Hey, how's it going?

Short, I know.

I know it's been a while and a short and simple "hey, how's it going? isn't enough. But for now, let's keep it at that. I know I would have a lot to tell. A lot happened and one at a time I will tell it all - from the new baby to the new career.. still figuring out where to start though.. and how to start.

I guess, this is the start.

After the baby and the career change, I finally had the time to cope with all the changes. Now, I am sitting down and writing again. :) Which is totally nice, I say.

I am still into cooking, not much with travelling (new baby and new career, as I have said), into twisting, changing and building little things inside our house still (just like most wives), and hmm, what else? into planting now, particularly herbs, cactus and succulents. I suck tremendously on the last part. I started with 5 varieties and now, I am down to one. Gladly, life is a balance. I fail on the cactus and succulents department but I am flourishing on the herbs department. Currently I have a few healthy Basil, Parsley and Dill and my cooking gets to benefit from them almost everyday.

What I did recently, which almost depleted the leaves my these herbs is herbed butter. I made one batch which came so handy with a grilled and fried pork, beef, chicken and even fish.

 

It sounds so fancy and complicated, but really, it is very easy to make. Don't be deceived!

Really all you need is butter, any fresh herb you like and plastic cling wrap. I had basil, parsley and dill on hand (did I mention I have mini herb garden?) so that's what I used. Make sure that your butter is soft enough to be mixable with the herbs, at room temperature is preferred.. but I know, we don't always have all the time to wait for the prima donna butter to soften so.. soft enough is enough.

I make a bunch and just store it in the fridge. I pare it with pork chops, fried or baked fish, baked veggies and one time, on toast!

Enjoy!

Potato Hash with Poached Egg

I posted this a while back in Instagram, I have been meaning to share this here yet I cannot find the original picture anymore.. so please bear with my Instagram-filtered picture.

I want to share this recipe because it is a pretty straightforward, no-sweat to make recipe, yet it looks and tastes like it came from a chef's kitchen. It is just 5-6 ingredients + your S & P, and you would have a pretty impressive dish. This is best for breakfast but could be a good side dish too. Yes, presentation is a key.. but mind you, plating it is as easy as counting 1-3. Perhaps I should name this the Easy Potato. Lols.

So, I said that you would need 5-6 ingredients, because it is up to you if you would go basil + parsley or just basil. When I cooked this, I only had basil so it was just a 4-ingredient dish. The potato itself  has pretty simple seasonings. The trick to the taste of this dish is the yolk. Once you break the perfectly poached egg, the yolk would fall into the potatoes, does giving it a very creamy taste.

You'll need:
Potatoes, diced, about half-inch thich
Fresh basil, minced
Canola oil
eggs
a little vinegar (for the poaching)

You'll do:
1. In a pan, add the potatoes, S & P and a little water. The water would help soften the potatoes quicker and absorb the S & P.

2. Let the water evaporate completely to add a little oil. Saute for 2 minutes to let the potatoes caramelize.

3. Add the basil.

3. Poach your eggs, the normal way you do. In case you are not familiar or not that confident with poaching an egg, the instructions on this page is pretty straightforward.

Plating: Simply top a heap of potatoes with the poached egg.

There you go folks, your Easy Potato. Enjoy!

xoxo

Mango and Pandan Sweets

I know, I know, its been decades. I have been turn between work, home improvement, blog reading, marathons with a long list of tv series (not to mention the a lot of series are starting a new season this quarter) trips (work and pleasure) newly ventured activities (which I would be telling you soon) and a whole lot of other things that would and could justify my absence. Hahaha But it doesn't mean that I'm away that I have zero stories to tell. Believe me I have a lot.. alright, lot is too big of a word, let me use "few" instead. So yeah, I have compiled few. And to start with.. here is a sweet dish I tried over Halloween.

Mango and Pandan Sweets

This has been something I wanted to do, Halloween came and I made it my excuse to whip this up. :) This is a simple dish requires 5 ingredients only. Prep time is longer though because you need to chill it before serving.

You'll Need:
Prep Time: 20 mins + at least 2 hours for chilling

L-R: Condensed Milk, All Purpose Cream, Ripe Mangoes, Cheddar Cheese, Gelatin -Buko Pandan flavor

You'll Do:
Step 1: Prep the jelly according to the packaging. Or not so according to the packaging :) My first batch was a bit more solid because I strictly followed the ratio instructed in the packaging. Tip: If you're going to use the same brand as I used above, add half a cup more water to achieve the perfect gelatin texture.

