Infusing Corn flavor for Mashed Potato

It is a securing feeling to consume a warm snack after you have been exposed to a vast cold environment like the Calabidongan cave of Philippines. Here, I tried to balance the tastes of corn and potato. I did it wonderfully especially when I paired it with sweet corn and bacon, and a hot choco drink.

Oooozzzing flavors of corn and bacon

 

 Another morning dip in Albay colds -

Calabidongan cave

Ingredients:
Potato shells:
3 pcs medium potatoes, washed
8 bacon strips, cut into small pieces.
cheese of choice (cheddar, parmesan, etc)
vegetable oil for deep frying

Potato-Corn Mixture:
 3 pcs medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
100ml corn kernels, blendered

90ml fresh milk
salt, to taste
1tsp, melted butter


Garnish:
sliced spring onion
long chilli, red, pitted and seeded, minced


Methods:

Boil potatoes for 15-20 mins. Be sure to avoid skin breakage. Let them cool then cut them in halves. Spoon portions of the pulps out to make potato shells. (Optional: you can store them in fridge overnight to save time for a meal.) Deep fry the shells in vegetable oil until they floated and bubbles lessened. Cut bacon into small pieces and fry. Put bacon over shells and topped with cheese. Melt cheese in oven.

Boil diced potatoes until very tender. Drain. Mash potatoes with masher to achieve smooth texture. Set aside. Blender sweet corn kernel. In a pan, heat corn and milk over medium fire for 15 mins. Mix in mashed potatoes. Season with salt and butter. Using a ladle, keep mixing over low heat until the mixture separate from the side of the pan.

Garnish and serve with potato shells and corn kernel. Pour heated corn soup over mashed mixture.

Tribute to Whitney Houston 

1963-2012

Reminisce fun with Halaan (Clam)

When I was a kid, me and my playmates used to jump into the river and let the waves carried us to the sea. It was really enjoyable to do it over and over. As soon as we reached the shoreline, sometime during low tide, we dug in to find halaan (clam) and brought it home as our lunch.

 

A rejuvenating shore in Alluring Albay

Back in those days, my friend's mother always cooked those sea shells deliciously even though without any use of oyster sauce. The sauce was not available in the place we lived in (perhaps not popular). Her most common way of cooking was to sautee and stew it.

 

Dine and Crave for it!

With the halaan I made, I cooked it differently with a twist of an Asian touch. I did this dish to maximize the use of oyster sauce and suit local and foreign taste buds.

Halaan in Oyster sauce

50ml vegetable oil
1 small red onion, minced
3 cloves garlic cloves, minced
2tsp ginger, minced
water, as needed
400g of halaan (clam), shells intact, cleaned
50ml water
2T oyster sauce
2 long chillies, red, seeds removed, thinly sliced
1 long chillies, red, seeds not removed, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 soy sauce
1 cup kangkong (water crest) leaves

Garnish:
long chillies, red, seeds removed
spring onion
pan-dried onion

Methods:
Sautee onion, garlic and ginger for 2 minutes over medium heat. Avoid browning. Add clams. Add water to produce a steam. Stir slowly and continuously until more liquid comes out from clams or its shells are opened. With the presence of liquid, season with oyster sauce, chillies, sugar and soy sauce. Stir to distribute flavor. Add in kangkong. Continue stirring until the vegetable is cooked and liquid is reduced. Garnish with red long chillies, spring onion, and pan-dried onion on top. Serve.

Yema de Color

For this upcoming New Year's Eve, I prepared this yema sweets in three different color as our dessert - red, green, and white.This is popular among Filipinos especially kids, they really love this. My 5-year old niece was begging for more this afternoon. "Uncle, I want another one , please."

I made this so decadent with sprinkles of nuts and raisins tidbits, something to chew after bites. Thanks for the blogger of Malli's Mints and Mimosas as the inspiration to this sweets. Because of that, her Holiday Mithruffles taught me that it is in fact the version of our yema served in different way. Usually, ours is wrapped in plastic like candy.

