'M JUST HAVIN A PRETTY LONG BREAK

Isa munang buntong hininga

Yep, I've been quite lazy lately. Haven't had enough energy to update my blogs. Pardon my laziness but I'm more focused on havin the wee one for now. Maybe after a few more weeks and I'll be back on track. In the mean time you can e-mail me at m1teresafernandez@yahoo.com for any questions regarding my posts or if you want to ask for the recipes. I'll do what I can, but for the moment bear with me ok.

TAPSILOG

Tapa, Sinangag at Itlog

To make tapa: first, buy beef than have already been sliced from the asian store. Make a mixture of vinegar, salt and garlic. Marinade beef in this mixture at least overnight.

To cook: shallow fry in oil until brown

GELATIN

Gelatin

This is how I know gelatin, the way my aunt makes it.

How It's Done:

Place canned fruits or raisins at the bottom of your mold. Cook gelatin according to package directions. Pour over fruits. Chill in the fridge to set. To serve: mix condensed milk and cream, spread over gelatin. Garnish with grated cheese.

CHICKEN KEBOBS

Chicken Kebobs

What's In It:
chicken thighs and breasts, deboned and cut into bite size pieces
pineapple chunks, reserve syrup
liquid barbeque marinade
spring onions, cut into 2" lengths
garlic

How It's Done:
Combine barbeque marinade, pineapple syrup, spring onion and garlic. Put chicken in marinade and let stand for at least four hours. Skewer alternately chicken, pineapple and spring onions. Grill.

BAKED BEEF AND GRAVY

Baked Beef w/ Gravy

If you've come across a dish called Beef in Mushroom Gravy, this is just a modified. I just jazzed it up a bit by adding cheese and baking it.

What's In It:
Beef slices
Button mushroom
Beef stock
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Cheese

Dumpling and Shrimp Soup

Nope, it's not wonton or siomai soup. What I made were really dumplings, used the circular wrappers pa nga e, which I planned to cook gyoza style (commonly known here as pot-stickers). But it was raining that day and I could sense that my husband would more likely appreciate to have some hot soup. So what else is there to do but make soup of the dumplings

Dumpling and Shrimp Soup

Filling for the Dumpling:
ground pork
shrimps, chopped
carrots grated
green onion, chopped
a few leaves of kinchay, chopped
1 egg
soy sauce
salt
pepper

As usual I didn't measure the ingredients again but when in doubt fry small portions of the mixture to test and adjust the taste. Place filling on half of the wrapper and fold to cover, it should look like half-moons or empanada like in shape. Seal with water or egg-wash (mixture of beaten egg with a little water.

Boil 2 cups of chicken stock and 2 cups water in a pot. When the water is boiling add the dumplings. Let boil for 5 min. more then add pieces of shrimps and sliced carrots. Lastly, add the chinese cabbage and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot with green onion.

Oven Roasted Chicken

Roast Chicken

Wash and clean the chicken thoroughly (don't be a pilosopo and ask me if you need soap for that ok). Pat dry with paper towels. O di ba bagong ligo na ang manok nyo, time to dress it up. You can use a simple dry rub of salt, ground balck pepper, garlic and onion powder. Or you can also use Italian or French Salad dressings, para mas vonggacious ang chicken. Place a few pieces of sliced onion, garlic, ginger and bay leaf in the cavity of the chicken. Thyme, basil and rosemary can also be used. I also placed some chopped garlic under the skin of the chicken (in between skin and meat) for extra measure. Oven broil or bake for 45 min-1 hour, depending on the size of the chicken.

Adobong Pusit

Ingredients:

6-8 medium size squids, cleaned
2 tomatoes sliced
onion sliced
garlic sliced
ginger cut into strips
1/4 c. vinegar
2-3 tbsp. soy sauce
a pinch of sugar
ground black pepper

Saute the garlic, ginger, onions and tomatoes. When the onion changes in color add in the squids.
Pour in the vinegar and let boil before stirring. Season with soy sauce, sugar and pepper.

