Onion rings

My daughter and I just love onion rings. We always order it at Portillos whenever we crave for it. And since you all know how I love to experiment, I planned that one day I will try to make home made onion rings. That day came a few days ago, and I have since then made onion rings three times. (Yes, I wasn't kidding when I said we just love onion rings).



The secret is always in the batter. I have to admit, Im still trying to perfect it. And have some ideas on making a different kind of batter for future experiment. But for now, here is my recipe for my version of home made onion rings


Ingredients

1        pc        large onion
1        cup      all purpose flour
1        tbsp     baking powder
1        tsp       salt
1        tsp       pepper
1        cup     breadcrumbs
1        pc       egg
1        cup     milk
vegetable oil for frying

Procedure

Peel the onion and slice across around 1 cm to make rings. Set aside

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Add milk and egg. Mix thoroughly.

Dip the onion in the batter. Let the extra batter drain from the onion. Then dip the onion in breadcrumbs

Fry the onion rings until its golden brown. About 4-5 minutes.

Serve with your favorite sauce. My daughter and I like to dip it in ketchup.

Sweet and Sour Popcorn Chicken

Eating just chicken and fish (and vegetables of course) can be limiting sometimes. I tend to cook almost exactly the same dishes over and over. For chicken, it is either fried, barbecued, baked, or curry. My daughter is not fond of afritada or tinola so I don't cook them. Recently I posted a blog about my orange chicken recipe. And been cooking it since, at least once a week. To cut it short, my daughter got tired of it too. So I thought, maybe she will like sweet and sour chicken. I bought a frozen dish at Walmart and she seems to like it. But I don't plan on buying frozen meal on a regular basis. So guess what, this is my next experiment.

As usual I googled the recipe and tweaked it a bit to make my own version. I made some mistakes but im sure I will be able to correct it the next time I cook it. My daughter loved it! Although she said she wants more sauce.


Here is my recipe for sweet and sour popcorn chicken

Ingredients

2        pcs        chickeen breasts, cut into squares
2        pcs         egg
1        cup        all purpose flour
1        tsp         salt
1        tsp         pepper
Oil for frying

Sauce

1         cup        pineapple chunk
1         cup        pineapple juice (juice from the chunk)
1/2      cup        green and red bell pepper, cut into squares
1/2      cup        carrots, cut into small pieces
1 1/2   tbsp       conrstarch, dissolved in 2 tbsp water
3         tbsp       brown sugar
2         tbsp       vinegar (I used Datu Puti vinegar)
1/2      cup        water
1         pc          medium onion, chopped
1         tbsp       chopped ginger

Procedure

Dip the chicken in flour, then egg then flour again. Fry until golden brown. Set aside.

In a saucepan, saute onion, ginger and carrots for 5 minutes.

Add bell pepper, pineapple chunks, pineapple juice, sugar, vinegar and water. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Add the cornstarch mixture and chicken. Simmer for 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens.

Serve over rice.

The recipe above was already revised. Originally I only used 1/2 cup pineapple juice. But since my daughter wanted more sauce, I thought of doubling the amount. As for sugar,  I used white sugar, it came out pale, so I added 1 tbsp soy sauce for color. But then i thought if I used brown sugar then the sauce will turn to shiny brown color due to its caramalization.  Aside from carrots and bell pepper, you can add diferent veggies like green beans and onion leaks. Otherwise, this recipe is already perfect, well, in my opinion! Happy cooking!!

Breakfast Egg Muffins

Yesterday my daughter requested that I make her breakfast egg muffins for lunch and dinner today. She was watching You Tube and saw one mom serving it for lunch. Okay, I aim to please. Breakfast egg muffin it is.

I googled some recipe and was able to come up with my own version. I am making two different kinds of egg muffins. One is with bacon and cheese only, which my daughter prefers. And the other with spinach, bell peppers, cheese and bacon. When she came from school and had early dinner, she actually ate both kinds of muffins. You can add any ingredients to your egg muffins. Cherry tomatoes,  mushrooms, corn kernels, green peas, pepperoni and whatever you like.

Below is my take on breakfast egg muffins

Ingredients

1        dozen       egg
1        cup          cheddar cheese
1/2     cup          spinach
1/2     cup          green bell peppers, chopped
1/2     cup          cooked bacon, choppped
1        tsp           salt
1        tsp           pepper
cooking spray

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a bowl, beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper.

Scoop 1/2 cup of egg into muffin pans. Add bacon and cheese on six muffins and the rest with bacon, cheese, spinach and bell pepper.

Bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with dried parsley if preferred. Serve.

Tamale Making at Local Library

I recently attended a program at our local library. It was tamale making. I have always wanted to make one and this was a good opportunity to do so. My daughter and I love tamales and we were so excited to attend the program.

Our local library has a lot of free programs for kids, teens and adults. The tamale making was the first one I attended in adult program. It was popular as there was more than 40 participants with over 300 varieties of tamales made that night. Great job to all the participants including me and my daughter and thank you to our local library for providing us interesting program throughout the year.

Tamale is a Latin dish made up of masa or dough, usually corn-based with fillings and wrapped in corn husks or banana leaf. It is steamed for at least one and a half hour. Fillings can include beef, pork, chicken,cheese, fruits and vegetables. The fillings as cooked first before it is added to the masa. At the program, we used three different fillings. These are chicken with salsa verde (green sauce), beans and cheese, and rajas (sliced poblano pepers) with corn and cheese. Out of all the three fillings, our favorite was the rajas. I have tried other tamales that I bought at different store, my daughter and I prefers the chicken in red sauce fillings.

We were given all the ingredients for the tamale making. These are the following:

 A big container of La Guadalapana, original masa for tamale preparation. It comes in a 5 pounds container that can be bought at your local store ( there is one at Walmart). This can make at least 40 pieces of tamales.

Corn husks that was soaked in warm water.

Three different kinds of fillings.

We simply fill the corn husks with a tablespoon of masa, spread in the middle of the husk. Then went to filling stations. Filling should be at least a 2 teaspoons. Then the husks is folded on each side first then folded at the bottom. Each participants are able to make at least 6 tamales, 2 fillings each. We were instructed to steam our tamales at home, which my daughter and I did the minute we came home because we were excited to try it right away. Instruction for cooking were given to us by the library.

Again, I would like to thank our local library for this program. My daughter and I and our friends had fun!

Fried Ham and Cheese Bread Roll

I have been cooking the same dishes for weeks now and can't seem to find a recipe to experiment. Browsing through internet looking for something to do today. I was on Facebook, checking my feed when I saw this recipe on a group that I am a member of. I tried to think of a way to experiment on it but I was thinking this is a very simple dish and there is no need for a "revision".

This bread roll can either be served as a snack or a meal, especially for your kids. It can also be served as a party food, an appetizer or for your kids "baon" for school.

Below is the recipe for fried ham and cheese bread roll.

Ingredients

1     pack      Bread loaf, white or honey wheat
1     lb           Sliced ham
1    pack       American cheese slices
2     pcs         Egg, beaten
1     cup         breadcrumbs
Toothpicks
Oil for frying



Procedure



In a flat surface, flatten the bread covered with cling wrap. Cut the crust on all sides.

Place cheese, ham and mayonnaise on the bread. Roll

Dip in egg then roll on breadcrumbs.

Fry until golden brown. Serve.




As I write this blog, I have come up with some ideas to make a different version of this recipe. Instead of ham, I can use spam, because my daughter likes it. And instead of mayonnaise, I could use cheese spread or sandwich spread. Or instead of rolling it, I can make it into squares by folding it in half. Let me know how you like this recipe.

Green Goddess Mango Float

So I said on my last blog that I will make another twist on peach float recipe. I love green goddess dessert and I was thinking when I first made my peach float that I want to change the Nestle cream/condensed milk layer to green goddess. Why? Because why not? And because it will be heaven!!! Imagine two desserts into one? Irresistible!!!

So the recipe is quite simple. Instead of mixing Nestle cream with condensed milk, I used whipped cream with pistachio pudding mix powder and condensed milk. Then added some marshmallows. Yummy!! If you want my recipe for green goddess, please visit my blog. I published this recipe I think summer of last year.

I used mango this time because, first, I ran out of peaches already. And second, mangoes are on sale at Jewel for 5 pieces a dollar! So go grab those mangoes at Jewel before they ran out!

So here is the recipe for green goddess mango float.

Ingredients

2      pcs               mangoes, cute into small cubes
1      box              Honey Maid graham crackers
1      can               condensed milk
1      container     whipped cream
1      box              Jell-o pistachio flavored pudding mix
1      cup           small marshmallows

Procedure

In a big bowl, mix the whipped cream with just half the can of condensed milk, add the Jell-o pistachio powder. When thoroughly mixed, fold in the marshmallows.

