Fresh Water Shrimps with Pechay and Savory Kamote

Fresh Water Shrimps (Hipo'ng Tabang) with pinoy chard (pechay/petsay) and savory Kamote.

The fresh water shrimp is high in protein and less fat. Boil it and use the stock to blanche and use as a lose gravy for your pechay.

Meantime, cut some chunky garlic, add some soy sauce and olive oil and simmer- (the olive oil previously seasoned with achuete and garlic flavor) This will be eaten together with the shrimps. (If you like garlic)

For your carbs, Savory Kamote !

Low fire cooked with the chunky garlic olive oil, but add a little bit of the shrimpstock gravy to cook faster.

You've got to have one of this!!!

ENTHRONED KING AND QUEEN (Tiger Shrimps)

Enthroned King and Queen...(2 tiger shrimps)

NOTE the 'okra' crowns

The regular shrimps are the 'subjects'...I am just having fun here!

This is ginisang sayote at hipon or "sautee'd tiger shrimps and chayote (with a story), done during the food styling class at SFC Concord.

Join me every Saturdays at 12:30 noontime! Bring the whole family and invite your friends so we can all share some tips and learn from each other!!

Chocolate Cake N Strawberries

Workin up for a Thanksgiving dessert.... Chocolate cake and and glaze, strawberries and more chocolate icing.

Can't wait for that sweetness after the Thanksgiving meal!!!

SOY PORK

You would think that this is Adobo... well you can say that it is but I took the vinegar out of the recipe and that disqualifies this menu as an adobo because vinegar is one of the major ingredients.

Besides, in adobo, you'd have to boil the pork to tenderize, before you put in the vinegar, otherwise the pork becomes tough.

I call it 'Soy Pork'. The dark color that dominates the dish , is evidently because of the soy sauce. You need not boil too long to tenderize because of the absence of the vinegar.

As soon as enough amount of water has evaporated, leaving just a small quantity of thick sauce, add sugar and garlic and just mix it up to let the pork absorb the savory flavor.

THEN separate the sauce. Add Olive oil to the pan, fry garlic until golden brown and bring the pork back into the pan. (Get a portion of the fried garlic to use as topping)

Stir fry the pork and at small amounts, sprinkle some brown sugar. The pork will have some slight glaze to it. Add a little more soy sauce to darken the meat and then sprinkle a little more sugar.

SERVE HOT... better in a hot plate... and pour on the sauce for that dramatic sizzle... top with fried garlic and garnish with your herbs...

SHRIMP OMELETTE

LAMB RIB ROAST RACK

CATFISH FILET ON ADOBONG KANGKONG

CATFISH FILET ON ADOBONG KANGKONG...Someone challenged me to "plate" ala gourmet the pathetic looking (but my favorite) adobong kangkong and a fish ULAM...I hope I get a thumbs up. What do you think?

KARE KARE PLATED AND PLATTERED

PANSIT BIHON with CRISP CHICKEN SKIN & Meat

Pansit Bihon with Crisp Chicken skin bits and meat, and of course - shrimp! My version of pansit BIHON may be odd, but you just might like it!!

Use chicken stock to cook your bihon noodles and add your ususal shrimp KATAS (from the shrimp head); when the noodles are cooked, drain. (maintain the white color of the bihon).




Continue to simmer the broth and cook your veggies (carrots, snow peas), and drain as well; then add soy sauce and the lemon/lime or kalamansi exctract to the broth, pepper according to the right taste your prefer.

Now the chicken - cut the chicken meat to tiny bits, separating the chicken skins (dry well - using paper towels). Using a teflon pan, put the chicken skin in and fry the skins until oil is extracted. When crisp, set aside. Then add a lot of minced garlic to the skin oil until golden brown and add the chicken meats. Season with light soy and pepper. This is what you will use as the bihon topping.Finally, serve the bihon, setting the chicken meats and skins on the side (so that the crispy-ness of the skins are maintained). Serve the sauce separately.Garnish and do not forget the shrimp - since we always take pansit with shrimp sauce anyway! ...ENJOY!

If you happen to fancy eating fillet Fish, try baking either Salmon, Tilapia, Bangus or even catfish!!!

Season your fillet o fish with your favorite spices and bake it!

NOW - have you tried substituting your rice with GABI (or TARO? ... it can be very good with your fish too!

