Wednesday, April 18, 2012

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIES

These oatmeal choco-chip cookies are so delicious, they’re soft and chewy too, you might want to double the recipe. This is a keeper!
Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups  Quick Cooking Oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon  baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt

2 to 2 ½  cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or you can use chopped-up chocolate)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened (take it out of the fridge a few hours before you start making the cookies)

2 large eggs
1 tsp  vanilla extract

Baking Procedure:
  • Put  flour, baking power, baking soda and salt in a bowl, mix well.  Set aside.
  • Put the softened butter in another mixing bowl then cream it using an electric mixer or a wire-whisk. 
  • Slowly add the brown sugar and white sugar beating continuously until the texture becomes a bit fluffy, then add the vanilla extract..
  • Mix in the eggs and beat continuously for about a minute.  Then add the oatmeal gradually, then put the mixture of  dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt) and mix well.
  • Add the chocolate chip and incorporate well with the other ingredients.
  • Prepare cookie sheets lined with non-stick baking paper, scoop some of the mixture and make sure to allow about 2-inch spaces, and flatten the cookie mixture to a thickness of about ½ inch.
  • Bake  in pre-heated oven 350 deg.C for 10-12 minutes.  (Please use timer for every batch to avoid overbaking the cookies).  Allow to cool in cooling racks before putting them in your cookie jar or any sealed container.   They’re chewy and delicious!  Great with coffee or tea.  Enjoy!
Note: 
Cooling the cookies on a cooling rack or tray allows them to set up before serving them.
Make sure to lessen the  sugar in the recipe should you decide to use more chocolate chips.
You can also put chopped nuts or raisins into the mixture for added flavor.
We doubled  the recipe and we have around 42 to 45  pcs of big-chunky gigantic-oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Friday, April 13, 2012

CHICKEN ADOBO WITH LIVER (Version 2)

 
This is an equally delicious version of Adobo.  I have already posted the Version 1 (Combination of Pork and Chicken) - you can get the recipe here.    This recipe is a favorite of a very dear dear cousin, she’s like a sister to me and my siblings, we call her Big Sis, and she whips up really delicious recipes as well.  I’m dedicating this recipe post to her (hugs and kisses to you Big Sis!)   Thank you for being an inspiration to me!
If you’re not a big fan of chicken liver, mash all the liver coarsely and let it fry together with the bits of garlic and pepper, this will give your Adobo another kind of twist to it.  Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 kilo Chicken,  cut into smaller serving sizes
¼  kilo Chicken liver
 Marinade: (mix everything is a small bowl)
1 Tbsp. Freshly Ground black pepper
1/2 to 1 cup Soy Sauce  (use 1/2 cup, then just use the other half when needed)
½ cup Vinegar (or lesser if you don’t like the taste of vinegar)
2-3 pcs Laurel Leaves
2 Heads Cloves of garlic peeled and smashed (you can add more if you really like garlic, this will add more aroma and flavor to the Adobo)
Directions:
In a large bowl combine the cleaned / washed chicken and liver, drain very well, then pour the marinade.   Mix it  very well and let it stand for at least 30 minutes to 1-hour, or if you want, marinate it overnight. When ready to cook, take out all the chicken and liver (in separate container) from the marinade (set it aside and we’ll use it later).    In a big pan sauté garlic until it is light brown, then put chicken,  let it sauté in the garlic on medium high heat for about 5-10 minutes, then add the liver.  When a bit brown, add in the marinade and let it continue to simmer, stirring occasionally to avoid burning. and if you like it to be more saucy, add about ½ cup of water, if not and you want it to be with lesser sauce, just let it simmer for another 10-20 minutes more or until tender, and also, you can mashed some of the liver to make the sauce a bit thicker. Adjust taste by adding salt if needed and you can serve it  over hot rice. Enjoy!
Note:   If you wanted a fried-type of adobo, you can just continue to cook the Adobo (reserve some sauce in a bowl)  over high heat, stirring occasionally to avoid burning the sauce, until you achieve the crispiness you wanted.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

TINOLANG MANOK (or Chicken Tinola)

AUTHENTIC WAY TO COOK TINOLANG MANOK


Considered one of the comfort foods of our family.  We can have this dish anytime, aside from being easy to prepare, the soup just warms you up and brings back childhood memories. 
Ingredients:


½ kilo Chicken. Cut into serving pieces
2 tbsp. Cooking Oil
1 tbsp. Crushed Garlic
2 Medium onions, diced
Few Slices of Ginger
3 tbsp. Fish Sauce
2-3 cups Hugas Bigas  (2nd washing of rice or  water obtained from washing rice grains and used as broth base for sinigang or tinola)
2 pcs. Finger Chili (siling haba)
2 cups , Sayote, cut into smaller wedges
1 Bunch of Chili leaves, pick the leaves only
Salt and pepper

Procedure:
Heat cooking oil in a pan, sauté garlic, then onion, when transparent, add the ginger, then the chicken, when the chicken starts to brown around the edges, add the patis, mix well and cover the pan and let it simmer on low fire for 10-15 minutes (if it seems too dry, add about 2 tbsp of water), then add the hugas bigas, let it simmer for 10 minutes, then add the sayote wedges. Simmer gently, covered, until fork tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed. Turn off the heat and add the chili leaves, cover the pan again and leave for 5 to 10 minutes till the leaves are wilted. Serve with hot rice and have a great meal!
Note :  You can substitute the Chicken with any Pork parts you prefer, like spareribs or liempo. 
             Instead of using  Chili leaves, you can use malunggay leaves.

             Use green papaya instead of the sayote

Update :  Considered  as one of the 10 Healthy-Yummy Pinoy Dishes -  read article here ---  10 healthy yet yummy Pinoy dishes