26 Jan, 2008
Purple Basil from Thai seeds. Isn’t it stunning? Almost as gorgeous as Dark Opal Basil that is almost entirely a rich, deep burgundy color… I found myself in Quezon City this morning, delivering a birthday present to an uncle who turned nearly 80 today. He is a fairly well known…
25 Jan, 2008
Mopping up ingredients in the kitchen yielded another semi-invented pastry. With the other half of the frozen puff pastry (the other half was used for an apple dessert), I made this apricot dessert. The inspiration was finding three forms of apricots in the larder… First, a can of apricots in sugar syrup….
24 Jan, 2008
Here is another dessert I threw together from stocks “in-house.” I knew the puff pastry would cook in 15-20 minutes, so the filling couldn’t be something that would take long to cook… This is really simple to make, but bake it just before you sit down to dinner as it is best when…
24 Jan, 2008
I also decided to have some coleslaw with the ribs and warm potato salad and this is the quickest way I know how to make it. Slice up some green and purple (if you have it) cabbage finely using a knife or a mandoline or benriner. I also sliced up some green…
24 Jan, 2008
Most folks seem to prefer cold, creamy, mayonnaise-y style potato salads. I like them too. But I occasionally get a hankering for a warm potato salad, particularly when served with grilled sausages and meats. The concept is extremely simple… start with several boiled potatoes straight out of the hot water. Heat…
23 Jan, 2008
I always assumed that making succulent, deeply flavored pork baby back ribs was rather difficult to do. I had never attempted them at home, thinking it would take serious spice mixtures, either parboiling, slow-cooking, tenderizing of some sort, then a long smoking process under low heat with lots of fragrant wood chips for…
22 Jan, 2008
After the holidays, I almost always inspect our pantry and refrigerators and freezers and realize with some shock, the amount of food that is still in there… Because I cook so much during the holidays, I don’t want to run out of basics so I stock up on sugar, flour, baking powder, confectioner’s…
22 Jan, 2008
Some of you will read this post and yawn followed by a big “ho hum.” But I suspect many of you will wonder why you haven’t tried this incredibly simple and utterly delicious way to enjoy some leftover lechon. I have fried leftover lechon before, and loved it, but the addition of…