It's basically the fish version of bolognese. It's equally yum, just on a lighter note. This is also the cheat version... I didn't have enough will power to wait til I complete all the ingredients as I was craving for this pasta for days... yeah,,, I'm pretty bad with self control when it comes to food.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
knob of butter
1 box of button mushrooms, approx 8-10 pieces, cut into chunks
600 grams of tuna chunks in can
Dolmio sauce with extra onion and garlic
1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves, torn
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Pasta:
500 grams spaghetti noodles
Knob of butter
Salt

Directions:
Sauce:
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Sautee garlic and onion.

Add a knob of butter in the pan, add mushrooms and cook until it turns into a brownish colour.

Add tuna chunks and cook for 3 minutes before adding the Dolmio sauce. Add basil and oregano and simmer for another 3 minutes.

Pasta:
Boil water in a pan big enough to hold half a kilo of cooked spaghetti. Add generous amount of salt and a good knob of butter.

Once pasta is al dente, drain into a bowl

You can either mix the sauce with the pasta straight away or serve it separately.

Serven with garlic bread and enjoy your rich sauce with gusto!

-Acoustic Chef - cookin' one tune at a time!

I love caprese, in a pasta or as a salad... something about it that's so comforting.

Ingredients:
3 small eggplants cut into slices
coarse cooking salt
8 cherry tomatoes
350 grams bocconcini cheese
fresh basil leaves

Italian Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon red vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Grill eggplants until browned.

Cut cherry tomatoes in two and gently mix with bocconcini and some sea salt.

Combine all ingredients for italian dressing.

Drizzle 3/4 of italian dressing to the bocconcinis and tomatoes. Arrange eggplant slices and basil leaves the way you want to present it.

Chill bocconcinis for 15 minutes or up to 3 hours. Just before serving, drizzle remaining dressing.

Enjoy!

-AcousticChef.... cookin' one tune at a time! 

I love potatoes ever since, mash it, fry it, bake it, boil it, love 'em all! This version is new to me, it's sort of in the oven getting baked but it's boiling coz it's in water and according to the recipe, it should end up roasted. Trivial... very trivial.

Tip 1: if you're using chicken buillon, then lessen your sea salt, go by feel
Tip 2: this takes ages so do something else while you're at it :)
Tip 3: snatch the caramelized ones first before someone else does!

Ingredients:
8 large potatoes, peeled, cut into wedges
4 garlic cloves, minced. Add more if you want but don't make it less
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup water
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 lemon, juiced
sea salt
fresh coarse ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 420F.

Spray your pan with oil.

Put all ingredients into the baking pan and give it a good toss.

Bake for 40 minutes.

When a nice golden brown crust has formed on the potatoes, give it a good stir to expose the white underside. Season lightly with a bit more sea salt and pepper and a light sprinkling of oregano.

Add 1/2 cup more water if pan looks to be getting dry. Pop back into the oven and brown the other side.

Enjoy!

-AcousticChef.... cookin' one tune at a time!

Italians... the epicurean gods and goddesses... first off, you can pronounce their words like an authentic Italian,,, say them the way you see them... I think the simple philosophy is very much well adapted with the way they create food.

It doesn't have to be complex to taste great, I love it! 

Frittata can be your breakfast, your in between snacks or even in a party platter as one of the tapas. What's not to love!?

Tip 1: if you are going to substitute dried leaves instead of fresh oregano or basil, keep in mind that dried ones are twice stronger in flavour so you'll cut the amount to half.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
250 grams mushrooms, sliced thinly
100 grams swiss brown mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 medium brown onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, crushed
100 grams baby spinach, shredded finely
6 large eggs
1/2 cup cream
1 tablespoon finely shredded basil
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Serves 16

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.

Oil deep 19cm-square cake pan, line base with baking paper

Heat oil in large frying pan; cook mushrooms, stirring, until browned lightly. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring, until onion is soft.

Add spinach, cook, stir until it's wilted. Cool 3 minutes.

