Red & Green Christmas ChoicesCelebrEATy PAGE
It's Christmastime...gotta have red and
green! And always, "red and green treats" are my only Christmas
choices. So I keep an accordion folder, aptly labeled "CHRISTMAS"; all
savories and sweets recipes with loads (or even just a touch) of red
and green are thrown in this folder. From Filipino-style spaghetti with
a whole bottle of banana catsup and slices of red-colored hotdogs
making up the sauce to pineapple-glazed baked ham studded with red
maraschino cherries...from red-colored steamed puto cheese to buko
pandan salad with nestle cream...I always have fun making red and green
foods during the winter holiday season. There's lots of reds
in...tomatoes (recipe: penne with vodka), red bell peppers (recipe:
beef caldereta), beets (recipe: chicken macaroni salad with diced
beets), red cabbage (recipe: red cabbage slaw), red delicious apples
(recipe: chicken waldorf salad), strawberries (recipe: chocolate-dipped
strawberries).
Sarah Lee at the set
of the Celebr-EAT-y Circle: Demonstrating the CocoLime Crumble Cookies.
And plenty of greens
in...fresh asparagus (recipe:
prosciutto wrapped asparagus), green bell peppers (recipe: stuffed
green bell peppers), fresh broccoli florets (panera-style broccoli and
cheddar soup, my all-time favorite soup!), green beans (recipes: pancit
and green bean casserole), avocados (recipe: avocado shake). And even
red and green combos are a delight...green cabbage coleslaw with red
delicious apple chunks, red delicious and granny smith apples wedges
with caramel dip, tomato soup with a sprinkle of green onion slices.
I'm sharing recipes of my red and green choices for this Christmas
2009...Moist Red Velvet Layered Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and
Green-colored Cookieballs.
MOIST RED VELVET LAYERED CAKE WITH
CREAM
CHEESE FROSTING
1 stick (1/2 cup) margarine, softened 1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon liquid red food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup corn or vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons buttermilk powder
1 cup water
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons white vinegar
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease, line, and grease again two 8-inch round
pans; set aside. In a large mixing bowl and using an electric mixer,
beat softened butter until creamy. Add sugar, creaming well. Beat in
the eggs, one at a time. Add red food coloring, cocoa powder and corn
oil to mixture and cream well to ensure red color is evenly
incorporated. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking
powder, buttermilk powder and salt to aerate. Add alternately to the
batter with water, in 3 additions, just mixing till combined (avoid
overmixing). Add baking soda and vinegar, let it fizz and just fold in
to the batter using a rubber spatula. Divide cake batter into 2
prepared pans. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until
done and wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean.
Cool completely before filling and frosting with store-bought cream
cheese frosting. Finish cake with Christmas sprinkles.
Sarah Lee's Holiday
Giveaways: Yummy ensaimadas, Moist n Chewy Food for the Gods,
DivaDivine Brownies, banana fruitcake and greentea cookies.
GREEN-COLORED COOKIEBALLS
Cookie dough:
1 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon buco pandan flavor
(available in oriental stores)
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
Green coating:
1 cup confectioners's sugar
1 tablespoon matcha green tea powder
Beat together butter, confectioners' sugar and buco pandan flavor in a
medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in flour and chopped
walnuts. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough until
chilled (at least 30 minutes). Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll chilled
dough into small balls (I use a mini scooper) and place on parchment
paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until just
lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
Combine together green coating ingredients in a shallow bowl. Carefully
coat each ball in green coating and place on wire racks to cool
completely. Roll again for a second coat. Individually wrap in
cellophane squares.
BUFFALO MEAT: SWEETER AND CLEANER THAN
BEEF
The Buffalo Guys, Ken Klemm and Peter Thieriot, invited the CPRTV staff
to a private buffalo tasting at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute
of Chicago. I love beef, burgers, and all...but buffalo meat, mmm...
now wait a minute. But then I remembered I had reservations about
eating monkey tapa (marinated monkey beef slices) in the past...I had a
bite, and another bite, and I did eat more, it was that good. So I did
the same mindset with the buffalo tasting, I just had to taste. And the
variety of offerings was simply irresistible...sausages (Andouille,
Polish and Bratwurst), steaks (filet mignon, rib eye, and filet of
sirloin), burgers (all natural), hotdogs, and even buffalo
jerky...truly flavorful, and I really feasted on the hot chili with all
natural ground buffalo!
Private Buffalo
Tasting with the Buffalo Guys: Sarah Lee enjoying a bowl of hot chili
con all-natural ground buffalo.
