LouieNep Food

Okay, here goes, my first meme. Funny because when I received the email from Karen I thought it was about my brother (his nickname is Me-me as in Jaime). Anyway here it is my Childhood Food Memories.

Asado de Carajay
This is my Mom’s special dish and my Dad’s favorite dish. We would have it often throughout my childhood but only on special occasions like birthdays. We always looked forward to it when my Mom would prepare it.

Cocido

We would always have Cocido every Sunday lunch. Everybody liked it and many of us liked Cocido because it turned into Ropa Bieja for dinner. We would always have it with rolls but my sister had to have her plain steamed rice. So it was always served with a choice of bread or rice. With lots of garlic-tomato sauce, olive oil and vinegar.

Dayap Popsicle

A few times a week in my early childhood I would wait for the Magnolia man with his dry ice box full of goodies. I would always get the Dayap Popsicles. Sometimes he wouldn’t have it and disappointedly I would choose anything else. I always chose the Dayap until it was no longer in production.

Robina’s Roast Rotisserie Chicken

As far as I can remember, this was the first fastfood I’ve ever had. It was chicken roasted in a Chinese sweet and sour sauce. This made the chicken have a lovely reddish tone.

Sarsi with egg (yolk only)

The first time I saw this was on Uncle Bob’s Lucky 7 Club on TV on channel 7. It made me so curious I had to try it. I would have it often for a while after that discovery.

To proceed with the meme, remove the blog at #1 from the following list and bump every one up one place; add your blog’s name in the #5 spot; link to each of the other blogs for the desired cross-pollination effect.

From Joey’s tree

Next: select new friends to add to the pollen count. (Obviously no one is obligated to participate).

This is an email I received from my mother-in-law. She includes a mouth-watering and quite sinful but simple recipe. Enjoy!

 Hey! I love the new photos and the new format on your website!!
That mouth-watering paella is so inviting!  And I like the way you presented that new recipe, with those photos of ingredients. Makes it very appealing!

Anyway, we’ve just had breakfast, and I wanted to share it with you, as we really enjoyed it:

Blinis with cream cheese and caviar
served with Canadian bacon slices on a bed of
crushed pineapple
sliced almonds
and coconut flakes

It’s quite easy, as I just made the blinis (which I didn’t know before, were just little pancakes) from a pancake mix, and put cream cheese and caviar on top.

The Crushed pineapple (from a can) I cooked for awhile in butter, with sliced almonds and coconut flakes. Then I put the Canadian bacon slices (which I also panfried separately) on top of the pineapple mix.

Very easy, but great presentation! And the mix of flavors was just right.

So, happy cooking, I love your recipes!!
Will have to get the ingredients so I can try your new Thai recipe!!

kitchenly yours,

My wife has been reminiscing non-stop about her favorite dish at her dad’s old restaurant: chicken breasts stuffed with cheese, topped with a creamy sauce.

Because I’m such a great husband (ahem), I thought I’d give it a shot for dinner tonight, based only on what I understood from her description.
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StellaBites features a wonderful article on the late Julia Child.

Julia was definitely one of the greatest. I love teasing Lorraine about her Julia-esque love of using her bare hands to mix everything, but the truth is that Julia was a genius.

Don’t miss eGullet’s fascinating interview with Julia.

One of the things Lorraine loves nearly as much as coffee is chutney. She would have it with everything if she could, and adores all varieties of it- sweet, spicy, sour, hot. When I use the stuff in cooking, she is ecstatic.

This recipe for chutney-encrusted lamb chops is one of her favorites, is bursting with flavor, and is unbelievably easy to make:

Lamb Chops with Chutney Crust

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried rosemary
4 thick lamb loin chops
4 tablespoons chutney of your choice

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Butter a small baking sheet. Combine breadcrumbs and rosemary on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Season lamb chops with salt and pepper.

Spread each side of chops with 1/2 tablespoon chutney. Dip each chop into breadcrumb mixture to coat; transfer to prepared baking sheet.
Bake in oven until crumbs are golden brown, and lamb is cooked to desired doneness (about 15 minutes for medium-rare).

Serve, and enjoy!

Let me just say that- at the risk of sounding cliche- I love how the Internet puts you in touch with people all over the world. Today I received an email from one William T., an English expat who so kindly sent me his recipe for traditional english bangers.

I’m reprinting his email for your reading pleasure:

Dear Louie,
I really love your site. People say that if Europe was to become “hell”, the English would do the cooking! In riposte, as an English expatriate living abroad, I yearn for the traditional “Bangers ‘n Mash” dinner- something the English can claim to be their own recipe and be proud of ! So I am sending you a recipe for the best savoury sausages on the planet….
After you thoroughly wash and rinse the sausage casings, soak them in pineapple juice for 24-36 hours (in the fridge) and then rinse them again prior to stuffing them. This process softens the casings and makes them much more tender and palatable!
1/2 lb ground lean pork
1/2 lb lean ground veal or lamb
6 ounces suet
fresh breadcrumbs, made from 3 slices of white bread,including crust
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon mace
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon dried majoram
2 teaspoons dried sage
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon finely grated rind of lemon
1 large egg
prepared hog casings (can’t get sausage casings, shape the sausage mixture into patties instead of link sausages) (optional)
1. Knead together the pork, veal, fat, and bread.
2. Stir the salt, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg, mace, thyme, marjoram, sage, onion powder and lemon peel into the egg, and then knead into the meat mixture.
3. At this point, I fry a small sausage patty and taste it so that I can adjust the seasonings, because the recipe so far is fairly mild.
4. Firmly stuff the mixture into the prepared hog (sausage) casings.
5. Prick any air pockets with a pin.
6. Poach, broil, grill, or fry them before serving.
7. Serve the bangers, drowned in nice thick onion and mushroom gravy, with a heap of mashed potatoes.
8. The raw sausages can be refrigerated for 3 days, cooked sausages for 1 week.
9. They can also be frozen (raw, poached, or broiled) for 3 months.
All the best, William T.

