Leche Flan...An All Time Winner

I grew up always having leche flan during Christmas or special occasions such as town fiestas or birthdays. It is a traditional Filipino dessert which is similar to creme caramel. Although most of the creme caramel recipes use whole eggs or a combination of whole eggs and yolk, which makes the texture firmer due to the addition of eggwhites.

Here's my version of leche flan. For me and my children, our basis of a good leche flan is in the texture. It should be smooth and flan shouldn't have bubbles. Bubbles normally happens when flan is cooked on high temperature. Although, I know some people like it otherwise. I guess it's a matter of personal preference. It is cooked using a steamer but I prefer to bake it as I can control the temperature and it gives me the silky texture I am after. Steaming sometimes causes the bubbles,which I don't like, and I hate the the inconvenience of putting tea towels in between layers to prevent water droplets  into my flan.

Happy Eating!

Leche Flan

Ingredients:

Set A
Flan mixture:

1 can of evaporated milk

1/2 can of condensed milk

1/4 c sugar

6-7 pcs. egg yolks

Rind from one orange*

Set B

Caramel syrup:

1 c sugar

1/4 c water

1. Prepare the pan by lining it with caramel syrup.

2.Combine water and sugar (Set B )in sauce pot. Do not mix. Cook until amber in color.

3. Pour the caramel on the pan, use either llanera** or any container which is overnproof. Set aside. Careful as the syrup is hot.

4. Mix all the Set A ingredients in a bowl by using a wire whisk. The mixture can be strained to remove some of the egg white strands, known as chalazae,that comes with the yolk sometimes.

5. Equally pour the milk and egg mixture into the pans.

6. Bake at 150deg C on steam bath until done. Make sure water level is half the container. 

7. Cooking times may vary depending on the size of the flan however, to check if cooked, the flan should jiggle if slightly shaken. It will set as it cools down.

* lemon or lime rind maybe used
** I bought the flan moulds from our local Filipino store

A Glimpse of Jean Paul Gaultier's exhibit

Two weeks ago, we went for a short trip to Melbourne. Visiting this exhibit was the main highlight for my daughter, Ariana. I'm not a great fan of museums except if it's a food or modern museum. However, I enjoyed this one, interesting pieces of different textures and great designs.

Click here for a virtual tour. Yes, my daughter started writing.

Decorated Butter Cookies

Decorating cakes and cookies these days are much easier than when I started twenty years ago. Wow! I can't believe it's been that long or should I say...I'm getting old ha.ha. Anyway, you can now buy ready to roll (RTR) icing or fondant to finish cakes and cookies. I used to make fondant icing from scratch. Yes! from scratch. Hooray for these RTR icings. I conveniently buy online. There are also coloured icings available.

Made some cookies for a work colleague and my daughter months ago. I tried Martha Stewart's butter cookie dough recipe and it was ok. After the baked cookies have completely cooled down, it's ready to be finished. Roll the icing thinly around 1/8 inch and cut using the same cutter you used in your cookie dough. Occasionally dip the cutter in icing sugar to prevent the sides from sticking. I use water as adhesive for the icing to the cookies. Voila! Decorated cookies.

Mango & Melon Salsa ...Missing Philippine Mangoes

Tomorrow, summer officially starts here in Australia. Mangoes are everywhere but nothing beats Philippine mangoes, in my opinion. They might not be as huge as what we have here but the sweetness is so different. Most of the Philippine carabao mangoes are exported.  Oh well, I have to make use of what is available.

Sharing with you a great side dish for barbie...as what we call barbecues here. Mango and Melon Salsa. My younger daughter enjoyed it to my surprise. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3/4 c Ripe mango, diced
3/4 c Rock melon, diced
1/4 c finely chopped onion or red onion
1/4 c red bell pepper, diced
2-3 tbsps. Lemon juice
Salt to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Few pieces of mint leaves, finely chopped

Procedure:
Mix all ingredients together. Chill for an hour or two for the flavours to blend together.
Serve with grilled meat or seafood.

Pecan and Walnut Tart

This is classic which is best eaten...trust me, slightly warm with vanilla ice cream.

It is quite difficult to find American brands which I use in baking here in Australia. When I chanced upon Karo light syrup in a health store, I grabbed it and automatically thought of pecan tart.

As usual, I'm  pressed for time so I used store bought sweet crust pastry for the pie base. It turned out good, just what I expected. This is a combination of walnuts and pecan, as I didn't have enough pecan in my pantry.

