraid the dish would taste weird with it and so I wanted to sample it first before adding all the chicken in. The combination is actually pretty good.

I highly recommend it--it's easy and tasty!

Hot Fudge Sauce

Baskin Robbins' Jamocha Almond Fudge is my all-time favorite ice cream flavor. Sadly, Baskin Robbins closed in the Philippines and I can no longer indulge in what was a staple during my childhood (My aunt owned a Baskin Robbins franchise and I used to eat it everyday. It's truly a miracle that I'm not diabetic and was  underweight.). I decided to make my own hot fudge sauce using my leftover Valrhona to enjoy with the pint of coffee ice cream that was in my freezer. I used Guanaja (70%) and I think the bitterness of the chocolate was a good balance for the sweetness of the ice cream. I added slivered almonds as a topping. I tried my hot fudge both after I had let it cooled down and was warm enough to enjoy with my ice cream without melting it instantly, and when it was cold from storing it in the fridge. I can taste the flavors of the Guanaja more intensely when it's served warm but I like the thickness of the sauce when it's served chilled. With Valrhona, there are really very few things you can do that will make it unpalatable.

Christmas Dinner Part 2: Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup

A few months ago, I went on a trip to LA for a cousin's wedding, and was introduced by my aunt to Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. I heard lots of good things, but had to try her out for myself. So I rented a whole bunch of her cookbooks from the library when I got back from my trip, and decided to try this recipe first (mostly because I'm a sucker for any kind of Tomato-based soup).

My aunt was not wrong! This soup was DELICIOUS. I highly recommend picking up one of her cookbooks and trying  out her recipes. Fortunately for anyone reading, I found an online version of the recipe I used. It was relatively easy to make, it just took a LOT of time, mostly because I wanted to make a large batch (so I doubled the recipe) and had to run several batches through the blender (I didn't have a food mill, as the recipe asked for). It came out slightly chunky, but very tasty!

Christmas Dinner Part 1: Szechuan Green Beans

During a recent trip to China, I had the best green bean dish in a small restaurant next to the apartment complex I stayed at. After that, I wanted to see if I can make it myself for Christmas dinner. So, after some research, I found a recipe I wanted to to try.


It was a relatively easy recipe to make, the only problem was, I made too much sauce for too few beans.. so the dish was too salty. Unfortunately, even after the dish was watered down (I saved the leftover sauce and used it for another green bean dish), it still didn't taste quite like that elusive green bean dish.

I guess this means the hunt for the best green bean recipe is still on!

Cooking Jambalaya Together

I've been looking forward to Cyn's visit since she planned it earlier this year. We've been talking about cooking something together and we decided on jambalaya since Cyn has always wanted to try it and I just wanted to learn to cook something. It was a relatively fast dish to prepare since we used cooked rice instead of cooking the rice with the broth as the recipe called for. It was also simple -we only needed one pot that we added all the ingredients into. However, we had to transfer pots once we added all the rice because it was very challenging to mix the ingredients thoroughly in a full pot.


Click here for the recipe.

Guacamole!

A couple of months ago, two of my coworkers were exchanging recipes. One of them was sharing his guacamole recipe with the other, and I was (while on the phone), taking copious mental notes. I've been itching to try it out ever since I heard him claim "it's the best guacamole I've ever had," and finally got around to doing it. Unfortunately, since I was a little distracted (seeing that I was on the phone during the recipe exchange), I didn't quite remember the measurements, so I just decided to wing it and do it by taste. Here's what I did:

4 avocados

approx. 1/2 Tbsp garlic (minced)

approx. 1/3 c chopped onions (my coworker specifically said white onion, but unfortunately, I didn't have any of those at the time)

approx. 1/4 c cilantro
1 jalapeno (minced)

1/2 lime

salt and pepper to taste

The reason I love guacamole so much is because it's so easy to make! The hardest part is prepping for it, and it's more tedious than difficult. So I just mixed all the ingredients together, and I guess it's up to you how you like guacamole--I like mine chunky, so I didn't go too crazy mashing it. Here is the final product:

The only thing I would change is, I probably wouldn't take out all the jalapeno seeds (I got scared it would be too spicy and took them all out), since I could barely taste it even after adding one whole jalapeno! Otherwise, I think this was definitely a success! Got a lot of compliments on it, and will definitely make some more again. After all, I have to use that other 1/2 lime before it dries out, right?

Arugula salad with Lemon-Romano Dressing

Wow! After such a long unintentional hiatus, I finally made something I haven't made before--completely unplanned and last minute too! I wanted some salad, and have always been a huge fan of arugula. The only dressing I had at home was one of those asian kinds, which didn't really go super well with arugula (not too bad, but not amazing either). So, I decided to try and make my own dressing!

It was actually relatively easy, I just tossed everything into the Magic Bullet and let it do all the work. The salad itself is just arugula, some chopped tomatoes and toasted pine nuts. The dressing was pretty easy to do also, but I didn't have any Parmesan, so I used Romano instead, and it still tasted good! It was just basically some olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest and Romano (Parmesan) cheese. Will definitely try this again--delicious! :D

Here's the end result:

Chocolate Chunk Deep Dish Coookies

Chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven are one of my favorite things. I tried a variation by baking the cookie dough in a ramekin. The result -a larger serving of soft, chewy and barely-baked cookie dough in the center. If you like your cookies crunchy this is not the recipe for you. I used a 4" ramekin and filled it halfway with cookie dough, only the top of the 1-inch high cookie was crisp. You could use a wider skillet to bake a flatter cookie if you prefer a crisp cookie.

