Quinoa Pudding with Mango and Pineapple

Inspiration. Is it an ephemeral, elusive bit of magic? Something people lie in wait for, sometimes living life only from one flash of brilliance to the next…the time in between inconsequential and forgotten. Or is it something that is ever present? Slyly camouflaged all around us…just waiting for us to notice?

I’d like to think it is that latter. That inspiration truly exists among us and can be found in the everyday. That it is precisely in the everyday where brilliance thrives. That it is inspiration that lies in wait for us, and not the other way around.

It doesn’t take much to inspire me or make me smile in wonder. The scent of a mangoes ripening on my dining room table. The way bread dough comes together. Butter melting. The slight tickle of really long earrings brushing against my bare shoulder. What happens to vegetables when you roast them. Nice stationary. My baby’s giggle. My friends.

And all of you. Those of you that always leave your comments here even when I’ve been terribly delinquent. Those of you that are silent but keep dropping in. You who leave helpful hints and answer my sometimes amateurish questions. You who cheer me on. You who I have met. You who I have yet to meet.

Another place where I find endless inspiration is other blogs. Food bloggers’ passion, and the delicious results of that passion, never fails to inspire me. This beautiful pudding is one such example.

Quinoa Pudding with Mango and Pineapple
(adapted from Cannelle at Vanille)

• 3 – 3 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup dark muscovado sugar
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup pineapple chunks
• 1/2 cup mango chunks

- Rinse quinoa in a strainer for a few seconds.
- Combine 3 cups of the milk and the sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Add the quinoa and stir. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes, especially in the latter part of cooking so your quinoa doesn’t stick.
- If mixture starts looking too dry, or you would like a more liquid pudding, add the extra 1/2 cup of milk. I didn’t have too although I must admit I do like a fairly squidgy pudding.
- Ladle pudding into bowls, cups, or glasses (as I did here) and top with mango and pineapples.

Anyone who has visited Aran’s gorgeous blog knows that it is bursting at the seams with charm and beauty. A virtual stroll through her pages always leaves me inspired. When I saw this pudding I knew I had to recreate it – not only did it look enticing, it was a quinoa version of arroz con leche (which my mum makes and I love!). I decided to make mine with our local dark muscovado sugar, whose deep molasses-y flavor got on perfectly with the quinoa’s earthiness. Instead of strawberries, I topped mine with pineapples and mangoes…our intensely sweet summer fruits. The juicy mangoes were a gift from another food blogging friend. Yet one more thing that inspires me – the generosity of food bloggers who are so willing to share even if they haven’t really “met” the person at the other end (thank you Divina!)!

This blog has always been a very personal space for me – a place where I journal my life in the kitchen (and sometimes outside of it too!). But over the course of almost five years you (yes you!) have, happily, become a part of it. No, it isn’t my birthday, nor my blog’s birthday, nor any occasion of distinction. Just another lovely everyday in which I'd like to say thank YOU for the inspiration! :)

Fried Eggplant with Sumac and Garlic Yogurt Dip

C has an aunt who used to work for a princess. Yes, a princess that lives in a palace in a kingdom not so far away. I would sit enthralled by her stories of riches so grand it was almost unreal…like my own personal One Thousand and One Nights. Gold and jewels and family vacations on private jets, mammoth shopping jaunts and bespoke sports cars and magnificent feasts.

The parts that captivated me most, not surprisingly, were the magnificent feasts.

As she is a kindred spirit when it comes to food and cooking, these were always the most colorful parts of her tales. Stories of the amazing meals prepared, the ingredients used, the sights and smells of the large (large!) pantry and kitchen. Befriending the chefs, she managed to learn the cuisine…which she brought back with her (along with a hoard of spices and dried herbs) and continues to share with us. The dinners she prepares are much-anticipated events involving multiple courses and an incredible array of exotic flavors.

Although this dish is not hers (I’m quite sure I adapted it from one of my Donna Hay magazines actually!), she was the one who introduced me to sumac. Sumac spice (not the poison plant!) is an unbelievably deep and velvety red, its flavor tart and a bit astringent. Unlike other aromatic spices that are used in more complicated dishes, what I like about sumac is you can simply sprinkle it on anything to which you would like to add a sour kick (much the way you would add a squeeze of lemon juice). So you don't need a degree in spiceology to use it ;)

Fried Eggplant with Sumac and Garlic Yogurt Dip

• Olive oil
• 300 grams small Asian eggplants (they are short and skinny)
• 2 heaping tablespoons Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Sea salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• Sumac

- Heat a couple of glugs of olive oil in a skillet. Slice the small Asian eggplants lengthwise into two. When oil is hot lay eggplants cut-side down in the pan. Fry until golden brown and then turn. Fry the other side until eggplant is cooked. I like mine with crisp edges but still soft in the center. If you’d like to fry it until totally crisp go ahead!
- While the eggplants are frying, prepare the yogurt dip. Mix yogurt, garlic, and olive oil in a bowl. Add sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. Store it in the fridge until ready to serve. Top with a sprinkling of sumac just before serving.
- When eggplants are done, fish them out of the pan and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Dust liberally with sea salt and sumac. Serve with the yogurt dip.
- Serves two as a side dish.

