Busog! Sarap! EASY CHOC CHIP COOKIES

These Choc Chip Cookies are a favourite in our TRIBE’s household, I’ve been making this for years now.  Easy to make and bake, can be frozen and thawed for future emergency cookie craving baking episodes.  Crispy outside, chewy inside…what more can you ask for?  So, no further delay…..here’s my fool proof recipe for Choc Chip Cookies.

 

Busog! Sarap! EASY CHOC CHIP COOKIES

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar (compacted)

1 cup butter, softened

2 eggs (room temperature)

1 1/2 tspn vanilla extract

1 tspn baking soda

1 tspn salt (optional)

3 cup plain flour

250g chocolate chips

*used U.S Measuring Cups & Spoons

PROCEDURE:

~ Preheat your oven to 180C.  Place your rack in the middle of your oven.

~  In your mixing bowl, combine white & brown sugars, butter, eggs and vanilla extract.  Beat the mixture with your mixer for 30 seconds, then stop and scrape the side and beat it for additional 30 seconds.

~  In a clean dry bowl, place the baking soda, salt (optional) and flour together.  Using the slow speed in your electric mixer, gradually add the dry ingredients to your wet mixture.  Mix the mixture together for about 2 minutes then turn your speed a bit faster and add an additional 30 seconds.  Remember to stop and scrape the sides to evenly mix the mixture well during this process.

~  Add in your chocolate chips and mix it in slow speed till all the chips are well incorporated with the cookie dough, set aside.

~  Lined your cookie tray with baking paper.

~  Portion the cookie dough into round balls (1 tbspn each), while placing on top of your baking paper, slightly flatten the bases (but not too much to avoid) the cookie dough balls from rolling around the tray.  Evenly space the cookie dough balls about 5 cm apart for spreading.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, the cookies will flatten itself while being baked so no need to flatten it with a fork or the palm of your hand.

~  Once the baking is done, please remove the baking tray from the oven and place the cookies immediately on top of your cooling wire rack.  What I do is just slide the cookies including the baking paper and once the cookies are a little bit firm, that’s when I slide out the baking paper and use it again for another batch.

~  Cookies will be soft when it comes out of the oven as they cool down, they will become crispy outside and chewy inside.

~  Store in a tightly sealed container once all the cookies are completely cooled down, best eaten within a week if it last that long….in our house give it 2-3 days.

MAKES: 4-5 DOZEN COOKIES (depends on the size of your individual cookie dough balls)

 

NOTES:

• You can freeze portioned uncooked cookie dough balls for future use.  Just store the dough balls in a tightly sealed container/zip lock.  Before baking, just place the dough balls into your baking tray as instructed and let it thaw first for around 15 minutes.

• If the weather is too hot, place your dough mixture inside your fridge till it becomes firm like play dough texture before rolling it into your cookie dough balls.

Busog! Sarap! EASY CHOC CHIP COOKIES

PORK ADOBO BUN (Pork Adobo Gua Bao)

After my visit to 8 Street at Westfield Garden City “Fresh Food Precinct” and dropping by at Grill n Bao for lunch (we’re regulars now), I was inspired to make my own Gua Bao but with a Filipino twist put into it.  This Pork Adobo Bun (Pork Adobo Gua Bao) of mine is the bomb!  You have to make it, seriously… it is so easy.

PORK ADOBO BUN (Pork Adobo Gua Bao)

Fresh Food Shopping Experience at Westfield, Garden City

Brought to you by Nuffnang and Westfield Garden City.

Have you been to Westfield Garden City lately?  Westfield Garden City just had a $400m redevelopment and you should see what they have done.  If you haven’t checked the place yet…you’re missing out on a wonderful revamped fresh food precinct with new specialty stores plus of course your regular supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths and Aldi).

I was invited to check out their fresh food precinct and was very pleased with what I saw. 

SPUDS & PLUMS

I like the open layout design of Spuds & Plums (green grocer).  It creates this market style ambience and allows you to gain access at any point around the shop whether you’re just going to browse their fresh produce or buy something.  My bargain find was 1/2 head of cabbage for only 0.59¢ !

SUNLIT ASIAN SUPERMARKET

Sunlit has a very spacious store to display their wares.  I love their tea section with different teapots adorning its elaborate bookcase entrance.  Products are neatly stacked and priced reasonably.  My bargain find was 2 doz. chicken eggs for $3 !

TOP CHOP

Top Chop offers fresh nicely packaged meats and they have a hot section where you can buy ready-to-eat Roast Chickens and hot meals/snacks.

BREADTOP

I love Breadtop… with their vast assorted breads on display.  You can pick your own baked favourites in the display cabinets using their tongs and trays.

WOOLWORTHS, COLES AND ALDI SUPERMARKETS

Having the three major supermarkets under one roof is a big bonus for me as I love circling the specials on their weekly catalogues and going to the shops to buy the discounted products that our household uses around the house.

There are more shops opening soon around the vicinity of Westfield Garden City “Fresh Food Precinct” and when all of these shops are open, this area will be one of the busiest portions of the shopping centre.

