August 31 - A Quick Fix Bacon and Cheese Roll

Kids do have a lot of school breaks. On top of several long weekends, there's the winter break in February, spring break in April, 8 weeks of summer break, Thanksgiving holiday , and Christmas break.

We normally go out of town and enjoy the outdoors during these school breaks. Now that the kids are bigger, we tried to stay in suites or timeshare units because these units have kitchens and living areas.

Holidays are more relaxing when the kids have their own space and we could eat our meals when we want them (not waiting in line at restaurants).

Bacon And Cheese Roll

Ingredients
1 Pillsbury Crusty French Loaf dough
1 package of bacon
6 tbsps shredded cheddar cheese

Cooking Time (45 minutes)

Fry the bacon and place on paper towel to drain excess fat.
Flatten the dough.
Sprinkle the dough with cheddar cheese.
Put the bacon strips in a single layer.
Carefully roll the dough.
Press the ends of the roll. Bake the roll in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

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 24 - The Basic Taste of Shrimp Tempura

I had a chance to work in Japan for about a year. I learned to eat ramen from Kyushu, baby octopus sashimi from Osaka, tonkatsu from Ebisu, okanomiyaki from Shibuya, takoyaki and yakisoba from the street fairs of Tokyo.

Here in New Jersey, we regularly go to Mitsuwa supermarket in Edgewater.

My kids and husband would have their udon soup while I would have my ramen. The supermarket is very much like the supermarkets in Tokyo, bright and clean. I still opt to buy the regular Japanese foods and condiments, although they turn out more expensive when paying in dollars.

Kamameshi

Ingredients
4 cups of uncooked medium grain white rice
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 chicken bullion cubes
3 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp sake
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp salt
1 medium onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced
1 medium carrot, minced
2 cups sweet peas
7 pieces shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
4 cups water

Preparation Time ( 1 hour)

Wash the rice and drain. Place in a large bowl and let it stand for 1 hour.

Cooking Time (40 minutes)

In a large pan, cook the chicken with the soy sauce, chicken bullion cubes, sugar, sake, mirin, salt, onion, and garlic for 10 minutes.

Add the rice and 4 cups of water.
Let it boil until almost all the liquid has dried up (about 10 minutes). Cover the pan and simmer for the next 20 minutes. Fluff the rice and serve.

Shrimp Tempura
Ingredients

1.5 lbs jumbo shrimps, shelled and deveined (about 20 counts)
2 eggs
1 cup cold water
2 cups flour
oil for deep frying

Preparation Time
Cut the tip of the shrimp tails.
Make a few cuts on the inside curve of the shrimp to prevent it from curling when fried.
Place the shrimp in a shallow dish in a single layer.
On a separate bowl, whisk the egg, flour and water together.

Cooking Time (15 minutes)
Dip the shrimp in the batter and deep-fry.
Place only 3 shrimps at a time to prevent them from sticking.
Turn the shrimp only once.
Fry for about 2 minutes or when the tempura is lightly browned.
Serve at once.

August 23 - The Yummy Jello

The kids decided to make their desserts too. Since the time they made their thirst quenching lemonade, they have baked chocolate chip cookies, brownies and made their own gelatin dessert.
The happiest guy in town is their Dad. Gelatin dessert is his favorite. In fact, it is one of his favorite birthday foods, growing up.

Gelatin Dessert

Ingredients

6 oz peach flavor Jello gelatin powder
1 medium can sliced peaches

or

6 oz strawberry flavor Jello gelatin powder
1 pint sliced strawberries (sweetened with 1 tbsp sugar)

2 cups boiling water
6 ice cubes

Cooking and Preparation Time (1 hour)
Boil 2 cups of water in a pot.

Pour the 6 oz gelatin powder and stir for 2 minutes until it dissolves completely.

Add 6 ice cubes.

Pour the mixture in a shallow glass pan.

Add the fruits.

Chill the gelatin in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Cut the gelatin and serve with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.

August 23 - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Who would not want pasta and meatballs. Even my kids will gladly welcome a serving or two.

But there was a time that I could not even serve a simple marinara sauce to my kids. They did not like any colored things on their pasta. They would eat the pasta but pass on the sauce. As for me, I do not like meat on my pasta. I prefer the garlic and olive oil kind. So there were many dinners that I had to serve pasta in different ways and taste.

Recently, my kids have learned to like their pasta with marinara sauce. I serve it with meatballs on the side. That made our pasta dinner a little simpler.

Meatballs
Ingredients
3 lbs ground beef
2 cups 1% milk
2 cups Italian crumbs
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp pepper

Preparation
Mix all ingredients. Let it stay in the refrigerator overnight.

Cooking Time (1 hour)
Set the oven to 400 degrees. Make 15 big meatballs. Place the meatballs on an oven broiler pan (put water on the bottom pan) and bake for an hour.


Marinara Sauce

Ingredients
6 cups crushed tomatoes (or two 28 oz. cans)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 large onion, minced
1 large red sweet pepper, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp salt
6 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp minced fresh basil
2 tbsp minced fresh oregano
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley



Cooking Time (1 hour)
Put all the ingredients in a large pot. Cook in medium to low heat for an hour. If desired, use a handheld blender to puree the sauce before serving.

Serve with any kind of pasta (my kids like spaghetti and ziti). Serve with freshly ground pepper and parmesan cheese.

August 23 - Simply Crepes

We have grown to love French crepes.


There used to be this nice, cozy restaurant here in Hoboken, called Rue de Jardin. They served specialty crepes. The restaurant was next to a park where our kids hang out and play. We used to stop by Rue de Jardin for some crepes. My kids love the Nutella crepe. My husband will go for ham and cheese. And I will have my spinach and prosciutto.


While Rue de Jardin has closed, another crepe restaurant opened in Hoboken, called Crepe Grill. It became another hangout place for us, since it is near the soccer field where my kids play.

French Crepe



Ingredients (makes 8 servings)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 eggs
1 cup 1% milk
1 cup water
4 tbsp butter, melted
4 tbsp butter for cooking




Preparation (40 minutes)
Whisk all the ingredients together. Set aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.


Cooking Time (30 minutes)
Heat 1/4 tsp butter in a large, fry pan, in medium to high heat. Using a soup ladle, pour batter in the pan. Cook the first side for 1 minute. Carefully flip the crepe. Cook the other side for 1 minute.

For a Nutella crepe, slide the crepe on a plate.
Spread 1 tbsp of Nutella on the crepe. Roll the crepe.


For a Ham and Cheese, when you have flipped the crepe on the other side, place 3 thin slices of Swiss Gruyere and 2 slices of ham. You may also use Prosciutto, instead of Ham. After another minute, slide the crepe on a plate. Roll the crepe.





When serving, sprinkle powdered sugar over the crepe. You may also serve it with whipped cream, sliced strawberries and cut honeydew.

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.