From old to new ~ Bread Pudding

If you have a family with finicky eaters like mine, you will end up with a lot of bread. I mean bread trimmings. My hubby and youngest son don't like the edges of sliced bread. So, they slice them off and just eat the white part of the bread. Well, me and Bottomless Pit (eldest son) don't care and eat the whole thing.

What I do with the bread trimmings is that I gather them in a resealable plastic bag and stuff them in my freezer. When I see that the bag has morphed into two bags of bread trimmings (along with old bread), I take all of the bread and dump it in a large mixing bowl. Let's say, it'll be about 10-12 cups of bread. Add some eggs, sugar, sliced fruit, milk, etc. and you'll find that old, unwanted bread becomes yummy, delicious snack/dessert called bread pudding.




Here's my own recipe: Bread Pudding




Ingredients:

10-12 cups of bread (or two loaves of old bread)
1 liter of milk (or 2-3 cups of milk)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk
2-3 cups of diced fruit (choose firm, crunchy fruit like pears, apples, or even pineapples)
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cinammon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two cake pans and set them aside.

2. Take your old bread and dump into a big mixing bowl. Add milk and make sure all the bread gets soaked. Cover and leave in the fridge for about 1 hour.

3. When the bread is nice and soft, with clean hands mash the bread together until everything is mushy and well-mixed. Add the four eggs and mix with a spoon.

4. After mixing the eggs into the bread mixture, add the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix very well.

5. Add the diced fruit. I make my diced fruit even better by pre-cooking the apples and pears in a pan with butter and sprinkling it 2-3 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon. This makes the fruit nice and tasty. The pineapple I just dice in small cubes and mix it without pre-cooking it.

6. Again, make sure all the diced fruit is thoroughly mixed in the bread mixture. Now divide the mixture between the two cake pans. Bake for about 45-50 minutes in the oven or until the tops of the pudding are golden brown and when pierced with a toothpick, the stick comes out clean.

7. Let cool and slice into squares before serving. Makes about 40 squares. This recipe can be halved for those who prefer to make a smaller batch.

Baked Potato Skins

When the kids and the hubby go to our local Pizza Hut, we usually order assorted appetizers. One of our favorite appetizers is the Baked Potato Skins. Since we have a dearth of potatoes at the house at the moment, I decided to fix it for our afternoon snack.

What you need:

Whole Cooked Potatoes with their skins on them (Baked, Steamed or Boiled)
Mozzarella cheese
Oil (Bacon or vegetable oil)
Savory toppings such as Bacon, Sausage, Pepperoni, etc.

How to fix it:



1. Take a cooked potato, and cut it in half.




2. Hollow it out with a spoon. Make sure you leave about half a centimeter of potato flesh on the skin. Do that with the rest of the potatoes.








3. Take a baking tray and lightly grease with oil. I believe bacon grease is the best but that is just me.




4. Put the potatoes, cut side down, on the baking tray and baked it in a 350 degree F oven for 5-10 minutes until the skin gets crispy.


5. Turn it over and add your cheese first and then add your savory topping. Make sure the cheese covers the entire potato bottom.

6. Bake the loaded potatoes for about 5-6 minutes or until the cheese is golden. Take out the finished potatoes and wait for about 3-4 minutes before serving (the hot cheese would be molten and would burn eager tongues and lips).

Enjoy!

Crispy Spam Rolls

There are those who hate this word with a passion - SPAM. No, I am not talking about that rubbish you get in your inbox. I'm talking about that pink luncheon meat in a can. Hey, I'm Filipino and we inherently love Spam (it saved us from hunger in the 2nd WW).

Now there are different ways to fix Spam and make it more tasty for those who can't stand it. One way, wrap in spring roll wrapper and deepfry. Dunk in a lemony-salty sauce and you've got yourself a winner. Now let me show you how it's done. (I first encountered this when I was in high school and in one of our dances, this was served).

CRISPY SPAM ROLLS



This makes for great appetizers or party food for kids.

Ingredients

1 can of spam
the egg white of 1 egg (save the yolk for other uses)
any preferred cheese, the meltier the better (heck you can use Velveeta if you want)
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
spring roll wrappers
oil for frying


Directions:

Cut spam into think sticks, maybe McDonald's french fry thickness.
Do the same with the cheese.
Take your spring roll wrappers and cut it into half (either in triangles or long rectangles).




