Turon (Filipino Banana Lumpia/Egg Roll)

I must confess, even though I'm a foodie, I am a picky one at that. There are just certain foods that I can't stand. One of them that is at the top of my list is Bananas. I don't know what it is about Bananas but there is something about the skinny grocery store bananas that I don't like. However, if you're like me, I have the answer for you. Throw away those skinny grocery store bananas and listen to what I have to say. 

While growing up, the only time I would eat a banana was when it was in the form of a Turon which is a Filipino banana lumpia/egg roll. They are so addictive it's not even funny. I can eat four of these no problem. 

Let me tell you, Filipino's don't use any ordinary skinny grocery bananas. We use the Saba Banana which is fatter and so much sweeter. It doesn't have the intense banana flavor like the traditional banana which is why I believe makes it appealing to the banana hater in me.

This is the Saba Banana. See how much fatter and shorter it is?! The trick here is you do not want to use Saba Bananas that are completely yellow. You want one that has tons of brown/black marks on it, because otherwise, they are not ripe enough to work with. Even the one in the picture is not that ripe enough! 

Now, the most important part of the Turon in my opinion has to be the Jackfruit. It adds more flavor to the dish that it is just not the same without it. You may search "Jackfruit"and see that it kind of looks like the famously stinky Durian, but no they are not the same. The Jackfruit is very tropical in flavor.

So, if you're a hater of the banana, the Turon will change your life!

Turon (Filipino Banana Egg Rolls)

Recipe by Me

Makes 12

Ingredients

4 Saba Bananas (You can substitute regular bananas if you can't find Saba)

3/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar

1-12 oz jar Jackfruit in syrup, 6 pieces drained
12 Egg Roll Wrappers

Directions
Begin to heat up a pan with about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil on medium-low heat. In the mean time, take a plate and spread the brown sugar on the plate evenly, set aside. Begin to peel the Saba Bananas and slice them lengthwise about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.

Take the slices of Saba and coat them each in the brown sugar then place one slice on an egg roll wrapper. Take about 1/2 of a Jackfruit piece and make strips of it to run down the length of the Saba. Now roll the egg roll exactly like rolling a burrito.  Repeat for all the Saba pieces.

When the oil is hot, add in the finished egg rolls seam side down into the pan. You should see a light sizzle but nothing too intense. Keep the heat at medium low to prevent the sugar from burning. Fry until golden brown on each side which usually takes about 4 minutes per side. Patience is key! Cool on a cooling rack and serve!

-Aaron John

Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce

Well, that's it. I've finished my third year of college! This has been one of the hardest years by far and I'm just glad that it's over. I have so much to look forward to this Summer. It will be filled with job hunting, barbecues, my 21st birthday, a trip to California and so much more!

This Summer will also be filled with more blogging! A lot of recipe testing, some croissant making, some cake making, cookies of course and whatever I feel like creating. First up, another savory post. I've noticed when I cook savory food for my family, I end up focusing on Italian food a lot. Well, we can always use another Italian recipe right?

 

This recipe I came up with uses a jarred Marinara sauce as it's base. These days, they have some great quality Marinara Sauces out there and sure you can make your own, but this makes things much simpler!

Spaghetti Sauce

Recipe by Me

Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 lbs ground beef
1-32 ounce jar of Marinara Sauce (I used Clasico Tomato and Basil Sauce)
16 oz Tomato Sauce
1 ½ tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce
3 tbsp Ketchup
2 tsp salt
2 teaspoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoon Italian Seasoning (Optional)
Pepper to taste
2 cups water

Directions
In a pot, heat up the olive oil. Once hot, add sliced onions and cook until soft, about 4-5 min. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add ground beef and cook until browned and you hear the beef start to sizzle in it’s own fat. Discard any fat that renders from the ground beef, a little fat left in the pan is fine.

After removing some of the fat, add in 1 jar of Clasico Tomato and Basil Sauce, tomato sauce, worcestershire sauce, ketchup, salt, sugar, pepper and 2 cups of water. You may also add in the Italian seasoning if you have it on hand. I've made it without it, and it's still great because of the flavor from the Marinara sauce. Cook for 1 1/2 hrs, with a lid semi-on, stirring every 10 min to prevent burning on the bottom of the pan.

If the sauce it too acidic after the 1 ½ hrs, add a bit more sugar. Other than that, I made this recipe by taste so the measurements are rough estimates.

-Aaron John

Orange Chicken

Ever have that feeling where you want to buy food that you haven't had in a long time but simply don't want to buy it? You know, the feeling where you just need that Americanized Chinese Food that you find at the Mall? Not catching on? Well, how about the Americanized Chinese Food from a certain Panda who serves some delicious Orange Chicken? How about now?

As I was headed home from my last day of class this quarter, I knew I had the full capabilities to go and buy Orange Chicken but why not make it? It may not be the same exact thing but if I can somehow manage to have all the flavors of Orange Chicken and yet still have a fat wallet, I think that is a good day's work.

