In Which We Try a New Coffee-Bar…

Just so you know, it’s NOT a French franchise…

My siblings and I were at the mall a couple weeks ago on one of those rare occasions when all three of us were off from work and could just chill out and relax.  After lunch and a happy browse-through at Book Sale which turned into a full-scale hunt for inspirational tomes (for my brother), manga (for my sister), and Brit and/or Aussie food magazines (mine), we decided to hie off and grab some coffee and dessert.

“Is there any other place that does coffee here aside from Starbucks?” my brother asked rather plaintively.

I pointed in the direction of Hollys Coffee which was, ironically, just a hop-skip-and-jump away from Starbucks.  ”That place looks promising,” I said.

It does look a bit more posh than the competition…

Hollys (no apostrophes, mind you) is a franchise of a popular chain of coffee-bars in South Korea.  It’s supposed to be based on a Parisian cafe (hence the poster at the top of this particular blog entry) where patrons are encouraged to sit and relax for a while with some coffee and a slice of cake as opposed to barking one’s order out at the barista and sprinting out as soon as you’ve paid and your order’s in hand.

The decor features plush armchairs and couches flanking low wood and wrought iron tables, softly ambient lighting, wood panels and old-school cabinets, and the chairs for the regular cafe tables are cushioned.  Jazz music (I’m not sure if it’s the New York or Paris sort; I was never a big jazz fan, really.) plays softly in the background.

Oh, what to pick…!

“Ooh, look at what they’ve got in the display case!” my sister exclaimed, pointing at the array of cakes, buns, cold sarnies, biscuits, and pastries in the refrigerated case.

The selection is a bit more interesting than at the Yankee coffee bars: steamed and baked meat buns appear on the menu, tea-infused sweets such as a blondie infused with black tea are supposed to be best-sellers, Korean flavors like kimchi and bulgogi are added to sandwiches and pasta, and you can opt to top your Belgian waffles with powdered sugar, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, or cream cheese.

The drinks are rather unusual, too.  Aside from the regular coffee bar drinks – your cappuccini, espressi, and whatnot – they also have such unusual things as sweet potato lattes and a yam macchiato, house-blended sparkling sippers, and decadent spins on hot chocolate.

Coffee, cake…

Since it was a hot day, we decided to give the Hollycino, Hollys’ spin on the ice-blended coffee, a shot.  The sibs each ordered the mint chocolate Hollycino which features proper creme de menthe vert blended into an iced mocha; the drink is topped with a fluffy swirl of aerosol whipped cream and a generous drizzle of creme de menthe syrup.  The sibs pronounced it an excellent drink: not too sweet or bitter, the flavor of the mint well-balanced and not reeking of toothpaste.

My choice was a Hollys specialty: the dark forest Hollycino.  For this particular ice-blended, dark chocolate and black Morello cherries in syrup were whizzed into a white mocha, topped with cream, drizzled over with syrup, and completed with a whole, pitted Morello.  Most cherry-infused drinks in this country taste disturbingly of cough syrup and either candied glace cherries or Maraschinos are used for garnishes; this drink was neither.  You get a proper cherry flavor: the slight tartness providing a bold yet tasteful counterpoint to the bittersweet chocolate and the vanilla-ish notes of the white mocha.  Seriously good stuff.

My sister chose a slice of the red velvet cake for the three of us to share, but this proved to be the only misfire for an otherwise perfect dessert.  While it was moist, buttery, and not too sweet, the cake fell flavorwise as it was neither cocoa nor vanilla to our tastebuds and the cream cheese icing was run of the mill.  Nevertheless, it was considerably better than the red velvet flogged by other local purveyors.

