Sticky Date Pudding

The recipe's not really my own but, Taste.Com's. I have tried this recipe several times already it has always been a big hit (see photo above). And so I thought this is really worth sharing!




Ingredients (serves 8)




250g pitted dates, chopped

• 1 teaspoon bicarbonated soda
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 125g butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups Self-Raising Flour, sifted

• Caramel sauce

  
  
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 300ml thickened cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 60g butter

Method




1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line the base of a 7cm deep, 22cm (base) cake pan.

2. Place dates and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Pour over boiling water. Allow to stand for 20 minutes.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Using a large metal spoon, fold through date mixture and flour until well combined.

4. Spoon mixture into prepared cake pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Turn onto a plate.

5. Make sauce Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until sauce comes to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 2 minutes.

6. Pierce pudding all over with a skewer. Pour 1/2 cup of warm sauce over warm pudding. Stand for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges. Serve with remaining sauce.

Tapsilog

I have two kinds of recipes for tapsilog. One simple and the other one more...intricate. I normally use the easy one when rushing. It's not too bad, but not as tasty as the latter.

So here goes.. Let's start of with the more confound one, and let's call it Version 1.

Version 1:

Ingredients:

tapa:

1kg beef, thinly cut (I use scotch fillets or eye fillets)

1 clove of garlic

1 1/2 cups soy sauce

2-4 pcs. bay leaves

1 tablespoon corn pepper

1 1/2s cup Sprite

1 cup brown sugar

cooking oil

fried rice and eggs:

- garlic and shallots for fried rice

- sunny side up eggs

Procedure:

1. Bring some water to boil. Add your beef, garlic, corn pepper, bay leaves, soy sauce

2. I let mine boil for as long as possible. If using a pressure cooker, 20 minutes would be good enough.

3. After 20 minutes, add 4 tablespoons of brown sugar and Sprite, then stir. Let it boil some more.

4. When the meat is tender enough, prepare it for frying. Set the marinade aside. You'll still be needing that.

7. In a slightly heated pan, start frying your beef in oil. Add marinade GRADUALLY Put the lid on and allow the marinade evaporates. Occasionally stir to prevent it from sticking onto the pan.

8. You will know when you're meat's cooked if it is already brown and firm and sticky. But until then, keep adding marinade and let it sink through the meat.

9. Serve with fried rice and sunny side up eggs.

Version 2:

Ingredients:

tapa:

1 kg beef, thinly cut

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon ground pepper

2 pcs. bayleaf

1 cup vinegar

1 cup soy sauce

cooking oil

fried rice and eggs:

- garlic and shallots for fried rice

- sunny side up eggs

Procedure:

1. Marinate for 20-30 minutes. Keep in mind that I am using this version in spur of the moment kind of thing, or when rushing, so it may not necessarily be 20-30 minutes - so let's just say marinate it depending on how much time you have in your hands.

2. In a heated pan, cook meat in oil with half of the marinade.

3. Continue cooking until marinade has evaporated. Stir occasionally to prevent meat from sticking onto the pan.

4. Add the other half of the marinade when necessary. And continue cooking until the meat is firm and brown.

5. Serve with fried rice and sunny side up eggs.

Chicken Longganisa

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo ground chicken meat
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon rock salt (or 1 1/2 teaspoon fine salt)
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon black peper, ground.

Procedure:

Mix all the ingredients into a bowl.

Roll small amount of ground chicken mixture in a wax paper.

Store in the fridge for a good hour or until ready to cook.

Then fry.