Everyday Food

Chicken Pork Adobo

2011-01-22T06:44:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I last made a post in this blog. It came to my mind why I haven't written something about the all time pinoy favorite dish and so this is it. Easy to make in just a few ingredients. This classic dish can be done as pork adobo, chicken adobo or mixed. Here's the best pinoy chicken port adobo.

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo of pork and 1/2 kilo of chicken
hard boiled eggs (shelled)
1 head garlic, minced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup vinegar
2 cups of water
5 laurel/bay leaves optional
4 tablespoons of cooking oil or olive oil
Pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar (optional)

On heated pan with oil, saute the minced garlic and add the pork and chicken meat. Add in 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 1 cup of vinegar and 2 cups of water. Sprinkle pepper to taste, then add the bay leaves. You can turn up the heat to bring it into boil then add some sugar, this is optional. Simmer until the meat has turned brown and tender. Toss in the shelled eggs and wait for an hour more until the liquid mixture dries up a little. Best served on hot rice.

Minestrone Soup

2010-06-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

Minestrone Soup

This is my version of minestrone soup

Ingredients:

strips of bacon or pancetta
1 cube onion minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup chopped celery
3 gallons of beef stock
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of green beans
1/2 cup of kidney beans
1/2 cup of potato or potato
1/2 cup carrots in small cubes
250 grms of elbow macaroni
3 tbsp parsley (optional)
3 tbsp basil (fresh)
pinch of pepper

Procedure:

1. Cook bacon/pancetta in olive oil then saute the garlic and onions.

2. Add diced tomatoes, green beans then kidney beans and garbanzo beans.

3. To this add celery then the carrots.

4. Add small amount of water and par boil until the vegetables are tender.

5. Add beef stock and bring to a boil.

6. Add cooked elbow macaroni.

7. Bring to a boil then simmer.

8. Add parsley, basil, salt and pepper.

*Image from Wikipedia. Thanks

Quick Lenten Veggie Pasta

2010-03-31T00:17:00.000-07:00

Summer comes the Lenten Season. In the observance of the Holy week, traditionally, Catholics prepare themselves through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial (Asceticism) in commemorating the sacrifice, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Easter Sunday, to save the World. It is a catholic tradition not to eat meat during Holy week and so I think it would be great to share with you this simple pasta recipe.

1lb macaroni pasta
2 medium tomatoes
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
garlic minced
onion minced
basil
grated cheese
salt and pepper to taste
preferred veggies like broccoli, eggplant or zucchini

1. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan and cook the sliced eggplant/zucchini (crosswise). Sprinkling with a bit of salt and pepper. If you are using broccoli you can steam it. Then, set them aside.
3. In the same pan with added oil, toss the garlic, onion and tomatoes.
4. Mix the pasta and bits of fresh basil.
5. Top with veggies and cheese.

1 Year Old Hardly Decomposed Happy Meal

2010-03-25T01:17:00.001-07:00

Whoa..it was not so long ago since I heard my Granma telling me not to eat too much fast foods (especially the fried ones) because they dump too much calories in the body. She doesn't want me to gain too much weight. I thought so myself that anything too much is bad. For me, not all fast foods, meaning those that are readily available by the counter or precooked meals are not as bad as they are. For example, you can buy salad in most pizza outlets, some local burger company and Wendy's offer veggie salads. Veggie salads don't make you fat unless you smother it with too much dressings. I keep mine as plain as it can be.

This article I found while browsing my twitter made me look twice even thrice. A happy meal left in the open but no bug nor fly came near it just leaving the meal for a year but hardly decomposed. I hope this is not true. What I meant was, I hope that this experiment if ever did happen, did not yield the result published and burger chains and the likes are not doing such unorthodox preparations.. Cross fingers ..

The bigger they are the more resources they have to make their product stay healthy and not risky. Unlike small time food businesses who have limited but still think of how they can make their customers satisfied, stomach full and healthy-maybe that's why they don't earn much because the ROI is just around it's investment and that they don't use much preservatives, the product is not recycled the next day so they just have to invest on what is the demand-imo. I am praying that sooner or now these giant companies will not just think of personal gain but make a fair share with us consumers especially to the children.

