Requests From Above

Anyone who knows me knows that I am utterly perfect. Truly the most wonderful person ever. In fact, I'd say those who know me are lucky. Very lucky.

One of those lucky people is my mother. She gave me life so I guess I should try to be nice to her. I would like to point out that I become utterly perfect with no help from her (or my father) what-so-ever. I was born perfect and remain that way to this day.

I like to humor her by making things she likes. Makes her feel like I might actually have some affection for her. I probably do at some level, I just don't feel or express it. I say something nice from time-to-time purely out of pity.

So, without further explanation (as I've gone on too long blathering about this person who is supposed to have some kind of meaning in my life), here's the list of recipes that my mom has requested that I make for her (with her comments, she does her best to help):

Apricot Bars - You could substitute a Philippine fruit for the apricots.

The Best Damned Oatmeal Raison Cookie Recipe EVER - Add nuts to make the cookies more nutritious. (ed: what's mom doing looking for recipes on the Beastie Boys site?)

Chinese Restaurant Fried Rice Recipe - (ed: I'm not sure mom understands that we're in the rural Philippines ... Basmati rice isn't exactly common around here. Recipe sounds great, I'll experiment and do the best I can)

It's A Cream Puff Renaissance - This is a great article on cream puffs. Save it. And make some cream puffs! (ed: after I make these, she'll comment about how we should be eating healthier ... she's right, but who has that kind of will power when faced with such food?)

Banana Bread - Bake this banana bread recipe. (ed: no please, no thank you, just "do it" ... and, to think, I learned my manners from her!)

Note for the humor impaired: the first few paragraphs of this post were written with my tongue thoroughly planted-(and stapled)-in-cheek. I love my mom and happily cook for her, my lovely wife, and the wonderful boy who I'm lucky to have as a son.

If you don't understand that they were meant to be a joke (sarcastic, not true, etc.) ... please, go to the video store, rent as many things with Eddie Izzard that you can find (if you can find only one, make sure it is Dress To Kill, at one point he gives a fine explanation of how the Britiash, the puny island nation that it was, managed to hold half the world), watch them all, repeat until your sense of humor grows to a reasonable size.

Should your humor fail to grow ... start over with nitrous oxide (laughing gas) ... if you fail to laugh now, you're dead. Find the local morgue and turn yourself in. You're late for your celestial appointment. Not a good way to start the afterlife.

Tuesdays with Alton

I just signed up for the Tuesdays With Dorie group. They cook a recipe from Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking: From My Home To Yours every Tuesday.

This sounds like fun. I like the virtual group participation idea.

I like to plan ahead. I try to do that, too. Not always successful. This time I was. I looked at the upcoming recipe.

What's the first ingredient? Granola. Oh, hahahahahaha. That's rich.

Needless to say, I'm going to have to make the granola myself. So, I turn to my favorite cooking celebrity, Alton Brown, for help (Alton is my favorite celebrity, I consider him a food scientist ... Gordon Ramsay is my favorite chef). An early episode of Good Eats has a nice sounding granola recipe. So, I'll try it.

Stay tuned ...

Cultured Fruity Goodness ... Homemade Yogurt

Recently, a friend of mine gave me a yogurt starter. Here in the Land of the Dairy Deprived, that's a pretty cool gift. I've been playing with making yogurt since. Three batches already. Really very simple, yet so satisfying.

There's something about the tang of a good yogurt that can't be matched by anything else. I think that's why I like it. I like really yeasty bread, too. Pattern?

My only problem? Matching the texture that I grew up with. In a way, I'm being stubborn. Here I am in the rural Philippines trying to match the texture of commercial yogurt mass-produced in the States.

I figure it this way: why not try to produce what you want? Why give up easily? It only took me three days of experimentation to get very close. By the next batch or two, I'll have it down.

Oh my, now that I have yogurt, I can make frozen yogurt. Yum. And, I can make some simply great sweet baked goods. I find it very satisfying to have ingredients available to me ... and to have made them myself.

