James Martin's Orange Curd Pudding

Recently I have been adding to my cookery book collection every time I go into my local charity shop - but I've had to stop as I've run out of space on my shelves! One of my last purchases was James Martin's Desserts - James Martin is regularly seen on Saturday Kitchen on the BBC which I do like to watch when I get the chance. I liked the look of his 'fresh orange curd pudding' which looked quite cake-like in consistency and perfect for a cold day. It's also very simple to make.

Serves 4

You need:

300ml orange juice

grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

60g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

90g caster sugar

4 eggs, separated

70g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

160ml milk

Preheat oven to 180C and butter the sides of a 1-litre ovenproof bowl. Put the orange juice and lemon juice in a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer until reduced by half, then set aside to cool.

In a bowl, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest, then gradually mix in the egg yolks.

Fold in the flour and baking powder. Then stir in the orange and lemon juice and the milk.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff and gradually fold into the mixture.

Pour the mixture into your greased bowl and stand it in a roasting tin. Pour boiling water into the tin so it comes half way up the side of the bowl.

Bake in the oven for about an hour - check in the last ten minutes to make sure the top isn't getting too brown. You can cover the dish with foil to stop the top burning if necessary.

Serve the pudding hot. You can sprinkle the top with icing sugar and it would also work well with custard. The texture is like a doughy cake with an intense citrus hit - it was really nice.

I'm entering this in Alphabakes, the blog challenge I host with Ros of the More Than Occasional Baker, as the letter we have chosen this month is O.

The theme for this month's Calendar Cakes, hosted by Laura of Laura Loves Cakes and Rachel at Dollybakes, is puddings, so I am sending them my orange curd pudding as well.

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Crispy Tokwa’t Baboy, Crspy Fried Pork with Tofu

Crispy Tokwa’t Baboy, Crspy Fried Pork with Tofu. Tokwa at baboy is synonym to lugaw and arroz caldo. Tokwa at baboy is served as a side dish for lugaw or arroz caldo. To most Pinoy Tokwa’t Baboy is made up of boiled pork face and ears plus fried tokwa or firm tofu, with vinegar, soy sauce, chopped onion and garlic dressing. OPC has been very innovative with discovering other version of this dish using other meat that goes with tokwa. Click the links below to discover some alternative for Tokwa’t Baboy.



Tokwa't Baboy, Pork and Tofu

Tokwa't Isda, Fish and Tofu

Tokwa't Baka, Beef and Tofu

Tokwa’t Manok

Tokwa’t Pinakurat

Today I would like to share a crunchy version, Crispy Tokwa’t Baboy. I cooked this Crispy Tokwa’t Baboy as a side dish for a Beef Face and Tripe Lugaw that I have prepared which I thought would best serve at this time since it has been raining for most part of the week here in Central Queensland Australia. During this time of the year it should be very hot, we should be experiencing extreme high temperature. November and December are the peak months of summer on this part Australia. With a lot of rain lately, the weather is behaving strangely. Yesterday November 17, 2013, it even rain with ice the size of grapes, below is the video of that hailstorm.

Queensland November 17, 2013 Hailstorm

Ok let’s get back to my version of Crispy Tokwa’t Baboy, Crispy Fried Pork with Tofu. To make the dish it is similar to my other Tokwa’t Baboy recipe, the only difference is the extra cooking step of deep frying the pork till crisp similar to the Lechon Kawali. I have also added some Chinese twist to the fried pork by pre-boiling the pork, I used pork belly, with Chinese 5-Spice and some star anise. Here is the recipe of my Crispy Tokwa’t Baboy, Crispy Fried Pork with Tofu.

