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Pumpkin Soup

I would call this one an upgraded version of the locally known "dinuldog".  You can go light or creamy with this soup. For this round, I just added milk. This plain pumpkin soup is actually jam packed with a lot more than what you see. This is very delicious and good source of vitamins for your little ones and adults alike. My daughter is sometimes a picky eater and she can finish up a bowl of this. The main ingredients for this would be what you see below. Just make sure that if you choose a medium-sized gourd that your other ingredients would be rationally proportioned. Normally, I'd use a regular blender, but since mine went kablam! I used a stick blender and it still turned out the way I wanted; kitchen crisis averted! =)

 

 1/8 cup cooking oil

1/8 pumpkin or squash, sliced to smaller bits
1 white onion, 

3-4 cloves garlic,

2 potatoes,
2 carrots, 

chicken stock (just enough to cover ingredient while simmering)

salt and pepper
milk / regular or coconut cream

Directions:

Prepare chicken stock ahead (you can use cubes or boil chicken bones). Chop pumpkin into matchbox sizes; mince onion, garlic, potatoes and carrots. In a pot, put cooking oil, saute garlic and white onions for 1 minute. Saute pumpkin and stir it once in a while for about 5 minutes. Add in chicken stock, throw in the potatoes and carrots and simmer until all the ingredients are soft. Remove from heat. Using a blender, throw in the mixture and blend until its consistency is smooth.

If using regular cream or coconut cream, put the smooth mixture back into the pot and add in cream and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring to incorporate the cream into the mixture. Serve while still hot. Top with croutons or serve with garlic bread.

Ava Alturas' FINE ARTS

Ava Alturas ' FINE ARTS

She usually pins them up on our cork board & whenever she pins something new she calls my attention and says "Mom, look! my fine arts" (with her cute foreign accent, only happens whenever she feels American) LOL . I'm a mother and a very proud one. That year when she knew how to hold a pen she had already started scribbling. I can still remember years ago, her so-called "people" looked liked worms. She even drew us as a family, we all looked like caterpillars back then and look at them now, they have hands and feet. She still has a lot to grow, I know! I am not in a rush. At 4 years of age, she never seizes to amaze and bring me joy every day. <3 Much love to my baby girl Arabella <3

P.S. I still don't know where she got the term "fine arts".

Hello Ariel

Hello Ariel \^♦^/

Drawing, one of the few hobbies that I share in interest with my daughter Ava Alturas. Will post pics of her "fine arts" soon (that's what she calls her drawings hahahhaha). We have a little bulletin board in our room and she pins her drawing there and says "Mom, look at my fine arts" that got me laughing. Joys of being a mom <3

Binagoongan Baboy

So, okay! I was at a lost for words for a week but I really didn't stop at making my favorite dishes. So here's one memory from my first job.  A local joint had this as a breakfast meal, they served it with sunny side-up egg (that is how i want it). So for my rendition, I had served sweetened green mangoes to compliment the subtle saltiness of the binagoongang baboy (pork cuts with salted shrimp paste). For the recipe of bagoong, just refer to my previous post =)  

 Ingredients:

• 1/4 kilo adobo cut pork
• 1 -2 pcs bay leaf
• 1/4 tbsp. freshly ground pepper
• a dash of salt
• 6 cups water for boiling
• 4 pcs crushed garlic 
• bagoong (shrimp paste)

Directions:
Mix all 1st six ingredients into a pot and bring pork to a boil until tender. When pork is tender, drain water. In a frying pan, put pork and incorporate bagoong ( shrimp paste) and mix well for about 3-5 minutes and serve. Serve egg or sweetened mangoes on the side with 1 cup of rice( or maybe more LOLZ ). Enjoy!

