Waiting for Plums

June 22, 2015 § Leave a comment

This is what you make when you have an overflow of plums. I love stone fruits, and friends and family know that. So when plums (or peaches and cherries) reach our soil, I sometimes end up with too much. When that happens, this cake will most likely end up in my oven.

A light, moist cake with a citrusy bite that’s great with tea, I served this to friends last year and it was a hit. Not a typical cake in my part of the world and because it was a hit, I thought that you’d like to try something different.

The rains have finally arrived. It was an unbearably hot summer this year and I welcome the downpours. I am still waiting for those plums to reach me but wouldn’t it be nice to stay in on a rainy day and while the time away with a Korean drama series that I’ve become addicted to?

Plum Cake (adapted from 33 Degrees)

You will need:

2 eggs, plus 1 extra egg yolk
140 grams butter softened
140 grams golden castor sugar
140 grams all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
200 grams plums, stoned, half roughly chopped into pieces and the other half cut into wedges.

For the topping:

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
200 grams golden castor sugar

What You Do:

Preheat your oven to 160ºC/fan oven 140ºC. Grease and line a 1kg loaf tin.
Lightly beat the eggs, extra egg yolk and the vanilla extract.
Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. You want the butter and sugar to lighten considerably for a good cake.
Pour in the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition.
Fold in the flour, baking soda, salt, orange zest, 2 tbsp of the juice and lastly the chopped plums.
Spoon into prepared tin and scatter the plum wedges over the top.
Bake until cake is golden or until an inserted skewer comes out clean, about 45 – 50 minutes.
Let it cool for a few moments before turning out onto a wire rack.
Mix the lemon juice and castor sugar with the remaining orange juice and pour over the cake.

Bed Weather Soup

June 14, 2012 § Leave a comment

Well good-bye summer and hello rainy days. It rained most of the day the other day and on a holiday to boot. We stayed home and the cool “bed” weather called for comfort food. What’s more comforting on a rainy day than hot chicken soup? Not any kind of chicken soup mind you. I was craving for my childhood favorite, Tinolang Manok, a staple in many dinner tables in my neck of the woods, including ours. A bowl of this light ginger based soup never fails to make me feel all warm and fuzzy. So I trooped to the supermarket next door for some essential ingredients.

Tinola is a Tagalog or Cebuano term for soup based dish and is traditionally cooked with chicken. Unlike the chicken soup of the west, this soup uses ginger and lemon grass to flavor. Core ingredients would be chicken (but of course), ginger (lots and lots of it), green papaya, lemon grass and this new super food called malunggay, scientifically known as Moringa. We sometimes alternate it with green pepper leaves – both have the peppery kick.

You may serve it as a starter course but it is perfect as a main dish, me thinks. I like my rice soaking with the soup almost like congee and each spoonful of chicken, green papaya and the rice is absolutely soothing.

Tinolang Manok (adapted from Namit Gid! Cookbook)

What You’ll Need:

1 kilo chicken, cut into serving pieces
1 tbsp. cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium-sized onion, sliced
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced
water or rice washings to cover
1 stalk tanglad (lemongrass), bruised
green papaya, seeded and cut into wedges
patis or fish sauce
crushed pepper
malunggay leaves

What you do:

Heat cooking oil and sauté garlic, onion and ginger. Add chicken pieces and brown slightly.
Add water or rice washings and tanglad. Season with fish sauce and pepper.
Cover and let it simmer. When chicken is half-cooked, add papaya.
Cover and let it simmer until chicken and papaya are tender.*
Just before serving, remove tanglad and add malunggay leaves.
Cook for 2 more minutes. Serve hot.

* To remove the fat, let it cool until the oil floats and remove as much from the surface.