KCC June Challenge: White Food

“Oh my goodness!!!” …. that was the first thought that came my mind when I woke up this morning with a sense of panic! Tomorrow is the last day of June and I don’t have an entry for this month’s challenge. And the worst part of it is, I’m co-hosting this with Adora… oh boy!!! (now it’s panic attack!)

Here I go again, trying to find time for everything yet I wish there are more hours in a day. This month is still extremely busy with all the summer festivals going on plus the regular booked events. So my little voice is now screaming at me saying ” excuses, excuses!!! either you have a blog post or you don’t! ” I decided to have one even way past the deadline…but still within June 

So with little time and the only inspiration I have is this month’s theme “White Food” because it’s the wedding month. So I decided to make a dessert this time. This is inspired by our traditional Filipino salad but I only use the white ingredients this time. This is very easy, no fuss dessert and actually really good and have different textures in each ingredient.

So here we go….

Ingredients:

• 1 can almond jelly, drained and cut into cubes
• 1 bottle pineapple gel
• 1 bottle coconut gel
• 1 bottle kaong – white, drained
• 1 can lychee, drained

Procedure:

I just tasted the water and the syrup of each bottle and I decided to use the pineapple gel’s syrup and coconut gel syrup because it’s more of a neutral flavour among everybody. It’s not too thick and not too sweet.

Really, just mix everything, chill and serve.

You can also add a can of fruit cocktail – i just didn’t do it this time because i’m sticking with the white theme.

Photos by iconica.ca

KCC May Challenge: Pansy Macapuno Pie

Macapuno Pie --- Photos by Trevor Joyce 

It has been forever since I posted something in my blog and just insanely crazy busy still. I can’t really wait till things get back to normal. Normal means at least all my clothes are out of the suitcases and boxes… well at least just a couple more weeks. Well having said that, busy or not, I need to have a post for this month’s Kulinarya Cooking Challenge. Thanks to Sefie and Connie who came up with this month’s theme: Flowers

Oh-oh… very challenging! I have been searching for different Filipino dishes with flowers but I was stumped. Then the other day, my husband said that we have a lot of pansies in our garden. He also said that they were edible and should use it in my salads and garnish! So there’s my answer— Pansy! But with what??? I just don’t want to make a salad dish since it seems not so Filipino at a glance 

Pansy has a very very mild mint flavor and has so many different colors. Really good for garnish in desserts and in cocktails. So here’s what I came up…

Ingredients: (By the way this a “Macapuno Pie in Hurry” since I just have to write this post and make this pie in between my food prep for my next event)

• 12 oz. jar macapuno balls (sweetened)
• 12 oz. jar macapuno strings (sweetened)
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• pansies
• 2 store bought graham cracker crust

Procedure:

• In a non-stick pan, combine the macapuno balls, macapuno strings and evaporated milk. Simmer.
• Add egg yolks and blend. Simmer for few minutes.
• Dissolve cornstarch into the mixture and stir constantly until mixture is thick.
• Remove from fire and pour into the crust.
• Top with pansy. Sprinkle granulated sugar on the flower.
• Bake pie at 350F until golden brown.

KCC March Challenge: Fried Lumpia

I thought that I am always busy but this month, the word “busy” seems to be an understatement. With work, household and the move – it’s a bit overwhelming. If you read my previous posts, everything seems to be an express meal and recipes have always been in a jiffy. I have not even posted something in the last 4 weeks for heavens sakes!

However, I hate missing out in the KCC Challenges and I promise myself to have an entry. So that’s how this dish came to be. Very simple and fast and sorry – it’s fried!!! Vegetables are the star for this month’s challenge.

Ingredients:

• Edit Posts1 cup carrots, julienned
• 1 cup green beans, sliced thinly
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1 medium sized onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 stalk celery
• 1/2 cup tofu, fried and diced
• soya sauce for seasoning
• salt and pepper
• spring rolls wrappers
• oil for frying

1) Saute garlic, onion and celery.

2) Add tofu.

3) Add carrots and green beans until cook.