Here, however, i divided the mixture of milk, sugar and butter into three parts. I incorporated one type of food coloring to each portion so I had my green and red balls while I still had my delicious plain-looking yema. Enjoy!

Yema de color

Ingredients:
1L fresh milk
1 and 1/4 cup white sugar
4T Butter
3/4 cup peanuts, chopped
3/4 cup raisins, chopped

Optional:
1/2 tsp food color (red or green)

Methods:

In a pot, put fresh milk and sugar. Stir. Bring to boil. Reduce to low heat. Add in food color of choice. Keep stirring until solid forms using a ladle to avoid the burning or charring at the bottom of the pan. Add butter. Stir again until solid separates from the side of the pot. Turn off fire. Mix in 1/2 cup peanuts and 1/2 cup raisins. Let it cool. Form balls and roll them over peanuts or raisins. Serve.

Nibble with Pork ceviche with Bitter gourd

A quick strong of a satisfied breath was made after I finished my pork ceviche with refreshing leaves of bitter gourd. It was stimulating indeed as it hit me 'big time' due to its tempting acidity and layer of spiciness.

Without applying any heat to my mixture, I felt like I don't want to risk serving my sumptuous ceviche. I will be guilty if someone were to engulf the meat. I then applied a prompt scorching heat without compromising the taste and our tummies' safety to fully enjoy it with ampalaya (bitter gourd) leaves.

Pork ceviche with bitter gourd

Ingredients:
180g pork meat, trimmed off fat and bones, 1cm cubed
1/2 cup or 140 ml vinegar (Datu Puti preferably)
1pc medium onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
20 pcs ampalaya (bitter gourd) leaves, sliced
1pc long red chilli, sliced
2tsp salt

Methods:
Put all ingredients in a small bowl. Let the mixture stay for 30mins to 1 hour. Make sure the pork is fully-soaked. Serve. (For safety of ingestion: After marinating, transfer and heat the ceviche in a small pot over high heat while continuously stirring for 1 min or until meat changes its color. Serve.)

My Pechay-Garlic sauce as a Superhero

I was thinking about pesto sauce as I searched for fresh basil leaves in my fridge but I only found pechay (Chinese cabbage) instead. I told myself, 'Why not try?" Its color is green that resembles pesto. The flavor ranges from sweet to a tangy mustard-like taste, so it also has a 'wow' factor for my pasta. Then, my modification started.

Pechay can be seen and usually used in varied Asian cuisines like in Korea for kimchi, a salivating dish.

Chicken Pasta with Pechay-Garlic Dressing

Ingredients:
3cups water
2tsp or 10ml butter
100g spaghetti pasta

50g chicken fillet
1pc large tomato, 1cm cubed
5pcs button mushroom, thinly sliced
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

cheese, shredded, to taste

Puree:
few drops of water
7pcs pechay leaves (chinese cabbage), stalk removed
garlic 3 cloves
pinch of long chilli, green, seeded minced
1 1/2tsp calamansi juice
1T or 15ml butter
salt, to taste

Methods:
Boil water and butter in a small pot. Add pasta. Cook until al dente. Set aside and cover.

Fry chicken fillet (marinated with a little salt) in a pan of butter oil. Add potato and mushroom halfway thru the cooking process of the meat. Season. Set aside and cover.

In a blender, put drops of water, pechay leaves, long chilli, garlic, calamansi juice, and butter. Process until the consistency of a puree. Season with salt. Transfer and cook mixture to a low-set heated pan to reduce the rawness of pechay. Avoid browning.

To serve, put 3-4 tsp of the puree mixture as a dressing to pasta, meat and veggies. Top with cheese.

Gatas Salbahe with Chicken Adobo in Coco Milk

Chicken adobo in coconut milk (gata) is an upscale of Filipino classic dish, adobo. Normally, the usual adobo always has a cooking method that involves the use of vinegar, in which it came all the way from Spanish era in Philippines.

Without a coco milk, my ratio of soy sauce to vinegar is always 3:1. You can always have your own measurement depending on the taste you want to reach. However, a chicken adobo with coconut milk, my ratio is the same. On this occasion, I have a low amount of water at the beginning then infused with delicious milk in the end so that I can still have my adobo a bit soupy.

