Manang's Lechon Manok

Syempre hindi kumpleto ang Pinoy food cravings ko kung walang lechon manok. That is the main reason why I got myself a rotisserie. Actually, my friend Ana has it, and cooked lechon manok in it using cornish hens. That's what gave me the idea of getting myself this rotisserie.

My favorite back when I was in Pinas was the Baliwag style, although Andok's was more ubiquitous. But I had a different experience when I bought some at one of the MRT stations near JR Memorial Hospital (can't remember the name of the stall). The outlet was small, yet the machine was more high tech, and I love the spicy taste (although it was a bit too hot for my kids). I think the different spice flavor was due to the five-spice, which I tried below. And I added some other spices to experiment. If you notice, the two chickens below have different colors. That's because of different flavors. The chickens were the smallest ones among our very own homegrown chickens. Love them with atsarang papaya and steamy rice, plus sarsa ni Mang Tomas, of course. Hubby had the potato with it, and does not care for veggies.

Ingredients:
Whole chickens (that will fit in the rotisserie)
5 cloves garlic each
1 onion each
lemongrass stalks
celery stalks
whole peppers
several fenugreek seeds (I love the smell of it)
kosher salt to taste (in the cavity and on the skin)
various spices (I experimented with five spice, paprika, curry powder, ground pepper, etc -- up to you to experiment. Use your nose to see what you think will give you superb flavor)
Blocks of butter to keep skin moist.

Instructions:
Photos below pretty much self-explanatory. Cooking time depends on weight of chicken (about 2 hours for these two small chickens to make sure they are done. You can always check by prying with a fork or using a thermometer).
Add the veggies one hour before done.
Let sit on the platter for about 10 minutes before attacking to allow for the juices to redistribute.

Pork Hamonado

I was asked recently by two fb friends about a hamonado recipe. I presumed it was the pork, since that was what we always used to have when I was still in the Philippines. I did not really have a recipe, but I do remember my Nanay simmering a big cut of pork, usually pigue in lots of pineapple juice, flavored with soy sauce and brown sugar.

Ingredients:
1 pork ham (roast cut, about 5-6 pounds - whether cured or not, it won't matter)
1 liter pineapple juice (about 40 oz)
1 small can of pineapple, round slices, for garnishing (up to you if you want more)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 bay leaves
10 peppercorns

Instructions:
I slow cooked the whole ham in the pineapple, soy sauce, spices and brown sugar on high for about 4 hours (although my son disturbed the whole process by opening the lid after 3 hours, so instead of being completely done by the end of the 4 hours, it was still quite tough although done). I served this as is during the Filipino Christmas Party for the sake of our American hubbies (two attended, so that makes it three including my husband). Knowing my hubby would have liked it drier and more tender, I did not expect him to eat much of it since it was swimming in its own juice plus the pineapple juice and was very wet. But I did not have the time then to fix it some more to his liking. I did so the next day for supper using the big left over.

For those who will attempt to make it the way I did, the gist of the steps is: (1) boil ham in the mixture until just done, but will remain whole when lifted out of the pot instead of fall-off-the-bone tender; (2) remove fat and make the sauce; (3) roast ham with pineapple on top, basting from time to time with the sauce. They way I presented this recipe here is more like narration of how I made mine, adjusting under the circumstances. I encourage you to proceed as it suits yours.

To continue with the details of the next steps after boiling/simmering...

That night, I placed the big leftover ham in a roasting pan and left it out in the garage which serves now as my big refrigerator. The next day, I removed all the fat that solidified on top, then simmered the ham covered inside that roasting pan for about an hour, basting from time to time with the sauce. More fat shed oil, so that at the end of 1 hour (which assured me the ham was heated all the way to the middle), I used the fat separator in making the sauce. [Please take note that if you directly roast after slowcooking, you will not need to simmer again. I did this only to reheat before I roasted.]  Leaving about a cup of sauce in the pan, I transferred the rest to a small saucepan. I drained the juice off pineapple slices and placed the slices on top of the ham while I heated up the oven to 400 deg F. I placed the pan uncovered in the lower rack and started making the sauce in the saucepan. I just let it boil for about 10 minutes then started adding water-cornstarch mixture (about 1/4 cup of water with 2 tbsp cornstarch), and added in thin stream into the boiling sauce until it was thick as desired. Then I basted the roast/pineapple slices with this sauce about 3 times in intervals of 5 minutes, until the meat achieved a good browning and the pineapple slices were glazed good.

I took out the whole ham and placed it on a platter, then poured some more sauce on top, and had the rest of the sauce in a gravy boat for each person to pour as desired on their slices of ham. The ham remained intact as we sliced, yet very tender and done just to my husband's liking. And we shared with my in-laws, who found the taste delightfully good! This time, we had just a little left over, about 3/4 cup chopped meat, enough for me to make a small batch of pork hamonado siopao.

