Obviously Omnivore

I MOVED!!!

2011-07-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

i moved to a new address!!!! check it out!!!

xaieatsalot.com

mixed citrus spritzer + an overhaul coming soon

2011-01-15T16:40:00.000-08:00

my posts are boring. it's a snoozefest, actually. i was reading some of my posts and for chrissakes, they lack personality, they don't really show who i really am, and how i talk most of the time. i was reading it and most of them seemed so, sterile... well, sterile could still be considered an understatement. i am honestly more fun(ner) than this -- it's redundant, i know, but i had to emphasize). oh, by the way, i have been remodeling the site little by little (if you haven't noticed). i am planning for a total makeover, the look, the feel and the tone of this blog - an overhaul, but without the tears and ratty, crazy glued weaves flying all over, just like in top model.

with the overhaul i was talking about, i am planning to inject more of myself into my writing. i think that i have been censoring myself a lot to the point that i am not portraying who myself in my posts. i have been too careful not to offend anyone with the way i write, that i am pretty sure many end up reading a line or two then scrolling straight down to the recipe, if they're even still remotely interested. i guess this is more of a promise to myself, to not censor myself as much to give this almost pulseless blog a breath of fresh air.

so let's talk about this recipe!!! adding two more exclamation points than necessary makes it more exciting... no?

i have a confession to make, the oranges i used in this recipe was stolen from our neighbor. i know, it's cheap at the store, but it was there, looking at me straight in the eye calling my name, telling me to pick them. since oranges (and lemons, i think) are in season, there were a crap load of fruits on that tree, some on the ground with ants feasting on it (i had to put that in, so i could lessen my guilt). i took a couple, but i'm not going there anymore, because the fruits didn't have a lot of juice. it could be just the ones i got, or it could be because it was stolen, who knows.

back to this drink, let me tell you, it's quite addicting. it's tart, a little bit sweet and totally refreshing. i got this recipe from this new mexican giada de laurentiis on food network. well, i had to google her because i forgot her name, but she reminds me of giada whenever i watch her, a little less prudy though. shawn also said that, this would really taste good with vodka, so you can skip the sparkling water and use it as a mixer if you like.

mixed citrus spritzer
(adapted from marcela valladolid's mixed citrus spritzer)

i did not have mandarins/clementines that the original recipe had, i actually didn't read the entire recipe before i made it, but even without it, it was still good. i'm pretty sure there will be less tart if you add mandarins/clementines, but since we like tart drinks, it was perfect without it.

what you need:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
juice of 1 grapefruit
juice of 2 oranges
juice of 2 lemons
3 cups sparkling water

what to do:
1. make a simple syrup by putting sugar and water in a small pot and heating it up until the sugar dissolves. set aside to cool.
2. combine all the juices in a pitcher, add simple syrup and top off with sparkling water.
3. serve over ice.

beef siomai (steamed beef dumplings)

2011-01-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

when i was in college, back in the third world, my friends and i would go to this supermarket down the street for lunch and get some of these wonton wrapped meaty goodness topped with chili oil and dipped in soy sauce with calamansi. my goodness, just thinking about it is making my mouth water.

it's been a while since i had these, and my craving for it was just a little too intense this time, that postponing it (because the asian store near my house ran out of chili oil) is not an option anymore. shawn wanted fried cream cheese wontons the day before, therefore i had a stash of round wonton wrappers that gave me the option of skipping making my own wrappers, which i gladly took.

making these were actually quite easy. no complicated technique needed, which was great since i did not want any more technique to stop me from making/eating my siomai. the ones that i used to get in college were made of pork and shrimp, but these ones that are made of beef are almost equally good. so if you've never had them before, make sure you grab some from the cart that asian lady is pushing around your favorite dimsum place... or if you have a little bit of time, the ingredients for this available and a steamer (if you don't have one, there's one at walmart for less than 20 bucks), make it at home. i'm telling you, it's worth the little effort required.

beef siomai (steamed beef dumplings)

what you need:
1 lb ground beef (or pork)
1 medium onion, minced
2 stalks green onions, chopped
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 thumb sized ginger, grated
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
round wonton wrappers

dipping sauce
soy sauce
juice of lemon
chili oil

what to do:
1. in a large bowl, combine all ingredients (except the wonton wrappers).
2. place a teaspoonful of the meat mixture on the center of a round wonton wrapper, moisten the sides of the wonton wrapper and gather it up to the sides of the meat. leave the top portion open, just like what i have on the photos above.
3. steam for 20 minutes and serve with soy sauce with lemon juice & chili oil (or calamansi juice).

pistachio & almond crusted tuna with soy ginger salad

2011-01-08T23:41:00.000-08:00

hello there. i know it's been a while but since it's the new year, i think it's time to post something new.

so, how was your new year? your christmas? did you get all the gifts you wanted? I DID!!! i'll tell you about that later, right now, allow me to reminisce holiday memories from my childhood.

the way new year and christmas are celebrated here in the states is so different from the way it's done in the philippines. during the christmas season, there's so many traditions that you can choose from to participate in. there's simbang gabi, getting bibinkga and puto bumbong in the middle of the night, and christmas caroling using flattened bottle caps lopped through a wire as tambourines. then a week later, all the craziness that comes with ringing in the new year commences. a whole slew of fireworks and firecrackers that could be/are deemed illegal here in the states are used outside most people's homes and in residential streets. there's judas' belt, roman candles and 5-star just to name a few. oh, and if you are lucky, you'll see an old tire burning on the street which is used to light all those firecrackers, it's crazy i tell you, crazy!

traditions like that are hard to forget, but when you move to a new place, like i did, you learn how to make your own traditions with new friends and the family you have built. i have learned to appreciate a quieter christmas dinner celebration and opening gifts during christmas morning - which i happen to look forward to all year, thanks to shawn and his family for introducing me to the tradition. i have also learned that watching ryan seacrest stand in for the (the semi-dead) dick clark and kathy griffin with anderson cooper for the new year countdown could be fun. i think it's the new year with all it's smoky and explosive glory that makes me miss the philippines during the holidays, but hell, the gifts i got during christmas still has me smiling, so i guess it's fine.

now let's talk about christmas gifts! well, i know christmas is way over now but i am still grinning over the stuff i got. let's start with the kitchen aid shawn got me which i already used to make red velvet whoopies right after i got it. i also got a set of knives from shawn's mom that i still have to use, and i got myself a canon t2i, yes i have used it already.

now, about the new year. i am not one to make resolutions, because it never really worked for me. i just normally end up frustrated and mad at myself for not being able to do it. so what i do now is just do little thing here and there to change my habits, it takes a while, but at least i don't end up frustrated. this year i told myself that i will try to be more aware of what i put in my mouth and where i get them, and i started by taking more trips to trader joe's rather than a buying food in bulk at costco for a household with 4 people - an idea that is not good all the time. so during my recent trips to trader joe's, i remembered how cheap fish there was. so i bought ahi tuna and arugula since shawn likes arugula so much. i also got shelled pistachios because the ones i have had shells on them and the last time i used them for a recipe, it took me an hour to come up with a cup of unshelled pistachios. so yes, i got them and saved myself an hour of prep time. without any more delays, here's the recipe.

pistachio & almond crusted tuna with soy ginger salad

pistachio & almond crusted tuna
2 tuna steaks
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped pistachios
salt and pepper
oil for frying

1. heat up a heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat.
1. in a large shallow dish, combine chopped pistachios and almonds.
2. season the tuna on both sides with salt and pepper and coat both sides with the nut mixture.
3. oil the pan and cook tuna for about 3 minutes on each side for medium or longer if you want it cooked more.

soy ginger salad
1/3 cup canola oil
4 tsp soy sauce
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger root, minced
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
ground black pepper
arugula

combine all ingredients in blender (except arugula), blend away and dress the arugula lightly.

notes:
blending the dressing combines all the ingredients very well and the flavor is a lot better than just mixing it in a bowl.

simple sweet yellow curry

2010-11-19T17:21:00.000-08:00

as i have told you before, i am not a big fan of spicy food. that's why when it comes to curry, getting the one that says sweet is clearly the only option for me. a few days ago, shawn took me to this thai/lao place down the street from our old house. it was a nice surprise because everything there was cheap and good. after eating, i had another craving for another dish that i regularly get at thai places, sweet yellow curry.

the sweet, salty, creamy and tangy flavor of this dish always hits the mark for me. add some steamed rice into the picture and hell, we're good to go! another thing i love about this dish is that you can add as much vegetables you want in it or you can just use chicken if you want. i've tried making this before with just chicken and potatoes and it was still good. it's not really hard to do, simple ingredients and simple instructions and before you know it, you'll be eating curry at home without taking a trip to you favorite thai place.

what you need:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium sized onion, diced finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp ginger, finely diced (i added more to mine because i love ginger)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tbsp yellow curry powder
2 skinless and boneless chicken breast, diced (we want it to be done quickly so this is the best type of chicken to use)
3 cups potatoes, diced
2 cups carrots, diced
1 can of coconut milk
3 cups of water or chicken broth
salt and pepper
tomatoes, cut into wedges*
cilantro*
red bell pepper, julienned*

what to do:
1. heat up oil over medium heat and saute red bell pepper and onions until translucent, add garlic, ginger and bay leaves.
2. when ginger gets tender, add carrots and potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.
3. add chicken and sprinkle sugar, fish sauce and yellow curry powder into the pot. cook for about 3 minutes.
4. add coconut milk and chicken broth. let it simmer until potatoes and carrots are tender. remove from heat.
5. add tomatoes and cilantro if you want and serve over steamed white rice.

notes:
i add a pinch salt and pepper everytime i add a new ingredient into the pot. this is to release the juices of the ingredient i just added. i also make sure to taste as i go because you don't want the dish to get over salted or bland.
if you want the curry broth to be thinnner or thicker, use less or more of the chicken broth.
want it a little bit spicy? half a teaspoon of cayenne would do the trick.

* optional

peanut butter & nutella blondies

2010-11-17T15:22:00.000-08:00

keeping a blog while in school is no easy feat. i know i've said this many times, but i still find myself planning what's going to be posted on my blog next even if i haven't posted anything in years, well, months, but it seems like it's been years since my last post. everytime i cook something, i still try hard to take a good photo of what i am cooking, but doing that at night with a regular point and shoot is no easy feat. anyway, complaints and ranting aside, let me tell you about these blondies.

whenever we have parties to go to, most of my friends would ask me or shawn that they would want me to make blondies, but after making it so many times already, as much as i love how it tastes, it kinda gets tiring after a while. this forced me to rework the recipe and add some of things that i love, peanut butter and nutella. i have made this a few times already so i am kind of sure on the taste, so you want there recipe? here it goes!!!

what you need:

1 stick unsalted butter, plus butter for pan
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2cup coarsely chopped walnuts

marbling top:
1/2 cup unsalted butted, melted
1/2 cup nutella

what to do:
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar together, mix so that oil is not on top of the sugar. set aside and let it cool.
3. when the peanut butter mixture is a little cool, add peanut butter, vanilla and eggs one at a time and mix well.
4. in a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder salt and chopped walnuts.
5. fold flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture in 3 portions. as i always say, don't overmix!
6. pour mixture into a 9 x 13 inch pan.
7. in a small bowl, mix marbling mixture together, melted butter and nutella, pour it over the four and peanut butter mixture in the pan and use a toothpick or barbecue stick to swirl the nutella mixture into the peanut butter mixture.
8. bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean after you stick it in the baked good. let cool, slice and make sure you don't eat it all!

project food blog #2: going greek - gyros + tzatziki

2010-09-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

my addiction to mediterranean food started in college... well, not everything actually. i only like this pita wrapped goodness called shawarma. but when i left the philippines in 2006, i was forced to quit that addiction cold turkey because i couldn't find a place near me that sells it. well at least a place that i can walk to because i did not know how to drive then. i did fine for a few years but then, i saw this mediterranean chain restaurant and decided to go there because they had something that looked like what i used to eat in the philippines but they called it gyro. it was okay, i guess i was expecting a little bit too much from this chain restaurant, but hey it's a chain restaurant... i should've known better.

after that experience, i obsessed about gyros. i looked it up and read up on it a lot. when i say a lot, i mean more than a day cumulatively. i go crazy like that when i get into something. anyway, after reading up on it, i realized that it's basically like shawarma, just with tzatziki. imagine my relief when i found out about this fact, because gyros would be a lot easier to find, plus, i love me some tzatziki.

so when i read that the next project food blog challenge was to make something outside of your culinary comfort zone, i immediately thought of making gyros. i haven't had it in a while and making it for this challenge means i can eat as much as my heart desires (i could care less what my tummy says, if i explode, then i explode). the search for a really good recipe started this weekend, and it was fun looking for a recipe that had wonderful reviews, but most of the recipes i came across had different marinade ingredients. as frustrating as it was, i realized that finding a really authentic recipe would be really hard since gyros were adapted from different places in the mediterranean. i decided to get ideas from about ten recipes that i found and make a spice blend that would stay true to what most of them said about the flavors they wanted to achieve. i also tried to remember the flavors and the aroma of greek restaurants that had the gyro meat on vertical rotisserie. sweet, floral, tangy, smoky and meaty comes to mind when remembering my experience of biting into a foil wrapped gyro at a greek restaurant. so with that in mind i looked at all the spices i had on top of the microwave and went from there.

i started shopping for the ingredients i needed yesterday and even though i have decided to make my own pita, i still bought some for emergency - which actually paid off because my attempt on making pita failed miserably. my pita did not puff up after i put it on a hot baking stone onside the oven. i ended up with flatbread, which i just used to sample the tzatziki i was making. anyway, failures aside (not really, it's still bugging me up until now), the meat which i cooked in the oven turned out really good - sweet, smoky and meaty.

as i have said, i also made tzatziki, which is a yogurt based sauce. i did not know that you had to strain the water out of the yogurt and cucumber before making it, so i had to make it twice. the second time i made it, it was great, thick and a little chunky from the cucumber, just the way i like it. many tzatziki recipes stated that you should process the cucumber to a puree to achieve a very smooth consistency, but i like cucumber chunks on my sauce so i shredded the cucumbers and strained it.

