Skinless Beef Longanisa (Beef Sausage)

I suddenly craved longanisa this morning so I checked the freezer if there is some meat there that I can use.  Here in Australia, sausages are quite famous and will always be included for barby (short for barbecue party).  They have a different taste from those longanisas that I am used to have in the Philippines.  Although, there was one time that my hubby was able to get me smoked bbq pork sausages which somehow has a similar taste to the garlic longanisa that I so loved still ours is still different.

I have made my first longanisa when I was in High School in Hagonoy in our Home Economic class.  I bought ground pork, salitre (saltpeter) and the sausage casing from the wet market in Hagonoy.  They were yummy and I remember bringing home some to share with my family. 

When I came to Australia, I believed I have made my own longanisa for 3 or 4 times already.  That means this is my 4th or 5th time.  This time I decided to use beef instead of pork.  I think, I did try beef before too and it was quite yummy and my hubby loved it.  I would add annatto for coloring this time though.  I don't use saltpeter because it was found to be carcinogenic.

Ingredients
500 g beef minced
2 tbsp garlic
1 tbsp oregano
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp juice of annato seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

 Mix the ingredients in small bowl.

Add in the mixture to the beef minced in a bigger bowl.  Mix well using hands.

Form a ball similar to the size of 2 golf balls.  Make a log out of this and make sure that meat stick together. 

Place the longanisa in a container in a single layer.  Put in the fridge for 12 hours or more for better taste.
Fry and serve with vinegar and fish sauce or with fresh tomatoes.

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Sweet Potato Okoy (fritters)

Okoy is a favorite snack, entree or main meal on our dinner table back when we were still in the Philippines.  Whenever we went to the Hagonoy town center, we would always buy this yummy dish from one of the vendors near the tricycle parking area.

They usually made okoy from pumpkin, sweet potatoes, potatoes, or green papaya and bean sprouts with flour, eggs, salt and pepper and prawns.  Deep frying is the best way to cook this dish.  Okoy or ukoy is a traditional dish in the Philippines which is believed to have originated from Laguna.

Here in our place, it is so easy to get pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and potatoes but it's difficult to get fresh seafood like prawns.  Usually you would only be able to get the frozen ones, the boxed ones, or worst the tin ones!  This makes me a bit frustrated when I want to cook something Filipino which has seafood in the ingredients.  Oh anyway, so I have to make do of any available stuff around.  When I first cooked okoy for my husband, he literally fell in love with it!  He eats them with gusto!  Funny that 4 pieces of okoy are not enough to satisfy his cravings haha!  I made his first okoy with just pumpkin, the second one with both pumpkin and sweet potatoes and this time just with sweet potatoes.  The difference among the three okoys is that the last one was crispier than the others.  Why don't you try this wonderful okoy recipe that I did myself. 

Ingredients
1 big sweet potato (almost half a kilo) (shredded)
300 g prawns (chopped)
2 tbsp flour
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure
Place the sweet potatoes in a big bowl.
Add in half of the chopped prawns and the other ingredients.
Mix well using your hands.
Make a ball of okoy ( a little over the size of a golf ball) and flatten it with your palm.  Top with chopped prawns.
Deep fry until golden and crispy.
Serve with your favorite dip.

Note:  I chose to chop prawns and remove the shells to make the okoy tastier and easier to eat.  You can also choose to squeeze out the juice of the sweet potatoes before mixing it with the other ingredients or just use the sweet potatoes as is.


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Cheesy Vegetable Omelet

My hubby loves egg and onions omelet.  I was supposed to cook one at lunchtime yesterday but then I decided to experiment again with some of the stuff I have in the fridge. 

I ended up making a cheesy vegetable omelet which I hope my hubby would also love.  So I got all the herbs I needed and started concocting another experiment of which my hubby is the guinea pig hahahah.  Surprisingly, the cheesy vegetable omelet turned out really good!

