How Do You Like Your SkyFlakes?

I am missing some memes for the coming weeks because I'm busy planning for the holiday. I can only go online when Andreas is asleep. Today, in between making the creme caramel and gelatin, I researched on our visa requirements. Apparently, we need to give a detailed itinerary to go with the cover letter of the application. I needed to finish the itinerary so hubby and I can discuss it over the weekend. Yep - the uncertainty of it all and the risked money is making me all nervous. I need to write to calm my nerves :)

I recently bought a square tub of Skyflakes at Waitrose as alternative to my son's snacks. The little boy happily munch on them plain and can take two crackers in one sitting. I, for one like to dress 'em up. Here's the basic tuna spread I made this morning.

Ingredients
2 tins of white tuna
1 medium onion, chopped
a stick of celery
a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and freshly ground pepper
100 g mayo

Here's how:

1. Drain tuna. Chop celery. Blanch onion (i like the strong onion flavor so i skip this eeewww).

2. In a medium bowl, add tuna, celery, and onions. Stir in mayo, add a dash of salt and give a good grinding of pepper. I like spreads that are spicy so I add in the pepper flakes. Mix thoroughly.

3. Chill for an hour or two. Spread on crackers.

4. Garnish with parsley or cucumber slices and serve.

So how do you like your flakes? Have a great weekend, everyone!

Ginataang Mais

A few months ago, during one of hubby's club meetings, we were served ginataang mais by the generous family host. We all enjoyed it and made a mental note to cook some in the future.

After a few google search, i decided to make my own recipe and it came out so well, we all consumed it before i could even take a picture. Yes even my little boy wanted more and more of it.

So here is my recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup fresh frozen sweet corn kernels
3/4 cup glutinous rice
5 cups hot water
10 tbs powdered coconut milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Here's how:

1. On stove top, pour all hot water into a medium size pot. Dilute the coconut powdered milk. Then add the glutinous rice. Stir from time to time to avoid the rice from sticking.

2. Cook until rice is almost done. Add the corn kernels, sugar, and salt. Continue cooking until rice and corn are thoroughly cooked.

3. Let cool down and serve.

Happy cooking!

Yummy Sunday - Fresh Strawberry Milk Shake

We usually like to snack on strawberries fresh. But for the weekend, iIdecided to serve them in a different manner.

Strawberry Milk Shake. Combine fresh hulled strawberries, vanilla, honey, low-fat milk, and ice cubes. Some even add a dash of salt.

Thank you so much for the visit. I am off to see your yummy entries now.

Basic Crepe Recipe

Who likes some French snack?

It's officially fall. We will be spending weekends at the park so I thought of home-made snacks that we could easily pack aside from cupcakes and brownies. Crepes come perfect as we can have it for breakfast with tuna filling (yes, we sometimes spend ours at the park) or i could sneak in slices of peach, strawberies, or banana for a healthy snack. You could even store it frozen for three months. Separate crepe pieces with waxed paper and wrap airtight.

I share with you my fool-proof recipe.

Basic Crepes

(makes about 30)

Choconana & Cashew Nuts Crepe

Ingredients
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/4 cup melted butter

Here's how

1. Beat eggs and salt.

2. Add flour alternately with milk, beating with electric mixer until smooth.

3. Stir in melted butter.

4. Allow crepe batter to to stand for 1 hour or more in refrigerator before cooking. It should have the consistency of a heavy cream.

5. Heat non-stuck skillet. With one hand pour 3 tablespoons batter and with the other hand, lift the pan off the heat.

6. Quickly rotate pan until batter cover bottom and return to heat.

7. Cook until light brown. Turn and brown the other side for a few seconds.

Happy cooking!

This is what i made of our left-over crepes for breakfast :)

OWM - Penne, Salami, and Tomatoes

Happy Sunday! Nothing beats a home-cooked pasta on Friday nights. Simmering fresh tomatoes sauteed in olive oil, and butter. A little sugar. A good grinding of fresh pepper, a dash of oregano, paprika, and basil.

Here's what I made for weekend supper-- penne in fresh tomato sauce and parmesan coated German salami.

See more Weekend Memoirs here.

Rib Eye Steak

If your hubby (like mine) is a dedicated meat lover, this easy recipe is for you.

