After Christmas Meal

It’s always a pleasure to take a break from all that rich heavy Christmas gastronomic excesses. Today I decided to serve my boys Fried Tilapia ala Pobre. Since this is a rather simple dish I always make it a point to style the fried tilapia by putting some slices of red tomatoes. I also put a cup of rice with some tomato slices to be served with bagoong that will simply partner well with the Tilapia.

To make the dish a bit more extraordinary, top with roasted garlic chips (please see the recipe for this in an older post).

FRIED TILAPIA ala POBRE

Ingredients:

1 kilo fried tilapia, cleaned and scaled

1 ½ teaspoon rock salt

¾ teaspoon ground black pepper

cooking oil for frying

2 Tbsp roasted garlic chips

Tomato slices

Procedure:

1. Clean the tilapia by shaking off the slimy liquid that comes from the mouth of the fish. Wash then put salt and ground black pepper.
2. Deep fry in hot cooking oil. Remove excess oil.
3. Top with roasted garlic chips and serve with tomato slices

A Christmas Spread

Here are the other dishes served during our family Christmas lunch. My brother’s yaya of so many years never fails to bring an array of the most luscious suman and kakanin from their home in Cabalantian, Pampanga. Note that we have two types of freshly made suman, the Suman sa Lihiya or Sumang Kambal in Tagalog otherwise known as Sumang Bulagta in Pampango and the Suman sa Dahon or Sumang Bulong in Pampango.

We also had an authentic Chinese ham that was not too salty. My sister bought 6 kilos of fresh sugpo which I cooked halabos style. Sharing with you the recipe for the Halabos na Sugpo here. To make the Halabos a little extraordinary I made a sauce out of the marinade the sugpo were cooked in…

HALABOS NA SUGPO

Ingredients:

1 kilo Sugpo

¼ block of butter

1 Tbsp cooking oil

10 garlic cloves, chopped finely

1 cup 7 Up

1 ½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground pepper

1 tsp cornstarch

Procedure:

1.Clean and trim sugpo legs. Cut the sharp point of the carapace. Wash the sugpo. Put salt and pepper and add 1 cup of 7 Up. Marinate for about 30 minutes.

2. Saute garlic in butter and oil. Do not brown.

3. Next add the marinated sugpo. When these turn pink remove. Pour the marinade, boil and let cook until reduced into half. Add about a teaspoon of cornstarch to thicken and use this as a sauce for the Halabos na Sugpo.

My Father's Favorite Christmas Dish

Our Christmas spread is never complete without my father's favorite Christmas dish, NILAGANG BABOY, BAKA AT MANOK otherwise known as COCIDO. As far back as I can remember the centerpiece for our   Christmas lunch has always been this super yummy dish. Pardon the picture I've posted but as soon as I saw the succulent slab of pork liempo cooked for two hours to perfection together with a whole chicken and a big chunk of beef plus the chorizo de bilbao which adds that distinct Castillan flavor that makes it so special and the uncooked Chinese ham that turns this supposed simple boiled dish into a rich gustatory experience, I simply forgot to take a good picture of the dish whilst the chicken was still whole and the pork liempo was still untouched or the beef still whole. 

Since the recipe comes from my family, the measurements are all tantya tantya or what I call guesstimates…according to taste. You may adjust accordingly though. One day I will have to put a measurement to all the ingredients put into this dish so that anyone in our family can cook it…

NILAGANG BABOY, BAKA AT MANOK

Ingredients:

2 kilos pork liempo, about 4 whole slabs of 1/2 kilo each

1 whole chicken (about 1.2 kg)

1 kilo beef kenchi

12 pcs of El Rey Chorizo de Bilbao

¼ kilo uncooked Chinese Ham

1 whole garlic

3 red onions, quartered

8 potatoes, quartered

3 sayotes, peeled and cut into squares

1 whole cabbage, cut into 8

1 whole pechay

Procedure:

Boil together the pork liempo (pork belly), whole chicken, beef, Chorizo de Bilbao, Chinese ham, whole garlic and red onions. After approximately 1 ½ hours, check if pork and beef are really fork tender, add the potatoes and sayote and cook for another 20 minutes, lastly add the cabbage and pechay just before serving.

Marking the Next 50 Years : Heidi's Feast

We celebrated the next 50 years of our friend Heidi (she just turned 51) by gorging on all these food you can see. For our main dish, birthday girl Heidi brought this fantastic Chicken Cordon Bleu with a Creamy Cheese Sauce. I brought my ever present Pollo al Horno con Patata (please see an earlier post for the recipe) or Roasted Chicken, this time, however, I didn't stuff the chicken with the creamy mashed potatoes. Husband and wife, Tony and Jaena brought their scrumptious Chicken Asado. Notice that we had what I termed 3-Way Chicken : Cordon Bleu, Roasted and Asado.

