Churros with White chocolate coco cream sauce

I haven't been in the kitchen for the longest time

have so little time these days that the short time i have for myself i spend on my daughter.

anyway, just so i can make her snack time fun i decided to make her some churros.

CHURROS

In a small pan warm, 2 inches of oil. set aside while you prepare your batter.

In another pan simmer 1 cup of water, 1/4 cup of butter & 1/4 teaspoon of salt

add 1 cup of All Purpose Flour and stir until the dough pulls from the sides and forms a ball

Remove from heat and add stir in 4 eggs

and 1/2 cup sugar. mix until well incorporated.

Fill the pastry bag with a star tip with the batter

and pipe onto the frying pan with oil.

fry each side for 3 mins or until slightly golden.

drain in paper towels.

voila... churros!

for the dip

i melted white chocolate chips and mixed them in my coconut cream sauce 

(coco cream with sugar and heavy cream)

i made a horse shoe shaped one for my daughter and she loved it

enjoy.

Eggplant maki

A good friend of mine shared her stuffed eggplant recipe on facebook the other day. Boy oh boy did the picture made my stomach grumble... the picture screamed of yummy-ness that I dropped everything i was doing and went straight to the kitchen to cook.

Once in the kitchen i was faced with a predicament, it was an "ARE-YOU-KIDDING-ME? moment... The eggplants in Australia must have been healthier, they were round and plump and easy to slice and stuff, while the eggplants in my kitchen were long and thin with a circumference of a little less than an inch (loser!!!).

So anyway, i didn't let that deter me, i figured i can just slice the eggplants lengthwise and roll them...

all good! 

Ingredients:

Eggplants, sliced thinly lengthwise 

Corn Flour

1-2 egg, beaten

1/4 kg of ground pork

1 onion finely chopped

2-3 cloves garlic minced

1 celery stalk finely chopped

1 carrot grated

1 tbsp chinese five spice powder

1. mix pork, garlic, onion, celery, carrot and five spice powder. (I used my hands, its more fun)

2. to assemble, place 1tsp of the meat mixture on the end of an eggplant slice, role and secure with a toothpick seam side down, dredge with corn flour, dip in egg and then dredge (again) with corn flour.

3. shallow fry on low-medium heat til all sides are browned. you can remove toothpick once the seam side has browned and crisped up...

serve with chinese black vinegar as dipping sauce, or balsamic vinegar

and eat using chopsticks!!! because its more fun...

Enjoy!

Pineapple infused spice rubbed Babyback Ribs with Oriental garlic bbq sauce

Today is probably one of those days where my happiness meter is HIGH.

why? 

well let me count my blessing

1. I woke up because my daughter wanted to snuggle with me. (i am so so so lucky)

this made me so that happy i made her some mini cheese crepe for morning snack (okay 1 for her and 2 for  me)

2. Had mama's pork bbq for lunch

3. was able to exercise and walked about 3km with my daughter this afternoon

4. also I recently joined Human milk 4 human babies and helped a mum and her premie baby by donating BM today.

I was in such a feel good mood that i deserved some babyback ribs.

BABY BACK RIBS

1. pressure cook for 20-25 minutes, 1 slab of babyback ribs with about 2 cans of pineapple juice or until fully covered. 

2. drain (save the liquid)

3. For the spice rub combine 1 tsp each of rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, & paprika and 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper.

4. rub the ribs with the spice rub generously. (show the meat some love and make sure all sides are covered)

5. In a griller on high, grill each side of the ribs until spices form a nice brown crust (or you can do what i did and pan sear all sides of the slab until brown)

6. for the sauce, combine 2-3 cloves chopped garlic, 1 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp hoisin sauce, 2 tbsp catsup, 1 tbsp brown sugar and 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the leftover liquid from the pressure cooker or pineapple. let simmer and reduce for 5 minutes. add salt and pepper to taste. thicken with corn flour and brush or smother on ribs. 

Enjoy.

Colored Milky Pancakes for my Ysabela

I want to make every snack time a fun activity for my daughter Ysabela. 

And at her young age of 1, I often times let her actively help in preparing her snacks. She especially likes mixing batters for cookies and bars. (disclaimer: the clean up parts is the hardest part but you know we'd gladly mop floors just to see our tots happy)

So today, we made colorful mini pancakes. 

BASIC PANCAKE RECIPE

2 eggs
2 tablespoons of sugar

2 cups while milk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups sifted flour

6 tablespoons butter, melted

In a bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. (flour, baking soda, baking powder)

add the egg, sugar, milk & butter. Mix well until free of lumps.

Divide into bowls and add desired food coloring. (i used yellow, red, blue and green)

mix well and cook on a preheated non stick pan.

enjoy!

Pandan Chicken

my other saturday stress buster...

3 pcs chicken thigh or breast fillets skin on, (cut into large cubes)

1 tsp oyster sauce

2 tsp soy sauce (i used kikoman light)

1/4 tsp sesame oil

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp ginger juice (you can squeeze grated ginger for this)

2 tsp brown sugar

1. mix all ingredients together, taste marinade, add more sugar if too salty and marinate chicken for atleast an hour

2. individually wrap chicken in pandal leaves & deep fry until golden brown

3. use excess marinade and let simmer for about a minute, use as dipping sauce

Tres Leches Bundt Cake

I got pressured again today.

I just learned that the Bar Exams for this year has been set for October instead of November which means that i just lost a whole month to review. ;( Me, being the me that I am, instead of acting productively and reading at a faster pace, i ran to the kitchen to bake. 

It was very timely that when i checked my Instagrm, my friend posted a picture of a cake she just made. (Thank you to my friend Pepi for sharing her tres leches recipe)

anyhow here it is:

Tres Leches Cake

recipe adapted from Jaypee Plata

For the cake

only fill the pan three quarters up this is too much hehe

6 eggs, separated

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 c sugar

1/2 c melted butter

1 c all purpose flour

1. in a mixer with whisk attachment beat egg whites with salt and baking soda until soft peaks.

2. add in the egg yolks and sugar and beat for 30 seconds (resist the urge to over beat)

3. add melted butter (make sure that it has cooled)

4. divide flour and fold it in (by hand) in 3-4 batches

5. bake for 20-30 mins at 350F or until a cake tester comes out clean at the thickest part of the cake

For the Tres Leches 

1/2 c cream

3/4 c evaporated milk

3/4 c condensed milk

To assemble

While still hot poke holes all over the cake (poke as many times as you can)

spoon in tres leches mixture over the cake and allow the cake to absorb it

and then chill for at least an hour before serving (chill it well)

enjoy