Ingredients

• 1.5 liters water
• Full-cream powdered milk (enough to make 2 liters)
• Plain gelatin powder (enough to make 1/2 liter)
• 1/2 cup yogurt starter
• Fruit with syrup
  

Procedure

Wisk together the water, gelatin powder, and powdered milk. Put them over medium heat and bring up to about 180F (80C). This is to kill anything that might be living in the water or the pot. You don't want anything to interfere with the growth of your yogurt culture.

Once up to temperature, take the mixture off the heat and let cool to room temperature. Actually, don't let it cool to room temperature. Let it cool to 85F - 100F (30C - 40C). Here in the Philippines, that's room temperature. Elsewhere, maybe not. For getting bread to rise and making yogurt, the heat here is pretty convenient. No searching for a "warm spot" in the kitchen. It's all warm.

Add the yogurt starter and mix thoroughly. Cover and let sit for about eight hours. This should set up nicely. It will get stronger as the yogurt culture grows and takes over the milk.

Once the culture has grown nicely, move the pot to a fridge. This will effectively stop the growth process. You don't want it to grow further. Yogurt gets rather pungent and not-at-all pleasant if you do. And, this isn't a blue cheese "yes, this smells funny but ho-boy this cheese is great"-style pungent ... it's a simply a "what in the name of All That Is Holy and Good ... this is disgusting"-style pungent.

Not many folks like plain yogurt (I like it, but I'm not exactly what one would call ... um, normal). So, I mixed in some fruit.

I made three different kinds. Strawberry, blueberry, and mango. Strawberries and blueberries aren't native here. So, they were from a can. About 1/2 cup of fruit mixture for each cup of yogurt.

For the mango, I just made a simple fruit reduction (2 cups diced mango, 1/2 cup white sugar, cook slowly to reduce). Mixed this into the yogurt at the same ratio as above (2 parts yogurt to 1 part fruit mixture).

Test Results

Primary Test Group: Mixed results. Those that grew up with yogurt, in other words ... the Americans, really loved it. The Filipinos either thought it was merely OK or really didn't like the yogurt. The Filipinos liked the mango flavor better than the strawberry or blueberry (no shock there, a familiar flavor).

Potential Improvements

Maybe a little thicker. The consistency now is much like Yoplait (commercially available in the United States). I like this very much. Others aren't so keen on it.

Potential Variations

Want to explore other fruits that are available. Also, might try adding cocoa powder to make chocolate yogurt. My son has asked for that.

Conclusions

Definite winner! So much better than store bought yogurt from back home. I'm looking forward to adding this to cakes and trying out a few others things with it, too.

I have to remember to make a little yogurt twice a week. Don't want my starter to get to strange or die out. This gives me an excuse to use it.

Making Sour Cream

One of the big things that's missing here on Leyte is sour cream. There are so many things that just beg for that off-tasting dairy ambrosia. Too many things to ignore its absence.

In the past, I've used UHT milk. Around here they call it "fresh milk". Really, it's anything but fresh. If kept sealed in its carton, the UHT milk has a six-month shelf life. Once opened, 4-5 days maximum in a cold fridge.

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole milk
• 5 tablespoons white vinegar

Procedure

I used powdered milk to make 2 cups of full cream milk. We don't have fresh whole milk available here. So, powdered was the best option.

Then, I added 5 tablespoons of white vinegar to the milk. Stirred well. Then, put into a covered bowl for 12 hours. This long period allows the curds (solids) to separate from the whey (liquid).

Finally, I poured the resulting curds and whey through a fine mesh strainer (a permanent coffee filter works very well for this). Let the milk-and-vinegar mixture sit in the strainer for 6 to 12 hours, depending on the consistency you want with your sour cream.

When it's ready, scoop out of the strainer, put into a sealable container and store in your fridge.


Test Results

Batch Alpha had 3 tablespoons of vinegar per cup of milk. Batch Beta was 2:1. Batch Delta was 2.5:1. Batch Delta's ratio is the same ratio as the previous favorite mixture when using UHT (ultra-high temperature pasteurized) milk.

