chow projects

I'm on a roll here.

I've made a few batches of different variations of what I had imagined to be the Perfect Non-Weed Brownies of All Time. The recipe I'm sharing here now is the product of that yummy research. By the way, my hyperthyroid keeps me from being a huge whale (I'm more like a little whale), so unless you're a gym junkie, or suffering from an overactive thyroid condition, I would not recommend that you conduct the same experiment.

So here goes.

Materials:
Unsweetened chocolate (5 onces, chopped up)
Unsalted butter (1 cup + extra for greasing)
Eggs (5 large ones or 4 extra large eggs)
Brown sugar (2 cups)
Plain white flour (2 cups + extra for dusting the baking pan)
Walnuts (1.5 cups, chopped, separated into 1 cup and .5 cup portions)

Tools:
Double boiler (or if you're McGuyver, a pot fitted with a mixing bowl resting on the rim)
Baking pan (a 9-inch square one or its equivalent, greased with butter and dusted with flour)
Whisk
Spatula
Mixing bowl  (or, plus one more if you're using the McGuyver double boiler)
Knife
Chopping board
Oven (pre-heated to 165 C or 325 F)

Method:

In the double boiler, melt the butter and the chocolate, stirring occasionally. When it's all melted and tempting, set it aside to cool.

Tip: Make sure that the water in the double boiler does not touch the bottom of the second pan where the chocolate and butter are.

In the mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and the sugar until it's fluffy. If you're using an electric mixer, do it on medium speed for about 10 minutes. Or, if you're using a regular whisk, do it for about 15 minutes (or until your arm gives out). Fold the chocolate / butter mixture into the egg / sugar mixture with a spatula. Then sift the flour into the mixture. Mix until well-blended (but don't over mix it, you don't want a tough brownie). Then mix in 1 cup of the chopped walnuts.

Pour into the prepared baking pan then sprinkle the top with the rest of the walnuts.

Bake for 45 minutes. The remove from the oven. While still in the pan, cut the brownie into your desired serving size. Then put it back into the oven for another 10 mins.

Cool the brownie. Brew a pot of black tea with milk, get a few servings of this little baby, then make yourself feel better about being alone at home on a Friday night.

It's been a while since I've updated this blog. I won't make excuses. Life simply took me elsewhere.

But I'm back, bearing the recipe for the best savoury muffins you will ever bake and taste. A c5 original that you can borrow, steal, modify and claim as your own. Or, if you're a friend, you can ask me to bake you a batch. JA requested a batch of these yummy babies for when we meet up on Saturday for lunch. The last time I baked this was around the time JA was finishing up his final paper for his MBA (in fact, I don't think that he would have successfully earned his degree without these muffins. But don't tell him that.) 4 years ago, I think. I had to look for my recipe notes for this one, and I'm posting it here so I can throw away those fairly dirty post-its.

So here goes:

Materials:
Chinese Sausage (4 links about 4.5 inches long, 2 inches in diameter, chopped into .5 cm pieces)
Sharp cheddar cheese (1 cup, grated)
Plain white flour (1.5 cup)
Yellow cornmeal (1 cup)
Baking powder (1 tablespoon)
Sugar (1 tablespoon)
Eggs (2 large ones)
Milk (1.5 cup)
About 2 tablespoons of oil
Unsalted butter for greasing

Tools:
Frying pan
2 mixing bowls
Sputala
Whisk
Cheese grater
Measuring spoons
Measuring cups
Sifter / a fine strainer
Muffin pans (greased with butter and then dusted with flour)
Oven (pre-heated to 200 c or 400F)

Procedure:

In a hot frying pan with oil, cook the chopped up bits of sausagefor about 5 minutes. Drain on kitchen towels and then set aside.

In one mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. In the other bowl, whisk the egg, sugar and milk together until well blended. Add the flour / cornmeal / salt to the egg / sugar / milk bowl, and mix until well-blended. Mix in the cooled bits of sausage and the grated cheese.

Pour the batter into the greased and dusted muffin pans (just 'til about the pans are 2/3 filled).

Bake for 15 - 20 mins, depending on the size of the muffins. It's ready when you insert a toothpick in the centre and it comes out clean. Then remove from the oven and cool for about 5 mins before you take the muffins out of the pans to cool completely.

This recipe will make about 16 medium-sized muffins.

