Grilled Pork Loin Over Vermicelli

Vietnamese Grilled Pork Loin Over Vermicelli

In my exploration of healthy eating, I decided to make some Vietnamese food.  Most of the dishes is made with fresh vegetables.  I am able to add or subtract anything I don't like.  We had some left over noodles, roasted pork loin, Romain lettuce, and cilantro from our adventure with Spring Rolls.  I just reused the ingredients into this meal.  My only effort was to make the Nuoc man (the fish dipping sauce) and re-grill the meat.  We didn't slice up all the meat when we made the Spring Rolls, especially since there was bone-in pieces.  The Husband sliced up the meat while I made the sauce.  We reheated the noodles and sliced up the lettuce.  There should be more vegetables but it was way too cold to go out (I love Chicago Winters...do you hear the sarcasm?  I hope you do). 

Ingredients for the Dish

Grilled sliced meat of choice (pork, beef, chicken, or shrimp)

            * the recipe for the marinate is on the Spring Roll Entry

A package of vermicelli noodles or desired amount (we only used 1/2 since there is only 2.5 of us eating - yes the baby is only 1/2 :D)

Shredded Roman Lettuce

Garnish *mint or cilantro (this is what we used)

Carrots Julianne style *I wish we had some

Sliced Cucumber *Again we ran out

Sliced Tomatoes *We ran out, we really need to go to the store

Directions

Once the marinated meat is sliced and grilled, set it aside.  We used a skillet but using a grill would be so much better.  Than again it was 10 degrees last night and we were not about to go outside.  *Sigh......wishful thinking of moving somewhere warm*  Sorry I'm back :D.  boil a pot of water and place the noodles once the water is boiling.  The noodles should be cooked within a couple of minutes.  Drain and place in a deep bowl or multiple bowls.  Place the shredded roman lettuce and the rest of the vegetables if you have them (again I wish we did).  Place pieces of the meat on top.  It will pretty much look like this:

 * It would have been better with more veggies...*shaking fist*... I hate snow!

On the side is the Nuoc mam cham sauce.  It was pretty simple to make.  I was actually surprised. 

Ingredients

1 Cup of Water

4 Tablespoons of Rice Vinegar

4 Tablespoons of Sugar

5 Tablespoons of Fish Sauce

1 Tablespoon of Garlic *finely chopped

2 Fresh small chili peppers *I can't handle spice stuff so I opted out on this ingredient.

Directions

Boil the water with the vinegar and sugar.  Once it comes to a boil, turn off the stove and allow it to cool.  Add the garlic, peppers, and the fish sauce.  That is it.  Simple huh?  

To eat 

Pour a little of the sauce into the bowl, mix well, and consume. 

This was my lunch too, it is still as good.  I still had a spring roll left, so myself and The Baby shared it. 

Spring Rolls

 Vietnamese Spring Rolls

* adapted from http://rasamalaysia.com/

I love Spring Rolls.  It is the just the mixture of meat with noodles and vegetables but the best part is the wrapping.  For some reason, I love the texture of it.  It is much different from the traditional Lumpia Shanghai I'm used to.  It is soft and a little chewy.  I love how fresh the vegetables.  Traditionally this is made with shrimp and pork loin but The Husband hates shrimp so I'm out of luck.  I even made a vegetarian version and it was still as good. 

Ingredients

For the Pork slices

1 lb Pork chops, loin, butt or shoulder, sliced thin.  I used pork loin it provided a nice balance of fat to meat.

        *I might try other meats if The Husband lets me

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

2 Shallots, minced

1 Tbs Fish sauce * we could use due to The Baby's allergies.  I'm in search of a vegetarian version.

1 Tsp of Sugar

2 Tsp of Black Pepper or to Taste

1/2 Cup of Vegetable or Peanut Oil *again The Baby has allergies so we went with Vegetable Oil

Needed for assembly

Hoisin Peanut Sauce *Again with our allergic munchkin we got stuck with just Hoisin Sauce

Rice paper

Roman Lettuce

Cucumber, julianne style

Fresh herbs: Mint, cilantro, basil, or any thing you like *we used Cilantro

Bean Sprouts * we didn't have any

Directions

Mix all the ingredients for the pork slices.  Let it sit for 20 minutes.  Grill the pieces for about 2-3 minutes depending on your preference. 