For the symbol of long life in any birthday party, our friend May, who opened her house for this celebration, cooked her famous Pancit Pata, hmmmm sinfully delicioso. Janet brought some healthy seafood veggie lumpia which I plated for the eye to feast on. Heidi also brought thick and juicy pork barbecue.

For dessert, Janet cooked a whole pot of her luscious Ginatan. Jojo and Monet brought so many boxes of sweet and chewy cassava cake. Rusel brought grapes for us to munch on. Another friend Liz, based in the U.S. sent a Caramel Cake from Estrel's and wine to toast on. I wanted to have a lovely centerpiece so I made the Festive English Trifle (please also see an earlier post) this time using vibrant pink predominantly to match the occasion and my shirt. Now here's the recipe for my heavenly mashed potatoes:

CREAMY MASHED POTATOES

Ingredients :
1 kilo large baking potatoes, boiled and peeled
1/2 block of butter
1/2 cup all purpose cream
1/2 block of cream cheese, softened
salt and pepper to taste
finely chopped parsley

Procedure:

Mash the potatoes together with all the other ingredients. Mix thoroughly to avoid uneven saltiness. Place on a baking dish and garnish with finely chopped parsley. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.

Making a Festive English Trifle

Trifle making is getting to be a passion. For my friend Heidi's advance birthday celebration, marking her next 50 years towards a hundred...here is what I came up with. I've already given the recipe of a Festive English Trifle in an earlier post.

This time I played with other colors and used other ingredients. I added Kiwi fruits (the green one not the yellow one which is soggy and too tart), mandarin oranges and peaches. Since I couldn't find any strawberries in the supermarket, I opted to use Oreo cookies with strawberry and Regent strawberry rolls. Let the pictures guide you through the fun of making this no-bake dessert. This is a work of art and truly a labor of love....

Sundried Tomatoes and Garlic Angel Hair Pasta

I’ve been remiss in sharing again. The past days have been hectic. I want to share another pasta dish that makes use of bagoong balayan instead of anchovies, which are soooooooo expensive.

The measurement I’ve indicated here was something that I finally perfected after so many tries. There was a time I put too much bagoong balayan the pasta became unbearably salty. Once I put too much olive oil, the pasta was swimming in too much oil. I finally got this right and carved this on stone so to speak.

I urge you food enthusiasts and adventurous cooks to always write down every recipe you create, every measurement, every dash and splash…just discipline yourself to doing that. I know, it’s super cool not to measure, but the taste of a dish thus varies every time you feel sad, happy or irritable. Measuring takes out the tendency to go overboard with the salt when you feel like dumping it all because you had a bad day at work or an LQ perhaps.

When I first worked with a food company, I wasn’t used to measuring every ingredient that goes to the food I cook. I was initially taken aback by the necessity of doing that so that others may replicate it in my absence. Working with the R&D team further enhanced my discipline to measure everything. In fact, instead of using teaspoon, tablespoon or cups, we simply measure the content of these so that everything is accurate to the last minute detail. Everything must be replicable.

I'm using angel hair pasta for this dish. Angel Hair pasta is otherwise known as Cappeli d'Angelo. In the Philippines however, we might see Capellini which is Fine Hair pasta that's slightly thicker than Angel Hair. Should you not wish to use Angel Hair, you may use Capellini and the recipe will not be affected. However, when using the regular spaghetti noodles that are plentiful in the local supermarkets, you may want to adjust the measurements indicated here. You could try a half tablespoon more of bagoong balayan and also a half tablespoon more of olive oil. Since this is again trial and error, you might want to go slowly by adding just 1/4 tablespoon of bagoong balayan and likewise, 1/4 tablespoon of the olive oil. Then tell me about it...You see I tried this already and I couldn't find the recipe where I noted this. Oh well...

Now here's the recipe…

SUNDRIED TOMATOES AND GARLIC ANGEL HAIR PASTA

Ingredients:

1 package Angel Hair pasta (500g), cooked as per package directions

5 Tbsp olive oil

1 whole garlic, minced

5 Tbsp bagoong balayan (replacing anchovies)

½ cup sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, sliced 

½ cup black olives, sliced

2 sprigs fresh parsley, chopped

parmesan cheese

Procedure:

·        Sauté garlic in olive oil; do not brown garlic.

