Spiced Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Dried Apricots and Sultanas

As I have promised, this is my second installment of my Bread Pudding series.  This one is different from the first one.  The texture is not as soft as the Pinoy Bread Pudding recipe but it's a bit firmer because of the amount of bread added to the mixture. 

In this recipe I have used a dozen of pieces of bread instead of 6 to 7.  I also added condensed milk and brown sugar instead of white to add a sweet taste to the pudding (a treat to those who have sweet tooth).  I thought my little daughters wouldn't like it but I was surprised to see them eating this one without making any fuss.  Even my hubby said this recipe that I have created is really good.  I think this would make me more inspired in experimenting with the ingredients...as long as my tasters are loving my pudding recipes.
Ingredients
3 c fresh milk
1/2 c condensed milk
1/3 c brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
12 pcs stale bread (cubed)
1/2 c raisins
1 c dried apricots (or any dried fruit of your choice)
80 g  butter, melted

Procedure
Soak the bread in the milk (fresh and condensed) for 30 minutes.  Mash with a big metal spoon to make it smoother.
Put in all the other ingredients in the soaked bread and blend well.
Caramelise sugar in a saucepan and pour onto a grased square pan.
Pour the batter onto the square pan.
Steam-bake in a preaheated oven at 180C for 40 minutes to an hour.

Note:  If you decide not to put caramelised sugar on the pudding, just bake it for 30 to 40 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean when you poke on it.

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Pinoy Bread Pudding

My first of my bread pudding series.  A delightfully steam-baked breadpudding that will melt in your mouth.

What do you do with old bread sitting on your kitchen benchtop or freezer?  This has always been a problem in our house.  My husband tends to buy lots of bread not realizing that we still have plenty at home.  Most of the time, we would just feed the birds in the back lawn with bread...worst they would end up in the bin.  Each time we do this, I can't help but thinking of those in the Philippines that would not even have the money to buy a loaf of bread or tasty (as they are called famously in the Philippines). 

I remember the tasty bread at Caroline's Bakeshop at the town center in Hagonoy.  I have always loved them until the size gets smaller and smaller but the price gets bigger and bigger.  It is interesting to note too that every Christmas and New Year, no matter how much or how small or big these breads are, the Filipinos would always buy them.  Most tables won't be complete without them during these celebrations.  People would even resort to panic buying just to make sure that they would get some.  Funny, whenever I went to the town center years ago, all I could see were tasty breads.  I must say that they are that popular.

There is not really a fixed recipe for a bread pudding and anyone can create theire own recipe.  The only basic ingredient in all the recipes would be the stale or left over bread.  You can be as creative and adventurous as you can be.

Ingredients
3 c milk (fresh or evaporated)
2 cups (7 pcs) white bread,cubed
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 c jackfruit or any fruit that you like
3 eggs
4 tbsp melted butter

Procedure
Heat up 3 c of milk until bubbles form.  Remove from fire. 
Add the cubed bread and soak them for 40 minutes.  Mash the bread with a big metal spoon to make the mixture smooth.
Put in all the other ingredients (except the fruits) and blend well.  You can use an electric mixer if you want. 
Fold in the fruits ( I used jackfruit by the way).  Set aside.
Caramelise 1/2 c sugar and pour onto a loaf pan or round pan.  Pour the batter mixture onto the baking pan.  Make sure that you grease the side of the pan before you do this.
Put the bread pudding pan on top of a bigger pan.  Pour hot water (about 1 inch deep) onto the bigger pan. 
Steam - bake for 1 hour in a preheated oven at 180C.

