Tuna and Mussels Carbonara

I really don’t know how to call this pasta I cooked for my friend’s party. Lol. All I know is that I used a carbonara sauce (the ready made one) and some tuna and mussels. I only used two kinds seafood here and one of it is not even a fresh one (canned?) so I’m kinda averted to even call it a seafood pasta. Lol.

Anyway, I just tried my luck to include mussels on my pasta. Lol. I tried shrimp, squid and crab (all fresh) before and it’s heaven! Lol. But you know how expensive those ingredients in here, yeah? Lol.

It’s just a very simple recipe. Thank God for those ready made sauces. You can always put a twist into it by adding some herbs.

Ingredients:

450g linguine pasta

200g carbonara sauce

250g mussels

180g canned tuna

1/2 cup chopped spinach

1/2 teaspoon ground oregano

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup water

3 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)

Grated cheese (any kind)

2 tablespoon olive oil or butter

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Cook pasta per package instructions (Al Dente). Drain. Set aside.

2. Saute garlic in a medium heat oil (do not burn). Add in the tuna. Stir.

3. Pour in the carbonara sauce. Stir. Add in oregano, water and mussels. Cover until mussels have finally opened.

4. Place the spinach and pour in the cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir for another 5minutes.

5. Pour in the sauce on top of the pasta. Serve with any grated cheese on top (I used cheddar). Serve.

Enjoy!

Garlic and Basil Bread with Cheese

Garlic and Basil Bread with Cheese

• Servings: 4-6
• Time: 15-20mins
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Toasted Garlic and Basil Bread

Snack time is one of the things I look forward to in our household. Lol. Since I am not a junk food person. I always make sure to make something more palatable than the dehydrated food. Lol.

And since there’s always bread in our household the easiest to do is to have a toasted bread. So… Who said you can only have your toast in the morning? Lol. Check out some simple twist I did for some day old bread.

Ingredients:

Bread
Butter
Fresh Basil (thinly sliced)
Garlic (minced)

Method:

1. Combine garlic and basil. Rub mixture onto the bread. Set aside.

2. For those who doesn’t have an oven or toaster, you can use the stove top.

3. Place pan in a medium heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon butter. Place the bread into the pan.

4. Cook for a minute and a half, flip it and cook the other side for another minute and a half or until both sides are already toasted.

5. Place in a clean plate. You can add some cheese if you want. Serve.

Enjoy!

Toasted Garlic Bread with Cheese

Tuna Chili Cheese Rolls

I woke up late and had cravings for some spicy rolls. I woke up too late the farmer’s market just around our block is already closed when I got there. So I got no choice but to go straight to a bigger market which is a 5 minute drive. As I have said, I got no choice. Lol.

There a lot of different variants of spring rolls in the Philippines, one of those is my tuna chili cheese rolls. Lol. By the way, if you like your rolls to be really hot, you may omit scraping the seeds.

This recipe is a perfect finger food you can serve if you got friends coming over or something for potluck!

Ingredients:

• Chili fingers
• Cheddar cheese (sliced into small strips)
• Spring roll wrapper (small)
• Canned tuna
• Cooking oil
• 1/4 cup water

Method:

1. Vertically make a slit on each chili using a sharp knife and scrape out the seeds. Rinse. Drain.

2. Stuff a slice of cheese and tuna on each chili and wrap it with the spring roll wrapper. Use the water to seal the edges.

3. Heat oil in a frying pan and deep fry the rolls until crisp or golden brown.

4. Using a paper towel drain and serve.

Enjoy!

Crabs In Coconut Milk

Mom and I went to the market and found some crabs being sold. I seldom cook this because most of the time you need to use your hands to eat this and I’m not into using my hands to get that crab meat but I love how it tastes so most of the time I only eat the vegetables. Lol. My mom decided to buy it because it’s my friend’s favourite and her’s too! My friend and Mom really jives on this food.