Crispy Pata, the Healthier Way

How do you cook crispy pata with less guilt? Use the oven!

No wasted gallons of cooking oil...no need for oversized pots....no splatters!

And you end up with crispy pata that has the crackled look on the skin, which has dripped some of its melted fat onto the pan it sits on (and you can even use the drippings to make pork gravy later)...

How to make crispy pata the healthier way?

This was a eureka moment for us... We were celebrating my friend Fe's birthday party last Saturday. As I said in my previous post, I brought pandan chiffon cake (which Fe and her son love!) Cecilia brought a big chunk of pork pata that she had been cooking since 3:30 am and still had not achieved the crunchy skin stage (we know about the skin being smooth and crunchy on traditional lechon...that's what we wanted to achieve). When we arrived at Fe's house, she was still out WORKING! But she was coming home soon, so we started to fiddle with her oven. We really did not know how to set the digital controls...We placed the pan on the lower third of the oven.

When she came back, we cooked rice...then she noticed the lechon...and that the oven was warm but not baking at that time she checked (off, in other words!). Cecilia went on to say, "Hindi pa malutong yung balat eh. Pano ba gamitin yang oven mo?" Fe checked, and said, "I-broil na lang natin." So she set her oven to broil.

After 5 minutes we took a look and saw what you see in the pictures on the slideshow above.

I then realized...the traditional way to cook chicharon or lechon kawali or crispy pata was to boil the pork/rind first in some mixture of water, vinegar and spices, then dry, then deep-fry. This accidental discovery was the short cut method in that you cook the pork first by roasting for about 3 hours to fully cook it (provided you brined the pork or flavored it somehow with spices prior, or placed spices like lemongrass, bay leaf, peppercorn, etc. underneath the roast while roasting, along with a sprinkle of garlic salt on the skin), then broil to create the crackled effect on the skin. (Did I not post about chicken skin chicharon, where I said I turn it to chicharon by using my nuwave to broil/bake the pre-cooked chicken skin? I also posted about smaller pork roast using the rotisserie after cooking/boiling and letting dry the chunk of pork pata.)

We wolfed down this roast in less than 30 minutes...nagpipigil pa so everyone (including our kids) can have his/her share! The thing was, we did not have Sarsa ni Mang Tomas! So we just made our own alternative dip of vinegar with chili, soy sauce, salt and pepper.

The cut that Cecilia brought had no skin underneath, but if you will try this method using pork pata with skin all around, I suggest that once the "cooking" phase is done and you are ready to broil the pata, use a wire rack to elevate the pata so the underside is open to hot air and is not soaked in juices, then after crisping the top, rotate so you crisp the bottom also (have not tried this, but it is an idea.)

Try it yourself! You won't regret it!

Pork Roasted in Mang Tomas Sarsa

Our supper menu on that day:
Pandelimon with butter (This is our favorite dinner roll)
Fresly picked cukes from my garden (sliced)
mashed potatoes
Pork Roasted in Mang Tomas Sarsa ng Lechon

Hubby loved it! And when hubby likes a food, it almost certainly is liked by everyone in our family. He is that picky. Ingredients are few and preparation is super simple! I just need to have time, so it is perfect on a day off when I have got so many chores to do.


Ingredients:
pork roast (butt cut maybe? spinal column at one side)
1 bottle of Mang Tomas All Purpose Sauce (Sarsa ng Lechon) (11.64 oz)
2 medium onions, sliced

Instructions:
I started this with the pork fresh from the freezer so total cooking time was 4 hours. If you are using non-frozen, you can cut the time to 3 hours for really well-done.
Place sliced onions at the bottom of roasting pan. Add the sauce and distribute evenly.
Place the roast on top. Cover. Place this on the lower rack of the oven and bake at 350 deg F for 3 hours (less if not frozen). (If you are planning to make pandelimon as well, start preparing the pandelimon after baking the pork for an hour, and that leaves you total of 3 hours to prepare the dough and bake them).
Uncover, and glaze the top of the roast with the sauce (which now contains a lot of juice from the pork itself). Continue baking for an hour uncovered, checking from time to time that sauce does not totally evaporate (may add little water as needed to keep a good volume). Also baste the roast repeatedly as needed for a nice glaze. (With pandelimon rolls, transfer the roast at the very bottom of the oven and bake the rolls on the upper rack, upper 1/3 of the oven, for about 12-15 minutes).

What to do with leftovers (you can only eat so much, you know!), gather all the sauce with onions, add some more water and stir to get all the flavor from the pan. Sieve through and catch all liquid into fat separator. Place this in a small saucepan and boil until reduced to a good amount and consistency. Meanwhile, shred the leftover pork meat, discarding the fat, then grind or roughly chop. Mix with the sauce. You can adjust the taste to your preference. Then you can use this for a differently flavored pork siopao (either steamed or baked).

