Pandesal or Bread of Salt (which is also the title of a popular short story written by NVM Gonzales) is probably the most popular bread in the Philippines. Pandesal is the favorite “agahan or almusal” (breakfast food) of most Filipinos. Pandesal can eaten plain or with filling. It is best to have it while freshly hot from the oven. Common fillings or palaman for pandesal are: Cheese pimiento, CheezWhiz, a slice of cheese, coco jam, butter, and liver spread. In the Philippines, most bake shops and bakeries sell Pandesal. Sometimes, this is sold in rolling stores (usually a honking bicycle with a big box on the back). When purchasing from a neighborhood bakery, be sure to be there before 8 in the morning because the supply runs out after that time. Pandesal can also be eaten as it is. I like having pandesal along with hot coffee. I am one of those people who loves to dip it in hot black coffee. How do you eat pandesal? Try this easy Pandesal recipe and let me know what you think.
Combine the yeast, sugar, and warm milk and stir until the yeast and sugar are fully dissolved
In the mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients starting with the flour then the sugar, salt, and baking powder . Mix well by stirring
Add the egg, butter, cooking oil, and yeast-sugar-milk mixture in the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients then mix again until a dough is formed. Use your clean hands to effectively mix the ingredients.
In a flat surface, knead the dough until the texture becomes fine. For faster and easier kneading, you may use a Stand Mixer with dough hook.
Mold the dough until shape becomes round then put back in the mixing bowl. Cover the mixing bowl with damp cloth and let the dough rise for at least 1 hour
Put the dough back to the flat surface and divide into 4 equal parts using a dough slicer
Roll each part until it forms a cylindrical shape
Slice the cylindrical dough diagonally (These slices will be the individual pieces of the pandesal)
Roll the sliced dough over the breadcrumbs and place in a baking tray with wax paper (makes sure to provide gaps between dough as this will rise later on)
Leave the sliced dough with breadcrumbs in the tray for another 10 to 15 minutes to rise
Pre-heat the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes
Put the tray with dough in the oven and bake for 15 minutes
Turn off the oven and remove the freshly baked pandesal.
Kick off a festive party with our easy canapés. These sticky-sweet bites can be partly prepared ahead for fuss-free entertaining
Roast the pork belly ahead then chill before cubing, roasting and glazing on the day.
Ingredients
pork belly 1.25kg, skinless and excess fat trimmed
marmalade 150g
dried chilli flakes 1 tsp
soy sauce 2 tbsp
orange 1, juiced
Method:
STEP 1
Heat the oven to 170C/fan 150C/gas 3. Put the pork belly into a roasting tin, cover tightly with foil and roast for 2 hours 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature, or chill if making ahead, and cut into bite-sized pieces.
STEP 2
Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Put the pork belly squares into a roasting tray and roast, turning regularly, for 30 minutes.
STEP 3
Put the marmalade, chilli flakes, soy sauce and orange juice in a small pan and bubble until reduced and syrupy.
STEP 4
Pour over the pork belly, gently toss and roast for another 5 minutes until the pieces are glazed. Pierce with cocktail sticks to serve.
Falafels are traditional Middle Eastern deep fried patties or balls made from chickpeas, fava beans, or both. They’re usually found stuffed in Pita bread or rolled in a flatbread along with fresh and pickled veggies and topped with a tahini sauce, that’s a Falafel Sandwich. They are also eaten with fried eggs, hummus, babaganouj, and pickles for breakfast or served as mezzes and snacks.
My first encounter with falafels was at a kiosk in New York city where I grew up. Buying a falafel sandwich from this kiosk was a treat when we spent the day at the near by park. Then my family moved to Hawaii in the mid-70’s where there were no kiosks selling “ethnic” foods and so I didn’t have falafels again until I married my husband who is of Palestinian decent. Imagine his surprise when I told him I actually knew what falafels were!
As newlyweds in Hawaii we had to figure out how to make falafels at home; as I new bride I had no clue! Remember back in the 80’s there was no google, no pinterest, no instagram, or any kind of internet that would find a recipe in seconds. I had to rely on cookbooks from the library, not really helpful.
Then we found a box of falafel mix at a local health food store. Just add water and fry. It wasn’t the best, but we made do. I started experimenting with the boxed mix and found that adding finely chopped fresh parsley improved the taste. Started adding more spices and pretty soon I figured I may as well by pass the mix and make it from scratch. That didn’t go so well until I managed to buy a food processor, now I was in business!
