Sibuyas Republic

After sharing you the Mango Pie (which was baked), I want to share another fruit pie. However, instead of baking, I had opted to fry them in the hopes of achieving that crispier dough a la Jollibee pies

And, look what I got after deep frying the pies on a very hot oil…

Crispier and more tastier fruit pies…

Here’s the quick recipe guide:

For pie dough: Check here my easy-peasy basic pie crust recipe.

For filling: Since I have sweetened jackfruit in the fridge, I decided to make it as pie filling combined with sweetened banana (saging saba).

Procedure:

• Knead the dough, then form into whatever shape you desire. Place the filling near the center of each form dough then seal.
• Deep-fry into a very hot oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes.

Let me share you the difference between frying and baking pies. (applies also to meat pies)

Texture. I must say, the difference between baked pies and fried pies are in the texture. Frying pies will result in a more crispier dough. With baked pies, the texture will depend on how minutes the pies stay in the oven. More minutes means you’ll have a crunchier dough. While baking the pies in shorter minutes will achieve a chewy dough.

Concern for health. Naturally, frying means using oil. If you are one who’s been avoiding oils and other fats, baking pies is more the better choice.

Taste. Pies, whether baked or fried, are equally delicious. However, frying intensifies the flavor of the butter (in the dough mix) which is then mixed into the filling which makes the it more flavorful and moist.

Honestly, me and my family prefers frying the pies.

What about you? Have you tried making your own pies? It’s a great snack for the whole family.

I tell you. There’s no break time in my kitchen. I ran out of LPG (thank goodness, I have a spare one), thought it’ll be a great excuse to curl up in bed the rest of the afternoon. But, then, the little girl remembers what I had promised yesterday. That, I’m gonna try baking a pie today. That girl, for one, has a sharp memory. She’ll never stop buggering you until you do what you promised her. Hayz!

Well, for one, I did promised a pie because it’s been days that I am craving for one. So, here goes…

Starting out, I’m stuck as to what pie it shall be…When I did saw the apples in the fruit tray…sige na nga…APPLE PIE it shall be…

Paano ba? A, ewan…bahala na si batman…si superman…o si spiderman…si avengers kaya?…ay, kahit si thor na lang…

Basta bahala na…Let’s make some pie…

I’ll be needing:

FOR THE BASIC PIE CRUST
2 cups flour
1/3 portion of the butter (as seen in the photo below)
half cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
half teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk

FOR THE FILLING:
4 medium sized apples (tig-sampung piso^_^)
half cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
pinch of salt
a dash of cinnamon
vanilla extract (optional)

1. Start with the crust. Pie crust or dough making is very intimidating. Palpak in some recipes I made. Crossing my fingers this will do well. Cut the butter in smaller portions, add the flour, add salt and sugar. Work with your hands until it resembles coarse meal.

For some tips:  In making doughs or crusts, work with your hands…work cold (READ: Butter comes from the fridge)…and work fast. If not, butter will melt and will make your crust too mushy. It’ll be difficult to roll.

2. After mixing, form into a ball and place in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, it is best at this time to preheat the oven at 350 degrees.

4. Now for the filling. This is the fun part. Because it’s so easy to make this filling. No need to cook. Just cut up the apples in whatever cut you desire. Added tip. Soak the cut apples in water with 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to prevent browning.

5. Place the apples in a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients. I use brown sugar instead of white. Hmmm, they say it’s healthier, so be it. nakikiuso lang^_^. Of the cinnamon, I had second thoughts about it, because my kids didn’t like the aroma of cinnamon. So, I just use only a small pinch. Besides, I don’t wanna overpower the taste of the apples. Same with the vanilla. I always wanted the aroma of vanilla in baked foodies. I would never want to miss even two small drops only And, oh, why do I add flour into the filling? It will act as thickener. That’s it. Filling is ready. No cooking needed. Saves time…saves me gas, too.