To assemble

Soak the rice paper in warm water for 3-5 secs until it is flexable but do not over soak or it will break.  Place on work surface, for me it was a plate.  Place the lettuce first on the wrapping toward the end by you, then place the meat, then the rest of the vegetables.  Roll the spring roll.  View this video to see how Roll a spring roll.  And than consume. 

Here is the directions on making the Hoisin Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

1 Cup or 8 oz of hoisen sauce

1/4 Cup of Smooth Peanut Butter

1 Tbs of Rice Vinegar

2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed

1 Minced of Thai chili

Directions

Just blend well

* Again pretty easy

 

Pan de Coco

Pan de Coco

My Pan De Sal Adventure continues........

 

Since I finally conqured Pan de Sal after quite a few gruiling attemps, you would think I wouldn't be able to look at another Pan de Sal.  You guess wrong!  I only get homemade Pan de Sal if I fly out to see The Parents (they live in California - Filipino Central).  I like it there but Chicago is my home so I had to make due with the commerical Pan de Sal.  It is alright but nothing compared to homemade.  You could probably imagine how exicted I was when I figured it out.  Ok I was dancing in my kitchen much to The Husbands embarressment and puzzlement.  He just doesn't understand :D  I just had to run with it since I figured it out.  A request came to try Pan de Coco.  I tried this prior with my ensaymada dough.  It came out ok but it became hard right away.  So I had to try it with this dough.  I questioned if the dough would be too soft but it was a nice balance.  Unfortunately it did leak from the bottom hense the wax paper on the bottom.  I'm so smart...SMRT...I'm so smart..SMRT.  Sorry I have a bad tentency to quote the Simpsons.  Pan de Coco is pretty much Pan de Sal with a filling of sweeten coconut.  Instead of using regular sugar, brown sugar is a better choice and it adds a nice flavor due to the molasses.  My cousin loves this stuff so I always make extra for her.  The dough was nice and soft and the center had a nice sweetness.  I also brushed butter on top to add a nice sheen and a salty aspect.  Though sweet is great but there needs to a balance.  I'm also the person that would eat ice cream with potato chips, especially mango sherbet.  I'm a weird one :D  Assembly was similar to making hopia just softer. 

Ingredients

A sweet bread dough of your choice: could use pan de sal, ensaymada if you like it eggy, brioche (actually a nice taste)

Shredded Coconut

Brown Sugar

*I did put in measurements due to the fact it depends on person preference.  It should 1 to 1 but some people like sweeter filling or just more coconut. 

Directions

If you are using froze coconut, you might want to divid the package or it might go bad.  For 14 pieces I only used 1/4 of the package.  I asked The Husband to cut the package.  I actually defrosted the package in the microwave but you don't have to.  Mix the coconut and brown sugar and let it sit at least for 1/2 an hour.  While that is sitting, make your sweet bread.  Divide the dough into equal parts and roll out into a disk.  Place about a tablespoon coconut mixture in the center and bring up the edges.  Place on a greased baking pan and let it rise until it doubles in size.  Cook at 35o degrees for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven.  A couple of minutes before it is cooked, brush some melted butter.  Bake until it is a nice golden brown.  There might be some leakage, remove the pan de sal from the pan and let it cool on a cooling rack.  You are also able to eat it right out of the oven but be careful, it may be hot :D.

Assembly

 

Wait until is it doubles in size.

 The Finish product. 

Joy-Joy

--
Joy Alegria-Vizcarra
joyjoycreativeoutlet.blogspot.com
jsparaisofood.blogspot.com

I am an Innovative

I was reading up some older blog entries from Baking Bites and I thought it was a cute quiz.  What is your personality?  I'm a Innovative: Creative and trend-setting, innovative bakers seldom use recipes and like to experiment with ingredients, cuisine styles and methods.  Let me know what you are!

What's Your Baking Personality?

