Cook and Brew.

March 15, 2009
At Sonya’s Garden with my Twitter Bebot Friends.

“Eat together and not separately, for the blessings is associated with the company.”
~ Ibn Majah

This commercial has been a long time favorite of my baby since he was a few months younger. This is his first ever favorite commercial and this never cease to catch his attention whatever he’s doing. Well, as the message of this song conveys, I do hope that he’ll love to eat veggies more as he grows up.

Here’s the translation of the lyrics:
Title: Makulay ang Buhay (Life is Colorful).

Vegetables, you’ll search for them when not served
Sauteed vegetables made meaty by Mom
That’s why vegetables are my favorite

Life is colorful
Life is colorful with Meaty sauteed vegetable

By the aroma alone, you can already taste
With the taste, you’re a winner
Bitter gourd, stringbeans, sayote (chayote), squash
It’s happier if it’s sauteed with Meaty

Life is colorful
Life is colorful with Meaty sauteed vegetable

For every bite and chew there’s happiness
Full of nutrients, full of energy
It make us very very happy both in studying and playing
So come on kids and taste it

Life is colorful
Life is colorful with Meaty sauteed vegetable

Life is colorful
Life is colorful (it’s yummy) with Meaty sauteed vegetable

The husband wished for any chicken dish for dinner that has sauce or any that isn’t dry or fried. So here come my cookbooks to the rescue. But I halted for a while when I encountered the term “Baste“.

Wikipedia defines “Basting is a cooking technique, and usually involves cooking meat with either its own juices or some type of preparation such as a sauce or marinade. The meat is left to cook, then is periodically coated with the juice or marinade as it cooks.”

This term can often be used around the holiday season when the Thanksgiving turkey comes out. Roast lamb or chicken are often basted with the juices in the pan during cooking, in order to keep the meat moist and for an added flavor. Several liquids may be used for basting meats such as broth, melted butter, pan drippings, or a combination of these ingredients.

The theme for this week’s Friday 5 is very timely since my little boy will be having his first taste of orange this weekend. Although, he’s been given the go signal to drink orange juice since his 5th month by his pedia, I’m not that keen of giving him sweet fruits at the time being yet because according to most of the baby books I’ve read, it’s advisable that he be introduced first to rice cereals and vegetables which we have done in the past week.

Anyway, on to the Friday 5.

1. What’s your favorite orange-colored food? The fruit orange and a street food called, tukneneng (fried quail eggs wrapped with flour and on orange ingredient that I’m unfamiliar with)
2. What’s the best way to drink orange juice? Chilled
3. Which candy’s orange-colored pieces taste best? not fond of candies now but probably I’d say orange pieces of M&Ms.
4. What are your feelings about orange soda? Like it but not so fond of it.
5. When did you last wear an orange item of clothing? Don’t own one.

Mom and Grandma arrived early this morning from an 8-9 hour bus drive from the province up north. Their arrival would mean a giddy giddy stomach later because they have lots of native foods in tow: homemade longanisa, tinapa, tulya (a clam species that is good for breastfeeding moms, they say), tupig, carabao milk candies, and crunchy chicharon. And the happiest of all, of course, my overly delighted stomach and my son who’ll be feeding from me through my milk. Happy Feasting to me!!!

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Ingredients:
1 can 234 g Del Monte Fresh Cut Pineapple Chunks, drained (reserve syrup)
1/2 Kg pork kasim, cut into chunks
8 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup water
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp dried oregano (optional)
2 Tbsp Del Monte Red Cane Vinegar
1 pc laurel leaf
3 Tbsp tausi (salted black beans)
Procedure:
1. Combine pineapple syrup with other ingredients except pineapple chunks. Cover and simmer over low heat for 40 minutes or until pork is tender, then simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes.
2. Add Del Monte Fresh Cut Pineapple Chunks. Allow to simmer for another 5 minutes.

Other Notes:
Make 6 servings

Lusog Note:
Rich in Niacin – promotes normal digestion and healthy skin

Source: Del Monte Kitchenomics Cookbook Volume III

Sorry, no uploaded pic. This is my first ever successful dish hooked from a recipe book. It’s my first achievement and I myself was proud and more than satisfied of the outcome. How I wish I should’ve taken a picture of this.

I really find this Kitchenomics Cookbook fascinating and rookie cook-friendly. It provides pictures of the dishes so more or less, you’ll have a glimpse of how the dish should look like. The steps are complete and are easy to follow. It also includes nutrition notes…perfect for those diet-conscious buffs.

This process sets the color of vegetables, lets you easily peel fruits such as onions, tomatoes, plums, peaches and slip the skins off nuts such as almonds, and prepare vegetables for canning or preserving.. The food does not cook all the way through. It’s just partially cooked in boiling water for a minute or so, so crisp texture is preserved.

I could say that Asher, at this stage, is a vegetarian kid. He loves eating mashed squash, soyote, eggplant, carrots, broccoli, stringbeans, potato, malunggay, spinach and saluyot leaves and even those uncommon vegetables that we have on our Dinengdeng dish like the green spaghetti-like “alukon”. What he abhors eating are any meaty texture – pork, beef or chicken. At first, I got worried because he may not be taking in enough protein and other key nutrients but my research in parenting books says that “vegetarian kids can be very healthy, as long as you keep these few simple rules in mind”:

1. Dairy foods (such as milk, eggs, cheese) are great source of protein.
2. Whole grains have lots of proteins, too.
3. Variety of beans,nuts, legumes, and some soy foods together with whole grains cover the baby’s protein requirements.
4. Serve a vitamin C–rich food (which boosts iron absorption), at every meal to make sure the toddler makes the most of the plant-based iron he’s eating. Plant-based iron (called non-heme iron) is not as easily absorbed by the body as animal sources of iron (heme iron).
5. Milk intake should be carefully regulated for vegan kids. While milk is packed with calcium, vitamin D, and protein..it has no iron. So if a vegetarian kid bottoms up just milk, he’ll not go hungry for solid foods in meals that contain iron and many other nutrients. Instead, if he clamors for more milk, serve him some enriched soy milk – which contains iron.

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