I scooped up the gabi meat into little balls and stir fried it with fresh garlic, olive oil and butter.Sprinkle a little bit of worcestershire sauce (or any soy sauce)... Then for a little drama, use the gabi as a bowl - you can "hide" the rice in it if you still want to eat the fish with rice.

OBSERVE and SAVOR the creamy flavor of the gabi with the fish... OMG! ...you will discover the goodness of TARO meat!!! (I love it!)

TENDER BEEF ADOBO Breakfast

Tender Beef Adobo for breakfast (left over nilagang baka)...

Second wind is also good!!!

The - already boiled and tender beef chunks converted to beef adobo...

In a frying pan, put oil, crushed garlic and the beef chunks to trim to little pieces. Pour on about a teaspoon on vinegar, 2 tsp of soy sauce, laurel leaf, salt and pepper. Good for breakfast without thinking it's a re-run.

Serve with scrambled egg and fried rice, fried in the "pinaglutuan ng beef" pan. Top with deep fried garlic and garnish with your favorite herb!

Minudillo con Pipino

I had one piece of carrot, 2 potatoes a cucumber and a pound of ground pork... ergo, minudillo con pipino!

Just cook it the old usual way, sauteing garlic and onions, stir frying the ground pork, add in the potatoes and carrots, spice up with salt n pepper n patis for that 'pinoy' savor... and finally, the achuete.

But guess what!!!

Try putting the minudillo inside a cucumber that had been bathed in pickle sauce. We would normally have the pickled pipino on the side as we eat the viand with rice, but this time, try eating it differently - ala Hors d'Oeuvres (pa-sosyal tayo ng konti paminsan minsan)...

Mix the vinegar, sugar, pepper and salt to bathe the cucumber - and the little twist gives that new taste that fresh change!

Although we know that we will not deviate from eating this with rice, so... just enjoy it!

Pork Paksiw with Lily Flowers and rosemary

Paksiw na baboy is normally cooked using pata (pork upper leg). But we want to minimize our cholesterol intake, such that we can use pork butt or any part we prefer devour.

Similar to adobo, we have the soy, laurel leaves, garlic, pepper corns, but with paksiw, a lesser amount of vinegar and we add brown sugar and star anise for that distinct paksiw na pata flavour. Let us not forget our dried "Lily flower", or the "bulaklak ng puso ng saging". I also added rosemary to join the whole gang.

I cut the pork horizontally, instead of cubes to give a different look to the plating. This means therefore that the pork will have to be tenderized as a whole (uncut) meat.

Anyway, here is how to cook this (The way I did)...
Boil the pork to your preferred bite and set the meat on the side when done. Bring the pot of pork stock by the sink, having another pot and strainer to separate the pork stock from the fat.


This time, bring the new pot (free of excess fat and oils) and put in all the ingredients to simmer with the pork stock. Let it boil to let the sauce thicken - when you "almost" get the right saucy consistency, put in the dried "lily flower". At the same time, put back the pork meat in, for it to sip-in the flavour of the paksiw... distinctively, the star anis, garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce and laurel.

NOTE: I know patis is a common condiment we always use, but do NOT add it because this will counter act the brown sugar aftertaste we need for the paksiw. If you need that salty taste, add SALT or soy sauce instead.

To serve, bring back the whole meat out (you may bring it out of the sauce sooner to avoid over-tenderizing the pork), and cut horizontally in strips and arrange on a plate.

Use your Lily flower and laurel leaves to decorate your plates (you may use new leaves instead of the ones in your pot). The star anis is also a good visual touch. Finalize with a fresh bunch of rosemary. Again, serve with a separate 'platito' of sauce. ...if you noticed, I added a small peice of raw garlic to give that fresh garlic scent when you serve the plate.

I also served this with a fresh guyabano refresher drink... it will take the garlicky flavor from your mouth after the meal.

Oct 24 is United Nations' Day... do you see the Philippine flag in my flag of flags behind the plate?

ENJOY your meal!!

SAVORY SUMAN: Ginataang Hipon at Puso ng Saging

I was contemplating on calling this suman or tamales. The Mex/Spans call their version "tamales", using corn and whatever stuffing they use: pollo, carne... and corn husks used to wrap it up. Savory!