And then you brew some green tea and then enjoy :-)

to my condo/apartment dwelling friends, i just discovered the magic of wood chips for indoor grilling. i bought a bag of hickory wood chips from the supermarket. i used around 1 cup, soaked it in water for 30 mins, and cooked it with my liempo. i used an ordinary teflon pan and covered it for the meat to absorb the smokey flavor. yum lasang inihaw na! serve with red egg salad and you'll feel like you're in beach house once again. =)

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Otherwise known as portable adobo. Adobo is the best food in the world. I can eat it everyday for a year (we have adobo at least three times a week).

Got raves about this dish from slapandpop (who had a taste of this from some other person). She was only able to provide me with the list of ingredients, so I had to wing the rest of this Chow Project.

Materials

chicken breasts (half a kilo; skinless, deboned and cubed)
pork  (half a kilo; skinless, deboned and cubed)
chicken liver (half a kilo -- make sure it's all liver and there's no apdo)
garlic  (one head; chopped)
red wine (about a cup)
vinegar (about 1 cup)
olive oil
soy sauce
all purpose cream (1 cup)
salt
pepper
sugar

Equipment

blender
a huge sauce pan (or wok)
chopping board and knives

Procedure

First, cook the adobo. Here, you can do your favourite adobo recipe, just keep the liquid to a minimum as the pate requires a dryer adobo. I like my adobo this way:
Sautee the garlic in olive oil for 30 secs, then add the chicken bits. Mix everything, making sure the chicken is well oiled, then pour vinegar. Don't mix the ingredients until the vinegar is bubbling, otherwise, the vinegar won't cook and the adobo will be uber sour.

Once the vinegar has boiled, add the pork. Pour the red wine on it. Allow to boil. Then add the chicken liver. Drizzle with soy sauce (depending on how dark you prefer your adobo; I use about 2 tablespoons). Allow the entire thing to simmer for about 5 minutes, then season with salt, pepper and sugar. Turn off the flame when the liver is cooked.

Tip:  Make the adobo saltier and spicier than usual. Most of the flavour will disappear once you start blending the adobo with cream.

Let the dish stand and cool for about 30 minutes. Your blender will appreciate it.

Separate the chicken liver from the rest of the meat. Blend the chicken liver until smooth. Pour into a bowl. Then blend the meat and the cream until well combined. In a bowl, mix the chicken liver smoothie and the blended meat.

Tip: If the adobo has too much liquid, separate the meat from the sauce before blending. Add the sauce as you blend to make sure that you don't end up with a water-y pate.

Serve with warm bread or crackers. Or make papak with your fingers!

I'm probably the only one who went to work today, everyone else is offline. So I'm posting my recipe in this blog (actually not mine, taken from the internet pala). Here it is, the experimental Japanese cheesecake served at last night's get together. Forgive any typo errors I am so bangenge.

I think this cheesecake is perfect for those who hate the red ribbon type blueberry cheesecake (they should call it blueberry cream cake as it has more cream in it), but find the new york type cheesecake too rich for their taste.


Ingredients:

7 oz cream cheese (1 pkg is about 8oz, so you can put the whole thing in for more flavor, or you can save the last 1 tablespoon for your pandesal)
1/4 cup milk (use fresh, evap will be too heavy)
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs, separated (tip: it's easier to separate the eggs while cold, but always use them at room temp)
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 Tablespoons lemon juice (i found this too sour so i might use less next time, but for those who thought the tartness was just right, 2 Tablespoons is about 1 lemon)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar


Equipment:
mixer
9" round pan (can use springform siguro)


Procedure:

Beat the cream cheese and milk.
Add 1/4 cup sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch and lemon juice. Use a mixer, you want your mixture to be fluffy. If you don't have a mixer, you can use a wire whisk and all your muscle power, pretend you're a mixer on medium setting, then whisk away.
Wash the beaters of your blender (or whisk), make sure it's oil free and squeaky clean. And then beat the eggwhites in a separate bowl until soft peaks form. I've never tried beating eggwhites by hand, so if you are doing this good luck and more power to you.
Add the cream of tartar. Beat again.
Add the sugar gradually and beat until stiff peaks form.
Fold the egg white into the cream cheese mixture. Be super gentle so the air bubbles won't pop and you'll have a nice fluffy cheesecake.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.
Put the cake pan on a large roasting pan filled halfway with water.
Bake for 10 mins at 350 degrees, then reduce the temperature to 300 degrees, bake for another 20-30 mins.
Check once in a while to make sure the top is not browning too fast. If it does, cover your pan with foil.
Do the toothpick test. When its done turn off the oven and leave your cake inside to cool. Leave the oven door ajar.
When cool spread your favorite glaze on top.
Put in a box and bring to weirdok get together.
Yay!

