A Mom's Champorado

My Lola Iyay makes the best champorado during my younger years. We usually pair this fare with fried salted fish (bulad/daing). Having this food during rainy days was heavenly. It can sooth the numbness brought about by cold weathers.

I also tried serving my kids champorado and fried daing before and what I got was Ewwwww! For them, it was an odd pair so it's Ewwwww. . . . :-)

The mom in me made me look for ways to make my kids love champorado. Thanks heavens, there's fresh milk to the rescue :-) My kids now love more than ever my champorado!

here are the ingredients:

glutinous rice (cold rice can be a good substitute)
tablea/cocoa/chocolate
brown sugar
fresh milk

simple steps in cooking:

• cook the glutinous rice in water inside a big casserole/pan (1 cup rice = 4 cups water)
• when the rice is almost done, add your tablea/chocolate (stir until the chocolate melts)
• serve immediately with brown sugar and fresh milk

Best served with your best smile for your kids!

Manila Food Trip (My Yakimix Experience)

One of the unforgettable places I visited in Manila (thanks to Lito and family) was Yakimix. This is a sushi smokeless grill restaurant located at the ground floor of Mall of Asia in Pasay City. They offer an eat all you can buffet of Korean, Chinese and Japanese dishes for Php580 per person. Amazingly, it's quite pricey but the throng of people I saw when we went there made me conclude - when it comes to good food, price won't matter anymore! Also, you have to make reservations a day before or hours prior to their opening time to be accommodated (huh!) and you have to wait for your name to be called before you are allowed entry inside the posh restaurant. Scheduled opening in the afternoon was at 5:30 PM but as early as 4:00 PM people with reservations were already waiting outside of Yakimix.

I was in awe with their food offerings from the salad bar/appetizers, different kinds of rice, wide array of main courses (cooked and uncooked) to desserts - fresh fruits, cakes, pastries, ice creams and other what have yous. . .

a plateful of assorted super yummy Chinese dishes

seasoned meats for grilling in our table
( I loved the experience of cooking the meat and seafoods according to my preference!)

eat all you can maki!
(waiters are refilling the maki line up almost every 10 minutes)
sushi, sashimi, crabsticks and other Japanese fares are also offered

pastries and cakes area

they also have eat all you can popsicles, ice creams and toppings

this is my creation - for my eyes not for my tummy

(I was so full already - no more room for sweets :-)

For me, Yakimix delivers! You get you money's worth and you'll definitely keep on coming back for more!

Manila Food Trip (Part I)

My recent very short trip (36 hours to be exact!) to Manila gave me colorful memories of the good food we've had. My daughter Rafee and I wasted no time in having a taste of foodies not yet offered here in our city.

It's a good thing that near ADMU where Rafee is studying are several food joints to choose from. My first choice was Kenny Rogers Roasters. Ordered their holiday plate composed of mouth watering Waldorf Salad, Barbeque Chicken, Java rice, muffin and sparkling apple juice. It really made me burp and burp :-)

Next on my list was Starbucks! Actually, this was the only place I dreamt of setting foot into once I go to Manila - and I did it! The other places I went to are bonuses already for me :-)

Starbucks fare for Rafee and I - Capuccinos, luscious choco doughnut and my fresh from the oven cinnamon roll! I swear, I loved it!

There's more about my Manila foodie escapade, please watch out for it, guys! Thank you!

Biggie Veggie Salad

After a brief hiatus from my normal day to day activities, I am back again to one of my usual fare, blogging! That is to blog about the things I love to do over and over again...

Last Sunday saw me busy preparing for foods to be brought to Forest lake for a merienda cena with my dear cousins as we remember our Lolo's death anniversary. Despite the weary feeling after the several week grueling training, I still managed to please my dear couz's taste buds! :-)

I just prepared goodies I could prepare, literally, with my eyes closed. We had spaghetti, biko and fresh veggies salad.

Prepared three kinds of food only to save on time and the very precious energy of my sexy body (charing!) and truly, it did serve its purpose. . . Yeah, only three but all in big trays :-)

The fresh veggie salad was a hit! They did not expect I could come out with those kitchen masterpieces despite the very short time I had, but I did! Making fresh veggie salad is after all as easy as singing your ABC's. . .. . all you need is the time to buy the freshest of this veggies for the appetizing look and taste... and your love for cooking and concocting new recipes!

It's good that we already have supermarkets with ready supplies of these veggies and fruits:

lettuce
cucumber
carrots
tomatoes
apples
oranges
pineapples

I just mixed these assortment of fruits and veggies and topped it with crispy chicken meat , prepared dressing made up of mayonnaise, olive oil, pickles and a little parmesan -- lo and behold - I have a big tray of salad to serve to a bunch of happy people!

