Salisbury Steak

Red Ribbon's Salisbury Steak

I love eating at Red Ribbon and one of my favorites is their Salisbury Steak. I guess the meat is pan-grilled since it's not oily but it's juicy and the mushroom sauce just complements it! I love the combo of buttered corn and carrots and now I love their better version of herbed mashed potatoes!

I have already tried making my own version of Salisbury Steak yet I haven't documented it. I will try to cook it one of these days and add something healthy to the patties! Watch out for it! ;-)

Creamy Bacon Mushroom Pasta PLUS Chicken

It was my aunt's birthday last Saturday and on Sunday, my uncle asked if I could make spaghetti with white sauce. They are among the "tasters/testers" of the stuff that I cook so I said yes. They wanted me to make tuna with white sauce but since I haven't tried doing that yet (promise I'll try that soon and post it here), I decided to play safe by making something I am already familiar with.

I decided to make a variation of my Creamy Bacon Mushroom Pasta - I added chicken to the recipe! The ingredients and directions for cooking are the same except for the chicken... Just chop up a chicken breast and sauté it with the onion and garlic before adding the sliced button mushrooms. Try adding a chicken bullion for more flavor.

Do you want your food to taste really good? Here's a tip you will find valuable: SMILE WHILE YOU ARE COOKING... :-)

Strawberry Cheesecake

Strawberry Cheesecake from Vienna Kaffeehaus

I am a big fan of cheesecakes and I would want to bake one on my own someday. I am not good with baking but I want to try my hand in popping concoctions into and from the oven! I went hunting for strawberry cheesecake recipes and this one from PastryWhiz seems to be the easiest to follow. I’ll try it out someday and maybe you should too!

Strawberry Cheesecake
makes 12 servings

Crust:
1 1/2 c Graham cracker crumbs
2 tb Sugar
3 tb Margarine or butter; melted

Filling:
19 oz Cheese, cream; softened
1 c Sugar
2 ts Lemon peel; grated
1/4 ts Vanilla
3 Eggs

Glaze:
1 c Strawberries; mashed
1 c Sugar
3 tb Cornstarch
1/3 c Water


Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350øF.

CRUST: Stir together graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Mix in butter thoroughly and press into a 9" springform pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool. Reduce oven temperature to 300øF.

FILLING: Beat cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy. Add lemon peel and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Pour into shell. Bake 1 hour or until center is firm. Cool to room temperature and then spread with the strawberry glaze. Chill 3 hours.

GLAZE: Blend sugar and cornstarch together in a small saucepan. Stir in water and strawberries. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Cool thoroughly before spreading over cheesecake.

EXOTIC FOOD CHRONICLES: ISAW

Chicken Isaw

Are you game for another exotic food? Better get ready for this delicacy to grace your guts! (No pun intended!)

Isaw is an exotic street food that you will most likely see being sold on sidewalks or street corners here in the Philippines. It is made from grilled pig or chicken intestines. Yes, intestines! Guts! Isaw is prepared by cleaning the intestines by turning them inside out repeatedly until they are free from dirt (umm, do I need to elaborate on what you can find inside intestines?). The intestines are then boiled and grilled or immediately grilled usually on bamboo skewers. Once cooked, isaw is then dipped in spicy vinegar or other variants of spicy sauce.

For some of you who are not fans of exotic food (and don’t have the guts to try them out), isaw may seem like an icky kind of food to try out. Well I believe it is indeed not good to eat IF it is not prepared well. Isaw if not cleaned and cooked properly may cause harmful diseases. Harmful bacteria may live inside the intestines and you might be able to ingest them if the isaw is not clean.

How would you know if isaw is safe to eat? I don’t really know but I think it is best when you can see or touch the isaw before it is set on the grill. I think isaw is on the “safe” side if it had been boiled before being skewered and grilled. The insides of raw isaw that is immediately grilled will not be cooked well even if the outer surface is already burnt.

I had the privilege to eat “safe” isaw way back when we used to have a neighbor who grilled barbecue and isaw at dusk. He boiled the isaw before putting them on sticks! I preferred to have my isaw grilled to a crisp and somehow charred but then I didn’t have them burnt because burnt food has carcinogens!

Anyway, since there had been warnings of the health risks of exotic food, my advice is that if you are really game to try them out, you should just be prepared of the worst that could happen. If you have the opportunity to check out how the food is prepared, the better.

One more thing with exotic food; no guts, no glory!

Fruit and Jelly Punch

Fruit and Jelly Punch

I love food and I love drinks too! Aside from my ever favorite beer, I also love drinking punch! Here's a simple way to make punch without having to go through all the fuss...

Fruit and Jelly Punch Ingredients:

2 cans fruit cocktail, drained

1 small pack strawberry Kool Aid

Water, just enough

Gin, according to your tolerance hahaha!

Ice, lots of it

Spiked Jelly*

Mix all ingredients in a punch bowl and serve. Take it easy on the jelly!

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*Spiked Jelly:

2 boxes Strawberry gelatin

Water

Gin

Cook gelatin according to instructions but with lesser water. After taking it off from the heat, add gin and stir. Set in a mould and refrigerate. Cut into squares or fun shapes.

Tuna Garlic Mushroom Pasta

Tuna Garlic Mushroom Pasta

Here’s another batch of pasta from the kitchen! I know a lot of you might find tuna “fishy” but I fooled my “food tasters” with this recipe…They didn’t even know it’s tuna that’s in the sauce!

Ingredients:

• Onion - 1 medium bulb, chopped
• Garlic - 10 cloves, minced
• Button Mushrooms - 1 can, half sliced, half finely chopped
• Hot and Spicy Tuna Flakes - 1 small can, drained
• Tomato Sauce or Spaghetti Sauce
• Salt
• Pepper
• Oregano – dried
• Cheese
• Pasta - Spaghetti or Macaroni, cooked al dente

Directions:

• Heat oil in pan and toast the minced garlic. Take them out from the oil and heat.
• Sauté onions, mushrooms and tuna. Add tomato or spaghetti sauce. Add cheese in the sauce and half of the toasted garlic.
• Season with salt, pepper, and oregano.
• Add to pasta.
• Serve with cheese and toasted garlic on top!

Buon appetito!

Bring Me The Chef's Salad!

Chef's Salad at Mom's Corner

Mom's Corner along Pabayo-Chavez Sts. in CDO is just a stone's throw away from where I work and they serve tasty yet affordable meals. Whenever I feel like eating salad, I just go there and order Caesar's Salad or the Chef's Salad.

Traditional Chef's Salad usually consists of ham strips, hard-boiled eggs, croutons, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, roast beef, chicken, turkey, and salad greens and Thousand Island dressing. Mom's Corner's version of the salad has about the same contents except for the roast beef, chicken and turkey.

I love eating salads since they are healthier to eat than pure meat. Every now and then when I don't feel like eating a lot, I just mix my own batch or go to the nearest resto that serves greens. I prefer not to put dressing and cheese on my salad though.

I'm hungry... bring me the Chef's Salad!