As the name implies, small Asian eggplants are smaller versions of the long skinny eggplants most commonly used here. I love them solely based on their looks, as what’s not to love about a vegetable’s cuter version (one of the reasons I also love Brussels sprouts)? You can see them in this enticing still life of local vegetables. If you can’t find them where you are, substitute with any of your friendly neighborhood eggplants, and just slice them thinly.

Fried eggplant and yogurt is a pairing that works wonderfully for me – please have it freshly fried as the contrast between the warm eggplants and the cool yogurt adds to its deliciousness. The sumac adds a pleasing vibrancy to the whole dish, highlighting the eggplant's mild smokiness and the garlicky zing of the yogurt. We had this with our dinner, but you can easily prepare this as part of a larger spread of appetizers…or even as a video-marathon snack! If you are a bit health-conscious you can roast the eggplants instead with just a smidge of olive oil and salt. If you have leftovers (you won’t), mash the eggplants and yogurt together and you have a spread for tomorrow’s lunch.

Discovering new spices is one of my food thrills, especially if the discovery is peppered (no pun intended) with stories about royal feasts! I’m definitely glad for my introduction to sumac. Do you use it in your cooking? Any favorite ways to use it you would like to share? Yours may be the next sumac recipe that I post! :)

Beef Stew

I know. I was just blathering away about summer and the heat, and now look. I’ve gone and cranked my oven up for a couple of hours (!!) and made, what is known in the rest of the world as, a winter dish. Something cooked and enjoyed when it is cold out and you need some extra warmth indoors and something hearty to stick to your ribs…not something you make when the sun is blazing like mad and you feel like a roast yourself.

As fate would have it however, I live on an archipelago with no winter, and as such have never been trained in the art of “winter eating” vs “summer eating” (nor in “spring eating” or in the much longed for “autumn eating”). No. It was just plain “eating” for me. Anything at anytime. And though it could be argued that I might have waited for our much milder months at the end of the year, I can be illogical at times when my appetites are involved.

But aside from those minor personality flaws, there was another reason that brought this beef stew into being. Our local wagyu man. The charming fellow from whom I’ve been buying locally raised wagyu beef (read more here for more information). Since it is more affordable than imported wagyu, we are able to enjoy pretty great steaks (though of course not as awesome as real Kobe beef) without upsetting our budget too much. We usually get the chuck tender steak cut (from the shoulder) – it is cheaper than the more popular rib eye, but because of the wagyu’s signature marbling, still tender, fatty (in a very good way!), and delicious (if you don’t overcook it! We like our steaks medium rare). The last time we were at the market, charming wagyu man told us that he had some chuck tender in cubes, which some customers requested for soups or stews. It took us all of two seconds to snap them up.

Beef Stew

• Olive oil
• 2 red onions, chopped
• 4-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot (about 250-260 grams), peeled and diced
• 500 grams beef chuck tender cubes (I used locally grow wagyu beef and it made all the difference)
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/4 teaspoon + 1/2 teaspoon pimenton de la vera (Spanish smoked paprika)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bundle farcelettes (a Spanish version of bouquet garni)
• 1 400-gram can whole tomatoes
• about 1/3 of a 750 ml bottle of red wine (I used a cabernet sauvignon)
• dash of cayenne pepper
• 2 small potatoes (about 220-230 grams total), peeled and diced
• 1/3 cup pitted green olives