Ingredients:



1/2 pork belly, cut into four parts

2 large blocks, firm tofu

2 medium size onion, peeled, chopped or sliced

1 medium size onion, peeled, quartered

1/2 head whole garlic, peeled, crushed

1/2 head garlic, peeled, chopped

1 piece bay leaf

1/2 tsp. peppercorns

1-2 pcs. Star anise

1-2 piece long chili, chopped

1 small bunch spring onion, trimmed, chopped

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup vinegar

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. Chinese 5-spice powder

cooking oil

salt

Cooking Procedure:



In a big pot place the pork belly, crushed garlic, quartered onion, bay leaf, peppercorns, star anise and Chinese 5-spice powder, add generous amount of salt. Pour enough water to cover ppork and bring to a boil, simmer for 30 to 45 minutes or until pork is tender. Remove from pot clean any scum and let cool, and chill in a refrigerator. In the meantime, using a big bowl mix chopped onion, chooped garlic, chopped long green chili, soy sauce, vinegar, salt and sugar keep aside until ready to serve.



In a frying pan deep fry chilled boiled pork belly until color change to a golden brown, remove from pan and drain excess oil, let cool. Cut fried pork belly into cubes or serving pieces set aside.



Now using the same pan, deep fry the tokwa until color change to golden brown, remove from pan and drain excess oil, let cool. Cut fried tokwa into cubes or serving pieces set aside.



When ready to serve toss fried pork, fried tokwa and the vinaigrette mixture in a bowl, garnish with chopped spring onion. Serve as side a dish for lugaw or arroz caldo.

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Shoe theme birthday party

Last year I had a birthday party with a shoe theme. I wanted to write a post pulling all the ideas together but have only just gotten around to it. It's a fun theme that could easily be adapted for children or adults - after all, who doesn't have a favourite pair of heels, whether they are Start-Rite pink patents or Manolo Blahniks?



My birthday cake had a shoe theme; I decided to make a two-tier pink polka dot cake with a pair of shoes on top (obviously you could make it in any colour). If I did it again I would make a rectangular cake that looks like a shoe box and put the pair of shoes on top. I made the shoes in a cake decorating class; you can see how I did it here.







I also made some filled chocolates in the shape of shoes and handbags







Finally I made some White Russian cupcakes, using cupcake wrappers with a shoe print. I cut out shoe shapes from fondant using a mini cutter and placed these on top of the cake.







As one of my friends is vegan, I also made some vegan chocolate cupcakes and distinguished them with a green shoe on top using the same cutter.







Shoe cookies would be great for a shoe themed party as well; you can bake simple sugar cookies or shortbread and use a cookie cutter, then either decorate the shoes yourself or get your guests to decorate them when they arrive. This would be good fun as an activity at a children's party, though it could get rather messy, so you should provide your guests with aprons!



Maybe you could also make some choux buns - shoe buns - get it?



Ros from The More Than Occasional Baker came to my birthday party and made these amazing shoe cupcakes. Hop over to her blog and see how she did it!



I also asked my guests to wear their most fabulous and funky shoes and one friend in particular, Sandra, didn't let me down - she arrived in bright red sequinned high heels.



I wanted an activity for my guests to enjoy and came across this shoe quiz online. You can download the questions and print out question and answer sheets, and get the answers by making a small donation to the Multiple Sclerosis society. There are three different quizzes on this website so there is something for everyone. A shoe-themed prize is also a good idea!



If your party is for adults, don't forget the cocktails - how about a Moscow Mule, or a Singapore Sling-back?

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Baked Tinapa

Baked Tinapa. Tinapa what-ever type of fish is one of our favorite Pinoy fish dish, but it cooking leave’s a smoky fishy odor on your kitchen walls and curtains that will linger for days. Today I am again craving for tinapa but the last time I cooked it, that smoky fishy odor even get into my office shirt. Well I have thought of cooking tinapa in an oven to reduced the smoky fishy odor and today it’s time to try it and let see if we could at least minimize the odor beside making it as yummy or even better than frying the tinapa.

To bake the tinapa I needed some aromatic ingredients that will go with my bake tinapa but I found out that I have anything special in the ref and cupboard except onions, tomatoes and lemons. So I have to stick to the basic Pinoy ingredients and it return it is more authentic Pinoy dish, the final product? It did come out great and the tinapa smoky fishy odor was confined inside the oven and it was overwhelmed by the aroma of the onions.



Here is how I cooked my Baked Tinapa try it!

