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Biscocho

As a young child who grew up in a small neighborhood bakery, I had the privilege of making some special versions of our commercial goodies. One of which is biscocho, made from bread slices which were returned to us after not being sold for 3 days. When the regular ones are made with just one side of the bread slathered with a thin layer of margarine not quite covering the whole surface then coated with sugar, I made my own special batch (1 pan) of slices well covered with a thin layer of margarine on both sides, then coated with lots of sugar (I made sure sugar covers the whole area that had margarine). It was one of my favorite snacks.

One time I had craving, and it popped into my head to make some. I was with hubby then, and I asked him to try. He liked it and requested that I make some for him too, with a sprinkle of cinnamon after toasting (and he did not like it too toasted). Whoa! Another discovery for my hubby!

Then yesterday, my younger son was looking for something to eat, but he was getting tired of the usual pan de pizza that we make using homemade pizza sauce, slices of ham or pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese. I thought of offering to make biscocho for him. He was not sure what it was but he was ready for a new kind of delight. He was not disappointed, and he asked that I make some for his breakfast today. So I made some for both my sons, and the older one told me I should have doubled his share. But I have used up all the bread slices. I told him I would get more next time I go to the grocery store.

Here's how:




I usually use stale bread or hotdog rolls for this purpose, and the oven toaster. I watch carefully as I bake, because if I overdo it, the caramelized sugar burns and gets bitter. I also want to cool it down a bit before biting to it, as the caramelized sugar can be very very hot.

Don't be tempted to use a thick layer of butter or margarine, as this will only get the bread soggy, then you won't get the crunchy result that you want. A thin layer is enough, and you won't get disappointed with the crunch and the taste.

I think the best tasting biscocho would be one that is made from leftover sponge cake (but who would have leftover sponge cakes? They are too good freshly baked!)

Savory Chicken Feet

Before I give the recipe for the chicken feet, here's a slide of instructions on how to prepare them.

When I was still in the Philippines during review days for the medical boards, my friends and I would often buy savory chicken feet from a Chinese restaurant.  I used to just know chicken feet a la adidas (the grilled ones) which was a common merienda for me when I was still in elementary school.  When I had a taste of this super tender savory chicken feet dish, I was hooked.

Here's my version for Savory Chicken Feet (It does not taste like the ones we ate back in PI, but tastes good nonetheless.)


Ingredients:
12 chicken feet
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tabsp rice wine
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 slices ginger
3 cloves, finely minced
3 sliced green onions
3 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 star anise
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 cups water
1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water

Instructions:
Place all chicken feet in the slow cooker. Combine the rest of the ingredients and pour over chicken feet. Cover and set in slow cook for 5-6 hours (I did this overnight from midnight). Then uncover and stir so those on top will be at the bottom and cover again to cook for two hours more.

Transfer the chicken feet onto a baking pan. Transfer the sauce into a fat separator first to pour out the sauce without the fat/oil into a small saucepan. Boil then slowly add while stirring the cornstarch-water mixture to thicken to desired consistency. Brush the chicken feet with the sauce and broil for about 5 minutes to glaze, then turn the pieces over, coat with sauce again and broil for another 5 minutes. Serve with hot plain rice (or pampulutan. Tagay na!)

Lasang Pinoy 1st year Anniversary

The theme is to come up with Filipino dish(es) that define(s) what being a Pinoy is all about. With the dishes I am presenting here, I am defining what being Pinoy is all about by generalizing that:

Filipinos who grew up in PI are usually raised to avoid waste.

I remember when I was still a child and in those times when I could not finish my food, my parents (or aunts, or yaya) would often go on guilt-tripping by telling me to think of those hungry children in Africa, or even the streetchildren in PI roaming the streets and scavenging for food, and to be thankful that we had something to eat at least 3 x a day, and that the best way to show appreciation is to not waste any...So I would gulp down the last spoonful of food on my plate although I was almost turning green from having had too much.

