Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Muffins with Pink Butter Frosting

While i was at the grocer looking for my fave soap, i chanced upon the baking section while running towards the nearby cosmetics isles... and then... there it is, my first glance at that familiar favorite orange wrapped sin called Reese's, but this time they're in chip form. Looking at it with its hefty price, i shove it into my grocery basket and before i knew it i was picking up flour, baking powder, milk, butter... I am going to bake this busy busy Monday afternoon.

so without much training and practice in baking, and with only an oven toaster around, i braved the exact science that is baking. While my staff looks at me with tiger's eyes, i went on with the deal and luckily, it was a very successful attempt. except for the time baking it, they went a little dark and dry than expected, but theyre so delicious anyways... so here's the recipe.

turn on oven toaster to 175 i dont what if its Fahrenheit or Celsius, but its the middle of the dial. then set time for 30 mins. so while the toaster is pre heating, you have at least 15 mins to do everything below

Dry Ingredients:

in a sifter place--

4 cups of flour
1 tbsp baking powder
pinch of salt

sift and remove lumps.

Wet Ingredients:

in a mixing bowl, cream half a bar of butter and a cup of sugar till smooth and glossy. Add a tablespoon of Vanilla, and 2 eggs and 1 small can of evaporated milk. mix well.

in the same mixing bowl, add dry ingredients a cup at a time and mix carefully. dont over stir because it will make the pastry tough. do this step until all ingredients are incorporated.

add about 3/4 of the package of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips. I know its a lot but I am a glutton and your not... or about to be. haha!

prepare your mini silicone muffin cups on a baking tray or the toaster always has a tray that would fit with the pegs inside, so you can use that too. put a table spoon of the mixture on each. this recipe would yield around 30 mini muffins.




bake for around 15 minutes. check one by inserting a toothpick inside, if it comes out clean, then its good to go. let cool.

Frosting:

in a mixing bowl, place half a butter on room temperature and about a cup of confectioners sugar, mix well until well incorporated and smooth. on another mixing bowl, place a one brick of super cold, not frozen, all purpose cream and whip with an electric mixer until it produces stiff peaks, add the butter mixture gradually until well mixed, add a few drops of red food color to make pink color. place on piping bags or if you dont have, like i do, use a ketchup dispenser (a clean and odor free one ok? you dont want a frosting with a very buttery feel but with banana ketchup undertone haha...)decorate your small muffins as desired, or do what i do, i just dip one muffin to the frosting mixture and place more peanut butter chips and swallow it whole.

haha... fattening but its all soo worth it. :)

Carabao Wings with Coriander and Cucumber Salad

I've been cooking this dish for my staff for quite some time now because its fast (chicken wings tend to cook faster)and at the same time, its addictive! I created the recipe after tinkering with the tamarind flavor (there was a time when i was indeed obsessed with the tamarind taste and i often experimented where it would work best) then I figured out, why not have a twist on the classic Buffalo Wings? There i named it Carabao Wings. haha!

The recipe is kinda laborious but everything can be done withing under 2 hours.

1 1/2 k of chicken wings, washed and drain thoroughly.
2 packs crispy fry breading mix, placed inside a 1.5 gallon empty ice cream container, or any other plastic container with lid for coating the chicken, mix in a cup of flour, since the breading mix is kinda salty for my taste.

The Salad: Slice cold cucumbers lengthwise with a small knife, making sure to cut until where the seeds are. do this slices 1 centimeter apart throughout the girth of the cucumber, then start shaving off slivers of the cucumber lengthwise with the use of a potato peeler. the dressing is basically mixing 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic, 1 tbsp of honey, juice of half a lemon, 1 tbsp vinegar, salt and pepper, and 1 tsp of chopped coriander leaves, in a small lid jar. shake well and dress the cucumber with the dressing. let cool in the fridge.

