My Version of Sinigang

Sinigang is considered a Filipino version of beef soup.  What makes it unique is the souring agent.  Some people like use tamarind with lemon or calamansi (a smaller and sweeter version of a lemon) or just lemon/calamansi.  Traditionally, the use of tamarind is suggested.  Luckily, there are pre-made packs that has all the ingredients for the broth.  I completely cheat and go that route or I would never remember to include the tamarind or calamansi.  Every region of the Philippines may have their own twist on the classic dish and I'm sure even each person has their own preferences.  The beauty of this dish is the versatility.  You could add whatever ingredients you would like as long as you have the base of the soup.   

 

Ingredients

1 Lb of Beef Stew Meat Cubed

1 Pint of Button Mushrooms

1 Cup of Sugar Snap Peas

3 Cups of Sliced Bok choy

1 Package of Korr Tamarind Soup Base *You could use any time you like.

3 Medium Potatoes Peeled and Cubed

Lemon or calamansi juice, Salt, and Pepper *To Taste

 

Directions

1. Season the meat with a little Salt and Pepper.  I also add a little calamansi juice to add the sourness to the meat.
2. Take a large pot and sear all sides of the meat in the pot.    
3. Once all the meat is cooked, add the water and soup mix.
4. Bring to a boil and than bring it down to a medium-low heat.
5. Cover the pot and let it boil for a couple of hours until it is tender *you could use a slow cooker also
6. Once the meat is quite tender add the potatoes.
7. Cook until the potatoes are tender and add the remainder of the vegetables. 
8. Add more lemon or calamansi juice to your taste.
9. Serve over rice

* Generally, you could add patis (fish sauce) during the cooking process but I like to let everybody add to their taste.  Some people (like The Daughter) is allergic to fish :(

 

This dish is such a comfort food for me growing up and I love to add various vegetables I find in season. 

 

Walk to Empower

 

 

On Mother's day bright and early I will be walking in the Chicago's Walk to Empower. This 5K walk is to raise money for Beast Cancer.  I actually walked in this last year and it took little over 50 minutes.  I hope to beat that this year.  I may take The Daughter with me but we will see.  I became involved in this wonderful fundraiser for my Auntie Glady.  She was diagnosis almost two years ago.  When she told me she was planning on participating, I immediately signed up.  Last year's walk was in Chicago's Grant Park.  It was amazing to see a sea of people in pink walking for the same cause.  I even got a little emotional seeing everybody.  If you could open your hearts and donate even a few dollars for this cause, it could make a huge difference in finding a cure.  This time I'll take pictures.  I was bit exhausted to do is last year.  BTW I was in bed the rest of the day and it was mother's day. 

 

Below is the link to my page.  Unfortunately, I never got the chance to customize it. 

http://walk.networkofstrength.org/JoyAlegria

 

Here is my aunt just hanging out after the walk.  This year we are having a picnic so I am trying to plan what to make.  Any ideas?  My aunt is vegetarian trying to be vegan :D 

Added to my recipe box 4-30-10

This past weekend I was thinking of making a cheesecake.  The Best Friend (Girl) mentioned cheesecake and since then I have been craving for one.  Unfortunately, I cave to peer pressures especially when food is involve.  Daydreamer Desserts made some Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.  When I found this recipe, I thought perfect!  I still have frozen strawberries and I have been wanting a cheesecake for a week.  I might add some graham crackers for the texture.

 

One blog I totally admire is No Special Effects.  Her images are so great.  I wished I was able to compose a photograph as well as she does.  This week she made a Almond-Lemon Tea Cake.  Her images just made me crave this cake.  I also liked the combination of orange and lemon as a glaze for the cake. 

 

This week Bake at 350 made a milk chocolate pretzel tart.  Not an ordinary chocolate tart but one that uses pretzel.  The great part is the use of sea salt as a topping.  I don't remember what I was watching but I saw this television show describing the benefits of adding salt to desserts.  This recipe reminded me of that television show. 

 

As some of you know I find making bread a challenge.  I would try a recipe of multiple recipes of the same bread many times until I get it just like I want it.   It may take up to 10 tries as it did with my Pan de Sal attempt but I try not to give up.  Honey and Butter made Baguettes this week.  I didn't realized how little ingredients there were.  I can't wait to try this. 

