Food Friday: Chocolate Eclair Squares

Happy New Year guys! How did you spend your New Year's Eve? I was up making some desserts for us, a little bit of experimenting, if you will. This is a quick and easy recipe that anyone can do. It's very delicious, too!

Ingredients
2 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (3.4 oz each) Jell-O Vanilla Instant Pudding
1 tub (8 0z) Whipped Topping, thawed
64 Nilla Wafers
2 squares semi-sweet chocolate

Directions
Beat milk and pudding mixes with whisk for 2 minutes. Stir in whipped topping.
Arrange 16 wafers at the bottom of an 8-inch square dish; cover with one-third of the pudding mixture. Repeat layers twice.
op with remaining wafers.
Refrigerate for 4 hours.
Melt chocolate squares. Drizzle over dessert.
Enjoy!

Makes 16 servings, one square each.

Food Friday: Crab Rangoon

The first time I tasted Crab Rangoon I was blown away! It was sooo delicious! I mean, anything with crab in it is bound to be delish right?

For those who haven't tried this yet, this is just like pinsik.

Ingredients
1 lb sea legs or any chunk artificial crab meat
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
4 oz seafood spread (optional)
1 bunch scallions, chopped
pinch of salt
1 tsp sugar
1 package wonton skins
1/4 tsp onion powder
oil for deep frying

Directions

Place crab meat, cream cheese, seafood spread, scallions, salt, onion powder and sugar into food processor and mix into a lumpy paste. If food processor isn't available, chop crab and onions very fine and mix with softened cream cheese, salt and sugar. Place a teaspoonful of mixture in the middle of a wonton skin. Moisten edges and draw up opposite corners to meet and form a package. Make sure all edges are sealed. Deep fry until golden brown.

Food Friday: Thanksgiving Ham

Last week was Thanksgiving and we had Ham. We decided to skip the traditional Turkey feast and had Ham. This is not the same as the Pinoy hamon de bola but the hind leg of the pork that is cured. Slowly simmered in a pool of pineapple juice then baked for an hour, this ham was delish!

Food Friday: Chocolate Chip Muffins

This entry is special to me because I actually baked these muffins! Check out the recipe HERE.

Food Friday: Cappuccino Mousse Cake

Hey Food Friday peeps, I'm back! After a few weeks of hiatus, I have come up with a sweet treat for you: Cappuccino Mousse Cake! Yummy!

I have a hankering for sweets these days and I just couldn't help myself. I also found a recipe online for this delicious treat (It's not the recipe for this one though).

Recipe
Ingredients

• 4 ounces white chocolate
• 2 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream, divided
• 1 tablespoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Gourmet Collection® Saigon Cinnamon
• 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 1 tablespoon shortening
• 1/4 cup sugar
• chocolate curls for garnish

Directions

1. Chill clean mixing bowl and balloon whip in freezer for whipping cream.
2. Heat white chocolate in a medium microwaveable bowl, uncovered, on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave 30 seconds at a time until mixture can be stirred smooth. Dissolve instant coffee in 1 teaspoon hot water. Add dissolved coffee, 1/4 cup heavy cream, vanilla, and cinnamon to chocolate and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool completely.
3. Place semi-sweet chocolate and shortening in a small microwave-safe bowl, and microwave as described in step 2. Place foil muffin liners in eight muffin tins. Working on one chocolate cup at a time, spoon about 1 tablespoon melted chocolate into foil liner, and, using a small pastry brush, "paint" chocolate about half-way up each liner. Chill in refrigerator or freezer until hardened, about 10-15 minutes.
4. While chocolate cups are chilling, whip remaining 3/4 cup heavy cream in chilled bowl until soft peaks form. Add sugar gradually and whip to very stiff peaks. Very gently fold whipped cream into the cooled chocolate mixture, taking care to maintain the fluffiness of the whipped cream.
5. Remove chocolate cups from refrigerator and carefully peel off foil liners. If chocolate becomes too soft, return to refrigerator for a few minutes. Fill each chocolate cup with about 4 tablespoons whipped cream mixture. Garnish with chocolate curls, if desired. Refrigerate; let stand about 5 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Recipe: allrecipes.com

Food Friday: Palabok

My mom and I tried to make our own version of Palabok, one of my favorite rice noodle dishes. We did make an error in judgment and followed a recipe that she found online and came with disastrous results. There was something not quite right about the taste, unfortunately. But I snapped a shot of it before we...disposed of it.

It does look yummy but looks can be deceiving! Happy Friday!

