Lifechanging Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Happy Valentine's Day!!! 

Since I missed out on posting anything in the last few months and wasn't able to give you my warmest greetings for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year, well it goes without saying that I am in time (okay a couple of few weeks early) for Valentine's Day! LOL

Now that the Princess is in Kindergarten, life has just been busier.  (And she is just in Kinder! LOL) 

I've mentioned to you in my last post about being a parent classroom volunteer in her school once a week AND I am happy to share with you that I am now doing part time work (I am on call) for the school district! So yep, I guess life just got busier!  And I will tell you more about this in another post (abangan ang susunod na kabanata!)

I haven't been able to try out new recipes as much as I want to but this recipe that I tried a few days ago deserves to be shared.  I tried this recipe out of necessity actually, haha.

My sister in law brought home pints of cherry tomatoes and I don't know what to do with them.  And since they are organic, I had to act fast!  But being the procrastinator that I am (I am putting this AGAIN in my New Year's Resolution!  HAHA), I did wait for a few days and in the process had to throw "let go" (haha) of some of them.

What is the best way (read: fast and easy) to deal with all of these tomatoes?!  ROAST THEM!

And since I love sundried tomatoes, roasting them makes more sense.

There are so many recipes online but I chose to do Rachael Ray's version because it has Balsamic Vinegar in it.  I love balsamic vinegar!  Besides, it's about time to open that bottle of balsamic vinegar which has just been sitting in the pantry, haha!

This recipe is simple, quick, easy to follow, healthy and tastyyyy!!!

LIFE CHANGING.

For the complete recipe, please click on this link

*The original recipe doesn't include garlic but hey, in my book, GARLIC (like butter!) just makes everything better!

*Adjust salt to suit your taste.   

All you need is right here in the picture: Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Garlic, Kosher salt and pepper!

Roast them at 425C for 20 minutes or more (if you like them a bit more dried up)

You can enjoy oven roasted tomatoes in different ways!  You can enjoy them as they are, put them in your salad, Bruschetta (with your favorite cheese) or put them in your bowl of pasta (which I did).

Pesto and Oven Roasted Tomatoes are a match made in heaven!

Happy Roasting and Happy Eating!

Easy Cilantro and Lime Chicken Recipe

He-llooooo (singing to the tune of Adele's song, haha)

Can you believe it's October already?!  I love that Fall is already here!  I love this season because first, the weather is cooler and second, I get to watch new TV Shows!!! Woohoo!  (I will be sharing with you list in a different post.)

What's happening in our casa right now?  Well, I volunteered to help out in the Princess' class every Tuesdays (yesterday was my first day) so this is one thing I am excited about every week!  The kids are excited about Trick or Treating and are counting the days until Halloween while Hubby's excitement is all about his Fantasy Basketball Team, haha.

And today I am excited to share with you another recipe which I've tried the other night.  I am happy that the dish exceeded my expectations because honestly, I wasn't sure f I wanted to try it!  Okay, let me clear that up, haha.  I wasn't sure because I'm afraid of trying recipes that are not in my "comfort zone".  I've never tried recipes whose names sound like they belong to a restaurant's menu. . . . something like Cilantro Lime Chicken!

So why did I go for it?  Because I hate wasting food.  You know how you are left with a handful  of an ingredient because you only needed to use a tablespoon of it? Haha.  In this case, I have a bunch of cilantro (from making guacamole) on hand that is enough to use for this recipe.

I remember seeing in my FB feed a recipe for Cilantro Lime Chicken dish so I googled and found this recipe from Suzy of The Mediterranean Dish blog.  It is a simple and easy to follow recipe (plus her dish looked pretty in her blog post! haha)

All I can say is something so simple can actually taste good . . . I will definitely cook it again!

For the full recipe, please click here.

My personal notes:

1. I love Chicken breast but I think for this particular recipe, using chicken thighs would be best.

2. I didn't have dry white wine (as listed in the recipe).  As a substitute, I just used chicken stock and rice wine (1 tbsp of rice wine mixed with 1 cup of chicken stock).

3. I love garlic so I used more than what the recipe called for.

4. I also added 2 tbsps of butter in the dish (while it was simmering) which I've added before putting it in the oven.  (just because butter makes everything better, haha) 

5. You don't have to buy a cast iron pan to make this dish.  But I have to say, I love using this kind of pan because it gives the meat a nice sear and color.  It also made this dish a "one pan plan".  I used the same pan to sear, cook and bake the chicken in.