In my interview with the Buffalo Guys for the Chicago Philippine Reports TV, Ken and Peter answered the simple question, "Why Eat Buffalo?"...Buffalo simply tastes great and it is nature's best meat...period! After learning that buffalo scores favorably lower on calories, fats and cholesterol when compared to beef, pork and skinless chicken...now who wouldn't want BUFFALO. More information about ordering, easy recipes and cooking tips, health benefits can be found via their website: www.TheBuffaloGuys.com.
KULINARYA TOUR
Emily Wong Galang,
founder & owner of Galang Culinary School in Pampanga, poses with
her finished culinary creations of brazo de mais, birenghe
(kapampangan’s paella with glutinous rice, sisig, and tibok-tibok,
after her hands-on cooking demo with her son and daughter, for Via
Times and CPRTV (we will be featuring her yummy recipes with photos in
our next issue).
The Dean of
Pampanga cooking, with her son doing the latik for tibok-tibok, and
voila, showing her palatable birenghe at the demo.
Serving of lunch was
held at Lilian Borromeo’s antique residence where VT/CPRTV’s Veronica
and Joe Mauricio enjoyed a feast of Pampanga’s tocino, San Nicolas
cookies, bangus Sasmuan, Pako Salad, and many others.
Photo on right
show Ms. Borromeo showing her skills in making the traditional and
popular San Nicolas cookies using antique cookwares, as old as more
than 200 years ago.
EuroBake in Malolos,
Bulacan, founded & managed by the Ramos family (shown at left photo
are mom Clara and son Raymond Ramos), carries the unbeatable ensaimada
and inipit baked goodies for meriendas.
Right photo
shows an inipit demo done by one of the bakers of EuroBake for VT/CPRTV
coverages.
SARAH'S BAKING AND CAKE DECORATING SCHOOL
Fun, inexpensive, exciting "PANGNEGOSYO OR PAMBAHAY" short culinary
courses now offered:
1) SIOPAO WORKSHOP (this is my most popular course!)
2) HOLIDAY TREATS WORKSHOP (includes moist food for the gods and
Phil-style fruit cake)
3) KAKANIN, PHIL SWEETS AND DELICACIES I (includes my incredibly tasty
cuchinta)
4) ENSAIMADA AND HOMEMADE HOPIA (who doesn't like melt-in-the-mouth
ensaimadas )
5) CHOCOLATE CAKES AND NO-BAKE CHEESECAKES (moist chocolate cake to die
for)
6) NEW MANILA-STYLE CAKES LIKE CARAMEL CAKE, YEMA CAKE, CUSTARD CAKE
7) SIMPLE CAKES AND CAKE DECORATING (great for beginners and kids)
Available every Saturday and Sunday, as long as there are at least 2
students per session, lots of hands -on and the cakes and other baked
products learned in class can be duplicated by each student when they
get home. Simply call to register - Cakes by The Lake Glenn
(815-342-3560) or Sarah (815-545-8007). All classes are taught by
Celebr-EAT-y Circle TV host Sarah Lee (watch her regular Sunday
noontime cooking segment with Chicago Philippine Reports TV). Baking
tutorial, Cake Decorating/Icing Flowers and on-site classes are also
available.
ADD A DIVA'S TOUCH TO YOUR NEXT PARTY
Need help in planning your next party? Call the Diva and make that
party truly awesome and unforgettable party or email
(divasarah@sbcglobal.net). Avoid the unwanted party stresses, let me
help you bring out your best party ever with divalicious
entrees/appetizers (chicken empanadas, chapchae/korean pancit, dinuguan
with puto, fresh lumpia with brown sauce and homemade egg wrappers,
chicken cacciatore, menudo, etc), perfect desserts/kakanins (maja
blanca, cuchinta, colored pichi-pichi, cassava cake, mocha sans rival,
slow-baked biko, custard cake, etc) top-caliber entertainment,
affordable DJ equipment, awesome invitations and decorations, etc).
Leave me a message in my cell (815) 545-8007, and let's get
started...it is that easy!
2010 is just few sleeps away...I'll be featuring some healthy recipes
in the January, 2010 issue of Viatimes. Make sure you don't miss next
month's special issue. You may want to share your tried-and-tested
healthy recipes; please email your recipes to: divasarah@sbcglobal.net.
Keep warm...and another important reminder...don't drink and drive
(driving with a Blood Alcohol Content or BAC that is 0.08% or higher is
illegal in all 50 US states). So if you need to drink to celebrate the
new year, have a designated driver or better yet, take a cab.