- Heat a few lugs of olive oil in a heavy based pot (oven-proof with lid) or Dutch oven. Add in onions, garlic, and carrots and sauté until onions soften.
- While the onions/garlic/carrots are cooking, toss your beef with the flour, 1/4 teaspoon pimenton, ½ teaspoon salt, and freshly cracked black pepper.
- Add floured beef to the pan, pushing onions/garlic/carrots to one side. Brown beef on all sides. By now there should be some yummy brown bits on the bottom of your pan – deglaze with a few glugs of your wine, scraping those bits up.
- Add the tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon of pimenton, and the farcelettes and stir. Add enough red wine to come up almost to the top of the meat but not covering it. Add freshly cracked black pepper, a dash of cayenne (the amount will depend on your heat tolerance) and stir once more to get everything mixed. Bring to a boil. You can bash up some of the tomatoes with the back of your spoon.
- Once it boils take the stew off the stove top, cover with lid, and stick in a 170C oven for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, remove pot from oven and add potatoes and olives. Give this a stir, cover, and return to the oven for another hour, or until meat is tender. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed (you may need to add more salt).
- The sauce should be rich and thick and coating the meat. If it isn’t, just cook it further on the stove top again until it reaches a consistency you like.

It goes without saying; only use a wine that you would also drink. If you don’t like the way it tastes in the glass then it won’t do your dish any favors either. Then drink the rest of your bottle with your meal…or while cooking it, I won’t tell ;) As with all stews and braises, be patient and you will be rewarded. These dishes cannot be rushed. If the meat isn’t tender after two hours, then just give it a gentle stir, cover, and return the pot to the oven until it is. If you don’t have farcelettes, any bouquet garni will do.

The local wagyu fared excellently in this dish! So soft and melty with the added unctuousness only a good marbling of fat can give. C and I were won over, absolutely and unequivocally, ignoring the sweat on our brows and the incongruity of the moment…digging deep into this bowl of cold weather food on a warm summer night.

***Please excuse the quality of my photo...it was already dark and I had to rely on the lightbulb in the room instead of the natural light I prefer. It really does taste so much better than it looks --- like most beef stews :)

SOME NEWS: 80 Breakfasts is mentioned in the Femalenetwork.com Blogs We Love! The Femalenetwork.com is a website under the esteemed Summit Media publishing group...a huge local publishing house that is responsible for titles like Town & Country, Martha Stewart Weddings, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, and Yummy magazine just to name a few. I'm thrilled to be mentioned!

Brown Sugar Roasted Pineapple

Summer is back on my island. Or what I like to think of as my island, when in reality I live in a city at least a couple of hours from the nearest beach…even more if you are looking for the pristine shores you see in travel magazines. That being said, I am still a part of this archipelago and thusly take island life as my birthright. As I take tropical island fruits as my birthright.

Mangoes, bananas, mangosteens, guavas, papayas, chicos, rambutans, jack fruit, star apples, and pineapples…I love them all. Sweet, creamy, or juicy…they tell tales of warm sunny days and clear blue skies under which they basked with nary a care in the world. When the weather turns steamy, as it is unapologetically doing right at this minute, my thoughts and my market basket turns to these fine specimens of the tropics.

Mangoes, as I have already mentioned, are at the top of my list. I thank God every day that I live amongst the finest. Pineapples are a close second – its toe-curling sweetness and sticky juiciness heralds summer in with pomp and promise. Even succeeding in distracting me from the heat for the few glorious moments I am enjoying it. My favorite way to have pineapples is the same as with mangoes – straight from the fridge. There is nothing quite like chilled tropical fruit on a hot hot HOT summer day.

Although this isn’t bad either…

Brown Sugar Roasted Pineapple

• 1 small pineapple
• about 4 tablespoons brown sugar (I used demerara sugar with large crystals)

- Slice your pineapple as I did here, but leave the slices thick.
- Lay pineapple slices on a baking sheet or pan and sprinkle with brown sugar. Depending on the size of your pineapple, and your penchant for sweets, you may need more or less.
- Roast in a 200C oven for about 20-30 minutes or until edges are caramelized.

I know roasting fruit in the heat of our Philippine summer seems counter intuitive, and adding sweetness to an already perfectly sweet fruit may seem pointless, but hear me out. Sometimes one needs variety, even in the blinding heat of summer when all you want is to lay still with cold wet towels all over your body. Yes, I know that eating pineapple straight from the fridge is all you can fathom doing right now. But just try…try to get your flip-flopped feet to the oven and give this a go. It is too easy to even warrant a recipe, even if I did try to eke one out for you here. It is infinitely adaptable and forgiving (use as much or as little sugar as you want, use less or more than a whole pineapple, grab that bottle of rum and add a splash). And when you pile a couple of caramelized slices in a bowl with some vanilla ice cream you will be glad you took the little effort it takes to make this :)

If you are one of my co-islanders, hang on, as this is looking to be one of our hottest summers yet! If you are on the other side of world, perhaps in a place where it is as cold as it is hot over here, I’ll trade you some of this pineapple for a box of fresh snow!