If You Haven't Decided on Your Christmas Menu Yet...

I'm so sorry, guys! I've been awfully quiet the whole month of November and half of December.

I've been meaning to write a couple of entries, but I just can't. I haven't got the time! But now, I'm going to snatch half an hour of "design time" to post this looooong overdue piece on holiday treats. I just hope you guys haven't really decided yet on what to cook for Noche Buena or bring to your next family reunion.

You see, my friend Ate Marge and I went to a cooking demo sponsored by the San Miguel Great Food Club last month at the Podium. We wanted to learn some new recipes, and we weren't disappointed! For one, we went home with lots of new recipes and useful tips from professional chefs, not to mention a tray of hors d'oeuvres which Ate Marge won during the raffle! Yum!

So I'll share the recipes I learned, plus a few tips and here's hoping you'd pick one of these (if not all) to spice up your Noche Buena!

Easy Ham and Cheese Squares (by Chef Rob and Sunshine Pengson)

• 6 pcs sliced white loaf bread
• 1/4 cup Magnolia Nutri Oil vegetable oil
• 2 pcs medium-sized onions, cut into rings (use white onions; they're sweeter)
• 1/4 cup Purefoods Fiesta Ham, chopped
• 1/2 cup Magnolia Real Mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup Magnolia Queso de Bola, grated
• 1/2 cup Magnolia Quickmelt Cheese, grated

Remove the edges of the sliced bread and cut each piece into squares. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a pan and over low heat, slightly cook the onions. Remove from heat and cool.

Using the same pan, cook the ham until slightly crisp. Set aside.

To assemble, spread some mayo onto each bread square. Top with onions, grated quezo de bola, grated quickmelt cheese and some ham bits. Bake in a pre-heated oven-toaster until golden brown and cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

Rum Glazed Fiesta Ham with Apple Brown Rice (by Chef Reggie Aspiras)

• 1 pc Purefoods Fiesta Ham
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 4 cups pineapple juice
• 2 cups cola
• 2 cups La Tondeña Rhum
• whole cloves
• 1 cup coarse brown sugar

Using a paring knife, score ham all over to make criss-cross patters. Set aside.

Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl except cloves and brown sugar. Mix well. Marinate ham overnight making sure ham is submerged. If not, add more pineapple juice. Drain ham from marinade then bake for an hour. Baste ham every 15 minutes with marinade to keep it moist.

After an hour, take ham out of the oven and rub top side with brown sugar. (Chef's tip: To make brown sugar stick to the ham, mix together 1/4 cup softened butter and some flour, just enough to make a paste, and pat on the ham surface. Then put on the brown sugar.) Peg cloves on the ham. Continue to bake until sugar forms a crust. Transfer to a platter and serve with Apple Brown Rice, Orange Glazed Baby Carrots and Buttered French Beans.

For the sauce:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 cups pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup pineapple chunks
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp all spice
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1tbsp yellow mustard
• 1 cup La Tondeña Rhum
• salt pepper
• 1/3 cup raisins

Roux:

(Roux (pronounced /ˈruː/) is a cooked mixture of wheat flour and fat, traditionally clarified butter. It is the thickening agent of three of the mother sauces of classical French cooking: sauce béchamel, sauce velouté and sauce espagnole. Butter, vegetable oils, or lard are commonly used fats. It is used as a thickener for gravy, other sauces, soups and stews. It is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. From Wikipedia)

• 1/4 cup Magnolia Gold Butter, mixed with
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour

Combine all sauce ingredients. Cook until reduced. While cooking the sauce mixture, melt butter in a thick saucepan over low fire; slowly add the flour while stirring continuously. When the liquid/ sauce mixture has been reduced, slowly pour into the roux (do not stop stirring!). Cook until thick.

For the Apple Brown Rice:

• 1/3 cup Magnolia Gold butter
• 250 gm Purefoods honeycured bacon, chopped
• 1 cup Purefoods Sweet Ham
• 1 cup white onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 4 cups cooked brown rice (cook brown rice as you would pasta)
• 1 pc apple, unpeeled, cored and chopped (toss in lemon juice to prevent discoloration)
• 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
• salt
• pepper

Heat butter in a wok. Add bacon, ham, celery, onions and garlic. Saute until slightly wilted. Add cooked rice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the apples and green onions last. Serve with ham.

For the French Bean Bundles:

• 1/2 kilo French beans (if unavailable, use Baguio beans instead)
• Magnolia Gold Butter
• salt, pepper
• green onions, blanched

Blanch beans and shock in cold water. Bunch them up (4-5 is ok) and tie with a strand of blanched green onions. Set aside.

Heat butter in a pan. Toss the bean bundles and season with salt and pepper.

For the Orange Glazed Baby Carrots:

• 1/4 cup Magnolia butter, cut in chunks
• 1 cups orange juice
• zest of 2 oranges
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 pice cinnamon stick
• salt, pepper
• 1 kilo peeled baby carrots, leave tops (if unavailable, use peeled baby carrots without the tops. You can find these at S & R. If still unavailable, use regular carrots and cut them into fries-size strips.)

Combine all ingredients (except the carrots) in a medium saucepot. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add carrots and continue to cook until carrots are tender and the sauce is thick enough to coat the carrots.

There you have it--my first installment of holiday recipes. Hopefully, I would be able to upload all of them before the week ends. Enjoy!