If you want this recipe a bit sweet, try adjusting it with few pinches of sugar.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup of water
750g chicken pieces, bone-in, cut up
1/2 cup soy sauce (Silver Swan preferably)
3T vinegar (Datu Puti preferably)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1pc medium onion, sliced
1tsp black pepper, cracked
2 bay leaves, dried
1pc small tomato, wedge
2 pcs small potatoes, peeled, cut into 4
1 cup coconut milk

salt, to tatse
pepper, to taste

Procedures:

In a casserole, put water, chicken, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, onion, black pepper, bay leaves, and tomato.Boil for 3 mins. Allow the mixture to be stewed for 10-15mins. While stewing. add potatoes halfway through the cooking time. Lightly stir in coconut milk to blend evenly and continue stewing for 7-10 mins. Adjust flavours with salt and pepper. To serve, top with with parsley.

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St. Peter's Fish with Mango dressing

Handling meat is one of my weakest points in cooking that's why I tried making baked tilapia fillet in order grasp the nature of various protein even in a little manner.

After lowering the temperature in a preheated oven, I delicately watched the fish being baked and tried not to overcook its texture. I made sure it is properly seasoned before putting it inside the oven.

The dressing I tossed is what makes the recipe complete. Pouring the juice of the dressing on tilapia turned the ordinary fish into something special. To avoid the over-empowering taste, cilantro must be added gradually until the balance of flavor is met.

Baked tilapia fillet with mango and cilantro dressing

Ingredients:
Fish:
4 tilapia fillets
salt, to taste
butter (enough for greasing)

Dressing:

1cup unripe green mango (hilaw na mangga), peeled, pitted, and chopped

1/2 cup avocado, skinned, pitted, and chopped
1pc small tomato, chopped
1pc small red onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
2T fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1T lemon juice
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Instructions:
Preheat oven at 450F for 15 minutes. Season tilapia fillets with salt. Grease the small oven tray with butter. Put fillets on top of the tray and bake in a preheated oven for 7-10mins. Set aside and cover the meat to serve the fish with desired heat. For dressing, mix all ingredients in a bowl and set for 10-15mins. To serve, top the dressing on tilapia.

Tropical fruits in action: Avocado and Banana

In tropical countries, you can utilize fruits as a finishing dish to your treat (may be) to battle the waves of a climate change. A gulp of fruits like avocado and banana will simply give you coolness down to your heated bodies.

You can use fresh or condensed milk. To serve, you can top it with plain crackers and ripe jackfruit (much much better if lightly sweetened).

Mashed Avocado and Banana

Ingredients:
1pc avocado, peeled and pitted
1pc ripe banana
2T milk powder
1 1/2tsp sugar (brown or white)

Instructions:
Mash avocado and banana using fork (in case food processor is not available), at least leave a couple of fruit chunks. Stir in milk powder and sugar. Add few amount of water. To chill the mixture, add crushed ice or put it in chiller for 20mins.

Snack with Ginger-calamansi-butter sauce

The delicious ginger-calamansi-butter sauce cannot only be used for poached potato but it can also be paired with sweat potato or fish fillet using the same cooking process. For a plain bread, the sauce may also be utilized as a spread onto it. The snack I made below is perfect for a sleepy afternoon which can be matched with chilled grape fruit.

Ingredients:
Ginger-calamsansi-butter sauce
2T butter
2tsp ginger, minced
1/2 pc long chilli (green or red), minced
1/2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp calamansi juice

4 pcs Chinese cabbage (pechay) leaves
2 pinch of salt
1/2 pc potato, peeled, wedged
1/2 tsp black coffee
1 pinch of salt

Directions:
Saute ginger and long chilli in butter. Add in honey. Add in calamansi juice. Set aside. Poach leaves of Chinese cabbage for 5-7 mins in water with salt. Set aside. Poach potato in water with coffee and salt for 7 mins. Serve in one plate.