This kind of upbringing is reflected on the advertisement of Max's Fried Chicken that says "Sarap to the bones" (which is kinda the equivalent of A1 Steak Sauce's commercial where the consumer could not let the last drop be wasted). It is very usual for us Filipinos to scrape the meat completely off the bone.

This is also the reason why our street foods in the Philippines showcase not only meaty grilled/deep fried chicken thighs/legs, or pork, but also the isaw (both chicken and pork), adidas, cubed pork blood, chicken neck, deep fried small intestines with the intact mesentery (chicharong bulaklak), chicken head, pig ears, etc. And when we do cook fish, whether fried, steamed, grilled, boiled, or smoked, we do include the head. (Photo courtesy of Victor Paul Borg of fiery-foods.com)

A lot of Westerners shake their head that we eat such things, sometimes grossed out, but often feel sorry that we "had to make the most" of what we had because we "did not have plenty." What they do not realize is that, many of us have a choice and can afford to get the meaty parts instead of the "useless" parts. However, while we do have that choice, we have also developed the taste for these exotic dishes that we cook using the "rejects" (by the foreigners) and that we actually look for them. Now that a lot of us are scattered all over the world, we often would spend the money to get such items as frozen pork blood, pig head, etc., if at all we had access to these.

I consider myself lucky in that respect. Because while I am already here in rural Maine, my in-laws like raising chickens, pigs, and cattle (they find the grocery-sold hard to take). Every year we have one cow slaughtered, they have several chickens, and at least one pig chopped up and frozen immediately for a whole year's supply (I would like to learn from them in the near future how to raise these animals). After knowing what I was "willing" to take home what they can't consume yet do not wan't to waste as much as possible, I am now the regular recipient of such parts, so that I get the chance to try cooking exotic delicacies (which I previously just bought when I was still living in PI), and I am also coming up with new westernized dishes using them.

So, let me re-phrase what to me defines being a Filipino when it comes to food: Nothing is wasted.

While Market Manila shows the items typically found in a Filipino pantry, I am showing here what I tend to stock in my freezer to make use of these "rejects" (rejected by the typical Westerner), and the dishes I come up with.

Due to my SIL's recent slaughtering of chickens for a whole year's supply, I now have these parts ( I did not ask for the intestines not because of embarrassment but because I dreaded the work that would be needed to prepare them, when it was most likely only me who will enjoy them):

chicken feet, which I slowcooked adobo+pares style until almost fall-off-the-bone tender, then broiled. I had it for lunch today, and reminded me of those times when I, as a 4th grader, would walk home with my classmate, stopped by her house to have adidas for my merienda. (I will post later about how to clean them, for the benefit of those who have access to them but do not know how to prepare them.)










I froze these chicken skin (labeled chicharon, uncooked still), chicken neck (labeled leeg), and chicken a** (labeled puwet; I will grill these on skewers; they're my fave part in a roasted chicken, but I managed to keep it a secret from my husband up to now...shhh!). I had to label them in Tagalog so as not to gross out my husband in case he happens to raid the freezer for an ice cream.










chicken backs (from those chickens my SIL cut up). I have boiled some of them here (seasoned with garlic, peppercorn, salt and pepper). I removed the meat that clung to the bones (in a bowl here, shredded) then placed the bones back to the pot to continue boiling for at least an hour to extract the flavor.








I can do a lot with the shredded meat and the stock. The following are things that I have made before, and again and again, not only today (for sauteeing as instructed below, use 1-2 tbsp oil, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 medium sliced onion, 1 sliced medium tomato):

empanada















chicken sopas (I sometimes use leftover Mac & Cheese instead of shell macaroni because my husband and stepdaughter love M&C, so we tend to have leftover very often, but it seldom gets eaten when just reheated in the microwave, so this is one creative way to make use of that). Sautee garlic, onion, tomatoes and chicken shreds, add stock (4 cups), let boil, add the pasta (1/2 cup), add carrots, then add chinese cabbage. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat. Add some cream and stir.








