Yakiniku and an Asian style brunch

Raising a bustling two year old kid, developing a business, working part-time, and trying to write all about this in my kitchen cyberworld as I run my household makes my life very hectic nowadays. Without counting of course the fast approaching holiday preparations and our move, I feel so helpless. I miss the day I could read a book while sipping a hot chocolate or to work uninterrupted with my writings and drawings for my projects and businesses. I miss those afternoon after taking a long bath that I could try on all the new clothes and shoes that I bought and that I have rarely put on and play a fashion model in front of the mirror. Sigh!

This morning as I sip my hot chocolate in the terrace and as I savour these little moments of freedom before everybody wakes up I was greeted by this spectacular view of peace and serenity. It is at that instance that I have realised that we need some movements to spicen up and add colors to our life to appreciate this kind of solitude after. I complain a lot but I love being busy for my daughter, for my husband and for myself. I told this to hubby, he looked at me and replied, "well what do you expect you are really French now!"***

*** French have reputation of being big grumbler

The mountain of Saint Victoire under morning fog
View from my terrace

The hills of Aix

I am sending this Asian Style Brunch to brilliant Meeta of What"s For Lunch Honey this month's hostess and the creator of that delicious monthly event Monthly Mingle. I am a certified rice eater, so waking up late on Sunday means a brunch with rice. These are easy to make yakiniku barbeque served with steamed rice, a bowl of miso soup and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream with some gooseberries on the top.

Yakiniku Beef Barbeque

3/4 lb beef loin, cut in cubes
1 Tbsp of honey
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp grated garlic
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp white sesame seed
one cup of cut onion leeks

Preparation:

Mix Honey, soy sayce, garlic, sesame oil, and sesame seeds in a bowl. Marinate beef in the sauce for 30 minutes. String the beef on the skewers alternating with onion leeks.Heat a large skillet on high heat and cook them two to three minutes on both sides.

Authentic Tempura Recipe

Zuccini Flowers

Say it with flowers.

I remember there was one time as a teenager when my youngest sister told me, that If my boyfriend would not offer me flowers he doesn't really love me. I know it sounded irrational but you know she's just being romantic. :-)

Flowers have long signified love, compassion, flirt (?) and admiration in our society. Their colors and beauty have awed almost all walks of life. But recently they have been creating delicious waves in our palate too. From vibrant Pansy flowers to immaculate Jasmin have not escaped the ingeniousness of our notorious chefs around the globe. In France alone, the blooming flower consumption have paved way to organized gastronomic promenade in the forest providing crash courses on comestible flowers in the nature. This naturally ends up in the kitchen where a cooking class awaits the participants.

I must admit that everytime I am in the market I am always tempted to savor these colorful petals but their lavish prices hinders me from doing. Naturally only this time I opted to settle for these delicious zuccini flowers that fits more my budget. Next time you'll have a bouquet of flowers think twice if you'll put them on your vase or on your plate.




Zuccini flower Tempura

Tempura batter:
(I got this recipe from my Japanese foster Mom in Osaka)

This is a standard recipe you can use for any type of tempura you want

The rule: Egg + Ice Water : Flour = 1 is to 1

The quantity of beaten egg and ice water should be equal to your flour. Mix the eggs with your ice water. Mix well. Add the sifted flour all at one time. Dont stir too much, the batter should be thin and lumpy to be sure your tempura is crispy. Add ice cubes. You can divide it into three portions and keep them in the fridge to prevent them from becoming sticky.

I'll be sending this recipe to Kelly our host for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging, that lovely event created by Kalyn. (I just got a message that this week's WHB was cancelled by Kalyn due tothe death of one of our friend in the blogging world Sher of What did you eat?).

Sooo Oishii!!

Try my other Asian Recipes:

Easy Stir-fry Noodles
Tom Yam Soup
Prawn Pineapple Curry
Bagoong Rice

Thai Express Salad and an Oscar award, well almost...