Hope you like it as much as I do =).  Happy Cooking!

Home Cooked Korean Food for Dinner - Yes please!

Hello everyone!!!!

I can't believe I wasn't able to blog AT ALL last August!  Things got a little busier last month because the Princess started Kindergarten!  I knowwww, she is a big girl now, in a big school, far different from the 4 corners of her preschool classroom.  I am sure that all of us have experienced that first day in school excitement and have found it overwhelming too.  When we picked up our Princess from school, she cried the moment she got in the car and my heart just went out to her.  I was afraid that she would tell me that she doesn't want to go back the next day!  And my heart melted when she told me that she just missed Mommy and just being at home.  I'm happy to tell you that she is feeling and doing better now. (Yayyy!)

So this is one of the reasons why I haven't been blogging  (this and a lot of other small things--- things that added up and somehow took my time! haha) for the past month.

So for today's post, I want to share with you something that I got excited about!!!!! (see, there's not one but 5 exclamation points! Haha)

I haven't really tried any new recipes for some time now.  Finally, I got the chance to do so this week and I'm happy to say that they are both winners!

I had a sudden craving for the Korean Beef Stew (called Galbijim) we usually order in Kaya Restaurant back home in Philippines.  So I googled and there are a lot of recipes which you can find online.  I went with the recipe of Ms. Hyosun of the Korean Bapsan blog because there is always something special about a Mom's cooking!   

For the complete recipe, please click on this link to go to her site.

Personal Notes:

1. I didn't put Asian Pear in the braising liquid because. . . I didn't have any on hand, haha!  But the recipe still turned out good.  I will put it the next time I am cooking this and I'm sure it's going to be even better!

2. The level of sweetness in this recipe was just right for us.  You can adjust the sweetness of your Galbijim as you go (you can have a play with your sugar, honey or mirin).  

3. I just used carrots and shiitake mushrooms. (If you are using dried ones like I did, please soak them first in hot water for 4 hours).

4. For garnish, I just used spring onions and next time, I want to try sprinkling some sesame seeds on top.

And because I love this blog and this Mom's cooking, I thought of trying another recipe the next day, haha!

Since I have some chicken wings, I searched her blog and saw this  . . .

And I was sold!

Yangnyeom Chicken it is!

(Or what others call KFC . . Korean Fried Chicken! Haha)   

If you like Kyochon or Bonchon, you have to try this recipe!  If you like your wings crispy, sticky, sweet and spicy, this one is for you!  It is really finger lickin' good!

I did not have ALL of the ingredients listed in the recipe but mine turned out still really good and tasty!

For the complete recipe, please click here.

Personal notes:

1. For the coating of the chicken, since I didn't have cornstarch, I just used a tempura batter which worked out really well actually.  As a  matter of personal preference, I will use this instead of cornstarch.  (I used Kikkokman Tempura Extra Crispy batter)

2.  This recipe was meant for a spicy fried chicken.  You can adjust the level of spiciness to suit your taste.  I did not put hot sauce and just used 1 tbsp of chili sauce. 

3. Since I don't have gochujang (Korean red chili paste), I just used tomato catsup.  But I'm planning on buying some gochujang since I'm sure this is not the last time I am going to cook this, haha!

I really highly recommend this recipe, it's my new favorite chicken wings recipe!

So if you want something new to cook for your family (and to impress them! Haha), you can try any of these Korean recipes! =)

Happy Cooking and Have a great week ahead! =)

You're the man Tyler!

July, you're here!!!! =)  Wow, more than half the year has gone by!  Did someone put it in fast forward?! 

Just as I've been doing for the past few months now, I start the month with a post about the recipes (mostly sweets, teehee) I've tried.  So for this month, I am posting about the Ultimate Cheesecake recipe of Tyler Florence. 

(Trivia:  Did you know that July 8 is National Blueberry Day?  I learned about it from the Princess' summer school)

Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts.  And if you ask what my favorite cheesecake is, I don't have a particular favorite but Blueberry will be up there in the list (and OMG, Cheesecake Factory's GODIVA Chocolate Cheesecake!)