chicken sotanghon soup. Boil the stock with some chicken pieces. Add enough sotanghon (a small package for 2 quarts of broth) and cook until soft (about 2 minutes), add spinach (I used to use bittermelon leaves or thin slices of the fruit when I was in PI). Consume right away lest the noodles will soak up the soup.











pancit sotanghon. Sautee, in order, garlic, onion, tomatoes, chicken pieces, carrots, pea pods, and bell peppers, add stock and let boil. Season with salt, pepper, and soy sauce. Add shrimp as desired and cook for 1 minute followed by greens to blanch (regular cabbage or chinese cabbage), dish out the ingredients and add sotanghon to the simmering stock (approximately 1 big package to 2 quarts broth). Let cook until tender (about 2 minutes). Place noodles onto a dish, drizzle with sesame oil and mix well, then top with the other ingredients. Serve with patis-mansi.








chicken balls (a variation of fish balls, homemade by making a batter with the finely chopped chicken meat, chopped carrots, onions, and garlic, using egg, flour, and milk, baking powder and baking soda, and seasoned with salt and pepper, then deep fried)












chicken fettuccine (adaptation of an Italian dish, but enriched with veggies as shown, so I have "Filipinized" it). Cook fettuccine according to package directions and drain. Meanwhil, sautee garlic, onion, chicken pieces, and optional mushroom, corn, carrots, and peas. Add 1 tbsp flour to the oil and stir to make a paste, then add stock in thin stream to make it creamy. Add (optional) thin slices of hotdogs. Serve atop pasta.











chicken dumplings (made with the same batter as chicken balls, only dropped in boiling stew of seasoned tomatoes; another adaptation). Prepare stewed tomatoes by sauteeing garlic, onion, and lots of peeled, cored, and chopped tomatoes (about 30 pieces medium, simmered then blenderized and simmered again. Add dried basil and oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Into the boiling stew, drop the batter by the teaspoon, with enough space in between. Cover and let simmer for about 5-10 minutes.)









or as quesadilla. I now use the George Foreman grill to make individual servings of quesadilla. I like using lots of mozzarella cheese and American white cheese along with chopped bell peppers and onions, sandwiched by a folded flour tortilla and heated for about 7 minutes, the topped by homemade tomato salsa.








(added today, sep. 8)
chicken mami. Boil the stock, add the mami noodles and cook for 3 minutes. Dish out the noodles, then add chicken pieces and sliced stems of chinese cabbage, let re-boil. Turn off the heat then add slices of the soft parts of the chinese cabbage and thin slices of carrots. Serve immediately.






Other uses: arroz caldo, chicken roll (sorry, no photo, but it is like making the usual dinner roll but using chicken mixed with cream of chicken soup or cream of mushroom as a filling; makes it like siopao but baked instead of steamed).

These are just some examples of the Filipino's no-waste attitude when it comes to food. I also have frozen pork blood in my kitchen, for what else but dinuguan.

Allow me to reiterate what to me defines being a Pinoy when it comes to food: The ability to come up with dishes utilizing all edible parts of the food so that NOTHING IS WASTED.

Potato Dill Salad

When I was still in PI, I used to have potato salad with shreds of chicken breast added to the potatoes, spiced with chopped onions, and the taste adjusted with salt and pepper.

Now I have embraced what my husband's family of origin traditionally prepares. Potato dill salad is usually served on July 4th, and is now commonly found in our menu during summer days when it is too hot to have a hot meal, especially after harvesting our own potatoes that we planted.

The red potatoes are usually the first (we also plant Russett(?) potatoes which we harvest later in the fall). They are smaller but more compact and yummy! For me, they are the best to use for potato salads as they do not easily crumble, and they retain their shape better when stirred. They are also very good for mashed potatoes, but they don't create fluffy mashed potatoes -- just sticky and creamy, like that served in KFC here (as commented by my older son's friend once).

