KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – Chicken mami

It’s the day after Christmas and expectedly there were a lot of leftovers and most of us had decided that we have already gorged ourselves full for the past two days and so for our dinner tonight we just decided to have something light for our dinner – chicken mami. The vegetables were leftover from the chopsuey we had for noche buena and so we just bought chicken bones and pressure cooked it with a whole lot of water for our stock. Then, when the soup is ready and the veggies have all been cut up/ julienned, we served ourselves with whatever veggie or condiments that you want inside your bowl – it’s your choice really – there’s shredded chicken, cabbage, carrots, fried garlic, spring onions, etc. Then top with the steaming stock, let the hot soup cook the veggies a bit and dig in!

P.S. By the way, the pics I used for this article were the ones from the chicken mami that we replicated at our own home in Bulacan (sometime Jan 2015) since I was unable to take pics anymore when the mami was cooked hehehe...

KITCHEN MISADVENTURES - CARROT CAKE AND CARROT MUFFINS GIFTS

This recipe for carrot cake, I got from my brother’s current beau who is also a baker herself in Abu Dhabi. But in most sites I browsed, the recipes for carrot cake are more or less similar. The difference lies in the type of sugar used but most of the ingredients are quite the same. The first thing I did (which is the actually the most difficult part of doing the recipe) is to grate the carrots then mix it with the muscovado sugar, raisins and set aside for an hour.

After that I preheated oven to 350F then called my daughter from her room as it was her turn. In a large bowl, my daughter beat the eggs until light and gradually added the white sugar, oil and vanilla. Then she stirred in the pineapple (no crushed in the supermarket so I used tidbits), the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon which I already combined earlier (all dry ingredients). Finally stir in the carrot mixture and walnuts. Pour the mix evenly onto a 10-inch cake pan but in our case we only had one pan so I used muffin pans with the rest of the mixture.

I was the one who popped the pan into the turbo boiler for 45 minutes and the cupcakes for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. We let the cake cool for about thirty minutes before frosting with cream cheese frosting.

For the frosting, we used 2 eight-ounce packages of cream cheese frosting (softened) creamed together with 1/2 c butter (also softened). Then we added 1 tsp vanilla and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar into the mixer until the cream cheese is a bit fluffy. The frosting was then applied evenly on the cake while on the muffins, the icing was piped on top and decorated with chocolate chips n sprinkles. Truth to tell, baking has become a very vital bonding experience for us – my 2 children and I. What’s best is when we jostle around to eat the cake mix after it has left the pan and only a few dribbles are left on the bowl and on the beaters/spoons used. Yup...we definitely have fun not just in making and decorating the cakes/cupcakes but also in eating them afterwards...

P.S. The cake was packed (with the round glass dish included) to my father as a Christmas present (turns out though that he is not really fond of carrots, so I need to remember that hehehe) While the muffins were given to my mother.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – Choco cream pie dessert

This recipe is from the cookbook that my kids gave to me as a gift last Christmas - Best desserts from Good Housekeeping. It's actually called Chocolate Cream Pie that requires minimal baking, a bit of cooking and just some bit of assembling...the only problem was that it required a bit of time to make that we failed to anticipate (well, it was my daughter who read the recipe so I was unable to see that some time was needed to allow the filling to set)

My daughter started to crush the choco wafer cookies while I started cooking our dinner Sunday night, the recipe said 12 packs with 2 wafer cookies per pack but we did not use all that she crushed so I guess ten would suffice. Then I melted 4 tbsps butter in the microwave and added 1 tbsp sugar to the crushed cookies which my daughter pressed to a 9-inch pie plate. This was then popped into the oven for ten minutes at 375°F and allowed to cool.

Then in a heavy saucepan, my daughter combined 3/4 c of sugar, 1/3 c cornstarch, 1/2 tsp salt and 3 3/4 c milk that she stirred continuously until smooth and free of lumps. The pan was then brought to the fire and cooked over medium heat still stirring constantly until the mixture has thickened considerably. Let boil for a minute. In a small bowl, lightly beat 5 egg yolks. Then add 1/2 c of the now hot milk mixture into the beaten egg yolks. Slowly pour the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan, stirring rapidly to prevent curdling. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until very thick.