Step 2: Slice the pandan jelly, mangoes and cheese into cubes. The gelatin and mangoes into 3/4 an inch and the cheese in 1/4 and inch thick. A little trick to get the best shape off your mangoes.

Use a glass to peel the skin. Insert it on one side and just push the glass up to the other tip of the sliced mango.

Step 3: Combine all ingredients then chill for at least 2 hours. Tip: Don't freeze it as the chilled gelatin becomes soggy when served in room temperature.

Easy breezy, but enough to satisfy the sweet craving. Enjoy!

xoxo

Addicted to Corn

Over the weekend, I bought a few fresh corn in a husk from the weekend vegetable market near our place. I have been wanting to recreate a dish I saw from one of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservation episodes.

On the show he featured a spicy fried corn (from one of his Mexican city trips I can't specifically recall where anymore), but since I am not more of a spicy gal, I tweaked it a bit. I went to the healthy crunchy fried corn route.

This dish is easy peasy and done in 5 minutes! Its a one-two dish yet its totally refreshing and healthy. Promise.

Sauteed Corn with Refreshing Cucumber Slices

You'll Need:
Corn
garlic, minced
onions, minced
a little oil
Salt and Pepper
Cucumber

You'll Do:
Step 1: Saute Garlic and Onions.
Step 2: When onions are translucent, add the corn and saute for 3-5 minutes.
Step 3: Before serving, add the slices of cucumber and a pinch of salt.

Told yeah its easy! Enjoy.

xoxo

Pesto Chicken Roll with Buttered String Beans

I Got Bored. - Thus the new layout. lol.

So, in line with the new look, let me share another recipe (its been a while!). I realized I had a lot of new cooking sessions that I haven't shared yet. And while deciding which I would post first, (again) I had a realization -my cooking had been nowhere farther than Pasta and Chicken. There are those occasional variations, of course, and not that the world don't need another Pasta dish, or Chicken, but it seems that I have been pretty bounded by these two favorite ingredients of mine. Remind me to explore more!

Alright, for our first dish. Let's have Pesto Chicken Roll with Buttered String Beans.

You'll Need:
For the Chicken Dish
Boneless Chicken Breast (halved and filleted thinly)
Pesto Sauce Mix, dissolved in 3-5 tbsp of water (I use McCormick)
Oil for frying
S&P
toothpick

For the Buttered String Beans
String Beans (clean the ends)
Butter
3 cloves of Garlic (minced
1 large Red or White Onion (sliced)
S&P

You'll Do:
For the Chicken Dish
Step 1: Spread half a teaspoon of the Pesto mix on one end of the chicken fillet then roll it. Secure the roll with toothpicks. Do this with the rest of the fillets.
Step 2: Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Fry the chicken roll for 2-3 minutes (depending on how thick the roll is) on each side.
Step 3: Let it rest for a few minutes before cutting the chicken.

For the Buttered String Beans
Step 1: In a boiling water, blanch the string beans for a 2-3 minutes.
Step 2: Drain then submerge the beans into cold water to stop the cooking process. This process gives the beans that crisp green color too.
Step 3: In a non-stick pan, melt the butter and once melted, add the garlic and onions. Saute until the onions are nearly translucent.
Step 4: Toss in the beans. Add salt and pepper and saute it for a few minutes more.

And here's how you will plate it :)

Enjoy!!!

xoxo

Copy That!: Chicken Snitzel

I am not sure if I should include this recipe post on my "Copy That!" files. I've been cooking this recipe for quite sometime now, this is not my first Chicken Snitzel session nor my "only" version.. Yes, I made several tweaks and turns to this recipe that every cooking session is not the same as the other, yet it yielded the same result -Awesome Chicken Snitzel! hahaha

A good cook, for me, would and should be able to cook under different circumstances, environments and set-up and still deliver the same outcome -good food!. I live in the city where groceries and markets are just like 5 minute drive. However, there are other circumstances that would still challenge you not to have all the ingredients you need, circumstances like -tinatamad kang lumabas ng bahay, or for a more tolerable reason, budget is tight or you don't have enough time left to make that trip to the groceries or market anymore. Thus at times, I had to do some tweaking of the original recipe so it would adjust to what is in my pantry atm. I'd say that's how a home cook's creativity and culinary knowledge is tested.. feeling Invention Test in Masterchef ang drama. I'm pretty sure that's where they patterned the idea.

Ok.. so for this week's dose of blog-lovin.."this cooking" version of Chicken Snitzel.. 

Love how it looks (and tastes) so herby. 

The parsley leaf as plate decor gives a hint of how the dish would actually taste.

