Step away from the fridge!
“Step away from the fridge! ” I barked at my husband. “It’s wired!” I continued.
“You’ve just picked up the bottle of water. We’ve got five seconds before we’re charged. We can still salvage the situation. Put the bottle down and slowly close the fridge.” I added.
And this begins our first day in Paris.
Posted in Eat, Vacation | Tagged christian constant, jardin des tuileries, les cocottes, paris | 54 Comments »
Bacalao a la Vizcaina
It seems to me that in Australia, one of the staple Easter treats, are hot cross buns. In my family, it’s Bacalao a la Vizcaina. Every Easter, particularly, on Good Friday, this is the one dish, we all looked forward to having. Growing up, the idea was that on this particular Friday, we were required to fast the whole day and the one main meal we’d have, we’d have to abstain from meat. Bacalao, being the first meal we’d have for that day, was something we eagerly anticipated.
In my younger years, I always associated Lent and Holy Week as a season of sacrifice. Which is why we had to fast and abstain from meat on Fridays, say extra prayers and go to confession. I always had this notion that part of the sacrifice was having the Bacalao dish. Not because it wasn’t any good. In fact, I thought, it was so delicious, that the “grown-ups” (as we used to call the… uhmm… “grown ups” in the family) decided to serve it but only in very small quantities to torment us. Can you imagine, fasting the whole day and only having one small serving of this dish along with a slice of tortilla espanola? It was pure torture!
Now I think the only reason we had so little of it was because Bacalao was not that easy to come by in the Philippines – at least then. Luckily, Sydney has a few stores that stock up on salt cod and last Friday we all managed to have generous portions of this dish. Honestly, it was so enjoyable, I almost felt sinful for being able to eat so much!
Posted in Cook, El Comedor | Tagged bacalao, easter, fish dishes, salt cod with red peppers | 46 Comments »
Chocolate Babkas
She’s Back!…
It feels like only yesterday that I introduced you to the Blog Monster and was sharing some of her lovely recipes. And my Mom’s coming back tomorrow and I can’t wait! I thought that the best way to welcome her was with a freshly baked babka which I took from the Australian Gourmet Traveller April Issue. This babka is made with chocolate and a hazelnut paste and is one of the best brioche recipes I have tried so far. This is the second time I’ve made it and, I like the dough so much, I am thinking of using it as a base for other sweet (and savoury) creations! I’m thinking along the lines of Lemon and Orange, or maybe even Chorizo and Caramelized Onions, or Ham and Cheese?! The choice is endless so stay tuned!
Posted in Bake | Tagged brioche, chocolate babka, easter treats | 59 Comments »
Prawn and Crab Lasagna inspired from Cocina Nueva
A year ago I sat in front of my computer and pressed “publish”. A few hours before this my family had dined on the lasagna I made with a ragu sauce and fresh pasta. This recipe was my very first blog post and I was leaving a week later to go on a three week holiday with my husband. We always take our vacations in April and last year we were lucky enough to enjoy spring in Rome, Paris and London. I thought a blog was a great way to update my family about our journeys.
I had originally called my blog “Oh No! Not Another Food Blog!”. With all the scores of blogs out there – I truly felt that there was nothing new or different I could contribute – so might as well admit it and just say well, my blog was just another one of the many. Nothing special… who would even bother to read it?
I had four comments on that first post. They were from my Dad, my sister, my cousin and my aunt. I was thrilled! I slept that night dreaming of the day I would reach 20 comments! If I could get to 20, I knew I’d reached my goal. Funny… but true.
Posted in Cook | 80 Comments »
Butternut Squash Risotto with Toasted Walnuts
“Please please don’t do it” My husband pleaded.
“Why not? I’m a big fan!” I said.
He just closed his eyes, shook his head in surrender and said “you’re shameless.”
We were having dinner at Maze, one of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants in London and a few meters away from us was Jason Atherton, the restaurant’s executive chef. I had always admired Jason and rooted for him when I watched the BBC’s Great British Menu a while back. I was delighted when he won the honour of cooking the starter of Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato with Croque Monsieur and the main of beef, ox cheek and potato puree for Heston Blumenthal. Jason also has the honour of being the first British chef to complete a stage at Ferran Adria’s El Bulli.
“I’m going to wave and say hi!” I told my husband earlier in the conversation. And hence his response that I was shameless.
I think my husband was afraid that another “Ethan Hawke” episode would occur. You see, many years back we were having dinner in a restaurant and I had spotted Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman dining as well. I decided to go up to them and ask for their autograph only to be told by Ethan that he would not give me an autograph! That’s right. He politely told me “I’m sorry but we are having dinner.” Of course then, I was disappointed but that way years ago and now I know better than to disturb celebrities while they are having dinner…
I don’t think my husband ever recovered from that experience and he always had this notion that if we tried to say “hello” to a celebrity we would get turned away.