Colorful Verrine Thai Salad

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

When people are dining at our place I always take an ample and careful contemplation on what menu to serve. I take meticulous preparation seeing to it that from entrée to main course and down to dessert will give my guests a pleasurable dining experience. And If the word culinary saddism exist I would proudly claim I am one. For I find extreme pleasure in cooking for other people . Seeing the satisfaction and smile on their faces is enough to make me happy.

Growing up as a teenager, I don't remember how many times I sacrified staying late at night to help my mom and aunties prepare food for big gathering at home, while my sisters and cousins are enjoying their beauty-rest for the big day. So when I received the phone call of my sister-in-law yesterday, telling me she's coming over with some of her friends a bit impromptu at my place, I totally panicked. For preparing express menu is not really my cup of tea. And when I'm harrassed like this, my brain stops from functioning.

As I was totally lost in my kitchen, my eye was caught by the cookbook of Cyril Lygnac, a gift I got last year for my birthday. Let me say he is like the Jamie Oliver of France, good looking, sexy and young chef that become popular through his "cooking tele-reality" show. Two minutes browsing was enough for me to settle for this entrée.

Captivating Express Thai Salad

for the salad
100 g of vermicelli noodles (glass noodles) 1 courgette 2 carrots 50 g of bean sprouts 150 g of shrimps (cooked and without shells)

for the sauce 1 small ginger 1 tsp of soy sauce 2 tbsp of sesame oil 1 tsp of sesame seeds 3 tbsps of lime juice 1 tsp of honey

Cook the vermicelli or glass noodles in a big casserole with water as you would cook a pasta noodle. Let it cook for five minutes only then drain it. Wash it with cold running water to avoid from sticking. Wash and peel the carrots and courgette. Cut them in julienne strips. In a bowl mix all the vegetables together with the vermicelli noodles and cooked shrimps. For the sauce mix together all the ingredients in a small bowl and add just before serving.

Messy bean sprouts....

I got it!

My sincerest gratitude to Happy Cook and Gloria for giving me this award. Getting an award from the two awesome food bloggers that I admire is already like winning an Oscar for me :-) Thanks again my dear friends. Now I need to give my own award. There's to many of you and choosing will be difficult. I'm awarding this "Nice Matter Award" to Oggi (I can do that), Susan (Well Seasoned Cook), Tigerfish (Teczsape), Big boys oven and Ronell (my french kitchen). These are all the bloggers I truly admire.

Cheers!!

For my french readers, the french version of this verrine recipe is here: http://www.lesfoodies.com/news/recette/salade-thai-express-cyril-lignac

The art of loving sweet sushi

Caviar of Caramelised Gooseberries over sweet perfumed Home-made Star Anise ice-cream

Making my baby fall asleep is like a big rubiks cube that needs to be solved by trying different ways. I would dance, sing and would sometimes tell stories even if i knew she still doesn't understand a word. Sometimes it would work, but most of the time it doesnt. Last Friday, it was listening to my Japanese songs that made her fall asleep. As I happily put her on her bed (finally after 2 hours)I continued listening to this compilation of japanese songs and opted to relax. Even if I knew I needed to do things in fast forward ("while she was still sleeping") after all I needed a break and I felt I deserved it. Truly music brings back memories.
We have lived for quite a long time in Japan and I only had good memories of this country. Japan was the country of my "first"..it was there that I lived for the first time far from my family, It was there that I met my husband for the first time,.. and it was there that I have learned how to bike for the first time in my life (at the age of 26 he hehe) and it was also in Japan that I got married (for the first time too hahaha because we had three ceremonies one in Philippines and another one in France). As I browsed our photo albums I just realised how I miss those moments. I thought i should cook something Japanese and oishii tonight. I was still savouring this quiet instant when I heard my baby cried...end of round one!