making gyros on a 99-degree weather day was a feat on itself. having the oven at 375 and chopping up vegetable in the kitchen with a window that lets all the light (and heat) in is crazy. but as crazy hot as it was, biting into the finished gyro was very rewarding. the smoky and sweet beef, the tangy and cool tzatziki and the crisp vegetables made all the effort.... okay and standing int the hot kitchen totally worth it.

oh another thing, randall (the dog) is doing a lot better now, after his surgery, he recovered really fast. now, he's back to his old self. thanks everyone for the well wishes.

by the way, i just want to thank everyone that voted for me. you guys made it possible for me to post for this challenge, and if you still like what i just posted and would love to see more, then please vote for me again starting tomorrow september 27, 6am to september 30, 6pm. oh, and if you don't know how to vote or want more information about the competition, just go over to foodbuzz.com, sign up and go to my profile and vote. the link to my foodbuzz profile on my sidebar or you can click here. thanks again everyone!!!

beef gyros + tzatziki sauce

what you need:

beef + marinade
2 lbs ground or chopped up beef or lamb
1 medium sized yellow onion, diced finely
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground cloves
5 cardamom seeds or 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

tzatziki sauce
16 oz greek yogurt
2 cucumbers, peeled and shredded
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 garlic cloves mashed into a paste
salt and pepper to taste

gyro
lettuce, chopped
tomatoes, diced
red onion, sliced into strips
crumbled feta cheese

what to do:

beef + marinade
1. combine all the ingredients under beef + marinade in a large bowl, miz everything all together, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (let it sit overnight and the flavors will be a lot better).
2. preheat oven at 375 degrees and put the meat in an oven safe dish and cook for about 30 minutes. keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't dry out. you can also cook it on top of your stove over medium high heat until the meat is browned all over.
3. set aside for assembly.

tzatziki
1. put a cheesecloth or 2 paper towels inside a strainer, suspend it over a bowl and pour out 16 oz of greek yogurt into it.
2. let it sit inside the refrigerator for an hour to drain out most of the water.
3. shred cucumbers and with another cheesecloth or paper towel, squeeze out the water off of it. and out it into the yogurt.
4. add garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. fold everything into the yogurt and it's ready to be slathered on top of the gyro you're about to assemble.

assembly
1. warm up some pita in the microwave for 15 seconds or on the stove top for about a minute.
2. put lettuce, meat, onion, tomatoes, feta cheese and tzatziki into the pita.
3. wrap half of pita with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy handling and devouring.
4. eat more than one!

project food blog #1: ready, set, blog! + dog story

2010-09-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

i started this blog last year before i went back to school, thinking that it would be something i'll be doing during my spare time. but lo and behold, i didn't have a lot! posting became quite a challenge after a while, but then i kept telling myself that i needed to do this to have something i can call my own. something i built from the bottom up. when i saw that foodbuzz was holding a competition for food bloggers, i did not think twice on joining. i know that it would be another challenge; it had deadlines, and parameters which i am kind of a stickler for.

on posting

so what sets my blog apart from the 1,890 people who are in this competition? i think it's the stories i tell and the dirty dishes that came with it. my consistency in posting falters most of the time because i feel like my stories are not that compelling, considering the routine life i live. but then i thought, who doesn't live a routine life? i know mostly everyone but it's how you go about your routine that makes it fun most of the time, and i keep telling myself to approach everything that way.

on photos

okay, let me also tell you that i don't take the best photos in the food blogging world, but i do my best to take them. it will make the food cold to take the best shot sometimes... okay most of the time, but that's what the microwave is for considering it's the same food i'm going to serve my boyfriend (and whoever is home during that time). taking food photos at night with an old point and shoot camera is not that easy. i want to take photos during the day, but i don't have the luxury of time on a regular basis. i think lighting one of the greatest challenges i have to overcome whenever i cook something i want to post, it fails most of the time but when i get a really good shot, then onto the blog it goes. by the way the pictures i'm posting are photos of recipes that haven't reached the blog yet.

on recipes

the recipes i cook are mostly a combination of different recipes i have encountered. it's hard sometimes to try and invent a recipe, because when you google your idea... there it is on somebody else's blog looking at you in the face and calling you a copycat! i try to bitch at the screen whenever i see my idea on another person's blog telling them that they stole my idea (yeah, my head's a crazy place to be in). i get frustrated, but then i look at how they did it and i'm like, "please, i can do it better!" it's not that good all the time, but they're not gonna know that my version wasn't good because i'm not going to post it... and all the crazy stays in the confines of my own head. my recipes are also made up of ingredients that are not too fancy. i mean seriously, on a college student budget, you expect me to buy 5-grams-for-20-dollar saffron from whole freakin' foods? no, imma wait until in goes on sale at nugget (it's 5 dollars for 5 grams there sometimes). then i cook shitloads of saffron infused food, i'll get sick of it, but i have to use all of it before it goes bad. i also go to the grocery store a lot to find good deals... did you know that target's bog box of cream is the cheapest i've found anywhere?! seriously, you need cream? go there... NOW! oh, before i forget, i want to tell you that i am lucky to live in a farm town because i have access to fresh produce almost all year round, except when freakin' larry's produce close for 3 months, then i have to resort to foodmax or safeway. but yeah, target's cream is cheap!

dog story

i was supposed to post this a week ago, but i had exams that i need to study for and then the dog thing happened. when the week started, randall (the dog) had been throwing up a little bit. nothing alarming, we just thought that it was because if the heat. so we just gave him a water to rehydrate and he was all good again (i just have to suffer through scrubbing it off our white carpet, but it's all good). then friday afternoon after we played, he started throwing up like crazy... as shawn puts it, linda blair projectile. it was alarming to see him like that, but then i thought maybe he was just really tired. so i let him rest some more. what really made up want to go to the vet was when he didn't eat that night. if you know anything about young labs, then you know that they can eat, and they will not stop most of the time. he just drank most of his water and retreated to bed, but then shawn ran out of out room to tell me (i was cleaning in the kitchen) that randall threw up in the crate. i ran back in the room and it was all water. so we decided that the next morning we're bringing him to the vet. yesterday was the crazy day at the vet. we were there almost the whole day. and today, he had surgery for intestinal blockage. before finishing this post, shawn got a call from the doctor and they said the surgery was successful and that they want us to look what they got out, because they can't figure out what it is. they said it was like a hard ball of something... so maybe it was the big seed-like stuff that falls off the tree on in out backyard. so shawn and i are just nervous wrecks right now until we pick him up at 5:30. wish us luck!!!

voting
so voting starts tomorrow, september 20 at 6am pst and will end on september 23 at 6pm pst. don't forget to vote for me to become the next food blog star! sign up at foodbuzz.com to vote for me, you can even connect it to your facebook to make it a lot easier for you. don't forget to vote okay?! click on the logo on the sidebar and it'll lead you to the voting thing.. i think. lol.

black pepper chicken

2010-08-31T23:15:00.000-07:00

i never had black pepper chicken up until my mom brought me to panda express, yes the fast food chain, a few years back. i am not really a big fan of spicy food, because the heat covers up the flavors of the food. also, i sweat... i mean dripping and drenched with sweat when i eat spicy food. you know the mild sauce at taco bell (don't pretend you've never been to one.. or at least sneak into one after telling your friends, family... even your husband, that you are on a diet and grab yourself a burrito, soft tacos, mexican pizza and a super large sugar saturated drink)? well, the mild sauce there makes me drip sweat like a leaky faucet. too graphic?

anyway, after the trip to panda express, i tried black pepper chicken at local chinese restaurants and i still loved it, sans the sweating. even though it was spicy, i can still taste the flavors of the other ingredients. i think that's the difference of using black pepper as an agent for heat versus using chili peppers, when using black pepper, the heat does not overpower whatever else is in the dish. so, yeah i have quite an addiction black pepper.

another thing i've discovered is that chinese food is quite easy to make. you can make it as quick as you can drive down or call that chinese restaurant down the road, around the corner or on the other side of town. i'm not kidding. i was quite surprised myself when i was done in such a short time. you just need a little bit of effort, a really hot pan and you're good to go.

black pepper chicken

what you need:

vegatable oil
1 - 1 1/2 lb chicken breast, diced into 1/2 - 3/4 inch cubes
2 cups celery, sliced on the bias
1 medium onion sliced
1 chopped cup green onions

marinade
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp rice vinegar/sherry
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbsp of water
1 tbsp rice vinegar/sherry
2 tsp ground black pepper

what to do:

1. heat up a pan over medium high heat. combine all the ingredients under marinade and soak the diced chicken in it for about 15 minutes.
2. cook the chicken until it's white, drain and put aside. Wipe the pan clean (this is to make sure nothing gets burned when you heat up the pan again) and heat up to medium high. combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set it aside.
3. drizzle oil on the pan again, saute onions, celery and green onions for about 1 minute. you want to keep the vegetables crunchy.
4. add the already cooked chicken and the sauce mixture into the pan and cook until the sauce thickens. serve over steamed or fried rice.

mini fruit tarts

2010-07-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

there are days when i think that i am one of ina's (barefoot contessa) friends and she'd just call me during the day and ask me to come over because she's testing out recipes and she needs an unbiased opinion from a close friend. i can go on for hours fantasizing about this. i know it's sad, but what can you do, she's my cher.

by the way, ina showed me that making fruit tarts are not that hard, even though they look ridiculously time consuming when you look at them at your local grocery store. after i saw the episode where she made fruit tarts for jeffrey, i ran to the store and got myself a tart pan. they didn't have the 4 inch one that she used on the show but they had an 8 inch one which i settled for. months passed and i never got around making the tarts. i've made quiche on it a few times but not any kind of fruit tart which was the main reason i got that thing.

fast forward to last week, i finally got around to it. i was planning to use the tart pan, but then i thought, i don't want the whole thing to fall apart if i am not going to finish eating the tart, so i decided to use muffin pans to make mini ones. it was a more time consuming, but at least, everyone who wants to have piece will have their own little tart.

i was a little scared that the boyfriend might not eat it because he's not a fan of anything custardy, but surprisingly he ate most of it. i was happy because that meant i didn't have to finish all of the stuff i just cooked, which happens quite a lot. anyway, let me give you the recipe and go do it already. i'm telling you, it's worth it! also, if you haven't noticed, i have been silently adding stuff into my blog. i have added a recipe index, contact tab, and an on the go section where i post things i see when i am out and about. it also gives you a glimpse on my life and see how boring and busy it is. go check 'em out!

oh also before i forget, why don't you join the giveaway i'm doing in celebration of my blog anniversary last month. it's not yet too late. you still have august 7, 12 noon pst to join. click here to join! it's a magazine giveaway of your choice (from the list)!

mini fruit tarts
adapted from ina garten

crust
what you need:
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
2 sticks (8oz) salted butter (you can use unsalted butter, just add 1/2 tsp of salt into the flour*) cut into 1/4 in cubes
1/4 cup cold water

what to do:
1. in a large bowl, whisk flour, salt* and sugar together.

2. using your pastry blender, fingers or food processor, cut butter into flour until it resembles a coarse meal.

3. add water and mix until it all comes together. this crust is not too delicate so you don't have to worry about being a little knead-happy. form a disc and refrigerate from 30 minutes. preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

4. roll out the dough and cut out 12 circles that would fit into muffin tins. don't stretch the dough too much or else it'll shrink when you bake it. poke bottoms of crust with a fork. line crust with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans or rice to serve as pie weights. bake for 15-20 minute or until it's lightly browned. let it cool and fill it with pastry cream (recipe follows).

pastry cream
what you need:
5 extra-large egg yolks, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cups scalded milk
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp heavy cream

what to do:
1. in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks and sugar on medium-high speed for 4 minutes, or until very thick. reduce to low speed, and add the cornstarch.

2. with the mixer still on low, slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture. Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens, 5 to 7 minutes. don't be alarmed when the custard comes to a boil and appears to curdle; switch to a whisk and beat vigorously. cook, whisking constantly, for another 2 minutes; the custard will come together and become very thick, like pudding.

3. Stir in the vanilla, butter, and heavy cream. Pour the custard through a sieve into a bowl. place plastic wrap directly on the custard and refrigerate until cold.

assembly:
fill the crust with the pastry cream and top with your fruits. brush tops with apricot jelly diluted in water to make it shiny, there you go, pretty fruit tarts!

Miniature Fruit Tarts

softest, flakiest, butteriest* buttermilk biscuits + a giveaway

2010-07-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

breakfast is the most important meal of the day as most nutritionists would say, so i eat breakfast food all day. my family would say it's an excuse why i am fat, but hey, i am making sure that all my meals are important. oh yeah, they tell me i'm fat. anyway, let's talk about this sandwich. the recipe ain't really about the sandwich itself, but more of the biscuit. i know this kind of sandwich ain't really worth posting but the biscuit was really good, if i say so myself. i rarely complement what i make but this one was actually good. surprisingly good.

this is not the first time i made biscuits. the first time was a few years back and it was quite tough to be honest. i thought it was how it was supposed to be, but looking back i know that i went overboard on the kneading. i can get a little knead-happy at times, you know. after that experience, i didn't make it until the day i made this.

the good thing about this biscuit is that it's really moist, buttery, soft and flaky. i basically checked off everything i was looking for in a biscuit. with that being said, this biscuit would hold up if you use it to make a sandwich, douse it with copious amounts of country gravy, or just smear it with butter.

anyway, before i give you the recipe, i want to tell you guys that i am holding a giveaway in celebration of my blog's first birthday a few weeks ago. i am giving away a food magazine subscription of your choice from one of the following:

food network · bon appetit · food & wine · everyday food · saveur · cooking light · vegetarian times

to join, follow me on twitter @oomnivore and/or join my facebook fan page, retweet and/or share this post via the link at the bottom and comment at the bottom of this post (basically, spread the news about this giveaway). your comment would serve as your entry to the giveaway. the winner will be chosen randomly through random.org. deadline of submitting your entries would be on august 07, 2010 12:00pm pst and winners will be announced shortly after that.

softest, flakiest and butteriest* buttermilk biscuits

what you need:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1/4 cup shortening, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 cup cold buttermilk + 1/4 cup (optional) for brushing on top of biscuits before baking

what to do:
1. preheat oven to 425 degress F. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl to blend.