Rib Eye Steak

Serves 3

Ingredients
3 rib eye portion
3 tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp olive oil
freshly ground pepper
salt

For the steak sauce
balsamic vinegar
soy sauce
Pad Thai chili garlic sauce

Here's how (please proceed upon buying your steak, do not refreeze)

1. Brush the meat thoroughly with olive oil. Coat both sides with garlic powder. Give a good grinding of pepper and marinate. Leave in the fridge overnight.

2. Heat the grill pan. Brush with a little olive oil. Grill the steak for no longer than 20 minutes.

3. Sprinkle with salt and serve immediately with fresh carrots or cucumber. Yes, only sprinkle salt at the last part because the salt tends to dry the meat when you add it while grilling. Steak should be juicy, ayt?

4. For the home made steak sauce, mix equal parts of balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and chili garlic sauce.

Happy cooking!

Raspberry Summer Cake

This summer is a blast! Did i ever mentioned that Mr. Wonderful bought me a Sony A200 early last month? And on top of that, the bill entitled us to raffle tickets -- which made us won a 10.1 megapixel Sony Cybershot. Talk about camera overload haha. Of course, it is no match to our DSLR but still we are thankful to have won something. It will come very handy when we go home for vacay to Pinas. Hubby warned me not to dangle the A200 on my shoulders least they will drag me to Patikul and that is the end of my maxi-dresses shopping :)

Anyhow, i felt like celebrating so i made a summer cake this morning. It is really very easy to make and i want to share with you the recipe.

Raspberry Summer Cake

Seves 6

Ingredients
250 g. raspberries
140 g. melted butter
140 g. self rising flour
140 g. golden caster sugar
140 g. cake flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 tbsp icing sugar

Here's how:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, Gas 4.

2. Grease a 9-inch pan. Blitz the flour, eggs, vanilla, butter, and sugar in a food processor until well blended.

3. Spread half of the mixture on the bottom of the pan. Then pour in all the raspberries. Top with the remaining cake mixture.

4. Bake for 50 minutes until golden. Dust with icing sugar.

Happy cooking!

Oh, i share with you a snapshot of our prize.

Oreo Cheesecake

As promised, I will share our cookies n cream cheesecake recipe today. This is really very easy so read on and try it next time.

Oreo Cheesecake
Serves 8

Thank you to hubby for the photo.

Ingredients
500 g cream cheese (I use Puck Cream brand)
2 eggs
100 g sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
24 pcs. whole oreo cookies

For the base:
100 g whole oreo cookies or
100 g graham crackers
40 g unsalted butter, melted
(i use graham crackers, as you can see on the pic above because i do not want a choco overload)

Here's how

1. Grease the pan. Crush the graham or the oreos whichever you prefer using a rolling pin or a food processor (if you are using the latter, you may add the melted butter before pressing on your food processor). Transfer to a bowl and add the melted butter.

2. Press the graham/oreo to the base of the pan you will use. Try to make itll even by using rolling pin. If rolling pin is not available, wrap your palm with a cling wrap and press. Chill and move on to prepare the filling.

3. Preheat oven to 150 degrees C. In a large bowl, add the cream cheese and sugar. Beat for three minutes. Add eggs one after the other and beat thoroughly. Stir in vanilla essence.

4. Coarsely chop the remaining oreos. Bring out the chilled base. Pour half of the cream cheese mixture. Spread evenly by tilting the pan from side to side. Gently scatter all of the chopped oreos. Then pour in the rest of the cream cheese mixture.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Do not to overcook. As soon as it has risen, take it out from the oven. The middle will still be woobly and that's the perfect way of cooking cheese cake.

6. Let it cool and chill for at 4-8 hours before serving. Or wrap in a foil and chill and your cheescake can lat up to three months.

Happy cooking!

Bacon & Cheese Muffins

Here is a great alternative to your weekend pancakes or waffles. Sometimes, I even pack these when we go for a picnic. Healthy too for toddlers as it punches calcium and protein.

Bacon & Cheese Muffins
Makes 12 pcs

Ingredients
50 g unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 tsp sweet paprika
150 g yoghurt
220 g flour
3 tsp baking powder
60 g crispy bacon bits
2 tbsp chopped spring onions
75 g cheddar cheese, grated

Here's how
1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease muffin pan
2. Beat the butter until creamy. Stir in the eggs, paprika and yoghurt. Mix well.
3. Fold in the flour and baking powder, and finally the bacon, onion springs, and cheese.
4. Divide the mixture between the muffin cases and bake for 25-30 minutes or until springy to touch.