Place a Spam stick and a cheese stick at the edge of the spring roll and proceed to wrap tightly. Make sure everything is covered so that the cheese won't leak out.
Do the same for all the other spam/cheese and wrappers.





Heat up the oil in a deep dish pan and start frying the rolls when the oil gets medium hot. Take out the rolls when the skin gets golden brown. (Tip: Take a tall colander, line up with paper towels and drain your rolls standing up. All the oil will drain leaving your rolls staying crispy longer).

Make your dipping sauce with soy sauce mixed with lemon juice.

Serve rolls hot with the sauce. Enjoy!

Chicken Curry for my Hubby

When my hubby first had my Chicken Curry, it quicky became his favorite. I was so glad that my mom taught me how to fix it. Which is amusing since she was taught by her friend who was Indian when we lived in Mindanao during the late '60s. So what I am actually fixing is authentic Indian Chicken Curry.

So let's start, shall we?

Chicken Curry

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
1 piece of ginger, about 2 fingers big, peeled and sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 onion, sliced
2 tablespoon curry powder
1 bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 large potato (peeled and cut into quarters) or 1 dozen baby potatoes, unpeeled
1 coconut, shredded and milked or 1 can coconut cream
2 tablespoon of cooking oil

1. In a big wok, heat up the oil to a medium hot. Carefully lower the chicken pieces and let them brown in the oil but not fully cooked. When the skin is brown, take out the chicken and set them aside in a bowl.

2. In the same wok, add the potatoes and stir-fry them until they are half-cooked. Take them out as well and set them aside. Do the same with the bell pepper slices until the edges are brown and set them aside.

3. In the same wok, add the ginger slices. Saute them for 2 minutes.

4. Add the minced garlic and saute them until it becomes golden-brown. Add the onion and saute until they've become translucent.

5. Add the curry powder and saute for 1 minute. Add the chicken pieces along with the juices that pooled in the bowl. Stir-fry the whole pan until all the pieces are covered in curry powder.

6. Add the potatoes and the coconut milk. If you are using coconut powder, mix it first with a cup and a half of water.

7. Let the wok simmer for 20 minutes. Stir the pan every now and then to prevent the bottom from getting scorched.

6. Add the bell pepper slices and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes more. Or until the sauce has thickened up. Serve hot with rice or crusty bread.

Garlic Fried Rice (A Filipino Breakfast Staple)

A friend asked for the recipe of Garlic Fried Rice and I thought I had it posted here in my blog. Imagine my surprise that I had none! Good thing I blogged about this in a food forum and I just copied my recipe.

Garlic Fried Rice is a breakfast staple for many Filipinos. Usually it is paired with a cooked egg (fried, scrambled, etc) and a savory side dish (Fried Spam slices, fried dried fish, Filipino ham ~tocino~, Filipino sausage ~longganisa~, etc). I usually serve Garlic Fried Rice with my chicken adobo, grilled chicken inasal (chicken in vinegar & lemongrass marinade), and hubby's BBQ ribs. It has converted a lot of our friends who have tried it (and previously hated or didn't like eating rice).

You start by having minced garlic and cold leftover rice on hand. I use this pre-minced garlic here in Korea.


Garlic Fried Rice

2-3 tbsp minced garlic
4-5cups of cold cooked rice*
1 to 1 1/2 tbsp veg. oil

*Best to use leftover rice. Freshly cooked rice does not make good fried rice.


1. In a non-stick pan or wok add the veg. oil and turn the heat up to medium, add the minced garlic and cook over medium heat until golden brown.

2. Add the cold rice and stir, mash and mix in thoroughly with the garlic and oil. Keep folding the rice over the garlic, making sure it gets evenly mixed.

3. Continue stirring and mixing until the rice becomes a uniform golden brown color and the garlic has been thoroughly mixed uniformly throughout the pan.

4. Serve hot with bacon, ham, scrambled eggs, etc.



(PS. you can do this recipe even with just a cup of cold rice, just adjust the ingredients). Just a tip! (This is for you MissyKaye!)

The Mighty Meatloaf

I love meatloafs! Why do you ask?


1. They can be made ahead and when you bake them, the house smells so good.
2. When your budget is tight, a pound of meat goes a long, long way.
3. When done right, meatloaf is juicy, tasty and great as leftovers.

