Manuel O. Aureus - Theres More To Eat Than Cooking

Copyright 2013 by Manuel O. Aureus

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information retrieval systems without permission in writing from the author.

ISBN: 9781483513027

Dedication

I am not dedicating this book to my wife who doubted that I could ever write a book. Nor to my son who kept promising to help me out with the technical side but was always busy. Instead I dedicate this book to my two cats who were always there for me, sleeping and pondering on my notes, sleeping on my chair and under my desk, and pondering by my computer. For all the patience in watching me cook and type all day and all night: to them this book is dedicated.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Like many house-husbands that I knowand their name is legionI do most of the cooking at home. Im no chef, but I have more than 30 years cooking experience to back me up.

When I first came to New York more than 30 years ago, I did not know much about cooking. I tried out recipe books, but always ended up with the usual Chinese take outs, burgers and pizzas. I found out, to my chagrin, that following recipe instructions from a cookbook was like following the instruction manual of a build-it-yourself computer table made in China.

Ever since then, I had long given up on manuals. Like the China table, you usually ended up with missing parts or extra ones that were not needed. In time, I relied on the picturesand common sense.

Cooking is like this. You need common sense. A few ingredients may be missing, causing you to end up with unnecessary, extra ingredients. This is easily solved by simple common sense, which means you can always balance, improvise and direct the outcome.

Learning how to cook from TV food shows is not that easy either. I wonder how many cuts were done to shoot a scene. Besides, we house-husbands do not really have all that sophisticated kitchen equipment that are available in studio kitchens. We still rely heavily on forks and pans.

Like many disciplines, I taught myself how to cook the easy way, the shortcut way that is, by apprenticeship by observing how other people cooked, by asking my co-workers how they cooked their tempting lunch, and especially by recalling how my mom cooked.

My Mom cooked really great stuff. She is my role model. I copied everything I know from my mother, including the idiosyncrasies. For example, she would always throw in a pinch of sugar for salt based food and a pinch of salt when making sweets. When it came to my Dads cooking, all I can remember was watching him throw a pinch of salt over his left shoulder.

My recipes are written for everyone and for all situations and occasions. For example, what if your spouse came home early and tired from work and fell asleep. Youd say aha! Theres no need to prepare dinner. But what if your spouse woke up in the middle of the night, and very hungry. What would you cook?

If you were preparing a big party it is advisable to know in advance the diversity of your guests or their food preferences. Some years ago I gave a Thanksgiving party to the employees of a company I was managing. I was disappointed to find out that a third of my employees would not eat turkey because they said it was not Halal. But I recall it was kosher even if we had no Jewish employees. At the end of the day, the rest of the employees went home happy because they brought home the untouched turkeys, while I ended up buying fruit baskets to appease the employees who wanted Halal turkey.

New York is a multi-cultural metropolis. America itself, in fact, is fast becoming one. Your visitors may consist of people from different ethnic groups. I remember an Indian friend of mine who wanted to have Hawaiian food for breakfast. At one time we had a dinner guest from Indonesia who came in with her Jewish fianc and I was tempted to serve Falafel with Indonesian devilled eggs inside.

No worries. Once youve read my book, youll be able to fully satisfy your guests. Cooking is universal. What tastes good, tastes good, whatever ones taste bud is. That is why I have written this book.

One advantage in cooking at home as opposed to eating out or having food delivered home is that you and your love ones are sure that what you are eating is clean. Its less expensive too.

Whether you are expecting a dozen friends tomorrow or relatives coming for the weekend, just relax and follow my cookbook. Whether its for breakfast, dinner, lunch, desserts, or snacks, take it easy, read this book and youll have fun cooking for all of them. On the other hand, if you feel lazy cooking tonight, just read this book for your entertainment. Youll soon see that theres more to it than cooking. So lets begin.

DISCLAIMER. The author and publisher shall in no event be held liable to any party for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental or any other consequential damages arising directly or indirectly pertaining the use of this cookbook. You are responsible for your own safety whether or not you have adequate cooking experience. This cookbook is not intended for children.

Special thanks to Daniel Pacificador for the cover design and illustration. To Deya for all the photos and to my dear mother Teresa Ojeda-Aureus for all the years of wonderful cooking.

Chapter 1

Dessert

We always hear people say I can hardly wait for the dessert. So, lets do it first and eat it last. After all, it pays to save the best for last.

The Secret Flan

It is said that the flan dates back to medieval times. At one time the Romans had an overabundance of eggs so that they consulted the Greeks on ways to cook them. They experimented on many ways and this somehow led to the invention of the flan. From the Romans it found its way to the French and the Spaniards. Today, it is more popular as a Spanish dessert.

There are many variations of flan from Latin America and other countries like Mexico, and they all basically have the same ingredients, with additional flavorings here and there. Flan is one of my favorite desserts. I have tasted many kinds of flans but the flan that my aunt used to make stands out the best. I am not saying this because shes my aunt but because many others have chosen it as their favorite among flans. You will see that her recipe is very simple. She just uses 3 eggs. Most people make flans with from 6 to 12 eggs.

My aunt Pura was known to make the best flan de leche (or flan) in town. Before she passed away, she used to visit my family in Queens NY. During one of her visits she had time to bond with my wife and share her secret recipe.

As a result, my wife made the best flan in all our family gatherings. Everyone wanted to know her recipe. She kept quiet for a while until one day, she revealed the secret to one of her sisters and to a best friend. I scolded her for divulging my aunts secret. But the interesting thing is that none of their flans tasted like my aunts, even if they followed the recipe to the letter.

That being said, I wont feel guilty if I divulged the secret to you. In my case, I tried the recipe myself and the taste is the same as my aunts and my wifes.

You can have the same results because I bet you my sister-in-law and her best friend forgot to throw in a pinch of salt!

cup sugar for caramelizing

3 eggs

1 can condensed milk

can full of water from emptied can of condensed milk

teaspoon vanilla (optional)

teaspoon salt (dash or pinch of salt)

1 toothpick to check if flan is done

1. Caramelize the sugar first, then pour it to coat the bottom and the sides of your flan container (this is the mold). You can glaze the sides to about 1 inch high by moving around the container. Make sure you protect your hands from the heat of the container and pan. For a container, you can use a medium size empty cookie tin can.