Minced Meat with Tofu Surprise

Description:
I've been listening to Jay Chou these days due to the prodding of my friend Stew; thus, I've been cooking Chinese dishes lately (and craving for nai cha or milk tea!). The surprise factor in this dish is the tofu at the bottom of the minced meat. Look closely at the photo and you will see tofu peaking at the bottom left.

Ingredients:
1 large firm tofu, cut into four cubes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 of an onion, minced
100 g ground meat (I prefer chicken)
1 can Narcissus minced meat with bean paste



Directions:
Place tofu in a heat-proof plate and steam for a few minutes. Discard liquid. You can also use the ready-to-use tofu so you don't have to steam it.
In another pan, put about a tablespoon of oil and saute onions and garlic until aromatic.
Add ground meat and continue cooking until brown.
Add Narcissus minced meat with bean paste. (I always throw out the oil at the top of the sauce.)
Turn off heat when meat mixture boils.
Put the minced meat mixture on top of tofu and garnish with wansuy.

Bok Choy with Mushrooms and Young Corn in Oyster Sauce

Description:
This is simpler and cheaper version of my previous bok choy recipe with top shell in oyster sauce, but just as good. This vegetable dish surely takes center stage.

Ingredients:
600g Bok Choy, cleaned well
1 can whole mushrooms, chopped into quarters (I prefer the jumbo-sized mushrooms)
1 can young corn, chopped diagonally (or the canned stems and pieces)

Sauce Mix:
6 Tbsp. oyster sauce
2 Tbsps. rice wine (I used mirin.)
2 Tbsps. cornstarch
1 cup water


Directions:
Boil bok choy until soft. Drain the vegetables and place on plate. (Do not discard the water.)
Combine all the ingredients for the sauce mix.
Heat 1 tbsp. oil in pan and saute mushrooms and young corn lightly.
Add the sauce mix and cool until thick and bubbly.
Add more vegetable stock from boiling bok choy to thin out the sauce.
Pour the sauce on top of vegetables and serve.

Mango Cheesecake

Description:
I used to love eating cheesecake but after a season of baking cheesecakes way too often, I guess I got tired of it. I recently found out that my mother-in-law loves cheesecake, so to score more in-law points (hahahaha!), I baked cheesecake over the weekend to send her some. I tweaked George Geary's recipe in his book "125 Best Cheesecake Recipes" and it came out creamy, smooth, with no cracks on top. I now use small loaf pans to make cheesecakes; I just find it easier to unmold and serve to eager dessert lovers.

Ingredients:
George Geary's Blue Ribbon Cheesecake (sans the sour cream topping)

Crust:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling:
4 packages (each 250g) cream cheese, softened (or at room temperature)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice (I didn't have any so I omitted this.)
1 tsp. vanilla

Decoration:
2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced (or our very best Manila mangoes, cubed)

Directions:
Crust: In a medium bowl, combine melted butter and graham crumbs. The mixture will resemble wet sand. Press unto the bottom of your preferred pan and freeze.

Filling: Beat cream and sugar on medium-high speed.
Add eggs one at a time, making sure everything is well mixed.
Stir in lemon juice and vanilla.
Pour over frozen crust and bake in a preheated 350F oven for 45-55 minutes.
Please adjust baking time according to the size of your pan.

This is where I tweaked the recipe:
Instead of baking the cheesecake for the full time indicated, I baked it halfway the time and while the middle is still jiggly and the top a little dry but not brown, I turned the oven off and left the cheesecake inside to continue baking.

Let the cheesecake cool completely then put in the refrigerator overnight until ready to serve. Garnish with fresh fruits on top.

Herbed Chicken ala Pobre

Description:
Wonderful things do come out of the kitchen when you're in a hurry. This recipe came about in an effort to make dinner in less than 30 minutes. It has been a lazy Black Saturday and we were all busy watching "8 Below" that I forgot to marinade the chicken ahead to make it into chicken teriyaki. Anyway, this recipe is similar to my Roast Chicken with Garlic and Herbs, but this one can be done in a jiffy and very healthy too. But the crowning glory of this dish is the crunchy browned bits of garlic on top. This recipe will now be a regular at mealtime, whether I'm in a hurry or not.

Ingredients:
Skinless chicken thigh fillets
McCormick Italian Seasoning
Salt (I use pink salt)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Garlic, minced roughly


Directions:
Lightly brush chicken fillets with extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and Italian seasoning on both sides. Be generous with the herbs!
Place chicken on a roasting rack then sprinkle with garlic.
Bake in a turbo broiler or oven pre-heated at 350F, and cook for about 18-20 minutes or until the garlic is golden brown and the chicken is done, depending on the thickness of the chicken.
Do not overcook or the chicken will be tough.
Serve right away.

Terrible Two? Not really!

Brenzie is officially a toddler and he is in what they call the "terrible two's" stage.  I have to disagree that Brenzie is "terrible" at all at this stage; I am actually having lots of fun caring for my toddler.  It is at this stage that we get to have really cute conversations with him...

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Me:  "Brenzie, are you 'pogi' or cute?"
Brenzie:  "Pogi!!!"

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Me:  "Brenzie, are you a big boy or a baby?"
Brenzie:  "Big baby!"
But sometimes he would answer,"Big boy na noh!" But if he is in dire need of milk, he will answer, "Baby!"

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It is Brandon's morning routine to offer Brenzie a glass of Milo.  And Brenzie always says, "One for you, one for me!"  That goes for any treat we offer him and Trixie.  It should always be "one for me [him] and one for Atsie!"

-----

I am so looking forward to more "Brenzie" Conversations.  He truly is a bundle of charm. 


Photo at right:  At Trixie's Moving Up Day.  That's my beautiful mom seated beside us.  Take a look at Brenzie's hands!  He is so polite and behaved!

  

Sticky Wings

Description:
I am not so fond of fried foods, more so chicken wings (actually, I'd rather have grilled white meat), but when I saw Yummy magazine's March front cover, I simply couldn't resist trying it. The result was so so good that I had to share it with everyone. Enjoy life :) Just remember, cook and eat this in moderation.

*On a side note, I will be tweaking this recipe to come up with a "non-deep-fried" version. I hope I succeed.

Ingredients:
For the coating:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. five-spice powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
cooking oil for deep-frying
12 pcs. chicken wings

For the Honey-Orange Glaze:
1 tbsp. oil
1 tbsp. ginger, sliced very thinly (I made mine bigger; my kids don't like to eat ginger.)
1 tbsp. grated orange zest
1/2 cup honey



Directions:
Mix together flour, five-spice powder, salt and pepper.
Heat oil to about 375F. (I actually used a deep-fry thermometer for this.)
Coat wings well with flour mixture.
Fry wings for 10-15 minutes, or until parts are golden brown. (It really depends on the size of the wings how long it will take to cook.)
Drain on paper towels.

To make the glaze:
Heat oil in sauce pan and saute ginger. Add orange zest and honey.
Let simmer.
Add cooked wings in batches and toss well to coat the wings with the glaze.

Breakfast Waffles

Description:
To officially mark the start of summer, we had waffles for breakfast. This recipe (which I tweaked from allrecipes.com) is a keeper. The waffles come out crisp on the outside but with a slight chew inside. They are also not so sweet so it's best to serve with maple syrup. I keep leftover waffles in the fridge then we simply toast them before serving.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
Dry:
2 cups all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Wet:
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Using a mixer, beat eggs until fluffy.
In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
Add the wet ingredients and using a wire whisk, combine everything well.
Fold in the beaten eggs.
Cook waffles until golden brown.