Restaurant Review: Isla (Filipino food)

Isla - lunch on September 28, 2014

When my cousins were here for my dad’s birthday party a couple of weeks ago, they went the next day to a Filipino restaurant called Isla. Neither my parents nor I had ever heard of it but, on my cousins’ recommendations, we decided to try it for lunch after church a week later. There aren’t that many Filipino restaurants where my parents live, at least not many we know about or seek out, except for Tribu. Isla was closer to our church and, ironically, within walking distance of the restaurant where we had my dad’s party.

The restaurant is quite large and was structured to accommodate large groups of people as most of the round tables were set for 8-10 people. There are only a few 4-toppers and we were seated at one of those. Their menu held a lot of classic Filipino dishes and their prices were mostly in the $8-12 range. Isla offers unlimited free rice (“rice-y” Asians will appreciate this) and other specials such as if you buy more than $50 worth of entrees, you get some kind of freebie, either a discount or an appetizer, I think. Sorry, I forgot what it was.

We ordered the fried lumpia appetizer (always have to try the lumpia at a new Filipino restaurant) - $7.95 for 20 pieces. The pieces were a bit small compared to my mom’s. Before I go further, just accept that I will always compare any Filipino food not cooked by my mom to my mom’s cooking. It’s just the way of the universe. And probably one reason we don’t eat at Filipino restaurants very much because they’re often not as good as my mom’s cooking. Truth.

Lumpia

My dad got the “bangsilog” which is shorthand for “bangus” (milk fish) and “itlog” which is the Tagalog word for egg. All such “-ilog” dishes come with rice so think of them as a Filipino rice plate. With fried egg. If you want the egg scrambled, you have to let your server know when you order. Otherwise it’ll come sunny side up. My mom and I went with the pancit palabok (noodle dish) and pork BBQ. In Filipino-speak, it isn’t “BBQ Pork” or “BBQ Chicken” – the bbq comes at the end. Don’t ask me why. I just accept it.

Bangsilog

The pancit was, almost inevitably, not as good as my mom’s. The sauce was just okay and I didn’t like the noodles they used. I didn’t like the texture (a bit coarse) and the sauce didn’t make up for it. The Pork BBQ however was delicious. Great flavor, really tender and not too much fat. Not dry as pork dishes sometimes are. I could’ve wished for a little more sauce/marinade but only because it was so good and I wanted to moisten my rice more with it so that was wishing for more in a complimentary greedy sort of way. It was good and something I’d get again next time I go there.

Pancit Palabok

Pork Barbecue

Service was a bit sketchy as the servers were busy and rushed around too fast, making it difficult to catch their eye but they were nice and when we did manage to snag their attention, they were very helpful. Both my mom and I liked the “caldero” or little pot the rice came in. The authentic and larger version is the type of pot old-school Filipinos would’ve made rice in over an open flame. None of that rice cooker business. My grandmother would’ve used something like that so it gave me a pang of nostalgia.

It was also a good sign that most of the patrons while we were there were Filipino – that’s how you know it’s good. I’d go back again; they’ve got reasonable prices and yeah, that Pork BBQ has my name on it.

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts - made September 27, 2014 from Eat, Drink, Love

Remember how I said I wasn’t a doughnut person and yet I still bought a doughnut pan to bake doughnuts in? And how I used it once to try out a recipe? Have you heard me talk about doughnuts since then? Probably not. Mostly because I haven’t actually made doughnuts since then so I’ve had those doughnut pans sitting in the cupboard, neglected and reproachful. “Hey, you bought me. Dust me off and use me.” Every once in a while, I listen to my baking pans. Especially when their voices combine with the shrieks from the recipes on my pinboard, “Try me! Why’d you pin us if you weren’t going to use us? Are we just decorating your cyber space here??” Good questions – all of them.

To stop those voices in my head, I shut them all up by trying out this recipe for baked pumpkin doughnuts. We’re still having Indian summer weather but it’s October so I’m pretending it’s fall. Which means pumpkin stuff. Mostly because I wanted to use up the leftover pumpkin puree from the Glazed Pumpkin Sugar Cookies I’d made before.

