The Unofficial Cook

Muruecos is the name of a common rice stick or suman as Filipinos call it. It was supposedly my grandmother’s favorite suman. I like it too and featuring it for Lasang Pinoy 20th Edition, Binalot made the effort certainly worthwhile.

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I’ve been meaning to do this omelette which I first tasted at the Village Smithy in Carbondale, Colorado last July when Spouse and I went to Redstone for our anniversary.   I thought it was a perfect recipe since I’ve always been gaga over smoked salmon (anything smoked for that matter) and cream cheese.  I didn’t have any bagels this morning but a couple slices of toasted French bread smeared with more cream cheese was fine.  Serving it with orange slices was a perfect way to cleanse the palate. (more…)

Sunday Brunch is getting to be a nice habit for Spouse and I.  It’s just a nice way to start what will turn out to be the most leisurely day of the week.

This week, I tried a recipe I’d never tasted or cooked before:  Eggs Florentine.  Spouse has never had it himself so he was looking forward to trying it.  There are so many ways to do this dish, I was stumped for a minute deciding how I was going to make it.  I could’ve done the eggs poached but thought it was too early to successfully manage that.  So I decided on baking it in ramekins instead. (more…)

This turned out really fantastic considering I started out with no idea what I was going to do.  All I knew was I wanted scones for breakfast.  I also wanted some new recipe so I can post it on this blog.  So I decided to go with my old reliable High Altitude Cream Scone recipe and picked a few ingredients I already had.  So breakfast turned out to be a Lemon, Currant and Walnut High Altitude Cream Scone…delicious…

This is my first shot at this trumped-up recipe and I know I can make some improvements in the future.  I’ll give it to you as I made it, with notes that will improve the recipe. (more…)

I was looking for a good recipe for French Toast this morning and stumbled on this interesting piece from Daniel Rogov.  Mr. Rogov clarifies that the French Toast did not originate in France as I always thought.  It’s origins are in Albany, New York where a tavern keeper of the 16th century by the name of Joseph French came up with the recipe and  named it after himself.

After reading that, I really had no choice but to go with  Mr. French’s original recipe.  I then decided to dress it up with a bit of homemade orange and raspberry sauce.   It made one truly delicious breakfast.  Unlike most French Toast recipes I’ve tried, this isn’t sweet at all. The sweetness is provided by the sauce which is the way it was probably meant to be. (more…)

This was a delightfully wicked breakfast!  Don’t you think so?  It’s a Strawberry Shortcake using the Cream Scone recipe I featured previously.

All I did to turn it into a shortcake was to slice some strawberries and mixed them with some confectioner’s sugar, and a tablespoon (or two) of Grand Marinier and let that sit while my scones were in the oven.  I then whipped some cream to the soft peak stage and sweetened that a bit with more confectioner’s sugar. (more…)

I got tired of eating our weekly supply of strawberries with oatmeal and cereal. Yes, it’s healthy but it does get boring.  I was dreaming up something with cream and alcohol…Yup, alcohol…hic! And yes… in the morning!

Now don’t be an old fuddy-duddy…it’s nothing that’s going to turn  me into a drunk. What’s the use of living in a kid-free environment if you can’t serve something with liqour in the morning, right? (more…)

These scones are the second batch I made for the clotted cream I featured in an earlier post. It’s an easy recipe from www.joyofbaking.com which I adapted to suit baking at higher altitudes. We’re about 6,500 feet above sea level.  The altitude can wreak havoc on the texture and over-all success of your  baked goods.  With experience and some trial and error, you will learn that it’s just a matter of adjusting certain ingredients to get a recipe right.

This recipe is lusciously rich and is perfect with a cup of English breakfast tea or a rich cuppa java. You can serve this with some fruit preserves.  Don’t forget the clotted cream, it’s the best compliment to scones.

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I have never made pancakes so fluffy and light before!

This is a pancake recipe from my Betty Crocker New Cookbook. The recipe is a simple one but this time, I tried the buttermilk variation and was surprised at the results. I don’t keep buttermilk in my fridge so I used a substitute of whole milk with a tablespoon of vinegar and it seemed to work very well.

This was served with Olivio margarine, a drizzling of maple syrup and thawed, frozen raspberries. (more…)