Simple Steak Recipe

This dish is one of my favorite recipes that my dad used to cook for us during my college days. He stopped cooking dish for the family when my mom became a full time housewife already. So here's a very simple recipe that i adapted from my dad's way of cooking steak. Simple and yet very sumptuous dish that would surely tickle your taste buds!

What you need: 

* 1 kilo of steak (you can use big mama, t-bone, or whatever steak you prefer)

* 1/4 kilo of baguio beans

* Star margarine

* 1/2 cup of Knorr liquid seasoning

What you need to do: 

* Marinate the steak with Knorr liquid seasoning for 1 hour. 

* On a pan, heat the pan. Melt the margarine. 

* Cook the steak on low heat. (I cooked the steaks for 10 to 15 minutes). Set aside. 

* On the same pan, fry the baguio beans. 

* Serve with the cooked steak. 

* Happy eating! 

Breakfast at Banapple

This morning hubby and i went to Greenhills to get our game console from the supplier's service center. Instead of strolling in the vicinity with nowhere else to go since the mall doesn't open until 10am, we then decided to eat at  Banapple. One of the most sought cafe by sweet tooth peeps. Mark was right all along, their food and cakes are really sumptuos! I just cant get enought of their cakes <1 ate 2 slices by the way, and i had one burger which they call migs gallabherger.

The price is just right and worth every penny ;) plus the ambiance and the shop's coziness is really superb! Highly recommended! 

BanappleBear

Hubby and I while waiting for our orders <3

Pork Char Siu

To be honest, I really didn’t know what Char siu sauce tastes like. All I know is that Char-siu is the way how Chinese cook their barbecue.

Definition of Char Siu from Wikipedia: "Char siu" literally means "fork burn/roast" (Char being fork (both noun and verb) and siu being burn/roast) after the traditional cooking method for the dish: long strips of seasoned boneless pork are skewered with long forks and placed in a covered oven or over a fire.

When I was contemplating what dish to prepare for my family, I stumbled to this very helpful website (Thank you Atty. Veneracion); and she described how to prepare a Char siu sauce from scratch. When I fully decided to try her recipe, mom and I saw this ready-made Char Siu sauce in the grocery.

I was quite uncertain to use it right after I bought it because my family might not like the way how it taste. So earlier this morning, while thinking of what to cook for tonight’s supper; I finally had the guts to use it. I was really crossing my fingers that it would taste okay, most especially that my hubby is really a picky eater. He even kept on asking me while I was preparing the ingredients: “matamis ba yan?” I really didn’t know what to tell him, but I just said don’t worry, if you don’t like the way it taste, there’s still a leftover in the ref and we can eat it.) hehe

So the verdict? It tastes delicious naman pala! The flavor is almost the same with my favorite Pork Asado that I always order in Toho (one of my fave restaurants in ChinaTown).

Since the sauce is already ready-made, I only used pork, water, snowpeas and onions to prepare this delightful dish. 

What you need:

½ kilo of pork kasim, cut into cubes

3 cups of water

20 pesos worth of snowpeas (chicaro)

Char – siu sauce

1 red onion, quartered

2 tablespoons of canola cooking oil

What you need to do:

* Heat the pan. Put the cooking oil. Saute the onions until transaparent.

* Cook the pork until the edges turn brown.

* Pour the water until the pork becomes tender.

* Add the char-siu sauce. Make sure that the pork is well coated.

* Put the snowpeas. Let it cook for 1 to 2 minutes

* Serve with love and happy eating! 

Lesson learned: Do no be afraid to try new dishes!!! ♥

Our new stylish collection of flatware set ♥

Yesterday morning, hubby and I received a not so delayed wedding gift from one of our tito’s (Thank you lolo Erning!) I was really stunned by the silverwares he gave us because they are over the top, beautiful! 

On that note, hubby and I decided just to keep it and use it only during special occasions – most especially that we only use disposable spoon and fork every time there’s a get-together at our house. ☻ hehehe. 

Pork balls with Sayote and Misua

I really love the combination of beef balls (bola bola) and misua for a soup. There’s something about these two that makes me sip a couple of bowls every time this is served on the table. What I love about this dish is aside from being a delicious viand it also serves as a soup.