Take two pieces graham crackers and make into crumbs for toppings later. Set aside.

In a serving dish. layer in the ingredients. First, graham crackers on the bottom, then the green goddess mix, then mangoes. Make at least three layers.

On the top, after putting the green goddess mix, sprinkle first with graham cracker crumbs before adding the mangoes on top.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, Serve cold.

As usual, this dessert was a success. My daughter loved it!! I wonder what else I can do to twist this recipe? Hmmm...

Peach Float

My friend has a peach tree in her front yard and every summer we always look forward to its fruits. It never disappoints. It always gives sweet and delicious peaches year after year. My first share was more than two dozens!! Believe me the tree bears dozens of fruits, a lot has already fallen on the ground because it was too much. And my friend told me to please get the rest from her tree. So I went a few days ago, more fruits are already on the ground, but I was able to get at least a dozen.

My daughter loves peaches, and I thought of making peach float, a recipe similar to mango float or fruit float. My daughter loved it! She almost finished everything!! That's how good it was!!

Mango/fruit float is a Filipino dessert. It is sometimes called crema de fruta, mango royale or icebox cake. It consists of layers of graham crackers, fresh fruits and a combination of Nestle Cream and condensed milk. It is very easy to make. And a good dessert on this hot summer.

Below is the recipe for peach float


Ingredients

1       box         Honey Maid graham crackers
1       can          Nestle cream
1       can          condensed milk
8-10  pcs          peaches

Procedure

1.  Skin and cut into cubes 6 pieces of peaches. Set aside.

2. For toppings, skin and cut into wedges the rest of the peaches

3.  Mix Nestle cream and 1/2 can of condensed milk.

4.  Pound one or two pieces of graham crackers into crumbs. Set aside

5. In a serving pan. Place graham crackers on the bottom.

6. Add in the cream/condensed milk mix.

7.  Add the cubed peaches.

8.  Make at least three layers. On the top layer, after adding the rest of the cream mix, sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs then arrange the peach wedges to make a nice decoration.

9.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.  Serve cold.

I made this dessert a few days ago and it was all gone, Time to make a new one because my daughter is requesting for more. But I will surprise her by making a few twists on the recipe. Care to guess? Send me a message!! I will be making the recipe today and will be posting the new recipe with a twist in a few days! In the meantime, enjoy your peach float!!

Orange Chicken

My daughter just love orange chicken. She never gets tired of it. The only food she orders whenever we eat at Chinese  or any Asian restaurant. Even when home she would crave for it. I have been thinking of experimenting on it, but never get the chance to do it. But today, I thought why not do it. Because all morning I can't decide what to cook for dinner, i got my sauteed upo squash. But my daughter is not crazy about that so when I check I have all the ingredients for orange chicken, I got excited and did it in less than an hour!

So I searched online about the origin of orange chicken and i was surprised to find out that there is rarely any orange chicken dish in restaurants in China! The orange chicken we have here in USA are variations of the original sweet and sour dishes in China. Panda Express claims to have introduced the original orange chicken dish in USA. Anyway, it really doesn't matter where it originated, what natters is that, its so good we can eat this dish with rice everyday!!

Here is my recipe for orange chicken

Ingredients

2         lbs       chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1         pc        whole egg
3        tbsp      flour
3        tbsp      vegetable oil
2        tbsp      sesame seeds

Sauce

1/2     cup     orange juice
1        tbsp    soy sauce
1        tbsp    vinegar
1        tbsp    brown sugar
1       tbsp     cornstarch
1       clove   garlic, minced
1       tsp       ginger, minced
1       tsp       salt
1       tsp      pepper

Procedure

In a bowl, beat the egg, add the chicken, make sure all the meat is coated with egg.  Add the flour, set aside

Mix all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan, boil then simmer for a few minutes until it thickens. Set aside

In a pan, fry the chicken until golden brown. Pour over the sauce. Mix well, Add the sesame seeds.

Serve with rice.

My daughter loved the dish!! She said it could pass as a restaurant quality dish. This is tonight's dinner!!

Potato and Corn Soup

Freedom!!

Now that my daughter is back in school, I can now breath and have plenty of time for myself. It's been a crazy and busy summer. Going to places left and right, driving my daughter to her activities. I mean, yeah, i need to breath!! All the momshies out there can relate to me! It really has been a crazy summer! Too busy I don't even have time to write on my blog, much less think of what recipe to experiment.

But I was able to squeeze in one recipe one night last week. I just didn't have time to write about it. So finally on my daughter's second day of school, i got a few hours to spare! Finally.