The best chow projects are those where you combine your favourite things to make something extraordinary. Maria and the Von Trapp Children had raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens as a few of their favourite things. Mine are shoes, books, chocolate and Permasmile. Since I can't very well eat my shoes and books, it's the combination of chocolate and Permasmile that I'm talking about here.

Of course, making Permasmile brownies has been done before (and I tell you, there's an endless array of recipes on the Net for this beeyutifool dish), but I wanted to cast my own spin on this classic -- and perhaps contribute to the body of knowledge relating to The Art of Cooking Weed.

So here it is.

Materials
butter (3/4 cup)
vegetable shortening (half a cup)
permasmile (at least 1 tablespoon, more, if you're me)
1/2 cup cream (divided into two portions)
flour (2 cups, sifted)
baking powder (1 teaspoon)
dark bakers chocolate (1 1/2 cup; coarsely chopped; divided into 1 cup and 1/2 cup portions)*
eggs (4 medium, if you buy from the grocery; or 5 native eggs)
raw sugar (2 cups)
milk (1/2 cup)
hazelnuts (1/2 cup, chopped; you can substitute with your favourite nut)
vanilla extract (a teaspoon)
almond extract (a teaspoon)
dried chili flakes (two pinches)
salt (2 pinches)
 
Tools
2 baking bowls
a sauce pan
wire whisk
a brownie dish (around 9 inches by 13 inches)
spatula
spoons
an oven
serated knife
chopping board
cheese cloth (about 12 inch x 12 inch in size)
bowls
double broiler (optional)

Procedure

First, you need to make your Permasmile Butter (this is the best way to incorporate this happy herb into your brownies -- it saves you from having to pick off stems and seeds from your brownie as you eat it). Here's how it's done:

Melt the butter in a double broiler or fill a saucepan with water and then place a metal bowl on top of the pan (make sure the bottom of the bowl does NOT touch the water). It's important that you do this over low heat. Once the butter is melted, add the Permasmile, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes to make sure the butter is fully infused with your happy herb. Stir constantly. Turn off the flame and whisk in 1/4 cup cream.

Place the cheese cloth on top of a bowl and pour the mixture on the cloth. Let the whole thing cool enough for handling. Once it's cool enough, gather the edges of the cheese cloth to form a pouch and squeeze the butter through it and onto the bowl.

You can store this butter in the fridge, and use it for happy omelettes and other happy dishes.

Tip: Use the greasy cheese cloth to grease your pan.

Now you're ready to make your Permasmile Brownie.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C.

Using the same contraption where you made your Permasmile Butter, melt the 1 cup chocolate, 1/2 cup Permasmile butter (the remaining 1/4 cup will be used later), vegetable shortening into one smooth mixture. Set aside.

In another bowl, stir the flour, salt and baking powder. Make sure all the dry ingredients are mixed well. Set aside.

In yet another bowl, mix the eggs and the sugar to make a gooey mixture. Add vanilla extract. Then add the cooled chocolate mixture. The incorporate the dry ingredients into it. Make sure everything is blended well. Then add in the hazelnuts.

Spoon the batter into the greased baking dish, and bake the thing for 20 minutes in the oven (again @ 160 degrees C). 

Using a double broiler or the bowl on a saucepan contraption, melt the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate, 1/4 cup Permasmile butter and 1/4 cup cream. Add in almond essence, the chili flakes and another pinch of salt. As soon as chocolate has melted, add the milk. Then turn off the flame. Whisk the mixture for about five minutes immediately after you remove it from the flame. Spread this thing evenly on top of the cooked brownie.

Now you can eat and be merry.

*The best way to cut up a bar of chocolate is to take a serated knife and saw it across your chocolate bar. It's much less messy than trying to cut chocolate the way you would butter.

Bonus: It's highly possible that you will get seriously high as you make this dish. So I suggest you measure everything in before you start. That will keep you from substituting the measurements for salt with that of the sugar. Wasting weed is not a happy thing.

Another thing I prepared for the Weirdok Xmas Party was a beef dish prepared a la Shepherd's pie. It was supposed to have been prepared with lengua to go with the Spanish theme but the date for the party was settled way too close to the actual party so I and e1camino did not have enough time to go and find lengua for that evening. So I had to make do with sirloin tips.

