March 2011 – Page 2 – The Adventures of a Calamari Queen

Coffee Creme Brulee!

This is just another version of the first creme brulee I made 2 weeks ago. Instead of Vanilla Bean, it’s coffee this time! I really prefer the coffee flavor over the vanilla, since it’s more intense and there’s a “kick” on every bite of it’s creamy goodness!

Ingredients:

8 egg yolks
1/2 cup superfine sugar
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
6 teaspoon instant coffee granules or powder
tablespoon raw sugar to finish

Direction:

1. Use a fork to mix together the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Pour the cream into a saucepan and bring almost to a boil.Gradually stir into the egg yolk mixture.

2. Strain the custard back into the saucepan and stir in the coffee and keep stirring until the coffee has dissolved completely.

3. Arrange 6 ovenproof ramekins in a roasting pan. Pour the custard into the dishes,then pour water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 20-30 minutes until the custard is set with a slight softness at the center.

4. Leave the dishes to cool in the water, then chill in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. About 25 minutes before serving, sprinkle the tops of the desserts with the sugar and caramelized with a blowtorch. Leave at room temperature until ready to serve.

after 30 minutes!!love the color!looks so good:)

sushi,tobiko,etc!

Last Friday we had sushi at home. This is not the first time we did this, but I can honestly say that this was more “special.” We made some rolls and had salmon and tuna sashimi, along with calamari salad! I didn’t plan to have sushi that night but Hubby ordered a box of “uni” (sea urchin eggs) at our local Issaquah fish market and it’s not my fave so I suggested maybe we get salmon so we’ll have a little sushi party! Hubby got so excited and suggested we go to the Asian Market (Uwajimaya@ Bellevue). So off we go to the market, I stayed in the car because Riley was with us coz I dont want him alone in the house with him still recovering from his surgery! My hubby can be an impulsive buyer! hehe, I SPECIFICALLY told him to get salmon but he ended up buying lots of fish that will last us for another day! I ate too much sushi that night, I think I’ll have sushi again next year!

thanks to my hubby for slicing preparing the whole thing!

sushi set that we used for the first time,had this for 2 years now!

Pintxo Seattle!

It’s a rainy Monday here in Seattle and I’m craving for some appetizers ,so I asked my hubby if He wanted to go to Seattle to avail a deal I got online couple of months ago, $50 worth of food and I paid $25 for it! Pintxo serves Tapa style food. This is our second time at Pintxo and we love the food but not the service soo much. It took forever for our meals to be served, but we are not in a hurry so it’s OK with us, I’d like to think that we are patient people! LOL! btw,not bad for $25 meal right?

pintxo 038 — our drinks,some kind of a sweet wine!

pintxo platter paintings the cozy place rockfish,shrimps,mussels in spicy tomato broth lamb skewers bread pudding and olive oil citrus cake

OMG Crispy Pata!

Imagine how happy and surprised I was when last week I did our weekly grocery and I saw the pork hocks/legs, totally surprised because I shopped in an American market and rarely you will see this kind of meat cut! Usually I prepare Crispy Pata when I go once a month to the Filipino store/market in Tukwila(Seafood city) where I get other Filipino products (magnolia quickmelt cheese,nagaraya,chippy,ug uban pa) and produce ( like ampalaya,japanese eggplant). Once in a while I do crave Filipino comfort food and once I do, nothing can stop me! So this morning I was not sure what to do with the “pata”, maybe patatim or crispy pata! We had humba ( braised pork in pineapple juice) last week so I wasn’t really up for that savory sauce this week! Bring on the Crispy Skin!!

Ingredients:
Pork Pata (hocks)
Canola or vegetable oil for deep frying
Onions,black peppercorn,bay leaves,salt

Procedure:

Rinse hocks and put in a big pot with cold water. The meat should be covered completely with water.
Bring to a boil, remove any particles/scum that stick to the meat.
Put chopped Onions, peppercorn, bay leaves and lots of salt! This will flavor the meat while simmering.
Simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours till tender . On low heat, I did mine for almost 3 hours. But you don’t want to over cook it because you want the whole thing intact!
Drained meat and put in a colander, let it air dry for 30 minutes. If you’re not in a hurry you can put the meat in the ref or freezer for couple of hours. I did both, after draining I dry it then put it in the ref!
Prepare your deep fryer or Wok. Heat the oil,deep fry the meat! maybe 10-15 minutes..You gotta be careful coz splattering is inevitable!LOL..that’s why I prefer the fryer! Drain on paper towels! Enjoy the fruits of your labor! lol

boiling/simmering with the spices for almost 3 hours now..super tender!

air dried for 30 minutes then chilled in the ref for 1 hour

Steak Tacos

I wanted to try Tyler Florence’s recipe, Tacos Carne Asada, because I love carne asada but I didn’t have half of the ingredients. So I searched online for a simple steak tacos recipe but I thought plain salt and pepper would not bring out the best in my beef sirloin so I just added other spices and herbs to marinade the beef. Again, I just “eyeball” the seasonings.