2. using your fingers, food processor, or pastry blender, rub/pulse/cut chilled butter and shortening into flour until it resembles a course meal.

3. add buttermilk into the mixture and mix until it's moist. roll out dough into a well floured surface and cut dough into desired shapes (i like the square ones with scalloped edges). brush tops with buttermilk.

4. place biscuits 2 inches apart onto a lined baking pan and bake for 15 minutes or until lightly brown. serve warm with butter or slap on some bacon, eggs and cheese, coat with breading and deep fry!!!

* i did not know it was technically a real word!! you learn something new everyday.

car stunts + turkey empanada

2010-07-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

i drive a lot and many people can attest to that fact. and since i'm in the car most of the time, eating there is a very common thing for me. but as much as i love eating crap from fast food places, it can get tiring... very tiring. i mean yes, there are a lot of different places to go to but when you get addicted to deep fried tacos from jack in the box, you just keep coming back. yes, eating that sh*t in the car is not the easiest thing to do, it requires a lot of skill and coordination. pulling the tacos from the bag on the passenger seat, getting the hot sauce, opening the hot sauce with my teeth then throwing the little piece of plastic back into the bag, holding the taco on the right hand and the sauce on the other while still holding the steering wheel, putting the sauce and omg, i need to stop, i'm getting scared trying to write that process down. there's a reason why i'm writing this... ah yes, the empanadas.

doing all of that car stunts makes me want to eat something a little more convenient, something that would not give me a death scare whenever i'm eating while driving. then i thought about making empanadas. little pockets of heaven filled with meaty goodness that wouldn't require too much of me while driving. holding it on one hand wouldn't be much of a chore. i got real excited after the thought of that.

i also though that if i make a lot, then i can pack some for my boyfriend's lunch. hmmm. that got me more excited. the very first time i tried making these, i did it with beef which was so good. but this time around i didn't have any beef so i just used turkey, which i have most of the time. hell, they're so cheap at costco that's why.
the only issue i have with this dish is that it requires me to use so many dishes, and damn i hate washing dishes. my clean freak mother would always tell me that whenever she cooks the kitchen never gets as messy as it does when i'm the one cooking. goodness, i hate washing dishes. anyway, don't let the number of dishes required to make this recipe discourage you. i promise you, the end result will be all worth it. promise.

anyway, i made it right before i went to pick up the boyfriend from work. right before i left, i grabbed two of the freshly baked empanadas, one fore me and one for the boyfriend because he is always starving after work. the empanadas were a hit for eating while driving. i am now overflowing with ideas of what to put inside empanadas. omg! when i finally got to the hospital where the boyfriend works, i saw him walk up to the car, on the passenger side and saw my little gift for him and i saw him smile. he got in, asked what it was and i told him, he took a bite and loved it. i was happy. we got home and he ate 2 more. so i ended up making some more for his lunch the next day. without anymore delays, here's the recipe.

turkey empanadas

the crust

what you need:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup or 2 sticks of unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

what to do:
1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, sugar, turmeric powder and ground black pepper; pulse to combine. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds.

2. With machine running, add ice water through feed tube in a slow, steady stream, just until dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Do not process more than 30 seconds. Test by squeezing a small amount of dough together; if it is still too crumbly, add a bit more water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

3. Turn out dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half, and place each half on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into flattened disks. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

the filling

what you need
1 pound ground turkey or beef or pork
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 cup finely diced potatoes
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
a few dashes of hot sauce
salt and pepper
1/2 cup corn (optional)
1/2 cup green peas (optional)
2 large eggs, slightly beaten

1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp water

what to do:
1. preheat oven to 425 degrees F. over medium heat, heat up a large saute pan and drizzle oil. saute onions and garlic. when onions are translucent, add potatoes and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. add dried herbs.

2. add the turkey, break apart big clumps and cook until everything's lightly browned. then sprinkle sugar, add soy sauce, vinegar and hot sauce (it's up to you on how much you add, but don't go overboard). cook for another 5 minutes. don't forget to season with salt and pepper as you go.

3. if you want to add peas and corn, this would be the best time to do it. after about another 3 minutes, remove from heat and let cool.

4. cook the eggs like how you would a frittata. once cooked, chop into small pieces and mix into the cooked turkey mixture.

assembly
take each cut out circle and roll it out so it is thin, but not so thin you can see through it. put about 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of the circle and seal the edges. place the filled empanada on a lined baking sheet. beat egg and water together. before placing in the oven, brush the top of each empanada with the egg glaze. bake for 20 minutes.

p.s. follow me on twitter @oomnivore.

mini soft pretzels

2010-07-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

it has been a long time since i posted something, i wish i could blame it on my crazy hectic schedule, but that excuse was just for may and early part of june, then it's all because of laziness after that. i didn't even realize that my blog had been online now for a little over a year, which is exciting. but, looking at it, i don't have a lot to show for it, i have less than 50... less than 40 posts, which in the food blogging world would be cuh-razy. some bloggers post more than 30 on their first quarter! what i'm trying to say is that, i am really disappointed that i haven't kept up with this blog. with the amount of cooking i do on a regular basis, i should have tons of recipes posted on here, but then again... i was lazy.

on a happier note... BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG!!! so it's been more than a year since i posted my very first recipe, and i am really quite excited that i have reached this point. i have blogged in the past but none of them lasted this long. so, even if i have ranted, got depressed and took prozac on the first part of this post, i am still giving myself a pat on the shoulder for going back up in here. so before i get you all depressed, let's talk about pretzels.

i had a pretzel last month after shopping, then i thought, "this seems easy to make, why haven't i made it yet?!". that had been in the back of my mind since then. i have been looking around for pretzel recipes and this seems like the easiest one. i am telling you after a long hiatus from blogging, i needed an easy recipe for this blog so that i don't end up throwing away and not posting the end result.

so, yesterday afternoon, i started my journey to pretzel heaven and it was all about waiting. i think as much as i am addicted* to bread, i am not too fond of making it because of the waiting. if only there's a way to make yeast breads really really fast (suggestions?). if you don't include the waiting time, making this should've been fast; but that waiting thing can't be avoided, unfortunately.

by the way, i did not stick to regular ones, some of them had garlic, shallots and cheese on top. since my boyfriend is such a cheese fiend, i said why not. but i had slight issues with the ones i topped with garlic, had a a slight fishy taste to it. i am not sure what it is exactly, maybe it was the garlic, but i used fresh ones (at least i think they're fresh). oh, before i forget, just for fun i included a short video with cheesy background music on how to twist them pretzel dough. excuse the tummy! without anymore interruptions, here's the recipe i followed.

mini soft pretzels
by martha stewart
what you need
2 cups warm water, 100 degrees to 110 degrees
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons canola oil
2 tablespoons baking soda
1 large egg
Coarse or pretzel salt
Vegetable-oil cooking spray

what to do
1. Pour warm water into bowl of electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. In a small bowl, combine water and sugar, and stir to dissolve sugar. Sprinkle with yeast, and let sit 10 minutes; yeast should be foamy.

2. Add 1 cup flour to yeast, and mix on low until combined. Add salt and 4 cups flour, and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Beat on medium-low until dough pulls away from sides of bowl, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup flour, and knead on low 1 minute more. If dough is still wet and sticky, add 1/2 cup more flour (this will depend on weather conditions); knead until combined, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a lightly floured board, and knead about 10 times, or until smooth.

3. Pour oil into a large bowl; swirl to coat sides. Transfer dough to bowl, turning dough to completely cover all sides. Cover with a kitchen towel, and leave in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size.

4. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly spray two baking sheets with cooking spray. Set aside. Punch down dough to remove bubbles. Transfer to a lightly floured board. Knead once or twice, divide into 16 pieces (about 2 1/2 ounces each), and wrap in plastic.

5. Roll one piece of dough at a time into an 18-inch-long strip. Twist into pretzel shape; transfer to prepared baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel. Continue to form pretzels; 8 will fit on each sheet. Let pretzels rest until they rise slightly, about 15 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, fill large, shallow pot with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Add baking soda. Reduce to a simmer; transfer 3 to 4 pretzels to water. Poach 1 minute. Use slotted spoon to transfer pretzels to baking sheet. Continue until all pretzels are poached.

7. Beat egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush pretzels with egg glaze. Sprinkle with salt. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack, or eat warm. Pretzels are best when eaten the same day, but will keep at room temperature, uncovered, for 2 days. Do not store in covered container or they will become soggy.

*confession: i am a bread addict. i can finish a loaf of white bread in one sitting (i kid you, not). and if there's more i can eat all of 'em too... well, more like inhale 'em (hence hence the tummy on the video).

almond cranberry biscotti

2010-04-08T05:35:00.000-07:00

i have been wanting to make biscotti since that day trip shawn and i took before the semester started. those biscottis were hella good! like, seriously, i was picking the crumbs off the plate. i had to stop myself from licking it because we were sharing a table with 2 nice old women.

i finally decided to make these dunkables since it's my spring break which means... i have time, finally! i am also staying at shawn's for spring break which also means, i have to haul all the things i need to bake/cook/blog. basically, i have stuff at the back of my car that would allow me to cook anywhere that has an oven or stove, salt and pepper too, i normally expect homes to have those. my baking tools are nomads!

although i have michael ruhlman's ratio on hand, i still needed a recipe for this one because i don't think there's a biscotti ratio in the book. i am not sure about that info though, if there is please let me know or if michael ruhlman's reading this, i haven't read the entire book yet, sorry. i went to my go to site for all my baking needs, joyofbaking and saw that she has an almond biscotti recipe posted.

with my computer on the kitchen counter with recipe on it, i gathered all the things required to make biscotti and then i realized something. there was no butter or oil in this recipe. i thought, hmmm, how is this possible, you can bake without butter?!?!?!?! then i remembered that butter makes baked goods tender and moist, two things biscottis are not. so it made sense to me, but the paula deen in me made it quite hard to accept. but i still managed to make it through without butter.

i have been wanting to use cranberries on something since i got it a few weeks ago, and i have decided to dump a cup of it into this recipe. and boy, they tasted really good, but i had a little issue with this recipe. it turned out a little chewy after baking it. i am not sure why, maybe there's too much sugar? or egg? i don't know but i am going to try another recipe next time. one of shawn's housemates, told me that it tasted like a fortune cookie, and i tasted it again and it indeed did. then i remembered, fortune cookies are made of eggs (white), sugar and flour so it makes sense.

well, here's the recipe that i used. enjoy and don't forget to brew up some coffee.

cranberry almond biscotti
adapted from joyofbaking

what you need:
1 cup toasted sliced almonds (you can use whole almonds)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup dried cranberries

what to do:
1. preheat oven at 350F/180C. place almonds in a parchment/foil lined baking sheet and toast for about 4-5 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant (if using whole almonds, toast for about 8-10 minutes).
2. after toasting the almonds, reduce oven temperature to 300F/150F.
3. in a small bowl, beat eggs, vanilla and almond extracts together.
4. in a larger bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar until everything is blended.
5. slowly add the egg mixture into the flour mixture while beating, add almonds and cranberries about halfway through and continue beating until it forms a dough (this will be easier if you have a hand or electric mixer).
6. on a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a log about 14 inches long and 3-4 inches wide. then transfer on a parchment lined baking sheet. bake fore about 30-40 minutes or until firm to touch.
7. remove from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes.
8. transfer log into a cutting board and slice diaganolly with a serrated knife. about 1/2 inch thick.
9. arrange slices evenly into a baking sheet and bake 10 minutes, turn them over and back for another 10 minutes or until it's firm to the touch. let it cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

if you want to spruce these babies up a little bit, you can dip them in melted chocolate.

p.s. follow me on twitter :) @OOmnivore

fried cream cheese wontons

2010-04-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

i know i haven't posted in almost two months... again. the past two months had been very busy. i have been shuffling back and forth between my house and shawn's this semester and that made hard for me to set up and take pictures of my cooking (mis)adventures. as i have said, it's been a very busy couple of months but i have been cooking a lot and testing out recipes. afterall, i gotta eat!

last night, shawn said he wanted wonton soup and with it, he wanted cream cheese wontons. since, he was sick, i gotta do it (well, i was craving it too actually). so i went to the store and bought stuff for dinner and some more to make desserts this week.

when i came back from the store, i had 15 pounds of flour, a few boxes of cream cheese and stuff for the wonton recipes i was about to tackle. i have to tell you something, i hate deep frying. i know everything tastes so much better fried... but deep frying is a whole different category, but i just can't seem to pour that much oil into a pot. it seems like a waste because you have to dump all that oil out after cooking on it, but for this recipe, i had to make an exception.

i think the only trouble some of you will encounter will be wrapping the cheese mixture in the wontons. i am not good at explaining how to wrap it, but here are photos of the steps. i hope you can figure it out, but if not just follow the instruction at the back of the wonton wrapper package ;). i also did my wrapping differently.

basically, i formed the wonton to form a 4-faced pyramid. also don't put too much filling or else you'll have a hard time closing the damn thing (yeah, yeah, i did it more than once).anyway, let me give you the super easy recipe now.

