Yummy Creamy Pork Chop

This is a recipe derived from my friend Tina's (Pinay inTexas) website. :-D

The sister of my mother-in-law and her grandson are here in Gensan for a short vacation. They stayed in our home over the weekend. Did my marketing Friday afternoon consisting of bangus, tilapia and porkchop and only to find out that my MIL's sister does not eat at all said varieties of fish. It is a good thing that my pantry is full of ingredients for pasta dishes so preparing a dish that requires the same things comes easy and handy for me.

I whipped up this creamy pork chop recipe ;-D

Ingredients:

3/4 kilo pork chop
olive oil
sliced mushroom (canned)
cream of mushroom
evaporated milk
garlic powder
onions (sliced into rings)
fresh parsley (from my garden)
ground pepper and Thai fish sauce

- rub the pork chop with ground pepper, garlic powder and a little fish sauce. Let stay for around 30 minutes.
- pan fry the pork chops in a minimal amount of olive oil over medium heat then set aside. (don't overfry pls.)
- in the same pan, saute the onions and sliced mushroom. Set aside.
- in a separate pan, simmer the evaporated milk and cream of mushroom. Season according to your liking with minimal garlic powder, ground pepper and Thai fish sauce. Add the pre-cooked pork chops together with the onions, sliced mushroom bits of fresh parsley. Simmer for the last time over low heat for 2 minutes.
- Serve hot with plain rice.

happy eating!

note : the best compliment I've heard from my mom-in-law's sistah "ang galing mong magluto!" ;-d

The Sinigang na Lechon

Yes you heard it right, fellas! Cooked sinigang last Saturday when it was raining very hard here in Gensan. Why lechon? A generous niece gave me left over lechon and I have nothing to cook from our freezer since I feared that we will be encountering over the weekend the 20 hour brown out imposed by SOCOTECO II. ;-D

Ingredients:
lechon
sibuyas
kamatis
fresh kangkong from my backyard
sinigang mix
fish sauce

- saute the onions and tomatoes in vegetable oil
- add the lechon slices
- boil for around 20 minutes
- add the veggies (radish, eggplant, sitaw, talong - anything you fancy)
- put the sinigang mix and fish sauce according to your taste buds
It is now ready for serving. Best eaten with plain rice and fried fish on the side. ;-D

Pork Hamonadobo

Jinky's Pork Hamonadobo

My way of cooking Pork Hamonado is very much the same with that of my Pork Adobo. I don't use vinegar anymore in preparing this dish. I use pure pineapple juice instead that is coupled with pineapple tidbits.

My kids love this as much as I do!

Gardening Perks and My Nilaga

I've been into gardening for almost five months now and the perks it is giving me is simply priceless!

Gardening now serves as my stress buster. It is very rewarding indeed because, aside from being able to share with others the fruits of my harvest, I am given the chance to have access to fresh veggies at all times.

Just this morning, I picked from the garden two ears of sweet corn and several string beans to become ingredients for my nilaga. A neighbor raising hogs organically, slaughtered one and gave me some "buto-buto" to be cooked according to my liking. :-D Thanks to Ms. Tina who came up with a very inspiring dish I would love to do too.

Pork Nilaga
Ingredients:
pork bones with lots of meat still intact
sweet corn
string beans
onions, garlic and ginger
peppercorns
Thai fish sauce

Boil in water the meat together with the spices for an hour or until the meat falls off from the bones. Add the sweet corn until it's cooked and lastly, put in the green veggies ( I just used string beans because I have not planted pechay/cabbage yet :-D). Season with Thai fish sauce.

Best served piping hot. Of course, please don't forget the steamed rice :-D!

My First Try with Thai Inspired Cooking

My holy basil (courtesy of Gay) is now in full bloom. I already tried making tea using its leaves and it was simply rejuvenating, now it's time to try cooking holy basil the way my friend does it!

I used ground pork, lots of garlic, a few Philippine chilies (my Thai chilies are due for harvesting few weeks from now :-D), a cupful of freshly picked holy basil. . .

I used the wok in stir frying all the ingredients . . .

the finished product!

bits and pieces:

• Holy basil is known as Kraphao in Thai language (best used for cooking!)
• According to Wikipedia, it is Ocimum tenuiflorum
• For the Indians, it is known as Tulsi or Tulasi (an anti-stress remedy)

:-D be prepared with your hankies while preparing this recipe because you will be sneezing all the way . . .

Sweet and Sour Meatballs for Jasmine

This is my baby Jasmine's favorite!

This is a main dish made from ground pork shaped into balls and smothered in sweet and sour sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo ground pork
  
• 1/4 carrots, chopped
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tsp. sesame oil
  
• a dash of salt and ground pepper
• vegetable oil for frying
  

For sauce:

• 1 carrot (cut into your desired shapes)
  
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp. ketchup
• 1/8 cup organic vinegar
  
• 1 tbsp. flour dissolved in 3 tbsp. water
• 1 onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• vegetable oil for sauteing
  

Cooking Instructions

For the meatballs:

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper according to taste. Make round shaped 1 inch size balls. Fry meatballs in hot vegetable oil until brown and drain the excess oil using paper towels. Set aside on a platter.

For the sauce:

Saute garlic and onion in the pan; pour in water, vinegar, sugar and ketchup. Bring to a boil. Place in carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Stir and simmer carrots until tender. Add flour and stir for few minutes until sauce thickens. Turn off heat.

Pour the sauce over meatballs on a platter.

Best served with steaming white rice.

Enjoy yummy Sweet and Sour Meatballs!

note: ground beef is a good substitute for pork

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?