Actually, I have a go to recipe for a blueberry cheesecake which I've blogged before here.  It is a super easy and quick, yummy recipe which needs NO BAKING!  I haven't tried making a baked cheesecake (yep, those pretty ones which we see in restaurants) because they intimidate me, haha.    

Since I had some blueberry pie filling leftovers sitting at the ref, I thought of challenging myself and stepping up my cheesecake game!

There are so many cheesecake recipes online and one of the highly rated I've seen is that of Tyler Florence's from the Food Network site.

And all I have to say is. . . you're the man Tyler!  (with matching fist bump, haha!) 

And thank you for sharing this recipe!  It is absolutely a winner!

But most specially, thank you for making me believe in myself, hahaha!

As Tyler mentioned in his video, what makes cheesecake smooth and creamy is putting them in a hot water bath (also called the Bain Marie method).  

To further explain why, I read this at www.chatelaine.com:

Why do I need a water bath?

Some cheesecake recipes don’t call for a water bath, but we prefer this method. The water bath (also known as a bain marie) is used to regulate the baking temperature of the cheesecake. Since the temperature of water never exceeds boiling point (it turns into steam), it keeps the cheesecake baking at an even, slow temperature. This prevents the cheesecake from overcooking (especially around the edges). The steam created by the water bath also further protects the baking cheesecake, keeping the air in the oven moist and humid to prevent the top of the cake from drying out and cracking.

For the complete recipe of Tyler Florence's Ultimate Cheesecake (I suggest you watch the video too), please click here.

My personal notes for this recipe (based on my experience):

1. I added 2-3 tbsps of sugar in the graham crust (only because the graham crackers I used aren't that tasty)

2. The recipe called for lemon rind but since I didn't have a rasp grater, I just used (1 tbsp of lemon juice).  The next time I make this, I would use 2-3 tbsps to get more "Zzzing".

3. If you see yourself baking cheesecakes (lots of them! haha) in your future, I suggest you buy a Springform pan =).

Happy Baking!  Here's to more good times with homemade cheesecakes!

My Favorite Chewy Chocolate Cookie Recipe

Hello, I'm still here! =)

Things have just been quite busy at home that I couldn't find (or make) time to blog.  So before the month of May ends (can you believe we are almost at the middle of the year), I want to post something for you.

I have a confession to make. . . I don't like baking cookies!  

It's funny that I can bake a banana loaf (my favorite recipe here) and I managed to bake my boy's Chocolate Birthday cake (you can read about it here) . . but cookies?  Not really my favorite thing to do, haha!

I've tried a couple of recipes before which didn't work out and I tried one recipe which  I liked (I even called it "my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe" back then).  But somehow, I just stopped baking cookies. I thought buying a bag of Chunky Chips Ahoy at the grocery is the easiest (and smartest, haha) thing to do!

But having seen a lot of recipe feeds in my FB about homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies encouraged me to try baking some again.

There are a lot. . .like A LOT of chocolate chip recipes online.  So I just went to Food Network (because I'm a fan, hihi) and saw that they have a recipe for a Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie!  (Hubby and I prefer chewy over a crunchy cookie.)  

Thanks to Food Network, I found my new favorite recipe!  Woohoo!

I am sooo happy with how they turned out!  

They were thin and crispy on the edges and then . . . 

Moist and buttery inside. . . Yummm!

A recipe which called for 2 1/2 sticks of butter (I knowwww) is promising right?  As they say, butter makes everything better!  Haha!

One of the things I did for this recipe which I think helped in enhancing the flavor of the cookie is putting the dough in the ref overnight.  In the recipe, the baking time for the cookie is 12 minutes. However, for my batch, the perfect baking time was around 10-11 minutes.  I suggest making a small batch for each time to see which one would suit your taste (in terms of color and consistency).  

This is my take-away from the recipe of Food Network: When you see the edges of the cookie turn golden, even if the middle part is still soft, take out the cookie from the oven and let them cool (for 10 mins) before transferring them to a cooling rack.  I am not a baker but I think the residual heat from the pan would cook the middle part a little bit more. 

I found the cookies a little bit sweet so I might reduce the granulated sugar next time.