6. The hardest part in making pie crust for me? The rolling…but in the end, sans the photos (kitchen’s a mess when rolling doughs, I must say), here’s the pie…READY FOR BAKING…

7. Just seal the ends by pushing ends of the fork. I vividly remember how I escaped my cooking class in high school. Yay!

8. Before placing the pie in the oven, don’t forget to brush the top with egg yolk and sprinkle sugar on it. It’ll keep your pie achieved a glaze and golden color. Also, do not forget to make tusok-tusok (feeling konyo lang^_^) to serve as steam vents for the pie.

9. Baking in the oven for 35-40 minutes…Kabanguhan naman sa buong bahay habang binebake siya…See the golden top.

10. Finally…Please, you be the judge…

Pie dough not crumbly. I can hold a slice ng hindi nagbabagsakan…Yey! Hindi ata palpak ngayon…

There’s the apple slices. Sweetness. Pramiz

Ano pa? Kainan na…

Ang verdict niya? Let her smiles tell you what ^_^.

I had 3 slices (out of 8). My!

Pwede na…pwede na…

Ikaw anong niluto mo ngayong weekends? Share naman...

As promised, here’s another mango treat this super hot, hot summer. MANGO POPSICLES. Nothing fancy. Nothing artificial. All-natural. Just like these ripe mangoes.

For the recipe, it’s as simple as making fruity smoothie.

What you need.

2 medium ripe mangoes

half teaspoon sugar (optional)

heavy cream or yoghurt

dash of cinnamon

1 cup orange juice (or lemon juice)

small plastic cups for molds (store bought, 25 pesos for 50pcs)

popsicle sticks (store bought, 10 pesos for a A LOT)

Preparation.

• Slice the mangoes. Discard seed.

• Separate the flesh pulp from the skin.

• Place in a blender. Add all the ingredients.

• Beat at medium speed for 3 minutes.

•  Fill up each cup to almost full.
• Insert the popsicle stick. The density of the smoothie will hold up the sticks in place.
• Freeze for 4-6 hours.

Lick it!

Enjoy the freshness of fruits that are in abundance these summer months. You can make popsicles out of strawberry, watermelon (thumbs up), dragon fruit (though, the fruit’s a little pricey these days), pineapple. There’s too many fruits available in your fruit vendor.

You can even combine few fruits to make one delicious popsicle flavor. And, who knows popsicles can even be enjoyed by those who are trying to lose weight.

These tips might be useful in preparing delicious and equally nutritious popsicles without feeling the guilt.

• Use only fresh fruits when making popsicles. Avoid fruit juices as it may contain some form of sugars.
• Use low-fat yogurt or skimmed milk in order to be worry-free from fats.
• Incorporate the addition of edible herbs like mint and some citrus peels like lemon and orange zests. It’ll add flavor and tang to the popsicles.

Why deprive yourself from eating delicious desserts when you can enjoy the best of both worlds. Savor the fruity coolness of popsicles this summer without having to worry about your waist. If kids can enjoy them, YOU CAN!

Linking this post @

Summer was the best time of the year for enjoying as many fruits there is. My trip to the market became sort of exciting as I always looked forward to buying fruits which are in season. Prices of fruits come in a little cheaper when the are in abundance. That goes true with ripe mangoes. Though, they’re not in the best produce this year, as the extended rainy season in the last “ber” months leaves havoc on the trees when its flowers were a-blooming.

Nevertheless, ripe mangoes in our province are sweet, if not the sweetest of its kind. Pardon my bragging. We just so loved ripe mangoes here that next to bananas, its the fruit that will surely invade my fruit tray. Same as in any other fruits, mango fruit pulp packs a lot of essential nutrients -copper, potassium and amino acids, too. More significantly, Vitamin C and Vitamin A found in mangoes powers up its antioxidant properties that counteracts free radicals, the caused to many diseases and certain types of cancer.

There are a lot food preparation to enjoy ripe mangoes. Here in our home, we enjoyed the fruit as is, or be made into smoothie, or mango salsa, or mango pudding, even mango popsicles and other desserts.