This potato salad is not the same as the potato salad I used to have back in PI, where we add shreds of boiled chicken breasts, chopped onions, mayonnaise, salt and pepper to the chunks of boiled potatoes.

Here in Maine I had to prepare it the way my husband's family would eat it; otherwise, I will end up eating the salad by myself. Anyhow, I have developed a taste for the dill, which gives the distinct flavor of this recipe. When I first made it, I cut the potatoes in bigger chunks, but hubby requested to make them smaller next time, to enhance absorption of the flavors.

Here's the recipe as passed on by my MIL:

Ingredients:

10 red potatoes, boiled with some salt, peeled and sliced (approximately 2x1 inch cubes)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp grated onion
1 tsp dill
salt and pepper to taste
sliced hard-boiled eggs as topping

I added a sprinkle of lemon.

Instructions:
Boil the potatoes in water enough to submerge them, add some salt and boil for about 30 minutes or until done (check with fork). Once done, drain and peel as soon as cool enough to handle. (I have tried putting them in the fridge prior to peeling, and it was not a good idea! They were harder to peel that way!).
Add all other ingredients. Taste. Adjust ingredients according to your taste preference.
Chill for at least 3 hours. Top with sliced eggs.

Hubby wants it chilled overnight for his work lunch, and wants it even more when 3 days have passed. It will suffice for lunch, but for a heavy supper, I serve it usually with salad greens and grilled chicken (my Wish-Bone Robusto-marinated recipe).

Manang KusiNARS na po ako!

Ingredients:
Two months of no job (and no $$)
Saunders Comprehensive Review for RN Exam
Saunders Strategies for Success
Saunders Q&A
Money for registration fees (state board and PV NCLEX)
Prayers from my friends

How-to's:
While waiting for ATT from the state board where the application was filed, I was studying part-time (at least two hours a day) aside from working regularly as a home-based MT/QA.

As soon as I got my approval to sit for NCLEX, I registered with Pearson-Vue for my NCLEX then notified my present employer, that I was going to take a two-month vacation (that's how flexible homebased MT is).
As soon as I got my ATT, I scheduled my test online. I then studied the books and CD practice questions religiously, only standing up every two hours for a short break.
On the last day prior to my exam, I did not peep into the reviewers. I just cleaned the house, especially the fridge. Then I slept early (10:00 p.m.)
I left the next day (Thursday) 1-1/2 hours prior to my exam. My good friend Ana drove me to the place and waited patiently (and praying) for me.
I then relaxed and prepared for my son's birthday party, enjoyed the company of guests, slept through Saturday night, then checked online (complete with tachycardia and anxiety) for the unofficial result on Sunday morning.
I will wait for the official certificate then seek endorsement (from Vermont to Maine) then serve this to potential employers.

I hope I will enjoy the new career!

Thanks for those who prayed!!!

To those who have tried and tested methods on how to proceed from here, I welcome your input! TIA!

I have not completely closed the possibility of aiming for USMLE sometime in the future, but I am also considering the NP path.

Pork Menudo

This is a reposting from my old kusina.

I have cooked this only twice this time, because I only cook it when . craving hits me. Why? 1 - Hubby is not a big fan of pork. 2 - Hubby does not really care for cubed meat. 3 - Hubby usually leaves out the veggies save for the potatoes. 4 - Kids and hubby leave out the liver (I think they are only grossed out by the thought, but beef liver tastes pretty good compared to pork liver, and especially better than chicken liver. I can only tolerate chicken liver when mashed to thicken sauces and gravy.)

But, I LOVE MENUDO.

So I cook it despite the above-mentioned reasons, then freeze the rest in a foil, then whenever craving kicks in, I reheat the pack in the oven toaster at 450 deg F for about 20 minutes. I can re-freeze the rest and repeat the procedure whenever I want menudo. So if you want, you can do the same, but make sure that you freeze within 2 hours of cooking/reheating.

