Sibuyas Republic

Archive for May, 2011

The past three days had been very busy for me. Tomorrow’s the seventh birthday of my little miss. Been busy in the kitchen today. Preparing few dishes for few visitors tomorrow.

Mommy’s tired. Very tired….

Because of the gloomy weather brought about by typhoon Chedeng, I cooked out the usual Pinoy favorite, Pork Sinigang. We harvested few “gabi” (taro) stems which we planted near the creek hoping we could “play” on cooking “laing”. Afraid that we may fail on the dish, we opted to just make do with the sinigang !

A savory and sour sinigang shall not be complete with good ol rice. More rice, would you say?

TIPS:

• Spare ribs are best for pork sinigang.

• While the pork has achieved its boiling point, mix in the “gabi”, as this will helps thicken the soup a little.

• Place pandan leaves while cooking rice, the aroma will definitely add taste to the rice when cooked.

SHARING THIS PINOY FAVORITE ON

My mom was the one who taught me how to make polvoron. Thus, when I got married and decided to become a stay-at-home mom, I asked her if we could make some and sell them on to the school she were teaching. We would alternate the polvoron with ice-candy, or with yema.

Mom’s not with us since 2002 but, I still continue to do this sweet treat, not to sell, but, for my kids to enjoy. And, like mom, I did taught my kids how to make them.

INGREDIENTS:

500 grams flour

250 grams powdered milk

250 grams brown sugar

1 package of butter (i used Dairycream)

chocolate cookies (oreo is best here)

wrapping paper or colored plastics

PROCEDURE:

1. Using a shallow pan, toast the flour using low heat. Turning constantly for about 10 minutes. Set aside.

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan.

3. Crumble the cookies (note: not crushed)

4. Add the milk, sugar, cookies into the flour. Mix thoroughly.

5. Add the melted butter into the dry ingredients. Mix.

6. Mold each polvoron and wrap.

The kids enjoyed helping me out and we could have wrapped 100 pieces were it not for the kids who never wants to munched each one that they molded ^_^

total of 86 polvorons!

SHARING THIS SWEET TREAT AT

Each morning, this little would-be seven miss (in a week’s time, yey!) would wake up to make her own chocolate drink.  And, at bedtime, she’ll prepare her own milk drink, too. Hmmm, I like the independence.

There she is with her yellow Dora cup, and, another cup for her “kuya” (brother), too. Isn’t she sweet?

SHARING THIS POST AT

Who wanted to go to the market very often? The heat’s irritating, and, on rainy days, the market’s muddy and dirty. But, I’d like to shop there for meat and poultry items there. Also, fishes and veggies were the freshest at the market. Thus, whenever, the schedule calls for me to market hop, I get enough supplies that will last at least two weeks. There’s pork, chicken, seafoods and some breakfast food items like hotdogs and sliced ham.

BTW, I saw lots of SALAGUBANG being sold in the market today.

I also bought pork leg that weighs one and a half kilo costing P220 (about $5). I asked my “suki” (vendor) to cut the pork into smaller sizes as we have no sharp cutting knife in the kitchen. I make it a point to let the vendor pre-cut my ordered meats.

For the pork leg, I am cooking “paksiw na pata”.

INGREDIENTS:

*garlic and onions

*laurel leaves

*peppercorns

*bulaklak ng saging  (dried banana blossoms)

*drops of soy sauce for a little color

*patis (fish sauce)

AND, Del Monte pineapple tidbits (kids favorite)

PROCEDURE:

Place the pork leg along with the rest of the ingredients in the pressure cooker. Cook for about 45 minutes.

VERY SIMPLE, isn’t it?

TIPS:

*Other version would add in vinegar and sugar to this recipe. I opted to replace vinegar with the sweetened pineapples. I thought the vinegar makes the pork a little harder to soften while the pineapples plus the syrup will add in the needed tenderness to the pork.

*One and a half kilo of pork leg yielded me more than enough for two meals. Hence, I had frozen the other half, to be consumed maybe next week:)

SHARING ANOTHER RECIPE HERE AT

Hubs easy-peasy veggie recipe. He’s staying away from pork and chicken. He can take a bite, though. But, once he overeats, I’ll be beside him to give him a nag. Cholesterol, calories, fats…i shall itemize what will he be devouring.

Thus, when he’s a little pissed off eating fish EVERYDAY, he’ll get a pan and cook this up. Sauteed veggies on a little oyster sauce.

Easy and healthy, isn’t it? This meal is hubs “should be” meals to lessen his triglyceride count. High levels of triglyceride in the bloodstream can cause hardening of arterial walls (atherosclerosis), which in effect can cause heart disease and stroke.

