Of Egg White Cakes

The Iced Egg White Cake

I made Leche Flan for Christmas, and like the many other times I've made leche flan, I was stuck with the problem of leftover egg whites. I've tried making egg white omelets before but I've found that they're never as good as whole egg omelets. I've also tried making meringues, but I found that I do not have the patience for them. (1 1/2 to 1 3/2 hours to bake? Can't wait that long.)  It was a joy then to discover this recipe for egg white cake. 

It's actually an Estonian Egg White cake, also known to Estonians as Munavalgekook. (At least that's what the recipe says) I got the recipe from a blog called Nami-Nami. The author actually baked the cake in a Bundt pan, which (not surprisingly) I didn't have. With a change in cake pans, a little vanilla extract and a little icing, I was able to make a very edible dense cake.

Ready for the party-goers

Egg White Cake

6 large egg whites

1 1/3 cup (about 250g) caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (about 160g) all purpose flour

1 tablespoon corn starch

1 teaspoon baking powder

100g (about 1/2 cup) butter, melted and cooled

In a large bowl whisk the egg whites, 2 tablespoons of sugar and vanilla extract until thick, pale and foamy. In another bowl, stir in the flour, corn starch, baking powder and the rest of the sugar. Sift this mixture into the egg white and gently fold them in. Fold in the butter.

Pour into a prepared cake pan, preferably a Bundt pan, but an 8-in cake pan will also do. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C (or 360F) for 30-40 minutes. Once done, remember to cool the cake completely before applying any frosting to it.

Vanilla Frosting (from Martha Stewart)

4 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups confectioner's or icing sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 pinch of salt

Sift the sugar into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Beat everything together until light and fluffy. (how easy is that?)

Chocolate Ganache (for decoration)

I will admit, that when I made this, I did not measure any of the ingredients. Basically, I threw a bar of bittersweet chocolate and some cream into a bowl (preferably metal, but you can also use glass. Do not use plastic!) and then placed the bowl over a simmering pot of water. The set up is similar to what you'd get if you had a double boiler. (If you have one, you should probably use it) Make sure the bowl with your chocolate and cream in it does not touch the surface of the water. Whisk everything together until the chocolate has melted and you have a smooth and shiny mixture.

If you're still not sure, you can use this recipe for ganache from allrecipes.com: Chocolate Ganache.

Assembly

The very first step is to cool the cake. If possible, refrigerate it for at least an hour. Gently spread the frosting onto the cake using a spatula. Finally drizzle the ganache over the cake. 

You can use excess ganache for a lot of things including truffles and flavoring the frosting of my next cake.

Yummy! Being eaten at the party

Of Basic Chocolate Cakes

One of my dad's friends just had a new baby, so my family trooped over to their place to see him. As a "baby-warming" gift, my mom decided that she wanted to give them chocolate cake. A strange choice since the baby can't have cake. Oh well, the mommy does love chocolate cake. Of course, I volunteered to make it. I wanted to try a new recipe, but my mom insisted on me using a recipe she had already tried, and whatever mom says goes. So, I had me a cake recipe, but I didn't have a recipe for frosting. With only a limited amount of butter and only cocoa powder on hand, I knew that I definitely wouldn't be doing a ganache. I did eventually found a perfectly chocolately frosting with the help of ehow.com and some simple experimentation.

Dark Chocolate Cake
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup brewed coffee (I actually used 3 teaspoons instant coffee and a cup of water), cold
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The first step is to preheat the oven to 350F or 175C. Then mix the milk with the vinegar and set aside. In a bowl, sift together the all purpose flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk gently to mix. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs,  vegetable oil, coffee and vanilla extract. Add the milk and vinegar solution. Slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. Finally, pour into two prepared 8-inch cake tins. Bake for 30 minutes. The cake will be springy when touched and an inserted toothpick will come out clean.

This chocolate cake was adapted from an allrecipes.com recipe.

Cocoa Powder Frosting
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the butter. Then add the cocoa powder. Stir. Add the milk and stir until combined. Gradually add the confectioner's sugar. Finally, add the vanilla extract. If you want the frosting to be a bit more liquidy, add more.

Make sure that your cake has cooled completely before frosting it. After frosting the cake, remember to refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes or until the frosting has set a little. Now since this recipe yields two 8-inch cakes, you can either layer the cake one on top of the other with some of the frosting in between or just frost two different cakes. We went with the latter choice since two is better than one!