Whisk eggs and cream in a large bowl until well combined. 

Stir in mushroom mixture and remaining ingredients.

Pour mixture into prepared pan; bake for 25 minutes or until light browned and set.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. 

Cut into 16 squares. Serve warm or cold.

Enjoy with wine, alone or with someone... celebrate food! 

-Acoustic Chef - cookin' one tune at a time!

Originally Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake
Gourmet | March 2000
By Mary Laulis
Bridge Street Bakery, Waitsfield, VT

I made few changes from the original recipe but all in all, the essence is the same.

I'm not a big fun of coconut flakes in my dessert but I think I'll make an exception.

Right now while I'm tapping away, the tempting concoction is resting away in the fridge. We would have loved to have a slice of it but it was too late and we were full to the brim from our dinner. Hubby's favourite, Shrimp in Spicy Coconut Sauce (ginataang hipon).

I read the rave reviews about this cake and they mostly have 3 things in common, very, very, very time consuming, make this only for special people, worth the time and effort.

I've proven the first two, it took me ages because I had pan and oven issue... nothing serious... JUST THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT THING IN BAKING!!!

Ingredients:
For cake layers
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 teasoon baking powder
3/4 teasoon baking soda
3/4 teasoon salt
3/4 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 heaping teaspoon of Italian Espresso powder
3/4 cup boiling-hot water

For filling
7 ounces freshly grated coconut
4 ounces coarsely chopped pecans (1 cup)
12 ounces can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon vanilla

For glaze
284 grams or 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
10 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate
3 tablespoons light corn syrup

You need, 3 8-inch pans

Serves 12 generous portions or 24 decent ones... this is not a cake for people on diet, who doesn't like coconut nor peeps who generally doesn't like sweet stuff... this is a really sweet cake... this is how sweet it is,,, even I was taken aback. I think I passed these level of sweet tooth when I was 10 years old. I think it's perfect for parties, just a small slice will last a loooong way... you know what I mean.

Directions:
Cake Layers
Preheat oven to 350F and oil cake pans. Line bottom of pans with rounds of parchment or wax paper.

In a large bowl, sift together, sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together whole milk, butter, whole egg, yolk, vanilla and almond extract.

Beat egg into the flour mixture with an electric beater on low speed. Once combined, beat on high speed for 1 minute.

Add espresso powder into your boiling water. Beat your water and espresso mixture into the batter with low speed. Batter will be thin.

Divide batter among cake pans, approximately 1 1/2 cups per pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway or switching positions to make sure heat is distributed evenly. Obviously if your oven has even heat distribution, don't dance around like I did :)

Cool layers in pans on rack for 15 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge to loosen the cake. Invert onto wax paper and remove the parchment from the bottom of your cake.

Filling
Reduce oven temperature to 325F

Spread coconut in a large shallow baking pan and pecans in another. Bake them for 12-18 minutes, stirring occassionally. Remove pans from oven and increase the temperature to 425F

Pour condensed milk into a 9-inch deep dish pie plate and cover tightly with foil. Bake milk in a water bath in the middle of oven for 45 minutes or more.

If you don't have a deep dish pie plate like me, llanera will do.

Milk should turn thick and brown. Remove pie plate from water bath, stir in coconut, pecans, vanilla and keep warm... cover it with foil.

Glaze

Melt butter in a saucepan. Remove the pan from heat and add chocolate and corn syrup. Whisk it until chocolates are melted. Transfer 1 cup of glaze in a bowl and chill for an hour until it's thickened and spreadable, stir it occassionally.

Assembly

Place one cake layer on a round cardboard and perch it on top of a wire rack that is on top of a plate big enough to catch chocolate drips.

Drop half of coconut filling by spoonfuls and spread it evenly with a wet spatula. Top with another cake layer and spread remaining filling in the same manner. Top with the reamaining cake. 

Spread chilled glaze on top and sides of cake.