Materials
sirloin tips (1 kilo)
potatoes (1 kilo, boiled and mashed)
portabello mushrooms (1/2 kilo)
white button mushrooms (1/2 kilo)
shitake mushrooms (1/2 kilo)
butter (1/2 bar)
olive oil
onions (2 white, minced)
red wine (1/2 cup)
all purpose cream (1 can)
white cheese (could be feta, could be the carabao cheese you can get at the salcedo market on Saturdays; cut into strips)
salt and pepper

Tools
baking dish
knife and cutting board
pans
oven

Procedure
Peel, season and boil the potatoes. Then make mashed potatoes out of them. Set aside.

Melt butter in a bit of olive oil, then sweat the onions in in until they're clear. Add the mushrooms. When the mushrooms have wilted a bit, add the sirloin tips. Pour red wine over the beef, lower the heat and allow to simmer until the wine is all bubbly. Mix in the cream. Season with salt and pepper. Then turn off the heat.

Pour the beef thingie into the baking dish, then cover it with the mashed potatoes. Place the strips of white cheese artfully on top of the potatoes.

Bake the pie in a 200 degree C. oven for 30 minutes. Allow to set for about 15 minutes before serving.

I made lasagna for Media Noche upon Cirio and Ate's request. Instead of cooking it the way Velma used to (with minced vegetable replacing half of the ground meat), I decided to go all Old Skool on them and prepare something a bit more traditional: An (Almost) All Meat, High Calorie Lasagna. After all, the year turns only once a year and who cares about calories when something special like that is happening?

Materials
lasagna sheets
ground beef (1/2 kilo)
ground pork (1/2 kilo)
shitake mushrooms (1/2 kilo, sliced)
tomatoes (4 cups, stewed, peeled, minced)
mozorella (grated)
parmesan (grated)
onions (1 white, 1 red, minced)
garlic (1 head, minced)
fresh oregano leaves (about 1 cup, minced)
butter (half a bar)
all purpose flour (1 cup)
milk (2 cups)
all purpose cream (1 box)
red wine (about 1 cup)
salt and pepper

Tools
rectangular baking dish (or a lasagna pan)
foil
oven
pots and pans
knife and cutting board

Procedure
Cook the lasagna sheets until al dente and then set aside. Move on to making the meat suace.

Sautee the onions and the garlic in olive oil. Add mushrooms, and when they're all soft, add the ground beef and pork. Add the tomatoes, cover the pan and then let simmer for about 10 minutes. Lower the heat and pour red wine (umm. take off the lid first). Leave the thing un-touched and cooking in low heat for about 15 minutes, or until the wine begins to bubble. Then allow to simmer for another 15 minutes while constantly stirring. Add fresh oregano and season with salt and pepper. Once the meat is cooked, set aside and then move on to making the bechamel sauce.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over low flame. Sift the flour, then add it in increments to the melted butter. Stir constantly. The flour and butter mixture should reach the consistency of kiddie paste. Add the milk in increments, constantly stirring and making sure that the milk and the flour/butter thingie are integrating well. Once it has reached the consistency of white glue, add the cream, then turn off the heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Line the lasagna dish with butter. Lay the first layer of lasagna sheets on the dish. Pour a layer of meat sauce to cover the lasagna sheets. Then pour a layer of bechamel sauce to cover the meat sauce. Sprinkle mozzorella. Then do the whole lasagna sheet > meat sauce > bechamel sauce > mozzorella layering until you reach the top of the dish. The layering thingie should end with mozzorella on top. Cover the dish with foil.

Pre-heat the oven @ 150 degrees C., then bake the lasagna for 1 hour. Take the foil off then sprinkle parmesan on top, then bake the entire thing @ 200 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Allow the lasagna to rest for about 15 minutes before cutting it up and serving it.

The 2005 Weirdok Xmas Party was a blast. Too bad Marby and Big Boy couldn't join us that evening. But it was pretty good to catch up with Jiggy -- finally!

To be honest, one of the reasons why I was soooo looking forward to that party (or any party hosted at my place, for that matter) is because it was an opportunity to flex a bit fo culinary muscles for an audience (read: guinea pigs haha) with huge appetites. Way, way before the party was being planned, I had already made up my mind to make traditional paella because (1) the paellera was being a complete Waste of Space in the kitchen cupboard, (2) paella is one of my favourite things, and (3) I wanted to make the Xmas party food extra special this year.