Of Malunggay

Seen this green leafy vegetable lately? If you're in the tropics, chances are that you have, and depending on your family chances are that this plant is either a vegetable or a random shrub. It's definitely a vegetable for my family. My mom adds to practically anything. I love it in tinola or fish soup. My mom loves it in omelets, and I concede that they're great. 

So what is it? In Filipino it's known as Malunggay or scientifically, Moringa oleifera. What I love about it is that it practically has no taste. Ok, there's a little leafy taste, but not as much as other green leafy vegetables. I'd definitely rather eat this in soups than cabbages. I've heard that malunggay has several medicinal benefits, but as far as my mini research is concerned, most of these benefits need more study. Yes, it's very nutritious, but I wouldn't expect it to cure cancer. At any rate you can do more research on Google scholar and Pubmed. Make sure the articles you read are from a reputable journal.

My mom has two malunggay plants in our garden. It's quite easy to grow actually. All you need to to is to make a limb cutting and plant it during the rainy season. After that it's a matter of regular watering and sometimes giving a little fertilizer (although in my experience it rarely needs it). 

To prepare the malunggay leaves, simply give the branch a rinse (preferably in a water plus vinegar solution). Then in a pinching position run your thumb and index finger down the smaller branches that hold the leaves. Be sure to do this in the direction opposite to the way the leaves grow. The leaves will fall from the branches quite easily. Your malunggay leaves are now ready to enjoy!

Of Bananas

I grew up in a tropical country, so bananas were almost always on the menu. In fact, I use to eat them whenever I got bored when I was little. It also helped that we always had several varieties of bananas, none of which ever saw the light of a US grocery store. We'd have one variety that was strictly for cooking, another for babies and yet another strictly for export. We'd have really tiny ones, really long one and really fat ones. Then there was the differences in taste. Some bananas were really sweet, while others were a bit more mild. I'm going to try to show you three bananas most commonly sold in Philippine grocery stores.

Latundan

Latundan bananas are my favorite bananas. According to Wikipedia these bananas have an apple-like flavor (probably why in parenthesis it is also called Apple bananas or Manzana bananas). According to me, they don't taste like any apple I've ever tasted, but that's probably just me. They do have a  what I would call a mild banana flavor and can be eaten raw. These bananas have thinner skins than most varieties of bananas, making them more susceptible to bruising and having little flies flying around them. Since their skins are quite thin, latundan bananas are rarely exported.

Legend has it that latundan bananas are perfect for babies who are starting to eat solid food. I think it's because this banana are quite delicate; delicate taste and delicate skin. Older people say that it's easier to digest, but I have yet to see scientific evidence of this. At any case, always consult your pediatrician first before feeding your baby anything.

Size of the Latundan Banana compared to a tablespoon

Saba
Saba bananas are my second favorite bananas and they are strictly for cooking. As kid I would sneak one off a bunch and eat it raw. My mom would also warn me about getting diarrhea from eating it raw. I never did, though. Despite being used strictly for cooking, Saba bananas have a distinctly different look from Plantains. Saba bananas are what I call short and fat. They have a bulky squarish look to them. When raw, Saba bananas have a slightly sweeter taste than Latundan bananas and they feel a bit more fibrous. When cooked though, their sweetness multiplies and they become softer.

Unripe Saba banana

Ripe Saba banana

There are an endless number of ways to cook Saba bananas. The easiest is boiling them. If you plan to do this, do not peel the bananas while cooking and remember to add just a touch of oil in the pot so they don't stick to each other. The next easiest is frying them (peel, slice, fry). Once you've mastered these two techniques, you can do slightly more complicated recipes like Turon (wrap in spring roll wrapper, fry and sprinkle brown sugar) or Banana Cue (sprinkle brown sugar while frying, skewer). You can also add these bananas to desserts like ginataan (dessert cooked in coconut milk) or savory dishes like nilaga (Filipino beef stew).

