Since I've been 'pigging' out quite literally this week (ate pork for 2 days in a row), and while AM is at work for KMKZ's kickoff concert after 2 years of resting, I've decided to go vegan and eat well this today (and tomorrow, I hope).
Whenever I go to our local market (or palengke), I don't have any menu in mind because I almost always rely on what's available on that day.
I usually buy my greens at the grocery, but this time, I was surprised to have found fresh lettuce at our local market! For only Php 20, good for two, it's a good deal. So, I thought of making lumpiang sariwa for dinner but AM wasn't excited about it. Then days have gone by and my fresh produce starts to wilt. So I came up with this easy salad, sans lumpia wrapper and meat.
Are you looking for an extra income this holiday season? Or maybe impress your family with a dish you made from scratch? Well, you just came to the right place. Here's a rice cake recipe that is one of my most favorite Filipino delicacies, bibingkang malagkit.
This recipe will teach you patience and also gives you the chance to do some arm exercise while cooking -- because of its continuous stirring for more than an hour. But don't worry, the result would be worth it.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp coconut oil or butter
1 banana leaf
2-3 pandan leaves
4 cups fresh coconut milk
2 cups sticky rice, washed
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
additional 2-4 cups coconut milk or water
Topping:
2 cups fresh coconut milk
125 ml all-purpose cream
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
Procedure:
Heat coconut milk with pandan leaves in a pot over medium-high heat.
Wash sticky rice three times. Drain.
Add washed sticky rice on simmering coconut milk. Stir. Let it simmer.
Heat banana leaf on the stove to excrete its natural oil.
Place the banana leaf in a pan and brush top and sides with coconut milk or butter.
Keep on stirring the sticky rice mixture. If it thickens, add coconut milk or water gradually until the rice is soft.
Add light brown sugar and salt in between stirring.
Continuously stir. It would take you more than an hour on stirring since this is a slow-cooking process.
Once rice is cooked, pour it over the pan with banana leaf.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Heat coconut milk in a pot. Add dark brown sugar and cream.
Keep on stirring until mixture thickens like a caramel sauce.
Pour mixture on top of the sticky rice.
Bake for 35 minutes or until the top turned darker or slightly burnt.
Here's my Filipino-style version of sauteed shrimp paste or bagoong alamang, MSG-free!
I buy fresh krill at our local wet market and wash it thoroughly at home and draining it after before cooking as they are already mixed with salt. The bagoong will taste more saltier if you I don't wash it down.
This Filipino side dish goes well with green mango, turnip, and I personally like it on my sliced apples too (yeah, it's weird but it tastes good); also with steamed veggies, fried fish or pork, and even great if mixed in your rice.
This will also last up to 6 months if stored in a sealed jar inside a refrigerator.
You could make a small business out of this too! :)
Ingredients:
3 cups alamang (raw shrimp paste)
3 red onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic (or more), minced
4-6 cups white vinegar
4 tbsps white sugar
2 tsps black pepper
2 chili, chopped
3 tbsps oil
1-2 cups water
Procedure:
Wash alamang in running water in a strainer and drain.
Heat oil over medium and sweat onions before adding garlic and chili.
Add the krill or alamang and stir.
Let it simmer until it turns slightly brown.
Pour in vinegar until it covers the entire alamang. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes without stirring.
Add black pepper and white sugar. Slightly stir and let it simmer until it dries up.
Once dried, pour in oil and sautee.
Pour in vinegar again, this time half of the volume you used earlier.
Let it simmer again and stir after a couple of minutes. Stir occasionally.
If it's close to drying up, add in water and stir. Let it simmer until it turns darker in color.
Give it a taste so you could adjust sweetness, sourness, or saltiness.
AM wanted fried fish to go along with sinigang, but I wanted the boiled fish instead. So I might as well combine both, which is similar with the Tagalog's Tochio dish.
Ingredients:
1 bangus (milkfish) fish head
rock salt
4-6 pcs tomatoes, quartered
4-6 pcs red onions, quartered
2-4 bags of small sampalok (tamarind)
1 tali ng kangkong leaves or more if you want
*sitaw (legumes), cut in 2 inches
*1 eggplant, diagonally sliced or whatever slice suits you
*banana blossom or puso ng saging, chopped, salted for five minutes and rinsed
Dust-off excess flour on fish before placing it into warm oil for frying. Lower the heat to medium.