what you need:
vegetable oil (enough to fill your pot about 3 inches, if you have a deep fryer, that's so much better)
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softened (make sure it's soft or else, you'll have a hard time mixing it)
1 cup of finely chopped crab meat (i used imitation crab meat because it's cheap and we all know that i live on a college student budget)
3 tablespoons chopped scallions (green onions)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
30 wonton wrappers (i used the small square wraps)
water for sealing the wonton wrappers

what to do:
heat up the oil. mix cream cheese, (imitation) crab meat, scallions, salt and pepper until combined. put a small amount, about a teaspoon in each wrapper and close it up. fry it for about a minute and a half or until golden brown. that's it! don't forget to serve it with your favorite sweet chili sauce. ;)

that's it! it's that easy, and i'm telling you, it was oh-so-delicious! i am planning to make it again soon. like... ummm... tonight?! yes, tonight! oh, before i forget, i have to show you a picture of our adorable baby. he's so big now :)

p.s. follow me on twitter! @OOmnivore

a day of eating with shawn

2010-02-07T12:06:00.001-08:00

it's going to be a very busy semester for shawn since this is going to be his last. he is very excited about it and i am too. anyway, since he is going to be busy, i decided to take him out on a date. a week before our date i asked him what he wanted to eat and he told me mac and cheese. you see, shawn is a cheese fiend. so i went on an online quest to find the best mac and cheese in the area.

then i found the oxbow public market on a discussion at chowhound and they said it was really good. so with randall in the back of the car, treats in hand we headed off to napa.
since i haven't been in the napa area for over a year, we got lost for a little bit. well, technically not lost, because we were on the street we were supposed to be in. our directions said soscol ave, but what we see is highway 221. shawn got a little frustrated and we got gas because we were running low and i asked where soscol is and she said that it was the same as 221. so off we went and realized that we were less than 5 minutes away!

when we got there, we surveyed the place for a little bit and went to the cheese and wine place. shawn was like a little kid a candy store when he saw all the cheeses, i had to calm him down a bit. we then had a seat and ordered. he had the mac and cheese and i had the auto strata with tomato soup. everything was really, really good! we sat there and talked about how good the food was.

he told me that he felt like his mouth just had s*x after eating the mac and cheese. my sandwich and soup were really good too. the serving size were normal people size, not like the gigantic ones they have at claim jumper, and really filling. i guess, you really savor every bite of something that is really good, and thus making you full and satisfied. i just haven't sat down at a place and enjoy my food for a long time. i just have been eating for nourishment and haven't been really enjoying it.

we then went to ritual coffee,i had a latte and shawn had a macchiato. it was good coffee too. i actually don't know if it was really good coffee or it was just the whole experience. you know what, on second thought, it really was good coffee. there were not a lot of tables so we ended up sharing a table with these two older ladies. one of them asked me if we were visiting and i told her no, because i just live like 20 minutes away. she then told me that she asked because i had a camera and was taking pictures of the food and i told her that i blog about food. she then had a bog smile on her face and told me that it was so cute and her daughter would really like it because she was a foodie. i told shawn about it when he got to the table and bugged me about giving her my blog card, and i told him no, because i'm really shy. he then just did it himself!

after coffee we picked up some cupcakes to give to our friends anna and darren who we were going to visit after eating. we got them smores and passionfruit cupcakes at kara's cupcakes. the fatty in me told me that i should get a mini of something, so i decided to get the chocolate velvet one and it was really good. met in your mouth good.

so before doing anymore damage to our wallets, we left and headed off to rohnert park to our friends' apartment. when we got there, we just waited for anna and we got food. we had a big greasy, good burgers at this place near their apartment and finished the night off with frozen yogurt.

it was a really great day and i think that we should do it more often... if our budget allows it. but yeah, i really enjoyed it and i think that we started the semester right. what about you? what have you done for yourself lately?! enjoy, you only live once!

breakfast pizza

2010-01-27T00:06:00.000-08:00

i love my schedule this semester. 3 days a week at school really gives me more time to cook and that make good food and make my belly happy. since it's a tuesday today, we got the chance to sleep in late, other than the part when randall tries to wake us up to let us know that he needs to pee, poo or eat. but that's normally shawn's job to take him out during that time, because i really won't.

i was supposed to take shawn to napa to have a food tour today but he had a lot of things to do because he starts his last semester (yay!) tomorrow... and he doesn't like it very much. so instead of going out, i decided to just make pizza. and since we woke late and was craving for some breakfast food even before we slept last night it was a no-brainer to make it.

forcing myself out of bed and calming down randall from whimpering was not easy feat but i had to do it. half-wake, i dragged myself out of the room, filled his bowl with food and then checked the fridge for what i can use to make it. it made very happy to see that there were still a lot for stuff that i can cook since i went grocery shopping for my party. to my surprise, i found 2 bags of garlic herb pizza dough i got from trader joe's last friday and a bunch of other good stuff. i told shawn that i was going to put egg on it and told shawn about it and he said that it could be good and got even more excited to do it. so with my earphones on, i played house (the show) on my computer and started working on the pizza. by the way, this pizza is a really easy and quick one. good for those days when you want a quick, easy and a really good meal. also, the great thing about pizza is that you have total control of what and how much you put into your pizza. so go ahead, have fun and go crazy!

breakfast pizza

what you need:
a package of pizza dough (i used trader joe's garlic herb)
pesto (i used a store bought one)
small onion thinly sliced
diced tomatoes
1/4 head of iceberg lettuce shredded
a cup(or more if you like it really meaty) polish sausage, thinly sliced on the bias
3 to 6 eggs depending on how much eggs you want
feta cheese
parmesan cheese
5-4 leaves of basil
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

what to do:
1. crank up the oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit.
2. stretch out the dough into a cookie sheet depending on how thick you want it to be.
3. then spread some pesto on it, put the sausage, the tomatoes, the lettuce, crack the eggs on top, sprinkle the cheeses and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
4. bake for 20 minutes and try not to eat it in one sitting or by yourself! enjoy!

foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: it's a celebration!

2010-01-24T23:04:00.000-08:00

it all started around christmas time. it was actually during our christmas get together when they told me that i should host a dinner. then i thought, well, since january is my birthday month, i just might as well do it. i haven't really planned anything out yet, until foodbuzz accepted my proposal for a dinner. when i got that email saying that my proposal was accepted into their 24, 24, 24 event, i had a reason to do the dinner.

looking back at the week that just passed, i would like to say that it was a very, VERY stressful one. let me break it down to you, i started school last wednesday, i had to sign up for 2 more classes because i didn't get into the other class i wanted, and then do all the shopping and prep work for the dinner i hosted last night. goodness gracious, just thinking about the week that just passed makes me want to pull my hair out. gah, how did i survive that. shawn's right, prep work for that dinner i had should be more than a day. he can be right sometimes... sometimes.

before anything else, i want to rant on how i can't believe i just added another year to my age. ugh. birthdays can be really bittersweet sometimes. i still want to hold on to 18, but just as a number. seriously, if i think like i was still 18, oh no, i can't even do it. it was scary, ohhh, over-gelled hair and all. oh, the younger years.

now that i can breathe, i can now tell you what had transpired this past weekend.

i just invited a few friends over, mostly the ones who asked me to host a dinner last december, it was actually very last minute, though i still asked them to dress up a little bit. so, there were like 15 on the list, i think but people cancelled because they already had plans, and earlier plans trumps later plans any day. so i was just like, who ever come, comes and i guess there's gonna be more food for everyone.

prep work started the night before, shawn was my ~~forced~~ assistant, at least i had some help. we made a few stuff that had been in my repertoire for a while now, and a few more things to add to the mix. that night, we made the salsa for the bruschetta, patties for the turkey burger, marinated the beef and chicken for the barbecue, marinated the salmon for the seafood salad, started on the seafood salad, the mushroom and chive risotto and i baked the blondies. that was a lot considering there was just the two of us doing everything.

i woke up at 7 the next day to start on the potato leek soup, the sauce for the lemon pepper pasta, put the meats on sticks, baked the pineapple upsi... actually get everything done before everyone comes at 6 (or so).

it was a very long day. i was standing the whole day, i don't even remember going to the bathroom, which reminds me, "hey there kidneys, are you still okay?!". after all the stress of cooking a lot of food, people started coming semi wet from the rain. i love the rain, but hey rain, i'm serving hot food here!

so what was on the menu? here's a break down and the links where to find the recipe.
chive and onion dip
baked brie and camembert (brie, camembert and phyllo)
seafood salad on endive (salmon, imitation crab, mayo, celery, onions, relish and dill)
salsa fresca bruschetta
potato and leek soup with italian sausage (potatoes, leeks, cream, italian sausage)
chicken and beef on sticks
chicken parmesan
eggs in meatballs
lemon pepper chicken pasta
3 types of sausages (sweet italian turkey, chili cheese and cheddar jalapeno)
turkey burgers with sundried tomato mayo (ground turkey, basil, spices, mayo and sundried tomatoes)
chocolate cupcakes with chocolate & strawberry ganache and strawberry frosting (cocoa powder, butter, strawberries, melted chocolate and powdered sugar)
raspberry cups
pineapple upside down cake (pineapples, brown sugar and yellow cake)
blondies

oh my, i shouldn't have written all those down coz i am tired just thinking about it.

so while waiting for everyone to arrive, i filled up the little metal bucket we got at michael's with water and put 2 votives in each bucket and lit them. i was also very happy on how the table looked like after i turned on the christmas lights i put under the black sheer fabric i used to cover the table. oh and the dimmer i got at ikea worked with the christmas lights!!! so i could dim the lights on the table. i also turned off the light in the living room (that's where i set up the table to eat at) so that the only light would come from the table. it looked so pretty... well, that's what i think at least. i never got the chance to ask my friends if they liked it.

so, the night turned out to be a lot of fun, though it started out quiet, i think because everyone was just eating, or maybe they just didn't want to talk. i don't know, but whatever the reason was doesn't matter now because everyone had fun when we played guesstures! though my team lost in the game, i think we're still winners... wait, isn't that what losers say?! oh crap!

i have to tell you that, i don't know how to cook for a certain amount of people. my estimation skills are next to none, so i ended up making a spread good for an army. insead of just eating the leftovers for the next few days and maybe getting sick of it, we did what any other filipino family would, send food home with all the guests! the potato leek soup with italian sausage was a hit. maybe because of the weather, cold and rainy.

overall, it was a success. the exhaustion was worth it, though it didn't seem like it during the process of making all the food. i had my friends over who were had been there since i moved here to the states. they're all great an i am thankful to have them! also, i got a coffee shaped dessert (maiya) and gift cards (see's-janelle and macy's-andrew) out of it, so it was even better! it was a really wonderful birthday celebration, even though a few couldn't come since it was so last minute and some i didn't get the chance to invite because, again it was so last minute. but next time i will make sure to have everyone over, in batches though. seriously if i have another party with a lot of guests and i make everything by myself (or just with shawn) i would go crazy. so yeah, i think it'll be by batches next time!

goodness, this is such a long post. i guess i just want you to feel like you were there. i hope you did, and i'll give you a few recipes from the party. i'll post the others in the future because if i did it right now, this post will be very long (as if it's not already)!

okay, here are the recipes.

onion and chive dip
for those moments you just want to munch on something

what you need:
1 box of cream cheese (16 oz)
3 heaping tbsp of sour cream
3 tbsp minced onions
2 tbsp minced chives
1 tbsp of hot sauce
salt and pepper

what to do:
just put all of them in a bowl and mix well, serve with crackers or put on bread! it's that easy!

lemon pepper pasta

what you need:

for the chicken:
2 chicken breasts ( i used skinless and boneless)
1/4 cup lemon pepper
2 tbsp paprika
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp oil

for the pasta:
1 lb of penne (or whatever pasta shape you like)
1 tbsp butter
1 small onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 lb jar of alfredo sauce (i used ragu)
1 cup cream (i used milk and it's fine)
2 tbsp lemon pepper
salt and pepper to taste

what to do:

the chicken:
1. mix lemon pepper, parika and salt in a bowl and then cover the chicken with this mixture.
2. heat up a pan over medium high stove-top, melt the butter and cook the chicken. maybe about 3-4 minutes on each side, depending on the size of the chicken breasts. once cooked, set aside and do not discard the drippings on the pan

the pasta:
1. cook the pasta according to package directions. set aside
2. with the drippings in the pan (if there's a lot of burnt solids, strain it into a small bowl and put back the oily goodness into the pan and throw away the burnt stuff, that oil has a lot of flavor!!!)
3. melt the butter into the oil.
4. cook the onions and garlic until the onions become translucent.
5. put in the alfredo sauce and cream.
6. add the lemon pepper. cook for about 2 minutes or until it starts forming bubbles.
7. dice the chicken you cooked and add it into the sauce, after a minute add the drained pasta into the pan (if it fits) and toss everything together.

raspberry cups

what you need:
6 layers of phyllo dough
1 stick butter melted
1 box of cream cheese (16oz)
3 tbsp raspberry puree
2 tsp sugar
zest of one orange
juice of half a lemon

what to do:
1. butter each layer of phyllo pastry (there's normally directions on how to do this in the box)
2. cut a 2 1/2 inch square, or enough to mold a little cup + overhang (just like the picture above) in a mini muffin pan.
3. bake it in a 350 degree over until brown. set aside to cool.
4. for the filling mix the cream cheese, raspberry puree, sugar, orange zest and lemon juice.
5. with a piping bag or just fill a ziploc bag and cut a small piece of the tip, fill the phyllo cups. top with shaved chocolate or a white chocolate chip.
6. make sure you don't finish this yourself!

i know that this post is very bandwidth hungry so sorry for that. and i want to thank shawn for making this event possible and for being such a wonderful boyfriend and randall for eating all the crumbs on the floor. i love you guys!

oh, and shawn's not taller than me, i am slouching on this photo because my feet hurt... a lot!

i will also update this post to put a video montage of the event, but that will have to wait because i have school tomorrow. ugh. oh and if you want to see the photos, here's a link to the album.

again, thanks everyone for making this possible even though it was so last minute!

and...
get ready for a barage of photos!!!! here they come!!!