Bagoong (Shrimp Paste)

This is a classic recipe from my grandmother's recipe book. My memories of this would be that of harvest season when we would go up to Guadalupe hills to gather green and ripe mangoes to sell at the local market. You would then expect that she would have her freshly cooked, "pitcher" full of her famous bagoong alamang (shrimp paste) on top of the table the next day. Nothing really cements chit-chat moments more than teeming green mangoes and limitless bagoong. Mind you, this is not your ordinary and plain tasting bagoong. Yes! those are just 4 ingredients but it if it is cooked with love, your family will have endless fond memories, just like what we have, up until now. Much love for my lola Letty.  <3

Ingredients: 

• about 200 grams / Php 50 worth of fermented shrimp
• 1/4 kilo white sugar
• 20 pcs. finger chillies (siling labuyo), stems chopped off (adjust this to your liking)
• 7-10 pcs of chopped garlic
• 3- tbsp. of water 
• 1/4 cup oil

Directions:

Heat oil in pan, saute in finger chillies for about 30 seconds, add garlic and saute for 1 minute. 

Add in fermented shrimp, stir until chillies and garlic are evenly distributed with the shrimp.

Add in 3 tbsp. water, stir

Add in sugar. Upon adding sugar, always fold the mixture until the flavors marry. 

*Leaving it unattended, will burn the caramelized sugar thus, it will not produce the right consistency for your shrimp paste. 

Enjoy! 

I will be posting a separate entry for the Binagoongang Baboy recipe.

Chicken Mami

For those times when it is past 10pm and it's raining cats and dogs(very cliché). Nothing to do... nobody to talk to... nobody there to comfort you... Hahahahaha (emo moments) :-(

You will always have a choice between your instant noodles or that "pansiterya" (noodle stall) just right down the corner from where you live. Ooopssies, I forgot! Did I mention that it was raining? Isn't that a bummer?

So just cook your own comfort food; my choice during these rainy days would be a steaming hot bowl of chicken mami, warm yourself with a blanket and watch a movie. Cherrio!

Here's the list of ingredients

 

Serves 1 

•  4-5 cloves of crushed garlic
•  1/2 bulb med. sized onion, thinly sliced
•  1/2 slice of breast, sliced
•  4 cups of water
•  1 med. sized carrots, peeled
•  1/4 cup cabbage, shredded
•  1/2 cup fresh miki, rinsed
•  salt and pepper  

Garnish

• 1 hard-boiled egg
• 1 med sized scallions, chopped
• crushed chicharon (fried pork rinds)

Directions:
Bring chicken to boil with 3 cups of water, crushed garclic, onion, salt and pepper to taste. Note: To skip adding chicken flavoring, I've added chicken's backbone to produce more flavor to the broth. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes, remove scum that surfaces. Gradually add in water when needed. 

Wait until chicken breasts are slightly tender before adding carrots, add in fresh miki, add cabbage. Once chicken meat and carrots are tender, serve in a bowl. Garnish with sliced hard-boiled egg, chopped scallions and crushed pork rinds.

Serve while it is still hot!

Sweet Pickled Mangoes for Midnight Munching

Pad Thai

  

Sawadee Ka! (สวัสดี)

So, my taste buds have been a bit adventurous, they were craving for something that shouts Thailand! My head and my heart was asking for some Pad Thai; nothing more and nothing less. I first tasted this dish when I've had a visit in Lexington, KY. We ate at this place called Planet Thai where you can get Thai food with a fusion of western influences and leave smelling like Thai spice when you go home too (It's like you've never left Planet Thai). Don't get me wrong their food was great!

;~D

I have dined in a couple of restaurants here in Cebu and I didn't enjoy their pad thai. There was always something off; It's either the sauce was runny, there weren't enough pieces of shrimp or I don't see the peanuts (ahahahaha). I mean, I just want to get value for my money. Wouldn't you want the same?

Oh well! Better cook it yourself, your way. I've shared the recipe below.

Main Ingredients:

Sauce Ingredients: 

1/3 cup fish sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp tamarind paste

1 tbsp water

 

Simmer sauce ingredients first and set aside.