A Simple Roast Pork

It seems like chicken...haha! But this is a roast cut of pork, with spine and some ribs at one side (I don't exactly know what you call that kind of cut). I was looking at my freezer and was wondering what to prep for supper. I saw this roast cut...though there were several ligaments and fascia, the cut was very lean.

Very simple to prepare, all I added was kosher salt and freshly milled gourmet pepper. Straight from the freezer, I baked it at 350 deg F in that same roasting pan showed in the pic, which is the same material as my boiling water canner. The first 2 hours I exposed it, then I added the veggies (broccoli spears and zucchini) and baked covered for another hour.

Hubby at first frowned upon seeing it was mostly "red" pork meat (I am not sure what part of pork would be "white," although I have been seeing ads about pork being the "other white meat"), but he tried it anyway, and was surprisingly delighted at the very good flavor of the tender meat that he ate a full meal after all. My kids loved it (no surprise there! They are my #1 fans.)

Sisig (using Pork Face, of course!)

Sisig is hard to come by nowadays for the likes of me, transplanted from my beloved Philippines to this rural country.

Good thing, being a rural place that this states is, one time I had a pig's head which my in-laws did not like (they had their pig slaughtered and knew I wanted what they did not, so I got some pork goodies).

What else is there to do with a pig's head than to turn it to a Filipino classic ppulutan dish called sisig?

Of course, I turned to the internet to look for recipes (those of Market Manila and burntlumpia, in particular), and tweaked the method to suit what I have at home -- boiling then oven-roasting instead of deep-frying, before chopping. This takes about 2 days for me at least (boiling and drying separately from roasting and cooking the sisig per se).

Too bad that recently, somehow it seems that there is now a law prohibiting the slaughterhouses to reserve the head and the innards to give to the owners per request. During my first year here I was able to get the pork and beef intestines, and the pork head, but now I can't. I don't know if I can request from a grocery store, but then I do not trust meat from unknown sources (and I mean meat from pork/beef/chicken that we did not raise ourselves. If you are aware of the practices in animal farming here in the US, you would understand why). So this is a fond memory for me, having cooked sisig at least once in my lifetime, served during a Christmas gathering with my Pinay friends. It was literally heart-wrenching (after eating just a bit, we knew we had loads of fat from this dish), but was transported back to the Philippines for a while.

Ingredients:
pork head, boiled, deboned, chopped

BOILING
water enough to cover
10 or so peppercorns
2 bay leaves
salt (approximate depending on amount of water)
1 head garlic

ROASTING
spray of olive oil
sprinkles of garlic salt

SISIG PROPER (for about 3 cups of chopped pork face/ears)
1 big onion, chopped
3 chopped green chilies (amount depends on how hot you want it)
freshly milled black pepper
salt

crushed chicharon
sliced green chilies
vinegar
lemon juice

Instructions:
Boil the head in a big pot for about 30 minutes. Let drain. Dry out further by placing in the fridge atop a wire rack on a baking pan uncovered at least overnight (but do not overdo by drying more than 1 day).

When ready to roast, heat up the oven with the rack placed at the very bottom. Set to 450 deg F.

Take out the pig's head. You are going to use the whole ensemble. Brush or spray the pig's head with olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Roast for 15 minutes then lower the heat to 350 deg F. Bake for 1 hour.

Separate meat/fat/skin from the bones. Chop, chop, chop.

At this point, you may want to freeze some for later use. You will not be able to consume the whole thing unless you have a whole barangay of Pinoys who would gladly have their share of this artery-constricting concoction.

Prepare the other ingredients. Heat up your cast-iron griddle (the wider the better) on high for about 5 minutes. Lower the heat to 6 or even 4 so as not to burn and place the chopped pork face. Stir, stir, stir until it renders it own fat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add black pepper and salt to taste. Stir some more until it becomes fried in its own fat so it get a little crispy.

Drain the excess fat. Drizzle with vinegar and lemon juice. Adjust taste accordingly by adding salt and pepper. Top with chicharon and some more sliced chilies.

Making Gravy

While making this post, I am roasting chicken, with my potato peasant bread rising. We are gonna make a mini-birthday celebration of my husband's birthday (will celebrate with in-laws on weekend). Boxed brownie for dessert in place of cake (pagod na ko eh!)



Over the years with probably at least 12 times preparing roast chicken or (with occasional turkey if I am tasked to host a major holiday event) every year, my method of making gravy has evolved.