Here's the recipe for this lovely tart:

Ingredients:
2 sheets of ready to use sweet pastry (I used 2 pans, 7 inch diameter)
1 c brown sugar (can be reduced to 3/4 c)
3/4 c light karo syrup
1/4 c golden syrup
1/4 c butter
3 eggs
1 T rum or vanilla
280 g chopped, roasted walnuts and pecan
Chocolate pieces, as desired

Procedure:
1. Grease and flour the tart pan. Shake off excess flour.
2. Line the pan with the ready to use pastry. Remove excess crust by trimming the sides.
3 . Using a fork, dock the pie to prevent puffing or creating pockets while baking.

4. Set aside inside the fridge.
5. For the filling, mix all remaining ingredients except nuts.
6 . Once blended, add nuts and mix.
7. Pour in the pie base and chocolate pieces can be added for better flavour.  Bake  in pre-heated oven at 350 degF or 180 degC (160 degC fan forced)for 35 mins.or more until done (bigger tart pans will take longer to bake, around 45 to 50 mins.)

8. Cool down and slice.

Oh my Gulay! I just love Lumpiang Sariwa.

This is the only vegetable dish my elder daughter eats. She is quite picky but when I prepare this, she eats all the vegetables in it. It's one of my favorites. I use crepe but traditionally, a spring roll wrapper is used. It can also be fried but this one is a healthier option.

Here's my version:

A. Crepe
Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 c flour
1/2 c milk
1/2 c water
1 T oil
pinch of salt

Procedure:

1. Mix all liquid in a bowl.
2. Slowly add the flour and mix using a wire whisk. If it becomes lumpy, use a strainer to make it smooth.
3. Rest for few minutes in the fridge.

4. To cook the crepe, heat a non-stick pan on low heat. Using a measuring cup (1/3 c) , pour a cupful in the pan and slowly swirl clockwise until a thin layer is spread out evenly(see above photo). Cook for a minute or even less.

B. Vegetable Filling
Ingredients:
2 T oil
1 T garlic
2 T chopped onion
150 g ground chicken
1 pack bean sprouts
1 pc. small carrot, julienne
1/4 c chopped celery
*other vegetables can be used like green beans
salt & pepper to taste

1. Saute onion and garlic in oil.
2. Add ground chicken and cook until slightly brown.
3. Add all the vegetables and season with salt & pepper. Do not overcook. Set aside.

Note: The vegetables maybe drained by using a colander so the wrapper won't be soaked in liquid.  The bean sprouts have a tendency to draw out some liquid after cooking.

C. Brown Sweet Sauce

1/2 c white sugar
1/2  c brown sugar
1/3 c cornstarch dissolved in cold tap water (slurry)
3 1/2 to 4 c water with 1 cube chicken stock
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. oil

Procedure:
1. Caramelize white sugar in medium sauce pan on medium heat.
2.Once amber in color, pour water with stock cube and add brown sugar.
3. Mix and add soy sauce.
4. Once it boils, add the slurry and continue mixing until slightly thick.

To assemble:
1. Wrap cooked vegetables in crepe.
2. Pour around 1/2 c of sauce.
3. Top with finely chopped garlic and chopped peanuts, as desired.

Pancake #Transformation

Talking about transformation, it has been all over social media for the past few days, I thought of transforming our boring pancake mix. Normally,  I just fold in choc chips or cheese; sometimes topped with caramelized sliced bananas or chopped apple whenever I serve it for breakfast.

Feeling lazy this morning, thought of having pancakes with a twist. Simply add green tea powder to your water and pancake mix. Prepare and cook as usual and voila! Green tea pancakes.

Drizzle it with chocolate ganache and a dollop of green tea whipped cream. For the former, it is equal parts of heated cream and chopped chocolate. Mix until smooth. While for the latter, add a teaspoon of green tea powder to around 3/4 c of thickened cream and whip using wire whisk or hand mixer until medium stiff. It takes a minute or two if done manually.

Planning for the family's meals can be stressful. I sometimes run out of creative juices ha.ha. Anyway, this one is worth the try.

Loving Kiss Part 3 #MagnumMini #MissionAccomplished

This is simply apple pie ice cream. I don't normally like white chocolate because I find it very sweet but the white choco coating of this is just right. With the addition of cinnamon,  it surprisingly came out a winner. Not to mention the apple bits and crust pieces.

The last flavour variant I had is the Dark Chocolate. I love dark chocolate  but we were quite disappointed with this one. I guess, we didn't like the texture, too soft for an ice cream. Oh well, it was mousse after all.

If I were to rank the five variants, I like the raspberry and meringue, followed by Creme brulee, then, Apple Pie, tiramisu comes fourth and lastly the dark chocolate.

It's a bit expensive so I only buy when it's on special.

Grilled Cinnamon Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

When I first lived overseas, I was a bit shocked to see a work colleague eat banana sandwich with chips...yes, potato chips. I thought it was weird.