Chicken Pochero

I remembered this recipe from one of the local cooking shows I used to watch on weekends back home. With just a few pieces of chicken, pochero makes perfect sense because of the different "extenders" in the dish. But I had to make a few adjustments since I didn't have any chorizo and eggplants in stock. I used vienna sausage in place of the chorizo and made the dish with a lot more sauce than usual ( my kids prefer dishes with sabaw to go with their rice). We usually serve soupy viands with the soup on the side and the meat and veggies in another plate/bowl.

Chicken Pochero

Ingredients:

Chicken cut into serving pieces
Saba (plantain) bananas sliced diagonally about 1/2 inch thick
Sweet potatoes sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds
onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic,sliced
Carrots sliced diagonally
10-15 leaves of chinese cabbage
Vienna sausage cut in half, reserve the broth
1 /2 c. of tomato sauce
1 c. water
salt
pepper

Shallow fry the bananas, sweet potato and chicken until sides turn slightly brown. Drain in paper towels.
In a pot, saute the garlic and onions. Add the chicken, carrots, tomato sauce , broth from the vienna sausage and water. Simmer . Add the rest of the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. I usually add a pinch or two of sugar whenever I use tomato sauce or tomato paste , I think it somehow balances the acidity.

Baked Tilapia Fillet

We had this for lunch yesterday and it turned out pretty well even my kids liked it considering that they're a little picky with what they eat. When I did this dish I had the idea of cooking it the same way we made grilled bangus back home in the Philippines. The aroma of tomatoes, onion and garlic on the broiler is just so wonderful my kids often came to the kitchen asking what was I cooking and exclaiming "It's (smells) delicious mommy".

Baked Tilapia Fillet

Ingredients;

2 large tilapia fillets
2 tbsp. calamansi juice
salt
pepper
3 tomatoes sliced
1/2 onion sliced
4 cloves garlic sliced into thin slivers
1 medium knob of ginger sliced
melted butter or olive oil

Marinate fillets with calamansi juice, salt and pepper for at least 15 min. Mix tomatoes, onion, ginger and half of the garlic season with a little salt. Brush the aluminum foil with butter place half of the tomato mixture and then one fillet on top. Brush the fish with butter and sprinkle half of the remaining garlic. Wrap and seal the foil. Do the same with the other fish fillet. Bake for 15-20 min. at 375. Open the foil and bake for another 5 min. or until the garlic flakes become toasted.

KARE KARE

Kare-kare

The best short-cut in making kare-kare is to buy a good kare-kare mix.
I use mama sita's kasi mas malasa yung peanuts.

Q. Bakit ang talong sa kare-kare tumitigas?
A. Kasi may mani (?) yaikks!
Kay rey galing tong joke na to ha

Ingredients:

oxtail, tripe (twalya), pork hocks (pata) can be used
(pwede rin beef or chicken)
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic,sliced
10 peppercorns
1/2 tbsp. iodized salt
1 bay leaf
kare-kare mix
peanut butter, not the sweet kind I prefer the chunky one
pechay
eggplants, cut horizontally ( 2 inch cylinders para di madaling
malusak)
sitaw, cut into 2 - 2 1/2 in length

Boil the meat in water with the onion, garlic, peppercorns, salt and
bay leaf. Make sure that the meat is totally submerged in water. Cook
until fork tender adding water as necessary.

Remove meat transfer to a dish/bowl. In the same pot boil the sitaw
for 2 min, add the eggplants and after 5-6 min. add the pechay. Turn
of stove when pechay stems are translucent.

Remove vegetables. Pour out some of the stock (you can put this in a
ziploc bag and freeze for future use ex. lugaw, sopas etc.) retaining
at least 2 cups in the pot. Dissolve 1 pouch kare-kare mix in
remaining stock in pot. Turn on heat. Stir and let boil until thick.
Add peanut butter according to taste. Put in the meat back into pot.
Simmer and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve with the cooked vegies.
Don't forget the bagoong alamang.

