Category Archives: food

Pop Soda Sticky Chicken

sodachicken01

This chicken recipe uses a can of cola, orange soda, or Mountain Dew as a base. I’ve also used this as a recipe base for a slow cooker pork roast (adjusting the amount of ingredients to suit.)  This was a huge hit with the kids and adults alike.

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Japanese Style Curry Bread

 

One of the things I like to eat here in Australia are meat pies. They fit in your hand, are a full meal in one, are served warm, and with a drink can be very satisfying. I’m also fond of pasties for the same reason. I mean, a food you can eat with one hand and a book or magazine in the other is tops for me.

Japanese Curry Bread is one of those delightful concepts where they took a good thing to an entirely new level. Instead of baking the stuffed bread, they dip it in egg, coat in panko bread crumbs and deep fry. Result: Crispy, savoury stuffed doughnut filled with comfort food. How could I not try this? I’ve technically eaten something like this in the Mini Stop shops back in the Philippines, but the dough left my mouth feeling dry; too much baking powder, perhaps? Nevertheless, they were filling, and cheap. But that’s all the way over across an ocean, and I’m in the Land Down Under. So, after my brother-in-law introduced me to a manga called Addicted to Curry, I resolved to make my own. I’m not as obsessive about curry as the folks in Addicted to Curry are, so I use the pre-packaged Japanese roux.

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Easy Chocolate Cake

Easy Chocolate Cake

This is an adapted version of Marta Stewart’s 1 bowl chocolate cake

It’s not as heavy as mudcake, with a good ‘chewy’ mouthfeel, and despite the sugar, isn’t sweet tasting. Combined with the icing, which isn’t that sweet either it makes for a rich cake that makes you feel like you’re eating something decadent enough to slice thinly and enjoy with tea or coffee after dinner, or with friends in the afternoon. The recipe makes 1 8-inch double layer cake. The version pictured above was my successful test; when I made this for Rhys’ birthday, I tinted the frosting blue; one of his favourite colours.

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Blender Sour-Cream Banana Bread

I’m lazy, so mashing bananas until they’re of a suitable consistency doesn’t appeal. However, I do love banana bread, and the kids don’t always get to eat all the bananas I buy for their lunch boxes. Blending the wet ingredients together also mixes them together more thoroughly. I like the use of soured milk or sour cream; it gives the banana bread a slight tang. If you don’t like it you can definitely substitute plain milk.

The picture above was taken only after half the loaf was eaten. Kinda forgot to take the photo; warm banana bread is irresistible. I bet these would make utterly delectable banana cupcakes.

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Lumpia Shanghai

It’s been years since I made some; and none since I moved to Australia. So I made some. The meat mixture makes a good meatball too, but will need some breadcrumbs as binder. Consider the recipe below as a basic starter, and feel free to add other vegetables and seasonings and ingredients for your own lumpia.

I also put in how I wrap them, in case anyone needs a step by step. I hope it helps ^_^

Enjoy!

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Oven Dried Adobo Flakes Maho

The most common and popular adobo recipe seen around tends to revolve around pork belly or leg chunks, or pork AND chicken. Traditionally, fatty chicken and fatty pork = adobo especially for travelling, because Filipino style adobo was a cooking method that resulted in a dish not too dissimilar to English potted hare – with the broth thickening to jelly and the fat sealing the top of the jar. In a country where the heat would result in spoiled food while travelling, adobo was king, and still is one of the ‘traditional’ dishes to take with you to the beach picnic.

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Fat and Leftovers

I don’t really have a creative title for the post. My apologies.

Early this week I decided to marinade some simply massive chicken marylands (thigh and drumstick cut) in the juice of the limes our rental house comes with.  The limes that tiny, scrawny, greatly suffering tree bears are huge – they’re the size of baseballs, for one – and they’re very juicy. The minimum time I tend to marinade things is overnight; but for these I decided to ignore them until Friday, so that must’ve been around 3 days sitting in the fridge, marinating. I also stabbed the meatier sections of the cuts to let the meat REALLY soak in.

I had an extra piece though and I decided I’ll boil it for broth. I left it on the stovetop on low for a while, seasoned with salt, pepper and mixed herbs, then at the end of the day turned it off, let it cool and put the whole pot in the fridge, along with the marinating pieces.

The lime halves, which I originally was going to chuck out, I decided to put into plastic containers and tucked them into the corner of the more commonly used toilets. They’ve been working wonderfully as air fresheners.

Friday rolls around and I take out those marinating chicken marylands and season them – not too fancy, just with some seasoned salt. I roast those lime-marinated chickens and oh my goodness. The house smelled amazing. The drippings ended up on our rice and the chicken was utterly tender and flavorful. Me being me, I added a bit more salt to my share, but from the ‘mmm’ and ‘hyuuummm’ sounds I was getting, I’d say everyone else was quite happy with the result.

I still had the chicken in the pot though and I took it out a little while ago to remove the fat. There must’ve been a half centimetre worth of fat sitting on top of the jellied broth. I skimmed it out and put the chicken back on the stove to render some more.

