Homicide and Halo-Halo (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #2)(77)
7. Add about half the turon to the oil in a single layer and fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes, using tongs to turn the turon over a couple of times. Remove to drain on a wire rack, colander, or on a plate covered with paper towels. Repeat for the rest of the turon.
8. Once all the turon have been fried, raise the heat to high and add the remaining brown sugar (that you reserved in the bowl) to the pan. Spread the sugar out in an even layer using the tongs. Once it’s melted and slightly dark, return the turon to the pan, a few at a time, and use the tongs to roll the turon in the caramelized sugar until fully coated. Return the turon to the wire rack/colander/plate (remove the paper towels so they don’t stick to them) and let cool until the caramel sets into a crisp coating.
9. Best served while still hot and crisp, though you might be able to reheat in a toaster oven. Enjoy!
Lila’s Halo-Halo Ice Candy
These simple ice pops are a little fiddly to put together, but they’re fun, delicious, highly customizable, and take up way less space in your freezer than traditional ice pop molds. But if you don’t want to bother with the bags, feel free to use molds instead.
YIELD: ABOUT ELEVEN 8 X 2-INCH BAGS
Ingredients:
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1 14-ounce can condensed milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch (optional*)
Halo-halo fixings, rinsed and drained (your choice): Jarred halo-halo mix
Jarred or canned sweet red beans
Jarred sweet garbanzo beans
Jarred nata de coco
Jarred kaong
Jarred macapuno OR dried coconut
Ube halaya (jarred or homemade)
Saba banana, chopped small
Jarred or canned ripe jackfruit
*I’ve read that cornstarch helps the frozen mixture stay creamy rather than completely icy, but I’ve seen plenty of recipes without it.
Equipment:
Blender or large mixing bowl with spout Thin plastic bags (I use FroZip brand) OR ice pop molds Chopsticks or long-handled tweezers
Funnel
DIRECTIONS:
1. Add the evaporated milk, condensed milk, and cornstarch to a blender or large mixing bowl with spout. Fill the empty evaporated milk can with water and add to the mixture as well.
2. Blend or mix everything until completely smooth.
3. Taste the mixture to check for sweetness level—the halo-halo fixings will add additional sweetness, so if the milk mixture is too rich or sweet, add another can or two of water to dilute the mixture to your desired level. Freezing dulls the level of sweetness somewhat, but you don’t want it sickeningly sweet at this stage.
4. Use chopsticks or long-handled tweezers to insert 1 to 2 teaspoons of your choice of halo-halo fixings into your plastic bags or ice pop molds. Again, the more fixings you add, the sweeter the overall ice candy will be.
5. Using the funnel, pour the milk mixture into the plastic bags or ice pop molds. Make sure to leave room for the mixture to expand in the freezer, about two-thirds of the way. If using the bags, either twist tie or zip them closed.
6. Lay the bags or molds flat in the freezer and allow to freeze at least 6 hours or overnight.
7. Enjoy!
Adeena’s Brew-ha #1 (aka The Lila Special)
The Brew-ha #1 is an extra-refreshing spin on iced coffee, diluted with coconut water instead of plain water. It’s perfect for those blazing hot days when you could use some extra electrolytes. A baller move—and the way my protagonist, Lila, prefers her drink—is to use both coconut water and coconut milk for a naturally sweetened, lactose-free, and vegan-approved beverage.
YIELD: ROUGHLY 3 CUPS OF CONCENTRATE
Ingredients:
5 to 10 pandan leaves (depending on length), well rinsed 4 cups filtered water
1 cup coarse ground coffee
Coconut water (can be replaced with plain filtered water) Coconut milk
DIRECTIONS:
1. Blend the pandan leaves with the water, then mix with the ground coffee in a lidded container. Stir so that the grounds are fully saturated.
2. Cover the container and steep for 24 hours at room temperature, then another 24 hours in the fridge.
3. Using a fine mesh strainer or colander lined with coffee filters or cheesecloth, carefully strain the mixture into a clean pitcher or container, pressing down on the grounds and leaves to extract as much liquid as possible. Feel free to strain it a second time for a more grit-free mixture.
4. Now you have pandan cold brew concentrate to use however you like!
5. However, we’re making the Brew-ha #1, so fill a glass with ice (if making the iced version) and add the cold brew concentrate, coconut water, and coconut milk in a 1:1:1 ratio. Stir and enjoy!
6. If you’d prefer it hot, heat the concentrate and coconut water together until steaming and pour into a mug. Steam and froth the coconut milk and pour on top, in a fancy pattern if you so please.
Keep reading for a special preview of
Blackmail and Bibingka
Coming soon from Berkley Prime Crime!
Chapter One
Adeena, can you please shut that off? If I have to listen to that Mariah Carey song one more time . . .”
I scratched out the third mistake I’d made while trying to finalize the menu for the annual Shady Palms Holiday Bash. It tied with the Founder’s Day Festival as the biggest event in my tiny town of Shady Palms, Illinois (population 18,751), and this was the first year my business—my dream—the Brew-ha Cafe would be participating. Considering what a mess the Founder’s Day Festival had turned out to be, I really needed to wow at this party. Despite obsessing over it for the past month, I had less than two weeks till the big party and hadn’t finalized anything.