Media Noche, Japanese Style

Last Christmas Eve, I was, as usual, on my feet for hours preparing our Noche Buena. I kept everything simple, though. Two kinds of spaghetti (three-cheese for the kids, Pinoy style for the yayas), ham, tacos, nachos and jap chae.

Noche Buena

In my Facebook account, I captioned my Noche Buena photo, "A simple meal for Christmas Eve" and earned this comment: "Simple?!" So I posted, "Nadaan lang sa presentation 'yan. (The presentation made all the difference, that's all.)"

For New Year's Eve, we decided to go Japanese. I made maki, mini spam musubi, tamago sushi, and my current favorite―green tea panna cotta.

Media Noche

I admit, this meal looks really simple. But I didn't compromise on the ingredients, so for this, I give you permission to accuse me of being anything but simple. But contrary to what others may believe, preparing Japanese food isn't at all that difficult.

Before, I was scared of making anything sushi. But thanks to a cookbook given by the Ridao Family, I discovered that making sushi is a breeze (see Turning Japanese). And the Tsukimi Soba? I kinda cheated on that one. I found a bottle of Soba sauce from the supermarket and decided to use that instead of making the thing from scratch.

But the Green Tea Panna Cotta, now that's a different story. It was scratch or bust. So I searched for a recipe online and found one at foodandwine.com. However, I had to tweak it a bit to suit my available ingredients.

Green Tea Panna Cotta

Ingredients:

• half a liter of fresh milk
• white sugar, to taste (start from half a cup and work your way towards your preferred sweetness)
• 1 brick Nestle cream
• 6 bags green tea (I got mine from Saizen)
• 1 box Alsa unflavored gulaman, green
• 320ml water (I used the measuring cup which comes with the rice cooker.)
• 1 brick Nestle cream, chilled
• black sesame seeds

First, place milk and sugar into a pan and heat over low fire. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Adjust sweetness to your preference. Then, add the entire brick of all-purpose cream and continue stirring until the cream is completely incorporated. Remove from heat.

Add the green tea bags and allow to steep for a while. I let mine steep for an hour, until the cream-green tea mixture was lukewarm. Remove the tea bags and gently squeeze out excess liquid; discard tea bags. Your mixture should taste like the green tea frapp sold in popular coffee shops.

In a separate saucepan, dissolve the gulaman powder in water. Cook over low fire, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. When all of the gulaman has dissolved, turn off heat and pour the gulaman mixture in a thin stream on to the creamy green tea mixture while stirring. When all of the gulaman is incorporated in the creamy green tea mixture, immediately pour into individual serving containers. (You may use wine glass, champagne flutes, sundae cups or individual plastic molds.) Leave in the fridge until set.

Before serving, pipe on some of the chilled cream in the center and sprinkle with black sesame seeds.

Happy New Year!

A Future in Decorating?

In a previous post, I confessed how bad I am at baking cakes ( see Baking as the Bane of My Culinary Existence).  In that post, I mentioned my desire to learn how to bake properly, like a cake which can actually be eaten or would at least be presentable.

Last week, I was asked to make a mock gingerbread house using graham crackers. So I learned how to make royal icing and proceeded to assemble a church and a house for our Christmas decor.

How did it turn out? See for yourself:

Not bad, eh? Especially for a first-time decorator. Which brings me back to my desire to learn how to bake. I could decorate cakes! I should learn how to bake! I think I have a future here.

And so, as a tribute to this first (and definitely not the last!) attempt at decorating something that resembles a cake, here is the recipe of the royal icing I used to cement the graham crackers together to assemble these treats. (Yes, cement. Because this sweet icing is truly rock hard! Proof? That church couldn't be pried from the cake stand with my officemate Kirby's bare hands!)

Royal Icing recipe

• 3 egg whites
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 box Peotraco confectioner's sugar

Beat the egg whites using a wire whisk until frothy. I did it by hand, so the absence of an electric beater is not a deterrent. 