I looked at it and found myself thinking, “Surely, back in the day this wasn’t thrown out,” and looked up the uses for chicken fat, and learned something new.

In Jewish cooking, it’s called schmaltz. And you can use it in place of butter, making your toast more savory than well, ‘breakfasty’ I guess. This page has plenty of ideas, including dipping oil infusions.

I think I can come up with ideas and ways to use this later on in my stories, as small side details.

As for the fat, I saved it in a jar and stuck it in the very back of my fridge. It’ll be useful for basting a chicken being reheated in the oven, or used as a pat when roasting vegetables, for a bit of extra flavour.

Meringues

I’ve been doing a lot of running around on errands so I haven’t posted recently. My blood sugar dropped a lot so I found myself craving sweet things.

So I decided to take the plunge and made meringues for the first time.

Sounds silly I know, but I’ve had this thing about being afraid of screwing up the egg whites. I had a box of egg whites in my fridge that I bought and felt, if I never take the risk, I’ll never do it!

So I made this batch of brain food and boy, am I glad I did! (here’s a BBC Food’s recipe for meringue, it’s slightly different.)

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Leche Flan

One of the easiest Filipino desserts for me to make here in Australia is Leche Flan. The kids love this recipe, but as you can see in the image, the caramel isn’t very dark. That’s because of my family’s preference, so you may need to experiment with the caramel to get it as dark as you like.

I hope you enjoy making this! This is a busy mom version; traditional Leche Flan  uses carefully separated egg yolks, careful hand beating with a whisk, and strains the mixture through cheesecloth several times, resulting in a silky creamy flan. I’m rather lazy and want my delicious treat with minimal effort; my answer to this is to tap the bubbles out and use either a blender or mixer.

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Homemade Wontons


As part of their holiday ‘fun thing’ I taught my eldest how to make chicken wonton filling / chicken meatballs. Eldest boy helped wrap up a few, but I had to take over or else we wouldn’t have dinner on time! Happily my little budding hearth witch mastered the wrapping of wontons quickly. We still have meat so we’ll make a packet of wontons to freeze, and make meatballs out of the rest.

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I miss this oh so delicious food

Doesn't it look delicious? Picture from Yummy.ph online

Doesn’t it look delicious? Picture from Yummy.ph online

 

Crispy Pata is one of those recipes where you chuck your diet out the window and just enjoy, especially if you have freshly steamed fluffy white rice, seasoned vinegar-and-soy-sauce dip, and is, well, for me anyway, one of those meals that is best enjoyed nagkakamay – eaten with one’s (freshly washed and clean) hands. Might be a Pinoy thing, but some meals are somehow more pleasurable to eat that way. Anyway, Crispy Pata is deep fried whole pork hock, and there’s an awesome recipe over at the Yummy.ph website. You can also use the recipe and method to do crispy fried pork belly. Or deep fried pork ribs. I like eating these delightful meaty dishes with balsamic vinegar as a dip, with rice. Or if you want, use spicy, seasoned vinegar. Here’s a wonderful recipe for it, or if you want it really hot, here’s another.

Or have some spicy bbq pork ribs.

If it’s something that’s a source of homesickness for me, it’s Filipino food. Lately I’ve been missing the barbecues and street food like fishballs and battered quail eggs, with that sweet brown sauce. That’s the right recipe by the way, because the person writing it studied at UP Diliman and that’s where I used to get the best fishballs and eggs.

I miss those simple comforts, and nothing is more comforting to me than comfort foods.

Foooooood

Found out about another Filipino food grocery online here in Townsville and it seems they may also be a Filipino restaurant. I think I’ll unleash the Kitten Cute Eyes on Rhys when he gets home later tonight. They have the larger pots of Lily’s peanut butter!!!!!!!!!1 And Star Margarine sweet blend. And Buko Pie. I think I’ll see if I can buy one for Rhys; he never was able to try some before; and I only make my special buko pie with fresh ingredients, which I don’t know how to get here. omg. looking at the menu makes me so hungry right now. yesisoundsobrainlessrightnowidon’tcare. Tocino, longganisa and daing na banggus are pains in the ass for me to cook; the first two require boiling time then being fried; daing requires frying. Okay I grant I really am a huuuuuge wuss about frying. Otherwise I’d be having tinapang galunggung and daing. Which I’ve been hungering for since the start of this pregnancy. I hope they also have the crispy dilis fingerfish. =9

I’ll write about it tomorrow if we go ^.^

I thought I may as well blog about the Asian groceries I know about  here in Townsville; it took me some looking to find but these are the ones I know of as of this writing.