Happy cooking!

Old-Fashioned Lasagne

Our family is a big fan of pasta. On our first months (probably year) here in Dubai, pasta recipes were always present on our weekend menu. Naturally,when i got the chance to bake, I tried making lasagna when i read a recipe from a celebrity magazine. It came out right the first time i did it, but i found it a little salty for my liking. Plus I wanted more vegetables with it. I tried, and tried again, adjusting the ingredients, until i was satisfied with the taste - down to the crunchy vegetables.

I'm thinking of making this again over the coming weekend. Maybe we will have visitors since it is Freedom Day celebration, maybe not, since everybody will be busy at Al Nasr Leisureland. Nevertheless, I want to be ready -- and yes to satisfy my craving too hihi. I've been wanting to cook since i bought that box of Barilla last week.

Old-Fashioned Lasagne
Serves 8-10



For the Meat Sauce
200 g chopped bacon
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 cup sliced onion springs
2 sticks celery, trimmed and chopped
400 g beef mince
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
freshly ground black pepper
375 ml full-fat milk
40 g butter
400 ml beef stock
400 g diced tomatoes
125 ml tomato paste
160 g Parmesan cheese

For the White Sauce
125 g butter
100 g plain flour
1.3 ltr full fat hot milk
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Here's how

1. To make the meat sauce, fry the bacon in a large wok. Add the onions and garlic. Fry until softened but not browned. Add carrots and celery, sweat for 10 minutes.

2. Add beef mince, soy sauce, Worchestershire sauce, and a good grinding of pepper. Fry on medium heat until browned.

3. Add milk and butter and cook to reduce by half. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and add the beef stock. Simmer uncovered for at least an hour.

4. To make white sauce, melt butter in a pan. Add flour and stir to make a paste. Leave to bubble until really dry. Gradually stir in the hot milk. Allow to boil then stir until sauce thickens. Check seasoning and remove from heat.

5. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Grease 10 x 14in oven proof dish. Spoon white sauce on the base. Lay pasta sheets. Spread a layer of meat sauce. Sprinkle 1 tbsp green bell pepper, 1 tbsp yellow bell pepper, 1 tbsp spring onions, and Parmesan cheese. Top with white sauce and layer again pasta sheets. Repeat until you used all the ingredients finishing with white sauce on top and the last of Parmesan.

6. Bake for 45-60 minutes until the top is bubbling. Don't worry about the bubbling over the sides of the dish. This gives the look of an authentic lasagne.

Happy cooking!

kiddie choco-berry muffin

Happy Sunday everyone! We had a great, relaxed weekend but before anything else, Thankies to all who appreciated my Toddler Meal post. As promised, i will share the inexpensive choco-berry muffins i made for my son. I warn you though that it has really a kiddie taste - not cakey. My son loved it and it really makes a great finger food. I even pack them as snacks when we go out.

The picture below are the two main ingredients i used. Yes, use drinking chocolate for flavor because i find it cheaper than baking chocolate. As for the strawberries, i most often use fresh frozen. If you are going to use fresh strawberries, make sure they are fully ripe.

Ingredients
100 g Cadbury drinking chocolate
150 g flour
150 fresh frozen strawberries, diced
80 g unsalted cold butter
1 tbsp baking powder
1 large egg
175 low fat milk
50 g caster sugar

Here's how

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Grease a 12 hole muffin tin.

2. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients first. Then grate the cold butter and add to the flour and chocolate mixture. Mix all ingredients using a fork. Make sure the butter is thoroughly coated.

3. Using a hand blender, beat the egg and milk together. Pour into the choco-butter mixture. Continue to mix using a fork. The mixture does not need to be smooth.

4. Add the strawberries and gently fold in.

5. Spoon the mixture to the muffinpan. Scoop around two-table spoon for each case. Bake for 25 minutes until risen and springy to touch.

Happy cooking!

brocolli & bacon

Our Friday breakfast is the meal i look most forward to. The meal most often consist of rice, grilled salmon fillet, eggs, and brocolli. Hubby, Andreas and I will share the meal on the balcony and enjoy the empty Trade Center Road. Birds flyby, sometimes we see an approaching sandstorm, and on the course of the meal, we decide on a Friday activity.