Pad Thai Instructions:

• In a large wok sautee minced garlic, minced onions, sliced chicken breast until chicken is cooked. 
• Add in tofu then add 2 eggs (let white part set in a bit before scrambling the eggs)
• Turn off heat until rice noodles is ready. (cook rice noodles per package directions)
• Drain rice noodles. 
• Add pad thai sauce to wok. Add in drained rice noodles. Add garlic chives, add shrimps. Stir-fry until all ingredients are covered with sauce. Continue stirring until sauces starts running dry. Turn off heat. 
• Toss bean sprouts and chopped roasted peanuts
• Plate and add lime wedges for garnish. 
• Serve while it is still hot. Enjoy!

Kin-Khao-Hai-A-Roi-Na

Kaya Toast

I lived in Singapore for 9 months and loved the gastronomic experience it brought
my stomach. Although, I rarely dined out on pricey restaurants, I didn't fail in testing some unique dishes -- hawker style! If you're taste buds are open to options, Singapore can offer you a cultural "melting pot" without going over your daily budget.  Hawker centers are a large grouping of food stalls where they can ofter you Indian, Chinese, Indonesian, Singaporean, and if you are lucky, Filipino plates all in one area.

Local hawker centers or TOAST BOX (a part of the Bread Talk group of companies) can serve you this combination; Kaya toast, soft boiled eggs w/ soy & tea tarik. Don't you just love waking up to this kind of breakfast? Apart from the bad rep of these cholesterol-filled soft boiled eggs, uncle and aunties (term they used for the elderly) even enjoy two, in one sitting; it is best served with soy mixed into the eggs. 

Well, I certainly don't have any problems with it. =)

The way I prepare this is to first toast your bread, it doesn't matter if it's plain or french. Spread kaya on the bread, then mix in something of your preference; I just had lite butter available. You can combine kaya with peanut butter, margarine, jams or what have you. Fold the bread in half or put another slice on top, then dip it on the soft- boiled egg + soy mixture. You should get a right mix of sweet and salty flavors all in one toast. For my beverage, I always have been a fan of tea tarik (literally "pulled tea", this is an Indian method of making milk tea); you can also pair this with Kopi-C or Kopi-O ( just cofee... LOL) ...

~ Missing Singapore ~

Right above is my homemade kaya. This is made out of the following ingredients

6 eggs

500 g sugar*

  300 g coconut milk

pandan leaves

* I used mascuvado sugar

Cheesy and Meaty Baked Ziti in Tomato Sauce

Cheesy and Meaty Baked Ziti in Tomato Sauce

This is actually a smaller version of what I had cooked for my tatay's(dad) birthday. This is right there on top of my favorite dishes, but I am accustomed to eating it with bechamel sauce. The most convenient and reasonably priced restaurant where you can get a good helping of baked ziti is at Sbarro, a local restaurant. This food just brings back fond memories, this was already an indulgence for a bunch of college friends trying to make the most of their weekly budget. It really didn't matter where we ate, it was just rounding up the circle for food trip (Hahahaha good times!!!)

Well, this is my version and I am opting for a lesser evil, lesser caloric content; hence, I served our guests baked ziti in tomato sauce. The picture below is the bigger verion, that serves 12 people with big appetite.

=)

Cheesecake Brownies

A special slice for a VIP

I bought a big slab(1k) of dark chocolate last saturday and was thinking of ways how to make good use of it. I also saw that I had some cream cheese from my fajita, isn't that a great mix? Bittersweet chocolate and cream cheese with a little bit of lovin <3 . Way before I started cooking, my tendencies were geared towards baking. It started with just moist cakes, brownies and the likes. Then came this most challenging piece I had made for my little girl's birthday; a doll cake. I was crazy experimenting with fondant having little knowledge on how to handle it, what was I thinking! 

(I will try to post the picture on a separate entry; that's if I can find it.) 