·        Add the bagoong balayan and cook until oil comes out on the sides

·        Add the sun dried tomatoes and the black olives. Reserve some for garnishing on top. Toss and mix the rest with the cooked angel hair pasta. Top with chopped fresh parsley and parmesan cheese.

Making Healthy Roasted Garlic Chips

 

About 2 months ago my blood pressure went haywire. It went as high up as 150/100 which was totally unacceptable to me. I've been watching my salt and oil intake hence the sudden rise in my blood pressure was unexpected too. One not to accept age as an excuse for every illness or ailments, and as someone who opts for taking alternative medicine or herbal options instead, I thought of taking garlic chips to aid in lowering my BP. The price of garlic chips in the market is absolutely prohibitive. I decided to try roasting garlic chips on my own.

My first foray was successful although the garlic chips were just too hot and spicy; there was this biting aftertaste. Just today, I finally finished my bottle of homemade garlic chips. I've actually been using the chips as crunchy topping for my green salads. By doing this, the rather strong aftertaste was diminished.

Since I'm running out of garlic chips already, I decided to try a new recipe which I will share with you. Obviously, I was successful, otherwise I will not be posting this here. I used a half kilo of garlic, peeled and sliced this thinly. I then soaked the garlic in 1 can of evaporated milk for an hour, hoping to remove the sharp biting taste. Since this was an experiment and a comparison of fried garlic chips to the healthier roasted garlic chips...I had to fry some and roast the rest.

Most of the recipes available are fried garlic chips. When recipes talk about roasted garlic, they are referring to a whole garlic,with its top chopped and roasted in the oven. This recipe I'm sharing with you through pictures is roasted garlic chips. I'm not sure if this is a first because the arranging on a baking dish maybe tedious for those who may not have that much patience for cooking.

If you want thinner garlic slices you can use a mandoline (a kitchen utensil with a blade for slicing and shredding uniformly) but the thin slices will be much better for frying. The slightly thicker ones will be better for this roasted garlic chip recipe.

By the way you can also munch on this crunchy healthy treat instead of salted calorie-filled chips. Enjoy eating this healthy garlic chips instead of chomping on fat-laden peanuts accompanied by the dreaded debilitating gout problem.

No Hidden Techniques

I just want everyone to know that the recipes I'm posting here include tips, notes, my own thoughts and techniques. I included these so that newbie cooks, wannabe cooks, confident cooks or anybody who just loves to cook and has cooking for a passion like me can try whichever recipe they may fancy. If you feel that my recipes may still be improved, please share your thoughts.

My friend Liz, mentioned in her email that she hopes my recipes don't have any secrets or hidden ingredients hence when tried cannot be copied. I will not post a recipe unless I've tested it and unless I love it. I share everything and anything including tips to improve, creative twists or tweaks.

Cooking is truly my passion and I would like to infect as many people as possible in feeling the same way about it as I do. Some people find cooking tiring, I cook when I'm tired. I remember working for a big media agency in the 90's. After an excruciatingly exhausting day, I would either bake cookies, make no-bake cheesecakes, or experiment on a new recipe I just thought of. I get home at around 9pm and instead of winding down in front of a TV set, I wind down by cooking or baking.

It helped me release all my tensions from the office. To this day, I cook when I'm stressed. That's the reason why all my friends always ask me when and if I'm tense...because when I am I cook...a lot...So the next time I get stressed I might just invite you for an impromptu dinner at our home...

Super Easy to Make Cheese Dip

This is a super easy to make cheese dip that has become a classic favorite amongst my son's friends every time they have a party in our house. This cheese dip goes so well with your favorite chips, local or imported. This also goes so well with plain nachos or beef nachos. This can go with your favorite salad instead of using plain ole grated cheese.

I was on lazy mode during lunch, poured some of this on my romaine lettuce, added about 2 Tablespoons of my favorite corned tuna, sprinkled some home made roasted garlic chips. For my lazy Asian salad dressing, I just mixed a teaspoon of fish sauce with 2 Tbsps of cider vinegar, a tablespoon of olive oil, threw in a teaspoon of roasted sesame seeds, a teaspoon of honey, mix, mix, mix and poured this on top of my salad. Had a sumptuous but still quite healthy lunch. Here's the cheese dip recipe...

CHEESE DIP

Ingredients:

1 big bottle of Magnolia Cheese Spread
1 big can of Carnation evaporated milk

Procedure:

Mix together the two ingredients thoroughly. Place in a saucepan, bring to a boil by stirring constantly, let simmer for about 5 minutes. Let cool.

If you have no access to the brand of cheese spread and milk in your area, use any 480g cheese spread (16.93 oz) and 1 3/4 cup of fresh or evaporated milk.