Remove saucepan from heat and stir in melted chocolate (3oz unsweetened), 2 tbsp butter, and 2 tsp vanilla until butter melts and the mixture is smooth. Pour hot chocolate filling into cooled crust and press plastic wrap onto surface to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate until filling is set, about 4 hours. Then with mixer at medium speed, beat 1 cup heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Spoon cream over choco filling and top with chocolate curls or shavings.

Truth to tell, it was my daughter who made most of this dessert herself, since as I said earlier, I was busy making our dinner. Our only problem came when we read that after pouring the choco cream mixture into the wafer crust, we had to wait for four hours while the filling sets inside the refrigerator... uh-oh so I guess our plans for dessert that night just went kaput! So the next day, it was my daughter who made the cream icing and added the chocolate shavings before we got home from the office...I guess she decided not to wait for me anymore and just did it herself. And the verdict – it tasted great! Kudos to my daughter for making this wonderful dessert all by herself!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – Drunken pork in hoisin sauce

On some occasions, I still cook pork since the kids still want/crave for it sometimes and so I relent and cook them a few dishes like this next dish that I made for the kids’ baon today that was inspired by another fave food blogger Dennis (with website at Mga Luto ni Dennis at iba pa). What I just do is I hide the finished product from the hubby when I finish packing the kids school lunches so he doesn’t have to be tempted to taste the pork dish that I just made.

I marinated the meat (I did not have pork lomo or loin so I just used liempo cut) in some salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary, star anise, soy sauce and calamansi overnight. If you would notice, the title is drunken pork so I needed to use some gin but since I did not have any (and didn’t think the kids would like to have something alcoholic in their food, I did not add this anymore) Then this morning, I pan fried the meat slices in a little oil until browned. After a few minutes, I added the marinade and let the meat boil to cook. I added a bit more soy sauce and some water to cover the meat. After that I added the hoisin sauce and brown sugar, stirred the meat to allow the sauce to cover everything then I turned off the fire and served with hot rice while the rest went to the kids’ lunchboxes. Quite easy really and yummy too! Thanks Dennis!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – Iced milk tea

I was not in a good mood at all for most of the day…you see I took a leave of absence from work so I can do some work on my masteral school assignment but then my plans got derailed by the laptop/netbook that refused to cooperate with me and just wanted to conk out and not charge despite the fact that I already bought a new universal charger for it…oh dear, I think it is actually telling me to buy a new laptop but alas I don’t have the funds for it yet!?!?! So to cool myself down, I decided to make some iced milk tea…it’s really very simple which is why I don’t understand why it costs so much to buy this when it’s quite easy to do. Just steep a bag of tea (any kind will do but it is preferable to choose black tea) for about two minutes in a cup. Then, add some condensed milk depending on how sweet or milky you want your tea. Next, fill a glass with ice cubes half way, then pour the milk tea mixture over the ice, stir a bit and enjoy your iced milk tea!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – Swedish chicken balls

This is a recipe that I got from my fave blogger Connie (website: CASA Veneracion), the basic difference is that I used ground chicken meat instead of pork and beef then I also did not bake/broil the meatballs but fried them...next time when I have the inclination to bake, I would, but I wasn't too keen on baking today so I just fried them in oil. For the exact ingredients, just browse her website.

I followed her recipe to form the meatballs and cooked them until lightly browned. Then, I cooked the white sauce and when it had boiled and thickened a bit, I placed the meatballs in a platter, poured the sauce and since I did not have parsley to garnish the dish, I used onion leaves instead...Thank you Connie for another delicious and different viand for our dinner tonight! In fact both of my kids loved it, only the hubby said it was a tad salty but I guess it was due to the cheese.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – CHICKEN SALPICAO A LA POBRE

This is a dish I watched one morning being cooked during a morning TV show and since it seemed easy to make I decided to browse the net for a recipe and this is what I found... I already had sliced chicken fillet in the fridge and I marinated it in liquid seasoning (3tbsp), Worcestershire sauce (3tbsp), and pepper overnight.

The next day, I sauteed garlic in oil and set aside. Then I added some butter in the same pan, removed the chicken from the marinade and pan fried the chicken until brown. After that I added the marinade, let the dish simmer and continued cooking until the sauce was reduced a bit. . Then I added the sliced mushrooms, removed the meat from heat, topped with the fried garlic bits and served with hot rice...yummy!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURES – CHICKEN PATOLA IN MISUA SOUP

This next recipe that I made for our dinner is one that is quite easy to make because all the ingredients were already pre-cooked. I had some time to spare when we arrived home from the office since the hubby had to go off somewhere to finish an errand for his boss. So I followed (a bit) the recipe I got from one of my fave food bloggers, Connie. For complete instructions and ingredients, head over to her site at Casa Veneracion.