sour cream pancakes

2010-01-16T23:29:00.000-08:00

me and shawn’s daily routine this winter break includes, shawn waking up really early to let out randall, because honestly i am crazy in the morning. well, it’s because i sleep so late from catching up on shows i have missed that day because we don’t have cable right now since it’s the recession. and besides, i can download almost any show online… well, except food network, sad i know. he would then feed randall and go back to sleep and we would wake up around noon already. that's the reason why i don't get the chance to make a lot of breakfast type food these days, and making it around noon is just weird to me. so i just normally cook lunch food. but we like breakfast food a lot and shawn loves pancakes so making this was a really good idea and it's something both of us would enjoy since we miss eating it!

i know that a lot of people grew up eating the joy of cooking’s buttermilk pancakes. not me. well, living in the third world, i grew up on powdered milk and white bread with butter and sprinkled with sugar. pancakes weren’t a household staple there, but some small bakeries and food vendors who carry their merchandise on their heads with a bilao (bamboo baskets) would sell pancakes, or hotcakes as we call them, in the afternoon around 3pm. they would be much sweeter than what’s normally served here in the states. they’re also smeared with salty margarine and sprinkled with sugar. those vendors obviously don’t know a lot about healthy eating, but hell, those things were chunks of heaven wrapped in a plastic bag. yes they give those hotcakes to you in clear transparent bags, just like the bags in the produce section of your supermarket. weird, huh?! that’s the philippines for ya!

i love those hotcakes, it’s one of the things i remember eating when i was a kid. sweet, salty and greasy, that’s how i ate my pancake when i was younger. let me stop talking about my childhood for now and talk about these pancakes.

i was supposed to make muffins with the sour cream i bought, but then after i got home i didn’t want to make muffins anymore. so the sour cream sat there for about 3 days. then i remembered shawn telling me that he was craving for pancakes a few days back, i think before i bought the sour cream, then i thought, hmm, if there’s a buttermilk pancake, then i am almost for sure that somebody had made a recipe for sour cream pancakes. so i grabbed my computer and typed in sour cream p… then google search suggested sour cream pancakes ina garten. I WAS IN HEAVEN! ina garten is my favorite food network star and i just LOVE her. do the capitalized letters show how obsessed i am over her? hi ina! i know, it’s a long shot that she’d be reading this. anyway, after gathering my self up from that excitement, i went to the kitchen with laptop in hand, opened it on the counter and started getting all the necessary components to make them and started getting into it! i think this will be a staple in my kitchen now.

this recipe is really quick, easy and so good. really good! so you, yes you! go get that unopened tub of sour cream in your fridge and make this now! i don’t care what time it is where you’re located, i’m pretty sure it’s morning somewhere and besides, breakfast is good anytime.

here’s the recipe, enjoy and bon appetit! oh, and as andrew zimmern says, “if it looks good, eat it” and this one does!

sour cream pancakes
by ina garten (she used bananas, but i didn’t have any)

what you need:
1 1/2 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt (i’m pretty sure regular table salt is fine, just use 1 tsp though)
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp milk
2 extra large eggs (i used large eggs and it turned out fine)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest
unsalted butter

what to do:
1. sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. no sifter/fine wire mesh? use your whisk! whisk the dry ingredients together.
2. on another bowl combine sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla extract and lemon zest.
3. add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix only until combined. don’t overmix the batter, or your pancake will be chewy, dense and tough!
4. melt a tablespoon of butter on a large skillet over medium low heat until it bubbles.
5. ladle the pancake batter into the skillet and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or until bubbles appear on top and the bottom is nicely browned.
5. flip those babies over and cook for another minute or so until its browned.
6. serve warm with butter and maple syrup, and if you’re like my boyfriend douse it with syrup!

chicken with lemon and caper sauce & this blog is still alive!

2010-01-15T19:31:00.000-08:00

my crazy schedule is to be blamed for the lack of attention this blog has been getting… or not getting, i really don’t know how to phrase that. but you get my point, right?! but anyway, the past couple of weeks had been very hectic for both me and shawn. we had been going out to see family, and just plain busy at home. yesterday, we cleaned so much! and i am telling you… a lot, like filled-half-the-96-gallon-garbage-bin a lot. it was a very tiring day yesterday and apart from cleaning we repositioned the bed and did 3 loads of laundry. oh my, writing it down makes me so tired already. but it’s a good thing that it’s over now and i can breathe again.
now, let’s talk about food. i made this dish twice last week and it’s really easy. first, i was just playing with the ingredients i had and made dinner for me and shawn and he liked it. he liked it so much that he pimped me into doing it again at his cousin’s house. so his cousin and i went to safeway and bought the stuff, because she only had green onions in her fridge. i also made herb roasted potatoes, but you know what, i really do think that i should venture into other sides. seriously! like what out friend vince made when we went there this week. he made mashed potatoes with mustard seeds. it was really good!

anyway, let me give you the recipe. and you should try it! its really good!

chicken with lemon and caper sauce

what you need:
3 chicken breasts
paprika
salt and pepper
2 tbsp oil
for the sauce:
splash of white wine
1/4 cup finely chopped onions/shallots
1/2 stick of butter
2 tbsp capers
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup milk/cream/half & half (depends on how creamy you want the sauce)

what to do:
1. heat up a pan with oil in it over medium heat.
2. make sure you pat the chicken breasts dry so that it’ll brown, then sprinkle it with salt, pepper and paprika.
3. cook the chicken for about 5 minutes on each side, if you’re not sure if the chicken is cooked all the way through, cut a little slit on the thickest part of the breast and see if the juices run clear. if not cook a little bit more.
4. when the chicken is cooked, take it out of the pan and cover it with foil.
5. don’t dump the drippings just yet, we’re going to use that to make a pan sauce.
6. crank up the heat to medium high, and add a splash of wine into the pan to loosen up the caramelized juices at the bottom of the pan.
7. add the butter and after it melts, add the shallots/onions and capers. cook until the onions are translucent.
8. add the cream/milk/half & half and lemon juice. cook for another minute or two, whisking/stirring constantly to make sure nothing breaks/curdles.
9. remember, taste it as you go and salt and pepper it too. take it out of the heat and add the parsley.
10. serve with your favorite side. i used herb roasted potatoes. oh, and some roasted garlic to.

01022010 (it's the same backwards!) & huevos rancheros

2010-01-02T09:58:00.000-08:00

i can't believe that a decade has passed since the crazy pandemonium y2k caused. computers going crazy and shutting down on you was a scary thought for a lot of people because most of us relied on computer-run systems and machines. people taking out all their money from the banks and atm, going crazy shopping at costco and filling up their pantries and basements with craploads of food and water. then 2000 came. nothing happened. everything was normal. well at least from what i saw. nothing too big happened. but i what i remember from that time was a fully stocked pantry for a few months. and i'm saying FULLY STOCKED! even though the extent of my culinary skills before wasn't as diverse as it is now, i really had a big fascination with food and everything related to it.

i went back to school in the past year and was happy with the results of that. i also started this blog, which i forgot for a while but now starting to get back into. it's really rewarding to start a project and see it progress right before your eyes. i have a very short attention span and keeping this blog is a challenge in itself. a challenge that i put on myself so that i have that constant pressure that my body seeks. pressure's like crack to me, i need it or else imma go crazy and pass out in the middle of the street naked with a fork on one hand and a whisk on the other. i also joined project 365 on flickr for food bloggers. i joined because i want to do something for a year, continuously. i know that by december 31 of this year, i can look back at 365 photos i have taken and i know that it'll be a great recap of my year.

as much as i want to post a recipe, i couldn't. i made chili for new year's eve dinner, but i didn't follow a recipe and i didn't keep tract of the ingredients i put in, so i can't share that with you. and the photos were horrible! i don't have the heart to show those horrible pictures with you! oh wait, do you know how to make huevos rancheros?! if not, i'll share it with you! OH YAY! i have a recipe to share! also i attempted to make churros, but i then realized that i dont have a large star tip for my pastry bag so i just made ball with the dough, fried it, rolled it in cinnamon sugar and slathered chocolate ganache all over it!

huevos rancheros

what you need:
corn tortilla
eggs
shredded cheese (i used mexican blend, the prepackaged one. yes, i know.)
fresh salsa (wanna make your own? it's quick and easy! recipe's here)
salt and pepper

what to do:
1. heat up a corn tortilla on a frying pan
2. put some cheese on the tortilla and let it melt a little bit.
3. put egg on top of tortilla.
4. let the egg cook for a little bit, then flip it over to cook the other side.
5. flip the tortilla back over, put some more cheese on top, let it melt.
6. put it on a plate and top it with salsa.
7. you can add different sides to it too. i had some leftover chili so that got into the plate, but you can also add the more classical mexican stuff like beans and rice. it's really up to you, wanna put a banana there? go ahead.

all that brownie goodness

2009-12-30T17:57:00.000-08:00

i was around 8 or 9 when i had my first bite of this chocolatey goodness. my taste buds remember clearly that those little square bars were sweet and salty. it was a very simple brownie that my mom's friend from church makes everytime there's an event. the brownie itself was sweet but not too sweet and it is topped with ground up salted nuts. i can almost taste it just by thinking about it. it's one of those things that remind my of my childhood.

okay, i know that brownies had been made over and over again in different food blogs all over the internet, and i couldn't really say that mine's better than all of them because , i haven't really made them all. coz seriously, that's gonna be so expensive if i even made 10 percent of it.

anyway, i was craving for brownies the other day and when i crave for something, it's either i make it or just run to the store and go binge buying. and as i have said on my previous post, i could not go on around buying all those stuff without cleaning out my bank account. so i have decided on just using whatever it is that's inside my pantry. oh and good thing i remembered that i bought a crapload of chocolate chips right before christmas to make truffles but i never got around to doing it. so instead of making truffles, i am making brownies and putting those chocolate chips to better use for right now.

so the brownie recipe i used was a really easy one and very fudgy. it's very moist and not too sweet. you can add whatever the hell you want in it, like nuts, chocolate chips or whatever. it's up to you. i was chanelling ina garten's back to basic on this brownie recipe. so grab a pen and paper, or you can just print the recipe.

also, after i baked the brownies, i put it in the fridge overnight first before cutting, that's why the brownies in the pictures are cut straight and it makes cutting it easier too.

brownies

what you need:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (you can use milk chocolate or even white chocolate, ohhh imma try that next time!!!)
3/4 cup butter
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp instant coffee
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour

what to do:
1. preheat oven to 325 degrees farenheit and grease a 9x9 inch pan, then set it aside.
2. melt butter and chocolate on a double broiler, or a bowl put on top of a pot with boiling water.
3. when the chocolate and butter has melted, add cocoa powder and instant coffee.
4. on a medium sized bowl beat eggs and sugar together, add salt and vanilla extract.
5. add the egg mixture into the melted chocolate and butter bowl. mix well.
6. add the flour and mix just until flour is incorporated. don't overmix coz it'll get tough on ya!
6. pour the mixture into the grease 9x9 inch pan.
7. bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and it comes out clean. let it cool.
8. stop yourself from devouring everything. it can feed other people too.

goodie boxes for christmas and shortbread cookies

2009-12-29T13:47:00.001-08:00

christmas is said to be the time for giving. but for poor people like me who celebrates it on a very limited budget, giving can be quite hard. i'd rather keep that digital weighing scale i'll be buying for white elephant to myself, or i'll make sure to get it back during the game. as i have said, since we're on a budget, i have decided to just make goodie boxes for christmas. and for goodness sakes, they better like sweets, oh and not allergic to nuts. which reminds me, when i gave away cookies during our speech class, i forgot to tell everyone that the cookies had walnuts. and boy oh boy, one of my classmates was allergic to walnuts. good thing she wasn't anaphylactic.

anyway, since we're in a budget, making my own goodie box would be a lot cheaper and would be more thoughtful because we put put more thought into it and exerted effort. please, they better like it, or even just pretend.

oh, did you see the boxes we used? don't the look great? and the boxes are in my favorite colors. guess where we got 'em. oh my, i hate it when i read that statement, as if i can hear your answers. and i just did it. eek. so let me tell you, me and shawn got it at the 99 cent store. yes! those 5 dollar hallmark boxes are 99 cents. and we needed seven and there were seven left. we were just so lucky. and get this, when we were paying, the cashier was begging us to give her one, but the christmas spirit was telling us not to give her any because we needed seven. i know, but again, we're on a budget and i know for sure that we can't get those purrrty boxes for 99 cents anywhere else.

those boxes were filled with blondies, shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate and walnuts, and banana bread. one box had mini pineapple upside-down cakes, that's for shawn's aunt and uncle. it was fun putting everything together and seeing how it looked like afterward.

let me talk about the shortbread cookies the was inside the goodie box. they were small and cute. and they looked so delicate. i love it!

this was the very first time i made a shortbread cookie and it's a good thing it tasted great. i also did not want to just give it as it is, so i slathered some melted chocolate on it and dipped it in chopped walnuts. anything dipped in chocolate is great in my book.

i bet a lot of you have their go to shortbread cookie recipe and if you are obsessed with it, i am not going to tell you to follow my recipe, but i'm telling you it was great. you mught as well try it, you've reached this part of the post anyway, so it means you are interested.

shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate and walnuts

what you need:
shortbread
2 sticks of chilled butter
2/3 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

what to do:
1. preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
2. with a food processor: put all the shortbread ingredients in the food processor, run it until it forms a soft crumbly dough. if you don't have a food processor like me, cut the butter into the flour and sugar with your hands, when it's nice and crumbly, add the egg and vanilla extract.
3. knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it all comes together.
4. make balls the size of a tablespoon and flatten it with a fork to make the lines i have in the picture above.
5. bake for 20 minutes or until the sides are firm.

what you need:
coating
1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1 cup melted cocolates (i used semisweet, but it's really up to you on what you want to use)

what to do:
1. melt the chocolate on a double broiler.
2. put the toasted walnuts in the food processor and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal.
3. dip the shortbread cookies halfway in the melter chocolate and then into the chopped walnuts.

voila!!!! you have pretty shortbread cookies!