Lumpiang Shanghai

Lumpiang Shanghai

I did'nt really measure the ingredients for this recipe especially with the seasonings. I just try to adjust the taste by frying small portions of the lumpia mixture and then I let my tongue decide if it lacks a little more of something.
Approximately the main ingredients consist of a pound of ground pork, 1 whole carrot grated, 1 large onion chopped, 4-5 stalks of celery (preferably with leaves ) chopped and 2 eggs. The seasonings would be salt , ground black pepper, soy sauce and oyster sauce.
It's best to wrap the mixture immediately since it tends to get watery after some time because of the juices from the meat and vegetables.
Deep fry in oil at medium heat till it turns golden brown then drain in paper towels.

An Ice Cream Cake for the Princess

What do ya know....red dogs in the US!?

Inihaw na Pusit

Inihaw na Pusit

This is one of the dishes I prepared for my younger daughter's birthday. I had the squid prepared in a way that it only took a very short time on the grill the following day. The idea is to marinate the squid , then briefly braise it in its marinate and let the squid sit in the sauce (cooked marinate) overnight inside the fridge.


Ingredients:
large squids cleaned

Marinade:
1/4 c. calamansi juice
1/2 c. soy sauce
3 cloves chopped garlic
ground black pepper

Stuffing:
tomatoes diced
onion chopped
ginger chopped

Mix ingredients for the marinade. Let the squid marinate for at least an hour.
Lightly saute stuffing and season with a little salt and pepper. Set aside.
Par-boil the squid in its own marinade for 5 min. Remove and transfer to pan or bowl . Let the marinade simmer for 10 more minutes. Let cool.
Meanwhile, place the stuffing inside the squid using a teaspoon . When all the squid have been stuffed pour in the marinade and place in the fridge overnight.
This way it won't take to much time to grill and the squid will be more tender than chewy.

Princess Star a.k.a. Cinderella with Easter Dog Onyx 

Princess Venus a.k.a. Snow White 

The Bulilits Trying Out Their New Wheels 

There she goes.... 

FLOWERS AND A STUFFED BEAR FOR VALENTINES 

Goin' for some sledding 

Buchi

What to do with a half a pack of glutinous rice flour and some mung beans? Make buchi of course.

Buchi-buchi

I soaked the beans overnight. Rinsed them twice , rubbing the beans to remove some skin. I then boiled it in water until soft. Drained out the water. Process (well, I actually used the blender) to make a paste. Add some sugar and condensed milk (proportions according to taste). Place back in pan. Continually stir while cooking until it forms a soft dough like consistency. Set aside to cool.
Season rice flour with a pinch of salt and sugar. Mix in water. Form into soft dough.
Form the bean filling into balls. Make the same number of balls with the rice dough. Flatten dough and place filling in center .Pinch and roll to seal.
Roll in a plateful of sesame seeds to cover the whole "ball". Deep fry until golden brown. Place in paper towels to remove excess oil.

Kakanin

This is actually my mom's recipe. I know the whole process of making this but I'm not too confident with the exact measurements of the ingredients. And while my mom cooked the malagkit in the stove top the one I made was cooked in the microwave. I find using the microwave more convenient since I don't have to stir the malagkit while cooking just to prevent the bottom from scorching. Plus it only takes 15-18 min. to cook.
Baking at home was done in the turbo broiler/convection oven so I had to make some minor adjustments with the gas oven in our apartment. Same with some of the ingredients like the gata , malagkit and panucha.

Bibingkang Malagkit

2 c. sweet/glutinous rice, pre-soaked overnight
3 c. coconut milk
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar

Topping:
3-4 c. coconut milk
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. condensed milk

Drain out water from the rice. Place in microwaveable rice cooker . Mix in 2 c. coconut milk, salt and sugar. Set for 8 min. high heat. After which add the remaining 1 c. of coconut milk and make a quick stir. set for another 8-9 min.

