Thanks for the Trust, Mom!

Yesterday, mom was a bit surprised to receive a call from our neighbor saying that there will be a pot luck lunch party in celebration of the opening of the Senior Citizen's office here in our neighborhood. Though surprised, mom was actually prepared for it, because she did some food shopping in the market for her pot luck dish "later tonight." She decided to buy more pork and asked for some pig's blood because she wanted us to eat dinuguan for lunch. Since there were quite a lot of pork and blood, she just decided to cook dinuguan as her pot luck dish.

Normally, whenever mom would bring some dishes at a party or if there any celebration here in the house, she would prefer to cook the dishes herself - probably because she knows she cook good food and that she doesn't want to hear any complains from the people who will eat her food, or that if the dishes were good, she would take all the glory. I for one, don't really meddle with my mom when she cooks, although she has come to love my cooking as time passed, I still want her to do her thing... after all, it was just in these occasions that she really cooks. During normal days, it's either brother or I who does the cooking at home.

My mom sliced all the ingredients, prepared the blood through her liking, did the initial sauteeing, but gave the ladle to me to finish the dish. She left it to me how to season it, although she gave me some specific instructions on how she wants it done. I have cooked dinuguan twice or thrice in my life, and personally, I wanted it a little saucy. My mom prefers it quite dry. In the end, I got how she wanted it, and I am happy.

This was one of the rare moments that mom handed me the ladle to prepare a dish that will be eaten by other people. As her daughter, this was one of the rare moments that made me feel I was special. Thanks mom!

*** Jenn ***

Chicken with Green Peas

In 2006, my late father went to have a short vacation in his hometown, and since my brother was based there at that time, dad had access to brother's collection of FOOD magazines. One particular dish caught his attention, so he took the magazine home and tried it out. We all liked it, so from time to time, we could cook this dish, but not so much, because mom wasn't really into chicken and saucy dishes.

Since my dad passed away, I think I have cooked this dish just once, and the other day, I decided to buy some chicken drumstick to cook this again.




Chicken with Green Peas
Recipe by Lydia Castillo ("In My Cookbook")
Published in FOOD Magazine Special Recipe Collection
{serves 4 -6)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/4 cup water (optional)
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 100 grams green peas

Directions:

• In a skillet heat oil and saute garlic and onion. Add chicken and season with soy sauce and pepper. Cover and let simmer.
• If chicken is watery, let it boil until tender and liquid is reduced. If not, add the 1/4 cup water.
• When chicken is tender, add ketchup. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until liquid is reduced. Stir in green peas and heat through about 3 more minutes.

Personal Notes:

• The success and the failure of this dish solely lies in the ketchup, so be sure you use the right ketchup for this one.
• I personally like this dish to be a bit spicy. If you want this to be spicy, you can add on some hot sauce, or chili powder.
• The only seasoning in this dish was the soy sauce; while this is already enough, you can also adjust the taste by adding some of your favorite seasoning. Just be sure to get the balance of flavor.
  

The ketchup I used for this is the banana ketchup. In all the times the family has cooked this, we have used banana ketchup, I still don't know how will it taste like if we are to use tomato ketchup. As for the taste, I could say it tasted like chicken barbecue smothered with ketchup minus the smokey flavor. I like this dish - very simple yet tasty.

*** Jenn ***

Longganisa for Breakfast

My mom and I just love the longganisa. Both of us prefer the native ones - the more garlicky it is, the better. These bunch of longganisa was sold to us by Ms. Weng, who delivers meat here from time to time. At first I complained a bit because it was 280 pesos per kilo, but when we tasted it, it was really good!

We cook the longganisa in some water and wait until the sausages have rendered most of the fat. This was actually just plated food - I cooked 4 sausages at that time, which my mom and I shared. I just borrowed one of her sausages for pictures sake, because odd numbers looked much better. As for sawsawan, I prepared chopped tomatoes and onions with a bit of bagoong balayan and kalamansi juice.

We have a kilo of longganisa delivered here in our house every weekend, but since I have taken on my fitness journey, the longganisa for this week was still barely touched, and it's Friday already. I guess we won't be having a delivery this weekend.

*** Jenn ***

Chicken Lauriat

Something I had before 2009 closed.

I do love Chowking's siomai, and their pancit, and their chicken... but whenever I eat the lauriat, I don't understand why it always doesn't look appealing. The pancit canton were all noodles and the chicken and rice looked dried. In some situations, I would enjoy my meal, but in some I wouldn't. Still, I cannot understand myself why I always keep coming back to it. Value for money? Perhaps.

Now that Chowking has revamp the look of their stores, and has come up with two new dishes both of which I still haven't tasted (Orange Chicken and Beef with Broccoli), I sure hope they could also do something about the way they plate their food.

I look forward to eating their again, and should I go for their lauriat again, I hope their plating would be much better.

