Apple Pies

I would confess I never baked apple pies until I came to Korea. I guess apples are just too expensive or sometimes too scarce in the Philippines. But here in Janghowon (where we are based), there are an abundance of apples especially when they're in season. Apples would cost about US$5 per bag containing about 5-6 apples. Sometimes, it would cost the same amount for a single apple. I usually wait until the price goes down to about $3 per bag. I am glad that we get Granny Smith here, which are perfect for apple pie.

The first time I baked apple pie, I just cut up the apples and tossed them in cinnamon and sugar. Then, I poured everything in a pie shell and baked it. It didn't really cooked the apples and everything was a bit tart. So I found another recipe that called for cooking the apples with sugar and cinnamon in a pan until the apples were half cooked. Baking it in the pie shell would finish the cooking.

There are also so many ways to top the apple pie. You can go with a simple pie top shell with slits on top of it. Or with a fancy lattice-top like my apple pie above. Or if you don't have to even cover the crust, just top it with crumbly mixture of butter, sugar and flour (and a dash of cinnamon). Hubby loves this topping so much.


Here's my recipe for Apple Pie:

For the crust
Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cup flour, all purpose
5 tbsp. butter
5 tbsp. lard
1/4 salt
3 tbsp. water iced, or more if needed

1. Place the flour in the bowl and add the butter, lard and salt. Hold a table knife in each hand and cut the butter in, moving hands in opposite directions, to cut the butter to the size of peas. Or just break up the butter and lard with your fingers.

2. Add the water and mix until the dough comes together. If all the dough is not absorbed, add a bit more water. Cover and rest the dough for a while.

4. Flour a board and roll the dough out 1/8th inch thick. Prick with a fork to prevent blistering (I usually bake it with beans on top of it) and bake on a cookie tin at 425F for about 15 minutes until lightly brown.

5. Pour filling and bake as desired.

For the apple filling
6 apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
1/2 cup of white granulated sugar
1/2 tbsp. cinnamon powder
2 tbsp lemon juice

1. Add everything in a large, heavy bottom pan and let cook for 15 to 20 minutes over medium heat.

2. When the apples are half-cooked, turn off the heat and let cool before putting into the pie shell.

Putting together the pie:
Take the apple filling and pour into the baked pie shell. You may opt to not pre-bake your pie shell (I sometimes do when I don't have the time). Add the pie shell cover and crimp the edges to seal it. Brush on egg whites [or milk] to give it a glossy finish. Don't forget to cut slits (if your pie top is un-latticed) to let the steam out.

*Oh another tip: sometimes the filling bubbles over when you bake it. So, I usually put something under the pie plate like a cookie sheet to catch the overflow.

Jai and Billy

Ahhh my sons, Jai and Billy. I've never seen two sibling bond together so well. The eldest, Jai, is responsible, introvert and very analytical. The younger, Billy, is rambunctious, precocious and an extrovert. Two very different poles set apart yet so close that they sometimes fall asleep talking to each other.



Jai, my sensitive one. Named after an early western star (Rod Cameron). He loves anything mechanical. When he was a baby he was so fascinated with buses and stoplights that I have actually tried to buy a real stoplight to put in his room. He used to be obsessed with constructions and factories (he had hundreds of construction toys and trucks). Now, my boy wants to be a soldier, either a fighter pilot or a tank driver. It breaks my heart but he wants to be able to uphold honor, protect the weak and defend the country. I am so proud of him.



And we have Billy. Our little ray of sunshine. We've never seen a baby wake up so happy in the morning (he still does). A typical energetic boy who loves to run, jump, play, hang upside-down on monkey bars (he's broken his arm when he was 2). But my little Meatball (his current nickname) loves animals and almost all things that can move, eat and well... poo. He has gone through hamsters, beetles, eels, hermit crabs, dog and even a bunny (who's the only left alive). He may do something impish but a hug and a smile can lift the sternest frown from my face.

My boys. They're the love of my life and the breath of my soul.

