Under Construction

I'm currently finalizing the design and stuff i want to put in my homemaker's shack so there will be some stuff in this blog that will go on and off. Stay tuned!

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The Sick Shack

I've been sickie for 4 days so I haven't been in the mood to cook and explore new recipes. Aside from very busy work week last week, I feel like I'm suffering from a slight trauma caused by the kitten incident last Sunday evening, so I am still not feeling 100% right now, and just not inspired to move around.

Looks like this week is not our week. It's Mark's 2nd sick day now... but at least I'm almost fully recovered and can take care of him.

So for brunch today, and before I go to bed, here's my sick recipe - a recipe for the sick :).

- Pea soup from Mark's and Spencer. Of course it's canned :P
- foccacia bread from Bizu (our fav bakery)
- Scrambled egg
- Strawberries on the side.
- coffee and orange juice.

Ciao for now!

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Mango Salsa evening

Isn't it good to know that my fiance and I still eat?

Tonight's dinner is inspired by Ate Bheng. I saw this idea in her Facebook and found it highly appetizing. It's fun how much stuff you can match with Mango Salsa. I did a Mango Salsa menu a while back, with chicken breast and baby potatoes. But this one is healthier and more budget friendly.

Ingredients:
- 3 pcs. eggplant, cut in half and then length-wise. You may cut it in 3 parts if it egg plant is longer.
- 2 pcs. tilapia fillet.
- dried rosemary.
- salt and pepper.
- olive oil.

Salsa
- 1 ripe mango, diced.
- 1 medium sized red bell pepper.
- 1 tbsp. coriander, finely chopped.
- 1 tsp. calamansi/lime/lemon juice.
- 1 tsp. sambal oelek (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare the salsa:
1. Grill red bell pepper until the skin blisters.
2. Peel off the skin and chop it finely.
3. Combine mango, coriander, calamansi/lime/lemon juice, bell pepper in a bowl and mix well. You can add sambal oelek if you wish to have a slight spicy flavor in it, but it's totally optional.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste. If mango is not sweet enough, you can sprinkle a little bit of white sugar to compensate with the sourness of the lime juice.
5. Cover and chill in the fridge for a few minutes.

Fish and Eggplant
1. Apply a little bit of olive oil on the fish fillet. Sprinkle salt and pepper and rub dried rosemary herb.
2. Grill the tilapia fillet. If you have no griller like me, I used my oven to grill it, in 250 C. Turn the fish on the other side when its cooked.
3. Grill the egg plants as well, until it's brown and a bit withered.

Serve this with the chilled mango salsa. How do you eat it? I personally like to top the eggplant with the salsa. Mmmm lekker!

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Avocado Dessert

Most westerners think that avocado is just for guacamole. It never fails to surprise them that we, south-eastern people, can make a great dessert out of it. Ok guys, Avocado is a fruit, and every fruit deserves a chance to be a dessert (if it fits hehe).



Different asian countries, I suppose, have different ways of making dessert out of an avocado. But here's an authentic Pinoy Style:

- 4 pcs ripe avocado
- evaporated milk (Alaska evap sempre!)
- white sugar

1. Cut the avocado length-wise and remove the stone.
2. Scrape avocado flesh, but not super close to the skin as it can be bitter. Put it in a container.
3. Add milk and sugar. I usually use 1 cup of milk and about 4-5 tablespoon of sugar. But I always adjust according to my taste so you might want to do that as well. If you want it more milky, add more milk.
4. Put it in a freezer. Serve it medium frozen.

*note: I usually make it a bit sweeter than usual, freezing it loses a certain amount of sweetness.

Scoop it out like an ice cream or with just spoon, put it in a saucer, and put some wafer (or wafer sticks) to complete the presentation.


I didn't wait long enough to freeze it so there - kinda poopish LOL.

Before you judge it, try it! :P

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What goes well with potato gratin?

Another boxed item we got from Healthy Options, presenting - The Gratin. According to Wikipedia:

Gratin is a widely used culinary technique in food preparation in which an ingredient is topped with a browned crust, often using breadcrumbs, grated cheese, egg and/or butter.

In this case, the Gratin box we have is potatoes. All you have to do is to pour the stuff in a oven dish, top it with butter and grated cheese, put it inside the oven at 250C for 20mins.



For most Europeans/Americans, potato is like their rice - and I'm not used to it, so I don't always have a bright idea of what goes well with it. Fortunately, sausage and veggie skewers worked well.