Ingredients:



12 pcs. galungong ginapa or other fish tinapa

2 medium size onions, peeled sliced

2 large size tomatoes, sliced

1 medium size lemon, sliced

olive oil or cooking oil

Baking Procedure:



Pre heat the oven to 250°C. Arrange half of the sliced onion in a medium size glass baking dish to form a bed for the smoked fish. Arrange the smoked fish side by side then disperse the remaining half of the sliced onion on the top. Arrange the sliced lemon evenly on the top of the smoke fish. Place the sliced tomato around the side of the baking dish then generously drizzle with olive oil. Place the baking dish inside the preheated oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes at 250°C. Serve while it is still hot with vinegar garlic and chili dip.

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Tinolang Tahong at Pechay, Green Mussels with Bok Choy

Tinolang Tahong at Pechay, Green Mussels with Bok Choy. Back home we would prefer our tinolang tahong with kangkong. But when in overseas kangkong will likely be not available in most part of the world. Down here in Australia kangkong is only available in some key cities with significant number of Asian communities. I am presently located in some remote mining town here in Australia therefore I had to innovate or find an alternative to kangkong. Luckily bok choy is for some reason is one of the more common Asian vegetables here, which is as good as kangkong for my tinolang tahong. Frozen green mussels from New Zealand are readily available in most supermarkets here. In fact I have already posted a recipe using New Zealand frozen green mussel, Green Mussels and Vegetables in Coconut Milk. Cooking tinolang tahong with pechay is not new, you may have found a similar recipe in the net already. But I am sure you may want to cook the OPC version. Cooking is easy and simple, it is basically the same with your tinolang tahong with kankong. Here is the recipe of my Tinolang Tahong at Pechay, Green Mussels with Bok Choy.

Ingredients:



1 kilo frozen green mussels

1 to 2 thumb size ginger, skinned, sliced into strips

1/2 head garlic, peeled, crushed, chopped

1 medium size onion, peeled, sliced

1-2 bunch bok choy, trimmed

1 small bunch of spring onions or leeks, trimmed, cut into 2” lengths

2-3 pieces green/red long chili

cooking oil

Cooking procedure:



Rinse the mussels and drain, scrub off any dirt that are attached to the shells. In a wok or pan sauté garlic, ginger and onion until fragrant. Pour 1 to 1 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Add in mussels and allow water to boil once more and simmer until the shells start to open then add in the bok choy, long chili and leeks, simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes or until done. Serve hot.

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Meal Planning 2013 - week 44

I haven't had much time to plan this week's meals as we have been decorating the spare room which has taken up almost every evening- and I do my food shopping on Saturdays so I had to quickly plan some meals in between painting the walls. I did put on a pound last week which is annoying as I was trying to lose weight before going on holiday next week!



Monday

Breakfast boiled egg - at the moment it looks like I will be working from home, the high winds means all my trains are cancelled!

Lunch leftover pasta bake

Dinner Steak and potato wedges





Tuesday

Breakfast yogurt

Lunch out for lunch with some colleagues

Dinner leftover chicken en croute for me, chicken kiev for the OH



Wednesday

Breakfast yogurt

Lunch sandwich

Dinner sausage tikka masala - it's a Slimming World chicken tikka masala recipe but I don't want to have chicken three days in a row, but there aren't many other things my boyfriend will eat. I will have a vegetable curry.



Thursday

Breakfast yogurt

Lunch sandwich

Dinner chicken in honey mustard sauce with mashed potato (that I was going to cook last week but didn't)





Friday

Breakfast yogurt

Lunch sandwich

Dinner burger and chips, possibly with mozzarella sticks if time



Saturday

Breakfast yogurt

Lunch Slimming World Welsh rarebit (from Autumn Flavours booklet)

Dinner TBA - I am going to Clandestine Cake Club in the afternoon and we might be going to the local fireworks event after that. I am away after today so don't want any leftovers or fresh food that needs using up so I might suggest we have a takeaway.



Sunday

I'm heading off in the morning for a week in Baltimore at my company's head office.