Click here for the recipe.

Chocolate Pistachio Almond Tart

 

I loved the warm chocolate tart I made before and decided to try something similar. I found this recipe for chocolate pistachio almond tart online and everything in the name appealed to me. It's more time-consuming to bake since there's an additional layer of pistachio almond filling. The end result however, was well worth it! 

Just a tip, read through the ENTIRE recipe before doing anything. I knew I would have to pre-bake the tart shells so I did the prep for that in the morning; however, I was not expecting to have to chill the filling before baking them in my pre-baked tarts. After all the prep and waiting, my finished chocolate pistachio almond tarts were very satisfying. 

These are by far, my favorite chocolate dessert. It had the rich chocolate flavor of the warm chocolate tart plus the crunchiness and sweetness of the nut filling. It was much easier to eat a larger serving (though I haven't decided whether this is a good thing or not). I highly recommend you try this recipe out. I have received positive raves from family and friends and was even asked if I would sell them. Although it was time-consuming, it is an easy recipe and simple enough for new bakers (such as myself) to do.

Click here for the recipe.

Bittersweet Brownies

Brownies were the first thing I learned how to bake. They're quick, simple and can satisfy my chocolate craving anytime. As I've gotten older and as the trend for chocolate has been towards the healthier dark chocolate, my taste in brownies have changed as well. I prefer a bittersweet chocolate so I found this recipe and decided to try it. It did not disappoint! My one regret was forgetting to grease my pan so I had to scrape brownie chunks off the bottom of my pan. The brownies were moist, fudgy and very rich. I cut them into 1x3 inch rectangles because any larger and I would have gotten a sore throat. Make sure you cool the chocolate before adding in the eggs so you don't cook the eggs while you're incorporating them. I baked only half-batch of the recipe but in the same-sized pan as in the recipe so I had 1/2 inch-thick brownies. I left them in the oven for 35 minutes and it was enough to get the crunchy top without over-baking the brownies. 

Click here for the recipe.

Bittersweet Chocolate and Cardamom Cupcakes

While searching for ideas for chocolate desserts, I came across quite a few recipes that used bittersweet chocolate and cardamom as the main flavor combination. I was curious to try a dessert that was flavored with a spice and chose this cupcake recipe. I couldn't find ground cardamom so I grounded my own with a mortar and pestle (I don't have a spice grinder). I had less than the 1 1/2 teaspoons called for in the recipe but I found that it was more than enough to be able to taste it in the cupcake. My palate is probably  not sophisticated enough to appreciate the cardamom in the cupcake because I did not enjoy the spice in my sweet cupcake. However, it was a good recipe, the cupcake was moist and the whipped ganache frosting was not too sweet.

Click here for the recipe.

Asian Pesto Chicken Salad

Remember the Asian Pesto I used on the sandwich two weeks ago? Well, I had a whole bunch of leftover pesto sauce, and decided to use it on one of Ming's recipes--Asian Pesto Chicken Salad.


It was relatively easy, the most time consuming part was deboning the chicken, but that was only because we didn't have any boneless chicken, so I had to make do. I didn't really tweak anything in terms of the recipe--to summarize without giving away the whole recipe, he just asks to mix together chicken that you've sauteed, orzo, tomatoes (chopped), and spinach with the pesto sauce.


I got mixed reviews from the family:
Mom - good, but too spicy
Sister - good, but can get old pretty fast
Cousin - alright, too sour


So overall, I think the recipe was not bad, I might do it again, but maybe use a little less jalapeno and not add as much lemon. Good try!

Tomato-Basil Bruschetta

My sister and I were invited to a dinner at a friend's house, and my basil plant was growing at an alarming rate, so I decided to make some bruschetta to bring. It was pretty easy to make--Again, I didn't really rely on just one recipe (looked up quite a few online), so no link, but here's roughly what I did: 


5 roma tomatoes (diced) - the recipes I found online asked for plum tomatoes, but we just had roma at home, so I made do with what I had
appox. 1/3 c onions (diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
approx. 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
approx. 1 c fresh basil (chopped)


I basically just mixed all the ingredients together and added salt and pepper to taste. I already had some toasted bread at home, but if you're interested in making some, the recipes I found just asked to slice a baguette, brush some olive oil on top and bake for a few minutes. Enjoy!

Apple Turnovers

Cinnamon and apples -one of my favorite flavor combinations. I'll try making anything with this combination -muffins, pancakes, pies, crumble. On a trip to Montreal, I had the best-tasting apple turnover at Olive+Gourmando. The filling was copious, puff pastry -crunchy, and the outer coating of cinnamon sugar -just right. I have yet to find a place in Manila that serves an apple turnover as satisfying; so, I did what anyone with a serious craving would have done -I made my own.

Unfortunately my apple turnovers did not turn out as well as I had hoped. I did not have enough turnovers to find the perfect time, somewhere between 18 (under-baked apples) and 25 (burnt puff pastry) minutes. I used 4 apples as the recipe called for but found that I had enough to generously fill 10 turnovers; I had trouble sealing my turnovers as can be seen in the picture above. I made cinnamon sugar with fine sugar and sprinkled it over my turnovers before baking. The sugar did not crystallize as I had hoped and I found that the apple filling was sweet so there was no need for the outer sugar coating. However if you really like cinnamon sugar, I suggest using coarse sugar.

Click here for the recipe.