I had a sudden flashback of the Kaya Toast from Kopi Roti and the Thick Toasts from Toast Box that I had to fix myself some - soy sauce eggs included. I always love the contrast of flavors and textures - crunchy toast with smooth and creamy fillings, sweet kaya with the warm and salty eggs. Unbelievably easy to make - no real recipe around it so all you have to do is prep. Costs less than ordering it too but the party in your mouth is just as heavenly!
Ingredients:
Unsliced Pan Americano (from Pantojas or Pan De Manila work fine, you can ask them not to slice it just yet)
Eggs, room temperature
Cold Butter
Coco Jam (kaya)
Peanut Butter
Choco-Hazelnut Spread
Jam
Soy Sauce
Procedure:
1. Buying unsliced bread ensures you that it is the freshest from the batch. Cut it up into thin 1/4 inch slices for the kaya toast and a good 1 inch thickness for the thick toast. Toast in the oven, under a broiler or over a hot pan for about 4-5 minutes, until golden brown. Bread for the kaya toast should be crisp but the thick toast should still be soft and bready inside.
2. Meanwhile, prepare eggs. Soft-boiled eggs are done by dropping eggs in boiling water for 3 minutes. If you do not like the idea of soft-boiled eggs, I found that this work just as well with hard-boiled eggs, boiled for 7 minutes. Each egg gets around 1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce (you should try it at least once).
3. Spread coco jam over the "thin" toasts and add slices of butter. Top with another piece of "thin" toast with coco jam.
4. For the thick toast, top with either peanut butter, jam or choco-hazelnut spread. I love Finetti as it tastes like Nutella (purists don't kill me), at half the cost. Available at Rustan's.
5. To serve the Kaya Toast, slice in half with a serrated knife and serve with the eggs. Here I served it with hard-boiled eggs.
6. For the thick toast, slice it into nine small cubes and serve with the eggs. I played with it and made a checkerboard design using different toppings.
No I did not top each of the cubes individually. Just prepare another set of thick toasts with different toppings and construct the patter on the serving dish, alternating flavors. A morning puzzle that will surely wake you up!
Yum yum yum! To eat the egg separately or dip your kaya and thick toasts into it is your decision. Sure to enjoy it either way! :D
Many ingredients that are had to find five (5) years ago are slowly being made available in the markets either through importation, or local growers. One of them is the Gourmet Farms in Cavite (check out their website here) and produces a wide variety of organic fruits, vegetables, herbs, even coffee & tea that are available in the commercial markets, like Rustan's or SM. They pioneer healthy lifestyles, so they even have ready-made dressings, sauces and dips that are very delish but without the preservatives and unwanted calories. When I saw baby fennel bulbs in the market which was a local produce of the Gourmet (Php 160 for 250g), I lit up with a smile and was excited to prepare a recipe with it.
One thing that goes well with the sweet and aromatic taste of fennel is flaky white fish. Cream Dory is a fish that was difficult and expensive to source years back, but is now widely available in steaks or fillets for less than Php 200 a kilo. It has become a truly a versatile fish that is commonly used for fish & chips or grilled preparations.
Hope you try out this recipe, Penne di San Prieto al Finoccio e Aneto (Penne pasta with Cream Dory, Fennel and Dill).
Ingredients:
500g penne, cooked al dente (reserve 1 cup pasta water)
500g cream dory fillets
250g fennel (if you do not have fennel, used equal amounts of white onion and celery)
juice of 1 lime + additional wedges for serving
1 teaspoon grainy mustard
4 cloves garlic
1 cup cream (used soy cream for this recipe, but all-purpose cream should work ok)
olive oil for sauteeing
pinch of chili flakes
salt & pepper to taste
2 teaspoons chopped dill fronds, some sprigs for garnish
Procedure:
1. Trim the fennel roots and tops and slice thinly.
2. Saute fennel & garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sweat together with salt, pepper and chili for 3-5 minutes, over low heat.
3. Add the cream, lemon juice and reserved pasta water.
4. Add sliced cream dory and poach for 5 minutes over medium heat. Flake fish with the spoon as it cooks.
5. Add the cooked pasta and stir well. Add dill at the last minute.
6. Make garlic bread by drizzling olive oil over bread and toasting at a 350F oven for 5-7 minutes. Rub with a fresh clove of garlic.
Shabu Shabu or Hot Pot cooking is so fun but can be quite expensive when you go to restaurants. Here is an easy way to have a heartwarming meal even without a hot pot at home.
