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!

Early Barbecue

Monday morning.. What a perfect way to wake up through a BARBEQUE smoke! Lol. It’s already past midnight so Mom’s birthday is over. Lol. Yes, it’s her birthday and I found her cooking barbecue outside the house (she was at the terrace!!) earlier.. way too early! Lol. I know, I know.. I should be the one doing it for her ‘coz it’s her day but it’s too freakin’ early! Lol.

She woke up 5am and went to the farmer’s market.. and I was just about to catch my Zzzzzzz at 5am. Are you kidding me?! Lol. Too bad I wasn’t able to cook for her because I got work later in the afternoon. My first day at work! Lol. Congratulate me! Lol.

Yep! Back to work for me.. Soooooo expect less blog entries in the coming weeks.. months. Lol. But I’ll try my best to post even just once a week. Lol. I just love the people supporting and have constantly liking my posts and followers commenting on my entries. So I guess they will be one of my motivating factors then. Besides, WordPress has been a great companion of mine for the past months I have been a bum! So I can’t just leave it like that, can I? Lol.

Anyway, too bad I wasn’t able to see how she marinated that delicious pork barbecue, knowing Mom she’s got a few tricks up her sleeve. Just like me, Mom like’s experimenting in the kitchen.. Yeah.. that’s how we roll in our kitchen. Lol. But I tell you, it’s really delicious! Thanks Nanay and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Sausage, Tomato and Spinach Bruschetta

Here is my own version of bruschetta for snack using the ingredients I found in our kitchen. Instead of using french bread or a ciabatta loaf, I used a day old Pan de sal (salt bread) which is a famous bread roll in the Philippines made of flour, eggs, sugar, yeast and salt. 

Ingredients:

Pan de Sal (half inch sliced)
2 Sausages (diced)
Frozen spinach (thawed, chopped)
2 medium tomatoes (diced)
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1 clove garlic (minced)
Cheez Whiz

Method:

Topping

• In a small skillet, sauté sausage in olive oil. When sausage is almost done, add in the garlic, spinach and tomatoes.
• Remove from heat. Add salt and pepper according to taste. Set aside.

Bread

• In a clean pan, brush a little olive oil on each side of the bread
• Heat both sides of the bread until brown (not burnt). Set aside.

Place the sausage and tomato mixture on top of each warm sliced bread. Serve it with Cheez Whiz on top.

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!

Pork with Tofu and Eggplant Binagoongan (Shrimp Paste)

Pork and Eggplant in Shrimp Paste

Mom got us some shrimp paste that she bought when she was in a vacation somewhere up north. I suddenly craved for something salty yet sweet. So I went to the market and bought some meat and tofu. I love tofu. If there’s gonna be an ambassadress for tofu, I should be the one! Lol. It doesn’t matter how you cook it – fried, steamed, grilled or even boiled, I will eat it! Lol.

This recipe is another famous Filipino dish. Primarily you need a shrimp paste which is made from fermented ground shrimp mixed with salt. You can find shrimp paste on any asian store as it is a really famous side dish mostly for the southeast asian cuisine. More often than not they are already bottled and pre-cooked or flavoured. But on this dish, I used a fresh one or the “pinkish” one because I want to be the one to flavour my paste. Lol.

By the way, you don’t necessarily need salt on this because the shrimp paste itself is salty enough to season or to give taste to the whole dish. So you may want to carefully check the amount of shrimp paste to put.

Ingredients:

1 kilo pork liempo (pork belly) cut in serving pieces1/2 cup shrimp pasteFirm tofu (cubed)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 small onion (chopped)
1 medium tomato (chopped)
1 chili (chopped)
1/2 cup  vinegar
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 large Chinese eggplant (cut in half inch slices)
Ground pepper or whole peppercorns

Method:

1. Pat dry tofu and fry. Set aside.

2. Place pork in a pan with just enough water and put into boil in slow heat for 30 minutes or until tender.

3. Let its oil render then start stir-frying until colour turns to light brown. Set aside.

4. Using its oil in the same pan, sauté garlic, onion, tomatoes and chili. Add the shrimp paste and stir for 5 minutes.

5. Add in the pork, vinegar, brown sugar and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add pepper according to taste

6. Place the eggplant, stir, cover and let it cook for another 5 minutes in low heat. Turn off the heat. Place the tofu and stir. Serve.

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!

Chicken Adobo

Chicken Adobo

Adobo, is, perhaps, the most popular Filipino dish there is in Philippine cuisine. It can be considered, well at some point, the national dish of the country. Lol. A lot of stories have come around about the origin of Adobo. Before the Spanish came and conquer the land for over 300 years, adobo is already being served on every table across the country.