I marinate my pork pieces overnight prior to cooking, because that was the tip given to me by my sister's MIL (a Kapampangan - I bow to the Kapampangans for most dishes I love to eat during fiesta, of which menudo is one) when I asked her during a fiesta how she made her menudo so tasty. She used soy sauce-kalamansi combi. I made mine now using lemon instead of kalamansi.

My recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound lean pork cut in cubes, marinated overnight in
juice of 1/2 lemon and
1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, minced
3 medium tomatoes, cubed (the more, the better)
1/2 bell pepper (whatever color; tip on what to do with the rest found below)
1/4 cup raisins
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 carrot, cubed
water as needed

1/2 cup green peas

a handful of cubed beef liver (I have cut into cubes one whole pack of beef liver and placed them in separate plastics by the handful, for such cooking purposes as this)
1 chicken liver, mashed or finely chopped
two hotdogs cut into pieces equivalent in size to the pork pieces
salt and pepper to taste

PROCEDURE:
Heat oil. Sautee garlic for 10 seconds then the onions until transluscent. Add the tomatoes and sautee until they caramelize. Add the pork and stir until browned. Lower the heat and cook covered for 5 minutes.

Add the bell peppers, raisins, potatoes, and carrots, stir and cook covered in another 10 minutes. Add water in increments of 1/8 cup to keep it from drying, if needed. Meanwhile, you can chop the livers and hotdogs while waiting.

Check for doneness of potatoes and carrots. When almost done, add livers. Stir to thicken sauce. You may add more water depending on the consistency you want. Add the hotdogs and let simmer for 2 minutes. Adjust taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with hot plain rice and enjoy!


Tip on storing bell peppers:

One of our problems when buying bell peppers is that we often want two colors at least. I sometimes buy the 3-in-1 pack of yellow, red, and orange bells. But I usually just slice 1/4 of each pepper then use the rest at some point in time later. What I do is slice them longitudinally, layer them on a baking pan, freeze for 30 minutes, then pack into freezer bags. When I need them again, I just shake or bang against the countertop to loosen some pieces and grab some, then return to the freezer the rest. I do the same with fresh ginger (I can't use all in arroz caldo or tinola or chicken curry).

Pecan Crusted Chicken with Honey Mustard Sauce

This was what we had today for dinner.


Since I wanted to make use of pecans and honey that my SIL gave me, I made a search for recipes using both/either of them.

Also, since I have some mustard seeds left over from making my favorite cucumber pickles, bread and butter pickles, I searched for a recipe for the honey mustard sauce.

I first made my honey mustard sauce two days ago using this recipe for Basic Coarse Mustard Recipe from cdkitchen.com, with the help of the good old blender and a pint-sized Ball jar (yes, it fits perfectly, plus it had the advantage of storing the prepared mustard in the jar itself). If not for my desire to use my honey supply, and the mustard seeds left over from my pickling, I could have just bought Dijon mustard and followed the procedure for making honey mustard sauce as directed in the cdkitchen.com's Pecan Crusted Chicken recipe. Or, maybe it is available in grocery stores (it definitely is served in KFC, McDonald's or Friendly's.)

Basic Coarse Mustard

Ingredients:
1/3 cup mustard seed
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 clove garlic -- halved
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons liquid honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground cinnamon

Directions:

Combine mustard seeds, vinegar and garlic in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 36 hours.

Discard garlic. Process mixture in a food processor with water until coarse consistency. Stir in honey, salt and cinnamon.

Refrigerate in tightly sealed containers.

Among the variations, I tried

Dijonnaise Mustard: Add 1/3 cup mayonnaise

It was very very spicy. I stored that in the fridge until I was ready to make my honey mustard sauce for the chicken.

I came up today with this menu for our dinner:
Pecan Crusted Chicken with Honey Mustard Sauce
Honey Whole Wheat Loaf
Roasted Veggies and Potatoes

I started the bread in the bread machine at around 3:00 p.m. , then made my final honey mustard sauce by mixing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp Dijonnaise honey mustard (that I prepared)

I tasted that and adjusted the amounts until it was good to my taste (not too spicy).