*** Jenn ***

F - Frappuccino

I don't frequent Starbucks, but whenever I have the chance, I always go for their frappuccino. There are so many flavors available, but my favorite will always be this one - the Mocha Frappuccino.

However, this frap wasn't my drink, but my pal's. One time in 2009, forum people decided to meet up, and after some drinks at a bar nearby, we decided to talk the night away by staying in Starbucks. They had some new drinks, so I went for the raspberry flavored frap, and sadly it wasn't delicious.

It's been so long since I last had a drink at Starbucks. Funny, but I don't miss it. :)

*** Jenn ***

Chicken Inasal

Christmas 2006, sister and I took over the kitchen, and one of the dishes I prepared was the Chicken Inasal - which then became my favorite chicken dish. Since then, I have cooked the dish quite a number of times, and two weeks ago, I cooked the dish again to satisfy my craving. I don't know how most people do their chicken inasal, but here is how I do mine:




Chicken Inasal
{serves 4}

Ingredients:

• 4 pcs. chicken leg quarters
• 1/4 cup tuba vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup clear softdrinks
• juice from 5 pcs. kalamansi
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• lemon grass hearts, bruised
• small piece of ginger, pounded slightly and minced
  
• 1 tbsp. liquid seasoning
• 1 tbsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• annatto oil (for basting)

Directions:

• Cut each leg quarter into two - separating the drumstick and the thigh.
• Combine all rest of the ingredients, except the annatto oil and marinate the chicken into the mixture for at least 6 hours.
• Skewer the chicken pieces and roast over coal, basting from time to time until cooked.
• Serve hot with steamed rice and choice of dip / condiments.

Personal Notes:

• To make the annatto oil, heat some oil and put some annatto seeds and stir until the oil changes in color. Discard the seeds and use the oil in basting the chicken.
• Popular dip for this dish would be the soy sauce-kalamansi juice-vinegar mix, though I also add in some minced garlic in my own dip.
  
• Achara (pickled young papaya) is also a good side dish for this one.
• I agree that it is very difficult to grill chicken because at times the meat inside tends to be raw even if it was burning outside... for this, you can also boil your chicken pieces in its own marinade (halfway done only), before grilling it.

Now that my craving for chicken inasal has been satisfied... time for me to think of a different chicken dish again. :)

*** Jenn ***

E - Eggplant Omelet

My share for letter E on ABC Wednesday is the eggplant omelet, something I cooked for lunch sometime ago. I don't like eating boiled eggplants, but if it's fried or grilled, I really loved eating it. I cooked this dish by grilling the eggplants until it is soft, peeled it, and flatten the eggplant in some beaten eggs. Then I fried it until the egg is cooked. For this dish, I also included some mushrooms and chopped garlic, onions, and tomatoes to add more flavor.

My mom wasn't a big eater of eggplants because of her slightly high uric acid level, but for this day, she ate all her share, and I was a happy cook.

*** Jenn ***

Ginisang Mais

My mom's favorite food aside from prawns and crabs is the corn. She can be satisfied eating steamed corn for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and she will never complain about it. She loves the white corn more than the yellow ones, but regardless of their color, whenever it's corn season, the house expects a lot of corn to be eaten.

Anyway, one time last week, mom was eating white corn for dinner, and I asked her that the next time she buys corn, buy extra 2 cobs for me so I could cook this dish. Mom liked the idea, and two days after, she bought 2 kilos of corn, one we will steam, the other kilo for this dish (so mom could bring some in the office).

This dish was once cooked by dad when I was a kid, and I loved it... I guess I was feeling nostalgic that's why I hoped to taste it again.




Ginisang Mais
{serves 6}

Ingredients:

• 4 white corn cobs
• 1/4 kilo ground pork
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped
• 1 shrimp bouillon cube
• ampalaya leaves
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
  
• water
• salt
  

Directions:

• Shred the corn kernels from the cob.
• In a pot, heat the oil and saute the onion, garlic, and pork. When the pork turns brownish, add the bouillon cube until it melts. Add the corn kernels and stir a bit before adding enough water for it to cook. Add more water gradually if it becomes dry. Season according to your preference.
  
• When the corn is cooked and the broth becomes a little thick, add the ampalaya leaves, cover the pot and turn off the heat. Serve after a few minutes.

Personal Notes:

• The ampalaya leaves will give a bitter taste, so if you don't like that, you can use either malunggay or chili leaves.
• If you're not into pork, you can omit it and replace it with small fresh shrimps, but just use the meat. Take out the heads and the skins first.

Personally, I can eat the dish by itself, no need for rice, but brother and mom loved to eat it with rice. Another good addition would be fried fish on the side, but that's totally optional. Dishes like this can certainly give warmth during the rainy season.

*** Jenn ***