1st Annual Spring Break Potluck: Blueberry Muffins (cw)

[entry by cw]

The recipe is more or less the following... I made adjustments along the process... using less butter, sugar, and I skipped the sour cream though!

Blueberry Muffins

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups of fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place paper liners in muffin pans.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, sour cream, and milk.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed. Fold in the blueberries with a spatula and be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each cup just over the top, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned on top and a cake tester comes out clean.


1st Annual Spring Break Potluck Summary

RECIPES
Lechon Kawali ("Lechon ni Betchon") by bsc
Lettuce Wrap by msc
Shrimp Fried Rice by mega
Ginataan by lsc
Almost-Traditional Caesar Salad by ts
Blueberry Muffins by cw
Roast Chicken by js

1st Annual Spring Break Potluck: Ginataan (lsc)

[March 1, 2008:
The step-by-step pictures are now here!]

[added Feb 2008:
It's too bad, but lsc's STEP-BY-STEP pictures of how to make this are gone! It was in Yahoo Photos before, but that site's not around anymore. =( Those pictures were really good, too! Step-by-step! \ts]

[entry by lsc]

Ingredients
1 pack tapioca
1 pack panutcha (pa-noot-cha).... i think this is how you call this... it's solid sugar


left: tapioca pearls; right: panutcha (golden slab sugar)

4 cans coconut milk



2 cans jackfruit .....


what the hell with the "Cock in the Mountaintop" brand... hahahha.... this has "kaong" inside (hard coconut jelly) - cut them in smaller pieces (you can opt this out if you don't like kaong and just buy ones that has only jackfruit in).

1/2 pack of brown sugar



6-8 purple yam (or you can use taro)



4 packs mini rice balls




A: Tapioca
1. Boil water in pot, add a tsp. of salt



2. add some oil



3. add tapioca



4. stir and let it boil



5. once the water thickens - see pic



6. drain in colander



* do steps #3 - #6 three times or until the tapioca is cooked.

7. shows how the tapioca look like after the second boiling - notice there are still some big white dots



8. once the tapioca is done, leave them in cold water - it's ok to have some tiny white dots, they will be cooked thoroughly once we add the tapioca in the coconut milk.




B: Purple yam in panutcha
1. Peel purple yams



2. put the peeled purple yams in cool water



3. cut purple yams in cubes



4. set aside the cubed purple yams



5. put some water in a big pot - about 2 cups



6. add the panutcha



7. arrange them so they melt evenly



8. once the panutcha has melted and boiling



9. add 1/2 pack of sugar



10. let the sugar melt



11. let it boil for 10 mins - to thicken a bit - put in lower heat so it won't burn



12. add cubed purple yams



13. stir purple yams in panutcha



14. increase the heat and let it boil



15. once it's boiling, lower down the heat so you don't burn the sugar



16. once you can squeeze the yams with your finger (not too mushy) - about 20 mins.



17. drain and set aside




C: Ginataan : The Finale
1. pour coconut milk in pot



2. add equal parts of water - 1:1



3. add 2 bowls of water



4. add sugar - we use a paler brown sugar. Nanay asked for white sugar, but I have none. Apparently, she didn't want to use the darker brown sugar. You can use any type of sugar you want. :)



5. using ladle as my measurement - i think i put 2 ladles in at the start



6. when the coconut milk is boiling, add the mini rice balls



7. once the rice balls are cooked (they will float)



8. add the cooked tapioca



9. add more sugar if you want



10. add the jackfruit



11. add the purple yams, stir carefully



12. let it cook for another 5 more mins. and it's done




* Always taste the ginataan for the right sweetness.

** Dilemma: After some time, i checked the ginataan and noticed that the sauce had thickened so much. The sauce had the consistency of glue... more like a thick goo. I think this was caused by cooking the rice balls in the coconut milk (it's made of flour afterall). Next time I'll cook the rice balls in a separate pot.

*** Solution: I didn't buy extra coconut milk but i had 2 cans of coconut CREAM in my cupboard. I use one can first and added 1.5 cans of water and a ladel of sugar. I heated it up and I let the sugar melt before i added it in the ginataan. It wasn't enough to thin the ginataan sauce so i use the other can and added more water this time. I still heated it up as the coconut cream/milk needed to be cooked first. I didn't add sugar this time as the ginataan was still sweet enough.

**** Preparation and cooking time; 1.5 hrs. Cook them all simultaneously or you'll spend twice the amount of time.

Happy cooking!


1st Annual Spring Break Potluck Summary

RECIPES
Lechon Kawali ("Lechon ni Betchon") by bsc
Lettuce Wrap by msc
Shrimp Fried Rice by mega
Ginataan by lsc
Almost-Traditional Caesar Salad by ts
Blueberry Muffins by cw
Roast Chicken by js

1st Annual Spring Break Potluck: Almost Traditional Caesar Salad (ts)

[entry by ts]

CROUTONS
Start with cold olive oil. Add olive oil to cold pan. Add in a few whole cloves of garlic. Salt & pepper to taste, chili flakes if desired. Turn on the heat; the lowest possible.

This should slowly infuse the oil with garlic flavor. Wait until the garlic starts to brown a little. Turn off heat. Remove garlic cloves. (You can use them for some other thing. They're *almost* roasted garlic, but not that soft & roasted.)

The oil is ready!

Cut bread (any type) into cubes. Toss bread & oil together.

Place cubes onto a baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden.
(350 degrees; but doesn't really matter, re temperature. Just make sure to look at them and don't let them burn.)

Proportions: I made A LOT of croutons. I used about 1/4 cup of olive oil for about 8-10 slices of bread (normal sandwich bread type bread).

ROMAINE
Wash & dry.

DRESSING
This is *almost* traditional because I used mayonnaise instead of raw egg yolks (with there being kiddies and all at the potluck), and I added capers.

I made A LOT of dressing. Yield was about 2 cups or so. Proportions of the ingredients are approximate (I can't remember exactly anymore) and all are subject to your taste/personal preference.

Dump everything into a food processor.

1 head garlic
1 tin anchovies
juice of 5-7 lemons
2 Tbsp capers
2 tspn Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup mayo
black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

ASSEMBLY
Toss romaine & croutons with dressing. Add parmiggiano-reggiano shavings (or grated). Enjoy!


1st Annual Spring Break Potluck Summary

RECIPES
Lechon Kawali ("Lechon ni Betchon") by bsc
Lettuce Wrap by msc
Shrimp Fried Rice by mega
Ginataan by lsc
Almost-Traditional Caesar Salad by ts
Blueberry Muffins by cw
Roast Chicken by js