Simple Pork Adobo

It's not everyday we eat adobo in the house. Thanks to Tiyang Sima of my husband who taught me how to cook adobo should I want to prepare one. Her recipe was very simple:

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo pork ( can be pigue, kasim, pata)
soy sauce
peppercorn
DM vinegar
white sugar
crushed garlic, onion
Thai fish sauce (optional)

In a pan, combine sliced pork with water, vinegar, soy sauce and peppercorn. Cook the combination over low fire for an hour or two. Then set aside.

In a separate pan, saute garlic until it turns brown, add in the onion and the sugar. Toss until the sugar melts. Put the pre cooked meat together with its sauce to the sauteed ingredients. Simmer for a few minutes. Then it's ready for serving!

Best served with plain rice and steamed veggies!

How about you, what's your adobo made of?

Jinky Went to Market

I'll do away from the usual cooking topic of this blog. I'll share with you, my dear readers, how far our Php100.00 can go nowadays when it comes to buying selected vegetables and spices.

Sayote/Chayote Php10.00
Carrots 13.00
Talong/Eggplant 5.00
Tanglad/lemon grass 2.00
Bawang/Garlic 15.00
Cherry tomatoes 10.00
Tomatoes/kamatis 10.00
Green chilies 7.00
Sibuyas/round onions 8.00
Red bell peppers 15.00
Onion leeks 5.00

This is quite pricey because I sourced them out from our air-conditioned supermarkets. For those with tighter budgets, above items can be bought at lower prices inside our laray/bagsakan area along Alunan Street, this city.

We just have to consider every time we go to the market, the freshness and the nutritional value of the veggies we are buying. Wilted items must be shunned upon because it won't last long and we can never be sure if it's still safe for our family's consumption.

This is a friendly reminder from a Mom who cooks and loves to do the marketing during her free time!

Dried Baby Shrimps with Cherry Tomatoes

I chanced upon these lovely fresh cherry tomatoes in one of the supermarkets here in Gensan. Got a bunch for only 10 pesos. While pondering on having fresh vegetable salad with this seldom found goodie in our supermarkets, I saw dried baby shrimps (locally known as kalkag) being displayed along the new dried fish section of another posh supermarket here in the city. I wasted no time on buying a hundred grams costing Php25 of this childhood favorite of mine. I thought of having fried rice with it for breakfast but seeing the gleaming cherry tomatoes in the fridge made me opt for sauteed dried baby shrimps with cherry tomatoes (in vernacular, kinamatisang ginisang kalkag, 'love it! :-))

Ingredients:
Olive oil
50 gram dried baby shrimps
garlic, onions and cherry tomatoes
Thai fish sauce to taste

I just sauteed the garlic, onion and tomatoes in olive oil. Then I put the dried baby shrimps which I previously soaked in cold water for around ten minutes. Covered the pan for a minute or two, seasoned it with Thai fish sauce and presto, another bloggable recipe done!

I had the pleasure of reminiscing my childhood days while savoring this simple but very tasty and affordable recipe.

I just can't wait to have my fresh vegetable salad paired with fried rice and dried baby shrimps soon. . . .Hmmmm

The Tale of the Tuna Tail in my Kitchen

I have long been wanting to cook crispy tuna tail in my kitchen but it was not materialized for a long time. It's because I don't have the following:

a pan big enough to fry whole tuna tail;
the patience to wait for the frozen tuna tail thawed; and I have
fear that I might end up cooking tuna tail that is not fresh anymore and is laden with too much preservative.

Thanks to the fish section of the Robinsons supermarket. There I discovered that they are selling fresh tuna tail at Php70.00 a kilo. It is also interesting enough to note that scaling as well as chopping the tail to your desired cuts is being offered for free by the amiable staff in the fish section. I love mine sliced an inch thick for easy frying.

I just followed my dear lola's way of frying fish. Sprinkled a bit of salt over the fish and then I drizzled the seasoned fish with a little DM vinegar. The explanation I got from her was that the mixture of salt and vinegar makes the fish smell better and the fried fish' color would turn brown faster and I hereby affirm this myth from the kitchen of my younger years.

Now, I am bent on trying other recipes for tuna tail. Thanks to Robs fish section and to my lola, cooking tuna tail now is as easy as counting 123.

A Piece of Fish Steak

I chanced upon the other day sliced fresh Malasugue fish at KCC supermarket. Bought a kilo composed of 5 neatly sliced glowing in freshness of this white meat fish.

The first two slices ended up as tinola for our dinner that night. What remained was cooked Pinoy Bistek style for our lunch this sunny Saturday noon.

Ingredients:
fish
calamansi, pepper, garlic, patis
onions
oil (vegetable and olive)

I marinated for an hour the fish in calamansi, pepper, garlic and of course, Thai fish sauce (patis). I then fried the marinated fish in vegetable oil. Kids love our fried stuff well done so the fish was just taken out of the pan when it had this golden brown color.

