TWICE the flavor gravy!!!

2 types of gravy poured on tender beef. First the beef marinade simmered to gravy and then walnut oil and soy sauce... sesame seeds and some other spices to garnish.

Chi-Mex Chicken barbecue

...marinated in the spicy 'Chipotle' flavor coated and barbecued with the oriental oyster sauce... puede pasar... or in the wise words of my very good chinese friend..."OKI Lan"!

Beef Sisig

Pour on the (adin's suka pang chicharon) vinaigrette and mix them all up! ...good pulutan plate!

This is also good as a breakfast item ... serve with fried rice and sunny side up! SISIG-Silog!!

Ginataang Manok

...with Chard and Green PAPAYA

A Vegetarian meal (as requested by Mari B...)

Home made Portabella mushroom burger (blend it with onions, garlic, soy sauce, pickle relish, bell pepper, salt and pepper - use bread crumbs and corn starch to 'bind' together no egg as it will no longer be vegetarian) and soy gravy (no meat broth nor shrimp sauce... just soy sauce and granulated garlic and corn powder and corn starch) The vegetable blend is a 'given', but note the RICE: This is SAFRON rice, with parsley flakes, and just salt to taste!

Adobo Cubes and Laing

A different way to serve LAING Or Bicol Express... then topped with Stir Fried (dry) Adobo Cubes... (this time, the Adobo cubes is the side dish!
Cook the dried leaves in your adobo sauce... (of course you have drained the sauce from the Adobo ULAM, ok? have two portions of the sauce: one for the taro and the other for the GATA (coconut sauce) - then drain the taro leaves from its adobo sauce - you will add that as you simmer your coco milk with the adobo sauce... wait until thick, adding fried shallots and/or garlic, pepper or sili )... then as you serve, pour on the coconut/adobo sauce on the taro leaves! ...then top with your dry adobo cubes! Have a taste!

Pollock Fillet

Pollock Fillet baked in raw garlic and butter with 2 type pasta - elbow mac and penne lisce, with mushrooms in creamed sauce. I used crisp bacon to add a twist to the milky savor...
The truth is I did not have time to go to market today and just put together whatever were in my kitchen! I think this will work too!

Beef Caldereta Steak with

Garlic chips, mashed potatoes and chives, garnished with peppermint...

For the Pork Lovers

PORK Spare Ribs BarBeCue (pinoy flavor!)With rosemary, thyme, parsley and peppermint garnishing... (talk about herbs sprouting)

...and Tender Roast Pork Loin!
Olive oil gravy and deep friend garlic on top

Chicken SISIG

Octet veggies (of course I just mean 8 types...) blanched in chicken stock
Chicken is dark meat without skin, stir fried in olive oil and garlic and soy sauce and mixed with raw onions with vinegar, salt and pepper.

Chicken Arroz Caldo

"Roast Chicken" on Arroz Caldo ...up an umph!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

An East meets West plate, however...
on a bed of 'nori' and soy wraps cut to strips - swiss cheese sauce poured over as well as inside (of course), sprinkled with deep fried shallots and served with some vegetables and a tiny scoop of plain calrose rice.

Food Raid!

a few pieces of MAC in the chicken soup, Chicken breast on mixed green salad with bacon bits.

Chicken and Veggies in Oregano spiced Tomato Sauce.

Sweet n Sour Pork

Beef balls soaked in savory soy gravy simmered with honey, olive oil, rosemary and a laurel leaf.
Instead of having this with rice, try slices of cucumber dipped in the beef balls' gravy !

Cod Fish baked

Cod Fish baked in butter and raw garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper with celery steamed in chicken stock and olive oil patis spray. The rice noodles is simply blanched also in the chicken stock.

Beef steak on parsley'd romaine salad

using mango blend dressing and savory yams cooked in the beef (steak) sauce. Something really different but refreshing for a garden gathering.

PINA-ALAT na Basa Fillet

I call this the PINA-ALAT (salted) na Basa Fillet, stuffed with tomatoes, onions and salted duck egg, marinated in patis (fish sauce) and pepper and a sprinkle of parsley.
Bake it in its marinade until done and serve for ALMUSAL (breakfast) instead of the traditional 'DAING' (dry salted fish).
The good thing about this is that you get (almost) the same 'alat' (salty taste) of the fish/daing you crave to have for breakfast, but it's "home made" and you can be confident that its salt content is just right. You also escape the oil as you did not have to fry it. Serve with the traditional tomatoes and 'itlog na pula' (salted duck eggs) with onions.
I rolled it, so as not to 'burn' the red egg inside the basa unlike baking it 'open'. TRY IT!!! You might like it!

