Monday, March 3, 2008

Chicken empanada



*Filling:
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp minced garlic
1 medium onion - chopped
1/2 cup chopped chicken meat
1 cup peeled and diced potato
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp sugarsalt and pepper (to taste)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup raisins - chopped
2 hardboiled eggs - slicedchicken stock

*Pastry:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup butter
5-6 Tbsp cold water

*For filling:
Saute garlic and onion in oil.
Add chicken, cook in medium heat for about 15 minutes. Mash from time to time to break up meat. Add chicken stock 1-2 Tbsp at a time,
Add seasonings - Worcestershire sauce, sugar, salt and pepper.
cook in medium heat for a further 10 minutes or until chicken meat is cooked thru.Add potatoes, peas, and raisins. Cook until peas and potatoes are cooked through (about 5 minutes). Blend in the butter.
Remove from heat and cool.

*For the pastry:
Combine well the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl.
Cut in butter to the flour mixture with pastry cutter or two butter knives until particles are pea-sized.
Add water a tablespoon at a time while tossing the flour mixture with a fork until all the flour is moistened and can be formed into a ball. Press the dough ball while turning a few times to incorporate all the flour in.
Wrap in plastic cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. *To assemble:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Remove cling film from the dough and flatten with a rolling pin on a floured table or surface and shape into a log. (I usually use greased paper at the bottom and plastic cling film on top)
Cut a piece and form into a ball about the size of a golf ball (1-inch in diameter).
Flatten on the surface and roll out thinly into more or less a round shape.
Put a heaping tablespoon of the filling mixture on the rolled out dough and top with a slice of hard-boiled egg.
Pull one end or half of the dough over the other forming a half-circle shape.
Seal edges by pinching by hand or with the tines of fork while cutting excess dough in the process. Repeat with the rest of the dough and fillings.
Arrange empanadas on a lightly greased baking sheet and brush tops with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tsp milk).

Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove and serve warm or cold.
*Note: You may also deep-fry the empanadas instead of baking.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Leche Flan


Ingridients:

6 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 tbs vanilla extract

Method:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt sugar until liquefied and golden in color. Carefully pour hot syrup into a 9 inch round glass baking dish, turning the dish to evenly coat the bottom and sides. Set a side.In a large bowl, beat eggs, Beat in condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour egg mixture into baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil.Bake in preheated oven 60 minutes. Let cool completely.To serve, carefully invert on serving plate with edges when completely cool.

Stawberry cream swiss roll



Ingridients:

5 egg yolks
5 egg whites
120 g sugar
115 g flour
60 g butter
1 tbs vanilla essence
300 ml whipping cream
1/2 pot strawberry yam

Method:
Seperate the eggwhites and yolks .Beat the egg yolks with vanilla essence with 2 tbs sugar till thick.Beat the egg whites till foamy with sugar.Fold the egg whites in the egg yolks ( dont over mix) add the butter & the flower, and fold it again make sure there are no lumbs.Mix the whipping cream till stiff with strawberry yam and leave it a side.Lay out a thee towel, turn the cake roll on top of the towel take out the baking paper.Roll up the cake roll, and leave it to cool.Unrol the cake and spread with strawberry yam/cream and roll it again.Bake it for 12/15 min at 200 degrees.Leave it to chill for 3 hours in the fridge.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Churro






Ingridients:

235 ml water
110 g margarine
125 g all-purpose flour
2 g salt
3 eggs
50 g white sugar
6 g ground cinnamon

To make churro dough, heat water, margarine and salt to rolling boil in 3-quart saucepan; stir in flour.Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute; remove from heat.Beat eggs all at once; continue beating until smooth and then add to saucepan while stirring mixture.Spoon mixture into cake decorators' tube with large star tip (like the kind use to decorate cakes).Squeeze 4-inch strips of dough into hot oil.Fry 3 or 4 strips at a time until golden brown, turning once, about 2 minutes on each side; drain on paper towels.(Mix sugar and the optional cinnamon); roll churros in sugar or dump the sugar on the pile of churros.Note: REAL churros are made without cinnamon mixed with the sugar, but the cinnamon adds an extra nice flavor.

Chocolate swiss roll


Ingridients
5 egg yolks
5 egg whites
120 g sugar
115 g flour
60 g butter
1 tbs vanilla essence
3 tbs spoon cocoa powder
300 ml whipping cream

Method:
Seperate the eggwhites and yolks .Beat the egg yolks with vanilla powder or vanilla essence with 2 tbs sugar till thick.
Beat the egg whites till foamy with sugar.
Fold the egg whites in the egg yolks ( dont over mix) add the butter & the flower, and the cacoa powder and fold it again make sure there are no lumbs.
Mix the whipping cream till stiff and leave it a side.
Lay out a thee towel, turn the cake roll on top of the towel take out the baking paper.Roll up the cake roll, and leave it to cool.
Unrol the cake and spread with whipping cream and roll it again.
Bake it for 12/15 min at 200 degrees.
Leave it to chill for 3 hours in the fridge.

Pandan sponge cake

Ingridients:
8 eggs seperated to whites and yolks
200 g sugar
55 g corn starch
50 g melted butter
2 tbs Pandan paste

Mix the egg yolks
Place the egg yolks into the mixer and mix them on a high speed until creamy. After a minute, add about 2 tbsp of sugar. Continue to mix for a few minutes more until the mixture becomes thicker.
You can now add the pandan paste. Keep mixing until the mixture becomes double that of its original volume. Now turn off the machine and transfer the egg yolks to a separate bowl.
Wash your mixing bowl and the attachment well in preparation for whipping the egg whites.
TIP!
Make sure that the mixer attachment and bowl are washed extremely clean at this point. If not, any fat that remains on these utensils will affect the whipping of the egg whites. Make sure your things are spotless!
Step 4:
Whip the egg whites
Place whites into the clean mixer bowl. Beat them on high and let them whip until they become white and frothy. Now slowly add the sugar a bit at a time. The whipped egg whites mixture is ready when it clings to the beater attachment but does not drip. Once the mixture is nice and stiff, turn off the mixer.
Step 5:
Combine yolks and whites
Now you can introduce the egg yolks to the egg whites mixture. Add the whipped egg yolks into the egg whites and fold them in with the rubber spatula. Make sure not to over-mix.
Step 6:
Complete the batter
Next, we need to introduce the flour and corn starch to the eggs. Start by combining the flour and the corn starch in the sieve and using your hands, slowly sift it into the mixture. Sifting the flour will increase the amount of air in the cake, helping to make it even lighter.
Fold it all together remembering again not to over-mix and then add the melted butter to the batter, combining it in briefly.
Step 7:
Bake
Using your rubber spatula, you can now transfer the batter into the lined spring-form pan. Spread the batter evenly with the rubber spatula and give the pan a few good shakes to remove any air pockets that might remain.
Now put the cake into the oven at 180 degrees and allow it to bake.
Step 8:
Remove the cake
After around 30 minutes, test the cake to see it is ready. Insert a wooden skewer into the centre of the cake. The cake is ready when the skewer comes out free of batter. Now set it aside to cool before removing it from the pan.
Once the cake is totally cooled, take a sharp knife and run it around the outside of the cake. Now remove the spring-form pan and there you have it, your sponge cake.