I have tried using roux method where you melt butter then add flour (this will replace the flour-water mixture) then the drippings/juice follow, the taste adjusted with salt and pepper (and/or soy sauce and worcestershire sauce) to come up with the final gravy. My problem with this is that, the amount of juice I make varies, and sometimes the roux I made is not enough to thicken the whole amount, so I end up boiling (and stirring) some more to reduce the sauce to achieve the desired consistency. Well, not really finding any special effect (like others claim it results to smoother and tastier gravy), I ditched that method.



What I describe below is how I prefer nowadays to make my gravy.









Ingredients:



drippings from roasted chicken or turkey

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup water (or adjust to make a thick batter yet easy enough to pour)

1/4 cup sherry or cooking wine

salt and pepper to taste



Instructions:

A prelude:

Of course it starts with preparing a good base to start with. Your drippings should contain at least 4 cups of juice to have enough gravy to last the whole chicken (or to use for leftover, if making sandwiches or empanada, etc.). You also should have a good mix of spices (I prefer basic onion, garlic, peppercorns, celery, bay leaves, lemongrass) in the water you put in, with a good spice paste (like the garlic rosemary paste I put under the skin), or just plain (kosher) salt and freshly milled pepper (this combination is my husband's preference) sprinkle on the skin. I also like brining my chicken or turkey with 4 cups of water + 1/4 cup kosher salt while thawing in the fridge the day prior to roasting (this preferably should be rinsed of the next day, and the chicken left open in the fridge to dry out the skin some before roasting, which results to crispier skin). And if you have Americans in your household, the usual potato/carrots combination is a must as well.

So after 2.5 hours of roasting, I transfer the chicken onto a shallower aluminum pan (like my jelly roll pan) to continue for 30 minutes more, with foil over it to avoid overbrowning the skin. I then proceed to making the gravy.



Using a good fat separator like my Amco, I remove fat/oil as well as

big chunks of spices and veggies from the drippings.



I then boil using a small saucepan. I adjust the taste at this point before thickening with flour/water combination.





When I am satisfied with the consistency (I make it a bit thicker because of the next step), I stop and wait awhile. Meanwhile, I transfer potatoes and carrots in a bowl. I prepare the pan for putting back the chicken there.



When chicken is done, I transfer it back to the original pan. Now the jelly roll pan also has some drippings, and partly browned at some points. I now place this pan on stovetop, pour the sherry or cooking wine there, turn on the stove to med heat, scrape the bottom of the pan that it gets dissolved with the sherry/wine, resulting to brown sauce with intense flavor. I now pour this into the saucepan containing the gravy and mix well. Now my gravy has golden brown color with intense flavor and depth to it, so unlike the light brown sauce resulting from mixes.



Love it!

Honey Garlic Pork Roast

From Honey Garlic Pork Roast

I made this using the shoulder butt roast ("butt" cut as explained by hubby is any cut that they could make out of a poor area to cut due to many ligaments/fats. In Tagalog, "bara-bara"). Since this roast cut is the equivalent of a chuck roast in beef, I decided to slow cook it. Hubby loved the flavor of this sauce, and it reminded my sons and I of adobo. I got the recipe from allrecips.com but it was using pork ribs.

Ingredients:
shoulder butt roast
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp + 2 tsp soy sauce (that's 40 mL)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground mustard.

Instructions:

Brown all sides of roast.
Prepare sauce. Pour some on the slow cooker.
Place roast underside up in the slow cooker and pour some sauce.
Flip roast over and pour the rest of the sauce, distributing well all over surface.
Cover and slow cook for 4 hrs on high (or 8 hrs on low)
Let rest on a platter for 10 mins before slicing.
Serve with your favorite sides (photo here shows rice, chop suey, and basic egg bread)

Roasted Turkey

This is for my Ate Cris in Canada. We were talking on Skype last night, and she

From Roasted Turkey

asked me how I cooked the turkey when I visited her last 2006. I promised I would give her the instructions. She got a free turkey from the grocery store that time we cooked it. First time she witnessed turkey being cooked, and first time to have a taste of a deliciously prepared turkey (the prior ones she tasted were like cardboard, she said).

First check if your turkey is brined or not. Turkey should be completely thawed. If you bought frozen turkey, it might take 2-5 days to completely thaw in the refrigerator depending on the weight (or use cooler with some ice, if you place the cooler out in your garage or porch). Do not thaw in room temp.

Once completely thawed, if your turkey is not brined, brine it in kosher salt:cold water mixture of 2 cups:1 gallon (1 cup only if table salt). Use your cooler (clean first!) to submerge the whole turkey. Add spices like garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves and onions if you desire. Brine at least overnight, preferably two nights before you plan to bake the turkey. Then rinse, wipe and put on a cooling wire rack on top of baking pan, place in the fridge to let air dry for at least 4 hours (drying helps make the skin crisp when you bake). You can start the airdrying night before you are going to bake.

