November 4 - Fried Chicken Revisited

Crispy fried chicken is one finger food that needs to be eaten right away to enjoy it. Max's Restaurant became famous with their fried chicken, the Max's fried chicken. What's unique about it is that they use spring chicken and cook the chicken so crispy that you could eat the wing bones.

Most of the chicken here in the U.S are jumbo, so I opted to use Cornish hens since they are about the same size as the ones serve in Max's.



Fried Chicken


Ingredients
2 Cornish hens or spring chickens, less than 1.5 lbs each
1 tbsp freshly ground rock salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
4 cloves garlic, peeled
spring onion (bulb only)
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
1 ginger, peeled
rosemary springs
48 oz. canola oil for deep frying





Cooking Time (2 hours)
Pat the chickens dry.
Rub the salt and pepper on the chicken.
Mix the garlic, onion, carrot and celery together.
Fill the chicken cavity with the mixture.
Place the chickens and the ginger on a steamer.
Steams the chickens for 30 minutes.
Let the steamed chicken stand for one hour to drain the liquids.
Take out the vegetable mixture out of the chickens.
Heat the oil in a large deep fryer or casserole.

Place the chickens in a single layer.
Fry the chicken for 25 minutes, carefully turning them twice.
Once cooked, let the chickens stand for another 5 minutes before serving.

October 23 - Kare-kare for Dinner

Kare-kare is the Filipino version of beef stew with peanut sauce. It is popularly cooked with oxtail meat and beef tripes, but for the faint of heart, beef short ribs is a perfect substitute.

This stew is cooked bland and served with sauteed shrimp paste on the side. If it is more convenient for you, you could also mix the shrimp paste in the peanut sauce when cooking.

Kare-kare
Ingredients

6 pieces of beef short ribs, about 1.5 lbs

4 cups of water

3 tbsp olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium size onion, thinly sliced

1 lb green beans

3 Japanese eggplants, sliced

3 bunches of baby bokchoy

3 tbsp shrimp paste

4 tbsp Smucker's Natural peanut butter (no salt added)

Cooking Time (95 minutes)

In a big casserole, cook the beef short ribs with 4 cups of water for an hour, or until tender.

Set the beef short ribs aside and save the beef broth.

In another casserole, heat the olive oil and saute the garlic.

Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes.

Add the shrimp paste and the peanut butter and mix well.

Add the beef broth.

Add the meat.

Add the green beans and eggplants.

After 10 minutes, add the bokchoy.

Cook until the vegetables are tender.

Serve warm with white rice.

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.

January 30 - Serving Pork Tocino

Pork Tocino is a famous Filipino breakfast dish. Normally served with garlic fried rice and egg, or in short, Tosilog.



The pork is marinated with wine, salt and brown sugar. The optional ingredient of annatto (atsuete) or beet juice gives its usual red color.



For better result, marinade the pork for at least one day.




Pork Tocino
Ingredients

3 lbs pork tenderloin
2 tbsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
dash of ground pepper
50 ml Bacardi rum
annatto or beet juice (optional)








Preparation Time ( 1 day)
Mix all ingredients and marinade for at least a day.

Cooking Time (20 minutes)
Heat 1 cup of water and 3 tbsp oil in a large pan.
Place enough meat to cook (about 1/3 of total marinade).

January 23 - Pan de Sal for Breakfast

Pan de Sal became a favorite of my family. I get pan de sal from Red Ribbon. Their pan de sal tastes really good, sweet and creamy.

My first shot at making pan de sal is impressive enough. It came out soft. I was very generous with the bread crumbs. Bread crumbs made the bread crusty on the outside.

It was not as sweet like Red Ribbon's. So if you need it sweeter, just add more sugar to the recipe.


Pan de Sal
Ingredients
2 cups of sourdough starter (If you do not have a sourdough starter, use 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of water and 1 package of yeast instead)
3 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
1 package of yeast
5 tbsp butter
1 tbsp salt
1 cup white sugar
1 cup milk
bread crumbs





Preparation Time
Warm the milk and the butter (about 1 minute in the microwave).
Add the salt and sugar.
Add the yeast.
Add the sourdough starter and 3 cups of flour (Add more flour if the dough is still watery).
Mix and knead the dough (it will be very sticky).
Place in a greased bowl, cover and let it stand until the dough has double its size.
Using a server spoon, make 24 pieces and roll each piece in a bowl of bread crumbs.
Place the rolls (side by side) in a large pan.
Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit
or until the top is light brown.

January 22 - Beef Caldereta, an Instant Fave

Beef Caldereta is one of my favorites. Especially the way my uncles used to prepare them back in the Philippines.