salsa fresca bruschetta with balsamic vinegar

2009-12-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

what i love about living where i do is the availability of fresh produce all year round. i am so close to a lot of different small produce markets. there's a lot of them within a 10-mile radius of my house. but you know, it's a shame that sometimes, i am too lazy to drive even 5 or 10 minutes to go to those produce places. i would normally end up going to foodmax or raley's. i know, i suck. it's just so hard to make myself drive further when i know that raley's, though their prices are really inflated, is just down the street from me. i just hope that they support local produce *fingers crossed*.

anyway, i made this a week before finals and i thought that it's would be a really great snack, but it ended up being our dinner. at first i was thinking of making something else with the tomatoes but then i had a random craving for salsa. i tried making salsa few years ago, but it failed. it tasted bitter for some reason. ~~i don't know why~~. oh wait, i think i remember now. i put it in the food processor and didn't stop it until it's almost mush. then i thought, oh maybe it'll be like those store bought salsa like pace. i was wrong. dead wrong. it was so bitter i couldn't make it get past the tip of my tongue. i was traumatized from then on, and thought that fresh salsa was really hard to do.

then i tried it again and added what i didn't a few years back. lime. i thought if only i put lime before, i wouldn't have spent so much money on store bought salsa in the last few years. but i've put all that behind me now and i am addicted to making my own salsa.

i was originally planning to just make chips from the soft tortilla that's inside the fridge, but i already bought french bread earlier, so i decided to use that. i feel like this is not so blog because it's so simple, but, what the heck, this blog is about food and what i eat and make, so i might as well share you the stories that surrounded it. and by the way, shawn liked this very much. he fought me for the last piece! so i just had ice cream to fill me up.

salsa fresca buschetta

what you need:

salsa fresca
3 roma tomatoes
1 small onion (i used half of a medium onion)
1 tsp of minced jalapeno (you can use more, i just can't handle heat very much)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

bruschetta
crusty bread
garlic
olive oil
balsamic vinegar

what to do:

salsa fresca

dice tomatoes and finely dice onions. then put together everything in a large bowl, tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, parsley and lime juice. add salt and pepper if you like. as i have said before, taste as you go.

assemble the bruschetta
slice the crusty bread diagonally and put it in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. then rub garlic on the bread. top it with the salsa and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. that's it!!! enjoy!

pasta with fennel, spinach and mushroom

2009-12-17T19:37:00.000-08:00

finals are over! i am so happy. it had been a very stressful week. for the very first time in a very looong time. i had two big finals last tuesday and an extra credit paper due. it was ridiculous and tiring, to say the least. during finals week, what sustained my already overnourished body was potato bread, nutella and gallons of arizona iced tea. i bet all that sugar's responsible for me still not feeling okay until now.

by the way, i started this blog a few months ago and stopped posting for a 2 months. the past few months had been very busy. i am not even sure if people are going here. but i know that sooner or later people will notice this little place i have online. eek. too much drama. but in all honesty, i really need to get on this blog and get with the program. i know that if i just post often and be active in the food blogging community, i can make new friends and who knows martha stewart might just notice me. i know it's a long shot but a gay can dream!

let's talk about food right now, because i think that's the purpose of this blog. FOOD PORN!

as i was saying after i got sidetracked by all my drama, i was talking about how finals made me fat. yes, i blame it on college exams, freshmen fifteen you say?! heck, it was freshmen fifty for me. i was living off of fast food this semester, might as well eat sticks of butter dipped in cream cheese and wash it down with oil! it was pretty bad, i know, but i still managed to sneak in some cooking here in there.

goodness, i always get sidetracked. anyway, i was gonna tell you that i went to the produce place near my house during finals week to relax and buy stuff to cook and i got me some fennel, tomatoes and a few others. i went home, thought long and hard if should just drive to jack in the box or boil some water and get the chopping board. good thing i decided on the latter. anyway, here's the recipe for it.

pasta with fennel, spinach and mushroom

what you need:

1/2 lb dried pasta, bioled according to package directions
2 tbsp olive oil + extra for drizzling on the plate
5 cloves of garlic chopped
1 small onion thinly sliced
1 small fennel, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced (i used roma)
1 cup chopped mushrooms (i used oyster mushrooms)
1 cup chopped spinach
2 tsp soy sauce
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste (easy on the salt, there's soy sauce and cheese already)

what to do:

1. in a big pan over medium high heat, saute garlic and onion in olive oil. do this for about 2 minutes.
2. add fennel and tomatoes, cook until fennel is soft. about 7 minutes.
3. add mushroom and soy sauce. cook for about 5 minutes or until mushrooms get soft.
4. don't forget to add salt or pepper as you go along. and also, taste, taste, taste!!! your tongue is best tool in the kitchen!
5. lower the heat to medium, add the boiled pasta into the vegetables, add the spinach and cheese. toss until the spinach wilt and then serve!
6. i drizzled a little bit of olive oil on the pasta before i served it, and some freshly ground pepper.

that's it. i had some trouble plating, i thought it would look nice if i layer each ingredient but i failed. so i just decided to toss everything together. enjoy!

sunnyside up and scrambled eggs + leftover thanksgiving ham

2009-12-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

i love breakfast food, and if you don't you are sooo missing out! i don't normally get the chance to have breakfast these days, either because i am running late or i am just too lazy to make something.

as people who want you to lose weight say, you need to eat breakfast as it is the most important meal of the day. i totally agree with that, and if i can make every meal breakfast, then every meal is important. yum! anyway, after thanksgiving, i have decided to make breakfast for me and shawn. on the menu, leftover ham from shawn's aunt.

i just made a simple omelette with chopped up ham inside and topped it off with cream cheese for shawn and for me, fried egg on top of toasted bread with big chunks of cream cheese.

i love it when the yolk is still runny and i break it, then it runs all over everything on your plate. ah, heaven! so you, yes you, go eat your breakfast, it't the best meal of the day.

blondies

2009-12-05T20:45:00.000-08:00

i haven't been on this blog in like... hmmm. uhhhh... forever. i just got caught up with so much many things. the past few months had been very hectic and i am happy that it is about to end.

by the way, there are a few things that i have done in the past few months of inactivity that has something to do with the blog. i bought a new camera for better photos, i got a dotcom, and shawn and randall got me an early christmas gift... a new set of pots and pans. so those things will really be inspiring me to make new things. i have been cooking a little bit here and there, but nothing really major or blog worthy.

a week ago, i have decided to make something new, and a lot of regular people are not familiar of. i made blondies. i know you food fanatics know what they are but a lot of people don't. and whenever i get asked on what they are, what i tell them is that, blondies are like brownies but not quite. they're not chocolate-y, but they are gooey and soft in the inside. or sometimes i'd tell them that it's like a chocolate chip cookie but thick like a brownie. and it's a good thing that most of them get it.

anyway, i was also thinking of just being more active in the food blog community, just to know what's out there, because seriously, i signed up for foodbuzz to check out how and what other people are cooking and hopefully make new friends, but i don't even visit other people's blogs. i just don't have the time or at least i don't think i have. i just need to manage my time better. i just had a realization, sometimes, i go online and just look at my screen or click on the home icon on firefox which brings me to yahoo, and i'll click that home button over and over again, and before you know it, and hour had passed. scary. i need to be more aware, because if i continue on this path, i'll be in the loony bin. eek.

okay, moving on, let's get down to business.
blondies. shawn's latest obsession. he loves them. i don't know why.
oh wait, did i tell you guys about randall, our new dog?! well here he is.

**okay, focus xai, focus. tell them about the recipe**

alrighty then, blondies. according to wikipedia, it's a brownie without the chocolate. i guess it's that simple, huh?! well, here it is.

blondies - print
what you need:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, plus butter for pan
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

what to do:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. butter and line a 9 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan with parchment paper, allowing a 2-inch overhang. butter the parchment paper too
3. whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
4. melt the butter in a medium saucepan; add sugar and whisk until combined and sugar is melted, about 5 minutes. transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and let cool slightly.
5. whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract until combined.
6. add the flour and whisk until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts and transfer the mixture to the prepared pan.
7.bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top cracks slightly and is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the center comes out with moist pieces clinging to it.
8. remove to a wire rack and let cool completely. cut into 1-inch squares as they are very rich.

shawn cooks 01: sweet and spicy chicken pot pie

2009-09-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

So typically I would leave all the writing to my wonderful boyfriend Xai, the creator of this spectacular food extravaganza, however, I am just too inclined to stealing the spotlight from time to time =) Hello everyone! My name is Shawn and I am often portrayed as the wonderful, assistant boyfriend in almost every blog. For those of you who do know me you know me as the couch potato, leave all the cooking to my boyfriend type of guy. Well ladies, gentlemen, fairies, and lumberjacks, this is my sorry excuse of a poor agenda to prove the world wrong; I can cook too =)

You know how when you have a significant other in your life you try to compromise (even sometimes against your will) and get into the things that they like to do? Xai has been wonderful about going out to the tennis courts with me so I figured, “What the heck; I will take a trip to his home court!” And we all know that this means I had to tie up my apron and run the gauntlet known as the Obviously Omnivore Kitchen; a place where no ordinary human being could survive that easily. Luckily, I have been with the man for 3 years and counting and have developed survival tactics like no other. So with all this introductory stuff out of the way let’s sink our cyber teeth into another delicious recipe!

Obviously Omnivore is not just about spurs of creativity. We’d like to think that from our creative ideas we can make things that bring people together, meals that make you reminisce and feel comfort, and even those, “I need to eat in 15 minutes” kind of meals because everyone is different. When I thought of this recipe, I wanted to do something that was inspired by my relationship with none other than mister Chef Xai himself =P I did a sweet and spicy chicken casserole with a buttermilk biscuit crust because sometimes things are sweet and savory and sometimes things just get so hot that we both need a time out. But I think EVERYONE’S taste buds will agree, metaphorically speaking as well, that the flavors are wonderful together and you couldn’t pair them any other way.

Chicken Prep and Cook

Now, I don’t know about you guys, but who has had that experience with chicken that looks so well seasoned, but upon sinking your teeth into the façade you find…well nothing?! I refuse to do that to another human being! So with my chicken (I used thighs, but if you want to do the whole white meat thing too it will be just fine!) I decided to do a spice rub. Our food is SO good to us the majority of the time so why not give your cuisine a good massage before devouring it in its entirety. I first brined the chicken to let it tenderize (kind of like a day at the spa in the hot tub with bath salts!) and once it began to soften up a bit I dried them out on a cutting board by dabbing the chicken with a paper towel. Then I took some coriander and toasted the seeds on medium heat to bring the oil and flavor of the spice out, which I must say is AMAZING! I then combined this coriander, lemon pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and brown sugar in one container. Now, we have the luxury of having a Magic Bullet, which grinds and mixes them all together, but if you don’t have this you can use a coffee grinder or even a blender. The smell is off the wall guys! All the spices create that gurgle in your stomach when you are ready to pounce on your prey kind of deal! I proceeded to put my chicken in a large bowl and bathed them in the aromatic rub. Now listen to me well folks, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty! Rub that chicken with the intent of making sure that every cubic millimeter is covered! I added some olive oil and added the juice of 1 whole lime for flavor and to speed up the tenderizing. RUB RUB RUB! Then you can pop that in the fridge for about 2 hours and sit back for a bit! You could even do this the night before! The biscuit crust is SUPER simple to do too! We just went ahead and did that while the chicken was marinating so that the dough could cool and firm up.

As much fun as it has been, I am letting Xai write the rest of this! I just had to make an appearance! But I will tell you, our friends and family loved it! And I hope you do too! Nice to finally break my silence and I am hoping that all of you continue to read. It means the world to share recipes and bring people together and we are certainly glad to do it!

===

okay, so this is the part where i write down the recipe for you guys. this pot pie turned out really good! i wish i was able to take better pictures but unfortunately, i only remembered to take a picture of the dish after it had been savagely consumed by our friends. you guys should try it, shawn did a really good job on this one :)

chicken marinade/rub

what you need:
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you want it spicier)
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp olive oil

what to do:
1. toast the coriander on a dry pan over medium high heat to release all the oils from the coriander seeds. do this for about 3-4 minutes.
2. combine all the other ingredients into a blender/coffee grinder and let it do it’s thing until it looks like a thick paste.
3. rub it all over your chicken and let it sit for about 2 hours or more

buttermilk biscuit (adapted from tyler florence)

what you need:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup buttermilk
what to do:
Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in the shortening using a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add buttermilk. Using your hands, quickly fold the dry ingredients into the buttermilk until a sticky dough forms. You may need to add more buttermilk.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Gently fold the dough over itself 3 or 4 times to create layers. Roll the dough to a little bit over the size of your casserole dish.

sweet and spicy chicken pot pie

what you need:
1 lb of skinless chicken thighs or breast, marinated (look above this!)
1/2 cup onions sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup carrots
1 cup bell peppers, sliced into strips
1/2 cup peas
1 cup hot links, sliced
1 cup potatoes, sliced
1/2 cup butter, divided
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp cayenne pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper
cooking oil/olive oil (it’s up to you)

what to do:
the chicken:
1. after marinating it, put it on a non stick pan and stick it into oven for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees F.
2. check for doneness by cutting or piercing into the thickest part of the chicken and check if the juices run clear.
3. shred by hand or chop it and then set aside.
the main event/putting everything together:
1. turn up the stove to medium high and heat up a pot with some oil and saute onions until transparent.
2. add the sliced hot links, sliced bell peppers, carrots, and potatoes into the pot. cook until carrots and potatoes are al dente.
3. add the chicken stock and let it come to a simmer, about 10 minutes.
4. while letting the stock simmer, on a smaller pan melt 1/4 cup of butter and add 1/4 cup flour. whisk this until you get a paste like consistency. this is called roux. you use this as a thickener. set aside.
5. when the stock comes to a simmer, add the roux into the pot. stir until it starts to thicken.
6. add the shredded/chopped chicken into the pot. and add the peas. let it cook for about 5 minutes so that all the flavors can marry. after 5 minutes, take it out of the heat.
7. put it in a casserole big enough to hold the filling and top it with the buttermilk biscuit dough.
8. brush egg wash on the dough to give it a shiny, golden brown color when it’s baked.
9. bake for about 20-25 minutes on a 375 degree F oven.

