Pasta with grilled shrimp and basil vinaigrette

I had some guests over the weekend. I wanted a light dish but something flavorful too. I bought this BON APPETIT cookbook on sale at a local bookstore and was really itching to try something in it.

I had to adapt the recipe what what I had. I was also inspired by the spinosi pasta (they look like spagettini) I still had in the pantry. It was given to us when we attended a cooking class at a local hotel. the Italian chef demonstrated some pretty cool techniques on cooking pasta.

So with a block of PARMESIANO REGGIANO  (a small one... like 150 grams) off I went to find this recipe.

Ingredients:
4 prawns or 500 grams of shrimp. peeled and deveined
5 tbsp. lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tbsp dijon mustard
3/4 cup fresh basil chopped
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp butter

pasta if choice

parmesan cheese (1/4 cup)


1. combine 4 tbsp lemon and dijon mustard in a bowl. whisk in olive oil and basil. Season with salt and pepper. set aside

2. place shrimp in bowl and drizzle with 1 tbsp lemon juice and 2 tbsp olive oil. sprinkle shrimp with salt and pepper

3. grill shrimp (or pan fry) with a little oil until cooked. set aside. If using prawns, cut into bite sized pieces.

4. cook pasta in pot with boiling salted water until firm to the bite ( al dente) - do not drain pasta, (you'll need the pasta water if your dish is a bit dry)

5. while pasta is cooking, sauté the garlic in a pan (about 1 min), add the shrimp and pasta (scooped from the pot) - if the pan looks dry, add a little pasta water. add the lemon/basil mixture. butter and parmesan. toss till well coated.

Serve with some garlic bread. garnish with fresh basil.

My guest loved this dish. They said it was very light and flavorful for something that doesn't look like it has anything on it.
I thought it was like something out of a restaurant actually. A keeper for sure! (I just can't make this all the time since parmesan is quite expensive)

Enjoy!!!

Cream Cheese Swirl Blondies

It was a busy busy week. I opened the fridge and saw I still had a big block of cream cheese that I bought at S&R... hmmm...

I was thinking of doing something other than my cheesecake recipe. Kindda mix it up a little. So I turned to the old Martha cookbook. Browsing through the cookies cookbook, I saw this recipe for Cream Cheese swirl blondies. Mind you, this is not an easy recipe. This had two parts to it. The regular batter and the cream cheese part that you combine in the end and swirl. (I suggest you read through the recipe and prepare the ingredients)

Schedule

You'll need:

2/3 cup butter, unsalted at room temp (11 tablespoons)
1 2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup cream cheese (3/4 of one 225gram block)
1/4 cup granulated sugar

1. preheat oven to 325C (about 160C). line a 8 inch baking pan with parchment (cook and bake)

2. whisk together 1 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl

3. Put 9 tablespoons butter and brown sugar in a bowl and with a paddle attachment,mix on medium until pale and fluffy- about 3 mins. add 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla: mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, scraping down side of the bowl until well combined. Transfer to large bowl

4. Put cream cheese, granulated sugar and remaining 2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp flour, 1 egg and 1/2 tsp vanilla into a clean bowl and mix on medium with a paddle attachment.

5. pour half of the blondie mixture into the pan and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Spoon two thirds of the cream cheese mixture on top and spread evenly. Drop dollops of the remaining batter on top (spacing about 1 inch apart) and spread. Top with dollops of cream cheese mixture

6. Gently swirl cream cheese mixture with a butter knife running the knife lengthwise and crosswise throughout he layers. Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet. 45 mins.  Let cool slightly in the pan ( about 15 mins) and lift out. Cool on wire rack and cut into squares.

My nephew was visiting and I told him... this is like a brownie but it has cheese in it. After taking a bite, I asked him -- how was it?  (I was on a specific meal plan so I could not taste this)... his answer?

it taste like a brownie... but with cheese.!!! (hahahaha)

Anyway, I packed this for our trip to the beach and it was gobbled up on the way home. One of my friends tasted it and commented that it was ok but she preferred the regular cheesecake that I usually make. (plus black bottom cheesecake cups I made for a party one time. ) Would appreciate more feedback on this recipe from those who have gotten a taste (hint hint: vivian!!!)

enjoy!!

Tuscan Style roast pork

As with all my cooking, I get inspired by supermarket trips. On this occasion, I was loading up on the regular supplies when I saw this delectable rack of pork.

I haven't tried a roasted pork before. Mostly, we do a lot of fried and breaded pork chops so the concept of a beautiful pork roast appealed to me

I got this recipe from EPICURIOUS iPhone app I have on my phone.

