Quick & Easy Apple Crisp

These past few days had been so hot and humid, you can probably die getting fried under the sun. Yes, it's summer, but it's freakin' hot.

I have a cake in mind that I want to try, but the summer heat is just so unbearable in the kitchen even in the mornings. Here's to hoping that I get to go home early this Friday so that I can do my baking experiment at dawn when there's no sun. That's something you can look forward to this weekend.

But then again, dessert is dessert. The quicker it can be done, the better. And I will literally do anything (yes, that includes waking up earlier than the usual) to make one just enough to satisfy the sweet cravings. Although the easiest way is to buy myself something from the nearby stores, I still prefer something home-baked (and use up our hoarded blood oranges), just like a good serving of apple crisp I've been craving since the birthday weekend that goes well with the Arce Dairy's Caramel ice cream I bought in the grocery.

The apple filling was still warm, thus instantly melting the caramel ice-cream seconds before I snapped a photo.

Chicken Marbella

Before anything else, I want to share that my post for the Grilled Cajun Chicken Pasta weeks ago was selected as one of the top 5 blogs for the McCormick Grill Nation Blog Contest. Thank you, Nuffnang and McCormick! I get 5 free passes to the McCormick Grill Nation Event today at 4PM which will be held in Bonifacio High Street and earn the chance to win a charcoal grill on the event itself. I didn't really expect to win for the mere reason that this blog just came about two months ago and I was thinking that being a newbie, there are better bloggers than me out there. I guess this blog is turning out better than what I had originally thought it would be.

I really didn't get to plan my day right today as I only received the email from Nuffnang late Wednesday. As most of you know, today is my birthday. Traditionally, a weekend birthday always comes with a lunch or dinner here at home and the whole day is spent with the family. Since I have to leave in the afternoon (and 5 tickets are not enough to bring the whole family with me), I just have to postpone the actual celebration at a later date. Honestly, it's no big deal. My celebration with my dear friends won't be until May 5th just to make way for the tight schedules of those who are tied up with the audit deadline on April 15th, and since we are postponing it anyway, we coincided it on a weekend when our bride-to-be friend from London will be in town. So, yeah, my birthday celebration this year won't definitely be just a one-day event.

For those who know me that well, I will not settle to let the day pass without preparing anything at all. I made the Chicken Marbella recipe I found in one of the blogs I regularly check. Turns out that this dish was known back in the days by the former specialty food shop The Silver Palate in NYC that later on launched its cookbook in the early 80s and known as a classic chicken recipe for parties and entertaining.

The ingredients can be commonly found in the supermarket. I have most of the ingredients the recipe requires in our pantry and fridge, but I have to make a quick trip for the prunes and fresh chicken thighs. The dish essentially has to be marinated overnight anyway so preparing it a night before gives you more time to prepare something else in the morning (or sleep longer in my case), and all that needs to be done the next day is to heat the oven, add the sugar and wine, wait for the food to bake and serve with parsley just in time for lunch. It's a dish that is sweet, salty and tangy altogether. Don't get intimidated by the unique combination of prunes, olives and capers. The dish turned out really well - it's really easy to prepare and it has a classy vibe in it.

Salad On the Go with Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

It's business day 3 and it's usually my busiest day at work. There's not much restaurant around our area that is convenient enough to get salad on the go that I would happily eat at my desk. Although there's Pancake House and Tully's downstairs that have salads on their menu, I still prefer bringing my own salad fix from home - it's way much cheaper and I can be creative.

My salad preference is simple: there should be nice greens, fruits, nuts, cheese and a bit of meat or fish. And of course the dressing should be appetizing enough to complement these.

Today, my salad box includes leafy green lettuce, blood oranges, dried tomatoes from Cambodia, Sahale Snack Valdosta Pecans, prosciutto ham and blue cheese crumble. I made raspberry balsamic vinaigrette to go along with these.

Since I'm on-the-go, I have to settle with the photo taken by my trusty iPhone. Not bad.

Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon raspberry preserves
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and ground pepper

Put in all the ingredients in a sealable container then just shake it until combined. Store this in the fridge if you won't be using it yet. Shake well before pouring it into your salad.

Easy peasy! I just finished eating my salad and now I'm going back to work (off to a meeting actually).

Flourless Chocolate Cake

At the start of the year, I have decided to lessen my chocolate intake by setting limits. I am born with a sweet tooth, and being a homebaker totally complements this as I can whip up a sweet treat anytime I feel like doing so just to satisfy my craving. Working at ungodly hours doesn't help either so there should be something that I should consciously do to stop the weight gain like my chocolate intake. The chocolates that I am allowing myself to eat should be:

1. Artisan like Theo & Philo
2. Organic like Green & Black's or those sold in stores like Healthy Options (or Whole Foods Market in the US)
3. A gift or a present, and should not be commonly sold which I can buy for myself on a whim (In January, a friend who went home from London for a couple weeks hand-carried a small pack of Thornton's which I definitely ate)

Whether I am consistent with these limits or not is an entirely different story and I have noble reasons in deviating from these limitations which rarely happened. And before anyone asks, it's not even a New Year's resolution. I believe that regardless of the occasion, one's will to do such changes should be because one wants to do it and not merely for the reason of having New Year's resolutions just like almost everybody. Kudos to those who have kept their resolutions three months down the road. For those who didn't, hey, you don't have to wait for next year. You can still work on it, no one's keeping score but you.

