Commercial Break - Steamed Snapper

We strayed from the recipe a bit by stuffing the snapper with tomato,  onion, garlic and ginger.

Drooling from the idea that this baby was going to steam in soy sauce, rice wine, chicken stock and sesame oil.

50 minutes...

Wish we had coriander!

Recipe: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/19075/chinese+style+snapper

Commercial Break - White Chicken

After our trip from the Philippines, we're back to our "No cook, no eat" life. Here is one of our fave easy-to-cook chicken recipes, "White Chicken".

We decided to make this because we wanted to use our latest discovery...the powdered Calamansi extract! No need to run out to the grocery to grab a piece of lemon.

Just add water to the calamansi powder.It tastes and smells like the real thing. Wow. 

White Chicken Recipe

Marinade chicken in calamansi/lemon juice, soy sauce, salt, pepper and garlic for at least 1 hour. Put in the oven at 180C for 20 minutes one side and 15 minutes on the other side.

Take the chicken out of the oven and add Cream of Mushroom, a bit of butter and a few dashes of knorr/maggi seasoning. We had no fresh vegetables since we just arrived from an overseas trip. But it would have been great to put in broccoli, mushrooms and potatoes. Put chicken back into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Ingredients:
Chicken thigh cutlets
minced garlic
soy sauce
calamansi/lemon juice
salt and pepper

1 can cream of mushroom
butter
knorr/maggi seasoning
Vegetables (optional)

Commercial Break : Best Pasta EVER

This is honestly the BEST pasta mommy has EVER made in her life. It is all thanks to Tetsuya's Black Truffle Salsa*.

Educating the palate of the li'l one.

The bottle says that you can make 4 servings of pasta per jar. We reckon you can make 6-8 servings.

For 2 servings, mix 1/3 of the bottle with 1/2 tbs of garlic butter, 1/2 tbs of butter and lotsa parmesan cheese.

Toss with pasta. OMG. Heaven in a plate. Not exaggerating. YUM.

Tetsuya's Black Truffle Salsa an be bought at David Jones in the city for $26. But we found it online for only $20.

Commercial Break: Savory Chicken

This is our first attempt to recreate the uber yummy, highly missed...Savory chicken. We think we came very close. Not quite there yet, BUT still oh-so-gooooooood! There were parts of the skin that really tasted like Savory chicken. And because it was brined with spiced soy sauce, the meat was so juicy and tender.

We read somewhere that you need to treat spice like tea. The flavor will only come out if you apply heat. Makes sense! So for this brining solution, you must simmer the soy sauce with the spice before using it.

Star anise, bay leaf, peppercorn and salt.

Love lemongrass.

Put all the spices in a pot, onion, garlic, soy sauce and 1/2 cup of water and simmer for 3 minutes.

Turn off the stove and put in the brown sugar and sesame oil. 

Wait for the marinade to cool before combining with the raw chicken. You can really smell the spices. Mmmmm....Store in the fridge and marinade overnight. 

NOTE: Use whole chicken. We only had thighs in the fridge. But this would be MUCH better with a whole chicken.

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SO EXCITED

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THINKING OF THE CHICKEN

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AND FINALLY, the next day...

 Put the chicken and the marinade in a pot and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Place chicken in the oven at 180C fan grill for 40 minutes. Do not discard the sauce in the pot. You will need it for the gravy.

Oh wow.

 I fried one piece to see if it makes a difference. YUM too.

For the gravy, remove all the chunky spices. Add 1/4 cup of water and 4 tbs of flour. Use very low heat.

For dessert, strawberries. YUM.

What you will need:
1 small onion
5 cloves of garlic
3 pieces of star anise
2 pieces of bay leaves
1 stalk of lemongrass
1 tbs of rock salt
7 pieces of peppercorn
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbs of sesame oil


1 whole chicken

Commercial Break: Lemon Salt

Do NOT throw your lemon peel!!! Cut them up and let them dry. You can let them air dry or you can use the oven. 

When the lemon is dry,  put them in the jar with kosher salt.Just keep filling this jar with lemon when you have the opportunity. You use the lemon salt for ANYTHING. Toss them in your salad. Add them to your roast chicken. ANYTHING. Love it.

S100

500D

              
      

S100

500D

 Mackerel with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Use fan forced grill at 180C for 20 minutes.

Just like Sushi-ya. YUM.

The next dish featured today is the Adobong Pusit.

Saute the onion, garlic, ginger and eschalot.

Put in the squid, vinegar, water and fish sauce Let this simmer for 10 minutes. Do NOT stir! NEVER. NEVER. NEVER.

YUM. We miss Manila. We miss diving in Batangas and having fresh seafood buffet waiting for us at the shore. SIGH.

What you will need for the Adobong Pusit:

1 small onion, minced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

a small piece of ginger, julienne

eschallot (or shallot), cut into small pieces

3 tbs of fish sauce

1/4 cup of spicy vinegar

1/4 cup of cane vinegar

1/2 cup of water

3 handful of baby squid

Commercial Break: Debut of the S100 Part 2

Lesson of the day: Always ask for an evenly cut pork loin.

Boil the 1 kilogram of pork loin in water with salt, peppercorn, bay leaves and lots of garlic for 20 minutes. When done, pat dry and store in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Cook the pork loin in the oven using fan grill at 200C for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 170C for another 40 minutes.

This should wipe Item Number 1 off your New Year's Resolution List.

Oooh-la-laaaa!!!

Because you feel really guilty for eating Pork Loin for lunch, you HAVE to eat fruits for dessert. And since you've already erased Item Number 1 from your New Year's Resolution list, you can eat this with lotsa nata de coco, thickened cream, condense milk and cream cheese. YUM.

What you will need for the Roasted Pork Loin:

1 kilo pork loin, skin on

salt

peppercorn

4 pieces bay leaves

1 head garlic 

What you will need for the Fruit Salad:

2 cans of fruit salad

1 bottle of nata de coco

200 ml thickened cream

250 grams condense milk

4 tbs cream cheese

Commercial Break : No Fuss Inihaw

Remember these three?

THEY'RE GONE....Sniff.

But don't worry.

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Meet their cousins, Lemonsito Puree!

That's right! I have found another use for it besides making calamansi juice. It is the star of the "No Fuss Inihaw" marinade. Clap, clap, clap!

Prepare the pork. 

Combine the soy sauce, calamansi puree, garlic powder, sprite, pepper and pork. Marinade overnight.

When ready to cook, line the pork in a roasting pan. 

Cook the pork in the oven at 180C using fan-forced grill. Grill for 12 minutes on one side. Turn the pork and grill for another 12 minutes.

Mmmm...The meat-osaurus is happy. Mmmm....

What you will need:

1/2 kilo pork rashers

1/2 cup soy sauce

3   tbs calamansi puree

1/4 cup sprite

1   tbs garlic powder

pepper

Commercial Break - House Rule 1: No Cook, No Eat

Sam's Burrito

Saute onion, garlic and ground beef. Add soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

The secret ingredient to the Secret Ingredient Burrito is the salsa. Combine diced tomato, onion, cilantro, apple cider vinegar, salt and sugar in a bowl.

Melted cheese in a wrap is always good. Mmmm...

Add the ground beef, salsa and some fresh greens.

A great meal in 10 minutes.

For dessert, freshly baked, uber moist, cheese cupcakes! YUM. Recipe soon to follow.

What you will need:

Wrap

Cheese

salad greens

1/4 kilo ground beef

minced garlic and onion

salt and pepper to taste

soy sauce for color

For the salsa:

1 tomato

1 onion

cilantro/coriander

5 tbs of apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp of sugar