But this recipe definitely works for me!  It is hubby-approved (he is NOT a fan of anything sweet!) and I think that says something about these cookies (and his love for me, hahaha!). =)  

For the full recipe, please click on this link to head to Food Network's site.

Homemade Chocolate Birthday Cake

And just like that, the first quarter of the year is over!  I wish I've put up more blog posts this March (they are all in my draft folder though, haha!).  I've wanted to write and share so many things with you but I just couldn't find (and make!) time to do so. 

The best part of our March is . . . our little big boy turned three!  He is sweet, adorable and handful (as they say, boys will be boys) at the same time.  He wears his heart on his sleeve, he likes being around kids and has a ready smile for everyone.   He couldn't talk straight yet (if we need an "interpreter", his Ate comes to the rescue, haha) but he can talk in sentences.  And just like me, he loves to eat and loves chocolates!

For his birthday, I wanted to do something special for him.  So I challenged myself to bake a cake (must be chocolate!) for him.  Yep, you read that right!

And I did!  Woohoo!

Thanks to an easy to follow Chocolate Cake recipe given by my friend, B.  Then, I just got buntings, candles and sprinkles to decorate the cake (read: to make it look more fancy, haha)  

I'm so, so, so happy with how this chocolate cake turned out! 

It was so funny that when I showed it to my Mom during our video call. . . she can't (she won't!) believe I made it!  Haha! (Thanks Mom!)  I had to call Hubby and let him tell my Mom because she knows that he can't lie to her, haha!

What I love about this cake is it gets better each day!  I found that it actually tasted better the day after.  I think the next time I'm going to bake, I will bake the cake part a day earlier.

So if you want to take the big leap in baking and bake a chocolate cake, here is a good and easy to follow recipe:

B's Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

For the Cake
2 1/2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup cocoa powder
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mayonnaise
2 3/4 cups flour
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven at 300 degrees.

2. Combine milk, sugar, butter and cocoa powder in a saucepan.  Blend well, bring to a boil and then let it cool.

Bringing it to a boil

and then letting it cool  . . .

3. Sift together the following dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4. Add mayonnaise to the chocolate mixture.  Then beat in eggs one at a time.

5. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture. Mix gently until well blended. Do not overmix.

6. Bake for 30 minutes or until done. (Insert a toothpick, if the toothpick comes out dry, it's done)

Note:  I suggest you weigh your baking ingredients using a scale.  The unit of measurement may be the same but the weight is actually different.  For example, 1 cup of granulated sugar is 225 grams while 1 cup of cocoa powder is 118 grams.  

I used Chocolate Ganache (an icing made of chocolate and cream) for this cake since Hubby prefers this type of icing.  If you like to try this too, please click on this link to go to Bake Happy's site which also features a chocolate cake recipe (which I want to also try one of these days).  

Note: In Bake Happy's directions, she puts the ganache in the refrigerator overnight and whips it the next day.  I've put mine for a couple of hours and it still turned out well.  

Here's the birthday boy enjoying the icing of his cake! =)  

I know, frosting a cake is not really my thing.  I call it a "rustic" way of frosting, haha!

If you want  to try the icing made of condensed milk (which also sounds yumm!) from my friend's recipe, here are the ingredients:

1/2 cup cocoa
3 teaspoons butter
1 can or package of all purpose cream
1 can condensed milk

Just mix all the ingredients in a double boiler and stir constantly.

Please click on this link on how to make a double boiler at home.

As they say, never under estimate the power of Chocolate! =)

Happy Baking!

My First (Successful!) Chocolate Cupcake

March, I can't believe you are here!!!

I know this sounds cliche but . . . time really, REALLY flies so fast!  

And because I started February with a cake recipe, I thought of starting March with a sweet treat too . . . . Chocolate Cupcake with Milk Chocolate Frosting!!! 

I've tried making chocolate cupcakes before (once) but I wasn't too happy about the recipe.  The cupcakes tasted bland and were dry. 

Sometimes when you try a recipe and fail at it, you get discouraged and scared to try again.  (Parang love lang, haha!)

But then one day, you realize, you ought to give yourself another chance to try other recipes because there are better ones out there, you will find that ONE that would make you happy and make you say that you are glad to have tried again (yes, i'm still talking about cupcakes . . .and love I guess, haha).

