leila's ravioli

Henceforth this dish shall be called "leila's ravioli" to commemorate the start of my friendship with leila, chris' dog, who's not only.smart and sweet but also makes an excellent assistant in the kitchen, tasting the food every step of the way :) according to her it tastes so good with or without seasoning, so yeah, apparently, i have skills in the kitchen haha :P

Ingredients

• 1 pack ravioli
• 1 cup room creme (heavy)
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• garlic
• onion
• butter
• salt & pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions

• Cook ravioli according to instructions (usually 2-3 min in boiling water)
• Meanwhile, heat butter in a pan. Saute garlic and onion.
• Add mushrooms and cook for 5 min. Add salt & pepper as needed.
• Add creme and simmer until thick.
• Add ravioli and mix until well-coated.
• Serve to the dowgeeee! :D

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pasta alfredo

here's the thing - titas need to be good cooks. at least, that's what i can say based on what my aunts are for me :P

given that i hate cooking, i'm thinking i should have at least one good recipe i could easily whip up for visiting nieces and nephews. so, tadaaa, what about pasta alfredo! (because spaghetti is too mainstream haha)

the only downside is, it's heaped with dairy. and by heaped, i mean, HEAPED. butter and cream cheese and milk AND parmesan. but then dairy should be good for children, right?

anyway, i went to the grocers for my weekly grocery and also went shopping for cheese to add to today's adventure. i never stop by the cheese and dairy section because (1) it's cold, and (2) the number of different kinds of cheese scares me. haha. the good thing is, virginie was at the grocers as well and we had a little study on the common kinds of cheese and where to use them. my prior knowledge of cheese is limited to normal and quick melt and cheddar which you normally see on junk food, hahaha. so, to name a few, there's the deep yellow-colored cheddar, some fromage cremeax (just cream cheese), the gruyere which is most commonly used in soups, parmesan for pastas, feta cheese usually goes into salads, emmental which is, i dunno, normal cheese, and mozzarella - everybody knows mozzarella! pizzaaaa! haha stress balls on the dairy aisle! and so much more, actually, diversified from places of origin and which animal it came from, etc etc..but i couldn't care less.

back to the pasta, aside from the different sorts of dairy products the only things left to add are chopped onions, a sprinkle of parsley for color, and, if you want, some meatballs or bacon. oh, and broccoli because good, old broccoli goes with everything from soups to pastas to nomnoms for snacks. it's like your most trustworthy, go-to vegetable when you want to add a dash of color to your meal or make it look healthier :P

以上
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burrito

welcome to my current obsessions: eskrima and burritos! :D i was out walking in rabot the other day and bought a whole bunch of stuff to make burritos for less than 5 euros! here's how i make my happy food for the week:

Ingredients

• burrito dough

• eggs

• salami and any meat

• salad cabbage

• onion

• cheese

Cooking Instructions

• beat eggs and cook in microwave on high for 30 seconds. after 30 secs, beat again and cook for 15-30 seconds each time until cooked.

• slice meat and onion and microwave on high for 1 minute.

• in a plate, place a large napkin and put your burrito dough on top. microwave for 10 seconds to soften.

• combine everything (meat, onions, greens, eggs and cheese) in the middle of your dough and roll!

i actually also bought a whole lechon manok while i was out that day because i was hungry, so now here's what my refrigerator looks like inside:

yes, i have black socks in my freezer hahahaha. what can i say, i'm excited to take my first picture of a snowflake :P

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english breakfast tea

i didn't think tea could be so complicated. i used to think all kinds of tea could be prepared in exactly the same way without much ado. i used to think tea made during japanese tea drinking ceremonies taste the same without the ceremony and that people only do it for the lessons you get out of the ceremony itself.

it turns out tea actually tastes different depending on how you brew it. i know, every literature on tea says so but i'm a hard-headed fool who thought powdered tea is just the same as brewed tea, only with more sugar.

