Maja Blanca

Since I don't follow any recipe book, I've been trying to do maja blanca for a few times but to no avail.  I was not satisfied with the finish product.  It was too hard or too soft.

Preparing this kind of recipe, I learned that measurement and the correct porportion of the ingredients play a vital role.  So this time, I was careful.  At last!  Slowly and surely, I've got a satisfying product.

Ingredients:
400ml or 2cups Cocomilk (Gata)
400ml or 2cups Evaporated Milk
200g Cream Style Corn
2 cups Cornstarch
2 cups White Sugar
½ cup Water

Procedures:

1. In a mixing bowl, mix water and 1 cup evaporated milk.
2. Dissolve cornstarch into the milk mixture and stir until no lumps.
3. In a saucepan, bring to boil cocomilk over low heat with constant stirring.
4. Add the remaining 1 cup evaporated milk, cream style corn, and sugar into the cocomilk.
5. Simmer for 2-3 minutes with constant stirring.
6. Stir cornstarch mixture and pour it into cocomilk.
7. Keep stirring until it thickens then remove saucepan from fire.
8. Pour cooked mixture into a molding tray or container.
9. Chill it for 15 mixtures.

Makes 7-10 servings.

Tip:  For enticing serving, top it with cheese, fruits or the most famous latik toppings

For more recipes visit http://lutonikikay.webs.com

Different Cuts & Slices You'll Love

Different cuts are required depending upon the dish being prepared because foods cook at different speeds and the size or shape of the food affects how long a dish must cook to be prepared correctly.  A knife cut is how a chef or cook slices food into a specific shape. The different types of basic knife cuts are battonnet, dice, allumette, brunoise, julienne, and mince.

Battonet (bah-tow-NAY).  A basic knife cut measuring ½ inch × ½ inch × 2½-3 inches.

Dice Cut.  There are three sizes of dice cuts.

                 Large - A basic knife cut measuring ¾ inch × ¾ inch × ¾ inch.

                 Medium - A basic knife cut measuring ½ inch × ½ inch × ½ inch.

                 Small - A basic knife cut measuring ¼ inch × ¼ inch × ¼ inch.

Allumette (al-yoo-MET).  A basic knife cut measuring ¼ inch × ¼ inch × 2½ inches.  Also know as matchstick cut

Julienne (joo-lee-ENN).  A basic knife cut measuring 1/8 inch × 1/8 inch × 2½ inches.

Brunoise (BROON-wahz).  A basic knife cut measuring 1/8 inch × 1/8 inch × 1/8 inch.

 Mince (Fine Brunoise).  A basic knife cut measuring 1/16 inch × 1/16 inch × 1/16 inch.

Mastery of knife skill is very important in cooking.   It brings cooking to new level and at the same time promotes art in culinary discipline.  And as the saying goes...practice makes perfect.  Enjoy cutting!

source:  culinaryarts.about.com