Max Brenner

Hug Mug

Carbonara

Ingredients

1 Box Fettucine

1 Small can of Cream of Asparagus/Mushroom

1 Small box of Heavy Cream

1 Small can  of diced Button Mushrooms 

Bacon

Chicken Breast (Shredded)

Onion & Garlic

Grated Cheddar Cheese

Salt & pepper to taste 

Parsley for Garnish

Slice bacon in small cubes.  Fry it in a pan till cruchy to get the bacon oil. Set aside.  

In the same pan with bacon oil add olive oil.  Saute onion, garlic, chicken and mushroom until tender. 

Add bacon.  Reserve some for garnish. Add cream of asparagus/mushroom. Stir. 

Add heavy cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir & bring to a simmer. 

If the consistency is too thick add 1 cup of water.  

Put the cooked pasta. 

Before serving, garnish with bacon, grated cheese, and parsley.

Diningding: Ilocano

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/3 cup bagoong isda
4 cups water
4 tomatoes, quartered
1 onion, quartered
1 thumb-sized ginger, crushed
1 squash, cubed
1 bundle sitaw, cut into 2-inch long pieces
5 pieces sigarilyas,cut into 1-inch long pieces
2 finger chilis (siling haba)
5 pieces okra, halved
1 ampalaya, halved and sliced
1 eggplant, cut into 2-inch long pieces shrimps
1 whole tilapia or bangus, fried or grilled

Heat olive oil, then sauté garlic and bagoong for 3 minutes. Strain.

In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the strained bagoong, tomatoes, onion, ginger and squash.

 

When squash is half-cooked, add the sitaw, sigarilyas, sili, okra, ampalaya, and eggplant. Do not stir. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add the eggplant and shrimps. Cover and cook until done. Add the fish on top, and cook until heated through.

Recipe from: 

http://vonrueckers.tripod.com/Recipes.htm 

Japanese Cheesecake: light and fluffy

Based on recipe from Dianna's Desserts

Prep time: around 1 hour (faster if you're a seasoned baker)
Cooking time: 1 hour 10 mins

Equipment

• Double boiler, or similar - I use a Pyrex bowl sitting on a smaller pot of boiling water, with the base of the bowl ideally not touching the water
• 8'' round baking-tin, with high sides (say 3'') and a sealed base - if the base is removable, use tinfoil to wrap the entire outside of the cake-tin to seal it
• Bain-marie - I use a large pot (with the plastic handles removed) or a high-sided roasting tin
• Electric whisk - or a normal whisk and arms of steel 

Ingredients

• 2 pack cream cheese
• 4 tbsp butter, unsalted
• 1/2 cup milk
• 5 eggs, large - separate into whites and yolks
• 1/2 cup plain cake flour
• 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
• 3/4 cups white granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp salt

Melt the cream cheese, butter, and milk together in the double boiler, until there are no lumps. Cool this cream mixture, e.g. by put the bowl/pot into a larger bowl of cold water.

Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites, and whisk until foamy. Whisk until you get "soft peaks".

Returning to the cooled cream mixture: mix in the egg yolks, sugar, and salt, then the lemon juice. Gently fold in the flour and cornstarch, sieving it as you add it.

Add the cream-flour mixture to the egg white mixture bit by bit. Mix together very gently, to not loose the "airiness".

Line the sides and base of baking tin with grease-proof/baking paper, and pour in the combined mixture. Put the baking tin into a bain-marie - fill the bain-marie with enough water that the tin starts to float and then add some more (as it will evaporate off).

Place bain-marie into preheated oven 320 F and bake for 1 hour10 minutes. Don't open the oven before you think the cake is ready. (Usually 1 hour is enough).

To cool, tip the cake out, upside-down, onto a plate, remove baking paper (if you leave it to cool in tin, the top surface will crumple as the cake subsides). Leave to cool.

To serve, remove baking paper and tip cake back to brown-side-up. Serve cold.

Enjoy!

Bibimbap: Korean mixed rice with vegetables dish

Ingredients: 

Cooked rice 

a package of bean sprouts 

a bunch of spinach (1 bag)

2  zucchinis

5-7 fresh mushrooms (i use baby portobello, you can use shiitake or your preference)

200 grams of ground beef (about half a pound)

carrots

eggs 

green onions

soy sauce, hot pepper paste or anything to make it spicy

garlic, sesame seeds, sesame oil (dark for more flavor) 

vegetable oil for cooking

Instructions:

1. Cook rice (white rice). You can use a rice cooker or a stainless pot.(1 cup rice:2 cups water; 2 cups rice:3cups water...)
2. Put your spinach in a pot of boiling water and stir it for a minute. Then rinse it in cold water a few times and squeeze it lightly. Mix it with a pinch of salt, 1 ts of soy sauce, 1 clove of minced garlic and sesame oil. Put it on the platter 
3. Saute the bean sprouts in a pan, add soy sauce and pepper depending on taste. Cover the pan, cook for a few minutes till tender. 
4. Cut the zucchinis into thin strips, add salt depending on taste, and then mix them together. A few minutes later, sauté them in a pan over high heat. When it’s cooked, it will look a little translucent. Put it on the platter. 
5. Slice the mushrooms thinly and sauté with 1 ts of vegetable oil. Add 2 ts of soy sauce and 1 or 2 ts of sugar and stir it for 2 minutes. Add some sesame oil, and put it on the platter.
6. On a heated pan, put some oil and 200 grams of ground beef and stir it. Add 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1 tbs of soy sauce, 1/2  tbs of sugar, ground black pepper, and sesame oil. Put it on the platter. (Sometimes instead of using ground beef, I use ground chicken, or steak: I marinate it first with the ingredients listed above and cook it).
7. Cut a carrot into strips, sauté it for 30 seconds and put it on the platter.
8. Prepare eggs with sunny side up.
9. Put your rice in a big bowl, with the all your vegetables and meat . Place the sunny side up egg on the center.
10. Serve it with sesame oil and hot pepper paste.
11. Lastly, mix it up and eat!

* Not spicy sauce: Chop 4 green onions and put them in a small bowl. Pour half cup of soy sauce, and add 1 tbs of sesame seeds, 2 ts of sugar, 1 tbs of sesame oil. 

Homemade irish cream

1 tsp instant coffee

2 tsp white sugar (1:2 ratio for my taste)

2-3 tsp chocolate syrup

milk and/or  heavy cream (omit for less calories)

few drops of vanilla extract (3-5)

hot water or cold (for the winter I use hot water)

whipped cream (optional)