Happy 4th

Misadventure #8 - Biko

I have a bunch of postings I have been meaning to post for a while.  I'm sorry about the picture, I had to use my old point at shoot at the time.  It has been a while since I posted an misadventure.  I have a few of them I still have to post :D.  This time, I kinda just made up the recipe.  I used a basic suman recipe but I poured coconut milk over the whole thing.  I thought i would turn into biko, negative.  Though The Husband liked it it didn't have the look I wanted.  Here is my working version of Biko.

 

Biko

(in working process)

Ingredients

3 Cups of Sweet Rice cooked

2 Can of Coconut Milk

1-2 Cups of Sugar (it depends on how sweet you want it)

 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. Take the cooked rice and place it in a large wok or skillet
3. Pour in 1 can of the coconut milk and the sugar to taste.
4. Mix together until it because sticky and well incorporated.
5. Spread over a buttered pan (8x13 about, if you want it to be thicker, 9x9)
6. Pour the other can of coconut milk over it and spread evenly. 
7. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until the top browns.

*In the normal recipe, there is eggs but I was trying to make it vegan or close to it. 

 

I'm going to try to make this again with a few changes. 

 

Sorry about the picture :(

 

I can't wait for Summer!

 

I will always love Chicago but by the time April comes around, I can't wait for summer.  The best part of summer is the availability of various produce.  I am always craving fruit and veggies around this time of year.  The fresher the better.  Last week, I was trying to figure out what to make for dessert on Friday.  I try to make a traditional family dinner very Friday and when I was trying to figure out what to make, The Husband asked if I could make key lime pie.  I had majority of the ingredients already so I figured why not.  I just have to get limes.  I did do a little twist for this recipe.  I added coconut to the crust, for some reason I have an abundance amount of coconut. 

 

Key Lime Pie with a Coconut Crust

Ingredients

3 Egg Yolks

1/2 Cup of Lime Juice (I was suppose to use key limes but I couldn't find any)

Grated Lime Zest (Up to your preference.  I would say from 1 to 3 teaspoons)

1 Can of Condense Milk

1 Tsp of Vanilla

1 3/4 Cup of Crusted Graham Cracker

1/4 Cup of Brown Sugar

1 Cup of Coconut Flakes

4-5 Tbs of Melted Butter

1 Tbs of Flour

1 Tsp of Salt

 

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a pie pan.
2. Place the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, coconut flakes, flour, and salt in a food processor or mixer.
3. Once all the ingredients are fully incorporated, slowly add the butter until it starts to bind together.
4. Take the mixture and press the dough into the pie pan.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes until it looks pretty solid and a little dryer in texture.
6. Cool the crust. 
7. While the crust cools, take the egg yolks and start to whip them until it lightens in color.
8. Once the color lightens, add the condense milk and vanilla. 
9. Once that is fully mixed, add the lime juice and the zest.
10. Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust and bake for 10 minutes until the filling set.

 

Mongo Hopia

 

If you are not familiar with Hopia, don't worry :D  It is mainly know within the Filipino community.  A pastry that is quite familiar is the Chinese version called Moon cakes.  It is really a mini pie but in a disk shape.  Growing up, we would always purchase it at the Filipino store by my house.  It was always a snack for us while waiting for dinner.  I was really excited when The Mother figured out how to make this.  My favorite has been the mung bean or mongo.  According to Wikipedia, the split bean is known as moong dal,Pesara [పెసర] (Telugu), which is green with the husk, and yellow when dehusked.  Mongo could be used in many forms from savory dishes or in my case, desserts.  The mongo is than surrounded by a flaky pie dough.

 

The Dough *or favorite pie dough recipe

Ingredients

3 cups Flour

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup oil

2 tbsp corn syrup

 

Direction

1. First mix together the shortening and 1 cup of flour until it is fully incorporated and than chill for 30 minutes.
2. After the mixture is chilled, add the rest of the flour, water, oil, and corn syrup.
3. The dough should be solid but soft and sightly oily to touch.
4. divide the dough into 50 grams balls.
5. flatten the ball until flat disk leaving a little hill in the middle.
6. Place a small ball of filling into the middle and fold over the sides to make a disk.
7. Bake it for 20-25 minutes at 325 degrees
8. After 10 minutes brush a egg wash over the hopia and continue to bake
   

   

Filling

Ingredients

1 Pack of moon beans (the yellow kind)

3-4 cups of water

2-2 1/2 cups of sugar

 

Directions

1. Place the moon beans into a deep skillet and add water until it is fully covered and about an inch of water above the moon beans.
2. Bring to a boil and than reduce the heat to a simmer.
3. Stir continually to prevent burning. 
4. Once the beans become quite soft, add the sugar and stir constantly.
5. Once all the water is evaporated, transfer it into another container to cool.

