Fresh Pick: Cream Dory

Cream Dory (close up shot)

Cream Dory (whole body)

*** Hahaha, parang modelo lang ang isda, may close up shot at whole body shot. Audition photos, kumbaga, hahaha.

Hubby's uncle harvested some Cream Dory in his Zambales fish pen to give out to relatives and friends for taste test purpose, as well as, hunting for a big market in Navotas/Malabon fishports. I'm not really a big fan of fish (when they're dead and on a platter), so hubby's the one who clean, sliced and fried it, he didn't bother to turn it into a fillet, though it is said to be the best source of white fish fillet in the country, as he was in a hurry to try it *grins*. I heard that most of the available Cream Dory in the market are frozen fillet already, so it's really a treat to try a fresh pick.

To give you an idea on how to cook or on what menu to find Cream Dory, try to visit Market Manila and Max's, I guess, you can try and search for more info if you're really up to it.

Potato Balls

Ingredients:

• potatoes
• Japanese bread crumbs
• egg, beaten
  
• salt and pepper
• chili flakes, paprika (optional)
  
• corn or any vegetable oil

Procedures:

• Scrub the potatoes, make sure that it is absolutely clean.
• Let the potatoes boil until cooked and soft. (Add a pinch of salt and a drop of corn or any vegetable oil in the water before you drop the potatoes.)
• Mash the potatoes, as you would when making mashed potato.
• Season it with salt and pepper, if you want it a little spicy, you can add some chili flakes or paprika.
• Using your hands, roll a small amount into balls.
• Dip in the beaten egg and then roll in the bread crumbs until fully coated.
• Deep fry until golden brown.
• Serve hot with a mayo-garlic dip or mustard-mayo dip.

Happy eating!

Fruit Salad (kids-approved)

Ingredients:

• fruits, cut into different shapes (I used bananas - circle, apples - square and rectangle, pears - triangle, papaya - square and diamond - that's all the fruits I had when I made this), I suggest sweet mangoes and seedless grapes
  
• all purpose cream, chilled
• condensed milk, chilled

Procedures:

• As you cut the fruits in their respective shapes, do dunk them in cold water to prevent browning.
• In a bowl (a punch bowl would be nice) mix the chilled all-purpose cream and condensed milk until both ingredients are infused together.
• Throw in your preferred fruits, mix softly up until all the fruits are well-enveloped in the cream and milk mixture.
• Serve in a bed of crushed ice. Or you can put it in the freezer overnight and served it hard and icy the next day.
  

My son is not a veggie and fruit person, he only eats a selected few so I need to be creative in order to make him eat, or at least taste those that are not included in his elite list. And when I saw him ate a few chunks of those triangle pears and square papaya together with his all-time favorites, bananas and apples, I knew I succeeded, at least for a while *grins*.

Beef with Mushrooms and Quail Eggs

Ingredients:

• beef
• canned mushroom, sliced
  
• green peas
• quail eggs
• garlic and onion, diced
  
• soy sauce
• salt
• butter or oil (butter is better :))
  

Procedures:

• Cut the beef into thin strips. Marinate it in soy sauce for about an hour or two.
• Boil the quail eggs and peel off the shell. Set aside.
• Saute garlic and onion (in butter or oil), add the beef strips and saute for a while. Pour the soy sauce (that you use as a marinade), as well as the liquid (juice) of the canned mushroom and let it simmer until the beef is tender.
• When the beef is ready, add the sliced mushroom and green peas and simmer, again, for about a minute or two.
• (In the process, you'll see that the soy sauce and mushroom juice that you use to boil the beef with will evaporate and the dish will eventually dry up.) Add three to four slices of butter or more if you like, saute and incorporate everything together.
• Season with salt, if necessary.
  
• Add the quail eggs, mix and serve.

We had this for lunch last Wednesday, my husband and baby boy love it!

Happy cooking!


Second dose of:

&

Chayote with Ground Pork & Moringa

Ingredients:

• chayote (sayote), sliced thinly
• moringa (malunggay), stems removed
  
• ground pork
• garlic, diced
  
• onion, diced
  
• cooking oil
• water
• salt
• pepper or hot chillies

Procedures:

• In medium heat, saute onion, garlic and ground pork until cooked.
  
• Add the chayote slices and moringa leaves, saute for a minute, add a sprinkle of salt and pepper (I used a few pieces of hot chili peppers cut into halves as I like it a little hot), add a few cups of water, mix a little and let it simmer until the chayote is cooked (preferably, less than 5 minutes).
• Serve with steaming white rice.
  