I rested for about 2 hours, before preparing the potatoes/veggies and chicken. And here is the recipe for the

Honey Whole Wheat Loaf

Makes One (1-1/2 pound) Loaf

1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons FLEISCHMANN'S Bread Machine Yeast

Directions
Add ingredients to bread machine pan in the order suggested by manufacturer. (Mine says to put all (room temperature) liquid ingredients first topped by the dry ingredients.) Select basic/white bread cycle; medium/normal color setting.

When cycle is complete, remove from pan; cool on wire rack.

I preheated the oven to 375 deg F. I washed thoroughly (with a brush) and cut 5 medium red potatoes into quarters and placed them in a bowl, then poured about 2 tbsp of olive oil and mixed to coat evenly, then sprinkled with 1/2 packet of Italian Dressing Mix. I then placed the potatoes on one side of the baking pan (would use the other half for the rest of the veggies) in the oven and let them cook while I prepared the chicken strips.

For Pecan Crusted Chicken, I revised the original recipe such that I used one packet of Italian Dressing Mix (available at Hannaford) instead of measuring the different spices called for. So, my final ingredients were:

dip:
2 eggs (room temp)
1/4 cup butter (melted and cooled to room temp)

coating:
1 cup pecans, finely chopped using chopper
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs (I used my own)
1 packet Italian Dressing mix

2.5 pounds chicken breast cut into strips

The chicken breast strips were dipped first then coated. I arranged them on a pan lined with parchment paper. I then placed them on the higher rack in the oven (and I placed the potatoes below). I set the timer at 20 minutes (only because my chicken strips were still a bit frozen).

Meanwhile, I got half of summer squash and half of small zucchini, and cut them into wedges same size as those of potatoes, coated with the same (olive oil and 1/2 packet of Italian dressing). I placed them alongside the potatoes, and let cooke for another 5 minutes. Then I set the temp to 400 for the last 5 minutes to make a good browning on the surface of the potatoes.

Everyone enjoyed the chicken strips. My boys said the honey mustard sauce was more spicy than that in restaurants, and hubby quipped, "because this is made with real honey and real mustard." My older son used it, though, despite it being different from what he was used to. Hubby, daughter and I liked it. Younger son used ketchup. It was a very satisfying hearty and healthy meal!

Hubby's comment: "Your chicken dinner was a success! Everyone enjoyed it!"

Later tonight, as I was posting this actually, he approached me to thank me again for that wonderful meal, and asked if there were enough left over for his lunch tomorrow to take to work. I said I prepared three strips for him, then he asked whether we still had that honey mustard sauce as well, because "that was very good!"

Pecans

This is a (gallon) bag of uncooked pecans, again from my SIL. She must like me so much!

It so happened that I am so fond of pecans.

She has given me pure honey and raw pecans at least twice now, so I think I should expect these gifts to be coming on a regular basis.

That means, I should hunt for recipes using these ingredients.

I plan to make pecan pie later (when we have consumed the peach pie that I made yesterday).

I did use pecans and honey for a recipe I prepared today for supper, the pecan crusted chicken with honey mustard sauce. It was a hit among everyone.

Honey

Last year, my SIL gave me honey in it's most raw form...still in honeycomb (see the hexagonal pattern made by these greatest natural architects called bees). She and her husband have just started having it for home-based business. I am lucky to have some form of benefit from it.

Every summer now I look at my garden full of flowers in bloom, surrounded by bees and butterflies and hummingbirds...I eagerly anticipate the honey that I know would follow.

This year, SIL gave me two pints of honey ready to be consumed.

Ah, the goodness of all-natural honey...

BLT Sandwich

Every supper time I am in a quandary, not truly knowing what to prepare that my fussy hubby will eat. If I ask him ahead of time, his usual answer is, "I don't know, honey. I am too full now that I can't think about supper for tomorrow." Won't do me any good to ask him when he is actually hungry for supper (as in 10 minutes before).

