Chocolate-Covered Cherries

You know what they say - "Life is just a bowl of cherries."

Aside from "chocolate-covered cherries" being a nice alliteration, it also added some much-needed sweetness to my tangy cherries. I know... they're supposed to be in season, but for some reasons, these were tart. Anyway, the chocolate was a great touch, and it made me feel "less guilty" about eating chocolate. (There's fruit buried underneath this thick mass of sweetness, hello?!?)


What you need:

a handful of cherries (about 20-25 pieces)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 tablespoon Canola oil


What to do:

Place your double boiler over high heat and bring water to a boil. Add the chocolate morsels on the top layer and reduce heat to low. When chocolate starts melting, add oil and mix well. 

Hold a cherry by the stem and dip it in the chocolate, making sure the surface is covered.  Place on a tray lined with wax paper. Repeat the process until you have used up all your cherries. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Pre-refrigeration

Tips, Tricks and Tweaks:

1. When dealing with melted chocolate, you always have to work quick. Careful - but quick.
2. You can use parchment paper instead of wax paper, but why waste parchment? Wax paper is safe for non-baking stuff. Don't make the mistake of putting it in your oven! (Wax paper is also great for arts and crafts!)
3. Oil is added because pure chocolate is thick and hard to work with. If you add more chocolate morsels, make sure to add a bit more oil.
4. Use canola or vegetable oil - NOT olive oil. 
5. Really wanna jazz it up? Melt white chocolate and drizzle it on top the milk chocolate.

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Soba-Pork Stri Fry

Yet again, I used Soba noodles to replace rice for starch in this meal because aside from noodles being hubby's favorite, it makes me think that we had "Chinese" for dinner. Only less greasy, and with dishes to do afterwards (yeah - you have to take the good with the bad).

Speaking of Chinese takeouts, I read somewhere that there are three times more Chinese restaurants here in America than McDonald's franchises. Hmmm... next time I drive down the road, I'd make a mental note to count the Mickey D's and Chinese restos to see if that's true. :-)


What you need: 

2 bundles Soba noodles
1/2 lb pork loin, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup snow peas
2 carrots, coined
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon blackbean sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons rice wine
1 tablespoon garlic oil 
1 teaspoon sesame oil
dash of red pepper flakes


What to do: 

Cook soba noodles in lightly salted boiling water for about 4 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Heat garlic oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Saute minced garlic and onion for about a minute, then add carrots and snow peas. Cook for another minute or two, then add the pork to brown. Stir constantly so the pork doesn't stick to the bottom of the wok.

Pour in rice wine, oyster sauce and blackbean sauce. Season with a dash of red pepper flakes. Add noodles and mix well. Cook until heated through. Remove from heat and drizzle with sesame oil before serving.


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks: 

1. Other veggies that you can use are baby corn, water chestnuts, cauliflower, etc. Pick your favorite!
2. You can skip sesame oil if you don't like the taste.
3. Do not overcook your soba - it gets soggy fast. Also, you are actually gonna cook it again when you put it back into the wok with the rest of the ingredients.
4. Don't forget to trim the ends of the snow peas.

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Product Review: DIY Blizzard Maker

Son got this Dairy Queen® Blizzard Maker for Christmas (yes, it was that long ago!) and I was kinda' perplexed as to why he wanted one, when we have a Cuisinart Professional Ice Cream Maker at home.

Needless to say, it kinda' gathered dust in his closet until I dug it out and bought the necessary ingredients to make ice cream with it. We were so excited - we were even thinking of turning the ice cream upside down before serving to see if all Blizzards work that way.

All for naught. Well ok, maybe a little.

First, the Blizzard Maker was defective - there were two parts that were supposed to lock together, but they didn't, causing a leak. And of course, this makes it impossible to churn custard anything in the contraption.

I didn't want to waste our efforts (and the ingredients) so I decided to salvage it by putting it in our ice cream maker to churn. Which posed another problem. Since the ice cream base was just half & half milk and the included powder mix, it was very thin and took 4x longer to churn. But still, I didn't want to disappoint son, so instead of the supposedly 15 minutes it would take to hand crank the ice cream base in the Blizzard Maker (don't ask me how!), it took an hour to make it in the professional ice cream maker.

Cuisinart to the rescue!

The Blizzard Maker came with tiny DQ cups and spoons, flavor packets and pop rocks. In fairness to the product, it did taste a bit like the Blizzard you buy in stores (though the texture is very different). However, the "pop rock" is nothing more than a mix of colored sugar and small pieces of hard candy. Nothing popping at all. Duds.

