Cheesecake Cupcake with Cherry Toppings

Matcha Birthday Cake

Pork Stir-fry in Oyster Sauce with Bokchoy/Pechay

Ingredients:

Marinate:

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

Grated ginger

1/2 tsp White pepper or black pepper

1/2 kg Pork (thinly sliced)

STIR FRY:

Oil for stir fry

A few slices of ginger

Minced garlic

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

2 tablespoons oyster 

1 tablespoon Mirin (optional)

1 teaspoon white sugar (use this if using Mirin) if not using Mirin use 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar instead

1 cup of water

Chopped Red/orange Bell peppers

3 stalks, chopped spring (separate white and green part)

Chopped Bokchoy/Pechay (separate stalks and leaves)

1/2 tablespoon sesame oil

Slurry:

1 tablespoon Cornstarch

1 cup Water

1. MARINATE: Put meat in a bowl. Add all the other marinade ingredients: baking soda, corn starch, soy sauce, white pepper, and squeeze the juice from the grated ginger over the meat, then add the grated ginger to the mix. Mix everything together, coating all the pieces of meat evenly. Set aside. You can cook the meat right away if in a hurry or  if you have time allow to marinate at least 10-15 minutes.

2. Heat up the wok or pan. Add some oil. Put in the slices of ginger, stir until you smell the aroma. Add in the minced garlic. And then the white part of the spring onion. Stir for a few seconds.

3. Add the marinated meat to the pan. Stir and try to separate meat which are sticking together. Brown the meat evenly.

4. Add the soy sauce. Stir. Then add in the oyster sauce. Stir well. Simmer for a minute and then put 1 cup of water. Simmer until the sauce slightly boils. If using Mirin, add the 1/2 tsp white sugar, if not using Mirin add the 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar. Stir well.

5. Add now the bell peppers and the white stalk of the bokchoy/pechay. Stir for a few seconds. Meanwhile, mix the slurry ingredients: cornstarch and water. Then drizzle it on the meat mixture. Stir well.

6. Once the sauce starts to boil, add the green part of the spring onions and the green leaves of the bokchoy/pechay. Stir for a few seconds until sauce begins to thicken.

7. Drizzle the sesame oil. Stir. And then if adding Mirin, drizzle it, too. Stir again. And done!:)

8. Plate it and eat it with rice or noodles. Enjoy!!!

Quick and Easy Healthy Wrap

Do you want a quick and easy breakfast, brunch, or lunch? Here is a very easy, healthy wrap. Wraps are versatile to make. You can put any leftover veggies, meats that you have in your refrigerator. Wraps are mainly made of soft flatbreads rolled with different kinds of fillings. You can use tortilla, lavash, or pita breads for this. In this photo I used a rectangular flax, oat bran & whole wheat lavash bread. I put in some chopped lettuce, chopped tomatoes, slices of ripe avocado, spoonfuls of cottage cheese, and some sliced ham. I made another variation with some leftover breakfast sausage (not on photo). Lay down the fillings on the flat bread and roll. Quick and easy! You can dip or drizzle it with your favorite sauce. Ranch, mustard, honey mustard, whatever you prefer. Try this and enjoy!

Summer Pasta Salad with Baked Chicken Breast

Filipino-style Spanish Bread

Amidst all the chaos outside because of COVID-19, we are still grateful for the daily provisions God has given us. Praying for other people who have a hard time putting food on their table for their families. May this pandemic will end soon in Jesus Name!

Yesterday, with nothing else to do and craving some sweet Filipino bread, I decided to make some Spanish Bread. It's a rolled bread with some sweet filling inside and coated with some bread crumbs on the outside. It is very good to pair with coffee for breakfast or to eat at snack time. It took a while to knead the dough, my muscles were getting tired already, lol. I had to call a back-up baker in the form of my husband, lol. He had the machinery (strong muscles) to do all the kneading. I just had to bark the instructions on how to do it well, lol. 

Finally after almost 3 hours of preparation and proofing the dough, we got some fresh, sweet Spanish Bread! God is great!

P.S. Forgive the different sizes and not so pretty rolls, haha. My first time to make it. I'll do better next time. But the taste is great!

Japchae (Korean-style Stir-Fried Glass Noodles)

In recent years, I've been addicted to Korean dramas. Naks! Haha, feeling teenager. Anyway, no one can debate how interesting K-Dramas are. More and more people from all over the world started watching K-Dramas, K-Pop stars, etc. Most of their K-dramas have light and feel-good stories. You don't end up watching a movie with a heavy heart.

