Cook the book: Chicken Enchiladas

Cook the book is my section here which tests printed recipes in real life. I have a lot of cookbooks and magazines because collecting them is my hobby, hehe. Here's a chicken enchiladas recipe which I adapted from the October 2014 issue of Appetite Magazine. Tried recreating this because I love Mexican  food, and this turned out to be really delicious.

You will need:

cooking oil for frying
4 pcs skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 pc onion, sliced
1/2 pint sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 tbsp parsley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 clove minced garlic
8 pcs tortilla
1 bottle store bought taco sauce
1 cup cheddar or quick-melt cheese

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C)

2. Pan fry chicken slices until no longer pink and free of juices.

3. Add onion, sour cream, cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano, ground black pepper and salt. Heat until cheese melts.

4. Stir in tomato sauce, water, chili powder, green bell pepper, garlic and simmer for a few minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.

5. Take a flour tortilla and place about 2 tbsps of filling in the center. Roll into logs. Repeat until filling is used up.

6. Arrange tortilla logs in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Pour taco sauce over the logs and top with more cheese. Bake uncovered in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Salad of baked apples, cheese & walnuts

Salad assembly:

For this recipe, you need:

- lettuce or any greens, thoroughly washed and cut into bite-size pieces

- two pieces of large tomatoes, sliced

- candied walnuts

- baked apples

- blue cheese & cream cheese or any one of these

- your preferred salad dressing or vinaigrette

- the original recipe also called dried figs or dates, but like me, you may skip these if you don't have it

To prepare the baked apples -

Preheat oven to 350F

Slice the apples and bring to a boil in a saucepan filled with water and wine (red or white)

Dry the apples and spread with cheese

Bake in the oven for 8 or 10 minutes or until cheese is properly set in the apple

To make candied walnuts -

Boil 1/3 cup water and add 1/2 cup sugar. Add walnuts once mixture is reduced then strain. Leave walnuts to dry on a tray.

Final step:

Arrange your salad greens on a plate. Top with the sliced tomatoes, baked apples with cheese and candied walnuts. Drizzle with your favorite dressing; in my case, it was some Italian label balsamic glaze. Enjoy!

Yakisoba & hiyashi chuka

Thanks to Chef Seiji Kamura and The Maya Kitchen for these recipes of some of our favorite Japanese dishes:

Yakisoba

2 tablespoons oil

80 grams pork, thinly sliced

20 grams onion sliced 

30 grams carrots, strips

60 grams cabbage, sliced into 2”

20 grams shimeji mushroom 

1 piece dry shitake, pre cooked, slice thinly 

60 grams mongo sprout, washed and cleaned

3 tablespoons soy sauce

dash of michi for spice powder

2 tablespoons salt/pepper to taste

2 tablespoons sesame oil

30 grams naruto

120 grams ramen noodles 

Heat oil in pan. Add pork, onion, carrots, cabbage, shitake, shimeji, togue, and half cook then put noodle season with sauce, salt and pepper to taste, sesame oil and sake. Half cook then serve. 

Hiyashi Chuka Dressing

100ml. soy sauce

100ml. vinegar

35g sugar

50ml. sesame oil

4 pieces garlic heads, pressed

Press garlic and add all the ingredients and marinate for 1 hour. Strain and use as dressing. Serve with Hiyashi Ramen Noodle

Hiyashi Ramen Noodles

140g noodle 

1 piece Japanese cucumber, sliced into strips

60 grams chashu (braised pork belly) 

1 piece crab stick 

egg (crepe egg)

10 grams wakame (sea vegetable)

Boil noodles for 3 minutes. Transfer to ice-cold water then drain. Plate noodle, garnish with cucumber, egg, chashu, crab stick and wakame. Just before serving, drizzle hiyashi chuka dressing. 

Stewed native fruits

Wow your guests with this perfect accompaniment for lechon. Recipe by Chef Myrna Segismundo of Restaurant 9501 in Quezon City and courtesy of The Maya Kitchen:

STEWED NATIVE FRUITS

Ingredients:

¾ cup White sugar

¼ cup Pickled santol, coarsely chopped

¼ cup Dried kamias, coarsely chopped

¼ cup Dried pineapple

¼ cup Dried mango

¼ cup Ripe green mango

Juice of one lime or lemon

2 tbsp Brandy

½ cup Water

Procedure:

In a heated sauté pan, add sugar to caramelize. Then add butter.

Add fruits, juice and brandy

Simmer for 2 minutes.

Add water and allow to simmer for another 10 minutes or until fruits are soft and mushy.