I was supposed to use patola when I cooked this, but since hubby and I had a hard time looking for one. We have already scouted all parts of the market but were not lucky enough to find one. So ending, I had to replace the patola with Sayote. :D

Tip for cooking this dish: Do not be tempted to put too much salt when tasting this dish because when you put the misua, it will become more salty J

What you need:

½ ground pork

1 sayote, sliced thinly

1 pack of misua

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 red onion, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 sachet of magic sarap

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup of flour

¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper

6 cups of water

2 tablespoons of canola cooking oil 

What you need to do:

* On a bowl, mix the pork, onion, eg, salt, pepper and flour. Set aside.

* Heat the pan,  pour the oil.

* Sautee the garlic. Add the beef cube, then fish sauce.

* Pour the water and let it simmer for 5 to 8 minutes.

* Scoop 1 tablespoon of the meat mixture then form it to a ball shape. Drop this to the hot water.

* Do this with the rest of the mixture.

* Put the sayote. Let it simmer for 2 minutes

* Add the misua. You may add more salt if you want it to be saltier.

Serve with love and happy eating! 

That healthy Sandwich

After the wedding, I have already gained 2 lbs. Imagine, that’s only 22 days after the wedding. How much weight would I gain in the next few months, aber? :D I am so afraid to go back to my old self, and I need to keep track of what I am eating. This would be a challenge for me as well, because I am in charge of cooking and I keep on tasting the food as it reach to its perfection. :D hehe

So today, I pledge, no more rice. Less carbs, and more on vegetables. I’ve been practicing a no rice diet for quite some time already, but due to the temptations around me – I am left with no choice but to give in, and eat that much. I easily get fat and I am having a hard time losing weight these days. Ganto na ba talaga pag may asawa???

I am back to my old habit already, and that’s by refraining myself from eating rice and too much sweets.  It’s been 5 days already and I know for sure this will be a long journey.

Starting today, during lunch here at work, I WILL ONLY EAT THIS HEALTHY SANDWICH

Sinigang na Baboy

For today's lunch, I cooked hubby's favorite; (which I know for sure is also an all time favorite for most pinoys) Hubby was very happy when he found out that I am going to cook this dish (so with my dad)

Kumukulo kulo pa :D

Here's what you need:

1 sachet of sinigang mix

1 kilo of pork kasim, cut into cubes

12 cups of water 

4 tablespoons of fishsauce

1 sachet of magic sarap

2 bunches of kangkong

1 bunch of string beans

1 onion, quartered

3 tomatoes, quartered

2 tablespoons of canola cooking oil 

Here's what you need to do: 

* Heat the pot. Put the oil. Saute the onions until transparent. 

* Fry the pork until the edges turn brown.

 

* Put the fish sauce.

* Pour the water. 

* Add the tomatoes.

* Let it boil until the pork becomes tender.

* Add the magic sarap and sinigang mix.

* Put the vegetables, let it simmer for 2 minutes. 

* Serve with love and happy eating!

A healthier way of cooking eggs (Poached Egg)

Long before I started practicing my inner culinary skills (naks!) I didn’t know that there’s another way of cooking eggs. I didn’t even know that poaching eggs ever existed. I grew up only eating scrambled and sunny side up eggs only. (hard boiled egg is really not my type) So when I found out about the method for poaching eggs, I immediately told hubby that I am going to try it. He wasn’t even aware about poached eggs, but he was very willing to try and taste the new scheme. Tee hee.

For the record, I am not going to post the picture of the finished product. I really didn’t like how it turned out. It looked like a devastated sunny side up egg, but still tastes delicious

.

If you’re not aware how a poached egg looks like, take a look at the picture below: 

Photo credit

It still looks like a sunny side up, except that the inside is really gooey. 

Here's what you need if you want to poach an egg: 

♥ Fresh Eggs 

♥ 2 tablespoons of vinegar

♥ 2 to 3 cups of water, depending on how shallow your saucepan is. 

Procedures: 

♥ Carefully crack the egg on the bowl. 

♥ Heat the saucepan. Pour the water. 

♥ Once the water has reached its boiling point, add the vinegar. 

♥ Turn off the heat, then carefully put the egg on the water. 

♥Let it sit for 4 minutes or until the egg white is cooked.

♥  Lift eggs out of pan with a slotted spoon.

Poached eggs are perfect for Eggs Benedict 

Chicken with Seasoned Meat Tenderizer

I was really amazed when I tried sprinkling seasoned meat tenderizer to a chicken. Man, it tasted like Max’s Fried Chicken. Even healthier – because the way they cook their chicken is by steaming and deep frying; whereas my “own” way is through broiling only. No cooking oil involved; just the whole chicken and the heat from the turbo. I am pleased to see as its natural oil comes out ofg the chicken and drips of the grill.