Cornell University researchers studied nearly 800 family cooks and determined five distinct types of cooking personalities, types which supposedly influence the types of dishes that you make and what your "food biases" are. The study was done mostly to show that what we think we're eating - healthy, tasty home-cooked meals - isn't necessarily what we're putting on the table because homemade doesn't necessarily mean health food (although it certainly can). The quiz is fun to take, if nothing revolutionary, but I did notice that they really seemed to overlook baking - even though there are distinct types of bakers out there, as well! I tweaked the quiz a little bit. Take it and post your "baking personality" in the comments!
1) When I bake, I typically:

a) Opt for one of a handful of very familiar recipes that I make all the time.
b) Pick a recipe and follow it step-by-step.
c) Tweak the ingredients of a recipe to cut down on fat or sugar.
d) Go all out and create impressive, professional-looking delicacies.
e) Rarely use recipes as written and like to experiment with ingredients and flavors.

2) Some of my favorite ingredients are:

a) Chocolate, butter and vanilla.
b) Flour, eggs and sugar.
c) Applesauce and brown sugar.
d) Scratch puff pastry and browned butter.
e) Herbs and edible flowers.

3) In my free time I like to:

a) Visit with friends and family with baked goods in tow.
b) Organize the house and clean the kitchen.
c) Exercise or take a fitness class to burn off those extra cookies.
d) Read cookbooks or take cooking classes.
e) Watch cooking shows and read food blogs to stay ahead of the food trends.

4) My favorite things to bake are:

a) Classics, like chocolate chip cookies and brownies.
b) Cakes, because there is a lot of variety in the flavors, but the technique is always similar.
c) Recipes that include whole grains, or cut down on the added fat.
d) Breads, where I can try to achieve the perfect crumb.
e) Ethnic sweets and desserts from other countries.

5) Other people describe me as:

a) Really friendly.
b) Diligent and methodical.
c) Health conscious.
d) Intense and passionate.
e) Curious or innovative.

Which letter did you choose most often? Don't worry about overlap - most of us fall into more than one category, and the quiz is just for fun. Here's what your answers say about your baking style:

a) Giving: Friendly, well-liked and enthusiastic, giving bakers seldom experiment, love baking and like to serve tried-and-true family favorites that they know are crowd pleasers, rather than risk experimenting with the unknown.
b) Methodical: Talented bakers who rely heavily on recipes because baking is considered to be a science for a reason! They know that they'll get the results they want that way. And usually, their creations look just like the picture in the cookbook.
c) Healthy: Healthy bakers love to be in the kitchen, but worry about the side effects of eating too many treats. They experiment with alternative ingredients to cut down on the "unhealthy" parts of recipes, usually white flours, sugars, eggs and fats. Health comes first, even if it means making a few compromises with taste and texture.
d) Competitive: Pros do it, so there is no reason that the competitive bakers shouldn't be able to do it, too. Competitive bakers have dominant personalities, are perfectionists who are always trying to improve their own skills, and love to impress their guests.
e) Innovative: Creative and trend-setting, innovative bakers seldom use recipes and like to experiment with ingredients, cuisine styles and methods.

Pan de Sal - Finally

Pan de Sal - Finally

So in the past couple of weeks, I have been obsessed with Pan de Sal.  The main reason is that I miss really good homemade Pan de Sal.  The Pan de Sal at the Filipino store is ok when I just need some but nothing replaces home made Pan de Sal.  There is a debate between myself and The Husband.  The first part of it is, should the Pan de Sal be sweet or not too sweet.  Next was whether to add egg or not.  Every recipe I was able to locate really did not have egg but I decided to try it out anyway.  On my last entry Whole Wheat Pan de Sal, I actually used an egg in the recipe and instead of butter as I have done prior, I used shortening.  I tried about 10 different recipes.  Some good and some really really bad.  Lets just say, The Daughter has been playing with them as blocks.  I finally was able to get a good batch that even pass the inspection of The Husband.  That is one inspection that I hate doing. 

Here are some pictures of my path to success.  Unfortunately, I don't have my first couple attempts.  It was way to sad to share.  Ok, they are actually on the broken camera :D.  Sorry about the quality, my camera is still broken.

Experiment 6

   

You would think this is a good batch...Nope..Too Hard and not as sweet.

Lets try again

Experiment 8

 

  

Better Taste but still A little hard.