When ready to bake, prepare your spices:
whole garlic, cloves separated, roasted in oven toaster for 7 mins, mashed, and mixed with 1 tbsp each of rosemary leaves and crushed lemongrass. This is your garlic paste.

Separate skin from meat using your fingers or the blunt handle of wooden spoon. Place some garlic paste under skin. Massage to distribute. Wipe skin and cavity lining. Rub some paste onto skin and lining.

Stuff the cavity with:
1 whole onion, 1 whole garlic, bunch of lemongrass, rind of lemon (use the juice in something else), innards (liver and gizzard).

Place on a rack on top of roasting pan with chunks of onions, carrots, celery, and water to cover the veggies.

Place oven rack on lowest position. Heat oven to 400 deg and bake turkey covered with foil for 30 mins. Uncover, spray skin with oil (or brush), and sprinkle with garlic salt and freshly milled/ground pepper. Put back in, turn heat to 350 deg. Bake for additional 3 hours (or more depending on the weight -- check out below from guideline I got from wiki). If skin is crispy brown already, cover with foil and bake again for another 30 minutes or until done.

Take turkey out and let rest on the platter, covered loosely with foil. Wait at least 10 minutes before carving. This will redistribute the juice so you will not end up with dry meat on the breast part.

Prepare gravy. (Use fat separator if you have one.) Place the pan on stove top and using a silicone spatula, loosen the crust formed (if any). Add water (or white wine), season with salt and pepper and soy sauce if needed, to come up with around 2-3 cups of gravy. Don't forget to get the liver and mash it in the sauce. Once you got the taste right, continue to boil while you mix 1/2 cup flour with 1 cup water. Using wire whisk, while sauce is briskly boiling, add in thin streams the flour/water mixture and continue stirring until you have achieved the right thickness. Strain the gravy.

Of course, you prefer to eat this with rice, not mashed potato. But if you want to have mashed potatoes, peel and boil with some salt about 10 medium potatoes for 4-5 people (Yukon or Russet or White) for about 30 minutes on high (don't let water dry out). Add about 1/4 cup of butter, cut up to make them melt easily. Using hand beater, mash the potatoes first before turning on to medium setting. Add about 1/4 cup of half and half cream (or just enough to achieve consistency you want). Serve with butter on top, and let people sprinkle pepper and/or salt.

Hope my instructions are clear! Enjoy your turkey!

NOTES:

How long to thaw frozen turkey:

Turkey Thawing Time in the Refrigerator (40 degrees F):
Approximately 24 hours per 5 pounds

Whole Turkey Weight Thawing Time
8 to 12 lbs 1 to 2 days
12 to 16 lbs 2 to 3 days
16 to 20 lbs 3 to 4 days
20 to 24 lbs 4 to 5 days
Turkey Thawing Time in Cold Water: Approximately 30 minutes per pound.
Change water every 1/2 hour.

Whole Turkey Weight Thawing Time
8 to 12 lbs 4 to 6 hours
12 to 16 lbs 6 to 8 hours
16 to 20 lbs 8 to 10 hours
20 to 24 lbs 10 to 12 hours

Source: GlobalGourmet
How long to bake turkey:

USDA Roasting Timetable for Fresh or Thawed Turkey at 325° F.

These times are approximate and should always be used in conjunction with a properly placed thermometer. The USDA does not recommend cooking turkey in an oven set lower than 325° F.

Unstuffed
8 to 12 pounds 2 3/4 to 3 hours
12 to 14 pounds 3 to 3 3/4 hours
14 to 18 pounds 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 hours
18 to 20 pounds 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 hours
20 to 24 pounds 4 1/2 to 5 hours

Stuffed
8 to 12 pounds 3 to 3 1/2 hours
12 to 14 pounds 3 1/2 to 4 hours
14 to 18 pounds 4 to 4 1/4 hours
18 to 20 pounds 4 1/4 to 4 3/4 hours
20 to 24 pounds 4 3/4 to 5 1/4 hours

Source: WikiAnswers

Roast Chicken with Baked Potatoes

Last night's supper menu:

Roast Chicken with homemade gravy
Baked Potatoes
French Bread

(No dessert! We usually do not have space in our tummy for dessert after a heavy hearty meal like this). I meant to serve steamed broccoli as well but I totally forgot to prepare it towards the last 30 minutes of baking the chicken, potatoes, and bread.

In preparing these, I started about 3-1/2 hrs prior to my targeted time for meal. The photos in my slideshow below are from my first year of roasting chicken, as I blogged about in my old kusina. I have prepared this numerous times now and I have developed my method to come up with menus that would maximize the use of oven and time.

I used one of our very own homegrown chickens. For the potatoes, I used big Russet potatoes, which might have been 1-pounder each. This is my second attempt at baking potatoes. The first was a disaster in that it was not fully cooked. This time I made sure the potatoes were cooked by baking them for two hours.

