Spaghetti with Meatballs

This is the second pasta recipe I prepared for my Dad's birthday lunch.  I was aiming it to be a bestseller for kids. Lo and behold, kids at heart loved it too! Delight everyone with this SPAGHETTI WITH MEATBALLS.

Tuna Aglio Olio

My Papa requested that I cook two pasta meals for his birthday lunch.  How can I say no? :-) For recipe number 1, I decided to go with this simple pasta recipe to complement all the other flavor-packed food that will be served.  Aglio Olio too simple? Then make it a TUNA AGLIO OLIO.

Manong-Style Fishball Sauce

When I was younger, there was this Manong who goes around our village to sell fishballs. My brothers were fond of buying from him that later on, I found myself frequently buying from him too.  Now, almost everywhere I go, usually near offices and schools, there is this Manong fishball who is our suki.  With our daily craving for fried streetfood in a cart-wielded store, comes our love for the sauces and dips these stick picks come with. Want to whip it up at home? Try this fishball, squidball, chicken ball, and kikiam sauce -- Manong-style.

Serves 5
Prep Time 10 minutes 
Cooking Time 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsps soy sauce (regular, not light) 
• 1 tsp of white vinegar
• 2 tbsps all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsps cornstarch 
• 3/4 cups brown sugar
• 4 cups water
• 1 small white onion, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 siling labuyo
• salt
• pepper
• 1 pack of fishballs, squidballs, chicken balls, or kikiam, or a combination of these
• short bbq sticks
• oil for frying

Cooking Procedure:

1. In a cool saucepan, mix the soy sauce, white vinegar, flour, cornstarch, brown sugar, and water.  Mix well until it is free of lumps and granules. 
2. Place the saucepan over medium heat.  Stir occasionally to not burn the sugar. 
3. Once the mixture boils, lower the heat, and add the onion, garlic, and sili.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Continue stirring and heating over low flame until its consistency is near to what is desired.  Residual heat will thicken it a bit more.
6. Pour it in a serving bowl or deep sauce dish. You may directly put it in a jar for easy dipping and storing. 
7. Fry the fishballs, squidballs, chicken balls, or kikiam to your desired crispiness. 
8. Skewer them from the pan and drain. (Consistent to our manong-style vibe!) 
9. Dip in the sauce and enjoy.

1. Do not use any other type of vinegar.  Spiced vinegars are overpowering. You may eliminate the vinegar if you do not want to add sourness to your sauce. 
2. White onion may be replaced with shallots, or any sweet onion variety.  We want it with just a hint of onion flavor that will not overpower the sweet-salty mix we want to achieve.  But of course, you may adjust this to your liking. If you want stronger flavor, use red onion. 
3. You may use more than 1 siling labuyo, depending on the hotness you want to achieve.  Siling labuyo may be replaced with Bird's Eye Chili, but this has lesser hotness than the labuyo variety.  Adjust as desired.

Dip and re-dip all you want! :-) Enjoy!

The initial recipe was shared by the Manong near the church I go to. He was unsure of the measurements (or perhaps does not want to divulge haha!).  I just tried and retried combinations based on recipes I saw online, and finally settled with this. :-)

Sticky Sausages

Every New Year's Eve, everyone in our family prepares a dish to be served during Media Noche (the Midnight feast).  This year, I wanted something easy, yet flavorful; special, yet simple. This recipe for STICKY SAUSAGES became an instant crowd-pleaser. Try it!

Aglio Olio

Never did I think that this simple pasta recipe can be so flavorful.  I was proven wrong.  This garlic and oil pasta wins my heart. From now on, I'm an AGLIO OLIO fan. :-)   

Spam Melt Omelet

Good morning! :-) Whip up this easy SPAM MELT OMELET for breakfast. Your tummy will thank you for it!

Garlic Butter Shrimps

I have both loved and dreaded to cook this dish. I like the combination of garlic, butter and shrimp but I am not fond of too much butter and I'm allergic to shrimp. BUT -- when I found this one on my diet menu, I just had to give it a try. AND I LOVED IT! It was not drowning in butter, and the garlic complements the richness of it. My allergies? I just had to take my meds. No way was I going to pass this up! Haha!

Here it is, GARLIC BUTTER SHRIMPS.

Beef Ampalaya

Ampalaya (bitter gourd, bitter melon) is not such a popular vegetable to use in dishes because of its bitterness. Here's a recipe that uses it and still tastes yummy -- BEEF AMPALAYA.

Banoffee Pie

Now that the rains have stopped and the weather has calmed, time to relax and enjoy me-time with this no-bake pie.

One-Pan Pasta

To celebrate Reich's Kitchen's First Month Birthday, here's a surprise dish for all of you -- ONE-PAN PASTA. :-) 

I cooked it to wish long life for the Kitchen. Or so the Chinese say. :-)

Review of Believe!

Now, it's time for us to review the recipes on BELIEVE!