Baked doughnuts almost always have the texture of cake doughnuts rather than yeasted doughnuts. Which makes sense since you’re baking them like a cake rather than frying them. Healthier for you but it’s a small round cake with a hole in the middle, just to set your expectations. I liked these doughnuts in that they were cakey and the melted butter/cinnamon-sugar coating just made the doughnut. Honestly, the doughnut was just the vehicle to get the butter-cinnamon-sugar into your mouth. Pumpkin doesn’t have a strong flavor so these may be a bit bland if you don’t do the coating but why would you leave it out? These would also be good glazed with some royal icing (confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and milk).

Similar to cakes, these doughnuts are best served fresh the day they’re made. If you’re not going to serve them right away, don’t coat them at all; just wrap them individually in plastic wrap, place in a freezer bag and freeze them. When you’re ready to serve them, let them thaw, refresh them slightly by heating in the microwave or oven then dip them in melted butter and roll them in cinnamon sugar or skip the butter and just glaze them.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspooon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup butter-flavored olive oil (I used regular)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup milk

Cinnamon Sugar Coating
6-7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a doughnut pan with non-stick spray.
2. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.
3. In a separate, larger bowl, stir together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until smooth.
4. Add dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients and mix until just combined, being careful not to overmix. Spoon the batter into each cavity of the pan. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
5. For cinnamon sugar coating, melt about 6-7 tablespoons of butter. In a separate bowl, stir together about 2/3 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon. Dip each doughnut into the butter until completely coated and then dip into the cinnamon and sugar. Repeat with each doughnut.

Soft Peanut Butter White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft Peanut Butter White Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough September 7, 2014 from Cookies and Cups

I normally pair peanut butter with semisweet or milk chocolate – and fine combinations those are too. This is a different twist with white chocolate instead. Both these flavors I’m just so-so about but figured I would go for it since I share what I bake anyway and I can’t always bake for what only I love. Well, I could but let’s try to be a little less selfish with this recipe.

It’s actually a pretty good peanut butter cookie. I made them on the small side and baked them from frozen dough. They didn’t spread much either which was a point in their favor. Although semisweet or milk chocolate pairs well with peanut butter and complements it, I thought the white chocolate chips enhanced the peanut butter flavor. It didn’t compete with the peanut butter so much as make a nice backdrop for it. So if you want a quick, easy peanut butter cookie recipe, kick the tires on this one and let me know what you think.

Oh and you will only get this "fudgy" texture that you see here if you don't overbake it. Did that even need to be said?

1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In bowl of stand mixer combine all the ingredients except flour and white chocolate chips.
4. Beat mixture on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping sides as needed.
5. Mix in flour until combined and finally stir in white chocolate chips.
6. Using cookie scoop or large spoon place dough 2 inches apart on baking sheet. If you prefer not as tall of a cookie, press dough down slightly, as cookies will not spread when baking.
7. Bake for 9-10 minutes until bottoms have just set. Do not overbake, cookies will still be soft on the inside.
8. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Restaurant Review: Three Seasons

Three Seasons - dinner on September 16, 2014

As part of the second conference I was at a few weeks ago, we had team dinners following food truck night. The conference attendees were split up into groups of 10-15 and assigned different restaurants nearby.

I thought that was a brilliant idea because it gave us a chance to get to know a smaller subset of people much better. I was lucky enough to be in a group where I already knew a couple of people but the others were either complete strangers or people I barely knew. So it was a good opportunity to have real conversations to get to know people. Which I prefer as, despite my indoctrination in business school, surface schmoozing isn't my strength. Actual conversations beyond the weather and how long each of us has worked at the company is much more meaningful.

Even better, I had been to Three Seasons previously but only once before and with that size group, I could safely recommend a couple of favorites I had tried and still partake of the other dishes I'd never had so I could try something new.

Three Seasons is Vietnamese fusion, similar to Tamarine, although I have to give Tamarine the edge for good food. Still, Three Seasons is also good, particularly their shaking beef and garlic noodles with prawns. Those were my favorites that I begged recommended the group try.

Chicken Satay appetizer

Shaking Beef

Curry Chicken

The Curry Chicken was something I hadn't had before but it ended up being a third favorite to add to my list. I normally don't eat a lot of curry as the flavor can be too strong for me but this was a good balance, not too much curry but pretty tasty.

Garlic Noodles with Prawns

Fried Rice

I didn't try all of the dishes since I was saving room (you can guess for what) but I snapped pictures of them all. Since I was dining with relative strangers who didn't know my penchant for taking photos of every edible thing that hit the table, they were remarkably forbearing and humored me, which I appreciated.