Add the powdered sugar gradually (about 2 tbsp. at a time), alternately with the lemon juice, until the lemon juice is used up. Continue adding the sugar until you get the consistency of stiff peanut butter.

Place the icing in a resealable freezer bag or ziploc bag. Cut a small hole on one corner and use this to pipe the icing on the graham crackers. 

I had been warned not to use a disposable frosting bag to pipe royal icing. The icing is very thick and the disposable bag might not be able to take the pressure.

You can also use this icing to put snowflake patterns on graham cracker squares. The sweet icing can add taste to the otherwise boring graham crackers. 

Goin' Bananas!

Last month, I saw my friend May's FB post of a cup-ful of homemade banana ice cream made of—guess what?!—bananas and nothing else!

I've been meaning to try it, but I wasn't sure if it would be any good. And so, seeing May's post, I quickly interrogated her. Below is an account of our Facebook conversation:

Me: Now I can try this! Been meaning to, I just dunno if it'll be any good.
May: Super easy! But instead of freezing the bananas for 2 hours like what it said in the original recipe, I froze it for 3 days.
Me: We-we-we-we-wait... freeze bananas first?
May: Yez! First step, slice bananas in small bits. Put in bowl. Freeze, freeze, freeze. Then, manigas sila! :P Here's where I got the recipe from.
Me: Yey! Thanks! I'll make some... and add nuts... and choco chips (I have a half-pound pack lying around somewhere...) and peanut butter and Nutella!
May: Yez! That's what I plan, too! Milo, coffee, oatmeal comes to mind. :D Now I don't have to throw away my brown bananas! :D
Me: I just tagged myself! That's how bad i want to make this!
May: Peechurs, pag nagawa mo na ha! :)

And so, here it is! My very own version, with chopped honey roasted peanuts!

It doesn't look quite as scoop-able like May's version, but that's just because I couldn't wait and took it out of the freezer too early. I had to taste it, ok? And you know what? It isn't bad at all! In fact, it's exactly how I imagined it to be!

Now I couldn't wait to make 'em with chocolate chips... and crushed graham crackers... and caramel...

And just so we're clear, may I just say that contrary to May's insinuations, I did not consume lots of Arce Dairy Ice cream just to be able to have enough canisters to hold my homemade ice cream.

Beating The Heat... and Deadlines

It's been kind of warm the past couple of nights.  This weather is so unusual, as forecasts of a storm hover above us like the sword of Damocles.

Another thing that's hanging in front of my face are deadlines.  And when there are deadlines, sleep should never be entertained.  Especially when it knocks early.  So how do I combat both?  With one crazy solution: a nice, fat tumbler of coffee float!

So I went to the fridge and got my cold brewed coffee, added some sugar to it and poured over ice.  Next, I topped it with Arce Mantecado ice cream and voila!

You can make a fresh brew (make it extra-strong!) or you can refrigerate leftover brewed coffee for this.  Just make sure you consume everything within 5 days.

Ok, I better go back to work now.  See you in the morning!

What's in Your Lunch Box?

I love making my own lunch!  Although there are times when I get lazy in the morning and just settle for what's in the office cafeteria, I make it a point to plan my menu for the week, or buy my favorite ingredients and mix and match them to create my lunch for the day.  Sometimes, I even surprise myself!

Today, I decided to do a pasta dish.  It's something that I always make.  In fact, I have blogged about it (see Pahiyas Festival--A Dream Come True), and has become my go-to dish whenever I need a quick pasta fix.

Need to refresh your memory?  It's basically fresh tomatoes, seeds removed; onions, chopped coursely; some cooked pasta (any kind will do); McCormick Herb & Garlic seasoning to taste; and your choice of meat (I usually put fried Magnolia chicken fingers or hungarian sausage, which I either fry or grill in the oven toaster).  I just saute everything (except the pasta and meat) in vegetable oil, toss the pasta in and top the whole thing with the meat, which I cut up after they're cooked.