Primary Test Group: Mostly Batch Delta with a couple liking Batch Beta.

Test Group C: Batch Delta with a single Batch Beta preference.

Test Group J: Batch Delta.

Test Group M: Rained out. I was riding over there on my motorcycle and the sky decided that the time was right to dump gallons of water on my raincoat-less self. Oh well, next time.

Potential Improvements

When one makes yogurt, the milk is heated before processing. I'm wondering if heating the milk for the sour cream would help in the process. Something to try at least.

Conclusions

Looks like I have a better sour cream substitute than before. Good. Easy enough to make, just have to ensure that I make enough in advance.

Alcohol Done Right ... Basi

I usually don't care for alcoholic beverages very much. They either taste bad, taste bad and tear out your throat, or taste moderately acceptable but have a sugar content that will drive small nations into diabetes and have moronic names designed to make sorority girls laugh at Spring Break.

What do I like? Typically something good. Like a Macallan 25-year Anniversary Malt. None of that blended garbage. Smooth single-malt goodness.

I also like tuba. That's palm wine made here in Leyte. Made right, it's very good. And, a friend of mine makes it very, VERY right. Just next week, I'm told I get the pleasure of sampling one of his two-year old bottles. Don't plan on missing it.

I was at the golf course yesterday morning practicing when I ran into the Captain (pronounced cap-EE-tan). He's the President of the golf course and definitely a VIP, in general. He told me that he was going to be back yesterday afternoon with some special alcohol from his home and that I should be sure to drop by to try. How could I say no?

So, I go back, play nine holes and wait. Here comes the Captain with a bottle of what looks like Chivas Regal. That was just the carrying case for the dark, rich, smooth alcohol I was about to enjoy.

The alcohol is called basi. Fortunately for him, the leader of Test Team M was with me. The Captain poured us both generous glasses of alcoholic perfection.

The Captain told us about the Basi Rebellion in the early 1800's. The Spaniards wanted the locals to stop making homemade basi. Their love of this fine alcohol was so great that the people rose up in protest.

Turns out, what we had was five-year old basi made by a friend of the Captain's in Ilocos Norte. Very, very good. In fact, typically reserved for national level politicians (presidents, senators, visiting dignitaries). We were very, very lucky.

The basi was amazing. Best alcohol I'd ever had in my life ... by far. Smooth, rich flavor, not even a hint of throat-destroying harshness. And yet, it was potent. It burned slowly inside ... sending its effects out through you at a slow pace. Even 30 minutes after drinking, I could feel the warmth slowly moving out my arms and legs.

This is definitely a sipping drink. And, a very happy drink. Not harsh, not a big slap in the face, but a huge, warm hug of fermented cane sugar love.

I have a new favorite alcohol. We were very lucky indeed.

So, maraming salamat po Captain!

I Found It!

In one of my first posts, I talked about one of my favorite cookbooks, The Frugal Gourmet on our Immigrant Ancestors. Well, I found it today!

Now I have that amazing pierogi (Polish dumplings) recipe again. As soon as we get our house cleaned up from my son's fifth birthday party, I'm making some!

I can feel my arteries clogging already ...

Nor Mai Gai ... Lotus-Wrapped Heaven

I love Chinese food. Yes, I do. I love it very much. I love dim sum even more. I could eat it every day ... for just about every meal.

And, my very most favorite dim sum dish is Nor Mai Gai. I first ate this in the Dark Ages (1989) at a restaurant called Sun Ya in Seattle's International District. A workmate of mine suggested it. I've loved it ever since.

Like borscht and pierogi at the now defunct Kaleenka, I taught myself to make Nor Mai Gai because I wanted to eat it often.

Ingredients

• 20 lotus leaves
• 18 cups cooked sticky rice
• 20 pieces Chinese sausage
  
• 750 grams ground beef
• 750 grams ground pork
• 400 grams pork tenderloin
• 400 grams chicken breast
• 2 cups oyster sauce
• 1-1/4 cups hoisin sauce
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar (optional)

Procedure

The first thing I did was start making the rice. 18 cups of cooked sticky rice is three batches in my rice cooker. This takes a while.

