My Sugar Daddy

Last Saturday, Allan & I were in Dubai Mall when I had this sudden craving for carrot cake/cupcake with a cream cheese topping. I dunno why but I know I had to take a bite. We couldn't find one in Dubai Mall and had to drag Allan to the nearest Sugar Daddy's stall which was in Deira City Center.

Well, everything paid off as the cupcakes were just worth coming back for more! I got their 24-carrot cupcake while Allan took the Cookies & Scream (I still think cookies & cream is not a perfect flavor for cupcakes but for ice cream instead). The cupcake is not so densed nor too fluffy...just the right texture. The cream cheese topping was just the right sweetness my taste buds is looking for. In short, it was scrumptious!

I just can't wait for the weekend. I'll be off to the nearest Sugar Daddy's stall to try their best-selling red velvet cupcake.

Macau and it's Portuguese Egg Tarts

We had our honeymoon in HK-Macau last April 2010. It's been years I last visited Hong Kong and my relatives here. This time it was different as we had the chance to visit the magnificent Macau.

One thing that made every trip (whether local or abroad) special is the food. I always look forward to trying out the places' special dishes. In Macau, I tasted the "bestest" Lechon Macau and Portuguese Egg Tarts. Too bad we were not able to take a photo of the egg tarts are they were so inviting (and smells sooo good) the moment my cousin opened a box of those.

Portuguese egg tarts were evolved from “pastel de nata”, a traditional Portuguese custard pastry that consists of custard in a crème brûlée-like consistency caramelized fashion in a puff pastry case. Instead of the deep aroma of egg yolk and milk you would expect from typical egg tarts, for good Portuguese egg tarts, you should taste the slightly burnt sweet taste of caramel and custard – a very hard to put in words taste experience.

One day, I was craving (really craving!) of this Portuguese Egg Tart and in my 5 years in Dubai, I have not seen or eaten any egg tarts that is as delicious as the one we've tasted in Macau or in Lord Stow's in Manila. I couldn't resist it anymore so I decided, why not make it! Thanks to http://www.rasamalaysia.com/ for this recipe. =)

Ingredients:
1 sheet puff pastry
2 tablespoons melted butter

Ingredients for the filling:
4 pieces egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. In a working board, lay puff pastry and allow to thaw for a minutes or until pliable.
3. Brush sheet with melted butter and then roll tightly starting from one edge towards the other end.
4. Cut and divide dough into 12 pieces.
5. Flatten the sliced dough into small rounds and fit them well into the muffin pan by pressing firmly on bottom and side (do not over stretch). Chill for a few minutes.
6. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine ingredients for the filling. Whisk until well combined then strain.
7. Fill the pie crust dough with the egg mixture (about 80% full).
8. Bake the Portuguese Egg Tarts at 400F for about 15-20 minutes or until the filling turns golden brown.

It was sooo nice to finally give in to my cravings!

Salmon and Choco Cupcake Balls

I made some nice discovery today. First, I discovered that cream cheese and mayonnaise are good combination for dip or sauce. Second, a new recipe for our usual buttered salmon. This time it's baked! and I'm excited to try this. Third, I tried making choco cupcake balls.

Baked fish fillet with cream cheese and mayo topping

Ingredients:
1 whole salmon (other fish fillet is also fine)
salt
pepper
4 tbsps. of butter

For the topping:
1/4 c. (about 60 g.) of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 tbsps. of mayonnaise
Grated parmesan cheese (optional)
1 tsp. of finely grated garlic

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 425oF. If you’re using a turbo broiler, there is no need to preheat.
Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper.
In a bowl, whisk together the mayo, cream cheese and garlic. If the cream cheese has been sufficiently softened, the mixture should be smooth.
Melt half of the butter in a frying pan. Pan fry the fish on both sides just long enough for it to change color. You want it half cooked only at this stage because you’re still going to bake it. If you cook it through in the frying pan, the fish will overcook during baking and turn dry. So, half cook the fish then transfer to a baking dish.
Turn off the heat. Add the rest of the butter and swirl. Add the vegetables and stir to coat each piece with butter.
Spread the cream cheese and mayo mixture evenly on top of the fish. Bake for 12 minutes or until light brown spots form on the topping.

We do not have any corn or mixed veggies in stock but this dish can be served with buttered veggies or corn & carrots. We paired this with rice but pasta will work as well.

This has become my husband's new favorite dish. =)

After dinner, I was craving for something sweet. I found we have some leftover cupcakes from last week's party. I'm an avid follower of this blog, Bakerella so i thought why not make these cupcakes into cake balls.

Here's what you need:

choco frosting
choco or colored candy melts
candy sprinkles

First, in a large bowl, crumble the cupcakes. Mix thoroughly with cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)

Roll texture into quarter-sized balls then chill on freezer for a few minutes until they are slightly firm (but not frozen).

Melt candy melts in microwave. Using a spoon, dip balls into the melted candy making sure that the balls are finely coated. Place in baking sheet and sprinkle with some colorful candy bits. You can try whatever design you want.

It's moist...gooey...chocolatey!

Home and Bacolod Chicken Inasal

I miss home...badly! I miss my 4-year-old niece and I terribly miss the food back home...napoleones, chicken inasal, batchoy, pork bbq in the streets, anything that spells Philippines and Bacolod!

So to overcome this, I decided to make Bacolod Chicken Inasal at the comfort of our own home. Inasal comes from the Ilonggo word "asalan" meaning barbeque stick. Chiken Inasal is grilled chicken cuts marinated in native herbs and spices, skewered on bamboo stick, then basted with achuete and Bacolod is famous for this.

I'd like to share my own recipe for Bacolod Chicken Inasal.


Ingredients:

chicken thigh or leg
ginger
garlic - crushed
brown sugar
cane vinegar or coconut vinegar (i used apple cider 'cause we already have this at home)
calamansi
rock salt


Directions:

Marinate all ingredients for an hour or preferably overnight before grilling. Before grilling, make the achuete oil. Make a slit on each side of the marinated chicken. Baste the chicken with achuete oil while grilling. Serve with sinamak, soy sauce, calamansi and fresh siling labuyo.


To make the achuete oil: Warm enough achuete seeds in lots of cooking oil over moderate heat for one to two minutes. Do not let the oil burn. Set aside and stir until the oil turns orange in color.

Since we do not have any dirty kitchen to grill this, we used a grilling pan over stove. The outcome was almost...almost the same with the one cooked over charcoal. Not bad! I guess what makes Bacolod chicken inasal unique from the rest is the achuete sauce spread on the chicken while grilling.

Chicken inasal is best served with garlic "mantika" (achuete) rice (just like below), achara on the side and eaten by hand! yum! =)

My Food Blog

Honestly, I really don't know how to introduce this blog. Allan & I love to eat...try out different restaurants in the metro and since I have been spending most of my free time cooking, baking or just trying out a new recipe I find online, I decided to start my own food blog.

Unlike any other blogs, this one focus mainly on one thing: FOOD! Basically, food at home, in restos, out-of-town, food anywhere.

Join us in this journey as we discover one of life's greatest pleasures...FOOD!!! ;)

Hope you'll enjoy your tour and get something out of this blog.