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Spicy Chicken Wings Adobo

This is first of the recipes that I would make for my Adobo series in my foodblog so please enjoy reading, cooking and eating. 
The Philippines is an Adobo Nation.  If I am ask what is my mother country's national dish, I would definitely say adobo without batting an eyelash.  Adobo is a Filipino dish that I think has the most variations...depending from the family you come from, town or province or region you come from.  No adobo dish will taste the same.  Each one has her/his own version.  My husband would always tell me, "how come this adobo is different from the adobo you last cooked? and from the other adobos that you cooked?"  Gee, I have no answer for that haha!  What I have learned from my husband, adobo should not be cooked with vinegar overpowering the taste of the dish...he said it would kill the adobo taste.  So this time, I made sure that I take note of all the amount of each ingredient that I would add to my adobo dish.  I have also decided to add a kick to it ...adding hot chilli flakes!  There result is quite delicious.  I suggest that you try this next time you decide to cook adobo.

Ingredients
1/2 k chicken wings
1/3 c vinegar
1/4 c soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp knorr or maggie savour
1 tbsp hot chilli flakes
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp garlic, granules
1 medium onions, sliced into rings

Procedure
Mix all the ingredients except onions and minced garlic and the chicken.  Marinate the chicken in the mixture for an hour.
Heat oil in a non stick pan.  Fry the chicken until golden brown. 
Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
Sautee garlic and onions. Put in the chicken. Cook for 5 minutes.
Pour in the marinade sauce.  Boil the chicken until cooked.

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Lumpiang Sariwa

Nanang Osang, one of our oldies, would always make lumpiang sariwa when she was still able and young.  Old age got into her though, that sometimes she could not cook the same way anymore. 

The ingredients I have included in this recipe are all in her list except for the seafood mix (she used shrimps).  The taste is really yummy.  I should also add that this is a one healthy dish.  Instead of the egg roll wrap that I make, she would just use the ready made spring rolls that you can buy at the town center or if you are in another country, you can always get them from any Asian store of supermarket near you.  I, however, prefer to make my own wrap.

Ingredients
1/2 k pork, sliced thinly
200 g carrots, julienne
200 g baguio beans (green beans), sliced diagonally
250 g sweet potatoes, cubed
300 g cabbage, shredded
100 g chinese lettuce (optional)
1 tofu , cubed
300 g mixed seafood
1 medium onion, minced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 chicken cube
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce

Sauce
2 C water
1/2 brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 chicken cube
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp garlic, granules
2 tbsp cornflour
salt to taste

Wrapper
2 c plain flour
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 milk (fresh)
3 tbsp butter, melted

Procedure

Veggies
Sautee garlic and onions.  Add in the pork and seafood mix.  Stir until the meat si cooked. Add the chicken cube dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water.  Stir in the soy sauce and fish sauce.  Put in the veggies except for the lettuce.  Stir until cooked.  Add water if you need to.

Sauce
Whisk all the ingredients onto a saucepan before applying fire.  Make sure that the cornflour is completely dissolved. 
Bring to a boil until thick enough to your liking.

Wrapper
Whisk all the ingredients in a bowl just like how you prepare the batter for your pancakes.  Spray oil on your non stick pan.  Pour 1 c of the batter onto a pan and move the pan a little making sure that the batter is well spread onto it.  Remove the wrapper carefully from the pan when the top is dry. 
Put wrapper in a big plate.  Place the lettuce halp on top of the edge.  Put the veggie and wrap.
Pour the sauce on top and sprinkle with nuts (peanuts, cashew nuts or any nut that you fancy).

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Instant Pancit Canton with a Twist

Instant Pancit Canton is the easiest meal that one can have when there's no more time to cook or buy ingredients from the market.  Just boil some water, and put the noodles in..mix the sauce and presto!  You have one nice meal!

In the Philippines, Lucky Me, Maggie and other instant noodle meal are quite very popular.  If I can still remember it right, we used to buy Php2.50 per pack.  Now I am not that sure how much does it cost to buy a pack of instant noodles. 

Here in Australia, you can buy the Philippine brand instant noodles at any Asian-Filipino store.  Howevery, if you are far from those stores, there's no choice for you but to get anything similar to it.  Nanay was the one who told me about Mi Goreng instant noodles that my brother in law would always buy in Melbourne so my husband rushed to the shop to buy some. 

