Mango Monday: Mango Paloma

Happy Mango Monday, everyone! I hope you're all reading this after enjoying one last Summer hurrah, a nice long weekend filled with sunny skies and ice cold drinks!

Before you head back to work and all other daily routines, though, how about having one more happy hour? As long as we've still got 90+ degree weather (which is definitely the case where I live), we can still enjoy a refreshing beverage or two. Have a Razz-Apple Champagne Slushie, or serve up a pitcher of Isla Sangria!  

Or, better yet, mix up this tropical take on the Paloma. This tequila cocktail has ginger ale, fresh lime, and sweet mango juice. It was made for easy-drinking, meant to be sipped while kicking back and relaxing. (Think sparkling margarita!) Summertime never has to end!

Mango Monday: Isla Sangria

You may or may not notice that it is actually Wednesday.

You may or may not pretend that it is Monday. (There's a good reason why I delayed Mango Monday this week, I promise.)

Time-traveling aside, today's recipe is perfect for any Summer afternoon. The combination of chilled wine, fresh fruit, and citrus is a classic one...I'm talking about sangria.

"Isla" is Tagalog (Filipino) for "island", and Isla Sangria is made with sweet mangoes and calamansi, two staples in a Filipino kitchen. This version offers a refreshing and tropical take on the beloved beverage. There's nothing like relaxing with a glass of wine, so find yourself a sunny spot to lounge in!

Cooking with Mom: Leche Flan

My first and only "Cooking with Mom" recipe was last year, for Goat Caldereta. I can't believe it's taken me this long to do another one, but my mom and I were talking a few days ago about how the blog was doing, and she agreed to do a recipe with me again. This is one of those dishes that will always be close to my heart, and I hope you all try it.

Leche Flan is a quintessential Filipino dessert. It's another example of the influence that Spain had on Filipino cuisine. When Mom & The Aunties are cooking up batches, you know it can mean only one thing...fiesta time. The dessert spread at any Filipino party is incomplete unless there is some homemade Leche Flan. 

It's a custard made of milk, eggs, and vanilla, covered in a rich caramel syrup. When I was a little girl and just starting to like cooking/baking, my mom taught me how to make Leche Flan. She thought it would be easy enough for me to handle, yet complex enough for me to feel like I was really accomplishing something.

"This was one of Nanay's specialties," she told me.

"Nanay" is the Tagalog word for "Mom", and it's what we've always called my late grandmother. The first time we made it together, I remember feeling extra special to have this recipe handed down to me. Although the recipe itself is simple, Leche Flan is rich, creamy, and you just feel like you're eating something extravagant.

Seared Steak with Ponzu Sauce

I was craving steak earlier this week, and so I came up with this quick and easy recipe for Seared Steak with Ponzu Sauce.

Ponzu sauce is a Japanese sauce made with a blend of citrus juice and soy, and it's commonly served with meat or fish that's prepared "tataki" style. Seared tuna is the most popular pairing at many Japanese and sushi restaurants.

But, since I didn't have any tuna steaks to just pull out of my freezer, I decided to use...well...steaks! Since the beef can be prepared medium-rare, like the seared tuna, all of the flavors worked really well together. This is a great, versatile recipe for barbeques, game days, or even for an easy weeknight meal.

Sparkling Pass-O-Guava

Sometimes, my dad will go off and enjoy Golf Days. He'll play a round with friends or his brother, as many as 36 holes if the weather's nice, and then they'll have dinner afterwards. This usually leads to my mom sitting around and watching Filipino soap operas.

So, sometimes...on one of Dad's Golf Days...Mom and I have Girls Day.

My mom loves when I whisk her away for some girls-only bonding. Shopping, sushi dates, movies, Once Upon A Time, drinks... This past Sunday, though, it was all about the farmers' market and mimosas. We spent most of the morning buying fresh tropical fruits, so I decided to do a tropical take on our brunch-time mimosas: Sparkling Pass-O-Guava!

Mini "Golden Lime" Pies

If the limes that you're thinking of involve margaritas, there are actually no limes in this pie. "Golden lime" is another name for calamansi. They're also known as "Philippine lime".

Earlier this week, my brother-in-law Jeremiah brought over a nice big bag of calamansi from his parents' garden. Basically, every Filipino has a tree in their backyard, or they at least know an aunt/uncle/grandparent/relative/close friend/etc. who has one. Bagfuls of this citrus fruit get handed out at family gatherings, given to neighbors, or even just brought to work for colleagues to help themselves to.

If you're ever gifted with a bag of homegrown calamansi, a thought will pop into your head at some point..."Wow. This is a lot of calamansi." Then, you'll start to wonder if you're even going to be able to put all of it to use. Only a few calamansi are needed at a time to make dipping sauces, like toyomansi, or to squeeze over dishes, like pancit and arroz caldo, or even to marinate meat and seafood. After all of that, you'll still be left with a few dozen. This is when I started thinking about using calamansi in a dessert. I recently went to SusieCakes Bakery in San Francisco, and I bought one of the "Sweetie Pies" filled with lemon curd. (More on this trip coming soon!) Substituting calamansi for the citrus element in the curd made pretty good sense to me. This is how I came up with "Golden Lime" Pies!