“But what about the Bono incident??” I asked.
Posted in Cook | Tagged jason atherton, maze cookbook, pumpkin risotto | 74 Comments »
Chicken and Chorizo Empanada
I absolutely love that time of the month when we feature something for the Kulinarya Cooking Club. From a small group of three we are now around 14 and counting! It is just amazing how many bloggers there are who are just as passionate about promoting Filipino food as we are. In fact, I am so happy that we even have an “adopted” member (she isn’t Filipino but she can’t absolutely cook like one!).
This month we feature the empanada – those little filled pastries which originated in Spain. The Philippines, being colonized by the Spaniards for over three hundred years, has embraced the empanada and have made these little turnovers their own.
Posted in Bake, kulinarya cooking club | Tagged chicken and chorizo pot pie, empanada, kulinarya cooking club, pastel de pollo | 54 Comments »
Chocolate Blinis with Milk Chocolate Mousse and Coco Pops "Caviar"
There was once a little girl who loved to eat. One day, pancakes were served for breakfast. She had eaten more than her share of the pancakes and was about to eat one more when her nanny told her to stop.
“I’ll have one more” the little girl said.
“You’ve already had three. That’s enough” exclaimed her nanny.
So the little girl… took the pancake and ran!
And after her ran the nanny! She chased the girl around the house until finally, she had thought she had her cornered. So, guess what the little girl did?
Posted in Bake | Tagged alice medrich, chocolate blini, chocolate mousse, cocopops, francois payard | 59 Comments »
Ad Hoc's Creamed Corn
Do you remember Susan Boyle? She was the Scottish singer who auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent. At the time she auditioned, she was 48 years old, unemployed and she had never been married, and never been kissed. I remember listening to Simon Cowell interview her. Simon asks Susan:
“What’s the dream?”
“I’m trying to be a professional singer” she answers
Then the camera flashes to a lady in the audience smirking. You immediately know what she’s thinking “That frumpy lady on the stage wants to be a professional singer?! As if!” Continue Reading »
Posted in Cook | Tagged ad hoc, creamed corn, thomas keller | 56 Comments »
Spicy Scallops
The other day I met two of my workmates on their way to lunch. I asked them where they were off to.
“We’re going to have Thai at the food court,”
“Have you ever tried the Indian there?” I asked.
“Yes but I’ll never go back there.” One of them told me.
“Why not? Is the food that bad?”I asked.
“No… the food’s okay but the lady there – she is so miserly, she doesn’t make you feel welcome.” He replied.
His companion pitched in “Yes, she doesn’t seem to enjoy what she does. Not like the people in the sandwich place.”
I knew what they were talking about. I’ve eaten in the Indian eatery once but have heard the same comments from other colleagues. The lady is stingy on portions and barely smiles, almost snickers when serving. There are hardly any lunch queues when I walk by.
The sandwich eatery on the other hand, is always packed. The coffee isn’t particularly good, and the sandwiches are by no means gourmet, they are standard sandwiches which you would expect to get from most places. But the servings are huge, in fact, even the most voracious of eaters can only finish half a sandwich! The owner and his wife greet you by name every morning as they start to prepare your coffee even before you ask for a cappuccino with one sugar. They seem genuinely happy to see you and serve you their food. It’s no wonder people keep coming back.
I guess, when we cook with love, it shows. Continue Reading »
Posted in Cook, Eat | Tagged spicy scallop, sushi e | 51 Comments »
Black and White Warm Chocolate Cake
It runs in my family to be compulsive chocolate hoarders. This disease is particularly evident around Christmas and Easter time – or more specifically, the days following Christmas and Easter when holiday chocolates start to see a decline in prices. Our first instinct is to buy as much chocolate as we can. In fact, one day, many many months after Easter, my sister took me aside and showed me that she had hid boxes and boxes of Lindt’s Lindor Balls under her bed. Apparently she had purchased them in an after Easter sale and had been slowly savouring them – eating one Lindt ball a day!
Lindor is part of Lindt’s chocolate collection where delicious chocolate enrobes a smooth filling. Once you bite into the outer shell, the filling starts to melt.
When Sarah from Lindt Australia sent through a lovely box of Lindor Chocolate squares, I knew immediately what I wanted to make of them. Inspired by the Lindor range, I wanted to make a dessert that had an outer shell and a rich and gooey center, similar to the taste sensation of eating a Lindor chocolate of course!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged chocolate cake, chocolate fondant, lindor, lindt | 67 Comments »
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Trissalicious
Trissalicious 