We used to have it just plain boil and mix the sauce then eat but I grew tired of it.  I decided that maybe I could add a bit of twist to it so the taste would be similar to the homemade pancit canton dish.  The result was really good that whenever we have them on my pantry, I would certainly cook them with a twist.  

Here's the recipe

Ingredients
3 packets of Mi Goreng (or any instant pancit noodle brand)
1 c of mixed chopped veggies
1 c mixed seafood
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 medium onion, minced
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp maggie or knorr instant savour
1 tsp of ginisa mix granules

Procedure
Cook the noodles according to packet instructions.
Set aside the sauce mix.
Sautee onions, garlic, ginisa granules, mixed seafood and veggies.
Pour in the sauces  (the ones that come with the noodles and the other sauces)
Turn the heat to low and put in the noodles.  Mix well and serve hot.
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Chocolate Brioche Cup

 Brioche is a French pastry which is highly enriched type of bread due to the amount of eggs and butter that you add to it. It has a dark and crispy crust caused by the eggwash which was applied.

You make it in the basic way that you make your bread but only adding more eggs and butter. Sometimes raisins, berries, chocolates and even meat are added to it. It's not as sweet as ordinary bread as you would only add a small amount of sugar to brioche. It is quite famous in France and even Jean Jacques Rosseau mentioned it in his autobiography. It is also recorded that the term "brioche" was first used in 1404 and it was of Norman origin. It is also interesting to note that Greeks make this bread every Easter Weekend.

Brioches come in many forms -- cup, muffin, braided, loaf, bundt but it doesn't matter how it looks like though.

At first I didn't know what a brioche was.  I didn't even know how to pronounce "brioche."  Good thing I am an avid fan of My Kitchen Rules Australia!  The other night the sisters, Carly and Emily, from Victoria, Australia, baked Blueberry Brioche Cup in Labneh Yoghurt, and that's where I've learned the correct pronunciation of brioche.  I would try their recipe which became the people's choice at that episode.  I would like to start though with the less complicated brioche recipe.  I got this recipe from one of my cookbooks that my husband subscribed for me as a gift more than a year ago (still receiving more copies).  My husband and I had brioche with vanilla ice cream and cream and it's quite a yummy combination.

Here's the recipe that you might want to try doing...

Ingredients

500 g white bread flour + extra for rolling

1 tsp salt

7 g easy - blend yeast

6 large eggs

75 ml milk plus extra to glaze

250 g unsalted butter

75 g caster sugar

200 g dark chocolate, chopped into chunks

Procedure

Place the dough, salt and yeast in a food mixer fitted with a dough hook (spiral looking one).  Beat eggs and milk in a jug and with the mixer low, pour onto the flour in batches.  Allow the mixer to knead the dough for 5 minutes

Meanwhile, beat together the butter and the sugar in a mixing bowl until creamy.  Add to the dough, a little at a time, with the machine still on a low setting.  Knead the dough for another 5 minutes in the mixer.

Cover the bowl with palstic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place for 2 hours until it doubles in size.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently for 1 minute.  Cover and chill for 4 hours until doubled in size.

Grease a 12 hole muffin pan.  Lightly knead the dough, then roll out into a 40.5 x30.5 cm (16x12 inches) rectangle.  Scatter chopped chocolates and roll up.  Cut into 12 equal portions and place in the muffin pans.  Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 200C.  Brush the buns with the milk and bake for 18-20 minutes until risen and golden.  Allow to cool a little int he pans before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

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Smoky Beer Burgers with Creamy Mustard Sauce

This recipe is a contribution of Justine, my former student in Miriam College.  She got it from Rachael Ray's recipes.  She tried and tested it on her palate and she said it turned out really good!  I would try this one someday too...probably this coming weekend.