anyway, i bought a big box of english breakfast tea about two months ago and after finishing a few tea bags i realized i'm no longer happy with my tea. i don't have an electric kettle and it's too めんどくさい to go up to the kitchen just to boil water so what i usually did was heat a cup or two of water on the microwave and use it for my tea. i didn't boil it because i can't drink too hot beverages and i am too impatient to wait for anything to cool down before i drink it. so i have this whole box of teabags left and i was wondering how i could consume all of it before i leave for brussels which lead to the thought if bilbo were real i suppose i could give him my tea. he likes tea, he must be english then why do englishmen like tea? and so the thought prompted me to read a whole range of internet literature about tea (and a little read on the legend of the koi dragon).

in the end i finally realized, tea is complicated business. there's this article which mentioned the aroma of tea is so relaxing and is eerily similar to warm toast and honey. whew. i want to try experiencing THAT. so here's what i did in the hope of making the perfect kind of english breakfast tea with my resources.

1. pour a small amount of cold water (says some article, always use cold water and never reheat water for your next tea) in a mug, about 1.5 inches or so, and microwave on high (600W) for 3 minutes because, apparently, it HAS to be boiling water. I noticed water boils in my microwave after 2.5 minutes but i still set it for 3 minutes anyway. to kill germs, rawr. haha.
2. place your tea bag in and let it steep for 3-4 minutes because, apparently, that's how long you should steep black tea. and make sure it's covered while it steeps.
3. remove the tea bag and resist the temptation to squeeze it. i squeezed it but it tasted okay anyway. at this point you can add sugar and milk and lemon if you wish. i'm happy with a teaspoon of sugar on mine.
4. add water to fill the mug and microwave again for around 1 minute.

TADAAA! yep, it actually tastes better than my previous tea hahaha. and it smells like honey! it does, it does! i don't smell any toast though haha. anyway, i guess i'll be okay with not sharing my remaining teabags with bilbo then :) cheers to tea!

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good days and how you define them

good days are when you have friends who tell you you CAN cook rice in a microwave using THE cooking ware with an "aperture" hahahaha. gotta go to del haize one of these days to buy one.

"the aperture here is the important part!"

cooking is easy, put it in the microwave for 15 minutes, take it out and add a little more water, cook again for another 5 minutes and tada! microwave rice.

good days are when you talk with another friend about the weather and you both realize: so this is why europeans love talking about the weather! the weather here is so changeable and the sunny days make people happy it's actually a really interesting topic for small talk :)) you can't say the same for philippine weather because it's the same all throughout the year except for the occasional typhoons which doesn't exactly make people happy. but, yeah, the weather's pretty nice today despite the wind :)

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roereieren

i bought eggs! i wasn't very excited about the prospect of having to go to the kitchen to cook but, nevertheless, i miss having eggs so i popped by the grocery on the way home. now thanks to the internet i've learned how to cook eggs in a microwave hahaha. no need to go to the kitchen weeee!

for starters i didn't do anything fancy, just simple scrambled egg. an egg, a little milk and oil, beat them together, microwave on high for 2 minutes..

and tada! now i can make egg sandwich aside from ham sandwich. hahaha, oh the small pleasures in life :P forgive me for being so shallow but we never cook eggs in the microwave at home :P

anyway, for the upcoming days, here's my reference: 12 easy ways to cook eggs in a microwave

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steamed fish with garlic and ginger

i couldn't take a photograph because we had to eat right after i cooked. we had brownout scheduled right about dinner time, but, yeah! it was delicious :P recipe lifted here.

Ingredients 

For the sauce:

• 1 1/4 teaspoons sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce

• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce

• 2 1/2 tablespoons canola oil

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely shredded

• 3 scallions, green part only, chopped

For the steamed salmon

• 1 scallion, white part only, cut lengthwise into strips

• 1 1/4 pounds salmon fillet, cut crosswise into two pieces

• 4 sprigs cilantro

Cooking Instructions

• For the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the sugar, pepper, oyster sauce, and soy sauce. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour the oil into a small saucepan, and turn the heat to medium. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the ginger and cook until it is also fragrant, about one minute. Pour in the sauce, stir well, and wait for it to come to a boil. Then add the scallions, turn off the heat, and stir to combine. Set aside.