Anyway, because of my addiction to K-Dramas it opened up to knowing their type of cuisine or food, too. Watching the actors eat their food in a movie/series heartily makes you want to try it out. This was what lead me to research some Korean recipes. 

Japchae is one of the foods that I wanted to try. I have also a Korean friend who cooks and shares Korean food with us, so I got to taste it once. It tasted so good, much like our Pinoy Pansit bihon and sotanghon. The only difference is the preparation and the kind of noodles used.

Japchae is made from sweet potato glass noodles. It's thicker than our sotanghon noodles and more chewy in texture. Instead of stir frying the noodles with all the other ingredients like we do with sotanghon gisado, you just mix the cooked sweet potato noodles (cold ) with the rest of the ingredients. You just have to balance the sugar and soy sauce content for flavor.

It is a hearty meal by itself. It already has the noodles, some meat ( I used stir-fried beef), eggs, and different kinds of vegetables. Or if you want, you can make it as a side dish and pair it with more meat and rice. I cook it from time to time when I crave Korean food. Try it out!

Birthday Chocolate Carrot Cake

 

During my kids' birthdays, I usually make it a point to at least bake them a cake. It is more of my birthday gift for them. But sometimes it is a little bit of a dilemma for me on what kind of cake to bake. Why? Because I usually have my own idea of what cake I like to bake and how I will decorate the frosting. But it is not my birthday! That is what I usually forget, lol. They have their own preference on what kind of cake they want. So my "selfish" personal ideas are thrown out of the window, lol. 

Anyway, what matters most is them. What they want and what they like. After all, it is their birthday! So this time, it was my son's birthday. (this post was late) I asked him what he wanted and he told me specifically to bake a Chocolate Carrot Cake! 

At first I thought, does chocolate go well with carrots? I tried to discouraged him but to no avail. He searched the net and found some recipes. Ha! I would not have known there is such thing as chocolate carrot cake, lol. 

Finally, I found one recipe online and tried baking it. I was skeptical that maybe it won't taste that good. I thought, " Here we go! Another experiment." But I was surprised how it turned out. Everybody liked the cake! I was amazed, too, how moist and good the cake was.  Another experiment gone great. This will be one of my fave cakes to bake from now on.

(Cake was frosted with milk chocolate cream cheese frosting. Decorated with chocolate bits on the side and some chopped walnuts.)

Anyone Likes Ube or Purple Yam?

(This is my home-baked Ube Cake)

"That is a beautiful purple color! Does it use artificial coloring?" I often hear these comments (from people who don't know) when they see pastries made of ube. They are usually surprised when told that it is the inherent color of the tuberous root crop.

Ube or purple yam is a crop that is grown for its enlarged roots like potatoes. Ube is sometimes confused with the purple sweet potatoes but they are two different kinds. Ube has a darker brown and rougher peeling while the purple sweet potatoes has a lighter brown and smoother skin.

Purple yam is a common staple in the Philippines. Filipinos use it mostly for making tasty desserts. They use it as a jam, an ingredient for cakes, and other delicious pastries. You can also make it into ice cream. In every Filipino gathering, you will see one or more menu made of ube.

Ube is one of my favorite flavors. I've always loved ube ice creams, cakes, and anything with ube in it. In my opinion, its taste is a blend of vanilla and almond flavors, some say also vanilla and pistachio. I guess it depends on the palate, lol. Anyway, if you want to find out its taste, try it out!

Dutch Baby Comfort Food for Winter

Delectable, delicious Dutch baby pancakes! Just thinking about it makes me do an alliteration, lol. Hot, boiling, and aromatic coffee paired with these fluffy, delish German pancakes while seating by the warm fireplace. Isn't it a wonderful thing  to start your cold winter day?

Tortilla Soup

9 oz. Bear Creek Tortilla Soup Mix
1 package Corn Tortilla, cut into strips(separate 1 cup and fry the rest)
8 cups water
12.5 oz.  can Hormel chicken breast or any leftover chicken meat
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsps. cooking oil

cilantro (optional)

PROCEDURE:
Bring 8 cups of water to a boil.
Whisk in the soup mix.
Lower heat to medium ,add the drained chicken breast pieces, and then simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
Put the cup of tortilla strips in the soup. This will make the soup a little thicker.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve and garnish with fried corn tortillas and cilantro.

