God Friday Dish

I always find it a challenge every Good Friday to serve something that does not have any pork, beef or chicken in it.  In the Philippines, For most Catholics,  Good Friday is a no-meat day.  I'm not Catholic but my husband and daughter are.  Thus, I need to prepare food that they may eat on that day.

This year, (2012), I prepared Fish and Chips the usual way with the addition of breaded okra and tzatziki sauce.   My Fish fillet recipe  was made from Cream Dory, along with some sliced okra which I had dipped in the same batter as the fish.  The chips were just fresh potatoes that I julienned and fried to a golden brown.  The tzatziki sauce is the same sauce that is sold on www.yogurtstation.blogspot.com, prepared with fresh greek yogurt, cucumber, garlic, mayonnaise and some dill.

At night we had some fresh vegetarian lumpia with a twist.  I did the usual lumpia but instead of putting peanuts, I used garlic flavored cashew and had made some fresh egg wrappers.  They really tasted good mind you.

So, what did you have?

Chilli Cheese Fries - Carl's Comfort Food

What do you do with leftover food?

 I had some mechado and some beef from my beef taco in the refrigerator.  Obviously, I didn't want to eat any more of those but I didn't want to throw them away ("there are millions in the world who go hungry" as my mom would always say).  So, as my friend Carl had mentioned, I turned them into Chili Cheese Fries. I combined the two dishes, chopped the big chunk of beef from the mechado, added some chopped tomatoes, cumin, and bell peppers.  Then I simmered the dish until all the fresh ingredients became tender.  Anyway, here's how:

Ingredients:

Chili Beef
Potatoes
Salt and pepper
1 tsp Vegetable oil
Cheese Sauce

Procedure:

Julienne some potatoes by cutting them into 1/2 inch thick strips. sprinkle some salt and pepper and add the oil.  Toss the potatoes.  Take a baking sheet or baking pan and line with a wax paper.  lay the potatoes on this sheet in a single layer and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.  Turn over and bake for another 10 minutes or until potatoes are cooked. 

Pile the potatoes on a heat proof plate and top with Chili beef and Cheese Sauce (or plain quickmelt cheese) and bake for another 5 mins.

Turned out to be sooo good.  Thanks Carl.

A Yummy Mayo - DIY

I had earlier made some sardine out of the barracuda that my dad brought from Palawan. One of the many ways I enjoy it is making gourmet sandwiches out of the fresh sardine dish. However, I realized I had run out of mayonnaise because I made some dip for my duaghter to bring to her boarding house. So, because I still wanted to have my sandwich, I got out some fresh organic eggs and made mayo myself. It turned out that the one I made is close to the taste of the commercial brand I normally buy. You may want to try it too. Here's my recipe:

1 organic egg
half a calamansi (I usually use lemon but ran out of it too)
1/4 teaspoon salt
some freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 cup virgin coconut oil


Procedure:
In a blender, put in the egg, calamansi, salt, pepper and sugar. Switch on the blender to the fastest setting. Add in half of all the oils a drop per minute starting with the sesame oil. Then add in the rest of the canola oil in a thin steady stream.

Note that some oil maybe left because the amount of oil depends on how large the egg is. Also, once you have started to put in the oils, do not stop until you feel the solution can no longer take in any more oil.

Eggs can be sources of salmonella so I use organic eggs. Not that it is a sure way to avoid the bacteria but there's a lesser chance of those eggs being contaminated. If you can get hold of pasteurized eggs, those will be better. We don't have them in the Philippines. Too bad.