As I was exploring the makings for falafel from scratch we started traveling all over the world. Of course travel opens up your life to different places, foods, and cultures and our travels in the Middle East definitely helped my falafel making. We loved the falafel sandwiches at Mr. Falfala in Cairo and the ones found on the streets of Diera in Dubai. But nothing beats the fresh falafels served at Hashem’s and Abu Jbarra in Jordan! On our last trip to Dubai this year we discovered that Abu Jbarra opened a place by the Dubai Mall, we ate brunch there almost everyday!
Anyway those trips to Egypt, Dubai, and Jordan whetted my desire to make falafels at home that would be close to the ones served in the places we loved. I say close because I doubt I’ll ever figure out the exact match to Hashem’s falafels served in this little alley in downtown Amman.
I make large batches of falafels so that I have enough to freeze for future use. Raw falafel paste freezes beautifully! This way I don’t have to haul out the food processor every time I want to fry falafels and I always have some handy when I have a yen for a falafel sandwich.
I’ve found that using fresh ingredients makes the difference between decent falafels and amazing ones! So I use fresh cilantro, parsley, and dill as my primary seasonings; they will turn your mixture green, but the greener the falafel is the better it tastes in my opinion. I also use dry chickpeas never canned.
It takes a bit of planning to make really great falafels, but believe me it’s so worth the effort!
Fresh Falafel
Ingredients:
8 oz. Dried Chickpeas (1/2 a bag)
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Large bunch of Fresh Cilantro, rinsed and dried on paper towel
1 Large Bunch of Fresh American Parsley, rinsed and dried on paper towel
1 Small Bunch of Fresh Dill, rinsed and dried on paper towel
2 Tbs. Fresh Garlic, minced
1 Tbs. Cumin Powder
1 Tbs. Ground Coriander
1 Tbs. Sea Salt
1 Tsp. Ground Black Pepper
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
Oil for frying
Pita or Flat Bread
Optional Condiments: Fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickles, pickled beets, tahini sauce, thousand island dressing, or what ever you want to add in the sandwich
Directions:
Pour dried chickpeas into a bowl and mix in baking soda.
Cover with water and soak overnight.
Rinse chickpeas in cool water and drain in a colander.
In a food processor load in this order:
Cilantro leaves and stems (you don’t have to use all the stems but do use the leaves), Parsley, Dill (prepare and use Parsley and Dill the same way as Cilantro).
Drained chickpeas and garlic
Dried spices (cumin, coriander, salt, pepper)
Turn on processor and grind until it is a paste
If freezing place paste into freezer safe containers and freeze. Thaw before cooking.
If using immediately:
Heat about 2″ of oil in a small pot.
Add baking soda to falafel paste and combine well.
Test that oil is hot enough by dropping a small amount of falafel paste in; if oil starts bubbling around the paste your oil is ready for frying.
Form paste into small 1″ balls or patties and drop into hot oil.
Fry until all sides are brown, cooked falafel will float.
Drain on paper towels and serve as a sandwich filling or by itself for breakfast or as mezzes.
Healthy and Halloween.At the same time.Win – win if you need a respite from the onslaught of sugaryness of the Halloween season.
These little vegan cuties are made with carrot juice – and NOT orange food coloring – to make little orange rice balls.
I have been making these forthe last few yearsand they have become a tradition.I always have so much fun making their cute faces – just cut up black olives and make each one with its own personality.
It just wouldn’t be Halloween without them now.
And, if you’re anywhere near Utah this weekend, my sister Sandy and I will be demoing these and other fall recipes at Williams Sonoma at 1:00 this Saturday, October 12 at the Riverwoods Shops in Orem, Utah.Please stop by and join the fun.
— posted by Donna
CARROT RICE BALL JACK O’ LANTERN BITES
1 1/2 cups medium or short grain rice 2 cups carrot juice 1 cup water 1/2 teaspoon salt A handful of black olives, for garnish A few green bean tips, for garnish
Boil rice, carrot juice, water and salt for 15 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed.Let cool to room temperature.
To make jack o’ lanterns, form small balls (about 2 tablespoons each) out of rice, pressing firmly with hands.(Note: If rice sticks to hands, lightly sprinkle hands with water when rolling.)
To form eyes and mouths, cut black olives into shapes and press into the rice balls.To make stem, cut a small triangle of green bean and stick into rice ball on top.