Frying the corn tortilla:
Heat oil or butter in a skillet.
Then put the rest or remaining corn tortilla strips.
Toss and stir until golden brown.
Use as garnish for the tortilla soup.

My First-ever Blueberry Cheesecake!

Conquer your fears! That's the motto that came to my mind today after I've tasted my first-ever baked blueberry cheesecake. I've been wanting to bake a cheesecake for more than a year now, but my fear of not making it right stopped me from doing it before yesterday. All I could think of was that, what if I mess it up, the ingredients will be wasted. I have also the tendency to get discouraged right away, so if I don't make it right the first time chances are I won't be motivated to do it again. So I've planned to do it and then chickened out, so it was postponed and postponed until this week I decided to try it out, no matter what the outcome is.
So yesterday, I finally had the guts to do it. I researched on various sites on cheesecake recipes and got my cookbook to get some tips on how to bake a great cheesecake. I combined the different ideas I read and put it into fruition in my recipe.
Being a first-timer, I had some mishaps along the way,Lol! I forgot to grease the pan with a cooking spray before putting the crust mixture. I already tried pressing the crust on the pan when I read on my cookbook to at least spray the pan first so when you take out the crust it will be easy and the cake won't stick. So I have to take out the crust mixture from the pan and do it all over again. Sprayed the pan and then put the crust mixture and pressed it into the pan,voila! Done with the first part, a little problem but I'm learning along the way.
I was a little worried at first with my mixer because I have only a hand mixer. I didn't know if it could handle mixing a thick mixture like the cream cheese. Because I remembered with my previous hand mixer it overheated,LOL! Well what did I expect with a $10 dollar mixer,lol. Anyway, it fared well to my surprise, I guess becuase it has more power than the previous one,thank God. So another worry solved.
Everything went well with the cream cheese mixture and the crusy so I started baking it. I was so excited about it that I keep opening the oven. I was afraid it might get burnt. But later on I realized my mistake. Opening the oven a lot will make the top of the cake crack, from what I've read. Another lesson learned for a first timer, so I made a mental note to make
research on how to prevent cracks on my cheesecake next time. but it wasn't such a major issue though, I got lucky I was planning on a blueberry topping, so the topping covered the cracks. So my cheesecake seemed perfect to look at with the topping on it:-)
The hardest part in baking your cheesecake for the first time is the waiting. I had to wait overnight before I'll be able to know how my cheesecake taste like. the reason for the long wait is because I have to refrigerate the cheesecake first. But the wait was all worth it, my husband said. This morning when we tasted it, it was very good. It came out really well, was very creamy.I was so happy it turned out as I expected it to be. It may not be visually perfect but the taste was divine. It goes well with coffee!:-)
So I guess, I conquered my fear and made the right decision. And now I can't wait for my next cheesecake adventure!
Here are a couple of photos of my masterpiece. Enjoy!

Breakfast Idea: Leftover Chicken Fajitas with Pita Bread

Do you want an easy breakfast idea? If you have some leftover meat, like leftover roasted chicken, pork, or beef, make it into fajitas for breakfast. Saute it with sweet onions and sweet bell peppers then season it, you will have a fast and easy breakfast! Lay it in between folds of warm tortilla or in my case I used toasted pita bread.

My version is with a Filipino twist. Instead of using fajita seasoning, I just used soy sauce and a little vinegar, and of course salt and pepper! Salty with a little acidity. We love to drizzle it with a guacamole mild spicy sauce. Yum! Breakfast is ready.

Penne Alfredo with Roasted Garlic and Herb Chicken

Summer days are starting to let us feel its scorching heat. The desert is turning golden brown even more, with hints of green, and some flowers blooming here and there. You cannot get out and enjoy the heat of the sun longer or you'll get sunburn.

It was an overcast sky today which was a nice change from the very hot, hundred degree temperatures the last few days. We did not have to turn all the AC's the whole day. God is good!

Anyway, I can never choose between a very cold, icy winter or a very hot, fiery summer. So, I'd rather just be thankful I can experience both extremes, which tells me I am alive and living well! Thank God for the wonderful life whether it is hot or cold.

Because it was a wonderful day, it was also a great day to do some cooking! I made some penne pasta with homemade alfredo sauce. I also pan-grilled some chicken breasts which were seasoned with roasted garlic and herb. It was pretty easy and quick to make. Dinner was served with ice-cold cranberry juice. Time to eat!

