Mother's Day, the Big Day

Here it is, the verdict for my labor of love. As our usual family tradition, LP again hosted us on this special occasion. It is truly special. Tita Socky has promised to cook! This is the third time in my 33 years that I've seen her cook. Hmmmmm, I was kinda doubting if she actually can :-)

Our menu consisted of Tita Socky's salad greens with roasted yellow peppers, asparagus and shitake mushrooms with Japanese dressing. It was great. I'm totally stealing this recipe.



Then we had the baked cream dory. A fish filled dish that was baked with lemon disks, onions, olive oil, tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper. It was yummy, soft and flaky. Everybody loved it.



We also had barbecued chicken legs. Marinated by mom but was grilled by the maid in charcoal.It was grilled perfectly and the chicken was cooked through without being dry. Another winner.



My brother brought pancit palabok from a small restaurant here in BF called, Little Quiapo. They are famous for their pancit palabok and has always been a crowd favorite. Quintessential Pinoy fare, if you must. Sorry, forgot to take a picture.

Of course the grand finales are my carrot and butter cakes. I wasn't very happy with how the carrot cake frosting came out. Back to the drawing board, as they say. But both cakes were pronounced winners nonetheless. My mom as usual said that it's the best carrot cake that she's ever tasted. And also told me that the butter cake tastes just like what my lola used to bake when they were children. Aaawww, I was touched.





Spending one whole day baking in my hot kitchen was all worth it.

To my mom, I love you. Happy mother's day.

Mother's Day, Prep time

Whew! What a busy weekend. I spent my entire Saturday baking in preparation for Mother's Day celebration the following day. I've made four desserts. I originally planned for just one. Carrot cake. Hubby tells me the night before that he doesn't want carrot cake and would prefer to have something else but couldn't decide what he wanted. I had already promised the carrot cake to my mom. I desperately searched for recipes that I could use. I settled for 2, Carrot and butter cakes. But what about my mother-in-law? I had to bake her something too. She likes leche flan and I decided to make one for her too.

As my husband went off to have our car serviced, I prepare everything that I need. Lo and behold, I don't have enough sugar! I hurriedly drove to the supermarket to buy some. Fortunately there's a supermarket near our home.

I finally start baking. First up, the butter cake. I've always loved this simple cake and has been looking for a great recipe. I finally came upon a recipe from Food Magazine for butter rum cake. I decided to fore go the rum since we will have kids dining with us. I placed the batter in a bundt pan that my mom had gifted me a few years ago. It's pretty with little edges. Takes a few steps to make but my butter cake came out perfectly. I'm very happy. It's another Martha Stewart moment for moi.

Hubby came home for lunch and was eagerly waiting for his meal because he could smell the butter cake baking and he was hungry. I was a bit tired already from the heat and from making the cake. I just steamed some shrimps and heated the leftover rice. Sorry hubby that's all I'm cooking. I have a lot to do. He was pretty happy with the meal and eagerly finished everything.

Next on my Agenda was the carrot cake. Oh my golly, it needs three cups of grated carrots? Oh boy, as I was grating the carrots, I was thinking to myself, "what did I get myself into?" Fortunately, it too came out perfectly. Yey! Moist and fragrant.

The leche flan was next. I used my previous recipe and watched it carefully so that I won't have the burnt edges. Came out perfectly also. I was on a roll, people!

Leftover egg whites? Why, make meringue of course! Hubby suggested to make meringue instead of throwing away the eggwhites. There were a total of 2 cups leftover! Well, actually hubby wanted me to make canonigo but I've already used the tall cake pan. So, meringue it is. The meringue tasted great but it looked like poop :-) because I don't have the proper equipment to pipe the meringue.

I was exhausted! Fortunately Tito Boy invited mom, hubby and myself to dinner and I didn't have to cook.

Hubby was a sweetie as usual and gave a me a long massage. Haay.... sarap. I slept like a baby afterwards. Sheer bliss.

Dining Japanese

Between attending a funeral, running errands, cooking, baking and mounds and mounds of laundry, I called my husband yesterday almost in tears. I don't want to cook dinner, I'm exhausted! He readily agrees and said we could have dinner anywhere I liked. Such a sweetie.

I've been wanting to eat at Omakase since I've read it in Carol's blog. They have a reputation of a "new age" Japanese restaurant with inventive takes on their makis. Hubby and I both love Japanese and are always eager to try new places. I was pretty excited of our impromptu date. I put on my new dress and even curled my hair and wore my favorite red shoes. Hubby called me sexy as soon as he saw me (even though I felt like collapsing out of sheer exhaustion). Shucks, he knows how to say the right words when I needed them the most.