Here is another Filipino dish I would like to share with you. There are a lot of ways to cook this. But this is how I learned it from my Mom and our helper who’s from the southern part of the Philippines known for cooking basically any food with coconut milk and tons of chilis! Lol.

Ingredients:

1kg. blue crabs
1 medium grated coconut
1 cup squash (cubed)
2 cups kangkong leaves (water spinach)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 large onion (chopped)
1/4 cup ginger (thinly sliced)
3 finger chilis
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons cooking oil

Method:

Prepare the coconut milk

• There are two kinds of coconut milk that you need to extract from the grated coconut. (1) “Kakang Gata” or the first extraction of coconut milk. It’s thicker, creamier and most pure coconut milk. (2) “Gata” which is the second extraction of coconut milk, less creamier or thicker than the first extraction. 
• Pour 1/2 cup of warm water into the grated coconut and let it settle for 10 to 15 minutes or until the water is tolerable to be touched.
• Using your two hands, grab a handful of grated coconut and try to squeeze out the coconut milk (Kakang Gata). Set aside. If you’re having difficulty giving a force into it, you can use a really clean thin kitchen towel, tie it up and squeeze the cloth.
• Return the squeezed coconut into the bowl and pour in another 1/2 cup water (it doesn’t have to be warm) and again squeeze out the coconut milk on another container. This is the second extraction (Gata). Set aside.
• Proceed to cooking the crabs!

1. Rinse the crabs thoroughly.
2. In a large wok, heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil. Add garlic, onion and ginger. Sauté for 1 minute.
3. Add the crabs. Add in the second extracted coconut milk (Gata). Cover and let it simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.
4. Add in the squash. Cover and let it cook for 5 minutes or until squash is cooked.
5. Add fish sauce and ground pepper according to taste.
6. Place the kangkong and chilis on top and pour in the first extracted coconut milk (kakang gata). Cover and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
7. Serve it with steamed rice.

Enjoy!

Seared Scallops and Snow Peas

Seared Scallops and Snow Peas

One morning, my mother came from the market and deliberately woke me up just to tell me she bought some scallops from her friend who sells fresh seafood. lol. I’m not sure if I should be happy or mad with her information but all I know was that I’m still sleepy and I’ll deal with it later.

But my urge for making another recipe overruled the comfortability of my bed. So I popped out of it and went straight to the kitchen. Scallop is something we, most Filipinos, do not put first on the list of our groceries or more often that not, it doesn’t make into the list at all! Lol.

So, gathering whatever ingredients I can include. Here’s what I found.

Ingredients:

8 sea scallops (dried)

1 cup snow peas (trimmed)

2 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)

1 chili (julienned)

1/4 cup peas

Scallions

1 tablespoon vegetable  oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Clean and pat dry the scallops. Season it with salt and pepper.

2. In a hot non-stick pan, add the butter and oil. Make sure the the pan is hot before placing the scallops.

3. Sear the scallops by placing flat-side down in the pan, 2-3 minutes per side. Do not over crowd the pan. If you are cooking plenty of scallops you may want to cook it in batches. Set aside the scallops.

4. Using the pan and oil where the scallops were cooked,  add the garlic, chili, peas, snow peas and scallions. Cook until snow peas are tender. Do not overcook. Add salt and pepper according to taste.

5. Slide in vegetable in a clean plate and place the scallops on top. Serve.

Enjoy!

Sausage Stir-Fry

If you know world history, one would know how many years the Philippines was colonized by Spain – 333 years. The spanish influence has remained strong this day that spanish cuisine is still being served on every Filipino table. Among of these is the Longaniza or spanish sausage which is a popular breakfast food in our country and most of the time we cook it by frying and pairng it with egg and fried rice. So this time I thought of stir-frying it and adding some vegetables since I got a lot of snow peas to dispose. Lol.

There are several varieties of longaniza in our country as each region produces its own flavour. However most longaniza falls under two varieties, the sweet (hamonado) and garlicky (derecado). For this recipe I used a hamonado variety.

