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Niña
​nin-ya

NIÑA ​ANINIAS

SHOP. COOK. EAT.
REPEAT.

Spaghetti All'Amatriciana

3/28/2012

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It's solely Julia Roberts' movie Eat. Pray. Love. and her fantabulous way of eating that got me into researching for this recipe. I'm not quite impressed by the story and how the flow of it went about. It started slow, then great, then slow, then just became a little bit cheesy.

You can already guess which part ranked "great" for me. The dining part definitely made a huge impression... to my stomach!

I wasn't sure how it would taste. Movies are all about acting... so it was a risk. I hate wasting food and if the end result isn't as I expected, I'd be very disappointed! But, after cooking this... I understood... Julia wasn't acting ... it was rich, creamy and just a really beautiful dish.

I think everyone should cook it, eat it and find out for themselves how great of a dish this is. It's a typical Italian dish. It wasn't made to be complicated... it was made for you to taste each and every component of the dish and how each complements the others.

Tip 1: Use as many or as less cherry tomatoes. My husband loves how it bursts in his mouth, to think that he doesn't like tomatoes.
Tip 2: Add the basil towards the end of your cooking. Basil is one of the herbs that has lighter oil, which means if you add it earlier in the cooking, its flavour would be lost among the crowd.
Tip 3: I haven't used chicken or beef in this dish but I bet it would taste good too.
Tip 4: You can use guanciale or lardon instead of pancetta. It's just easier for me to find pancetta in the supermarket so that's why I prefer to use it.
Tip 5: Of course, if you want to use a different pasta, say a Bucatini, a spaghetti-like thicker version with holes in the middle, it's up to you. Pasta and sauces are partners. Thick sauces call for thick pastas, thin sauces call for delicate pastas.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
227 grams or 8 oz pancetta
2 large onions, diced 1/2 inch
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4-cans (227 grams or 8 oz) tomato sauce
15 cherry tomatoes optional
500 grams spaghetti
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano plus extra for garnish
Fresh basil leaves, sliced

Directions:
Cook spaghetti in a large pot of well salted water. Cook it 2 minutes less than what the package states. Drain and set aside making sure you reserve 2 cups of pasta water for later use.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the pancetta and saute over low heat until it is brown and crispy, about 15-20 minutes. Remove pancetta and set aside.

Bring the pan to medium heat, add garlic, onions and pepper flakes. Season with salt. Cook the onions until it's transluscent, starting to turn golden and the aroma starts whafting through the air, about 10-15 minutes.

Add the sauce 2/3 of pancetta and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce for about 25 mins. Adjust the salt, as needed. Reserve 3 ladlefuls of the sauce for later use. In the last 5 minutes of simmering, add cherry tomatoes. If the sauce becomes too thick, add some pasta water until your desired consistency.

Add the drained pasta to the remaining pot of sauce. Add cheese, drizzle with olive oil and toss well to ensure the flavours are married well. If the coating is too thick, add more sauce. It should be a balanced coating.

Serve on individual bowls, sprinkle additional parmegiano cheese, basil and divide the remaining pancetta on each bowl. Make sure each bowl has a cherry tomato or two. Cherry tomatoes will still be whole but once it's in your mouth, it bursts into a sweet flavour that works so well with the sauce and pasta.

Enjoy your Spaghetti All'Amatriciana, pasta in a creamy tomato and cheese sauce with a fresh flavour of basil and a good side of spcicy kick.

Related Post: Eat. Pray. Love. - Eat! Eat! Eat!

-AcousticChef, cookin' one tune at a time!
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Cookie Mania - Going Back to Basics

3/24/2012

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I'm mostly amazed at how easy it is for my kids to understand recipes. It took me more than two decades, hundreds of BBCfood and Food Network shows, dozens of recipe books, not to mention thousands of google research, almost to the point of hypnotherapy for any recipe to make sense. 