Serving as toppings of our fish steak are onion rings stir fried in olive oil. You could smell the aroma of the onion once its done and it's sweet and spicy taste blends well with our tasty fried fish.

Best served with newly cooked white rice!

Crave for Steamed Fresh Crabs

A very good friend from Kalamansig supplies me with fresh crabs and prawns. If I'm not in the mood for cooking (although once in a blue moon), this is what I do with my crabs!

The easiest way to cook crustaceans, by steaming!

missing feet and claws courtesy of my little kittens in the kitchen (oh how they love it!)

This is so easy to prepare. you just need
water
vinegar
salt and pepper( or whatever seasoning you want)
a large boiling pot and of course,
fresh crabs

Over mixed vinegar and water and topped with sprinkled seasonings, steam the crabs for 20 - 25 minutes and voila! Bright red, tasty crabs ready to be served right before your eyes...

Happy eating!

My Fresh Basil Pasta Gift

It was the birthday of my niece yesterday. I gifted her a bilao of one of my kitchen masterpieces when it comes to pasta cooking.

Early morning yesterday saw me picking fresh basil leaves from my sister's garden. Picked a handful of it and early in the afternoon it served as one of the basic ingredients of a recipe I love most. Armed with my mortar and pestle, I made my own simple pesto made out of fresh basil, garlic, pepper, some local nuts and of course, olive oil. After pounding, I have a cupful of the aromatic basil leaves ready for mixing with my pasta sauce.

My pasta sauce is made up of the following ingredients:

garlic and onions sliced into small bits
fresh chicken meat sans skin and bones (sourced out from Robinsons Supermarket)
fresh milk
cream of mushroom
pepper
olive oil
Thai fish sauce (again from Rob, one thing I found out, a liter costs only Php59 pesos
compared to the 200 ml bottle priced at 27 :-) )
(good for me because I don't use rock salt in my cooking )
fresh basil leaves /pesto

I usually do this recipe with seafoods but knowing there will be lots of young people in the party I settled for pure chicken meat and surprisingly, it tasted better!

I cooked the sauce the way I normally do with any spaghetti sauces. We just have to remember that the meat must be well done as well as the liquid ingredients. Last to be added on the sauce is the pesto/fresh basil to retain the aroma and its distinctive taste.

This is best served with toasted garlic bread, smile and love!

Jinky's Spaghetti

I love my spaghetti with lots of spices!

Ingredients:
450 gram pack spaghetti
Del Monte Tomato Sauce and Catsup
olive oil
beef
garlic, onions, bell pepper and fresh tomatoes
pepper
Thai fish sauce
cheese
sugar (optional)

Cook the pasta according to directions written on the pack. Salt and cooking oil are a must while boiling your pasta.

As I boil the pasta, I also concoct my sauce at the same time. I saute in the olive oil garlic, onions, bell pepper and tomatoes (sun ripened). Pre-cooked ground beef is then added. I let it simmer for a few minutes. My seasonings when making the sauce are just Thai fish sauce and pepper. I don't put salt and MSG at all. I sometime add in a little sugar when my kids crave for sweet spaghetti. After I put the tomato sauce and ketchup, I just let it cook for a few minutes. After making sure that it's done, I then mix it with the fully cooked and drained pasta. Presto! we now have a spaghetti oozing with the aroma and crunchiness of different spices. Top this then with cheese. Me and my kids love our cheese chunky, that's why we prefer it sliced than grated.

Jinky's Belated Birthday Bash

I just turned __3 last August 25. To thank our Lord for having gone this far, hubby and I decided to prepare something for our dear friends and loved ones. Dear blogger friends also brought something to share that's why we had overflowing food and drinks.

Food we feasted on were:

Lechon (cooked to perfection by Pollo Porco)
Crabs
Shrimps
Fish Kinilaw
Sinugbang Panga
Sotanghon Guisado
Mixed Seafoods
Baked Macaroni
Pasta
Thai Rice
Fruit Salad
Fresh Fruits

For making this day such a blast, I would like to thank Sir Gilbert Tan, Orman & Avel Manansala with Marzz, Arnel & Rose Lim, Gay, Ric and Sheng, Xyril, Alexis, Junith, Bryan, Ipe, Jouis, Lovely, Ethel, my brother Alan and sister Alpha, Alvin, Emy, and to my ever supportive hubby Arnel and kids!

Also, to all of you who remembered and took time out to greet me on my special day, daghang salamat! You rock, people!

Thank you, guys! :-)

Tiramisu So Sweet

Our home is full of tiramisu lovers. The reason why we're so sweet (he he he!). This is a dessert anyone can concoct anytime, anywhere. Owing to its simple and easy to find ingredients.

This is my version of this classic dessert. . .

