coconut sourdoughy pandesal

Sweet like Pandesal.  Coconut in flavor.  Sourdoughy in smell.  FABULOUS.

There is MUCH joy in putting together some of my favorite flavors.  How much fun to do so with pandesal/rolls!  Homemade sweet sourdough is so deletable.  The Filipino pandesal rolls are sweet and always nostalgic of home on the islands.  Coconut....it's practically impossible to go wrong with adding such an islandish flavor to so many dishes...including bread and/or rolls.  Thus, the reason why the shopping cart is religiously filled with ten cans of coconut milk on every bimonthly shopping trip.  I really hate running out of coconut milk.

Mixed one can of room temped coconut milk, 4 T of yeast, 1 C sugar.  Let sit until sugar is well dissolved and yeast is well activated forming gas bubbles. (Never use hot liquids as this will kill the yeast and rolls will not rise). Let mixture sit in fridge overnight.  Take out next day and let warm up to room temperature.

In bread maker on dough setting:  2 C flour, 1 t salt,  1 1/2 C of wet mixture, and 1 T sesame oil. Gradually add 1/4-1/2 C until dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and elastic. Let dough rise for one hour in closed bread maker.

Form small balls and set into baking dish and let rise in oven.  Be sure to put a large baking dish full of hot tap water under neath to create a humid environment and keep the rolls from forming a dry crust.  Let rise for 30-60 min.  Remove and let the oven preset to 350...leaving the large baking dish of water in oven.  Bake the rolls for 30+ or until golden brown.

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This is what I put together for tonight's potluck at Greg and Sheryl's. That and salad. There were a lot of new Primerica faces...and there were missing faces of others no longer in the business.  All night I kept envisioning Shad and Casey Coulson and their three iddy bitties.  Oh, how we miss them now that they are out of town and out of state....and in Kansas.

Being the inactive Primericans, one would think we would feel slightly out of place.  However, we didn't.  It was nice to meet new faces and be back in the company of pleasant familiar ones.   Though no longer working together, we are all still of the same mindset of doing what God has given us all the ability to do in order to get and stay ahead of the currently declining American economy that's particularly harder on the middle class and below.

easy arroz caldo

Tonight's supper is another nostalgic one for me.  There is no doubt, that on the tropical Philippine islands there are "cold" and perfectly breezy days and/or evenings in which a congee-licious dish such as this is beyond palatable.  Especially during the typhoon season when the temps drop to the low 70's and high 60's.  When the windows are open and every delightful plop-a-dy raindrop can be heard as the orchestrative chorus in the background......Oh, to enjoy such moments of home again.  But even in the beautiful fall temps of the Arizona desert this is a delectable savoury satisfaction.

I like dark meat.  Fortunately, for me, so do my kids.  Great on the budget.  Much to our delight, it certainly has more flavor.  And when grilling, it has more moisture and unlikely to dry out.  

In a regular sized soup pot: as much chicken to your liking, four medium chopped carrots, two stems of celery finely chopped, as much onion and garlic powder to your liking and fill with water to the top [oh, and a couple bay leaves...2-3]. What especially makes this is ginger [fresh or powder]....as much as you like.  For me, it's a lavish helping.  Let this come to a boil and then simmer/slow cook for an hour.  Then add 1 1/2 C of sticky rice which only took about 20 minutes [or so] to cook.  It makes for a thick caldo...which is the way we like it.  Don't forget to add the fish sauce.  As much or as little of it as you like.  Oh, so copacetic....mmmm!!!

another bean-less bowl of chilli

ground turkey, one pack of  taco seasoning, a whole red bell pepper chopped up, garlic and onion powder...all slow cooked for six hours.  Very satisfying...and great with ube biscuits ......

ube-licious biscuits

In searching the internet for ube-licious recipes one can easily find several recipes for pancakes, muffins, cheesecakes, cupcakes...etc.  However, I haven't ever found one for ube biscuits.  Thus, mine are definitely the first. (^_^)  I just used the same pancake mix  but added 2-3 more cups (that has 1 cup of sugar) and a little sesame oil to keep it from sticking to the layer of aluminum foil (for easy clean up).  The slight sweetness is identical to honey whole wheat biscuits.  But, hey....these are ube biscuits! 

ube-licious pancakes

I used the Krusteaz Buttermilk pancake [from Wal-mart] mix 2-3 cups, 

one pack of the frozen ube from the Asian market, and replaced the water 

with coconut milk.  In order to get the sweetness I was expecting 

I added a 1C of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla

chicken and veggies

while the rice cooked to fluffy perfection in the rice cooker....

a mix of chopped veggies frying furiously on high with
garlic, onion powder, chicken......and soy sauce.....

I threw in some purple cabbage....

....and it's nearly all gone!

beef and asian spinach

Every time I go to the Asian Food Market, without fail, beef and chicken are a must purchase.  The guys always ask me, in their oriental accent, if I want the beef cut like Korean BBQ.  That's the best cut as far as I'm concerned.  Nice and thin (makes for quick stirfrying without cooking everything else to death and the meat's not tough).  The produce is always the best bargain.  Last year was the first time I'd tried the oriental/asian spinach....yumbo scumbo.  Some Asian meals are so easy: throw everything in the wok for a high and quick stir fry, add tons of garlic and onion powder, soysauce to liking and add the spinach for the last 1-2 stirfring.  Immediately remove the wok from heat, serve and munch to your tastebuds' content....

Nuoc Mam-Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

This is, by far, the best stuff. Infact, I would prefer it over the traiditional sweet and sour sauce I've used for lumpia in the past.

Whether you use 1/4 C, 1/2 C, 3/4 C or a whole cup it is equal parts:

1 part hot water [so the sugar will dissolve quickly]
1 part sugar
1 part fish sauce

I like to add 1/4 part [or more depending on the "mood" and cuisine] lemon juice.

For a little extra bite, I like to add 1/8-1/4 part chili paste.

This stuff is incredible for using with just about any Asian meat, egg roll, lumpia, vietnamese crispy rolls, vietnamese spring rolls....etc. Awesome in Vietnamese noodle dishes. Refrigerates well for several weeks.