The 9th attempt has the be the lucky one right?

Taste much better, softer, but just looks funny.  A day passes, it becomes really hard.  BTW this was The Mother's recipe.  Thanks Mom!

One more try.  Let's see if my Whole Wheat version will work. 

 

It was soft, light and just enough sweetness.  I checked again this morning, still soft.  We have a WHINNER!

I'm Exhausted.  So What Next?  Kutsinta perhaps.  You are just going to have to wait to find out :D.

Joy

Whole Wheat Pan De Sal, Better than Ever

Whole wheat Pan De Sal Revised, Better than Ever!

I FINALLY got The  Mother to tell me how she does pan de sal.  Generally she just tells me, "I don't know..I just have to show you...may be next time".  Next time never comes so I just give up and try it myself.  She finally trusted me with her recipe for pan de sal.  Generally she has it it huge quantities but not everybody has a industrial mixer like her so we had to figure out how to alter the recipe.  BTW The Mother uses the weight system instead of measuring the ingredients.  You would think it is easier, no not as much, especially when we are using really small amounts.  The hard part of learning from The Mother, is that she is thousands miles away in California and her directions are not the greatest if she can't show it to you.  I generally have to watch her, and than I try myself for her to check my work, and than do it by myself with my mom close to the phone if I have a question.  As I grow as a baker and cook, I realize that I don't need to consult my parents as much (my dad is the cook in the family).  I am finally able to do things on my own.  Of course if you ask her, she will always say, that hers is better but according to The Husband, mine is.  Probably because I feed him, he has to say that :D.  Sorry I completely went off topic, I have been altering my whole wheat pan de sal for a couple of weeks now and I believe I finally got it right.  At least according to The Husband it did.  He is not an easy person to please.  The key to this recipe is letting the dough rise.  Myself being extremely impatient, it is such a hard task for me to do.  But I forced myself to do something else, aka Cafe World on Facebook and reruns of Biggest Loser :D. 

Ingredients

First set:

1 Cup of Warm Water

2 Tsp of Active Yeast

1 Tsp of Sugar

Second set:

2 Cups of Bread Flour

1 1/4 Cup of Whole Wheat flour

1/4 Cup of Sugar

1 Tsp of Salt

4 Tbl of Shortening (butter could be replace if you like the taste)

1 Egg

57 Grams of Warm Water (adapted from The Mother's Recipe)

Directions

Take the first set of ingredients and mix it well.  Let it rise until it bubbles.  This may take up to an hour depending on the temperature of the house.  The Husband keeps it cold because he is cheap :D.  I can't wait until winter is over.  In the mean-time, mix together the two different flours and make sure it is well incorporated.  Add the sugar and salt.  Again mix well until it is well mixed.  Add the shortening, egg and warm water to bind the dough.  Once it appears well mixed, add the yeast mixture.  The dough may be a bit sticky, but wait until it is well bended before add more flour.  Once it is fully mixed, remove it from the mixer and dust a light coat of bread flour to dry it out a little but too much.  Or else it will be hard to roll out. 

Place in a greased bowl and cover for at least 1 to 2 hour until it doubles in size.  Once it is doubled, divide the dough into equal parts and shape into balls.  I like this doing for the roll look.  You could always roll in a log and cut up pieces of dough.  Coat the pieces of Pan De Sal in bread crumbs (if you have already whole wheat, that would be better).  Place on a baking sheet about 2 inches apart. 

Cover with a cloth and let it rise for at least 1-2 hours.  Yes, it actually takes this long to make pan de sal, but so worth the effort.  Once it doubles in size, bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Enjoy!

 

--
Joy Alegria-Vizcarra
joyjoycreativeoutlet.blogspot.com
jsparaisofood.blogspot.com

Healthy Eating Continues

I meant to post this last week when I actually made the dish but I got suck into school and work.  Ok, I actually got obsessed with perfecting my Pan De sal.  So I had left over portabella mushrooms from the meal day prior.  Instead we just did a simple pasta with all vegetables.  The Husband actually like it, I was quite surprised.  The Baby preferred the pasta.