Sweet sushi
for Caviar of caramel-dipped gooseberries
100 g of gooseberries
200 g of sugar
20 tbsps of water

In a casserole, melt the sugar in the water. Let it boil slowly in medium fire. As soon as the caramel starts to thicken, turn it off. Soak one by one the gooseberries in the caramel and place in a plate separately to avoid sticking from one another.

for Home-made Star anise Ice-cream
50 g of sugar
2 tbsps of honey
2 eggs
2 star anise
1 cup of heavy fresh cream
Start by breaking the star anise and infuse them for fifteen minutes in the boiling water. Whisk sugar, honey and egg yolks until the mixture whitens. Add the infusion then whisk again. In another bowl, whisk the white eggs until it becomes firm and floppy. Stir in gently the egg whites in the yolk sugar mixture. Add in little by little the whipped fresh cream. Put in a covered container and freeze for 3 to 4 hours. During the first, second and third hour put out the ice-cream mixture and stir gently. Serve as in the photo .

Starry starry day....

 

For my french readers, the french version can be found here: http://www.lesfoodies.com/news/recette/caviar-groseilles-croustillantes-glace-badiane

A delicious Coco-bread and a murder story

Delightful childhood memories of freshly baked Pan de Coco

Mysteries and murder stories never fail to captivate audience whether on big screen or in boob tube. The more intricate and the more impossible the stories with twists and gory endings the more it will make audience. Is it an innate behaviour among us to feel that way? Or writers are really running out of better ideas?

Do not be disappointed to know that you won't find anything like this on this post. Not even a single blood has been shed but a real murder story really happened. The story started few weeks ago, hopping around for a cooking inspiration in the delicious blogsphere world. Susan of the Well Seasoned Cook bewitched me with her recipe of a Coconut sweet (you can check the recipe in here). Seeing the photo of a "real" coconut (you know what I mean not just dried dessicated coconut) and her delicious cake, awaken my deep yearning for this tropical fruit. How I long to drink its oozing juice from a newly opened fresh coconut and scrape it's soft and creamy fruit inside. The taste was so long ago that I have almost forgotten about it.

Unfortunately, satisfying this cravings for fresh coconut will not be that simple considering where I live. For finding fresh coconut in the supermarket isn't that easy. But heaven must have heard my lament that day, for my chase over this precious nut didn't last that long. I didn't have much choice, as there was only one left in the exotic fruit section. Rest now to do, is how on earth will I open this up? I knew I needed something strong and sharp the same bolo (machete) my grandfather uses to open a coconut back in the province. I knew I wouldn't find this at home so I went and desperately looked for in my in laws' kicthen. But to no avail, for the sharpest thing they have was an electric cutter for meat.

So delectably innocent.......

Hopelessly I went outside with my coconut in the garden. I stared at this thing and decided to defy all what grandpop taught me on the proper way of opening up a coconut. Without batting an eye I took the biggest and the most piercing stone I could find and started breaking this thing up.

It took me 5 minutes to brutally assasinate this poor thing.



I'm sending this recipe to Lasang Pinoy 24 on this month's theme:Loco over Coco.

Coconut Bread (Pandecoco)

For the brioche
4 cups all- purpose flour 4 eggs, beaten 2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 package active dry yeast 1 cup lukewarm milk (scalded them cooled) ¾ cup sugar ¾ pound butter or margarine ¾ tablespoon salt

Coconut Filling
150 g shredded coconut 5 tbsp of coco jam

Egg Wash
1 egg yolk

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients except the yeast. Add slowly the melterd butter, warm milk and eggs. Then dissolve the yeast in one tbsp of warm milk and add in the dough. Work on the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic. Keep covered in a warm place about 40 degrees Celsius until it sizes doubles. While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. Place the coco jam in a pan and cook over medium heat. Mix in the shredded coconut thoroughly. Soften the consistency by adding few tablespoon of water if coco jam is too sticky. Remove from the heat and allow cooling. Set aside. When the dough is ready; knead again for the second time. You can add some flour to facilitate the task. Make some balls of about 2 inches in diameter and flatten slightly. In the center of dough, place one tablespoon of the coconut filling. Fold the dough over the filling and seal the edges. Let the dough rise again for about 30 minutes under the same condition. Brush with egg yolks the top to give a golden crispy touch and bake for 20-30 minutes at 190 degrees celsius.