As 8 Street was just opposite Spuds & Plums we had our afternoon snack at Grill n Bao.  The concept of a hawker style Asian cuisine dining precinct inspired me to put my own twist on Mr H’s favourite Pork Belly Gua Bao for the rest of the TRIBE to try at home.  So armed with a new recipe idea we came back to the fresh food area and bought all the ingredients I needed.

What came out on that inspiration was a Filipino twist on the Grill n Bao’s Grilled Pork Belly Burger which I will call… Pork Adobo Buns !

I hope you give this recipe a try…{click here for Busog! Sarap! Pork Adobo Buns recipe}

PORK ADOBO BUN (Pork Adobo Gua Bao)

 

F.Y.I~  Thank you to Nuffnang and Westfield Garden City for the opportunity of doing this sponsored post.  I truly enjoyed making the Pork Adobo Buns recipe inspired by Grill n Bao and revisiting the place again as Westfield Garden City Shopping Centre is one of our regular places to shop around.

Fresh Food Shopping Experience at Westfield, Garden City

GINATAANG TAMBAKOL STEAK (Tuna Steak cooked in Coconut Milk)

It has been along time since I have posted a Filipino Recipe….so to make amends, here’s a simple recipe for Ginataang Tambakol Steak (Tuna Steak cooked in Coconut Milk).  I’ve added a few kamias to create a small souring effect on the overall taste of the sauce.  I find that this dish is quite good  when you break up the tuna steak and tossed in cooked pasta or in a mix salad and use the sauce as the dressing. I do hope you give this Busog! Sarap! recipe a try!

GINATAANG TAMBAKOL STEAK (Tuna Steak cooked in Coconut Milk)

PERINAISE POTATO SALAD (Busog! Sarap! version)

This post has been long overdue is an understatement…. I do apologize to Nando’s for not posting this recipe last year as I was so pre occupied with the TRIBE’s family affairs.

PERINAISE POTATO SALAD (Busog! Sarap! version)

BABA GHANOUSH (Eggplant Dip)

Eggplants…. eggplants….eggplants, *whisper* I love eggplants!  So it is not a big surprise that I really like Baba Ghanoush (Eggplant Dip).  I spread Baba Ghanoush on Grilled Turkish Bread and even on toasts quite liberally like a Peanut Butter Addict gone crazy.  Baba Ghanoush is also beautiful inside a rolled Lebanese bread with salad and marinated grilled meat slices. 

With this recipe I’m sharing, I made it twice as the first one have that bite/bitterness from the grilled eggplant which I don’t like.  You have to choose the oval shaped eggplants not the Lebanese eggplant (long slender ones).  Size do matter, do not choose the biggest ones… get the medium size.  Avoid old eggplants with crinkly dull soft skin it should be taut.  If you look closely to the eggplant’s bottom, you’ll see a “belly button” indentation….choose the rounder shaped as it contains less seeds.

BABA GHANOUSH (Eggplant Dip)

NUTELLA VS NUTINO

Nutella or Nutino Hazelnut Spreads, which is better?

NUTELLA HAZELNUT SPREAD

For the past couple of years now Nutella has risen to new heights of food stardom overseas.  Everyone raves how they love it and even just thinking about Nutella makes them salivates. I for one like it but not to the point of collapsing to the ground in orgasmic food comatose every time I ate it smeared on my morning toast….lol!  If you want to read how Nutella came to be, please read this post by Tori Avey: The History of Nutella.

NUTELLA VS NUTINO

TOASTED TURKISH BREAD WITH SPINACH, FETA & CHEESE

This homemade creation was inspired by a Kebab shop in Carindale.  I love it so much that I replicated their Toasted Turkish Bread filled with Spinach, Feta & Cheese and has been a favourite merienda (snack) in the TRIBE household.

What’s so good about this Toasted Turkish Bread is that once the bread gets grilled to that golden brown stage, it has this nice crunch on top & bottom but have this pillowy texture bread inside.  Simple fillings but delicious combination and what’s not to love about melted mozzarella!  Another fantastic easy recipe for you to try at Busog! Sarap!

TOASTED TURKISH BREAD WITH SPINACH, FETA & CHEESE

FILIPINO MACARONI SALAD

When Mr. H and I dated in the Philippines, I always dragged him to Tropical Hut for Burgers and Macaroni Salad before watching a movie to take inside the cinema.  I love Tropical Hut’s little tubs of Macaroni Salad, it has this right melody of creaminess, sweetness and saltiness.  But my love for Filipino Macaroni Salad didn’t start there, I grew up with this pasta salad in the 70’s, 80’s and up until now am still fond of this cold pasta dish…. I can say we’re old BFF’s.

You can’t have a Filipino gathering or family outing without this pasta salad and it’s another easy dish to assemble.  Great for Christmas family parties and if you’re experiencing summer during Christmas like the TRIBE do, this Filipino Macaroni Salad goes great as a side dish for burgers or barbequed meats.

FILIPINO MACARONI SALAD