Tofu with three sauces… and cilantro
You like tofu? Fried tofu? So do I. But most Filipinos know only one way to enjoy their fried tofu (or tokwa as it is locally known) — as the other half of boiled pork in a dish called tokwa’t baboy, the traditional accompaniment for lugaw (congee). No doubt that fried tofu is great served that way but I like variety in the way I eat my tofu so I’m forever experimenting with what goes well with it.
But am I not supposed to be on a low fat diet? Why the heck am I eating fried tofu? I’ve invested in good quality non-stick cookware. Instead of deep-frying tofu, I fry the tofu cubes in a few tablespoonfuls of oil.
Continue reading 'Tofu with three sauces… and cilantro' »
Welcome to my kitchen!
There are people who like to build showcase kitchens just so they can be admired. Many of these kitchens go unused because the dirty job of cooking gets done in an outdoor “dirty kitchen.” That weirds me out really because I don’t understand the point in buying top-of-the-line appliances and installing heavy-duty counter tops and cabinets then let them gather dust. We have a “dirty kitchen” too. But the only part of cooking that gets done there is the washing of used utensils and plates. The cooking gets done in the kitchen.
Let me show you. Let me prove that a kitchen can be BOTH attractive and functional.
Continue reading 'Welcome to my kitchen!' »
Martha Stewart’s plum coffee muffins
The recipe is from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. I’ve tried about half a dozen recipes from the cookbook and all have been great. Looks like I finally found a cookbook with real recipes rather than just Photoshopped food pics. I’ve done this muffin recipe before using preserved seedless plums and they were great. Just substitute fresh pitted plums and follow the same recipe to make muffins like the ones in the photo.
The obvious question is which is better — the version with the preserved plums or the one with fresh plums?
Continue reading 'Martha Stewart’s plum coffee muffins' »
Chocolate-kissed muesli cookies
Muesli (pronounced myoos-lee), a mixture of unrolled oats, dried fruit and nuts, is generally considered a high-fiber healthy breakfast cereal. If you add butter and sugar to muesli to make cookies, does it make the jump from health food to junk food? What if you reduce the recommended amount of sugar and butter, and add applesauce to make up for the reduced sweetness and liquid? Finally, what if you top the cookies with Hershey’s kisses? Junk food? Actually, the pleasure of eating the cookies was more satisfying than the answers to those questions. 
Continue reading 'Chocolate-kissed muesli cookies' »
Spicy, herb-y, egg-y adobong sitaw (pork and string beans sour stew)
The classic adobong sitaw gets more than a superficial facelift with the addition of chili garlic sauce (yes, yes, I am quite addicted to the stuff), egg strips, cilantro and toasted onion bits. Onion bits? Yes, onion bits. Garlic bits are too predictable already. Besides, there’s enough garlic in the adobo. Onion bits add a sweetish flavor to the dish and, combined with the cilantro, it is wonderful.
You can use the usual ground pork or get some bacon-cut pork belly. Not bacon but bacon-cut pork belly. What’s that?
Continue reading 'Spicy, herb-y, egg-y adobong sitaw (pork and string beans sour stew)' »
Stuffed zucchini
Last Friday, the girls had chicken burgers for their packed school lunches. I used the leftover chicken burger mix to cooked these baked stuffed zucchinis.
One thing I like about zucchinis is how little preparation they require. They don’t have to be peeled, for starters. And stuffing them is a breeze because even uncooked the flesh is soft enough to scoop out with a spoon. All the zucchini needs is a flavorful filling — and topping — and about 12 minutes of baking.
Continue reading 'Stuffed zucchini' »
Chicken and mangoes in yogurt
Cooking meat in milk is not new. There was a pork cooked in milk recipe in a 1970s something cookbook that came with our SEB pressure cooker when I was a little girl. I tried it, liked it, and I’ve cooked it many times before. Jamie Oliver has a chicken in milk recipe which has been tried and enjoyed by a mom in Kuwait. I saw a photo from her entry in Food Gawker yesterday and decided I would do my own version. With a twist, naturally. Yogurt instead of milk and with cubes of fresh ripe mangoes.
How did it turn out? Can I brag just this one time?
Continue reading 'Chicken and mangoes in yogurt' »
Chicken, tofu and kangkong (water / swamp spinach) with chili garlic sauce
Yes, chili garlic sauce. Again. I can’t seem to get enough of the stuff. And I’m not even fond of spicy dishes. No, correction — I am not fond of overly spicy dishes. And that’s what makes the chili garlic sauce perfect for me so long as I use it for cooking rather than for dipping.
Yesterday’s lunch was a stir fry made with chicken strips, firm tofu and kangkong. So unbelievable simple, so amazingly easy to cook and so utterly tasty that I had to stop myself from having a third helping…
Continue reading 'Chicken, tofu and kangkong (water / swamp spinach) with chili garlic sauce' »