I cooked this last Friday before we went to my mom's house for the weekend, my parents love veggies and fish but as I can't cook something fish-y for them, this vegetable dish could do for now (or forever) *grins*.

Happy eating!

Omelette

Ingredients:

• eggs, beaten
  
• ground pork
• carrots, shredded
  
• garlic and onion, shredded
  
• cooking oil or butter
  
• salt
• pepper (optional)

Procedures:

• In medium heat, saute the shredded garlic and onion quickly (no browning needed), add the ground pork, saute until the redness of the meat disappear or until you get your preferred color, add the shredded carrots, incorporate all the ingredients together, saute a little and set it aside.
• In the same pan, fry the eggs for about a minute or until it's cooked, sprinkle some salt and/or pepper if you like, put a little or a lot (whichever you think is best) of the sauteed pork, fold in half and toss in a plate.
• You can serve it as it is or with some fresh tomatoes, you can eat it with toasted bread or with rice - I say rice!

*** I shred the veggies to avoid the prying eyes of my non-vegetable-eating-son, if you don't have any problem as such, you can add more veggies and have it in bigger size.
*** To make the scrambled egg more bubbly or fluffy, beat the egg white first and then add the yolk and beat it again or you can add a few drops of cold water or some condensed milk.

Happy Cooking!


My first dose of:

&

Corn Dog Pinoy-Style

Ingredients:

(for the batter *)

• flour *
  
• baking powder *
  
• yeast (optional) *
  
• sugar *
  
• salt *
  
• food color (optional) *
  
• water *
  

• hotdog (or any kind of sausage that you like, you can even use cheese if you want to)
• cooking oil
  

Procedures:

• Mix the flour, baking powder, yeast and water in a bowl to make a batter, add some salt and sugar to taste. The batter's consistency should be way thicker than that of a pancake mixture, if it's too watery it might not hold when it's deep fried.
• (I used jumbo and regular-sized hotdogs as I wanted to make a big and small variety) Cut the hotdogs, if it needs to, to your preferred size. Put it on sticks and set it aside.
• Coat the hotdogs on stick in the prepared batter and then deep fry, repeat the process until you get your desired size, I did it thrice, both on the big and small ones. By doing it a little at a time, the dilemma of having it cooked outside but not inside is minimize.
• You can serve it as it is or with a drizzle of ketchup, mayonnaise or mustard.
  

I want my corn dogs with mustard or mayonnaise or both, how about you?

Fresh Pick: Hot Chili Peppers

We have a mini-garden at home and aside from flower-bearing plants, we also have some herbs and spices like the hot chillies shown in the photo above. I don't have a green thumb and I'm scared of worms so it's actually my hubby who keeps and maintain it - he so love gardening. He even tried his hand in planting veggies and fruits like lettuce, eggplants and tomatoes, sadly when Bagyong Ondoy struck Metro Manila, all the seedlings died.

I used those hot chillies in my previous post (Roasted Chicken recipe), I put some in the marinade and some were used in the dipping.

Two of the most wonderful benefits of having a spice and herb garden:

1. You can save some money.
2. It is easily accessible, just pick some when you need some.

Isn't it nifty?

Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 whole dressed chicken
• calamansi
• soy sauce
• chilli peppers (optional)

Procedures:

• Marinate the chicken in a mixture of soy sauce and calamansi, you can also opt to put some chili peppers to add a little bite, for 4 to 5 hours, to be sure that the flavors are well infused in the chicken meat. Be sure to submerge the whole chicken in the marinade, I suggest you use a big and deep bowl or cooking basin, if you can't do as such, try to turn the chicken from time to time to be sure that all parts are equally marinated.
  
• Roast the chicken in a turbo broiler, set the timer to an hour and gradually increase the temperature every 15minutes, start at 100 and end at 250. At this rate, you can be sure that you cooked the chicken meat thoroughly without burning the skin.
• When the timer ends, it's done.
• Serve with a bottled sauce (Mang Tomas) or with a calamansi and soy sauce dip.

Easy and yummy. Later guys...