Ingredients:

Beef Sirloin Steak
Salt, Pepper
Red pepper flakes,cayenne pepper,cumin powder,olive oil,cilantro,lime juice (marinade seasonings)
Flour/corn tortillas

toppings! red onion,tomatos,lettuce,cheddar cheeses,avocado

Sweet Potato fries with Basil salt and garlic mayo!

Growing up in the Philippines we ate a lot of sweet potatoes because my Dad liked it a lot (He prefers steamed potatoes) and it’s also popular as an afternoon snack together with “bananaque” (deep fried banana). I only had it deep fried with lots of brown sugar or steamed/boiled, either way it’s delicious! So when I watched my fave show on the food network, Giada at Home, and she prepared this simple dish I knew I had to try this. So simple yet so good! My husband loves it too coz I heard him saying, “I can have this everyday!” The mayo garlic sauce is just perfect with these fries! You can check the recipe here: Giada’s Recipe.

Ingredients

5 sweet potatoes, cut into about 1 by 5-inch “fries”
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.Place the sweet potato “fries” on a foil-lined baking sheet and toss with the olive oil. Bake until golden, about 45 minutes.Meanwhile combine the basil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. In another small bowl combine the mayonnaise, garlic, and lemon juice, and stir to combine.When the sweet potato fries come out of the oven, sprinkle with the basil salt. Serve with the garlic mayonnaise alongside for dipping.

Riley is now a big boy!

Last Monday our puppy Riley had his neutering/castration done and he’s now recovering at home. He stayed overnight at the animal hospital and it felt weird without him at the house for a day! We call him a “puppyrazzi” because he’s like my shadow and follows me around (even in the toilet and bathroom) LOL! He looks so cute and adorable with his “cone” but I know he can’t wait for this whole week to be over, so we can play to his hearts content! He’s just the cutest and we love him so much:)

day of the surgery,outside the hospital!poor riley!

giving him a massage,i know he's in pain:(

Thai Iced tea

The first time I had Thai Iced tea, I didn’t like it. I’m a coffee person so I didn’t really drink tea growing up in the PI. So when I moved here to Washington and found that my hubby can drink like 3 glasses in a meal, I’m like what’s so special about this drink?! Eventually I learned to loved it to the extent that when we had dinner at our fave Thai resto we asked the waitress how they prepare this drink. She was kind enough to go back to the kitchen and showed us the Thai tea mix they use and told us how they prepare the drink..I just “eyeball” the ingredients here, and you can adjust it to your liking!

2 cups Thai tea leaves
6 cups Water
1/2 cup Sugar
half and half
the tea mix

tea mix and water and sugar,let it boil and simmer for 3 hours(low heat)

strained,and let it cool in the ref for hours!

you can also use evap milk,condensed milk if you want!

a 4$ drink in most thai resto!! so good!!

Hot wings the healthy way!

Ha! I’m just saying the healthy way because this is baked instead of the usual fried wings with lots and lots of butter and hot sauce! This is Alton Brown’s recipe and the only recipe I’ve used since I saw him making this on his show on the Foodnetwork. I really like this because it’s very crispy but not oily unlike the regular deep fried wings. You can use more or less of any of the ingredients depending on your liking!
Buffalo wing recipe

Ingredients
12 whole chicken wings
3 ounces unsalted butter
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
Place a 6-quart saucepan with a steamer basket and 1-inch of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.

Remove the tips of the wings and discard or save for making stock. Using kitchen shears, or a knife, separate the wings at the joint. Place the wings into the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam for 10 minutes. Remove the wings from the basket and carefully pat dry. Lay the wings out on a cooling rack set in a half sheet pan lined with paper towels and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Replace the paper towels with parchment paper. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook another 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.

While the chicken is roasting, melt the butter in a small bowl along with the garlic. Pour this along with hot sauce and salt into a bowl large enough to hold all of the chicken and stir to combine.

Remove the wings from the oven and transfer to the bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve warm.

blue cheese sauce,perfect with buffalo wings!

Smallbites!

We love appetizers!! so tonight, I decided to just prepare “smallbites” coz hubby is not really hungry(he had late lunch at the office)…I made Dates wrapped in priciutto ( Giada de laurentii recipe), roasted garlic,potato wedges, and the star of the night Crab legs(tasty but expensive).