Since my 5-year old can't read long sentences yet, my 9-year old reads the instructions for him at the beginning. As expected Alex (the 9-year old) gets bored with the process which he considers tedious and disappears after a few minutes. He will only resurrect when food's done... he does the taste test... Alex has an amazing taste buds. So amazing that if I have to bring someone with me in one of my resto adventures, I'd bring him.

Going back to cookie mania, this is such a basic recipe that I have no second thoughts in leaving Jason (the 5-year old) to the "doing" part while I get busy with handling shutters. I have no doubts that Alex can cook or bake if he wants to ... Jason however is a natural in the kitchen. Always's been intrigued with kitchen tools, the proccess of preparing food seems so exciting to him more than anything.  

This is the first time I let him do anything from start to finish so this is Jason's coming of age in the kitchen. A milestone if you may.

Tip 1: 2 cups of flavour is up to you. It could be 2 cups of choc chips, or mixture of choc chips and nuts, oatmeal and raisins, whatever you fancy.
Tip 2: It's a "drop" cookie dough, not "rolled". So we didn't chill the dough at all, we just literally dropped the dough on the sheet, did not press it at all and let the heat melt the dough on its own. 
Tip 3: Don't doubt the timing. When you take out the cookie from the oven, it'll still be cooking for the next 2 or so minutes on the sheet. Transfer it on the cooling rack after 2-3 minutes of cooling from the sheet.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups unsifted flour
1 tspoon baking soda
1 tspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or 2 cups mixed oatmeal and raisins or nuts)

Makes 2 dozens

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 375F

Stir the flour, baking soda and salt, then set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla.

Blend the dry mixture to the wet mixture.

Stir in the chocolate chips (or oatmeal and raisins or nuts) 

Drop by 1 1/2 tablespoon onto a parchment on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. 
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Hot Buns - Char Siu Bao / Siopao II

3/21/2012

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I made my first Hot Bun half a year ago and though I was proud of the recipe I discovered, I'm still on the lookout for a recipe that will make my face smile with just pure glee. I did, with this second version.

The first version was good, the flavour is reminscent of the hot buns I grew up with. However, this new one that I ventured into incorporated the old flavour while including other flavours that takes hot buns onto a different level. There is a depth of flavour that is more of a grown up version of the ones I used to enjoy.

I think the most important reason why I enjoyed making this second version more than the previous one is because I matured as a baker. Also, this recipe broke the complication down to simple and almost to point of being commonsensical. Those light bulb moments when you're doing something and your finally understood the reason behind why you're doing certain things in a particular way and realized that recipes are basic guidelines, you really don't have to follow it to the tee.

I'd like to think that this recipe is my coming-of-age recipe, because the following recipes I've taken on after this one, have somehow got deconstructed in my head. A method in reality that takes a lot of deep understanding of how the flavours should play about and complement each other even if the ingredients were prepared differently. I know I sounded uber geeky but it is what it is.
 
It will be an understatement to say that this recipe belongs to my fave list.

Tip 1: Don't be scared by the process... it's surprisingly easy! Start with the dough coz you actually leave it alone for 4 hours! While the dough is puffing up, you can easily do your sauce and filling with no pressure. You can actually make the filling and sauce the day before and keep it in the fridge! How convenient is that?
Tip 2: You can knead your dough with gloves... but where's the fun in it? I kneaded it with bare hands, of course I washed my hands really well first... then I slathered them with Crisco... yes, Minny Jackson's fave Crisco... fun! 
Tip 3: To help your dough in its rising stage, keep the dough in your oven (switched off!) with a bowl of hot water next to it. You'd be surprise how the bugger loves it.
Tip 4: If you don't have a lard, any oil will do.
Tip 5: Play around with the filling. It can be vegetarian, it can be chicken, beef, whatever you want it to be. The secret is the filling's seasoning, sauce and dough. 