So here it is, my No Cheat Paella. Thus named because there no shortcuts were taken, and no flavour extenders (i.e., canned tomato sauce, MSG) were used.

Materials
arborio rice (about 4 cups)
chicken thighs (half kilo)
prawns (half kilo, peeled and de-veined)
Chorizo Del Rey (sliced)
Chorizo Pamplona (sliced)
Chorizo Bilbao (sliced)
tomatoes (3 cups, stewed and peeled, then minced)
saffron (half a packet)
olive oil
green peas (about a cup)
onions (1 white, 1 red, minced)
garlic (five cloves, minced)
lime wedges (two limes)
Spanish paprika (dry)
cumin (ground)
cayenne pepper (dry)
salt and pepper
water (8 cups)

Tools
paellera (15-inch, seasoned with vegetable oil)
knife and cutting board
bowl to marinate chicken in

Procedure
Season the chicken thighs with Spanish Paprika, cumin, cayenne and ground pepper, making sure that all chicken pieces have been covered with the dry rub, and then marinate them in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Heat olive oil in the paellera then brown the chicken. Set aside when the chicken pieces are half-cooked.

Sautee the chorizos in the same oil you used for the chicken. Once the oil turns a nice golden red colour (or if the oil begins to assume the colour of the chorizos), take the chorizos out and set aside.

Sweat the onions in the chorizo-flavoured oil, until the onions are clear. Add the minced garlic and tomatoes. Add the saffron. Mix everything together until the stuff turns into one congealed, oily mess. Add more olive oil if the mixture becomes too thick.

Add the rice and mix it with the tomato-garlic-onion-olive oil, making sure that the rice is well-coated. Even out the distribution of the rice throughout the paellera, then pour the first four cups of water to cover the rice.

Once the water starts to bubble, place the half-cooked chicken pieces on the rice. Distribute the chorizos as well. Tuck the chicken and chorizos in the rice. Pour the next two cups of water over everything.

At this point, it is important to watch out for inconsistencies in how the paellera is being heated. Observe if there are sections of the paellera that are not cooking at the same rate at the rest. You will need to watch the rice carefully for this. Sections that are not getting too much heat will have rice that's not fully cooked, and the sections that are getting too much heat will dry out quicker. Move the paellera around the burner to distribute the heat more evenly. If a section becomes too dry but the rice remains half-cooked, pour a bit of water on that section.

Once the water is bubbling evenly over everything, tuck the prawns in the rice, distributing the pieces evenly througout the paellera. Once the prawns turn orange, add the green peas. Cook for another two minutes then turn the heat off.

If you want to have that nice crunchy section in the bottom of your paella, turn the fire on high heat for about 1 minute before turning off the heat. You'll know you're getting the crunchy stuff when you begin to smell burnt rice. You'll also know that you should turn off the heat by then.

Place lime (or lemon) wedges on the paella before serving.

Note: Cooking paella takes major practice. I've cooked paella a few times already and everytime feels like I'm doing it for the first time. Makes me feel all Like a Virgin all the time -- which is why cooking paella is so much fun!

Anything in sweet and sour sauce generally don't hold any appeal to me. This is the one dish I'd probably never order in any Chinese restaurant because to me, Sweet and Sour anything is a cop-out. And corny.

So when Cirio wanted to serve sweet and sour pork for his birthday dinner with friends last Saturday, my reaction was less than enthusiastic. But it was his birthday dinner and he would get whatever it is that he wanted. So after a few hours of reconciling myself with the idea of cooking such a cop-out dish, I set out to prepare a sweet and sour pork dish that kicked ass. Honest. It was so good, it gave me hope for all other sweet and sour incarnations.

Materials
pork (the ones for pork chop but cut into bite-sized pieces; about 1 kilo)
tomato sauce
honey
gin
carrots  (a big one, cut into discs)
ginger (cut into discs)
onions (finely chopped)
garlic (finely chopped)
bell peppers (finely chopped)
vegetable oil (a LOT)
sesame oil
cornstarch
lemon juice
salt and pepper

Tools
a deep fryer (or a deep pan)
a wok
knives and cutting board

Procedure
Marinate the pork in lemon juice, salt and pepper for at least one hour. Heat about a litre of vegetable oil in a deep pan. Heavily dredge the pork with cornstarch then throw it into the pot of boiling oil (otherwise known as deep frying heh).