I was not quite organized with my how-to's below, because I proceeded as I would with actual preparation.

Roast Chicken:

1 whole garlic, cloves separated
1 tbsp rosemary
1 whole chicken (3-4 lbs)
1 bunch lemongrass
1 whole onion
(optional) 1 lemon rind (use the juice in something else)
coarse kosher salt, sprinkled onto wet chicken skin
garlic salt, sprinkle onto chicken
1 onion, cut into chunks
3 carrots, cut into chunks
1 cup celery stalks cut into chunks
2 bay leaves
10 or so peppercorns
1-1/4 cup water (or enough to cover the veggies)

Roast the garlic cloves (I now use a whole garlic to prepare the paste) for about 7 minutes in the oven toaster (broil setting) or until skin cracks open and you smell the aroma. Make a paste by mashing (I now use the garlic press for that purpose) and add rosemary.

Pre-heat oven to 350 deg F. Separate skin from underlying meat using blunt instruments. Insert some paste underneath and massage over the skin to distribute. Wipe cavity with paper towel and apply garlic paste as well.

Insert lemongrass (tanglad), lemon rind, and whole onion into the cavity. Sprinkle kosher salt all over chicken.

In a baking dish, place the chunks of onion, carrots, and celery. Add the water.

Preferably using a wire rack, place the chicken above the veggies. Cover with foil. Bake at lower 3rd rack of oven for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the french bread in the bread machine.

Once BM has started, start preparing the potatoes.

After 30 minutes has passed since baking chicken, remove foil. If skin is relatively dry now, spray with olive oil and sprinkle garlic salt. Continue baking uncovered for browning.

Baked Potatoes

From baked potatoes

4-5 big Russet potatoes (mine was about almost a pound each)
olive oil, sprayed (can be bought from grocery store)
kosher salt

Wash the potatoes gently with a brush. Pat dry with paper towels. Pierce with fork at 1.5 inch intervals for the steam to escape while baking. Spray with olive oil. Sprinkle all over with kosher salt. Place on a wire rack (cookie cooling rack) then onto a cookie sheet.

When the chicken has been cooking for an hour, reposition to make space and place the potatoes beside the chicken. Set your timer for 1-1/2 hrs to announce baking the french bread.

Once dough cycle of bread machine is over, shape the dough and let rise for about 30 minutes, covered with plastic, in a warm and draft-free place (I just place the pan on the stovetop where steam from chicken being baked keeps the area moist and warm).

For the last 30 minutes of baking (after the 1-1/2 hr alarm), remove chicken from oven, get the liver, and transfer the chicken (using the rack) onto a shallow baking pan to catch drippings while you continue baking. Place chicken back into the oven, then place your french bread on upper third rack of oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until brown.

Meanwhile, if you do remember and if you plan to offer steamed broccoli, do so now using a steamer or your cooktop.

Homemade Gravy
Chicken/veggie juice
Chicken drippings
1/4 cup white wine

Prepare your gravy. Remove veggies from pan and transfer to a bowl and keep warm. Place juice, liver and some onions into a small saucepan and let boil. Adjust taste by adding salt and pepper. Thicken with flour-water mixture. Set aside.

Once everything is done and removed from oven, place the chicken back to the original baking pan and surround with the veggies. (Ask your husband and/or children to set the table and slice the bread.)

Pour the white wine onto the 2nd baking pan that caught the chicken drippings (this has the flavor of roasted chicken if the drippings have browned but not burnt). Add this to the prepared gravy and mix well. Transfer to gravy boat.

Going back to the baked potatoes, cut longitudinal slits onto top. Using silicone mitts, press at both ends to crack open at the middle. Put slices of butter on top. You may want to enjoy this with gravy as well.

Have gourmet pepper (using pepper mill) and butter sticks ready on the table.

Enjoy your meal!

Lechon al Horno (Oven Roasted Pork)

I was gonna title it lechon de horno but when I tried to google it,

From lechon de horno

there was not such a (Spanish) phrase. Lechon al horno was the phrase that appeared, and the recipes I saw were all in Spanish. Anyway, this is not a typical lechon because I used a smoked instead of plain pork. Around this time of the year, we usually prepare our freezers for storing our meats. As I posted about earlier, I froze my chickens. Yesterday, I packed and froze some pork, and tomorrow I will have beef. These are supplies for the next year's meat consumption.

My previous supplies of pork and chicken ran out before I had replenishment. But last month my SIL was cleaning out her freezer and gave me lots of pork ham and shoulder, all smoked.