There are so many recipes out there but I thought of trying one recipe by Aikko of Bake Happy simply because her blog post title had the following words. . .EASY to make and MOIST!  

Looking at the recipe, I wasn't sure at first because it doesn't have any eggs and butter!  I can't imagine baking something without those two ingredients!  But this recipe had mayonnaise and yogurt in it, which in my "not so expert" opinion replaces the butter and eggs and are the ingredients responsible for making the cupcake moist.  This recipe also got good reviews from Bake Happy's followers so I decided to go for it.

After seeing the batter, I had a good feeling about these cupcakes because the color of the  batter looked nice, haha!

And the cupcakes looked better compared to the first recipe I tried!

The cupcakes were moist and they tasted good (it didn't matter they don't have eggs and butter, haha) If you are a first time baker or if you are just looking for a simple cupcake recipe, I recommend this one.  Also, aren't you curious how cupcakes which have mayonnaise taste like?  =)

As for the chocolate frosting, the original recipe called for Malagos unsweetened chocolate.  I wanted to use the chocolate tablea discs I have but since toddlers have discerning tastes, I just made a Milk Chocolate Frosting (recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction).

And here's the tricky part (for me) . . . frosting the cupcakes!

Because I am not good at it!  So I just went to YouTube and just looked for a simple tutorial on how to frost cupcakes (using an icing spatula).

This is my best, haha. =)   I wish I had sprinkles!

But if there's one thing I love about having to frost a cupcake though . . . it is letting our Princess do her share and seeing her having a good time!

For the Chocolate Cupcake recipe, please click here.

For the Milk Chocolate frosting recipe, please click here.

Happy Baking!  

My First Cake: The Hummingbird Cake

Hello February!  You're already halfway through and I haven't put up any blog posts yet! =)

And because it is the month of love, I am going to post a cake recipe I tried which is a "labor of love". I call it as such because. . . I never make cakes!  For some reason, I am scared to bake a cake, haha!  

For my first cake, I really wanted to bake a chocolate cake (and I actually have a couple of recipes for it from friends) but I saw a recipe from my FB feed (forgot which website featured it) called Hummingbird Cake which looked easy to make and besides, I have some overripe bananas on hand which I can use for this cake.  How do I describe this cake?  Simply put, it is banana cake with pineapple tidbits and covered with cream cheese frosting. 

Here is a trivia about the Hummingbird cake:  According to Wiki, "this cake has been a tradition in Southern cuisine since the mid-20th century".  The recipe (written by Mrs. L.H . Wiggins of Greensboro, North Carolina) was first published by Southern Living Magazine in 1978 and was hailed as their most (or one of the most) requested recipe.

The recipes can be seen at www.myrecipes.com.  

For the cake recipe, please click on this link: Hummingbird Cake

And for the cream cheese frosting, kindly click on this link: Cream Cheese Frosting

Now, as to how my cake turned out . . . . 

Tadahhhhh . . . . 

I am not a highly creative individual and I'm sure I could have done a better job decorating the cake, haha!  I just decorated it with some toasted pecans and since it was Valentine's Day, I got an entwined hearts-shaped cookie cutter and used is as a guide to decorate the center of the cake.

Can you spot the "entwined" hearts?  I promise, that thing in the middle is made up of two hearts! haha!

I am not really fond of icing so I just made half of the amount indicated in the recipe.  

Thus, this look. . . .  

I know. . . it looks unfinished, incomplete. . . which kind of gives it a "rustic" charm, just like how a "naked cake" looks like! 

If this is the first time you heard about a "naked cake", I promise there is such a thing and that I am not making this up, haha!

Here is a sample of a naked wedding cake: 

Image from www.parfaitaustralia.com

So if you don't know how to frost a cake (like I do) or if you ran out of icing for the cake (like I did), just save face and claim that your cake is a naked cake! Haha!

Happy Baking!

Remember, there are time when you can have your cake and eat it too! =)

Recipe Hacks: McD's Big Mac Sauce

I am not really a hamburger person.  Between a hotdog and a hamburger sandwich, I would pick a hotdog!

However, there are times that a hamburger sounds good!  One of my favorite guilty pleasures is McDonald's Big Mac.  One may argue that it is not one of the best fast food burgers but there is something about it that I keep coming back to.  I love it because of its tangy sauce!  Yes,  that orange-y sauce is what makes it (in my book) and it is NOT a Thousand Island dressing! Haha!