 

Besides Sari Sari, which is located at : Shop 5 Riverside Shopping Centre 1 Riverside Boulevard corner Angus Smith Drive Douglas, Townsville, Queensland

there’s

D’kapatid Asian Grocery – Located at: 1 Forest Avenue Kirwan QLD 4817  According to the G+ page the phone number is (07) 4755 1020; but I don’t know if that phone number is accurate. They sell breads and cakes, meats and fish, as well as some of the usual Filipino canned goods and condiments and cosmetics. They’re off the road between Stocklands and Willows

Oriental Food Supplies is more a General Asian Grocery; there’ll be Japanese, Chinese, Indian and more. They’re found near the Stocklands Mall, and are at 272 Ross River Road Aitkenvale QLD 4814 They’re a smaller shop, but well stocked with both dry and frozen goods, as well as fresh greens and fruits.

Asian Supermarket NQ PTY Ltd.3/116 Charters Towers Road Hermit Park QLD 4812 (07) 4772 3997  This is is the biggest Asian grocery that I know of in Townsville; they have a decent frozen food and meats section as well. They have a wide range of cuisines available- from Indian, to Malaysian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Filipino foods.
I’ve shopped extensively at each of these and they’re all very friendly. The folks at Oriental Food Supplies were quite understanding and forgiving and exchanged the glutinous rice that Rhys bought by mistake once instead of the 10kg of jasmine rice I was looking for.
I’ve spotted a small little Asian Grocery between Willows Mall and Stocklands, but it seems to be located in the garage area of a set of apartments. There are also several Indian food groceries I’ve seen while we drive past, but I’m not really familiar with Indian food and spices, so folks should have a gander.

Chocolate de Tony Modena

 

This recipe is named after my father, who would make this chocolate on cold autumn and winter nights when we lived in Europe. It is best had while still hot, with bread to dip into it (like brioche, or pan de sal), or excellent with Churros if you know how to make those (‘coz I’m afraid I don’t… yet. As of this writing anyway.)

You may substitute the sugar and butter with the sugar substitute of your choice, and butter-flavoured margarine. I’ve been told by friends that the use of these does not in any way or form detract from the fullness of chocolatey flavour. I am unsure how this would taste if one uses a cow milk substitutes, as the cream of the milk is part of what gives this the rich flavour. Do feel free to experiment and let me know how it goes!

I should warn that this is very addictive stuff, and utterly wonderful comforting delight while reading a book

Ingredients

3/4 cup cocoa powder / Dutch cocoa powder (unsweetened)

3/4 cup (packed) brown sugar

2 1/2 cup evaporated milk OR full cream milk (must be full cream)

125g butter (or 1/2 cup butter) or half a 250g cake of butter

2 teaspoons instant coffee powder (I use Nescafe Blend 43 or 45; or Arabica… but feel free to omit, or substitute a preferred brand This helps enhance the flavour of chocolate and gives it a dark richness and depth.)

1) Cream the butter, sugar and cocoa powder together in a saucepan, the way you would if you were making cookies. If you are using coffee powder, you may add coffee at this point. If using granules I prefer to put it on the next step.

Butter chopped into cubes ready for mixing into a chocolate powder mixture

Chopped butter is easier to mix.

Mixing tablea powder mixture with butter, best done with a food processor

Use a food processor; it’s easier! I only found this out afterward.

Tablea chocolate mixture being finished off by hand mixing

Then you won’t have to do this.

 

1.b) You have the option of turning this to chocolate tablea, by taking the mixture, rolling it into 1 inch size balls and refrigerating till solid. If making this for tablea, it’s best to use a glass or ceramic bowl. Each 1 inch ball will correspond to roughly 1 mug size serving.

Shaping chocolate mixture into tablea balls

Roll into balls roughly 1-inch in size

Balls of chocolate tablea ready for chilling

Cool the balls in the fridge for about 30 min to an hour

Balls of tablea chocolate in glass jars

Put into jars or a plastic container and keep in fridge

2) When it is well blended, add milk and simmer at medium heat, mixing constantly. When it reaches a boil, lower the heat, add coffee powder and keep stirring till chocolate is of the thickness you wish it to be.

2.b) If having made tablea, pour 1/2 cup milk or cream into a small saucepan and add tablea. Stir as the milk heats to melt the tablea. Prepare as above, diluting with milk until it reaches the thickness you want.

Ball of tablea chocolate being added to a mug of hot milk

Add 1 ball to about 1/2 cup hot milk

Tablea chocolate being stirred into hot milk

Mix the tablea into the milk until fully dissolved

Mug of hot chocolate ready to drink

Drink your hot chocolate!

Serve at half-mug servings with toast for dipping, or add warm milk for drinking at each cup. Sinfully good. Makes roughly 4 mugs of undiluted chocolate. Chocolate may be reheated in microwave.

Notes:

  • Here where I live in the Philippines they sell butter in a brick cake that is equal to 1 cup butter / 250g of butter. Some brands go only up to 225g, but the one I use is 250g. I used salted butter. The butter takes place of the butter in melting chocolate if using melting / baking unsweetened chocolate or chips.

**I added the coffee powder so the chocolate tastes extra dark when dipped, out of preference. Taste the chocolate before adding coffee powder so you can adjust for preference in flavour.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!