Our suman is normally 'sweet' with gata, and we use sticky rice and sometimes eat it with sweet yellow na kinalabaw mangga (HINOG, ok?)! Then we wrap it with coconut leaves twirling it around and putting the ginataang sweet sticky rice in and steam for the longest time.

Well, this is a cross between the tamales and the suman.

Our local "puso ng saging" is normally cooked with coconut milk - with all the recados for flavor of course - I saute'd garlic, onion, shrimps, put in the gata, simmered it, and added parsley - patis to taste and pepper). I love this especially when it is cooked in clay pot and uling; typically the method used to cook in the "once upon a time" youthful years of mine.

After the ginataang hipon at puso ng saging was cooked, I set it aside and I took a portion of it put it in a blender. I mixed it in - half and half rice and malagkit. I added more gata sauce for more savory flavor. Then I used a few pieces of whole puso layers and use it to hold the flacoured rice, then and microwaved again. (You don't have to microwave - you can just continue cooking ii in the pot you used for the ginataan.)

To serve, it is always good to set more gata sauce on the side as the rice tends to absorb the gata sauce which will make the rice seem dry. Then adding more sauce will give you a better taste of the sauce and savor the flavor.

While we sometimes take this "ulam" for granted and perceive it to be "un-presentable" especially in handaan, well maybe we can reconsider, if we think of a nicer way to serve it.

Enjoy my "savory suman"... the ginataang hipon at puso ng saging!

CHICKEN LAING WITH PEPPER FLAKES

CHICKEN LAING PLATE

We sometimes hesitate to cook the Bicol-style binalot na "Laing" as it is sooooo meticulously time consuming.

We let's do it the easy way!!!... get a pie plate, and lay out all the ingredients in, layer by layer and microwave it!!!

Here is how:

Blend a can of coconut milk with raw garlic, onions, pepper and of course - the bagoong. You may use the traditional DAING or any pang-alat you want!.

Lay them one at a time alternately with chicken while pouring in the blended gata, as many layers as you want! Add patis to give that pinoy taste.

Then wrap the pie plate with seran wrap and microwave the layered chicken and gabi leaves for 5 minutes... wait for 3 minutes and add another 5 minutes.

Open the microwave and remove the seran wrap (carefully - it's HOT!). Let it rest so that watery gata liquid evaporates.

Then microwave another 5 minutes (without wrap)... check if you have the right darkened color of the 'gabi' leaf the way we are used to seing gabi/laing as it is. Sometimes you have to overcook the gabi leaves as that is the traditional way, but however you like it, then that's it!!!

You have just made LAING, binalot style in taste, without the knot tie-ing effort and spilling of gata all over the floor! I garnished with heart shaped tomato on the side with pepper flakes on the side.

You will see the pie plate laing on the next picture...

KAIN na!!

Call me if you are interested...

415.806.1934

Pork in tomato stew

Boil the pork butt to tenderize (and drain to dispose the fat) - stir fry the pork to release natural oils - add in the potatoes and separate when cooked.

Saute garlic, onion and half a can of tomato sauce and laurel leaf - add the pork in; Put the other half of the tomato sauce in a blender and add oregano powder, rosemary, thyme, pickle relish, sugar and vinegar to pour into the pot.

Simmer until the tomato sauce releases its a reddish oily sauce. Add green peas and carrots and potatoes back in the pot.

Inside out Morcon

We usually have our 'morcon' only on special occasions - seldom do we serve it as a regular meal. Let's try changing that! Or maybe we should "invert" the preparation - Literally!

"Inside out morcon" is the easier way of preparing the dish.

Our "ancestors" normally prepare it by rolling a thinly sliced marinated beef with sliced hard boiled eggs and pickles in it and tie a "pisi" (thread) to hold the beef in rolled position, and then is cooked by steam, and sometimes in tomato sauce until the sauce dries up.

Well, I did it differently: I cooked the tenderloin beef tips in tomato sauce, and used the eggs as the rolling ingredient. Note, however, that I separated the white from the yoke and fried them separately in low fire. This is just to add a little "art" to the visual.

I took some of the simmered beef and tomato sauce mixture and added a lot of pickle relish and onions to get that "morcon" taste.

To give a little variation to the preparation, I used a piece of pechay to help the fried egg white and yoke roll-in the beef, after adding a little more (unsimmered) pickle relish.

...and you have an "inside out morcon"!