A dieter's dinner

Braised BEEF skirt on a bed of Romaine Lettuce and vegetable blend: broccoli, string beans, carrots, mushrooms, red bell pepper, water chestnuts, young corn, and of course, celery.

TENDER Boneless Pork Butt

TENDER Boneless Pork Butt simmered in its stock with sesame oil and seed GRAVY. Simply beats the "Nilagang Baboy"...
You can still sip the 'soup' stock and add the traditional potatoes of the nilaga on the side - but on the other hand, you avoid having the carbs and the fat that blended with the stock!

OFF LIMITS to PEOPLE WITH heart condition

Death by Breakfast... We all know the "Killing me softly" dishes referring to lechon or chicharon... this is... TWO-EGG TYPE CHICHARON OMELETTE ... the meanest way to put you "out of commission" LOL!
Scramble one egg and throw in the chicharon and mix. Now break another egg and save the YOLK to fry on one side of the pan. Mix the egg white in the scrambled chicharon and continue to cook.
Then 'top' the yolk on the omelette and sprinkle with GROUND Chicharon to make it really deadly!!!

Flaky Pork SISIG

"pinatuyoan" with a special vinaigrette and garlic; mix with with bell pepper, onions, mushrooms and onion sprouts also bathed in the same sour concoction and sprinkle with pepper flakes to make it hot! top with crisp deep fried garlic!

Babyngka

BEBEingka or Babyngka? what's a better name?
Good for both likers of Bibingka and likers or cupcakes. In the 'olden' Pinoy times, the banana leaves is used as they do not have the 'non-stick' pans as we do, but since we got used to the B-leaves as part of the whiff, I added it just to 'complete' the taste.
I topped this with melted butter on the salted duck egg, shredded coconut and burnt "muscovado" sugar...

Tuna Mac 'n Jalapeno Cheese

Something different for Lenten Friday. The tuna was saute'd in golden brown garlic and onions then I added a bit of shrimp stock (I used the shrimp head, extracted the juice when I made palabok). The kids will like it too I think.

Pesto'n Basil Rice with Pork Loin Adobo

Pesto'n Basil Rice with Pork Loin Adobo in Pate', with tomato, bathed in savory annatto olive oil... Translation: Adobong baboy sa '"liver spread", at "walang magawa sa tirang kanin"... ok rin naman!!!

Pork-hini-MAY-MAY

(I just invented the name - like almost shredded in bits ) This Pork ribs, less the bones is sooooo super tender that the meat is almost ready to fall into a million pieces and it melts in your mouth. Cooked the way we do 'PATA TIM' less the fatty oils of the pork skin in pata.
I simmered with a lot of sliced garlic to further 'counter' the cholesterol content.

Hope you enjoy it the way I prefer to prepare it...

BINAGOONGAN'G Baboy at Bicol Express

BINAGOONGAN'G Baboy at Bicol Express 'duet' on Lotus Leaf.

Beef Top Round Steak DINUGUAN

A non-traditional way to eat Dinuguan, but it may be just as well be called the same.
I used the BEEF blood as it is generally more favored - (than Pork blood)... many eat 'raw' to 'medium well' steaks where blood oozes out of the loins.
I have always wondered why the "banyaga(s)" find the dinuguan too exotic for them in view of the 'blood', therefore I hope this will somehow encourage some of them to finally get a taste.

I stuffed the chili pepper with cooked, but curdled beef blood and sliced them to be eaten with the meat and poured some of cooked beef blood sauce in the pepper to pour over more of it on the steak.

To my good friend Taritz, this is dedicated to your challenge, I hope you approve!!

Baked Cod

Baked Cod fish topped with scrambled egg, cooked on boiling fish stock, with lumpiang 'hubad'. The sweet n' salty, fresh lumpia sauce with raw ground garlic and peanuts on the side.

NOTE: when the fish stock was simmering, I poured- in the scrambled egg while whisking it too - and top the bits of eggs on the cod fish. TRY it!

Salmon Baked in Butter

Salmon Baked in butter, garlic and parsley.
NOTE the crisp parsley that sizzled on process baking. I used it to garnish the rice. It was good too!
...another lenten season meal for a Friday...

Fried Pampano and Guinataa'ng Jack Fruit

Fried Pampano fish, paired with Guinataa'ng Jack Fruit (young Langka). Pepper flakes on the side for those who want it hot and spicy!!

Scabeche Chicken

Deep fried chicken breast, coated in some spicy and savory powdered mixture I fancied to "dump in", and poured sweet n sour sauce from the chicken marinade.
I Garnished with a deep fried nori wrap to serve as an appetizer; the bell peppers and carrots brought it back to the traditional "scabeche" menu...