The place is cozy and located at the ground floor of Susana Building in Madrigal Avenue, Alabang. You will hardly notice it unless you know it's there. The place was packed with families, yuppies and young couples on a date. We had to wait a few minutes to get a table. I mentioned to hubby that the food must be good if there's a line of people waiting to be seated.

Hubby and I were both famished and ordered a lot from the menu. For starters, we ordered the Special Miso Soup (P55) and the Tamago Miso Soup (P45). We were sadly disappointed. My tamago miso soup just had fried egg mixed in the soup. What gives? I thought it'll have the tamago "curd" that I love so much. The special miso soup had just extra serving of tofu in it. Nothing really special in it at all.

Next, we had their makis. First up the Jurassic Maki (P230) which has ebi tempura, kani, ebiko, salmon skin and unagi. It was good on the first bite but a little malansa (very fishy taste) as you eat it. Does not leave a pleasant after taste. Makes me want to gargle with Listerine after eating it.



Then, we attached the Spider Maki (P185) which is a maki with deep fried soft shell crabs inside it. The "tentacles" are really the claws of the soft-shelled crabs. Hence, the name. This one is good but a bit salty for our tastes.



A visit to any Japanese restaurant won't be complete without hubby ordering his favorite Futomaki (P115). Omake's version is a definite winner. It was delicious and refreshing after the heavy tastes of the Jurassic Maki and Spider Maki.



I was feeling a bit adventurous so I ordered the Uni Tempura (P175) which is sea urchin wrapped in nori, dipped in tempura batter then friend. I love uni, normally. But, ugh, this one is super lansa I only ate one piece. Even the lemon that I squeezed on the uni didn't help. I will never order that again.



I don't know if hubby and I would go back there again. Maybe the chef/cook on duty that night was having a bad day that all of his dishes turned out malansa or salty. On the other hand, people flock there so I guess it's a hit and miss type of restaurant.

The jury is still out on this one, folks.

Chicken Quesadilla

I had some left over tortilla from a previous dinner. It's quite perishable and it's very important that I use it immediately. Hubby loves quesadillas and he was very excited when I told him we'll be having quesadillas for dinner. It's very simple to make. Here's how:

Grilled Chicken Quesadilla
1 Recipe of my grilled chicken, sliced
Emmental Cheese, sliced thinly
Mozzarella Cheese, sliced thinly
Cream Cheese, sliced thinly
Fresh flour tortillas
Bottled salsa dip (mine is homemade, filed under "family secret") or
Sour cream



Grilled Chicken Quesadilla
1. Preheat stove top griddle.
2. Lay tortillas in a table, like an assembly line. Place the cheeses on the tortillas and then top with the sliced grilled chicken.
3. Grill and fold when grill marks appear.
4. Serve with salsa dipping sauce or sour cream.

Best eaten piping hot.

Hubby hates anything spicy. I didn't tell him that there were jalapeno peppers in the salsa just to see if he will refuse to eat it. What do you know? he loved it. I told him to bring the leftover salsa to the office and share it with his buddies with some chips. Nope, he said, he's keeping it to himself for future use :-)

For dessert, fresh cold sweet mangoes. Refreshing.

The Ultra Simple Banana Shake

Here's a very simple recipe for a shake or smoothie. Perfect on a hot summer afternoon.

Banana Shake (single serving)
1-2 pieces ripe bananas, preferably lacatan, chopped
1 cup cold non-fat milk
1 teaspoon sugar (optional) or 1 jigger simple syrup
Crushed ice

Mix everything in a blender. Serve immediately.




Options:
1. For a richer taste, use evaporated milk instead of non-fat milk.
2. Good for melons, mangoes, strawberries or any other frozen berries that are available in the supermarket.
3. You can mix and match fruits for a unique and healthy flavor.

Fast Food Day

It's been a very busy day for me with endless errands and mounting housework clamoring for my attention. I had decided that I won't do any major cooking today. Everything will be "fast food" and less fuss as possible.

For brunch I decided to use leftovers from the fridge. I needed something quick and easy and delicious to eat. I had some leftover taba ng talangka (crab fat) calling my name to be cooked. Aligue fried rice it is. Here's a super simple recipe:



Aligue Fried Rice
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup leftover rice
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon aligue
Green peas
Cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

1. Scramble the egg in a wok. Break in small pieces. Set aside.
2. In the same pan, saute the garlic in olive oil until golden brown.
3. Add the rice and season with salt. Mix well to remove clumps.
4. Add the aligue and mix well. When thoroughly mixed, add green peas and scrambled egg. Turn off the heat. Add cilantro leaves and mix once more.