That is why I love meatloaf. I used a recipe which I saw last night on Foodgawker.com. Here's the LINK from Jana Laurene's blog. I've adapted it a bit to make it kid-friendly (her recipe had a lot of sauces which my kids don't like).

I must warn you though, you will have to do a lot of prep work for this recipe. But all the chopping and the mincing is worth it. Trust me.

Here's my Recipe:

1 pound of ground pork and beef (about a cup each)
1/2 carrot
2 ribs of celery
1/2 onion
1 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 egg
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup ketchup or tomato sauce + 1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

2 tablespoons oil
5-6 slices of bacon

1. First you need to mince the carrots, onion and celery into a finely diced mixture. Start with the carrots first, and then the onion and lastly the celery. Just put everything in one bowl.

2. In a pan, heat up the oil and dump everything that you minced into the pan. Saute and roast the minced veggies for about oh say 7, 10 minutes. When it's nice and done, dump the roasted veggies in a mixing bowl and let it cool off.

3. Once the vegetables have cooled off, add the rest of the ingredients into the mixing bowl (except the bacon). Mix everything well with your hands. Don't be afraid, it makes it taste better and besides, wouldn't you like the warm, squishy feeling between your fingers? :)

4. Shape into a long rectagular mound on a baking sheet, like this.



Now cover it entirely with bacon. The bacon will act as a moisture lock for the meatloaf and makes it nice and juicy inside. Plus the crunchy outer bacon shell adds the oomph to your meatloaf.

Now take that bacon-wrapped goodness and stick it into your oven. Bake at 350 degrees Farenheight for about 1 hour. To see if it is done, pierce it with a long skewer and if the juices run out are clear, the meatloaf is done.

This is how my meatloaf looked like when I sliced it. Look how nice and juicy it is? The kids agreed it was a great meatloaf.



To serve it, I usually cover it with Ketchup. Other sauces that would be great with this meatloaf are Barbeque sauce or A1 Steak sauce. Oh, be prepared for it to be a great leftover meat for sandwiches later. It rocks! :)

Enjoying Stinky Socks Stew

Well not actually... I had Chongukjang today. Some foreigners find that the heady aroma of Chongukjang (or fermented soybean paste stew) comparable to the wonderful ripe odors of unwashed foot covers and rotten cabbage. But for those who like the stew (like me) it is like a delicious aroma at par with a ripe durian (which makes my mouth water while drives most sane people away).

Jane, a student at the Church where I volunteer teaching English, invited me to lunch today. She heard that I love Chonjukjang stew and took me to a renowned Korean restaurant which specializes in serving it. The name of the restaurant is Weh Halmoni Jip which literally translates into My Grandmother's House. I like this restaurant, it has a nice homey feel to it.

Coming into the place you will see a lot of antiques, old Korean furnishings, knickknacks, dust gatherers, what-nots... It covers the walls of the restaurant and adds a special turn of the century feel to the place.

There's old ceiling tiles accenting the top part of the wall. Old brushes for calligraphy on another. Even a Dali-esque wooden sculpture that doubles as a coat hanger.











There's various little ante-rooms that one can choose if they want private dining. But there are also sit-down areas with tables or little korean tables where one can eat korean-style (meaning cross-legged on the floor). And right in the middle of the main dining area is a huge kiln which is kept burning during the winter.



Before the food was served, I took a picture of my student Jane and her two adorable girls - Sunny and Anne. Sunny is a 4rth Grade student while Anne is 6th grade. Jane works at a local elementary school (Ogap Elementary School) and is a choir singer in our church. I like her cherry personality and zest for learning English.

And then they served our appetizer - Tofu with Fried Kimchi.





















Next up was the Chongukjang stew. It is served in the customary stone bowl. This stew I loved. It was earthy, filled with chunks of zucchini, onion, chili peppers and a chockful of soybeans. It also had squares of soft tofu.

And they served my favorite part of the meal, the Banchan or the side dishes. Of course it contains various kimchi (cabbage, radish slices, and non-spicy radish). There was also braised spinach, mushrooms, hot chili peppers, salty fried anchovies and stewed beef with quail eggs in soy sauce (this was a little bowl of heaven!).













We had a great meal and it was time to go. The cashier/manager was a friendly guy who greeted all the restaurant patrons warmly like they were long-time customers. I think most of them are. We saw about a dozen groups that came in and out while we were dining. I snapped some more pics of the restaurant before we left.







And here is a happy picture of us, full and happy with our meal.