pancakes !!!

i woke up feeling light ... and hungry, didn't have dinner last night :D checked the fridge for what to eat - then suddenly - pancakes! just popped in my head .. hmm .... there is egg, milk, flour - okey pancake it is then....

i made it fluffy but not as fluffy as i see on the photos on the net - wondering why???? i followed their recipe but then freshly made - nice - warm - what more to ask! i splattered maple syrup and butter and yummy!!! had it with some banana and a nice cup of coffee..... nice sunday morning !!!

recipe i used is from the basic pancake from Martha Stewart archives:

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, or vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Assorted toppings, such as butter, maple syrup, confectioners' sugar, honey, jams, preserves, sweetened whipped cream, or chocolate syrup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees; have a baking sheet or heatproof platter ready to keep cooked pancakes warm in the oven. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, butter (or oil), and egg. Add dry ingredients to milk mixture; whisk until just moistened (do not overmix; a few small lumps are fine).

3. Heat a large skillet (nonstick or cast-iron) or griddle over medium. Fold a sheet of paper towel in half, and moisten with oil; carefully rub skillet with oiled paper towel.

4. For each pancake, spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter onto skillet, using the back of the spoon to spread batter into a round (you should be able to fit 2 to 3 in a large skillet).

5. Cook until surface of pancakes have some bubbles and a few have burst, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a baking sheet or platter; cover loosely with aluminum foil, and keep warm in oven. Continue with more oil and remaining batter. (You'll have 12 to 15 pancakes.) Serve warm, with desired toppings.

pancit bihon - kuno!!

since the other day i was like craving (again :0) for pancit bihon. natakam ako sa kwento ng pinsan kong si marie eh hehehe ...

so today waking up it was bihon in my head - i checked the ref for what veggies are there - not much ahahaha (haven't done an grocery shopping yet!) so i ordered from the grocery down our building. in dubai you can see that most of the buildings have small groceries on the ground floor like in our building the ground floor is like the commercial area - there is a vegetable store (altho the grocery stores also carries certain veggies), a small cafeteria, a laundry shop, a hardware store, a rent-a-car shop, a typing shop, and a tailoring shop .. nearby is the fish shop! :D and a small poultry shop for fresh chicken and yes, the meat shop hehehe.... not to mention the internet shop and the barber shop! ahahaha

anyways, so i ordered a head of cabbage (i have few carrots still) but they don't have the green beans or baguio beans, and no baby corn :( (these are only available at the big supermarkets)...

to cut short - i just have to do with what i have .. chicken, carrots, cabbage, and to add some greens - green pepper na lang hehehe.... and this is what came out of it.... :D my craving is somewhat satisfied ... full belly as of this writing hehehe .. i finished the whole plate pictured below with a slice of toast bread with butter :D yummy!

butterscotch try-out

yap! tried the butterscotch recipe i tumbled into - also this morning .. therapy remember??? hehehe

however, i seemed to have overbaked it a bit :D - it didn't turned out to be fudgy and chewy as i expected it to be... oh well there is always a 'first time' ahahahaha :D

better luck next time ---maybe i should reduce my baking time to 15-20 min - hmmm.. well it says there that baking time is 25 min, but it was also mentioned 'depending on your oven' - ahhh so ok ... next time - i will get it right! pwede na rin .. hehehehe ..

more bakes ...

i wanted to make apple pies - but i have only few apples on hand, thought of going down to the supermarket to buy few more but it's darned hot to walk outside! so i settled for what is on hand (anyways .. first time to do this :D )....

for the crust - i used the recipe for the empanada crust - seems the same to me (or so i thought - heheheh ) well, there is always a first time for everything yeah?!

i think these were a bit 'overbaked' coz they are a bit 'dry' :D and looks pale - didn't do the 'eggwash' thing .. yeah yeah - now i know :D :D

but - they still are yummylicious!!!

for the filling - i just chopped the apples, sprinkled cinnamon and sugar tossed it up and stuff them into the crust.

