Homemade Pancakes

One of the things that I missed from home is having pancakes for breakfast.  Pancakes has been one of my favorite comfort foods.  There was even a time during my childhood when I would put match sticks on top pancakes and pretend that it was my birthday.  The only problem living abroad is that they don't have pancake mixes here so I have to make these from scratch.  After a few futile attempts I was able to make the perfect fluffy pancakes.  Here is the recipe:

Dry ingredients
1 cup flour
2 tbsp of sugar (I used two packets of Dr Oetker Vanilla sugar, it works like a charm)
1 tsp of baking powder (don't overdo this as it gives out an unpleasant bitter taste)
a pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients
1 cup full cream milk
1 egg beaten (so the egg probably has low self esteem now because it was beaten.  Yeah, I know it's a bad joke #sorrynotsorry)
2 tbsp of oil or melted butter (the melted butter is better trust me on this one.  to melt just toss it on the pan you will use to cook the pancakes with.  This also lessens the oil you will use to cook.)

Combine the dry ingredients first then the wet ingredients.  Blend together using a whisk until all the lumps are gone.  Preheat a pan with 2 tbsp of oil or the butter that you used for the wet ingredients.  You actually just need to lightly oil the surface of the pan so that the pancakes don't stick.  Once you already have a good heat on the pan (place your palm an inch away on top of the pan, if you feel that there is already heat from that point then you have a good enough heat.)  Pour or scoop the batter into the pan with just a good sized pancake.  Make sure the pancakes don't reach the sides of the pan to make it easier to flip.  Once you see bubbles forming on the pancakes then flip them over.  This recipe makes 5 medium sized pancakes.

Don't have maple syrup?  No problem, put some Nutella, chocolate syrup, peanut butter or my current favorite Speculoos Cookie Butter on top of it.  Enjoy!

Mackerel in Tomato Sauce with Egg (Fish Sarciado)

Fish Sarciado

This is a typical Filipino specialty and is very easy to cook.  For this dish you will need:

Fish, filleted and deboned (I used half of a medium sized mackerel for this recipe)
Two medium sized tomatoes cut into quarters
one egg beaten
one onion diced
three cloves of garlic
two cups of cooking oil for frying enough to reach half of the fish's thickness
some flour for dusting the fish
fish sauce (or salt if you don't prefer handling fish sauce)
one cup of water
salt
ground white pepper to taste


Dust the fish with flour and salt on both sides
Heat your oil in medium heat in a frying pan or sauce pan for about five minutes
Fry the fish on both sides for about 7 minutes on the skin side and 5 minutes on the flesh side
Once done set aside the fish
From the same oil used to fry the fish discard some oil leaving about two tablespoons
Saute the onions then the garlic until the onions are transparent
Return the fish to the pan and saute the fish
Add the tomatoes and let it be heated for about 3 minutes
Add one cup of water and let the mixture simmer
Crush the tomatoes so make a sauce
Add the egg and mix it this allows more thickness into the sauce
Finally, add some fish sauce/salt and pepper to taste

Serve on top of hot steamed rice!  I actually wrote this entry while finishing my lunch.

Found a new cafe in Mongolia

Here in Mongolia there are no Starbucks unlike in Manila where there's one every corner (OK that's already exaggerated but in Makati City it's close to that.)  There is a Caffe Ti-amo though and there's about four of them here in Ulaanbaatar.  I've tried the one in Sky Department Store during my first month here.

I've blogged about Caffe Ti-amo about two years ago where I fell in love with their Gelatos and Affogatos (you can find my blog entry here Favorites: Gelato)  So when I saw the Caffe Ti-Amo here I tried their affogato and I was immediately brought back home even for just a few minutes.  Incidentally, I also met some Filipinos working here in Mongolia during that time too so the sound of people talking in my native tongue completed the experience. You can check out Caffe Ti-Amo Mongolia's  FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/caffetiamo.

However, today it was a welcome surprise to find this new cafe at the ground floor of Home Plaza Shopping Center near where I live aptly named "Cafe".  And as always, the first thing I tried is my all time favorite the Caramel Macchiato.

I would say the coffee and cake was not bad at all.  The mocha roll does have sesame seeds which was not quite a good combination with mocha but I would have to try the other cakes and their sandwiches next time to make a better assessment.  The price and ambiance was also OK and gives a home style atmosphere.  I also noticed that their tea and coffee are also offered as either hot or as a cold beverage which gives more variety   Next time I will try my favorite tea concoction which is the Chai Latte.

Ahh... suddenly life seems to be "close to normal" again.

Beef Mechado ala Executive Lunch

I have read somewhere that when it comes to recipes why mess with a classic.  I somehow disagree on this since my philosophy is - eating should be a celebration of the palate.  And each person's preference to flavor, appearance and aroma of food varies immensely.  So here is my take on a classic Filipino dish called Beef Mechado or Beef Stew in Tomato Sauce.

For this recipe you would need:

400 grams of beef cubes  (beef cubes from the shank part works best)

1 big potato sliced into round chips about one fifth of an inch or half centimeter in thickness

100 grams pouch of tomato sauce

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 medium sized onion sliced to small pieces

salt and pepper to taste*

* I replaced this with Patis (fish sauce) and chili paste but this varies per person's preference and availability (luckily I found some Korean fish sauce in the local grocery.)

1.  Boil the beef with enough water to cover the beef.  Add some salt/patis and let it boil in high heat for about 30 to 45 minutes or until the beef is tender.  Separate the beef from the broth once done.  The broth can be used later and the excess can be used as soup.

2.  Fry the potatoes until both sides are golden brown.  The objective is not to make it crispy, remember you are cooking lunch or dinner and not a snack.  Set this aside.

3.  From the oil you used to fry the potatoes get about 2 tablespoon and heat in a skillet.

4.  Saute the onions and then the garlic once the onions are transparent.  There is some question on whether the onion or the garlic should come first when stir frying.  I say it should be the onion since it cooks slower than the garlic.  Also, garlic essence is already extracted from heated garlic at about 2 minutes from cooking.

5.  Add the beef and stir fry for about 5 minutes, put in some more salt/patis and the pepper/chili paste according to your taste preference while stir frying.  If the oil dries out do not add more oil but instead put in some beef broth.

6.  Add the tomato sauce and about half a cup of beef broth.  Let this simmer in low heat for about 5 to 10 minutes and remove from heat once done.  Check it from time to time and don't let the liquid to evaporate or dry out.  If it does, add some broth but be careful not to dilute the sauce by adding too much.

7.  For plating, place the fried potato chips on once side and place the beef on the opposite side.

Serves 3 to 4

This can actually be a meal on its own but still would work well if eaten with hot steamed rice.

Bon Appetit!

P.S.  For the other side of Executive Lunch please subscribe to 2438 Miles Away.  There I would post about music, movies, television, books, technology and anything under the sun.