After I brutally assasinated

Resting peacefully over a fluffy dough

Yummy......

Caldereta: Devil's Beef Stew Blazing in my Cracked Pot

Outrageously Spicy beef caldereta: beef stew in tomato sauce

When I was a kid, I grew up in a family of fried fish-rice-sautéed vegetables routine on the table. Not that I'm sulking about this habitual at home but it's unthinkable that dad would cook something fancy or elaborate. Lack of time, lack of money, or maybe both? But its true, priceless are those moments we are feasting menudo, kare-kare or lechon at home. That is why we would always look like (my sisters and I) famished kittens devouring those dishes when invited on birthday parties, fiestas and other occassions in the neighborhood. Shamelessly, going back home even with doggy bags. Being married now and living far from my family make me long for those funny childhood "feasting" memories.

As Lasang Pinoy (a food blogging event promoting filipino food) celebrates its 23rd edition with Crockpot cooking. I couldn't think of anything better that falls under the category of "slowly cooked" than making a Spicy Beef Caldereta. It is a beef recipe slowly marinated and slowly simmered with vegetables. There exist plenty of versions of cooking this recipe but so far I judge the one my auntie often cooks for us on special occassions as the best. Unfortunately I don't have her recipe (I think her version is the one that uses 7-Up as the secret ingredient). The only thing I could guarantee you is that this beef caldereta is hideously spicy and it's been cooked slowly in my cracked pot. I'm not a fan of crock pot because I don't have one, but all my slow cooking recipes are cooked on my bygone inherited terrine, an earthenware cooking dish that I cook idly in the oven.

Beef Caldereta

Ingredients:

1 kg of stewing beef cut into cubes
250 g of potatoes peeled and quartered
2 red bell pepper grilled, peeled and chopped
250 g of carrots peeled and cut into cubes
100 g of pitted green olives
half a cup of tomato sauce
1 tsp of tomato paste
2tsps of chili powder or cayenne powder
2 tbsps of hot sauce
2 tbsps of chili oil
2 tbsps of olive oil
10 g of butter

Marinating ingredients:
Half a cup of red wine, salt, pepper, 1 tbsp of crushed garlic, 1 big onion minced, half a cup of coarsely chopped chicken liver, some thyme and rosemary

Marinate for at least one hour the beef. In a pan, fry lightly the beef with olive oil and butter. Use the same frying pan for the carrots and potatoes. Then in a crock pot or any deep and thick casserole put all the ingredients including the marinating sauce. And simmer covered over low fire for two hours.

Pretty in red

If pots could talk, this time-worn thing have a lot to tell

You can find my other filipino recipes at:

Adobo Beef Shawarma
Porc Sarciado
Chicken Menudo

Sweet & Salty love affair: Millefeuille of Mekong

Millefeuille of Mekong: Pan seared Scallops served over
layers of crispy rice wrapper and mango tartar salad
with tamarind vinaigrette

When my doctor announced to us the good news of my "pregnancy" (same time a year ago) I knew that there would be clashes of ideas between me and my hubby. For he is a man of science (there is always an explanation to everything) contrary to me that that has strong attachments to "wisdoms" of elder generation. Superstitions related to pregnancy are limitless after all its natural for mothers to do anything they think will ensure the birth of a healthy child. I remember I often hear such funny comments from my aunties like, "avoid looking at ugly people or it will make your baby ugly" or "not to eat chocolate if you do not want your baby to have a dark skin" . Well I'm sure you have heard a lot too. There is a widespread superstition on pregnancy in Philippines called "Paglilihi", a term that describes pregnant mom's strong desire to eat a certain food and that fathers should at all cost make it possible to ensure the birth of their dream child. Well, as my pregnancy progress I noticed that I had that very strong envies to eat "asian food", specially filipino food. My husband told me its normal (of course:-)) because i'm longing for my country that I have not visited for quite some time and it was absolutely nothing to do with my pregnancy. Anyway to cut the story short, I won. He gave in (maybe because he just does not want me to have early contractions) to my "food tantrums". So when we went back from our "shopping spree" in the closest Asian grocery in our city, this is how our living room looked like this.

