KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES - CHICKEN AND BABY POTATOES IN CREAM

This is another recipe I got from Mga Luto ni Dennis at iba pa blog…it is basically like chicken a la king but the main difference is the addition of potatoes instead of mushrooms. The dish starts with salting the chicken pieces lightly then they are fried in a bit of butter. Set aside. Then garlic, onions and ginger are sautéed, chicken added, then after a while a cup of water. When the water boiled, the baby potatoes are added then allowed to cook. When the potatoes are still firm, I added the all purpose cream and green peas. I let the mixture boil some more until the sauce becomes thick. Another option is to add some cornstarch diluted in water if you want a thicker sauce. I adjusted the seasonings – added more salt and pepper and served this as our lunch today…yummy! Thanks again Dennis!

LIFE OF PI – a movie review

The Life of Pi was our chosen movie today…we started watching the movie after breakfast/brunch at around ten am. I thought my daughter would soon get tired of the movie because it lacked some action and was only about a young boy’s adventures on a boat…but I was wrong since she watched the entire film and was really interested with what happened to him in the movie. The movie is actually about an Indian boy named Pi Patel, he tells his story to a novelist/writer in Canada and he starts about his childhood in India. Pi relates that his family owned a zoo and that he was particularly fond of animals, in particular a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. One day, he tried feeding the tiger but his father angrily shoved him away and told him that the tiger is dangerous. As proof, he made Pi witness the tiger killing a goat and made him promise not to go near it again. But then his father came home one day with sad news that the municipality cannot support the zoo anymore hence they needed to sell the zoo and its animals. The family will be also be relocated to Canada and so they rode a Japanese ship. One night while Pi is on deck, the ship is met with a heavy storm, he tries to find his family but a Japanese crew member throws him out into a lifeboat and he watched as the ship sinks killing his entire family. The next day, he discovers a zebra with him on the lifeboat. They later discover an orangutan floating at sea who they also take into the lifeboat. Then, suddenly a hyena emerges from under tarp covering half of the boat and kills the zebra. It also kills the orangutan and tried to approach Pi when suddenly a tiger comes out from underneath the tarp and kills the hyena. So Pi decides to get out of the boat and use the flotation device to stay at a safe distance from the tiger. He gets some emergency food rations and water that he found on the boat. He starts to fish and also collects rainwater for him and the tiger. After many days, Pi teaches the tiger to accept him inside the boat and it was then that he realized that caring for the tiger was what kept him alive. But despite his survival efforts, the two almost die of starvation until later on they reach an island filled with many edible plants, fresh water pools and thousands of meerkats. They eat and drink what they could find in order to regain their strength. But come nightfall, they soon discover that the island turns onto a carnivore, since Pi sees dead fishes floating in the now acidic water and discovers a human tooth inside a flower. So the next day, he and Richard Parker decided to leave the island. Soon, they reach the coast of Mexico and as Richard Parker walks away into the forest, Pi looks on and expects him to look back at him to acknowledge him. But instead, the tiger walks on and goes into the jungle. Pi cries as he is rescued and brought to a hospital. After some time, insurance agents come to interview him but do not believe his story and ask him to relate what really happened and so he makes up a story about being on the boat with his mother, a Buddhist sailor with a broken leg and the cook. In this story, the cook killed the sailor in order to eat him and use him as bait then Pi's mother pushed her son to safety on a smaller raft before the cook stabbed her and threw her overboard. Pi later returned, to kill the cook with a knife. Pi then asked the writer what story he prefers and he responds ‘the one with the tiger’ as it is the better story. Later on, he sees the insurance report and notes that the insurance agents wrote that Pi survived 227 days at sea with an adult Bengal tiger so I guess it seems they believed his story after all. What was originally a quite boring story about the adventure of a young boy with a tiger came truly alive with the 3D effects that this film used. In fact, many critics described the movie as a 3D masterpiece since you just don’t watch the movie, you live it. The film is visually amazing, the effects that Ang Lee made in the sky and the water makes it so much interesting. The movie is filled with so much marvelous things that you may even doubt what you are already seeing with your own eyes. And in the end, it makes you even wonder if you have seen anything at all. In fact, if you read the making of the film, the tiger and all the other animals in the film is not real at all and just the product of magnificent visual effects. But then again, this draws us back to the story’s real ending – which is the story that truly happened? The one with the tiger? Or the one with the humans? But I guess it does not really matter, as it depends on what you prefer to believe as a moviegoer: if you are someone who only believes what he sees and touches or someone who believes in miracles and accepts things based on faith. What matters is that the movie made me believe in the majesty and miracle of God and believe in something that would have been thought of as impossible.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES - BACON AND TOMATO OMELETTE

This was supposed to be a frittata…but the ingredients came up short and I could not make it fill up a 9-inch plate and so it became an omelette. I used the same ingredients though and practically the same process – I started out with frying the bacon in a bit of oil, none at all if using a non-stick pan. Then I sautéed the garlic, onion and tomatoes and removed from pan. Next is beat three eggs in a bowl, dropped the sautéed ingredients, added some grated cheese and then I reheated the pan. If cooking as a frittata, you just let the eggs set in the pan and when it seems solid enough invert onto a plate and return to the pan to cook the other side. But since my ingredients would not fit the entire pan, I decided to cook it as an omelette, I just dropped half of the mixture into the pan and folded the egg in the middle until the edges are set. I did the same to the other half of the mixture and then served with rice or bread.

