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Longsilog Torta

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Pinoy Longsilog Torta
Pinoy Longsilog Torta

I was at the local Asian market on afternoon to pick up some “special” mushrooms and decided to wander the isles for a bit. While carefully giving the fish section a little extra nasal space, I stumbled across some Filipino breakfast sausage called Longanisa, and since I didn’t have my wife with me at the time, I had no idea what this was except it was made from meat and came in a wide variety of meats and spices. The most appealing one at the time was the hot pork version, so I picked some up to experiment with. And after consulting the internet and a few of my Filipy friends I concocted this Longsilog Torta which is a lot like a frittata.  WARNING – there is enough garlic in this to scare away vampires, thus it’s nickname or Vampire Repellant Torta.

Serves 16 – 22

Ingredients

  • 2 pkg – 12 oz Frozen Hot Pork Longanisa
  • 6 slices –  uncured Bacon (optional)
  • 2 tomatoes – diced
  • 1 cup – rice
  • 12 cloves – garlic chopped (should be about 1/4 cup)
  • 4 tbspn – cooking oil (I use coconut oil for this)
  • 1/4 cup – Fish Sauce
  • 1/2 cup – shredded White Cheddar Cheese
  • 2 pie pans

Preparation

Cook the rice as directed by the package.  Prepare the tomatoes and garlic by getting all the chopping done.  In a large pot, but in the cooking oil and heat on medium high heat.  When it’s hot enough add in all the garlic and stir until its all starting to brown.  Remove half of the garlic and set aside till final assembly.  Drop in the rice with the remaining garlic and stir while frying for about 5 -10 minutes or until the rice is just a little browned.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Put this away in the fridge until ready for final assembly.

Chop up the longanisa and bacon into 1/2 chunks and then cook in a skillet over medium high heat until it’s all thoroughly cooked.  Remove from the skillet and place on a paper towel to drain.  Raise the heat to high and the skillet is still a little greasy add in the tomato chunks and cook until they start to wilt and get browned edges.  This should take about 6 minutes.  Remove and mix together with the meats from above.  Refrigerate until ready for final assembly.

Final Assembly and Cooking

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Apply a thin coating of coconut oil to the bottom of the pie pans.  Mix all of the previously prepared ingredients together thoroughly and place equal portions into each oiled pie pan.  In a mixing bowl, prepare the standard quiche base mix but add in the Fish Sauce as well.  Whisk until frothy while adding a little salt and pepper to taste (I use 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons pepper) and pour over the fillings in the pie pans.  Put on a thin coating of a white shredded cheese on top and then add the remaining fried garlic.  This all goes in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until its starting to brown on the top.  Remove from the oven and it’s ready to serve as soon as it’s cooled down a little.  Or pack it up a blanket for the rink.

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Canadian Drunken Pumpkin Bacon Balls

I was looking for a reason to make something that resembles the maple bacon cupcakes and doughnuts that everyone seems to be making.  But I wanted to step it up a bit, both for flavor (the drunken) and for fall (the pumpkin).  After researching how these things are typically made by about 20 others, I came up with this.

The boys liked them as much as they like the quiche so it’s got to be a hit.

This makes about 30 – 1 1/2 inch balls

Ingredients

Balls

  • 1/2 cup evaporated milk
  • 1 package of bacon, fried and chopped
  • 1/4 cup bacon grease from cooking the bacon, in solid form
  • 4 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast (2 packets)
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 1/2 cup your favorite spiced rum (Kraken or Captain Morgan‘s)
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 4 tablespoons of maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 2 2/3 of all-purpose flour, plus a little extra if needed
  • vegetable oil for frying (I used 2 quarts)

Glaze

  • 2 cup powdered sugar
  • 4 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoon bacon fat, melted
  • 2 tablespoons evaporated milk
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup of the rum used in the balls

Preparation

I did most of this the evening before just because everyone likes their balls freshly cooked and warm, right.