 

I have been admiring Tartelette's blog for a long time.  This week she made a Savory Green, Tomato, and Goat Cheese Tart.  She made her own puff pastry.  She totally inspired me to try it also. I have to cross my fingers and toes that it will come out edible.  Than she topped the puff pastry with tomatoes, arugula, and goat cheese.  I had to save the recipe by the shear beauty of the food.
 

There was a lot of recipes I added and I found another bread recipe.  This time, I have never had this.  I actually never heard if them until Oggi from I Can Do That! posted.  The breads are Monay, Pinagong, and Putok.  It starts with the same dough but the toppings or the shapes are different.  We will see :D

Family Dinner

 

When I was in California, my goal was to help out The Mother so I thought I was suppose to cook and clean.  I mainly just cleaned and I got barely any cooking done.  Except for one meal.  Myself and The Father went to Costco by their house and looked for Prime rib.  Unfortunately, they did not have any but we were able to get some an Rib Eye roast instead.  The whole family was coming over the next day.  I kept the menu pretty simple with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy.  I also knew that my aunt and cousins would bring food over also.  For the Rib eye, I went with a garlic rub recipe from All Recipes

 

 

Garlic Prime Rib *or Rib eye roast in my case

(adapted from All recipes)

Ingredients

• 1 (10 pound) prime rib roast
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme

Directions

1. Place the roast in a roasting pan with the fatty side up. In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. Spread the mixture over the fatty layer of the roast, and let the roast sit out until it is at room temperature, no longer than 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
3. Bake the roast for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C), and continue roasting for an additional 60 to 75 minutes. The internal temperature of the roast should be at 145 degrees F (53 degrees C) for medium rare.
4. Allow the roast to rest for 10 or 15 minutes before carving so the meat can retain its juices.

 

For the side, I did a basic mashed potato with milk and butter.  I made a lot of mashed potatoes.  Probably because I always have potatoes in my house :D  I chose another recipe from All Recipes for the gravy. 

 

Simple Beef Gravy

(adapted from All Recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 3 teaspoons beef bouillon
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup butter

Directions

1. Combine water, bouillon, flour, onion and butter in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until thickened.

 

Mocha Roll

One of The Mother's most popular request was her mocha roll.   It is pretty much a coffee flavored Swiss roll.  The filling was a butter cream.  You could use any butter cream you would like.  Just use instant coffee to flavor it.  The beauty of this cake was how light it was and super soft.  Personally, I'm not a fan of the American butter cream that uses powder sugar but this version isn't too bad. 

Ingredients

1 Cup Sifted of All-Purpose or Cake Flour

1 Cup Sugar

1/4 Tsp Salt

3/4 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp Baking Soda

6 Egg Separated

2 Tsp Instant Coffee Melt in 1/2 Cup of Milk

1/4 Cup of Milk

1/4 Tsp Cream of Tarter

 

Directions

1. Mix together the dry ingredients: Flour, Salt Baking powder, Baking Soda, and only 1/2 Cup Sugar
2. In a separate bowl, mix the 6 egg yolks, the coffee mixture, and the remainder of milk.  This could be done by hand or by a mixer.
3. Add the dry ingredients with the egg/coffee mixture and than set aside.
4. In a different bowl, whisk the 6 egg whites with the cream of tarter until it because fluffy with stiff peaks. 
5. Add the remainder of sugar slowly until it is completely incorporated.
6. Gentle fold in the other mixture until it is completely Incorporated. 
7. Pour the mixture into a greased lined jelly pan.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until it is brown. 
9. While that is making, make the filling and prep the counter for rolling. 
1. Rolling: Take a towel and sprinkle sugar until it is the size of the cake.
2. Follow the directions below for the filling.
10. Take the cooked cake and place the cake over the sugar area on the towel, bottom side up.
11. Remove any wax or parchment paper if used.
12. Spread the filling throughout the cake.
13. Slowly but tightly roll the cake using the edges of the towel.
14. Trim off the ends.