• For the steamed salmon: Fill a large pot with a steamer tray halfway up with water, and bring to a boil.

• Meanwhile, Find a heatproof plate or nonreactive cake or pie pan that will hold the salmon fillets and will also fit in the steamer tray with about one-inch left around the edges. Toss half of the white scallion strips into the pan, and then place the salmon fillets on top. Pour the sauce on top of the salmon.

• Transfer the pan to the steamer tray. Cover the pot, and cook until fish is cooked, eight to ten minutes. A knife should be able to be inserted into the thicket part of the flesh easily. When done, turn off the heat, and carefully remove the pan with the fish.

• Transfer the fish to a platter and pour the sauce and juices on top. Garnish with the remaining scallion strips and the cilantro.

pork and tofu in oyster sauce

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb pork, cubed

• 4 pieces extra firm tofu, fried and cubed

• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped 

• 1/4 cup soy sauce

• 3 tablespoons oyster sauce

• 1 medium onion, minced

• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced

• 2 tablespoons salted black beans

• 1 cup water

• 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions

• Saute garlic and onion.

• Put-in the pork and cook for 5 minutes.

• Add parsley, soy sauce, and oyster sauce then stir.

• Pour-in water and let boil. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the pork becomes tender.

• Put-in the salted black beans and fried tofu and cook for 5 to 8 minutes.

• Add sugar, salt, and ground black pepper then stir. Cook for a minute more

• Turn-off heat then transfer to a serving bowl.

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pork menudo

ahh, classic filipino dish yet it's the first time i've ever tried to make one, haha.

Ingredients

• 1/2 kilo pork (cut into small chunks)

• 1/4 kilo pork liver (cut into small cubes)

• 5 pieces chorizo Bilbao (also cut in small pieces)

• 4 potatoes (peeled, cut in small cubes, fried)

• 1 green and 1 red bell pepper (diced)

• 1 cup chickpeas

• 1/4 cup raisins

• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

• 1 cup pork or chicken stock (i used 1/2 pork cube dissolved in 1 cup water)

• 2 teaspoons of patis (fish sauce)

• 3 tablespoons oil

• 1 tablespoon atsuete oil (optional)

• 3 tomatoes (diced)

• 1 small head of garlic (minced)

• 1 medium size onion (diced)

Cooking Instructions

• In a pan or wok, heat cooking oil and atsuete oil.

• Saute garlic, onion. Then add the pork, liver, chorizo de Bilabo, tomatoes, bell pepper, paprika, patis and the stock.

• Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the pork is tender.

• Add the chickpeas, potatoes and raisins. Boil of another 2 minutes.

• Salt and pepper to taste.

• Serve hot with white rice

broccoli chicken mushroom casserole

..or chicken mushroom broccoli casserole, depending on which ingredient is your favorite or which one you're craving to eat at the moment :P i lifted the recipe here and made my own modifications because i am not inclined to baking at the moment and i don't have celery. so my recipe, in the end, is not really casserole, not really soup, and neither is it anywhere near stir-fry. but it's edible and yummy all the same haha.

Ingredients

• butter and oil

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 stalks scallions, minced

• 1/2 lemon

• 1/2 onion, sliced

• 1 cup mushrooms, quartered

• 1 chicken breast, skinned and boned

• 1 boquet (because i feel like a bridesmaid everytime i take broccoli from the grocery shelf. everytime :P) of broccoli, sliced

• 1/2 pack of (knorr) Cream of Mushroom, dissolved in 1 cup water

• Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions

• squeeze lemon and place lemon juice, scallions, and garlic in a food processor or blender

• arrange chickens in a plate, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and pour lemon juice mixture. set aside to marinate

• boil water in a steamer. once boiled, steam broccoli in high heat for 4-5 minutes

• fry chicken in very little oil until slightly brown on both sides. after frying, slice chicken into flakes

• in a pan melt some butter and saute onions. add chicken and mushrooms and saute until mushrooms are cooked

• add broccoli and cover for about 2 minutes.

• add the cream of mushroom and simmer for another 2-3 minutes.

