Thursday, July 11, 2013

Planes, trains and everything in between...Bay to DC to NYC

Well hello there! Long time no post right. It's been a very transitional period in my career. New job, new focus and a high schooler ready to embark on his next journey. I haven't stopped searching and exploring the latest and greatest mind melting foodgasmic narcotic. In fact, I probably consumed more sinfully, ever so unforgiving eats than my body could handle. Yes, I have put on a few unwanted pounds...but that will soon turn around...I promise...after this trip that is. But I can't say that I have officially returned to the blogging ranks just yet. Although I do promise to chronicle this this experience do to the nature and intent of this trip. I promise to beautifully photograph.amd document my experience in the East Coast and also provide some helpful tips to my fellow parents who are fortunate enough to have college bound kids.

The purpose of this awesome adventure is to do my dad thing with my eldest kid. It's about that time where he is starting to plan out his future and I'm waking up in cold sweats having nightmares about tuition bills of 50k or more year! #investment, that's what I have to continue to remind myself. I do have to say that I have become somewhat of an expert when it comes to college planning. It pays to know more about the process early just so you and your child can prepare for the future. Trust me, don't rely on just your college counselors and or your neighbor recommendations. Anyway, I'll make sure to provide some tips, tricks and surefire ways to maximize scholarships and merit based aid. I promise to visit some great restos as well.

Did I mention that I have an been planning and executing this trip via app based resources, YouTube, social media and all powered by my iPhone. Pretty scary right? Anyway wish me luck and hopefully I get out of SFO soon. Peace.



Sunday, June 24, 2012

Chicken inasal empanaditas


by @mrfredbriones

I've always thought that being Filipino American was something to be proud about. My parents shared their rich culture and traditions with me throughout my childhood and I've never lost touch with my roots. My favorite memories were the many family gathering and parties where we shared traditional dishes that really couldn't be found at any restaurants at the time.

This month’s theme for the Kulinarya Cooking Club is “Only in the Philippines”. Pretty challenging for me to come up with a unique dish only because here in the SF Bay Area, we have so many authentic dishes that many of our restaurants and chefs share with us already. Although there is a dish that I rarely see on anyone's menu...with the exception of my fellow KCC member's posts.

I decided combine two of  my favorite dishes into one unique party snack. My goal was to infuse the unique flavor of chicken inasal and make some empanaditas.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb of ground chicken
  • 1 tablespoons ginger, minced
  • 1 tablespoons garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup lemongrass, chopped
  • 1/2 cup coconut vinegar
  • 1/4 cup lemon or calamansi juice
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp of achuete oil
  • egg wash - to help seal your wrappers
Combine all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. In a wok or a large heat 2 tbsp of achuete oil and completely cook your ingredients. Once you are done, transfer your cooked filling into a bowl and set aside to rest for 15 minutes.

For my wrapper, I used simple dumpling wrappers that are easily found at most Asian groceries. You can make authentic empanda dough like this from panlasangpinoy.com. If you have kids, make sure to let then fill the wrappers because it's pretty fun and definitely makes for a great family activity.


Use about a large spoonful of filling and place it on one side of the wrapper. Now using your egg wash dab your finger and lightly rub the outer edges of your wrapper. Next, fold your wrapper over to for a half circle. With small fork, crimp your edges to create a seal like the image above. Once you finish they are ready to fry. I used my trusty deep fryer for these because using my large frying pan would mean more clean up for me. Remember when frying anything, make sure that you reach temperature before starting to cook your food. Since the filling is already cooked, you only need to flash fry these for about 2 minutes using a deep fryer. I recommend taking the basket out and flipping the empanaditas after a minute of frying.

This recipe should yield over 40 empanaditas but I really lost track because the kids kept eating them once each batch was finished. Pick up two packages of wrapper just in case. You can also freeze your batch and save them for a later date.


Crispy empanaditas fresh from the deep fryer
I know that chicken inasal is normally a grilled dish, but once you bite into these crispy bite sized treats, the flavors will explode in your mouth and you won't be disappointed. You don't need any sauce for the empanaditas but you can play around with aiolis. I played around with a Sriracha Aioli which actually worked well with the sweetness of the empanaditas. 


Like most Filipino food it's meant to be shared and you'll definitely have enough to go around. For more delicious recipes, please visit my other Kulinarya Cooking Club member's blogs:

Palitaw  from Day of Chef by Day 
Tapsilog from Cherrie of Sweet Cherrie Pie
Kare-kare from Adora of Adora's Box
Kulawong Talong from Elizabeth of Asian In America