Honestly, they did it better with goat meat. But beef is good enough.

I have learned to use chuck roast beef for any stew dish. It has enough fat to make it tender in a shorter amount of time.

Also, you do not have to add liver to make this dish. Liver spread is enough to give the dish its authentic taste.

Beef Caldereta
Ingredients
4 lbs chuck roast beef, cut-up
2 tbsp salt
freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 white onion, minced
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
6 tbsp brown sugar
15 oz tomato sauce
2 red sweet pepper
5 red potatoes, cut into 8 pieces each
9 oz (Reno brand) liver spread
2 cans 15 oz green peas





Cooking Time (1 hour)
Mix the beef with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a large pot.
Brown the beef.
Add the garlic and onion.
After 10 minutes, add the balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and tomato sauce.
Cook for 15 minutes.
Add the red peppers and potatoes.
In the last 5 minutes, add the green peas and liver spread.

January 12 - Beef Pochero a.k.a Filipino Beef Stew

Summers call for all kinds of barbecues or grilled meat.

For winter, any hot soup or hot stew is comforting enough for those cold nights.

Beef Pochero is one of my favorites. It is very simple to cook and allows for a variety of vegetables. It includes banana plantain (in the Filipino version ,we use "saba") which gives the dish a subtle sweetness.


Beef Pochero

Ingredients

3 lbs beef chuck roast, sliced in big pieces
5 cups of water
3 chicken bullion
4 Spanish chorizo links, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 white onion, sliced
6 buttercream potatoes, quartered
2 yellow plaintain, quartered lengthwise and cut 3 inches long
15.5 oz can of chick peas
10 oz. green beans
1.5 lbs cabbage, sliced in 8 pieces




Cooking Time (1 hour)
Place the beef, chorizo, garlic, onion, chicken bullion and 5 cups of water in a big pot and cook for 30 minutes.
Add the potatoes and plantain and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the green beans and cabbage.
Cover the pot and cook for 20 minutes.

December 11 - Daniel's Pork Menudo Dish

This version of Pork Menudo became an instant hit to my son, Daniel.

I was careful not to put so much water. The sauce is just enough to cover the dish without making it soupy.

A diversion to normal recipe is using chickpeas instead of green peas. So if your kids are not used to the taste of chickpeas yet, then feel free to use green peas.


Pork Menudo
Ingredients
1 package of pork tenderloin (about 3 lbs), cubed
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp paprika
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sweet onion, minced
4 medium sized tomato, diced
4 Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced crosswise
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 big Yukon potatoes, diced
1 can of chickpeas
1 cup raisins
salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 cup water




Cooking Time (45 minutes)
Heat the olive oil in a large pan or wok.
Saute the garlic and onion until caramelized.
Add the tomatoes and saute until tomatoes are wilted.
Add the pork tenderloin and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the chorizos, potatoes, paprika and 1 cup of water and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the pepper, chick peas and raisins.
Add some salt and pepper to taste.
Cook for another 10 minutes.
Be careful not to make the potatoes mushy.
Add the grated parmesan cheese and cook for just 3 minutes to melt the cheese.

November 2 - Beef Steak a la Filipino Style

Beef Steak a la Filipino Style is one of our favorites growing up. It goes perfectly well with plain white rice and any leafy vegetables.

Beef Steak

Ingredients
1 lb beef tenderloin or sirloin (thinly sliced, carpaccio style)
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp lemon juice
freshly ground pepper

Cooking Time (25 minutes)
Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
Saute the onion until caramelized and slightly browned, about 10 minutes
Set the onions aside.
Lay the beef in the frying pan, almost in a single layer.
Fry until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
Add the lemon, soy sauce and dash of pepper.
Fry until the beef has absorbed all the sauce.

October 3 - Finally Serving Chicken Afritada

It is not easy to label a dish to a specific country. The more I try dishes from other countries, the more I realized that many countries (and continents) share the same dishes.

Chicken Afritada is a favorite dish in the Philippines but the name itself is very Spanish.

I was not able to check how the Spanish cuisine is cooked differently from the Filipino style of afritada. But most likely, it will be as warm and comforting like this one.


Chicken Afritada



Ingredients
3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 large red onion, minced
2 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
6 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp coarse sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1 28 oz can of ground tomato
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup oyster sauce
1 10 oz can of baby sweet peas
8 red potatoes, cut-up
1 red bell pepper, cut in strips




Cooking Time (1.5 hours)

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and saute the onions, ginger, and garlic for 5 minutes.
Place the chicken in a single layer and lightly brown both sides for 15 minutes.
In a large baking pan, mix the tomato sauce, soy sauce and oyster sauce.
Lay the chicken pieces in a single layer.
Put the potatoes, peas, and red bell pepper.
Cover the pan and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Uncover the pan and bake for another 15 minutes.