Festive English Trifle

This is one dessert that is easy to make. The beauty of this is in the "construction", that is when you start putting all the ingredients together to make a beautiful, luscious looking and inviting dessert any which way you look at it.

Before venturing into doing this lovely dessert, you may want to purchase a trifle dish from Metro Gaisano at the Market Market in Global City. If the sale is still on you'll get two for the price of one. I hope to get a nice photo of this when I make one for my friend Heidi's birthday on 19th.

However, if you wish to see how this divine dessert looks like you may want to get a copy of the November issue of Appetite Magazine, check out the Easy Does It pages and you can almost taste this just by looking. I suggest you use different colors of cake rolls so that it will be colorful.

However if you're a chocolate lover, you can also opt to use a chocolate roll, include a mocha roll or a choco-strawberry roll for that added color instead of using just the chocolate brown colored roll. Put choco-vanilla wafers on top, place other nuts like walnuts, cashew nuts, or whatever takes your fancy. Play around with colors and flavors when making this dessert. Be creative. You can also use kiwi fruits, grapes and mandarin oranges for fruits for the added flavor and color. As a bonus to this recipe I will throw in a simple caramel recipe which my sons enjoy eating like candy.

FESTIVE ENGLISH TRIFLE

Ingredients:

1 ube flavored/ purple colored cake roll brushed with liqueur of choice

1 mocha flavored cake roll brushed with liqueur of choice

1 pandan flavored cake roll brushed with liqueur of choice

6 cups caramel pudding

2 cups fresh strawberries, stemmed, sliced and dipped in peach syrup

1 can peaches, thinly sliced

Pecan nuts for topping

1 cherry with stem for topping

2-3 cups whipped heavy cream

Procedure:

• To assemble put slices of the ube flavored cake roll to cover the bottom of the trifle dish. Put sliced strawberries and sliced peaches on the side of the trifle dish. Moisten these from the syrup of the canned peaches so they will remain attached to the sides.
  
  Also put peach slices, strawberries and kiwi on top of the ube cake and cover with the caramel pudding. Next pour some heavy cream and then put the mocha cake roll, again the fruits on top and on the side of the dish, cover with the caramel pudding and then the heavy whipped cream.
  
  Repeat the same with the pandan cake roll, and then the fruits, the caramel pudding and cover top with the whipped heavy cream. Top with strawberries, peaches and pecan nuts and a cherry. Cover with a plastic wrap. Serve chilled.

Here now is the caramel recipe which I mentioned earlier. You can add a tablespoon of chocolate powder to this to turn this into choco-caramel

CARAMEL

Ingredients:

4-6 cans of condensed milk, remove label but do not open

enough water to cover

Procedure:

In a large pressure cooker, place the unopened cans of condensed milk, put enough water to cover.

Pressure cook these for 20 minutes to make a soft easy to spoon and spread caramel.

However, if you want the caramel to be thicker, pressure cook for 25 minutes. If you want the caramel to be almost brown, and much thicker, cook for 30 minutes

This caramel recipe can be used as an icing on a chocolate cake or spread in between two layers of cakes use chocolate icing to make a heavenly chocolate caramel cake.

Wan Soy vs Kinchay

Many people may not know the difference or even see the difference between WAN SOY (Cilantro) and KINCHAY. While shopping one day, I overheard two women arguing which one to use for the soup recipe they wanted to try out. The woman in shorts said, the recipe said WAN SOY, not CILANTRO as shown here in the package but here is one that says KINCHAY, and this might be it. The other woman in a housedress said, I don’t know what you’re talking about, let’s just get this KINCHAY sounds like it might work. Luckily this little boy tagging along with the two women interjected by saying, “Mama, Wan Soy is Cilantro, I learned that in school.”

Since I couldn’t help overhearing them, I told them the boy was right. Wan Soy is Cilantro. I also told them that if they look closely the Kinchay leaves are pointier and the roots look like corn hair whilst the Wan Soy roots are white and stringy. I also mentioned that if they smell and compare, Kinchay has a stronger smell and if they ask me, tastes roach-like. I mentioned that although pancit often calls for Kinchay I prefer adding Wan Soy or Cilantro because the refreshing and cool taste of it works better for me. So much for unsolicited advise because both women’s jaws dropped and just stared at me. Not too sure if with awe though. Hahaha

For you to experience the invigorating flavor of Wan Soy in a dish. Let me share with you a Hainanese Chicken recipe that I tweaked and simplified. The original recipe was tedious and complicated. This one is much like boiling chicken and that’s it.

