PAELLA (CHICKEN and SEAFOOD)

                      

                       Ahh... this is an all time favourite especially on occasions.

     

Ingredients: 

3 pcs. chicken cuts (2 thigh, 1 drumstick part)

100g clams

  150g medium prawns

1 chorizo sausage (approx. 90g), 

800ml chicken or seafood stock

           handful of fresh or frozen peas            

1 medium size bell pepper, diced

1 onion, chopped

2 pips garlic, chopped

6 pcs cherry tomatoes

pinch of saffron

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. tomato paste

4 cups of rice

salt and pepper to taste

lemon, cut into wedges

                                              
                          Method:

             
               Wash all the meat and seafood thoroughly in a cold water, wash the rice and prepare all the ingredients that you need near you. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

Heat the oil in the pan (paella pan), sauté the chicken in medium high heat, sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper, until brown, then take it out and set aside. In the same pan, add in the onion, garlic, bell pepper and chorizo. Sauté for a minute, add in the tomato paste and stir, add in the rice and pour the stock. Let it boil, sprinkle the saffron if using, salt and pepper to taste and stir gently. Lower the heat to medium, and leave it simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Stir gently or give the pan a little shake. Return the chicken, along with the peas and prawns and clams(assemble nicely). Cover the pan with foil and continue cooking it in the oven for another 20 to 30 minutes. take it out and serve with lemon wedges.
           

                           

LAMB ADOBO with Potatoes

I cook lamb at least once a week, mostly I simply roast it for dinner. It depends what parts of lamb I could buy but I often buy shoulder part, it's good for slow roasting or stews. My little one loves eating it with rice so I keep trying to cook something that would go with it. This time I tried a Filipino style cooking. At first I wasn't sure if it's going to come out good, but it's so great. I served it with sliced cucumbers on the side and my little one loves it.

Ingredients:

600g Lamb shoulders

1 head of garlic

Thumb size fresh ginger

2 pcs. Bay leaves

1 tbsp. Vegetable oil

2 medium size potatoes

1 tsp. Coarsely ground black pepper

Half a Cup light soya sauce

Half cup white wine vinegar

1 and half cup water

1 tsp. Sugar

Salt to taste

Wash and drain then cut the meat on your desired serving sizes. Bash the ginger and chop the garlic coarsely.  Heat the pan and pour the oil, pan fry all the meat in medium high heat, until slightly brown (not necessary cooked through) then off the heat. In a pressure cooker, pour in soya sauce and vinegar, water and all the remaining ingredients, including the fried lamb, except the salt. Cook for 30 minutes, when the pressure cooker cool down and ready to open, transfer the cooked meat back to a pan and cook it until all the remaining gravy thickens. Serve with rice and sliced cucumbers. 

Bon appetit!

GREEN BEANS OMELLETTE (tortang sitaw)

Since this is our lunch today, I thought I could share the  recipe. Very easy, convenient and quick to make, nutritiously good and not calorific at all. My little one loves this to eat with rice or in a sandwich.  Serve as as a side dish or part of tapas dinner would do as well.

Ingredients: 

250g Green beans/ string beans

3 large eggs.           

2 tbsp. of vegetable oil 

1 tsp. Garlic powder 

1 tsp. Onion powder 

Seasoning (salt and pepper)

Chop the beans finely (as seen on photos). Beat the eggs. Heat the frying pan, pour cooking oil and add in the beans, pour a tablespoon of tap water and cover to allow the beans to cook for at least 1 minute in medium heat. Open, Stir fry it for a minute then toss the onion and garlic powder. Stir fry evenly and then pour over the beaten eggs. Flatten evenly and leave for a moment until it's ready to flip over to cook the other side. Cook for another minute or so, make sure you cooked it through.

Serve as you like, you can garnish with little Parmesan on top as well😃. 