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Restaurant Review - Bea's of Bloomsbury

Restaurant name: Bea of Bloomsbury

Location: St. Paul's, London

Description: Tea shop and cafe nestled into the side of the One New Change shopping centre. There is a takeaway counter downstairs and a seating area upstairs.

Reason for visit: Lunch with a former work colleague who works nearby.

I ate: Roast chicken with some sort of potato salad in a herby dressing. Actually a really good option if you are Food Optimizing on Slimming World! Followed by cheesecake, which is not quite so Slimming World-friendly.

My companion ate: Cous cous salad with broccoli - he was on a pre-wedding diet!

The food was: Nice but fairly safe - my chicken was quite plain. They don't have a huge amount of choices at lunchtime but there are different types of meal on offer - sandwiches, salads, pasta, soup - but only a couple of flavours of each. The cakes are to die for though - Bea's is the inventor of the townie, a cross between a tart and a brownie! They also do afternoon tea here, which I would like to try.

The atmosphere/service was: Friendly staff, who brought our food up to our table when we found seats upstairs.

Price range/value for money: Actually not that cheap, I can't remember how much I paid for my meal but I was a bit surprised, I guess chicken and potatoes are quite substantial though and we were in the middle of London (and a pretty expensive shopping centre). On the other hand, it's worth noting that there are free jugs of tap water and glasses in an easy location to help yourself to if you don't want to buy a drink.

Would I recommend it? Yes, it's a nice place, the cakes are great and I'd like to try the afternoon tea.

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Meal Planning 2013 - Week 43

Monday

Breakfast yogurt

Lunch chicken risotto

Dinner at choir rehearsal - will take sandwich



Tuesday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch sandwich


Dinner Pizza Express pizzas from Tesco (on a special offer and my boyfriend loves them!)



Wednesday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch meeting with lunch provided

Dinner chicken in honey mustard sauce with mashed potato





Thursday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch sandwich or pasta


Dinner tuna burger/beef burger





Friday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch sandwich or pasta


Dinner hopefully out with my boyfriend (hint hint!)





Saturday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch Greek pasta bake I didn't make last week as we went out

Dinner TBA (it was a very busy weekend so I haven't had time to finish planning yet!)





Sunday -

Breakfast cereal

Lunch pissaladiere I didn't make last week

DinnerTBA

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Coffee Break Vigan, A classic Taste in a Historic Place

Coffee Break Vigan. This post is overdue because of my limited time and busy workload I have been setting the post aside until I almost lost the photos. When you’re in Vigan and trying to find a cafe along Calle Crisologo for break and sit down for a hot coffee or cold refreshing drink then the best place is Coffee Break Vigan. It is conveniently located just halfway along Calle Crisologo at Salcedo Street intersection on the right side if you are coming from St Pauls Cathedral.

Coffee Break Vigan has a wide range of hot beverages to choose from, from my personal favorite, cappuccino to Hazel Nut Flavored coffee, another favorite. Now if you are in to cold drinks and refreshments they do have also a large selection which most likely include you own personal favorite.

If you are looking for a light meal or meryenda they also offer a selection of snacks including some local delicacies.

You will definitely fall in love with the place atmosphere and enjoy your coffee, they also have a mezzanine floor where one can quietly chill out with friends or just want to be left alone and enjoy your coffee surfing the net. Now if are a smoker and want to enjoy your coffee while on your cigarette fix they do also have an outdoor section.

Coffee Break Vigan is located at:

3 Salcedo St, 2700 Vigan City, Ilocos Sur



Visit them at their Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/coffeebreakvigan



I just want to mention that this is not a paid advertisement, Overseas Pinoy Cooking do not do paid post. Once in a while OPC do similar post if we like the food and place, and want to share it to our readers. For the record Coffee Break Vigan is owned by my “Pamangkins” never the less the place is great and it is highly recommended if you are in Vigan and looking for a place to chill out while enjoying your Calle Crisologo Tour.