I deviated a bit from her recipe since like I said earlier I had already pre-cooked most ingredients of this meal since I usually don’t have much time whenever I get home to cook. I used chicken breast meat from the bones that I pre-boiled and the stock reserved for the soup later on. This meat was sautéed with garlic and onions then patis was added. I also added some patola to give the dish some veggies. Then I poured in the chicken broth, let it boil, then covered and simmered for about ten to fifteen minutes. Lastly, I added the misua and continued simmering until the misua is cooked. Finally, before serving the soup, I adjusted the seasonings (salt, pepper, magic sarap) before bringing it to the dining table while it was still steaming hot.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – APPLE CINNAMON OVERNIGHT OATMEAL

Today, I made a variation of the normal banana-honey oatmeal breakfast that I usually have and since I was able to buy a few apples over the weekend, I decided to use them in my oatmeal. I was in a bit of a hurry and did not follow the recipe from Fiona Hayes that required a bit of cooking/caramelizing the apples with some brown sugar and I guess that was where I made my greatest mistake...oh well, maybe next time when I have a bit more time, I would do that method. I still enjoyed the apple and cinnamon oatmeal that I had though, albeit it was a lot less flavourful than if I had followed the required procedure.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURES – CHICKEN ASADO

This is another easy dish that already made last year (it’s in the archives around February) but this time around I decided to use chicken fillets – my favourite chicken part nowadays - a real blessing to harassed moms like me who are forever hurrying with cooking breakfast and baon. I pre-cooked (meaning boiled) the chicken last night in soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, anise, ginger, onion, garlic, some salt and pepper. Then this morning when I awoke, I just fried the chicken strips together with its marinade, added honey and sesame oil and let the liquid dry up a bit then voila! Delicious chicken asado that my kids and even the hubby liked! Thank you again Dennis! You may view his complete and easy to follow recipe at his website (Mga Luto ni Dennis @ blogspot.com)

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – MAKING MY OWN TRAIL MIX

Yesterday, while I was at my mom’s house, I had a skype conversation with my sister and she commented that near where she lives there’s this store that sells all kinds of nuts and she was (at the time I was talking to her) munching on them as she thinks they are quite cheap there. I asked her if they do not cause an attack of her gout and she counters that almonds do not have as much uric acid as other forms of nuts. Hmmnnn...that got me interested and so today when I went out to the local pharmacy to buy some snacks, I saw some almonds but balked at the price tag of PhP87.00 for an 80 gram pack...WTH!@#$ And so I decided to buy some more ingredients for my snacks – like Kelloggs cornflakes, some raisins, a small pack of M&Ms, and cornick. True they cost a whole lot more than when I had stuck with just the almonds but then again when the total cost of PhP239.00 was consumed by myself for 7 days as my mid-afternoon snack – that translates to roughly PhP34.00 per snack – which is not bad at all!!!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – OVERNIGHT OATMEAL WITH STRAWBERRIES AND CINNAMON

This morning when I woke up at 5:00 a.m., since I was not able to make my overnight oatmeal last night (I forgot eh!), I hurriedly mixed up a cup of rolled oats, some leftover strawberries (from the hubby’s recent trip to Baguio), cinnamon, maple syrup and low-fat milk which I then popped into the fridge while I exercised some thirty minutes on the stationary bike. After an hour of mommy duties (cooking, cleaning stuff) I took my bath, got dressed and took a ride to work with my baon/breakfast in tow so that when I arrived at the office at around 9, my overnight breakfast oatmeal is ready to eat...just like it was prepared the night before - yummy! (the strawberries were a bit sour though maybe because they weren’t in season. Next time I’d try putting them in syrup the night before to make them sweeter.)

