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!

=================================================================

*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!

Exotic Food Chronicles: SISIG

Butcher's Best Sizzling Sisig

I don't know if sisig can be counted as exotic food but for people who are not from here, it is indeed exotic!

Sisig is a very popular Filipino dish that originated from Pampanga. It is made from finely chopped pork and it is usually served sizzling on a hot plate. The parts used for sisig are a pig's head (cheeks, snout, ears) and liver and it is usually seasoned with chili peppers and calamansi or Philippine lemons.

Sisig is prepared in three phases; the pork is boiled, broiled and fried before it becomes the exotic dish that it is! Boiling tenderizes the meat and broiling gives it its rich smoky flavor. Frying with onions gives the sisig more flavor and serving it on a sizzling plate makes it more exciting to eat!

Over the years, the curious palate of the Filipinos have created different sisig variants with a variety of add-ons such as chicharon, eggs, etc. Tuna, chicken, squid and tofu sisig have also popped up in many restaurants' menus and have also captivated the cravings of the locals.

Sisig tastes good especially if it's served with steaming rice! You can actually eat more than you've imagined!

Exotic Food Chronicles

The Philippines is an exotic country. I don’t care if many of you beg to disagree but I believe it is as exotic as I see it to be. Aside from the exotic people, traditions and customs, and atmosphere, the Philippines has a lot of exotic food that people from various parts of the world never imagined could be considered to be called food at all.

We Filipinos are known to be innovative and practical (and some think we’re gross) especially when it comes to food considering that our country belongs to the third world. Our exotic food may be considered unpalatable by other nationalities but once they get the knack and guts (bwahahaha!) to taste our line of unusual food, they may not want to leave the Philippines anymore and stay here for good. Not every foreign tongue may like our exotic dishes, but for most of us Filipinos who are proud of our heritage and idiosyncrasies, there’s no holding back in exploring the more interesting line of the food chain.

Once in a while I will be posting “exotic” stuff here. Believe me I will not post gross pictures! Hahaha!

It’s Not A Hotdog! It’s Hungarian Sausage!

No, what’s in the photo is not an ordinary hotdog that you can buy from the supermarket and fry in your pan. It’s Vienna Kaffeehaus’ Hungarian Sausage! As usual I went to my favorite place not for coffee but for their super cold beer but before I gulped down San Miguel Strong Ice I had to eat something first.

I went with Liz to Vienna Kaffeehaus along Velez St. and since they offer a variety of dishes on their menu, we were dazed and confused on what to choose for lunch. Since I wanted something spicy yet not too much on the tummy (and on the pocket hehe!), I ordered one of their popular treats, Hungarian Sausage served with coleslaw and rice. I chose rice over mashed potatoes since I had plans of taking beer with my meal; I wanted something heavier than potatoes.

The sausage was ok, cooked in the way sausages are supposed to be cooked yet its distinctive flavor made it more exciting. It was made spicy with pepper and spices but it was mild and tolerable especially for spicy hot chili lovers like me. I’m not going to say the Hungarian sausage was super amazing but it was just ok. Liz had a cheese sausage served with the same stuff but I can’t really say if she was that amazed with her lunch too.

The highlight of that rendezvous was the beer drinking. I told her nothing beats Vienna’s beer because they serve them super cold and they have super chilled mugs to go with the beer. I guess she agrees with me on the beer part…nothing beats the smooth yet strong taste of Strong Ice with a smokin’ mug…each of us drank a couple of bottles and then we went back to where we were supposed to be at that time. Haha!

Vienna Kaffeehaus serves meals, pastries, desserts, and super yummy cakes but I keep going back for the beer. I think the usual waitress gets pissed every time she sees me walking through their doors. Oh no, it’s that beer girl again! I must admit that for the several times I have been there, I have never ordered anything from their coffee list yet. Next time I promise I’ll try their coffee with their cute cakes and tell you all about it!

Meatless Spaghetti

Images: No good photos... Ugly phone cam... :-(
Food: YUMMY!!! :-D

I love spaghetti (I can't say though that everybody does). Yesterday I came across some gourmet spaghetti sauces in the supermarket and my mother told me too cook spag. I only said yes if it's ok with her that I wouldn't put meat in the sauce and she agreed. I was supposed to take some of this meatless spaghetti to Odessa's because we were supposed to meet and do some brainstorming BUT the weather didn't cooperate and we were both not feeling very well.