Tip: When deep-frying anything, the best way to know if that thing is cooked is to wait for it to float to the surface of the oil and the bubbles around it to kind of die down. When that happens, that thing needs to be taken out of the oil.

Set the deep-fried pork aside (you might want to drain excess oil by putting the pork on kitchen towels).

Sautee the onions, garlic and ginger in about a tablespoon of oil. Mix the tomato sauce and honey, then pour the mixture into the sautee pan. Place the deep fried pork back into the sauce, pour some gin over it and then lower the heat. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes or until the gin begins to bubble. Then mix in the carrots and the bell peppers. Wait two more minutes, then turn off the heat. Drizzle with sesame oil before serving.

Served this at the last Weirdok dinner as well.

Materials
pork sausage (about .5 k, get the semi-sweet kind, roughly chopped up)
portabello mushrooms (about .25 k, cut into bite-sized pieces)
white button mushrooms (about .25 k, cut in halves)
oyster mushrooms (about .25 k, cut into bite-sized pieces)
angel hair pasta (1 kilo, cooked al dente)
olive oil
garlic (peeled, chopped, lots)
gin (half a cup)
dried basil
cream (about 1 1/2 cups)
salt and pepper

Tools
Pasta cooker
pan
knife and cutting board

Procedure
Sautee the sausage in olive oil, then remove from the pan and set aside. It will take about 10 minutes to cook the sausage.

With the same oil, sautee the garlic until golden brown, add the portabello mushrooms and the oyster mushrooms.

Cover the pan for about five minutes, then add the button mushrooms (man, remove the cover first, ok?). Cook for about five minutes.

Then lower the heat and pour gin. Cover and let simmer for another five minutes.

Add the sausage again. Then pour the cream and mix it in. Add the dried basil. Then simmer for another five minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

Top the cooked pasta with the sauce and serve.

I am a sucker for requests. fairlycloudy demands the recipe for the Peanut Dip I served last Friday and so it shall be hers.

Materials
peanuts (I use 1 bag of garlic-roasted peanuts + 1 bag of plain roasted peanuts)
water
chili oil
lemon juice
salt and pepper

Tools
blender
mixing bowl
pan

Procedure
Pour the peanuts into a pan then pour enough water and some lemon juice (just a splash) to cover the nuts. Soak for at least an hour (3 hours would be best).

Cook the peanuts and water in low heat until the peanuts turn a bit transluscent. Turn of the heat then allow to cool.

Drain the peanuts, but set the water aside. Blend the peanuts, adding the broth slowly until its well-blended. Place the mixture back into the pan and heat it slowly, adding chili oil, salt and pepper.

You can use this thing as salad dressing or as base for other dishes. Or you can steam veggies, open a few bags of chips, and serve it as dip.

So Friday evening, I managed to get some of my friends to come over and help me pack my stuff. Of course, food was the only bribery I could afford and they would take to get their butts over to my place and fold my clothes. I was planning a full-on Bulgarian-inspired dinner, but my life had other plans and I ended up at 5pm with a fridge-full of stuff but nothing marinating.

Kitchen Cheat #4: Stock up on Chili Flakes in Oil. It's the easiest way to jazz up what would otherwise be a bland meal.

So on to the Friday night's pasta dish: Chili Chicken

Materials
chicken (about a kilo, chopped; if you're feeling the need to work, deboned)
garlic (2 cloves, peeled, chopped)
tequila
pickled peppers (sliced)
cottage cheese (luckily, I bought a tub from Bulgaria)
spicy tuyo flakes
peanut oil
chili flakes in oil (I buy the Lee Kum Kee one)

Tools
Sautee pan
Pasta cooker

Procedure
Heat the peanut oil, saute garlic in it. Then add the chicken just before the garlic browns. Add the chili flakes in oil. Let the chicken brown for a bit, then lower the heat, pour about a cup of tequila then leave it. (Note: Do NOT stir vinegar or alcohol before it has come to a full boil. Otherwise, it won't cook and the dish would be nastily sour!).

Boil water. Add salt and some oil. Cook the pasta.

Once the pasta is cooked, while it's hot, crumble cottage cheese on it, and add the pickled peppers and some tuyo flakes. Toss. Then put it in the serving dish.

Back to the chicken. If the chicken is super cooked, take it out. You'll find that there are dregs left in the bottom of your pan. Lower the heat some more then pour about half a cup of tequila. Let it boil. Once it's boiling, scrape the sautee pan, and mix the dregs with the tequilla. When that's all done, top the pasta with the sauce.