Boiled Saba banana, notice the squarish shape it has

Lacatan
Now if you love than banana flavor, Lacatan bananas are perfect for you. Unlike Latundan and Saba bananas which have pale cream colored flesh, Lacatan bananas have a darker yellowish-orange flesh and is definitely sweeter. They also have a very distinctly banana smell. They thicker skins allow them to be far more hardy than the Latundan. I always imagined Lacatan bananas as the bananas used in banana splits. Personally, I don't like eating these raw, but they are perfect for things like banana pancakes and banana bread since Lacatan bananas get too sweet from me when they are ripe. Plus they banana flavor will not be overpowered by the addition of other ingredients.

Lactan when peeled

Of Calamansi

Calamansi compared to a US dime.

The calamansi fruit is the ultimate citrus fruit of the Filipino kitchen. Until very recently, I did not realize that it was also known as the calamondin (courtesy of Wikipedia and my own curiosity on whether it had an English name. Can you how much you can learn by just being curious and having access to Wiki?). Despite being really tiny, its juices's sour citrus flavor gives that extra kick to dishes without overpowering them. That's also why I like to call it the vodka of citrus fruits. Case in point: calamansi is often squeezed on top of a plate of pancit (stir fried noodles) to give it a little something something. Or you can do this too on a bowl of congee or arroz caldo. A little calamansi juice mixed with soy sauce makes a perfect dipping sauce for almost any kind of meat or seafood. The same calamansi-soy mixture with a little onion and garlic makes a perfect marinade for grilled pork or Filipino bistek (beef steak). 

Another way I love to enjoy calamansi is by making calamansi juice. You can make this using the same method you use for making lemonade (squeeze, strain, add syrup, add cold water, stir). Although, I've never tried it, I hear you can also use it to make curd, like lemon curd. I don't recommend zesting this fruit though, since its skin is really thin. I also don't recommend eating it raw. That would be like drinking vinegar. 

I always thought that calamansi only grew in South East Asia. I was extremely surprised when I saw calamansi trees in Florida. They were all over campus and I had to resist picking the fruit because I'm pretty sure the gardeners in the university would not have liked it. 

They're actually pretty easy to grow. My mom threw a couple of seeds in our garden once and in a few months we had a calamansi plant growing out of the ground. A few more months later, we managed to harvest a few calamansi fruits. Then, our neighbor's cat jumped on it and broke the plant in two, effectively killing it. Lesson: protect your plants from your neighbor's cats.

Of Mini Stick-O's

I went grocery shopping with my mom today. Grocery shopping can be both a chore and piece of excitement for me, depending on what day it is and if I feel like cooking on that day. In fact, my dad recommends giving the grocery store in the country you're visiting a little visit too along with other tourist spots. He swears that you can learn more about the culture of a nation by visiting their grocery stores and public markets than just visiting tourist spots. Anyway, today, mom and I chanced upon this little gem...literally little. I always thought Stick-O's came is bigger jars and longer sticks, at least that's how I remembered them. But here these were. I immediately had an image of a tiny five-year old grasping one of these. (Since I don't have kids, I imagined myself as a five-year old.) We had to get some. Taste-wise, it's still the same Stick-O taste you get when you buy the bigger jars, nothing min-blowing. But these tiny jars were. Definitely something super cute.

PS. This is not an ad for Stick-O. I just thought the little jars were too cute to not mention in this blog.

Of Tinola

Tinola without the green leafy vegetables

When I was a teenager, I read one of the most famous novels in the Philippines: Noli Me Tangere by J.P. Rizal. Of all the scenes in the book, the one that would never leave my mind in that of a dinner party where they served, what I now call a very historical, tinola. Apparently this easy soup based dish used to be the ultimate party food of the 19th century. Like most kids born in the 20^th century and growing up in the 21^st, I asked why this simple dish was considered so special back then. It seems that back in the 19^th century, when there was no refrigeration, people in the Philippines would simply eat tons of fish and that chicken, pork and beef were reserved for special occasions and for the rich. This almost quite the opposite of what we’d see today, with the changes in food preservation and in the environment.

All you really need to make tinola is some good chicken pieces (thighs, legs, breasts, whatever you can get your hands on), some ginger, green papaya or chayote and onions. You can add green leafy vegetables too, if you want, like malunggay or spinach or even the leaves of pepper plant. A word of warning, sometimes a little baby pepper might find its way into the dish via the leaves and biting into that little baby pepper is not in the least bit pleasurable, especially when you’re not expecting it. That’s already happened to me once and it took quite a while before the heat left my tongue. It’s really better is you just add a big adult chili pepper instead. 

