Ilocano Style Pork Adobo

Hon asked me to bring out some pork meat from the freezer earlier which she said she will be cooking Adobo with once thawed. This gave me an idea to cook an Adobo dish from the usual recipe she cooks. 

Pork Adobo ala Ilocano

Sponge Cake with Cream Cheese Filling

Still on the aluminum pan! :)

It’s been a long time since I last posted here. This recipe my wife did reminded me of the site (Thanks Hon for the reminder! Haha). She surprised me one time baking a sponge cake stuffed with cream cheese filling. Honestly I didn’t think that cream cheese would go so well with sponge cakes (or maybe I haven’t tested one previously).  Well it turned out pretty good that it only lasted for a couple of days!

Cutting to the chase, here is the recipe for her Sponge Cake with Cream Cheese filling. Unfortunately I wasn’t there to take a photo of the cooking steps. Also she would like to thank joyofbaking.com for the wonderful sponge cake recipe. Thanks Stephanie!

Sponge Cake:

4 large eggs

1 large (20 grams) egg yolk

1/3 cup (35 grams) sifted cake flour

3 tablespoons (30 grams) cornstarch (corn flour)

1/2 cup (100 grams) plus 1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar (divided)

1-teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4-teaspoon cream of tartar

Cream Cheese Filling:

¾ cup Butter

1 cup Cream Cheese (she used Philadelphia Cream Cheese)

¾ cup Icing sugar

1-teaspoon Vanilla

For Sponge Cake (Since my wife just followed the recipe from the site, my as well copy it over. Again thanks to Stephanie for this wonderful recipe!)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter, or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray, a 17x12 inch (43x30 cm) baking pan, line it with parchment paper, and then butter and flour the paper (or spray with a nonstick vegetable/flour spray).

While the eggs are still cold separate two of the eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another bowl. To the yolks, add the additional yolk, and the two remaining eggs. Cover bowls with plastic wrap and allow the eggs to come to room temperature (about 30 minutes). Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk the flour with the cornstarch. 

Place the egg yolks and whole eggs, along with 1/2 cup (100 grams) of the sugar, in your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for five minutes, or until thick, pale yellow, and fluffy. (When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.) Then beat in the vanilla extract. Sift half the flour mixture over the beaten egg mixture and folding gently with a rubber spatula, just until the flour is incorporated. Sift the remaining flour mixture into the batter and fold in.

In a clean bowl, with the whisk attachment beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the remaining one tablespoon sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then add the rest of the whites. Pour the batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly with an offset spatula or spoon. Bake for about 6-8 minutes or until golden brown and when lightly pressed, springs back. Immediately upon removing the cake from the oven sprinkle with confectioners sugar and then invert the cake onto a clean dishtowel. Remove the parchment paper, sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar, and roll up the sponge, with the towel. Place on a wire rack to cool. 

For Cream Cheese Filling:

Beat together the softened Butter and Cream Cheese until soft peaks are formed. Slightly add the icing sugar in the mixture until the incorporated. Add in the vanilla then beat until stiff peaks form.

To Assemble:

Unroll the sponge, spread with the cream and reroll. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. Just before serving, dust with confectioners sugar.

Enjoy!

Sorry for the not so clear images

Recipe: Chicken Afritada

My Hon's version of Chicken Afritada

Since I am working at night again, my wife and I decided to cook chicken afritada. It’s a chicken (sometimes pork) simmered in tomato sauce. This dish is also served with green peas in since we weren’t able to get one, we just decided to do one without it which is still tastes good!

Siem Reap; Day 1

I have posted a summary before of our trip to Siem Reap last 2nd of August. Like I said, it may have been a short trip but it has been a very unique and breath taking experience hence this covers the places that we went to in Siem Reap.

Travel: Siem Reap, Cambodia Trip

Last August 2, me and hon went to Siem Reap, Cambodia with our friends. It was hon's third country to enter where second is Singapore and first is of course, Malaysia. Here is a summary of the things about our trip as I will try to come up with more detailed posts soon.


View Larger Map

Recipe : Ginataang Tilapia or Tilapia in coconut milk

Here is a simple recipe my hon cooked; Tilapia in coconut milk. The creamy coconut milk adds more flavor to the fish.

Ingredients:

Garlic chopped

Green banana pepper

Ginger

Shallots

Green onions

Coconut milk

Tilapia

Spinach leaves

Rich Dad Poor Dad

Me and my Hon have always been finding better ways to be financially stable (yeah, I know other people do too!). This book has been published for around a decade now and I recently finished it too. Robert Kiyosaki really did a good job coming up with a great inspiration on this one.

Sunset-PD

Sunset-PD, a photo by Neochaser5 on Flickr.

This was taken in Port Dickson in Malaysia last year. Thanks to my wife who was patient enough to wait for a shot like this.

Bagan Lalang

Bagan Lalang, a photo by Neochaser5 on Flickr.

Me and my hon went to Bagan Lalang in Malaysia last September 2010. We reached there in the afternoon however there were not much scene to take shots of. So we waited for a few hours to take this show. Lucky we brought our tripod with us.

Budgeting: Dsbudget

I did a review of the envelope system before which has helped us manage our money. As we were using it, I wanted to track where my money goes even if they have been categorized through the envelopes.
I could have used excel but I wanted to have something that is more user-friendly and simple. I tried to search for software online however most of them are either complicated or not free.
Then I found out about Dsbudget. It's free and opensource and runs using your browser.


Below is an example interface of dsbudget:

Water Droplet

Water Droplet, a photo by Neochaser5 on Flickr.

This is another water droplet that I took and this time with the help of a Raynox DCR-250 to magnify the image.

The Raynox DCR-250 is a good choice for those who are budget-conscious or starting with macro photography.It is inexpensive and also compact. You can just clip it to your lens and you are ready to take shots.

Apart from that, it is compatible to most lenses since it is just a clip on. Take note, IT IS NOT AN ACTUAL LENS it is made from high index optical glass which provides a really sharp images.

Droplet

Droplet, a photo by Neochaser5 on Flickr.

This was my first try shooting a water droplet and believe me, it takes a lot of repetitions before you can get it perfect! Even in my case, I would not say its perfect yet.

Via Flickr:
First try on Water Droplet shot

Budgeting: The Envelope System

I have never thought of budgeting before. I have always spent here and there without keeping track of where my money was going. Usually I just look at my savings account and say to myself, “Ah, I still got enough money...” which actually leads towards more spending!

This went on and on that every third week of the month I always end up being broke. This got into me so I thought of ways on how to overcome this problem. That’s when I found out about the envelope system.