The cilantro gives a refreshing flavor to an otherwise salty dish.

If you're making this for a special occasion, you can add leeks, shrimps, leftover barbecue, chorizo, shredded chicken or flaked tinapa (smoked fish then fried and flaked). Be sure to warn your guests though that this is very high in cholesterol and should be eaten in moderation.

After finishing my wifey duties, I felt hungry once more. I was craving for a peanut butter and banana sandwich. I sauteed the banana in a mixture of butter, nutmeg, sugar and cinnamon. Yum!



I called hubby earlier at work today and and told him that I won't be making dinner tonight. We'll just have the left over tacos from yesterday but with soft tortilla instead of the taco shell. Of course, he agreed. There are only two types of leftovers that he will eat wholeheartedly. Pizza and tacos. I had to make another batch of salsa though since we ate everything yesterday.

For dessert, we just had a bowl of fresh fruits. A healthy combination of our favorite fruits in one heavenly bowl.

Lunch at LP: Mahirap pumayat

Lunch again at LP. This time, we are celebrating Tito Boy's discharge from the hospital. The family again congregated to our special home, LP. It's everyone's second home since we spend so much time there eating.




For this particular lunch, we decided to keep everything simple. We had inihaw sa uling (grilled in charcoal) na tilapia with tomato and onion filling, misua soup, pork barbecue (store bought) and I made tacos and leche flan.





My husband loves tacos. Particularly the one that I make. He always complains if he eats tacos somewhere else and it doesn't "measure up" to the one that I make at home. For our usual family sunday lunch/merienda (mid-afternoon snack) in LP, hubby requested that I make tacos. It takes a huge effort to make a big batch like this but it's worth it. After all, it's a special request of my hubby dovey :-) Upon his request also, I am not posting the recipe here. This one is reserved for the "family secret" file.



I can however give you the recipe for the leche flan. I found this recipe in maiden issue of Yummy magazine (I made some adjustments on the recipe). I baked mine bain marie style because I don't have a big steamer. I wasn't very happy with the way it looked, the custard took too long to set. But it was mucho delicioso. Here's the recipe as well as the correct way of baking it bain marie style.



Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar (more if you want more caramel in your flan)
12 egg yolks (yes, 12)
2 300-ml cans condensed milk
1 370 ml evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Zest of 1 Lime (optional but highly recommended)

Procedure:
1. Caramelize the sugar in a non-stick pan, using low heat, swirl the pan just until the sugar melts and have that golden color. Pour caramelized sugar in the custard baking dish.
2. Preheat oven to 350.
3. In a separate bowl, place yolks, condensed milk, evaporated milk, vanilla and lime (in that order) and gently mix (to avoid bubbles). Make sure that the yolks are fully broken up.
4. SLOWLY strain to the baking dish to remove "cooked" or undissolved eggs and lime zest.
5. Place boiling water into a separate square baking dish. This must be bigger than the custard dish. Place the custard dish w on top of the bain marie. Cover custard dish with foil.
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until the sides have set and the middle is still wobbly. (My mistake was that I waited for the center to be completely set, hence the browned sides of the flan)
7. Cool completely before refrigerating.

There isn't enough syrup on the photo because hubby ate the syrup from the mold when I unmolded it :-)

Mom's Misua with Meatballs is so good. I asked for her recipe. She doesn't measure anything so I'll make an approximation on her recipe. Here goes:




For the meatballs:
1 small onion minced
1 egg
Salt and pepper
1/2 kilo ground sirloin
Cornstarch
Vegetable oil for frying

For the misua:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, minced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 packs misua noodles (rice noodles)
Patola or upo (optional but highly recommended), sliced into disks

1. Combine all ingredients for the meatballs. Fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. Drain in paper towels and set aside.
2. In a separate pan, saute garlic and onions in the oil until fragrant but not brown. Add water until boiling.
3. Add meatballs, patola or upo (if using). Season with salt and pepper. Simmer until patola or upo is tender. Add misua and simmer for 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning if needed.

Everyone present loved ALL the food that was served. Each one had several helpings on everything. Too bad Tito Boy couldn't eat the food that we served since he's still on a special diet due to his operation. He kept asking if he can have some, sorry the warden was there (Tita Socky :-), he he he).

After having two servings of dessert, mom laments, "Hindi ka papayat sa pamilya na 'to!"

Update:

I tried the leche flan recipe again. Using one can of condensed milk instead of two. The change made a smoother and better flan :-)