1. FRENCH TOAST

I shared the recipe here: FRENCH TOAST

Liven up old bread this way. No worries, this recipe can also be used with new bread, of course! :-)

Mixed Seafood with Oyster Sauce

Try this Chinese-style seafood medley for lunch or dinner today -- the MIXED SEAFOOD WITH OYSTER SAUCE.

Quezon City: Ling Nam

My Saturday classes are done and I agreed to meet the chef (a.k.a. Reich) at the Shopwise Commonwealth Branch to help her with grocery duties.   Going there from school, my tummy was growling, and mind you, this is not the usual petty hunger pangs. I was beading with cold sweat while driving. This is my body’s no-brainer sign that I am REALLY, SERIOUSLY hungry.  (Takaw much lang? Di makapaghintay?) Survival instincts kicking in, upon hearing an ambulance, I stepped on the gas (well actually, diesel yung sasakyan) and sped my way.  Since I arrived before Reich did, I told her to meet up with me in LING NAM. They have a branch in Shopwise Commonwealth.

Review of We Can Do It!

Now, it's time for us to review the recipes on We Can Do It!

1. CHICKEN BARBECUE

I have always been a sucker for barbecue. Something about the salty sour sweet spicy sauce it has.  I particularly like how this has that kalamansi flavor. Very Pinoy bistek-type of barbecue. Yummy!

Tip for future cooking: You can always adjust the main flavor of this barbecue. Make it sweet, add more sugar; salty, add more soy sauce; spicy, add more pepper, onions or chili pepper; sour, add more kalamansi. Awesome!

French Country Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

Sharing another recipe from my diet menu - French Country Chicken with Mushroom Sauce. :-)

Serves 1
Prep Time  10 minutes
Cooking Time 20 minutes

Oriental Pork Tenderloin

The Oriental Pork Tenderloin is a LOW-FAT Asian-style dish. 
O ha! Hume-healthy tayo ngayon. :-) 

Serves 1
Prep Time  10 minutes
Cooking Time 30 minutes

Review of Challenge Accepted

Remember my post CHALLENGE ACCEPTED? I promised to share with you the experience of cooking these recipes for the first time:
 
1. SPINACH AND BACON FRITTATA

I prepared this for breakfast as a request from Edward. I liked that it has that amount of spinach to somehow "cleanse" the bacon. Para kunyari hindi guilty sa bacon. Haha!

Tip for future cooking: Line the pan with wax paper or drizzle it with a little oil before you put it in the oven or turbo. 

I had a hard time taking it out the baking pan without destroying its shape. Good thing I still had enough decent portions to feature here. Baka naging omelette yun at hindi frittata. Haha!

Basil Creme Penne

As promised I will share the recipe today. Nakahabol pa ako! :-)

 

 

Serves 3  

Prep Time 20 minutes  

Cooking Time 20 minutes
 

Ingredients:

• 400g penne or ziti (pasta)
• 2 tbsp olive oil (or any vegetable oil)
• 50g ham, sliced
• 1 pack Knorr Complete Recipe Mix - Ginataang Gulay
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup all-purpose cream
• 8 fresh basil leaves
• ground black pepper

 Cooking Procedure:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. (Penne and ziti usually takes 10-12 minutes to cook. No better way to check if the pasta is cooked than to bite it. If the pasta is firm but doesn't stick to your teeth, it's cooked. If it sticks to your teeth, cook for another minute and check again. DO NOT OVERCOOK. 'Wag nyo na gawin yung ibato-sa-dingding-pag-dumikit-luto-na method. Please. Haha!)
2. In a different pan, saute tomatoes and ham in oil.
3. Dissolve the Ginataang Gulay mix in water. Add to the pan, then simmer until thick.
4. Reduce heat then add cream. Stir a few times.
5. Add cooked pasta and basil leaves. 
6. Add ground black pepper to taste.
7. Cook for another 3 minutes. Mix continuosly.

Note that the Ginataang Gulay mix gives it a taste of coconut milk (gata). If you're not fond of gata, use cow's milk instead. :-)

Happy eating! Hugs!

I got this recipe from the Knorr Complete Recipe mix magazine ad. O ha, useful din ang mga free recipes sa mga ad na ganyan. :-)
I packed this pasta with the Greek Salad (abangan sa Friday!) for Edward's lunch. He texted, "And sarap ng lunch ko! Nawiwili ako, baby!" Awwwww. Dying from kilig now. *blush* :-)

Sinangag Anyone?

GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE!!!!!

Yes, hyper ako ngayong umaga even if I had no adequate sleep last night. My mind just ran away with me. Ayan, walang tulog, pero hyper. Deadly. Hahaha!

Tis now 9am. Perfect time for Saturday breakfast, or so my body clock says. 

Perfect time as well for SINANGAG (Fried Rice)! But since it's Saturday, it has to be special. It just gotta be.

Start your day right with heavy breakfast. Prepare SPAM AND SCRAMBLED EGG FRIED RICE WITH MUSHROOMS. Title pa lang busog ka na. :-)

Serves 2
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cooking Time 10 minutes