Pepper & Cheese Rolls

This appetizer is one the easiest recipes to prepare and cook. No fuss at all! It is as easy as 1-2-3 or just remember the acronym SWF (slice, wrap & fry).

Ingredients:
2 pcs. medium Green/Red Bell Pepper (slice into strips)
1 pack Cheddar Cheese (battonet sliced)
24 pcs. small size Lumpia Wrapper
Cooking oil for deep frying
Thousand Island sauce for dipping



 Procedures:

1. SLICE the pepper & cheddar cheese.
2. WRAP pepper & cheese with lumpia wrapper.
3. Deep FRY the pepper & cheese rolls until golden brown and drain oil using paper towel.
4. Serve while hot with Thousand Island sauce dip.

Makes 3-5 servings

Tip:  Deep fry under medium heat only to avoid the rolls from burning.  Rolls are easily cooked so do not leave them unattended.

Cream Dory w/Mustard Sauce

I’m not much of a fish lover, so I hardly cook with fish and my recipes for it are limited.  I usually cook bangus, tilapia & galunggong. Then the cream dory fish came! When it became popular and easily available here in the Philippines, my adventurous spirit in cooking fish perked up.  Cream dory fish is easy to cook and one can do many recipes with it.

One day, when we visited  Banapple Pies & Cheesecakes, I ordered fish fillet with mustard sauce (plus garlic rice) for my dinner.  The fish fillet tasted so good!  And I knew that the fish was of cream dory. While eating, it challenged me that I could do this recipe.  Ingredients and steps on how to cook it were running to my mind throughout dinner.

  

Thus, I did it last night.  My verdict came from my hubby, “Mmmm…tastes like in Banapple!”

Ingredients:
500 g Cream Dory fish (filleted and cut into serving proportion)
2 pcs White Eggs (beaten)
1 sachet Chicken Breading Frying Mix
1-2 cups Cornstarch
Cooking Oil for deep frying
80 ml Kraft Miracle Whip All-Purpose Dressing
1-1  ½ tps McCormick Prepared Mustard

Procedures:
Mustard Sauce

1. In a mixing bowl, combine all-purpose dressing and mustard.
2. Mix thoroughly until dressing has changed color evenly.
3. Mixture must have bright yellow color.

Fish

1. Drench fish into Chicken Breading Frying Mix.
2. Dip covered fish into beat eggs.
3. Turn over fish into cornstarch.
4. Pre-heat cooking oil in deep frying pan.
5. Deep fry fish in medium heat until golden brown.
6. Set aside on plate with paper towel.

Serving

1. Put dressing in an icing pouch/bag.
2. Arrange fish in a clean platter.
3. Top fish with the mustard dressing/sauce.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Tip:

1. If you haven't achieve the desired color of your mustard sauce, add again a little bit of prepared mustard in the dressing then mix thoroughly.  Don't make the yellow color too dark coz the taste might turn sour and bitter.
   
2. If you don’t have icing pouch/bag, you can put the dressing into a sandwich plastic bag then push content to one corner of the bag forming like a cone.  Cut the end of the plastic bag then squeeze dressing on top of the fish.

Ginataang Alimasag w/ Langka

Cocomilk based viands (ginataan) are one of my favorites especially with seafoods.  Ginataan is one of the famous Pinoy’s culinary genre that could be limitless in terms of its varieties.  One can cook practically anything with gata!  So I cooked Ginataang Alimasag w/ Langka.

Ingredients:
3 pcs Medium Alimasag (Crab) cut into halves
250 g Unripe Langka (Jackfruit) sliced thinly
3 pcs Okra (Lady's finger) sliced into fourths
1 pc Medium minced Onion
1 tps minced Ginger
2 cups Cocomilk (gata)
1½ cups Water
1 pc Siling Pang-sigang (finger chili) sliced diagonally –optional
2 tbs Fish Sauce (Patis)
Salt & Pepper

Procedure:

1. In a sauce pan, put Langka and water. Bring to boil.
2. Add onion, ginger and cocomilk. Stir & bring to boil.
3. Put crab and mix.  Simmer until crab evenly changed color.
4. Add okra, fish sauce and siling pang-sigang.  Stir/mix and simmer until sauce slightly thickens.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes 3-5 servings.