First you need to cook up the package of bacon. I find it best to bake this on a foil lined cooke sheet in a 375 to 385 degree oven for 7 to 10 minutes per side, draining the grease at the flip. Then take the finished bacon and drain on some paper towels. Put the bacon grease into a bowl and refridgerate long enough to make it the consistency of warm butter. Now to make some bacon butter. Add the evaporated milk to a saucepan over medium-low heat and heat until just warm enough to melt the bacon grease. Pour the warm milk over top of the bacon grease slowly and stir constantly until it’s fully mixed. Set side to let cool to room temperature.

While that’s cooling, take a few minutes to loosely chop half of the bacon. Finely chop the rest and keep the two separate.

The next thing you can premake is the glaze. In another bowl add all the glaze ingredients along with the finely chopped bacon and whisk until this becomes a glaze. Then refrigerate till ready to use.

Now to make the dough. In the large bowl whisk together the yeast and warm water to activate it. Let this mixture sit for about five minutes until foamy. Then add in cooled bacon butter. Mix well using an electric mixer on low speed. Add in the eggs, syrup, salt, nutmeg, pumpkin spice, rum, coarse chopped bacon and half of the flour mixture, mixing on low speed until combined. Add the remaining flour, mixing on medium speed until combined which will take about five minutes. Then knead the dough for about five minutes or until it fully pulls from the bowl. If it is sticky add a few tablespoons of flour and knead until it pulls off smoothly. Have another vegetable oil coated bowl ready and transfer the dough when it pulls easily, cover and let rise in a warm place for about and hour.

Prepare a couple cookie sheets with parchment paper and a little coating of oil or baking spray. Then pinch off pieces of the dough that you can roll into balls about an inch to inch and a half in diameter. Place these on the cookie sheets keeping at least a half an inch to one inch separation. Then cover loosely with a sheet of plastic wrap and let this rise at room temperature for another thirty minutes. Then move to the refrigerator for the night.

Assembly

First thing you need to do is get the dough nuts out of the refrigerator and allow them to warm to room temperature. If your pressed for time, warm up the oven a little and put the balls in there with the door cracked so it’s about 100 degrees in the oven for about five minutes. Warm up your glaze either in a microwave or pot just enough to liquify it again.

While the balls are warming, heat your oil a large pot on medium high heat, making sure it is about 365 degrees. You should also only need about two to three inches of oil. And if you want them a little crisper and healthier, use coconut oil. Add the dough nuts into the oil five or six at a time, frying on each side for about 1 minute, and flipping with a spider or slotted spoon. Remove and let drain on wire rack placed above a paper towel. When finished, dip each ball halfway in glaze. They are ready to serve or pack in a foil covered tray for transport. If your taking these to the rink, make sure to leave a little vent in the foil cover to let the steam out, but keep most of the heat in.

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Chipotle Steak Fajitas w/ Pinto Beans Quiche

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Chipotle Steak Fajitas with Pinto Beans
Chipotle Steak Fajitas with Pinto Beans

Being in the southwest, we get some good choices for Steak Fajitas.  This recipe takes the basic ingredients of a good Fajita and Bean Burrito and turns it into quiche.  This particular one also has some green chile and other extra ingredients that you won’t get at your local Chipotle burrito shop.

Serves: 16 – 22 (2 quiches)

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Flank or Skirt Steak (about 4 pieces)
  • 2 tspn Salt
  • 4 tspn Pepper
  • 6 tspn Ancho Chile Pepper Spice (McCormick is what I’ve used)
  • 1 can of Trappey’s Pinto Beans with Jalapenos (Walmart might have them)
  • 1 Green Bell Pepper
  • 2 Anaheim Chile Peppers
  • 1/2 Red Onion, chopped
  • 4 tblspn Olive Oil
  • 1/2 jar of Colorado Green Chile (hot is best, and a good substitute is Sadies Roasted Green Chile Salsa)
  • 2 cups shredded Mexican Cheese (best is to mix Asadero and Monterey Jack Cheese equally)
  • 1/4 cup fine chopped black olives (optional)
  • 2 pie crusts

Preparation

Combine the salt, pepper and chile pepper spices in a large zip lock bag.  Place the meat into the bag and shake up so that the spices coat all sides of the meat like a good rub.  Put in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

In a pot over medium heat cook down the can of beans until the liquid has reduced by half.  This should take about 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and drain the beans and juices into separate containers and refrigerate until ready for final assembly.