High levels of triglyceride were seen on his blood when he had a blood chemistry last year. Thus, his doctor advised him to change his diet.

Risk factors to a higher triglyceride:

*Higher intake of carbohydrates. Carbo-rich foods energized our body, but, should be taken in moderation because higher calories can soar up body mass, which more or less leads to obesity. Obesity, as we know, can lead to many serious diseases.

*Alcohol can raise up triglyceride, too.

*Triglycerides can be found on animal fats and vegetable oils.

HOW TO REDUCE TRIGLYCERIDE LEVELS IN THE BLOODSTREAM:

*reduce carbohydrate consumption

*reduce intake of animal food products

*avoid using hydrogenated oils, instead, use more healthy oils such as olive oil and coconut oil.

*exercise regularly.

Red day on our calendar, but just like last Mother’s day, hubby and I preferred to celebrate our wedding anniversary sans many guest, food feast. Anniversaries were much special when spent with your dearest family especially the kids.

Mother’s day, I opted not to post anything because I haven’t receive any gifts, flowers, just plain ZERO. It was a very torrential day then, as typhoon Bebeng were about to make a landfall. Thus, we opted to celebrate at home. Nothing fancy. What else is there to post about? Our togetherness, perhaps? Hmmm, quite “a thing for two”...so, i had a post blackout…literally ^_^ AYE!

Today, as we celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary, nothing fancy either. No elaborate gifts (just a shirt, HERE, aye!) No fancy dinner. Neither love notes -_- As hubby reiterated today (keeps on emphasizing this, hello!), all his gifts for me were pre- advanced during the last holidays ^_^

Oh, well, so true. In case he’s reading this. I know when to ask for things. I know, this isn’t the time for extra spending. Not at a time when three kids needed much for school stuffs and the much important tuition fees. I can understand. Only for this month…next month? I may throw a tantrum. LOL

Kidding aside, I am most happy when not only me is happy, but the whole family, as well. I maybe happiest when I do received gifts, especially if it’s a surprise. But, I can be MOST HAPPY, when the littlest things I do were appreciated. Like cooking. Nothing gourmet, I know. I am no chef.

For our anniversary, two friends and my SIL do paid us a visit. I prepared PORKCHOP TERIYAKI (click here for recipe) and my CREAMY CHICKEN (reciper here) plus the unending request for good ol chicken spaghetti for the kids. See, nothing fancy.

TWAS A SIMPLE FOOD FEAST FOR ME AND HUBS’ WEDDING ANNIVERSARY.

WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN XOXO’S & I LOVE YOU’S?

EXHAUSTED BUT EXULTANT!

POSTED FOR

This recipe should have been posted a month ago, the day after my niece’s christening in April 17. But, too much personal woes, family woes, including Everest-high chores and wifey duties ^_^…This recipe has been hibernating in my draft.

PLUS, making a RELLENO BANGUS is too daunting a task, I got zeroed in where to start:)

I guess, shall we start what “bangus” (Milkfish) to buy and perfect for this relyeno. I asked my SIL to buy the bigger ones, instead she bought smaller sizes of bangus. She said her “suki” (fish vendor) insisted these sizes. Will she be the one pounding and extracting the bangus meat? I nearly screamed ^_^.

I tell ya, the pounding part was okay. Here, hubby made me this wooden “pounder” specifically for bangus and for beef loins….

TIP NUMBER 1 Let it be a reminder that in making bangus relyeno, start pounding the body gently so as to loosen the meat for easy extraction. When it’s done, try feeling the ends of the bone, then try to twist it softly so as to break it near its tail. This is the easy way to debone the fish. Afterwards, scooped out the meat from the inside. Careful not to mangle the body and not to dislodge the head from the body.

Hey, what are we talking here? DECAPITATION OF WHAT^_^

Whew! Not even halfway through it. As I said, the recipe preparation is too laborious. But, let’s be done with it.

After deboning, after extracting the meat…Set both aside. Marinate the bangus skin into lemon juice or kalamansi juice, add few drops of Worcestershire sauce, ground pepper and a little salt.

TIP NUMBER 2: for easy deboning of the extracted bangus meat, I let it into a quick simmer. When the meat turned white, just wait for it to get cold then it is more easier to get the small bones out.

Get on with the ingredients:

ground pork (or tofu plus lots of veggies will be a healthier substitute)

carrots, celery, bell pepper, raisins, frozen peas

eggs

flour (or bread crumbs)

COOKING PROCEDURE: AT LAST!

