I Heart Tarts: Egg Custard Tarts

Today is the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, which means it is Moon Festival (a.k.a. Mid-Autumn Festival), the second biggest Chinese holiday. 

Unfortunately, Moon Festival in Hilo is not commemorated by a holiday.  When I was growing up, the United Community Church would host a Moon Festival dinner.  The Moon Festival banner would be displayed for weeks leading up to the dinner.  My parents would invariably have tickets, and we'd go to pick up food.  I remember there was tough and chewy kau yuk (steamed pork or pot roast pork) and sweet-sour spareribs on the plate, but neither were as good as homemade or the kind from Leung's.  I don't remember anything else on the plate, but I'm sure there was a round scoop of sticky white rice.  Mr. Dependable, whose family did the same (get tickets and pick up food), tells me the food was indeed less than memorable.

I suppose if we lived in Honolulu, we would've taken part in a more proper celebration...go out to eat, buy mooncakes, etc.  I know which restaurants would be on my list too.  Legend Seafood Restaurant or Hee Hing would be at the top of my list.  And I would go to Chinatown to Sing Cheong Yuan (formerly Shung Chong Yuein) to buy mooncakes and pastries.

street view of Harbor City Restaurant

Actually, I don't like mooncakes so much.  The kind we have in Hilo is either stale or preserved with more chemicals than the specimens in biology class.  I don't have a mooncake mold, so I really can't make my own.  So instead of mooncakes, I will be making another Chinese dessert. . .egg custard tarts.

I think it's a Chinese thing, but both Ds love gai dan tat (egg custard tarts).  Whenever we get to go to a dim sum restaurant, they will always get a plate of these tarts for dessert.  Unfortunately, the Ds weren't with me when I went to Harbor City Restaurant (Seattle).  The egg tarts there were the best I've ever had.  The custard filling was good, but it was the crust which made the Harbor City tarts outstanding.  It was the same pastry dough used for a barbecue pork pastry.  Crisp, flaky, light, and, I'm sure, filled with lard!

Because there is no handy-dandy dim sum restaurant where I live, I had to learn to make these tarts at home.  Of course, I don't have lard at home, and I think the idea of even buying lard grosses me out.  If I'm gonna clog my arteries, I will do it with butter.  I will be the first to admit that my tarts are nowhere close to the Harbor City tarts (the crust).  But its rather inconvenient, not to mention costly, to fly to Seattle just to enjoy a Moon Festival meal at Harbor City...or is it???

click on recipe title for printable reipe

Egg Custard Tarts

(adapted from Judy Lew's Dim Sum Appetizers and Light Meals)

Crust (makes 18 2 1/2" tarts)

     1 1/2 c flour

     1 tbsp sugar
     1/4 tsp salt

     1/2 c butter

     2 tbsp Crisco shortening

     1 egg

Combine flour, sugar and salt.  Cut butter and shortening into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse sand.  Add egg.  Mix well.  Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth.  Divide into 18 pieces.  Press each piece into a 2 1/2" tart pan.

Egg Custard Filling

     3/4 c milk

     6 tbsp sugar

     3 tbsp warm water 

     3 eggs, beaten

     1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine sugar and warm water.  Stir until dissolved.  Add milk, eggs, and vanilla and stir well.  Pour through a sieve to remove any solids.  Divide among lined tart pans, filling almost to the top.  Place filled tart pans in flat pan.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Cool for 15-20 minutes before carefully removing tarts from pans.

I had my first run-in with a teacher last week.  D2's teacher called, telling me she'd be receiving an F on her mid-quarter progress report for not doing an assignment.  I was puzzled because I had seen her working on it.  Furthermore, this teacher was named by D2 as "my favorite teacher", so the sting was even greater.  I was absolutely livid.  The teacher continued on, saying that she would be docking 5 points off for every day it was late.  By the time she called over 2 days had passed since the due date.  When I confronted D2, she produced the paper from her bag, complete with markings by the teacher.  WTF?!?  The teacher had forgotten that D2 had attempted to turn it in early!  I paid a visit to the teacher who, needless to say, was less than thrilled to see me.  She greeted me by saying that she was prepping for her class and had no time to speak to me.  But I apologized for my outburst on the phone and noticed that she had D2's paper on her desk.  By the time I left, 5 minutes later, we shook hands and hugged (Hawaiian style).  The teacher changed her mid-quarter grade to an A and added a smiley-face.  D2 said now her teacher knows her mom is crazy. 