You'll Need:
1/2 kl Boneless Chicken Breast (filleted and pounded so they would have more or less the same thickness)
2-3 medium size day's old bread (for this recipe I used store bought bread crumbs due to time constraint)
a cup of Flour
an Egg
half cup of Milk
2 cloves of Garlic (minced)
"the herbs" - Basil and Parsley (original recipe had Thyme and Rosemary too)
grated Cheese (Parmesan if kaya ng budget)
Olive Oil (EVOO if you're after the health goodness of it)
Butter
S&P

Tip:  You can use low fat milk too. This recipe is quite loaded with carbs, low fat milk is one way to lessen it.

You'll Do:
Step 1: Prepare 3 bowls.
Step 2: Rub S&P and the minced garlic on both sides of the chicken. This is the only seasoning of the actual chicken so season it well.
Step 2: Place the flour in bowl 1.
Step 3: Whisk the egg and milk together in bowl 2.
Step 4: If using Bread, chop bread together with the herbs in a blender or food processor. If using store-bought Crumbs, you may chop manually the herbs and combine it with the crumbs. Add the grated cheese. Mix them well in  bowl 3.
Tip: Arrange the bowls according to the above order for a more organized cooking later. Trust me, it minimizes the mess.
Step 4: Coat the chicken according to this order - flour and dust if off. dip it in egg and milk. coat it with the bread and herbs mixture, press the crumbs against the chicken so they would stick well.
Step 5: Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan and add the chicken when the oil is hot enough. Fry for 2 minutes each side under medium heat.
Step 6: When the second side is cooked, add butter and give the chicken and butter 30 seconds to a minute bonding time. =)

Let it drain on paper towels, you don't want to serve it greasy. Serve it with a little creativity. =)

my first snitzel. hahaha
i improved a lot on presentation and documentation, won't you agree?

Now, for the review:
Hubby's: Awesome!
Miguel's (my 2 yr old): Wow!
Tita Sebya's (Miguel's nanny): Kalami!
Well, one word from my important critics is enough.  *BIG Smile!

ang natira. bow!

This was what was served for Sunday Lunch-Din. *yeah, 3pm lunch na kasi..

xoxo

Healthy Eating: Chicken Pesto Pasta + Simple Cabbage Salad

Hello blogosphere! I'm still here. =) My apologies for being MIA for a while.

Anyways, I am back with a vengeance, este, with recipes -yes plural! That thing that kept me from blogging, had kept me from cooking too. Its been quite a while, I missed them both terribly. Thank God for this Sunday (I have a lot to thank for!), am glad for some "me" time. =)

Awryt, awryt.. so here's my come back post.

For a little background... Sunday lunch is the best meal of the entire week -that's one of the traditions of our lil family started. And because of that, Sunday lunch has become the most thought of and anticipated meal of the week.

Friday, when I told hubby that we will have Pasta today on Sunday. I planned to use the few left over ingredients from last New Year's Eve cooking for our Pasta Sunday. Then, Sunday came, I opened our fridge and realized, we had an "abundance" of Cabbage too. That's were I though, I should do a combo of pasta and salad. *wow, this is my first combo feature.


So, the Chicken Pesto Pasta..

This has been one of my go to Pasta recipe when I have palates to satisfy but I don't feel like trying something new. The other go to Pasta is of course, the staple in every Filipino home, the spaghetti.


You'll Need:

You choice of Pasta. Cook according to "manufacturer".

The left over ingredients -All Purpose cream and Pesto sauce mix + Onions and Garlic

Oregano, S&P
*late sa pictorial na si Basil and  Boneless Chicken Breast

~I had to add dried Basil because I only have 30g Pesto mix and it won't be enough for a 500g Pasta.
~My original recipe didn't Oregano in it too. I just experimented with before and discovered that it would add tang and sweetness to the mixture. Since then, I have been adding it, but it won't hurt the flavor if its absent though.

You'll Do:
Slice the Chicken Breast into long strips and saute them together with the onions and garlic until the Chicken is lightly browned.
Add a cup of "pasta stock" (the water you used to bring your pasta to life).
Prepare the Pesto mix according to manufacturer, add them to the chicken and bring them all to a simmer. Once you can see little bubbles, lower the fire and add the All Purpose Cream.
Add a teaspoon of Oregano and Basil. *I used more basil for this though since again, I am a bit short of Pesto mix. Taste it and if you feel like it, add more S&T.
Lastly, add the Pasta and mix them well.

Tip: White sauce based Pasta tends to look dry and actually dry up quicker than tomato based ones so always have a little more extra white sauce.