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 medium onion, minced
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cheddar cheese
1/4 parmesan cheese
1 1/2 c mixed chopped veggies (carrots,brocolli, peas, cauliflower etc)
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp chives
salt and pepper to taste
30 g butter

Procedure
Whisk eggs in a bowl.  Add in salt and pepper.  Whisk in the 2 types of cheese.
Heat a pan and melt butter.
Sautee onions and the veggies.
Put in the herbs.  Stir.
Cook until half cooked.
Remove from pan.
Fry the egg - cheese mixture in the same pan.  Make sure that the mixture is evenly spread on the pan.
When it's a bit cooked, place the sauteed veggies in the center of the crepe. 
Fold the four sides of the crepe over the top of the veggies.
Get a plate big enough to cover the whole omelet.  Place the plate over the pan covering the omelet and flip the pan.
Put some parmesan on your omelet, then serve with your favorite dip.

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Cinnamon Bread Pudding w/ Sultanas

I was trying to bake hot cross buns but I have used the wrong type of bread flour that they turned out like rocks --- too tough actually even for adults to chew.  I really did not want to waste anything so I decided to recycle them into a nice bread pudding.  The result was delicious!  I think this is the easies pudding I have made so far because I did not need to mix much.

Ingredients
10 hot cross buns (or any stale raisin bread)
1 egg yolk (which I got from the egg I used for the empanada egg wash)
3 c fresh milk

Caramelised Sugar
1 c granulated sugar

Procedure
Chop the buns into small pieces and soak them in milk until they become really soft.  Use a metal spoon to do squash the buns.
Add the egg yolk.
Pour the caramelised sugar onto a loaf pan.
Pour the pudding batter onto the loaf pan.
Steam bake for 1 hour.

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Sweet and Spicy Potato Wedges

Last Friday Steve and I took my mum in law and niece to a nearby cafe for an early dinner.  We had yummy burgers (rib fillet and aussie burgers) and sandwiches, vanilla.  Everything was so yummy and the wedges were a stand out.  I was telling Steve that I would try making those wedges probably experiment with the taste based from what we had at the cafe.  So today, I've checked the pantry if I have the probable herbs and other ingredients.  I had to ask my hubby to get me a cumin powder and more potatoes. 

I grabbed my apron and started chopping the potatoes and preparing the coating and so on and so forth hoping that the wedges will turn out really good.  It did!  The sweetness and spiciness tastes compliment each other.  They were crisp outside and tender inside.  I opted to have tomato sauce and mayo for the dips and oh boy they are soooo lovely!

Ingredients

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/4 cup light olive oil

500 g medium potatoes, scrubbed

salt to taste

sour cream, ketchup + mayo, or sweet chilli sauce for dips

Procedure

Mix cumin, coriander, paprika, sugar, chilli powder and salt in a bowl. 

Put the potato wedges in the bowl and toss and coat with the mixture.

Pour in olive oil. Make sure all wedges are well coated.

Place in a baking paper lined pan in a single layer.

Bake in a 200C preheated oven for 40 minutes until tender and crisp

Serve with your favorite dip.

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My Morrocan Beer Battered Hoki Fish

We had sweet and spicy potato wedges and a very apt partner to it ---beer battered hoki fish.  I decided that since we were having a fish dish with herbs on it, we would also have the fish fillet in the freezer.  One way of making them blend together as a complete dish is to use the same herbs I used for the wedges.  Thus, the moroccan style beer battered fish was born.  This was just an experiment and it turned out really good.

Ingredients
250 g of hoki fish fillet
1/2 c self raising flour
1 bottle of cold beer (any beer type...I used XXX)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp paprika
salt to taste

Procedure
Salt the fish fillet on both sides.
Whisk beer and flour gently.  Do not overwhisk.
Add in the herbs and whisk gently.
Heat a non stick pan. 
Dredge the fish onto the dry flour and then dip onto the batter.
Fry until golden brown.

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Troman Felizmenio



coutesy of cnn.com

As I was reading an internet article about Troman Felizmenio, a Filipino Pastry Chef in Moscow, I can't help but wonder in awe how this great chef put his heart and soul in making the 2 meter high edible replica of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.  A gingerbread cathedral that I think should just be frozen in time and put in an art museum.  I don't think I would eat such a good replica of St. Basil Cathedral.  He began making this replica in September 2009 and it took him almost 3 months to finish it.  He would spent 3 hours each day in making the cathedral. 

He painstakingly gave importance not only with the architectural design and measurements of the cathedral but also gave the respect that St. Basil should receive.  This great chef and his team of bakers also had made mini cathedrals of which price started with 50,000 rubles or $1600 around that time.