If you have a turbo broiler plus a meat tenderizer like the picture below: (or any meat tenderizer you have) 

 try this simple recipe. For the sauce, you can mix 5 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce and 3 tablespoons of tomato ketchup. Max’s na Max’s na J

Yummy!!! ♥ 

All you need to do is to sprinkle and rub the seasoned meat tenderizer to the whole chicken and broil it. Set the timer to 60 minutes, 30 minutes on each side. I suggest you cut the chicken into pieces so it easily gets cook. I tried cooking this without cutting the chicken and some parts were still raw. Yikes! So the next time I cooked it, I made sure to cut them generously and it was perfectly and evenly cooked! (Just like the dark picture posted above) :D

But what if you don’t have a turbo and a seasoned meat tenderizer?

You can replace the tenderizer with Knorr Magic Sarap, and instead of broiling it, you can deep fry the chicken. 

Happy tummy for dinner

This is what I served for the family tonight, the Mongolian Pork Strips and Pork dumplings. Every one enjoyed it to bits and pieces. Even my dad, who is such a picky eater enjoyed eating the pork so with hubby who is really not into sweet viands asked me to cook it again. ♥

Mongolian Pork strips

Hubby doesnt love sweet viands, but since i have been very eager to try this new dish, he said that he's fine eating it so long i make him his favorite cream of mushroom soup :) here's how i made my own version of mongolian pork.

What you need:

1/2 pork kasim, cut into strips

Canola cooking oil for frying

For the marinade:

1/4 cup lee kum kee soysauce

3 tablespoons of hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

For the sauce:

1/2 cup of dark soysauce

Dash of pepper

1/2 cup of water

1/4 cup of rice wine

1 thumb of ginger, chopped finely

2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of olive oil

What you need to do:

* On a bowl, mix the ingredients for marinade. Make sure that the pork strips are evenly coated. Let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes.

* Make the sauce. Heat the oil, fry the ginger. Before it turns golden brown, pour the rice wine and soy sauce. Add the sugar then water. Dash with salt Continue stirring until the sauce gets thick. Set aside.

* On a separate pan, deep fry the marinated pork strips. Drain on paper towels.

* Put the fried pork on the sauce you made earlier, and make sure that each strips are coated.

* Serve with love and happy eating!!!

Ilocos Empanada

 Nothing beats this delicacy and only the pure ilocanos can make such mouth watering empanadas :) you can try a lot of empanadas out there but this is simply the best of all.

Tada!!!!! Siksik na siksik ang laman! 

Here's the recipe I have grabbed from a fansite for Chef Boy Logro. I tried cooking an empanada before, but not like the empanada from Vigan. Instead of Rice flour, i only used plain lumpia wrappers for the cover: 

Ingredients:

Casing:

• 1 ½ cup Mochiko Rice flour - see description of rice flour here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_flour
• ½ cup Water
• 1 tbsp. Oil
• Orange food coloring (optional)

Filling:

• 1 pc Green UN-Ripe papaya (grated)
• 4pcs. Longganisa Sausage chopped (remove from its casing)
• 1pc. Garlic
• 6pcs. Eggs
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cooking for deep frying

Procedure:

CASING:

1. Mix ingredients in a bowl and knead dough lightly.
2. Take about a 2-3 tablespoon of dough and flatten with rolling pin.
3. Set aside while you make your filling. Before you make your filling preheat your deep fryer by adding the cooking oil and set aside.

FILLING:

1. In another skillet pan sauté garlic and onions in oil. Add longganisa sausage and season with salt and pepper to desired. When sausage is cooked put in a bowl and mix it a little to cool it down. Wait 2-3 minutes and mix in grated papaya.
2. Spoon out 2-3 tablespoon of filling to flattened dough and crack a pieces of fresh egg. Seal the sides and deep fry in the preheated deep fryer.
3. Place Empanadas in a plate topped with plenty of paper towels to blot oil. Serve in another clean platter and with sweet chili dip or garlic vinegar on the side.