So, sometimes I ask him what he wants me to get from the grocery store. Summer is a hard time, because during this season when produce abound and I feel like eating stir-fries or salads, I always worry about what to offer to him (and daughter). My boys will always eat what I serve.

Can you believe I just learned about him liking BLT ("the perfect summer food") this year, our third year together????!!!!

But he does not like tomatoes, so for him, it's BL sandwich.

For me, I like it with onions and cucumbers as well, so it's BOLTC sandwich.

How to prepare:

Cook bacon the usual way and drain on paper towels.

On separate bowls/platters, serve lettuce (there are several bags available in Hannaford ready for consumption right from the bag), sliced fresh and ripe tomatoes, sliced fresh cucumbers, sliced onions (I get these three items from my garden during this time of the year). Also place on the table the mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard.

Put regular bread or buns on the table. To each his own. Let everyone prepare his own sandwich.

I know this is not the healthiest meal, but it is complete nonetheless. We only use 2-3 strips of bacon per sandwich. One is enough for me, two will do for each of the boys (including the big one). 

Pork Siomai

I got this recipe from The Book of Chinese Cooking by Jasper Spencer-Smith.

(Karen also has a post on the basic recipe for siomai here, including the recipe for the wrapper.)

Ingredients:
3/4 pound ground pork
1/4 pound raw shelled shrimp, ground
(Believe me, I used a scale to measure these, but of course, you can approximate.)
1-1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp sugar
Dash of pepper
1 egg white
1-1/2 tsbp cornstarch
won-ton skins (I buy Nasoya brand)
green peas or chopped hard-cooked egg yolks for garnish

(Note: I usually buy pork chops then grind them using my Kitchen Aid attachment, since I can't find ground pork for sale here. I grind other ingredients as well, like the shrimp. when making lumpia, I also grind the garlic, onions, and other veggies.)

Procedure (I revised according to how I made it):
To make filling: Mix together ground pork, ground shrimp, soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, sesame oil, sugar, pepper and egg white until mixture is well blended and smoth. Stir in cornstarch. Place in a storage bag and cut one corner big enough for the content to squeeze through. Place about 1 tbsp or so of filling in the middle of wonton skin and gather the skin around the filling. Dip a teaspoon in water and use to smooth the surface of the meat.

Garnish by placing a green pea or chopped egg yolk on top of meat. Repeat with the rest of the wonton/filling. Line a steamer with a damp cloth; steam over high heat 5 minutes or until done. Serve with your fave dip (I use soy sauce/kalamansi juice as a dip. When I was in PI, I used to like it with chili paste.)

My sons love these. Also a good finger food to bring during Pinoy get-togethers.

Fried Rice

I do not want to give it any special name. I just want to post here how I usually prepare my fried rice.
Basically, I heat 1-2 tbsp of oil (depending on the amount of leftover rice; I don't want my fried rice to be swimming in oil), then sautee 1-2 cloves of chopped garlic, then add the rice. No salt added. Sometimes my sons would add soy sauce. (I sometimes use bacon drippings, or even use leftover bacon, usually the fatty parts, instead of the vegetable oil.)

But, in times when I have leftover sauce/gravy from such dishes as beef pares, chicken or pork adobo, Korean short beef ribs, or meatloaf, I save that even if it is just 1/4 cup, because I love using them to flavor fried rice.

Then I also always have in my freezer bags of peas, sometimes I have canned slice mushrooms, which I love adding to the fried rice. I also save some leftover scrambled eggs (even bacon if any) from past day's breakfast, and cut them into strips before adding.

If I have chives or leeks or spring onions, I also sprinkle them on top before serving.

When prepared this way, especially if we add bits of sausage or hotdogs, truly we Filipinos can say, "Kanin pa lang, ulam na!"

My sons already know what to do when we have leftovers which they can imagine to be good with fried rice.

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.