For the topping simmer the coconut milk in a pot/pan until thick. When it's thick enough to cover the back of a spoon, add the sugar and condensed milk. Simmer until it's almost like a thick syrup (doing this cuts the time of baking and prevents the rice from drying up)

To assemble: place the cooked rice in a baking pan/dish. Level and smooth it out with a spatula . Pour in the topping . Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 min.

Kare-kare or Kaldereta?

I first tasted this dish during one of our weekend visits to my mother-in-law. Bought from a small carinderia owned by their neighbor and family friend. It was a very interesting dish. Pieces of beef with potatoes and carrots with a thick tomato-based sauce just like caldereta. But it also has a slightly yellow tinge and a hint of peanut butter to it just like in a kare-kare. Now, this left hubby and me debating the whole time while having lunch whether it was kaldereta or kare-kare. To settle things we asked the carinderia owner what the said dish was. As it turns out it was supposed to be a kaldereta but they ran out of liver spread so they used peanut butter instead.

Kaldereta with Peanut Butter

Ready-to-cook Crispy Fried Chicken

Back in the Philippines, I would watch the Daza's cooking show every weekend. The recipes were quite easy to follow and the ingredients could be certainly bought at the local supermarket,yet I wasn't able to cook any of them. I was a little lazy in writting them down (hey, what do you expect weekends are supposed to be rest days). But I do remember a few tips in cooking.
In one particular show, Mr. Sandy Daza mentioned how to have a ready-to-cook fried chicken with a really crispy skin .

Steamed Chicken

I marinated the chicken in some minced garlic, salt and pepper for about 30 min. inside the fridge. I then dredged it in cornstarch seasoned with onion and garlic powder (you can also add any powdered spices or seasoning to the cornstarch). Steam for 30 min. or more depending on the size of the chicken. Cool the chicken.
Place chicken in ziploc bag or any tightly-sealed freezable container.
If you feel like eating fried chicken or have very-unexpected guests just thaw the chicken in the microwave then deep-fry.

Another Stir-fried Vegetable Dish

Ingredients:

1 dozen quail eggs, hardboiled and peeled
6 chinese sausage, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch circles
1 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
1 cauliflower head, cut into florets
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into squares
baguio pechay, cut into 1 inch length
1 tbsp. oyster sauce
1 tbsp. tapioca starch dissolved in 1/4 c. water
salt
pepper

Saute garlic, onion and sausage. Add in broccoli, cauliflower and bell pepper stir fry for 3 min. Add quail eggs, oyster sauce, dissolved tapioca starch and pechay. Season with salt and pepper. Stir fry for another 3 min.

Snow Storm in Pennsylvania

It's the first snow storm in PA this year and our first time to witness what's it like. Although it's our fourth time to see real snow the previous ones didn't last that long and not quite as heavy (comparing 1 inch or so of snowfall with today's 10.5 inches). It was really fascinating to watch the snow on the ground grow thicker by the hour. Everything the snow touches was soon blanketed in white. And the way light is reflected by the snow just makes the surrounding "lit up" a bit. Now I know what a former classmate meant when she said that snow gives her a better mood than when it is raining. She's right it's not dark, wet and gloomy. Fresh snow is like fluffy bits of clouds falling to the ground.

It would have been better if we did actually enjoy the snow. But it was too cold outside and as typical parents we're a little concerned that the kids might get sick. Maybe tomorrow when the storm is over.

Ang Manong Rey feeling..Di ba obvious na nangangatog sa lamig?

That's my Mr. Man attempting to brave out the cold in his shorts.I guess he was just more eager than I was of having his picture taken in the snow. He even dared us that he'll pose outside without his shirt on ....Yeah, right....

On the background (left) is our car. I bet someone's gonna be busy tomorrow shoveling and scraping out snow and I'm sure it won't be me.