Ingredients

2 pounds lean ground sirloin

• 1/3 pound smoked Gouda cheese, diced into 1/4-1/2-inch cubes
• 1 medium onion or 1/2 large onion
• 2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika (2/3 palmful)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (1/3 palmful)
• Grill seasoning, such as McCormick brand Montreal Steak Seasoning
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
• A generous handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 bottle of beer (6 ounces)
• Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling
• 1/2 cup spicy brown mustard
• 1/4-1/3 cup sour cream
• 2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
• 4 crusty Kaiser rolls, split and lightly toasted
• Green or red leaf lettuce, for topping
• Sliced sweet bread and butter pickles, for topping

Serves 4

Preparation

Pre-heat the grill over medium-high heat.
Place the meat in a bowl and add the cheese. Peel the onion and halve it, if using the medium onion. Grate about 3-4 tablespoons of onion directly over the meat into the bowl. Finely chop the remaining onion and reserve for topping. Add spices to meat: paprika, cumin and about 1 tablespoon of grill seasoning and/or some salt and pepper. Add garlic, parsley and Worcestershire and beer then form 4 large patties making them a little thinner at the center than at edges. Burgers plump when you cook them so this will prevent burger bulge. Drizzle a little EVOO over the burgers then grill about 4 minutes on each side for medium rare, 5 minutes on each side for medium and 6-7 minutes on each side for well done.
Mix mustard and sour cream with dill.
Serve patties on bun bottoms and top with lettuce, pickles, chopped raw onion. Slather bun tops with sauce and serve.

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Chicken Kiev

Chicken Kiev originated in Ukraine.  Kiev is the capital of the country...so there goes the name kiev.  But Russians, however, claims that this dish has its origin in Moscow and that it was invented in Moscow Merchants' Club in the early 20th century. 

Later it became popular in Russian restaurants.  it was introduced in Britain in 1976 and became Marks and Spencer's first ready made meal.  Basically it's a boneless chicken, pounded and rolled around garlic butter and herbs which can be fried or baked.  (wikipedia, Ukraine food history)

This is one of my husband's favorite.  Early in our marriage, I have noticed that my husband would always order either chiken kiev or chicken parmigiana whenever we go out for tea (dinner) so I asked him why.  He said, "I've always loved chicken...with lots of garlic and butter on it."  So this is the reason why I really had to find out how this one would be cooked.  I think it's a bit complicated ...I mean the recipe.  I came across this recipe of Masterchef judge (UK) John Torode.  I think this is the easiest chicken kiev recipe that I have found...so I really have to test it.  The result was really yummy...juicy...oozing with butter and garlic.

Here's the recipe so you can also try it.

Ingredients
Chicken
4 chicken breast
1 large egg, beaten
100 g plain flour
1 tsp paprika
150 g fresh white breadcrumb
oil for frying

Garlic Butter Stuffing
150 g butter, softened
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 lemon, zested + 2 tsp juice
handful flat - parsley, finely chopped

Procedure
Mix the garlic butter ingredients and season with a little salt.  Put on clingfilm and roll into a long log, about the width of a very fat thumb.  Chill until firm.
Lay the chicken breast flat on a board  with the side  that had the skin on downwards.  Make a cut lengthways in from the edge. then keep gently slicing until you have a butterflied the breast.  Repeat with the other breasts.
Divide the butter into 4 smaller logs.  Put a log in the middle of breast then wrap the chicken around so it is still the same shape but a little fatter in the middle. 
Mix beaten egg with a splash of milk and season well.  Combine the flour and paprika on a large plate then put the bread crumbs on another.  Roll each breast in the flour, then in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs.  Put in the fridge for 20 minutes to set.
Heat a 1 cm depth of oil in a large fyring pan.  Gently cook the chicken for a few minutes until golden brown, then turn and color the other side.  Think about the way the chicken will be presented, and put the opposite side to the join down first, as once you start to turn the chicken, the breadcrumbs can get a bit messy.
Take the chicken from the pan and put on a baking tray covered wiht baking parchment.  cook in a 190C for about 15 minutes, until crisp and golden.

Note: cling film is cling wrap, and parchment is baking paper...




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