Our tatami laden with Asian goodies.

We bought tons of noodles, asian condiments, asian vegetables and other hard to find ingredients like: tocino mix (sweet ham like curing powder), guava soupe mix (I love this), shrimp paste, tamarind paste, well the list is really endless. With all this, we concocted this sweet and salty entrée of pan seared Scallops served in layers of crispy fried crispy rice wrappers and mango tartar with tamarind and pomegrate sauce. My husband had the idea of the rice wrappers millefeuille but the stuffing is definitely mine! Hubby called this recipe the Millefeuille of Mekong.


Mango Tartar Salad
1 ripe mango, the seeds of half of a pomegranate, 2 tsps of lime juice, salt, pepper,2 tbsp of olive oil

In a bowl mix the lime juice with salt and pepper. Peel the mango, remove the seed and cut into small cubes. Put the mango and the pomegrate seeds in the bowl with the sauce and add up the olive oil. Put them in the fridge

Crispy Rice Wrappers
6 sheet of dried rice wrapper, 1 egg, 1 tsp of black sesame seeds, 1tsp of white sesame seeds, oil for frying

Dredge in the egg the rice wrapper then sprinkle it with black and white sesame seeds. Fry them one by one in a very hot casserole with oil. Cook each wrapper for about 3 seconds. Dry them in paper towel.
Tamarind and Pomegrenate Vinaigrette
1 tsp of tamarind paste, 3 tbsps of olive oil, 1 tsp of Nuoc Nam, 1 tsp of honey, 2 tbsps of pomegrenate seeds

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, set aside.

Pan seared Scallops
12 scallops, 10 g of butter, salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a pan , when it becomes hot add the scallops and fry each side for about 30 seconds. Put salt and pepper on the top
Assembling the Millefeuille
Start first with a layer of crispy rice wrapper followed with the mango tartar. You can alternate the layer with the mango tartar and a layer of beans sprout and baby spinach salad. Garnish the top layer with the scallops. Drizzle on the top the tamarind vinaigrette. Bon appetit!!

Ps. Hello blogging friends, you might have noticed that I've been blogging very slowly these past few days and I have been bloging about my old recipes. My family is actually confronting a big problem (my dad is not doing very well). I still try to continue to blog because this makes my mind occupied. :-(

Stir fry noodles: Noodle, noddle on the wok who's the fairest of them all?

Stir-fry Noodle

I have been absent for a while in the blogosphere world. I must admit that I tremendously miss all my favorite "food blog" I often hangout but Christmas and New Year holidays at our household are important occassions for our family to relax and do our "bonding". And that means no email and no blogging for the last 2 weeks. But nonetheless, Im back in the business.

I'm pretty sure that most people often spend the last day of the year writing or pondering about their "resolutions list". However, I grew up in the family that this day is reserved for undertaking all undone or half-done things. Believe it or not on the 31st day of December I spend the entire day cleaning the house and arranging my kitchen. And I was amazed to discover all the ingredients that have been sleeping for so long in my kitchen cabinet. Tons of spices, dried tomatoes, dried beans, different types of rice, canned goods, jams, some nori wrappers and lots and lots of noodles; all waiting for their turn to be used one day. And you guess it right, that night I cooked some stir fried noodles.

Some are thick, some are thin, some are soft, some are hard
Cook them anyway you want...

Stir-fry Noodles
Ingredients:
1 package of noodle (any type)
2 tbsps of olive oil
2 tbsps of Sesame Oil
1 tbsp of Oyster Sauce
2 tbsps of Soy Sauce
1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of lime juice
half a cup of shrimps
one cup of diced vegetables (broccolli, carrots, haricot verts, etc)
1 onion chopped

In a wok start by stif frying the vegetables and onion in olive oil. After few minutes add the shrimps and continue stirring. Throw in sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar. Mix well. Add the pre-cooked noodle and continue stirring. Before serving put the lime juice.

