Pan de Coco

I was craving for some Pan de coco. And I still have left over grated coconut from cooking kutsinta quite a while back, sitting in the freezer, and I wanted so much to use it. So I searched on the internet for a good recipe. Luckily, I found this recipe and luckily, it is quite good too. At least in my humble opinion. What I like about this dough recipe is there's no Kneading. Yup, NO KNEADING.

I tweaked the recipe a bit, but not too much. As they say, if it's not broken, don't fix it. It just that from experience, I need more yeast than what it says in the recipe. And less sugar, without compromising the taste of the pan de coco.

And I must say, the result was very very good. I made some pan de coco, the way it was written in the recipe, but I also made some traditional round ones. I dunno if that's traditional, but that's the way I've known them since childhood.

Dough:

1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
2 tbsp instant dried yeast
1 1/2 tbsp salt
4 eggs, beaten lightly
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup butter, melted
7 cups all purpose flour
egg wash

1. Mix yeast, salt, eggs, honey and butter with the water in a bowl.
2. Add the flour and mix without kneading. Use a wooden spoon or wet hands.
3. When thoroughly mix, cover the bowl with cling wrap or tea towel and allow to rest at room temperature until dough double in size. I put mine on top of the oven, switch the oven 100 C and rest the bowl on top of the oven.
4. This dough is heaps. As in lots, plentiful. I was able to make 1 bread and lots of pan de coco. Apparently, the dough freezes well. Only use half of the dough for the pan de coco, and either freeze the rest of the dough or make this bread from the same cook of the pan de coco.

Coconut Filling:

2 cups unsweetened grated coconut
1/2 cup sugar (I used raw brown sugar)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup water

Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan, simmer in medium heat until all the liquid si absorbed. Set aside to cool.


Directions:

1. Dust the half the dough with flour and roll into a ball. Let rest for 10 minutes. Divide into two smaller balls.
2. Take one dough and roll out into a rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick. Spread the coconut filling in the centre of the rectangle, leaving about 1/2 inch on all sides. Roll lengthwise and seal seams and ends. Now you have a long log. Divide it equally using a sharp knife in the desired size you prefer.
3. Alternatively, make the round, traditional pan de coco. Take a small amount of dough, the size of a golf ball. Roll it and flatten it. Put the filling in the middle. Then, gather the edges of the dough and pinch it towards the middle. Shape into a ball again, and lay it on the baking tray, seams down.
4. Place in a non stick tray about an inch apart. Cover with a tea towel and put it in a warm place until doubled in size. Again, I put mine on top of the oven.
5. Preheat oven to 190 C.
6. Remove the towel, brush the top of the pan de coco with egg wash.
7. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in a wire rack.

Prawn Curry

I harvested few beans, mexican chilis and even fewer cherry tomatoes the other day. So I decided to cook them. I just love fresh produce from the garden. So I quickly had a look in the freezer, and luckily I found some prawns there. So, prawn curry for me then.

I love my prawns. This is a very simple curry. Very few ingredients. The simpler to cook the food is, the tastier it is, I think. Of course you can substitute any vegetable. Whatever you have handy in your refrigerator.

And this is the result of my simple Prawn Curry. And it was yummy, even if I say so myself ;-)

Ingredients:



2-3 tbsp of cooking oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, mince finely
1 1/2 tsp of curry powder
1 -2 tsp of fish sauce
handful of beans, top and tailed, sliced diagonally
1 mexican chili, juliene (or capsicum)
100 g of prawns, deveined and shelled
1/4 cup light coconut milk/cream



Directions:

1. Heat oil in a wok.
2. Saute the garlic in the oil, stir until light brown.
3. Add the onions, cook until transluscent.
4. Add the curry powder.
5. Stir in the beans and the chili.
6. When the beans are half-cooked, add the prawns and mix thoroughly.
7. Season with fish sauce.
8. Add the coconut milk and let it simmer for a minute or so.
9. Serve with steamed rice.
   
   
   

Bean Salad

We had a barbeque yesterday in a 38 C weather. We didn't know it's going to be that hot when we planned the BBQ, but hey, what can we do? I thought a very refreshing salad to go with a BBQ is a Bean salad, and this recipe was a big help.

I made some hamburgers and chicken satay. I took a picture when I started cooking them, but we were so hungry so I forgot to take a picture when they were already cooked. Hence, they still look raw in these pictures :D

As mentioned on this original recipe, the sugar in the dressing is important. I tend to agree, the sugar makes the dressing. It just so happened that our friend (who came to the BBQ) made the same salad. See, great minds think alike. I don't think she put sugar in her dressing, because it's a tad vinegarry (if that's a word). And of course, my boys said, mine tasted better. They better say that, because I am the one feeding them, otherwise there's a possibility they won't get fed anymore. ;D I added cherry tomatoes on this salad because I happened to harvest some from the garden.

Ingredients:

2 cans 400 g butter beans

2 cans 400 g 4 mix beans

2 cans 400 g red kidney beans

2 stalks of celery, sliced thinly and diagonally

a handful of flat leaf parsley

2 small onions, sliced thinly (I used white onions, but you can use red onions too)

a handful of cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)

For the dressing:

1/3 cup cherry vinegar (or use balsamic)

1/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Drain and rinse the beans thoroughly under running cold water.
2. In a large bowl, mix the beans, celery, cherry tomatoes and parsley.
3. In a separate bowl, mix and whisk thoroughly the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
4. Toss the dressing into the Bean Salad.
5. Chill the Bean salad for at least an hour (or longer if you have time) for the beans to soak up the flavour of the dressing.
   
   
   

Bagoong Fried Rice

Apparently this is very popular now in the Philippines. It's always on the menu and it's now an alternative choice from the normal fried rice. It wasn't that popular when I was still in the Philippines, but then again that was quite a while back.