It made me feel more at ease knowing that the burger I brought home the other night didn't take more than 24hrs to wilt. At first, I got so disappointed with myself for not putting it inside the refrigerator and that the hot summer days contributed to make the tomato and lettuce rot. I guess if there's none or maybe not much preservative in it I feel more relieved. It's a good thing it turns out to be my personal choice not to eat too much fast foods.

Cooking at home is still the best!

Potato Salad to Russian Salad

2010-03-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

Simple Quick Potato Salad | Food Talk

Great recipe for years now. This is just another basic salad when added some apples and sugar bits will turn the party into a Russian Salad. Delicious preparation you can get from the chiller and eat every afternoon.

Russian Salad from Basic Potato Salad

My version would be adding apples (not peeled) and sugar bits (cooked by boiling)
4 mid sized potatoes
1 medium carrot
1/2 cup minced red onion
2 stalks celery minced
1 tbsp finely chopped dill pickles
1/2 cup mayonnaise
salt and black pepper
cheese (optional)
Method
1. Cook 1/4 chicken in boiling water. Cool down and cut into strips or cubes. Set aside.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the potatoes and carrot with skins on. Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from pot. Let it cool enough to handle, but still warm. Remove skins then cut them into inch sized cubes.
3. In a bowl, toss in the potatoes, carrots, chicken and the rest of the ingredients. You can also add cubed or grated cheese (optional).
4. Mix the bowl with mayonnaise. Add salt and pepper to taste. Best served chilled.

Bacon Margherita Pasta

2010-03-15T09:56:00.001-07:00

This is just a quick pasta recipe that you'll surely enjoy.
This afternoon, I made it for my honey and he enjoyed it but
still asking for more. It's so easy to prepare that I did not
hesitate to head into the kitchen and do it once more!
I hope you'll like it too. Sorry I forgot to take pictures.
I bet it's gonna be one of hunny's favorite so
next time I'll be posting pics here. I named it Bacon Margherita Pasta
since it's an italian pasta recipe with the 3 colors representing its flag.

Bacon Margherita Pasta

Bacon cut into Strips
Basil (fresh or dried)
tomatoes (cherry or regular) 2
garlic 4 cloves minced
250 grams macaroni
extra virgin olive oil
spanish paprika
parmesan or cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

1. cook macaroni pasta as instructed in package. set aside
2. in a wok, put 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3. add in the bacon
4. saute the garlic and tomatoes for about a minute, do not let the garlic turn into brown.
5. toss pasta into the wok and sprinkle with basil, paprika, salt and peper to taste.
6. serve with grated parmesan.

You can add some chili flakes if you wish for more enticing hot taste.

Simple 5-Ingredient Dinners: Fake-and-Bake "Fried" Chicken

2010-03-11T20:35:00.000-08:00

For Mommies like me. It's always nice to find great recipes that will not take you much time to prepare. If you are always on the go or you have kids, you should learn alot of quick and easy cooking recipes. Not all quick recipes attract the palates of the children so make sure it's inviting, not only delicious but also healthy food.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken, cut up and skin removed
1 cup ranch dressing
2 cups instant potato flakes

Preparation

Heat oven to 450º F. Coat a baking sheet with vegetable cooking spray. Lightly brush the chicken pieces with the dressing, then roll in the potato flakes. Arrange on the baking sheet and place in oven. Turn down oven to 350º F and bake 25 minutes or until the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with a fork.

Simple 5-Ingredient Dinners: Fake-and-Bake "Fried" Chicken

Rotisserie or Grilled Chicken

2010-03-10T22:11:00.000-08:00

One Pinoy favorite is the Grilled or Rotisserie Chicken, often called " Lechon manok"
This recipe I am going to share can be cooked over charcoal or in the turbo broiler. Just make sure you turn the chicken every now and then to make sure it is equally cooked.