Anyway, here's the recipe. Try it out! ;-)

Meatless Spaghetti

Ingredients:

• spaghetti, cooked al dente
• oil
  
• 1 head garlic, minced
  
• 1 medium white onion, chopped
  
• 1 can sliced button mushrooms
  
• salt
  
• pepper
• ground oregano
• parsley, finely chopped
  
• Del Monte's Gourmet Beef and Mushroom Sauce (hey this is free advertising! hahaha!)
• cheese

Directions:

• Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Cook it al dente...don't ruin the pasta...drain.
• Sauté garlic, onion, and mushrooms in oil. Add parsley and spaghetti sauce.
• Season with salt, pepper, and oregano.
• Add cheese.
• Simmer for a while.
• In a plate serve pasta with sauce and cheese.
• Eat!!! Buon appetito!

*Strict vegetarians may find this recipe non-vegetarian since the sauce is beef flavored. Well I didn't say that this is supposed to be a vegetarian recipe BUT it has no meat in it.

Calamares: Crispy Squid Rings

Vienna Kaffeehaus Squid Rings

My squid rings

Squid rings a.k.a. Calamares in this part of the world is one of my favorite dishes. I love it especially when the rings are coated with crispy breadcrumbs and dipped in garlic mayo or thousand island dressing. I love eating calamares but I don't like preparing it because it takes a lot of time and patience. However, since I enjoy eating and cooking, I'll be sharing with you how I prepare my calamares. ;-)


Crispy Squid Rings

Ingredients:
squid
flour
egg, beaten
Japanese bread crumbs
lemon or lime
salt
pepper
oil for deep frying

Dip:
minced garlic and mayonnaise

1. Clean squid by removing its head and membrane. Rinse, then cut into rings.
2. Marinate rings in salt, pepper, and lemon for at a maximum of 10 minutes.
3. Coat rings in flour, then dip it in the egg mixture. Coat with the breadcrumbs. (You can add a bit of salt and pepper to the breadcrumbs for more flavor.)
4. Deep fry coated rings in very hot oil. Once they turn into golden remove them from the oil and drain with paper towels.
5. In a bowl mix minced garlic and mayo for the dip.
6. Serve and eat your crispy squid rings!

Enjoy!

Pistachio Ice Cream

It is no secret that I love ice cream... I have had several posts which show my favorite dessert presented in various ways.

This bowl of yummy green is Selecta Creations' Pistachio and Cashew ice cream. I love pistachio and cashew nuts and I was so amazed when I saw the ad on television that the two nuts are combined together in this heavenly delight!

I had sore throat when I bought a tub of this ice cream...the aftermath wasn't that desirable but it surely was worth it1 You have to try it and have a share of heaven!

Ribs Baby!

I am a big fan of baby back ribs and this plate of yummy ribs is from Sentro 1850, a local resto here in CDO that serves a delectable range of food. Cutely called Bric a Brac, these ribs have tender meat and are served together with vegetables, corn and rice.

I love eating these babies... Just looking at the pic right now makes me want to go back there and have more...

The Magick of Lugaw

Lugaw or rice porridge is one of the many kinds of food I love.  It's like a soup or chowder (what category does this food really belong????)  I love eating it whenever I don't feel well or whenever my stomach is upset.  Rice is boiled until it is very soft and then it is seasoned with different spices and add-ons.  Add-ons sound too techie eh?  (See the keyboard on the background?)

Anyway, I took this lugaw pic yesterday.  It was what I had for lunch because I wasn't feeling very well.  This lugaw had hard boiled eggs, siomai (dumplings), spring onions and toasted garlic for toppings.  I gave away the siomai to my co-worker when I found out it had shrimps in it.  I am allergic to crustaceans! 

Meals for Less Than a Dollar

Shanghai Rolls

Burger Steak

Jollibee which is the leading fastfood chain in the country offers meals for less than one dollar! For PhP 39.00 (current exchange rate 1 USD = 48 PhP) you can avail any of these meals and have your fill! If you are on a tight budget yet would want to eat somethign tasty just go to the nearest Jollibee and order any of the 39ers!