Ingredients:

Longganisa hamonado (sweet sausage; diagonally sliced)

15oz. snow peas

1 medium red bell pepper (julienne)

3 cloves garlic (minced)

1 chili (chopped)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons oil

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Stir-fry in a large wok the garlic, chili and sausage in oil until sausage is almost cooked. Add in the sugar and salt/pepper according to taste.

2. Add snow peas and bell pepper. Serve with fried rice.

Enjoy!

Sweet Peas And Misua Soup

Misua with sweet peas

I found a lot of sweet peas in the fridge and I thought of cooking it before it spoils. I also found a leftover bell pepper on the fridge so might as well include it on my menu. Lol. I made a soup as I was feeling cold. This soup can actually be partnered with a rice. Lol. We Filipinos just love rice with any food. Even our desserts are made from rice! Lol.

Ingredients:

5oz. Misua (thin Chinese flour noodles)

250g ground pork

4 cups water or broth (pork, beef or chicken)

1 medium potato (diced)

150g sweet peas

1 small red bell pepper (diced)

2 whole eggs (medium)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 medium onion (minced)

Fish sauce

Black pepper (ground)

2 tablespoons cooking oil

Method

1. In a pot, brown the pork, add in the onion and garlic, sauté.

2. Add in potato. Pour in water or broth. Cover the pot and let in simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the red bell pepper, sweet peas and misua noodles. Season (fish sauce and ground pepper) according to taste.

4. Turn off the heat and break the eggs into the pot. Stir until eggs are set.

5. Serve  hot.

Enjoy!

Spicy Green Mango Salad

 Spicy Green Mango Salad

Broccoli and Orange Buttered Pasta

One morning I found that my oranges were getting too ripe. The last thing I want to do is to throw it so I checked my kitchen if there's anything I can do apart from making a juice out of it. Lol. I found a broccoli in the fridge and thank goodness my Mom bought a pasta  the day before so I decided to make an early lunch.

 Broccoli and Orange Buttered Pasta

Stuffed Peppers (No-Bake)

No-bake stuffed peppers

French Toast Roll-Ups (Banana and Peanut Butter)

I woke up craving for some toast rolls but then I got no bananas to fill my rolls with peanut butter. I was too lazy to go to the market. Lol. But my cravings prevailed… well not until after dinner time. Lol. I'm not sure if it's weird to eat french toast at night but I just had to have some!

Chicken and Tofu Pasta (Fusilli)

Photo credit: Valerie Magos

In the Philippines, noodles or pasta is a must on the menu of a birthday celebrant. I'm not sure why but I guess it has something to do with this old belief about noodles or long pasta signifying long life for the celebrant. lol. My friend celebrated her birthday last Saturday and she requested me to cook a pasta, a non-tradition one. Not red. Not spaghetti noodles.

Leftover No More..

One of the things I love about holiday season is having leftovers. If you’re a kind of person who doesn’t like to eat the same food twice, you better learn how to give leftovers a second chance on those taste buds. You’ll be surprised with the things you can make with them!

In my case, I don’t mind eating the same food twice or thrice but I just like re-inventing things, that’s all. lol. So, while I was reading my emails and updating my blogs I thought of making myself a midnight snack.

Seeing there’s a leftover ham and bread, I grabbed some tomatoes, olives and a whole egg (scrambled it). I saw some cheese I used for pasta and Mayo for salad on Christmas. I’mma make myself a sandwich! lol. C’mon, it doesn’t take a genius to make one. Just gather whatever you think will complement with your main ingredient.

Heat the ham, scramble the egg, slice the olives and tomato.

Sunday Kitchen Day

Cooking keeps my sanity, especially cooking whatever is left in the fridge. With all the meat consumed this holiday I opted for some fish and it happened that I still got some cream dory I bought day before Christmas.