Rotisserie or Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

1 whole dressed chicken
1 small pack magic sarap or if not available 1 teasepoon of kosher salt
1 bunch of lemon grass (tanglad)
dried thyme (Mc Cormick)
some pepper

Procedure:

1. Start by cleaning the chicken. Wash and pat it dry with paper towel.
2. Rub magic sarap seasoning granules or just salt on the surface and on inside cavity of the chicken together with dried thyme. 3. 3. Insert the lemon grass inside the chicken cavity and some pepper.
4. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate several hours.
4. Place the chicken onto a rotisserie and roast for about 1 and 1/2 hour (depending on the size) at 210° C.
5. Remove from the rotisserie and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting into pieces and serving.

Types of Pasta to Enjoy

2010-03-08T00:52:00.000-08:00

I have always been inlove with pasta dishes. When I was so much younger than I am right now, I thought that pasta is just spaghetti. My curiosity and love for food lead me to something more than just eating. It is knowing what you cook and cooking it with passion at the same time enjoying the taste.

Pasta is unleavened dough, made of wheat flour, water, and sometimes eggs, that is molded into any of a variety of shapes and boiled. Spaghetti is the classic dried pasta shape and its name is synonymous with pasta itself in many parts of the world. But it is not the only type of pasta that you can enjoy. There are long pasta shapes, such as linguine or reginette, are flattened, while others, like fusilli lunghi are spiralled or curved. Some broader types, such as reginette, have fluted or scalloped edges. Long pasta generally works well with smooth, olive oil based sauces that can be twirled around a fork. These pastas are made in varying widths, from the thinnest angel hair to the plumpest bucatini.

These are but some long types from a large lists of pasta that you can find.

Ziti
Fettuccelle
Linguine
lasagna
Fusilli lunghi
Mafaldine
Reginette
Bucatini
Cappellini
Spaghetti
Spaghettini
Spinach Spaghetti
Whole-wheat (wholemeal) spaghettie
Tomato spaghetti

other types:
elbow macaroni
manicotti
farfalle (butterflies/bow tie)
rotini (twists)
conchiglie (shells)
ruote (cart wheels)
cannelloni

More from here

Everyday food and diet

2010-03-03T21:24:00.000-08:00

There is one website that really caught my attention after I searched for some food diets that I can use everyday. It is not like other sites that make you watch long endless videos but in the end let you buy their products. This certain food and diet website gives you real tips to make you slim, from the food you eat and the daily living exercises.

Dieting doesn't mean boring or tasteless! This is a great time to try new foods, new methods of cooking, new recipes, and new tastes. If you're cutting down on salt, sugar, or fats, you might think you can't have great taste. Wrong! You can have more flavor than ever -- learn to use herbs and spices to boost flavor without adding calories. Experiment. Be creative. Enjoy the food you eat, just remember to keep track of how much of it you're eating. Bon appetit!

Roasted Pig Feast - Lechon

2010-03-01T10:12:00.001-08:00

A whole pig roast is not for everyone. Slowly cooking a large whole hog on a rotisserie over a fire pit is a lot of work requiring time, money and planning. But for those brave enough to tackle cooking a whole pig, like our family, this becomes an amazing summer celebration event which you will remember for years. Most definitely you will drool over the sight of a whole pig roasting over the fire.

We used to do this when I was child. Before, we have a lot of guys living in one roof and so it is not that hard to prepare a hog and stuffing it with lemon grass and tamarind leaves. It's one of the most unforgettable moments in my childhood years. Today, we just order it or sometimes go to La Loma and pick one out. La Loma is a famous place where you can buy roasted pig from left to right. There is nothing more feasting to the eye than a crispy, glazed and juicy roasted pig. Most definitely a pinoy feast to have one the table. We call it "lechon baboy"!

SMART Surf TV

2010-02-28T21:15:00.000-08:00

Smart Surf TV was launched a few days ago but I didn't know that they now offer this product service from SMART until I saw the television commercial for the first time this noon. I am pretty excited to have learned this and immediately thought of getting one for the family. Wow, this is really something!