1 whole chicken cut into different parts (or its equivalent in thigh, wings or breasts)

Water or rice washings

1 knob ginger, crushed

1 small to medium sized red onion, quartered

1 small green papaya or chayote (whichever is on hand. My mom usually uses chayote), cut into wedges

1 medium sized carrot, cut into wedges

1 chili pepper

Some green leafy vegetable (like pepper leaves, malunggay or spinach)

Salt and pepper to taste

In a pot, place the chicken, ginger and onion. Add just enough water or rice washing to cover the chicken. Bring this to a boil and add the chayote/papaya and the carrot. Cook until the chicken is done and the vegetables are soft. Add the chili pepper whole. At the final minute of cooking, add the green leafy vegetable. Season the dish with salt and pepper.

The best way to serve tinola is with some warm rice. Some people also love to serve it with some fish sauce, although I generally stay away from that stuff. I have to say that this is way easier to make than standard chicken soup, which is wonderful when you have the sniffles. Tinola is also quite cheap.  I’ve also found that if you can’t find either green papayas or chayote in your grocery store, potatoes will do just fine.

Of Coffee Scones

Oh no! Another scone recipe! I hope you're not tired of them yet, because I certainly am not. Just goes to show how much I adore scones. My recipe this time around is an off-shoot of the Earl Grey scones I made earlier. This time around, I thought why not add coffee instead of tea. After looking for advice from the Googler, I settled for using instant coffee powder. I mean, why use expensive espresso blends when you’re going to cook it anyway, right? Using the recipe for cream scones as a base, I simply heated the ½ cup of milk and added a tablespoon of instant coffee to it. I had to increase the amount of sugar added since the coffee I used cancelled out any of the sweetness from the sugar. (Yes, it was that strong and bitter. It was good quality instant coffee.) The only other thing lacking from it is a drizzle of Nutella. (Have I told you how much I adore that stuff?)

 Coffee Scones

½ cup milk

1 tablespoon instant coffee

2 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup butter, very cold and cut into small pieces

½ cup raisins or other dried fruit

1 large egg, cold

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg for the egg wash

In a saucepan, heat milk until it simmers. Add the tablespoon of instant coffee and stir until the granules are dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside until cooled. (You can refrigerate if you want) In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and either using your fingers or two knives or a pastry cutter, blend in the butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Set aside. In a smaller container (preferably with a spout), whisk together the egg, vanilla extract and the milk mixture. Pour this over the flour and butter mixture and stir until just combine. DO NOT OVER MIX. Once combined, transfer to a floured surface and knead into a ball and flatten the top. Using a knife dipped in flour or a cookie cutter, divide the mixture into 8 pieces and place on a greased cookie sheet. Brush a mixture of egg and water on each of scone. Bake in a 375F or 190C oven for 15-18 minutes. They’ll be nice and dark brown when cooked with the beautiful scent of coffee. The raisins will be great splash of sweetness in this bittersweet scone. 

The instant coffee that I used. It's a pretty good blend.

Of Cupcakes that are Better than Sex

Have you ever had cupcakes so good that you forget your name? Or even the definition of sex? As I packed for my trip home, my sister requested that I bring some baked goods with. Specifically, she wanted chocolate cake, which I knew would be hell to bring on the plane. To overcome this dilemma, I decided to bring cupcakes instead since they were small and easier to pack. I quickly googled a recipe for great chocolate cupcakes. That's when I chanced upon 52 Kitchen Adventures' recipe for "Better that Sex" Chocolate Cupcakes. I was intrigued immediately. I also immediately felt giddy about serving my mom and sister cupcakes that shouted they were better than sex.

To frost or not to frost. Sigh. That was my second dilemma. I really wanted to add the dark chocolate ganache frosting, but I was also afraid that that would cause a bigger mess. It took me a good 5 hours to settle on not frosting. After all, my mom does not really like frosting and my sister eats too much of it for her own good. I will definitely frost next time, though, since it does look so delightfully pretty with the frosting.  

I love how the cupcakes turned out! While baking they formed a little dome with collapsed as they cooled, and yet, I'm quite certain that that's what added to the delicious gooey center. The cupcakes were perfectly moist and not too sweet. My mom said they weren't better than sex as is (she's definitely biased, though), but I'm pretty sure they will be with that ganache frosting. Just imagine it. Soft, gooey, chocolaty and with a perfect frosting. It just makes my mouth water. Try it!