Heat reserved glaze in pan over low heat, stirring until glossy and pourable. DON'T MAKE IT HOT, about one minute. Pour glaze evenly over top of cake making sure it coats the sides. Shake rack gently to smoothen the glaze.

Chill cake until firm. About one hour. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Cake keeps covered and chilled, 3 days.

Enjoy Energizer moments! I'll be baking this again maybe next month.... find a way to tone down the sweetness so the flavours don't punch each other out!

-AcousticChef - cookin' one tune at a time!

Breakfast is the most important meal of any day... guess that doesn't apply to me, every meal feels equally important in my tummy. That's why I love this very easy recipe... it's hubby's and we pretty much have this for breakfast, as an in between munch or midnight snack.

So easy and oh so yummy!

Tip 1: I would advice you not to add any salt and pepper. Your cheese will add the saltiness you need. And since, this is a delicate concoction, adding pepper will sharpen the taste, but hey, experiment! Add whatever you want  but I suggest you try the unadulterated version first.
Tip 2: I like my eggs a bit runny, if you like a drier version, just keep the pan on the heat longer until you're happy with the texture.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon milk

Makes one serving

Directions:
Heat a small frying pan.

Beat the eggs in a small bowl. Mix cheese and milk to the eggs.

Cook the mixture in the pan and fluff continuously. Once it starts to dry out, take it off the heat and continue fluffing until it cooks the way you want it.

Serve it hot with toasted bread on the side and voila! You have a melt-in-the-mouth scrambled egg and cheese.

Enjoy!

-AcousticChef - cookin' one tune at a time!

This is the first time I made meatloaf and the first time to eat it. Yeah, no kidding. I'm nervous... it's in the oven right now, bubbling away... my timer said, ten minutes to go.

It smelled a bit vinegar-y at the start,,, but now it's smelling pretty good so it's 50-50%! I'm definitely a nervous wreck coz it has to work... I have no back-up plan for dinner and my kids and hubby are definitely famished.... dinner from a can is soooo not an option.

Tip 1: 1 cup of half and half = 1 cup milk less 2 tablespoons + 1.5 tablespoon melted butter
Tip 2: I used couple day old pan de sal, 1.5 piece for my bread crumbs...
Tip 3: If you don't have a meat thermometer, mine "luckily" broke today %^%$#$%#!, your loaf will pull from the sides which means it's done.
Tip 4: Depending on the type of meat you use, whether it's fresh or re-freeze, there will be more of less liquid in the pan.

Carefully spill off the excess thin liquid onto a side bowl. Make sure to keep the caramelized liquid ON the loaf.

Ingredients:
Loaf: 
650 grams ground beef
1-3 slices of bread (I used 1 1/2 pan de sal), broken finely
1 egg
a small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup half and half  

Sauce:
4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed firm (to taste)
1/2 cup ketchup

Directions:
Heat oven at 350 F.

Combine sauce ingredients and set aside.

Combine meat loaf ingredients in another bowl. Once throughly mixed, form the mixture into a loaf baking dish.

Smooth out top and form a space on sides by pressing firmly towards the center, use rubber scraper if available, spatula will work too.

Pour sauce on top and sides of meatloaf.

Bake your loaf for one hour to one hour and fifteen minutes or until the meat is done. Your meat thermometer should read 170 F

Rest your meatloaf for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy your absolutely moist and super scrumptuous meatloaf... we just did and I'm proud!!! Definitely made it to my "Fave List"

By the way, I forgot to say... this is so darn easy to make! So easy I doubted it'll deliver... it soooo did!!!

I love pasta,,, who doesn't?! I love it most when it tastes the Italian way... any other pasta version doesn't cut it for me... The Italians have their way of cooking. They don't complicate ingredients that already tastes great with unnecessary spices.

When you take a bite of Italian cooking, you seem to taste a marriage of different flavours. Each compliments the others. It's like magic.