From lechon de horno

I recently picked one that I originally intended to cook a la New England boiled dinner style, but after cooking it for 2-1/2 hours, I decided to grant my hubby's wish to have seafood that night. So I prepared this lechon the next day. There was so much skin and fat on this one (compared to, let's say, the shoulder), that I did not proceed having it as NEbd, and since photos of lechon kept popping into my head, finally I decided to roast the parboiled pork. I looked up instructions on how to prepare this. Since my pork was already boiled (with my usual spices of garlic, peppercorns, bay leaf and coarse kosher salt), I just proceeded with the rest of the preparation to the baking part. I did let the pork drip excess juices, even wiped the skin with paper towel and let it sit on a cookie rack for at least 3 hours out in the garage (40 deg F). Remembering how my brother-in-law in Canada (my sister's hubby) told me how he would roast a pig's head (which he got free from the butcher), I then set the rack to the lowest level and started the heat at highest temp. I sprayed the skin with oil and sprinkled garlic salt generously and roasted the pork for 15 minutes before lowering the temp down to 350 deg F to bake

a closer look (meat appears red because it is ham/cured)

for additional hours (I lost track! I was instructing my son to start preparing the table, and he asked, "Are you working tonight, Ma? It's only 3:30." Ooops! So I just kinda continued and continued, rotating the pan and brushing it's own oil onto the skin once in a while until I was satisfied that it was crunchy and that it was finally supper time. I probably roasted it for about 3 hours total, but since this was parboiled already, I could have cooked it for about an hour or so only, or when the skin is crunchy all around.)

I prepared gravy using a Knorr mix for pork gravy, and served this lechon with peas, and mashed potatoes/rice. I loved the crunchy skin and the different flavor, it being smoked. However, I could feel my arteries constricting after several cuts of skin even if I removed the fat underneath. I did have some more the next day for lunch and this time I used my favorite dip of vinegar with garlic, which tended to neutralize the effects of the fat.

My husband prefers the New England Boiled Dinner style. But when I told him I was getting sick of preparing pork hams this way, he offered a compromise and suggested we split them into NEbd or lechon. Fine with me!

UPDATE as of 12-21-08:
I prepared this yesterday using a rotisserie. It turned out much better!

(Crown) Roast of Pork (South Beach Diet recipe)

I was at the kitchen at work when someone else was reheating his food in the microwave...smelled like pork adobo so I got curious. I told him it smelled like a Filipino pork dish cooked in garlic with vinegar and soy sauce. He said those (except vinegar) were the main ingredients indeed. I asked for the recipe, which I received later in the week (he had to ask his wife for it). This year we have pork cuts in our freezer, as this was the first time we had a pork raised by my MIL and we had slaughtered for our family's consumption. When I tried this recipe, although not using a crown cut (whatever that was), my husband was reminiscing the days he had same pork roasts made by his mom. Needless to say, it was a hit among my sons and I. I just substituted dried basil in place of fresh sage as I did not feel like making a special trip to the grocery store for that.) The recipe called for asking the butcher to trim the fat and french the bones, mainly for presentation purposes, which I did not bother with.)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp plus 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp crushed dried oregano
1 tbsp crushed dried basil
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 (6- to 7-pound) roast of pork
4 celery stalks, cut into 1&1/2-inch pieces
2 medium onions, quartered
2 medium carrots, cut into 1&1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp water
1/4 red wine

Instructions:

Whisk together 2 tsp of the oil, garlic, oregano, basil, pepper and salt in a small bowl. Rub pork all over with garlic mixture. Cover pork with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Position rack in lower third of oven and heat oven to 425 deg F.

Toss celery, onions, and carrots with remaining 2 tbsp oil in a roasting pan; set pork on top. (I actually tossed the veggies in an hour before my "done" time.)

Roast pork for 30 minutes, reduce heat to 350 deg F, and continue roasting, turning pan halfway through, until thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a few of the chops reads 155 to 160 deg F, 1&1/4 to 1&1/2 hours (I actually cooked mine for 3 hours to make sure it is well done, as hubby never likes less cooked meat).

Remove roast from oven. Carefully transfer roast to a platter, loosely cover with foil, and let rest for 20 minutes.

while roast is resting, remove vegetables from pan and discard (I did not discard, although I placed them side by side with the roast). Place roasting pan over lowheat and add water and wine. Bring to a simmer and, using a wooden spoon, scrape browned bits of pork from bottom of the pan. Simmer until you have a flavorful juice, 3-4 minutes (if I remember it right, I added some soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper to it and kept tasting until I was satsisfied.)

Carve roast into thick chops and serve with pan juices. (The gravy in the last photo in the slideshow is something else I made from leftover ham dish, which my husband also liked a lot. Will post about it later.)

Honey-Ginger Pork Roast

I found this recipe in 1st Traveler's Choice Internet Cookbook. (http://www.virtualcities.com/).

Although hubby is not a big fan of pork, he liked this one! Even stepd liked it. Needless to say, the boys and I loved it as well.