I went to St. Basil Cathedral website just to understand how important this cathedral is in Moscow.  I could just have asked my hubby who is a world history savvy about it but he's in the office.  I am quite well sure he had seen this cathedral during his travels abroad.  Oh anyway, the Cathedral of St. Basil or Vasily the Blessed is one famous historical landmark in Moscow you wouldn't miss when you go to the Red Square landmark near the Kremlin.  It is now nearly 450 years now since it was built. 

courtesy of saintbasil.ru

According to the website of St. Vasily, "The Cathedral of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God upon the Moat was built in fulfillment of a vow made by Czar Ivan the Terrible before his campaign against Kazan in 1552 and with the blessing of Metropolitan Makary. The cathedral was constructed under the supervision of Russian master builders Postnik and Barma in 1555-1561. Uniquely conceived by Metropolitan Makary, the cathedral was to epitomize the image of the Holy City of Jerusalem. As a result, its nine churches, most of which were consecrated in memory of major events of the victorious Kazan campaign, were built on a single foundation."

The mightiness and grandeur of such beautiful architectural product was replicated with respect and honor by our own Filipino Chef.  This is quite a proud moment in the Philippine Culinary history. 

Source: cnn.com;  saintbasil.ru; philstar.com
Photo:  first photo (gingerbread cathedral) courtesy of cnn.com;  thumbnails of the real cathedral courtesy of the saintbasil.ru

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Sinful Double Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Who doesn't love chocolates? Chocolates are considered to be aphrodisiac...and the more you eat it the more you want to have more of it.  In our family, it is my mother who's a chocoholic.  She would always ask us to buy her a bar of cadbury chocolates each time we would go to the town center or I go to work in Quezon City years ago.  And I am very very sure that she would love this double chocolate fudge brownies that I have baked today...but then she's in Melbourne...so I would probably bake some more when she visits us here in Queensland.

Actually, my plan today was to bake chocolate crinklers or crinklets which my husband loves so much. I ended up baking double chocolate fudge brownie and it's also worth it.  It's so sinfully chocolatey!

Ingredients
250g dark chocolate chips, melted
1 3/4 c caster sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup cocoa
125g dark chocolate chips (not melted)
icing sugar to decorate

Procedure

Beat the caster, eggs and vanila.

Add the melted chocolate, flours and cocoa.
Stir in the extra chopped chocolate.

Line a baking pan with baking paper.
Grease the side of the baking pan.
Pour chocolate batter into the prepared tin.
Bake in a 160C preheated oven for 45 minutes until firm.

Cool in the tin.

Dust with icing sugar and cut into small bars or chunks.
Use sifter to make the job easier.

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Pinoy Empanada

An all time Filipino favorite --empanada!  It is a stuffed pastry with minced meat, carrots, potatoes or anything that your heart and tummy desire.  The word empanda comes from the word "empanar" which means to wrap or coat in bread.  It has been in existence since the 1500s probably originating in Galicia, Spain and Portugal.  (wikipedia) It became popular too in Italy particularly in Sardinia. It was brought to the Philippines by the Spaniards when they colonized the country.

Empanadas have different variations when it comes to fillings and the sweetness of the dough used for pastry.  Philippines' pastry is usually sweet.  I love mine a bit sweet too even when I started making empanadas 8 or 10 years ago back in the Philippines.  Many recipes would usually ask for half a teaspoon sugar but I love adding a teaspoon and then experiment with the other components.  I am proud to say that this pastry recipe is tried and tested for a number of years.  I never had a problem with making them at all.

When it comes to fillings, as I have said, you can use anything you want -- corned beef, menudo, asado etc.  You can also imitate the famous Ilocos empanada recipe where they add mung beans, grated green papaya, chorizo and eggs (usually egg yolks).  I promise to post the recipe soon. They are quite yummy! When we went to Ilocos Norte in 2011 January, we were lucky enough to get a pension house near the plaza where the famous Ilocos empanadas are sold.  At just before sunset, we all went there to get a taste of this pastry with vinegar dip.  There were so many karinderias (small eatery) selling empanadas and mami and they are always next to one another so it was just a question of who can salestalk us to eat at their eatery (we were 12 people).  We decided to eat at the eatery before we got to the last one and oh dear were they sooo yummy!  Both empanadas and the mami were so delicious.  We really enjoyed every bite and every sip. 