Now, for the Cabbage Salad..

This is a simple salad of Cabbage, Carrots and Red Bell Peppers tossed in Mayo, All Purpose Cream and Oregano. Pretty, right? =) It's a refreshing variety to the richness of the Pasta.

Enjoy!!!

xoxo

Copy That!: Fish Kebab

At my old blog's home, I used to have categorize for my food porns and food blogs. I am not sure why it took me this long to revive that here. Categorize (also reads as organizing ;) ) -definitely makes our lives easier.

Anyways, one of my categories was Copy That! .. from the phrase itself, these are recipes i saw on TV or online or food i've tasted at some resto or home that I am giving my own try and touch.

So for today's feature for Copy That! .. ta da.. hubby's Fish Kebab.

Yes, you saw this @ my Paskong Pinoy post

Yes, you read it right. This is not my touch to the recipe but my Sous Chef's (also known as hubby) touch to the Fish Kebab that we tasted at Tambuli last November. After tasting it, we had several talks on how we could replicate the dish and finally, Christmas Eve came, the perfect time to cook the dish 'his' own way. Yes again, you read it right. It was his own recipe and prep (with only my supervision as the Executive Chef hihihih shhhhh, don't let the Sous Chef read this!). I had no intention of posting this recipe since it wasn't mine share, but while he was preparing this dish, he had been proudly saying how sumptuous the dish would turn out and was teasing me na keso, the recipe would be one of my future posts and that I should be taking pictures.. blah blah blah! :) Yeah, I regretted not taking pics of the prep as it would do this post better justification sana (not that it lack it din). So here it is..

You'll Need:
Fish Cubes, preferably white meat (your choice of fish, we used Blue Marlin)
Green and Yellow Tomatoes, cubed
Red and Green Bell Pepper, cubed
White Onions, cubed
Skewers

For the marinade:
EVOO
Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper

You'll Do:
This is a fairly simple dish to make and with only a few ingredients to prepare.
Start with marinading the fish cubes with lemon juice, olive oil and S&P for minimum of 1 hour. I suggest to marinade the fish first before stacking them on the skewers as its a whole lot easier to marinade them.
After at least an hour, you may stack the fish, together with the cubed tomatoes, bell peppers and onions. Your choice of order too.
Season the tomatoes, bell peppers and onions with EVOO, S&T before grilling them. Grill each side for 2 minutes.

Enjoy!

Also, expect more recipes for this category and the rest of the food categories that I would be bringing in here: Invention and Healthy Eating

Taco Bar

My 2nd food post for the week.. Food Porn too.


The recent activities and celebrations gave me more opportunity to have new creations and recreate previous successful food experiments. So, for this blog's feature.. tan ta dan... Taco Bar! This is a "re-creation", from the successful "make your own taco night". First experiment model was sold out thus as a hypothesis the experiment was a success. As well as the succeeding "models". =) I believe, this recent model (and the source of these photo documentation) arrived to the same hypothesis! hahaha so scientific.

so mouth-watering, right?

This is one of the dishes I prepared for Papa's birthday beach party.. and presentation was more of a Taco Bar but the concept of making your own Taco was still kept.

You'll Need:
For the Beef Salsa:
1/2 kl Ground Beef
1 can of your favorite Tomato Sauce
6-8 large near ripe Tomatoes
1 red Onions
2 cloves of Garlic
Salt and Pepper


For the Taco Garnish:
1 large White Onions, julienne
1 medium/large Lettuce
1 block of Cheese, grated


You'll Do:
Slit the tomatoes skin, length of 1-2 inches is enough. In a pot of boiling water, drop the tomatoes for 5 seconds, just so the skin would separate from the actual tomato. Remove from the boiling water after 5 seconds and submerge it in ice cold water to cool down the tomatoes and stop the cooking process. Peel them once they're manageable to work on and cut into chunks. I love using near ripe tomatoes because you can actually feel the tanginess of the tomato even if it is incorporated with the store-bought tomato sauce. 


Cook the Beef like you are cooking the Spaghetti sauce. Saute the garlic, onions and beef until the juices of the beef will disappear. Add the tomato sauce and bring it to a simmer. Salt and Pepper to taste. Add the chunks of tomatoes and leave it over fire for no more than 1 minute. There is no need to cook the chunks of tomatoes, you just want them to be incorporated with the sauce..