Get your grill heated up to at least 350 degrees for grilling the meat.  Chop the red onion and brush with olive oil.  Brush the other peppers with olive oil as well.   Take the steaks, peppers and onion and place them all on the grill.  The meat will cook in about 15 minutes, flipping once.  When done remove from heat and allow to cool.  The peppers and onion will cook in about 25 minutes, flipping as needed to get some char marks on all sides.  Take everything and chop it up into about 1/2 inch chunks, but keep the meat separate from the rest for now.  Also discard stem ends and the seeds from the peppers.  Once you’ve got this all chopped up, store properly until ready for final assembly.

Final Assembly and Cooking

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, add the meat, peppers, onion and beans together and mix thoroughly.  Place evenly into your prepared pie crusts  making sure that the mixture is loose.  Prepare the usual base quiche mix, with only 1/4 cup of half and half, and add to it the liquid reserved from cooking the beans and the salsa.  Mix this thoroughly.  Pour this equally over the ingredients in the pie pans and top with the shredded cheese mixture.  If you’re going to include the olives, sprinkle them on top and pop the pies into the oven for 30 – 40 minutes, or until the cheese starts to get golden brown.  Remove and serve or pack it up for the rink.

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Chicken Parmesan Quiche

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Chicken Parmesan Quiche with a Puff Pastry Crust
Chicken Parmesan Quiche with a Puff Pastry Crust

Everyone at the rink seems to like Chicken Parmesan, so this was a request from the teams.  It has the usual chopped breaded chicken breasts, tomato sauce and the required cheeses, plus a little but of bacon just to help finish it.  It is a breakfast meal after all.

I made this version with a puff pastry crust and top to try and lighten it up and add some crisp flakiness.  But it’s also good in a regular crust or a fritatta.

Serves: 16 – 22 (2 quiches)

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless skinless Chicken Breast halves
  • 4 slices good quality Bacon, chopped
  • 2 tspn. Salt
  • 2 tspn. Pepper
  • 2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
  • 1 extra egg
  • 1/4 cup Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/4 cup of your favorite Spaghetti Sauce
  • 1 cup shredded slices Mozzarella Cheese
  • 1 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
  • 2 Puff Pastry Crusts

Preparation

Place each Chicken Breast in between a couple of sheets of plastic and pound the breasts out evenly until they are about 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick.  The thinner the better.  Then prepare an egg wash in a small bowl using the extra egg by whisking if with a fork.  In another bowl or plate large enough to hold each of the chicken breasts, place the breadcrumbs.  Working one breast at a time, dip each flattened chicken breast in the egg wash.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic on each flattened chicken breast.  Place in the breadcrumbs to coat evenly on all sides.

Chop up the bacon into 1/2 inch chunks, put them into a skillet on medium high heat and cook until done.  Remove bacon from skillet and place on a paper towel to drain.  When drained, place in a container and refrigerate until ready for final assembly.

In the same skillet, with the bacon remains, cook each of the Chicken Breasts until browned on each side.  Remove and place this on some paper towels to drain.  Repeat for each piece of chicken.  When they are all cool enough to handle, chop them into 1/2 – 1 inch chunks and place in a container and refrigerate until ready for final assembly.

Chop the Sun Dried Tomatoes into small pieces and store until ready for final assembly.

Final Assembly and Cooking

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Place evenly into each of the two pie crusts the prepared chicken breasts and chopped sun dried tomatoes.  Prepare the usual base quiche mix and add to it the spaghetti sauce mixing thoroughly.  Pour this mixture into the pans leaving about 1/8 from the top of the crust.  Cover with the two cheeses and top that with the bacon slices.  If you’ve saved the puff pastry top, put that on top of the everything and place in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes, or until the top is fluffy and turning golden brown.  Remove and it’s ready to go.

