Cook and Brew.

My boys prefer soupy dishes that’s why whenever I draft our weekly food menu, it’s a must that most of the dishes should be of that kind.  I’ve included Chopseuy as one of our dishes next week and a variation just like this (from overseaspinoycooking.blogspot.com) will have to be my guide:

Ingredients:

Ingredients:
1 cup pork, boiled, sliced thinly
1 cup medium size shrimp, shelled
12 pcs. cooked quail egg
150 grams oyster mushroom, trimmed
2 medium size patula, peeled, cut crosswise
2 medium size sayote, peeled, sliced
1 small size carrot, sliced
1 small size cabbage, cut into wedges
1 small red bell pepper, cut into wedges
1 small green bell pepper, cut into wedges
1 small bundle kinchay, chopped
1/2 head garlic, chopped
1 medium size onion, chopped
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. sugar
salt and pepper
cooking oil

Cooking procedure:
In a wok sauté garlic and onion, add pork and shrimp, quickly stir cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until shrimps are cooked. Add in salt to taste, pepper, sugar and 3 cups of broth or water, bring to a boil and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Add sayote, patula and carrots stir cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add in cabbage, bell pepper, kinchay, mushroom and quail eggs, stir cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until vegetables are cooked but firm. Add in sugar and season with salt and pepper, thicken sauce with cornstarch diluted in 1/4 cup of water cook for another minute or until sauce thickens. Serve immediately with steaming hot rice.

With the internet and iphone technologies nowadays, cookbooks and cooking reference materials can now be ditched.  Here’s one iphone app that is especially made for those who wish to learn and cook basic Filipino foods: the Filipino Recipes.

If you don’t have an iPhone, iPad or iTouch, you can also access the recipes on the web through this link.

My sister, who’s based in Qatar buzzed me over at YM yesterday and shared her recent web find.  It’s a recipe of Salisbury Steak which she has tried just recently and got from a Pinoy Food Blog .  She’s raving about it, of how easy it was to prepare and cook and of how it was so delectable.  She said that I should try this one of these days.  Well, actually, as I indeed found it easy to follow, this will be the dish I’ll cook for tomorrow.  I have already saved the recipe in my laptop computer but I’m publishing this in here as well for backup purposes.

Salisbury Steak (Recipe from http://www.overseaspinoycooking.blogspot.com)

500g 100% beef burger, about 4-6 pieces
1 can, 420g Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup
200g fresh button mushrooms, sliced
1 small size onion, chopped
2 gloves garlic, minced
2-3 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 cup full cream milk
2 tbsp. butter
salt and pepper

For the side dish:
mashed potatoes
mixed vegetables

Cooking procedure:
In a deep frying pan heat butter until it start to melt, pan fry the beef burgers in batches 2-3 minutes on each side, remove from pan and keep aside. Using the same pan, suttee onion and garlic until fragrant. Add in the soy sauce and stir cook for a minute. Add in mushrooms and stir cook for another 2-3 minutes. Now add in the Campbell’s mushroom soup and milk, simmer for 3-5 minutes at low heat while constantly stirring. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add in the fried beef burgers and simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Arrange beef burger with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables in a plate and pour over the sauce on top, serve immediately.

This is what we had last Friday.  Again, please bear with the crappy photo as I just used my camera phone (too lazy to bring out the DSLR).  I got this recipe from Del Monte’s 2010 Celebrate Planner, which I already forgot how I obtained that.  I think it was a freebie from a magazine I’m subscribed to.  First, let me share the recipe then my personal notes to follow: basically on how easy it is too cook and how the fda approved diet pills might be a requisite after meal.

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo fresh whole labahita, filleted and cut into chunks
1 tbsp calamansi juice
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp sesame seesds
1 egg beaten
2 tbsp oil
150 g sayote, sliced
150 g carrot, sliced
1 (234 g) can pineapple chunks, drained (reserve syrup)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper
1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in pineapple syrup

Procedure:
1. Marinate fish in calamansi juice, salt, and pepper for 15 minutues.
2. Combine flour, garlic and sesame seeds. Dredge fish into the beaten egg then coat each piece of fish in flour mixture.
3. Fry until golden brown. Set aside.
4. Saute vegetables in oil.
5. Add 1/2 cup of water, toyo, brown sugar and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Add pineapple and cornstarch. Simmer until thick. Pour over fish.

Personal notes: I used tilapia fillet because that was the only available in fillet cut at the grocery that time. I should not have used the whole 1/2 kilo because it was too much for the proportion of sauce indicated above. Nevertheless, I love the sweet and sour combination of the sauce plus the sesame and garlicky taste of the fillet. The cooking process was simple and quick. The preparation takes more time though because of the various veggies that have to be peeled and sliced separately.

This isn’t the first dish I’ve cooked since we have moved in here in our new house but this dish is a special one for me..my personal top pick among the dishes I’ve cooked for the week.  My taste buds (and the husband’s and the little one’s) gave an o-kay sign.  In fact, I’ve consumed 2 cups of rice last night.  I’ve never been this proud of my own cooking.  Well, it’s suffice to say, that it’s the first “perfect” dish I’ve ever cooked. LOL.

I’m sharing the recipe for you to find out how yummy it is.  By the way, the crappy photo doesn’t do justice since I’ve taken it just a while ago..meaning, it’s a leftover of last night’s. The original finished product was a lot more inviting and looks really scrumptious.  It even made me and the husband to click here after devouring our dinner.

Ingredients:

Meatballs:
1/4 kilo ground pork
1/2 cup singkamas finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 pc small onion finely chopped
1 pc raw egg
salt

Soup:
1 tbsp cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pc small onion, coarsely chopped
4 cups water
2 pcs Pork Broth Cubes
1/2 cup carrots sliced thinly
1/2 cup repolyo sliced thinly
1/2 cup sayote sliced thinly
ground black pepper

Procedure:
1. Combine all ingredients for the meatballs.
2. Mash together and shape into balls.

Soup:
1. Saute garlic and onion.
2. Add water and broth cubes. Wait until the cubes melt and water about to boil.
3. Drop in meatballs and simmer until well-cooked.
4. Add carrots, repolyo, sayote and simmer until the vegetables are cooked.
5. Season with pepper.