To Make the Filling
Ingredients:
3 tblspoons lard or oil
2 tblspoons garlic, minced
1 medium size onion, minced

2 tblspoons dark soy sauce
2 tblspoons light soy sauce
4 tblspoons hoisin sauce
2 tblspoons honey
2 tblspoons dry sherry or xiao hsing wine
1 tspoon sesame oil
1/2 tspoon Chinese five spice (optional)
1 tspoon grated ginger
500 grams pork loin, cut into strips, about 1/2 inch wide by 1 1/2 inch long.
1 tblspoon cornstarch, diluted with 2 tblspoons COLD water

Directions:
Combine soy sauces, hoisin sauce, honey, wine, sesame oil, five spice, ginger, garlic in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a pan. Sautee galic and onion. Add pork bits, soy sauce mixture and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Add the constarch mixture, cook and stir until sauce becomes the thick consistency you prefer.

To Make the Dough
Ingredients:
1/3 cup lukewarm water
1/3 cup flour
2 1/4 tspoons active dry yeast or 1 packet
2 tspoons sugar
1 cup flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1 tspoon baking powder
1/2 tspoon salt
2 tblspoons sugar
1 tblspoon oil
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tspoon baking powder

Directions:
Proof the yeast by combining water, flour, yeast and sugar (first 4 ingredients) in a large bowl and set aside for half an hour.

Mix in flours, baking powder, salt, sugar and oil. Continue mixing while slowly pouring water until it just forms a dough.

Knead the dough on a board until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Place the dough back into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 4 hours.

Sprinkle the remaining baking powder on top and knead again.

Roll a log and divide into approximately 12 chunks or 50-60 grams each piece to be exact.

To Make the Sauce
1 beef broth cube
2 cups water
2 tbsp corn starch diluted in a 4 tblsps of cold water
1/4 cup diced onions
2 cloves diced garlic
Fresh ground black pepper
4 tbsps brown sugar
2 tbsps soy sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Place 2 cups of water in a saucepan. Boil and add the beef cube, stir until fully dissolved.

Add onions, garlic, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, salt, ground black pepper and simmer for 10 minutes. Make sure to trap the steam by covering the saucepan. Add extra water if needed.

Add the constarch mixture, cook and stir until sauce becomes thick. Strain the liquid to get rid of the onion and other bits.

Transfer your sauce to a serving container or better yet a squishy bottle.

Assembling and Steaming Your Siu Bao:
Flatten the dough until a round shape is formed, first with your hand, then with a rolling pin.

Place 2 tbspoons filling in the middle of the dough and wrap by pulling and crimping the sides together. Gather on top and twist it around.

Place the siopao on individually cut wax paper and cook them in a steamer for 15 minutes.

You can make 12 hot buns with these recipe, prolly some left over filling and a bottle of sauce. Serve your Siu Bao hot with your home made sauce and enjoy!
 
-AcousticChef, cookin' one tune at a time!
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Beer-battered Fish

3/16/2012

2 Comments

 
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Whenever J and I go to a pub or a bar, Fish and Chips will always be one of the ones we order. It's such an amazing dish that sometimes I even have cravings for it.

Lucky me, there is a nearby joint called London Fish and Chips, but of course, home-made is always the way to go.

Tip 1: try and find a dark beer, to add colour. I would have loved to use Guinness but didn't have one available.
Tip 2: some starts with the flour in the bowl first to ensure the batter gets the right consistency. 
Tip 3: use a bamboo skewer for easy handling in dredging flour, dipping in batter and frying.

Ingredients:
1 beer
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg, lightly beaten
500 grams hammour fillets, or any other white meat fish, cut into serving sizes
salt and pepper
1/2 cup flour for dredging
oil for frying

Makes 5 generous servings

Directions:
Heat the oil until its 375F.

In the meantime, mix beer, flour, baking powder, salt and egg. Whisk it until smooth and silky.

Season fish with salt and pepper, dredge them in flour, shake excess flour before dipping them into the batter. Fry them 4-5 minutes.

-AcousticChef, cookin' one tune at a time!
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Creamy Tartare Sauce

3/16/2012

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This recipe is soooo good that it just have to be shared.