EMBOLUMPIUSHI

Chicken Embutido + Galantina + Chix Meatloaf + Giant Chicken Lumpia =

EMBOLUMPIUSHI!!! - (one of those crazy boggling cerebral processing...)

I did the Galantina, but instead of using the supposed 'easier' way using the foil, I used Nori shushi wrap to 'hold' the chicken meat and reinforced it with Lumpia wrapper to roll. I also used seran whrap to "secure" holding it.
Before microwaving, POKE it several times with a toothpick as a 'vent' then MWave the roll for 3 minutes, three times with 2 minutes rest in between. When done, I let it cool. (you may refrigerate when it is no longer hot/warm to serve for later,or another day)
To serve it - FRY the whole thing and make sure all the sides of your "GalanEmboLumpiUshi" are evenly browned... when done, the bite will be CRISP!!! Serve newly fried.
NOTE: the yellow bits within is the cheese that has melted.

Vegetable Lasagna plate for the (Late) Lenten Season

for those abstaining from meats. A combination of white sauce within the pasta and topping it off with tomato pasta sauce...I used celery, onions, carrots, parsley, oregano, zucchini, mushrooms and green peas.

Lemon Pepper Chicken Breast

oooozing with its marinade gravy, with buttered young corn 'n mushrooms plate lunch meal at 'PAK KAIN at PAK KAPE'
...another choice was Red Snapper Fish instead, on a Friday.

Chicken Pastel

...without the pie crust; instead, multi grain bread.

It's Official!

It's official ...PAK KAIN at the Phlippine Center Building,447 Sutter St., Suite 403 San Francisco, CA 94108Just a small food shop to get some Pinoy food and get aPAK KAPE: A's BARAKOffee.

In time for HOLY WEEK... Ginataang Isda

(this is Tilapia filet again)

I know Holy Week has passed, but here's my little contribution for it.

Ginataang isda wrapped in GABI leaves, cooked in coconut milk.top with crisp deep fried garlic and onion sprouts.

BEFORE

AFTER

More food can be seen in my facebook page here. It is updated more frequently. Also, I may create a Twitter account soon, so watch out!

Sliced Baked Chicken breast

Chicken breast on a bed of Broccoli, steamed on buttered chicken broth and leeks.A very healthy indulgence!

Garnish with a geranium (edible) flower.

Baked Pork Loin

This is boneless pork loin that you buy 'ready' in any supermarket (4 pounds I bought). Just drizzle the top and sides with your favorite herbs, (i did salt n pepper, garlic (always this trio) then lemon pepper powder, rosemary and thyme (the meat should be room temp). Then I put fresh onions and sprouts and fresh rosemary on its side (not top cause the onions will "stick" to the pork fat and damage the look - the top fat will sizzle when you bake it and it gives a little bit of crisp to your bite). Pour about one fourth cup of water in the pan for a little steam and so as not to burn the top fat, but not enough so that the top fat can sizzle crisp (or use pork stock or chicken stock if you have any).

PREHEAT oven to 450 (important). Now drizzle soy sauce or the "worcessssss" sauce and pour a stream of olive oil on the top to 'prime' the fat, and and put your pork loin in. After about 15 minutes, reduce heat to 250 deg. When you reach desired meat serving (I prefer medium well so that I can microwave to reheat or accommodate each of your family's preferences) - well done or whatever. Make sure your top part has a little crisp cause its own fat oil will add flavor on its side. Transfer the pork loin to a serving plate and use the drippings for your gravy.

Tilapia filet-STEK (instead of beef for Bistek)

HOW:
Lay the tilapia filet in an tray, and "babad" them in soy sauce, (one tablespoon per filet) add a little water, same amount and your favorite spices (rosemary pepper etc...) then after the fish has sipped in the flavor, pour enough olive oil on top of the filet (to effect a "fry") then bake it and brushing the filet with the soy sauce once in a while.

Then when the fish is cooked, on a separate pan, saute in garlic and your onions. then pour sauce of the baked tilapia, simmer.
Top with fresh onions too and drizzle with parsley flakes, garnish with fresh ones.
Good for the HOLY WEEK!!!

Pinoy ALMONDEGAS and Queso de Bola Pimiento (sandwich)

I just wanted to have "meatballs" (that's what almondegas is) but I did not want to have it in miswa soup, like what our parents - during their era normally did.I still had the "L.O." queso deB...so I made cheese pimineto to perk up my sandwich.This is a better alternative than buyiing from a 'chain' burger joint and instead of french fries, I have the asparagus. They're crunchier too!

Arroz con Pollo... Chicken with Rice... Rice with Chicken