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – EGG N TUNA LETTUCE WRAP

The hubby arrived late last night from a short overnight trip to Baguio and, of course, aside from the usual strawberries and ube jam pasalubong, he brought home one of our family’s favourite vegetable – the lettuce. He brought home two kinds – the iceberg and the much healthier romaine...and so for dinner tonight I decided to make/add this egg-tuna salad with lettuce wrap. This dish is relatively easy to make and is just like your usual egg-tuna sandwich dressing with chopped white onions, chopped hardboiled eggs, tuna flakes (without the oil), mayonnaise, plain yogurt, some salt, pepper and sugar. Then, the hard white parts of the lettuce is cut off, washed and served with the egg-tuna mixture on the side. To eat or serve, the egg-tuna mixture is placed inside the lettuce, then the leaf is rolled much like pita bread and then entire thing is eaten like a burrito – a healthy one at that!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – KANGKONG IN OYSTER SAUCE/BROCCOLI SOUP/CHICKEN FILLET IN HONEY-ORANGE SAUCE/HERBED SOY STEAMED CHICKEN/DULCE DE LECHE AND CHOCOLATE COOKIE TRIFLE

This was our dinner last night, as it was our weekend at home again, I decided to make something special for the kids n the hubby. I started cooking the vegetable entree which was quite a simple dish really as one can often see this dish as an appetizer in Chinese restaurants – KANGKONG IN OYSTER SAUCE. I used shredded chicken that I sautéed in garlic and onions before I added the kangkong then some water and oyster sauce. I let the kangkong cook for a few minutes then I turned off the fire and kept the dish covered so that the lingering heat would continue cooking the vegetables enough but not make it wilt as I still have more dishes to cook. (in picture collage, lower left)

Next in line was the BROCCOLI SOUP, I chose broccoli since my daughter loves this vegetable and quite nutritious too. This is another easy dish that simply requires frying garlic in a few teaspoons of butter then adding the broccoli and some more shredded chicken. Then, when the vegetables have softened I added chicken stock, let it boil for a few minutes and turned off the fire. The next step is not actually required but I liked doing it since it gives my soup a thick creamy feel but for others who may just want their soup to remain chunky, this step may be skipped. The next step entails the aid of a blender in order to puree the broccoli with about a cup and a half of the soup stock. Then, the greenish pureed mixture is returned to the remaining soup, placed again on the stove, add a cup of milk (any kind) let it simmer then before turning off the heat, garnish with chopped onion leaves and voila! – healthy green soup! (no picture)

Next item on the agenda is the main meal, which in this case, is the chicken fillet. I wanted to stick sana to my healthy food theme for tonight but it seems I can’t because for one thing, I would not know how my family would react to this steamed chicken recipe as I know they are such ‘fried fanatics’ and so I opted to just cook the chicken in two different ways – steamed and fried. About three hours before cooking time, I marinated the HERBED SOY STEAMED CHICKEN which I also scored diagonally so that the marinade would seep through. I browsed the internet for recipes but found none where I had the complete ingredients with and so I decided to just mix and match what I had in my pantry at the time – of course – salt, pepper, basil, rosemary, ginger, calamansi juice, soy sauce, garlic, and sesame oil. Then, come cooking time I just placed the chicken fillet, together with its marinade, in a foil packet and placed in a steamer for 30-40 minutes. (in picture collage, lower right)

While the chicken fillet steams, I also cooked CRISPY CHICKEN FILLET IN HONEY ORANGE SAUCE. It was a recipe I got from “Mga Luto ni Dennis at iba pa” blogsite, just check out the complete recipe at his website. The chicken fillet was cut into serving pieces, marinated in salt and pepper. Then, it was dredged in a mixture of flour and cornstarch then deep fried until golden brown. To make the sauce, sauté ginger, garlic and onions in a little oil then put some orange juice (the original recipe called for fresh orange but I did not have any, so I just used the powdered kind). Season with salt and pepper then add a bit of cornstarch and some honey to thicken the sauce. You may return the chicken fillet in pan to coat them in the sauce or choose to serve it on the side to use as dip. (in picture collage, upper right)

The final dish that I prepared for tonight is of course, the dessert and this time, I got the recipe from Casa Veneracion and it’s called – DULCE DE LECHE AND CHOCOLATE COOKIE TRIFLE. If you want the complete recipe just hit the search button of her blog – suffice it to say that the dessert was such a big hit! My family just loved it...and I loved it too since it required no baking at all, just mixing and mashing of ingredients and then some layering of cookies and cream. (BTW, her recipe called for cream cheese which I did not have at the time and so I just substituted chilled all purpose cream and it still came out tasting great!) (in picture collage, upper left and center left photo)

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – PORK AND PINEAPPLE STEW

This is another recipe for baon that I got from CASA Veneracion…you may have noticed by now that I usually do recipes that would require some pre-cooking or even marinating overnight because I like how the flavors develop and become more infused into the meat if it lies in seasonings overnight. It saves me some time too when I pre-cook or pre-boil meat and let its flavors seep in. So that in the morning, I would have less to do for their breakfast/baon… and I can have more time to do more things around the house.