I love pub food and fried seafood just screams TARTARE SAUCE to be with it.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon capers, chopped
2 tablespoons dill, chopped
1 tablespoon cornichons, chopped
1/2 lemon (juice)

Mixed them all together. As easy as that and you make 3/4 cup of tartare sauce!

-AcousticChef, cookin' one tune at a time!
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Crunchy Calamari

3/16/2012

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One of my favourite food is pub food. Something about how hot oil renders its superpowers to whatever ingredient is in it. It's definitely artery-clogging so it's not advisable to eat this type of food every day. However, once in awhile, it's good to indulge in greasy glory.

It's the weekend and I thought, why not go pub food lunch on this fantastic Friday.

Tip 1: if you don't have time to buy fresh squid rings, use the frozen ones... they taste as good as the fresh ones once they're cooked.

Ingredients:
250 grams squid rings
1/4 cup all purpose flour
salt and pepper
oil for frying

Serves 2 appetizers

Directions:
Heat oil until it's suitable for deep frying, 375F is the best temp.

Mix flour, salt and pepper in a medium size bowl.

Dredge your squid rings in the flour mixture, shake excess flour and deep fry them, 2 minutes.

Fish them out from the pan and rest it on a kitchen towel to soak excess oil.

Best eaten with Greek Oven Roasted Potatoes, Beer-battered Fish and Tartare Sauce. 

Enjoy your pub food!

-AcousticChef, cookin one tune at a time!
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Cream Cheese Icing - 2

3/10/2012

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This is my recent discovery and I'm very happy with it, is an understatement.

I found a recipe for banana cake that has cream cheese frosting on it. It's very simple but tastes really good. Just a proof that it doesn't have to be complicated to be delicious.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
226 grams or 8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup icing sugar

Directions:
Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth.

Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Add icing sugar and beat in low until well combined. Then on high speed until smooth.

Spread on your cupcakes or cakes and enjoy the creamy cheesy goodness!

-AcousticChef - cookin' one tune at a time!
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Cream Cheese Icing - 1

3/10/2012

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I thought it's befitting for me to create a recipe just for cream cheese icing or frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting is tricky for me because it develops-as-you-go kind of thing for me. There are times when my cream cheese is not stable enough that adding more sugar seems like the best option to stabilize it. The problem is it becomes sickly sweet. There are times when it just happens perfect. 

One of my reliable cream cheese recipe is the one that I use in my carrot cupcake and cakes.

The number of sugar you want to add depends on how sweet do you want your icing to be? So you have to consider the base cake, is it sweet enough, then lessen the amount of sugar in the icing. Is it a cake that needs to be complimented further by a sweet frosting, then, be my guest, follow the recipe or add more if you wish.

Again, it is finding the right consistency and taste that YOU prefer. At the end of the day, you're the one eating (for some, licking) it.

Ingredients:
1 ounce white chocolate
4-ounce cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon orange extract
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon heavy cream

Directions:
In a double boiler, melt white chocolate over low heat. Stir until smooth, and
allow to cool to room temperature.

In the first bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in white
chocolate, vanilla, and orange extract. Gradually beat in the confectioners'
sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in heavy cream.

Spread it on your cake!

-AcousticChef - cookin' one tune at a time!
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Super Moist Banana Cake

3/10/2012

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J's favourite pudding is not chocolate, not caramel, not cheese inspired... he loves banana cake. He'll eat any sweets but whenever he sees me baking, that's the first thing he'll ask me.

I don't bake banana cake often not because I don't like it ... but my boys are like monkeys... I need overripe bananas to bake a cake and I'd be lucky to find one banana after 2 days of buying a bunch.

I practically hid 5 bananas inside the cupboard to speed up the ripening process as well as avoid my boys' prying eyes. Once it started having dark spots on the skin, I took it out for further ripening.

My boys don't like bananas that have spots. For them it's bruised. My sis also thinks it's the start of the rotting process. WRONG. It's actually the starch turning into sugar and that's what we need for baking banana cakes. The darker it is, the better, at least for me. 

