Pizza By The Slice » Food & Diners http://pizzabytheslice.com Photography, Illustration, Web Development & Scary Rants Wed, 02 May 2012 15:52:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Cycleway Coffee (Hermon /Highland Park… errr, somewhere in Los Angles) http://pizzabytheslice.com/cycleway-coffee-hermon-los-angeles.htm http://pizzabytheslice.com/cycleway-coffee-hermon-los-angeles.htm#comments Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:04:00 +0000 Buz http://localhost.pizzabytheslice.com/?p=32 Cycleway Coffee Grand Opening

My recurring lament “wherefore art thou, neighborhood coffee house” ends with the opening last month of Cycleway Coffee, a truly first-class coffee house nestled at the foot of the hill-saddle between Highland Park, Monterey Hills, and the Arroyo Seco — otherwise known as “Hermon”.

Their opening day was quite well attended, capped off by a stop of some scores of bicyclists enjoying the monthly NELAart Organization – Spoke(n) Art Bike Tour (open-studios throughout Highland Park). I dropped in during the day to shoot these photos (also posted as a Flickr set).

The very existence, as brief but notable as it was, of the cycle way was a complete surprise to me. And while it was never finished, rarely used, and was replaced by a freeway it’s quite a tale.

(full disclosure: yes, I worked on their web site)

]]> http://pizzabytheslice.com/cycleway-coffee-hermon-los-angeles.htm/feed 0 One-Bowl, One-Pan, One-Hour http://pizzabytheslice.com/one-bowl-one-pan-one-hour.htm http://pizzabytheslice.com/one-bowl-one-pan-one-hour.htm#comments Sat, 22 May 2004 04:38:00 +0000 Buz http://localhost.pizzabytheslice.com/one-bowl-one-pan-one-hour.htm Baking from scratch, while noble and all that shite, can easily fall prey to the even more impressive half-hour of clean-up. Faced with being overshadowed by too many tools or too much mess here are (in addition to the bibingka above) three recipes that’ve really made an impression on our test kitchen staff and friends for their strong, unique flavors but most importantly, the simplicity of the ingredients and sparsity of kitchen utensils they require to assemble.

]]> http://pizzabytheslice.com/one-bowl-one-pan-one-hour.htm/feed 0 Quick Bibingka Recipe http://pizzabytheslice.com/filipino-bibingka-recipe.htm http://pizzabytheslice.com/filipino-bibingka-recipe.htm#comments Fri, 23 May 2003 04:39:17 +0000 Buz http://localhost.pizzabytheslice.com/quick-bibingka-recipe.htm A Filipino classic this sweet cake is tremendously easy to make and disproportionately tasty. Think sweet, buttery cornbread with just a bit of cheese. Very light with a smooth crumb. This recipe has been simplified from the traditional preparation methods which call for wrapping in banana leaves and baking inside of goats’ intestines for three days under a full-moon. This version only takes a few minutes to make and dirties only one mixing bowl.

Tips: First, make at least two of these because they go that quickly. Second, use buttermilk if you can — I think it really adds depth, but if this is all that’s holding you back from making this then by all means use regular moo-juice. Third, use whatever cheese you have handy — another reason to make more than one, experiment with the extras. Cheddar? Yum. Note that if you use a cheese other than cream cheese you may want to add it later in the baking process — experiment.

Prep time: 10 mins

Total Cooking time: 35 mins

Ingredients

  • 1 cup All-Purpose flour
  • 2 tsps Baking Powder
  • 1 cup butter milk (substitute regular milk is OK)
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • cream cheese (approx. 3 oz)
  • salted egg (optional and not really advised)
  • 1 tbls melted butter (for topping)
  • 2 tbls sugar (for topping)

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees (I hate the term “preheat”). Butter, grease, whatever, an 8-inch cake pan.
  2. Sift flour and baking soda into a large bowl. Stir in milk, egg, and sugar until just combined.
  3. Pour mix into pan and pop into oven for 15 minutes.
  4. Remove from oven and place cream cheese on top. Here, if you’re a purist, you’d add the egg. Me? No way. Bake for another 15 minutes. If baking more than one this would be a dandy place to trade racks.
  5. Brush bibingka with melted butter and the reserved sugar. Place back in oven under the broiler (you may want to raise the rack) until sugar is just melted and bubbly, and the cheese is golden brown, approx. 2-3 minutes. BUT DO NOT BLINK, DO NOT WALK AWAY — watch this closely, the difference between done and burnt can be about 8 seconds.
golden bibinka

Bibingka, Fool!

I prefer to serve at room temperature and like most baked goods, especially those with a cheesey component, this is better the next day. Did I mention baking two? Or three?

Follow-up: Rene insists on the egg and baking in banana leaves.

OK. In response to the kind person who asked about self-rising flour: Yes, using self-rising flour is fine, just dispense with the baking powder (self-rising already contains baking powder).

And more trivia: Baking powder? Just equal amounts of cream of tarter and baking soda, acid plus base. All it needs, therefore, is liquid to start giving off CO2 — that’s the rising part.

Lastly, this bibingka recipe replaces the traditional rice flour with the easier to find wheat kind, and nowhere mentions coconut milk — a pinoy trademark. If such Americanisms are upsetting try out Wikipedia’s more traditional bibingka recipe.

recipe courtesy Rey Arcedera

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