Red velvet cake aside, I am definitely stopping by Hollys again soon as the weather gets a bit cooler.  I am so intrigued by the sweet potato bevvies…

 

 

In Which One Puts the Ketchup On Before Frying the Chicken…

The ketchup is IN the chicken…

I was stumped for lunch ideas yesterday seeing how the past week was one marked by family feasts and a rather harrowing time at work for me.  I was more than a little drained and just wanted to laze about the house on a humid Sunday when I was, in a manner of speaking, bullied into preparing lunch.  Ach, porca miseria…

Now, I’ve been hankering to do a spin on caramelized chicken, a recipe I spotted in an old issue of Australian Delicious, but found that I didn’t have some of the ingredients on hand.  This is pretty much what I did: make a batch of fried chicken and give it a bit of a spin.

The list of ingredients for this recipe sounds a little trashy, seeing how tomato ketchup plays a role in flavoring the chicken.  Supermarket Parmesan and bottled Italian seasoning give it a bit of oomph, while panko gives it a nice, crispy crust.  Overall, it made for a fairly passable dish for lunch.

“Sweep the Fridge” Chicken

• 4 chicken thighs
• 4 chicken drumsticks
• 1 cup tomato ketchup
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning or 1/2 tablespoon each of dried basil and oregano
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 egg, beaten
• oil for deep-frying

In a non-reactive bowl, combine the ketchup, Parmesan, and Italian seasoning.  Rub the chicken with salt and pepper, then add to the marinade.  Toss until all the chicken is well-coated; cover and leave to soak for 30 minutes to an hour.

Heat oil in a wok or a deep saucepan over medium heat.  Dredge the chicken parts in flour, dip in the beaten egg, and roll in the panko.  Fry until golden brown and cooked through.  Drain on a plate lined with paper towels.  Transfer to a serving dish; serve immediately.

Serves 6.

In Which a Breakfast Bun is Infused with Coffee and Eaten in a Most Decadent Fashion…

The embodiment of pure, glorious gluttony…

My favorite author Nigella Lawson came under flak last year for dishing up a seriously calorific recipe involving ice cream scooped into a split brioche.  To which, I had only this to say: BOLLOCKS TO THE SCRAWNY LOT OF ‘EM!  The problem with people today is that, in their quest to eat “healthily”, they have had a tendency to shun even the simplest pleasures that life has to offer – with food being first and foremost among them.

I find scrawny women a pain in my obviously ample, well-padded, and magnificently curvaceous backside.  They’re not comfortable with their bodies.  It’s like they HATE being female; they won’t celebrate their gorgeous curves – and, as a result, they make fun of women who are comfortable in their curviness and get really mean about our eating habits.  As we would say in this part of the world: walang basagan ng trip – no raining on anyone’s parade, you skinny, malnourished Nellies.

But enough of those fashionable scarecrows.  I recently decided to pay tribute to the fabulous Lady Lawson by taking a cue from her: by serving ice cream in homemade buns.  In this particular case, I added a tablespoon of instant coffee into my basic brioche recipe and baked it as 24 mini brioches.  They were utterly heavenly as I also added vanilla bean and some cinnamon to evoke the flavors of a morning cappuccino.  Best of all, they were utterly magnificent when sandwiched with a scoop of vanilla ice cream: pure magic on a late summer evening.

Cappucino Brioches

• 500 grams all-purpose flour
• 100 grams sugar
• 1 sachet fast-acting / rapid-rising yeast
  
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee
• 1 vanilla bean; seeds scraped and pod reserved for another use
• scant 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 150mL milk + extra for brushing
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup salted butter (that’s about 1/2 of a block of butter) + more for greasing the muffin tins
• vanilla ice cream to serve

In a large metal bowl, combine flour, sugar, coffee, vanilla bean, cinnamon, and yeast. In another bowl, pour in the milk and add the butter; microwave on HIGH for two minutes. Whisk the eggs into the butter-milk mixture until it resembles a thin custard. Pour this custard into the dry ingredients. Stir everything together until it all clings together and becomes something of a shaggy mess.

Flour your hands and start kneading the dough in the bowl. Use all the force you can muster: punch the dough, massage it, flip it around, smack it around – clobber it, by all means! (Now you understand why I specifically asked that you use a metal bowl!) Knead the dough for about ten minutes. After ten minutes, form the dough into a ball and set in the middle of the bowl; cover with a clean dishtowel and place in a warm place to rise for about an hour or till doubled in bulk.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees/Gas Mark 4.  Grease the cups of 2 regular (12-hole) muffin tins.