In a Blender:

2 peeled garlic bulbs (yes two whole bulbs)
1 inch of ginger, rough chop
2 stalks of lemon grass bottoms, rough chop
1 200g tetra pack of tomato sauce
1 tbsp soysauce
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 coriander roots including an inch of the stalks (save the leaves for later)
1 star anise
1 tbsp salt, half pepper
3 hot chili peppers
rind of half a lemon
juice of half a lemon (save the other half for later)
4 tbsp of sour tamarind paste (or you could boil those big wrapped old school sampalok from the fruit stands with a cup of water and strain, while pressing with a spatula to get pulp)

Blitz until smooth in consistency.

in a container with lid, place chicken and spice mixture and stir. place on medium heat and when it starts to steam, change to low fire, stir carefully and occasionally so the chicken wont break. the goal here is to infuse the chicken with the flavors of the marinade, and cook it just enough. you know theyre done when the sauce doubled in amount because of the chicken juices oozing out. remove the chicken to drain and save the liquid for the sauce...

when the chicken is cool, place a couple inside the container with the breading mix and shake until each wing is coated, pan fry till golden brown. drain well with kitchen towel so they would remain crispy. set aside.

going back to the liquid, turn the heat to high and stirring constantly, add 2 tbsp of honey, and 1 tbsp of tabasco or any hot sauce, stir until reduced and thick. let cool.

Assembly:

place the fried chicken wing with the Sauce mixture and stir carefully until every wing is coated, serve over the Coriander and Cucumber Salad, and garnish with a sprinkling of Coriander leaves... Serve Immediately. your goal is to have your wings saucy on the first bite, crunchy on the next and juicy meat on the last...

serves 10 people. or a lot of 5 gluttons. lols!

Bacon Wrapped Meat Loaf

Had the urge today to do something unusual... that is to cook something from the oven toaster. The best recipe to attempt this is I think the humble Meatloaf from scratch... so here's whats for dinner tonight. Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf.

1/2 k ground pork
1/2 k ground beef
about 2 cups of bread crumbs
6 eggs, (4 hard boiled)
4 medium onions chopped
1 whole bulb of garlic chopped
half a butter
1 tsp dried oregano, 1 bayleaf
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup parsley
1 small can pimiento chopped
salt and pepper
strips of fatty bacon

preheat your oven toaster to its highest of 250 and set to 50 mins... the steps below should take you around 10 mins so that's enough time to preheat.

in a pan saute onions in a bit of oil together with the oregano and bay leaf until translucent. fish out the bay leaf and set aside to cool.

in a mixing bowl, put the meats, bread crumbs, 2 eggs, the cooled onions, garlic, parsley, pimiento, salt and pepper and worcestershire sauce. mix thoroughly. if the mixture is too wet, just add more breadcrumbs. but it should have the texture of bread dough...

flatten the mixture to level, and then divide it into 4 equal parts. get one part and place it in a 1 1/2 foot aluminum foil, flatten to a 7x3 rectangle then place 2 hard boiled eggs on the center then cover it with another 1/4 of the mixture. mold into a block, making sure its stable and firm cover with strips of bacon, making sure to tuck it from below. lift foil edges and fold making a pocket. do the same with the remaining mixture.

place foil pockets carefully in a tray that would fit inside the toaster. place inside and cook with its juices for 30-40 mins... then after, open the foil and drain the liquid that came out of it and replace the meat loafs, without the foil, on the same tray to cook again for the next 10-15 minutes until the bacon strips are golden brown...

save the drained liquid for gravy by putting it in a sauce pan, add a tablespoon of flour, then whisk until the floor is cooked, dissolve a beef stock cube in a cup of hot water and pour into the mixture, stir until it thickens, add half a cup of milk, stir and season with pepper or your fave dried herbs...

serves 10-15 people.

happy eating folks!

Chubby Lumpia (Chubby Pork Spring Rolls)

1/2 k ground pork
2 tbsp Hibe or dried shrimps, finely chopped
1/2 a large singkamas grated
1 medium size carrot grated
1 large onion chopped
1 whole garlic chopped
5-6 pieces dried mushrooms, soaked in hot water, then squeeze out water, chopped
1 inch ginger chopped
half of a star anis
soy sauce
1 tsp salt and 8 pepper corns
1 tsp brown sugar
lumpia wrappers
1 or 2 hot pepper or labuyo

spice paste: in a mortar and pestle, ground star anis and 5-8 pcs pepper corns until pulverized, then add garlic, ginger, hot pepper and salt, pound into a paste, add brown sugar.