September 27 - Paksiw na Pata Reinvented

Paksiw na Pata is a Filipino version of braised pork leg or pata. Years ago, I would not mind having a serving of Paksiw na Pata. But now that I have grown in age (and gray hairs) I am more cautious in eating such dish. I still love the sweet sauce that comes with the dish so I used boneless pork shoulder roast instead.


If you are more adventurous though, you could prepare this dish with pork leg, trotter or shank.


Braised Pork
Ingredients
5 lbs boneless pork shoulder roast (cut-up)
1 cup dark soy sauce
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup dark brown sugar
6 bay leaves
7 cloves garlic, peeled
4 stems fresh oregano
1 packet of dried banana blossoms (30 grams)
2 tbsp whole peppercorn









Cooking Time (1 hour)
Place the meat pieces in a large baking pan in a single layer.
Put the rest of the ingredients (soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, banana blossom and peppercorn).
Cover the pan.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour.

September 13 - Siopao Asado for Home Lunch

Daniel and Cathelyn are back to school. Daniel is now in 5th grade and Cathelyn is in 3rd grade. As our CEO will always tell me, I should cherish these "golden" years. Indeed, these years are starting to be golden.

Last summer, the kids enjoyed going to the summer sports camps as well as going around Hoboken with their older cousin. They are more independent. They have more enthusiasm in trying out new things (which started this "Fine Dining at Home" project). And they have better appreciation of what they have and what they could do.

Another new thing that they initiated is bringing home lunch to school instead of getting the everyday hot school lunch. Besides making my morning time more hectic preparing their home lunches, it became more challenging for me to prepare a variety to encourage them to really eat their lunch.

This is the main reason why I tried to make siopao asado. Besides being a favorite of my kids (once in a while, I am able to pass by the Red Ribbon bakeshop to buy a dozen), it is also something that I could prepare in advance and then just reheat them in the morning. At this age, too, they are allowed to use the microwave in their classroom to warm their home lunch.

A little convenience, after all, does not hurt....

Siopao Asado

Meat Filling Ingredients

1 lb pork tenderloin, sliced along the grain
2 minced scallion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp cornstarch with 4 tbsp water

Dough Ingredients

6 cups flour

3 tsp salt

6 tsp bakling powder

2 package active dry yeast

1 cup white sugar

1.5 cup lukewarm water

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Cooking the Meat Filling:

Saute the onions and garlic. Add the meat and cook for 10 minutes. Add the brown sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and 1/4 cup water. Simmer for 45 minutes until the meat is tender. Take out some meat while still cooking. Shred the meat and put it back to the pan. Add the water with the cornstarch. Mix until all the meat is covered. Set aside.

Preparing and Cooking the Dough:

In a big bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together.

In another bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1.5 cup of lukewarm water. Add the white sugar. Add 1 cup of the flour mixture and set aside for 30 minutes. Add the rest of the flour mixture and knead the dough until it is smooth and not sticky. Grease the bowl. Cover the dough with the oil and set aside for 2 hours to let the dough rise.

Divide the dough into 12 balls. For each ball, flatten the dough into 5 inches in diameter. Using an ice cream scoop, place 2 scoops of the filling on the center of the dough. Close the seams. Place the filled dough on a wax parchment (1.5 inches in size) and set aside.

Place at least 3 pieces in a steamer. Leave an inch of space between the pieces. Steam for 20 minutes.

You may store the siopao in the freezer.

Reheat for 15 minutes in the steamer. You may also microwave the siopao for a little over 1 minute.

August 25 - Filipino Adobo Revisited

I am pretty sure that if a non-Filipino is familiar to some Filipino dishes, one of these dishes would be adobo. Adobo can be cooked with chicken or pork, or even both.

Although Filipinos can enjoy more ethnic and regional dishes, they would opt for adobo as a default dish to share in a potluck gathering simply because it's non-intimidating yet appetizing. It is best enjoyed with plain white rice and steamed vegetables.


Adobo (8 servings)

Ingredients:
2 lbs pork tenderloin, cut into 1" cubes
1.5 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce (preferably Silver Swan)
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/8 cup whole black peppercorns
1 tbsp brown sugar
5 bay leaves
1/4 cup olive oil







Preparation:
Mix the vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, peppercorn, and brown sugar . Pour it over the meat pieces and marinade overnight.



Cooking Time: (1 hour)
Together with 1/4 cup of olive oil and 5 pieces of bay leaves, cook the meat pieces and the marinade in a large pan over medium to low heat for 55 minutes.
Turn to high heat for the last 5 minutes,to lightly brown the meat pieces.