Take your lotus leaves and cut them down the spine. They typically come folded in half and we only want to use half a leaf per serving. Once cut, take the leaves and put them in lukewarm water to soak. They come dry, so you want to hydrate them to soften them up for later. They won't want to go to the bottom of the water. So, weigh them down with whatever you have around.

While the rice is cooking and the leaves are softening, start in on the sauce. I brown the ground beef and ground pork together. It's faster that way. Brown these and drain them completely. You don't want this dish to be greasy.


Cut up the pork tenderloin and chicken breast while the other meats are browning. I cut them into cubes about 1cm on a side. If this is hard to imagine, just cut the pieces up the size of your thumbnail (unless you have freakishly large thumbs, then get out a ruler to measure). Fortunately, my thumbs are approximately normal-size.

Once the ground meats are browned and drained, toss the chicken and pork tenderloin into the pot and cook them. Cook these over medium flame. It's good to cook them completely, just don't char them. We want tender and yummy ... not well done horrors ready to be fed to the dog. Once cooked, drain the fat from the chicken and pork, too. Again, we don't want greasy.

Put all the meats into the pot. Add the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and oyster sauce. Keep the pot over a medium flame and stir thoroughly. If you want your sauce to be a little less salty, add the optional white sugar at this point. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves. I like this dish on the slightly salty side, so I left that out.

At this point, take your Chinese sausage and cut each one into four equal pieces. Microwave these for 40-50 seconds. You want the sausage to warm up, not really cook. Don't cook it over the stove because you don't want the pieces to show any searing.

Take the soaking lotus leaves out now and drain them of their water.

Assembly

The assembly process is very straight-forward. At first, it seemed slow. But, once I got onto the process, I was able to mass produce these little pieces of Culinary Heaven fairly quickly.

1. Take a lotus leaf and lay it out onto your workspace. Lay the leaf dark green side down. I do that because I think it's more attractive that way.
2. Take about 1/4 cup of sticky rice and spread it out into a 4-inch wide circle or square. If you see holes in the leaf, don't worry. Unless the hole is huge, when you roll the leaf up, it'll get covered.
3. Take 2-3 tablespoons of the sauce and place it on the sticky rice. Then, place two of the cut pieces of Chinese sausage into the sauce.
4. Add another bit of rice on top. Again, about 1/4 cup of rice spread out into a 4-inch wide circle or square. The rice doesn't have to be perfect. It just needs to be placed on top nicely.
5. Fold the sides of the lotus leaf inwards. Pull on the sides a bit while doing this to neaten up the rice-and-sauce stack.
6. Fold the bottom portion of the lotus leave up and over the rice and sauce portion. Pull the bottom portion of the leaf up snugly.
7. Finally, roll the whole assembly forward, tucking extra leaf under and neatening it. While rolling, try to tighten up the insides a bit. Make a nice package.

Test Results

Primary Test Group: Very good. Everybody liked.

Test Group C: Ate two of them. Still not enough. Oy!

Test Group M: Ate only one-and-a-half (because another friend stole half while M wasn't looking ... said food thief had three-and-a-half). Very much liked them.

Random Test Group: Played in a small golf tournament this weekend. Brought 36 of these up there. Took none home. Very, very well received. The picture to the right shows what I brought.

Potential Improvements

No real improvement needed in the food itself. However, it occurred to me during preparation that there might be a faster way to make them. I thought one could spread a layer of sticky rice out on two baking sheets (sprayed lightly with cooking spray). I'd then put the sausage pieces in what would later be the middle of each unit. Spread a layer of sauce on one of the sheets of sticky rice, over the sausage pieces. Finally, place the second sheet on top of the first with the sauce and press. Put this all in the fridge for 30 minutes to let things cool. Then, cut it like you'd cut a rectangular cake into perfectly square parts. Then, wrap those.

Conclusions

I love these. Apparently, so does everyone else. So glad I have a lot of lotus leaves.