Orange Date Cake

Ingredients:

1       - cup butter or margarine, softened
2       - cups sugar
4       - large eggs
4       - cups all-purpose flour, divided
1       - teaspoon baking soda
1/2    - teaspoon salt
1 1/3 - cups buttermilk
1 1/2 - tablespoons grated orange rind, divided
1       - cup chopped pecans
1       - cup chopped dates
1       - cup sugar
1/2    - cup orange juice
Procedure:

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer about 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add 2 cups sugar, beating at medium speed 5 to 7 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.
Combine 3 3/4 cups flour, soda, and salt, add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in 1 tablespoon orange rind.
Combine pecans, dates, and remaining 1/4 cup flour, salt into batter.
Spoon batter into a greased and floured 10-ince tube pan.
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Combine 1 cup sugar, orange juice, and remaining 1/2 tablespoon orange rind in a small saucepan, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves.
Pour glaze over warm cake, cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Remove from pan, let cool completely on wire rack.

Adobo Pusit

One very important aspect we need to remember when cooking squid is that its never good to over cook them.  It gives a tough and rubbery like texture.  So for this adobo recipe this is a guaranteed express and yet specially good.


Ingredients:

1 kilo of squid

- it is preferable to use smaller squids for this recipe

- clean your squid by washing them in a running water.  Pull gently the plastic like thing (which is actually the bone of a squid) including the tiny pouch carrying the ink (its defense mechanism).  Clean them and pat them dry with a paper towel

5 cloves of garlic minced
2 shallots chopped (sibuyas tagalog)
3 tablespoons of cane vinegar (or you can use any type of vinegar available)
1 teaspoon of pepper
some salt
fresh chinese parsley or kintsay chopped
some cooking oil

Procedure:

Start by preparing your marinate.  Mix the minced garlic with salt, vinegar and pepper.  Let your squid sit in this marinade for a minimum of thirty minutes.  Then heat your pan, pour your cooking oil, put your shallots and squid.  Cook them as you are stir-frying them.  Hot pan, mediumfire and constant mixing.  If you use small squids in about five minutes they are already cooked but if you use bigger size seven minutes would be the maximum you can let on your pan.  Cut the fire and sprinkle it with your chopped chinese parsley.

Chocolate Mousse Parfait

Yield : 6 servings.

Ingredients:
1       - cup (6-ounce) milk chocolate morsels
1/4    - cup (6 ounces) milk chocolate morsels
2       - tablespoons water
2       - teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 - cups whipping cream, whipped
1       - cup vanilla wafers, crushed
Procedure:

Combine first 3 ingredients in a heavy saucepan; cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate melts. Cool.
Stir in vanilla, and gently fold in whipped cream
Layer mousse and vanilla wafer crumbs evenly into 6 (4-ounce) parfait glasses. Cover.
Freeze at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. Let stand 10 minutes to 15 inutes before serving.

Tilapia in Coconut Milk (Ginataang Tilapia)

Tilapia is one of the popular freshwater fishes consumed in the Philippines. There are various ways of cooking them and this is one of my grandmother’s specialty.

Tilapia in Coconut Milk (Ginataang Tilapia)

Ingredients:

4 pieces of tilapia medium sized. Cleaned and inners removed.
ginger about a thumb sized pounded
2 cloves of garlic, pounded
1 onion sliced
2 pieces of long green chili (siling haba)
1 cup of coconut milk
1 bundle of pechay, cleaned and cut in serving portions
some cooking oil
Procedure:

Start by sauteing the garlic, onion and ginger with the cooking oil. Pour half of the coconut cream, put the vegetables then the tilapia and cover. Simmer it over medium fire. As soon as the vegetables have wilted and the sauce starts to thicken add the remaining coconut milk, the chili and a lit bit of salt to taste. Serve hot with rice.

Mushroom Soup

You will not believe this recipe, filled with homemade flavor, is made from canned soups. It is good with the sherry, but we liked it even more without it.