Shrimps and Scallops

Chicken, spinach and tomato stuffed baby ampalaya

His and Hers tomato omelette

Flaky adobo penne rigate integrale

Once in a while, we should use our imagination when we have some basic ingredients right in front of us.

I did my usual adobo dish and chanced on the organic 'whole wheat penne rigate' pack that I always planned on using so I can start my "start avoiding rice" diet (as if the switch was going to make a lot of difference at the moment as the adobo was still the calories bearer).

Anyway, I boiled the penne rigate and while waiting for the pasta to boil, I recalled (my friend) Ted's way of eating adobo - FLAKY with rice!!

So I shredded some pork adobo meat, and 0n another pan, fried the adobo flakes to make them crisp. Now just as the pasta was "almost aldente", I drained it and poured adobo sauce on the rigate; let the savory sauce sip in the noodles (notice the darker shade of the pasta) and re-drain. Careful not to let the pasta overcook.

I chose to make a creamy sauce using light mayonnaise - and again, pour a small amount of adobo sauce, add pepper and half a teaspoon of sugar (to reduce the sour taste of the mayo and adobo sauce).

So granting that the whole wheat penne rigate has less sugar than rice - this is a good substitute and another way of eating adobo. This could also rouse the curiosity of the family, looking at the meal as if it was a new recipe instead of saying "adobo nanaman!?"

Thank you Ted, for your idea contribution !!!

Tri-color Bell pepper embotido in Kalabasa

Instead of having rice with embotido, we'll have a different carb: kalabasa!

...And instead of having catsup or brown gravy, we'll have the creamy hollandaise sauce (egg yolks, butter, kalamansi cayene pepper and wine vinegar).

Us Pinoys use the kalabasa with ginataang stringbeans or pinakbet or bulanglang and ukoy... well guess what, it is a very good substitute for rice and it is rich in vitamin E and good to improve the eyesight! (so I was told...)

Baked Pork Binagoongan

Baked pork binagoongan... you decide - just the right amount of gata and bagoong. Marinate the pork with your favorite concoction and bake the pork until done (brush the pork once in a while with the sauce and add a little bit of olive oil).

Set the left over sauce or marinade aside and mix a teaspoon of bagoong/alamang and add a teasoopn of calamansi juice.

Simmer the blend until thick as gravy (not watery or lose). Brush the pork with a thin coat...Separately, saute finely chopped garlic and onion and add coconut milk and a laurel leaf.

Add patis and pepper to taste.On a serving plate, pour enough coconut milk mixture and lay the baked pork. Pour a small amount of bagoong gravy blend on the side of the plate and with a toothpick, create a pattern according to your fancy. On a small calamansi (or lime) rind pour in more bagoong gravy, top with chili pepper flakes if you want it pungent. This way, the bagoong flavor and gata will be exactly - according to your liking!

Chicken breast wrapped in cheese&garlic-filled red chard

Here is one of so many ways to make a thinly sliced chicken breast more interesting, with "blanched in chicken broth" red chard, filled with finely chopped garlic and cheddar cheese and rolled together.

The chicken and chard partnership was microwaved in the broth used to blanch the chard, seasoned with chopped parsley and pepper with a table spoon of extra virgin olive oil.

I have cut a cross section of the chicken to show what the chicken looks like within. the stalks make a very interesting garnish especially when combined with curly parsley or any of your favorite herbs.

The stalk of the chard has its unique taste that will intimidate a celery, but will both go well with any dressing if taken as a salad. In this case however, the chard stalk was trimmed to go along with melted cheddar cheese, to blend with the leaf, also stuffed with the same cheese.

You may use any leafy variety you want - such as the taro leaves (gabi) or any pechay variety. The Bicolanos (or Indians) will probably add coconut milk to this recipe which is also a very good, mouth watering viand; the Ilocanos may simplify this by adding patis (fish sauce) or bagoong balayan, to make it more familiar-ly "Pinoy"!

Breakfast, Lunch And Dinner

Halibut

A's Goodies PakKain

Grilled Tuna Pakkain

Ginataang Sitaw At Kalabasa

Tapsilog

Ginasang Sayote And Shrimp

Shrimp Curry

Sarciadong Manok

Chicken Bicol Express

Braided Spaghetti

Salad for the CEO

Potato

Pochero

Baked Mussels

Palabok

Fillet Fish Mayonesa