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Greek Gyro Quiche

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Lamb and Beef Greek Gyro Quiche
Lamb and Beef Greek Gyro Quiche

While this one is similar to the one in the Real Me DO Eat Quiche cookbook it is a more authentic Greek Gyro Quiche primarily because it uses a different cut of lamb and adds in some beef and falafel as well.  This one also can be done with either the pizza crust or a regular crust.  I just haven’t figured out how to make a pita bread crust yet, but I’m still working on it.  Also, this falafel recipe is really good, but as with most things good, it takes time.  What I usually do is pick up 5 falafel from Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill just to cut down on the work.

Ingredients

Meats

  • 1/2 lb. ground lamb
  • 1/2 lb. ground hamburger
  • 1 cup shredded onion
  • 2-3 minced garlic cloves
  • 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground marjoram
  • 1 teaspoon ground rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon ground thyme
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Falafel

  • 1/2 cup canned chickpeas, drained and dried for 30 minutes
  • 1 tbsp. fine-grain bulgur
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion –  finely chopped
  • 1 minced garlic clove
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley leaves
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • Pinch freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
  • Pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste
  • Pinch turmeric, or more to taste (optional)
  • Pinch cardamom seeds (optional)
  • Vegetable oil to cook with

Extras

  • 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
  • 1 small shredded cucumber
  • 2 minced garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup loose chopped lettuce
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup feta cheese
  • 2 teaspoon sumac

 

 

Preparation

Meats

Either in a food processor or a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients listed above and mix thoroughly.  Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to chill.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and prepare a baking tray by lining it with foil and putting a grill on top of the foil.  Remove the meat from the refrigerator and with damp hands either roll this into a long 1-1/2 inch tube or into 1-1/2 meat balls.  I like the tube approach as the meat seems to loose less moisture when cooking.  Put the meat on the grill in the baking tray and place in the oven for 30 -40 minutes.  You want this to just start to get some crispness developing on outside.  Another way to do this would be to cook this on your flame grill and that would be quicker.  When done remove and allow to cool until you can chop this meat up into small chunks no larger than 1/2 inch.  Refrigerate until ready for final assembly.

Falafel

Put the chickpeas in a food processor and grind them up until they are all like small enough that they are almost a powder.  You should also be able to squeeze this together and it stick together.  If it’s too wet let it dry some more.  Put all of the other dry Falafel ingredients into a large mixing bowl and thoroughly mix.  Then mix in the ground chickpeas until everything is completely mixed together.  Then add 1 – 2 teaspoons of water and stir well.  Cover and set aside, while you prepare a large skillet with about 2 inches of vegetable oil.  Heat to at least 325 degrees.  Taking enough of the falafel mixture from the bowl with damp hands, and form into a 1 – 1/2 to 2 inch ball.  There should be enough to make about 6 – 8 balls.  Then slowly add them to the oil and cook for about 3 – 4 minutes each.  They should be brown and crispy when they are ready.  Remove them and place on a paper towel to drain and cool down.  When they are cool enough to chop, cut each ball into 4 pieces and refrigerate till ready for the final preparation.

Extras

To make the Tzatziki, skin and shred and de-seed the cucumber and place this on a paper towel to dry for a few minutes.  In a bowl, mix the yogurt, olive oil and 1 minced garlic clove together.  Then add the shredded cucumber and mix thoroughly.  Refrigerate till assembly.

Chop up the lettuce and tomatoes and mix them together with a pinch of salt.  Refrigerate this separately until ready for final assembly.  You should also have 1 minced garlic clove left that you’ll want to refrigerate till assembly.

Final Assembly and Cooking

Preheat oven to 375.  Prepare the base quiche mix and instead of the 1/2 cup of milk, fold in the Tzatziki yogurt and mix thoroughly.  Get the other ingredients from the refrigerator and  mix them loosely into the pie crusts.  Pour the modified base quiche mix over that.  Then top with some chunks of feta cheese, the remaining minced garlic cloves and a light sprinkling of sumac.  Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until the top starts to turn golden brown.  Remove from the oven and either serve right away or pack it up for the rink.