Ending the week on the plus side, both HHS squads scored victories over the Kamehameha-Hawaii Warriors.

JV QB Tiogangco makes a run for it

In spite of never leading until the very end, the varsity won a thriller which went into overtime.  The game was filled with penalties, not all legit, called against HHS.  The most blatant happened in front of my very eyes.  The ball touched the ground before it was in possession, yet the visually-impaired ref called it complete.  #dumbass #goseeanoptometrist It was my first experience with 20-20 scoring. 

taking down the QB

#4, my favorite varsity running back

Remembering Vovo: Portuguese Bean Soup

It's too early to be thinking about salads, that's for sure!  With the fickle weather we've been having, it's hard to tell if I should pack up the electric blanket or buy more UGGs.  Most of last week was so cold that I wore boots to work multiple times.  Then on Friday, by afternoon, it seemed like summer was about to begin.  My short-sleeve Manuheali`i blouse was perfect WITHOUT a jacket!  I had to re-think the weather on Saturday. . .once again we were treated to a major light show.  The kats and mastiffs were not happy with the accompanying thunder.  And yesterday was another quasi-summery day. . .t-shirt & crop pants weather.

It will be interesting to see what kind of weather we will have this week.  There will be a visiting group of asses coming from Honolulu to assess our school (nyuk nyuk) and tell us why we suddenly suck.  This is what I don't get.  A few months ago, our school was a "continuous improvement" school.  Then someone in a monkey suit (I'm sure this is a person who wears Reyn Spooner inside-out print shirts) realized he made a "calculation" error, and suddenly our school became a "focus" school.  We are still the same school that was praised for being in continuous improvement. . .nothing changed, but now, because we have a different label, the rules of the game have changed.  And I bet that idiot who made the calculation error did not even attend our school!  So since a large team is coming, they will need to find something wrong in order to justify their trip. 

And leave it to the state to go looking for trouble.  I live in a state where kindergarten is not mandatory.  Now the state is creating preschools at select schools.  We can't even get the compulsory kindergarten right yet they wanna dive into preschool.  State DOE preschools w/o mandatory kindergarten is definitely gonna be a clusterfuck.  I can't believe the state (upper-level, not the teachers) is so stupid.

Oh well. . .I'm just glad I survived last week.  It's always hard to go back to work after a vacation, and last week was no exception.  I have a challenging student, and while I'm itching to tell him where he can go stick it, I took the higher road and gave him suggestions on how to curry favor with the parents of his flavor-of-the-month. . .hoping some if it will rub off in the classroom.  I also reminded myself that in a little over 4 months, he will no longer be my problem (and he better not even think about dating D1!). 

For the most part though, it was nice to be back at work.  I can't remember the last time when I didn't totally dread going back to work after a vacation.  And after seeing facebook posts from people I used to work with, I'm even more grateful to be where I am today.  I'm amazed at what I've observed over the past few years.  Five years ago, I would have believed that people in poverty-stricken areas would be grateful for whatever they receive.  Now I know different.  Many are not grateful.  Many shamelessly ask what else they will get.  This is not what the books say.  I am just glad to be where I am.  Most students and parents are awesome.  Most of my colleagues and all the bosses are competent.  This is way more that I can say about that OTHER place.

Perhaps this is why I didn't mind the boss asking us to be in our rooms this week when the visiting team does their sleuthing.  It's not difficult to want to please the guy. . .to want to make him look good.  He is a really nice man, and I would be pissed if any member of the visiting team disrespects him.  I will tow the line. . .no going to pick up lunch this week.  I will be bringing leftovers. . .leftover Portuguese Bean Soup (PBS).

I used to make PBS from a recipe I found in a cookbook.  But ever since The Help arrived, he has taken over the PBS-making duties.  This recipe is a modified version of the original recipe, which came from his vovo (Portuguese for grandmother).  Here is what puzzles me. . .in many cookbooks I've read, instructions always say to cook beans fully before adding acidic ingredients.  But The Help dumps everything in the pot at the same time, and the soup turns out great every time.  I just don't get it. 

click on recipe title for printable recipe

The Help's Portuguese Bean Soup

     1 lb kidney beans, soaked overnight and drained

     3 ham hocks

     1 ring Portuguese sausage, chopped

     2 round onions, chopped

     2 cloves garlic, chopped

     1 small bunch parsley, chopped

     1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

     2 1/2 quarts warm water

     salt & pepper to taste

Bring all ingredients to a boil and simmer for 3 hours.