Soshiwong (Ham & Cheese Rolls)

Ingredients:

• sliced bread (tasty)
• ham
  
• cheese
• eggs, beaten
• bread crumbs
• cooking oil
  

Procedures:

• Prepare the ingredients - (a) Flatten the bread slices with a rolling pin, if you don't have a rolling pin, use a clean glass bottle of softdrinks, preferably, the one-liter bottle; (b) Cut the ham slices into halves, if you want it bigger, it's up to you; (c) Cut the cheese in strips, be sure to check how many cheese strips you need before you decide on how thick you're gonna cut it.
• Lay the flattened bread in a plate, put the ham first, followed by the cheese. Wrap it up, dub with some eggs at the end to seal it close, you can also use a toothpick if you want.
• Dip the furled bread into the egg and roll it on the breadcrumbs.
  
• If you have a deep-fryer, well and good, just heat the cooking oil and deep fry all the soshiwong/ham & cheese rolls until golden brown. If you don't have a deep-fryer, use a deep wok, a small cauldron, anything you like as long as it will do the trick.
• Serve it as it is or you can cut it in half to make it more enticing. Play with your presentation, make it fun and cool, I tried to make a stack-o roll but I came up short *lol*.
  

Bon appetit!

Filipino Beef Steak (Bistek Tagalog)

Ingredients:

• beef, sliced to your preferred size
• onion, cut into rings
• garlic, diced or chopped
  
• calamansi
• soy sauce
• cooking oil
  
• salt and pepper (optional)

Procedures:

• Marinade the beef into a mixture of soy sauce and calamansi (and pepper, if you like), taste test the marinade if necessary. Set it aside for at least half an hour, preferably tuck in the refrigerator.
• After the suggested time, take the beef out of the marinade, heat some oil and pan fry the beef slices until golden brown and then set it aside. Also, be sure to keep the used marinade as it is.
  
• In the same pan and oil, fry the onion rings until it gets a little soft, set it aside afterwards.
• Stir fry the garlic in the remaining oil, put the beef in and then pour the marinade, mix it a little and then let it boil for 10-15 minutes.
• Try it out and do a recipe tweaking if necessary. When all is well, drop the onion rings and let it simmer for a minute and you're done.
• Serve hot with a bowlful of rice.

Happy eating!

Playing It Cool with a Recipe and Utensil

You Are Made Of Pizzazz, Fascination, and Delight

3 parts Pizzazz 2 parts Fascination 1 part Delight And a Splash of Impishness Finish off with a squeeze of lime juice

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

Blogthings: Our Quizzes Weren't Written By Bored 12 Year Olds

You Are a Fork

You are truthful, direct, and straight forward. People find your honesty to be a bit piercing at times. You are driven and wildly ambitious. You know what you want, and you take the most direct path to getting it.

What Utensil Are You?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

In need of distraction? Make a glass of orange juice and try some of these quizzes, it just might make you smile... I did!

Fresh Pick: Alileng

One of the perks of living in the Navotas-Malabon area, aside from the free swimming pool during high tides, is that you have the chance to cook and eat the freshest fish, as in straight from the fisherman's boat to your hand. But, as I am not a fan of fish and any fish-based dishes, this privilege does not apply to me but it certainly benefit my family. My antagonism to fish-based dishes is not hereditary, my family loves to eat fish, even my son, who is so picky on what he eats, prefer fried fish to other dishes. Actually, I am so thankful that he is, I don't want him to miss out on necessary nutrients and omega-3 acids that is found on fish.

Moving on... photo above is an Alileng (sorry I have no idea what is its universal name), a really big one at that, it is estimated to be 3 feet long and weighed more than six kilos, and it would have cost us more than a thousand bucks if we had gotten/bought it in the market. Well, you have to know some people to acquire a fish this big without shedding a penny *lol*.

They (my nanay and tatay) made two dishes out of it, Fish Fillet and Sinigang. I was too lazy and uninterested to snap some pics, promise I'll be snappy next time *grins*.

Ciao!

Pork Adobo

Ingredients:

• pork, cut into cubes
• garlic, minced or diced
  
• peppercorn
• vinegar
• soy sauce

Procedures:

• In a pan, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, minced garlic and peppercorn.
• Put the pork in the mixture and let it sit for half an hour.
• Cover the pot and boil the pork together with the marinade on medium to high heat for about an hour or more if needed, to tenderize the meat and ensure that it is fully marinated.
  
• Instead of using cooking oil to brown the meat, I (as instructed by my mom) let the marinade boil until it dries up and wait for the natural juices and oil of the pork to come out and that's what I use.
• Brown the meat on all sides, stir and scrape the sides of the pan from time to time to prevent that burnt aftertaste. Do this for a couple of minutes and you're done. Easy breezy.
  
• Adobo is best serve with steaming white rice.
  