 

Filling

Ingredients:

1/2 lb of butter

1/2-1 cup of powder sugar

2 Tsp of Instant Coffee dissolved in 1/4 cup of water.

 

Direction

1. Cream the butter in the mixer at a medium speed.
2. While the mixer is still running, slowly add the powder sugar, 1/4 cup at a time.
3. Than add the coffee mixture.
4. Continue to mix the items until it is fully incorporated and has a fluffy texture.  

 

Suman

 

What was your favorite snack after-school?  Mine was Suman.  This is a rice cake the is steamed.  I was lucky to make my maternal grandmother or The Lola staying with us when I was growing up.  She was a wonderful cook.  I completely regretted that I didn't learn to cook from her.  I was a bit stubborn growing up.  As children both myself and The Brother was allergic to almost everything.  We were so limited what we were allowed to eat.  Suman was one of those things we were able to eat.  I found myself craving this recently.  It has been years since I had it so I figured I'll whip up batch.  Keep in mind the measurements and ingredients are up to taste.  The beauty of this snack is the ability to be as diverse as you would like.  I have yet to try chocolate or ube version but I may try soon. 

 

Ingredients

1 Cup of Sweet rice to 1/4 Can of Coconut Milk

1/4 Cup of sugar to 1 Cup depending on how sweet you like this. 

A pinch of Salt

Water *this ratio is 1 cup to 0.75 cups of water

Banana leaves

Please keep in mind, all measurements is up to your taste.

 

Direction

1. Cook the rice as you normally do.  I use a rice cooker so wash the rice very well and than add the water and rice to the rice cooker.
2. Once the rice is cooked, remove it from the rice cooker and place in a large skillet *A larger surface area will make it easier to mix and cook the suman.
3. Add the coconut milk, salt, and sugar.    
4. Mix until it is well incorporate.  It should have a nice shine to the rice.  *BTW this is probably oil from the coconut milk
5. I generally let it cool.
6. Take the steamer and fill the bottom pan (if you have a metal one) or wok (if you have a bamboo one) with water and bring to a boil.
7. While the mixture is cooking, start cutting up the banana leaves to the desired
8. Once the mixture is cool, place it in the middle of the cut banana leaves
9. Start rolling them up, I generally get The Husband to do this.  Mainly because he is meticulous to a fault. 
10. Place this in a steamer tray and cook for 10-15 minutes
11. Serve * I generally eat this with mango :D 

 

This is The Daughters favorite food.  Especially since it is rice with sugar.  Keep in mind, you could mix any other ingredients to make your own version.  The banana leaves aren't always required but it adds a nice flavor to the dish.  

 

 

Chocolate Mochi Mini-Cupcakes

I was at The Parent's house looking for something sweet.  I totally took advantage that The Daughter was being entertained by her uncle and aunt so I figured I could try this recipe.  When I first saw this recipe it drew me in.    I found this recipe on Too Much Food: Bake. Cook. Eat. 

1. Chocolate
2. Mochi

I love chocolate especially when it is brownie-like.  Rice flour is a staple in my house.  I tend to use it quite a bit in a lot of the food I make. 

Ingredients

4 Tablespoons of butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 C dutch-processed cocoa powder

2.2 oz. mochiko (sweet rice, or glutinous flour)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 oz. (or 6 tablespoons) lite coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Spray a 12-cup mini cupcake pan with vegetable oil or rub with butter, then dust lightly with granulated sugar. Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine melted butter and sugar, whisk until pale and completely incorporated. Add the lightly beaten egg and mix again until completely incorporated. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, mochiko, baking powder, making sure no lumps remain. Add this dry mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and mix lightly with a spatula until there are no visible pockets of dry mix. Pour the coconut milk and vanilla over the top and fold into the batter until the batter isn’t lumpy. Divide evenly amongst the cupcake tins. Bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the brownies rest 5 minutes in the tin before turning them out onto a rack to cool completely before eating.

Add to my recipe book 4-23-2010

One of my many sites I visit frequently when I should be working is Foodbuzz.  One of the foodies that I was able to make friends with is Mowielicious.  On the 12Th, yes I'm behind on my reading on Foodbuzz, he made Baked Apple Pancakes.  Baked German Pancake has always be one of my favorite breakfast and this is a great twist to an baked pancake. 

