Gypsy Bracelet (Artisan Bracelet)

I've re-kindled my crafty passion, 'been making my own bracelet and earrings on my free time.... and I just love them!  Found this video in YouTube, very easy to follow...

This is my finished project.... love it!

DRY GARLIC-LEMONGRASS PORK BITES

I found this Vietnamese Recipe in YouTube.  Tried it  and it came out very delicious!  Hubby and daughter loved it!  Even my 6 and 2 ½ year-old nephews loved them too.  Very kid friendly dish, pwede siyang pambaon sa school, instead of Nuggets or Hotdogs, this is healthier.   Aside from pork, you can use boneless chicken breast or any other parts you would want.  I made some changes in the recipe to further enhance its flavor.  Quick, easy and economical recipe.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:  (my version of  the recipe)

1 kg. Lean Pork or Kasim (cut into bite-size)

3  tbsp Garlic Salt (I don’t have garlic salt,  so instead I used  1 1/2  tbsp garlic powder & 1 1/2 tbsp iodized salt)

4 tbsp white sugar

1  tsp Pepper (could use more pepper)

5 tbsps Minced Lemongrass 

2 egg (or 3 eggs for more coating)

6-7   tbsps All Purpose Flour (if you added 1 more egg, add a bit more of this)

2/3 cups Japanese Bread Crumbs (add more if needed)

6 cloves Minced Garlic

1 to 1 ½  cups  cooking oil

Ingredients:  (this is the original recipe)

1 lb. Lean Pork or Kasim (cut into bite-size)

1 tbsp Garlic Salt

1 ½ tbsp white sugar

½ tsp Pepper

2 tbsps Minced Lemongrass

1 egg

3 tbss All Purpose Flour

1/3 cups Japanese Bread Crumbs

3 cloves Minced Garlic

1 to 1 ½  cups  cooking oil

Procedure:

Combine sugar, garlic salt & ground pepper. Mix well. Pour over the pork the salt mixture. And mix to coat the meat evenly.  Add in half of the minced  lemongrass, mixwell again…   then beat the egg very well, then add it to the pork.    Then add the flour, and mix well, making sure the pork is evenly coated with flour.  Then add the Japanese bread crumbs and mix well.

Meanwhile,  put about 1 cup cooking in a deep pan, turn heat to medium-high heat, and have redy a plate with paper towels.  When the oil is ready, place pork in the pan, separate bites if they stick together.  Move the pork about in the oil to ensure even frying.  Don’t overload the pan.  Doing this inbatches give you more control to fry  them evenly.   An aluminum strainer is excellent for removing the cooked bites once they turngolden brown.  Set aside fried pork bites.

In a separate pan, put some vegetable oil, turn heat to medium-low and   sauté remaining minced lemongrass, stir well to brown lemongrass.  Add the garlic and continue until browned, then put into a small bowl and set aside.

Put the fried pork bites in a plate, and top it with  fried garlic-lemongrass.  Enjoy!

Quick tip for mincing the lemongrass:

Crushing the lemongrass speeds up the mincing process.  Notice how the splintered stalks fall apart as they are being chopped.

Note :  You may watch the Video below to see the actually process of cooking this dish.

How to Make Dry Garlic, Lemongrass Pork Bites.wmv

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CHICKEN ADOBO WITH POTATOES

Ingredients:

1 kilo Whole Chicken, cut into desired serving sizes (you can also use choiced cuts)

1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

3 tbsps Chopped Garlic

4-5 pcs  Bay Leaves

½ cup  Soy Sauce

¼ cup White Vinegar

4-5 pcs Potatoes,  cut to chunks

¼ tsp  Peppercorns

Salt and Sugar to taste

Procedure:

Saute garlic until light brown, then put the cleaned and drained chicken pieces into the pan, stirring occasionally till the chicken meat turns a bit brownish, add the potatoes, stir well, then add soy sauce, peppercorn, bayleaves, stir well, then the vinegar.  Let it cook for awhile,  stirring every now and then, until meat and potatoes are fork-tender.  If it becomes too dry, you can add a small amount of water to prevent it from drying out, season to taste and don't forget to add a bit of sugar.  When done, serve hot.  Enjoy!

DELICIOUS CUCUMBER SALAD

A refreshing,  light and easy to prepare vegetable salad, that goes well with Mechado, Adobo or any meat dish with sauce.   Cucumber is often regarded as a healthy food because it is low in calories and fat.