August 22 - Fried Rice for Breakfast

While some people would prefer bread and cereals for breakfast, I think Asians prefer noodles and rice.

Back in the Philippines, we have grown to love garlic fried rice for breakfast. We fry the leftover rice from last night's dinner and eat it with eggs and meat (or salted fish). We call it with many names: tapsilog (cured beef, fried rice and egg), tusilog (cured pork, fried rice and egg), longsilog (sweet sausage, fried rice and egg). Si is short for sinangag, which is the Tagalog word for fried rice. Log is short for itlog, Tagalog word for egg.

So, whenever a Filipino becomes nostalgic (or homesick), one serving of Filipino fried rice for breakfast will surely warm the heart.

Garlic Fried Rice

Ingredients

6 cups leftover cooked white rice

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 thinly sliced Chinese sausage

1 tsp salt

Cooking Time (10 minutes)

Cook the Chinese sausage in a wok, in medium heat. Add the minced garlic and mix together. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the cooked white rice. Add the salt for seasoning.

Mango relish

Ingredients

1 cup diced grape tomatoes

3 cups diced (yellow) mangoes

1 tbsp minced chives

1 tsp sugar

dash of salt and pepper

1 lime, freshly squeezed

Preparation

Mix all ingredients together. You may chill the relish before serving.

August 17 - The Classic Taste of Pork Barbecue

One thing I like about Filipino get-together is being able to eat pork barbecue. Not a lot of Filipino restaurants in the U.S. could serve the authentic taste of pork barbecue.



Last Saturday, we went to a swimming get-together at my friend's house. It's a perfect summer afternoon so I requested my friend to cook barbecue. The barbecue was so delicious, and authentic (reminds me of my Mama's barbecue back in the Philippines), so much so, that the kids didn't mind lining up to get a freshly grilled bbq. I mentioned to her that I have a personal website about the "gourmet" food that I served to my kids and if she does not mind, I could post her recipe, too.

Full credit goes to my friend, Susan, for her recipe, and to her husband Jay, who enjoyed grilling the barbecue for us.



Here's the bbq marinade recipe (approximate)
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon
1 whole head of garlic, minced
1 tbsp catsup
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Susan uses the marinade for pork tenderloins, spareribs, porkchops and chicken wings. She usually marinate the meat overnight. Thick meat cuts and chicken wings are baked in the marinade before being grilled to make it tender.

August 15 - Pansit - A Default Filipino Dish to Share

This summer is relatively milder than the past summers that the kids have. Normally, we would have experienced a one week of heat wave (more than 100 degrees). But not this summer. We have more heavy rains (just like what you will have in Florida) than hot, humid and hazy days.

But today is one of those perfect summer days. It's sunny and 90 degrees at the most.

We are heading to our friends' house for a barbecue and swimming get-together.

I prepared my usual Filipino dish to share - Pansit.

Filipinos enjoy different kinds of pansit - pansit sotanghon, bihon, malabon, palabok and luglug.

My version of pansit is a crossover of sotanghon and bihon. I used Vermicilli noodles (noodles used for sotanghon) but my mixture is from bihon (since I do not use dried mushroom as an ingredient).

Pansit (good for 20 servings)

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (cut-up to 8 pieces)

4 pieces of Chinese style sausages

4 medium carrots (thin, long slices)

1/2 head of cabbage (shredded)

3 big cloves of garlic (minced)

1/4 cup of minced scallions

2 Knorr chicken bullion

1/2 cup of soy sauce

dash of ground pepper

Olive oil for cooking

1 tbsp of lemon juice

3 packages of 8.8 oz. Lungkow Vermicilli (soaked in lukewarm water for 10 minutes)

6 boiled eggs (sliced) for garnishing

Preparation Time (1.5 hours)

Boil the chicken pieces with 7 cups of water

and 2 Knorr chicken bullion over medium

heat for 1 hour.

This will make the chicken tender

and easier to shred.

Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients.

Cooking Time (30 minutes)

Using a wok, saute the garlic in olive oil for 1 minute (be careful not to burn the garlic). Add the sliced Chinese style sausages. Saute for 2 minutes. Add the shredded carrots. Mix the ingredients and cook for 5 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and cabbage. Saute for 10 minutes. Add the scallions. Add some ground pepper and 1/4 cup of soy sauce. Take out from the wok and set aside.

Strain the chicken stock and pour it in the wok. Add 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of lemon juice and a dash of ground pepper. Bring it to a boil. Add the noodles and mix. Put cooked noodles in a serving dish. Top it with the chicken mixture. Garnish with sliced boiled eggs.