In the Tagalog region we would usually add a minced meat dish similar to picadillo.  In my younger years, we would always buy those ready to eat ones from the bakeshop but gee some of them would have more potatoes than meat! That's why we would call them empatatas not empanada...hahaha!

My husband had manned the election here in our place (state election) last Friday and since he cannot come to eat, I decided to just bring him his food.  I brought him some empanadas and he shared them with our friends (who were also manning the election) and they all loved them!  They are all Aussies so the empanadas must be really good!

Oh anyway, try this recipe and savour every bite!

Pastry Dough

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp water, cold

1 piece raw egg

1/2 cup butter, cold

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

For the Filling
There is no written rule on what to add as fillings. In this dish I used the left over picadillo we had.

Egg Wash
1 egg white
1 tsp  milk

Procedure for the Pastry Dough
Mix the flour and all the try ingredients in a bowl.
Add in the butter.  You can use your hands or a pastry cutter in mixing the butter with the dry mixture. 
It should come together. Knead a little in a lightly floured surface. 
Form a big ball of dough. 
Butter lightly the bowl.
Place the dough onto the bowl and cover with a clingwrap.  Let rise for 30 minutes in room temperature.
Roll the dough into a log and divide into 12 pieces. 
Form 12 balls of dough.
Flatten onto a lightly floured surface with the palm of your hand.
Make the dough thin  and in a shape of a circle by using the rolling pin.  If you want to have the same size and shape of pastry, you can use a cookie cutter.
Place 1 tbsp of the meat mixture at the center of the dough. 
Fold the dough making sure the edges touch each other. 
You need to have a shape of a half moon.
Fold the edges starting from one corner using your thumb and forefinger.  Fold little by little (towards the direction of the meat) until you reach the other end of the pastry.
Place the empanadas in a baking pan or cookie sheet with 1 inch space in between.  You can place a baking paper on the pan if you want.
Brush the empanadas on both sides with egg wash.

Bake in 180C preheated oven for 25 minutes.

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Leche Flan (our family recipe)

Leche flan is a version of Spanish flan de leche (milk flan).  It is safe to say that this celebratory desert is an influence of the Spanish Conquistadores during its 333 years rule of the Philippines.  The leche flan that we all love is much heavier than that of the Spanish's flan de leche because of the condensed milk and more egg yolks that we add to it.  The heavier version is tocino del cielo which has more egg yolks and sugar (which  I wil have to try making soon).  This delightful desert is also called creme caramel or caramel custard.  A soft caramel is usually pour into the pan first before the custard and turned upside down when cooked and transferred to a serving plate.  Creme brulee has hard caramel toppings which makes it different from the leche flan.   It is usually cooked by steaming over a stove or open fire but it can also be cooked braine-marie style in the oven.  I prefer to cook it the traditional way though. 

The creme caramel here in Australia has heavy cream, sugar, golden syrup and sometimes gelatin not like the ones that we have in the Philippines.  The ones here are much lighter than leche flan.  Our family recipe's difference with the other recipes perhaps would be the lack of sugar in it.  We don't put sugar in the leche flan except for the caramelised sugar of course.  We also don't add vanilla but the nice flavor of the flan would come from the zest of lime.  I am quite happy that here in Australia it is so easy to get fresh limes from the shops not like in the Hagonoy when limes won't be available much especially on special occasions like Christmas or New Year.

My husband and I cooked leche flan last Christmas here in Australia.  My husband's family said that the best creme caramel they had is my leche flan so you can just imagine how proud I am and my husband too.

Ingredients

Leche
12 egg yolks (duck or chicken)
1  tin of evaporated milk
1 tin of condensed milk
2 pcs lime, zest

Caramel
1 c granulated sugar

Procedure
Separate egg yolks from whites (use the whites for pavlova)
Use a wooden spoon to beat the egg yolks. Do this gently.
Pour in the condensed and evaporated milks.
Add the zest of 2 limes.
Cover with cheesecloth or clingwrap and set aside in a room temperature for one hour.
Steam for 30-40 minutes.

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