Chicken Adobo

Here's a pictoral depiction to one of my current favorite dish to make. It's the Steamy Kitchen's Chicken Adobo (with slight modification). It is best to prep this the night before so your chicken has time to soak in all the deliciousness.

 

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs skin-on chicken legs and thighs (I like to use wings/drummets)
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns (I use crushed black pepper)
• 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 cup water
• 1 to 1 1/2 tsp Ginger (minced or grated)

Instructions:

• Clean and cut your chicken; Set aside to drain.

• Gather and measure out your sauce ingredients.

• Put it all together and mix it up.

 

• Combine chicken and sauce in a ziplock bag and put it in the fridge over night.

The next day...

• Pour the whole content of your ziplock bag into a large pot. Place the pot over high heat and bring the liquid to a boil.

• Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer (covered) for 30 minutes. Be sure to go in and move the chicken around half way through.

• Using tongs, remove chicken from pot and place on a dish. Keep the adobo sauce on the stove and increase heat to high. Boil sauce for 5 minutes to reduce and thicken. If too much oil start accumulating on the top, scoop it out with a spoon.
• Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels, then place skin-side up on a sheet pan. Place the sheet pan under the broiler and broil chicken for about 3 minutes until skin is brown and crisp.

• After chicken has browned, pour adobo sauce over chicken and serve over white rice.

 

Bon Appétit! 

VD Sugar Cookies

It's Valentine's Day today so over the weekend, I made treats for some of my friends. Not really a fan of V-Day myself, so I turned it into something dirty. My motto every year is, "Happy VD! Don't catch any!" So this year, I made cookies to go with it. :) These are sugar cookies adapted from here. The icing recipe I used was adapted from here. You will find my modifications below. I've also scaled both down by half since I wasn't baking for the whole village. I didn't "flood" all my cookies with icing so there were plenty left even with the scaled down proportion.

A while back, a friend had posted the above picture on FB which triggered an instant irking for me to take on the challenge. I thought it was just genius and hilarious! This was also an opportunity for me to mess with icing for the first time. Let's just say it was very time consuming, but it was semi therapeutic and fun.

For the Sugar Cookie:

Ingredients:

• 1-½ stick of unsalted butter
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 large Eggs
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoons Almond Extract
• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

Directions:
In a mixer, with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until well combined, about 2 minutes.
Add in eggs, one at a time until combined between additions.
Add in vanilla and almond extract; mix until combined.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Slowly (about a 1/2 cup at a time) add flour to butter mixture and mix until combine.

Put dough in some Saran wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight. When you are ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough out, cut out cookies, and bake for 6-8 minutes.

Icing Recipe:
For the icing, I used meringue powder since I am cautious about messing with raw food i.e. uncooked egg whites. The site says to add extracts to it and it's not kidding when it says it stinks. hahaa I added both vanilla and almond extract to it so it can be consistent with the cookies.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar
• 1.5 tablespoons (15 grams) meringue powder
• 1 teaspoon extract (vanilla, lemon, almond or a combo)
• 1/4 cup warm water
• Food color

What You Do:

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder until combined. Add the water and extracts and beat on medium to high speed until very glossy and stiff peaks form (5 to 7 minutes). If necessary, to get the right consistency, add more powdered sugar or water. To cover or 'flood' the entire surface of the cookie with icing, the proper consistency is when you lift the beater, the ribbon of icing that falls back into the bowl remains on the surface of the icing for a few seconds before disappearing.

The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.

I divided the batch up into little bowls and mixed in the colors. I used Wilton's Icing Color paste which can be bought at Michael's or JoAnn's with a coupon for cheap! I used a toothpick to color and mix, but next time, I think popsicle sticks might be more ideal... especially the mixing part. You don't want to dip used toothpicks into the color and icing, so a knife works too and then just clean it between colors and transfers.

After the colors are mixed in, transfer them to piping bags fitted with no more than a #2 pipe tip (if you plan to write/draw).

Decorate away…

 

Happy VD! Don’t catch any…

Pigs in a Blanket

In the spirit of Superbowl Sunday, I've decided to make Pigs in a Blanket! Who am I kidding... I can care less about football. I tried making this a week ago, but the biscuit recipe I found didn't measure up. I did more searching and came across this one on All Recipes. I gave it a try today and added my own flare to it and boy did it pay off. This is definitely a keeper.

What you need:

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I only used 1/4 of salt and 1/2 tsp seasoning salt *See picture)
• 1 eggs
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tablespoon of finely chopped Rosemary, Thyme, and garlic (mix it well--the tbs is a combo of all three, not 1 tbs each)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• Softened butter for spreading (set aside, not used for mix)
• Your favorite shredded Cheese (I recommend Pepper Jack to give it a more prominent taste)
• Smokie Sausage links (I recommend Aidells' *see picture)
• An egg and tablespoon of milk (for brushing)

What you do:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. With a paddle attachment on your Kitchen Aid mixer, beat the butter until.
   
3. Stir in sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and add flour little by little until well combined. Beat until smooth. Scrape dough from side of bowl. (Switch to hook attachment). Knead dough, then cover it and let rise in a warm place until double (about 1-1/2 hours).
4. Punch down dough. Extract a small ball of dough and roll it out in a long oval. Cut into triangles. Spread/glisten softened butter on it. Place a sausage and cheese along the wide end and roll up the wedges starting with the wide end. Place rolls with point under on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until double (about 1 hour). (Since these are so small, I didn't see any difference whether you wait or not. I just didn't bake them until all was done and placed on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.) You can also do a "pillow" format but rolling and pinching dough surrounding sausage and totally enclose it.
   