4) Season with soya sauce, salt and pepper.

5) Add the bean sprouts. Boil and transfer to a colander to drip the excess liquid and cool.

6) Once cooled down, spoon on the spring roll wrappers and wrap filling. Moisten the edges with water to seal.

7) Heat oil and fry rolls until golden brown.

Dipping sauce: vinegar with crushed garlic, pinch of salt and pepper.

Vegetarian Fried Lumpia 

KCC January Theme

The January Theme is "What Filipino dish (savoury or sweet) would you like to have on your birthday?"


Since the holidays, it was just so crazy busy that I didn't even have time to write anything at all and I missed last month's challenge because it was just literally not enough time for me with my events. 
I made a promised to myself that I have to have something for January. So here comes today which is the deadline and at 3pm this afternoon, I still have nothing! I feel horrible but i just woke up after 38 hours (straight) of work in the kitchen and at the event site. I was trying to justify it with my little voice that it should be okay but it's not. So, here I am, scrambling to whip up something fast!
There are a lot of Filipino foods that I like on my birthday but I have to decide what are my favorites. It is usually a tradition that there should be a Pancit for "long life" but my favorite pancit in the pancit family is the Malabon or Palabok. I had all the ingredients but I don't have the noodles that I like and it's already 6pm! Oh boy- I'm in trouble!
So what else do I like to have on my birthday? My birthday is in July and normally I do have barbecue party so I decided to have Chicken Barbecue!


So here you go: 

You will need:
- One chicken breast, cut into cubes

- Lemon

- Soya sauce

- Brown sugar

- Vinegar

- Crushed garlic

- Salt and Pepper

- Skewers

Mix everything and marinate for at least 30 minutes in the fridge. 

Skewer the chicken and ready for grilling!

Grill it for about 4 minutes or until done.

And viola... here it is...wrapped in lettuce leaf with onions and tomatoes... nice appetizers. 

But it's dinner time and I need a more solid meal so, here you go. Steamed rice (white, parboiled and wild rice), tomatoes with onions and green onions and salted duck eggs! 

Special thanks to Trevor Joyce (iconica.ca)  for taking these photos. 


Kulinarya Cooking Club Members:

Kath – http://www.acupcakeortwo.com/
Trisha – http://sugarlace.com/
Trissa – http://trissalicious.com/
Olive – http://www.latestrecipes.net/
Caroline – http://whenadobometfeijoada.blogspot.com/
Ninette – http://bigboldbeautifulfood.blogspot.com/
Peach- http://www.thepeachkitchen.com/
Althea- http://www.busogsarap.com/
Asha – http://forkspoonnknife.blogspot.com/
Malou – http://www.skiptomalou.net/
Cherrie – http://www.sweetcherriepie.com
Acdee – http://acdee.blogspot.com/
Valerie – http://www.acanadianfoodie.com/
Sheryl – http://crispywaffle.com/
Divina – http://www.sense-serendipity.com/
Anna – http://www.anniesfoodjournal.blogspot.com/
Dahlia – http://www.energychef.blogspot.com/
Joy – http://joyjoycreativeoutlet.blogspot.com/
Maribel – http://www.foodgeek.webs.com/
Tressa
Jen – http://www.jen-at-work.blogspot.com/
Pia – http://bisayajudkaayo.blogspot.com/
Malaka – http://thegrandinternational.com.
Mimi – http://lapinchecocinera.blogspot.com
Erika – http://ivoryhut.com/
Kat – http://twitter.com/alanokat
Lala – http://thislittlepiggywenttothemarket.blogspot.com/
Selfie – http://eats.sefiebee.com/
Connie Veneracion - http://homecookingrocks.com/
Oggi - http://oggi-icandothat.blogspot.com/
Katrina - http://lardonmyfrench.blogspot.com/
Rochelle - http://www.whydiss.blogspot.com/
Marica – http://cuppycreme.blogspot.com
Diona – http://titaflips.blogspot.com/
Rowena - http://saraplicious.blogspot.com
Theodore – http://chefbyday.wordpress.com/
Gianna – http://the-empty-fridge.blogspot.com/
Mireille – http://dirtyicecreaminyourlunchbox.blogspot.com/
Marishka – http://rishka.multiply.com/
Annapet – http://moonglowgardens.wordpress.com/
Boyet – http://reelandgrill.blogspot.com/
Adora – http://adorasbox.net
Yaz – http://whoatemytomato.wordpress.com
Marvin – http://www.eatmarvin.com

Chicken Relleno

I just joined the club last month when they were showcasing the suman posts and holy--- the members were amazing! I had this mixed feelings of being so inspired and yet so daunted.