So I googled it, that's how I found out it's very popular now in restaurants.

I think the secret of this recipe is to use pre-cooked bagoong already. One can easily buy pre-cooked bagoong now a days. I like to cook the bagoong myself because I like it a little more spicier than the next person. So, this is how I cooked my version of Bagoong Fried Rice.


Ingredients:

3 tbsp cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, minced finely
1 large onion (2 medium), chopped finely
1 small chili, chopped finely (optional)
Left over pork adobo (3 -4 tbsp) or 50 g of chopped fresh pork
2 tbsp of pre-cooked (ginisa) bagoong
2 cups cooked rice, mashed


Directions:

1. Heat cooking oil in a wok.
2. Add the garlic, cook until lightly brown.
3. Add the onions and cook until transluscent.
4. Add the fresh pork, if using. Stir until pork is cook.
5. Add the chili, if using the left over adobo, add it now.
6. Stir for a minute, then add the bagoong.
7. Mix well then add the mashed rice.
8. Mix thoroughly. Keep stirring until the rice is warm thoroughly.
9. Serve it with thinly sliced green mango.

Since I didn't have green mango, I served mine with slices of tomatoes, cucumber and sliced fried eggs on the side. Remember, you might like yours a bit saltier, so if you think there's not enough bagoong taste, don't be afraid to experiment, especially if you are not using left over adobo. Enjoy.

Verdict: It was actually very yummy. It was a meal in itself. It's like eating fried rice, but a lot simpler to cook. Not too many ingredients.

Pichi-Pichi or Cassava Kutsinta

Pichi-pichi is a very nice name for a dessert, isn't it? It's only now that I'm in Australia that I got acquainted with pichi-pichi. I know it as cassava kutsinta.

This recipe inspired me to make pichi-pichi today. Oh, and my sister Lhie (she lives in Sydney). She was going to make some and I said, I will make some as well so that we will have pichi-pichi together. She was the one who found the pichi-pichi recipe on the net and very kindly shared the link with me. Just looking at the recipe, I thought it would be very sweet for my taste buds so I did a bit of tweaking. And I used the ingredients that's available in our area. At the moment we are into pandan, so i made the one with the pandan flavoured. Lucky I still have some pandan essence from the supplies my sister brought over from Sydney, and also some I bought from Melbourne.

You might like to check this recipe, if you don't want to make pandan flavoured pichi-pichi.

Ingredients:

450 g of frozen grated cassava

1/2 cup of white sugar

1 1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp lye water

1/2 tsp pandan essence

dessicated coconut or freshly grated coconut

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, mix cassava, water and sugar thoroughly.
2. Add the lye water and continue mixing.
3. Add the pandan essence, and yes, continue mixing.
4. Fill the moulds 3/4 full with the mixture.
5. Steam between 25 to 45 minutes.
6. Cool before removing from the moulds. Run a knife on the side of the moulds to remove them.
7. Roll the pichi-pichi onto the grated coconut. I used dessicated coconut as we rarely see fresh coconut in our supermarket here.

Kutsinta - Pandan flavoured

I always loved kutsinta. In the Philippines, these delicacies were being sold with puto. They're favourite merienda/snack during mid-mornings or mid-afternoons. A person is roaming the streets with bilao on her head and shouting putoooooooo kutsintaaaaa. They are very tasty and they're very handy to buy as well because they're basically being sold on your doorstep. I wonder if they are still being sold that way? Those were the good old days.

Whenever there's some kutsinta at a party, I always attack them first. I was told they're very easy to cook, but I have always dreaded cooking/baking them. That was until I visited my friend Jing in Melbourne. She showed me how to cook them, and her recipe is the best I have tasted. So, I'm happy to share (with her permission, of course) it with you. And she very kindly gave me the moulds as well. Good to have a friend like Jing.

The only thing I have changed is using pandan essence, instead of the usual anato/achuete water. I cooked some with anato water, but my family and I prefer the pandan flavoured kutsinta. This recipe gave me the idea to cook pandan flavoured kutsinta.


Ingredients:

3 ½ cups water
¾ cup white sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 cup tapioca flour
½ tbsp lye water
1 tsp of pandan essence or Achuete/annatto water (mix 1 tsp of achuete powder to 4 tbsp of water)
Grated fresh coconut or Desiccated coconut


Directions:

1. Bring water and sugar to a gentle simmer until sugar dissolves. Let cool.
2. Add to flour, mix thoroughly.
3. Add lye water and mix well.
4. Add the achuete water or the pandan essence if you are using that.
5. Fill moulds ¾ full with the mixture.
6. Steam for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Cool before removing from the moulds. Run a knife on the side of the moulds to remove them. Make sure that they are very very cold before you remove them from the mould. I was very excited to try some, and ended up ruining it, but still very tasty.
8. Serve with grated coconut.
   

Beef Hamburger

Don't know what to eat for dinner? Craving one of those burgers? Well, crave no more. This recipe is so easy and so simple to make, you won't want to buy one of those burgers anymore, well maybe once in a while, you can buy some. LOL. But if you make your very own burgers, at least you know what you're putting there. This is how I make this simple recipe. This recipe is not concrete, you can add more ingredients or you can even omit some. It's up to you. This is just a guideline. Enjoy.







Ingredients:

1 kilo minced beef
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 tsp of garlic powder or dried minced garlic or freshly minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
3 eggs
Cooking oil for frying


Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly, except the cooking oil.
2. Shape them into hamburger patties as big or as small as you like.
3. Fry them or bbq them as you desire. I fried them first, then put them under the grill.
4. Serve them the way you like it. In a bun with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, mushroom with mustard, mayonaise and tomato sauce, on a plate or even eat them with rice. Sky is the limit.