Top the pasta with the chicken pieces then serve.

I love grilled cheese sandwiches. To me, they're instant food -- best for when I'm hungry and need food quick. I've been experimenting with grilled cheese sandwiches for quite sometime now (combining different kinds of cheese and types of bread).

Materials
Gruyere or the Strong Bitey Bega Cheese (sliced)
Cream Cheese (the Magnolia one is really not as good as the Phillidelphia brand)
Chili flakes in sesame oil
Bread (any kind, I've tried this with wheat bread, oat bread, rye bread and white bread and it tastes great with any kind of bread)

Tools
Oven Toaster (or oven grill)
Knife + chopping board

Procedure
Slather cream cheese on one side of a slice of bread. Drizzle the cream cheese with chili flakes in  sesame oil. Place the gruyere slices on top, then place the other slice of bread on top of it. (Man, if you don't know how to make a sandwich, you need to go to the nearest grocery store and get yourself some common sense!)

Place in the oven toaster and toast for 4 minutes. Once that's done, slice the sandwich diagonally (I'm obsessive about slicing sandwiches diagonally, I don't know why). Enjoy!

One more tofu dish.

Materials
Shitake mushrooms (1/2 kilo)
Tofu (2 blocks, chopped)
garlic (1 head, peeled, chopped)
honey (about three table spoons)
soy oil
sesame oil
sesame seeds
salt and pepper

Tools
Frying pan or wok
knives + chopping board

Procedure
Heat the soy oil. Fry the tofu chunks until crispy. Set aside. Sautee the garlic in the same oil. Add the shitake. After about two minutes, place the tofu back into the wok and mix with the garlic. Let it stay there until the tofu gets soggy with the shitake's juice. Mix the honey in. Season with salt and pepper. Turn the flame off then drizzle a bit of sesame oil. Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.

Note: This also works well with a combination of shitake and white button mushrooms. Avoid oyster mushrooms in this dish because they don't play nice with other shrooms...

A tip I got from fullview about mushrooms: They lower people's energy levels, so before doing anything with them, soak them for about 30 minutes in lemon juice and water (3 parts lemon juice, 1 part h2o). That's supposed to counter the energy-sapping effects of mushrooms. Of course, this goes against every culinary school's instructions on how best to handle mushrooms prior to cooking: Keep them away from water! But I've tried the lemon / water soaking thing and it made the shrooms taste much better, so I recommend doing that if you have the time, energy and lemons.

Lengkot asked for a Tofu Dish, so here goes.

Materials
Tofu (about four blocks)
Kang Kong leaves (or any green leafy vegetable)
Tomatoes (chopped)
garlic (1/2 head, peeled, chopped)
honey (half a cup)
soy sauce (half a cup)
soy oil
sesame oil
lemon juice
salt and pepper

Tools
Mixing bowl
Strainer
Boiling Pot
kitchen paper towels
knives + chopping board

Procedure
In a mixing bowl, dunk the soy sauce, garlic and honey. Mix with a spoon. In a square pan, place the tofu blocks, then pour the mixture on it. Make sure there is enough of the soy-honey sauce to cover the tofu blocks. Place on the fridge and leave it there for at least 30 minutes (2 hours is over kill).

Take the tofu blocks off the marinade and place them on kitchen paper towels. Cover the tops with more paper towels, and then place something heavy on top of it. Not your stove or your tv! Something lighter, like a recipe book (make sure it's clean though) or a heavy bowl. The point is to squeeze excess marinade from the tofu blocks. Leave it there for about 10 minutes.

Heat the soy oil and fry the tofu until they're crispy on the outside. Some people like to fry their tofu blocks whole then chop them up so they get more soft parts. Personally, I like cutting them into chunks then frying them so there'd be more crispy parts. Once that's done, set it aside.

Boil a pot of water. Place the kang kong leaves in the strainer (collander) and pour the boiling water on it. Once it turns a deep green, put it under cold tap water. Shake off excess water and then dunk the leaves in a salad bowl together with the tofu and the tomatoes.

Toss everything with lemon juice and sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Note: You can add sesame seeds or grated parmesan before serving. You can also add cottage cheese, if you want to up the comfort-food level of this healthy dish.

OK last for the evening. Hopefully, this will be enough for Kramos to prepare a great meal for Lengkot and their Weirdokis Apprentice.