Macadamia Nut Tarts

 

The other day, I was looking for a snack and I found a canister of macadamia nuts!  I thought I actually ate all of them.  I decided to make a tart using some of the pans I "stole" from my mom.  I referenced a simple pecan pie recipe from All recipes.  I love macadamia nuts and I generally use them in a pie crust but  I wanted to try them as a filling.  Since pecan pie is only of my favorite, especially when my cousin makes the mini ones. 

 

Coconut Crust

Ingredients

3 Cups of Flour

3 Cups of Sweeten Coconut or even coconut flour (if you use the Coconut flour, you could increase the amount to 5 and have 1 cup of flour)

1/2 to 3/4 Cup of Butter

4 Tb of Sugar

 

Directions

1. Ground the flour, coconut, and sugar in a food processor.  *The coconut needs to be finer in texture than right out of the bag.
2. Add the butter.  Start with 1/2 of cup and increase if there is a need for more butter.
3. When it is well incorporate and the mixture will bind together well, press it into the tart mold.
4. Set aside.

 

Filling

Ingredients

1 Cup of Corn Syrup

3/4 Cup of Brown Sugar

3 Eggs, slightly beaten

1 Jar of Macadamia Nuts

1/4 Cup of Melted Butter

 

Direction

 

1.  Take the Macadamia nuts and ground it slightly, I used a food processor and used the pulse function until it is in small pieces.  These are for mini tarts so the pieces can't be too large.
2. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Once the mixture is well incorporated, add the nuts.
4. Pour them into the prepared tart pans.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Beef Stew and Blueberry Crisp

 

Do you ever find yourself, not knowing what to make for dinner?  I do this on a daily basis.  I randomly take out a some meat in the freezer i hopes I actually know what I take out and hunt for a recipe one different blogs and website when I should be working.  Like I'm doing right now.  With a very active 1 year old, I can't seem to be able to get anything done at home so I have to do any searches and catching up on my blogs at work.  The Boss must think there is something wrong with me since I have a million and one windows open on my computer and I'm constantly typing.  So last Wednesday was one of those days.  I took out beef stew meat and I was on the hunt for a recipe.  I went the cheater way and went on the food network website.  I already knew what I had at home so I figured I'll make a hearty stew.  I even had pearl onions (I actually thought I took out stew meat and I realized it was steak but that will come up in another post :D). 

 

Beef Stew

(adapted from Food Network)

 

Ingredients

• 1 pound beef for stew, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 1 3/4 cups Swanson® Beef Stock * I made my own with beef bouillon
• 2 medium onions, cut into quarters *I used pearl onions
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups whole baby carrots *I used a regular carrot and chopped it up
• 2 medium potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup water

Directions

Season the beef as desired. Coat with 1 tablespoon flour. Heat the oil in a 6-quart sauce pot over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until it's well browned, stirring often. Add the garlic to the sauce pot and cook and stir for 1 minute.

Stir the stock, onions, bay leaf, thyme and black pepper in the sauce pot and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours.

Add the carrots and potatoes to the sauce pot. Cover and cook for 30 minutes or until the beef is fork-tender and the vegetables are tender. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Stir the remaining flour and water in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth. Stir the flour mixture in the sauce pot. Increase the heat to medium. Cook and stir until the mixture boils and thickens.

 

 * Note don't put the onions when it said to, put it in with the remainder of the vegetables.

** It didn't really take 1.5 hours to cook the meat.  I might have overcooked it.

*** Watch the meat when browning the meat, I burned mine slightly

**** Watch it while the sauce thickens to make sure the meat and veggies won't burn

***** You may need more stock, mine wasn't enough

 

Other wise it came out good.  I only had leftovers enough for lunch and The Husband didn't complain!

 

 

For dessert I made an blueberry crisp I adapted from Kitchen Worthy.

 

I generally make an apple crisp during the summer, I don't know why but I always tend to make any type of crisp during the summer.  I'm weird like that.  It was so good.  Not too sweet and if The Daughter wasn't allergic to nuts I think some pecans would add a nice touch.  But no nuts in my house.  I can't wait until the day I am able to cook with nuts again and The Daughter could eat it but until then I have to restricted to what I could make.  Anyway, I was just reading the different entries on FoodBuzz and one of the individuals I read regularly posted this wonderful recipe. 