 

Seafood is probably one of my favorite, especially lobster.  When The Best Friend (Boy) was stationed in Washington for the Navy, myself and The Other Best Friend (Girl) went to visit him.  She introduced me to mussels and oysters.  I completely feel in-love with both.  I can't eat either raw but I'm totally into them cook in any manner.  Basog! Sarap! made a baked mussel (Baked Tahong) dish.  As soon as I could get someone over to eat some (The Husband doesn't eat seafood and The Daughter is allergic), I'm totally making some.

 

The other day, I can do that made a petit fours type cake with marzipan and jelly.  The little treat is called Punschtorte Bites.  You are able to shape them.  They are adorable for parties.  Even a little girl party.

 

Just picture this, chocolate and bacon.  I know there is a candy bar with these ingredients but Sugarlace actually made that combo into a cupcake form.  Come on here, you can't go wrong with combo :D.  The Husband was just talking about bacon and chocolate so I will probably whip him a batch.

 

Custard Cake

 

I'm trying to catch up on the materials I meant to post for the last couple of days but unfortunately I was sick.  Custard Cake has been a favorite for along time.  The Mother used to make it all the time and finally I think I got the handle on making this.  This is really a sponge cake beneath a flan or custard topping.  This does require a lot of eggs!  I only make 1/2 the recipe but I should have used a smaller plan.  Normally the cake and custard is thicker.  Oh well, you learn something new everyday!  The key is the separation of the eggs for the cake itself.  You are pretty much making a chiffon cake.

 

Custard

Ingredients

1 Can Evaporated Milk

1 Can Condensed Milk

1 Tsp Vanilla

5 Egg Yolks

1 Whole egg

Dark Corn Syrup to Coat (about 1/4 cup)

 

Directions

1. Prepare the pan (9x13x3) with a coating of Dark Corn Syrup on the bottom.
2. Mix all the ingredients together until it is well incorporated.
3. Strain and pour the mixture into the pan and set aside.

 

For Cake

Ingredients

2 1/2 Cups of Cake Flour

3 Teaspoons of Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon of Salt

3/4 Cup of Milk

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup of Corn Syrup

1/2 Cup of Vegetable Oil

1 Teaspoon of Cream of Tartar

1 Cup of White Sugar

7 Eggs Separated

 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
2. Mix together 3/4 cup milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Blend in corn syrup, egg yolks, and oil. Beat in flour mixture until smooth; set aside.
3. In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Gradually add sugar, then red and blue food coloring, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain. Pour batter over the custard.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-45 minutes depending on the oven, or until a tooth pick comes out clean. When cool, run a knife around the edges to loosen cake from pan.

 

 

 

Misadventure #6 - Strawberry Donut Muffin

After my first attempted at the donut muffins, I loved them.  They were donut like without all the oil.  So I figured I'll try a strawberry kind.  I had some fresh strawberries frozen in the fridge and white chocolate.  BTW white chocolate covered strawberries are the best.  I will always get some if it is available.  I followed the original recipe but I substitute the lemon juice for smashed strawberries and white chocolate. 

 

My mistake

I kinda mashed them up a little too much and I should have cut up the strawberries into little bits  There was way too much liquid

 

 

 

 

As you could see, the batter was a little too wet.

 

 

 

 

Some of them deflated :(

 

 

 

 

 

I even tried to hid the funny looking top with sugar....FAIL

 

 

 

But I have to say, the extra liquid gave a nice caramelization to the donut.  To bad it was funny looking. 

Sad, sad food week

So for the last couple of days I was hit with two difficulties.

 

1. I had a tooth ache which it was painful to chew

2. Both myself and The Daughter had the flu

 

You could probably imagine the affect that did to my appetite and even my desire to cook.  Let's just say, I was forced to eat anything that is similar to baby food.  So this time I made congee.  With the lack of chewing I could do without shooting pains, I got stuck with anything soft.  Congee is a great meal when you are sick because it is the Chinese version of porridge.  Both The Daughter and I was able to stomach it better than anything The Husband tried to feed us.  Generally congee is a plain rice porridge and whatever topping you add provides the flavor to the dish.  When I was in California, The Family decided to have that for breakfast one morning and we had cooked bokchoy, kielbasa, and fried garlic for toppings.  At my house there was a limited amount of toppings we could use.  So we used vienna sausage.  I know it is kinda weird for congee but it is soft since it is multiple types of meat mashed together like a hot dog.  Traditionally there is hardly any spices but we added garlic so if needed, it could be eaten plain.