*we put a B and L, B for brandon, coz brandon was leaving for france when we cooked this and L for lazandro coz it was his birthday, so yeah!
now it’s done and ready to be devoured! enjoy!

herb roasted potatoes

2009-08-13T04:17:00.000-07:00

crispy. greasy. creamy. perfectly seasoned. that’s how i describe good fries. i love the ones from jack in the box and in & out. what’s your favorite?
you know those random cravings for fried starch in the middle of the day, but you are too lazy to drive and get ‘em? i get those all the time, and i hate the fact that i get it. rice, potatoes, pasta, whatever it is, as long as it is pumped with carbs, i’m all over it. and no one can stop me. i’ll tackle you down if you get in between me and my carbs.

i focused on potatoes last week. FOCUSED. yes. it was the most used ingredient in my kitchen last week. everything had it… well actually, that was all i cooked. i sliced it, diced it and roasted it. spiced it up and spiced it down. i tried different cooking temperatures, sometimes not to get the right texture but to just cook it fast, ‘coz i am hunggg-gry. i eventually found the combination of spices i liked and i think i am going to stick to it right now. it turned out pretty good. crispy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside. just the way i like it!

the recipe i formulated (sounds so legit), is very open to changes and whatever. you can put more into it. that’s what i love about potatoes, rice and pasta; you can dress it up for a potluck or to impress that future mother in law that your friends think is crazy, but you still want to get on the good side of because of that big rock on your finger you don’t want to return to her son, or make it easy and laid back for snacking at random times throughout the day.
well here it is!
herb roasted potatoes

what you need:
2 large potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt (or more, it’s really up to you)
what to do:
1. dice/slice potatoes. make sure they’re around the same size so they cook around the same time.
2. in a large bowl combine oil, basil, thyme, paprika, cumin, black pepper and salt.
3. toss the sliced/diced potatoes into the bowl of herbs and spices and make sure all the potatoes are coated with the mixture.
4. place in a large cookie sheet and put in a 450 degree f oven for 20-30 minutes turning occasionally to brown all sides.

that’s all there is to it. so i hope you enjoy this. bon appetit!

simple chicken and tomato pasta

2009-08-07T01:21:00.000-07:00

lazy. that’s what i have been for the past 2 weeks. i was on a blogging slump. i wasn’t cooking a lot, but i was baking a lot of banana chocolate chip loaf. my mom bought me a 3 piece set of baking pans and i abused the loaf pan last week. i made one for me, one for shawn’s aunt, and one for shawn’s classmates who did him a favor for school. it was tiring, but i was happy… i guess.

one day last week i was go ing through what’s in the pantry, and i saw a can of stewed tomatoes, half of rotini pasta left in the bag, and in the freezer, a few strips of chicken tenders from costo left in the bag, so the next step would be to make a simple pasta dish.

what i love about making pasta is that you can throw in almost anything in there and find yourself surprised with the result. i am not saying it’s always going to be good, but it’ll still surprise you right? i have always loved pasta. whatever sauce or pantry/freezer item you throw in there, i’d eat it. on second thought, i take it back. there’s a few things i don’t think will go well with pasta, at least that’s what i think.

this dish is a very purist take on a pasta dish. every single ingredient you taste on every bite, given that every bite has every ingredient. and i think this is the point where i tell you what i did.

simple chicken and tomato pasta

what you need:
rotini pasta (or whatever you have in the pantry)
stewed tomatoes in a can
boneless chicken breast, diced
garlic (tons if you love it, i do!)
salt
pepper
what to do:
1. cook pasta according to package directions.
2. saute garlic, then add diced chicken.
3. pour in the canned stewed tomatoes.
4. add cooked pasta into the sauce and mix well.
5. serve hot and grate some cheese on top. i used mozzarella because that’s what i have.

* don’t forget to salt and pepper along the way, and taste it too!

go and enjoy! bon appetit!

strawberry-nectarine muffins and chocolate-strawberry muffins

2009-07-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

you know those random cravings that pregnant women have? i have those on a regular basis. two weeks ago, i had this craving for strawberries so i asked mom to go with me to the farmer’s market to get some, but then she didn’t have cash and she didn’t want to go out. so i just told her to get me some at the grocery store. but still she didn’t. the craving didn't go away. it just got stronger and grew horns. but then one afternoon, i went to the kitchen and found a big surprise. mom bought a big box of strawberries at the produce near my house. i didn’t know there was one near here. now, it’s goodbye to waiting for the farmer’s market every thursday afternoon. i can just go to the produce whenever i am craving for something fresh. i am so excited.

i slept good that night thinking i can do so much with all those strawberries in the morning. it’ll be a cooking day. but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. i looked everywhere for it. i didn’t want to ask my mom because she would just tell me that i am not using my eyes. so i looked and looked, really thinking positively and opened the last place to find them, but all my hopes and dreams were crushed to find them in the freezer. hard like red rocks. i have to say goodbye to making chocolate covered strawberries and anything that requires fresh strawberries. i had to deal with my frozen ones now. i have a lot of them. but i had to snap out of it and move on. i can still make a lot of goodies with thawed strawberries. and then then the excitement started again.

a week later, after revising a lot recipes to work for my thawed mushy strawberries, i was ready. then the opportunity came, we got a text from the twins that they’re having a movie night. so i planned out what i was going to make. i decided to make muffins. but which ones? i had some leftover peaches, and some were starting to get too ripe and dark, and was getting ready for their trip to peach heaven, or as i call it, garbage bin. but before i got to it, my mom threw them all away. again, i have to improvise, just because i did not want to make just plain strawberry muffins. i went into the fridge and found three nectarines! in my head, i was jumping with joy. this was all so exciting to me. i love improvising and making my own recipes. if i was singing on american idol, i think kara dioguardi would tell me i had artistry.

after combining the strawberries and nectarines in one recipe, i thought, i should make another type. i looked through my baking stash and saw cocoa powder. then a light bulb went off, chocolate covered strawberries in muffin form. i thought it was good idea. i liked it. again, i was excited. this baking business is making me all giddy inside ~~like a little school girl wearing those little plaid skirts, ooohh, how i wish i was thin, little and a girl~~… oh wait, did i just write that down?! eeek. too much information. let’s get back on track.

as i was combining the ingredients for the chocolate and strawberry muffin, before i got the chance to stop myself, i tasted the batter and i liked it. i don’t really taste batter, just because there’s raw eggs in there, but oh my, the smell was calling me name. and that little drop coming ff the whisk had my name on it. it was looking me in the eye begging for me to just slide my finger and take it away from the whisk it was hanging off of. now, i think i should taste all the batter that i make. just to make sure they taste good.
when i brought the muffins to the movie night most of them liked the strawberry- chocolate ones, and my mom did too. i like them both. when you try it, let me know which one you like.
let me give you the recipe for this muffins i made.
chocolate strawberry muffins

what you need:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cup chopped up strawberries
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
what to do:
1. in a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients (first 6 on the list).
2. in a small bowl, mix strawberries, oil and egg.
3. pour the strawberry, oil and egg mixture into the large bowl and mix just until combine (don’t overmix or wlse you’ll get a tough muffin).
4. fill greased or paper lined muffin tins 3/4 full.
5. bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or when you stick a toothpick in the middle of the muffin and it comes out clean.

-----------

strawberry-nectarine muffin

what you need:
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup white sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped strawberries
1 cup chopped nectarines
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
what to do:
1. in a small bowl, combine oil, milk, and egg. beat lightly.
2. in a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. toss in chopped strawberries and nectarines and stir to coat with flour.
3. pour in milk mixture and stir together. again, just mix until combined!
4. fill greased or paper lined muffin tins 3/4 full.
5. bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes or or until the tops bounce back from the touch.

there you go. let me know what you think! enjoy!

colorful pork stir fry w/ pineapple teriyaki sauce

2009-07-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

shawn told me to make this. he’s really getting into all this food blogging that i am doing. he’s so cute whenever he tells me to take pictures of what i am cooking and he get’s sad when i tell him that i didn’t. this stir fry is shawn’s idea. he was insisting i do it because it’s going to be so colorful, and it was colorful indeed!
the trip to the farmer’s market and another one to safeway checked off all the ingredients i needed for this recipe. we were talking about what he wants me to do for this dish. shawn looked so excited, picking out all the colorful produce and telling me how good it would look. don’t get me wrong, i was excited too, but i was just too focused on how excited he was towards all of these.

i cooked this a week ago, i think. i have been lagging on my posts and i don’t even know why. i have a lot of pictures in my blog folder (yes i have a folder for pictures for my blog, in attempt to be organized) that’s waiting to be posted. i think they’re getting all sad in there and betting who’s going to get posted first. so today, it’s the stir fry. the others can wait. i just might post one of them tomorrow, but i’m not going to tell them that.

a few days later after that successful trip with the bf at the grocery store, i decided to start on the stir fry. after i brought out all the ingredients for this dish, i got overwhelmed. even more after i chopped and sliced everything. i ended up just using a quarter of the head of the cabbage we got. there was a lot, but then i told myself that it’s going to wilt when i start cooking it, then i calmed down. whew.

then there’s the sauce. freaked me out again. and i thought this would taste good with the pineapple teriyaki sauce i made last summer for the chicken kabobs that we ate for camping. okay i was set. i started cooking and used my favorite non stick pan, then i looked at the ingredients i chopped up and sighed. there’s no way that all of that will fit in my pan, but i was too lazy to change the already greased hot pan with onions and garlic already cooking in it. scared sh**less, i stuck with it anyhow. what can you do, i was too lazy and i know if i changed pans/pots it’s one more thing to wash.

so let’s get to it!

pork stir fry with pineapple teriyaki sauce
what you need:
1 lb pork loin, sliced in thin strips (or whatever meat you want to use)
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 medium sized onion, sliced
1 bell pepper, julienned (whatever color you want)
3 stalks of celery, sliced
3 carrots, julienned
1/4 head of cabbage, sliced
2 limes
1/4 cup chopped basil
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 20 oz. can of pineapple chunks (used sliced pineapples because that’s what i had in stock)
2/3 cup teriyaki marinade, divided
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
salt and pepper
what to do:
1. in a big bowl or a big ziploc bag, pour 1/3 cup of the teriyaki marinade, juice and zest of one lime, salt and pepper, mix them and throw in the pork slices. let marinate for at least 30 minutes. the longer you let it sit the better it will taste.
2. in a big pan over med high heat, cook pork until brown. set aside.
3. in the same pan, throw in garlic, onion, celery, bell pepper and cabbage. add salt and pepper. cook for about 8-10 minutes.
4. in the mean time while waiting for #3 to get done, make the pineapple teriyaki sauce. to do this, combine 1/3 cup teriyaki marinade, the juice of the canned pineapple, brown sugar, juice and zest of one lime, 1/2 tsp pepper and cornstarch. mix until cornstarch is dissolved. set aside.
5. put cooked pork into the pan.
7. add chopped basil and parsley into the pan. cook for about a minute.
8. then pour in the pineapple teriyaki sauce over the meat and vegetables and wait for it to thicken, and you’re done with that.
9. on another pan over medium high heat, caramelize pineapples by adding a little bit of oil (1/2 a tbsp, depending on the size of the pan, just a thin coat at the bottom), and cook it until you see it get dark brown areas. that’s the sugar from the pineapple caramelizing. then put it on top of the stir fry.

i eat this with rice, but i am pretty sure it is still good if you eat it by itself, but who would do that?! everything’s better with rice, that’s what the filipino in me screams all the time. let me know if it turns out good for you. enjoy!

key lime cupcakes

2009-07-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

me and shawn had an amazing weekend. a surprise party on saturday and a visit from shawn’s friend from high school. i had to do a lot of cooking this last weekend. i made lemon bars; lime bars; deviled egg potato salad, my aunt’s recipe; a quick mirepoix, tomato and garlic pasta; and lime cupcakes with a pineapple buttercream frosting which i did so last second, i wasn’t able to take a picture of it, which sucks because shawn and doris liked it so much i’ll try to make it again next time. with all those recipes stored in my computer, i have to catch up on my blogging and post them. but right now let’s talk about these cupcakes.
as i have said, i did a lot of cooking, so we had to do a lot of shopping too. me and shawn went to grocery outlet and i saw that limes were 15 for a dollar and i was so excited, but when we got home and did the lime bars for arlene’s surprise party, i still had a lot left. and since we had another visitor the next day i decided to use some of them and make cupcakes, and this was the result. shawn and doris liked it a lot. i thank bon appetit for this!

key lime cupcakes
bon appetit magazine september 2009
what you need:
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1/4 teaspoon neon-green food coloring
3/4 cup buttermilk
what to do:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners. Whisk both flours in medium bowl. Beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat to blend. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then next 3 ingredients (batter may look curdled). Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions. Spoon scant 1/3 cup batter into each liner.
Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool.

i think you should really try this! it was good! really good.

loaded cornbread

2009-07-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

i never noticed that i eat a lot of yellow food until my friend told me that one of the people in his forum said so. then i realized, i really did. so my last post, i intentionally posted green things. but this time around, i feel like my insides are telling me to make something that is yellow. CORNBREAD!

a few days ago, my mom reorganized the pantry and i saw that i have accumulated quite a few boxes of cornbread mix, yes, jiffy. i then decided to make cornbread, and since this was after my trip to the farmer’s market, i thought, i should spice this thing up to make it not so store bought-y and also use up some of the herbs i bought.

i pumped that cornbread up like crazy. well at least i think i did. i know i could do more though. the recipe for this one is super simple. and you can actually just use whatever’s in your fridge. i had some herbs so i used it. so do you want the recipe? if not then stop scrolling, if yes, then go on!

