RUSSIAN POTATO SALAD

This salad goes very well with any kind of fried chicken, barbeque or ham. One of the family’s favorites since I was a kid. Not your ordinary salad because of the sugar beets which gives it a very pretty pink color (The second picture is the sugar beets, boiled and peeled, I forgot to take the picture when its in its raw form). If you’re not familiar with sugar beets and haven’t tried it yet, give it a try and I’m sure you’ll like it too.

Ingredients:
½ kilo Potatoes, boiled, skinned and cubed
½ kilo Carrots, boiled, skinned and cubed
2-3 pcs. Sugar Beets, medium size, boiled, skinned and cubed
¾ cup Mayonnaise
3 tbsps. Pickle Relished (chopped)
2 Stalks Celery, chopped
1 pc. Chicken Breast, boiled and flaked (optional)
Salt, Pepper & Sugar to taste

Procedure:
Get a big bowl, then put all the cubed vegetables, pickles (including the juice), celery, flaked chicken, salt & pepper. Mix everything well, careful not to mashed them, stir from the bottom, more like tossing it. Then add the mayonnaise, mix well, until well blended into the salad, then season to taste, if you think the sourness of the pickles is too much, add about ¼ tsp sugar and mix well again. Chill before serving.

Note: This salad keeps well in the fridge for a week or so, just make sure you always use dry spoons, bowls, containers and your hands are dry too when handling this salad (actually any kind of salad, will last longer if you practice this rule).

SHRIMP IN ORANGE BUTTER GARLIC SAUCE

This is a kid friendly recipe, one of my daughter’s favorite, goes very well with just hot plain rice, but I have to warn you, go easy on the rice co’z this dish is so flavorful, one cup of rice might just not be enough. A very easy dish to prepare!

If you notice, this dish is a bit saucy, I intended it to be that way because the sauce is so delicious, almost everytime that I cook this dish, we always run out of sauce... Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo Fresh Shrimps

3-4 tbsps. butter

1 tbsp cooking oil

1 head of garlic, chopped

1 cup Orange soda (or more if you want more sauce)

1/4 cup Corn starch power (dispersed in 1/4 cup water)

1-2 tbsps White Sugar

Salt & Pepper to taste

Procedure:

Wash the shrimps thoroughly, drain and set aside. In a pan, put the cooking oil, on medium heat, then the butter, afterwards add the garlic, saute it till a bit brown, then add the shrimp. stirring gently, when the shrimps start to turn pink add salt & pepper, then the orange soda and the sugar, mix well. When it starts to boil, prepare the cornstarch mixture and put it in, stir till well blended into the sauce. And lastly season to taste, if it needs more salt of sugar. Then its done!

Note : If you wanted more sauce, add 1/2 cups to 1 cup more orange soda, and adjust the rest of the ingredients, like the salt & pepper, sugar and cornstarch. And also, if you want to use fresh orange juice, you can also try using that, tho' I haven't tried that yet (Please let me know if you tried it ...) Don't worry, you can never go wrong with this recipe.

ADOBO

Adobo is a very versatile recipe, Filipinos love it so much, that we cook it as an everyday dish and also for special occasions. This is a constant item in our menu at home. There are so many recipe variations you can do with Adobo, some recipes has fried wedged potatoes, others put cooked/hardboiled eggs, and still others put thick coconut milk or “Kakang gata” as we call it in Filipino to make it even tastier and creamier. Other nationalities also find Adobo very appealing and tasty, its even a popular dish on potlucks in the U.S.

Chicken and Pork Adobo (v.1 – Simple version)

Ingredients:
3/4 kilo Pork belly cut in 2 in. cubes
¾ kilo Chicken, cut into smaller serving sizes (about the same size as the pork)

Marinade: (mix everything is a small bowl)
1 Tbsp. Freshly Ground black pepper
1 cup Soy Sauce
½ cup Vinegar (or lesser if you don’t like the taste of vinegar)
2 Heads Cloves of garlic peeled & smashed (you can add more if you really like garlic, this will add more aroma to the Adobo)

Directions:
In a large bowl combine the pork and chicken, pour the marinade. Mix 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, put everything in a big pan and let it boil on medium high heat for about 5-10 minutes before you start stirring 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. Adjust taste by adding salt if needed and Serve hot rice topped with adobo. Enjoy!..

Note: This version is alot simpler and you could practically cook it anytime you crave for adobo, its so simple that almost all the ingredients are available in your pantry. Add more soy sauce if you think it’s a bit bland. And also, you may choose to cook all pork or all chicken adobo depending on your preference, or if you love chicken wings, by all means use the wing part, or you can also use pork spare ribs just adjust the cooking time, as this may take a little longer to cook, but just the same, it will still be delicious. And regarding the garlic, for me, there is no such thing as too much garlic, this just makes adobo very delicious. This dish is so versatile, one time I tried cooking it without vinegar, and believe me, it still came out delicious!

Welcome to my Food Blog

Hi, Welcome! This site is a Personal Recipe/Food Blog, a compilation of all sorts regarding food, recipes from our own list of family favorites, food trips, cooking, personal observations on restaurants we’ve tried, places we’ve been to, experiences we had along the way and anything else in between …