But, sometimes, peeling this somewhat simple yellow fruit can be too daunting a task. My kids always end up with thinly slice mangoes, where most of the fleshy pulp were left at the seed part. Sad part is, the kids shun off the seed part and I always end up getting it as my share

Today, as we have fish over lunch, I tried making mango salsa. It’s a great combination for fried fish. I did asked my daughter to cube the mangoes while I diced up tomatoes and onions. Sadly, she doesn’t know how to do simple a task I asked of her. When I did showed her how the trick of cubing mangoes are done…I had this idea that I had to show here the simple and easy-to-do mango cubing technique.

Here goes.

However, my first tip goes on how to sliced off the mangoes to get thicker slices. Start off by getting a sharp paring knife and starting at the thicker part of the mango, slide off the knife guiding it through the seed all the way to the tip. Of course, it shall be a “bumpy ride”. But, a good paring knife will glide off easily.

When mangoes are sliced, make slanting cuts in each slice piece. Or, it is okay to sliced off in straight lines. However you prefer. Slanting slice will just make diagonal cuts, just as to achieve aesthetic food presentation/garnish.

Here comes the fun part. You might wonder what in the world was the wineglass doing in the picture? Sounds like a wrong glass for smoothie? Before I decided to run this post, I googled up similar post regarding how to make dice or cube mangoes. Top five on Google search I have visited have almost the same procedure/technique -slicing off the mangoes in either slanting or straight line, then, separating the fleshy part from the skin (peel) using the same knife! I used to do this procedure in the past, I end up with uneven slices and some flesh still attached to the peel. “Sayang!” Then, one particular site caught me off laughing because the procedure climaxes at the part where the sliced mangoes needs to be “pulled off” using the fingers. Ending the post with picture perfect photo of “more uneven sliced mangoes and uneven edges” showing in its undersides. I was laughing because I had tried the procedure many times. Many times. Ripe mangoes have soft pulp, pulling it off from its skin can cause pressure, it shall leave a hollow mark or dents, deforming the pulp. Plus, ripe mangoes can be too slippery to hold with fingers. Or, if you add more grip = uneven shapes. Sorry. I had to share my bad experiences.

So, here goes the use of the stemware. Slide off the mouth of the glass through the sliced mangoes and glide all the way down. Ripe mangoes are soft, did I say. The stemware will glide smoothly like a knife cutting through the mangoes…

Final product. Uneven shapes? That happens when the daughter makes double transverse cut on the sliced mangoes

I hoped the next time one buys ripe mangoes in the market and wishes to make fresh mango salads, make sure that a stemware is available up for grab. It will save time for preparation plus, it’s a lot safer than using a knife in an oval shape mango fruit

Hope this post helps

Not the biggest pieces that I would want to purchase if I am the one buying these red babies at Baguio City. But, I am delighted that eldest daughter went home (finally!) with a “pasalubong” in tow. It was the end of her semestral classes and we picked her up at the city last Wednesday at near midnight. Only to pack her bags again and left to hike a mountain trail off Nueva Viscaya.  Poor girl, she had zigzagged her way down for four hours at Kennon Road and off zigzagging again way up another set of mountain ranges.

She said she was feeling exhausted, with her final exams starting on the second week of March, then coming off with preparation on her final thesis. She confided she was sleep drought lately. Their supposed trip to Nueva Viscaya is in conjunction with the thesis study. And, they were to collect new species of rats Rats! Ew!

Let me change the topic. I don’t wanna delve here talking about rodents. Haha!

So, I was kinda glad she went home with these fresh babies instead of the usual peanut brittle and strawberry preserve. She said she caught up a vendor near the van terminal and she bought two kilos for only seventy pesos per kilo (70).

Sweet! Since yesterday, we were munching these little reds. Hope I could find time today to make it into, perhaps, Strawberry Shortcake. Crossing fingers

For those planning to hike off to Baguio City this summer, I suggest visiting Strawberry Farm in La Trinidad. Only a jeepney away (or taxi when you would want to pay 300 pesos from the town area) from the town. There, you could experience “real” strawberry picking. But, instead of paying 70 or 90 pesos per kilo (strawberry prices in the public market), a small basket of strawberries you’d pick will cost you 300 pesos. Haha. It’s the experience that you will be paying

There were actually other fresh produce other than strawberries to look forward in La Trinidad. Check out the lettuces, the broccoli. Yay! I had the grandest time…picking strawberries for photo ops’ sake

Too evident. Isn’t it?