Grilled Liver & Red Wine Sauce for Lechon

½ kl Pork liver
2 tbsp. Unsalted butter
1 tsp Garlic, minced
2 tbsp. Onion, minced
1 ½ c. Red wine
½ cup White vinegar
½ cup      Water
½ cup White sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste



PROCEDURE:

Grill the pork liver until medium doneness.  Coarsely chop liver and saute in butter, garlic and onion.

Add the red wine and simmer for 3 minutes

Add vinegar, water and sugar and continue simmering another minute.  Season with salt and pepper.

Pour into blender and process until smooth.  Strain.  Keep warm.

Serve this sauce with Lechon

To prepare:

Slice the lechon into 1 inch slices with a serrated bread knife and allot about 2 – 3 slices of lechon per person.

Place in the center of a plate and drizzle the liver sauce around it.

Pinoy Ratatoy - a truly vegetarian dish

 If you've been to Cafe Juanita, then am sure you've seen Pinoy Ratatoy on the menu. It's this popular restaurant's take on the French dish ratatouille which is made with tomatoes, zucchini, aubergine or eggplant and other vegetables. Cafe Juanita's creation is more or less adapted from the original French recipe, we just noticed the addition of tuyo flakes. This can be a great vegetable side dish or the entree in itself. If you're going on a diet, try munching on this and think of nothing else .... it will fill you up in no time ;) Thanks to The Maya Kitchen for the photo & Cafe Juanita for the recipe.

 Ingredients:

 1 tbsp olive oil
10 g. chopped garlic
5 g. chopped onion
30 g. “tuyo” flakes
1 tbsp. zucchini
10 g. gggplant, chopped
5 pcs. fresh tomatoes, chopped
3 tbsp. wansoy, chopped
¼ tsp Tabasco

 Procedure:

 Saute garlic, onion and the tuyo flakes in olive oil. Add the zucchini, tomatoes and wansoy. Season with Tabasco. Fry sliced eggplant and mix with the cooked ratatoy.

Appetizer: crispy chicken croquettes

I learned to love croquettes from eating them in restaurants and parties. I still have to make them at home. The crab croquettes in Italianni's is really tasty. Here's another croquette dish I sampled from the cooking class of Mandarin Oriental Executive Chef Rene Ottlik at The Maya Kitchen. He demonstrated a number of tapas dishes and this was one of them. Looks easy to make too!

 Ingredients:

 400 grams chicken, boiled and finely shredded
200 ml olive oil
100 grams MAYA All-Purpose Flour
300 ml milk
30 grams garlic roasted
30 grams shallots roasted
salt, pepper, nutmeg
50 grams parsley, finely chopped
additional MAYA All-Purpose Flour
1 egg, beaten
400 grams bread crumbs
oil for deep frying

 Procedure:

Boil the chicken well in advance and keep the cooking liquid. Heat up in a pot the olive oil and stir in the flour, sauté for a while. Add slowly the milk and keep whisking until mixture is thick. Keep simmering for 20-30 minutes while continuously stirring. Add the shredded chicken, roasted garlic, roasted shallots and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Simmer for 10 minutes and add the parsley. Pour on a tray and place into fridge for several hours or overnight. Cut rectangular and roll to cylindrical shape. Roll in flour, egg and bread crumbs. Chill for an hour and deep fry golden crispy and serve on the side with garlic alioli dip. To make garlic alioli: Combine chicken stock, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil.

Moist chocolate cake

I call this THE moist chocolate cake. And nothing else in life brings joy. A taste of chocolate-y goodness is enough to give you a high for the day. Most of the time, I am thinking "I should diet!" but this is definitely one of those things you can't resist.... simply because! :)

Recipe from Chef Kittin Z:

Ingredients -

1 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups boiling water
2 ¾ cups MAYA All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
2 ½ cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Chocolate Icing:
½ cup cocoa
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons MAYA All Purpose Flour
2 ½ cups milk


Procedure:
1. In a bowl, mix unsweeted cocoa with boiling water; mix with wire whisk until smooth. Set aside and cool completely.
2. Sift all dry ingredients together, except the sugar.
3. In a large bowl of mixer, using paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, eggs, & vanilla until light and fluffy.
4. At a low speed, beat in flour mixture and liquid cocoa mixture alternately, ending with flour mixture.
5. Pour equally into three 9-inch round pans.
6. Bake in 350°F / 177°C oven for 25-30 minutes.
7. Mix all choco icing ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour hot icing immediately to cover cake.