Bistek Tokwa

2 cubes firm tofu (tokwa)
1 piece white onion, sliced into rings
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 pieces calamansi, juiced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup canola oil

Slice tokwa into cubes. Dredge with cornstarch, salt and pepper. Preheat pan with canola oil. Pan-fry tokwa until golden but not crispy. Drain tokwa on paper towels. Pour off excess oil from pan and cook onion rings. Combine calamansi juice, soysauce and water. Pour into pan and cook with onion. Add in cornstarch dissolved in water and cook for one minute. Add back fried tokwa and cook for another 5 minutes until coated with sauce. Serve hot.

Spicy Pork Adobo

There are 7,107 islands (low tide) in the Philippines and I bet there are as many recipes for Adobo as well. Philippine adobo is usually any kind of meat (chicken, pork, beef or sometimes lamb) that has been braised in a mixture of garlic, peppercorn, bay leaf, vinegar and soy sauce--which is the basic recipe. This varies from every region and every household I think. My version for today's lunch follows the basic recipe but I chose to make it spicy with the addition of bird's eye chili (siling labuyo) and cornstarch to thicken the sauce a bit.

250 grams pork belly (liempo)

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

peppercorn

1 piece bird's eye chili (siling labuyo), chopped

2 cups water

1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 4 tablespoons cold water

Slice pork belly into even-sized cubes. Place meat, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, peppercorn, chili and water in a pot. Boil for 10 minutes until vinegar is cooked, do not stir. Bring the heat to low and simmer until pork is tender--the mixture can be stirred at this point. When the meat is tender, remove to a plate. Dissolve cornstarch in water and add to pan, let the mixture boil until it is thickened. Pour over meat.

Stir-fried Tofu and Snap Peas

Im trying to go back to eating healthy these days--really trying. And now that I moved to a new place and living on my own, I think I may just make it. Back at my parent's place, the fridge was always full of tempting chocolates, cakes and other "sinful" delights which I can't resist no matter how I tried! So in my own fridge, I opted to keep these things to a minimum and stocked up on fruits, vegetables, yogurt and the like. For today's lunch I stir-fried tofu and snap peas.

2 blocks firm tofu, cubed

1/2 cup snap peas, cleaned

1 clove garlic, minced

1 piece bird's eye chili, sliced

1 tablespoon salted black beans, mashed

4 tablespoons cornstarch

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons canola oil

Sauce mixture

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon less-sodium soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon white sugar

1/4 cup water

Slice tofu into small cubes, dredge with 2 tablespoons flour, salt and pepper. Preheat pan with oil and pan-fry tofu until golden, drain off excess oil on paper towel-lined plate. In the same pan, saute garlic, chili and salted black beans until fragrant. Pour sauce mixture and let simmer for 2 minutes. Add back tofu, coat with sauce and pour in snap peas. Add 1/4 cup water and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Serve over hot rice.

Indian Dosas--DARING COOKS' CHALLENGE SEPTEMBER 2009

It's that special time of the month for the Daring Cooks' Challenge! For this month Debyi from http://www.healthyvegankitchen.com is the host for the September 2009 Daring Cooks challenge and has chosen Indian Dosas from the refresh cookbook by Ruth Tal.

This recipe was very new to me because it was a "no-animal product/gluten-free" cooking. It was the first time for me to try out a vegan recipe. But I love Indian food and I decided to go ahead and try it. Spelt flour is not widely available here in Manila so I looked up other alternative no-gluten flours and I came across rice four which is not only available but very cheap here. So I made my dosas with rice flour. For the filling, I opted to use potatoes instead because I really dont like chickpeas. I followed the recipe for the coconut curry. I served this to my mom and sisters and cousin and they liked it. I steamed jasmine rice and served it alongside the indian dosas and I slathered the yummy coconut curry over everything. They liked it so much that I wished I made more. Thank you Debyi for this challenge!

Indian Dosas

Serves 4
Equipment needed:

large bowl

whisk

griddle or skilletladle (or large spoon)

spatula

vegetable peeler &/or knife

large saucepan

food processor or bean masher

Dosa Pancakes

1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)

½ tsp (2½ gm) salt

½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder

½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder

½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)

¾ cup (175ml/6oz) watercooking spray, if needed

Dosa Filling

1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below), heated

Dosa Toppings

1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated

¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut

¼ cucumber, sliced

Dosa Pancakes

1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.

2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.

3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

Curried Garbanzo Filling

This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don't be afraid to make a full batch.
5 cloves garlic

1 onion, peeled and finely diced

1 carrot, peeled and finely diced

1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)

2 medium hot banana chilies, minced

2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground

1 TBSP (8gm) oregano

1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)

1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric

4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)

½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.

2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Coconut Curry Sauce

This makes a great sauce to just pour over rice as well. This does freeze well, but the texture will be a little different. The flavor is still the same though.

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic

½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground

¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)

3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder

3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)

3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth

2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk

3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.

2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.

3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.

4.Let it simmer for half an hour.Happy eating!