I had this pasta in a restaurant and we all love it! So I thought why not recreate it.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic
500 - 750 grams shrimps, de-veined and tails removed
2/3 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon crushed dried basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon crushed dried oregano leaves
1 packed linguini pasta (8 oz)

Serves 6 - 8

Directions:
Cook your linguini in a pot of boiling water with butter and salt. Drain and set aside. Reserve some liquid to re-warm the pasta if needed.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and reduce the heat to low. Cook garlic until tender, not brown!!!

Add shrimp to the skillet and cook until opaque, don't overcook them. Set the shrimp aside but leave the liquid in the skillet.

Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add wine and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Reduce heat to low and add heavy cream and cream cheese. Continuously stir. Add cheese, stir until smooth. Cook until thickened. Add oregano and basil leave and 1/3 of shrimp to the sauce. Take the pan off the heat.

Assemble:
Place your pasta in a serving bowl. Pour your sauce on top. Toss to coat pasta completely. Add remaining shrimps on top.

Enjoy! 

Perfect for Valentines, Date Nights, Anniversaries and all lovely celebrations with your special someone... dainty and fun to decorate and play around with.

Tip 1: lessen the colouring if you want a less intense colour
Tip 2: if you don't like ice creams, pink whipped cream will taste great too! 

Ingredients:
185 grams unsalted butter
170 grams caster sugar
3 eggs
125 grams self-raising flour
30 grams plain flour
125 ml milk
1/2 teaspoon pink food colouring
1/4 cup fresh minced strawberries (more if you want to, just make sure the batter is not too thin)

Serving touches:
Scoops of strawberry ice cream
Syruped strawberries (click here for recipe)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Line your cup cake pan with cases.

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl. Add eggs one at a time beating carefully after each addition.

Sift the flours together and fold alternately with milk. Add the fresh minced strawberries.

Divide the batter equally. Add colouring in one.

Scoop both mixture into each cases up to 3/4 of each cases. Using a toothpick, swirl the mixture to create a marble effect.

Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick or skewer comes out clean when inserted in the cupcake.

Cool cupcakes in a wire rack.

Assembling:
At the bottom of your serving glass, place a tablespoon of syruped strawberries. Scoop your strawberry ice cream on it. Place your strawberry swirl cupcake on top and garnish more syruped strawberries on the side for a more pronounced flavour. Add almond slivers if you want.

Enjoy and have fun!

Yes, it's so convenient to just buy a box of ready-to-mix pancakes but it is sooooo satisfying to know you made something from scratch and your love ones asking for more.

My kids love every morsel of these giant fluffy babies and my hubby ate breakfast, a once in a blue moon occurrence.

The best part of these pancake recipe is that, it's so wickedly easy and you can serve it with so many delicious choices.

Tip 1: Because this has baking soda in it, the batter mixture is not something to keep for later use, it's advisable to use it within the hour the wet and dry mixture were combined.
Tip 2: Serve the pancakes warm enough for the butter to melt on top. Keep a plate warm in the oven and every pancake you finished cooking until it's ready for serving.
Tip 3: Be playful, serve this with whipped cream, fresh fruits, syrup, chocolate, whatever you feel like.
Tip 4: Double the quantities for more pancakes.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons melted butter
butter knobs (to grease your pan)


Serves 4

Direction:

Warm your oven up and place a plate inside, ready for your finished pancakes.

Combine milk and vinegar and leave for five minutes to create a sour milk mixture.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl, (ingredients 3-7).

Whisk the egg and butter into the soured milk.

Add dry to the wet mixture, whisking until all the lumps are gone.

Heat a large skillet, melt a knob of butter and pour 1/4 cup batter onto the pan. Pour more than 2-3 servings if there is enough space.

Once bubbles appear on the surface, flip your pancake and cook until the bottom part is golden brown.

Serve 3 to 4 stacks of pancake on one plate, just enough that you won't feel cheated but also enough that you won't waste left-over. Top your tower with a knob of butter, drizzle with pancake syrup or maple syrup if you have.

Add fried bacon slices on the side and syruped strawberry on the other and you have a brunch that will wow anyone.

Syruped Strawberry recipe (click here)

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