Instead of using a heavy sauce, we just used olive oil and just seasoned the veggies.  We used a red pepper, the mushrooms, garlic of course, onions, and we had some artichoke hearts.  We barely used any salt and just used Italian seasons and a little cheese.  It came out quite well.  Hopefully, this continues.  Not sure about that one through :D  Back to Meal Planning. 

Whole Wheat Pan de Sal Experiment

Whole Wheat Pan de Sal part 1

So I'm this journey in prefecting my pan de sal.  I do have The Mother's recipe but the only problem is the lack of a really good mixer.  My may be a kitchenaid but I keep burning out the motor with the recipe.  So I figured, I'll just hunt for another recipe that may not be as dense as The Mother's recipe.  I searched and found this recipe.  The tastes was pretty good but a little too dry.  I personally think it is how I layed out the buns on the cookie sheet and how long it cooked.  I do like the taste so I am currently performing some tests to see which one comes out better. 

Original Recipe - Whole wheat pan de sal

Ingredients
1 cup warm water

4 tbsp butter soften
1 large egg
2 cups bread flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat
1/4 cup sugar + 1 tsp
1 tsp salt
2 packs active yeast or 2 and 1/2 tsps to one packet of yeast

Directions

I first put the warm water into a bowl and added the yeast and a tsp of sugar to assist in the blooming of the yeast.  This lasted about 15 minutes.  While that was blooming, I creamed the butter and slowly added the sugar.  Once that was fully incorporated, I added the egg and salt.  I slowly added the bread flour and than the whole wheat.  Once the yeast fully bloomed (btw this is a debate between myself and The Husband, we are trying to mathemically figure out how long is appropriate for the yeast to rise) add this to the dough mixture.  Once it is fully incorporated and forms in to a ball, let it rise for at least an hour (again this is on debate between The Husband and myself).  We have been reading on a procedure called sponge and dough method.  This method requires rising from 4 to 6 hours.  I'm just worried about over developing the yeast.  If you have any suggestions, that would be great!

Once the dough doubled in size, I rolled them out and covered them in bread crumbs.  I place them on the cookie sheet kind of close together and at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  I think I have to do it a shorter time.  My mistake was putting too many on one cookie sheet so the middle rolls were not cooked as wells as the outer ones.  Next time, I'm placing them 2 x 4 to ensure all the pan de sals are cooked at the same rate.  Here are some pictures of my progress:

 

   

 

 

Whole Wheat pan de sal Part 2

Directions

2 Cups of Warm Ater

2 Tsp active yeast

2 Large Eggs

8 Tbsp butter soften

3 Cups of Bread Flour

2 1/4 Cup of Whole Wheat

1/4 Cup Sugar

1 tsp Salt

I used the same procedures as above and it came out better but not as sweet.  I do have a confession to make, this alteration was a mistake one my side.  I accidently switched the yeast mixture of a different experiment I was doing so I had way too much liquid.  I added another cupe of each type of flour to compensate but I should have added more sugar too.  I don't have pictures of these as of yet.  But I'll up date this post as soon as I do.

Pan de sal is my focus for a while until I get it perfect.  Next, pan de leche (hopefully!).

Healthy Eating Starts

Healthy eating

 

As part of my new years resolutions, I wanted to incorporate healthier meals into our daily lives.  We generally eat a lot of meat and rice at dinner and I'm trying to expand our palate with quite a bit of protest from The Husband.  Since he is too lazy to cook, he is stuck with my decisions....sucka!  Anyway, last night I made a whole vegitarian meal.  It came out pretty well but I think I cook a little too much for the three of us.  I'm too used to cooking for 5 people when the Brother and Cuz stayed with us.  First I made sauteed Portabella mushrooms to replace our meat intake.  Than I made cucumber salad and than a vegitarian sushi.  BTW, if we had sushi rice it would have been better but we used what we had. 

I apologize for the pictures.  My SRL is not working so I was stuck with my point and shoot.  Unfortunately, I am not able to get the images I wanted to take. 

Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

Sugar

Vinegar

Sliced up Cucumbers

Directions

It is up to your taste how much vinagar and sugar to use.  I tend to make it a bit sweeter so I used a whole cup to 2 cups of vinegar.  If you like it more tangy, use less sugar.  Just mixed the sugar and vinegar together until it is fully incorporated and than add the cucumbers.  Make sure it sits for a couple of minutes so the vinegar mixture gets soaked into the cucumbers.