Here's the recipe for it:

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 cup sugar (ok, I was compelled to decrease this to 1 cup, but it was still quite sweet)

2 large eggs, at room temperature

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup salt 

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The first step would be beating the butter until it is smooth and softened. Beat in the sugar to make it fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (i.e. flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder). In another container, preferably with a spout, combine the milk and vanilla extract. Once both wet and dry mixtures are prepared, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter, sugar and eggs mixture. Once combined, pour in 1/2 of the wet ingredients. Alternate with 1/3 of the dry ingredients again, then the remaining wet ingredients and finally the remaining dry ingredients. Remember to combine each addition well before adding the next addition. Once everything is combined, fill 15 prepared cupcake cups.  Bake in a 350F or 177C oven for 20-25 minutes. You'll know the cupcakes are done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

If you want to make the ganache topping, simply bring some heavy cream (1/3 cup) to a boil. Once boiling, pour it over some very good chopped chocolate (about 100g) and stir until chocolate is melted and the entire mixture is smooth and shiny. Allow it to cool first before spreading on top of the cupcakes. 

Be sure to use good quality chocolate, preferably semi-sweet, bittersweet or dark chocolate, or you'll really regret it. This is the general recipe for most ganaches (although quantities change). You can also add some liquor to give me more kick. Sigh. Now I really really which I had made ganache for these cupcakes.

It is very important that you don't overfill the cupcake cups. Only fill each until they are half full or at most 2/3 full, nothing more. I once made this mistake with another cupcake recipe, and what a mess that made in my oven! AND, my cupcakes looked like monsters from outer space. So, DO NOT OVERFILL!

Of Ham-less Eggs Benedict

It started with an experiment. That's right, it was just suppose to be an experiment on how to poach and egg. But when I got the eggs from the fridge, I realized that I also had enough eggs and butter to make hollandaise sauce. Not letting go of the spur of the moment, decided that I should go ahead and make ham-less eggs benedict. 

Was it hard? Well, not as hard as I thought it would be. Granted, my first try at the hollandaise sauce curdled, but my next one was perfect. I think the trick was continuously whisking the eggs and butter and removing it from the heat as soon as it reached the desired consistency. Oh, and don't forget to transfer it immediately to another container or at least give the bowl you cooked it in an ice bath. As for the poached eggs, it seemed like I watched people poach eggs so many times on TV that I nailed it on the first try. The vinegar really did help. 

I'm not sure if I put too much salt, but my hollandaise sauce reminded me of glorious melted cheese but with a creamier texture. It tasted so good with the poached eggs. I really do wish I had ham to finish off this dish, but I can't complain. My experiment is a success and I will definitely be making this again in the future.

Poached Eggs

barely simmering pot of water

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar 

eggs

Pour the vinegar into the water. The trick I found was to crack the egg in a different container first then carefully slide it into the water. Use a slotted spoon to move around the whites, so they don't spread so much, although the vinegar also helps keep them from spreading. Once the whites are cooked, use the slotted spoon again to lift the egg out of the water. Serve!

Hollandaise Sauce

2 egg yolks

75g melted butter

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Whisk the yolks and the vinegar together in a steel bowl and place the bowl over a simmering pot of water. Make sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Keep whisking. Drizzle the butter slowly onto the egg mixture and keep whisking. (Yeah, your arm's going to hurt a bit, but it's worth it) Keep whisking until the the sauce has thickened. Quickly remove the sauce from the heat and transfer to another container. Enjoy with your poached egg.

Of the Secret of Chinese Orange Anything

Have you ever been to a Chinese restaurant, glanced at the menu and decided right there and then to just get Orange chicken...or pork...or shrimps..or fish? I've done just that many times...especially whenever I ate at Panda Express...which happened almost every day for a month one summer. I will be the first to say though, that Panda's orange sauce isn't the best. No, the best would go to another Chinese restaurant, whose name I cannot remember, in Florida. My point is orange anything is addictive and I have tried and tried to make it for myself. Somehow, it just eluded me.

And that's how I came about this article. The title itself was catchy. It wasn't just orange chicken or orange pork. No, it was orange ANYTHING. I knew I just hit upon the holy grail. It comes from the site: Food Republic. My challenge then became making this dish.