Ingredients:

2 pcs medium size Cucumber, peeled, cut diagonally (bite size pieces)

3-4 pcs  Tomatoes, seeded, sliced into bite size

1 pc medium White Onion, peeled, slices into strips

2-3 tbsps Mayonnaise (or Light Mayo)

1 tbsp Sweet Pickle Relish

Salt, pepper & sugar

Procedure :

Put all the three vegetables in a bowl, and in a separate smaller bowl mix the mayonnaise, pickles, salt,  pepper& a bit of sugar, season to taste and refrigerate them both, just before serving you can add the salad dressing into the cucumber mixture. 

Note :  Dressing is added just before serving the salad so that the cucumber will retain its crispiness.  

Health benefits of Cucumber (from Nutrition and You website)

This wonderful, low calorie vegetable indeed has more nutrients to offer than just water and electrolytes.

• It is one of the very low calories vegetable; provides just 15 calories per 100 g. It contains no saturated fats or cholesterol. Cucumber peel is a good source of dietary fiber that helps reduce constipation, and offers some protection against colon cancers by eliminating toxic compounds from the gut.
• It is a very good source of potassium, an important intracellular electrolyte. Potassium is a heart friendly electrolyte; helps reduce blood pressure and heart rates by countering effects of sodium.
• It contains unique anti-oxidants in good ratios such as ß-caroteneand α-carotene, vitamin-C, vitamin-A,zea-xanthinand lutein. These compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease processes.
• Cucumbers have mild diuretic property probably due to their high water and potassium content, which helps in checking weight gain and high blood pressure.
• They are surprisingly have high amount of vitamin K, provides about 17 µg of this vitamin per 100 g. Vitamin-K has been found to have potential role in bone strength by promoting osteotrophic (bone mass building) activity. It also has established role in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in their brain

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.

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.

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  (2^nd 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

AMPALAYA SALAD (Bitter Gourd)

1 large Ampalaya

3-4 pcs Red Tomatoes, sliced diagonally

1 whole Onion,sliced diagonally

½ cup White Vinegar or any type of vinegar you prefer

2 tbsps Salt

Slice ampalaya in half lengthwise, with a teaspoon scrape-off all the white membrane in the middle.  Wash and pat dry the ampalaya, then cut in into thin slices.  Put the sliced Ampalaya in a bowl, sprinkle with about 2 tbsps salt, stir very well and set aside for awhile.  After 15 minutes wash the ampalaya with ¼ cup vinegar, stirring gently, then pour out the vinegar.  When drained,  add the tomatoes, onion and remaining ¼ cup vinegar (a little bit at a time), add salt if needed.  Refrigerate for a while and serve.

Delicious paired with fried chicken adobo!

Enjoy!

CREAM DORY FISH PATTIES with GARLIC-MAYO DIP

Ingredients:
300 gms Cream Dory fillet
Few small slices of ginger
2 medium Onions, chopped
1 large pc Carrot, chopped
Small bunch of Spring Onions, chopped
½ cup All Purpose Flour
¼ cup Cornstarch
1-2 pcs Eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Garlic-Mayo Dip:
¾ cup Lite-Mayonnaise (or use regular mayo)
2 tbsps Evaporated Milk
¼ tsp Garlic, finely chopped
Salt, pepper and Sugar to taste
Mix everything up in a small bowl and season to taste and refrigerate till ready to serve.

This is how the patty mixture will look like when its ready to be fried.

Procedure:
Boil the cream dory fillet in ½ cup to 1 cup water - with a bit of salt, pepper and ginger, for about 10 minutes. When cooked, mash it coarsely with a fork, and put it in a mixing bowl, add in the chopped onions, carrots and spring onions. Then put the egg/s, salt, pepper, mix very well, adding the flour and cornstarch a little bit at a time, till the mixture becomes thick enough to form into patties. You can fry a few pieces of the patties so you will know if it needs more salt & pepper. When ready with the mixture, fry the patties over medium fire to make sure the inner part is well cooked. This recipe makes around 12 to 15 patties. Enjoy!

Note : These patties will also be great as a sandwich filling – instead of pork or beef burgers, garnish the sandwich with tomato and lettuce, and use the garlic-mayo spread.

You can also serve this with sweet and sour sauce, the recipe here, the one that I used in the Meatballs with Sweet and Sour Sauce.