Assemble the Taco as you wish.. However, a piece of advise -we eat with our eyes so having an enticing presentation sends signal to our brain that what we are eating is *yumyum!!! Plus it makes you (the cook) look like a pro. whahah

So, here is my arrangement. Taco-Lettuce-White Onions-Beef Salsa-Cheese

A Pastry Experiment

These little adorable tarts.. oh so beautiful tarts.. lala la la.. these tarts makes me sing and imagine that great feeling one feels when we see our creation turned out beautifully and artistically!

It was my first real venture on the pastry side. Yeah, yeah, I did a little cheat.. awryt, half of it was a cheat! I didn't have an oven for my perusal yet.. but that didn't stop me from wondering what beautiful creations I could make.. Eventually, the wondering led to something.. led to these..

A little bit of history first, if I may.. I found this bakeshop that sells beautiful breads and other goodies that for the price it present, is already a real good deal (is my penny-pinching getting real obvious na ba? hehehe). So, i grab a few of those beautiful tarts they sell and added own fruity touch to it.. It added sweetness and freshness to the egg tart and at the same time, I created a whole new tart variety.


You'll Need:
Egg Tarts - You can buy "ready-made" like what I did or if resources will permit it, you can make your own.
5 tbsp of freshly squeezed Orange juice -if you want the tart to be a little more juicy, you can add more..
1 tbsp of Lemon juice
1 tbsp of Orange zest
1 ripe Mango, diced
1 ripe Apple, diced
2 tbsp brown sugar


You'll Do:
In a nonstick pan, add the brown sugar and juices and let the mixture simmer and make sure that all the brown sugar has been dissolved. Once you see little bubbles appearing, add the zests and apples. Let it simmer under medium fire for 2-3 minutes or until the apples become soft.
Let the mixture cool down before you add the mangoes. 
Add the fruits and juice to the tarts, depends on you if you want more or less. I would recommend for it to be a little juicy though so be generous in adding the juices.


Serve with a smile.


xoxo

A Pasta Idea

The world don't need another Pasta recipe, I know! but I can't help it. Spaghetti is my first love, Baked Ziti was my second. Carbonara was my third. Pesto Pasta was my fourth. So you see, I have a lot of relationship with Pasta. Hindi ba obvious na I love Pasta?!

My love for the food itself had evolved to the love of inventing new taste that would suit me and my food "critics" -my boys at home. =) Hubby has some kind of aversion for non-spaghetti pasta while my baby boy is not-so-fun with sauces yet.. he loves garlic and oil or just the pasta alone. Nonetheless, that won't stop me from coming up with new ideas and introducing their pallet to a new taste. Who knows, their pallet would evolve too..*hoping! hahaha

Anyways, weeks ago an idea came into my mind.. and shall i say, between the idea and the actual thing.. other than the recipe itself, the rest could be documented as "history".

So..this is my idea -Penne with Asparagus and 2 Cheese.

You'll Need:

*Setting of Expectation: Excuse the lack of measurement, this is the "first generation, first experiment" so it was more of a trial and error. Just taste, taste and taste as you go along so you would be guided. 

Blue Cheese, crumbled.

Cheddar Cheese, grated.

1 bunch of Asparagus, cut into 1 and 1/2 inch long

Chicken, boneless breast, cut into small bite-sized pieces

White onions, finely chopped

Heavy cream

Chicken stock or the pasta water

Salt and White Pepper

Penne Pasta - i dont usually use Penne, so I have no reliable input on what brand to use yet =)

You'll Do:

Prep:

In a bowl, marinade Chicken with Salt and White Pepper. You can let the marinade set for 5-10 minutes if you have extra time. If not, start your prep with the chicken, so it gets marinated while your slicing/preparing the other ingredients.

Cooking:

Cook the pasta according to the "manufacturer". Cut off a minute or two of the cooking direction though. You will know why later.. Saute white onions for half a minute then add chicken. Continue with the saute until chicken is a bit browned. Add the asparagus and saute for another minute. Then, add all the liquids (stock/pasta water and heavy cream) and bring it to a light simmer. Once you see little signs of simmer, add the cheeses. Let it simmer for another 3-5 minutes or until most of the cheeses are melted. Add white Pepper, salt if you prefer. Taste it before adding salt though. The saltiness of the cheeses, maybe enough to season the entire sauce mixture. Once it taste perfectly, add the pasta and mix it well. Let it cook for another minute (and this is the reason for cooking the pasta a little shy than the manufacturer's instruction).

Serve while hot (I believe pasta with white sauce are best when hot. Unlike, the tomato based once, wherein at times, its best when it has stayed in the ref for a day. Oh well, I am stating a personal preference.).

Serve with a smile.

xoxo