Sour cream and cheese dip

Mayonnaise is one Filipino kitchen staple I can live without. If most people like it in their sandwiches, Quoting Katherine Heigl, I must say “I’m in physical pain” when I have to bite that sandwich oozing with sour- sweet pickled white sauce. However, my preferences do not reflect the view of majority of the Filipinos. I don’t need statistics to prove, but, growing up, there is never an occasion, big or small, formal or informal, without the invasion of mayonnaise. Even the dip in my all-time favorite cheese sticks is a thousand islands dressing (in the Filipino version, it’s ketchup and mayonnaise). Over the years, I have accustomed myself to feel okay to eat any food with mayonnaise. But I can only manage a few bites (or maybe big bites, if I have no choice).  I have no choice and I don’t want to grow up as a difficult person to deal with, especially in the communities, so I have to live with it.

Filipinos love dips on their chips. While I hate mayonnaise, and a bit health conscious, I came across this article online, the same website that gave me my successful, delectable salted caramel brownies. I did some modifications from the original recipe. I thought, sour cream? The last time I tasted a nice dip was made by my cousin, she used all purpose cream, tomatoes, and crushed bacon. But, well, using sour cream as a base is worth trying. If it turned too sour, I still have a spare all purpose cream with me. Just in case.

 Sour cream and cheese dip

200g sour cream (Hacienda Macalauan)

120g bacon, fried and then crushed to bits ( I used King Sue)

Shredded cheddar cheese (to your heart’s content)

Medium sized bell pepper, minced

Minced parsley

It tasted perfectly with Oishi’s gourmet chips in sea salt. And I did not need to use my all purpose cream because the cheese neutralized the sourness of the cream. I still have a spare for one pack of V Cut  chips which I am dying to try later on. I think it is a good appetizer for parties or get together. It can serve 3-4 people, I think. It is perfect for a movie night party snack. I am not sure about the bacon, the bacon burned when it tried to toast it. Maybe becuase sugar was used. Nonetheless, the taste was alright, maybe the overall taste of the dip will be differ from the bacon that you will use.

The Flourless Chocolate Cake and the “Whatever” Chicken

I stopped cooking/baking for a couple of months, shortly after our mixer broke down. I was the last one who used it. Feeling guilty of making my parents track down a good Kitchen Aid service center in Manila, I never dared touched it again. Unfortunately, my cooking enthusiasm went in coma, too. My sister prodded me a couple of times but I won’t budge. Until a few weeks ago, when she “ordered” me to bake. My sister has this ultimate “negotiating” skill that works. Geez. And her birthday’s coming, so, I guess I have to relent. So I agreed. And she excitedly sent the link of this recipe to me.

We are regular followers of the The Fat Kid Inside blog, and, since the birthday celebrant wanted this recipe, I had to follow it. I would say it was successful, somehow, except that the cake came out a bit “crumbly.” Maybe because I added two more minutes cooking time. I was a bit apprehensive to take the cake out of the oven because the middle still jiggles.

Some modifications:

1. I only added 1 tbsp of sugar; since we’re thinking that we don’t want the cake to be too sweet.
2. For the chocolate, I used a combination of 1 package (340g) of Nestle chocolate chips that my auntie brought from the US and half of the package of Goya dark chocolate chips (Culinary). The result was a gooey chocolate fudge. We discovered this can be also used to top Vanilla ice cream (or any ice cream flavor). And the chocolate hardens once it touches the cold ice cream. That could be the modified chocolate shell that’s sold in the groceries.
3. I did not make the chocolate fudge anymore, because, again, we don’t want the cake to be too sweet.
4. I used Anchor Whipped Cream as a topping to compliment the sweetness of the chocolate.
5. The recipe calls for 210 °C for 12 minutes, but we don’t have a digital oven or oven thermometer, so I just heated our oven to maximum then turned it lower. I cooked the cake for maybe 14 minutes. 

And it didn’t end there. The next morning, my sister asked me to cook her new favorite roasted chicken I did last week, so I did again. It’s just a mix of pantry ingredients, I don’t even know what it’s called. Anyway, here’s the recipe (no measurements; I don’t measure)

Stuffing: Half lemon (cut into quarters),  fresh basil (yes, we grow basil hihi 😀 )

Marinade: Thai fish sauce, ground black pepper, herbs, olive oil

Basting sauce: Butter

Roast at 375°C for 40 minutes on one side, then 15 minutes on the other. Serve with lettuce (we love wrapping it in lettuce). It’s a fool proof recipe for my family. Too bad tatay is not home to taste it. But we left some for him.. and for our office lunch tomorrow. We’re good at recycling and reheating food 🙂 

my sister said she couldn’t resist the chicken she has to touch it. She likes fooling around when I’m doing some serious stuff like taking a picture of this chicken for the blog.

I guess the celebrant was happy. Aside from getting her birthday loot, she got her cravings satisfied. Well, I was happy to be back in the kitchen, too, after caving for months. Now I am thinking what will be my next project. I guess I’m back in the game.