Ingredients:

800g Chicken breast
3 cup uncooked rice (try Jasmine rice)
1/2 tsp salt
½ chicken bouillon cube
6 slices ginger
3 Tbsp minced garlic
3 sprigs cilantro (wan soy), use cilantro roots save some for garnishing
1 ½ chicken bouillon cube
1 cucumber, sliced diagonally
7 cups water

Ingredients for sauce
2 Tbsp regular soy sauce
1 Tbsp liquid seasoning
1 tsp dark soy sauce
sesame oil
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
juice of 2 calamansi
3 Tbsp minced ginger
3 Tbsp minced garlic
2 fresh red chili peppers, finely chopped

Wash chicken then trim excess skin which you can cut into small pieces; put chicken skin in a pan on medium heat. Stir regularly until oil comes out from skin. Fry until golden brown and crisp. Remove chicken skin from oil.
Add the minced garlic to the oil and fry until fragrant and lightly brown, remove from pan and set aside
In the meantime wash and clean the uncooked rice and place in the rice cooker without water first. Put the fried garlic. Add the salt and ½ chicken bouillon cube. Also put the sliced ginger.
In a saucepan boil 5 cups of water together with the cilantro. Use the roots of the cilantro as these give out the most flavor. When boiling add the chicken breasts and the 1 ½ chicken bouillon cube. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Get 2 cups of the broth and add to the uncooked rice in the rice cooker. Stir and mix well then start cooking the rice.
Add 2 cups of water to the saucepan where chicken is simmering. Allow this to simmer for another 45 minutes. When done, remove the chicken and place on a strainer. Allow chicken to cool for about 20 minutes. Flatten chicken meat and slice diagonally.

For the Sauce:
Combine regular soy sauce, liquid seasoning, dark soy sauce and sesame oil. Add the sugar, calamansi juice and mix until sugar is dissolved.
Add the minced ginger, garlic and chili peppers. You may add more chili peppers as desired.

To serve this dish:

Put a cup of rice on a plate. Top with the chicken slices. Put cucumber slices on the side. Top the chicken slices. Serve with a bowl of the soup garnished with freshly cut cilantro leaves. You may season the chicken broth with some soy sauce and a little sugar as desired and according to your taste.

Steamed Lapu-Lapu Chinese Style

STEAMED LAPU-LAPU CHINESE STYLE

Ingredients:

1 Lapu-Lapu (Grouper) lightly seasoned with salt and pepper
1 thumb size ginger
water for steaming
3 Tbsp ginger, peeled and crushed
3 Tbsp green onions cut into 1 inch length
1-2 Tbsp cilantro (wan soy), chopped coarsely
1 Tbsp soy sauce
salt and pepper
sesame oil
¼ cup cooking oil

Procedure:

Steam lightly seasoned Lapu-Lapu use water enough water with a thumb size slice of ginger. This will take about 30 minutes.

Place fish on a Pyrex dish. Top with crushed ginger, green onions and cilantro. Carefully sprinkle the soy sauce all over; season lightly with salt and pepper as desired.

In a small saucepan heat up the cooking oil when very hot carefully pour on top of the fish to sear the ginger and the green onions.

Note: You may also use white fish fillet or tilapia for this recipe

Liver Pate

LIVER PATE

Ingredients:

½ kilo chicken liver
¼ cup all purpose cream
¼ cup evaporated milk
½ cup butter (1/2 block)
1 medium size onion, minced
5 Tbsp dry white wine, sherry or brandy
salt and pepper
½ cup cream cheese (1/2 block)

Herbs

Dried rosemary
Sage
Thyme
Tarragon
Nutmeg

Procedure:

Clean the chicken liver well; remove the fat from the liver. Soak in all purpose cream and evaporated milk for at least 30 minutes. Place in the refrigerator.
In the meantime sauté garlic in butter until slightly brown. Add onions, lower heat and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat and add the chicken liver, cook for about 10-12 minutes until no longer pink in color.
Add the dry white wine, salt and pepper and the dry herbs let simmer until oil comes out on the sides. Let cool for a few minutes.
Puree together cooked chicken liver and the cream cheese. Let cool in the refrigerator. Serve with crackers or French bread.

Sinigang na Bagnet at Isda

After daring to pair beef and sugpo in a sinigang recipe, what could stop me from pairing other cacophonous meats and textures? Here’s another one that worked well. The taste is just as thrilling to the adventurous palate.