Yield : 8 cups

Ingredients:
1/2   - cup unsalted butter
2      - (8-ounce) packages fresh mushrooms, sterns removed
1      - large onion, sliced
2      - (19 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
2      - (10 1/2-ounce) can beef consommé, undiluted
1/4   - cup dry sherry (optional)

Procedure:

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onion; cook 5 minutes or until onions are tender, stirring often.
Stir in mushroom soup and remaining ingredients, stirring often.
Bring to boil; reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes.

Tinolang Manok

Ingredients:

1 kilo whole chicken (cut into parts or choice cuts of breast, thighs of wings).
2 1/2 cups young papaya or sayote
1/2 cup dahon ng sili
5 cups water
2 tablespoons ginger (roughly chopped)
1/2 head garlic (minced)
1 medium onion (diced)
3 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons patis
pinch of salt and pepper
Procedure:

In a casserole, heat oil and saute' garlic, onion and ginger.
Add the chicken and water.
Bring to a boil and lower fire, let simmer until chicken is cooked.
Pour in patis, salt and pepper to taste.
Add in papaya or sayote, allow to cook.
When ready to serve, put in dahon ng sili.
Serve hot.

Camachile Cookies

Ingredients:

2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (sifted)
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp fine salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp powdered milk (for special camachile)


Procedure:

Add sugar to butter and beat. Beat eggs in another bowl, add salt and vanilla. Mix together butter mixture and egg mixture. Continue beating until smooth.
Add baking soda and baking powder to sifted flour. Blend with egg-butter mixture. Knead on top of floured board.
Form into small balls (1 tbsp. full) and roll on floured board till ball flattens. Then, form into strip 3″
- 4″ long.
Lightly press 2 fingers on dough, turn other side and press 3 fingers. This would make your cookie look like a camachile fruit when baked.
Arrange on a greased baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven to 350 deg F. Bake for 16 minutes or until golden brown.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Ingredients:

1 kilo of pork loin slice them bite size pieces
1 egg
half a cup of flour
some cooking oil for frying
3 cloves of garlic
1 onion
some ginger chopped (you can replace this with ginger powder)
1 red bell pepper cut in cubes
1 green bell pepper cut in cubes
1 can of pineapple chunks (drained) and reserve the juice
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
some salt,
1 tablespoon of catsup
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of vinegar
1 teaspoon of cornstarch
some water

Procedure:

Start by beating the egg, then put the flour in a plate.
Heat your pan with cooking oil.
Put your pork in the beaten egg, add salt and pepper.
One by one dredge the pork in the flour and fry them.
Cook each side for about three minutes or until its golden in color.
Set aside your fried pork.
In another clean casserole, pour some cooking oil and
start sautéeing your ginger, garlic and onion.
add your pork then mix them well.
Toss in the peppers and the pineapple.
Add all your seasonings: sugar, salt, pepper,catsup, vinegar and soysauce.
Put some pineapple juice (about a quarter of a glass) in your pan.
Mix them well.
Cover and let it simmer gently over low fire.
Before turning off the heat, dissolve your cornstarch in a tablespoon of water and add this on to your dish to thicken the sauce.
Turn off the fire and serve hot with rice.

Palitaw

Ingredients:

1 kilo of Galapong malagkit (Glutinous rice dough)
1 coconut, meat grated
1/2 kilo fo white sugar
Water for cooking
Sesame seeds, toasted

Cooking procedure:

Divide the galapong into several portions, depending on the size of serving you desire.
Roll each ortion into a ball and flatten to make a tounge like shape.
Boil some water. While the water is boiling, dro each of the galaong portions. It is cooked when the galapong surfaces.
Remove each cooked portion. Allow to cool.
Dredge in grated coconut and srinkle with sugar mixed with toasted sesame seeds before serving.

