Wan-Soy Chicken

Here’s my Wan-Soy Chicken recipe that I recently had one night in December. I needed a quick fix and had been craving for something salty (adobo is too common), so I thought of coming up with this instead.

Detailed measurements in cooking are not necessary as you can adjust its taste. Experiment! There are no rules when it comes to the flavor you want to produce on your dish. Be bold. Be daring. Don’t forget to smile or play some tunes when cooking as it will add more oomph to your dish. ;)

WAN-SOY CHICKEN

Ingredients:

Chicken thighs

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1-2 tbsps Garlic Granulated

chopped wansoy (coriander)

*chili flakes / cayenne / paprika

1-3 tbsps Oil

1/4 cup water

Procedure:

- Rub coarse salt onto chicken and rinse it with water.

- Place chicken onto a saucepan and pour in 1/2 cup of soy sauce.

- Sprinkle garlic granulated and spice of your choice.

- Add 1/4 cup water.

- Spread chopped coriander.

- Cover
- Simmer (medium heat) for 10 minutes on both sides.

- Preheat toaster/oven under 200 F.

- Brush tray with olive oil (or any type of oil you have in the kitchen).

- Place chicken onto tray, and let it broil in the oven for 20 minutes.

Just so you know, my tray didn't fit into the oven so I placed my chicken pieces on a foil, unwrapped.

- Garnish it with fresh coriander and goes best with steamed brown rice.  :)

Enjoy!

Macho Nachos

Mexican food tops the list of my favorite cuisine.  I first got to taste authentic Mexican dishes somewhere in Downey, Los Angeles way back in 2007 when I was a contestant of a local (Philippines) reality TV show.  I can't ever forget that big wet burrito I had that is so huge, three people could eat it.  I'll try to make that dish some other time.

Just the other day, after paying my bills, I went straight to the grocery and grabbed some stuff then suddenly saw those nacho chips stacked atop the ice cream chillers, so I thought of making some at home.

Ingredients:

2-3 tomatoes, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 red onion, diced

1 tbsp tomato paste or tomato catsup

1/4 kg ground pork or beef

1 small can pork and beans

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp cayenne (you can adjust this to your preference)

1 tsp spanish paprika

chopped cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

nacho chips

1.  Sweat onions.  Once translucent, add garlic then diced tomatoes.

2.  Add ground meat.  When ground meat turned brown, add in tomato paste/catsup, a can of pork and beans and ground spices, chopped cilantro as well as S&P.

3.  Let it simmer till meat is cooked.

4.  Arrange nacho chips, top with meat, add melted cheese, and garnish with cilantro.

Melted Cheese Ingredients:

1/4 cup shredded quickmelt cheese

1/2 cup milk

drop of yellow food coloring *optional

1.  On a small non-stick pot, pour in milk and shredded cheese over medium heat.  Stir till cheese is well incorporated.

2.  Set aside for 5-10 minutes and it will eventually thicken.

3.  Stir in a drop yellow food coloring.

For a more refreshing nachos, add salsa or guacamole.  ^^

Food Photography

Food + Photography = Love

That's how equal they are to me.  As much as I want to be a professional food photographer, I do lack skills and equipment, most specifically the camera.  Can't wait for last week of March to come so I would be able to hold onto my DSLR, a gift from my mom.  Oh dear.. Pride is kicking in.  I'm thinking of paying it in the future.

At this age, I still wasn't able to save a single penny.  Circumstances are the probable 'cause' but I can't blame those.  I had to shell out.  I had to sacrifice for so many personal reasons.  Been doing jobs that I'm not really interested at were really tiring but I had to suck it in to make ends meet, yet I'm still a laughing stock at the end of the day, most specifically my former mentors, because I wasn't able to practice the skills that I'm good at.  They just don't understand and I won't let them do so.

Now, since the food business I was trying to put up didn't come out as positive as I thought it would be, I have to find ways for me to be able to practice my culinary skills not by being a kitchen staff, but something that has to do with art like photography.  That's where my love for food photography comes in.

my first bread attempt prior to my culinary studies
Oatmeal Bread, 2007
I used Nikon digicam and shot this in available light.

I always tell myself that I don't need a great camera to be able to capture great photos.  I do know that I have the "eye" for the craft so that is what's most important, though I lack equipment and some technical photography skills.  That's why my Nikon digicam became my best friend back then, but suddenly it broke for unknown reasons in 2010 that left me using my dad's camera phone in 2011, but, unfortunately, I got mugged October last year, so I'm now relying on my Logitech HD webcam for recent product shots.  From time to time, I borrow a friend's point-and-shoot camera just to be able to capture the beauty right in front of my eyes.

Leche Flan, 2010
I named my made-to-order business as Cafe Julita, but I was told that there's Cafe JUANITA
existing in the metro so I have to put the business name down to avoid confusion.
I used Nikon digicam and shot this in available light.

Thanks to Google, I was able to come across ABeautifulMess, FoodComa, PhotoKitchen and Tartalette's blogs who still inspires me to put up my own cafe and take food photography seriously.  But inspiration isn't the only ingredient needed in this career recipe.  People who believes in me, who will work with me seriously to bump heads with, and who motivates more than words are what I need most right now.

But the question is, where do I start?  I badly wanted to be an apprentice of a food photographer even if I won't get paid for the meantime instead of enrolling on their series of workshops that I can't afford.  I'm also thinking of buying a book instead.  I saw a couple of food photography books in National Bookstore.  They are way cheaper than enrolling on workshops, though, if I enroll on one of their classes, I'd instantly create a network, thus, future food photography paid gigs.  Sigh.

Well, what I can do now is save up, buy a food photography book, study, and execute.