While walking on my way home last Friday night,  I started planning for my breakfast the next day. Since, peanut butter has been my craving for the past days, I thought of making peanut butter banana sandwich. And, hey! It tasted good. My daughter, Sabina, enjoyed it.

Very easy. Try it! I grilled my sandwich on a non-stick pan and don't forget to spread butter slightly on the bread.

I got this on special!

The Award Winning 'Spice I Am'

Move over, Chat Thai! For the longest time, I considered Chat Thai the best Thai place here in Sydney. I've been hearing Spice I Am from friends but I haven't taken it seriously as I'm not so familiar with it's location, Surry Hills. It's a lame reason, I know ha.ha.

The girls, my daughters, had a serious craving for something spicy and Asian since yesterday. After trying a few Thai places, we finally decided to try Spice I Am. It wasn't very far from the Central Station. An easy 10 minute walk.

The place is small. I guess branches in other locations are spacious. Anyhow, despite the number of people dining, the service wasn't slow. It was just a bit difficult to communicate with the wait staff as they are not very fluent in English.

We ordered Beef Salad, Pad Thai seafood and Crispy Pork Belly in chili jam and cherry tomatoes. I always order Pad Thai whenever I dine for the first time. So far, theirs is tastier than the others I have tried in the past. The shrimp was perfectly cooked. My eldest daughter is an expert in crispy pork bellies as it will always be her forever favourite. She always orders that wherever she can. According to Ariana, the pork belly is consistently crispy. In other places, there would always be pieces that are chewy. I tried it and Ariana was right; the pork was truly crispy. The sauce was nice as it has the right balance of sweetness and spiciness. The Beef Salad was flavourful albeit spicy. The taste of the lemon grass, coriander, tanginess of lime and chili slices blended perfectly. The servings were huge that we ended up eating the left overs for dinner ha.ha.

Oh, wait. I didn't quite like the drink I ordered. Rosella. I asked the wait staff what it was and all she said was that, it was sweet. Can't further describe. I think it's an acquired taste. It's slightly sour, sweet with a hint of salty taste. I googled and it is a tea from a flowering plant named Roselle. It's apparently a healthy drink which is good for lowering cholesterol, just what I needed.

Over-all, it was really good. No wonder, it has won several awards.

Average Bill Per Head: AUD 24

Major Cards Not Accepted. Cash only.

Beef Salad

Pad Thai

Crispy Pork Belly with Chilli Jam

Steamed Puto... in a jiffy!

Again, someone posted in FB some native Filipino delicacies last night and I suddenly had craving for steamed puto at 10:30 pm. Traditionally, steamed puto is made from rice but that is quite tedious to make so I'll settle for a quick one. Yup, it took me less than an hour to make 10 medium size puto. Enough for our entire household. This recipe is flour based. Ingredients are pretty staple. Great for breakfast or eaten with pancit palabok or pancit guisado...our local noodle dishes.

The success of this puto lies in your baking powder and ensure water is boiling when you steam the puto as the volume or height will depend on those. Check expiry date of your baking powder or better yet, use self raising flour.


Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:

1 c self-raising flour *
1/2 c sugar
2/3 c coconut milk or fresh milk
2 eggs
2 Tbsp.melted salted butter*
1/2  tsp. vanilla essence or any flavouring such as pandan* or ube

1. Prepare steamer before mixing the ingredients by boiling the water.
2. For the batter, mix all liquid ingredients except melted butter and flavouring  in a bowl by using a wire whisk.

3. Add flour and blend until smooth and lump free.
4. Lastly add flavouring followed by melted butter. Mix.
5. Pour batter 2/3 full  in  a plastic or sillicone molds and steam for 10 to
15 minutes depending on size. Make sure water is boiling.

Sillicone molds (left) ; plastic molds (right)

6. Wait to slightly cool down for few minutes and unmold.

*Important Notes:
▪ self raising flour can be substituted with 1 c flour + 2 tsps. baking powder
▪ if using unsalted butter , a pinch of salt can be added to the flour
▪ liquid can be substituted with the flavour you desired, if it's pandan for example then, boil water and pandan leaves, once it cools down it can be substituted with milk

DIY Cake Stand

I love having friends for afternoon tea at home. For me, the menu is easier to plan compared to a dinner or lunch menu. If I had lots of storage space I would love to collect tea cups and cake stands. I only have a handful enough to entertain few friends. Besides, cake stands are freakin' expensive here in Sydney. Oh well, I find it expensive. Price is relative , isn't it?

Anyway, I googled some DIY cake stand videos. I, unfortunately, don't have an electric drill so I can't have those with fancy handles. I settled with one that is easy and of course, cheap.  I used two white plates which I got on special from Ikea as well as the vase. Of course, we will need an amazing glue, which I got through ebay as it is made from USA. Here's my finished product.