 

Ingredients

*again this is another ratio type recipe

1 part rice to 3 or 4 parts water - We only did 3 parts because The Husband wanted to keep the shape of rice. 

salt and garlic powder to taste

*The more water, the more it will resemble porridge. 

 

Direction

1. Clean the rice until all the starch is removed
2. Add the rice and water into a large pot
3. Cook for about 20-30 minutes until the rice is cooked and quite soft
4. Add the salt and garlic right before serving.
5. Top with you choice of topping.

 

I am going to start make this regularly but I need to add veggies.  It kinda looks sad this way.

 

 

Homemade Gluten

 

As some of you know, I was in California with my family in this last week.  This side of my family is Seventh-day Adventist.  There are a large amount of the congregation that is vegitarian.  Obviously, I'm not but I try to incorporate some of the sort of vegetarian meals at least once a week.  One dish that I have always hated was glutton.  For those who do not know what glutton, it is an vegetrian subsitute for meat.  I have known the can version which I hated.  This time The Mother showed me how to make homemade version.  There isn't an exact recipe but ratios of the amount. 

Gluten

(From The Mother)

Ingredients

1 1/2 Part of Water

1 Part of Instant Gluten Flour

Broth

Ingredient

Water *Enough to make a stock

Onion *probably 1 medium onion but The Mother didn't tell me

1 Bay Leaf

Ginger *I'm guessing a Tao blespoon

Soy Sauce to taste

Directions

1. 
   
   Pour the water into a bowl 
2. 
   
   Slowly add the gluten flour until it is well incorporated.  It will turn sponge-like.  
3. 
   
   Prepare the broth by just adding all the ingredients and bring into a boil.
4. 
   
   Once the broth is at a boil, add the gluten by cutting it into pieces and dropping into the broth.
5. 
   
   Cook for an hour.

The Mother just used a knife to divide it

The Mother used the cook gluten to make a filipino vegetarian beef steak.  She took the gluten and grilled them in a skillet and than added onions.  It wasn't too bad but you do have to get over the texture.  It was like a mix between tofu and a sponge but the gluten took the taste of anything it was cooked in. 

Meyer Lemons

I was walking around Caputos right by my house and I saw that Meyer Lemons was on sale.  Five for a dollar so I bought 10 of them.  I had so many ideas what to use these for but instead I decided to juice them and than use the peels for extract.  I first juiced the lemons and than poured them into ice trays.   

 Once the juice was frozen, I removed them from the tray and stored in a zip locked bag. 

I found the recipe for the extra from Tipnut. 

Homemade Lemon Extract Recipes

1 lemon

1/2 cup vodka

1/2 cup water

■Peel lemon removing all of the white pith from the peel

■Dice the lemon peel finely

■Combine vodka, water and peel into a large glass jar, seal

■Store for 5 days before using

Added to my recipe box

I get most of my inspiration from other peoples post.  So I read quite a few blogs everyday (my version of a newspaper) and there are so many posts I saved and hopefully I will be able to try them in the "near" future.  Unfortunately, I may not be able to get to them but I still would like to share them with you. 

This one is from stetted.  She decided to make strawberry donuts.  Who could say no to donuts?  Especially the strawberry kind.  I found that the use of maple syrup is quite clever and I like that it is actually baked and not fried.

 Imagine hazelnuts and chocolate, of course this would be consider to be nutella but Bunkycooks.  She made Nutella Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache, it is a cake made of nutella topped with a chocolate ganache and hazelnuts.  That is just double the hazelnut and chocolate goodness. 

I have been aiming to cook with more than just bread flour, cake flour, and all purpose.  I wanted to start to use more various grains like rye and more whole wheat.  CakeSpy posted a recipe on a cornmeal blueberry cookie.  Immediately, I added this recipe to my growing list of recipes to try. 