Pork Mechada :D

Mom's still in the province so i am in charge of all the meals for the family:) here's what i prepared for today's lunch. I named this pork mechada because this dish tastes like mechado and afritada in one :)

What you need

1/4 pork kasim, cut into cubes

3 pieces tomatoes, diced

1 onion, minced

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

1 tablespoon of sugar

1/4 cup of fish sauce

1 sachet of magic sarap

1 tablespoon of olive oil

3 cups of water

2 medium sized potato, cut into cubes

3/4 cup of greenpeas

1 laurel leaf

1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper

What you need to do:

* Heat the olive oil in wok. Sautee the onions and tomatoes.

* Add the pork. Put the fish sauce, tomato paste, pepper, sugar, laurel leaf. Let it simmer for 1 to 2 minutes.

* Pour the water. Let it boil until the pork becomes tender.

* Add the potatoes and green peas. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes.

* Serve with love and happy eating!

Big Time Sandwich!

For today's lunch, I had a Big Time Sandwich from The Sandwich Guy. ☻ Since the serving is really generous, I saved the other half for hubs. ♥ TSG is one good way to start eating healthy sandwiches. Their main ingredients are always fresh, and their wheat bread really tastes delicious. There's something about their healthy sandwiches that makes it really addicting.

Aside from the various sandwiches they are offering, they are also selling pastas and baked potatoes (which are also over the top delicious!)

My lunch for today :)

Here's the menu I have captured from their website: 

http://thesandwichguy.com/

Buttered Shrimp

You can never go wrong with butter; as it makes a simple dish really sumptuous. 

With the price of shrimp nowadays, my mom seldom buys it. So every time my mom cooks it for the entire family, it easily gets finished off. . LOL ☻

 Here's a simple recipe that can turn out a shrimp at its best taste. 

What you need

1 kilo of shrimp

1 can of sprite

butter

dash of salt and pepper

1 red of onion, minced

What you need to do: 

* Heat the pan, melt the butter. Saute the onion until transparent. 

* Put the shrimp. 

* Add the salt and pepper.

* Pour the sprite, then simmer until the shrimps turn pinkish. Remember not to overcooked 'em. 

* Serve with love and happy eating! 

I swear, this tastes really good as the sweetness of the sprite and the saltiness of the butter makes this dish really flavorful!!! ☻

Siomai

For today's lunch and for hubby's baon for tonight's work, i cooked a simple home made siomai. :) having a steamer is really fun because I get to cook healthy foods in an instant - without getting worried if something gets overcooked.

What you need

1/2 ground pork

1 carrot minced

1 onion minced

Dash of salt and pepper

1 sachet of magic sarap

Siomai wrappers

1 egg lightly beaten

Toyamansi for sauce (combination of soy sauce and calamansi)

What you need to do

- On a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients except for the wrappers and egg.

- Brush the wrapper with egg. Scoop one tablespoonfull of the pork mixture. Fold each sides to secure the wrapper. See picture posted ;)

- Steam for 10 to 15 minutes

- Serve with toyamansi

- Happy eating!

Mac and cheese with bacon

This isnt the instant kraft mac and cheese, but rather a home made mac and cheese. Non commercialized, and more affordable i suppose :) Pop and hubby both loves cheese, so i am pretty sure they would enjoy this recipe for brunch time! ;)

What you need:

1/4 elbow macaroni (cooked as per instructions) - i do have a small family so you may want to add more macaroni if you're cooking for more people; but you will need to add more cheese sauce

1 pack of cheese sauce by delmonte

5 strips of bacon (cut into small pieces)

Canola cooking oil

Dash of salt

What you need to do:

* Pour the water, add 1 tablespoonbof oil (this prevents the macaroni from sticking) and dash of pepper in a bowl. Cook the macaroni as per instructions.

* While waiting for the macaroni reach its consistency, cook the bacon bits. Set aside.

* On a bowl, put the cooked macaroni and top with cheese sauce. Make sure its spread evenly.

* Top with bacon bits.

* Serve with love and happy eating!

Milk fish with sauce (Sarciadong isda)

You can use any kind of fish for this recipe. Lapu lapu is the best variety :) I used milkfish for this.

What you need:

1 milkfish, cleaned

3 raws eggs, lightly beateb

2 tomatoes, diced

1 onion, diced

1 1/2 cup of water

Magic sarap

2 1/2 tablespoons of fish sauce

What you need to do

* Sprinkle the fish with magic sarap

* Deep fry. Set aside

* On a separate pan, sautee the onions and tomatoes. Pour the water. Add the fish sauce. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.

* Put the fish and beaten eggs.

