Purple Yam Fudge (Halayang Ube)
Purple yam fudge or more natively known as Halayang Ube (in the Philippines) is one of the decadent confections that is always made during the holiday season. And is always served during Christmas (Pasko), New Year’s Eve (Bagong Taon) and even Fiestas.
Halayang Ube is made by finely grating boiled purple yams, adding to it condensed milk, evaporated milk (other provinces even use fresh water buffalo’s (carabao) milk), sugar, butter and a bit of vanilla flavour. The mixture is then slowly cooked and constantly stirred for hours over medium heat until it gets thick and chewy. It is then moulded into serving platters or whatever serving vessel and is served in slices.
I stood for 3 1/2 hours in front of the stove cooking this until the sweet and milky purple puree turned into a chewy deep dark purple mass.
This confection is indeed a labour of love, and really, a test of one’s virtue of patience. But the end product is absolutely delicious!
Source: goddessofscrumptiousness
![Smoky Baked Potato Wedges with Hickory Smoked Bacon served with Spanish Red
These baked, cheesy potato wedges are flavoured with Spanish sweet smoked paprika, olive oil, cream cheese and manchego cheese, sprinkled with smoky hickory bacon bits and a dash more of pimenton dulce de la vera.
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Goddess of Scrumptiousness Food Photography and Original Recipes by Jeannie Maristela are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbok3durut1qgtvlpo1_r1_1280.jpg)
Smoky Baked Potato Wedges with Hickory Smoked Bacon served with Spanish Red
These baked, cheesy potato wedges are flavoured with Spanish sweet smoked paprika, olive oil, cream cheese and manchego cheese, sprinkled with smoky hickory bacon bits and a dash more of pimenton dulce de la vera.
[Recipes] [Portfolio] [Pinterest] [Twitter]
Goddess of Scrumptiousness Food Photography and Original Recipes by Jeannie Maristela are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Source: goddessofscrumptiousness
Before Summer Says “Goodbye” : Strawberry-Balsamic Cherry Swirl Lemon Curd Ice Cream
I always associate ruby-red cherries and strawberries, and bright yellow lemons with summer but who doesn’t anyways for this particular season.
With cherries I always think of those 1940’s sundresses with cherry prints and with lemons… of course it will always be lemonade, sipping it with a long swirly straw (…ok, that’s just me!) under the sun.
I know that the combination of strawberry and lemon for an ice cream flavour has been around for ages. So I figured why not make a teeny tiny twist to a classic combo and incorporate some sassiness.
The classic and traditional way of making ice cream is you make a custard with egg yolks, sugar, a mixture of full fat milk and cream, and flavouring. Then you dump the custard mixture into an ice cream machine, or in the old days, putting it in a tightly lidded can and rolling the can non-stop for a very long time with your own two hands over ice and salt.
My version is more of a deconstructed process of making ice cream.
I cooked the lemon curd first, then made my own strawberry-balsamic and cherry jam, and when these two components were cooled, I whipped the lemon curd and milk and cream mixture and folded half of the jam and swirled the rest gingerly throughout the ice cream mix.
Ingredients:
For the Lemon Curd
6 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornflour/cornstarch
1 1/3 cups water
pinch of salt
zests of 2 lemons
1/3 cup lemon juice
- In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar together. Mix and dissolve cornstarch and pinch of salt in water then combine these two mixtures together and cook in a sauce pan over low heat.
- Continue whisking the egg custard mixture until thickened. Turn off heat and whisk in the lemon juice.
- Transfer lemon curd in a bowl and cover the surface with cling film (making sure the cling film is touching the surface of the lemon curd) and cool at room temperature. Set aside.
For the Strawberry-Balsamic Cherry Jam
4 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, hulled and sliced into quarters
1 cup Maraschino cherries, stemmed and sliced in halves
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
2/3 cup sugar
- In a sauce pan, put all ingredients together and cook until mixture gets slightly thick, the consistency should be a like a runny jam.
note: As jam cools it will get more thick, so a bit of a runny jam consistency is what you want when you remove the mixture from heat to cool.
- Cool jam at room temperature. Set aside.
For the Ice Cream Base
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- With a whisk or electric hand mixer, beat on medium speed the milk, cream and cooled lemon curd until slightly aerated.
- Fold in half of the jam mixture into the ice cream mixture and continue to beat but on low (hand mixer) speed just enough to make a homogenized mixture.
- Swirl the remaining jam throughout the ice cream mixture as gently as you can with a kitchen spoon or rubber spatula.
- Either transfer the ice cream mixture in an ice cream maker (check settings and instructions) or (for those without an ice cream machine) put ice cream mixture in a rectangular container, freeze for 2-2 1/2 hours until slightly frozen and beat the mixture again with a hand or stand mixer. Transfer the whipped (almost soft-serve in consistency) mixture back in the freezer until well set and ready to eat.
Makes 6 cups
Goddess of Scrumptiousness Food Photography and Original Recipes by Jeannie Maristela are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Source: goddessofscrumptiousness
Strawberry-Balsamic Cherry Swirl Lemon Curd Ice Cream
Source: goddessofscrumptiousness
Steamed Crabs And Of Clawing Your Way To Eat
When we have steamed crabs in the house for lunch it is almost always during the weekend not because weekend lunches should be a bit special, but because eating crabs gives everyone a chance to wallow in our meal and eat without worrying about time… because clawing our way to a whole crab and leisurely basking in the sweetness and succulent little morsels of crab meat requires patience and determination to get every bit of flesh out of the blushing crustacean.
When I was a child, I was never a fan of seafood much more crabs. I thought it was terribly silly for anyone to spend so much time and effort, not to mention even using a wooden mallet just to get a small amount of meat from such stubborn crustacean. That and because even then, patience is the hardest virtue for me to practice and master, so I wasn’t that crazy every time my grandmother serves steamed crabs.
It was only in recent years that I did not only developed an amicably great and delish relationship with these clawed sassy creatures but I also discovered that it is only when eating crabs that I get to practice extreme patience, and for me this personal phenomenon is always a good thing.
I consider myself a purist when it comes to how I like to eat crabs. I want it as is and liberally squirted with lemon juice (yes, no butter nor seasoned vinegar).
We had five large crabs at lunchtime today, but we only ended up eating the claws (I know I’ve been sounding so barbarically carnivorous throughout this whole post… my apologies to the vegetarians and vegans) so this means… there will be a Crab Cakes post for tomorrow.
Source: goddessofscrumptiousness
Ham and Sharp Cheddar Sandwich with Chips, Salsa and Fruits
Source: goddessofscrumptiousness
Golden Watermelon
A lot of summery and refreshing food and beverage are being gloriously relished this time of the year and watermelon, I think, is the quintessential summer food mother nature has given us.
I even consider watermelon, if ever I would be stuck in a desert, as the only perfect thing I can bring along with me that will serve as both food and thirst quencher. The seeds, I can always dry under the desert sun and have as a snack. Very clever food really.
Source: goddessofscrumptiousness
Simple Feast, Big Celebration
(Rice noodles with savoury achiote sauce with sliced eggs, Calamansi Limes, Pork Barbecue skewers, spoons and forks, a 1 year old baby’s birthday cake and plates)
Source: goddessofscrumptiousness
Salsa
I love the idea of chopping up 6 or 7 fresh ingredients to make a very versatile condiment such as Salsa.
I am one of those people who believe that deliciousness should also always be easy to make, like for example, if you beat some eggs and mix in some grated sharp cheddar then cook this mixture into scrambled eggs and serve with salsa = eggy, cheesy and zesty heaven on a plate… Ole’!!!
Source: goddessofscrumptiousness
