Simple Fried Rice

I've never made fried rice before. Not once in my life. But I love it. So one night I decided to try making one. I've read different recipes from the internet prior to making it to get a feel of how I should do it, and then I made it. So here it is (most of my measurements are estimates. I didn't really measure them).

Simple Fried Rice

* 2-3 cups cooked rice (depending on how many you are serving. Leftover rice from the previous day is better)

* 2-3 Tbps Sesame oil (just cover the whole pan)

* 1-2 cups frozen peas, carrots, corn, beans, etc. (thawed) - or however much you want to put it. These are the ones you buy at the frozen veggies aisle at your local department store.

* 1 small onion, chopped

* 4 cloves garlic, minced

* 2-3 eggs, beaten

* soy sauce (to taste) - I used about a little over 1/4 cup

Heat the oil in large skillet in medium-high heat. Sautee the garlic and onion slightly, then add the thawed vegetables. Stir fry until they are tender. You can then either put them in a separate container or just push them at the side of the skillet. Pour the eggs on the vacant side of the skillet  (if you didn't put the vegetables in a separate container) and cook it like a scrambled egg. Once the egg is scrambled, stir-fry it together with the vegetables.

Add the rice and the soy sauce. Stir fry until everything is well-blended/mixed and heated through.

Excuse my picture, it was taken from my cellphone.

So that's what I did. You can put anything else you want in your fried rice - boneless chicken pieces, bacon, ham, brocolli, etc. Just be sure to stir-fry the ones that takes the longest time to get cooked first. Maybe I will try my next one with oyster sauce. You can try that too!

What's For Dinner?

Tonight was one of those nights. "What's for dinner?" is probably one of the many constant things I ask myself on a daily basis, and is usually not done in a timely manner and most of the time not done AT ALL (breakfast for dinner, anyone?)

Well, yesterday I didn't make anything for dinner. I wasn't up to the task. I was lazy and I gave in. So my dear hubs went out and bought the ingredients for our tortilla soup - and as usual (when it comes to meals like this), the kids had something else.

I was stuck with "what's for dinner" question all day today, AGAIN! My meal calendar was blank. I was scanning my head for anything I knew what to make but they didn't seem appealing. "STIR-FRY" is what my head always said. Still clueless after the kids' nap, I threw one frozen chicken breast on a sauce pan and boiled it, not knowing what I'd make of it. "Stir-fry" is what my brain still told me. So stir-fry it was! But how will I make the stir-fry? "Easy! Just let me tell you later," is what my dear brain replied.

I made some rice. Got the chicken out and shredded it. Took out some frozen broccoli florets, LUCKY we had a red bell pepper in the fridge, and the usual onion and garlic. No measurements, just basic guessing. No sense of smell, so I couldn't smell what I was cooking. All I knew was to throw in whatever came into my head. Sautéed the onion and garlic in olive oil, unthawed the broccoli quickly in the sink with cold water, threw it in the pan, sprinkled it with whatever spices I found in my cabinets (lemon pepper, chicken rub, season-all, salt, pepper). Stirred/mixed it with the sautéed garlic and onion for a little bit.  Covered the pan for a little while, hoping the taste of the spices will stick to the veggies and the little steam will make the broccoli soft because it's frozen. Threw in the bell pepper, and the shredded chicken - and stirred!

But omigosh, it's getting too dry! I opened the fridge, and voila! Some leftover chicken broth from last night's dinner. Poured a bit in (again no measurements, just guessing) in the frying pan. Sprinkled some more spices (same ones) hoping this will turn out good. Covered it and left for however minutes on low heat until I thought it was good enough to consume.

My heart almost melted during dinner when J attacked the broccoli and the red bell pepper first before anything else, and C ate BROCCOLI without any tantrums thrown, and he finished his whole bowl! (J ate a lot, too, but played with the rest). My picky-eater liked my experimental dinner! It's this kind of night when both kids love the meal, that makes me say it was all worth it.

Sorry, no pictures. I was kinda lazy to take a picture of it, but it was honestly yummy!

Filipino Leche Flan

Leche Flan is a sweet egg/milk custard that we Filipinos like to have for dessert besides fruits like the sweet yellow mango (mmm, miss those!).  Sometimes leche flan can also be mixed to other sweet treats like halu-halo.

I haven't made some in a long time. Practically months before we left Hawai'i in 2010. So I was kind of scared to do them again, thinking I might burn the "caramel."

Well, my husband told me the other day that Costco has 60 pcs. of large eggs for $8.00. And that day I was craving for some leche flan, I actually bought one from the Filipino store in Maryland Pkwy. So when he told me Costco has 5 dozen eggs for $8.00, I told him we should get it and I can make leche flan at least three times (36 eggs) and we'll still have enough eggs for regular meals.

So to Costco he did buy those eggs. Darn it's a lotta eggs! I googled some recipes because I wasn't sure if I remember it right. I only remembered the improvised steamer version of it, but I forgot the ingredients. After reading a few of the recipes, I came up with my own. So here's my own way of making it. It's not yet perfected, a lot of other people can make better batches. But mine tasted good enough. I also like how there weren't bubbles and the flan was creamy. My dad said the sweetness was just right.

Please excuse my poor grammar in the directions. Just hit me a comment if you have any question.

(serving size - 3 pans/llanera. Divide each mixture into the three pans/llanera).


CARAMEL:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

CUSTARD:
12 egg yolks
1 (14. oz.) condensed milk
1 (12. o.z) evaporated milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract


* Preheat oven at 375 degrees F.

* Combine sugar and water in one boiling pan. Boil in low heat until sugar dissolves. Switch to medium heat and caramelize the mixture until the color turns amber - at least 10-15 minutes. Poor the caramel into the pans (try not to make it too deep or too high or too much), making sure you spread it to the side of the pans as well. Just line the pans with the caramel, basically.

* Mix the egg yolks, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract in a big bowl. Don't stir too hard to avoid too much bubbles from forming. Pour the mixture into the caramel-lined llanera/pans (or in a separate bowl first) by straining it through a cheesecloth or a fine-meshed strainer to capture the other solid particles and bubbles (I used a fine-meshed strainer). I find it easier to strain the mixture in a different bowl first before pouring it into the llaneras.

* Cover the llaneras with foil.

* Place llaneras in a larger baking pan half filled with water (or the water being as high as the custard in the llanera). Place pan in pre-heated oven, and bake for about 1 hour or until firm. Use the toothpick method to make sure it's done (the toothpick has to come out clean).

* Once you've taken the llaneras out of the oven, place a plate upside down on top of one of each llanera. Hold the plate and the llaneras tight together, then invert! I find it easier to do this if I put the llanera on top of a couple of pot holders first, then put the plate on top of the llanera upside down. I can then hold the pot holder and the plate together with the llanera sandwiched in-between them (because the llanera will be hot) before inverting.

* Let the flan swim in the caramel and enjoy! MMmmm!!!!