Anyway, i am writing this post to share recipe so before i drift further from the topic, i might as well admit now that i have an issue with brocolli. I serve it steamed now and then. Sometimes i even include it on my pasta recipes. But i never had an ounce of liking for it. Hubby says i should only think of the nutrients in it, and not concentrate on the taste.

But just when i was resigned to let hubby devour those nutri-loaded broccolli on Friday breakfasts, I found this recipe from a magazine and it is soo good it deserves to be shared with everybody.

Brocolli and Bacon
Serves 4



Ingredients
300 g brocolli
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
140 g streaky bacon,chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Here's how
1. Cook the broccoli for 3 minutes in boiling salted water.Drain, run under cold water until completely cooled. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and bacon. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the garlic halfway through, until the bacon is crisp to your likeness and the onions are soft and golden.

3. Add the brocolli to the pan. Cook for a few minutes more until brocolli is thoroughly heated. Season with pepper and serve immediately.

Happy cooking!

scrumptious berry muffins

I am hardly a muffin girl. I always choose pancake or donuts over those little mounds. Since I started my hands on baking - and everybody says i should start with muffins, i defied the rule and went straight to a baking mixtures in springform tin. But, i wanted to serve hubby more than a slice of cake for breakfast on weekdays so i convinced myself to try making muffins. Hubby says i got it right on the second try (after adjusting ingredients) haha. Since then, Berry muffins are a regular on our table.

Scrumptious Berry Muffins
Makes 12



Ingredients
250 g flour
80 g cold butter
90 g caster sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 egg
175 ml low fat milk
75 g fresh frozen blueberries
75 g fresh frozen rasperries or strawberries

1. Grease a 12 case muffin pan. Pre-heat oven to 190 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, and baking powder. Mix well

3. Grate the cold butter into the flour mixture. Using fork, mix well until the butter is well coated.

4. Using a hand blender, mix egg and milk and pour over the flour and butter mixture.

5. Fold in the thawed blueberries and raspberries.

6. Transfer mixture to mufffin pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until muffin is springy to touch.

Happy cooking!

crisp roasted duck

Thank you to Caryn, Sheng and the rest who tried and enjoyed my recipes. Today i am sharing something yummy for weekend nights - our crispy duck recipe. Hubby enjoys it immensely. Duck is always on our ordered menu when we eat out on Chinese restaurants. But because they are always bloody expensive (the leg costs 28 AED), we tried roasting on our own and boy, it came out perfectly.

Crisp Roasted Duck

Serves 6

Ingredients
1 whole Peking duck (about 2000 g)
2 medium onions halved
2 lemon sliced
fish sauce
pepper

1. Thaw duck overnight on the fridge. Wash thoroughly under running cold water. Leave to drip about an hour.

2. When almost dry, rinse duck again on hot water to tighten the skin. Pat dry with paper towel. Prick the skin all over with fork or pointed knife. This will help bring out the fat easier. Generously rub with fish sauce all over including the cavity. Tuck in lemon and onion. Give a good grinding of pepper all over.

3. Place in a roasting tin with breast side down. Put in the oven and roast at 210 degrees for one hour. Rotate the duck the duck and put back in the oven. Lower the temperature to 190. Roast for 60 minutes more.

4. For dipping sauce, pour Thai chili garlic sauce in small bowl. Add a dash of soy sauce.

Happy Cooking!

Ivatan Yellow Rice

Kaydians visited us last Thursday night. I served them yellow rice and roasted duck over a bottle of tequila. I cook yellow rice when i feel homesick but it was the first time i actually served it to visitors. When they all enjoyed my recipe, i decided to share how it is done since i never saw any of it online. The cooking process was related to me by my Grandmother over the phone and i decided on the amount of ingredients.

Yellow Rice

Serves 6

Thank you to Vina for the pic!

Ingredients
4 cups Jasmine rice
2 thick slices of pork belly (sliced thinly)
2 medium size onion (chopped)
1 whole clove garlic chopped
a pinch of Ginisa Flavor Mix
1 Knorr pork cubes
1.5 teaspoon turmeric powder
salt
pepper
a pinch of cloves (optional)
100 g raisins (optional)
2 sticks of cinnamon bark (optional)
50 g cashew nuts

1. Soak raisins in water.

2. Place sliced pork belly in a large wok. Add a little water, cover and let boil until it dries up and fat comes out.

3. When the pork is browned, set aside on the wok and sautee garlic and onion. When onion turns soft, mix the pork belly. Add salt and a good grinding of pepper.

