Tuna and Mushroom Torta/Frittata

In the Philippines, what's known as Frittata to Italians is what we call Torta. I grew up with my mom cooking torta of all sorts....from chicken, fish, canned sardines, crabs, eggplant to the most common ground beef or pork and canned corned beef. Most of the time, she would cook it for breakfast to make use of dinner leftovers. During Holy Week, torta made with either canned sardines or tuna is what we could expect on our table. My brother and I loved eating it with lots of ketchup over a plate of hot fried rice. Hmmmm...that's so good! I love it more when my mom cooked the torta over banana leaves. For me, the added aroma from the banana leaves was heavenly! I remember asking her why she loves cooking it over banana leaves...well, she said she's just doing it to easily flip the torta. :)

Nowadays, when I cook Torta, I cook it more like the Italian Frittata-style...I add cheese to it, and to cook the top, I usually broil it in the oven for a few minutes instead of flipping it. I have had a bad experience with flipping torta, so broiling is the best option for me. :)

Just like me, my daughters were introduced to eating torta from an early age...and yes, they love it! This Tuna and Mushroom Torta is one of their faves. As I've mentioned before, they both love mushrooms...so this is something they just couldn't resist. 

For this torta, I used canned tuna with vegetables (because that's all I had in the pantry) but you can use any canned tuna you have. Just drain it and it will work just fine. You can also use leftover fried or grilled tuna or any other fish. Just flake and use about a cup of it. If you are not a big fan of mushrooms, you can replace it with carots, peas, green beans, corn kernels or whatever will satisfy your taste buds. That's the best thing about torta / frittata you know! It will surely be tasty, no matter what you put in it! :)

Homemade Itlog na Maalat (Salted Eggs)

Been wanting to make salted eggs since I started the blog, but I just couldn't find fresh duck eggs anywhere. Duck eggs are a lot better to use in making salted eggs because of their tough shells which give them a longer shelf life. They also have larger yolk to white ratio compared to chicken eggs. As you know, it's the yolk that matters most in salted eggs so the large duck egg yolks would be better...but I'm not sure if I will ever find duck eggs here, so I decided to just use chicken eggs. As expected, the yolk of my salted chicken egg didn't turn out as creamy, granular, and oily compared to that of store bought salted duck eggs...but I tell yah, my daughters who weren't so fond of eating salted eggs, love it! Why? Because they weren't too salty. That's actually the best thing about making your own salted eggs at home. You can always control how salty you want them to be by doing a taste test starting at the 21st day after soaking them in brine. 

In the Philippines, the traditional way of making salted eggs is by the salted clay method, but using clay is a bit tricky, so I would not recommend that for homemade salted eggs. Brining method is more convenient and is the most commonly used way in making salted eggs at home. The only difficult part is waiting for 3-4 weeks to complete the brining process. I've read that Shao Hsing cooking wine could help produce brilliant colored yolk --- that, I gonna try next time. For now, I will enjoy the goodness of my homemade salted chicken eggs. Holy Week is here, so I could use some salted eggs to accompany the fish that we'll be eating the whole week. :)

Chocolate Marble Bread Using Tangzhong Method

Just as promised, here's the other bread that I made using tangzhong method. I actually used the same recipe as that of the Bacon and Cheese Bread which I posted the other day. The only difference is that I added more sugar and a chocolate layer to turn it into this yummy Chocolate Marble Bread...

Don't you love those swirls? Oh well, I know they aren't perfect, but my daughters said they look beautiful, so that's good enough for me! I followed a swirling technique I found on Jot the Tart Queen. It's pretty simple...I guess I'm just not that good with dough rolling! But it's ok...this Chocolate Marble Bread was so soft and tasty, and I think that's more than enough to make up for the imperfect swirls! :)

Bacon and Cheese Bread Using Tangzhong Method

I must admit that I'm really not a big fan of bread making. Aside from the banana bread which I frequently make for the hubs and the girls, I very seldom make other types of bread. Though bread may be cheaper homemade, the time and hassle involved make store-bought ones more preferable for me. But everytime I make bread at home, the excitement I see on my daughters' faces as they wait for the bread to come out of the oven always makes me realize that homemade bread is still the best! In terms of flavor, freshness, and all-around quality, nothing beats homemade bread!

Just like for example, this Bacon and Cheese Bread which I made for this month's Baking Partners' Challenge...

It's so soft and truly so delicious! Though it took me several hours to make it, this bread is  definitely worth the “homemade” effort! The best thing about it is being able to add the ingredients that we all like --- bacon and cheese! The whole family loved it and everyone requested that I make it again! It's priceless to see the big smiles this bread brought on the faces of my husband and daughters! 

Cheese Topped Shepherd's Pie

It's March 17...and do you know what that means? It's St. Patrick's Day --- an Irish holiday in honor of St. Patrick who is the most recognized patron saint of Ireland. We're not Irish so we don't really celebrate it. :) But every year, my daughters would always request that I make something green which is the color associated with St. Patrick's Day celebration. This year, I opted not to. I told them that I'll just make something "Irish" that we can share and enjoy after church, and this is what I came up with...