Materials
chicken (1.2 k, deboned, chunked)
garlic (1/2 head, peeled and chopped)
salad greens (personally partial to the Arugula salad mix available at the Rustan's grocery)
mandarin oranges (6 pieces, peeled, pitted, de-veined)
soju (half a cup, from some Korean grocery in Japan)
Dijon mustard (roughly two tablespoons)
sesame oil (roughly half a cup)
cane vinegar (about a cup)
honey (roughly 1/4 cup)
salt and pepper
canola oil
sesame seeds

Tools
a small jar with a wide mouth and a lid
salad bowl
knives + chopping board
a medium sauce pan

Procedure
Chicken first. Dunk the chicken chunks in hot canola oil, followed by garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for about 3 minutes. Then put the heat on very low and douse it with soju. Let it cook on low heat for a long time, until the chicken is well-cooked. Set aside and let cool once that's done.

Then the dressing. In the small jar, put the Dijon mustard, sesame oil, cane vinegar, and honey in. Close the lid. Turn on your radio and shake the jar in time with the music until everything is all well blended.

Open the arugula mix package. Tear up the greens into bite-sized pieces. Put the chicken (+ the sauce it cooked in) and the oranges. Pour the dressing around the salad. Season with salt and pepper. Place in the fridge. Allow maybe about 30 minutes before serving. Pepper the salad with sesame seed before serving.

Note: I think this salad would also work well with a bit of chopped, roasted peanuts. But I hesitate to put nuts in anything because a lot of people are allergic to them. Don't want any medical emergencies at my dinner table.

Finally conquered my fear of baked desserts. Of cheesecakes, in particular. Last Sunday, I baked cheesecake and it was good. Well, according to my brother, my sister and my tastebuds.

It was not as hard as I thought it would be. Now that I've got the basic cheesecake conquered, I can play with cheesecake. But for now, the Basic Baked Cheesecake:

Materials
Crust
crushed graham crackers (1 cup)
butter (about 1/8 of a bar of butter)
cinnamon (a pinch)

Cheesecake
cream cheese (softened, 8 oz.)
eggs (2)
condensed milk (1 cup)
heavy cream (2 cups)
lemon rind (grated)

Tools
6" x 3" springform pan
Mixer (or an egg beater)
Mixing bowl
Oven (or convection oven)

Procedure
First, the crust. Mix the crust materials in a bowl. Use a fork. You know you're done when the mixture feels like sticky brown sugar. Place everything (except the bowl and the fork) at the bottom of the springform pan (man, if I need to tell you to make sure that the bottom of the pan should be there and the spring contraption is locked, stay the hell away from the kitchen forever!). With a spoon, pack the graham mixture. The best way to do this is from the centre to the sides of the pan. Put this in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Then, the cheesecake itself. First, split the heavy cream into two cups. Place on cup in the fridge, you'll need that later. Then dunk everything with the other cup of heavy cream in the mixing bowl then mix until smooth. Pour the cheesecake batter into the springform pan.

Pre-heat the oven at 200 degrees celsius. Bake the cake for 25 minutes. Leave it in the oven for another 30 minutes after the oven has been turned off. Leave the cake to cool for another hour outside the oven. Don't panic when the middle of the cake deflates. That's cool.

Pour the remaining heavy cream on top of the cake then place the cake in the fridge for at least 5 hours (8 hours is best).

To serve, unlock the spring contraption and lift the cake out of the pan. Cut and serve.

Mention the word tapenade in some circles and you're elivated to hoity-toity status (in some circles, that's actually a good thing, but those circles are not really worth it; they'd soon relegate you to eew level as soon as you sing the first lines to Aegis' Basa). In any case, tapenade is a loaded word. Perhaps it's because it conjures images of dining in an outdoor cafe in the South of France. Or perhaps it's simply because people don't know what it is.

Tapenade, basically are anchovies, olives and capers puree'd in olive oil. And it's super easy to make. I have my own version that I keep handy in the fridge for quick snacks and salads.

Materials
black olives (1 can, pitted)
green olives (1 can, pitted)
capers (1 small bottle, or 1/4 of the amount of olives)
garlic (1 head, roasted)
olive oil
pepper
salt

Tools
Blender
Broiler for the roasted garlic
Nice jar for storing in the fridge

Procedure
Dump everything in the blender. Add the olive oil in increments until everything is well incorporated with each other. But you're not aiming for smoothness here. It has to be a rough paste.

That's it. Non-pretentious Black and Green Tapenade.