Finally, after waiting so long, I finally needed to make this dish. I had to change it a bit, though, because I didn't have oranges (what's new?) I did have lemons, and since I personally preferred lemon anything over orange anything, I figured lemons would also work with this recipe. Another change I did was add toasted sesame seeds instead of sesame oil. The result? Yummy lemon shrimps served perfectly with fried rice. Note, this is a one person recipe.

1/8 kg shrimps
enough cornstarch to coat the shrimps
3-4 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
juice of 2 lemons
1 tablespoon sugar
1-2 tablespoon lemon or orange marmalade
lemon zest
1 teaspoon soy sauce
dash of chili flakes
sliced scallions

Toss the shrimps in the cornstarch. Heat the oil in a pan and quickly sautee the shrimps in it. Add the lemon juice until deglazed. Add the sesame seeds, the lemon zest, sugar, marmalade and soy sauce. Also add the chili flakes. Toss until all is well combined. Serve on top of the rice and sprinkle the sliced scallions.

Love it!

Of Oatmeal Power Breakfasts

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day...or so they say. Breakfast should be filling, energizing and oh so delicious. Breakfast is also never complete without oatmeal, at least that's what my mom says. I totally disagree with her on this count, but I have to admit that I do love oatmeal breakfasts. Besides it's neutral taste (at least for me) that I can spruce up any way I want, oatmeal is also loaded with fibers and complex carbohydrates. This means that you stay full longer, which would be a plus if you're trying to lose weight. Oatmeal also has beta-glucans (a type of polysaccharide) which is may lower cholesterol. (I tried reading about it, but I'm still trying to understand the mechanism, so I'll be conservative and use the word "may" instead of the word "can". If anyone has a more detailed study about this, please let me know.)

Today's breakfast was inspired by this post from thekitchn.com. It was a breakfast of Baked Pumpkin Steel Cut Oatmeal. Now, I don't really keep pumpkin puree in the house. In fact, my family doesn't really eat pumpkin. We love squash though, but mostly the kind found in South East Asia. Anyway, the recipe made me think of other ways to spice up my usual oatmeal. When I was a kid, I would usually sprinkle it with sugar and Milo (the chocolate and malt drink made by Nestle), but since I'm older now, I wanted something more adult. That's how I came up with this recipe:

Banana Oatmeal Power Breakfast

1 cup Rolled oats

3 cups water (or milk)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoon brown or muscovado sugar

1 very ripe banana

Raisins or any dried fruit

Cook the rolled oats in water. Once cooked, added the cinnamon, the nutmeg and the banana. Mix until combined then take the mixture off the heat. Pour into bowls and top with the raisins.

The recipe above usually works for two to three people, and the other great thing about it is that you can actually use leftover oatmeal. That's actually what I did. Instead of having to cook the rolled oats, I simply poured the leftover oatmeal into a saucepan and added 1/2 cup milk and proceeded with the recipe as indicated. So, the next time you have leftover oatmeal, be sure to refrigerate it. You'll never know when you're going to spice it up.

Oh, if you ever wondered about the difference between rolled oats and instant oats and steel cut oats, here's another page on thekitchn.com that's very helpful:

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/noodles-pasta-and-grains/whats-the-difference-steelcut-rolled-and-oldfashioned-oats-138355

Of Shrimp Pesto Pasta

I love shrimps. Shrimps remind me of Forrest Gump's friend, Bubba, and how he listed all the things you can do to shrimps. Like Bubba says, "...boil it, broil it, bake it, sautee it..." The one dish he wasn't able to mention was shrimp with pesto and pasta. Although, I have a feeling that he probably did, it just didn't make it to the movie. 

 For this dish, I had to devein the shrimp, which is not something my family usually does to shrimp. When my family cooks shrimps, we usually cook them without removing the shell or the head or the digestive tract. I think most Filipino dishes call for the whole shrimp; unpeeled, not decapitated and not deveined. My dad says that this is to make sure the juices stay in the shrimp. One of my favorite things to do to a shrimp is to suck out the juices from the head, especially when it's cooked in sinigang (sour soup). 

For today, though, we look towards Italy for inspiration. In all honesty, I'll admit that I think the only thing that's Italian in this dish is the pasta and the pesto. I still feel like I cooked this dish like a Filipino. I also have to admit that I did not make the pesto. I used Jamie Oliver's jarred pesto. I'll tell you more about it later.

