Sweet treat in bed

Dbeenddesert has been sick for already a couple of days. It must have been the humid, soaring hot weather outside and the freezing temperature in workplace. Dbeenddesert is not at all well yet still unstoppable when it comes to her passion in cooking.

She managed to bake a chocolate cake. Of course, she decided to go on the safer side by buying an American Garden Chocolate Mix (500g).  For the liquid ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs

Combine these with the cake mix, beat thoroughly until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

Grease the pan with butter and sprinkle with flour. Pour the batter in this greased pan.

Cook in preheated oven (temperature set at 185 degrees) for about 40 minutes. Check if the cake is done by inserting a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean then it is an indication that the cake is ready. Let it cool for about 15 minutes before removing from the baking pan.Dbeenddesert enjoys her afternoon snack in bed - chocolate cake she made garnished with hayati’s dates harvest and a cup of tea.

Grilled Chicken in Yoghurt

I had a joke with hayati the other day that all his dishes seem the same, cooked the same way..in tomato sauce & masala. That conversation ended with a promise that the next dish he’s going to prepare will be somewhat different from what he previously cooked.

Well, let’s see if this recipe is really unalike from hayati’s previous dishes.

He marinated 6 pieces chicken legs (skin discarded) into a mixture of:

• 1 cup plain yoghurt
• 1/2 teaspoon masala
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• juice of 1 medium size lemon

Just combine all the above ingredients, pour into the chicken pieces in a foil, seal and marinate for an hour or preferably longer.

Cook in a 250 degree oven for about 20 minutes just to tenderize the chicken. Then grill for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook 2 cups basmati rice as per the package direction. Sauté onion in a 2 tablespoons canola oil, drop 1/2 cup chickpeas, season with salt & pepper, plus he added a yellow coloring for the rice. Combine with the fluffy basmati rice.

Serve with the grilled chicken.

Pinakbet / Pakbet

This is a well known dish in my province - Cagayan. Though Cagayan is called home of the Ibanags, the locality at present is not just a mix of Ibanag & Ilocano people, but there are other groups present as well like Itawis, Gaddang & other groups.  I even noticed last time I visited my place the emergence of Muslim community near Aparri. 

I observed, the way of cooking pinakbet also varies from house to house. Some will add crunch to this dish by adding pork chicharon, some will just drop all the ingredients right in the pot, simmer & that’s it! I believe we tend to carry with us our first cooking lesson we learned, which is surely in our own home.  And this is what I inherited from my parents.. this is how we cook pinakbet at home.

My brother has been longing me to cook this local dish and tonight I decided to satisfy his palate.  Most of the vegetables in this dish are imported from India. The bitter gourd at first glance seems different from that of what we have in the Philippines but I can say there’s no difference much on the taste except that this one is more bitter :)

Well enough with the prologue and lets list down the ingredients. This is just for two persons so if you need more serving, adjust the measurements accordingly.

• 1/2 kg tilapia (any fish you prefer may do), clean and cut into half.
• 1/8 kg eggplants, sliced into quarters
• 1/8 kg bitter gourd, sliced the same size as the eggplant
• 1/8 kg lady fingers (okra), trim both ends (tip & cap). [Tip I learn from my mother: Try to break the tip of the okra. If it breaks, then its good, but if not just throw it away as the pod is tough.  You don’t want to eat a stringy okra, right?]
• 1 medium tomato, sliced
• 1 head onion, sliced 
• Ginger, sliced into strips
• 3 cloves garlic, do not slice, leave as a whole
• 4 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1/2 of bullion cube (vegetable flavor)
• 1/2 cup water
• Cooking oil
• You may add: Pumpkin / Squash. I opted not to incorporate this as the serving will be too much for me & bro.
• We sometimes add finger chilis (siling haba). I don’t know what variety is being sold in my province but believe me its not at all hot/spicy the chilis there. Unfortunately, here, chilis are way too much hot/spicy.

Since I do not eat pork meat, I will use fish instead. Even way back home we generally use fish, usually grilled fish called tangi in my dialect (tulingan in Tagalog).Cooking my way:

• Sprinkle the tilapia with salt.
• In a pan, heat some oil and fry the fish till golden brown. Set aside.
• In a casserole, heat about 3 tablespoons of cooking oil. Drop the garlic, ginger and onion, sauté until the garlic turns little brown.
• Add the sliced tomatoes and cook till it gets soft. Then drop all the remaining vegetables. Pour the fish sauce, stir fry for about 2 minutes just to let the vegetables absorb some of the sauce.
• Pour in the water, drop the bullion cube, close lid and let it cook for about 5 minutes.
• Check the taste, season with salt if necessary. Add on the top the fried tilapia, cover and simmer till the vegetables are cooked through.
• Serve immediately with jasmine rice.