* Stir the sauce. Once the eggs turn somehow "cloudy" turn off the heat.

* Serve with love and happy eating!

Embutido

After the wedding, one of our principal sponsors gave us an electric steamer. I promised to myself that after the wedding i am going to buy a steamer so i get to try other healthy recipes too. :) the moment i found out that one of our ninang's gave us a steamer, my first impulse was to cook embutido the recipe i have been wanting to try for quite sometime already- most especially that i get to taste this during birthday parties only :D

What you need:

1/2 kilo of ground pork

1 sachet of tomato sauce

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup of raisins

2 raw eggs, lightly beaten

8 pieces cocktail hotdogs cut into half per piece

3 pieces boiled eggs (once boiled cut into quarters)

1/4 cup green peas

1 carrot, minced

1 onion, minced

What you need to do

* On a bowl mix the pork and egg. Add the raisins and then the green peas. Dash with salt and pepper.

* Add the carrots and onions. Make sure that ingredients are mixed evenly.

* Scoop 8 tablespoons of mixture and flatten it on top of foil/aluminum paper. Top with boiled eggs and hotdogs.

* Do this with the rest of the mixture

* Roll the mixture by covering it with the foil (embutido style)

* Steam for 1 hour. Refrigerate.

* Slice and serve with love :)

Adobong Sitaw

this is not the usual adobo wherein vinegar is used as the main ingredient.

Ingredients:
1 tali of string beans
1 sachet of magic sarap
2 table spoons of knorr liquid seasonig
1 tomato minced
1 red onion chopped
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon of canola cooking oil

What you need to do:
- Heat the cooking oil then sautee the onions and tomato
- Add the magic sarap and string beans. Pour the water and knorr.
- Let it simmer for 5 to 6 minutes
- Serve with love and happy eating!

Simple Steamed lapu lapu

Im not a big fan of fishes but since we've been eating meat for a few weeks already, i decided to cook the simplest steamed lapu lapu last night. :)

Ingredients:
2 pieces of lapu lapu, cleaned
2 cups of water
1 sachet of magic sarap

What you need to do:
- Sprinkle the magic sarap to the fish.
- Cover with foil.
- Pour the water to the steamer and set it to 30 minutes
- Serve with love and happy eating!

Best served when topped with mayonaisse :)

Pork with chinese tofu

Im back to cooking! Here's the latest recipe that i cooked for my family :)

What you need

1/2 pork kasim, cut into cubes

3 tablespoons of white vinegar

3 teaspoons of sugar

1 1/2 tablespoon of oyster sauce

5 tablespoons of soy sauce

3 cups of water

2 laurel leaves

3 chinese tofu, cut into cubes

2 tablespoons of canola cooking oil

What you need to do:

- Heat the oil and deep fry the tofu. Set aside.

- On the same pan where you cooked the tofu, cook the pork until it turns brown.

- Add the soysauce, water and oyster. Let it boil until the pork becomes tender.

- Pour the vinegar then add the sugar. Add the laurel leaves. Let it simmer for another 20 minutes or until you get the consistency that you want.

- Put the fried tofu.

- Serve with love and happy eating.

Pinakbet

It was during my elementary days when i first cooked this dish. I learned it from my mom because she never fails to cook this once every two weeks. I have been a frequent eater and lover of vegetables so i really enjoy it a lot every time she prepares this dor us. So when she went to province to visit my grandma, i decided to cook and prepare this ilocano delicacy for my ex hubby to be; and now my husband already. Haha.

What you need
1/4 kilo of pork
3 knob of garlic , crushed
1 tomato, minced
1 thumb of ginger, crushed
1 red onion , minced
2 eggplants, cut into 1/2 inch
1 bittergourd (ampalaya con carne cut)
1 tali of okra
1/2 squash
1 sachet of magic sarap
4 tablespoons of bagoong (i used the liquid typenof bagoong, not the paste)
2 to 3 cups of water
1 tablespoon of canola cooking oil

What you need to do

* Heat the oil. Sautee the garlic and onions. Then add the tomato and ginger. Continue stirring until fragrant.
* Add the pork. Let it cook until the edges turn to brown.
* Pour the water, then add the magic sarap and bagoong.
* Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add the vegetables. Bring to a boil but do not overcook the veggies.
* Serve with love and happy eating!

Foodstagram

i cant help myself to take pictures of the food we eat via this cool application :p yummy!