SINIGANG NA BAGNET AT ISDA

Ingredients:

½ k bagnet (or lechon kawali), chopped
1 maya-maya fish head
2 Tbsp calamansi juice
¼ cup cornstarch
¼ cup flour
¼ tsp baking soda
4 ripe tomatoes, seeded and sliced
1 med size onion, sliced
1 med size raddish, sliced an inch each diagonally
1 bundle kangkong, separate leaves from stalk
1-20g Sinigang sa Gabi Mix
5 cups rice water

Procedure:

Marinate maya-maya fish head with 2 Tbsp calamansi juice for 30 minutes. Mix together cornstarch, flour and baking soda, salt and pepper to taste. Dip marinated maya-maya fish head in the mixture and deep fry. Let cool and cut into two.
Place rice water, onion, tomatoes in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and add Knorr Sinigang Mix when boiling. Add raddish and cook till tender. Add kangkong, chopped bagnet and fish head, put out fire and cover. Serve hot.

Sinigang con Beef and Sugpo

During one of my trips to the U.S., I surprised my relatives with this sinigang recipe. The truth is I surprised even myself. It was my first cousin’s birthday and I wanted to create something that will throw them overboard. I was on creative overdrive so I decided to combine beef and sugpo. Of course they were initially aghast at the audacity of my choice of meats to put together in a sour soup at that.

The technique is to cook and tenderize the beef first before adding the sugpo. The resulting dish that combines the fleshy juicy beef with the succulent sweet sugpo is unbelievably a harmonious marriage of supposedly discordant taste and texture.

In Manila I again cooked this over adventurous sinigang recipe for a cooking show’s TV plug. The production crew was trying their best not to raise their eyebrows to my choice of dish to show on TV. As always, the proof of the pie is in the pudding. After tasting my fancy sinigang recipe, everyone was raving about the dish. Everyone was wondering how I knew that the pairing of meat with seafood would work. I admitted that I didn’t know but I wanted to think out of the box and succeeded…

SINIGANG CON BEEF & SUGPO

Ingredients :

4 pcs. red ripe tomatoes, sliced
1 pc. Onion, sliced
6 cups water
1 ½ pack Sinigang sa Sampalok Mix
½ kilo beef ribs
½ kilo sugpo
1 talong, sliced diagonally
1 raddish, sliced diagonally
5 pcs okra, cut into half
1 bundle kangkong (about 150g). separate leaves from stalks
2 pcs siling pangsigang

Procedure :

In a saucepan, bring to a boil water, tomatoes, onion and beef ribs. Cook until beef is tender.
When beef is almost tender , add Sinigang sa Sampalok Mix.
Add talong, raddish and okra, cook for 5 minutes
Add kangkong stalks and sugpo and cook for 3 minutes.
Add kangkong leaves and siling pangsigang.Cover and remove from heat.

Adobong Sosyal

Here’s one adobo recipe that was born out of non-availability of the main ingredient in making adobo - local vinegar. All I had in my cabinet was this small bottle of balsamic vinegar, which I was afraid, might start drying up already. A friend of a friend, who is based in the U.S. uses balsamic vinegar for making adobo, claiming that it is cheaper than buying imported from Manila vinegar. The resulting adobo is as expected classy. It exudes a definitely epicurean taste that tickles the palate. The robust sweetish balsamic vinegar synthesizes lovingly with the subtle salty and refined Kikkoman soy sauce.

ADOBONG SOSYAL


Ingredients :

5 cloves native garlic, crushed for marinating
6 pcs. peppercorn, coarsely crushed
½ cup Balsamic Vinegar
¼ cup Kikkoman Soy Sauce
¼ cup liquid seasoning
1 pork bouillon cube
4 cups water
1 ½ kilo pork, cubed
5 cloves garlic for sauteing
2 Tbsp. cooking oil for sauteing

Procedure :

1. Put together all ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil without stirring. Simmer until meat becomes tender. Separate meat from sauce.
2. In a separate frying pan, fry the meat until brown.
3. In another saucepan, saute garlic, when golden brown, add the fried meat, slowly add the sauce where meat was cooked till tender, make sure not to add all the sauce at one time so the sauce will be thick.

Choco Peanut No Bake Dessert

Here is one no-bake easy to make dessert that I created for a welcome lunch for the new incoming chairman of the board. Everyone found the new boss rather stiff and formal hence there were a lot of murmurings and apprehensive expectations. I was tasked to prepare lunch using two of their major brands. Dessert was supposed to be a symphony of various fruits in season.

I, however wanted to go the extra mile. I wanted to present another product that was not on the priority list, the company's peanut butter. Since I had very little time, I opted for something no-bake and something that is no fuss and of course something I can whip up from available ingredients in my cabinet. I saw boxes of choco mucho, the original choco flavor and at the time the newly launched white chocolate flavor. In this recipe I'm sharing with you, I changed the white chocolate flavor to the choco peanut flavor already. I whipped, churned everything in my food processor and came up with a two layer dessert.