Churn, baby churn!

So we got creative and put shaved chocolate in our ice cream. It actually improved the experience, if not the taste. 

Chocolate shavings

I emailed Spin Master (the manufacturer of this Blizzard Maker) and they told me they would gladly replace it if I would: a.) pay for shipping, and b.) send in the product and the receipt. Hmmmmm..... it was approximately 8 months ago, so who knows where the receipt is?!?! Not to mention, this was a Christmas present, and if it didn't come with a gift receipt, I wouldn't ask for one.

Moral of the story: if you are craving for a DQ Blizzard, just run to the nearest store and get some. Would have saved us a lot of trouble. 

The finished product

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Pochero

So what do you do when you have left-over chickpeas, Spanish sausage, and plantain bananas? Make pochero, of course. Well actually, I have been planning on making pochero for quite a while  but everytime I have plantains, we end up making platanos fritos. Fried ripe plantains are just so good....  mmmmm... 

But anyway, I finally had the constraint not to fry my plantain and make pochero instead. Hubby loved it. He said it tasted like Spanish bean soup (come to think of it, it did taste like Spanish bean soup!). This is not the traditional way of making pochero, but there is really no right or wrong way when it comes to cooking. As long as you are happy with the outcome, then all is good. ;-)


What you need:

1 lb pork loins, cut into cubes
1/2 cup green beans
1/4 cup chickpeas
1 tomato, quartered
1/2 medium-sized onion, sliced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 potato, cut into cubes
2 pieces chorizo, coined
1 plantain, cut into thick rounds
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 pcs pork bouillon (optional)


What to do: 

Soak chickpeas in  cold water for at least 6 to 8 hours. Replace water every 2 hours. 

Heat canola oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Fry the sliced plantains halfway (about a minute). Let drain on a cooling rack and keep warm. In the same pot, quickly fry the chorizo for about 30 seconds, and remove from heat. Set aside. 

Cook the pork slices until light brown (around a minute or two). Add in the drained chickpeas and potatoes. Pour in about 6 to 8 cups of water and put in the bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil, then drop the heat to low and let simmer for 30-45 minutes, or until meat is tender.

Add the green beans, sausage, and plantains. Continue cooking for about 7 to 10 more minutes. Remove from heat, ladle in bowls and serve hot.


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks: 

1. Use more plantains if you want the dish to have more "sweetness".
2. Add cabbage leaves for a heartier, healthier version.
3. Don't have pork bouillon? Skip it. Or better yet, use beef broth.
4. Soaking chickpeas overnight works best!

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Bangus Belly ala Pobre

First off (for my Western readers), "bangus" is milkfish. It is not common here in the US, in fact, I could only get it from the Asian store. Maybe because they are commonly found in the Pacific, and I imagine it costs a lot to export them. So I can only buy them frozen (I really miss fresh ones!). 

I don't know why this dish is called "bangus ala pobre." Some say that it is because this dish originally uses lesser quality (beef) steak cuts, therefore the term  "pobre" which literally translates to "poor" in Spanish.

Some say that it is from the French word "poivre" which is pepper - the fish is cooked with lots of pepper in it.

Whatever the real meaning is, we might never know. But here is what I know - we thoroughly enjoyed this dish. It was delicious, and the caramelized onion added a sweet depth to the meal. And of course, the garlic bits are my favorite part.  It also didn't hurt that we used belly steaks - the best part of the fish!


What you need: 

2 bangus belly (about 200g each)
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 large Vidalia onion, cut into rings
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Canola oil
salt and pepper, to taste
toasted garlic bits (optional)


What to do:
 
Season fish (both sides) with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Lightly fry the fish until slightly brown. Remove from pan and keep warm.

In the same pan, add onion rings and cook until caramelized (about 2 to 3 minutes). 

In a small bowl, combine lime juice, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. Mix well.

Put the lightly fried fish back into the pan (with the caramelized onion rings). Pour the lime juice / soy sauce mixture on top of the fish. Let simmer for about a minute, or until heated through. Serve with sprinkled toasted garlic bits on top.


Tips, Tricks, and Tweaks: 

1. DO NOT overcook fish. It will dry up and become hard. Don't be scared if you didn't fry it to a crisp - it would still cook when you simmer it with the liquids.
2. Don't like onion too much? Slash the amount in half. (I just happen to love onions so I put a lot in this dish!).
3. Use calamansi or lemon to substitute for lime.