Ingredients
One 5-pound center cut boneless pork loin (I used a 3-pound pork loin)
1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger root
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons salt
honey

Procedure
Run knife between fat and meat to form pockets on top of roast. Using a long-bladed knife, insert grated ginger into pockets. In small bowl, mix olive oil, ground ginger, and salt. Place pork in roasting pan and brush with oil, ginger, and salt mixture. Bake at 350 degrees, allowing 30 minutes per pound. About 15 minutes before roast is done, brush meat completely with honey. Allow roast to stand 15 to 20 minutes before slicing.

Baked Chicken (Roast Chicken)

(By this posting, it was my second time to bake chicken using this method and it gave the same perfect result as the first. But this has been my 4th trial-and-error in baked chicken. I finally found this to be satisfying not only to me but also my hubby's. Needless to say my children loved it.)

Ingredients:
roaster chicken (~4 lbs), pre-brined
a whole garlic
1 tsp dried rosemary
3 big onions
water

Instructions:

Separate and pierce with a knife the cloves of a whole garlic. Roast in the oven (broil on high for about 5 minutes or until skins crack open). Peel the garlic cloves, sprinkle with 1 tsp of dried rosemary then mash together to make a paste.


Here is now the garlic-rosemary paste, ready for rubbing under and onto the chicken skin and cavity. I use this Hannaford roaster chicken (about 4 lbs, ~$6.++), which is pre-brined.


Using a blunt knife or spatula (which will not pierce the skin), separate the skin (I use my bandage scissors to cut through the connective tissues and probe to loosen the skin from the underlying muscles). Rub the paste underneath the skin on the thighs, wings, and back, then on the skin all over, and lastly in the cavity lining (I avoid rubbing under the skin over the breast, as my hubby prefers that part, and he might find the flavors too strong).


Then I bundle up several leaves of lemongrass (tanglad) tied with twine and insert it into the cavity. If I have some lemons previously used with the rind reserved and refrigerated, I chuck the rinds into the cavity as well (it gives a hint of sweetness to the juice, plus the lemon flavor). Then I insert the innards (for flavoring the gravy afterwards).


Then I set the chicken breast side up on a bed of onions cut in chunks, with water in the pan about half an inch high. I cover with foil and bake at 350 for the first 30 minutes.


After 30 minutes, I remove the foil, baste the chicken using the fluid in the pan (which already has a bit of oil by this time), then bake for 1 hour, then baste again and bake for a further 1 hour. I cover again with the foil to avoid drying up then add chunks of potatoes (pre-cooked in the microwave; my hubby likes potatoes cooked the traditional way rather than in microwave) and carrots and cook for another 30 minutes [Please see update below]. (By this time the built-in indicator of doneness has popped up).


Total cooking time: 3 hours for this 4+-pounder chicken, with the foil cover during the first and last 30 minutes. This is now the finished product. So yummy and juicy, with crispy browned skin. My hubby eats it with eyes closed, savoring every bite, and always requesting that I prepare sandwich made from leftover breast the next day for his lunchpack. I usually don't prepare gravy during this time, because the meat itself has been permeated by the flavors of the spices (lemongrass, garlic-rosemary). I usually serve this with mashed potatoes and dill pickles. (The round white button on the breast is the indicator.)


UPDATE as of 2/28/09: Now I take out the pan and replace it with a small jelly roll pan so while the chicken bakes for the last 30 minutes with the foil on, I prepare the gravy. To make the gravy, I use a fat separator to remove most of the fat, the proceed with making the gravy as described below.

Boil the pan juices in a small saucepan, (optional: mash the liver), adjust the taste accordingly (I usually add some more pepper, worcestershire sauce and salt). Mix 2 tbsp flour with 1/2 cup cold water, then gradually pour into the boiling liquid while consistently stirring until the desired consistency is reached.

Once the final 30 minutes of baking time is up, remove chicken from the oven. Place chicken on a platter covered with foil and let rest while you finalize the gravy.

Place jelly roll pan with drippings on stove top and add 1/4 cup sherry or cooking wine. Scrape the browned bits on the pan while you boil with the wine. When the juices are dark brown and all bits are scraped off, pour this into the gravy. Mix thoroughly. If the gravy turns too thin, boil some more and add flour-water mixture again. Add more salt and pepper to taste as necessary.

For leftover, we like using the breast meat for sandwiches the next day, either cold with addition of mayonnaise, salt and pepper, or hot using leftover gravy as open sandwiches.

Place into the pan cubed slices of the breast meat to heat through, and put on a toast with butter (if desired) for a light supper. (My hubby's sandwich for lunch at work is just sliced breast meat with mayonnaise on top. He said he liked it that way for cold chicken. But he liked the sandwich with gravy for heated chicken meat.) The red meat I gathered and chopped coarsely for chicken empanada using drstel's recipe.