As Filipino as ADOBO

There is nothing that screams Filipino like the adobo dish. In my country, almost every household has their own version of this savory viand. In fact, Adobo is considered as the national dish of the Philippines. History says that the recipe dates back to the olden pre-Hispanic days where spices and vinegar were used to cure and stew the meat. This help keep the meat longer without refrigeration.

The advent of the Galleon trade brought soy sauce from China. Thus, the popular dish came to be. The most popular way to make adobo is made out of pork or chicken or a combination of both. There are also beef versions, fish, veggies, heck even mushrooms. The possibilities are endless. The basic ingredients include: soy sauce, vinegar, minced garlic, salt and pepper. I basically add a bay leaf or two in my recipe.

Then there are numerous ways of how to cook the adobo. There's the dump everything in the pan and let it simmer until done. Or fry the meat up and then add the spices and then let it simmer. Others even add coconut milk (this would be the Visayan version). Most of the times, adobo is served with an inch of fat/oil swimming above the meat and sauce (sorry Mom, but this is my memory of your and Mamang's adobo).

To accomodate my hubby, my recipe calls for a bit of a time to prepare the adobo, this is because I refrigerate my sauce so that the fat can harden and I can de-fat easily. DE-FAT, I love that word. So here's my slightly healthier version of the Chicken and Pork Adobo.





Chicken Adobo

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, cut into serving sizes
1/3 cup soy sauce
2/3 cup white vinegar
1 head garlic, minced
1 beef boullion cube or chicken cube (if you don't have this, add a 1/2 tbsp salt)
6 peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. vegetable oil

1. In a large bowl or container marinate the chicken with all of the ingredients except the vegetable oil. Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for over an hour.

2. In a large wok, add the chicken and marinade and turn up the heat. Let the chicken boil in the marinade for 10 minutes then add 1 cup of water. Turn the the heat and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes.

3. Thoroughly drain the chicken, take the marinade and de-fat it (cool, put in the fridge so that the fat will congeal and you can get it with one scoop).

4. In another pan, add the oil and heat it. Add the drained chicken and fry until the pieces are golden brown. Drain the chicken and add back to the wok and add the de-fatted marinade.*

5. Turn the heat up again and simmer the chicken pieces until the sauce thickens up. Serve over cooked rice or fried garlic rice.

*You can cut up potatoes in wedges or cubes and fry these too. Add the potatoes with the chicken in the wok to simmer it together until the sauce thickens up.

**Pork can be substituted for chicken, let it simmer longer 45 minutes to an hour.

Barbeque love...

Let's get off with a decent start of this blog with food, shall we? I've always loved cooking (love eating too but hey who doesn't)?. I am truly thankful to the big Guy upstairs for giving me a wonderful cook as a husband. And yes we cook a lot of wonderful meals together. What's our all time family favorite? Barbeque!

Take one pork-loving Filipina and add a Kentucky mutton-barbeque fan and you've got a family who cooks barbeque even in the dead of winter, out in the patio, up 9 floors in their apartment building. Yep, we've grilled pork, chicken, steak, burgers, fish (for me), kebabs, etc. My favorite would be Chicken Inasal (chicken marinated in lemongrass, ginger and vinegar). Pictured at the right.

So expect a lot of barbeque posts in here (plus recipes). Heck I' might even share Daddy Bill's Kentucky Rib marinade. So fire up the grill and toss on the meat. Barbeque just can't be beat!

Well, this is the start

After refusing to write a blog for several years, I finally capitulated. This me, writing (again). Well, let me be clear. I was a writer (previous profession) and still a writer (born and raised). The latter is better explained by the fact that I started writing poetry and prose at the tender age of 8. And I am still writing... well somewhat writing.



Well this blog will cover a lot of things, most of them F's: family, food, freedom to rant, feelings, fandom (Terry Pratchett's) etc. And that is just the beginning. And you'll probably find different personas of mine: mother, cook, domestic diva, expat, orangutan (it's a long story but you'll soon find out why), etc.

Welcome to my warped, twisted mind (and stomach).