Ingredients:

Choco Grahams
Cream
Milk
Chocolate syrup

I love doing this piece because I usually do it with my kids around. Presently, they can do it on their own without me supervising them. We just mix in a big bowl the cream, condensed milk and chocolate syrup. We then put this mixture in between layers of grahams biscuits in a tray. We all love our tiramisu in thick layers to balance the sweetness. As shown on the picture above, a tiramisu that is chocolatey but not too sweet! This is best served chilled not frozen.

Recently, an australian friend of mine made her own version of tiramisu for my sister's birthday. Here it is!

In lieu of almond nuts, she used our local sweetened and sugary peanuts. Quite pricey because she also used cream cheese and espresso for the filling. But it's worth it because it really tasted heavenly! She replaced grahams biscuits with a chiffon cake she baked personally. This is the tiramisu made with the best effort and competency while mine is made out of love and patience.

How about you, guys, what's your tiramisu made of?

Now It's Biko

Here's one of those recipes my lola taught me when I was still young. It's one of the delicacies being handed by our family from generation to generation. It normal to find this fare on the table during fiestas, birthdays, reunions, weddings, etc. and even on times wherein we should be fasting :-)

Olaer Resort, where I grew up under the care of my grandmother, used to be filled with fruit bearing coconut trees. Cooking with gata was not a problem then. You just have to do a little strolling under those coconut trees and presto, one, two or more coco fruits await you there. Armed with our old "kaguran", making gata for biko comes over easy.

For every kilo of malagkit, we use three pieces coconuts and 1/2 o 3/4 kilo muscovado sugar. We used to cook this using wooden fire. Cooking time usually lasts for 2 to three hours. This is often served as snack or dessert.

How about you, what's your biko made of?

Shrimps with Coconut Cream (Ginataang Hipon)

This is my version of ginataang hipon. I usually cook this over low fire until oil separates from the coconut milk.

Ingredients:
shrimps (medium sized)
coconut milk
garlic and ginger
green chilies (optional)
vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste

It's very easy to prepare. Saute garlic. Add the shrimps and continue sauteing. Simmer with the coconut milk and ginger and chili if you wish. Add the coconut cream (the thick one) and continue cooking until it's done. Season with salt and pepper. Best served on rainy days!

Brownies Delight

A very dear aunt of my kids sent two boxes of these heavenly goodies for us. We all loved it, promise!

My Sotanghon Guisado

To keep my kids energetic, I always see to it that they always have enough carbo (aside from rice, of course) everyday. This is one of those recipes that I can cook, literally, with eyes closed. :-)

It's very easy to prepare this piece that's why a week won't be complete without this dish being prepared as morning snacks or lunch fare of my kids.

Ingredients :
A pack of sotanghon
pork
shrimps
sayote
carrots
sweet peas
garlic, onion, red bell peppers
soy sauce, olive oil
water, broth
salt and pepper to taste

Cooking this dish is really easy. You just need a wok or pan and a wooden ladle. You just have to put a little of everything while stir frying. I don't have exact measurement of the seasonings since I just rely on my instincts and taste buds while doing this simple but appetizing dish.

This is best served or prepared as baon with calamansi on the side!

Hampalaya (Bitter Gourd with Ham)

I have no problem with my kids when it comes to eating ampalaya. Children normally abhor the bitter taste of this veggie but in my case, I created a dish that made them love this veggie for life! I named this recipe as Hampalaya. It's a simple and nutritious viand ideal for breakfast and baon for the kids when they go to school.

Ingredients:

ampalaya (medium sized)
sweet ham (sliced thinly)
egg
garlic, onion, tomatoes
olive oil
salt to taste

It's very easy to prepare. Saute garlic, onion, tomatoes in olive oil. Add in the ham ( no need for longer cooking time because its pre cooked) and ampalaya. Cook uncovered to retain the color of the veggie. After a minute or two, put in the egg and salt to taste. No need for MSG because the ham will already enhance the taste of this recipe. Best served with fried rice, coffee/milk, fresh fruit and a smile!

n.b. A thing I learned from my Lola and found it effective, never touch or mix the ampalaya until it looks done so that it won't have bitter taste. Just let it cook in its own juice and the heat coming from the other ingredients.

My Kittens in the Kitchen

I have always been fascinated with food. Good food. My grandmother who reared me up used to tell me before that good food must be considered if you want to have smart kids later on. Good food need not be expensive at all. All you have to do is to take into consideration the nutrients of the food you are going to cook and see to it that the cost needed for the ingredients and its preparation is within your budget. This has been my guiding light inside my kitchen world!

These people here could attest that I can cook. . . really good food!

Ladies and gentlemen, these are my kids and their Auntie Vangie.
They are my kittens in the kitchen!

From this time on, I will be sharing with you my friends things that I do, I am doing and I will be doing inside my world, the kitchen!

I will be featuring here also real nice food from the outside world! We will learn and enjoy together with this food trip. . .

Bon appetit!