I just grilled the mushrooms on a skillet with salt and pepper to tasted and than added fresh garlic ontop.  I have read quite a bit of articles on the benefit of fresh garlic.  It does need to be chopped up to activate the antioxidants.  I watch way too much random shows on our direct TV. 

Vegitarian Sushi

Ingredients

 3 cups of cooked rice *btw The Husband just make 2 cups so the there was little too much liquid.  We know for next time!

2/3 cups of vinegar

6 tbs of brown sugar

* If you have sushi rice, you don't need these ingredients.

Any vegitable you would like, we used avacado and cucumber

Cream Cheese *this is not always needed depending on what you like.

Sheets of Nori

Directions

Mix the vinegar and sugar until it is fully desolved.  Mix in the cooked rice until it is fully incorporated.  Again this step is not needed if you have sushi rice.  Slice up the vegitable julienne style (*side note, I suck at cutting the vegitables like this so we have uneven size sushi.  The Husband laughed at me when I was doing it).  Spread out the rice on a sheet of nori and than place the vegitables and cream cheese toward the edge of the bed of rice.  Start rolling the end up.  Make sure it is tightly rolled or it will fall out much to The Husband's annoyance.  Than again he gets annoyed quite often :D.

Through The Husband did whine about no meat in our dinner, we are quite satified and could barely finish our food.  So guess what I have to lunch...yes you named it, left overs :D 

I did kinda ruin the healthy meal by having a mango, graham cracker type dessert.  It was suppose to be like a tarimisu but I got the wrong type of cream.  I wasn't sure what Purpose cream was until recently.  So it was really just a mixture of cream, mangos, and graham crackers.  it is not the healthiest choice but I give myself points for the mango :D. 

 

Hopefully I keep this going without The Husband going on strike.

Name Change

If some of you noticed, there was a name change.  I blame the husband!  He kept calling my posts and preparation to post as my misadventure, as a family we just started to call it that.  Initially when I started this blog, it was to explore different types of creative outlets but it turned into an adventure into food.  I have always love food but not so much cooking.  The older I got, I geared more into cooking and especially baking.  With each new recipe I find, an adventure begins.

A New Year

A new year and a new set of resolutions.  I know I'm late in posting this but I had a slew of issues at home.  Lets see, a sick baby which turned into a sick family.  I love when it gets passed from one person to another and than loops again to the first person.  The munchkin is getting better but not 100% as of yet.  Which means, she is as active as before but crabby.  Such a lethal combination.  Than my camera broke!  I'm still out a camera but I was finally able to pull the images off the camera.  I'm stuck with my point and shoot which is quite frustrating.  Hopefully soon, I'll get back to posting kinda regular.  This is one of my resolutions this year....speaking of resolutions, here are mine this year:

1. More patience.  This is huge for me.  I believe I have patience but I know I could work on it.  Especially with the husband and munchkin.  Breathing exerceses might help or even yoga :D  I could also opt for more sleep.  That might be the result. 

2. Be healthier.  I'm forcing my whole family to do this.  In light of the munchkin's allergies, we are limited to the food we could eat.  I'm going to look toward vegan options but don't worry, I'm still going to explore other avenues.  The husband might go crazy with vegan meals. 

3. Be a little more organized.  This ties into posting more regular and maybe meal planning instead of the panic every night to find food.  Hopefully this will cause us to be healthier.  I'm also hoping to get a better grip on our finances.  So no more shopping ;(

4. Finally, take care of me.  I have to start taking time out for me to stay mentally well to deal with everyday life.  This is always hard with a family but I'll try to take at least 1/2 an hour to "fully" relax without thinking of next thing I need to do.  If watching old episodes of So you think you could Dance will help, I'm all for it. 

I'm hoping by the end of this year, I'll would achieved at least 2 of these goals.  It amazes me how fast this year has past.  This past year was crazy and I'm still getting a grip on what happened.  From starting a catering company to my little brother finally graduating college and moving away.  This following year, I plan to take it all in and enjoy every minute. 

Joy-Joy