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Buttermilk Pancakes with Sausage Gravy

This may not look like the most appetizing dish but it tastes amazing. When other people are eating a full English, I never know what to have - I don't like baked beans, or mushrooms, or fried eggs, and am not really that fussed about bacon - which usually leaves me with a sausage sandwich. Sometimes if I am making a cooked breakfast for my boyfriend I want something a bit more substantial, but sausage and toast by itself is a bit dry. I recently came across a recipe for buttermilk pancakes with sausage gravy from The No Waste Meal Planner by Becky Thorn and it's now my go-to recipe when other people want a full English.

Becky's recipe includes sweetcorn in her pancakes but I don't like sweetcorn (I know you're wondering if there is anything I do like!); you could also serve this with fried potatoes or ready-made potato cakes. The sausage gravy is essentially sausage meat in a milky white sauce; it really reminds me of nursery-style comfort food and is just the thing when you've had a few too many the night before!

You need:

100g sausage meat, either from a pack of sausage meat or sausages broken up

half an onion, chopped

25g butter

40g plain flour

400ml milk

salt pepper

freshly ground nutmeg



for the pancakes

3 eggs

150ml buttermilk

180g plain flour

1.5 tsp baking powder



Crumble the sausage meat or break up the sausages and fry along with the onion until browned.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes then add the milk and stir until smooth. Add the sausage and onion and seasoning and simmer until the sauce has thickened.

It doesn't look particularly appetizing at this stage, but trust me!

To make the pancakes, add a little of the buttermilk to the flour and mix to a paste then add the rest of the buttermilk and the eggs, and the baking powder and mix well.

Heat a frying pan and pour in the batter to make pancakes - you will get about 4 out of this quantity, though I made mine quite thick.

For the other half: buttermilk pancakes, sausage patties (made from the same packet of sausage meat) and baked beans.

For me, buttermilk pancakes and sausage gravy - delicious!

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Pork Chop and Tofu with Mushroom and Oyster Sauce

Pork Chop and Tofu with Mushroom and Oyster Sauce. This is just a twist of my Pork Chop with Mushroom and Oyster Sauce, I was originally planning to cook a vegetarian version of the dish by substituting pork chop with tofu but I finally realised that the regular oyster sauce is not a vegetarian ingredient. I know there is a vegetarian version of oyster sauce out there, I have to do another post of the vegetarian version of the dish when I find one.

For now tofu is used as meat extender for the dish, never the less the pork chop fried tofu combination was great, not only that the cost of the dish is reduced it has also become healthier. I used a skinless cut of pork chop for the dish, that means the skin and most of the fat of the pork chop was removed.

Cooking is basically similar to my previous post of Pork Chop with Mushroom and Oyster Sauce, except for the extra cooking step of frying the tofu. Here is the recipe of my Pork Chop and Tofu with Mushroom and Oyster Sauce.





Ingredients:



4-6 pcs. skinless pork chops

2 large block tofu, sliced into thin rectangles, fried

200 grams, fresh button mushroom, sliced

1/2 cup oyster sauce

1 small size onion chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp. dried parsley flakes

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tsp. sugar

1 tbsp. coarsely ground peppercorns

salt

cooking oil

Cooking procedure:



Dash the pork chops with salt and keep aside. Heat 2 to 3 tbsp. of cooking oil in a medium size frying pan. Fry the pork chops for about 3 to 5 minutes each side do not over fry, keep aside. To make the sauce, heat the same frying pan with all the pork chops residue, add in the garlic and stir fry for about a minute now add in the onion and parsley, stir cook for another minute. Add in the oyster sauce and 1 to 1/2 cup of water and sugar bring to a quick boil and let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, correct saltiness if required. Add more water if salty. Add in the fried tofu and l let simmer for 2 to 3 minute to absorb some of the flavors. Then add in the mushroom and continue to stir cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Thicken sauce with cornstarch diluted in 1/4 cup of water, cook for another minute or until sauce has thicken. Now add in the fried pork chops a let cook for about 1 to 2 minutes to let the sauce infused to the meat. Serve immediately with mashed potato or rice.

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