in a mixing bowl, mix ground pork, onions, Hibe, mushrooms, singkamas and carrots then mix in spice paste.season with soy sauce, then have a test by creating one lumpia and frying it. taste, and season the rest of the mixture if necessary and according to taste... this is the best part too to elevate the flavors of your stuffing, add a tbsp of housin paste and a few drizzle of sesame oil for a more oriental feel, add in dried prunes for a sweeter mixture, chopped squid balls to add more of the seafood feel, or even the real thing.

roll mixture in lumpia wrappers making sure to tuck in the sides for a more moist inside when cooked. Fry in hot oil until golden brown.

serve with sweet chili sauce, or sweet and sour.

this makes 20 chubbies, or 30-40 skinny ones. LOLs.

Easy Ginataang Adobo (Pork Adobo with Coconut Cream)

***As always, all my dishes serves a lot since i do cook for my staff and family, so for smaller portions, you do the math. :P

1 1/2 K Pork Liempo
1 Cup Rose Vinegar + 1/4th cup separately.
3/4 Cup Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce
3 Bay Leaves or Laurel
1 tbsp Honey or 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 packet Coconut Cream Powder dissolved in a few tablespoons of hot water
Rock Salt and Whole Pepper Corns
1 large Onion chopped
2 whole garlic bulbs chopped

Cut pork into serving sizes, salt and pepper, then brown them both sides in a casserole with hot oil. set aside.

in the same vessel,using the same oil, saute onions first and then the garlic until tender.

add vinegar to deglaze the bottom of the pan and then add soy sauce, Laurel leaves, Honey, then get it to a round boil, till the vinegar vapors disappear.

add browned pork, and stir with the liquid. set burner into low and let it cook for 20 mins.

add salt after 20 mins or not, this is the time to properly season the dish, then add 1/4 cup vinegar. cover and wait for another 5 mins.

turn off fire and wait for anther minute or so before adding the coco cream mixture. stir.

serve with soysauce with chili and bananas... and of course, piping hot rice!!! Yum!!!

Pasta Pomadoro with Bacon, Olives and Capers

For those who were asking for the recipe, finally here it is. This dish is best cooked when tomatoes are in season (specially the native oval ones)and are cheap and very ripe. just remember this ratio, 1 kilo or tomatoes per kilo of pasta.

Basic Tomato Sauce:

1 kilo of ripe tomatoes quartered
1 star anise
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp of mascovado sugar or brown sugar
1 whole garlic chopped.
balsamic vinegar
juice of half a lemon
basil leaves

1. In a casserole, drizzle some olive oil and heat it up to smoking point. Add tomatoes after and stir once. cover and leave for the next ten minutes.

2. After ten minutes, stir the tomatoes again and add the garlic, star anise, oregano, sugar and lemon. Stir and check if your tomatoes are starting to break down and cover it again and leave for another 10 mins in low heat, then after remove cover and let it reduce for 5 mins or until chunky consistency is achieved.

3. add the rest of the ingredients and try to mash with a potato masher or the back of the ladle. adjust taste with salt and lots of pepper. the recipe can be adjusted depending on the tomatoes. Some tomatoes have higher acidity than others so you could adjust it by adding more sugar. you can also do this ahead of time if kept frozen and would usually last for 2-3days.

After tasting this recipe, I'm sure, you'll rather have this than the tin ones. hehe.

Level Up.

1 basic tomato sauce recipe
1 small bottle of black olives and capers, rough chopped.
400 grams of smoked bacon, roughly sliced
basil leaves
parmesan or old keso de bola (specially the ones since christmas that were just left inside the fridge and long been forgotten... they do taste like parmesan if aged...)
1 whole garlic, chopped
2 medium red onions, chopped
olive oil.

1. Saute garlic and onions till aromatic (add chili flakes if you want it spicy)

2. Add the bacon and render some fat till slightly brown and then add the olives and capers.

3. Add the tomato sauce till it simmers.

4. Add pasta (cooked according to package instructions) and stir. Add torn Basil leaves and top with parmesan cheese. You can add fresh cherry tomatoes too if you want for a pop of fresh tomato taste or even anchovies while you're on step one, for a Putanesca cheat.

serves 6-7 people or 4 really hungry people. haha.