" SMART launches SurfTV

Filipino families in every corner of the country can now have Internet access with the help of the most ubiquitous home appliance -– the television set. This is now possible with the launch of Smart Bro SurfTV, a new, world-first service from Smart Broadband, Inc. (SBI), a subsidiary of leading wireless services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART).

Smart Bro SurfTV is a device that connects to a television set through a quick and easy procedure, to provide Internet access using Smart Bro’s nationwide coverage. When plugged into the RCA port of a color TV set, Smart Bro SurfTV provides users a ready-to-run Internet experience, and users can surf, chat, and email –- through a multi-tasking TV -- at home"

read more from here >>

How to Cook Pancit Palabok Specialty

2010-02-27T10:26:00.000-08:00

Sometimes called pansit luglug depending on what province you are from and the ingredients you are going to use. This “make me happy” food is one of the many local pinoy foods that we love. There’s nothing more teasing to the eye than to see sprinkled spring onions and sliced hard boiled eggs on top of mustard colored meat and seafood sauce with matching squeezed calamansi.. Yumm!

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo ground pork
1/2 lbs shrimps (shelled)
1/2 lbs squid
Baguio petchay or cabbage
4 cubes tofu
1/4 lbs bigger shrimps for topping cook
3 tbsp of tinapa flakes slightly toasted
1 pack mama cita palabok mix
1 pack atsuete powder
spring onion
8 boiled eggs 1-2 eggs to drop in sauce 6 for toppings
1 kilo palabok noodle
2 garlic bulb
2 big onion
2 shrimp cubes, 2 pork or beef cubes
½ cup flour
pepper to taste optional
salt to taste

Instructions:
1. Boil 4 cups water,add a little salt. cook noodles for 15 to 20 mins or just half cooked then drain set aside.
2. Saute the ground pork with garlic and onion, tinapa flakes, shrimp, squid, pepper. Add the tofu.
3. Add 3 cups of atsuete with dissolved cubes when boiling. Toss in the vegetables.
4. Pour dissolved mama cita palabok mix with flour, slowly until it’s thicken.
5. Add salt to taste.
6. Garnish with sliced eggs and cooked shrimps and chopped spring onion. Put sliced calamansi on the side

Creamy Squid Ink Pasta

2010-02-20T04:46:00.000-08:00

My family has an extraordinary passion when it comes to food. We like seeing sumptuous everday food on the table. It's merienda time, which is the eating time between lunch and dinner, we're suppose to have light snacks but instead a pasta whith an out of the ordinary sauce. It's like heavy meal for me, but for guys in the house who eat alot of rice even during merienda's, it's not even close to main course with rice. No wonder they got big bellies. Moving on, my sister fell inlove with the squid delivered this morning. It's so fresh and you can see that it just got out of the water. Suddenly she got that urge of cooking this wonderful dish she saw on TV the other day.

Instead of adding tomatoes in the ingredients, she used all purpose cream and cream of mushroom which made the sauce delectably thick. And so, we ended up eating her creamy squid ink pasta. It's not common for me to eat black creamy sauce but this is something extraordinary. There's always the red and white sauce but not every restaurants in our area serve this kind of sauce. Whoalla, yummy dish. I love the creaminess, the mushroon flavor battling with the rest of the ingredients and not to forget the tender squid meat. Also, knowing that it's healthy because basically it's seafood dish. I wish you could try it at home maybe not your everyday food but for some reasons it's always nice to have something exotic to the eye and taste buds every now and then.

Creamy Squid Ink Pasta

Ingredients:
500 grams long pasta (ie spaghetti, linguine, bucatini)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or just olive oil
1/4 cup butter
1 white onion (mince or small cubes)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
1 kg squid with some ink left (sliced into 1/2 inch rings)
1 cup water
2 all purpose cream 250 ml (nestle) - lesser fat than heavy cream
1 cream of mushroom (campbell or knorr)
grated cheese
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley

Directions:
1. Cook pasta as indicated on the package.