My share for Velvet Dreams’ Blog Photo Challenge.

Really had a hard time waking up at 5:30 every weekday. Geez! But, I need to. I had kids readying up for school each day. I don’t wanna send them up to school with an empty stomach. I had prepared a quick bento lunch for them plus a couple of these “rambutan” fruits which I had bought in the market on the weekend.

The kids loved the juicy sweetness. I’m a happy mom when the kids would try eating fruits and veggies

For the rest of the day, I will be busy;

• My little niece is one year old today, there’ll be a small kiddie party set up in my brother’s yard this afternoon. Hope the rain will be absent today.

• I did helped out in preparing the desserts last night, buco pandan and jellos for the kiddies. Sweet!

• Also, we had prepared lumpiyang shanghai last night with lots of veggies.

• Lastly, I had to stick my nose on how my brother will cook kaldereta and papaitan. Both in goat meat. Any takers?

Have a fabulous time visiting entries today at Ruby Tuesday

Who could’ve have thought there would still be ripe mangoes in this all-rain season? My uncle who owns hectares of mango trees in neighboring Palayan City, paid a visit recently and he brought with him these fresh mangoes from his farm. The last harvest, he said…might as well savor every bite of these fleshy, sweet and vitamin rich yellow fruit.

We better enjoy this fresh while reading Quotes about life.

The essence of summer in the Philippines? Yeah, the heat, the irritatingly hot, hot days. Driving city peeps to travel to provinces while others who can afford escaped to somewhere cooler:)

Why shall we loathe when summer here means beaches, swim resorts, reunions, …and these body hydrating foodies…not to mention the nutritional value we can get from those…

me and hubs munches on fresh cantaloupes while watching tv

my kids loved papayas in the morning, watermelon @ lunch and perhaps melon @ dinner

prepared this bowl of fruits on my lil miss birthday

Living in the province for AGES, much more living in a farm, tropical fruits have been a staple part of our everyday meals. We have couple of indian mango trees, santol, sineguelas, karamay, papaya, kamias, guavas, langka, guyabano, avocado…and an abundance of vegetables which are free, sometimes:)

Bet yah, there’s more…that is living in the province meant ^_^ Salmonella free, fingers crossed^_^!

LINKING THIS POST @

When I do grocery shopping, I always prioritize what’s on my lists. I don’t wanna end up throwing more to the cart when I am in front of the cashier.

It does happened when kids were tagging along with me. More food stuffs will be in the cart more than what is necessary.

Hence, if I must, I like to do my grocery alone or with hubby, just to help me carry these bags.

Recently, when I am torn what cereal to buy along with the usual corn flakes or choco flakes, I was tempted to buy this cereal package. I thought it might be good for hubby and that the kids will like it.

It is a whole grain cereal with high fiber. Thought I needed that because I had occasional constipation. Plus the fact it has bits of raisins and nuts. Healthy breakfast, I thought.

At breakfast the other day, the little miss wouldn’t want any of it after tasting a piece, saying, it doesn’t taste good. I reiterated our food mantra. To no avail. The older two kids reluctantly finished off their bowls.

Hey, it might taste a little “grassy” and somehow a little hard to swallow, but it is okay. So long as the food promises healthy stuffs, it will be a delight good for my palate.

SIDE NOTES:

*cereals are great rice substitute although both contains carbohydrates for our energy needs.

*try adding fresh fruits like bananas, or raisins, plums, ripe mangoes into the cereals.

*oats or cereals when broken into crust can be used as breading for pork chops or chickens which were the kids favorites.

my SIL gave me this jar of cherries last Christmas

love the color and the sweetness and the plumpness!

Posted for

RUBY TUESDAY