Tip:  Cover sauce pan when having final simmer.  Do not let the sauce dry.

Boneless Bangus Bellystek

 

Pinoy steak has different varieties nowadays.  So I’m trying to come up with my own list.  Last time it was Bistek.  And this time, Bellystek!

 Ingredients:
1 pack 500g Century Boneless Bangus Belly (unseasoned & cut into parts)
1 cup  Chicken Breading frying mix
2 tbs Soy Sauce
1 tbs Kikoman soy sauce
1 tbs Oyster sauce
1 tbs Calamansi extract
1 tbs Brown Sugar
½ cup Water
1 tsp Cornstarch
1 tbs Butter
1 medium Onion (sliced into rings)
Cooking oil (for frying)

Procedures:

1. Drench bangus belly in chicken breading frying mix.
2. Deep fry bangus belly until golden brown. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine soy sauce, kikoman, oyster sauce, calamansi,brown sugar, cornstarch & water.  Mix thoroughly until sugar and cornstarch are dissolved well.
4. Pre-heat wok pan.
5. Put butter and toss onion over medium heat.
6. Pour mixture into the wok and stir. Simmer for 2 minutes.
7. Add fried bangus belly and simmer for another minute.
8. Serve while hot.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Tip:  You may serve it on sizzling plate.

Beef Caldereta

I don’t cook much tomato based viands coz it’s my hubby’s least favorite. But I want to try cooking one to break the usual soup based like tinola,sinigang and nilaga.  So I decided to trybeef caldera.  This would be my first try.  As I was preparing; I kept praying,“Lord, please let this be taste good!”

God is so good!  My hubby rated it with five stars (five isthe highest).

Ingredients:
500 g Lean Beef (cut into bite size)
85 g Liverspread
90 g Tomato Sauce
½ cup Grated Cheddar Cheese
5 tbs Soy Sauce
5 tbs Vinegar
½ tsp Brown Sugar
1 pc Medium Onion (minced)
3 gloves Garlic (minced)
1 pc Carrot (diced)
1 pc Medium Potato (diced)
1 pc Medium Red Bell Pepper  (diced)
2 ½ cups Water
Salt and Pepper

Procedures:

1. In a sauce pan, combine soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, onion, and garlic.
2. Add beef and mix thoroughly. Marinate for an hour.
3. Bring to boil the marinade mixture with constant stirring.
4. Add water and bring to boil.
5. Simmer beef under low fire for about an hour or until tender. 
6. Add small amount of water when beef tends to dry up.
7. In a wok, stir fry carrot and potato under medium fire then add liverspread.
8. Add beef together with its sauce. Stir.
9. Add tomato sauce.  Stir and season to taste with salt and pepper.
10. Remove from fire and add cheese & bell pepper. Stir.
11. Serve while hot.

Makes 3-5 servings.

Tip:  You may use pressure cooker to shorten the cooking time of the beef.  Please refer to your pressure cooker cooking guide.

Pork Adobo with Fruit Cocktail

Though it’s one of their favorites, my kids got tired of my usual Adobo.  I told myself that I must come up with another variety.  In the commercial, Juday’s version has pineapple in her adobo.  But we have allergy in pineapple!  Too much pineapple is not good for us.  Maybe I can try fruit cocktail, since it has less pineapple.  And it worked!  Kids and hubby love my new adobo.