• serve with rice, as always :)

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chicken in oyster sauce (with pechay)

Ingredients

• chicken wings and legs, cut into serving portion

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 small onion, sliced

• 1 tbsp. ginger, minced

• 1/4 cup oyster sauce

• salt and freshly ground pepper

• 2 tbsp. butter

• 2 tbsp. olive oil

• 1 bunch pechay, separate white part and leaves, chopped

Cooking Instructions

• season chicken slices with salt and pepper.

• in a wok, heat oil and butter. add chicken slices and cook until golden brown.

• then add onion, garlic and ginger. continue sauteing until aromatic.

• add oyster sauce and mix until chicken are coated well with oyster sauce.

• season with salt and pepper according to your taste. add the white part of pechay and cook for about 1 minute. then add the pechay leaves and cook for another 1 minute stirring. turn off the heat and serve.

credits to this site.
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buttermilk

Ingredients

• (a little less than) 1 cup milk

• 1 tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice

Instructions

• place vinegar or lemon juice in a measuring cup

• add milk until 1 cup line

• let stand for five minutes

• mix then use!

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coleslaw!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup milk

• 1/4 cup buttermilk (i had no idea what buttermilk was, i almost added butter to the mixture! good thing i checked and here's how to make a substitute if you've no real buttermilk on hand)

• 2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 1/2 tbsp white vinegar

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/8 tsp pepper

• 8 cups finely chopped cabbage

• 1/4 cup shredded carrot

• 2 tbsp minced onion

Cooking Instructions

• chop carrot and cabbage finely

• combine mayonnaise, sugar, milk, buttermilk, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper and beat until smooth

• add cabbage, carrots, and onion and mix well

• cover and refrigerate for two hours before serving.

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palitaw

お久しぶり！！！ i haven't eaten palitaw in quite a long while i'm so happy we made a batch today ^__^

it's reaaaaaally easy to make. you just need water and rice flour in the following proportions and you're good to go!

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice flour (pilit)

• 3/4 cup water

• desiccated coconut

• sugar

Cooking Instructions

• mix rice flour and water. you'll create some sort of pasty dough.

• boil water around 4 inches deep

• once boiled, create flat oblongs out of the dough and drop into the water. i like rolling the dough into balls then bam! flat it out with the other hand on my palm. i get cute round palitaws in the end.

• once the dough starts to float, remove from the water and set aside allowing the water to drip.

• in a separate bowl mix the desiccated coconut and sugar. roll the palitaw in the mixture and that's it!

bangus with taosi

Ingredients

• 1 medium size bangus, milkfish, sliced into 1” thick

• 2 thumb size ginger, cut into thin strips

• 3-3 clove garlic, chopped

• 2 medium size tomato, coarsely chopped

• 1 medium size onion, coarsely chopped

• 1/2 medium size bell pepper, cut into thin strips

• 1 small bundle spring onion, cut diagonally

• 3-4 tbsp. tausi, salted black beans, rinsed, roughly mashed

• 2-3 tbsp. of brine from the salted black beans

• 1 tsp. sugar (optional)

• salt and pepper

• cooking oil

Cooking Instructions

• Dust bangus slices with salt and pepper, set aside to marinate then fry. 

• In a frying pan heat 2 to 3 tbsp. of cooking oil stir fry garlic and ginger until fragrant.

• Add in the salted black beans, sugar if using, onion and tomato and stir fry until the onion and tomato are wilted.

• Add in the brine from the salted black beans and about 3/4 cups of water and bring to a boil.

• Add in the fried bangus and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Correct saltines if required. 

• Add in the bell pepper and spring onion, continue to simmer for another minute. 

• Serve with a lot of rice.

fluffy the vampire slayerrrr!

we went out to buy groceries with my brother yesterday and bought eggs as part of our grocery list. unknowingly, mama also bought a dozen eggs so we currently have too much eggs in the house. i looked for interesting recipes using eggs for lunch today or else we'd be having sunny side ups and omelettes for the next couple of days, and found this!

Ingredients

• 2 eggs

• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

• 1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese (we don't even have normal cheese, i know i should have bought one yesterday. so no cheese for our first trial.)