- 2 Hungarian sausage, sliced and fried in olive oil, in medium heat.
- 6 pcs of grilled veggie skewers, comprised of:
green bell pepper (bite size)
onion (quartered)
tomatoes (quartered)
leeks (1 inch long)



Pour a little bit of olive oil on top of the grilled veggie. Sprinkle a little bit of salt, and a dash of oregano for some flavor. I am crazy about onion leeks lately - specially grilled. Maybe it'll pass like my addiction to fresh basil a few months ago.

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My first brownies attempt

Note: This isn't the brownies that makes you high.

Believe it or not, this is the very first time I ever baked brownies. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad at all - because it is from a ready to mix box hah!

Anyhow, just wanna show you how a simple, easy to bake brownies can turn in to a glamorous dessert.

We can find brownies in every bakeshop, let's admit it's not that special anymore. However, if you unleash that creativity in you and try to freestyle a bit, your dessert can be as dashing as the photo above (ehem love your own :P). A little embellishment like strawberries, sprinkled perhaps with a confectioner's sugar, or maybe a little whipped cream on top, will give that different mood and will definitely boost your appetite or whoever you'll serve it to. So simple, yet glamorous!

A more dramatic angle.
Seriously, strawberries go pretty well with the brownies. Strawberry is kinda like the breaker of the uber-sweetness of the brownies because of its a little bit sour property.

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German flavah

I was digging inside our kitchen cabinet to make a quick inventory of what to cook for dinner and found a can of Sauerkraut. Before you roll your eyes and give me that confused look, it's a German dish. I know I said I won't ever go for intricate cooking in this blog - and this is not intricate. Let's not get intimidated of the German word.

Sauerkraut is just like pickled cabbage. It is saur sour. It kinda reminds me of achara - only, it's made up of cabbage, and minus the sweetness. So there now you have an idea.

Anyhow, I ended up with this because of my fiance. He bought this canned stuff few months back and I honestly don't know how to eat it. But I never realize it was extremely easy.

Ok so let's get started.



Ingredient:
- Sauerkraut in can, drained (got a Del Monte one)
- Instant mashed potato (got from Healthy options)
- 2 pcs chopped white onions
- 2 pcs Schublig sausage
- gravy sauce

1. Heat pan and put a little bit of butter. Fry the sausages in medium heat. Set aside when cooked.
2. Heat pan and put a little bit of oil. Saute the white onions until soft, and then add the sauerkraut and mix together. Simmer for about 3 mins.

* for the mashed potato, you should see instructions at the back of the carton.

3. Mix mashed potato and sauerkraut together. Sprinkle a little bit of salt to taste.
4. Serve the sauerkraut with sausage, topped with some gravy.

The very sauer-kraut turned out to be pretty good for my Filipino taste ;). According to Mark, this is sort of a winter food - and we just had it in a tropical weather. Maiba lang.

This is a good easy recipe if you have that sudden craving for a foreign taste minus the hassle of food preparation time.

Here's mine. It's not the right way to eat it, again, according to Mark. He said you slice the sausage while you eat. But who cares? I will chew it anyways!



Guten appetit!

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Coco Milky Squash

This recipe kinda brings me back to my good old days with my roomate, a good friend, and an adopted sister, Iya (we adopted each other haha) when I was living with her. This is one of our many budget dishes she taught me, and so far one of our favorites. Making this dish made me miss her, and I never thought peeling and chopping the squash can be lonely without her - and ate. Well... we leave the squash to ate's hands since it's such a pain to peel and chop it. I definitely miss the chickahan while cooking, and her undisputed reputation - when you let her take the ladle for taste test, especially if she sprinkled a little bit of salt and pepper for minor adjustments - man, you just lost your dish. It's hers now haha.

Ok so here's how her yummy "pauso" goes :P


Coconut squash with pork and string beans.

Ingredients:
- 1/4 medium size squash, peeled and chopped into chunks (depends how much squash you want in the dish).
- 6 strands of string beans, chopped about 2 1/2 inches long.
- Fresh squeezed coconut milk. You can also use UHT coconut milk that you can get from supermarket if you can't get freshly grated coconut.
- salt to taste.
- 1/4 kg of pork, cut into small chunks.
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped.

1. Heat pot with a little bit of oil and saute the finely chopped garlic until it's golden brown.
2. Add the pork. Pour about 2-3 cups of water and bring to a boil. I usually just put enough covering the pork.
3. When the pork is a little bit soft, put the squash. It may take a while to softened the squash.
4. When the squash is a little bit soft, pour the coconut milk. Let it simmer until it is thickened quite a bit.
5. I like it when the squash is really soft that it kinda melts in the dish. And when this happens, that's the only time I put the string beans.
6. Add salt according to your taste.
7. You'll know the string beans is cooked when it turns to bright green. I like keeping it half cooked because I love crunchy veggie.

Serves 2.

Mark loved it. So cheers dear kesa!

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