I had plenty of potatoes and corn ( I still have more until now) because they were on sale at the grocery and thought of experimeting on a recipe that has both. I thought of making corn chowder but then what am I gonna do with my 10 pounds potato? So that's when I thought of mixing them together in a soup. Nothing like a good hot soup on a rainy night.


Here is the recipe


Ingredients


2        cups       corn kernels
2        cups       diced potatoes
2        cans       chicken broth
1/2     cup         all purpose flour
1        pc           onion, chopped
2        cloves     garlic, minced
1        cup         milk
salt and pepper to taste


Procedure:


In a sauce pan, saute garlic and onion.  Add corn and potatoes. Saute for a few minutes.


Add the chicken broth. Let boil. Add 1/2 cup milk. Simmer for 5 minutes


In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup milk and flour. Add to the saucepan. Stir.


Simmer for a few minutes. Serve hot. You may put dried parsley and bacon on top before serving.

My daughter loves this soup. It's refreshing and different. I will try to make it again one of these days. Next time, i will probably cook bacon and use the oil for sauteing. It will add more flavor in the soup. When you try this recipe, please let me know, I would love to hear from you!!

Apple fritters

So I'm not over fritters yet. But this time I want to make fritters for snack instead. I grew up eating banana fritters, dipped in granulated sugar or sprinkled on top. It was a comfort food. Been thinking of cooking one but since I have a lot of apples, then I thought I will settle for apple fritters for now.

Fritters are fried food composed of main ingredient, the batter. Then depends on your recipe, you can add fruits, seafood, meat and vegetables. Different countries have their own version of fritters. Tempura in Japan, twigim in Korea, gorengan in Indonesia etc.  I grew up eating banana fritters (maruya) and shrimp and pumpkin fritters (okoy). Here in US, apple fritters are very popular, they are mostly glazed or just sprinkled powdered sugar on top.

Below is the recipe for my apple fritters

Ingredients

2          pcs          apples, washed, cored and diced
2          cups        bread flour
2          pcs          eggs
2 1/2    tsp           salt
2 1/2    tsp           cinnamon powder
2          tsp           butter, melted
1          cup          Milk 2%
2 1/2   tsp            baking powder
1/2      cup          granulated sugar
1/2      cup           powdered sugar to sprinkle on top

Procedure

Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon powder)

In a separate bowl, mix eggs, butter and milk. Pour over  the dry ingredients.

Fold in apples.

Deep fry until golden brown.

Sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Serve.

While writing this blog, I thought of experimenting on mango, pineapple or other fruits as a substitute for my fritters. I mean, why not? Right? The possibilities are endless, the only limitation is your imagination.

Okoy (Bean sprout and shrimp fritters)

I was watching some videos online when I saw one YouTube channel I'm subscribed to make some okoy. And it made me crave for one. I haven't eaten okoy in years and I certainly haven't cook it yet. I didn't wanna copy her recipe, so I made my own version. It turned out good, my daughter inhaled a few fritters with her rice, she even dipped it in spicy vinegar. All I can say is that we had a very good dinner tonight!

Okoy is a Filipino dish made of bean sprout, grated kalabasa and shrimp in a batter. It is fried and paired with rice and spicy vinegar for dipping. It is sometimes sold as a street food along with fishballs, squidballs, kwek-kwek and pork barbecue. It is best eaten when freshly cooked because it is hot and so crunchy. You can actually put different vegetables on your fritter to make it your own version. I will probably add carrots and jicama next time I make one.

Here is my recipe for okoy

Ingredients

1        lb        shrimp, shell removed and cut into small pieces
1        lb        bean sprout
1        lb        kalabasa (pumpkin), grated or julienned
1        cup     cornstarch
1        cup     all purpose flour
1        cup     water
1        tbsp.    salt
1        tbsp.    pepper
1        tbsp.    chili powder
1/2     cup      onion, chopped
3       cloves  garlic, minced

Alternative ingredients

1       cup       carrots, grated or julienned
1       cup       jicama, julienned

Procedure

In a bowl, mix cornstarch, flour and water. mix to form into a batter

Add salt, pepper and chili powder

Add bean sprout, kalabasa, onion, garlic and shrimp. Mix well

Form into fritters and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown

Serve with rice and spicy vinegar for dipping.

As I have said, my recipe is my own version, you can add or take some ingredients out. Like if I don't have kalabasa, I might use carrots or jicama next time I cook it.  So, I hope you can try this recipe and let me know how it turned out. Enjoy experimenting!!

Pasta with peas and chicken

I came up with this recipe a few weeks ago when it was snowing non-stop and I didn't wanna go anywhere but to work and then home. I just wasn't in the mood to go grocery shopping. Snow doesn't agree with me anymore and so I don't feel like driving anywhere even to the store. We had more than 12 inches of snow that time, and believe me, it wasn't easy shoveling the driveway. By the time you are done and can get your car out of the driveway, you feel like you just wanna go inside the house and rest. Lol.. Anyway, so I didn't do my grocery shopping that week. And I finished all my fresh veggies in the fridge. And almost emptied my freezer. Meaning, I was running out of food to cook. As you all know, or maybe not (hehehe), I'm not a big fan of canned goods. I much prefer fresh or frozen one rather than canned veggies or meat. I don't know. Even if they say it is canned fresh, its still not fresh to me. And based on experience, all canned veggies are overcooked or soggy. But well, I didn't have a choice, either open a can of veggies/meat or go grocery shopping. I looked out my window and decided to get my can opener and look in my pantry. I have a selection of beans, green beans, sauces, green peas, corn, tuna and canned chicken. I also have a few packs of egg noodles. I asked my daughter if she wants pasta and she said yes but not with red sauce. Hmmm, so it has to be pasta with the canned chicken and veggies sauteed in olive oil. It is so easy to come up with a dish with only three main ingredients. I cooked this dish twice already since that snowy days. My daughter loved it and kept requesting for it.

Curious? Here is the my simple recipe for Pasta with peas and canned chicken

Ingredients

1     lb        egg noodles, cooked al dente (8-9 minutes)
1    can       green peas
1    can       white chicken

1    tsp        chili powder
1    tsp        minced garlic
1    tsp        salt
1    tsp        pepper
1/4 cup      olive oil
1    small   onion, chopped

Procedure

Cook the egg noodles al dente, set aside.

In a saucepan, saute onion and garlic, add the drained chicken in can and the green peas.

Add the cooked eg noodles, season with chili powder, salt and pepper.

Serve with toast or garlic bread.

This recipe is so easy to make, it takes only 30 minutes to prepare. Very simple and only needed three main ingredients. Since I cooked it several times now, I ran out of canned chicken. But I was thinking I could used canned tuna or salmon with this recipe. And instead of egg noodles, I could use penne or mostaccioli. That will be another experiment, right?

Chicken Stew

I have tried a lot of sweet pickles, but I especially like Safie's old fashioned bread and butter chips. It tastes like no other. And the juice, I could even drink it. After finishing one bottle, I would throw the juice away, while shaking my head. I thought, what a waste. Until an idea came to mind. Why throw it, when I could use it on dishes that needs vinegar?

I called my recipe chicken stew, but it's actually adobo (a Filipino dish) with potatoes and carrots. I always put veggies on my adobo, so I don't need to cook a veggie dish whenever I have adobo for dinner. I have also tried using pineapple juice on adobo instead of vinegar. It makes it sweeter so there is no need for me to add sugar (yes I add sugar on my adobo recipe). So using the extra juice from the pickles is actually a good idea since it is vinegar based but is sweeter and tastier with all the spices on it.

The recipe is basically an adobo recipe with a little twist, so its pretty simple to cook. As mentioned, instead of vinegar, I used the juice from Safie's old fashioned bread and butter chips. I also added potatoes and carrots, some extra pickle chips. If you have bell pepper, you can also add in on the stew.

Safie's Old fashioned bread and butter chips and their other products are available online at www.safiespecialtyfoods.com. You could also check Amazon, your local meat market if they have it, because I'm not sure if it is readily available in the store.

Below is my recipe

Ingredients

2        lbs           chicken ( thigh, legs or wings)
1        cup          Safie's old fashioned bread and butter chips juice
4        pcs           Safie's old fashioned bread and butter chips, chopped
3        pcs           medium size potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2        pcs           medium size carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1        pc             small ginger, peeled and cut into small pieces
1        pc             small onion, peeled and chopped
3        pcs            bayleaves
2       tbsp            soy sauce
2       cloves        garlic, chopped

Procedure

At the bottom of  a pot or saucepan, arrange the chicken pieces

Add Safie's pickle juice and soy sauce

Add the pickles, onion, ginger, garlic and bayleaves

Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes

Add potatoes and carrots. Simmer for another 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender

Serve with rice.