February 23 - Adobong Pusit Just for Me

I don't think my family would fancy eating adobong pusit (braised squid). I cooked it anyway since it is one of my favorite. Also, I would like to have a record of the recipe for future use.

I prepared it to include it as a topping for Pancit Malabon. The sauce itself gave my pancit a kick!

Adobong Pusit

Ingredients
4 large pieces of squid (cleaned but keep the ink sac, cut in pieces)
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp whole peppercorns
4 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar








Cooking Time (10 minutes)
In a pan (or wok), put the garlic, olive oil, peppercorns, soy sauce and vinegar.
Cook for 5 minutes in medium heat.
Be careful not to burn the soy sauce.
Add the squid.
Cover the pan and cook the squid for 5 minutes.

February 15 - The Sweetness of Belgian Waffles

There is nothing sweet with Belgian waffles. It's all those wonderful, syrupy toppings that we put on it.

But what I like about this dish is the sweet smell of the waffles that makes you add a dollop of vanilla ice cream over it.

Belgian Waffle

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Suggested toppings:
sliced strawberries sweetened with Confectioner's sugar
Cool Whip cream or vanilla ice cream
chocolate syrup



Preparation Time
Mix all the ingredients until there are no more flour lumps.
Let it stand for 30 minutes

Cooking time
Pour enough waffle batter in a Belgian waffle maker.
Serve warm.

February 11 - Pizza for Lunch

We have 2 snow days. The school was closed for two days.

As for me and my husband, we have to work from home, since the kids were home.

This is a good time to serve them pizza.

My sourdough starter came in very handy.

I made my first homemade pizza dough. After a lot of practice baking my own bread using my
sourdough starter, the pizza dough came out good.

It came out crusty and chewy.


Pizza


Ingredients
1 cup sourdough starter
1 cup flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

Suggested toppings:
6 tbsp of marinara sauce
6 tbsp grated mozzarella
cooked sausage, thinly sliced or
Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced







Preparation:
In a bowl, pour the starter. Add the vegetable oil, salt and sugar.
Mix together.
Add 1 cup of flour.
Knead the dough for 20 minutes, dusting the dough with enough flour.
This dough is enough to make a 12" pizza.
Flatten the dough on a 12" round stone, until the dough does not spring back.
Let it stand for 30 minutes


Cooking time:
Bake the dough for 5 minutes at 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bring the pizza out of the oven and add toppings.
Bake the pizza for another 10 minutes at 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Let it stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

February 6 - Time for Pasta Carbonara

Another pasta recipe that my kids enjoy - Pasta Carbonara.

It's one of my favorite too. I remember a colleague of mine who used to serve this to us and I can't seem to have enough of it.

This recipe gets the zest from the thick-cut black forest bacon and onion.


Pasta Carbonara

Ingredients
1 lb thick-cut black forest bacon, diced in small pieces
1 large sweet onion, minced
3 eggs
1 pint heavy cream
5 tbsp grated Parmesan
1 package of linguine pasta noodles
freshly ground pepper













Cooking Time: (25 minutes)
Whisk the eggs with the cream.
Cook the linguine as directed in the package.
In a large pan, cook the bacon and onion for 20 minutes.
Put back the drained pasta back in a large pot.
Pour over the egg-cream mixture on the pasta. Add the grated Parmesan.
Mix together for 2 minutes or until the sauce is not watery.
Turn off the heat.
Add the bacon and onion to the pasta mixture.
Add freshly ground pepper to taste.