Chicken Curry

It's been raining non-stop here in Manila for more than a week now. Gray skies, cooler weather and the urge to just stay home and curl up in bed with a good book is on my mind all the time. But alas for mortals like me, it's not possible. But thank God for off days, when there is nothing to do but rest and recharge at home! And I can take my time and cook to my heart's content :) Today is my off day and I stayed home and cooked lunch.

There was chicken in the fridge this morning which I've been wanting to cook since the middle of the week but couldn't decide what I wanted to do with it. And today I finally decided to make Chicken Curry.

CHICKEN CURRY

4 pieces chicken thighs, cut into 2

3 pieces tomatoes, diced

1 piece onion, peeled, minced

2 cloves garlic, peeled, minced

1 small piece ginger, peeled, minced

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

6 tablespoons yogurt, plain

4 tablespoons canola oil

salt to taste

Preheat pan over medium heat. Pan-fry chicken pieces until golden but not cooked through. Remove to plate and set aside. Drain excess oil from pan and saute onion, garlic and ginger until soft and fragrant. Add spices and cook for another minute. Pour yogurt, tomatoes and 1/2 cup of water, simmer. Add back chicken pieces and season with salt. Cook for another 20 minutes until sauce has thickened and chicked is cooked through. Serve with steamed rice.

Chocolate Dream Cake

Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Shaved Chocolate

Chocolate and Almond Dobos Torte--August Daring Bakers Challenge

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonfulof Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular DobosTorte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: ExquisiteDesserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague

It's that time of the month again, when all the Daring Bakers get together to present the their own version of the current month's challenge!! This is my come back post after 5 months of non-blogging, and what a challenge it was! I was quaking in my clogs as I read the instructions for the Dobos torte. It looked deceptively simple but I knew it was far from the truth--so I prepared and thought about it, looking everyday at the forum and mentally taking note of all the experiences of my fellow DBs...and i waited until the last minute before I made it :)

I followed the recipe almost to the letter except that I used almonds and no hazelnuts. The most challenging for me was the caramel layer top, it stuck to the buttered parchment paper no matter how much I buttered it! But in the end, the result was well worth it because my friends oohed and aahed when they saw and more when they bit into the cake. The slices were gone in 5 minutes flat!

Thank you so much for this challenge, once again--I was able to make something which on my own, wouldn't have dared to try by myself!
EQUIPMENT:
· 2 baking sheets
· 9” (23cm) springform tin and 8” cake tin, for templates
· mixing bowls (1 medium, 1 large)
· a sieve
· a double boiler (a large saucepan plus a large heat-proof mixing bowl which fits snugly over the top of the pan)
· a small saucepan
· a whisk (you could use a balloon whisk for the entire cake, but an electric hand whisk or stand mixer will make life much easier)
· metal offset spatula
· sharp knife
· a 7 1/2” cardboard cake round, or just build cake on the base of a sprinfrom tin.
· piping bag and tip, optional
Prep times
· Sponge layers 20 mins prep, 40 mins cooking total if baking each layer individually.
· Buttercream: 20 mins cooking. Cooling time for buttercream: about 1 hour plus 10 minutes after this to beat and divide.
· Caramel layer: 10-15 minutes.
· Assembly of whole cake: 20 minutes

SPONGE CAKE LAYERS
· 6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
· 1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner's (icing) sugar, divided
· 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
· 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour (SUBSTITUTE 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour (cornstarch) sifted together)
· pinch of salt

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM
· 4 large eggs, at room temperature
· 1 cup (200g) caster (ultrafine or superfine white) sugar
· 4oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped
· 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

CARAMEL TOPPING
· 1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or ultrafine white) sugar
· 12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
· 8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
· 1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)

FINISHING TOUCHES
· a 7” cardboard round
· 12 whole hazelnuts, peeled and toasted
· ½ cup (50g) peeled and finely chopped hazelnuts

Directions for the sponge layers:
NB. The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.
1.Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).
2.Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9" (23cm) springform tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn't touch the cake batter.)
3.Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner's (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don't have a mixer.)
4.In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner's (icing)sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.5.Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8" springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:
NB. This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.
1.Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.
2.Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.
3.Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.
4.Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.
5.When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.
Lorraine's note: If you're in Winter just now your butter might not soften enough at room temperature, which leads to lumps forming in the buttercream. Male sure the butter is of a very soft texture I.e. running a knife through it will provide little resistance, before you try to beat it into the chocolate mixture. Also, if you beat the butter in while the chocolate mixture is hot you'll end up with more of a ganache than a buttercream!

Directions for the caramel topping:
1.Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.
2.Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel.
3.The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn't just been taken out of the refrigerator. I made mine ahead of time and the cake layer was cold and the toffee set very, very quickly—too quickly for me to spread it. Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.
Angela's note: I recommend cutting, rather than scoring, the cake layer into wedges before covering in caramel (reform them into a round). If you have an 8” silicon round form, then I highly recommend placing the wedges in that for easy removal later and it also ensures that the caramel stays on the cake layer. Once set, use a very sharp knife to separate the wedges.

Assembling the Dobos
1.Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.
2.Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.
3.Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.
4.Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavour.