Sinigang with a Twist

Sinigang is one of the most popular Pinoy viand. It is made by boiling meat in a tamarind soup base and local vegetables are added. It's dish well loved by everyone. I came upon a unique recipe of Sinigang in Food Magazine (that was a long time ago). It was unusual and I thought this will never work! Watermelons in Sinigang?! Ewww.....

My desire to try new twists on Filipino cuisine prompted me to try this dish at least once. If it doesn't work, my cats could eat it :-)

I tried to sell the idea to hubby. He was not very enthusiastic and had resigned himself to drive to McDonald's if the infamous sinigang was ever to be served in our household.

I made it one dinner. Hubby as usual had that grimace on his face upon seeing the red blobs of watermelon in the sinigang. One sip of the soup, he was hooked! He actually prefers sinigang made this way now! I strongly urge you to try this recipe at least once and see if you like it. The broth will be a little sweet.



Sinigang with Watermelon
1/2 kilo beef (Sinigang cut or caldereta cut)
Water
2 tomatoes, quartered
1 large red onion, quartered
Salt
1 small pack Sinigang mix (I recommend Knorr)
1 wedge of a medium-sized watermelon, sliced (use the red portion only) and seeded
1 radish, sliced in disks
1 piece Gabi
1 small pack of Okra, (tops and ends cut)
1 bunch of sitaw
1 small eggplant, sliced in disks or rectangles
3 pieces finger peppers

Pocedure:
1. In a big stockpot, combine beef, tomatoes, onion ans salt. Put enough water to cover the meat. Boil for 30 minutes.
2. Dissolve the sinigang mixture in a little water or broth. Add to the beef. Add the watermelon and boil until meat is tender. Falling off the bone is how I like it.
3. Add in the gabi, radish and finger peppers. Boil for 5 to ten minutes more until the gabi is tender.
4. Add the rest of the vegetables 1 minute before turning off the burner.

Serves 2

Variations:
* You can use pork and beef at the same time. In fact, I recommend it.
* You can purchase pre-cut watermelon in the supermarket since you only need a small amount.
* You can also purchase pre-packed sinigang vegetables in the supermarket. It's cheaper and it just has the right amount of vegetables for 2 people.
* If you're in time crunch, making the sinigang pressure cooker will do. Although the meats seem to taste better when it's dahang dahang pinalambot
(slowly boiled and tenderized)
That night I also thrown in some miskipaps salad of crabstick, lolo rosso lettuce and some pine nuts. Hubby doesn't like dressing in his salads so I didn't make one. If you like dressing, a balsamic vinaigrette dressing will be perfect for this.



For dessert, I made Agar flan from wifely steps' recipe, I am renaming mine Buko Flan since I feel it's more fitting. "Agar" means white according to hubby. Mine didn't turn out as firm as I had hoped. I'll use less water next time and maybe drain the buko shreds longer. It had the consistency of taho but it was good nonetheless.

Here's the original recipe:
2 bars of gulaman
5 3/4 cups of water and buko juice combination ( I suggest use only 5 1/2)
2 300ml. cans of condensed milk
1 cup buko shreds, drained



1. Boil gulaman in water until the gulaman is melted.
2. Remove from heat. Add in the condensed milk and buko shreds. Mix well.
3. Pour over mold. Cool before refrigerating.

Grilled Chicken with Papaya Salsa

I was browsing through Shop Wise earlier to buy more of the funky soup bowls that I bough the other day . They were out of stock, sayang! Should have bought the entire lot when I had the chance. Then I saw some fresh chicken breasts on sale. Out of curiosity, I asked the chicken guy if it's possible for him to debone the chicken breasts and slice them very thinly. He gladly obliged. I was so happy that they provide this service. By doing the pounding and slicing for me, it cuts down my cooking time considerably. I don't have to pound the chicken anymore. Less mess in my kitchen. Yippee!

With my newly purchased breasts :-) I scoured the produce department for the ingredients that I need to make grilled chicken with papaya salsa which is one of hubby's fave dishes.

This dish takes a little bit of time to prepare due to the slicing and dicing but it's well worth the effort. I found this recipe from a Good Housekeeping Cookbook that I had bought years ago. I've just made some adjustments to suit our tastes. Anyway, here's my version:

For the chicken marinade, you will need:
4-5 pieces pounded chicken breasts
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/8 cup water
2 cloves chopped garlic
Patis (fish sauce)
Salt
Bunch of fresh Cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
Pinch red pepper flakes

Papaya Salsa
1 ripe solo papaya, peeled and cubed
1 Red or green bell pepper, cubed
1 cucumber, seeded and cubed
1 shallot, minced
Bunch of fresh Cilantro leaves, roughly chopped (you can put as much as you like)

For the salsa dressing:
Juice from 3 limes (you must use limes or dayap)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon patis

1. Combine all the ingredients in the marinade. Pour over chicken and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
2. Combine the papaya, bell peppers, cucumber, shallots and cilantro. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the dressing until the sugar dissolves. Pour over the salsa and carefully mix to avoid mashing the papaya. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to mix flavors.
4. Grill chicken breasts in a griddle. Discard marinade.
5. Serve cold salsa on the side.

Hubby hates raw shallots or onions in anything so I only put one in there. You certainly can add more if you like. The dressing proportion is not set in stone, this is just a guide. Taste the dressing before pouring it over to the salsa, make sure it's not too tart, too sweet or too salty for your taste.

Variations:
1. Use turnips instead of the cucumber.
2. Use Mango salsa instead of Papaya. Just replace papaya with mangoes, cucumber with tomatoes.
3. Hate cilantro? Try using mint instead for a slightly "Vietnamese" flavor.

This dish is very flexible. You can mix and match some of the ingredients and come up with your own original version.

Lumubog...Lumitaw

Palitaw is one of those classic Pinoy merienda that everybody loves and it's probably the one of the easiest kakanin (A Tagalog term for rice based snacks) to make. Palitaw literally means, to float in Tagalog. You'll see what I mean. Here's how to make it:



Ingredients:
1/2 kilo Galapong
1 Grated niyog (mature coconut)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Pinch of Cinnamon (optional)

Procedure:
1. Boil water.
2. Shape galapong into small disks. Drop one by one to the boiling water. When it floats, it's already cooked (hence, the palitaw name).
3. Remove cooked palitaw with a slotted spoon to drain the water and place on a bed of niyog. Cover both sides of the palitaw with niyog. Arrange on a platter or banana leaves.
4. Mix sugar, toasted sesame seeds and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the palitaw.

Tip: If you can't purchase galapong in the supermarket or palengke, simply mix glutenous rice flour and water until you get the consistency of children's clay. Your kids would love making this.

Palitaw is best shared with family and friends.

Simple Pinoy Dinner

I was a bit frazzled yesterday with all the mounting housework that has been neglected for the past week. I was in no mood to prepare a fuzzy dinner and an elegant dessert. I called hubby and told him, I'll just grill some tilapia for dinner. He was excited, since tilapia is one of his favorites, with two conditions... it must have sliced tomatoes with bagoong (shrimp paste) and vinegar dipping sauce and the tilapia must be crispy. Sure, no sweat.







Typical Pinoy fare. Simple, rustic and best eaten with your hands. I opted to grill the tilapia in the oven straight on the rack with just salt and pepper. I've also added some blanched okra and eggplant to our simple meal. For dessert, sliced melons to cool the tongue.

Easy Pasta Amatriciana

Pasta Amatriciana has always been one of my favorite pastas. I just love it's simple and unpretentious taste and it's so easy to make. All you need is a handful of ingredients already available in your kitchen.



Here's my version for 1 serving:
Dried Fettuccine
1 tomato
4 pcs of honeycured bacon, sliced
Olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small white onion, cubed
1 small tetra pack of tomato sauce (115grams)
Salt to taste
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Parmesan or Romano cheese, shaved or grated


1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Make a tomato concasse. Put an x on top and bottom of a tomato. Blanche in the boiling pasta water for about 2 minutes. Remove from water. Peel the skins under running water to prevent your fingers from burning. Remove seeds and cube.
3. Meanwhile in a separate non-stick pan, cook the bacon until desired crispness. Remove from pan and drain in a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Discard the bacon fat in the pan.
4. In the same pan, add olive oil, garlic, onion and tomato, saute until slightly wilted but not brown.
5. Add the bacon and tomato sauce. Add salt and crushed red pepper flakes.
6. When the sauce is bubbly, add the cooked pasta and toss. Top with grated or shaved Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Tip:
If you are making a big batch, just use canned diced tomatoes. It will save you a lot of time. You can also do away with the tomatoes if you don't like chunky tomatoes in your pasta, just add more tomato sauce.

Happy eating!

Leslie's Restaurant in Alabang

When we pass by Commerce Avenue on our way to either Festival Mall or Alabang Town Center, we would always see this monstrosity being constructed. We assumed it was some sort of church or a restaurant with a castle theme. Wrong! It's actually Leslie's Restaurant. You know, that restaurant in Tagaytay overlooking Taal Volcano. Well, they recently opened a branch here in Alabang.



Hubby and I got curious of what it looked like inside so we decided to have dinner there the other night. The building really is a monster. The place is huge with fake rocks adorning ALL of its walls and columns. It's a two-storey building with vaulted ceilings and huge windows. It's not air-conditioned, but the place is quite cool at night because of the night breezes coming through the windows. Since the place is "open-air" everyone is free to smoke anywhere. We don't smoke, so we dislike inhaling second-hand nicotine. Fortunately no one was smoking near us.



The place has a humongous indoor waterfall complete with a small bridge. There's also a man-made brook in the garden that might interest little children. Large banquet tables are set-up to give you that medieval-like dining experience.



Hubby and I weren't very hungry so we just ordered Seafood Kare-Kare and fresh buko juice. The food isn't spectacular, as with the Leslie's in Tagaytay. The presentation of the food is a bit unappetizing. The Kare-Kare would have looked more appetizing if it was served in a native clay pot or a deep dish. The buko (coconut) we ordered was not chilled, it had a paper umbrella though.





Their food is not cheap either. Hubby shelled out P650 (US$13.50) For the kare-kare, rice and the buko juice. Leslie's Alabang is best only for the novelty in dining in a castle-like/dungeon environment.

If you want good food, go somewhere else.

Food Styling with Delores Custer

I mentioned in my earlier blog that I had attended a Food Styling class by Delores Custer. As promised, here’s some of the highlights of what transpired in that beautiful Saturday.

I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to attend this seminar and it was by pure luck that I got in. My former officemate, who was assigned for that seat couldn’t make it. I was sent in his place. I was so excited. After all, Delores Custer will be conducting the seminar.



Delores Custer is a renowned American Food Stylist. She has been in the food styling industry for almost 30 years. Interestingly enough, she started her food styling career at age 38 and had worked for another food stylist as a "trainee" for five years before venturing on her own. She had worked for numerous magazines, advertising agencies, pr firms, TV shows and commercials, film and food companies. Ms. Custer also teaches courses in Professional Food Styling and Recipe Writing and Development at New York University, The New School and the Culinary Institute of America and has conducted food styling workshops in Japan, Chile, Argentina, Norway and of course, the Philippines. She also helped develop the Hearts Kitchen Course of the New York Heart Association and has lectured on the “new cuisine” and taught courses in food demonstration. She has also developed recipes for various food companies and has contributed to several cookbooks. She appears frequently on television discussing food styling techniques or current nutritional concerns. To learn more about Ms. Custer and her career, click here.



I’ve worked with food stylists during my stint in an advertising agency. I’ve always been very fascinated with their work and creativity. There’s nothing like a beautifully plated food that's carefully laid out to romance the camera. I’ve learned many years ago that when it comes to food, nothing is as simple as it looks.

Here’s what I learned during the seminar a.k.a our syllabus:

I. Review of last year’s presentation

• Here Ms. Custer gave some of the food styling secrets, like how to make condensation on a beverage glass (Mix 90% corn syrup to 10% water, mix well using a hard toothbrush, spritz to glass, make sure you cover the parts of the glass that will not have condensation.

• Lemon curls are made by using a vegetable peeler, peel skins, slice thinly, lengthwise then twist on a straw . Use pins to secure. Cover with a moist towel until ready to use.

• Fotoflow adds bubbles to beverages. Available in photography supply shops.

II. Presentation of slides: What makes food look mouthwatering and appealing

I got hungry on this part.

III. Demonstration and lecture: Working with food:

• How to style pasta – This involves choosing the right plate, the right cut for the vegetables and use of a medicine dropper to apply the “sauce”.

• How to style poultry- The poultry is stuffed with aluminum foil and tissue and secured with pins in inconspicuous places and just baked for 15 minutes to prevent the skin from wrinkling.

• How to style cakes and pies – This is a little tricky particularly placing the frosting in the middle of the slice. Cut a wedge in the middle of the slice, with an off set spatula or squeeze bottle, fill in. Holes in your cake? Use Vaseline and leftover crumbs.

IV. How best to promote your food product of food company - This segment is pretty much about making the product you're selling stand out.

V. Working on TV Commercials

VI. Developing and writing recipes - This part is very informative for a blogger like me. It gave me insights on how to present recipes better and more friendly to the home cook.

VII. Working with food in front of an audience or a camera - In this segment Ms. Custer showed us a very funny clip of "don'ts".

Needless to say, I learned tons of stuff on this seminar much more information than what I have posted here. One of the best part (for me at least) was that we got to taste Ms. Custer’s famous carrot cake. Yum! She even gave us the recipe. I can’t wait to bake it. I hope it will turn out as moist and as delicious as hers. Wish me luck!