Flip over and set aside once fish are cooked.
In a pot, place in tomatoes, onions, fish head, and eyeball a good amount of rock salt.
Pour in 4 cups of water. Then bring it to a boil.
Add in sampalok and radish.
Set aside fish head.
Once sampalok are cooked (when it's popped out and are softer), strain each piece and submerge the strainer into the simmering/boiling soup while extracting its juice using the back of your ladle.
Discard sampalok. And you can place back the fish head into the soup.
Add in sitaw, if you have, together with the eggplant, and banana blossom (puso ng saging).
Once half-cooked, add in kangkong, green chili and okra.
Taste the soup. Add rock salt if needed. If it's too sour, you can add more water and adjust its saltiness to your liking.
Here's a quick and easy chicken tomato stew recipe for those who are busy doing other tasks at home but wanted a hearty meal. This recipe is similar to Filipino's chicken afritada or pochero.
Yield: Good for 2 Ingredients:
1/2 kg chicken
Rock salt for chicken
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 small red onions, chopped
2 small potatoes, diced (you can also use marble potatoes)
1 cup tomato sauce (homemade or canned)
1 cup water
1 tsp dried thyme (if fresh, add these 2 minutes before serving while simmering)
1 small green bell pepper
1 tie of bok choi / pechay
Salt and pepper to taste
Canola oil for searing (about 1/8 cup or smaller quantity)
Procedure:
Rub salt onto chicken. Rinse off with running water. Add rock salt again onto chicken.
Heat saucepan/saucepot in medium high heat. Add canola oil.
Sear chicken, don't fry. Flip chicken.
Add garlic, onions, potatoes.
Pour in tomato sauce and water.
Add dried thyme. If fresh, add it 2 minutes in simmering stew before serving.
Simmer in medium low heat until potatoes and chicken are cooked.
Add green bell pepper and bok choi (pechay). Stir and simmer until veg are half cooked.
I don't know why I only thought of making recipe videos just now.
Recently, I just had a craving on tortang talong or eggplant omelette. So, here's my simple recipe.
Yield: Good for 2
Ingredients:
1 large talong / eggplant (if you use smaller ones, no problemo)
1/8 cup ground pork (or beef, or chicken, or mushroom..anything!)
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1 medium-sized red onion, chopped
1/2 of small green bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp patis Salinas (fish sauce)
salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 to 1/2 cup canola oil
As I always say on my recipes, you have the freedom to add or lessen the amount of ingredients according to your liking. One of the perks in cooking!
Procedure:
- Poke eggplant with fork.
- Broil / grill eggplant on your burner. Flip it when necessary. Use tongs.
- Place broiled eggplant on a deep dish/soup plate and pour water to cool it down. Set aside.
- Next, heat pan then add oil. Sweat onions first, then add garlic. Once you smell the garlic's aroma, add tomatoes. Let it cook while stirring, then add green bell pepper.
- Then add ground meat of your choice. For vegetarian option, you can opt for chopped mushrooms instead. ;)
- Once half cooked, add 1 tbsp fish sauce. If you're using a regular fish sauce that is pale in color, you might want to add another tablespoon. Then season with pepper.
- Let it simmer for 3-5 minutes under medium low heat.
- Peel skin of the eggplant. If it's still warm, let it soak in water while peeling. But if it has cooled down, drain water before peeling.
- Set aside cooked ground meat by leaving the oil in the pan. We'll be using it on frying the omelette.
- By using a fork, comb the eggplant from to bottom, refraining from pulling too much. You just want to flatten the eggplant.
- Beat two eggs.
- Reheat used pan with the excess oil.
- Fry flattened eggplant. Place cooked meat on top of the eggplant. Lower the heat. Then pour in egg mixture.
- Flip the eggplant omelette by using a large plate, or if you can toss it yourself, or with two spatulas.
- Serve while hot. Best eaten with ketchup and rice.