*as again, saute the bell peppers (diced), add the garlic and onions.

*add in the ground pork.

*season with salt, ground pepper, chili sauce, more Worcestershire sauce.

*when the ground pork nearly cooks add in the bangus meat, and the veggies. *Let simmer for a few minutes. Done cooking.

But not yet done with the relyeno itself^_^

*When the mixture got colder, add in the eggs and flour. This is to adhere the meat together.

STUFFING’s READY:

*here’s the tricky part, now, my SIL knows why I prefer bigger bangus. Stuffing with a smaller neck hole can add more time to the process and makes me more irritable ^_^ Plus, I might disengage the bangus head from its neck.

*TIP NUMBER 3: Accident do happens, if and when the bangus was decapitated, the usual and old way is to sew the head and body together. Would that sound another arduous task? Instead, I’ll connect them by sticking toothpick. EASY!

TIP NUMBER 4: When the bangus have been stuffed, roll out the whole bangus into flour-egg-flour beofre deep frying. WHY? This will prevent the skin from sticking to the frying pan. Plus, it will add crispiness to the fish skin:). Don’t forget to remove the toothpicks before serving:)

THINK WE’RE DONE? Think it was!

AND, sorry this is the only photo I got out of the preparation I did for this relyenong bangus.Daughter didn’t get the instruction I asked her about photo ops:)

This might be the longest recipe post I have written in this site:)

This recipe is a knock-off from chicken pastel and chicken a la king. Hubby said I should call this Chicken A La Pobre ^_^. Because it fall short of the two famous chicken recipe version ^_^

Did I say I cook not minding the original recipe I have seen on tv. I cooked with the pleasure of looking what’s available in the kitchen pantry or the fridge.

HERE’S WHAT I PREPARED:

*chicken breast

*chicken stock

*canned mushrooms

*carrots

*bell pepper

*chicken hotdog or ham slices

*evaporated milk

*cream cheese (or cream, or your choice of cheese)

*butter

PROCEDURE:

*Boil the chicken breast and cut into bite size pieces. Set aside the chicken stock.

*Meanwhile, saute the bell pepper (julienne) in butter, add the garlic then onions.

*Once the onions become translucent, add in the carrots, mushrooms and hotdog (optional). Add in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for about five minutes.

*Finally, add in the chicken breast and the milk and dropped in cheeses generously. It will helped thicken the sauce.

*Season with salt and pepper. Add few drops of chili sauce and Worcestershire sauce. The kids loved it. Promise!

*CHOW TIME!

This can be served with rice or bread or cooked pasta.

NOTE: Try sauteing the bell peppers before everything else. The oils from the bell pepper will add depth and flavor to any dish.

CLICK THE BADGE FOR MORE FOODIES:

Two days of rain have drench the near-drought land here in our place. Farmers needed that amount of rain. Our province, Nueva Ecija,  is known as the Rice Granary of the Philippines and our rural town is famous for that BIG AND RED ONIONS.

Having said that, with a vast agricultural land to boot, farmers have encounters many a pests that ravaged their crops. One of them is the beetle known locally as SALAGUBANG. Actually, locals here does not consider this insect as a pest. It is actually a rare one, which comes out only at this time of the year, the month of MAY. When the first rain in MAY comes, the beetles come out from underneath the sandy soil near rivers. And, boy! Would you know that locals would literally march their feet off towards the riverbanks, and, at TWILIGHT TIME. Yes! The SALAGUBANGs do come out from the soil at dusk. There should be a SALAGUBANG FESTIVAL, hmmm, might suggest that to the town mayor ^_^.

Even hubby and my son, my brother and his son, and everybody in the neighborhood marches to the fields hoping to catch more beetles. Because when these flying insects reaches the market tomorrow, prices can be as high as P400 per kilo.

I think it is more of the fun and the adventures why people wanted to catch these winged-insects.

wings and feet removed, this "salagubang's" ready for cooking

There’s the quirky beetle, known to be protein-rich. Don’t know anything else what could be there that appeals to the palate that locals here consider it as exotic delicacy. “ADOBONG SALAGUBANG” with tomatoes is famous around town, or better yet, crispy fried salagubang.

Hubby and my two kids will definitely share that plate. I AM TURNING MY PLATE DOWN ^_^

Not yet ready for that exotic food^_^

RECIPE FOR THE ADOBONG SALAGUBANG:

*Saute some garlic, onions, and tomatoes.

*Mix in the “salagubang”.

*Season with ground black pepper, soy sauce and few drops of fish sauce.