Suggested Ingredients (good for 6 people):
500 grams assorted hot pot goodies (pictured above are: siomai, squid balls, shrimp balls, bamboo fish rolls, fancy fish cakes, vegetable balls, taro balls)
250 grams shrimps
350 grams thinly sliced pork (Rustans has this already in their freezer section)
1 small carrot sliced
1 bunch Swiss chard with stems (they had this at Rustan's that time but spinach or kang kong will work well)
50 grams vermicelli rice noodles (sotanghon or bihon)
50 grams silken tofu
20 grams bean curd skins (got these from Hong Kong)
* The concept of hot pot is actually putting in meats and vegetables in boiling flavored stock for quick cooking. You may want to add fish fillets, squid, crab claws, corn on the cob, tomatoes, beef slices, chicken fillets, crab stick (kani), spinach, cabbage, pechay, etc.)
Hello Kitty fish cakes! Cute! (from Rustan's Cold Storage)
Bunny too!!!
Seafood Sauce:
2 tablespoons Hoisin Sauce
2 tablespoons Honey Shrimp Sauce (sweet bagoong variety)
2 teaspoons Tom Yum Goon paste
2 eggs (yolk for the sauce / white for the hot pot)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (wansuy)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon chili sauce (or 1 chopped bird's eye chili / labuyo)
* Just mix everything together. There is also ready made Sate Sauce for hot pots available at supermarkets and Asian stores - usually in large tin cans, just did not find any the last time.
Procedure:
As if it can't get any easier. It is basically just the order of ingredients thrown in the broth. :)
This Lee Kum Kee hot pot product is so convenient! Also available in Chicken and Pork. Otherwise, you can add 2 broth cubes to 1 1/2 liters of boiling water.
Add 1 tablespoon of the prepared seafood sauce to the broth.
Drop in carrots...
and Swiss chard stalks.
Drop all the balls, shrimp...
meat, and bean curd skins.
Add the noodles and bring to a boil.
Add the leaves and tofu at the last minute before serving. Mix gently.
And in less than 20 minutes, you can serve the Shabu Shabu in individual bowls, with rice and the seafood sauce for dipping. Make sure to have every little morsel of goodness in each bowl.
Next time it's raining hard, try making your own hot pot for real food and real comfort.
Been a while since I fired up the oven to make heavenly sweets so while I was driving home today, thought of making some baked goodies for the office (lucky lucky...). August is also the best time to make people taste these in time for Holiday orders! *wink wink*
Here are the recipes. Enjoy eating and trying them out yourself!
FUDGIEST BROWNIES EVER a cross between a moist chocolate cake and chewy choco fudge. nuts are optional but gives it a different crunch. keeps in the fridge and freezes well (if there is anything left after baking...) - let stand by room temp for 30 minutes before eating.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
650 grams semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (depending on how sweet you want your brownies)
6 large eggs
2 cups packed brown sugar (you may opt to reduce to 1 1/2 cups is using semi-sweet chocolate)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or 1/8 teaspoon vanilla powder
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup roasted cashew nuts (walnuts, pecans or macadamia nuts can be substituted) *recipe can be divided in half for a 6x6 inch pan
Procedure:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350F and line two (2) - 6x6 inch brownie pans with parchment.
2. In a double boiler (heat-proof bowl over a sauce pan with an inch of simmering water), melt butter and chocolate until smooth.
3. From here it is about mixing everything in! :)
Use the folding technique with a spatula (over and under motion as opposed to stirring) as the brownie batter will be very thick and heavy. Mixture is ready when there are no more traces of flour in it.
4. Place in the brownie pans and bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted at the center has a few moist crumbs. A clean toothpick means the brownies will get too dry as it still cooks using residual heat while cooling.
5. Place on a rack and cool for at least an hour before slicing.
Tip: Wipe off knife aftr every slice to get clean cuts. Makes 16 large brownies or 36 bite-sized pieces
RUSSIAN TEA CAKES these are actually cookies which resemble snowballs after the dusting of powdered sugar at the end. originally, these are made with pistachios, pecans or walnuts. i tried to mix it up a little by using local cashews and adding Mediterranean flare by using black sesame seeds and rose water.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
2 cups flour
1/2 cup confectioner's / powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or 1/8 teaspoon vanilla powder
2 tablespoons rose water (available at Rustan's or any Indian Food Store; plain water may be substituted)
1 cup chopped cashew nuts
1/2 cup black sesame seeds (which are naturally black and are not just toasted white sesame seeds; good color contrast when you bite in the cookie and has a deeper sesame flavor) * additional 1/2 cup confectioner's / powdered sugar for dusting
Procedure:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Cream together butter, sugar, rose water and vanilla using a wire whisk.
3. Switch to a spatula and combine all dry ingredients until mixture forms into a dough.
4. Shape into 1 inch balls and put on a cookie sheet, an inch apart.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden on top.
6. While still hot, roll generously in powdered sugar and store in air-tight containers to maintain crispness.
Would say these were quite a success! Actually felt (and smelled) like Christmas last night at the house! Watch out for more test kitchen recipes and let's see if I will be able to sell some of these. :)