for the crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 5-6 Tbsp cold water

1. Combine well the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl.
2. Cut in butter to the flour mixture with pastry cutter or two knives until particles are pea-sized ( i used fork only :D)
3. Add water a tablespoon at a time while tossing the flour mixture with a fork until all the flour is moistened and can be formed into a ball. Press the dough ball while turning a few times to incorporate all the flour in.
4. Wrap in plastic cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

To assemble:

1. Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
2. Remove cling film from the dough and flatten with a rolling pin on a floured surface and shape into a log.
3. Cut a piece and form into a ball (1-inch in diameter).
4. Flatten on a surface and roll out thinly into a round shape.
5. Put a heaping tablespoon of the filling on the rolled out dough.
6. Pull one end or half of the dough over the other forming a half circle shape.
7. Seal edges by pinching by hand or with the tines of a fork while cutting excess dough in the process. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling.
8. Arrange on a lightly greased baking sheet and brush tops with egg was (1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. milk)
9. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove and serve warm or cold.

* Note 1: you may also deep-fry instead of baking.
* Note 2: crust recipe is adapted from English Patis

more on cravings....

yet another craving (or was it simply hunger?!) anyways, i was like wanting to eat muffins since last night - and have something in my head to whip up. however, this afternoon (teehee... it was just after lunch! :D) .. while preparing the ingredients - i saw the bunch of apples that i already have forgotten .. :D. so instead i made a batch of apple spice muffin and half of cherry-jam muffin (again heheh .. i just love jam-filled muffins!)

after just cooling for a few minutes - i ate two ... the cut ones .. :D and had them with a nice cuppa coffee .... my afternoon is complete, or almost complete :)

the recipe i used for these muffins was from 'basic muffin recipe' of Group Recipes:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3/8 cup oil (that is 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons)
• About 1 cup of any additional optional ingredients

How to make it

• Stir together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Add wet ingredients and any optional ingredients and stir just until moistened. (Adjust amount of milk depending on how moist your add-ins are - add less for moist things like banana, crushed pineapple, or pumpkin and add a bit more if needed for dried fruits.)
• Scoop into greased muffins tins (an ice cream scoop works well for this).
• Sprinkle the tops with sugar if desired, and bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until done.

for the apple spice - add i/2 cup chopped apples, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and dash of nutmeg ( i don't have the nutmeg but still tasted good!)

for the jam - i added 1 tsp of jam into each muffin cup and topped-off with more batter.


ref: http://www.grouprecipes.com/72374/basic-muffins-with-variations.html

muffin craves

i've been craving for muffins and so i whipped up some ... i used the recipe from group recipe and it was mentioned there that with the same mixture i could come up with different 'flavors' - so that i tried and made three in one baking !! it turned out good and yummy :D

first i threw some chocolate chips on 1/3 of the batter, then splashed cherry jam on the next 3rd, and threw in some cinnamon sugar on the last 3rd....

used an ice cream scoop too that's why the muffins are quite 'even' in sizes :D

yummylicious!!!! will try the apple spice next time and i have a box of dates from a friend. i saw a date-nut recipe and will surely do that next time .. next week maybe? hmmmm maybe tomorrow? ahahaha can't wait ...

hayzz.... this is what happens when one doesn't have any job ... :( haven't found one yet ... huhuhu ....

still on cravings ...

since last week i was craving for something i cannot really pinpoint.. then finally i knew what i was craving for! pasta !!!! i stirred up some sauce with whatever is in my pantry (which is not much really heheh ) and came up with tomato sauce with corned beef :D - a bit of carrots and bell pepper.. cooked the spaghetti noodles and mixed all in... a little bit of cheese and viola! yummylicious corned beef spaghetti!!!

but then... after that .. i still have a craving .... finally, i said to myself .. ok ok lasagna it will be then .. :D made a list of what to buy and off to the supermarket i went!!!! can't wait !!!!