A little gift from me to you!

Hello my dear B+B readers...

Just dropping in to say a quick hello. I'm still alive and doing well. I've just been busier with my projects than usual, so I haven't been able to spend as much time in the kitchen as I would like.  But I'd like to share with you something that's near and dear to me. As most of you know I make movies for a living aside from working on various productions on the tele, I am a filmmaker by trade. Some of you may remember by posting about my recent project ...here... Well here's your chance to see that project in its entirety. I present to you all my latest short film, By The Water's Edge. If you've got 11-minutes to spare have a look. You can watch it below. Or on its vimeo page ...here...

Synopsis:
By The Water's Edge takes a simple look at the human aspect of war. April 1942 (WWII), an American soldier trying to escape the enemy, encounters a young Filipino boy and his mother in Japanese-occupied Philippines. A brief encounter of kindness in a time of uncertainty.

I'm currently prepping for my next film set to shoot in January and it'll be something completely different from this previous one. I'm really excited to share it with you all soon. So for now I wish you all the very best during this holiday and in the coming new year. Happy viewing!!! Enjoy!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, 

AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!!!!

Cheesecake

Nothing beats a good cheesecake. This is what I decided to make this year the finale of the Thanksgiving meal. I told you I made sure that I wasn't going to spend too much time in the kitchen. I felt like relaxing this year and I made sure of that. Besides, cooking a meal that could serve 10 people when only 2 will be eat didn't seem to make much sense. But I ma happy with the way these turned out. I made on full pie with two mini cheesecakes with a cheerio crust.

I had realized that I made more filling than I had anticipated and need to find some way to use it all up. Luckily, honey nut cheerios can be a nice substitute to the graham cracker. Still has the nice sweet crust crunch. You should try it. I think I'll make myself a new batch this weekend.


Makes 2 full  or 4 mini cheesecakes

Cheesecake

2 Pre-Made Graham Cracker Pie Crust (See below for homemade crust)
24 oz cream cheese
12 Tbsp condensed milk
3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat your oven 350˚F

Combine the cream cheese and vanilla extract. Eat in each egg, one at a time. Then add in the  condensed milk. Mix thoroughly.

Take your pie crusts and divide the mixture evenly. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. The center should be slightly loose.

Let it cool completely then place in the fridge for at least an hour. This may be done in advance.



Homemade Graham Cracker or Cheerio Crust

4 c Honey Nut Cheerios or 1 box Graham Crackers
1/2 c melter unsalted butter
Pie tins

Preheat your oven to 350˚F.

Crush the cheerios or graham crackers until almost a powder consistency. It is fine if there is still little pebble pieces in tact. You may use a food processor for this.

Place the now crushed cheerios or graham cracker in a bowl and mix in the melted butter. Combine thoroughly until clumpy. Divide the mixture into two pie tins and mold into crust shape and bake for 15 minutes.

When done, remove from the oven and let it fully cool before adding your cheesecake mixture.

Mashed Sweet Potato

My second cooked dish from my "not going to make it difficult" Thanksgiving meal.  Apologies as the photos don't do this dish justice. A trick I've learn over the summer to make mashed potatoes (and similar dishes) is to whip air into it. It gives it that fluffy consistency. So handing a hand mixer really comes in handy. I use evaporated milk instead of the usual milk or cream. It still gave it a nice consistency. Of course some good ol' butter. Luckily, I have an old trusty hand mixer, so combining everything and adding air to make it deliciously fluffy.  Mix it for several minutes, not forgetting to season and some salt and pepper. As much as i love the original mashed potato, this is a great alternative. Add some gravy on top, which is totally optional. Yet the taste of the sweet potato a lone is enough to satisfy.

serve 2-4

Mashed Sweet Potato

2 extra large sweet potato
6 Tbsp unsalted butter (room temp)
5 oz evaporated milk
4 Tbsp sour cream (optional)
salt
pepper

Peel the sweet potatoes and boil them in a pot of water until the potatoes are cook to fork tender. If the sweet potatoes are large, you may cut them in the halve or quarters for faster cooking time.