The other day, I tried a Chicken meatball recipe but they came out of the oven like a patty (not meatballs, haha) so I thought of just using them to make sliders.  (P.S. The kids still enjoyed the "meatballs turned patty" with rice and teriyaki sauce!  So. . .always keep a bottle of Teriyaki sauce at home to save the day! Haha)

I haven't had a Big Mac for quite some time so I went online to look for a recipe for the sauce and picked two recipes (from topsecretrecipes and Chow Hound) and just did a mash up.

What makes these recipes close to the real thing is they both use the same ingredients that McDonald's uses.  There is actually a video in YouTube which shows a McDonald's Exec Chef making the sauce.  (Please click here to watch the video).  It shows you the ingredients, though it doesn't give you the measurements, haha.

This is the basic recipe I used.  I call it "basic" because you can start from this and adjust it to suit your taste.  In my case, I added more sugar, mustard and relish. 

Here is the recipe I used:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 tsp sweet pickle relish
1 tsp vinegar
2 tsp yellow mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbsp minced white onion

Just put everything in a bowl and mix it until well blended. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Let the mixture sit (one recipe suggested 8 hours) so the flavor comes out better. =)

For our slider, we just broiled the bun with cheddar cheese until it melted.  Then placed our "patty", THE special sauce and shredded lettuce!  Oh and some potato chips on the side =)

And voila. . . . 

A healthy hamburger fix right at home! =)

Note to self: Make some more patties.

Happy Weekend everyone!

Must Try Recipe: Baked Honey Garlic Wings

I love chicken wings!  But I only love them when they are fried, haha!  

Oh and my favorite part of the wing is the Drumette!  It is that part which they use for chicken lollipops (another favorite food of mine).

I saw a pack of beautiful Chicken Drumettes (yes, I find beauty even in uncooked food, haha!) when we were doing the groceries so I got one and didn't really know what to do with it.  Actually, I have a favorite wings recipe (Restaurant Style Buffalo Wings) which I blogged before here.  It is my go-to recipe and the only Chicken Wings recipe I've ever tried, haha!  I think it's about time to explore other recipes.

Since we have a bottle of honey (which we rarely use) in the pantry, I want a sauce that has honey in it.  I remembered the sauces that BonChon (a Korean Fried Chicken place) has for their wings.  One has Garlic and another has Honey.  I thought Honey and Garlic together sounds like a good thing for these wings!  But instead of frying them, I want to try baking them . . . for a change.  Plus it's healthier!

There are a lot of recipes online so I just picked two recipes (from these blogs: Spend with Pennies and The Endless Meal) and got something from each of these recipes.  I'm more than happy to tell you that this recipe was a success!  It actually exceeded my expectations.  Haha!  

I looove the sauce!  And I love how the wings, though baked, tasted like they were fried!  Thanks to the 4 tbsp of melted butter that was used to coat them before putting them in the oven, haha!  (Did I mention the word "healthier" earlier?  Well, I think t's still healthier than deep frying them, right? Haha!)

I hope you try this recipe so you can enjoy this messy finger licking goodness!

Ingredients:

Part I
1 lb of chicken wings
Salt or Seasoned Salt
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Pepper

Part II
1/3 cup of All Purpose Flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Garlic powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp Paprika
Pepper

4 tbsp of melted butter

Sauce:
1/3 cup of honey
1-2 tbsp of soy sauce
3 big cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of ginger
1/2 tbsp of olive oil or vegetable oil

*Feel free to adjust the measurement of the sauce to suit your taste =)


Directions:

1. For Part I, season the wings with (I just eyeballed the ingredients) salt, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper and let it sit on the ref for at least two hours.

2. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.

3. Pat dry the chicken pieces.  In a big bowl, combine everything in Part II (except the melted butter). Toss the chicken to coat well in the flour mixture.  (I put the chicken and the flour mixture together in a ziploc bag and just shake it).  Remove the excess flour from the chicken.  Then, coat the pieces with melted butter.

4.  Place your wings on a baking tray (line your baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone mat) and bake it for 40 mins (one side) and then turn them around and bake it for 15 minutes or until cooked.

5. Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a pan and boil it (in medium high heat) for 3-4 minutes until the sauce gets reduced to a thick consistency.  Drizzle over the chicken, toss and shake the pieces around . . . 

until each piece gets a taste of that yummy honey garlic sauce!

Dig in! =)

Taking the Challenge: Baked Mac and Cheese

I am back!!!

I know, I have been missing in action in my blog for a month!  But I have a good reason!  We just moved to a different house so that pretty much took my (our) time (and it still does!) since the last blog post.  I haven't even gotten the chance to tell some family and friends about our move yet.  (So to my family and friends, if you are reading this, I am so sorry for not writing sooner!  I guess, now you know, teehee)  

I will be sharing with you (in my succeeding blogs posts) some home improvement projects (just minor ones) which Hubby and I did to make this house, our home.

For today's post, I will be sharing with you something I prepared for the kids' lunch today: Baked Mac and Cheese!

(I am blogging about it now before I forget what I did, haha!)

I have tried making Mac and Cheese before but somehow, it didn't work out for me, haha!   Truth be told, it is an easy to do recipe where you just mix together butter, milk, flour and cheese.  The first (and LAST!) time I made Mac and Cheese, it tasted "floury".

But since the kids now are enjoying Mac and Cheese (it is one of the few things they eat when we dine out), I challenged myself to try making it again!  It doesn't have to be good, as long as it is eatable AND it doesn't have that floury taste, haha!

Challenge accepted.

I saw two recipes from two of my favorite Food Network stars, Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) and from the Neelys and took something from each recipe.

(For their original recipes, please click on the links above.)

Ingredients:

Elbow Macaroni - 10 oz package (I didn't use everything though)

1/2 cup Butter

1/4 cup of Flour

2 1/2 cups of Milk

1 tbsp of Prepared Mustard/Yellow Mustard

A pinch of Nutmeg, Thyme and Garlic powder

8 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese

4 oz Velveeta Cheese

Salt and Pepper

Toppings when you bake it:

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Crushed Potato Chips (I'm glad we had some in the pantry!  I used the Cheesy Garlic Bread Flavored potato chips by Lay's----Yummm!!!)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F

2. Cook the Macaroni according to package, drain and set it aside.

3. Melt the butter and then sprinkle the flour, whisk it together for a couple of minutes on medium -low heat.

4. Add the milk slowly and continue whisking everything together.  As the sauce thickens, add the mustard, nutmeg, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Mix everything well.

5. Add the cheese, stir and let it melt.

Taste to see if it is to your liking.  Feel free to add more of your seasonings and more cheese!!!!  

6. Add the macaroni pasta.  I suggest you do it gradually (don't dump the macaroni all at once) to come up with the consistency you like (ratio of the cheese sauce to the pasta).  You may serve it as it is or you may bake it.  

If you want to bake it, I suggest make it more saucy to avoid drying up your  Mac and Cheese. 

7. Butter your baking dish, pour the Mac and Cheese and top it with grated Parmesan Cheese and crushed potato chips!  

Notes:

I definitely found the Mac and Cheese recipe that worked for me!  Happy to say that it is toddler- approved!  The next time I'm doing it, I will add more salt (I just added more crushed potato chips on top of it) and add another type of cheese!  I am sure that adding other types of Cheese like Gruyere, Fontina or Asiago would do wonders!

Happy Cooking!

A Recipe Exchange from the East and West

Yes, this post is about a recipe exchange . . . The "East and West" in my post's title refer to my friend E (who is based in NY) and me (I'm in LA).  If there is one thing we share and are passionate about. . . it's our love for food!  Haha!

When you live overseas, there are days when homesickness just kicks in.  When those days happen, I just cook food which reminds me of home and my family.  Kare-Kare is one of my favorite Filipino comfort food.  It is a pork stew simmered in a peanut-based sauce.  Some people grind roasted peanuts and some (like us) use peanut butter.  In my book, my Ate Fely (she has been part of the family for more than 50 years!) makes the best Kare-Kare!  It's one of the things I request from her whenever we go back home for vacation.  There are several Filipino restaurants near our place where we can buy Kare-Kare. But sometimes, you just want some home-cooked meal!  As they say, necessity is the mother of invention.  Let's just say, I was forced to learn how to cook Kare-Kare, haha!  While I would prefer to have Ate Fely's Kare-Kare, it felt good to be able to say that I was able to cook it on my own. 