I tweaked it a little by adding slabs of bacon on top to keep the meat moist while it's roasting... plus, bacon always makes everything taste better.

You'll need:
10 garlic cloves
1/4 cup fresh rosemary (or 1/8 cup dried)
2 tsp seasalt
1 centercut (2 kilo) pork loin tied by your butcher (see picture)
5-6 slices of bacon

note: I used a pork loin with the ribs intact. I suggest you use a deboned one for better slicing later on)

Blitz garlic and rosemary in a food processor add a bit of olive oil to emulsify the paste. Take out and mix in sea salt and pepper.  With a small knife, make 1/4 inch slits on the individual pork pieces and fill with the paste. Rub the rest of the paste  all over the pork  and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes to 2 hours.

preheat oven to 180C

After marinating, top the pork loin with the slabs of bacon, (fat side up) covering the top fully. Roast in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a meat thermometer read 155F. Take out of the oven and let stand loosely covered for 30 minutes (this is called resting the meat, so that it will remain juicy when you cut it)

Added buttered vegetables and mashed potatoes

After taking out the roast, I strained the bit on the pan and deglazed the pan with red wine and added a cup of cream. I also mixed 1/2 cup water with 2 tbsp of cornstarch ( to thicken the sauce). add pepper and salt to taste.

The roast was beautiful. With crispy bacon on top.! The only problem for me was that I purchased the one with the bone and I had a hard time chopping the individual pcs for each person. The flavor was great too. The marinade gave it such a subtle flavor and each cut was about 1 1/2 inch thick but it remained juicy inside ( the bacon element)

This is definitely worth repeating for a more formal occasion with friends. Hope everyone enjoy the pictures and try this yourself. !

enjoy!!

Banana, caramel and date cookies

We are back people!!

Yeah, all has been quiet for some time in the cooking area. I was on vacay with the fam fam in sunny Orlando Florida.

It was exhausting to say the least... (park after park... and 12 hour difference in time doing havoc on my internal clock.-- waking up at 3, 4am)

So, after a week recovery, I FINALLY was able to cook. A friend went to PARIS (PAREE) and ate a lot of french maracons. (LADUREE). She came back and gave me a cookbook (she was planning of letting me taste the maracons but she got back earlier and it did not reach me... =(()

Anyhow...

Here's one of the recipes from the cookbook she gave me: Ok, I know we REALLY like bananas. I also had the ingredients ready and it was an easy recipe.

You'll need:


125g (1/2 cup) butter softened
1 cup (220g) firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup (100g) mashed banana
2 cups all purpose flour sifted
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped dried dates
Caramels (quartered)

Preheat oven to 180c. Line baking pan

Beat butter, sugar and egg yolk in a small bowl with electric mixer until combined. Stir in banana, sifted flour, baking soda and dates.

Roll tablespoons of mixture in balls and push a pc of caramel in the middle. -- for this I used a small ice cream scooper and pushed the caramel inside before scooping it on the baking sheet.. you can use spoons too if you don't have an ice cream scooper.

Place balls 2 inches apart on baking trays and bake 20 mins.

I bought the caramels in LANDMARK supermarket. (in case you were wondering where I got them) I also quartered them instead of halving them- as per original recipe. I was afraid they would be too big for my small cookie)

The cookies turned out great. They smelled really banana-ey. - like banana bread but in cookie form. I would still have to wait for other opinions on the taste though. But of you like bananas, this one is a keeper for sure!!

Lemon Coconut squares

This month was really so hectic. I couldn't really cook much of anything new. I had some lemons in the fridge that needed attention so I decided to try this lemon square recipe and add to this coconut flakes coz really, my husband just loves coconut.

Some people love that tartness of lemons. Some don't - I'll tell you my friend's verdict later.

you'll need:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
3/4 cup cold butter or margarine
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup flaked coconut

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9 x 13 x 2 inch pan with foil or parchment paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a bowl, combine flour and confectioners’ sugar; cut in the butter until crumbly (I used a pastry cutter (see pic).. but some people use their hands or two forks.)

3. Press into the bottom of a lightly greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (180C) for 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and baking powder until well mixed. Pour over crust; sprinkle coconut evenly over the top.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Judgement: some people , depending on their taste buds said it was tart, some of them said it was sweet, some said it was juts right while another said it was both tart AND sweet.

So, it really depends on how you want your bars. If you want it more tart.. you should lessen the sugar. If you want it less tart, you should lessen the lemon. Better try the recipe and adjust afterwards. Hope you enjoy this!! I'll be out of the country for awhile. Hope I can do at least one resto review while on vacation.

Happy eating. if you try this, don't forget to leave a comment.