Using a fork or a masher, mash the potatoes thoroughly. (small bit are okay.)

Using a hand mixer, on a low setting, mix in the evaporated milk until fully incorporated. The cut the butter into pieces and also incorporate them slowly. Season with some salt and pepper. Mix for roughly 5 minutes be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl until a slightly fluffy consistency.

Serve warm.

Roasted Duck

I hope you all in the United States had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday. I sure did. Plus, it's a much needed break from all the freeway traffic of life. I made sure that this year I kept it simple. I didn't want to overwork myself too much in the kitchen. So I opted to make three dishes scrumptious dishes. First is the deliciously scrumptious duck. I'm cooking for a miniscule crowd, so roasting a big turkey wasn't much of an option. Plus, I don't really want to be eating a ton of leftovers after anyways. Th roasting time is typical of any bird. It's sort of a constant babysitting to baste and make sure it's cooking right. But usually it's worth it.

The two pics blow don't do this duck justice. But the end result is a juicy bird perfect for 2-4 people.

Roasted Duck

1 5 lbs duck
6 springs of fresh thyme
6 sprigs of fresh rosemary
5 leaves of sage
salt
pepper
1/4 c unsalted butter (Room Temp)
1/2 small sweet onion
4 Large Garlic cloves.
1 large carrot
1 red bell pepper

 
Finely chop the 3 sprigs of thyme, 3 springs of rosemary, sage, 1 garlic cloves and combine with the butter.

Cube chop the bell pepper, carrot and half the sweet onion and place it into the roasting pan with 2 whole garlic cloves.

Prep the duck. Remove the gibblets. Wash the duck with running cold tap water, inside and out. Pat it dry with a paper towel. Cut out the excess fat from the neck and opening.

Season the duck all over with salt and pepper including the cavity.

Stuff the onion, a garlic clove and bundled herbs into the cavity of the duck. Then spread the herb butter mixture all over and in between the skin and meet especially in the breast of the duck.

Tuck the tip of the wings into the bird to prevent it from burning. Using butchers twine, tie the legs together. 

In the roasting pan, spread the onion, carrot and bell pepper at the bottom. Place the duck on top.

Preheat your oven to 450˚F. Roasted the duck uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Then baste with the melted butter and dripping from the pan. Lower the heat to 350˚F and baste every 10 minutes for 50 minutes. Overall cooking time roughly 1 hour 30 minutes. The leg should be at a temo of 180˚F and the breast at a 170˚F.

Let the duck sit for 5-10 minutes to let the juices redistribute throughout the bird.


Gravy

Take the drippings from the pan. Using a fat separator, take the main juices of the duck and blend it with 1 Tbsp of all purpose flour until slightly thickened.

Production Eats No. 49

I know, I know. I've been M.I.A. these last couple weeks. But today I'm popping up from my little cave with a brief production eats. The set I was on wasn't for a television show or a movie, it was a commercial. A Japanese beer commercial, in fact. So who knows, if I'll ever see that commercial anywhere. It was a multilingual set, which was pretty interesting. And it wasn't just Japanese and English being spoken all around.

Top clockwise: Salad (yummy greens), mashed potatoes, corn, barbecued chicken, dinner roll.

I was a bit surprised by the big portion sized piece of chicken they had served up. It may not seem like it in the picture, but it was pretty big. I will admit that this meal wasn't quite as satisfying as the previous production eats. Maybe it was a lack of seasoning. The chicken thigh was cooked well. Others at my table who had gotten the breast portion complained that it was a bit on the dry side. Good thing I didn't pick that. Eh...oh well. Not all meals can be cooked to perfection.

Dessert: A piece of carrot cake and pineapple.

Maybe it's just me, but why is it that dessert tends to come out better than the actual main entree. There was also come chocolate cake, but it looked like it would give me a nice sugar high. So I opted for the slightly "healthier" alternative and went for the carrot cake.

On to the next!