The chairman, truly a man of few words was astounded by the dessert. He even asked what was in it. He then told everyone that the tempting dessert was a must to taste and savour.

CHOCO PEANUT NO BAKE DESSERT

Ingredients :

Choco layer

10 pcs chocolate choco mucho candy wafers
½ cup ricoa chocolate syrup
¼ cup fresh milk

Peanut butter layer

10 pcs choco-peanut or white choco mucho candy wafers
½ cup LC chunky Peanut Butter
¼ cup fresh milk

Topping
½ cup choco chips

Procedure:

Combine together all ingredients for the choco layer and place in a food processor. Mix together in food processor. Place and flatten on a 2 quart
Pyrex dish. Do the same for the peanut butter layer and top on the choco layer. Top with choco chips.

Escabecheng Isda

In my regional travels all over the country, I always chance upon local fare that is most charming and unforgettable. This ESCABECHENG ISDA recipe was one that was shared by a contestant in a sponsored cooking show on TV.

I tweaked this by adding 2 fish bouillon cubes. When this fish bouillon cube was first launched the fear of most housewives is that it will make their dishes smell and taste fishy and metallic. But alas, what it does is just the exact opposite, add this to your fish recipe and remove that fishy smell and taste.

The combination of red and green bell peppers is also another innovation of mine. The vibrant red and green colours does lend excitement to an otherwise blah and ordinary home fare fish dish. The sweet, sour and salty taste of this dish is perfect. I use this measurement whenever I make sweet and sour sauces and even for sweet and sour pork.

ESCABECHENG ISDA

1 kilo matambaka or alumahan, half fry in oil and set aside

Mix 1 cup water with 3 Tbsps. tomato catsup, 3 Tbsps vinegar and 2 Tbsps. sugar

In the meantime, sauté 3 cloves garlic, 1 medium size onion sliced, 6 tomatoes seeded and diced, allow to simmer until tomatoes are tender. Next add 2 green bell peppers and 2 red bell peppers seeded and diced and ¼ cup spring onions chopped. Next add the water, catsup, vinegar and sugar mixture. DO NOT STIR. When boiling add 1 Knorr fish cube. Lastly add 1/8 tsp ground black pepper and 1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water.

Tinapang Bangus Carbonara

This is one of my most favorite no-meat pasta recipes. I always serve this during my parties because it has become a constant favorite. A friend of mine asked me for the recipe so she could try it at home. The only thing she omitted was the topping which is the mixture of mayonnaise with the tinapang bangus and garlic. Turns out that missing out on that one crucial part of this recipe did not deliver the desired response and enthusiasm she saw when her children came to my parties. The panoply of flavours... sweet, sour and savoury makes this dish alluring that once you start eating you can't seem to stop.

TINAPANG BANGUS CARBONARA

Ingredients:

4 Tbsps olive oil
1 whole garlic, skinned and chopped finely
4 T smoked bangus flaked
dash of salt
1 Knorr Fish Cube ( you may add more as desired)
1 1/2 tetra pack all purpose cream
1/4 cup Lady's Choice Mayonnaise

400 g cooked linguini noodles
4 T pasta water

TOPPING
2 T grated Edam cheese
2 T tinapang bangus (get from flakes sauted in the garlic/Knorr Fish Cubes)
1 80ml pack Lady's Choice Mayonnaise

In a skillet, heat olive oil. Saute garlic, low fire, only till it begins to turn golden brown. Drop in Knorr Fish Cubes , bangus flakes, salt ,cream and mayonnaise. Simmer. Add pasta and pasta water. Cook until creamy. Top with LC mayonnaise mixed with the sauted Smoked Bangus. Lastly add grated Edam Cheese.

A Golden Feast

What's the best way to celebrate 50 years? Celebrate it with family and friends with a Golden Feast to boot. The sumptuous dinner for our friend Tony was a mouthwatering array of equally eye catching and inviting dishes.

The buffet table was lined with Fish Ala Pobre, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Pork Spare Ribs, Sushi Platter, Baked Macaroni, Beef Caldereta,Pancit Canton, Pata Tim and of course the BP provoking Lechon. The Choco Swirl Cupcakes with Golden Pearls were heavenly. Not to be out done was the leche flan and the almond jelly for sweet tooth monsters like myself and my friend Heidi.

Another friend Joey, when asked which dessert would he prefer, admonished his lovely young wife Mitos by saying, pwede bang dalawa, bakit papipiliin pa?