what you need:
1 box cornbread mix ( i used jiffy)
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 medium sized onion
1 jalapeno (remove seeds)
1/4 cup basil
1/4 cup parsley
1/4 cup corn
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp oil
salsa and sour cream to top it*
*optional
what to do:
1. heat up oil and add diced onions and sprinkle a dash of salt. cook it until it turns light brown. it’s not burnt, it’s all the sugar from the onions caramelizing, it is really good. this will take around 5-7 minutes over medium heat. set this aside to cool
2. then do the mix according to the box, jiffy asked for an egg and 1/3 cup of milk, so that’s what i did.
3. chop up basil and parsley, remove seeds from jalapeno and dice it up.
4. add chopped up parsley and basil, corn, caramelized onions, diced jalapeno and ground pepper.
5. butter up an 8x8 pan, put the mix in and load into a 400 degree fahrenheit oven and let it cook for about 20 minutes or until you stick a toothpick in the middle on the cornbread and it comes out clean.
6. when cooked let it cool and slice it up and serve!

i served mine with a dollop of sour cream and salsa on top. it was good. maybe next time, i will add some bacon in the mix. that sounds good already. now this makes me want to cook up some more.

a trip to the farmer’s market

2009-07-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

is there anything with yellow? i personally don’ think so, but someone said that i eat a lot of yellow. then i realized… all of the previous posts had something yellow in them… or the main ingredient was yellow, actually the last one wasn’t yellow. it was supposed to be red, or orange-y but i cooked at night and the overhead light of the stove was yellow, so most of the pictures had a yellow tinge in them. so i have learned that i should cook earlier in the day when there is still natural light. but this time around… i give you GREEN!
all this food photography is kind of driving me nuts. i have to edit it a little bit to get a better picture because i am just using a point and shoot camera. well, i am hoping that will change come august. i am crossing my fingers. but if there’s anyone put there kind enough to give me a dslr, then who am i to resist.
“pop goes the cherry”, was on repeat in my head as i step out of the car into the bustling closed street where the farmer’s market is done every thursday from may to october here in fairfield. it was my first time there, and i was a little bit timid, oh wait, we’re talking about my first time at the farmer’s market not something else. i was kind of sad though, because i forgot to bring a decent camera and i all i have is the camera of my phone, and i had to make do with what i had, right. as they say in show business, the show must go on.. does that even relate to what i just said? whatever.

most of the pictures i have here is from when i got home already, i could’ve taken more but again, i don’t have a nicer camera. so as we we’re walking my mom blurted with a very disappointed tone, “oh, they don’t have a band here?! in vallejo, they do. where’s the barbecue?”. so i guess they’re supposed to have bands and all that too at the farmer’s market. i didn’t know that! so as we walked there was this guy, and he’s part of this organization that cooks in different farmer’s market in this side of the coast, the organization is called Cookin’ The Market. after buying these big eggplants, my mom sat down on the chairs where the demo was being done and i went around to buy some more things. i was amazed at how cheap the produce were compared to supermarkets where i normally go. everything was a dollar a pound and a dollar a bunch, and they were huuuge bunches of cilantro, thai basil, which i bough and i felt like the gave me the whole entire plant; and all these other herbs and leaves that you can put into whatever you are cooking. they are also giving away these recipes, and i took a few to take home and try out. i am for sure coming back next week!

you see that little lady on right side of the picture on the left? the one wearing cropped pants and white sandals? that’s my mother. but, yeah and that picture on the right is the chef that cooks at farmer’s markets in the area. that day he was cooked chili, time and tomato soup with fresh corn. doesn’t that sound good? his ingredients come from the market itself so it is really good. what’s in your farmer’s market? i want to go to different ones already! like… now!

mexican style rigatoni and failed attempt on bagels

2009-06-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

have you ever had those random midnight cravings that you can’t seem to brush off? and if you ignore it, it will still be there in the morning? it’s mexican food for me and shawn. may it be carne asada fries from adalberto’s, or just about anything from taco bell. jack in the box is not safe either. but as i have said it’s mostly mexican food, and once that craving sets it, it’s time to stock up on gas-x. last night, while the whites were in the dryer ( shawn did the laundry, isn’t he sweet?) i got hungry. i realized that we didn’t really eat that much that day. i was supposed to eat the bagels i made the day before, but they became so dry and had this weird texture. i was supposed to post it, but it was a failure. but then again, lemme just show it to you.

looks like i did it right, right? no. i forgot to put sugar. in the dough. i also changed the recipe and didn’t consider the fact that using certain ingredients change the results or they need something else to turn out right. instead of just using 2 1/2 cups of unbleached flour, i used 1 1/2 cup of unbleached flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour, then later on i read on the first pages of the book (ultimate bread by eric treuille and ursula ferrigno) that i was following that wheat flour tends to not rise as much and it takes a while to rise. and they tend to be dryer than other flours. i still kept my fingers crosses hoping for a better result, but no. the bagels were dry like the mojave desert during the summer and tasted like cardboard. very far from the result that i wanted to get, to have bagels comparable to that of noah’s. so with that dream crushed, i decided to just move on and eat something else. i still ate some of the bagels, i just smeared loads of cream cheese on it to put some flavor, but more to hide the cardboard flavor. i don’t like whole wheat flour right now, let’s see if it can we patch things up in the future.

a few days ago, me and shawn were talking about making taco salad, he had a recipe but it didn’t push through… yet. i still want it. so to compensate on that taco craving, i decided to fuse the flavors of taco with my other favorite, pasta. i went to the room and told shawn about what i am going to cook and he told me to take pictures, and that, i did.
i love making up new recipes and trying to cross my fingers hoping that they will turn out right, and taste like what i am planning for it to taste like. fortunately, this one did.

this recipe is fairly simple and quick to do. it’s one of those things you can just whip out when you are so tired, but still want some good home cooking. i wish i could’ve added some more stuff in this dish, but i didn’t have those things stashed in the fridge.

what you need:
1 lb. ground beef
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium sized potato, diced
6 cloves garlic, rougly chopped
1 medium sized onion, diced
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 lb. rigatoni cooked according to package directions
1 packet of your favorite taco seasoning
2/3 cup water
grated parmesan cheese
optional ingredients:
1 tablespoon cumin*
1 tablespoon paprika*
1 teaspoon dried oregano*
sour cream*
cilantro*
what to do:
when you dice the vegetables, make sure they’re about the same size so they cook around the same time. saute garlic, onions and bell peppers. when onions become translucent, throw in the potatoes and cook until soft. add salt and pepper to taste. set aside.
mix taco seasoning with water, set aside. cook the ground beef until you can’t see anymore pink in the meat. add the taco seasoning mixture into the meat. let it cook for about 5 minutes. add diced tomatoes and the vegetables that you’ve set aside. let it simmer for about 10 minutes. then add the parmesan cheeese.
make sure you taste along the way, add salt & pepper as needed to fit your taste.
*i added the optional paprika, cumin and oregano to intensify the mexican flavor of the sauce. it’s up to you if you want to do this.
throw in the pasta into the sauce and and mix it all together. you can add some chopped up cilantro and a dollop of sour cream before serving. that’s what i wanted to put in mine, but i didn’t have those. so let me know how it turns out when you do it with those two delicious things.

if you try this mexican pasta out, let me know how it turned out. i am still planning to add things into it and make this dish better, your suggestions would help out a lot. enjoy it and don’t forget to stock up on gas-x :). enjoy!

poached eggs on toast with creamy gravy

2009-06-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

so me and shawn woke up late today because we took nyquil at around 6am, what an awesome idea, right?! we were coughing so much people.
even if we started out day late, i still wanted to have something breakfast-y to eat at 2 pm, again, i know. i thought of making poached eggs, so i asked him if he wanted eggs and he eagerly said yes. and then he asked me, “are you gonna take pictures?”, and i said yes. he told me that he was going to ask me that from now on since we started this blog, which i found so cute. i have been taking pictures of the stuff i eat for the longest time, and i never had a purpose for it. most of those pictures are just somewhere in my computer collecting… uhhhh… well, it’s somewhere in my hard drive.
i have been debating with myself (crazy?!, yes), if i should really post this or not, but then i remembered something. last december, when i was at my cousin’s house in hayward, i asked her what she wanted for breakfast and she told me whatever. so, i asked her, “did you want poached eggs?”, and she asked me “what is that?!”, and i was surprised that she haven’t had poached eggs… ever. so, i explained it to her on how easy to make it was and how delicious the results will be. she got excited after i told her all about it.
i am not being a snob towards those people who haven’t had or doesn’t know what poached eggs are. i just feel bad that they have been deprived of something so good (okay, i am getting very dramatic, very dramatic).
when i first made poached eggs, it was a total disaster. i didn’t follow any guide on making it. i just remembered how it looked like and tried to figure out how to do it. that was a very bad idea. when i cracked the egg into the pot with boiling water, that’s where everything fell apart. the egg looked like cirrus clouds in the water and i didn’t know what to do, i tried stirring it to make it all go to the center but on the process i broke the yolk. i gave up after that. then i saw what to do on food network and i wanted to do it again. with the tips i gathered from food network, the poached egg i made, perfect! i was so happy, the poached i made looked like i have been doing it in forever. thank you food network.

poached eggs are good on anything under the sun, maybe even sand, but i wouldn’t try it. i’m just saying, it is damn good. you seriously need to try it. the one i did for this post is poached eggs on toast with creamy gravy poured all over it. yes, fat heaven’s calling.

i should’ve taken pictures of every step but it was really hard. as much as i wanted to document every moment of it, i wanted to get out of the kitchen because it was so hot, and the outside temperature ain’t helping at all. it’s freakin’ 102 degrees today.
okay let me tell you how to do it before i melt away in this weather.

1. heat up some water, not boiling, just barely simmering. we do not want those pesky bubbles.
2. add vinegar into it. food network said that vinegar has something in it that makes the egg not go all over the place. i add a lot on mine to be on the safe side. it doesn’t affect the taste that much, well, at least the one the i use doesn’t.

(i use a filipino brand, that’s the one that we have at home)
3. break the eggs into a small bowl. one at a time. it is easier that way.
4. swirl the water in the pot to make a little whirlpool before you put the eggs into the pot. it will help the egg stay in the center.
5. gently pour the egg into the center of the whirlpool.
6. wait 3 to 4 minutes before taking it out.

then, that is it.
the one that i made today i put on top of sourdough bread and poured the creamy gravy that i made all over it.

here’s the recipe of my gravy

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 small onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon chili flakes (or more if you like it spicier)
salt and pepper to taste ( i use a lot of pepper, i like mine peppery)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

here’s how you do it:

1. melt the butter on saucepan over medium high heat.
2. saute the garlic and onions until onions are transparent.
3. add the flour and mix it well and cook the flour for about a minute or two. this will thicken the gravy, you call this roux. 4. add the milk and cheeses, whisk until cheeses are melted and the gravy is smooth and thick.
5. add the chili flakes, salt and pepper to taste. 6. pour over the poached eggs and buttered toast while still hot.

there you go. i hope you enjoy this like me and shawn did. and babe, thanks for washing the dishes.

bananas foster

2009-06-27T02:19:00.000-07:00

how else can i start this blog, but to kick off with a dessert. it should tell you something about me. i love them, and i know that it shows too. i have a little bit of obsession with bananas, i know what you’re thinking, nasties! but no, i really do. may it be banana bread, banana cookies, or those sweet and savory filipino food with banana. i remember that little shack that i used to go to in high school for lunch. they serve this bomb ass beef and banana with sweet sauce and that is served on top of a lot of rice. ooohhh.. so good. i miss those days. okay before i talk about my days in high school, let me get back to the picture i posted on top of this entry. that is bananas foster on top of chocolate chip ice cream. i don’t like chocolate chip ice cream very much, but i have to make do with what my mom bought. i just leave those little chips on the bowl.
i started making this dessert last summer, and i got quite addicted to it actually. i was eating it almost everyday. sometimes, twice a day. i know, i know, but i can’t help it, i was still trying out different recipes. so i had to make different ones. and since no one likes them very much here at home, i assigned myself to finish everything because i hate leftover and food thrown away.
i found out about this recipe when i was watching paula deen on food network, and i was like, “that looks so good, and i have to do that thing, and be on tv and be friends with paula”. then, i realized what i just said, and i sounded a little bit crazy, but whatever, shawn’s used to it.

~~sometimes i think that paula deen and ina garten are talking to me from tv telling me to cook what they’re doing~~ (oh my, did i just type that?!). one other thing that got me attracted to this, is that you set this thing on fire, and it reminds me of those times when i ate at benihana, when they set stuff fire in from of you, that never got old for me. so what do i do? i do the same thing at home, but on a smaller scale. i don’t want to burn out house down, like that time when i was around 12 or 13, when brownouts in manila (blackouts for you guys here in the states) are very, very prevalent (8 hours of no electricity is a normal thing for years) and candles are our best friend. so, what happened was i accidentally hit the candle on the shelf, and it hit the cutain, and voila! FIRE! good thing my dad and out neighbors got to it and it was put out before the wall was on fire ( we didn’t have a fire extinguisher, as if you do at your house). so that was an experience. now that i am older, i am more careful. i don’t set my food on that big of a fire, at least i try not to.

okay, let’s get into this dessert shall we? it is actually pretty simple, what you need are the following (okay, i have to figure out measurements now since i am sharing recipes. i DON’T measure):

1 large banana, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar ( you can add more if you want to, i’m not gonna stop you)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup hazelnut liqueur
how to do it:
1. melt the butter and dark brown sugar on a skillet over medium high.
2. then, add the bananas and cook them for about 4 minutes, or until the bananas look shiny and soft.
3. add the hazelnut liqueur and set it on fire. :) (be careful, if you are using a gas stove, make sure you take the skillet off the stove first before you add the liqueur). shake the skillet, until the fire goes out. this means the alcohol is gone, and all that’s left is all that hazelnut goodness.
4. let it cook until the sauce is really thick and sticky.
5. now, get that vanilla ice cream and put it on a bowl, and pour the bananas foster over the ice cream.

now all you have to do is eat it fast before the bananas foster melts all the ice cream. but if you were me, who loves melted ice cream, then go and wait.