Easy Macaroni and cheese

When I was an exchange student in the US, I got introduced to ALL food that symbolizes America. One of the ones that got me hooked was MAC AND CHEESE. (oooh... heaven!!!). I even loved the boxed mac and cheese.


Once I got home, of course we didn't cook those anymore... until I tried it using this recipe from YUMMY magazine.

You'll need:

500 grams elbow or penne pasta
1/4 cup butter
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup quickmelt cheese, shredded
8 slices cooked ham, diced

1  Preheat oven to 375ºF. 

2  Cook 500 grams elbow or penne pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside. 

3  In a pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent. Whisk in flour. Gradually whisk in 4 cups milk until smooth. Cook, stirring continuously, until mixture is thick and bubbly, about 6 to 8 minutes. 

4  Stir in cheddar cheese and quickmelt cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Toss pasta with cheese mixture; fold in cooked ham.

5  Transfer to ramekins. Top with cheddar and quick-melt cheeses. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes. 

I actually did not bake it in the oven anymore... the kids just dived into it. We made a lot and it was even better the next day! (nom nom nom.....) My daughter was singing she wanted it for her lunch to school. (aah... the pleasures of having your cooking appreciated!!)

Wish I could say I ate this... but still sticking to NO CARBS meal plan. I hope you enjoy cooking this though. It has no special (and expensive) cheeses so you can actually follow the recipe pretty well.


happy eating!!!

BIKO (sticky rice pudding)

Biko is a traditional filipino snack usually served during special occasions or Fiestas. Mostly, we eat it like an afternoon snack or dessert.


I was curious at how to make it and when I finally did, I realized it was pretty easy!

My one mistake on my first try was not soaking the rice in water. I  just washed it and started cooking. It resulted in an unevenly cooked biko. (there were some rice granules that were not fully cooked) ~ apologies to my taste testers!


So for this you'll need:


coconut milk from two coconuts (first press) or
2 cans of coconut cream ( note: we need 3/4 cup of cream for the topping. reserve 3/4 cup and then dilute the rest with water to make 3 1/2 cups)


2 cups malagkit rice (sticky rice variety)
3 1/2 cup diluted coconut cream
3/4 cup sugar
50 grams of butter ( about 1/4 of 1 225gram butter stick)
1 egg


TOPPING:
1 225 gram can condensed milk
3/4 cup coconut cream
2 tbsp flour or cornstarch


wash rice. soak the malagkit rice in water for 30 mins. drain.


pour the 3 1/2 cup coconut cream, rice and sugar into a pan and heat. Keep mixing till it becomes almost dry.  About 10-15 minutes.  (at this point, you'll see the coconut cream releasing oils in the bottom of the pan)- lower heat and mix in beaten egg and butter.


spread into a prepared baking dish. (a brownie pan works best). preheat oven to 350C or 175F


make topping.


combine topping ingredients in a saucepan in low heat and mix until thickened. Pour over biko in pan. Bake in the oven until browned about 15 minutes.


let cool and cut into squares.

To those who do not like very sweet desserts, the topping is pretty decadent. The only effort you need to make is to keep stirring the pot when cooking the rice. (it might stick to the bottom of the pan if you don't stir). After awhile, the aroma of the coconut just wafts through the kitchen like nothing else. YUMMO!!!!


if you don't want a caramel topping, and want to be adventurous, you can try making LATIK
 to top your biko. 


Maybe on my next try, I might do a pandan biko! 

Pandan Chicken - low carb

As I have indicated a few posts back, I am on Cohen. I tell you, sometimes it IS so challenging to come up with recipes that would satisfy my taste buds as well as adhere to the principles of the diet.

Thankfully, I found this recipe for pandan chicken which requires no soy sauce and oil for the marinade.

You'll need:

1/2 kg chicken breast
1-2 tsp tumeric
1 small shallot
salt and pepper
1 tsp splenda (or sugar)

pandan leaves (screw pine)

Cut the chicken breast into bite sized peices, put into a bowl and mix with all the spices and shallot. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes or ovenight.

When you are ready to cook, Wash the pandan leaves and roll 1 pc of chicken in the leaf and secure with a toothpick.

At this point, in a regular world, you would deep fry the pandan chicken in oil. However, I recently purchased an Philips Air Fryer (it fries your food without using oil) and tried this for my pandan chicken.

I lightly coated the chicken pandan with a spray of olive oil and put nin the basket. I let it cook at 180C for 15 minutes (checking at 10 minutes)

It turned out pretty good!

I paired this with curried cauliflower and it was so yummy and satisfying. *note, i was informed pandan is NOT allowed on Cohen... so if you on it, just pan fry the chicken without the pandan wrap.