Snack Attack

Last Friday, I went to Coles Supermarket during lunch break to buy some snacks for my girls.  I bought these new snacks as I don't want my children to suffer snack fatigue. Some signs that they are getting tired...it's a permanent fixture in the cupboard and their lunch kits and worst...you'll find it in the bin. Hope these won't suffer that fate ha.ha.

Loving Kiss...Part2 #MagnumMini

Three down, two to go and I have tried all the five flavours. Last week, it went on special...yup, 50% off, hooray! The creme brulee was creamy and I love the shards of caramel folded in. Sadly, I didn't feel the sponge pieces in  the Tiramisu as indicated in the box. They've captured the mascarpone flavour perfectly and it had chocolate bits. Maybe, next time I should have more than one piece.  My husband, who's a savoury person loved the Tiramisu though. Looking forward for the remaining variants.

Revisiting Blue Mountains

We first visited Blue Mountains in 2008. It was the year we first arrived here in Australia. Since it was the Easter long weekend and the weather was nice we decided to revisit some areas in Blue Mountains which we haven't been to like Leura. Oh! One day is not enough.  Anyway, we managed to have morning tea and lunch at Leura and enjoy the garden at Everglades.

It isn't difficult to go and visit this area as one can take a two hour train ride and either get off at Katoomba or Leura. We got into the hop on hop off bus for AUD25 to conveniently see other tourist spots. I find the place nice and quiet. I fell in love with Leura that I don't mind relocating in that area when I grow old.  Enjoy some of the photos!

Katoomba

The museum is under renovation but you can still enjoy their Devonshire Tea.

The scones are ordinary but what makes it special is the novelty of the place.

Everglades Garden. We lack time as it closes at 4PM and our hike was cut short when I got scared of the small snake.

The Candy Store at the Leura Mall.

(Left photo) Some interesting vintage stuff from this store. (Right photo) Homemade Fudge.

This shop also serves scones and tea.

The Big Hotel (Singapore) for my Small Budget

I can't help but share this relatively new hip hotel I've discovered when I went for a short hiatus in February this year. When I travel alone, I always go for affordable, clean and safe accommodation. Singapore hotels are generally expensive and small, except of course, if you stay in Marina Bay Sands or other high end hotels. I'm so grateful that I stumbled upon this hotel in Agoda website. I was a little bit apprehensive as the place seems dodgy but I took the risk of staying there. My only consolation at the time of booking was its good location, Bugis area. If all else fail, I know, I'm safe as I have been there a couple of times.

It was a late check in as my flight from Sydney arrived at 7pm. I was greeted with a friendly staff and the hotel smells good. As soon as I entered my room, I was impressed as the layout is not the usual and I always check the bed, pillows and  underneath the bed area as I had horrible experience with bedbugs. 

The bed is comfortable and the sheets and pillows are superb. The cab waiting area is cute, check out the photo below. Also, it came with free breakfast, it wasn't that great though but the value I paid for was worth more than what I got. You may want to try this place next time you stay in SG.

P.S. I wasn't paid to write this. I'm just so happy with the place, staff warm reception and  the service was good. And I forgot, there's free wi-fi and they have a big digital weighing scale for our luggages ha.ha.

Wine Bar & Bistro

Cab Waiting Area

Loving Kiss...New Magnum Flavour

At last, we got hold one of Magnum 5 Kisses Limited , Meringue Et Fruits Rouges. I love the union of meringue bits and the tartness of raspberries plus the dark chocolate coating.  Can't help but fall in love with it. Will try the four other flavours soon.

KL Food Trail Walking Tour

Last month, I went on a short break. My annual "ME" time. There have been a lot of things going on that stress started really to kick in. I was losing weight...not that I don't like it ha.ha. but I want to shed pounds the normal way.

I was away for almost two weeks. I started my short journey in Singapore, then visited my folks and spent Valentine's day with my husband ha.ha.ha. in the Philippines, and lastly went to Kuala Lumpur. I also had my dental crown made as it was freaking expensive here in Sydney.

The highlight of my stay in KL is the food tour, not to mention shopping ha.ha.It's highly recommended for it explains and shows the different cultures in Malaysia and of course, one gets to taste the flavourful food of the country. It lasted almost four hours, with in between breaks. We started in Little India and ended in Chinatown. Below are the pictures, enjoy browsing!

It started with a cup of freshly made sugar cane juice. 

Handmade Flower Garlands

at Little India

Some local produce in the market.

Authentic Indian Lunch...ate using our hands.

Indian Snacks

Different Fritters

Cendol stall. Traditional dessert in Malaysia.Mixture of shaved ice, jelly worms, coconut milk & palm sugar.

China Town

Tour ended with Chinese food.