Instead of forming them into patties, you may choose to form them into balls as well.

BEEF MECHADO (version 1)

This is a beef stew type of dish and aside from beef you can also use  chicken or pork.   I love eating tomato based dishes, so I always make sure that there’s enough ingredient in the recipe to come up with a saucy dish.  This is a Kid- Friendly version of the dish, and I will post another version which has more seasonings and other ingredients.  ‘Hope you enjoy this one.

Ingredients:

1 kilo of beef, cut into chunks

3 tbsps  Vegetable Oil

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

2-3 medium onion, chopped

½ cup Soy Sauce

2-3 pcs bay leaves

½ tsp peppercorns

1 (15 oz.) tomato sauce or for more sauce use another ½ can

2-3  pcs. Big potatoes (cut into chunks)

2-3  pcs. Big carrots (cut into chunks)

5 pcs. Boiled Eggs (shelled), this is optional

¼ to1/2 cup of water or beef stock

Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

Procedure:

Marinate the beef chunks in soy sauce, peppercorns and bayleaves for 15 to 20 minutes or longer if you’re not in a hurry.  When ready, over medium heat - sauté garlic and onion, then add the beef chunks without the marinade (set it aside) and  brown the beef, stirring occasionally till the beef is a bit brown  .  Then add in the tomato sauce and the marinade mixture.  Simmer for about 1 hour over low heat (check from time to time the tenderness of the meat and if you find it drying a bit,  add  water), when its halfway cooked add the carrots and potatoes, again stirring occassionally.  Simmer everything until they are tender.  If you’re adding boiled eggs to your Mechado – do this 15 minutes – before the potatoes and carrots are cooked.  Season with a big of sugar (optional), salt & pepper.  Serve with plain rice or with mashed potato, bread and vegetable salad.  Enjoy!

CHICKEN & MUSHROOM PASTA

This is my take on Jollibee’s new Pasta dish – Chicken & Mushroom Pasta.  My daughter loved it so much that I decided to make one at home, actually this is a healthier version.  Delish and so easy to prepare.  Make this dish tonight!

CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM PASTA

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Olive oil or Vegetable oil

500 grams  Boneless Chicken Breast, cut into ½  x 1 inchstrips

1 tbsp Chopped Garlic

1 pc Chopped Onion

1 can Diced Tomatoes

½ cup Tomato Sauce

1 cup Sliced mushrooms

¼ cup All Purpose Cream

Few pcs of Fresh Basil Leaves (or you can use ½ tsp Dried Basil leaves)

Sugar, salt and pepper to taste

300 grams  Cooked pasta (spaghetti, fettucine or penne)

Cooking Instructions:

·        In a cooking pan, heat the vegetable oil over medium-heat.  Add the garlic, then the onion, when the onion turns translucent, add the chicken and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes or until its just beginning to brown. 

·        Then add the mushroom, the tomato chunks and tomato sauce, cook for another 5 to 7 minutes.  Put ¼ cup water, season with salt and pepper.  Cover with a lid, lower the heat a bit more and cook for another 10 minutes stirring occasionally. 

·        Then add  the chopped fresh basil (or dried basil leaves) and the cream, adjust seasoning, if you find the tomato taste too strong, ad about 1/4 tsp of sugar.  Serve over cooked pasta and sprinkle with grated cheese.  Enjoy!

ADOBO FLAKES PASTA

Are you looking for a recipe or serving suggestion for leftover  Chicken Adobo or Pork Adobo, try this great way of using leftovers.  Very simple and satisfying.

1-2 tbsps Olive Oil or vegetable oil

2-3 tbsps garlic, chopped

½ cup Shredded, pork or chicken adobo meat

300 grams Cooked Pasta (spaghetti or any other kind)

3 tbsps  Cheese, grated (parmesan or cheddar)

½-1 cup Adobo Sauce (optional)

Procedure:

Saute  shredded adobo meat in cooking oil until desired crispiness is achieved.  When done, remove adobo flakes in the pan and  sauté garlic till a bit brown, then put back half of the abodo flakes, then stir for a while, then put the cooked pasta into the pan,  mix everything up, season with a bit of salt & pepper.  At this point, you have an option to add or not the adobo sauce.  When ready to serve, put the cooked pasta mixture into a plate and top with remaining adobo flakes and grated cheese.  Enjoy!