Tip 1: if you don't have buttermilk, you may put 1 1/2 tablespoons of vinegar in a measuring cup and pour milk until it reaches 1 1/2 cups. Let it cultivate for 10 minutes before using.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups overripe banana, mashed
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Makes 2 loaves or 1 square pan

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 275F.

Spray your pans with quick release spray or line them up with baking paper or grease and flour it, whichever you prefer.

Add the lemon juice to the mashed banana and set aside.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in another bowl until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating thoroughly before adding another egg. Add vanilla.

Alternately mix flour and buttermilk to your butter mixture. Always start with the dry ingredients and in equal parts of liquid. It's always a good idea to divide each into three parts. It doesn't have to be exact. A rough estimate of each transfer is good enough. dry-wet-dry-wet-dry-wet.

Stir in the mash bananas completely.

Divide the batter to two loaf pans or one square cake pan and fill it up to 3/4 of the pan.

Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Start testing with skewer when you reach 1 hour. It's baked if the skewer or toothpick comes out clean after the test.

From the oven, keep your cake straight to the freezer for 45 minutes to ensure it's moist is locked in.

Bring it out, let it warm up to room temperature. Either spread the frosting or enjoy it on it's own. Have tea and milk to go with your cake and voila! You're one happy camper! 

Happy Eating!

-AcousticChef - cookin' one tune at a time!
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Clear Broth Beef Stew (Nilagang Baka)

3/8/2012

2 Comments

 
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Right at this moment, everyone in the house is sick. Really bad flu. Coughing, sneezing, sniffing. It's an understatement when I say, it's an orchestra of dogs barking and howling.

I can't think of anything else but cook soups. Yes of course there is the usual chicken soup but they can only have chicken soup so many times. Today I've decided we'll have Clear Broth Beef Stew.

It's one of the staples back home. Comfort food for many of us. Just the smell of it in the kitchen brings me back to to rainy days when we are stuck inside the house, can't play in the puddle outside, we might get sick. For extra precaution, mothers will start cooking piping hot viands that has broth or soups in it.

Serve it in a huge bowl and give everyone smaller bowls for individual soups. If you're sick it'll make you feel better. If you're not, you just feel your soul smiling extra somehow.

Tip 1: beef cuts and beef age varies and so you have to find the right time to make sure it's tender enough
Tip 2: you need to time everything up, you don't want your veggies mashed.
Tip 3: any meat that is close to the bones are tastier, so I prefer to cook this stew with bones.
Tip 4: Bok Choy can be a good substitute for Chinese Cabbage

Ingredients:
1 1/4 kilo beef made up of meat and bones, cut into sizes that you prefer
1 big onion, sliced half an inch each
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
3 inches x 2 inches ginger, tickly sliced
1.5 liters of water
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 - 3 potatoes, diced 2-3 inches big
3 carrots, diced 2-3 inches big
2 corn ears
1 cabbage, sliced 2-3 inches big
3 chinese cabbage, pechay or bok choy, leaves separated
1 beef bouillon

Serves 8

Directions:
Place beef, onions, peppercorns, salt, ginger and 2 cups of water in a big boiling pot. Bring it to a boil and then bring it to simmer for 45 mins on medium high heat. If you keep on boiling, the liquid will evaporate, with it is the beef essence so you have so watch this part out. You want the beef to tenderize without losing most of the liquid.

After 45 mins, add the remaining cup of water, potatoes, carrots, corn ears, cabbage. Taste the soup if it needs more salt, if it does, then add the beef buillon. It will add saltiness and heighten the beef taste even more. Simmer for another 15 mins.  

If you think your beef needs more cooking time and the veggies are already cooked. Fish the veggies and set aside.

Add your veggies back and your chinese cabbage, simmer for a minute or two until the chinese cabbage are perfectly cooked. 

Serve in a huge bowl and enjoy this hearty soup with steamed rice or on its own! 

We normally eat this with fish sauce and chili on the side. Yum! 

-AcousticChef - cookin' one tune at a time!
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