 

Blueberry Crisp

Filling
2 pints blueberries (fresh or frozen) *I used frozen, I would defrost a little prior baking
1-2 tablespoons sugar
1-2 tablespoons flour

 

 

Topping
¾ cup flour
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter
½ cup rolled oats (regular oatmeal)
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the blueberries, sugar and flour, and toss to mix. Put in a buttered shallow baking dish (pie pan or 8×8 brownie pan). To make topping, combine flour, sugar and butter and mix until it looks like course crumbs. Add oats and cinnamon and mix a little more. Spread topping evenly over fruit and pat down gently with your fingertips. Bake until the top is light brown and crisp, about 35-40 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream (this part is not optional).

 

It was so so good.  I am even hording the leftovers so I could keep eating it. 

 

Rustic Pear Tart and Fig Jam

My monthly book club was coming up and we read Julie and Julia.  I was amazed I didn't read it yet but than again I have been busy experimenting.  I also lost my four hour commute to work and back.  I wish I had more reading time but it doesn't always work out that way.  So to continue my reading habit I started a book club with two of my cousins and a couple of friends.  Each of us take a turn to pick a book and we meet once a month to discuss, eat, and gossip.  I wanted to make someone out of the Julia Child's cookbook but I saw I had pears so I made a rustic tart and some Fig Jam.  I'm sure I'll get some debate on this but I didn't really like the book.  I like the movie better than the book.  Julie Powell is a bit whiny for my taste.  I love the part in the movie with Julia.  I believe I'll read her book next when I have a chance.  Off topic again, sorry about that.  Since we were watching the movie, I made some fig jam for a snack.  What goes best with figs?  Brie so I brought some with multi-grain crackers.  You know to be healthy :D.  I got the recipe from Swirl and Scramble. 

Mom's Fig Jam with Walnuts

Directions

500gr fresh figs (approx 6-7 figs) * I couldn't find fresh so I used dried figs

250gr sugar

250gr water * add a little more like 300 grs due if you use dried figs

1/2 a lemon, juice of

250gr walnuts, chopped  * I only had enough for 70 grs

1gr ground cloves * Totally though I had some, I did not so I had to opt using pumpkin spice mix

    (approx 1/2 teaspoon- but you can reduce this to 1/4 teaspoon if you find it too strong)

Directions

1. 
   
   Wash figs, dice and place in a pot.
2. 
   
   Add all the remaining ingredients except for the walnuts and the cloves. Place on high heat, until a first boil.
3. 
   
   Then reduce to a very low heat until all the water has evaporated and a jam texture is obtained.
4. 
   
   Add the walnuts and cloves, stir gently, and leave on low heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool for 24hours.  Cover the pot with a cloth only- no glass or plastic material should be used to cover pot. Fill in jars and enjoy!

So my Misadventure

1. 
   
   I didn't dice the figs enough, I should have make them smaller
2. 
   
   I got impatient and I put the heat to high and it almost made the liquid to the soft ball state of candy making.
3. 
   
   I didn't read the directions fully and I made it the day I needed it. 

Otherwise it came out good.  Especially with the brie, that was the best part.

The rustic tart I tried prior with a different pie dough recipe.  I adapted this from the Simple Recipes website with a few upgrades on the recipe.

Almond pie crust

Ingredients

2 1/2 Cups of All Purpose  *Reserve some extra flour for rolling

1 Cup (2 sticks) of unsalted cold butter - cube into 1/2 inches

1 Teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon Sugar *It stated to be a teaspoon but I like a sweeter crust

4 to 8 Tablespoon of ice water

2 Tablespoons of Ground Almonds

Directions

1. 
   
   The butter needs to be ice cold so you might want to put it in the freezer for a couple of minutes. 
2. 
   
   Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a mixer, food processor, or even by hand. 
3. 
   
   Add the butter until it is thoroughly mixed.
4. 
   
   Add water until it become a ball. 
5. 
   
   Take the ground almonds and mix in the dough as you knead the dough.  *You can add this in step 2 but I kinda forgot about it.
6. 
   
   Wrap in Saran wrap and place in refrigerator for at least an hour.
7. 
   
   Remove from fridge and let it sit at until it reaches room temperature
8. 
   
   Roll it out until it is a 1/8 inch thick *Btw I suck at this
9. 
   
   Place the pear slices in a circular motion.  Leave about 1/2 an inch to an inch of dough at the edge.
10. 
    
    Sprinkle some sliced almonds over the filling.
11. 
    
    Pull up the edges where it overs filling.
12. 
    
    Place on a cookie sheet.
13. 
    
    Bake for about 20 minutes. 
14. 
    
    15 minutes in, brush with a egg wash.
15. 
    
    Serve warm with ice cream.

Pear filling

2 Pears any brand sliced thinly *ok really I don't know what kind I used.

2 Tablespoon of sugar

1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice *optional

Direction

1. Take the slice pears and coat it with the sugar and lemon juice. 
2. Let it marinate for a couple of minutes