I know most of you will be like, "Spinach in a smoothie?! Blech!" Yeah, it sounds disgusting all right (especially for the meat aficionados). But did you know that aside from making Popeye strong, spinach is a great source of calcium, folate, vitamin A, B2, B6, C, E, and K, iron, and a whole other stuff! So, if you're a bit behind the healthy lifestyle, this is a good start. Start with a little amount of spinach leaves, then as you get the hang of it, after some time, add more into your smoothie. Trust me, you'll feel full and energized, just like Popeye. And your skin will be radiant the day after. It worked for me. No kidding.
For starters, here's a quick recipe. Make adjustments according to your preference. But the ones shown on the photos were like half of a cup of spinach leaves. No sugar was added on this recipe since the banana will make it sweet for you. But you can add honey if you want (or maybe condensed milk if you want to cheat hehe).
Ingredients:
A handful spinach leaves, washed (around 1/4 cup)
Half of an apple, diced
Frozen ripe bananas (lakatan), sliced
*sliced roasted almonds
1 cup of ice (or more)
1 cup of coconut water (or almond milk, or lactose-free low-fat milk)
Okay, forgot to place ice in it on this photo. :P
- Place tube ice in the blender, then dunk the rest of the ingredients.
- Pulse your blender until ice gets crushed. Add more liquid if you prefer.
Okay, okay. The dish sounds horrible, but I guarantee you that it tastes good and quick to prepare! I can't think of any other name. So I shortened the ingredients of this dish to balotinto, which means bacon-longganisa-tinapa-tomato.
Ingredients:
*Feel free to play with the measurements of the main ingredients. If you want to have more tomatoes, then please add more, etc.
Sliced tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes here)
1 fried longganisa, chopped
3 pcs tinapang Salinas, flaked
2 slices of bacon
2 tbsps olive oil
pinch of thyme
salt and pepper to taste
cooked penne pasta good for one serving
- Cook penne pasta according to package instructions. Wash, drain, and set aside.
- Prepare ingredients indicated above.
- Heat pan. Render bacon on heated pan until it produces oil. Set aside bacon. Chop it to pieces.
- Add olive oil on the heated pan.
- Saute sliced tomatoes. Rub thyme onto palms on top of the pan where you are sauteing tomatoes. Add flakes of tinapang Salinas and chopped longganisa. Saute.
- Toss in cooked penne.
- Serve with your choice of cheese and sprinkle some chopped basil or parsley if available.
I just had my camera phone with me when I took this dish earlier. Sharing this recipe is not my agenda (because I just made it based from instinct... meaning no recipes whatsoever), it's just that I have to eat healthy once again due to my condition right now, and at the same time, the pure pleasure of cooking something and teasing my friends over Facebook about it. But since they were asking for the recipe, I decided to make a post of this dish. :)
Ingredients:
250g salmon steak (I bought the frozen one from the grocery. It costs Php 187)
1 medium sized carrot
a bunch of asparagus
water
salt
pepper
butter
olive oil
2 pcs of fresh shiitake mushroom (or any mushroom of your choice)
all-purpose cream (room temperature)
1/2 lemon
Procedure: You may notice that I don't indicate the exact amount of some of the ingredients because I did an eyeball (tantsa in Tagalog) of it for this dish. I only spent 15 minutes prepping and cooking this dish. It, of course, depends on your knife skills and your speed when working in the kitchen.
- Thaw salmon steak if frozen. Cut in half, removing the bone(s). Add salt and pepper on all sides.
- Boil water in a sauce pot with a pinch of salt.
- Cut carrots into strips or desired shape. Cut asparagus on your preferred length. Slice shiitake mushrooms.
- Heat pan in medium. Add an amount of butter and a teaspoon of olive oil. Sear salmon, skin facing down. Squeeze in some lemon. Turn salmon steak on each side. Don't overcook! Cooking time for salmon is around 3-5 minutes, depending on how thick your salmon steaks are. It's a no-brainer. But if it breaks, it means it's overcooked.
- Blanch asparagus for a minute or less, just see to it that its color brightens. Set it aside. Do the same thing with the sliced carrots. Then blanch the mushrooms last.
- In a separate pan (or the same pan where you fried your salmon steak, but be sure to clean it up before using it again), heat a little amount of butter and olive oil in medium. Squeeze out some juice from your lemon then add your asparagus and carrots. Toss. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Plate it.