Food Friday: Porto's Cheese Rolls

Heaven. This flaky pastry filled with cheese is purely heaven! We bought a dozen of these delicious bits of heaven at Porto's Bakery, possibly the best bakery in California!

Sinking my teeth into its flaky goodness is something that I want to experience again and again and again...

I know I'm sounding overly dramatic but these cheese rolls are yummy! They take me back to the time in high school when we would race to the canteen and buy the 5 PHP cheese bread fresh from the oven [read SU Cafeteria]. I know good old cheese bread cannot compete with Porto's cheese rolls but the memories and friendship are everlasting.

Porto's Bakery
Glendale Location
315 North Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91203
tel. (818) 956-5996
fax (818) 956-0696

Burbank Location
3614 W Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91505
(818) 846-9100

Food Friday: Tiramisu

It is quite obvious that I have one gigantic sweet tooth. It's one of my sinful pleasures that I relish even though I am always dieting constantly.

This is one of the reasons why I loathe going to the supermarket because these blasted places always display their bakery or cake isle at the ENTRANCE! Sheesh! Can't they give us a break?

I caved and bought a slice of yummy Tiramiso. I love it!

Food Friday: Soups

I had Ramen a few weeks ago and added an egg to the soup. I don't usually indulge with the way this egg was added to my dish but I wanted my yolks super runny (go cholesterol!).

This soup is my fave Vietnamese Pho. This soup is so delicious and it's healthy to boot. I even ate the bean sprouts! Want to read more about Pho? Click here.

Food Friday: Porkchops

I had pork chops the other day with potato salad and a few carrots. I'm not really fond of carrots but I just eat them to satisfy my brain telling me to eat healthy. I know I should but you know how it is, I'm a self proclaimed carnivore!

I didn't make the pork chops and my potato salad came from the deli but it was still delish.

Food Friday: Strawberries

Strawberry Yogurt

Strawberries on a Plate

I am not fond of strawberries at all! I guess you could blame to the fact that the taste of strawberries always remind me of cough medicine! I was a sickly child when I was little so I had a lot of those orange and strawberry medicines and I loathed the taste up till now!

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Food Friday: Nectarines

What are they, you ask? Well basically, Nectarines are a kind of Peach that has a hairless skin; Peaches are fuzzy by the way. It is said that nectarines are erroneously believed to be a crossbreed between peaches and plums, although they do belong to the same species.

Quite frankly, I have never tasted Nectarines before because I'm really not a fruit person. However, grapes, apples, oranges, and grapefruits are another story though.

Food Friday is a weekly meme by Maiylah.
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Info: Wikipedia

Food Friday: Thai BBQ

A few weeks ago, I indulged in one of my favorite restaurants here in L.A., The Original Thai BBQ Restaurant. You might think that this restaurant would serve something different, but no, aside from their authentic Thai cuisine, they serve their version of Thai BBQ! It's basically like Pinoy BBQ but they have their original Thai BBQ sauce that definitely makes it unique. This sauce is sweet and delightfully complements the BBQ, making it one of my best Thai dishes.

This mouthwatering fare is quite affordable and can be shared by two people! Add that with my fave Phad Thai, this meal definitely soothes my desire for Pork Spare Ribs!

Location:
The Original Thai BBQ Restaurant
5324 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 962-2004
Accepts AmEx, Visa & Mastercard

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Food Friday: New York Cheesecake

One of my favorite deserts has to be Cheesecake. Well, New York Cheesecake, that is. This is because I haven't tried the other varieties of cheesecakes available. I still cringe at the thought of trying a Bleu Cheese Cheesecake but I am all for trying them!

American cheesecakes generally rely on cream cheese and were invented in 1872 as an alternative to French Neufchâtel. French Neufchâtel is a soft, slightly crumbly, mold-ripened cheese made in the region of Normandy. French Neufchâtel has aroma and taste of mushrooms and is usually sold in heart shapes.

Cheesecake that tastes like mushrooms? I'll have to pass up that one! It is very interesting to note how different food where invented, and indeed, they have to be invented. Most of them seem to have been invented by accident; like potato chips and leavened bread.

Let's go back to the cheesecake. New York-style cheesecake (image above) relies upon heavy cream, cream cheese, eggs and egg yolks to add a richness and a smooth consistency. Some recipes use cottage cheese and lemon for distinct texture and flavor or add chocolate or strawberry to the basic recipe.

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Info: Wikipedia.org

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Food Friday: Ice Cream Cake

I love cake. I love ice cream. Two of my loves combined.

The Mud Pie Ice Cream Cake, 8 inches of heaven. Need I say more?

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