Pinakbet

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound pork (liempo with skin & fat)
• 4 Cloves garlic
• 1 Onion medium size
• 1/4 cup Shrimp Paste (Bagoong Alamang)
• 4 Eggplants (Long or round)
• 1 handful of Okra
• 1/2 cup tomatoes
• 2 pieces ampalaya (Bitter Melon)
• Corn Oil
• 1 Pork Cube (Maggi or Knorr)
• Salt

Cooking Procedure:

• Get a casserole or a wok saute' garlic, onion, pork sliced in strips, tomatoes and shrimp paste.
• Add the diagonally sliced eggplants, bitter melon and Okra.
• Add Pork cube and salt to taste.
• Simmer it until the pork and vegies are cooked.

Leche Flan

My favorite dessert, try to make leche plan.

Ingredients:

• 10 egg yolks
• 1 can (390g) condensed milk
• 1 can (390g) evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

The preparation time for this dessert is 30 minutes and estimated cooking time is an hour.

Cooking procedure:

• Get a saucepan and combine the water & sugar, bring to a boil for a few minutes until the sugar is caramelized.
• Get the aluminum moulds and pour the caramelized sugar, spread the caramel on the bottom of the moulds. 
• Blend well the evaporated milk, condensed milk, egg yolks and vanilla.
• Pour the mixture on top of the caramel on the aluminum moulds, about 1 to 1 1/4 inch thick.
• Cover moulds individually with aluminum foil.
• Steam for about 20 minutes or bake for about 45 minutes. Before baking the Flan, place the moulds on a larger baking pan half filled with very hot water, pre-heat oven to about 370 degrees before baking.
• Let cool then refrigerate.

Pritong Manok (Fried Chicken)

Good for 8 serving :-)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 tablespoons garlic salt
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 3 teaspoons pepper, divided
• 2-1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 broiler/fryer chickens (3-1/2 to 4 pounds each), cut up
• Oil for deep-fat frying

Procedure:

• In a large resealable plastic bag, combine 2-2/3 cups flour, garlic salt, paprika, 2-1/2 teaspoons pepper and poultry seasoning. In a shallow bowl, beat eggs and water; add salt and the remaining flour and pepper. Dip chicken in egg mixture, then place in the bag, a few pieces at a time. Seal bag and shake to coat.
• In a deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375°. Fry chicken, several pieces at a time, for 5-6 minutes on each side or until golden brown and juices run clear. Drain on paper towels.

Beef Afritada

Ingredients:

• 500 g beef shanks, sliced
• 1 carrot, cubed
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 onion, whole
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 tbsp. ginger, shredded
• 1 ripe tomato, sliced thinly
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 tsp. whole peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper powder
• 3 tbsp. cooking oil
• salt to taste

Procedure:

• Put the beef, 1 bay leaf, peppercorns and whole onion in a pot. Add salt and water to cover the meat. Boil and simmer for 1-2 hours or until tender. Drain, reserve 2 cups broth.
• Heat oil in a skillet, saute garlic, slice onions, ginger and tomatoes until the ginger are aromatic. Add beef, potatoes, carrots, bay leaf and broth (add more water if desired). Bring to a boil, add tomato sauce. Simmer until the vegetables are half done.
• Add soy sauce, fish sauce,oyster sauce, black pepper powder and bell pepper. Cook until the vegetables are done. Season with salt and pepper.

Beef Tapa

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds rib-eye steak
1 1/4 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Vegetable oil,
for brushing Garlic Rice, for serving

Procedure:

Slice the steak across the grain 1/4 inch thick;
pound the slices 1/8 inch thick.
In a bowl, combine the sugar, salt, cayenne and black pepper.
Brush both sides of the beef slices with the lime juice and sprinkle with the spices.
Stack the slices and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat a cast-iron skillet. Lightly brush the pan with oil,
add the steak in a single layer and cook in batches over high heat until medium rare
and slightly charred, about 30 seconds per side.

Enjoy cooking!