Creamy Mashed Potato and Buttered Lemon-Pepper Swai Fillet

What's for dinner tonight? I decided to make some creamy mashed potatoes, since we haven't had it for a long time, and some Swai fish fillets.

A little break from heavy meaty meals, I opted for a fish menu for tonight. And it is easy and fast to cook, too. I bought some nice, frozen Swai fish fillets instead of the usual frozen tilapia fillets. Swai is a white-flesh fish. It has such a mild taste and my family likes it because it does not have such a fishy taste, lol, if you know what I mean. I sprinkled some lemon-pepper powder on it and leave it to marinate for a few minutes. And then I pan seared it in butter and a little olive oil.

As you can see, the plating is like East meets West. A little Asian condiment/side dish of kimchi and the fish which are common food from the Eastern part of the world. And the mashed potato and pickled pepperoncini, usual fare on the Western part of the globe.

The sourness and slight spiciness from the kimchi and pepperoncini compliments very well with the creaminess of the mashed potato and the lemony, buttery fish. 

Simple meal but very yummy, appetizing, and such a fulfilling dinner!

Halu-halo for Summer!

It is the time of year again, when the sun is blazing hot and I feel like submerging myself in a pool of ice! Our place is very dry this time of the year and sometimes very windy. I cannot stay out longer under the heat of the sun. It feels like being inside the oven. Anyway, living here for years already made me learn to embrace the heat. For an Asian woman like me, the heat is still better than the cold, cold winter!

SO... this kind of temperature, ranging from the 90 degrees to more than hundred degrees Fahrenheit, makes me imagine eating a cold, sweet, mouth-watering, and delectable halu-halo! But I don't have the ingredients to make, so I'll just stick to my imagination for now, lol. I was browsing some photos from my recent trip to the Philippines and saw these photos of the halu-halo I ate in Dumaguete City. By the way, for those who doesn't know what a halu-halo is, it is a refreshing snack/dessert made up of different kinds of fruits, liquid milk, shaved ice, cereals, and sometimes topped with ice cream. Actually it has a lot of varieties, depending on the person that prepared it. Sometimes it has sweet beans, nata de coco, kaong, etc. More Asian stuff, lol. "Halu" literally means mix. So halu-halo means mix-mix. You just mix everything and then once it's all mixed up, start eating! If it is still not sweet you can add more sugar. The shaved ice in it makes it refreshing.

This is what I miss about the Philippines. If I crave something, I can just buy it anywhere. Here, I have to make it myself, lol. It takes hard work to get what I want to eat! Anyway, I guess I feel more satisfied afterwards though, because I satisfy my craving and feel accomplished for making something myself.

So if you get to visit the Philippines, try eating halu-halo, especially during summer!

Chocolate Cake with Choco Glaze

I made this chocolate cake for New Year's Eve. It is a two-layer chocolate cake with caramel in the middle of the layers. Then I pour fudge chocolate glaze on the cakes. And lastly, decorated it on top with chocolate-dipped strawberries. Yummy! The family liked this fudge glaze better than the usual buttercream frosting.  

Japanese Cheesecake for Hubby's Birthday

I read a lot of buzz about Japanese cheesecake. I read reviews on how tasty and good it is. It is light and fluffy with cheesecake goodness. I saw a lot of pictures of it on Pinterest. So I thought, why not try to make it.

It was my hubby's birthday, so I thought it would be a perfect time to bake the Japanese cheesecake. I searched for the recipe. I found one that was easy to follow. The ingredients were readily available except for the caster sugar. I was lucky to find it at Walmart this time. Usually they do not have it. I've looked for it before when I was planning to make macarons but did not find it. Anyway, I was able to gather all the ingredients and baked it the day before hubby's birthday. My Japanese cheesecake did not rise up as I expected it to be. So I have to make two batches, two round pans. Then, I made a light whipped cream frosting to put in between the cakes and to decorate the top. Finally it was done and looked presentable.

I was so excited about this cheesecake. I am not so crazy about the American cheesecake because it is just too sweet for me and too heavy. I know I'm crazy, lol,  I don't have the sweet tooth. Anyway, because of the rave reviews that this is fluffy and light, I couldn't wait to taste it.

