Tres Leche Cake

Sometime ago, a high school classmate of mine asked if I knew how to make a Tres Leche Cake. That was the first time I ever heard of such a cake. So again, I researched on the internet how to make the cake. It appears it is a yellow sponge cake that is then drenched with mixture consisting of evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream in equal proportions. The cake is then refrigerated so that the milk mixture thickness somewhat. Just before serving, top the cake with whipped cream or Cool Whip together with some fruit. I've since learned there are easy ways to make this cake. Buying a ready made chiffon cake, and then drenching it with the milk mixture is the easiest and quickest way to do it. You can also use a yellow cake made from a cake mix. The key is to make sure that the cake soaked in the milk mixture is refrigerated for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight, in the refrigerator. The cake must be in some sort of container so that it has a chance to sit in the milk mixture and soak it up. If you make the cake from scratch or a mix, use a 13x9 rectangular pan, preferably the pyrex dish. To help the milk mixture penetrate into the cake, poke holes all over the cake using the fork, toothpick, or bamboo skewer.  Among the fruits I like to use are strawberry, kiwi, or even frozen raspberries. I normally put this directly above the cake, and then place the whipped cream topping. When I use fruits, I normally put a tablespoon of a liqueur in the milk mixture. For fruits like those I've mentioned, I normally put Grand Marnier or Bailey's Irish Creme both in the mixture as well as the whipped topping. If fruits are not available, I normally put semi-sweet cholocate on the whipped topping, and flavor the milk mixture with Kahlua. Recently, I brought this cake to a christmas pot luck dinner for international students hosted by my church. The pot luck spread is shown in the accompanying picture. I had barely eaten when one of my churchmates told me that my cake was a hit. By the time I had reached the pot luck table, the cake, crumbs and all, had evaporated (maybe because of the evaporated milk used in making the cake). I guess that is a testimony to how good this cake is. I do hope of you out there would try it.

Paella!

Paella is a rice dish believed to have originated from Valencia, Spain in the 19th century. It gets its name from the Paellera, a round shallow metal pan with two handles. Over the years, it has evolved into a dish that typically uses short-grained rice; together with meats such chicken, rabbit meat, and snails; combined together with an assortment of beans; and colored with saffron. In the Philippines, seafoods such as shrimps, crabs, and squid, and chorizo de Bilbao sausage is generally added when making paella. For years, our maid used to make paella on a regular basis. However, when my mother passed away, the maid left and there was no one to cook the paella. Yesterday, I decided to learn how to make Paella. I research the process over the internet, and bought the ingredients from the market. Because I did not have an honest to goodness paellera, I used a turkey roaster with a lid in which to cook the paella. I posted the experience on my FaceBook wall, and recieved many comments ranging from "Why did I not attend a pot luck and bring Paella", to "That look's so good! I would like to taste it." Many of you out there wrote to ask for the recipe. So the main purpose of this blog entry is to give the recipe and also encourage people to tryout the recipe. Paella is really easy to make and is a good one dish meal. You can make lots of it and it keeps well. The paella made last night heated up very well for today's lunch. So here is the procedure:

In a frying pan, sautee 4 springs of green onion chopped up, 2 large red bell pepers cut into strips, 4 large tomatoes chopped up, 5 cloves of garlic chopped up. Add 2 teaspons of Spanish Paprika, a few strands of saffron, 4 cups of short grained rice, a cup of green peas and 8 cups of boiling chicken stock. I adjusted the seasoning by adding some salt and peper to the broth. You an also add some chicken buoillon cubes for added flavor. Transfer this mixture to a paellera, or some container that in which you can cook the paella in the over (a large flat Pyrex cooking dish works well for this). Arrange chicken (I used skinless chicken thighs cut up in to pieces), seafood (I used squid cut up into rings and large shrimps un-shelled), a four pieces of chorizo de bilbao cut up into bite-sized pieces on the top and bake at 300F for 40 minutes, or at least until the rice is cooked. You may have to taste it during the cooking process to determine if the rice is cooked.

Hope you enjoy eating this as much as I did. Bon Appetit!