Filipino Pantry Leche Flan

I can never really guarantee I can cook much if company stops, but there are a few pantry baking items I keep to ensure I could whip out a nice dessert or two. Marie Ange's almost flourless chocolate cake, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies or Stephen's blondies... but my favorite decadent pantry staple is a nice leche flan.

1/3 c sugar
1/4 c water
2/3 can sweetened condensed milk (non-fat okay)
6 egg yolks
1 can evaporated milk (non-fat okay)
1 t vanilla extract

Prep.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. In a small saucepan, caramelize the sugar till golden brown. Pour sugary syrup mixture into the bottom of a small baking dish
3. Whisk the custard in this order: condensed milk, yolks, evaporated milk, vanilla
4. Pour the custard into the baking dish, passing through a strainer to collect any solids
5. Place small custard dish into 9 x 13 baking tray to prepare the water bath for the flan. Fill water bath with hot water to surround the custard half-way the height of the flan.
6. Bake for 1 hour. It'll be jiggly when removed. Remove the flan baking dish from the water bath. Cool on counter for an hour. Then chill the dessert in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.
7. To serve, run a knife around the edges of the flan and turn over the flan onto a serving plate. Garnish with berries serve it plain. I love serving it as a base for shaved-ice desserts or spreading flan cubes on challah/brioche toast.

Notes: Eerik and Kristin held a baking olympiad recently and I had to withdraw my flan entry. I tried to improvise and replace two yolks with an egg white... not changing temp and baking time too much, it totally turned the flan into scrambled eggs.

Vinum Cellars "Financial Solidarity Sale"

Richard Bruno and Chris Condos have the right idea. You should definitely think about taking advantage of their 40% off any 12-bottle case of wine "Financial Solidarity Sale."


It's the perfect time to try the mixed case sampler ($138) or a case of my favorite "budget" red, the PETs '06 - Petite Sirah ($100.80) [the best table red for my money - it tastes as good to me as anything pricier].

Even with the deep discount, I don't think I'd be able to bite the bullet for a case of my other Vinum favorites.

White Elephant '07 ($122.40) - one of the most delectable white wines ever - my workmates find the perfect blend of 58% Chenin Blanc, 30% Roussanne and 12% Viognier irresistible.

The Scrapper '05 ($216) In your face, Sideways. This Cab Franc is AWESOME.

Red Dirt Red '05 ($216) The 2007 Stanford Wine Selection that started my love affair with Vinum Cellars.

NapaCab '06 ($273.60) This wine is delicious. I use delicious in the way that an entire meal should be delicious, not just a nice drink. I've served this wine to people with pricey palettes and non-wine drinkers, alike. It's hands down decadent.

Roasted Pumpkin Pancetta Fried Brown Rice

From Exploding taste buds lead to exploding waistlines

Lois was at my house a month ago to make French Onion Soup. In order to feed our selves during the long wait of caramelized onions, I used some leftovers to make a quick autumn fried rice as a first course.

The stuff

4 oz pancetta, fine dice (Trader Joe sells a Citterio pack)
1 cup cooked cold pumpkin, diced
1 1/2 cups cooked cold brown rice
4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
salt
pepper

The order

1. Start with cold pan. Cook pancetta till crispy, set aside after cooked and reserve remaining fat for cooking.

2. Heat the pumpkin through in pancetta renderings.

3. Toss in thyme leaves and rice. Heat through and season with salt and pepper.

Almost Instant Trader Joe's White Chicken Chile Enchilada Casserole

[I'm still out of commission, but, with a touch of Advil, I'm finally posting a whole mess of entries that have been in "draft" status...]

Michelle, another roommate, has mentioned on occasion her mom's white chicken enchilada casserole that is made of a shredded rotisserie chicken, cheese, tortillas, and condensed cream of mushroom soup. Not only are the ingredients simple, it's prepared in a lasagna-like fashion and baked 'till bubbly.

When a coworker told me she'd be in the neighborhood to shop at the Trader Joe's I had no need to shop, but I thought I'd use the occasion to try to create my own white enchilada casserole.

From Exploding taste buds lead to exploding waistlines

I found all but one of my main ingredients at TJ's: the mushroom soup. Trader Joe's tries to carry holiday seasonal items (box stuffing, fried onion, etc), they do not carry anything close to cream of condensed anything. I took it upon myself to create a bechamel sauce with green chiles instead. Since the chiles at TJ's are extremely mild, I used garlic salt as my instant flavor booster.

