How to save over-whipped cream

Whenever a recipe calls for whipped cream, I just do it manually.  It isn't really that difficult.  I can even multitask (listen to music / watch TV) while doing it.  Plus there's no risk of over-whipping the cream.  Well, my wife just recently bought a new hand mixer in the occasion that we do not have the luxury of time.  So last weekend, I thought I'd give the mixer a try just to familiarise myself with its settings.

Ah the marvel of machines!  It's so easy to whip cream now!  So easy in fact.... that I overwhipped the cream!

Taho

Taho

Taho: a popular Filipino street food made from healthy soft tofu. One couldn't help but take a trip down childhood memory lane while enjoying this sweet treat! The street vendor would roam the streets with two  cannisters hanging off the ends of a pliant piece of wood slung over his shoulders as he shouts "tahoooo!"  We would all stop from our street games and run off home to get a bowl and some loose change from our mother to buy taho.

While there are no taho vendors roaming the streets of Wellington, you can now have some at home.  Aside from the fresh veggies, there's one other reason to visit the weekend market at Johnsonville School: soft tofu in tubs! Asian stores would have this in stock too.

(If you were looking for a procedure on how to make the soft tofu itself, try the EntrePinoys site)

Total time: 15 minutes

Pasta in White Sauce

Pasta in white sauce

We were amazed at how our friend Jeanette was able to whip up this dish in record time for dinner in their wonderful home. My wife was quite impressed by the ease by which this was cooked, and the outcome is a winner. So we made a batch for a gathering and was, as expected, a hit.

The sauce is thick and chunky, so you will need pasta that can scoop it up like the bow ties, the spirals, or the shells. In our case, we found that spirals work really well.

Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: for a party of 12

Ginataang Alimango (Crabs in Coconut Cream)

Ginataang Alimango (Crabs in coconut cream)

Recipe by Tina Ballesteros

We had ginataang alimango (crabs in coconut cream) last Sunday, and needless to say, we forgot our diet for that meal! The crabs were fresh and scrumptious, the coconut cream was absolutely divine on the hot rice, and it just had a mild spiciness which complemented the dish.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes

Kare-Kare

In a nutshell, Kare Kare is a traditional Filipino stew made from ox tail and tripe and vegetables, enriched with peanut sauce and alamang (fish paste).  I do not know the origin of the name but this dish is as unique as it is called.

My first kare-kare was cooked by my Nanay for a celebration (indeed, this dish does take a bit of time to cook so it's made when a guest is expected, or we are celebrating something).  I was intrigued at why peanut butter was being used.  In addition to this, it was also interesting how she toasted a handful of rice grains, ground it, then added it to the pot.  At meal time, I had a taste of Kare-Kare, which had a subtle peanut taste.  I though that was all there was to it, when Nanay told me to add a bit of alamang (shrimp paste), and the dish burst into flavour!  What an amazing dish.

Reminiscing

Been quite busy lately so I haven't found time to blog yet.  But I have been recently uploading photos to my Flickr account (for backup - I've always worried that my old photos would disappear as soon as the portable hard disk fails, and I found it cumbersome to save on DVD discs.  Why didn't I think about getting a Flickr Pro account before!), and I saw some pictures from 7 years ago that made me reminisce my time back in the Philippines...

Dinengdeng with inihaw na bangus... a couple of my favourites!  My Nanay makes the best dinengdeng!

There's this section in the Baguio City market where you can get all the ingredients you need to make Guinataan... a one-stop shop if you will.  My eldest sister loved making treats for us in the afternoons when we were kids... I guess she still loves doing it now.