For years now I usually write about travel on my Wednesday articles. Lately due to the worldwide Pandemic travel has become difficult and many times ill advised.
Many of us have chosen to stay home this summer perhaps planning our next trip whenever we feel safe enough to venture further away from home. In our case I’m not really sure when that will be, specially since cruising is one of our favorite vacation travel. Sadly the cruising industry has canceled cruises thru September and will likely cancel cruises thru fall and possibly the rest of the year.
Yes we’re sad and even restless. We haven’t been able to visit our daughter and her family in Italy since last fall. And yes we miss traveling. That’s why I’ve been trying to bring a little bit of our travels in to our home. What better way to “re-live” some of our favorite vacation spots than thru food. I’ve decided to share some of our favorite cuisine which we discovered during our travels. Because isn’t food a big part of traveling anyway?
So for the next little while on my Wednesday post I’ll share a recipe for a favorite food we discovered during our travels. I hope it will inspire you to try something different and maybe make plans to visit one of the countries!
Today I’ll share this Piroshki recipe. Piroshkis are very similar to American meat pies, British Pasties, Middle Eastern Fatayer, and even Empanadas from Mexico, Spain, and other Latin countries.
Piroshkis are a popular street or comfort food in Russia and the Ukraine. They’re fried or baked oblong buns (I prefer the fried) filled with a variety of fillings including beef, chicken, pork, mushrooms, and cheese. In Russia they’re considered a main course when eaten with a soup or salad. It’s often served with sour cream.
Today I’ll share a recipe for Beef or Chicken filled Piroshkis. They’re not too difficult to make and if you’re not used to working with yeast breads this is a fine recipe to start with as it’s fairly simple.
Meat Filled Piroshkis
Ingredients for the dough:
4 cups flour
1 Tsp. Active dry yeast
1/4 Cup warm water
1 Cup Milk
3 Eggs
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
2 Tbs. Sugar
1 Tsp. Salt
Filling Ingredients:
1 Lb. Ground Beef, Turkey, or Chicken
1 Large Onion very finely chopped
1/2 Cup Mushrooms very finely chopped
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Pepper
2 Tbs. Fresh Dill
1 Tsp. Dried Dill
1 Tbs. Fresh Garlic – minced
Oil for frying
Directions:
First prepare dough as follows:
Dissolve yeast in the warm water and place in a warm place until it’s frothy – about 10 minutes.
In a medium saucepan on low heat pour in milk and let warm up.
Whisk in the eggs, oil, sugar, and salt. This mixture will be warm and lumpy.
Remove from heat.
Place 1/2 of flour in bowl of stand mixer (or large bowl if mixing by hand). Using the dough hook gradually stir in the milk mixture until fully combined.
Alternately add yeast mixture and rest of the flour, be sure you mix well between additions.
Mix well.
Knead until the dough forms a ball and does not stick to sides of bowl. You may have to add some more flour (1 Tbs. spoon at a time) to get the dough to the proper consistency.
Cover with a cloth and set aside in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size. About 1-2 hours.
Meanwhile mix all the filling ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
When dough has doubled in size place the ball into a lightly floured surface.
Pinch of pieces of dough to form a ball about 2″.
Flatten dough and using a rolling pin roll each ball into disks about 4″ in diameter.
Place a heaping Tbs. of filling in the center of dough. Form filling into a line across the diameter. Fold dough over meat and pinch both ends to seal.
Place filled piroshki on to a sheet with the seam side down and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.
Heat enough oil in a pan deep enough so that the piroshkis will be at least halfway immersed in oil.
Place piroshki in hot oil seam side down. Fry until golden brown.
Gently flip over and fry other side.
Drain cooked piroshki on paper towels before serving.
Pandesal can eaten plain or with filling. It is best to have it while freshly hot from the oven. Common fillings or palaman for pandesal are: Cheese pimiento, CheezWhiz, a slice of cheese, coco jam, butter, and liver spread. In the Philippines, most bake shops and bakeries sell Pandesal. Sometimes, this is sold in rolling stores (usually a honking bicycle with a big box on the back). When purchasing from a neighborhood bakery, be sure to be there before 8 in the morning because the supply runs out after that time. Pandesal can also be eaten as it is. I like having pandesal along with hot coffee. I am one of those people who loves to dip it in hot black coffee. How do you eat pandesal? Try this easy Pandesal recipe and let me know what you think.