My love for any thing chiffon has brought me to the Energetic Chef blog.  I love the texture of the cake and how it is not as rich as other cakes.  Though I do have a love affair with all cakes, any type of chiffon tends to draw me in more than any other cake.  She posted a mango mousse chiffon cake which I have to try right away.  It reminds me of the the different cakes I would admire at my local Japanese grocery stores.  They look so good.  I always want to buy 1 of each kind. 

Who grew up on Hostess fruit pies?  I know I did.  I still crave them from time to time.  Of course as soon as I saw how many calories, I would promptly put them down.  The Cooking photographer actually make a similar version but fresh!  This is not as bad for you. She even utilizes an olive oil pastry instead of a regular pie dough.   You need to check out her Copycat Hostess Blackberry fruit pie recipe.  She even provided the glaze (the best part). 

I am intrigue with any various version of bread lately.  Especially since I have figured out how to make bread that is not rock hard.  One of my favorite blogs for bread recipes is Angie's Recipes.  Her site is where I learned and mastered the Tangzhong starter.  This week she made a Strawberry Tea Loaf topped with Carrot Chiffon.  Yes, there is bread topped with Cake.  Best of both worlds. 

Kulinarya Cooking Club - Polvoron

I was so excited for this month's theme.  The Husband was able to find a polvoron form.  I decided to make one from my handy The Filipino Cookbook by Reynaldo Alejandro.  polvoron has been a favorite of mine since I was a child.  I always loved eating it and my favorite was my grandmother's recipe.  Unfortunately, I don't have the recipe and I miss it so much.  This recipe got close and I even added some pinipig. 

Ingredients

3 Cups Sifted Flour

1 Cup Sifted Powdered Milk

3/4 Cup Sifted Sugar

1/2 Pound of Melted Butter

1 Teaspoon of Lemon or Vanilla Extract

1 Cup of Pinipig

Directions

1. 
   
   Toast the flour in a heavy skillet over a medium heat until golden brown while stiring constantly.
2. 
   
   Remove from heat and cool.
3. 
   
   While it cooks, toast the pinipig in the skillet.
4. 
   
   Add the powdered milk, sugar, melted butter, pinipig, and the extract. 
5. 
   
   Pack the mixture into the form and press out the little cakes. 
6. 
   
   Wrap the polvoron in wax paper. 

Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipinio bloggers living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its cusines. Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.

If you are interested in joining our Kulinarya Cooking Club, please feel free to stop by our foodblog and leave a commnet - we would love to hear from you. 

The current members are:

Trish - Sugarlace

Kath - A Cup Cake or Two

Trissa - Trissalicious

Olive - Home Cooking and Baking

Caroline - When Adobo Met Feijoada

Peach - The Peach Kitchen

Cusinera - Busog Sarap

Asha – Fork-Spoon -Knife

Malou - Skip to Malou

Cherrie – Sweet Cherrie Pie

Acdee - Confession Nook

Valerie – A Canadian Foodie

Bel – foodgeek's diary

Divina – Sense and Serendipity

Anna - Second Helpings

Dahlia - Energetic Chef

Meyer Lemon Donut Muffins

During my childhood The Dad, The Brother, The Lola, and myself would go to the a local donut shop every sunday.  I would always get the cake donut but it is so bad for you, I had to break that habit the older I got.  When I was reading the Baking Bites blog, I stumbled on this recipe.  I was extremely excited since it wasn't fried.  So I decided to put a little twist to it.  I added some meyer lemon juice and just coat the top with raw sugar.  The Husband loved it and he kept wondering how I actually got it to taste like a donut.   Since I'm quite sarcastic, I responded with...Magic. 

Sugar Donut Muffin

(adapted from Baking Bites)

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking power

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk (low fat is fine)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar, for rolling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil.
2. In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg until light in color.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Pour into egg mixture and stir to combine. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract.
4. Divide batter evenly into 10 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. While muffins are baking, melt butter and pour remaining sugar into a small bowl.
7. When muffins are done, lightly brush the top of each with some melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in sugar. Cool on a wire rack

Makes 10 muffins.