Cooking adventures

I am not really a good cook but I try at least to serve my family with dishes that I myself cook. Well not exactly by me, the meals that I cook are mostly from food blogs or those that I saw on TV. This is one of the moments when i feel the need to write the recipes so i won't forget (i am so bad at remembering things lately).

So these are two of richie’s well-loved dishes, which I got from watching the cooking segment of Boy and Kris:

Crispy Liempo with Kangkong
½ kilo of liempo, diced
Maggi magic sarap
Oyster sauce
Kangkong leaves (I used Chinese kangkong and on one occasion, spinach but tbe chinese kangkong tastes better)

Procedure:
Marinade the liempo in maggi magic sarap and oyster sauce (about 1 to 1 ½ tablespoon, or until all the meat is coated)
In a hot wok, put the liempo (the fatty portion) and cook in its own oil. Add the remaining liempo slices and fry until crispy.
Remove the liempo.
Leave at least a teaspoon of oil.
Saute garlic. Add oyster sauce. Add the kangkong and mix until all the leaves are covered.
Add the cooked liempo and stir.
Serve hot.

Picadillo

1/2 kilo chicken giniling

2-3 medium size potatoes, diced

1 carrot, diced

celery stalks, diced

garlic, crushed

onion, sliced

1/2 kilo tomatoes, chopped coarsely

oil

Maggi Magic Sarap (optional)

Procedure:

Heat oil in a wok. Once hot, put ground chicken and cook until no longer pink.

Add garlic and onions. Add tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes wilt. Add maggi maggic sarap and stir well. (if you are not using maggi, season with patis, salt and pepper) Add the potatoes. Add a cup or 2 of water. When the potatoes are almost tender, add the carrots and celery (so the carrots and celery will remain crisp). Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper

And to the words of Kris Aquino: "This is such a winner!"

euan's 2nd birthday

this is a super late post of euan's birthday. it was just a simple celebration with family and friends. i cooked pasta with creamy pesto sauce and chicken & pesto quesadillas (which was a hit!! the recipe can be found here)
since euan's birthday falls on nov 1, we wanted his birthday to be a little special even without throwing a big party for him. and so for the first time we went trick or treat at festival super mall (oct 31), with euan as Tigger. he was so cute in the orange costume! (yun nga lang he was always mistaken as winnie the pooh!?! i heard one of the sales lady saying, "Ang cute naman ni pooh!" sabay abot ng candies kay euan! hay!)
although their theme was something about the Wild, Wild West, i did not bother anymore to get a costume for that theme since i bought the costume before i knew what the theme was. inititally i wanted a bumble bee costume which i think would be cute on him. i thought that i won't be able to fine one in divisoria so i just settled for the tigger costume. but when i went to 168, i found a very cute bumble bee costume and the same tigger costume, cheaper pa than the one i bought! sayang! they also have mickey mouse, barney, sponge bob, pooh, piglet, superman, spiderman, etc...

anyway, euan enjoyed the trick or treat activity even if he fell asleep for an hour (so i was the who went trick or treat for him which i also enjoyed heheh even if i had to carry him while going around the mall) and so when he woke up he was just too happy to see that his jack o' lantern loot bag was full of goodies! i never gave him candies so when he saw it, he wanted to open all the candies at the same time. but he settled with the lollipop instead and just played with the rest of candies.


next year kaya, ano naman ang gimmick ni euan? hay, the stagemom in me....

cooking adventures

i am not a good cook but i love to eat. but ever since i got married, i took it upon myself to learn how to cook. i try as much as i can to cook and serve good food to my family. i read food blogs and watch cook shows a lot so as to expand my knowledge and to overcome my fear in cooking hehehe.
and so whenever i cook i always have a "kodigo" with me, be it a recipe book, a downloaded recipe, or just a scribbled note. sayang nga i wansn't able to take note of the recipes of my late lola, who used to cook for us. i could have passed on her legacy of great dishes to my kids pero i was just to lazy to cook when i was still single. i think si kuya ata ang nakamana ng galing sa pagluluto ni lola! :)
some of her dishes that i really love are: kare-kare, rellenong bangus, ginisang pusit, mechado, pickles (parang afritadang manok but tastes sweeter). i remember i used to ask her how to cook those dishes and she would readily enumerate the procedures and she knows it by heart!
and so based from what i remember, i tried cooking kare-kare, ginisang pusit and mechado, but mine does not come close to her version (either mine is maalat or matabang, soupy or malapot, basta extremes!)
but practice makes perfect. i hope someday i could do justice to her well-loved dishes :)
===========
my most frequently visited (or should i say fave) sites: pinoycook, my great food, and nestle. sometimes i do visit quickfire and ajinomoto (for ka-touque's recipes) sites.