Thus, I combined a couple of recipes on Orange Chicken, such as one from Sunny Anderson, and came up with this one. It is sweet, salty, somewhat tangy, a little spicy and of course, it tasted like orange. That Panda isn't going to be eating more of my money.

Orange Chicken

Recipe adapted by Me

Ingredients
Vegetable oil, for frying
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
2 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

Sauce
1 1/2 cups orange juice
1/3 cup golden brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp cornstarch

Directions
In a pot or a fryer, heat the oil to 350 degrees F.

In a saucepan, combine the orange juice, brown sugar, worcestershire sauce and soy sauce together and heat it on the stove. Bring it to a boil and continue to boil it until is is reduced and has become slightly thicker, about 8-10 minutes. Add in red pepper flakes to taste. In a small cup combine the cornstarch with about 1 tbsp of water to make a slurry. Add the slurry into the sauce while whisking and cook for another minute or two. Set aside and keep warm.

Using a medium sized bowl, combine the flour and cornstarch. Then in another bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt and pepper. Add in the chicken to the egg and mix until everything is coated. Next, take the chicken pieces only and coat them in the flour mixture. Add the coated chicken to the oil and cook for about 5 minutes until the chicken is golden brown and crispy. Remove from the oil and place on a wire rack to cool.

When all the chicken pieces are cooked, add the pieces to the sauce and mix thoroughly. Cook them together on medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes so that the chicken has a chance to absorb the sauce.  Remove from the pot and serve with rice.

-Aaron John

Apple Chips

 

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away", but what about 15 apple chips? When I was younger, there was one thing I always got at the McChord AFB Commissary and that was Apple chips. Why? No clue. To think that Apple Chips are sold in essentially every store and yet the only time I got them was from a place 40 miles away from my home is crazy. It became somewhat of a ritual, something that felt more special then.

These days, my family rarely goes there; it's sort of an "out of the way" kind of thing. Gone are those days but those tiny food memories are something I will always remember. So, in a time where I purchased mealy apples and was set to throw them in the trash, this memory inspired me to use up the apples and create new memories.

Slowly cooking the apples in the oven until crisp, having that intense sweet apple flavor with a hint of spice and the disappearance of that "mealy apple" texture, not to mention the health factor, these are a great alternative to the store bought Apple Chips or potato chips in general.

Apple Chips

Recipe by Me

Ingredients
2 large apples
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 cup water
Juice from half a lemon

Directions
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. In the meantime, line 2 baking sheets with silpat non stick baking mats or parchment paper to prevent the apples from sticking. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar and set aside. Next, place your water and the juice of half a lemon into a medium sized bowl. This will prevent the apples from oxidizing and turning brown.

Once everything is set to go, with a knife or using a mandolin, begin to slice the apples into 1/8 inch slices and place the slices directly into the water and lemon juice mixture. There is no need to peel the apples before hand. If desired, you can core the apple as well. If you are not coring them, make sure to remove the seeds before baking.

When everything is sliced, pat the apple slices dry and begin putting the slices on the the baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar and place in the oven for 2 1/2 hours, flipping halfway through the baking process. Remove from the oven when the apples are not pliable and crisp all the way through. If not crisp by 2 1/2 hours, turn up the heat to 275 degrees and bake for 5 more minutes while keeping an eye on them!

-Aaron John

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

What screams "lounging in the sun, that warm tropical breeze running through your hair, warm sand between your toes, the sound of waves crashing onto the shore and an ice cold drink in one hand" more than Canned Pineapple?! Uh, an actual Fresh Pineapple? Yes, yes, a Fresh Pineapple screams all those things 10X better but what are you to do when all you have is the canned stuff?

Ok, maybe for a Canned Pineapple it's more like sitting on your couch, an electric fan running, your feet up on the coffee table, the sound of a great movie and a soda in one hand.

The two may be different but they both encompass being relaxed and the pineapple both encompass a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. However, we can all agree that sometimes one method packs more of a punch than the other. In this case, Canned Pineapple will just have to do.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Recipe by Eva Longoria

Ingredients
2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (1/3 cup for topping, 1/3 cup for cake)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
7 slices pineapple
7 drained maraschino cherries, or as needed (optional)
1 1/2 cups cake flour or all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a flameproof 9-inch cake pan, melt 1/3 cup of the butter over low heat. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter and cook, stirring, until the sugar and butter are blended and there are no pools of melted batter, 2 to 4 minutes.

Arrange the pineapple on top of the caramel. Decorate with cherries if desired, placing them in the center of each pineapple slice. Set the pan aside.

In the work bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer, place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and mix on low speed until well combined. Add the remaining 1/3 cup of butter along with the milk and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour the batter over the pineapple.

Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and carefully tilt it in all directions to release the cake from the sides of the pan. Let cool in the pan for about 3 minutes. Turn the pan over onto a serving plate and let stand for 2 to 3 minutes. Carefully lift the pan off the cake. Use a spatula to remove any fruit that is stuck to the pan and place it on the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.

-Aaron John