Cooking Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the middle. Line a roasting pan, or baking sheet that can take high temperatures without warping, with parchment paper or Silpat.

• Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Make sure there are no little pieces of egg yolk in the whites or you will have difficulty getting the whites to beat properly. It helps if you are making more than one egg nest to keep each egg yolk in a separate prep bowl.

• Place the egg whites in a very clean mixer bowl (any residual oil in the mixer bowl will keep the egg whites from whipping up properly) → we didn't listen to this bit of wisdom and added butter as substitute to cheese. in the end, the whipped whites didn't stiffen. Add a quarter teaspoon of salt to the egg whites. Beat the egg whites with a whisk attachment in a mixer (or using a hand mixer), starting on low speed and then slowly increasing to high speed, until stiff peaks form.

• Gently fold in the grated Gruyere cheese (if you have one), taking care not to deflate the egg whites.

• Create two mounds of the egg white mixture on the lined baking sheet. Form the mounds so they look like nests, with indentations in the centers.

• Place in the oven for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, open the oven, pull out the rack with the egg white nests, and gently add an egg yolk to the center of each nest. Return the baking sheet to the oven and cook for 3 more minutes. 

and here's how our fluffy little sun turned out!

looks like breakfast hahaha.

baked fish

one of the easiest ones to prepare as long as you have the proper fish to bake.

Ingredients:

• 4 slices fish fillet

• 2 stalks scallions, chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, mashed

• 1/2 medium onion, sliced

• 1 tbsp lemoncito juice

• 8 tsp butter, melted

• water

• lemon, optional

• salt

• ground pepper

• herbs. we have a bottle of finely chopped oregano at home so i used that.

• aluminum foil

Cooking Instruction:

• wash and dry fish. sprinkle with salt.

• preheat oven (or turbo broiler) to 375 deg. F.

• place scallions, garlic, onion, lemoncito juice, and a little water in food processor or blender and blend.

• in 1 sheet of aluminum foil place 1 slice fish fillet, 2 tsp butter, 1 tsp water, cover with blended spices, and sprinkle with pepper and herbs. top with 1/4 of a thin slice of lemon. seal the foil, leaving enough room for water to steam.

• do the same for the rest of the fish fillet.

• bake for 25-30 minutes.

以上！

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eggplant in oyster sauce

meat-less viand. mama loved it.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c  (as needed) cooking oil

• 450 gm eggplant medium sized unpeeled and cut in strips (3 large eggplants)

• 2 tbsp garlic minced

• 1/4 c Mama Sita's oyster sauce (x2 since i used more eggplants)

• 2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in water

• 2 tbsp green onions chopped

Cooking Instruction:

• Heat oil in a pan and fry eggplant. Fry them until golden brown. 

• In another pan, heat oil and fry garlic until brown. 

• Add eggplant, cornstarch and stir well. 

• Let it and simmer until the sauce thickens. 

• Remove it in a serving dish and garnish with green onion.

~source~

以上！

sour cream and onion dip

i wanted to make sour cream and onion dip for ages but the recipes i found on the internet need sour cream. now, in my little hometown i can't find all sorts of nice cooking ingredients and among these, sour cream. i finally stumbled upon this website which uses ingredients i can actually find. yes!

here's the recipe with my own sub-notes:

Ingredients:

• 1 c. of cream used nestle all purpose cream

• juice of half a lemon or lime or the equivalent amount of kalamansi juice  i had half a lemon because the other half i used last night on my face haha

• 4 cloves (segments) of garlic, grated

• 1/3 of a large white onion, grated

• salt to taste

• freshly grated black pepper

• a pinch of sugar

• 1 tsp. of chopped fresh mint we don't have mint

Cooking Instructions:

• pour cream in a bowl. pour lemon and let stand for 15 minutes without stirring. the cream will curdle and make it thickish.

• add grated onion and garlic.

• season with salt and pepper.

• add a pinch of sugar

• chill dip before serving

we used the dip with fish fillets and hotdogs and even nachos :)
i didn't get a good photo of it, but this'll do:

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