However, today I made some adjustments in the recipe.  Instead of sauteing the tomatoes and keeping them crisp, I stewed my tomatoes this time for an hour or so.  And I also added a few fresh basil leaves to the dish.  The result?  Tadah!  My perfect lunch box treat!

How about you?  What's in your lunch box today?

Coffee, Tea, Or Me?

Lately, there has been a mushrooming of tea places all over the Metro.  Hot tea, iced tea, spiced tea, herb tea, infusions... name, they have it!  However, long before this tea-crazy phenomenon began, my friends and I have been tea fans.

No, I am not, nor will I ever renounce my love for the perfect brew (aka coffee).  In fact, I have a tiny collection of coffee from some parts of the Philippines and the world.  And did I mention that I am so infatuated with my sister-in-law's DeLonghi coffee machine?

But then, once upon a time, I likewise kept a stash of different kinds of tea, which I always brewed in a ceramic pot.  My friend Tita Mimi calls this my mangkukulam (witch) concoctions.  And long before people went ga-ga over milk tea, it was a staple for us friends to pour milk and add sugar and spices to black tea.

Yes, friends.  Milk tea is just that--black tea with milk and sugar to taste.  Nothing gourmet about that.  But, to brew a decent cup of tea, one must have good quality tea (I like mine loose.  Tea bags give a weak brew.) and of course, freshly-boiled water.  Steeping tea usually takes 2 to 4 minutes.  If you want a stronger brew, add more leaves, not more time.  Over-brewing can affect the taste of your tea.

Tea steeping guide from Teavana http://bit.ly/LDDMKJ

I brew my tea leaves using a tea ball or tea infuser.  These infusers come in various designs, from the ordinary to the absurd.  But they do the job, nonetheless.

So there.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to brew a good cup of tea.  And you don't need to leave the comforts of home to enjoy it either.

Go ahead.  Brew, sip and enjoy!

S'mores!

Who says you need a campfire or a fireplace to enjoy s'mores?  S'm... what?  S'mores!  Those campfire favorites American kids enjoy so much.

First time I had this was when we were vacationing in Baguio last December.  Manong Uly, my cousin from Hawaii, had this bright idea of roasting mallows by the fireplace.  I don't remember who seconded the motion, adding that we should make s'mores too.

So we went to the supermarket, got gigantic marshmallows, long sticks, graham crackers and milk chocolate bars.  As soon as we got home, Manong Uly got the fire started and before we knew it, every piece of marshmallow had been roasted, and pressed in between 2 pieces of grahams together with a piece of chocolate!

Everyone loved them, especially we Pinoys.  But I think I had one piece too many.  I never liked marshmallows, but s'mores I loved.  And I believe I had ingested enough marshmallows to make me feel I gulped mouthfuls of air.

I don't think I was able to have dinner that night.  I was so full with the s'mores, I couldn't eat anymore!

But like I said, we here in Manila may not have a fireplace, nor will we be able to sit around a campfire and roast mallows.  But we do have an oven toaster!  So to make some nice s'mores for you and for the kids at home, run to the nearest grocery, get a bag of white, fluffy mallows, a tub of graham crackers and some milk chocolate bars (or a jar of Nutella) and follow these simple steps!

• Lay graham crackers on the rack/ tray.
• Spread Nutella on cracker surface and stand a marshmallow on it.

• Set the oven toaster timer to 3 minutes.  Pop the mallows-on-crackers in the oven toaster and roast till the top is golden and the mallows are all puffed up.  (Be sure to WATCH the mallows so they won't burn!)

• Spread the other half of the grahams with Nutella and set aside.

• Take the "roasted" mallows from the toaster and top with the Nutella-spread half of graham crackers.  Press slightly to make the mallows "ooze".

• Enjoy!