“Adobo” means “to marinate” a Filipino cooking process of preserving a food. Our ancestors got no refrigerator on those times, so they gotta find a way to preserve their food. Originally coconut vinegar is the basic ingredient not until the Chinese traders have brought soy sauce during barter trade which eventually been used for adobo.

There are so many variants of Adobo recipe in the Philippines. In fact, every region or province has its own recipe. Including me. Lol.  I’d like to say I’m proud of my version. That’s why I am sharing it. Lol.

Ingredients:

1kg. Chicken/Pork/Lamb

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon black pepper (crushed)

1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon oregano (ground)

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves

1 red chili

2 tablespoons oil

Method:

1. In a large pot, marinate meat in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic powder and black pepper for 1 to 3 hours. Cover.

2. After marinating, add in the water into the meat mixture. Bring to boil the meat in a low heat. Simmer for 30 minutes, do not forget to stir occasionally.

3. Drain the meat and set aside the sauce to be used later.

4. Sear meat in another pot by heating the oil in medium high. Add the chili and the meat, brown its all sides. Then add the sugar, rosemary leaves and oregano.

5. Pour in the sauce and stir occasionally until the sauce has thickened coating the meat. Turn off the heat. Serve it with steamed rice and fried potatoes or camote.

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!

Eggplant and Peas Curry

Eggplant and Peas Curry

I love Indian food because of their spices. I love putting spices on every dish I make. In my opinion, it gives a distinct difference that makes the dish more palatable. I’ve come to love indian spices because my Mom’s best friend is an Indian. When I was a kid I can very much remember how much Indian food had been served on the table whenever we visit their house.

I wanna share a vegetarian recipe. No. I am not a vegetarian but I love my vegetables. There are times that I would do no-meat for a week. And this is one of those days. Lol.

Ingredients:

2 large chinese eggplant (diced))

200g peas (green peas or chick peas)

2 medium tomatoes (halved)

1 medium onion (chopped)

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

4 leaves of basil (chopped)

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon ginger (minced)

1 tablespoon oil

1 chili pepper (chopped)

1 1/2 cups of water

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Sauté onions, tomatoes and ginger in oil.

2. Add in eggplant, curry powder, coriander and chill pepper. Stir for 2 minutes.

3. Add the water, salt and pepper. Let it simmer until eggplant is tender.

4. Stir in the peas and have it simmer for 4 minutes (I like that the peas have thickened the sauce)

5. Turn off heat and stir in the basil. Serve over steaming hot rice.

Enjoy!

Tossed Pasta In Olive Oil

Tossed Pasta In Olive Oil

Too tired to cook a full meal? I wanna share a 12 minute pasta I did today. I was too lazy to prepare a full meal. Lol. It’s a simple dish but the flavour is superb!

Ingredients:

Pasta, any kind of pasta (cooked per package instructions, Al dente)

2 cloves garlic  (thinly sliced)

dried basil (ground)

1 medium tomato

1 chili (chopped)

Olive oil

Method:

1. Heat olive oil into pan. Sauté tomato, chill, basil and garlic. Do not burn garlic.

2. Add in the cooked rotini pasta and toss until everything is coated. Serve with some parmesan or none. Lol.

Bon Appetito!

Simple yet superb taste!

Pinaputok na Tilapia

This dish is a popular finger food or we called pulutan.

I want to share a Filipino recipe, we call Pinaputok na Tilapia. Pinaputok means bursted, so basically the method of cooking this fish is about frying wrapped with banana leaves or tin foil but we put a little twist into it because we wrapped it with some nappa cabbage too.

Put a twist by wrapping a leafy vegetable. I used a nappa cabbage.

Wrap it tightly!

By the way, I wanna thank my Mom for helping me wrap the fish. Lol.

Ingredients:

Large tilapia (cleaned, scaled, slitted, salted)

4 medium tomatoes (diced)

2 medium onions (chopped)

1 small ginger (diced)

Nappa cabbage (for wrapping)

Pinch of oregano (powder)

Salt and pepper

Tin foil / banana leaves (for wrapping)

Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Combine tomatoes, onions, ginger, oregano, salt and pepper (according to taste) in a bowl. Mix well.

2. Stuff the mixture inside the fish.

3. Wrap the cabbage around the fish. Then wrap in banana leaf and tin foil tightly.

4. Heat pan and deep fry the fish for about 10-12.

5. Open the foil and banana wrapped on the fish. Sprinkle some chopped scallions and red chillies to enhance more the flavor.

Enjoy!