...Shepherd's Pie --- a meat pie with a top crust made of mashed potatoes. I've read that St. Patrick's Day won't be complete without Shepherd's Pie, which was originally called "Cottage Pie" and originated in England but was adopted by the Irish people.  Traditionally, the meat layer of a Shepherd's Pie is made of ground lamb, onions, carrots and peas. I honestly have never tried a traditional Shepherd's Pie. This one I am sharing with you today is an adaptation of a recipe I found at marthastewart.com years ago. It's made of ground beef, carrots, corn and celery...and has mashed potato and cheese topping. My family love this...and it's truly a big hit every time I make it. 

Whether it's St. Patty's Day or not, I highly recommend that you try this! It's comfort food at its finest!

Salmon and Vegetables Frittata Cups

Over a month ago, I saw Sandra's Easy Cooking's post on Frittata Cups and it caught my attention. Though I've made lots of frittata in the past, I have never tried making it into small servings. I've always made skillet sized ones, so I thought Frittata Cups like these look cute and will be more fun for my girls...

Just like omelet, I love making frittata to use up whatever leftovers we have in the refrigerator. Some of you might be wondering what's the difference between the two. Well, it's actually all about whether you fold the filling or not. Omelets have the egg mixture cooked and folded around the filling, while a frittata just mixes it all up and is cooked open faced. But both are very simple to throw together. You can use any meat, vegetable or cheese you have on hand.

For these Frittata Cups, I used leftover baked salmon and some vegetables, a combination that's Lenten Friday friendly. But feel free to use whatever filling seems satisfying for you.  There's no rule for that, so just follow your own taste preference and enjoy! :) 

Chocolate Mousse

What I have for you today is a family favorite dessert that I'm sure you'll love. I'm talking about this irresistible Chocolate Mousse, the recipe of which I got from Laura Vitale. I must admit that I used to enjoy making the quick chocolate mousse version that uses gelatin as binder, but after I tried this recipe, there's no way I'm making the quick version again! This is the real thing, very light and airy just like how a real chocolate mousse should be. This has been part of every special dinner in our house since I found the recipe early last year. It tastes divine, I tell yah! Even those who say they don't like chocolates would definitely love this! 

If making chocolate mousse intimidates you, I'm sure this will help you overcome that! Making chocolate mousse isn't difficult at all. The only difficult part is trying to keep yourself from eating it while it sets! :)

Have a lovely Monday everyone!

Sinaing na Tilapia

Growing up in a Filipino Catholic family, eating fish and vegetables on Lenten Fridays was a tradition for us. My brother and I were both in Catholic schools that time so we knew the importance of observing this tradition and we never complained about it. Sinigang na isda, paksiw na bangus, sarciadong isda, bulanglang, cardillong isda, daing na bangus, ginataang isda, escabeche, fish pochero, totsong isda, and pesang tilapia were among the dishes that my mom usually cooked during the Fridays of Lent. When she was busy and didn't have much time to prepare dinner, we'll find either fried fish served with itlog na maalat (salted egg) salad or Sinaing na Isda which was usually tulingan (baby skipjack tuna) on our table. Just like fried fish, Sinaing na Isda doesn't need too much time to prepare. You just season the fish with salt, put in a pot with water, dried kamias and fish sauce and cook "boiled style like that of rice" for 30 minutes. Despite the simplicity and mild flavor of this dish, it's something that I always enjoy eating. 

I rarely find tulingan here in my side of the world, so I often use tilapia whenever I cook Sinaing na Isda. I must say, it's nothing similar to the dish I grew up loving, but at least I get to satisfy my craving for this Batangueño dish. The last time I cooked it, I have some salted eggs so I served the Sinaing na Isda with salted eggs salad. 

Shredded Beef with Green Beans and Mushrooms in Bistek Sauce

From the way they look to the things they like, my two daughters are indeed different in many ways like most siblings are. While my eldest got my natural curly hair, my youngest has straight hair like the hubs. My eldest got my fair complexion while my youngest got her dad's medium skin tone. While my eldest hates pink and girly girl stuff, my youngest is so into it! Though both of them love school, my eldest loves to curl up with a good book but hates Math, while my youngest can sit and do Math problems all day but gets upset when it's reading time. Unless told so, my eldest won't help in the kitchen while my youngest is always so eager to help and considers herself as my sous chef. When it comes to food, my eldest would rather stick to burgers, chicken nuggets, pizza, fried chicken  and other food she's used to while my youngest would try anything I serve on our table. I can go on the whole day telling you how different they are from each other...but when it comes to how they are alike, I honestly can only think of a few. Aside from their being so sweet and loving, both of them love to sing and draw. They love dogs, playing at the park, flying kites together and building sand castles at the beach. And as far as food is concerned, both of them just couldn't resist anything with mushrooms! My eldest can be so picky but whenever I serve any dish with mushrooms in it, she can never say no! This Shredded Beef with Green Beans and Mushrooms is an example of that...