So, you want to have this for dinner? Here's what you need: (Be warned since I basically made this in my head first, there's practically no measurements involved. You'll need to rely on you instincts.)

Pasta, cooked according to directions on the box, amount depends on how much you'll eat

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic (I know the pesto already has some, but I like adding a bit more)

1 small onion

1/8 kg shrimp or 5-6 pieces (per person, I like being generous)

3 tablespoons basil pesto

2 tablespoons cream cheese

more olive oil if needed

In a pan, heat the olive oil and sautee the garlic until golden brown. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the shrimps. You'll know the shrimps are cooked when they turn orange. (Make sure they turn orange, but don't cook them too long or they'll become tough) Add in the pesto and the cream cheese. If the mixture is too dry, you can add a little more olive oil, but don't overdo it. Pour the whole mixture over a bed of pasta. Top with more cream cheese.

Now, let me tell you more about the pesto I used. I used Jamie Oliver's Italian Herb Pesto. I don't usually use this pesto. I usually use Classico's Traditional Basil Pesto. Between the two, I prefer Classico's. I found Jamie Oliver's a bit too dry. Classico had a little more olive oil, which was nice. Taste-wise, Classico still beats Jamie Oliver's, at least that's what I think. Has anyone else tried both? What do you think?

Of Mini Cheesecakes

Two ways of enjoying your mini blueberry cheesecakes

Oh my god! What could be more luxurious and sensuous than a cheesecake? Here's an interesting trivia about cheesecake: in Roman times, there was a type of cheesecake known as (I bet you won't guess it) placenta. Yes, that's right when the ancient Roman said they were eating placenta, they were actually eating cheesecake. It was basically a flour dough topped with cheese and honey, and it's definitely weird that such a thing could be associated with something so...gross.

Mini cheesecake with blueberry preserve topping

But that isn't what this post is about. Let's get back to what we know and love as cheesecake. There are many different ways to make cheesecake. You can either bake it or not bake it; have sour cream and eggs or no sour cream and eggs. Some are made with cottage cheese, others with other types of European cheeses. Some are flavored with chocolate, other with fruit, and there are an endless array of toppings.

The one type that I had yet to encounter was the mini cheesecake, which is essentially a cheesecake cupcake.  Now, what could be better than that? After seeing a picture of a mini cheesecake on Martha Stewart.com, I could not stop thinking about those mini cheesecakes. A quick search on the internet yielded exactly what I needed. I was delightfully surprised at how easy they were to make. It's almost too easy.

To make this cheesecake, I actually used a combination of three mini cheesecake recipes. The great thing about it is that I didn't need a springform pan or a water bath. All I needed were 18 muffin cups.

Mini blueberry cheesecake with swirls

For the crust

125g graham cracker (or digestive biscuits) crumbs

55g butter, melted

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the filling

1lb (16oz or 454g) cream cheese (I used Philadelphia), at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon zest 

1/2 cup sour cream

Other things needed

1 can blueberry filling or blueberry preserve

18 muffin cups and your muffin pans

Preheat the oven to 300F or 149C. Line the muffin pans with the muffin cups. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Press these to the bottom of each muffin cup. Bake for five minutes and store in the fridge while you make the filling. 

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and salt. Beat until combined. Then, add the eggs one at a time. Finally, add the vanilla, lemon zest and the sour cream. Do not over mix. Remove the crust from the fridge and using a spoon, divide the filling among the muffin cups. To make swirls, dot a cupcake with the syrup part of the blueberry filling/preserve and swirl with a toothpick or a small knife. You don't have to do this if you'd prefer the filling to be on top. (In this case, don't put anything on the cheesecake) Bake the cheesecakes in a 300F or 149C oven for 20 minutes. Once you remove them from the oven, cool them on a wire rack then place them in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Remember, this is a cheesecake, and that means, you can't eat it right away. This is where your EQ will have to kick into place. Once you're ready to serve, top with the blueberry preserves or whatever topping you'd prefer.  

Oh, if you want more information about this cheesecake, here are the three recipes that I've combined:

• http://www.joyofbaking.com/Cheesecakes(Individual).html
• http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/individual-cheesecakes-with-orange-cranberry-sauce/
• http://www.6bittersweets.com/2010/11/whos-afraid-of-crack-or-two-blueberry.html