Chocolate Pot de Creme

It is that time of the year again, it's St. Valentine's day! It is also, chocolates, roses and romance week. In honor of St. Valentines  here is an easy yet sumptuous chocolate desserts that you can make for your special someone.

Ingredients:

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
12 oz milk
12 oz heavy cream
8 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. of grand marinier  or cointreau (any orange liqueur)

Optional:

Creme Fraiche
Fresh Raspberry

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 325F.  Place 6 ramekins about 6-8oz each in a baking sheet.
* Melt the chocolate in a double boiler ( place a heatproof bowl on top of a simmering sauce pan, make sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water, if so it will burn your chocolate and it would make it lumpy rather than gleaming sauce) set it aside.
* Scald the milk and the heavy cream; meaning let it warm up to a bubble but not boil or it would form a skin. If it does boil start over again!
* Mix the egg yolks and sugar until light yellow.
* Add one cup of milk mixture slowly; this process is called tempering the yolks. If you add the warm milk mixtures immediately it would make your egg scramble. Once the egg yolks are tempered add the rest of the milk mixture gradually while mixing at the same time.
* Strain the egg and milk mixture just to make sure that there are no lumps.
* Add the melted chocolate and the orange liqueur and mix until well incorporated.
* Fill each ramekins evenly. Add water to you baking sheet but do not over fill it. This is called water bath it makes sure that the outside of the creme do not burn while the inside is cooking. Place it in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Check by tapping the ramekins, if it jiggles in the middle it is done.
* Let it sit in the fridge for 4-6 hours before serving, then garnish your pot de creme with creme fraiche and raspberry enjoy!

BULALO (Beef Shank Soup)

Bulalo is a famous soup in Southern Luzon particularly Batangas and Tagaytay,  most of the cattle come from this region. It's a staple of Filipino Celebrations. Due to high cholesterol content, it has once been said that this dish is only good occasionally.  If you are using shank, the marrow is very good but very bad for you. But hey, everything these days is bad for you. If you are indeed using shanks I advise you to eat this dish occasionally. But if you are using the oxtail you can have it as much as you like. I love this dish during the cold season; it is really good with fresh steamed rice and dipping sauce in the side.

Ingredients:

1-3 lbs of beef shanks or oxtail ( I use oxtail every time I make this soup; it has more flavor and the meat is tender and juicy even after simmering a while, unlike the shank; yes the marrow is delicious but the meat around the shank is flavorless and dull)
2 ears of corn, cut into half
2 pcs carrots, cut into 3 chunks (don't bother to peel them,   it gives the soup more color, traditionally we use plantains but since I am in USA, I have opted for the carrots it gives the soup that sweetness that plantain gives)
1 pc russet potato, peeled and cut into large chunks
1/2 bulbs of garlic (don't bother to peel them)
2 bay leaves
6 to 10 peppercorn; crushed with mortar and pestle (important; if you use ground pepper it does not give that strong peppery flavor that these peppercorns give)
1/2 head of cabbage (if you like bokchoy you can substitute cabbage; I just happen to love cabbage because they are sweet)
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 cup beef broth or 1 beef bullion (if your using bullion dilute the cubes with 1 cup hot water)
1 to 2 cups of water (the water should be slightly above the meat, do not over water it; it would make your soup tasteless)


Procedure:

*In a large heavy dutch oven ( this pan would make your meat tender and  it won't  evaporate the water as fast as regular pan; if you don't have one that's fine just use regular pots but add more water. I highly recommend to get a dutch oven) brown the meat, the juices from this process will  make your soup base, it will also keep your meat intact during the long simmering time.
*Add the onions, garlic, peppercorns, beef broth and water.
*Cover and simmer in low heat for about 1 hr. Do not stir; if you do it will break the meat and it will be all over the soup rather than in one piece. Plus, the convection during the simmering would stir it for you.
*Add the carrots and simmer for another 30 to 45 minutes.
*Add the potatoes and simmer until you are ready to eat.
*Fifteen minutes before you are ready to eat, add the corn (this will make your corn cook but not overcooked, I have often added the corn before simmering and the corn in the end is tasteless and soggy)

*Ten minutes before serving time add the cabbage to half cook it (meaning still has it's crunch); if you want your cabbage cooked thoroughly (which I prefer) add it fifteen minutes before serving time cover and simmer.

Dipping Sauce

1/2 juice of lemon
1 tbsp. fish sauce
2 fresh bird's eye chile chopped

Mix all the ingredients and start dipping!

Gourmet Roast Chicken

There are a thousand ways to roast a chicken. It varies from continent to continent, country to country, state to state and in my case province to province since we have provinces rather than states in the Philippines.But with all the different variations we have to roast  chicken we can all conclude that we want our chicken tender, juicy, and crispy golden skin. I cook mine together with my carbs,  it's basically one meal in one pot.So here is my version:

Ingredients:

1 whole organic chicken or natural chicken ( I found that inorganic chicken is more fatty and it has a very distinct meat flavor not in a good way; I think it is because of the anti biotic that they injected in the chicken)
1 whole head of garlic, cut crosswise
1  lemon, halved
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 teaspoon dried thyme
black pepper
2 tbsp. of butter
2 potatoes
1 small onion
Olive oil


Preparation:

* Clean and remove the innards of the chicken. Using a paper towel, pat it dry thoroughly (this will make sure that the skin is crispy)
* Season the cavity with salt and pepper; be generous.
*Place your innards, thyme, garlic, and lemon in the cavity
* Season slightly with salt and pepper (this will make sure that your chicken will be well seasoned)
*Melt the butter and brush it all over the chicken.
*Season the skin with butter, dried thyme, pepper and salt set aside.
*Cut your potatoes and onion into large cubes.
*In a baking sheet place the potatoes and onions. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle it with olive oil (this will make your potatoes crispy and not dry)
*Place your chicken in the side of the potatoes (the juices from the chicken will season your potatoes more; the reason why I did not put the potatoes under the chicken is when the potatoes cook it will be soft and the weight of the chicken with mush it)

*Preheat oven to 400 F. I did not preheat the oven before preparation because I want the chicken to come to room temperature and this gives me 10 more minutes insurance for that.
*Place your chicken in the preheated oven for 1hr 15minutes.
*15 minutes prior to cooking time remove the potatoes
*Let the chicken rest about 5-10 minutes before you start carving. (To make sure your chicken is cook cut the side of the drumstick in between the thigh, if the juices runs out clear its the indication that it is done)

Sometimes I cook this together with ribs (just the tip ribs so it will cook together with the chicken) do not throw away the neck  you can also cook it in the side. (Well, maybe if you are not scared of eating it, you can also set it aside for stocks later)
You can roast carrots and turnips in the side as well.

Enjoy! Suggested wine: Pinot Noir from Oregon at least 3 years old.