2. In a medium heated skillet put 1 tbsp olive oil and melt butter, sauté garlic and onions until transluscent.

3. Add in the squid strips and cook for 2 minutes.

4. Add cream of mushroom, water, salt and pepper then cook for 15 minutes more or until squid is tender.Sprinkle some parsley.

5. Pour the cream and lower the temperature. Simmer until the sauce thickens, stirring occasionally.

6. Remove from heat. Spoon sauce onto pasta serving plates and topped with a little fresh parsley and cheese before serving.

Another Favorite: Sautéed Beans (Baguio Beans) in Bacon

2010-02-15T02:16:00.000-08:00

Another favorite of my daughter is the Ginisang Baguio beans which was originally cooked for her by her nice Daddy. This young lady likes bacon so much that her Dad decided to make a recipe that would include healthy veggies, so came up with the idea of serving her with sautéed beans in bacon. She surely fell in-love with it I hope you too!

Sautéed Green Beans (Baguio Beans) with Bacon

Ingredients:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 garlic bulb, minced
1 onion, sliced
2 Plump Red Tomatoes
1/2 kg Baguio (green) Beans, sliced in small strips
1/4 kg Bacon
1 cup water
1/3 tbsp salt (optional since bacon is already salty)

Directions:
1. Heat up vegetable oil in a sauteing pan then toss in the garlic, onion, and tomatoes.
2. When the onion starts to look translucent after a minute, add the bacon strips and then cook for about 2 mins more.
3. Add the sliced beans and 1 cup of water then mix it.
4. Cover and cook it for a few minutes leaving the beans still crunchy and not overcooked. Add salt if desired.
5. Serve with rice.

Corned Beef Guisado

2010-02-08T20:58:00.000-08:00

Just finished preparing my lovely daughter for school. Today I made her favorite for brunch. Simple and yet satisfying, Corned beef. My family loves to cook good food that usually requires going to the market but this one comes from the can of Purefoods corned beef, the blue one. No offense meant but the blue one is really my can of choice since it has true beef meat and the tender taste of real beef that no other brands can satisfy my sensitive buds. Of course there are different ways of cooking the corned beef but for my family, nothing beats the simple corned beef "guisado" or hash without the eggs.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil
1 can of purefoods corned beef (or brand of choice)
2 potatoes (cut into strips or small cubes)
1/2 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
1/2 cup of water

Directions:

1. Put 2 tbsp oil in heated pan
2. Add the potatoes and leave for a few minutes
3. Toss in the onion, garlic and corned beef.
4. Add water and let it boil for 2-3 minutes but leave it juicy.
5. Serve with rice

Enjoy!

Bulalo for Lunch

2010-02-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day having my favorite food on the table. Watching my diet and cholesterol intake, I just tell myself "bukas na talaga start" (tomorrow, I will really start), referring to my plan of watching my calorie intake, and yeah, the bad cholesterol. Who can resist such sumptuous meal? The "Bulalo" (Beef Marrow Soup) is one of Pinoy favorites. Here, I am going to share the recipe, my sister's version. I hope you'll love it too!

BULALO (Beef Marrow Soup)

INGREDIENTS
3 pcs. bulalo (beef marrow shank or knee cap)
salt to taste or fish sauce depends on your taste
2 tbsp. whole peppercorn
3 potatoes, quartered
3 onions, quartered
1 kilo Baguio beans
3 pcs. sweetcorn on the cob, cut each into 4
1 bundle of pechay
1 head cabbage or baguio petchay
4 pcs. banana (optional)
1 beef bouillon cubes (0ptional, if you want it more beefy taste)

DIRECTIONS
1. Boil the beef marrow shank, onion, salt, pepper and beef cubes in water for several hours, average heat, enough to keep the water boiling, until the meat is tender and the broth fragrant.You can also use a pressure cooker to reduce cooking time.
2. After an hour or so, add more water to replace the lost liquid due to steam. Then, add the corn cobs and let it cook for another 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Add the potatoes and the bananas
4. When the vegetables are crisp tender, add the cabbage/pechay and baguio beens.
5. Serve with fish sauce squeezed with lemon juice or calamansi.

Enjoy!