When the dough has risen in bulk, punch it down and divide into 24 balls.  Place a dough ball into each of the cups.  Cover with a dishtowel and let rest for 20 minutes and let it get nice and puffy.  Brush the tops of the buns with the extra milk before baking.

Bake the buns for 20 – 25 minutes until they’re nicely brown and crisp in parts. Serve them split with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Makes 24 brioches.

In Which an Antipodean Treat Helps One to Chill Out – Quite Literally…

Tim Tams… FROZEN Tim Tams…

The summer heat has finally gotten to a number of people.  One friend literally wilted in the heat while waiting for the bus, the victim of dehydration.  Another friend has been suffering from serious nosebleeds and has taken to strapping an ice pack to the back of her head when she goes to work.  A colleague’s blood pressure soared to astronomical heights and had to be taken to a hospital ASAP.  Eep.

Me, I ended up with a bad case of dizziness that literally floored me Thursday last week and ended up feeling poorly a few days ago when the trains broke down and everyone spilled onto the streets to grab buses home.  It has, as far as I know, been the worst summer ever.  (Thank goodness, though, that the rains began to pour last night…)

Lucky for me, I decided to beat the heat and the blues with a two-edged sword - Tim Tams; more specifically frozen Tim Tams.

Arnott’s recently put out an Asia-specific version of these popular Aussie biscuits which are best served chilled in the fridge prior to consumption.  They are, unfortunately, not as good as the proper shipped-from-Down-Under kind as the chocolate is compound and rather waxy.  But, in a pinch as obvious as this, they’ll do - just.

In my personal opinion, these are better frozen rather than just refrigerated.  They taste better that way, the cold minimizes the waxiness of the compound choc, and the biscuits are slightly crunchier.  The Antipodean, who is currently spending a week or so home in NSW, is of the opinion that I should try freezing real Tim Tams next time; it’s what he does in the summer – and, yes: it is substantially better.

He also noted through the screen that I was munching the Tim Tams along with an iced coffee (again, alas, instant; but what the hell…).

“When you get your hands on a packet of real Tim Tams, babe,” he said, “I’ll teach you the Tim Tam Slam.”

“Promise?” I asked as I munched through the third cookie in the tub.

“Promise.”

“Well, kid, you got yourself a deal…”

(But, no: there is no way in hell that you’ll get either of us to try those vile cheese-flavored Tim Tams that are currently the rage in Indonesia.  We have our standards, you know!)

In Which There is a Savory Mid-Eastern-inspired Bowl of Rice for Lunch…

It’s cheap, tasty, and puts a smile on your face…

Shawarma, Middle Eastern-style beef or chicken grilled and hacked off a rotating spit and wrapped in flatbread, has been a popular snack choice in the Philippines for over a couple of decades now.  Despite serious competition from things like dimsum and quick-fix supermarket Mexican nosh, people continue to patronize shawarma kiosks in both food courts and transport terminals.  And why not?  It’s reasonably priced, filling, and quite savory.

As a way of giving shawarma a local twist, some vendors offer shawarma rice which features beef or chicken slices served atop a bowl of plain white rice together with some diced cucumber, onions, and tomatoes.  Squirts of hot sauce and garlic mayo are added for oomph and a runny-yolked fried egg is put on top to complete the presentation.  It’s quite good, is rather filling, and makes a savory alternative to one’s usual lunchtime nosh.

In Which the Cookies Were Overloaded with Chocolate and Other Good Things…

Each one is packed with flavors and interesting textures

Just a quick recipe from me for today.  If you seriously love chocolate – as in truly, madly, deeply love chocolate – this cookie is for you.