No one escapes the power of my chopsticks!

For my french readers, the french version of this noodle recipe is here : http://www.lesfoodies.com/hilda/recette/nouilles-aux-crevettes-chinoise

Reminiscing Thailand with bagoong rice

I must admit after reading Joey's post (80 Breakfasts) of her recent food escapade in Thailand, I can't help but have nostalgic memories of my trip there with my husband (we were boyfriend and girlfriend yet at that time). The truth is, it was a long distance relationship. He was a student in Japan while I was a student too in Manila (we were both taking Master's in Japanese Management). Well as students, we had very limited budget and very little time for pleasure. Without counting of course all the paperworks we needed to hand on time and the Kanji (Japanese characters we needed to memorize and learn how to write). So we thought why not have a date in Bangkok. They have very cheap package tours there and besides it is a very pleasant country to visit. Lots of historical and cultural findings plus the gastronomic adventure that is really interesting.

So yesterday I took out our photo album and reminisce those moments when we were still young "he he he" (well it was a not so distant past.) But of course what goes well during these nostalgic thai moments but a sumptous thai dinner. I have prepared a very spicy Tom Yam soup, a creamy-sweetty Prawn-pineapple curry and a Khao Kluk Kapi or simply Bagoong rice. My husband enjoyed everything i prepared except the bagoong rice for he really hated the smell of it. Have a nice day to all!

Tom Yam Soup

Prawn Pineapple curry

Tom Yam Soup
for 2 personnes

Ingredients:
250 g of shrimps, 3 cups of water,garlic, 5 kaffir leaves, 3 slices of galanga (frais ou sec) , 3 tsp of Fish Sauce, 2 stalks of lemon grass,1 onion sliced, some mushrooms, 3 chilis, 1/4 cup of lime juice
some coriander leaves (optional)

In a casserole boil the 3 cups of water with the shrimps. After the first boil, strain the shimps and take off the shells and head. Put back the shrimp broth in the stove and add the garlic, onion, kaffir leaves, lemon grass and galanga. When the first bubble appear put the mushroom, the chilis and the lime juice. Add the fish sauce and shrimp. Serve hot with coriander leaves.

Prawn Pineapple Curry
for 2 personnes

Ingredients:
8 pcs of tiger prawns (about 4 pcs per serving)
1 eggplant cut in cubes
half a cup of fresh pineapple
3 tbsp of pineapple juice
1 tbsp of green curry paste
4 tbsp of olive oil
2-3 chilis
1 tbsp of curcuma
one cup of coconut milk

In a wok fry rapidly the eggplant with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Reserve the eggplant. In the same wok, put the remaining olive oil and add the green curry paste and curcuma. Pour the coconut milk and simmer over low fire. At the first boil add the pineapple, the pineapple juice, the chilis and prawns. Cook for about 3 more minutes. Season it with some fish sauce. Add the fried eggplant and turn off the fire.

Khao Kluk kapi (Shrimp Paste Rice)
for 2 personnes

Ingredients:
2 bowls of cooked rice, 1 onion chopped, garlic, 1 tbsp of shrimp paste, 2 tbsp of olive oil, 2 tbsp of fish sauce

In wok brown the garlic and the onion. Add the shrimp paste and mix well. Put the cook rice and continue to mix. Season with fish sauce.

For my french readers, the french version of this Tom Yam recipe is here: http://www.lesfoodies.com/hilda/recette/tom-yam-kung-soupe-thailandaise,

the recipe of curry is here: http://www.lesfoodies.com/hilda/recette/curry-de-crevettes-a-lananas

the recipe of Thai rice is here: http://www.lesfoodies.com/hilda/recette/riz-frit-thai-pate-crevettes-et-porc-caramelise