Going back to the cheesecake, instead of the usual biscuit crust I opted to have brownies for base. The cheesecake mix was supposed to be just refrigerated and not baked but I was not happy with the firmness of the cheesecake after a few hours of freezing it so I decided to bake it for a couple of minutes and vhoom! (hehehe how is that for sound effects?). It doesn't look perfect but I reckon it taste uh-mazing ;~)
 Did it?

Bo's Coffee Frappuccino

Faceless: I am never a fan of frappuccinos and never will be. But hey look at me I am drinkin' frappys at Bo's... Do I look happy or do I look happy??? 

The reason why I bought this espresso frappuccino is because I got it for a lesser price than their regular other than that it just makes my stomach upset. I just paid Php50 for this drink. Bo's coffee has this promotion going every Tuesdays and Thursdays between the hours of 10am -3pm you get to pay 15 pesos for the brewed coffee and  3pm- 7pm pay only 50 pesos for your choice of frappuccino. Not quite sure with rest of the details on the said promotion but this applies to Bo's Ayala Cebu City.

Tortino al Cioccolato Caldo su Creme Anglaise

I have to admit I didn't think that mangoes would compliment the chocolate lava cake. The recipe was from "thefatkidinside" himself, Erwan Heussaff -- Hahahaha wish we were that close but I am just a mere follower of his wordpress blog. Did a few tweaks here and there on the ingredients-- sans the peppered chocolate (just plain dark chocolate for Ava) and the raspberries. My little girl kept on calling it Ava's lava; a pretty catchy name. I exponentially made his recipe to cater to a number of people in my family. They all liked it! esp. that oozing bittersweet chocolate inside. The yellowish cream is Anglaise, that tastes like melted custard with a hint of cashew flavor.This by the ways is served while hot! An alternate compliment to the cake is vanilla ice cream drizzled with melted dark chocolate.

So, is there a proper way to eat this stuff??? Hell yeah! Here is where the merriment of flavors happen... 

Fork the tortino al cioccolato caldo, scrape a bit of the creme anglaise and leave a bit of room for the mango and eat that in one bite- delish!

I made this on the 4th of July not because I wanted to celebrate Independence day together with the American's but it calls for a far more special celebration; it's my late grandmother's birthday.

Happy Birthday Lola Bebe!

recipe resource: [http://thefatkidinside.com]

Finally, a bit of R&R action ~ a bit of ME time =) 

watching Outsourced with a cup of  hot coco, perfect mix for the rainy days.

Tex-Mex Chicken Fajitas

Chicken Fajita

Here is a little tex-mex recipe for my collection :) 

I loved eating these chicken fajita's @ El Loco resto (if any1 can recall, they were located below Skyrise bldg.) before they closed down. I like anything wrapped in pita/ tortilla, i guess; burittos, shawarma, quesadilla. Ava enjoyed rolling out the flour tortillas and everybody else enjoyed eating it!

But these fajita's are definitely better(self-proclaimed goodness) with the sour cream, cream cheese and a bit of spice to the chicken just giving you that tex-mex feel. And if you noticed Coke Cola in the picture that's because it is THE perfect combination to the fajitas! Enjoy ;)

Me and Running

It has been exactly 1 week since my knee failed on me while running, they have not done that ever since I started. (This may gross you out) I miss the feeling of sweat and the endorphines rushing after each workout. My avatar is clearly bored with paddling and so am I with all my everyday routines.

Quitting and Starting Anew

So... to date, it has been more than 2 weeks since I've deactivated Facebook; I've started to feel that it has been an addictive and non-productive cycle I had become to acquire. But, I would not put an end to that statement the chances of reactivating it is still fairly high! I have kept my fingers busy with far more meaningful things these days. I have been searching for avenues to put my hobbies to a test and hopefully create a brand name out of these skills (shooting for the stars!!!)


And where am I now? @ blogger.com putting myself out there on the cyber community again LOLz wasting a few hours on the net. Hopefully, I would find this blogging experience of greater purpose and I am also looking forward to connect to people from different walks of life, sharing whether experiences, small talks or what have you.