Pasta with Peas & Mortadella

To go with my pika-pika asparagus wraps I’m making simple pasta noodles with peas and mortadella.  This is my dinner tonight.

• 100 grams spaghetti noodles
• 2 tablespoons EVOO (Extra-virgin olive oil)
• 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
• Grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 100 grams mortadella (I’m using with olive flavor), cut into bite-size
• Pepper & salt to taste
• Sage leaves (No fresh sage available in the pantry so I’m using dried sage)

Direction

• Boil water in a large saucepan, add salt and cook the pasta for about 8 minutes (check package for a more specific minutes required).  Plunge the peas into the pan and bring to boil for two more minutes till the peas are tender and the pasta is al dente. Drain well. Reserve some of the cooking water.
• Meanwhile, in a non-stick pan, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil and brown the garlic. Add the mortadella slices, sage, season with some pepper and salt.  Stir fry in a low fire for around 5 minutes.
• Add the drained pasta and peas into the pan. Add about 4 teaspoons from the pasta water, mix to incorporate all the flavors and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Serve with grated parmesan cheese on top.

Cheesy Asparagus Wraps

When I’m alone, I want to indulge myself with foods... Yes! I do not need to cook rice dish for dinner as kuya is away tonight. I decided to prepare Asparagus wrapped with Mortadella to munch while I’m watching the news show.

• 15 spears of asparagus, cut till the hard end.
• Cheese slices
• 3 mortadella slices

In a salted boiling water, blanch the asparagus for about two minutes. Drain and drop in a cold water to shock the asparagus and stop the cooking.

Divide the asparagus into 3 sets, 5 spears per set. Lay each set in the middle of mortadella, top with cheese slice, wrap by sealing both ends of the mortadella with a toothpick. Cook in the oven just till the cheese melts. Serve while hot.

Shake that shake

Weather update: temperature outside is 45°C.

I definitely need a refreshment drink with this weather. So I thought of mixing my usual fresh milk drink with some strawberries. I always have a stock of ice-cream in my fridge so why not add more flavor into my drink?

• 500 ml fresh milk
• 400 grams frozen strawberry
• 1 cup of vanilla flavored ice cream
• Ice cubes

Put everything in a blender and thoroughly blend.  Pour in a glass, garnish with a slice of strawberry. Since I cannot drink all in one shot, I put in a glass container, with tight seal so I can bring some in the work. :)

?? Did you know that there are on average 200 seeds (which are actually fruits) per strawberry?

Lunch in a Bag

If there’s one thing I learn from watching Jamie Oliver’s shows, that’s cooking simple..

Thursday night, saw a replay of his cooking show sharing the use of bag (foil paper) in cooking a meal.  I went to bed with the thought of trying to use this method in the coming day.

Friday…cooking time for the planned recipe. I gathered the following ingredients..as Jamie said, you can put any veggies you want.

• > 1/4 kg Hammour fillet (just enough for me & big bro)
• > 100 grams button mushrooms, just slice into 4
• > 1 small can green peas, drained
• > 1 medium tomato, thinly sliced
• >  Olive oil
• >  Part of lemon, 3 thin slices
• >  Onion leaves 
• >  Salt & Pepper
• >  Foil

 Fold the foil into bag-like shape, sealing the edges by pressing gently.

Season the fish with salt and pepper. Dash with little bit of olive oil as well. Put into the foil bag and arrange the lemon slices on top of the fish.

In a bowl, put all the vegetables, sprinkle with salt, pepper  and about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss to coat all the vegetables then put inside the foil bag.

Seal the opening of the bag by folding 4 times. Press gently to ensure tight closure.

Cook this into 200-220 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

 

 

 

You may eat straight from the opened bag or transfer in a serving dish.

I was delighted with the outcome of the dish. The fish was perfectly cooked on its own juice and from the vegetable steam. So simple, fulfilling dish and no mess to wash up.  :) :) with my accomplishment today.