Cereal Prawn - A well-loved Singaporean Dish

For those who love to go to Singapore or Malaysia for this dish, fret no more. Here's a recipe that is very similar to those that you will find in those places. Enjoy! (Sorry, I don't have a better pic as I remembered to take this shot after we had eaten. hahaha)

Ingredients:
1 lb large shrimps or prawns
300 grams Instant Cereal (I used Nesvita)
1 tbsps sugar
3 tbsps flour
1 eggyolk
60g butter
3 dried or fresh chillies, chopped
2 sprigs of fresh curry leaves (more if you want it to be more fragrant)
salt and pepper, to taste
Cooking oil

Directions:
1) Wash shrimps. remove the rostrum (the hard pointed part of the head), antennas and the larger legs. Add some salt and ground pepper.
2) Mix the cereal, flour and sugar. Add salt and pepper.
3) Heat oil until it is very hot. Fry prawns in wok a few pieces at a time until it turns red and the shell looks crisp. This should not take you more than 20 seconds per batch of 5 pieces. Set aside.
4) Remove oil from the wok and melt butter in it.
5) Add chillies and curry leaves. Give it a quick stir.
6) Beat the eggyolk lightly and add to the cereal mix. Add this mixture to the chilli-curry mixture and toss until cereal turns brown and crunchy.
7) Add in the fried shrimps. Stir for about 20 seconds. Serve with hot rice.

Spanish Sardines Sandwich

Tonight we had sandwich for dinner. We had planned to eat some noodles (pancit bato) which our homemaker brought from Bicol. I made some spanish sardines in extra virgin olive oil earlier as our help went to the market and saw some really fresh tawilis (small freshwater fish). She forgot to buy the celery which I like adding to the pancit. So, because I didn't want to cook the noodles without the celery, we opted to eat the sardines instead. I sliced some rye bread which I bought from the grocery and kept in the freezer to keep it fresh. We had some romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and mayo in the refrigerator. With all those at hand, we made our sandwiches with the freshly cooked sardines. Yum!

Here's a recipe of the sardines:

1 kilo Tawilis
salt
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup water
peppercorn
1 tsp pickle relish
chilli peppers
bay leaf

Clean the tawilis. Cut off its head and tails. Put in a pressure cooker. add in all the rest of the ingredients and seal the pressure cooker. Cook over high heat and when the cooker starts to whistle, start timing for 1 hour. After 1 hour, test the sardines for softness. If the bones are not soft enough to be eaten, cook in the pressure cooker for 10 minutes more. Start timing when the cooker starts to whistle. Transfer the sardines to a container with a cover and cool. It will keep for a few days inside the ref. If frozen, it keeps for about a month or so.

Note: Check your instruction manual on how to operate your pressure cooker. It is dangerous to operate it without first reading the guide.

Teaching Her To Cook

My daughter is nearly entering her freshman year in tertiary education. We live over an hour away from the university she will attend and we've been thinking of letting her rent an apartment or condo unit nearby. She needs to have her space when she studies and needs to learn independence too. She's the type who gets dizzy when travelling let alone in a public transport. Furthermore, she needs to have a place to stay near the campus so that when it rains, she doesn't have to fend her way through the crowd just to get home.

The downside of this is she needs to do house chores. I thought of asking our help to go visit her once or twice a week. That would be the easiest part. But what about her food? I want her to eat healthy food which is not readily available in the area. Also, she has food allergies. Although somehow we've managed to bring her allergens to a minimum and despite the fact that she had no reactions whatsoever while we were in Singapore (which she attributes to her intake of Kefir), I still think that one way she can survive this is to learn to cook. This summer I've started to teach her. Here are some of the food that she has managed to cook (a few with my supervision, other her alone). You may click on the titles to find their recipes, if available (if not available yet, please come back and check for the link soon):

Bruschetta with Spinach and Banana Blossom Dip



Hainanese Chicken Rice



Fish Fillet (she cooks this without any help now)



It's fun to teach your teen to do things for themselves specially when you know it will be a life lesson.

Noodles Galore

One of the easiest if not the easiest recipes to make is that of the noodles - whether chinese/oriental style or western. I have so far raved praises from friends and family for cooking these complete meals in the shortest possible time. Often, when we are in a hurry because someone has come to visit us by surprise, or when we decided to save some money by not eating at the restos and rushing to cook because we're so hungry already, or when there's family member celebrating a birthday. Let me share my recipes with you:

Vegetarian noodles:

Pesto
Take 250 grams sweet basil and put it in an osterizer or food processor. It should be able to grind food without water. Add in a pinch of salt, some pepper (start off with just about 4 seeds), 1 small clove of garlic. grind these together. Slowly add by drops some olive oil of about 1/2 cup. Add some nuts preferrably pine cones or walnuts but this is optional. Use this with 1/2 kilo cooked pasta noodles. Add some cheese.