4. Add five cups of water and bring to boil. Then add pork cubes, cloves, turmeric powder, Ginisa Flavor Mix, and cinnamon bark. Bring to boil again.

5. Wash Jasmine Rice and place in the rice cooker. Add the boiled pork and turmeric, stir in cashew nuts. Cover and let cook. When almost done, stir the rice mixture and let cook again.

Happy cooking!

carrot milkshake

A lot has been said about the health benefits of carrots so it is a regular fruit on our table as well as bananas and apple. While both hubby and Andreas are content munching them raw, I decided on a little presentation and introduced carrot milkshake during one of our Friday breakfast.

Carrot Milkshake

Serves 3

Ingredients
4 medium size carrots
2 tbsp honey
1 cup milk
1 tray of ice cubes

1. Wash, peel, and slice the carrots. Large enough to fit in the hole of your liquidizer.

2. Place 2 ice cubes and one-fourth of the sliced carrots. Make a smooth paste. Then alternately add the rest of the ingredients.

3. Pour into three tall glasses and serve immediately.

beef sopas

It is nearing weekend and grocery day at the same time so i did some "slight" cleaning of the fridge. (slight because it is hubby who regularly cleans the fridge on weekends (*_*) lucky me. thank you darling. mwah mwah). I found out we have many leftover veggies and meat. There are some extra fresh milk too, from my pancake recipe so i decided to make beef sopas.

Ate Maya and my Andreas loved it so here is how it was prepared

I sauteed the ground beef in garlic and butter while the pasta shells were boiling. Then I diced carrots, celery, capsicum, and onions. I then sliced thinly our leftover cabbage.

When the pasta shells were nearly done, i add in the sauteed ground beef and celery. I let it boil for awhile before adding the vegetables and fresh milk. I added a little salt and pepper and let it all boil together.



Yummy.

fresh lumpia

I made my very first fresh lumpia today. Maybe i will take a picture of it later when i prepare some for hubby when he arrives late in the afternoon.

So here is how i did it.

For the filling:

1/2 cup minced pork
2 large carrots, sliced thinly
1 medium cabbage, sliced thinly
1 stalk of celery
4 stalks of green onion leaves
2 minced garlic
1 large chopped onion
a dash of salt

I sauteed the garlic, onion, and minced pork adding very little salt. When it turns golden and slightly toasted, i added the carrots. When nearly done, i mixed in the cabbage, celery and onion leaves. We like our vegetables crunchy so i am careful not to overcook them. Just warm them a little. Set aside in a bowl when done.

You can also use monggo sprout, baguio beans, bamboo shoots, and tofu for the filling. I only used the leftover vegetables in our fridge.

For the sauce

3 tablespoon flour
1 cup water
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp groun pepper
3 tbsp sugar
1 minced garlic
1 small onion

Dissolve the flour in the cold water. add soy sauce and sugar and continue to dissolve. Then sautee garlic and onion in a saucepan. Pour the mixture over a saucepan. Keep on mixing then add oyster sauce and pepper. Add sugar depending on your tase.

You then proceed to wrapping your vegetables. Pour over a generous amount of sauce, sprinkle it with roasted peanuts and garlic.

pancakes, anyone?

So my culinary skills is extending to pancake haha.

Ate Josie, one of the helpers here in the villa, was kind enough to show me how to make pancakes. After my first attempt, i decided i want my pancakes to be a little more interesting. So that on my second attempt, i folded cashew nuts and raisins. When i finished, i decided i want them fluffy to so i decided to adjust the ingredients and create my own.

Teehee. They came out beautiful, golden, and fluffy and Ate Maya (who has a great baking skills) commented i have perfected it. Yay!

So here is what i did

250 ml all purpose flour
3 tbsp oil
4 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
100 ml fresh milk
cashew nuts
raisins

I split the cashew nuts in halves so they will be flat when i fold them later. Then i soak the raisins in water so they will be soft.

I mixed the sugar, salt, and baking powder in a bowl using an egg beater. After making sure there are no lumps from the baking powder, i added the flour, eggs, and fresh milk. Mix them all just until the ingredients have blended very well. Do not overbeat, otherwise, you will end up with a gummy pancake.

When done, smear it with butter and maple syrup. It's the next best thing to a bubble bath.

Thanks to hubby for buying those bowls, mixer, and measuring glass. They are the envy of everybody in the kitchen hihi.