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Pork Belly Stir-Fry with Noodles and Basil

This recipe is from the book that my sister-in-law gave me a few months ago. The book (I Love Bacon!) has so many great recipes, all of them contributed by chefs around the world. I was looking forward to making Iron Chef Cat Cora's "Pig Candy Ice Cream" but that would have to wait as we still have ice cream in the freezer. 

This dish was contributed by Chef Ian Chalermkittichai (hope I spelled that right), chef and owner of Cuisine Concept Co., Ltd. I had to tweak it a bit and substitute some ingredients to use available resources. It turned out to be awesome - a bit spicy but very flavorful. So now I am wishing I made more...


What you need: 

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 finger chili pepper
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger, thinly sliced
1/4 cup basil (plus more for serving)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
3 tablespoons coconut milk
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 tablespoon peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 pound rice noodles, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes
6 slices pork belly, cut into 1 inch pieces


What to do: 

Cook the pork belly (sliced bacon-style) by baking them like this. Or, you can put them on a skillet and fry them the old fashioned way. Let cool, then slice into 1 inch pieces.

Heat canola oil in a wok over low heat. Add the finger chili and garlic and cook, stirring for about 3 minutes. Add the ginger, 1/4 cup of  basil, fish sauce, oyster sauce, coconut milk, chicken stock, peppercorns, sugar, and rice noodles. Stir well to distribute ingredients evenly.

At the last minute, add the crispy pork belly and stir-fry quickly until everything is fully combined. Check and adjust the seasonings, if necesssary. Garnish with more basil and serve immediately.


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks: 

1. Original recipe called for green peppercorns and Thai basil. I used regular black peppercorns and sweet basil.
2. Adjust seasonings according to your taste. Skip the finger chili if you don't like spice. Add more coconut milk to tone down the heat (if using chili). 
3. If using green peppercorns, it should be fresh - not dried.
4. You can substitute pork belly with pre-packaged bacon. 

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Dolmades (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

Hubby has been asking me to make Dolmades for the longest time (it is one of his favorites) and so I finally gave in one day. I don't mind making stuffed grape leaves. I like them too. The thing is - every grape leaf we have tried was different! Some are stuffed with rice, with couscous, with lamb, with herbs added, etc. The possibilities are endless!
 
I decided to make mine using ground pork. It would have been great if I had fresh grape leaves, but since I don't have a vineyard (hmmmm......), I used bottled grape leaves. So I toiled away (no kidding!) to prepare this special dish for hubby. Oh, you should have seen the look on his face when he saw what dinner was for that night... you'd think he won the lottery. 

A quick note, though. We learned that dolmades is good when freshly cooked - not so as leftovers. The grape leaves dry up when you heat it. So make a small batch. Or a big one, but invite friends over!


What you need: 

1 jar (1 lb) grape leaves
1.25 pound ground pork
6 cups beef broth
1 cup bulgur wheat
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons minced onion
1 teasoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
dash of dried oregano
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil


What to do:

Carefully remove grape leaves from the jar. Fill a large pot with water (enough to cover the leaves entirely) and boil for about 20 minutes. This is to wash the brine off the grape leaves. Remove from heat and let cool.

Meanwhile, cook bulgur wheat according to package directions. Set aside to cool. 

In a bowl, combine pork, cooked bulgur wheat, garlic, onion, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix well (use your hands!). 

Take a piece of grape leaf and place it on a flat surface. Make sure there are no holes - if there are, try to patch it up by putting a smaller leaf on top of it. A whole grape leaf is big, so you can also cut it in half. Place about a tablespoonful of the meat mixture on the leaf. Fold the sides inward, then cover with the top part (the one nearest you) and roll (see pics). Continue doing so until you have used all your meat (or grape leaves).

Put the dolmades in a shallow pan (you can stack them - don't be scared!) and cover with a plate. This is so the grape leaves would not unravel. Pour enough broth to touch the surface of the plate. Add lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. Cook on low heat for an hour. Serve hot!


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks:

1. Grape leaves are so delicate - handle with care!
2. Don't have bulgur wheat? Use couscous or rice.
3. Fresh grape leaves are always the best. If using fresh, you should also boil it, much like the bottled grape leaves.
4. Ground beef or lamb can be used in lieu of pork.
5. Some low-quality bottled grape leaves are "stringy" - avoid these.