5. Brushed the top of the finished ones with the egg and milk mixture. It makes it shiny and glossy once it's out of the oven.
6. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 12-15 minute or until golden brown. (Depending on your oven, use a lower temperature and less time if it starts to burn the bottom before the top turns golden).
7. Enjoy!
   

Seasoning salt I used

The sausages- These were from Costco.

Cream Puffs

Ingredients

• 1 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk
  
  
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs

Directions

1. Mix together vanilla instant pudding mix, cream and milk. Cover and refrigerate to set.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3. In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Let it sit and cool a bit.
   
4. Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Fill pastry bag and pipe onto parchment paper ( you can also just drop by tablespoonfuls).
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Centers should be dry.
   
6. Once out of the oven, remove them from the pan immediately (if you leave it on the sheets too long, the bottom will stick to it and you'll have a giant hole).
7. If it deflates after a while, puncture a hole in them w/ a toothpick on your new batch out of the oven.
   
8. When the shells are cool, either split and fill them with the pudding mixture, or use a pastry bag to pipe the pudding into the shells.

Apple Crisp

Ingredients

• 2 medium tart apples, peeled and sliced
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons walnuts (small pieces)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons cold butter
  

Directions

1. Place apples in greased small baking dish; sprinkle with water. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, oats, walnut and cinnamon. cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over apples. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until tender. Serve warm with ice cream.

Classic Fudge Brownies

The base of this recipe has been slightly modified from the original found on FoodNetwork.com.

Ingredients:
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into bits
3/4 cup sifted Self-Rising flour
1/2 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
Pinch salt
2 large eggs
1 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts


Butter an (8-inch square) aluminum baking pan (you can also line aluminum foil over the pan and butter it up as you're melting the butter. This way, you can reuse the baking pan) and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small heavy saucepan melt the chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring until the mixture is smooth, and let the mixture cool completely.

Into a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs. While still beating, add the sugar, a little at a time, and beat the mixture at high speed for 3 minutes, or until thick and pale.

Add in the chocolate mixture and the vanilla, and then add in the flour mixture, stirring until the mixture is blended well. Stir in the walnuts.

Pour the batter into the baking pan, smoothing the top.

Bake the brownies in the middle of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the brownie pulls away slightly from the sides of the pan, and a cake tester, inserted in the center, comes out with crumbs adhering to it. Let the brownies cool completely in the pan before cutting them into squares.


VARIATIONS:

Triple Chocolate Caramel Kettle Brownies



Pop some kettle popcorn and pick out the good kernels. Throw out any that are half-popped or un-popped. Once the brownies are done, take it out of the oven right away (while it's still hot) and start spreading and pushing the popcorn into the brownie.

Melt some caramel cubes in the microwave with a tsp of water. Once completely melted, Drizzle the caramel over the popcorn.

Melt some semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave (30 sec, stir, 30 sec, stir; repeat until completely melted). Pour it in a pastry bag and drizzle over caramel (opposite direction)

Melt some white chocolate chips using the same steps as above and drizzle over the semi-sweet in another direction.




Rocky Road Brownies



Sprinkle some sliced almonds over the brownies. Cut large marshmallows in half and line it over the almonds. Broil the brownies in the oven until the marshmallow melts over. BE CAREFUL! It will burn to a crisp if you leave it too long! Drizzle some semi-sweet chocolate over the marshmallow.


Aloha Brownies



If you're making this, do not add walnuts to the base. Before you bake the brownies, mix together coconut flakes and macademia nuts and spread it over the brownies and pad it into the mixture with a spatula. Once it's done baking, drizzle some white chocolate chips over the top.

Flan - Creme Caramel

This recipe was originally from a Creme Brulee book by Randolf Mann. As with all recipes, I've changed it a little to fit my taste. All the changes I've made are in italics.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup granulated sugar (plus 4 teaspoon for caramelizing)
1 cup half 'n' half
2 egg yolks
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
orange zest (about 1 tbs) (optional)
2 tbs white chips (optional)

You will need 4 deep, 4-ounce custard cups or ramekins. Sprinkle one teaspoon of sugar in the bottom of each ramekin and caramelize with a torch, moving the flame in slow spirals, until amber or dark amber beads form over the entire bottom surface. Set aside to cool. (You can also melt sugar over low heat using a saucer. If you like the essence of burnt sugar sweetness, add a pinch of brown sugar into the mix.)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and half 'n' half in a saucepan. Stir well while heating until almost to the boiling point. Add orange zest and the chocolate white chips. Stir until it's melted. Set aside to cool.

In another bowl, briskly stir the egg yolks, whole egg, vanilla and salt, without beating, until very liquid. Try not to create too many bubbles. Continue to stir briskly, add the cream mixture slowly in a thin stream until all is blended. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and fill the ramekins, taking care to pour gently. Place in a hot water bath and bake about 40 minutes (to an hour) until the centers are softly set. They should jiggle slightly. Remove the hot water bath from the oven and allow the custards to cool in the water for about 10 minutes. When comfortable enough to handle, cover the ramekins with wrap and chill in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. Unmold and serve.

Serves 4

*Unmolding tip for serving: Hold the bottom two-thirds of each ramekins in a bowl of hot tap for about a count of 20. Then, with a small paring knife, go around the edge of each custard. Turn the ramekins over in the center of the dessert plate. If the custard does not fall out, gently slip the paring knife along the side. This will release the vacuum and the custard will come out.


[L: The brown sugar experiement. R: Granulated sugar]