Pastel de Lengua

Sirens, not of the Greek mythology kind, but rather the kind that produced loud wailing sounds, greeted me as soon as I got out of the crowded airport and onto the busy city streets. During the drive back to my friend's house, I contemplated going back to the airport and hopping on the first plane back to the city up north.

I would be the first to admit that I was never enamored by the City of Angels. I am, however, smitten by the City by the Bay. You know, the place where one leaves his or her heart (or so I heard)? But I digress.

LA has been my home for quite some time now. Living here taught me how to be independent and has been a humbling experience for me. Although I've adjusted to life here in LA, being away from the comforts of home and family makes me homesick.

SJP's said, " The most important thing in life is family. There are days you love them, and others you don't. But in the end, they're the people you always come home to. Sometimes it's the family you're born into and sometimes it's the one you make for yourself." I am just grateful to my friend, as well as to my dad's friends, for taking me in and treating me like family. I've met and made new friends because of them. I've gone on road trips and shopping sprees and food adventures with them. I look forward to their family gatherings. Good company and a sampling of Tito Alex' kare kare or Manong Jake's tinola or Carol's beef caldereta or Tita Lurlina's pancit makes me a happy camper.

Oh I made pastel de lengua the other day. Meltingly tender ox tongue was cooked with mixed vegetables and cheese, topped with a golden pastry crust. It was a bit time consuming because I had to pressure cook the ox tongue until tender. Then I had to peel the outer white covering of the ox tongue once it got cool enough to handle. Then I had to do some sauteing and then baking. To do away with extra prepping of veggies, I went ahead and used frozen mixed vegetables. I also used a prepared pastry crust because I didn't have time to make one from scratch. This is a dish that's meant to be shared and eaten family style, although presentation-wise, I like serving it in white ramekins.

PS

The sirens? They don't bother me anymore. In fact, they lull me to sleep. I've come to like L.A. but SF still has my heart.

Pastel de Lengua

1 ox tongue

water

2 onions , sliced

1 bay leaf

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

In a pressure cooker , combine all ingredients and pressure cook until ox tongue is tender. Reserve broth and set aside. Let tongue cool. Peel the outer white covering of the ox tongue and slice diagonally , about 1/2 " thick. Set aside.

2 onions, sliced

1/2 cup butter

1 can button mushrooms

1/2 cup flour

2 cups ox tongue broth

1 1/2 cups milk

3/4 cup grated cheese

1 bag frozen mixed vegetables

salt and pepper to taste

ready made pie crust or frozen puff pastry

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

In a pan, heat butter and saute onions over low fire until onions are transparent. Add ox tongue and continue cooking for 5 mins. Add mushroom and flour. Stir quickly. Pour in broth, stirring to prevent sauce from getting lumpy. Add the vegetables, milk and cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer to a baking dish and top with prepared pastry crust.

Combine egg and milk in a bowl and use to brush top of the pastry crust.

Bake in a 350F oven for 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Serve immediately.

"me time"

Hi guys! I'm back. Well sort of. I'll be in and out of the blogging scene for the time being because WORK beckons. Yes, work! I'm working even in my sleep. Seriously. Work has a way of weaving itself into my dreams. I even wake up in the middle of the night thinking of how I can get through the following day unscathed.

Take today for example. I was at a loss on how to fund one final check. Sales were down because of the weather and people are spending less. Time was running out and so was my luck. I was about to go home defeated but I guess the Lord had other plans. I was able to cover that final check at the last minute. The bank closes at 4pm but they allowed me one final transaction at 4:45pm (thanks UCPB).

God must really, really, really love me. I am beyond grateful. I asked and He provided. (I wonder though if the extra stress is really necessary? Kidding Kuya Jess. Aylabschu!) Now I can enjoy my "ME TIME" on Saturday. "ME TIME" is the one day of the week wherein I can refrain from thinking about work. Although "ME TIME" entails waking up at 6:30AM on a Saturday, I don't mind because I get to don my ISCAHM jacket and toque and spend half a day in the kitchen learning different cooking methods and techniques from real chefs.