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Capellini al Pomodoro ala Hubby

Every once in a while, hubby feels inspired to take over the kitchen and whip something up for me. And of course, who am I to say no to that generous offer? Not only does it mean less for me to do, it also shows me how "resourceful" hubby can be with whatever we have in the fridge/pantry.

A few days ago, he decided that he wanted capellini (which is a very thin Italian pasta - much like Angel Hair). Well, he rarely cooks from scratch so I wasn't shocked when he grabbed the bottled spaghetti sauce. What surprised me was what he got out next - burgundy wine. Mmmm... so he was up to something. The result was a simple yet flavorful semi-homemade dish that we both enjoyed. 

P.S. Pomodoro is just a fancy way of saying tomato sauce. ;-)


What you need:

4 cloves garlic, roughly minced
2 tablespoon garlic oil
1 lb smoked sausage, coined
1/4 cup Vidalia onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons burgundy wine
dash of pepper
a bottle (10 oz) of your favorite spaghetti sauce
4 oz capellini pasta
julienned basil for garnish 
grated parmesan cheese for garnish


What to do: 

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Heat the garlic oil in a wok over medium-high. Add the onion and garlic, saute for a minute. Add  the coined sausage and season with pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. 

Pour in your favorite spaghetti sauce and and burgundy wine. Stir well. Drop in the bay leaves. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place cooked capellini pasta in bowls and ladle sauce on top. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and top with fresh julienned basil. Enjoy! 


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks: 

1. No sausage? Use ground meat and make a meat sauce!
2. Sliced green bell pepper would be a great addition to the sauce.
3. Don't cut cooking time - this allows the flavors to meld! (Actually, the longer the sauce simmers, the better!)

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Chicken Marinated in Garlic Oil

This was the first recipe I used the garlic oil with. It was from the same edition of Everyday Food Magazine (July/August 2011). The dish was very, very tasty and I tried to make it a bit healthier by removing the chicken skin.

Ugh. What a harrowing experience. I would have preferred pre-skinned chicken, but that was not what I had in my fridge. So I took it upon myself to "peel the poultry." DO NOT attempt to do so, unless you are very good with the knife and not squeamish. I mean, I wasn't squeamish - but the experience was still too much for me.

Anyway... my family loved this dish. The lemon really gave it a kick and went so well with the chicken. The garlic oil was superb and gave the chicken a subtle garlic flavor. Try it!


What you need:

1/4 cup garlic oil (with some cloves)
1 lemon, cut into thin rounds
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 pound chicken leg quarters, skins removed (about 3 pieces)
coarse salt and ground pepper


What to do: 

In a large ziploc bag, combine garlic oil and cloves, lemon, parsley, and chicken. Shake to coat, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (overnight is better).

Preheat oven to 450°F. Put the chicken leg quarters, lemon, and garlic cloves to a roasting pan or baking sheet covered in foil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until cooked through (about 170°F), around 30 to 35 minutes.


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks: 

1. I removed the chicken skin for health purposes. Feel free to try your recipe with chicken skin on.
2. If you have another lemon, squirt a  bit of juice on the chicken before serving.
3. Best served with steamed veggies or rice!

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Garlic Oil

How cool is it to have garlic oil available at hand? It sure cuts your cooking time because you don't have to sauté the garlic anymore - the oil is already infused with it! Combining two staples is such a great idea. So when I saw this recipe in the July/August edition of Everyday Food Magazine, I immediately wanted to try it.

Oh, and it was great. I used it in several dishes (in fact, I am out already!) and will definitely make more. It was handy, quick, and very flavorful! (Recipes using garlic oil in my next posts!)


What you need:

1 head of garlic
1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil


What to do:

Smash and peel the cloves of garlic. Transfer to a medium pot and add the cup of extra virgin olive oil. Heat over medium-low until bubbles form around the garlic, about 3 minutes. 

Let cook for 10 minutes, reducing heat to low if garlic begins to brown. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. 


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks: 

1. I would probably double the garlic for my next try - just because we love garlic and end up eating them with the dish.
2. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate. It will last for a week (or two!). 
3. Try in dishes where you would normally use sautéed garlic.
4. Not sure about using other types of olive oils - I use EVOO because it is first cold press. A lot of nutrients are lost when olive oils are refined using heat.
5. Use the garlic oil as a salad dressing. Yummy!

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