Shades of Spring and Summer: Thai Pomelo Salad and Pomelo Granita

Thai Pomelo Salad

Pomelo Granita

Thai Pomelo Salad. Had a meeting in Davao City last Tuesday. And I knew that when in Davao, I just have to have fruits and seafood. So I ate a lot of grilled squid and fish and drank fresh mango juice. And since it was just an overnight stay, we only had time to do quick buying. From Samal Island, the nearest market was Agdao Market. I decided to bring back to Manila one box (8 kilos) of pomelos.

What to prepare? I decided to do a Thai Pomelo Salad (from the Marketman). Basic seasonings were: fish sauce, dried shrimp, lime juice, chili powder and palm or brown sugar. It was simply good! Especially when paired with something fried, in our case, fried chicken.

Pomelo Granita. In our house we were already preparing granita a long time ago, but didn't have a name for it. We would make ice candy from fresh fruit juice and it would not freeze like ice. Afterwards, we smashed it and ate it like ice cream. Now granita has become popular; it is quick and easy and definitely a summer treat! Just puree pomelo, add sugar syrup and pour into shallow pan. Freeze. Scrape and stir about three times at more or less one hour intervals to loosen it up. Sarap!

Swirl and Twirl: Tamagoyaki

I love Japanese food. Tamagoyaki or rolled omelet is the Japanese's omelet; it is sweetish and good. Most importantly, it has swirls and twirls! I never thought I would end up with egg as my post for this week's theme. My first inclination was pasta, then candy and then chocolate icing that would swirl and twirl. But when I came across this recipe at the Rasa Malaysia website, I thought this would be an opportunity to make something new.

Without a tamagoyaki pan (square pan), this is difficult to do because the rolling of the omelet takes place inside the pan! I didn't have a tamagoyaki pan so I just made do. Carefully struggled to roll it and cut off the edges afterwards. Fortunately, I have a sushi mat where you leave the rolled omelet to stand for a few minutes. So there! Tamagoyaki for breakfast!

"Ingredients:

3 tablespoon dashi stock or the same amount of water and a pinch of dashi-no-moto
2 tablespoons mirin
1 tablespoon caster (superfine) sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
6 large (US extra large) eggs, beaten
Vegetable oil

Method:

Mix the dashi stock or water with dashi-no-moto with mirin, sugar, soy sauce, and salt. Add to the beaten eggs and stir well. Heat the omelet pan over medium heat. Soak a paper towel in a little oil and wipe the pan to grease it.

Pour in some egg mixture and tilt the pan to coat evently. When the omelet starts to set, roll it up towards you using a pair of chopsticks or a spatula. Keeping the rolled omelet in the pan and push it back to the farthest side from you. Oil the empty part of the pan with the paper towel again. Again, pour in some egg mixture into the empty side, lift up the first roll with chopsticks and let the egg mixture runs underneath. When it looks half set, roll the omelet around the first roll to make a single roll with many layers. Repeat the process until all egg mixture is used up.

Move the roll gently onto a sushi rolling mat covered with a clear sheet of plastic wrap. Roll the omelet firmly into the mat and leave to stand rolled for 5 minutes. Cut the rolled omelet into 1 inch slices crossways." (Rasa Malaysia)

Melted Bliss: Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake

(Recipe was taken from 80 Breakfasts and attributed to Nigella Lawson.) I woke up early today and thought of baking this cake which I read at 80 Breakfasts. I melted the chocolate, added it to the creamed butter and proceeded to make a liquefied batter (with flour and water). Baked it and I got myself (and the family) a chocolate cake for breakfast! It was delicious but....very rich chocolate taste! Turned out, I melted more chocolate chips than called for in the recipe (at 6 a.m., I couldn't convert properly my grams into ounces and cups).

Hip to be Square - Lemon Squares

Very delicious and very quick to do! Instant dessert which my family devoured immediately. This is the simple recipe.  But one version would include limoncello to accent the lemon flavor and another would top it with cream cheese.

Ingredients:

6 tbsp butter or margarine

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel

3 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2- 3/4 powdered sugar

Grease an 8x8x2-inch bakig pan.  Beat butter for 30 seconds; add the 1/4 cup sugar and teaspoon salt, beating till fluffy. Stir in the 1 cup flour.  Pat dough onto bottom of pan.  Bake in a 350 F oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile,  beat eggs; add remaining 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, lemon peel, lemon juice and baking powder.  Beat 3 minutes or till slightly thickened.  Pour over baked layer.  Bake in a 350 F oven 25 to 30 minutes longer till light golden brown around edges and center is set.  Cool.  Sift powdered sugar on top.  Cut into squares.  Makes 16. (Nora Daza: A Culinary Life)

My Kitchen: What's Cooking?

CHOPPING

SLICING

 SEASONING

COOKING

 PLATING

Today, the hubby decided to make Szechuan Beef, the family's favorite dish, ever! The recipe calls for a lot of slicing and chopping of ginger, garlic, onions and spring onions. Using a round aluminum tray is very helpful. Of course, slicing and chopping are a breeze if you have a sharp knife. And the seasonings -- Chinese wine, black bean sauce and plum sauce -- are a must to make the Szechuan Beef always delicious. In cooking the dish, a kawali or wok is indispensable. A reliable gas range is the cornerstone of every kitchen. Finally, it all comes together in a deep white platter.

Bread-y Or Not: Honey Quick Bread

According to the Fannie Farmer Cookbook "quick breads are made without yeast from batters which require no kneading and do not have to rise before going into the oven." This appealed to me; I wanted to do a quick baking. For honey bread, I mixed the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients (which had honey as the star ingredient) and beat it thoroughly for 20 minutes. And then I baked it for 50 minutes. The result? Tasty and good with coffee.

Tri-colore: Berry Trifle

Berry Trifle is made of pastry cream (soft custard), sponge cake (or ladyfingers as used in mine), whipped cream and fruits. The only real work is making the pastry cream where you mix sugar, cornstarch and eggs on the one hand with milk, vanilla and salt on the other. Stir over low fire to thicken. Add butter and stir until smooth. Allow to cool completely. Afterwards, the fun begins - layering. The outcome is heavenly! (Thanks to Yummy Magazine's Aileen Anastacio.)