Ingredients:
500 g Pork Kasim (shoulder pork cut “picnic”)
400 g Fruit Cocktail in heavy syrup
2 cloves Garlic (minced)
1 tbs. Brown Sugar
½ cup Cane Vinegar
½ cup Soy Sauce
2 pc. Laurel Leaves
5-10 pcs. Black Peppercorn
2 cups Water

Procedures:

1. Cut pork into small bite proportion.
2. Drain fruit cocktail, set aside and save syrup.
3. Dissolve brown sugar in fruit cocktail’s syrup.
4. Add vinegar and garlic.  Stir.
5. Marinate pork in the syrup for an hour.
6. In a saucepan, cook the pork with the syrup and add 2 cups water.
7. Bring to boil and remove the white bubbles.
8. Lower the fire and simmer pork until tender.
9. From time to time stir the pork while simmering.
10. Do not let it dry while cooking. 
11. When pork is almost tender, add soy sauce, laurel leaves & peppercorn.  Stir.
12. Turn off fire when pork is tender and add fruit cocktail.  Stir.
13. Serve while still hot.

Makes 4-5 servings.


Tip:  If it tends to dry while cooking, add small amout of water from time to time until meat is tender.

Bistek ni Kikay

Bistek is the Pinoy version of Beef Steak.  And here is my own version.





Ingredients:
½ kilo Beef Sirloin (thinly sliced/tapa slice)
2 pcs. White Onion (cut into rings)
5 tbs. Soy Sauce
1 tbs. Oyster Sauce
1 tbs. Worcestershire Sauce
½  tbs. Calamansi/Lemon Extract
1 tsp. Brown Sugar
Pinch of Powdered Black Pepper
1 ½ cups Water


5 tbs. Canola Oil

Procedure:

1. In a mixing bowl combine soy sauce, oyster sauce, Worcestershire sauce, calamansi, sugar & blackpepper.  Mix thoroughly until sugar is dissolved.
2. Marinate beef for an hour.
3. Transfer beef in pressure cooker with its marinade sauce and add water.
4. Let it boil and close cooker.  Pressure cook it for 5 minutes.
5. Remove beef and set aside sauce.
6. Heat oil in a frying pan and toss fry the beef.  (Do not put beef all together in the pan.)
7. Set aside beef.
8. Using the same oil and pan, pour sauce and onion rings.
9. Simmer for 1 minute then add beef and stir.
10. Serve while hot.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Tip: do not overcook beef in pressure cooker for it might dry up and burn.

Chicken Mami

 

Though it’s already summer, the weather seems to bring cold breeze from time to time.  And sometimes we want to eat something yummy and hot.  Chicken Mami is perfect for this kind of weather.

Ingredients:

½ kg Chicken Breast
½ kg Fresh Miki (thin round noodles)
1 pc Medium Onion (minced)
2 tbs Garlic (minced & roasted)
2 pc Boiled Eggs (sliced)
1 cup Chicharon Baboy (crashed)
1 pc Knorr Chicken Cube
2 tbs cooking oil
5 liters water
1.5 liters Chicken Stock
Spring Onions (minced)
Fish Sauce (patis)
Powdered Blackpepper

Procedures:
A.  Preparing the chicken

1. Boil chicken in 2.5 liters of water until cook. Remove bubbles when boiling.
2. Remove chicken from stock, cool down and set aside the stock.
3. Shred chicken into bite size and set aside.

B. Preparingthe noodles

Fresh noodles have poignant scent that needs to be lessened when serving, to do this follow these simple steps:

1. Wash noodles in top water.  Separate noodles carefully and drain.
2. Boil 2.5 liters water and blanch the noodles then drain.
3. Run top water unto noodles and drain.  Set aside.

C.  Preparing the soup

1. In a sauce pot, preheat oil and sauté onion.
2. Add chicken stock, chicken cube and bring to boil.
3. Season to taste w/ fish sauce and powdered blackpepper.

D.  How to serve

1. Arrange noodles(serving proportion) in a serving bowl.
2. Top it with chicken, spring onion, roasted garlic, boiled egg & chicharon.
3. Fill the bowl with hot soup.
    
4. Serve while hot.

Makes 4-5 servings

Tip:  Do not let the noodles stay too long in boiling water when blanching.  It will overcook the noodles.