Thank you, William!

(by Guest Chef Lolita) This recipe brings back fond memories of English school puddings, and the thought of sinking my teeth into the exquisite eggy vanilla-ness of the custard just makes me want to head back to boarding school.

Although traditionally trifles are made from your garden variety English fruit, I like using bananas, not only because I live in the tropics (and the prospect of finding decent cherries or raspberries is a near impossibility), but because their unique banana-creaminess is the perfect complement to the butterscotch and custard. I would suggest making the custard yourself, using the incomparable vanilla bean, but I suppose a packet of “Bird’s Eye” custard should do the trick. This recipe is based on Delia Smith’s Banana and Madeira trifle. Not being mad about madeira, I substituted dark rum.

Also, it should be noted that trifles are really a delicious way to make good use out of leftover cake, custard or fruit, so the amounts of ingredients really depend on what you have around and the size of your serving bowl.

And one more thing, you should plan to make this the day before you want to eat it, or at least 12 hours in advance to get the flavors to develop into what will become an incredibly rich and sinful, mouth-watering trifle bliss.

Banana Butterscotch Rum Trifle
What You Need
A glass bowl
3 medium bananas
Sponge cake - leftover cake or even ladyfingers (for Tiramisu enthusiasts) will do. The amount depends on the bowl you use, as it should cover the base by a few inches.
Whipped cream - about 2 1/2 cups - again, depending on the size of your bowl. - you really have to think in terms of “layers” when making a trifle.
1/4 cup dark rum
1/4 cup pecans

For the Butterscotch Sauce ( you can double the recipe and any leftovers can be used as an impromptu ice cream sauce!):
1/2 cup golden syrup
1/ 4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cream
1 tsp. good vanilla extract
2 tablespoons dark rum

For the Custard
1 packets worth of “Birds Eye Custard” (again, leftovers can be used for pouring on cakes or fruit at another time)
or
1 vanilla pod, cut into 3 pieces
1 1/3 cup whole milk
1 1/3 cup cream
7 egg yolks
1/4 cup white sugar

First make the butterscotch sauce by placing the butter, syrup and sugar in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring now and then until it dissolves. Add the rum, and let it cook until you see that it has all melded together, then add the cream and vanilla slowly. When it is all combined and looks like a good sauce, take it off the heat and set it aside to cool off.

Now make the custard. Put the cream and milk into a saucepan and add the vanilla pod, scraping the seeds out with a knife, then tossing the whole thing in. Simmer this gently to infuse the vanilla flavor. While it simmers, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until it becomes a creamy, pale yellow mass. Now pour the warm milk and cream into the egg yolk mixture, beat for a bit, and return it all into the saucepan. Over low heat, stir the whole lot until it gets creamy, and coats the back of a spoon. This usually takes 10-15 minutes of standing over a hot stove, mindlessly stirring or whisking. Not my favourite part either, but so worth it, I promise! When the custard is thick, take it off the heat , remove the vanilla pods, cover with a towel and set aside.

And now for the fun, assembly bit. Take the cake slices and slice them to form squares of about an inch and a half thick. If you are using ladyfingers, cut them in half. Spread half of the squares with the butterscotch sauce , then “sandwich” them by placing another cake square on top, do the same if you are using ladyfingers. Now arrange the squares nicely to fit the bottom of your glass bowl. Poke the cake with a few stabs of a fork, and drizzle the rest of the rum. If you can’t be bothered with the sandwiching process, or have leftover cake that can’t be cut into squares, just line the bowl with it as best you can, stabbing a bit with a fork and drizzling the rum, then pouring about half of the butterscotch sauce on top. Peel and slice the bananas into 1/4 inch chunks, and arrange it into the bowl. Pour the rest of the butterscotch sauce in, then the custard on top. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 12- 24 hours.

About 15 minutes before you want to eat it, toast the pecans in a dry non-stick pan, or in the oven for about 4 minutes. Whip the cream. Take the trifle out of the fridge, and spread the whipped cream on top of the custard. Drizzle with the pecans, and serve!

Alexandra Stoddard’s Tea Celebrations: The Way to Serenity, from which today’s recipe hails, is not a cookbook. It’s a celebration of tea, a little book dedicated to the art and rituals of tea.

But is tea drinking really the way to serenity? I know Lorraine wouldn’t agree: every time I offer to make a pot, she gives me one of her sunny smiles, shakes her head, and says “Can I have coffee instead?” For her, it’s the scent of brewing coffee that lulls her into the best of moods on even the worst of days.

I, on the other hand, am a self-confessed tea lover- the fifteen or so tins and boxes of tea leaves at my bedside are testament to that. I’ve also been called a very serene person a multitude of times. Coincidence? Perhaps not.

Today’s recipe is one of my favorite “tea foods”: perfect, especially, with a cup of steaming Irish Breakfast with lots of milk and sugar:

Watercress and Egg Tea Sandwiches
In a mixing bowl, combine 6 peeled and mashed hard-boiled eggs, 2 bunches chopped watercress, and 1/2 cup chopped chives. Add half a cup of mayonnaise, some salt and pepper, a dash of Tabasco, and mix well. Cut crusts from your sliced bread of choice (they recommend pumpernickel, sourdough or whole-wheat bread. The latter is our favorite). Spread the egg and watercress mixture onto half the slices, and top with the other half. Lightly spread the outside edge of each sandwich with mayonnaise, roll it in some chopped fresh parsley, and serve.

I like to chill this before serving; the coolness of the sandwich seems to go better with the warmth of a cup of tea.