Layering Ingredients

1 pack fresh corn tortillas
1 pack grilled chicken strips
1/2 bag fancy shredded Mexican (cheese) blend

White Chile Sauce Ingredients [Substitution: Can of condensed soup (mushroom or cheese) & 1-2 cans milk]

2/3 stick of butter
4 T of flour
3 cups of milk (I go for whole milk for bechamel - add 1 more cup of milk and another can of chiles if you want a lot of gravy in the casserole)
garlic salt
ground black/white pepper
1 can fire roasted diced green chile

How-To

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F

1. Sauce: Melt butter, slowly whisk in flour on med-low heat until everything is incorporated, whisk in milk slowly to maintain a lump-free consistency, add in chiles, and season with garlic salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Shred or pulse the cooked chicken in a food processor (yields two cups of chicken in a processor)

3. Assemble sauce, tortilla, cheese, and chicken casserole layers in a 9" x 9" or 9" x 13" baking dish. I recommend a smaller dish and going for more layers - the bigger dish really stretches the recipe.

4. Layering tips: Start with a little sauce in the bottom of the pan. The final, top layer should consist of sauce and shredded cheese. The rest of the order is just up to you.

4. Bake in 350-degree F oven for at least 30 minutes or when the dish is heated through.

From Exploding taste buds lead to exploding waistlines

From Exploding taste buds lead to exploding waistlines

Boy Bawang: Better than CornNuts

I totally have a wicked migraine, but I came across an unposted picture that made me smile, so I had to write up my thoughts quickly.

From Exploding tastebuds lead to exploding waistlines

I'd say Corn Nuts have always been a well-loved snack in my family. However, it wasn't until earlier this year that I discovered Boy Bawang, a Filipino product that's much tastier, crispier, and easier to eat. Easier to eat? Am I crazy? Corn Nuts can feel like work because the over-sized kernels are so dense. Boy Bawang (or literally, "garlic boy") kernels are made of smaller corn kernels, that when fried, create a thin-shelled, hollow mini kernel. My love of the garlic flavor is just a tad bit extreme. As a garlic lover, it's a fantastic to actually buy a garlic-flavored treat that also contains real deep-fried garlic chips (or bits) in the bag.

It was especially disappointing when I realized that I've had access to this snack almost my whole life (you can find them in pan-Asian or Filipino grocery stores and online), but it took my secret blogging obsession (Filipino wedding videographers and photographers) to finally inspire me to try a bag. I found mine in Quincy at Sure Pinoy Food Mart.

Spicy Slow-Cooker Sloppy Joes

A few years ago, I was really into making spicy Sloppy Joes with turkey. I liked to play up a "Southwestern" twist on my Sloppy Joe dinners by serving them with jalapeno cheddar or hot sauce/Tabasco. I even have the mint green cafeteria-style serving trays that I used for my dinner parties to prove it. After recently remaking the recipe I discovered how delightful eating a Sloppy Joe becomes after the filling starts to melt away the integrity of the bun.

From Boston

I adapted my recipe from the PBS Everyday Food series.

Tools to keep your prep to a minimum:

Food processor
Crock-pot

The stuff for a group of four:

1 medium onion, finely chopped/pulsed
½ green bell pepper, finely chopped/pulsed
1 jalapeno or serrano chili pepper, finely chopped/pulsed
1 stalk celery, finely chopped/pulsed
2 garlic cloves, minced/pulsed
1/2 teaspoon red chili flake
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more)
1/2 teaspoon, cumin
1 pound ground turkey
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
Coarse salt and black ground pepper to taste
8 hamburger buns, split and toasted

Steps to make:

1. pulse the veggies in smaller batches
2. add veggies, meat, seasoning, tomato sauce and ketchup to crock-pot
3. run the crock-pot High a minimum of 3 hours or run it on low for 5 hours to overnight. The longer the crock-pot runs, the more the veggies seem to disappear and cook into the sauce.
4. add salt and pepper to taste
5. Serve on buns for a delicious experience.


Variations: This makes an equally nice taco filling or nacho topper. Or add beans for a chili con carne dinner. Replace the meat completely since the magic is in the tomato sauce/ketchup/onion/garlic/pepper base anyway.

For a crowd: To feed a group of 20, I increased this recipe six times over. I saved some cash by using 80/20 ground beef and eliminated the spices. The batch fit into two large Crock-Pots.