Inspired because the members are so dedicated and passionate about writing their blogs. You see, having it on a regular basis is really very challenging for me to fit in my 60 - 80 work week schedule.

Daunted because the members are just so good at what they do! I know for sure I can cook but to cook and take a picture and write about it??? Good luck on me on that!

Anyhow, this month's theme for the Kulinarya Cooking Club is Relleno. First thing that came to my mind was Bangus Relleno (Stuffed Milkfish). I made dozens of them already since its part of my menu but I always wanted to know about Chicken Relleno. I never had an opportunity of deboning a whole chicken but have always wanted to do so especially for a chicken relleno, which, for quite some time has been in my "projects" folder. So this month's theme was just absolutely perfect for me. It's just a way to actually do it and stop putting it off.

So let us begin...

The DEBONING: I have been searching the internet for videos and how-to's on how to debone a chicken correctly and I must say, I didn't really find much that catches my fancy but I did find what Connie of Home Cooking Rocks said, "like taking off like a button less shirt". For some reason, its just stored in my memory and that's all I think of. I didn't even bother reading again the step by step procedure but just imagine a shirt coming off from the bottom and pulling it upwards through the head and then the arms.  I took a very sharp small knife and centimeter by centimeter, I started slashing meat in snippets away from the bone from the bottom working all the way up. Trust me, I was so scared that I will rip off the skin and ruin the entire chicken but I always reminded myself that if will not succeed in this take, I will definitely master one virtue -- Patience. That's right, just a small knife and lots of patience. Like literally work as if you are separating every piece of fiber and tendon. So after 30 minutes of focus and sheer patience, I was able to debone a whole chicken for the first time. 

This was before... with bones.

And after! No bones except the wings.

I put salt, pepper, soya sauce and lemon on the chicken and marinated it overnight.

The STUFFING:

There are so many variations for the Chicken Relleno and I always wanted to have the traditional one. I have always wanted to incorporate this in my menu and what a perfect time to do this during Christmas Season! Having said about different versions and one ingredient that makes the Filipino Rellenong Manok (Chicken)  is the Chorizo. I made sure that I have it today and nothing else really mattered. But for today's relleno, I have to deviate to the traditional route. Mr. Flips just came back from up north and just starving for dinner so I have no recourse but to alter it to no-pork relleno.

Ingredients for the stuffing:
5 cloves Garlic, crushed
1 Diced Onions
1 Green Bell Peppers
1 stalk of celery
1 slices of beef bacon
1/2 cup Pecans
3 Slices of Sour Dough Bread
1/4 cup Sundried Tomatoes
50 gms of Cream Cheese
3 tbps of Capers
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 eggs, hard-boiled

Saute garlic in olive oil. Add onions until light. Add celery. Add bacon. Stir in the sundried tomatoes, capers, cheese and pecans and bread. Let it cook for bit until the bread softens slightly. Remove from heat and let it cool.

The cooked stuffing!

Basically, this comes easy now. Just stuff the chicken and put the hard-boiled eggs in between.

Once filled, close the chicken. But wait a sec, I didn't want to sew in order to close it up so i have this "shortcut" idea...

SKEWERS!!!! LOL
Then, bake @ 375F for about 1 hour or until done.  

Remotely traditional recipe but so delicious! We had a ranch/blue cheese dressing on the side as the sauce. It complements so well. Try it... hmm so good!!!

Kulinarya Cooking Club was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colourful cuisine.

Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.