This is one of those dishes which only gets better over days.  I don't like to find bones in my soup, so The Help removes the ham hock bones as the hocks begin to disintegrate.  He also removes the rubbery skin.

Experimenting With My New Tart Pans

My new tart pans from the Confectionary House came just in time for Fall Intersession. I'm still experimenting with crust and filling options. Stay tuned!

Kay's Ono Spaghetti

birthday girl

Before I start bitching about my weekend, I'd like to wish D1 a happy birthday.  Somehow, she manages to do well for the 7-hours of each  weekday known as "school", but ask her what animals you'd expect to see in Alaska and your head will start spinning with the answer.  She drives me mental, but I love her dearly.  The full day of labor and years of recovery (still recovering!) she put me through was worth it.  I'd also like to wish happy birthday to Aunty Betty (of corned beef hash fame), who shares the same birthday as D1.  They are indeed two of a kind.

I worked hard this weekend trying to avoid the Christmas crowds.  While some people know me as a "shopper", the truth is, I find crowds daunting.  I'd rather spend a few more $ to shop on the internet (in the privacy of my own home, sitting in a comfy chair, sipping a Coco Rico) than brave the awful crowds at PKP, WalMart & Target; unlike me, D1 went shopping on Black Friday and came home with an armload of gifts.  Unlike D1 and sadly for those on my gift list, most of the internet shopping I accomplished was for myself. . .pffftttthh.  Maybe I'll be up to braving the crowds next week.

I've also been doing some intense research on a dish called "Hainanese Chicken Rice", which is supposed to be THE unofficial national dish of Singapore (introduced by, who else, the Chinese).  But I'm trying to avoid going to the market now.  The KTA Puainako parking lot is nuts, especially with the cordoned-off area for Christmas trees.  For the moment, meals need to be planned around what we have on hand.  Spaghetti happens to be one of those meals.

This is one of those recipes where you begin to wonder why I'd post a recipe for spaghetti.  And you would not be alone.  For most of my life, spaghetti was something you made at 5:00 pm, when you ran out of other ideas.  It was as simple as browning a tray of ground beef and adding a jar or can of spaghetti sauce.  I'm not sure why I decided to change things up a bit, but I did.  I came across a recipe for spaghetti sauce and thought I'd give it a shot.  It seemed simple enough and it was made with ingredients I usually have on hand.  I wasn't prepared for what I started.

The first time I made the recipe, I loved it from the first bite.  The kids said it was "okay", but ate at least 2 bowls of noodles with just the sauce.  No meat.  Just sauce and noodles.  Then came the grumbling about how there wasn't enough sauce.  So with a bunch of adjustments, I fixed the recipe to the point where the taste was pretty much the same as the original recipe, but there was more of the savory sauce for the sauce-only eaters. 

That was years ago.  Since then, I've made this recipe for occasions from large family dinners to birthday parties.  Cousin LA (a fantastic baker who can make all the cookies in the Martha Stewart cookie cookbook look better than the pictures in the book), requested the recipe.  Wow!  In fact, the grumbler of grumblers, Dad, actually asked Mom to call me to get the recipe for "Kay's Ono Spaghetti" so she could make it for him instead of the jar sauce du jour she had planned to use.  This request did not go over well, and he ended up eating spaghetti made with jar sauce.  Poor Dad.
Oh, crap!  Garlic bread is a MUST when eating spaghetti.  I guess someone will be going to the market after all!

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Kay's Ono Spaghetti

     1 lb ground beef

     4 slices bacon, chopped*

     1 c Portuguese sausage, diced

     16 oz tomato sauce

     1 can (4 oz) mushroom pieces, drained

     2 c catsup

     1/2 c chopped celery

     1/8 tsp black pepper

     1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

     1 1/2 tsp garlic salt

     2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

     a dash of chili powder

Brown all meats.  Drain fat.  Add rest of ingredients and simmer for 45 minutes.  Makes enough sauce for 1 lb of pasta.

*You may also used 4 tbsp of pre-cooked bacon bits.  If you do this, give it a few good pulses in the food processor to break up large chunks.