Easy Peasy Beef Enchilada

Enchilada is made from tortilla dipped in spicy tomato sauce and stuffed with your choice of meat. A popular Mexican dish, the term enchilada means dipped in chili.

Because of the popularity, there are so many versions of enchiladas nowadays, depending on the preference of the cook.

Well, my version is a non-traditional enchilada, because it is not spicy. My husband is not into spicy food, so I omitted the chilis.

But nevertheless, this dish turned out to be a cheesy, flavorful and wonderful version. This might be a pinoy version of enchilada, since I added a bit sugar into it.

Here are the recipes for the beef filling and tomato sauce. You can make (approximately) 3-4 enchiladas.

Beef filling
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium size onion, chopped
250g. ground beef
salt
pepper
half a teaspoon of dried basil

1. Saute garlic and onion, add the meat. When the meat is no longer pink, season with salt, pepper and herb. When the liquid has evaporated, turn off the fire and set aside.

Tomato Sauce
3 cloves of garlic
1 medium size onion
1 can of dice tomato
1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
salt
pepper
about a teaspoon of sugar to remove the acidity of the tomatoes (or more if you want it sweeter)
chili flakes / chili powder (this is a must! but i omitted it)

1. Saute garlic and onion. Add the tomatoes. Season with dried herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer until the mixture reduced in half. Add the sugar.

To assemble you will need the following:
a pack of corn tortilla, but I used flour tortilla.
beef filling
tomato sauce
quickmelt cheese, grated
parmesan cheese, optional.

The picture below is the process on how to prepare the enchiladas.

We loved them much!!! 

Baking 101: Fudgy Revel Bars

My world stopped. There is no turning back, I can smell the aroma...the warmth...I am so into it...so addicting. I found myself slowly and gently biting it. Then felt the sudden burst of that warm and sticky-gooey filling. So delicate and sweet and...CUT!!!

Now that's food porn! hahaha!!!

That is exactly what I felt when I ate my homemade revel bars. Revel bars include chocolate and oats...it's like sinner or saint! Junk yet healthy food.

Whatever it is, this recipe is worth a try. Some said, these are best eaten cold, but I still go for the warm revel bars. 

Here's the recipe. This recipe is good for two 8x11 pans or 48 bars.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 tsps. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 can condensed milk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

1. Set aside 2 tbsps of the butter. Beat the remaining butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until well incorporated. Add the eggs and 1 tsp vanilla and beat again.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and the baking soda. Add the oats and mix until well combined.
3. In a saucepan, over low heat, melt the chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons butter and condensed milk.  Add the remaining vanilla. Remove from heat then set aside.
Assembly
1. Set aside a quarter of the oat batter mixture. Divide the 3/4 part of the mixture into two, then gently press in the 2 pans. 
2. Generously spread the chocolate filling on top.
3. Course crumble the remaining oat batter on top of the two pans.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
5. Cool completely before slicing. But since I want my bars warm. I did not wait for it to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Cake Pop Project: Mickey Mouse Silhouette

Cake pops are simply crumbled cake, mixed with frosting, shaped, stuck in lollipop sticks and dipped in melted chocolates. From the single recipe of your favorite cake recipe, you can create so many shapes and characters...the possibilities are endless.

Next to cupcakes, this is I think the latest craze now.

Remember the time when you enjoyed playing with your clays? Yup! It is as fun as making these treats...the only difference is you got to eat your "creations"! How fun is that?

Got the inspiration from Angie Dudley of Bakerella, the Queen of all cake pops! Her imagination is crazy awesome!!! Since I discovered her blog, I have been dreaming of making my own cake pops. And when I completed all the ingredients, including the "courage", and found the perfect time, I made a batch...and lookie!!!

Sorry for the picture, heheh! Looks pretty decent for a first timer huh?  '

For instructions on how to make these, please check this link.

Note:
1. I used Pillsbury Devil's Food cake mix.

2. In the recipe, they used Wilton candy melts for the dip and sadly, the brand is no longer available in Living Well (slow moving daw), I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips instead. If you'll be using the white chocolate, you need to color it but please make sure to USE OIL-BASED FOOD COLORING. I found Wilton food coloring from living well and it costs P200+ for a set of 4 colors.

3. For Mickey's ears, I bought Goya Easy Melt Chocolate buttons.

4. Betty Crocker frostings are available in major supermarkets. This is the one that I used.

If you want homemade, please check here.

5. Will the frosting make the cake too sweet? Nope, just the right sweetness.

Enjoy!

Mochi Buns

These korean mochi buns are crunchy outside but super chewy inside. This is because of the glutinous rice flour included in the ingredients. It's like having fried "palitaw" with a twist. Best serve with condensed milk...

First tasted this in Chicken Park Petron Eastwood. They are selling these at P20.00 (?) each. For the dip, you can choose condensed milk or chocolate syrup. We chose the condensed milk and the combination is to die for. Actually, i suddenly remembered my nutribun-condensed milk combo that i had when i was in grade school...hehehe!

My officemate found the mochi bun mix from the grocery, tried it and here's the end-product.

YUMMY!!! 

Here's the box of the mochi bun mix, i just can't read the brand heheh!

image courtesy of happyhomebaking.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

Poptarts...Pinoy Style

It's been more than two months I know!!! I've been busy with a lot of things. Mostly with work, but I also had a short vacation, my first vacation outside the country! Yay!

My sister went home last May and brought us to Hongkong. I enjoyed the stay there...the places we visited were great and the food...HEAVEN! A bit disappointed with the shopping part though...everything's expensive. The tiangge items here in the country are expensive there.

When we came back, I must say I missed Pinoy food. I wanted to eat comfort food so off we went to Mom and Tina's for some simple homecooked style food. yum yum...truly soothing and comforting. You have to try to eat there.

Yes, nothing really beats homecooking, just like this Ube Poptart-style pie. Who would've thought that poptarts are so easy to make. That even a newbie cook can whip up these treats with a minimum effort (I can't say "with no effort" because of the kneading part hehehe)!



homemade poptarts!

 I got the idea and the dough/pastry recipe from Smitten Kitchen. But instead of using chocolates and other sugar laden fillings, I chose our humble purple yam or ube spread for filling.

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
1 large egg
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) milk

Purple yam (Ube) filling - I used the one bought from Baguio. 

1 egg for egg wash
1 tbsp water

Instructions:
1. Mix flour, sugar and salt thoroughly.
2. Add the butter. Using your hand, mix everything well until they hold together when squeezed.
3. Whisk the egg and milk together and pour it in the flour mixture. Mix everything until you form a ball.

Note: If the dough is soft, because the temperature is too hot, wrap it using a cling wrap and chill it for 10 minutes.
4. Spread flour in a flat surface. This is to prevent the dough from sticking on the surface when kneading.
5. Whisk the remaining egg and water set aside.
6. Divide the dough into half and roll the first half into rectangle. Divide them into the desired size. Brush with egg wash and put the ube filling.

knead...

kneaded, trimmed, brushed with egg wash

with ube filling

7. Roll the other half and divide them again, the same size as the first half of the dough. Lay each on top of the first batch.  Using a fork, seal the edges and prick the top of the poptarts. Brush top with egg wash.

8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
9. Line the baking pan with parchment paper and place the poptarts.
10. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
11. Serve warm.

yummy poptarts!!!

Note: You can also reheat these treats and you will still have the same result.


ENJOY!