Pink milk aka strawberry smoothies

Strawberries are still aplenty on the shelves here in Sydney. Sometimes, they're even on special at the local fruit and veg shop in our suburb. Some spill over harvest from summer means extra red yumminess to eat and in this case, drink at home!

This serves 4.

We used 2 250g punnets of strawberries

1 cup of ice cubes

2 tablespoons raw sugar

1 cup milk

Place everything in a blender and whiz away!

Tips:

• These can be made using frozen strawberries, which in case you won't be needing the ice.  Just add milk to get the consistency you want. 
• Vanilla ice cream or natural yoghurt can be a substitute for milk
• To make this into a non-dairy drink, just add orange juice in leiu of milk.

When I make these, I make sure there's extra punnets at home.  That's only because my kids can't stop at one serve each.  They can be demanding when it comes to food!

Pork and chorizo sliders with jalapeno mayo

"Life is full of surprises and serendipity. Being open to unexpected turns in the road is an important part of success. If you try to plan every step, you may miss those wonderful twists and turns. Just find your next adventure - do it well, enjoy it and then, not now, think about what comes next." - Condoleezza Rice

Do you believe in fate?  Serendipity?  I do in most instances.  I mean there are small miracles that happen every day, I believe that.  I've experienced that. But serendipity are those little sometimes big, pleasant surprises that just happen.  Because of fate?  Maybe.  Luck?  Who knows.  But I do believe this.  That if you think something or visualise something so bad and pray for it, the forces of the universe will make it happen.  

Now maybe I'm a little naive about these things and believe too much in this crap, but truly I am amazed at how things turned out for someone I've connected with in IG.  We don't know each other personally, but she's contacted me a few weeks ago.  We had two things in common.  We're both Filipinos and into Instagram.  That's about it.  In the course of our email exchange, she mentions about looking for a job which I thought maybe, somehow I could help however way I can.  Working a few days at at government office and with limited connections myself I casually forwarded a job posting email which circulates around the office when positions fall vacant.  And from there,  a few weeks after that email exchange, it all turned quite magical.  Serendipty. A happy pleasant surprise!  She got the job which involves a project working closely with our branch!  I am amazed at how this all turned out.  Social networking does work!  And soon, I will get to meet her!

Not to mention through social networking, my eating and cooking adventures (and my family included) have evolved.    

Just looking at my Instagram feed, Pinterest, FB and reading other food bloggers' posts is always inspiring.  Recently though, I had some nostalgic kick craving and remembering a particular burger we loved to eat while hubby and me were still dating.  This was served at a small kiosk at the Greenbelt Plaza just outside the cinema.  This was during the early 90s but they disappeared later on during that decade. From what I've learned, they are now back with the same famous recipe for choriburger but with an entirely new look and logo.  

So here's a recipe inspired by an old favourite from back in Manila (Burger on the Run's Choriburger).  I was looking for Bun on the Run online and found a Pork and Chorizo burger by Emeril Lagasse's from the Food Network's Backyard Eats - which I found too complicated with so many spices so I made my own version.  We served this "for adults only" at that weekend birthday party.   The smell of the patties while cooking was so inviting, some of the kids kept coming into the kitchen and asking what's cooking.  "Sorry kids, this is for adults only."

Ingredients:

500g pork mince

3 fresh chorizo sausages, removed from casings

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cajun pepper/seasoning

1 tablespoon corn flour (for binding)

salt and pepper for seasoning

 

Mix all the above ingredients by hand in a large bowl.  Shape into patties.  Set aside.

Using a pan griddle, or a simple pan, fry the patties in a little oil and cook until done.

To serve: thinly spread some jalapeno mayonnaise* on the rolls/buns, top with a pork-chorizo burger, some lettuce (add tomato slices and cucumbers if you prefer), and top with a good dollop of the jalapeno mayo*.  

*I wanted to make Emeril's green chilli mayonnaise but can't get poblano peppers at the time, so I made a simple Jalapeno mayonnaise.  Which was a mixture of 2 jalapeno peppers finely diced, mixed with a cup of mayonnaise. 

Tips:

•  Buy your chorizo fresh from the butcher or deli.  The supermarket variety will work but will not be the same because they are slightly cooked.  You will need to remove the chorizo from the casings which will be difficult to do with the commercial variety;

• You can make this as big as burgers or small as in for sliders (like this version);

 

Sometimes I think the fear of being vulnerable and taking a risk stops us from connecting with people.  Opening doors, in more ways than none, actually helps.  We create friendships and build little communities!   I love how blogging and social networks has helped me do this.  And taken my thirst for cooking and eating into new heights.