Pasta Sardinoise

Staring at my cabinet, I saw 2 cans of sardines, which were bought after Ondoy’s terror. From experience, I know that these will last a lifetime in there. I decided to open one but to my horror, the fish was just too fishy for my taste, ngeks sa lansa talaga. What to do so this doesn’t go to waste? Elevate the sardines’ status from Sardinas na may Misua to PASTA SARDINOISE.

Now it’s time to scrounge for other ingredients to turn this dish into something extraordinary. In my ref I checked and found the following:

A half cup of pitted black olives
A half cup of capers
A cup of tomato sauce

To cure that over fishiness, drain the tomato sauce from the fish and deep-fry and set aside.

In a sauce pan, sauté in 2 Tbsp of olive oil

6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tsp dried rosemary
½ Tbsp salt
¼ tsp ground pepper

Add the tomato sauce and let simmer. Put the fried sardines, olives and capers. Let simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly.

Cook 200g of linguini or spaghetti noodles according to package directions.

Again, plate so the dish will really look delectable and inviting. Put about a cup of the noodles on a plate, using a fork, twist to make a rounded heap. Pour the SARDINOISE, top with Parmesan cheese if you like.

Easy Baked Mac

One of the first pasta recipes I learned in my early years of cooking was this EASY BAKED MACARONI which I would like to share. The original recipe was more complicated and difficult to follow. Through experimentation and a lot of hit or miss, I finally simplified the original recipe, adjusted it to my taste and added beer. I thought of adding beer to replace cooking wine which I often see in meat sauce recipes.

I discovered that cooking with beer helps tenderize the meat faster. It was only much later that I found out that beer does have a tenderizing effect on meat. I also found the malty mild distinctive flavor of beer rather pleasant, hence this recipe of mine was born. You may add canned sliced mushrooms on top if you wish.

Likewise, I also use this meat sauce and white sauce recipe for a QUICK AND EASY LASAGNA. All you have to do is use lasagna noodles and voila, you have a superb tasting lasagna already. You may add dried rosemary to the meat sauce just for that added punch, not too much though as rosemary tends to dominate and overpower the flavors of other spices.

Here are the ingredients for the meat sauce...

1 kilo ground beef
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium sized red onions, finely chopped
2 Tbsp sugar
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 Tbsp fine salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp ground pepper
1 cup beer
½ cup water
1 cup tomato sauce

And here are the ingredients for the White Sauce:

1 can evaporated milk
1-70g pack cream of mushroom soup
1 ¾ cup water

Just cook 450g macaroni noodles according to package directions and then top with
grated cheese

Follow this steps...

Dissolve the cream of mushroom soup in a little evaporated milk, then add the rest and the water. Mix well until there are no more lumps then set aside.
In a sauce pan, sauté the onions in olive oil, when onions turn soft, add the ground beef, stir until meat is no longer pink, remove any excess liquid.
Add the sugar, bouillon cubes, salt, Italian seasoning and ground pepper. Allow beef to cook some more, about 10 minutes.
Add the beer and water, cook until almost dry. Add the tomato sauce. Cook for another 30 minutes or until oil comes out on the sides of the sauce pan.
Place the dissolved cream of mushroom soup in another sauce pan, bring to a boil while stirring constantly. When this thickens turn off heat and let cool.
Arrange this on a 3 quarts baking dish, put the meat sauce first, top with macaroni noodles next then add meat sauce again, and then the white sauce, repeat layering until the dish is full.
Top with grated cheese. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes

Chicken Ala King

CHICKEN ALA KING

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter8 to 10 chicken thigh fillets½ cup sliced canned button mushrooms, liquid included (200g)2 green bell peppers, diced2 pimientos, diced½ c all purpose cream
2 cups of chicken broth where chicken was cooked add liquid from canned mushrooms (add hot water if liquid will not amount to 2 cups)salt to taste
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp LC Mayonnaise

Procedure:
1. Rub 1 tsp salt on chicken thigh fillets then cook by simmering in ½ cup water. Cool and cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes.

2. Core and remove the seed from the bell peppers and pimientos. Dice.

3. Melt the butter in a thick-bottomed pan. Add the bell peppers and pimientos and cook for about a minute. Remove from the butter and set aside.
Reheat the butter. Add the all-purpose cream.

4. Pour in the chicken broth little by little, stirring as you pour. Add the cooked chicken, mushrooms and bell peppers. Season with salt and nutmeg. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes. Put Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise, stir and simmer until mayonnaise is dissolved and the dish becomes creamy.

5. Serve with rice or toasted bread or in commercially available pastry cups. This will also be great served cold with buttered toast.

Please note that I added mayonnaise at the end to thicken the sauce and round off all the flavors of this dish.