SAM’S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Sam turned seven today and in a way it was a reunion of sorts... because my long-time college friend Mia came (she is also a friend of my brother and my two sisters...it's a long story how but it just is) then an aunt who had long been 'missing in action' in some of our family gatherings arrived with her kids in tow and we we were quite glad to see her. We all chipped in something just to ensure that Sam’s birthday will be really special! The night before, I went off in search of bread sticks, marshmallows and choc-o sticks just for my special contribution for Sam’s party – his very own choco fountain! Ma cooked some spaghetti and fried chicken for the kids…and we all went there at around 4pm to have fun with Sam and his friends. His mom Vanj was here in Manila and she prepared a few somethings too and some of the other guests brought some cake and ice cream… I know what we shared was just simple things but collectively I am sure we made one little boy’s day truly special…Happy Birthday Sam!

P.S. Credits go to Vanj for the photos that I grabbed from her FB account.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES - GARLIC KANGKONG

Here’s a new twist to the classic kangkong favorite…usually when we have fried fish dishes we pair it up with steamed kangkong or kamote tops, whichever is available, and have as our sawsawan some bagoong and/or toyo with calamansi --- yummy! But last week, the boss treated us out to a Chinese buffet restaurant somewhere in the Timog or Quezon Avenue area (I forgot na e!) but all that I remember was that it was located within Aberdeen Court. Their food was OK and quite affordable pa but what really got my attention was the kangkong dish that was smothered in garlic and cooked briefly in oil (can be olive if you have it) and I vowed to try and replicate the dish at home. And I did! And the family loved it! I just sautéed lots of garlic in oil then I added the kangkong (that was already previously blanched in boiling water) then when the leaves have wilted, served immediately and add more fried garlic bits as garnish! It tastes really good…and healthy too!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES - SWEET AND SOUR TILAPIA

This is another fave dish that I got from Mga Luto ni Dennis at iba pa…it was a new way for me to cook tilapia because I knew the family had gotten tired of the usual fried, inihaw or pinangat that we cook around the house. It is really actually just frying but afterwards, sweet and sour sauce was added that made all the difference and a totally new experience for our usual tilapia fare. For the complete recipe please just check out Dennis’ blogsite…all I did was after cleaning and scoring the fish, I rubbed some salt and pepper and let the fish rest for a few minutes while I cut up the vegetables. While the fish fries in a pan I sautéed the ginger, garlic and onions. Then I added the carrots, red bell pepper and tomato catsup and seasoned the dish with salt, pepper, brown sugar and some cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken the sauce a bit. Finally, I poured the sauce over the fried tilapia, garnished with chopped onion leaves and served with hot rice for another yummy lunch! Thank you Dennis!

OUR WEEKEND FOOD TRIP

During weekends that we stay at home and we do not have much to do…just the regular chores and review of my daughter’s lessons, we usually watch movies either on USB or regular cable. And during those times…we do nothing much but EAT! And EAT! And EAT MORE! So it is expected that I stock up on food that we can munch on or sometimes my daughter and I make some sweet desserts (either baked or not) to have our own kinda fun in the kitchen…it’s good therapy really…Of course, it is expected that there will be a lot of mess to clean up afterwards but still it’s a good way to bond and develop camaraderie with my kid! And so this weekend, we bought some chips, fish crackers, Indian mangoes and bananas…we bought this at the local tiangge market then later on we’d be getting more from the grocery store… here’s tp a yummy weekend!

CUPCAKE SECRET

Here’s another belated gift to myself – and it arrived in the mail today – yippee! My very own Cupcake Secret silicone muffin pans! What is it really? Well, it is just like your regular muffin pans but it has a secret… it has pins at the center of the cake and removable bottoms so you can place anything – marshmallows, a chocolate, even a fruit at the center of the cupcake! Or you may opt to use the small thimble-like container, if you want anything liquid naman at the cupcake centers – like maybe some melted cheese or dulce de leche or even dark chocolate! There are endless possibilities – all I need now is to find some very promising recipes, buy the needed ingredients, and have THE TIME to finally do some baking! I am just SO EXCITED!!!

NEW POPSICLE MAKERS!

Before I left for home today, I decided to open my emails and FB page to check out the greetings and thank those who greeted me on my special day. Then, I got a pleasant surprise when I saw in my email inbox an item for sale at Cash-cash pinoy…the popsicle makers that I had long been wanting to have! This is just the perfect thingy for the coming summer and the perfect birthday gift I could give to myself and my daughter! She would surely love this…and I just know we would both enjoy making different flavored popsicles together! Here’s looking forward to a fun summer with my new popsicle makers!