Demolition Derbies, so named because they’re pretty much a train wreck’s worth of ingredients in every batch, are chock-filled with four kinds of chocolate (cocoa powder, grated white choc, dark chips, and coarse chunks of milk chocolate), nuts, soft almond nougat, oatmeal, and cereal.  You get cookies that are absolutely crunchy on the outside, chewy within, loaded with chocolate goodness, and are utterly addictive.  I daresay their name also fits them because you and your friends and family will be demolishing loads of these goodies in no time flat.

These go down so well with a cold glass of milk, but grown-ups will find these a perfect match for a cappuccino, a mocha, or maybe a dirty chai latte.

Demolition Derbies

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 tablspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flakes or cornflakes
• 1/2 cup roasted almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped milk chocolate chunks
• 1/2 cup soft almond nougat, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup salted butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar 
  
• 2 eggs
• 1 packed cup dark brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees / Gas Mark 4.  Line standard-sized cookie sheets with either waxed paper or baking parchment; barring that, you could also use Silpat liners.

Cream together the butter and sugars till light and fluffy.  Whisk in the cocoa, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda.  Add the flour and the oats and mix well until a soft dough is formed.  Mix in the chocolates and the other ingredients until well-combined.

Scoop level tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets and chill in the fridge for 10 – 15 minutes.

Bake the cookies for 18 to 20 minutes, just to crisp up the outsides.  Remove from oven and leave to cool for about ten seconds on the sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately 72 (6 dozen) cookies.

In Which Strawberries Make a Summer Drink More Refreshing…

Sweet, tart, and totally refreshing

Despite the torrential downpour that cooled off the southern suburbs on Friday afternoon, the weather continues to be scorching hot and utterly dismal to a cool weather-loving gal like myself.  (It is presently 35°C where I am at the moment.)  That said, people are resorting to everything from plain iced water to iced tea, frozen juice pops, and chunks of ice to stay cool in the blistering heat.

Iced tea and lemonade are the coolers of choice at my house: the tall blue plastic carafes in the fridge are always filled with chilled tea (instant, but refreshing nevertheless) and the tall bottle of honey-sweetened calamansi (calamondin – a local fruit, something like a cross between a lemon and a thin-skinned green orange) concentrate has become totally indispensable.  And, since my brother left a punnet of strawberries in the fridge from his last visit, I decided to take a cue from the strawberry lemonsweet recipe from the Game of Thrones-inspired food blog The Inn at the Crossroads.

Lemonsweet is, essentially, a rather medieval spin on lemonade but the flavors are allegedly more intensely lemony, even sharper than drinks made to modern lemonade recipes which tend to err on the overly sweet side.  This is due in part to the fact that most old-school recipes for lemonade call for sweetening it with honey rather than sugar or simple syrup.  The resulting drink is, thus, just subtly sweet with a wonted “in your face” vibrant lemon flavor.

For my concentrate-based lemonsweet, much of the tartness is derived from the slices of fresh strawberry floating atop the lemonade: the strawberry juice infuses the drink and adds a delicate, almost floral fragrance and gives the golden juice a slightly pinkish cast.  Poured over ice with a few berry slices on top, it makes for a very pretty and certainly soothing summer cooler.  It’s perfect enough as it is, though you may wish to add fresh mint or a sprinkle of instant salabat (ginger tea) powder to give it a bit more kick.

Summer Lemonsweet

• scant 1/2 cup calamansi concentrate with honey (I used Citrus Farms) + enough cold water to make 1 liter
  
• 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint or 1 tablespoon salabat (ginger tea) powder (optional)

In a large pitcher, stir together the concentrate and the water until well-combined.  Stir in the strawberry slices and the mint or ginger powder (if using).  Mix well and transfer to a covered carafe.  Store in the refrigerator for about a couple hours before serving, shaking it occasionally to mix the strawberry juice into the lemonade.  Serve in glasses over ice.

Makes approximately 5 glasses.

Note:  You can also let this drink be a cocktail base.  Pour a shot of vodka over ice before pouring in the lemonsweet.  Stir well and enjoy in moderation on a hot summer evening.  ;)