Coffee from Peet

I had gotten a nice package few weeks ago. I wasn't expecting anything. Oddly enough, I was actually home to receive it. Don't you ever feel like it's Christmas every time you get a package at the door. -- Yeah...me,too. -- Well, this package was from the generous folks at Peet's Coffee. This was in part of being a participant of the Tastemaker program from Foodbuzz.

Peet's coffee. you know it's like this really cool place o get some really tasty coffee. Inside the box were samples of their Cafe Solano and Cafe Domingo coffee grounds. It came with a nice tumbler and several $2 off coupons, which I can give to my coffee loving friends. I know for sure that I'll make use of the tumbler especially when I'm working on set. Coffee is your best friend on set especially with the long hours.

The Cafe Domingo is a blend of Central and South American coffees. The Cafe Solano is of African, Indo-Pacific, and South American coffees.

Now I'll be honest, I'm no coffee connoisseur. Sometimes I don't know the difference between the different beans and grounds and the thousands of varieties that are found out there. They all kind of look the same to me. There's too many to keep track of, really. But I do like a good cup or two or three or four -- depending on the type of day it is, but suffice to say, I like a good cup. I like to have my coffee (with a little milk or cream) and have it with a nice warm pandesal with some butter or nutella. It's all about simplicity for me.

If I go out to eat for breakfast or brunch, I usually order a coffee. It would actually be a rare moment when I'd make it at home. Maybe because I'm lazy? Anyway, I did give these a try. And I'd have to say that its got a good taste to it. Compared to some of the generic brands out there. I did give some to a couple of good friends of mine who LOVE coffee. And they, too, enjoyed the taste. Maybe I've converted them to drink the good kinds of coffee...? Only one can tell. The quality in taste is definitely higher than several brand found out there. The aroma of it is nice, too.

Another way I like to have my coffee is when I do my writing. For some who may not know, I am a filmmaker by trade. I'm a writer, director and producer. I'm constantly typing away on the keyboard conjouring up stories --  that I'm optimistic will one day see the light of day and not just sit around collecting dust. :) There are always two things next to me when I write. My trusty notebook full of ideas and a cup of coffee. They really do go hand in hand. 

How do you drink your coffee? Or how what do you pair your coffee with?

Baked Herb Hash Browns

I think I'd have to consider the potato as one of my favorite vegetables. It's carbolicious! I was fortunate to receive a couple coupons to get myself a couple packages of Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash Browns courtesy of the Tastemaker programs from Foodbuzz. It took me a while to find them as I had thought they would be in the freezer section. Then I reread the coupon and it stated that it can be found in the refrigerator section. It would have saved me the 10 minutes I spent walking up and down the freezer section. That was my fault.

Anyway...when I did finally find them, I got a couple bags. These are real potatos already shredded. So it takes the work out of having to peel and shred them yourself.

I made a simple hash with them. I was tempted to make casserole, but I didn't have enough of the required ingredients to make it. So I opted for the good ol' fashioned hashed browns. Besides, I wasn't really in the mood to spent a huge amount of time in the kitchen. The beauty of the recipe below is that it is baked. No need to bust out the pan and oil and have to deal with the clean up after. Baked herb hash brown is what I got with a little cheese on top. A mix of the crunchy and soft. Serve it for breakfast with a coupe of fried eggs, toast, sausage or bacon (or both, in my case). You can even have it for dinner.

Simply Potatoes does have a variety of products. Hopefully, I'll get to try more of them.

Herbed Hash Brown

1 package Simply Potato Shredded Hash Browns
1 Tbsp dry basil
1 Tbsp dry thyme
1 Tbsp dry oregano
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 c shredded cheddar
unsalted butter


Preheat your oven to 400˚F

In a bowl, combine the shredded potato, basil, thyme, oregano, garlic powder and paprika. Mix thoroughly to combine.

Coat a baking sheet with the unsalted butter. (You may cover the sheet with foil for easy clean up.)

Divide the potato mixture into 8 portions and place them on the baking sheet. Gently pat them down to flatten. Make sure to space each evenly.

Bake them in the oven for 15-18 minutes. Then flip each and bake for another 15-18 minutes. Then sprinkle each with the shredded cheddar and baked for 1-minute until the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes before serving.