Ensaymada - sweet Filipino pastry

Last week was the busiest our kitchen has ever been.  Testing and testing cake and cupcake recipes and shoppiing and preparing for that weekend party.  You know, all those little things you plan and do for a milestone birthday?  Yeah.  That.  I had it all in my head a couple of weeks back.  Just a simple birthday party with some popcorn and a few DVDs.  But then someone whispered in my ear something that made absolute sense - it is a 10th year birthday  sothere needs to be a little bit more than DVD and popcorn.  And so, hours and hours of Pinterest browsing happened.  There were pom poms to be made, lootbags and decorations to be bought, and a two-weeks-before idea of a Minute-to-Win-It game was thought of.  There were cupcakes and cupcakes and cakes baked and eaten even before the weekened kicked in.

And all those days of planning and preparation went off in 4 hours.  I'd say with lots of happy cheers, fun and laughs.  It was all worth it. Check out my IG gallery for some of the photos.

Here's a photo of the cakes on the day - Chiffon Cake wtih creme chantilly frosting and honeycomb bits, Chocolate Biscuit Cake with strawberries, Chocolate Cake with pink Italian Meringue Buttercream with raspberries.

Now back to blogging and this. A long over due post which was promised weeks ago to some IG friends.  A Goldilocks Bakebook recipe for the most-loved Filipino sweet pastry called Ensaymada. 

To make this Filipino sweet bread:

1 packet Tandaco instant dry yeast

160 ml warm water

450g plain flour, sifted

65g caster sugar

2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

60 ml evaporated milk

80g unsalted butter, melted


Toppings:

50g unsalted butter, melted (extra for brushing)

Half to 1 cup grated cheese

Half cup raw sugar

Method (a few in photos)

Dissolve the yeast in 60ml of the water and add half a teaspoon of the sugar.  Let this sit for about 10 minutes until the mixture develops bubbles.

In a mixing bowl with the dough hook, place the sifted flour, sugar and salt and mix until incorporated.

Add the dissolved yeast, remaining water, eggs and evaporated milk.

Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes until the gluten develops - approximately 4-5 minutes.  

Add the melted butter and continue mixing until the gluten develops. The dough will be a little bit sticky. (see below photo)

Keep the dough in the bowl, cover with cling wrap and and let it sit for 15-30 minutes at room temperature.

Punch down the dough in the bowl to release air pockets.

Place dough on your kitchen bench sprinkled with a little flour.

Divide the dough into 4 parts.  Then divide into pieces - approximately 50-60g each.  Cover with a plastic sheet or tea towel and leave for another 15 minutes.

To make the individual rolls, get one piece of the 60g dough and using a rolling pin, roll the dough piece into a rectangle, ideally 8" x 5".  Otherwise, as long as you roll them thinly, I don't think the size will matter.

Brush the surface with butter. 

Roll the thin dough into a rod

Then twirl into shape, locking the ends to seal.

Place each roll into individual greased mini pans (or ensaymada moulds), or simply use a lined round or square pan like I did.

Cover with a tea towel and let the dough rise until double in size.  Approximately 30 mintues to 1 hour, at room temperature.

Bake in a preheated 180*C oven for 15-20 minutes, until golden in colour.

Let the bread cool for 10-15 minutes.  Brush with butter and sprinkle with raw sugar and  grated cheese.

Tips:  

* A batch of this makes 15-18 rolls

 

* Rolling the dough thinly creates the soft layers in the roll

 

* When rolling the dough, make sure your bench top is generously sprinkled with flour to avoid the dough from sticking on the table/bench top.

*  You can fill the dough with anything. Instead of butter, we tried Nutella and it worked perfectly well.  You can use purple yam jam (ube jam) or coconut jam for another Filipino variety. 

Foreground - the rolls with Nutella filling

Background - the ensaymade rolls with butter filling

I think I need to be more generous with the Nutella next time.

Grated cheese on top!  Yummy!

To make these Filipino ensaymada rolls is similar to making cinnamon rolls we've made here, sans the cinnamon but different in a way that it's rolled thinly and the bread is soft.  What makes it Filipino is the combination of sweet and savoury in the rolls - butter, sugar and cheese for toppings!  Where else can you find that combination?!  Hope you enjoy yourselves making these.

Now, I'm still reeling from that weekend party.  We have outdone ourselves with the mess and cleaning up we've made, which only means one thing.  The party was a success!  All the kids enjoyed playing the challenges, filled themselves with party food and cake!  Ooh, and they loved the cakes!  Well, I guess the chocolate cakes had the bigger fan base.