KCG 2011: Homemade Bread

Flour tortillas are not exactly bread BREAD but there was a fair amount of kneading and rolling pin action involved in the preps, both of which I don't normally do in my everyday cooking so pwede rin for my cooking goals.

a

a

Making homemade tortillas is easy and you don't need a lot of ingredients.

a

a

What you need: salt, warm water, vegetable shortening and flour.

a

a

They're not perfect yet, but with practice, I will get there.  What I love about this is now that I know how to make these babies, I don't think I'll go back to store-bought ones.  Heehee!

a

a

For the complete recipe, please go here.

KCG 2011: Salad Dressing from Scratch

Since Richard and I went on a diet, we've been having a lot of salad to go with our grilled meals.  The South Beach Diet (SBD) recommends balsamic vinaigrette dressing more than the cream-based ones so this is the one that I made from scratch. 

a

a

What you need (from left): pepper and salt to taste, balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil (evoo) and a few sprigs of thyme.

a

a

I'm doing it the Jamie Oliver way by putting all the ingredients together in a bottle.

a

a

Use equal amounts of evoo and balsamic vinegar...a

a

...and shake, shake, shake!  You can actually just put all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk with a fork but using a bottle is more fun!  Plus, you can easily pop it in the ref if you have any leftovers then shake again before serving.

a

a

Balsamic vinaigrette!

a

a

Drizzled on a bed of greens.

a

a

We used the dressing on the grilled pork too and it was yummy! 

The pork, by the way, was marinated in a mustard+olive oil+thyme+rosemary rub before grilling and it made the kitchen smell yummy-good.

a

a

I know it's probably the easiest salad to dressing to make but what the hey!  It tastes great!  Plus, if you made it from scratch, nothing can beat that!

KCG 2011: Red Velvet Cupcakes

I haven't forgotten my cooking goals.  I just had a hard time choosing which one to do first.  Anyway, I decided to start with the red velvet cupcakes for Valentine's day.  I did some research and recipe comparisons and found out that the perfect red velvet cupcake should have the following characteristics:

a

• Color should be a DRAMATIC RED;
• Does not taste like a chocolate cake, but not like yellow cake either.  Just subtle hints of cocoa, "like a little kiss of chocolate on the cheek";
• Moist, flavorful + rich

a

My red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting, sitting nicely on the heart-shaped plate that I got from my cousin-in-law Joanne.  Been saving it for Vday.  Thanks, Jo!

a

a

I can't believe I made this myself!

a

a

Perfect color.  I love it!

a

a

I still can't believe I made this!  Sorry, I can't get over it.

a

a

Bagay with Aly's shirt.

a

a

These red velvet cakes are love.  It had all the characteristics that I listed above: a dramatic red color, the right amount of chocolate, moist and soft...For me, it was perfect!  Pwedeng ilaban sa cupcakes na binibili ko sa Siam Square!

a

a

Here's the recipe.  Adapted from allrecipes.

a

a

Ingredients:

a

1 1/4 cups of flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

red food color -- the recipe calls for half a 1 oz. bottle of food color, but I didn't follow it.  I just added food color little by little until I got the right shade.  I was afraid that the cake might taste weird if I put too much food color so just use your own judgment on this.

a

a

Directions:

a

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Mix flour, cocoa powder, bakind soda and salt in medium bowl.  Set aside.

a

2. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Mix in sour cream, milk, vanilla and food color.  Gradually beat in flour mixture until just blended.  Do not overbeat.  Spoon batter into paper lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.

a

3. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean.  Cool cupcakes on a wire rack.  Frost with vanilla cream cheese frosting. Makes 12-15 cupcakes.

a

a

For the cream cheese frosting, there are many recipes available online, so feel free to use your favorite one.

a

a

Happy baking!

Krisan's Cooking Goals for 2011

This year, I want to to be more productive.  I want to have a purpose.  I want to have direction.  Ooh lala!  Big words!  But seriously, ayoko ng pabanjing-banjing lang.  Now, I don't really make new year's resolutions simply because I know that I do not have enough self discipline to see them through.  I love making lists, though.  So for 2011, I decided to make a list of cooking goals instead.  Para naman magkaron ng silbi yung mga cookbook at Yummy magazines na iniipon ko.

a

a

Krisan's Cooking Goals for 2011 or KCG 2011 for short.

a

a

What's on my list anyway?  Stuff that I've always wanted to do in the kitchen, but I never found the time or courage to actually do them.  I know you won't see much in the photo (no thanks to my kahig-ng-manok handwriting) so let's go through the list again.