Besides, it was Sunday. My kitchen day! Lol. I’m not sure what other recipe you can do with a cream dory apart from deep frying it. I guess the make or brake of it is with the sauce. Let me share with you my kitchen day. lol.

Prepare everything

Vietnam – Cambodia 2013 – Part 8

Okay, back to the hotel! Their pool was looking nice that we all had to change to our swimwear and take advantage of owning the pool to ourselves! lol. It’s not really a big one, it’s more like a lap pool. We played a little game on the pool and just talk about the adventures of the past days as we about to get close to ending the epic trip.

With all the food we ate at lunch we thought we would not need to have dinner. But it’s our last night and we wanna make use of the time left. We went to Joe’s Cafe, one of the most popular bar/restaurant in the strip. We listened to their performer as we wait for our food. We cannot see the guy singer as we opted to sit outside so we can only hear the sound. Then we’re suddenly silenced by this familiar resonance. As we try to apprehend its intro, our eyes got bigger and bigger!

Swimming!

Vietnam – Cambodia 2013 – Part 7

We drove for 5 minutes and we got into this seafood restaurant but before anything else the ocean view was so enchanting we just had to take some pictures! lol. We’re so glad that the weather was being so concurring with our trip that it didn’t rain that day. It was awesome!

Ocean view at Cay Bang restaurant

Vietnam – Cambodia 2013 – Part 5

Back to the hotel to rest but we didn’t have lunch that day so we decided to eat at least. While the others were satisfied with sandwiches, I ordered chicken amok which is a popular Khmer dish. It has coconut milk and I think it also has ginger or turmeric and I can also taste a lemongrass (I love lemon grass!), it really smells good because of the lemongrass, it’s mildly spicy but citrusy, served with rice and a fish sauce on the side. The best!

I went back to our room after lunch and rested for a while but we have to get up by 6PM to have a buffet dinner and watch an Apsara show  at Koulen II where we have a reservation.

Cambodian Chicken Amok

Vietnam – Cambodia 2013 – Part 4

When we got to Bayon temple a number of elephants all lined up waiting for visitors to ride them for a fee (USD12) welcomed us. It was surreal for me because it’s the closest I could ever get with an elephant. It’s not like everyday I get to see an elephant on the roads of Manila. We only got one elephant in the Philippines and she’s in the zoo, her name is Mali and the last time I saw her I think I was in grade school.

Bayon Temple

Vietnam – Cambodia 2013 – Part 3

Just like any other travels that we had, being a morning person, I get to wake up first. At 4AM, after I took a shower, I woke up my two room mates to remind them that we need to be at the lobby by 5AM.

5:00AM our tuk-tuk is on the way to the temple gates but before that we had to stop at the nearby ATM. You got two options when withdrawing money in Cambodia either getting Riel or Dollar. Back to our tuk-tuk about 20 minutes drive from the city proper we arrived at the temple gate to buy a one day pass for US$20.00/per person. A picture of you will be taken which is imperative for your one day pass, so, SMILE!

My friend’s Angkor One Day Pass

Vietnam – Cambodia 2013 – Part 2

By 9:30AM we arrived at Moc Bai border belonging to Tay Ninh province of Vietnam. The bus conductor will collect all the passports and you will be asked to depart the bus and be screened or frisked by the vietnamese authorities then back to the bus and about 5 minutes drive to the international border gate of Bavet belonging to Svay Rieng province of Cambodia, you have to vacate the bus again but this time with all your luggage and be screened by Cambodian immigration, you wait on the line and wait for your bus conductor to call your name, the conductor will be the one to bring your passport to the immigration officers and have it stamped.

**Be wary of your things, with so much tourists in there the place gets to be so packed**
**No fee for entry visa**

The process actually took about an hour. I wish they could do something to make it not burdensome for the tourists. There were times that Passports of the people way at the back have been processed first than us who have been there like forever. I felt that they need to organise more their system on providing visa. I have no discontentment on the place because it is incredibly neat and I felt like the facilities are so modern its just their system that bothers me truly. Oh well!