I first learned about ISCAHM (International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management) from Angkowl Neil, a friend from IRC days. He said "ok dun" but I wasn't sold on the idea. It was only when my aunt, Tina C. Diaz, answered my queries that I decided to enrol. She is the managing editor of Foodie magazine, by the way.

Here are some pictures from my "ME TIME ". I forgot to take photos of the different cuts of veggies and potatoes. My gosh my hand hurt from all that chopping. I didn't know that there are more than 10 ways to chop a potato. My knife skills were pretty rusty!

My classmates and I with Chef Sean and Chef Uli, Canadian and Swiss chefs.

different dressings and sauces.

Ceasar salad, pepper cilantro crusted tuna salad with shoe string potatoes, mesclun greens with apples and prawns, curried chicken salad, shrimp cocktail, thai beef salad, warm bacon potato salad. All plated by Chef Sean. YUMMERCH!!!

I will take, err, grab some pictures from my classmates and post them soon. Till then be safe!!!

Simple Pleasures

I had two easy days this week thus allowing me to do two activities that I love doing. I was able to cook and bake. Thank you Lord.


Tuesday was lasagna day.

I was checking out the cabinet, looking for something to cook when I saw the box of instant lasagna. Perfect. I don't have to boil water to cook the lasagna sheets. All I had to do was make the meat sauce and the bechamel sauce. Except for the bell pepper and milk, all the usual suspects for the sauces were in the cabinet. I asked Kuya Allan to chop the onions and garlic for me. Ate Cory bought quickmelt cheese and bell pepper while I scurried off to CSI for some other grocery items and the milk. Before that I dropped by my dad's office and had lunch with the parents.

At around 4 pm I began preparing the meat sauce. In the pan went some butter, olive oil, chili flakes. I added the chopped onions and garlic. I added about half a kilo of ground pork and then some chopped red and green bell pepper. Salt and pepper and paprika followed suit before I added the tomato sauce, some sugar, herbs, a dollop of heavy cream and a handful of quick melting cheese. At the last minute I decided to add some stewed tomatoes that I rough chopped.
I then checked if the sauce was seasoned properly then I let it simmer a bit while I began the bechamel sauce.

For the white sauce, I melted some butter (like Ina, I'm not afraid to use butter!) and added some flour. This is called a roux. After a couple of minutes of whisking, the roux had a consistency similar to cake frosting. I then added the milk slowly and slowly whisked the mixture until thick. I seasoned it with salt and pepper and nutmeg. I also deviated a bit and added some grated quickmelt cheese.

Everyone knows how to assemble this dish right? Ladle some of the red sauce onto the bottom of the pan then arrange the pasta on top of the red sauce. Ladle some of the bechamel sauce this time then add another layer of pasta. Alternately layer the sauces onto the pasta. Onto the last layer of pasta, I ladled some of the red sauce and some of the bechamel sauce. Then I sprinkled the top with some grated cheese. Since I used instant lasagna noodles I had to bake it in the oven 30 to 40 minutes. Reduce baking time if using fresh pasta or pasta that you cooked in boiling water.

Wednesday was cookie day.




Two weeks ago, Kate (she's the one in the white shirt) and I were chatting on YM and we we got to talking about food and chocolate chip cravings. About two days later she gave me a ziplock bag full of almonds, dates and a bottle of pho base which I will use on Vietnamese Night (heaven knows what that will be).

Last Wednesday, I decided to make use of the almonds and made some chocolate chip cookies using Melissa Murphy's recipe.

Here are some slices of cookie dough. I had to roll and chill the dough. See the specks of chocolate chips and almond?



After 15 minutes in the oven, the slices of raw cookie dough looked like this. Aren't they pretty? I also made some plain ones using half of the batter for my sister Tanya. Then I made some chocolate cranberry cookies as well. Please see previous posts for the recipes or better yet buy the Sweet Melissa Baking Book.

After cooling on the wire rack, I packed some cookies in 3 separate containers. One for Kate. One for my grandma and one for the family.

I hope they enjoyed munching on the cookies as much as I enjoyed baking them.

Till the next baking session :)

Be safe.