Hubby's birthday came and finally the judgment day for the Japanese cheesecake. My husband liked it because it reminded him of a Hungarian cake he used to eat when he was young. But for me, it was a little exotic. It required lemon juice for the ingredients, and it came out a little sour for me. I should have followed one of the reviewers that said to lessen the lemon juice. Anyway, overall it was a pretty good cake. Like they said it was fluffy and light. It is not too sweet. It is like a combination of the regular cheesecake and a chiffon cake. So if you are not fond of the heavy and dense cheesecake this is a great alternative. I just need to tweak the recipe I found a little bit, to fit my taste or find another recipe to try, and hopefully this will be one of my fave cakes in the future. I am just glad my husband liked it.

Filipino Steamed Buns, "Siopao"

Last Friday, I made some Filipino steamed buns called siopao. I made two different kinds but on this post I will share about the siopao filled with meat and boiled eggs. Siopaos are made of dough bread, then you fill it inside with either meat or sweet fillings. It is similar to Chinese steamed buns. Instead of baking the bread in the oven, you cook it by steaming.

I was supposed to make a Pork Asado siopao but I mistakenly grab the frozen ground beef to thaw instead of the ground pork. So it became Beef Asado! I added some cut boiled eggs for the filling, too. Asado here is different from the Argentinian barbecue style, Filipino asado is a term we used for cooking our meat sweet and salty style. The meat is cooked with a mixture of oyster, soy, and hoisin sauces added with sugar and salt to taste. And what comes out is the asado meat filling, a combination of a little sweetness and saltiness. Oops, I'm drooling now. 

So basically you flatten the dough you made after proofing it. Then you put a spoonful or more of the asado filling and then the sliced egg and then seal the bun. Once all the buns are made you steam it for at least 30 minutes.

You can eat the steamed buns warm or cold. I prefer to eat it warm with catsup. You can have it for snacks or even for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It actually fills you up. It is just like eating bread and meat but all in one. 

I made more buns than we can consume for one time so I freeze the others. If I need to eat it, I will just put it in the microwave, cover it in wet paper towel and it will be warm. Or I can steam it again. It will taste like freshly made.

My kiddos loved it! So it was worth all the muscle exercise I did while kneading the dough, lol. But hubby still finds it exotic. Good for me, I will have more to eat, lol. If you like to make siopao, just google it and a lot of other great bloggers have great recipes for it. 

The siopao with the beef asado and boiled egg filling.

Ube Cupcakes!

 

Hello, guys! I have not written anything on my blog for months now. I am back! lol. Just checked my blog again today and felt like blogging again. Hopefully I will have time for it again from time to time.

Anyway, my blog post for today is about my homemade Ube Cupcakes! I have been wanting to bake some ube cupcakes or cake these past few months. But I was not so lucky to find an ube flavoring. It is very hard to find an ube flavoring here where I live. The Asian stores here do not have it always. Maybe if they do, it goes away pretty fast because it is not available all the time. I tried to find it online, found one in Amazon but it was too expensive for such a little amount. It is almost $10 for a 20 ml bottle. And I need to use at least two bottles in each recipe. It is not worth it, lol, I am on a budget.

Finally I found some ube flavoring two weeks ago at the Asian store. I got lucky! I bought two bottles ( did not read the recipe yet prior to buying). I thought the two bottles was more than enough. I regretted it. I should have bought all the four bottles. Because I later found out that the recipe calls for the two bottles to be used. Oh well! Lesson learned. I have to wait again for it to be available at the Asian store, lol. I should have been smarter. By the way, the price for each bottle at the store was just $3 each, big difference from the online price. 

So finally, I was able to bake some cupcakes. Primarily, I wanted to bake a cake, but I thought, if we do not finish the whole cake fast it will be wasted. So I decided to just bake the cupcakes. That way, I will just frost enough number of it that we can eat easily. And then I froze the rest for next time.

By the way, for those who do not know what "UBE" is, it is a root crop. Sometimes it is called purple yam, maybe because it is purplish in color. It is a tuberous root vegetable. It is different from the purple sweet potatoes though which is more common here in the US. In the Philippines, it is very common. You can find ube jams, ube ice cream, and of course ube cake/cupcakes.

Back to my baking. The recipe I followed was pretty good. But not what I was expecting. I was looking for the spongy type cupcake. The one I made was more dense. But it was still good, it was pretty moist. Though a little oily for my liking. But overall, the cupcakes were good and the ube taste did come out pretty well.

I will try to find another recipe next time and experiment. Hopefully I will find the recipe I am looking for. Until next post!:)