I'm pretty much on track with this considering that we have boxes of truffles and Royce chocolates in the fridge still waiting to be consumed. I used up some of these truffles to make a flourless cake which we had at midnight after we came home from the Easter vigil mass. It is rich and decadent, but not that overwhelming. One slice is just not enough.

Hummus: Quick Chickpea Spread

For most nights that I get home from work, I would usually check the fridge if there's anything quick to eat. I normally leave the office by midnight at the earliest and by then, everyone at home, except my chihuahua, is asleep. It's always convenient to have something quick to grab and eat in my case without having to bother anyone and spending a lot of time preparing food. I usually eat my dinner (either sandwich, salad or soup) in my desk while reading my emails just so that I can finish off the never-ending pile of work. I know this is not a good habit but do feel free to sue me that I just want to finish as much as I can in a day's work (since I turned off my office emails in my iPhone for about half a year already) and go home as early as I can (factoring in the queue of our car service). By the time I get home and depending on the dinner I had, I would likely have a light snack while reading anything non-work related before I call it a day.

I love hummus. Bring me to any restaurant that has hummus in its menu and I'll definitely order one to try. I can't recall how Cyma's was (and I'm sad that the ATC branch has closed down because I won't have my Roka Salata fix every weekend anymore), but I love Cafe Mediterranean's and Don Limone's because they taste like they are freshly made. I have tried those that seemed like canned or store-bought, and fresh ones always prevail. It is normal in our family that we try to replicate recipes and have the same done at home.

I found Tahini sold at Santi's but it's quite expensive so I tried to make an alternative from scratch since we also have a big bag of sesame seeds at home. Here's my version of homemade hummus. It makes for a healthy snack for summer or a nice appetizer if you have someone dropping by. For me, this is a good midnight snack.

Good Ol' Plain Waffles

It all started with a deal. On the Saturday when I was still sick, we were jam-packed at home. It was only half past two in the afternoon, barely two hours since we had our Korean barbecue lunch, when we were talking about what to have for snacks. I can't remember who brought up the idea of pancakes which eventually became waffles when mom mentioned we have a waffle-maker. We do??? I can only remember the sandwich maker which made the best melted cheese sandwiches ever when we were still kids more than 20 years ago. I never knew we have a waffle maker, so I asked mom to bring it out just to make sure it's for real. So there goes the deal - I have to make waffles if she finds the waffle maker. And she did. As it was really scorching hot and no one wants to lose his/her place in the air-conditioned room, I asked if it's okay to use a pancake mix. They agreed, as long as the waffles are crisp on the outside. Then mom threw in the idea that since we still have the sugar rock crystals we bought in Vietnam, we can have our version of Belgian waffles.

I have nothing against boxed mixes as they are supposed to be convenient, especially if you want to prepare something safe, quick and easy and all you have to do is to be creative with the add-ins. But after checking every shelf of our pantry, we actually ran out of boxes of pancake mix. Oh no... Everyone is set to have waffles for snacks. So, there's no other choice but to make waffles from scratch. Good thing I always have stocks of baking needs in case I have cupcake or cake orders to make.

Again, thanks to Feastie, searching for good waffle recipes wasn't a hassle. The one from Mother Thyme caught my eye (and my tastebuds are also imagining how the waffle will taste based on the ingredients). I just tweaked it a bit as I want to use the makeshift buttermilk instead of plain whole milk.

The First Attempt: Pistachio Macarons

It's hard to be coherent if you have the sniffles. No thanks to the funky weather we had this past week - too hot  and too humid at one point, then it rains minutes later! It's been a looooong work week, tiring enough that even if I was able to finally make macarons this past Wednesday when I got home from work, the itchy throat and the countless sneezing had gotten into me that I'd rather sleep instead of dealing with the annoying sniffles. Until now, I can barely recognize my own voice. Tsk.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013. Did you know that March 20th is the official annual macaron day? I didn't, but I've made my first attempt of macarons on the same day. What a coincidence! [Geek alert!] It was a tradition started in Paris by Pierre Hermé back in 2005 known as the Jour du Macaron where patisseries give away macarons during this day every year to the patrons who make a small donation to support the cure for cystic fibrosis. A sweet treat for a noble cause indeed. The same tradition was then carried on in New York by François Payard (I love his sophisticated cakes similar to that of Bizu's from his Upper East Side patisserie that I got to try years ago) since 2010 supporting another charity dedicated to feed the hungry in NYC.

I've been wanting to try this fragile sweet little cookie for quite sometime that I pinned the macaron recipe I stumbled upon in my Pinterest personal account knowing that I'll make it one day. I happen to have leftover egg whites from a cake my friend and I made over the other weekend which required egg yolks, and knowing that days have passed since then, I was hoping that the egg whites would already qualify as "aged" that the recipe called for. We never run out of nuts in our fridge, and I just have enough almonds and pistachios that I can use.

I've read that given the delicate conditions of this French cookie, the first try can be a disaster. I've already done quite a number of meringue bases for my pavlovas before, but there are just days when the meringue won't just turn out right. I have somehow managed my expectations that it can pretty much turn into a disaster given the humidity and knowing that at the back of my mind, nuts don't come out cheap so it's a double woe for me. But, just like any recipe attempt, whether if it didn't work out the first time around or if has gone well, there are more kitchen adventures to come. So… this is my first attempt to make macarons and luckily it turned out way better than what I was expecting.