The 39ers are so popular they even have a Facebook game app!

Creamy Bacon Mushroom Pasta

I made this last night. My own recipe...

Creamy Bacon Mushroom Pasta

Pasta (spaghetti or penne)

Onion, chopped

Garlic, minced

Black Pepper, ground

Oregano, ground

Parsley, chopped finely

Bacon

Button Mushrooms, sliced

Cream

Butter

Cheese

Salt

Water

• Cook pasta according to package directions or until al dente. Drain and toss with butter.
• In a pan, cook bacon without oil until it turns into a crisp. Once crispy, crumble into flakes and set aside.
• In the same pan, remove some of the melted bacon fat and leave just enough for sautéing the onion and garlic. Add mushrooms and a bit of butter.
• In a pot, melt butter and add cream and some water. Stir in one direction and make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan by keeping the fire low.
• Add cheese, salt, pepper, oregano and parsley. Stir.
• Add sautéed mushrooms and a few bits of flaked bacon. Simmer for a few minutes then mix with the pasta.
• Serve with cheese and garnish with bacon and parsley.

Sushi Baby!

I love sushi! I haven't had some in a while and I got lucky there's a guy who sells his sushi door to door. One day he popped up at the workplace and I've been putting off in buying his stuff because I'm allergic to shrimps and crabs. I had a taste but I didn't have allergic reactions thank goodness!

These sushi babies don't taste like the authentic ones but they are really good!

Another Sinful Sundae

One lunch break my work mates and I decided to have lunch across the street at Mom's Corner. The food was great and we had this for dessert. Cookies and Cream :D

The chocolate ice cream sat on a bed of crushed ice, milk, and ground chocolate cookies. Mallows and candy-coated chocolates were sprinkled on top.

Chicken Macaroni Soup

Cold afternoons are inspiration for me to cook up big pots of soup and share them with my family and relatives who live nearby. I have learned to cook chicken macaroni soup from my aunt when I was still young and over the years I developed my own recipe by using various herbs and different flavors.

The other Sunday's version of the chicken macaroni soup was different from my usual combination. The following is the recipe. Try to fix yourself something like it if you want. It's really goooood!!! :D

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

1 medium onion (chopped)

ginger (finely chopped)

2 chicken breast fillets (chopped)

3 medium sized carrots (chopped)

3 celery stalks (chopped); leaves (finely chopped)

1 small can evaporated milk

1 chicken bouillon cube

2 liters water

elbow macaroni (cooked according to package instructions)

dash of ground dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

grated cheese and celery leaves for garnish

Directions:

• In a big pot, heat oil and toast garlic until golden. Once garlic turns golden remove from oil and set aside.
• In the same oil, sauté the chopped onion and ginger. Add chopped chicken and continue cooking until tender.
• Add the carrots and celery stalks to the sautéed chicken. Stir up for a few minutes.
• Add water, milk, and chicken cube in the pot and let boil.
• Add pre-cooked macaroni.
• Add a dash of oregano, salt, pepper, the toasted garlic and the finely chopped celery leaves to the soup and simmer for a few minutes.
• Serve in bowls with grated cheese and celery leaves on top.

My Beloved Pretzels

Last month when I was on my way home from Cebu to Cagayan de Oro, I dropped by the Duty Free Shop in the Mactan International Airport. I was searching for something to buy to take home with me and of course I headed to the section where the munchies are.

After scanning the shelves for something to take me home, a bag of Snyder's of Hanover Pretzels struck my fancy and I bought it for $3 only. I have always loved pretzels even though I don't get to buy them just about anywhere. I like it that they are hard, crispy, and salty due to the coarse salt crystals. Imported pretzels and other stuff are usually found in duty-free shops or improted sections in super markets. I wish I bought more since my bag of pretzels already ran out. Next time I should stock up some more.

One thing I love about a pretzel is its shape. It looks like a cute heart. Back in the middle ages, the pretzel's loops stood for everlasting love.

Mocha Cake

For mocha lovers like me, this cute cake from Vienna Kaffeehaus is a piece of heaven! What I love about mocha cakes, ice cream or whatever is that it is a unique combination of coffee and chocolate!

That coffee bean on top was so yummy!