A veggie dish I didn't eat

Lamb Chops

Fried Snapper

But let's cut to the chase and get to dessert. My tablemates were "full" but fortunately I found a few kindred spirits who were game for dessert. With their input, we ordered the banana egg rolls and the molten chocolate cake.

Banana Egg Rolls

The banana egg rolls were a little more anemic thinner than I expected and you definitely should eat these a little warm while they had some crunch. I like the concept of them but I would've made them fatter. It was almost like eating a puffy french fry whereas I had been hoping for something more spring roll-sized. Still, it's hard to go wrong with fried caramelized bananas with caramel, chocolate sauce and ice cream.

Molten Chocolate Cake

You can go even less wrong with molten chocolate cake. I know they're very commonplace in restaurants now and have been for some time. Long enough that food snobs probably look askance at them. But, while I am a dessert snob, I never want to be so snooty that I would yawn over warm chocolate cake with a liquid center. With ice cream. C'mon, there's no place for that kind of snobbery here.

Soft Glazed Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

Soft Glazed Pumpkin Sugar Cookies - made September 21, 2014 from Lauren's Latest

I made these for a potluck after church the day after my dad's birthday party. I had baked a lot for the party but held back this batch of cookie dough to bake the morning of the potluck. I knew after my dad's party I would be pretty wiped out and likely not in the mood to bake. Yes, those times do happen but once those 5 minutes have passed, I like to be ready to turn the oven on and get going.

These didn't spread much so you want to flatten the cookie dough into thick discs once you portion them out and before you freeze the dough. The dough itself is a bit soft so I layered them between sheets of wax paper before I froze them.

I admit I overbaked the first batch by a minute or so - see how cakey the picture below looks? It wasn't dry but I prefer my cookies a little more moist. Fortunately the glaze helped. So I underbaked the next batch by a couple of minutes and was happier with the result. This is a cookie you don't want to overbake but you also don't want to underbake too much or else it'll be doughy.

Flavor-wise, this didn't not have a strong pumpkin flavor. If you want to amp up the spices, you could try increasing the pumpkin pie spice or adding cinnamon or nutmeg. I did find it a little bland so don't skip the glaze as that helps sweeten the cookie.

Baked properly, a bit more moist, dense and chewy rather than cakey

1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup pumpkin puree {canned pumpkin}
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Glaze 
3 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, stir butter, oil, pumpkin, sugars, vanilla and eggs together until incorporated and smooth. 
3. Slowly mix in all dry ingredients until completely incorporated. 
4. Scoop onto prepared baking sheet using 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop and flatten to 1/2 inch thick using the bottom of a glass. If the dough is sticking to the glass, press the bottom of the glass in granulated sugar before flattening. Bake 8-9 minutes.
5. While cookies bake, stir all ingredients together for glaze until smooth.
6. Once cookies are finished baking, cool 3 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to cooling rack. Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons glaze over each warm cookie. Let glaze harden 2-3 hours before serving. 

Spiced Apple Caramel Crumble Bars

Spiced Apple Caramel Crumble Bars - made September 19, 2014 from The Comfort of Cooking

This is one of the bar cookies I made for my dad's birthday party. For the life of me, I couldn't get a picture of them as good as the ones from The Comfort of Cooking so please click on the title of this post to go directly to their blog and their pictures. Theirs look much better than mine.

This is one of those bar cookies that need to be eaten with a fork or else made and served in a cobbler dish or in ramekins. Then you can make them more like apple cobbler or apple crisp. I went for the bar version and they came out a little more delicate than I had anticipated.

For more sturdiness, I recommend you make the bottom crust a bit thicker (so use 1/2 to 2/3 of the crumb mixture for the bottom layer) and perhaps even pre-bake it for 10-15 minutes to give it a head start. Or you can make as is below and just accept the bottom layer will be soft.

I did like the apples and the thickened sugar syrup poured over them before baking. You know that thickened mixture of apple juices when you bake an apple pie? It's like that but without relying on the apples to bake in their own juice. The extra "sauce" gives them an extra boost. These were pretty delicious, especially as a fall dessert. At my dad's party, my parents' friends liked it. I'm going to assume they thought it "wasn't too sweet".

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups cold butter, divided
5 cups (4-5 medium) peeled, diced apples
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon (pinch) ground nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Cut in 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside 2 cups for topping.
3. Press remaining crumbs into prepared baking dish. Evenly arrange apples over top.
4. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, water, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thick and bubbly; spread over apples. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs. For large "crumbs", squeeze into clumps and sprinkle on top without breaking them.
5. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until top is lightly browned. Let bars cool completely before cutting.