- Using the same pan, heat a little amount of butter and olive oil then add your blanched shiitake mushrooms. Toss it. Eyeball the amount of cream you want for your salmon and add it on the sauteed shiitake mushrooms (I think I only used 1/4 of the 250ml all-purpose cream I have). Add a bit of water from where you boiled your mushroom for the desired consistency of your sauce.
- Plate it and squeeze some more lemon for a more tangy taste :)
I was able to buy a bag of whole wheat flour at Chocolate Lover in Cubao for Php 65 (2kg). It's been a while since I last made a homemade pizza, so I thought of making one using whole wheat flour.
Don't get intimidated when it comes to baking. The key is to follow instructions religiously and don't over mix (as it will toughen your bread, pastry, etc). Never attempt to add more or lessen amount of ingredients on what the recipe calls for, specially if you're a newbie. Baking is a combination of art and science, so don't mess with it unless you understand its technicalities. :) And mind you, not all recipes you find on the net are reliable. Do more research before settling on a recipe. As they say, practice makes it perfect.
Pizza Crust Ingredients:
Yield: makes 4 12" thin crust pizzas
1/2 cup warm water (110 F)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cups whole wheat flour
**If you don't want too much whole wheat taste on your crust and wanted it to be more glutinous, instead of 3 cups wwf, cut it down to 2 cups and add 1 cup of all purpose flour**
Margarita-Canadian Bacon Pizza Toppings Ingredients: Yield for a 12" rectangle pizza
1/2 cup tomato sauce
125 g (or more) grated mozzarella cheese (optional, quickmelt cheese)
5-10 fresh basil leaves
2 slices of Canadian bacon cut in bite sizes
- Pour warm water on a bowl. Dissolve sugar, then add yeast. Let it stand for 5-10 minutes until mixture gets foamy. - Add olive oil, salt and whole wheat flour. Mix until it forms into a dough.
- Flour surface with all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour and knead your dough until it becomes smooth. - Place dough in an oiled bowl, turning the dough over so as to coat it entirely with oil, and cover loosely with towel. - Place covered bowl in a warm place and let dough rise for an hour. - Once dough doubled its size, flour surface and cut dough in half. Forming each into two balls. - Let it rise for another 45 minutes in oiled bowls, covered and placed in a warm place. - Heat oven to 425F. - Roll out dough into desired shape and thickness. I opted for a thin crust pizza. - Place rolled out dough on a pan dusted with flour or cornmeal before adding toppings.
- Spread tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and toppings you like. I made a Margarita Pizza with Canadian bacon. - Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and the edges turned golden brown.
I cut my prepared pizza dough prior to baking since it doesn't fit in the oven.
I was supposed to go to Quiapo today to purchase kitchen equipment and tools, and some baking ingredients, though the weather is quite gloomy and I don't want to risk traveling there by car as the place gets flooded quickly even with the slightest amount of rain. So to make use of my spare time, I've decided to blog about this recipe that some of my friends and colleagues were asking for. I've had this meal a couple of nights ago as my very late dinner. Mustard greens and dory were the only items I have on the fridge, so I thought of making this quick meal before baking my queued cupcakes (orders).
Ingredients:
1 slob of dory
5 tbsp all-purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsps canola oil
2 bundle of mustard greens
2-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
pinch of salt
2 cups water
1-2 tbsps soy sauce
*1 tsp brown sugar (optional)
pepper to taste
Procedure:
Heat pan in medium. Add oil.
On a different saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add crushed garlic.
Cut dory in half or on how many pieces you prefer. Salt dory.
On a plate, add flour and a pinch of salt. Mix.
Dredge dory into flour.
Sear dory. (Sear, meaning, frying on little amount of fat).
Add mustard greens on boiling water with garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes until it enhances its color.
Turn over dory. Set aside once cooked.
Transfer the mustard greens to the frying pan along with the garlic, add a tablespoon or two of the boiled water, soy sauce, and (optional) brown sugar. Stir fry. Pepper to taste. If it's too salty, add extra water from the pot.