    

Filipino-style Spaghetti (Sweet)

      This version of spaghetti is quite different from the well-known Italian recipe. It's a mixture of sweet and sour and bit creamy from the ketchup. It's a little bit odd but it is, a ketchup in a spaghetti. I  add some grated carrots and bell pepper too for tastier and healthier options. You can add mince meat of your choice also but in this recipe I only used chicken hotdogs. Kids surely love this.

                          Ingredients:

                               500g pack spaghetti
                               250g hotdogs or frankfurters
                               half a cup of ketchup
                               half cup of tomato sauce
                               2 tbsp of tomato paste
                                Half cup of water
                               1 medium size carrot (grated)
                               1 medium size bell pepper (grated)
                               1 onion finely chopped
                               3 pips of garlic finely chopped
                               1 tbsp sugar
                               Salt and pepper to taste

                               Grated cheese for garnish

In pot, cook spaghetti in boiling water according to package's direction for about 7 to 9 minutes or until al dente. In a saucepan, heat oil. Add chopped onions and garlic, sliced hotdogs and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is translucent. Add carrots and bell pepper, stir in nicely. Pour all the tomato sauce, ketchup and paste.  Stir, then add the water.  Cover and let it boil for few minutes until it thickens a bit, stirring occasionally. Lastly add in all the sugar and season to taste, then stir in the pasta and incorporate nicely. Let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes, allowing the pasta to absorb the sauce. Serve, topped with grated Parmesan ( any cheese you like)..


     
Enjoy 😊

CLEAN EATING AND A LITTLE HOME GARDENING

Today, I want to share with you my own opinion of how I feel about "clean eating" . Meaning that eating food that is not been exposed to any chemicals like fertilisers, insecticides and of any sorts. I am not an expert on this kind of topic but as a mother, I want to give my little one a little healthier than the shop bought fruits and vegetables. And it's good to show kids how thier food has grown, actually, it's enjoyable bonding with my little 5 years old cultivating the soil in our little backyard. Planting, watering and watching the plants grow is very interesting for her, and she asks a lot of things too which I find some of her questions bit silly sometimes.

This one here is what we call pechay or choi sum. It's good to add in your choice of noodles recipes, both soup or stir fry. 

This is my artichoke plant, I cook it in the oven with butter and herbs (but be careful cleaning it before cooking, there's a reason why they called arti-'choke'). This is a perennial type of plant, so every year is blooming with flowers.

This is my aubergines 🙂, they're a little wonky but it's alright.

                           

                                 Plum tomatoes are really good on producing fruit. I only got four tomato vines and harvested buckets of tomatoes. I made tomato sauce, dried some of it and made some green tomato chutney as well. 

                                      
 Actually, it doesn't matter if we haven't got a lot of space to plant. All you need is just a small flower pot or any recycled bottles and a few seeds (herbs for example), little compost soil and little digging. The result is so rewarding and healthy!

CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIPS COOKIES

• 
  
• Ingredients:
• 3 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 225g unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tbsp.  pure vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F/180 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

POACHED PEARS

     Hi everyone, I want to share with you my version of poached pears. It's one of my favourite actually, I think it's a healthy choice to finish a good meal especially on occasions or just a simple friends or family gatherings. Pair with your choice of ice cream or pudding, garnish it with mint or just serve just like that. Very easy to cook and rewarding result, everyone in the family will surely like.

         Poached Pears...
Best for Christmas dinner dessert! ....🎄👍🏼

                                          Ingredients:

                                           Pears 1.5 kg. (I used conference pears 🍐)
                                           1 C sugar
                                           1 quill of Cinnamon stick/ 4" approx.
                                            5 pcs. Cloves
                                           1 pc. Star Anise
                                            Orange or lemon peel
                                            1 bottle of red wine of your choice (I used Italian)

Peel the pears, wash and arrange in a pot. Pour the wine and add all the spices. Add a bit of water just enough to cover the pears and cover with baking paper on top before putting the lid on. Boil in medium to low fire for an hour or until soft. Cool it down before taking out of the pot. You can boil the red wine sauce to reduce it until it thickens.