Hmm... what should I try next?

Tortang Alamang (Krill Pancake)

Ingredients:

• alamang (krill)
• garlic, diced
  
• onion, diced
  
• egg
• flour
• pepper
• oil

Procedures:

• Clean the krill thoroughly.
• In a bowl combine the preferred amount of krill, garlic, onion and pepper.
• Add eggs and flour, mix and infuse everything together.
• Fry according to your preferred size.
• Mix some vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and pepper for the dip (optional) or you can just opt to use some catsup.

Champorado

Ingredients:

• malagkit na bigas (glutinous rice)
• cocoa powder
  
• sugar
• water
• pandan leaves (optional)
  

Additionals (optional):

• evaporated milk
• cheese
• tuyo (dried fish)
  

Procedures:

• Prepare (wash and then add some water to boil) the glutinous rice as you would with regular rice but you have to put more water in this case. Set it on high heat, boil it for at least an hour or as long as it takes to soften the rice grains. Check and mix it from time to time to prevent it from sticking at the bottom of the cauldron.
• You can put some pandan leaves to have that extra delish smell.
  
• Dissolve the cocoa powder in a bowl of water, quantity of the cocoa depends on how chocolate-y you want your champorado to be and then add it on the boiling cauldron of glutinous rice, keep on mixing while you're pouring the cocoa liquid. Add some sugar, you can add as much as you want; you can also opt to add some more water if you don't like it too thick.
• On low heat, continuously mix the champorado until you get the color and consistency that you like.
• Let it boil for a minute and you're done.
• You can serve it with fried dried fish or some cheese slices and then drizzle with evaporated milk. I had mine with cheese, just the way I like it.
  

Fried Frogs

Ingredients:

• palakang bukid (farm or cultured frogs)
• vinegar
• garlic, mashed or diced
• oil
  

Procedures:

• Marinade the frogs in a mixture of vinegar and mashed garlic for at least 30 minutes but not more than two hours. The frog meat will get soggy and soft if you let it soak in the marinade for a long time and you won't get that crispy consistency when frying.
• Pre-heat the oil and then deep fry until golden brown.
• You can mix some calamasi juice and soy sauce plus some chili peppers for your dip or go with some diced garlic mixed in mayonnaise.
• Plate it nicely and then serve.
  

That's eat... err... it!

Tokwa't Baboy sa Taosi (Pork and Tofu in Black Beans)

Ingredients:

• pork, cut into cubes
  
• tofu, cut into cubes
• taosi (black beans)
• kinchay, chopped
  
• garlic, diced
  
• onion, diced
  
• oil
• water
• soy sauce (if you find the need to put some)

Procedures:

• Fry the cubed tofu until golden brown or until it is cooked to your liking.
• Saute the garlic and onion on the same oil where you cooked the tofu.
• Add the pork, saute it until the meat is (a little) seared.
  
• Add the taosi (black beans) as well as its juice, saute for a minute or two.
• Add some water (according to your preference), cover the wok and let it boil for at least 5 minutes or until the pork is tender.
• Taste it, if you think it is not salty enough, add some soy sauce. Simmer for a minute.
• Put the chopped kinchay and the previously fried tofu, incorporate all the ingredients, cover and, again, simmer for a minute.
• Plate and garnish with some fresh kinchay. Best eaten with a steaming cup of rice.

Easy does it. Happy eating!

Suam na Kabya (Clams)

Ingredients:

clams
misua noodles
patola (ridged gourd), sliced
malunggay (moringa), stems removed
ginger, cut into strips
onion, diced
garlic, diced
salt
water

(As I was just learning how to cook, I don't have specific measurements for each ingredient, as you prepare to cook this recipe you can use some basic ratio and proportion to decide on how much of each you should use *smiles*.)

Procedures:

1.) Wash the clams. Let it sit in the water for a while (pagpapasuka sa kabya), and then drain it out just before you cook it.

2.) Saute garlic, onion and ginger consecutively in medium heat. Use only a little amount of oil and choose the vegetable variety if you can.

3.) Pour some water (again, according to your preference) and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes.

4.) Put the patola (ridged gourd) and malunggay (moringa), let it simmer for at least a minute.

5.) Add the clams, mix and incorporate it with the rest of the dish and then let it boil until all the clams open up. Add some salt to taste, you can even add some pepper if you want it a little spicy.

6.) Serve hot, preferably with rice.


*** If you trust me enough to try this recipe, please do tell me how it goes. Happy cooking!