Note: It's best when parmesan cheese is used but any cheese will do. If you like, you may add some meat, cold cuts or seafood.


Mushroom in Garlic
take 1 regular can of button mushroom. drain and slice each one in half. you may use fresh mushrooms if you like. set aside.
take about 2 to 3 cloves of garlic. The more, the better. pound each one, remove its skin and mince. heat a pan and add about 2 tablespoons of oil. saute the garlic until soft. Add 2 dashes of paprika, 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp worcestershire sauce, pepper, hot sauce/tabasco and the mushrooms. Saute just until the mushrooms have been coated with the sauce. turn off the stove and add in the olive oil while still hot. Pour over warm noodles.
Serve warm.



Oriental Noodles
boil about 1 liter water. take 1/2 kilo chicken breast and add it to the water. cover and simmer until chicken is tender. when cooked, flake in large pieces.

take 1/2 kilo mussels. Clean the shells and cook in a pot. Don't add anything to it. when it boils, turn it off right away. Schuck the mussles and set aside the meat.

Prepare 1/2 kilo noodles (Bihon, canton, eggnoodles) as directed. Set aside.

Saute in 2 tbsp oil 1 clove minced garlic, 1 head minced onion, and bell pepper cut in 1/2 inch squares. Add in Chicken, mussels, some squid balls cut in half and some sliced ham. Fried pork will do. Add in some fresh wansoy (coriander leaves), celery, carrots, baguio beans, chinese cabbage, some ground black pepper and black fungus. Just cook the vegetables for a very short while (about 30 seconds). You may add 1 to 2 tbsp of oyster sauce if you like. Add in the soup stock from the chicken and the mussels and bring to a boil. Add some soy sauce to taste. When it is boiling, add in the noodles. You might have to add 1 to 2 cups water but cook covered first for 10 minutes. If noodles appears too dry, add in 1 cup of water. When noodles are almost cooked, add in 2 tbsp of sesame oil. Serve hot with some calamansi or lemon on the side.

These are just some of the recipes I know. I'll write the others later. In the meantime, enjoy cooking.


Jane

Yo! Yogurt

I've just recently discovered (or rediscovered) how wonderful home-made yogurt could be. Not just me, but both my husband and daughter love its rich, creamy flavor specially with fruits. It's a good substitute for cream for salads and has recently become one of the staple in our breakfast table. I remember how my mom used to prepare it for us and how I (naturally!) despised it then because it really takes some getting used to. These days, kids are exposed to a so many flavors that it doesn't take so much for them to acquire new tastes as the case with my daughter.

Not only does yogurt taste good, it is in fact healthy. It has helpful bacteria known as probiotic that your digestive system can benefit from. It actually encourages the growth of normal flora in your gut. Wikipedia has a long list of its benefits that you may want to

Here's how to prepare it:

slightly heat by constantly stirring 1 liter of milk (whole, low fat or skimmed) to slightly above room temp.
add 1/2 cup natural plain yogurt and mix until yogurt has been dissolved.
cover and keep in a warm spot (such as an oven)for about 8 hours. serve cold.

We love adding fresh fruit to it. The family's favorite is pineapple.

Yogurt

Not sure if you would agree but I find that yogurt is really healthy. It's good eaten alone, with fruit or as a salad dressing. I'd like to share the recipe with you.

In a pot, heat 1 liter of milk until just warm. Dissolve 3 tablespoons plain yogurt and 1 tablespoon of sugar. cover and keep inside the oven or in any warm, dark place for about 10 hours.

Milk can be either liquid or powder. When using powder, reconstitute it with 3 cups water to 1 cup milk proportions. I use the High Calcium, Low Fat Monami Milk. So far, it has yielded the best tasting yogurt.

Sugar can be omitted if you are on a diet. I added it to the recipe to let the bacteria grow faster. I remember that technique from breadmaking.

So, there you are. Happy eating!