CELEBRATIONS: Christmas 2011

I know this is really a late post considering that I haven't posted in months but starting now, I will try to post regularly since I have started my mat leave. 'Hope I'll stick to my promise. I will start off with some mini-recipes  from what I have prepared last Christmas for my Filipino-themed Noche Buena. We never really had many visitors (only one actually) as most Filipino families here were also preoccupied with their own celebrations whilst the others were working because of the Christmas holiday double pay. The tradition in the UK for Christmas is they celebrate it on Christmas Day (December 25) by having Christmas lunch with their family and friends and they have turkey (yes, turkey is to Christmas in the UK as turkey is to Thanksgiving in the US). After our very simple feast at home, I bought some of the food I prepared and we went to my husband's workplace where we had a small salo-salo with his co-workers and we waited until 12 midnight which is the Filipino Christmas tradition.

My husband made this in the Filipino tradition of having Christmas Ham. I think he called this Roast Ham with Asian Spices. Sorry no recipe available. It has always been a tradition with us as well that he prepares the ham whenever there are special occasions. 

I have also prepared Pancit Canton and Macaroni Salad. To complete the meal would be grapes, rice (of course) and sweet potato and lettuce salad (I think it's a weird combination but we just need to have veggies).

MACARONI SALAD

I will not post the Pancit Canton recipe as it is the same with any other recipe and when I prepared it, I think I even used a Pancit Canton mix for the flavoring. For the macaroni salad, the only unique thing here is the pasta I  used. I got this idea from a housemate of mine in our previous flat. They don't have elbow macaroni available here unless you go to a Filipino store. So instead of using macaroni, we used a pasta called Spirali which I can only find in Sainsbury's. I tried using elbow macaroni after this but the salad was never the same. I noticed it because more people enjoyed eating the macaroni salad made with spirali rather than the elbow macaroni. Even me and my hubby could taste the difference. It's just a bit of work though because you have to cut each pasta in half using kitchen scissors. Because of the way the pasta is shaped, it absorbs the salad cream better and I think it's firmer when cooked and tastes even better after a day or two. For this preparation, I only used half of the 500g spirali.

Another addition is the cheese. Some put cheese in the salad whilst others don't. I also used Sainsbury's cheddar cheese. When I first got here, I got so overwhelmed with the different types of cheese and even if you only wanted to get cheddar cheese, there is mild, mature, their extra and light versions and so on. Sometimes I would end up getting a cheese I don't like (just because I wanted to experiment) as we are used to just one type of cheddar cheese in the Philippines. It could be different brands but it's just plain cheddar cheese. Anyway, I found one similar to that which could save time from going to a Filipino store and sometimes it might even be cheaper. It's called Full Flavour Cheddar Cheese from the Sainbury's Basics range. I have also discovered lately that the Cathedral City Cheddar Cheese (Mature yet Mellow) also tastes the same. I got it because it was on half-price as the brand is quite pricey but their cheeses are of excellent quality.

INGREDIENTS:

Spirali pasta (half of 500g)

1 double cream alternative (500g)

1 can condensed milk

2 cans fruit cocktail (about 400g each)

cheddar cheese (cubed)

raisins

mayonnaise and sandwich spread

Cook spiral pasta according to package instructions then cut in half. Add all the ingredients to the pasta and toss altogether. Put spoonfuls of mayonnaise and sandwich spread according to your taste. Enjoy!

PUTO

I made this puto to pair with the pancit canton. In reality, I was not able to make this until the next day, when we had to eat the left-overs from our noche buena. I was making way too many dishes that night that I had no time left to make these. I actually cannot remember which of the two sets of ingredients I used, the one using the rice flour or just plain flour or if I added coconut milk hence I'm posting both ingredients. Just take your pick. I was quite happy though with the one using plain flour instead of rice flour, maybe because I don't like the quality of rice flour I bought. I'm not quite sure about this as I haven't tried other rice flour brands and besides their coconut milk here is cannot and not fresh unlike in the Philippines so it might also be a factor. I like the texture of the puto better with just plain flour which is more of like our puto back home. 

I also had no puto moulds or steamer. We had a steamer that came with our rice cooker but it was too small and the muffin pan I'm using, although small, won't fit. Instead, I used a hot water bath in the oven. I used a large pan, half filled with water (half of the muffin pan covered) then baked it in the oven for about 150C. 

INGREDIENTS (Choice 1):

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup milk (again I use skimmed because that's what we use at home)

1/8 cup butter (melted)

1 egg

cheese*

food coloring/flavoring*

INGREDIENTS (Choice 2):

1 cup rice flour

1/2 tbsp baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1 can coconut milk

1 tbsp water

cheese*

food coloring/flavoring*

Mix dry ingredients first then add wet ingredients and mix altogether. For my recipe I divided the mixture because half is just plain white puto and the other half has ube flavor (I added a few drops of ube flavoring). You can also add food coloring to your puto mixture if you want them in different colors. Pour mixture in muffin pans (about halfway as it will still rise) and put pan in hot water bath to bake in the oven. When puto has risen and toothpick tester comes out clean, it is cooked. Add cheese when puto is nearly cooked as adding it halfway makes it melt way too much. Maybe this has something to do with my oven technique and may not have this effect when using a steamer.  

Makes about 10-15 pieces. 

This is the Ube Chiffon Cake I made as the dessert for the evening. I am still mastering my chiffon cake baking skills so I am still not confident to post this recipe. Making chiffon cake is quite tedious I have to say as there are two mixtures (separating the eggs and all). I will post a recipe once I have baked an ube cake to my standards and maybe I would have to add macapuno as well, Red Ribbon style.