Just like this next dish I cooked this morning for the kids’ baon. I marinated the meat last night in some soy sauce and BBQ sauce (the actual recipe called for steak sauce but I did not have any e) Then, the next day I boiled the meat together with its marinade. In another pan, I sautéed some garlic, onions in butter, added some tomatoes until they softened. Afterwards, I poured the sautéed mixture into the pan with the boiling pork, added some salt and lots of pepper, lowered the heat and let the pork simmer for an hour until tender. When the meat is tender, I added the pineapple tidbits and the calamansi juice then let it simmer some more for another ten minutes. And voila! Another tasty and nutritious baon for my kiddos!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – CHICKEN A LA POBRE

This is another tasty dish from my favorite food blogger, Connie who has a website named CASA Veneracion (just check out the exact recipe at her website). It was also easy to do since I marinated the chicken overnight then the next day, I simply browned some garlic then removed the chicken from its marinade and fried the chicken in the same pan. After that, I removed some oil from the pan, let the reserved marinade boil then I returned the chicken pieces making sure each piece is rolled and covered in the sauce. When it was done, I placed half the chicken in a serving platter, the other half went to my daughter’s lunch box and topped with toasted garlic.

I also bought some for our lunch and my daughter and the hubby said that the flavor was good it’s just that the chicken was a bit tough to chew, I guess I overcooked the chicken… hehehe. Oh well, next time I know better and follow Connie’s instructions to just cook the chicken for only a few minutes each side. Or maybe I will try using chicken fillets next time. Here’s a pic of my chicken ala pobre. By the way, I googled the term a la pobre and though its Spanish translation means ‘poor’ this is definitely one dish that both rich and poor would surely appreciate. But Connie said that the term ala pobre is in reference to the cheaper cuts of meat that the dish ala pobre uses as opposed to steak cuts…so there, some trivia for us to know. Thanks again Connie!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES - TORTANG LUNCHEON MEAT

Everyone has a saturation point when it comes to food… and I guess when it comes to luncheon meat, my family had already reached theirs. Whereas before, they had been satisfied already when I serve fried luncheon meat or sometimes if it is dipped first in egg before frying…but I guess they have reached their limit…same thing with hotdogs, tocino, and other processed meat. This is a good thing, actually, because that would mean they have started to shun processed food so maybe I can start introducing healthier food for them. And so on rare occasions that I am forced to serve them processed meat, I only do so sparingly and instead add more vegetables and spices to the dish in order to infuse it with flavor.




This is one such dish, I only used ¼ of an entire can of luncheon meat and yet I was able to make a torta that could fill a 9-inch plate. The idea was taken from a recipe that I read from the blog 'Mga Luto ni Dennis at iba pa'…the main difference was that I added potatoes, omitted tomatoes (because I didn’t have any on hand) and it was fried not baked. I first fried the diced potatoes, luncheon meat, and onions in a non-stick pan. Then I stirred them together, seasoned with salt and pepper and finally added the beaten eggs. Before the eggs have set, I dropped the cubed cheese and covered the pan. With lowered heat, I waited until the torta is half-cooked then I turned it over onto a plate and cooked the underside. After a few minutes, I flipped the torta again onto a plate and served with catsup.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – Burger steak with mushroom gravy

My daughter’s all-time favorite food is Jollibee’s burger steak so I would often try to replicate this dish using home-made burger patties and gravy. For the burger patties, I simply combined ½ kilo of ground pork, minced carrots, 2 medium onions, salt, pepper, magic sarap, 2 eggs, bread crumbs and a bit of flour. Form into patties and fry in a non-stick pan over medium heat. While the patties are frying, I started doing the gravy. In a separate pan, melt butter and pan-fry the mushrooms then set aside. Melt more butter, add flour all at once, then pour in broth (if you have any) or even plain water will do. Stir continuously and season with salt and pepper to taste, add a bit of soy sauce for some color. I let the burgers cool for a bit, packed it in my daughter’s lunchbox and topped with the mushroom gravy sauce. I just hope that my daughter likes it!

P.S. She liked it!

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!

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.