Saturday, November 24, 2007

CRISPY NOODLES (CRISPY PANCIT)


PHILIPPINES WITH CHINESE INFLUENCE


We love this!!!

Ingredients:
Meat Marinade:
½ lb. pork meat or chicken breast sliced thinly
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Cornstarch

Sauce:
4 tablespoons water or chicken broth
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
3/4 to 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Vegetables:
½ cup sliced bok choy
1 large green pepper julienne
1 stalk celery julienne
1 small carrot julienne ( cut some into designs)
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
½ cup bean sprouts cleaned.
1/2 pound snow peas cut on a bias
Oil for stir-frying and deep frying the noodles
1 pack of rice noodles or vermicelli

PREPARATION:

For the Marinade:
Add seasonings to pork, adding the cornstarch last.
Marinate the meat for 10 - 15 minutes.
While pork is marinating, prepare vegetables and sauce.

For sauce:
Whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside.

How to make the noodles crispy:
Put oil into a deep pan for deep frying.
Drop a small piece of noodles to test the temperature of oil.
Make sure oil is hot enough otherwise noodles will not puff up.
Drop noodles in batches because they will puff up.
Drain in a paper towel.
Repeat the process until noodles are all done.
Set asideHeat wok and add oil.
When oil is ready, add the pork.
Stir-fry pork until redness is gone.
Remove and set aside.
Reheat wok and add more oil.
When oil is ready, sauté' garlic and onion until translucent.
Add the carrots, stir fry for few minutes, add the celery then the snow peas, stir until cooked but still crispy.
Add the cooked pork mixture, mix into the vegetables, then the bok choy.
At this point adjust your seasonings (Salt and Pepper).
Add a little water if it tends to dry up.
Give the sauce a quick re-stir.
Add and mix all the ingredients until incorporated.
Keep stirring to thicken and until cooked.
Arrange crispy noodles on a big platter and pour over the meat
TILAWI MALAMI-AN JUD MO - TRY IT, I'M SURE YOU WILL LIKE IT.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

LAMB ROGAN JOSH (LAMB CURRY)




INDIA
Recipe Source: Fresh and Tasty Casseroles
(Richard Caroll)

Had this for Thanksgiving=:) I had non traditional Tday menu .





Ingredients:
3 lbs lamb (I used lamb ribs)
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 inch piece of fresh root ginger, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp each paprika, turmeric and chili powder
4 cardamom pods, crushed
salt To taste
1 cup plain yogurt ( I used Greek)
2 cups canned chopped tomatoes
fresh cilantro to garnish. (I forgot to garnish when i took the pics=:)

*Heat the oil in a large heavy based frying pan and add the onion, ginger, garlic, spices and a good pinch of salt.
*Fry over a low heat for 5 minutes, or until the onions have softened.
*Add the lamb and 2 tablespoons of the yogurt.
*Increase the heat to medium and cook for 4 minutes or until the yogurt is absorbed.
*Repeat with the rest of the yogurt.
* Increase the heat to high, stir in the tomatoes and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.
* Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until the lamb is tender, stirring occasionally and adding more water if the sauce becomes too dry.
*Uncover the pan, increase the heat to high and cook stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
*Garnish with cilantro. And a dollop of sour cream.
LAMI KAAYO- VERY DELISH



PRESSED HERBS AND SPICES TURKEY BREAST


Source: Food Network (Rachael Ray)




After all this years i finally decided to cook turkey for Thanksgiving. Nope, not the whole bird=:)


I was watching Rachael Ray's Thanksgiving show and she made this recipe. It looked good, easy and interesting because of the ingredients. It is sort of an Indian/Middle Eastern fare.


I brined the turkey breast w/c was not required in this recipe, but it seems to me that majority of the Chefs recommends brining to make the turkey juicy.
It came out pretty good!!! It was juicy and moist. I will probably lessen the parsley next time because my daughter doesn't like too much parsley.




Ingredients:


3 tbsp. grill seasoning (Montreal Seasoning)
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. smoked sweet paprika
1 tbsp. coriander
4 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, 8 sprigs, stripped of stems
1 cup cilantro leaves, or 1/2 cup basil leaves
1 cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley
1 cup shelled natural pistachios
Exra-virgin olive oil, for generous drizzling
2 boneless halved turkey breasts, about 3 pounds each

Procedure:



Preheat oven to 450 degress F.
*Preheat a 14 inch skillet or medium roasting pan over medium heat on your largest burner. *Mix grill seasoning, cumin, paprika and coriander together.
*Place the thyme, cilantro or basil, parsley and pistachios in the food processor and process into a paste.
*Remove bowl from processor and remove blade from bowl.
*Have a rubber spatula on hand.
*Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil generously over the breasts to coat the skin.
*Loosen skin of the breasts with a small sharp knife.
*Divide the herb and nut paste between the flesh and skin on each breast.
*Use your hands to move the paste around under the skin to evenly distribute the mixture.
*Coat the extra-virgin olive oil coated skin with the spice mixture.
*Set the coated breasts into the large skillet or roasting pan.
*Wash hands, Set a second slightly smaller skillet or pan on top of the breasts and weight down with a couple of bricks covered in foil.
*Crisp the skin 8 to 10 minutes then transfer meat to oven and roast 35 to 40 minutes, until and isntant-read meat thermometer registers 165 to 179 degrees F.
*Let turkey rest to distribute juices then thinly slice and serve with stuffing and gravy.
***It was moist, tender and juicy!!!
HUMUT AND LAMI KAAYO - VERY AROMATIC AND VERY DELICIOUS

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

KIMCHI (Pickled Napa Cabbage/Bok Choy )



















This recipe was given to me by Kim (my classmate during my Culinary school days)who married a Korean .

Fills 2, 2 quart jars

2 lbs. Chinese cabbage
salt
6 scallion- thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves - finely chopped
2 tablespoon ginger finely chopped
2 tablespoon Korean chili powder (substitute w/ chili flakes)
1 t sugar
2 tablespoon fish sauce

Procedure:
Quarter cabbage lenghtwise then cut in 2 inch pieces.
Pour 6 1/4 cups water in a large bowl and stir in 3 tablespoon salt.
Add cabbage (weigh down to keep submerged).
Cover and leave for 12 hrs., stirring occasionally.
Remove cabbage and reserve salted water.
Mix cabbage with remaining ingredients and 1 teaspoon salt.
Pack into clean, dry 2 qt. jars.
Pour in enough of the reserved salted water to cover cabbage.
(Leave 1 inch at top of jar)
Cover with non metallic lid and leave for 3-6 days until it has become sour enough for your taste.
Refrigerate.

With this Kimchi, you can make a lot more of delicious dishes!! Check this out... KIMCHI TOFU  and  KIMCHI STEW







Sunday, November 18, 2007

















PHO GA AND PHO CHAY (Chicken Noodle and Vegetable Noodle Soup)

Try these noodles...they are as good as the conventional Chicken Noodle soups. And quick to make.

Y: 6 servingsPrep time: 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 package udon noodles or egg noodles. (You can actually use any kind of noodles)
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth (for Pho Chay- Vegetable noodle soup)
1 cup shredded cooked chicken breast
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 star anise
1 small stick of cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger thinly sliced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3/4 cup bean sprouts
3/4 cup snow peas cut in a bias
1 medium red or green bell peppers julienne
3/4 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms (optional)
2 heads baby bok choy, finely sliced
2 stalks scallions thinly sliced on a bias
1 lime or lemon cut into wedges
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves (omit if you don't like it)

**I usually use store bought Rotisserie Chicken. **

For Pho Chay use vegetable broth and omit the chicken.

Procedure:
Cook the noodles according to package instructions
Fill a pot with stock, brown sugar, star anise, cinnamon, ginger and soy sauce and bring to a boil.
When the noodles are done, just drain them and put half in each serving bowl.
Put shredded chicken on each bowl.
When the flavored stock comes to a boil, take out the spices and add the vegetables.
They should be cooked before 2 minutes are up.
Pour half into each bowl, over the cooked and drained noodles and sprinkle with cilantro. Squeeze lime or lemon juice and Sriracha (chili sauce) if you want it hot and spicy. Enjoy!!!!



INIT AND HALANG KAAYO(CEBUANO) - MEANING ..IT'S STEAMING HOT AND VERY SPICY

BIKO (SWEET RICE PUDDING)



This my mom's recipe. 
Ingredients.
6 cups sweet rice (malagkit)
1 can coconut milk
4 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Soak sweet rice with water for 15 minutes.

2. Discard water and then add 3 cups of water.

3. Boil on medium heat until cooked. Set aside.

4. Cook brown sugar with coconut milk and vanilla until sticky to make a molasses.

5. Mix cooked sweet rice with syrup. Stir until thoroughly mixed.

Serve hot or room temperature.

*LATIK (Visayan) Ingredients:

1 can coconut milk
1/2 lb brown sugar

Mix in a pot and bring to a summer, stirring constantly until melted together and thickens.

*Latik- Filipino molasses/ sugar syrup
 
 

I love to scrape those rice crust at the bottom (dukot') of the pot and garnish it.

 
 

TAMI-IS : MEANS SWEET IN CEBUANO