Just posted the photo above about an hour ago on my Facebook account. That's my dinner for tonight: kalabasa (squash) soup, in preparation for my friend's wedding... kidding! I just don't have the drive to cook and don't have the appetite especially when I'm alone. Since friends liked the photo and Jen asked me for the recipe, I'd be more than glad to share this simple dish to everyone. I made this from scratch, meaning no preservatives were used. Remember to cook with a happy heart and a smile so that your dish will turn out great :) But a tip when you're not in the mood, just listen to a music of your choice while you cook, and voila! Trust me. It works.
Chicken Stock:
3 pcs of Magnolia Soup Pack (these are the bones..er..spinal cord part..but any chicken neck will do but
use about 1/2 kg of it)
2-4 cups room temp distilled/purified water (just the right amount to cover chicken bones)
2 stalks of onion leeks OR celery
1 chopped red onion
3 crushed cloves of garlic
1 tsp rock salt
1/2 tsp peppercorns
pinch of dried thyme*
**if you have excess bits of carrots or radish, you may add them too**
place all ingredients in a sauce pot and let it simmer under low fire for an hour or so.
get rid of impurities (or those foamy stuff of the stock)
Kalabasa Soup:
1/4 kalabasa, sliced thinly for less cooking time
1-3 cups of chicken stock (just enough stock to cover sliced kalabasa)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 of 250ml cream (room temp)
1 tbsp cold butter
place kalabasa on a smaller sauce pot, then pour enough chicken stock that would cover the sliced vegetable. let it boil until cooked (about 10-15 minutes).
if you have a hand blender like this one, then you're in luck. Just plug it in, dip it right into the sauce pot, then press the button. You'll have a smooth soup in an instant.
I got this for free from F&B Magazine back in 2010. They chose my 'letter' and this was their gift :)
But if you don't have this kitchen gadget, might as well use your blender/mixer or food processor then put back the soup mixture into the sauce pot.
Add cream (add as much as you want) then let it simmer under low heat.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Turn off the heat then add cold butter and mix it.
Spent most of my day blogging instead of working. So it's about time to focus on my consultancy work but my eyes are so tired. I thought of making myself a cup of coffee (even I'm not allowed to do so..cheat day hehe) but thought of making something else for a boost. It just takes a minute or two to make this and it turned out great!
P.S. I don't know how to call this drink. Very lame title, huh? lol Now I'm wide awake!
Are you sick of packed Mac 'n Cheese that you have on your shelves and wanting to do a homemade version of it but scared to do so? Don't fret! Mac 'n Cheese is way easy to cook and I don't get why people are too lazy making their own. Due to the demands of my friends, I'm sharing you this simple recipe.
Note: I don't usually measure the amount of ingredients I use. Just follow your gut. If you'd like it to be more cheesier, then add more cheese. If you think it's too thick, add more milk. Trust your instincts. Measurements below serves as basis on how much ingredients I put in this recipe.
Mac 'n Cheese Ingredients:
1/2 kg macaroni shells
1 L milk
185g grated cheddar (I prefer Eden cheese)
drop of yellow food coloring (if you're using white cheddar)
1 tbsp of butter
**optional: parmesan and other cheeses
Preparation:
You can either boil the macaroni shells in salted water or boil it directly with milk. But with this recipe, I boiled it with milk.
When the macaroni is al dente, add grated cheese. Stir. Then drop red food coloring if you're using white cheddar.
If mac 'n cheese turns out dry, just add milk. Do the same thing when reheating.
Add butter before serving.
Serve with seared sweet chicken breast fillet.
turnover chicken fillets if halfway done just like above
Seared Sweet Chicken Fillet Ingredients:
1 kg chicken breast fillet
1/2 cup brown sugar
1-2 tsp salt
1 tbsp canola oil or olive oil
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Spanish paprika
Preparation:
Rub salt on chicken and rinse in cold water. This method is traditionally practiced at home to get rid of its impurities.
Salt chicken again. Crack peppercorn and dust Spanish paprika onto your fillets.
Heat skillet. Add small amount of oil.
Spread brown sugar on a plate. Dredge chicken with sugar.
Sear dredged fillet. Adjust heat to medium. Once meat turns white halfway, that's the time you should turn your chicken fillet.
Sear chicken while you are boiling your macaroni shells.