Food Truck Review: Fairy Cakes

Fairy Cakes - tried on September 15, 2014

A couple of weeks ago at work, during my second conference in two weeks, the pre-conference mixer included having four food trucks onsite to provide appetizers and dinner for the conference attendees. One truck had a South American theme, another an Asian theme and a third was American cuisine. The fourth, however, is what earned my slavish devotion: dessert in the form of cupcakes from Fairy Cakes.

Not being a regular patron of food trucks (I know they’re all the rage but I’m a creature of habit and food trucks don’t usually cross my path), I was unfamiliar with Fairy Cakes but it was dessert, it was a cupcake and it was literally right in front of me. Serendipity or what? When it comes to dinner, it’s very important to strategize when dessert is on the line. That means, I ate a small dinner that could fit in the palm of my hand (rice and Korean short ribs if you want to know or maybe a few kernels of rice and half a short rib because I really did keep the portion small). Therefore freeing my stomach and my daily allotment of calories so I could have a cupcake for dessert.

Most of the conference attendees were congregated around the bar area doing their mingling. I don’t drink and didn’t want to take up valuable near-the-bar space so I just happened to drift towards the cupcake truck (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it). There was hardly anyone there yet so I could engage the girl in the truck in very important conversation. With questions like “what’s your best flavor? Which cupcake do you recommend?” They had a list of flavors available, including chocolate and vanilla versions of a salted caramel cupcake. Salted caramel. Tempting. But the cupcake lady recommended the cookie butter cupcake because “it was different”.

Cookie Butter Cupcake

I happen to be a fan of cookie butter so it didn’t take much to persuade me. It took me longer to talk myself out of getting a second cupcake. I did want to try one of the salted caramel cupcakes and it wasn’t like the cupcakes were that big. But I was experiencing a rare moment of virtue colliding with willpower so I went with one cookie butter cupcake and forced myself to walk away before I could weaken. I was chatting with a few other folks (back to the mingling) while I ate my cupcake. I think I had to step away for a minute after I took the first bite. I was having a moment, just me and the cupcake. It was too sacred to be shared, schmoozing be damned.

Okay, people, this was probably one of the best cupcakes I’ve ever had. I’m sorry, Candace Nelson of Sprinkles fame, I just cheated on you and enjoyed it. And I’d do it again. The Fairy Cakes cookie butter cupcake was amazing. And proof of that is I ate the whole thing, including the frosting (me! Non-frosting person!). The frosting was actually the best part. It tasted as good as it looked. The cupcake itself was a very delicious buttery vanilla cupcake and not cookie-butter-flavored but it was moist and had the perfect cake texture. It also served as a very handy backdrop and vehicle with which to deliver the frosting. There was a center dollop of straight cookie butter on top of the cupcake and then cookie butter frosting piped around it. Delicious. Amazing. OMG, I can’t believe I only got one. I almost went back for a second one but I made myself walk away and head back to my desk, regretting it every step of the way. Sometimes virtue and willpower really suck.

Fortunately, one of the event coordinators, who happened to hear me raving about the cookie butter cupcake, meaning I was telling anyone at the conference who would listen, “try the cookie butter cupcake, it’s amazing, you won’t regret it, you’ve GOT to try this cupcake”, told me the next day that dessert for lunch that day would be the cupcakes from Fairy Cakes. Wow, did she make my day. So you know what I had for dessert that day. I wanted another cookie butter cupcake but I still wanted to try the salted caramel cupcake so I ended up splitting a cookie butter cupcake with another person and took a whole chocolate salted caramel for tasting. As the lady I split the cupcake with said, “1 ½ cupcakes, that’s totally reasonable.” Absolutely.

Chocolate Salty Caramel Cupcake

The chocolate salted caramel cupcake was good but it didn’t match the cookie butter. The chocolate flavor could’ve been a tad bit more chocolatey and the salted caramel drizzled over the frosting was a bit too salty for me. Their frosting was really good though and, just like with Sift cupcakes, I loved the frosting. I don’t say that very often. But it’s the cookie butter cupcake that will make me seek out Fairy Cakes again. According to their website, they go out in their food truck in different locations a few times a week. Believe me, I’ll be showing up at one of those places sometime soon.

Half of a Cookie Butter Cupcake