So my friend saw this in my IG and asked for the recipe. 

I was able to give her only a part of the recipe (Haha!) because we were having a nice time catching up and talking about different things!  During our conversation, I asked her if she has any Adobo recipe because the the one that I was following was just okay and I would like to try other recipes. So she gladly shared her go-to recipe (a recipe of her sister's mother-in-law) . . . and it was so good!  It was the best Adobo recipe I've tried!  It's a winner!

So I decided to do a post about these two recipes because I owe my friend the rest of the Kare-Kare recipe (Haha!) and to thank her for the Adobo recipe.

E, thank you very, very much!  Until our next recipe exchange!

By the way, the recipes don't have exact measurements.  Please feel free to adjust the seasoning as you cook to suit your taste.

KARE-KARE

Part I - Meat
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Ingredients:
Pork leg and other meat cut good for stews
Salt
Peppercorn
Bay Leaves

Directions: On medium fire, boil the meat until tender (remove the scum).  Please save the broth as you need it for the sauce.


Part II - Vegetables
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Ingredients:
Pechay
Eggplant
String Beans
Salt
Ice
Water

Directions: Boil water in a pot and  add a little bit of salt.  Blanch the vegetables until you reach your desired tenderness.  These vegetables (except the pechay) require only a couple of minutes to cook. After blanching, put them in an ice bath (a bowl filled with ice and water) to stop the cooking process.


Part III - Sauce
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Ingredients:
Garlic, choopped
Onion, chopped
2 tbsp Fish sauce (for a kilo of meat)
1 pouch of Mama Sita Kare-Kare mix (I used broth to dissolve the mix)
2- tbsp of Annatto seeds soaked in 1/4  to 1/2 p of water (optional)
1 - 1 1/2 cup of peanut butter diluted with 1/2 cup of the broth
Broth from the Meat


Part IV - Shrimp paste to go with the Kare-Kare - very important!
=====
We just got a bottle from the grocery.


Directions:

Saute garlic, onion and fish sauce.  After a few minutes, add the water from the Annatto seed mixture and let it simmer for 5 minutes.  Then add the Kare-kare mix and stir and let it simmer for a few minutes.  Then add the peanut butter mixture, stir and add about a cup of the broth.  Let it simmer for 5 minutes.  Add more broth depending on the consistency you like, adjust the seasoning if needed. Then add the Pork and let it simmer with the sauce.

For the vegetables, some people prefer to put the blanched vegetables on top of the Kare-Kare when they serve it.  I prefer to mix it with the sauce before serving it so it would absorb some of that good sauce!

Don't forget the bagoong (Shrimp paste)! Oh and get ready to eat more than a cup of rice! Haha!



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PORK ADOBO

Adobo is one of the most popular Filipino dishes and may well be considered as the National Dish of the Philippines.  It is a simple but a dynamic recipe!  It makes use of basic ingredients but somehow each Filipino household (or each Region in the country) would have their own take on it.  Some would prefer it to be dry, some would like it with more sauce, some cook it with or without the soy sauce, etc.

I like mine a little dry with a thick sauce but since the kids like to eat rice with the Adobo sauce, I had to make ours with more sauce.

Thank you again E for this wonderful recipe, it is a keeper!

Ingredients:

1 Kilo of pork (we use Pork belly and Pork Butt)

Lots of crushed garlic (2 heads, with the peel)

* My friend told me that adding the peel does make a big difference in your Adobo's taste

*Onions, chopped (optional, a personal preference)

1/8 cup oil

1/2 cup vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

2-3 pcs of Bay leaf

Peppercorn

Fry the garlic in the oil and then add the pork until lightly brown.  Add  the vinegar and let it boil for 5 minutes (with no cover).  I've read that you should do this to let the acid in the vinegar cook off, so you don't get that raw taste of vinegar in the dish.  Then add the soy sauce, bay leaf and pepper corn. Since I want more sauce for the dish, I added 1/2 cup of water.  Let it boil and then simmer for 25 minutes or until pork is tender.  

As a special treat for Hubby (because he was craving for some), I've added boiled eggs too.  =)

Hope these recipes helped  you in any way!  

Happy Cooking!