a

a

1. POMODORO or homemade tomato sauce - garlicky and chunky ala Chelsea Market (at Serendra) or Pasta 54 (need to use Dy's garlic crusher for this!)  I tried making one before but I know I can do better.My goal is to perfect it and make it my own so I can eventually say goodbye to store-bought ones.
2. FRESH PASTA - check out Jamie Oliver's cookbook.  I cook pasta for dinner at least once a week so I think it makes perfect sense if I learn how to make pasta at home.  That way, I can also say goodbye to store-bought ones.  Now this project will be a bit of a challenge because I don't have a pasta machine.  I will only be using a rolling pin.  Good luck to me!
3. HOMEMADE PIZZA WITH GOURMET TOPPINGS - cheese, pesto, etc. This is for Aly who loves pizza.  I will also get to practice two kitchen skills for this project: baking with yeast and mastering the use of a rolling pin.  Yay!
4. RED VELVET CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING - Yes, I already found the best red velvet cupcakes in Bangkok, but I want to see if I can do a better job.  That way, I won't need to go all the way to Siam for my cupcake fix.
5. PALITAW - the challenge is getting fresh niyog from the market!  Recipe-wise, this is easy peasy, but getting fresh grated coconut will definitely be a challenge because I don't know where to get it.  Plus, if I pull this off, I won't miss Filipino food so much.
6. PULLED PORK - I've read a lot about this on the internet and I've never really tried it before.  I'm adding this to my list out of curiosity.
7. LYCHEE JUICE - ala Baan Naam (my fave place at the lunch market).  If I can do this at home, then I won't need to pay Thb40 for a glass that's so bitin.
8. CHICKEN STOCK FROM SCRATCH - check out chicken cookbook.  Oh, the many magical things you can create with chicken stock!  First on my list is chicken mami.  But first, I want to perfect it, make several batches that I can store in my freezer and eventually graduate from the preservative-laden chicken cubes.
9. HOMEMADE BREAD - (either of the ff not all:) tortillas, dinner rolls, pandesal or even just use ready-made puff pastry.  I've made cake and cookies before, but never bread.  This will definitely be something new.
10. HERB-CRUSTED FISH FILLET - inspired by Junior Masterchef!  I want to do a more sophisticated dish.  I want to create a restaurant-ish dish for a change.  Those 8-12 year olds at Junior Masterchef can definitely put a lot of adults to shame -- me included!
11. ANY RECIPE USING VANILLA BEAN - buy from JJ.  I've used a lot of vanilla extract before but never vanilla bean.  I added it to the list for the experience.  If only I can remember the exact stall in Chatuchak where I saw them...
12. HOMEMADE TOCINO - sans preservatives!
13. SALAD DRESSING FROM SCRATCH - garlic herb, ceasar, poppy-seed...The first and only time I bought ceasar dressing from the grocery here in Bangkok was a far cry from the ones we have back home.  I'm too scared naman to bring home the ones from Santi's because it just might spoil.  So it's this way or the highway!
14. TRES LECHES CAKE - I've read about this on the internet as well.  I only got to try it once in Manila -- bought two slices from Cake@Go (Quatros Leches, actually) in BF while Richard was buying shawarma from SSC across the street.  It was good!  I loved it.  Too bad they don't have it here in Bangkok so I will just have to make one myself.
15. COOKIES THAT WOULD REQUIRE A COOKIE CUTTER - Aly's been bugging me dropped hints several times that she wants to make cookies in different shapes complete with colored frosting.  It would also be a good time to use the cookie cutters we have at home.

BONUS: KOBE BEEF/WAGYU from the Gourmet Market :)  I only get to admire them when I'm at the supermarket but I never really bought them because #1 they're too expensive (Thb1000+/100grams), #2 I'm too scared to mess up such an expensive piece of meat!  Being able to buy and cook this at home will really be something else. 

a

a

So there you have it, my cooking goals for 2011.  I originally wanted to put only 11 items on my list so I can make at least one per month, but so many ideas popped into my mind as I went along.  I eventually had to keep it down to 15.  Anything more than that won't be good for my diet.  I mean, sure I can do them but who's going to eat them when they're done?  And also, I may not do them in that particular order.  I just placed numbers so we'll know how many are on the list :)  Oooh!  I can't wait to get started!  I wonder which one I'm going to do first?  

a

a

Now since we're on the subject of cooking, I want to share with you the new kitchen gadgets that I brought home.

a

a

My new Peugeot salt mill.

a

a

I saw this baby at Santi's in Silang when we were buying rib eye steak for our new year's eve party.  It's a lot cheaper there than here in Bangkok.  Like, half the price cheaper -- Php1,700 in Santi's, Thb3,400 in Central and Paragon.  I knew I would regret it if I didn't buy there.  And I didn't care if we had no more room in our luggage!  I would literally hand carry it if I had to!  Heehee!  So we made a quick stop at Santi's before going to the airport last Wednesday.

a

a

Now I have a salt mill to go with my pepper mill (a wedding gift, not Peugeot though).

a

a

This other gadget is really special because it's a gift from my kumare who brought it all the way from Belgium:

a

a

IKEA garlic press from Dy :)

a

a

I used it when I cooked pasta the other night and I love it!!  Thanks Dy!

a

a

Do watch out for all posts related to Krisan's Cooking Goals for 2011!  And to all my friends and family who have new year's resolutions or goals for the coming year, best of luck to all of us!