Eat Matters

Birthday Cakes

My daughter celebrated her 4th birthday last Saturday with Disney Princess as  the theme.  Here are the cake pictures:

What's Your Dried Fish Story?

A high school classmate now based in Scotland as a nurse recently narrated in our e-group conversation how she "violently" argued with  authorities when they confiscated her supply of Philippine dried fish. She was only prevailed upon when the officers decided to take her passport number. I could just imagine the verbal boxing that ensued between my petite classmate and the officers. I used the word boxing because her husband was incidentally a boxer. I could only giggle  at how she staked her working status all for the cause of stashing dried seafood in her pantry. Pinoy talaga.

As an off shoot of this story, I came up with an idea to  form a lobby group  with the  acronym F.O.O.D.S. It stands for Free Our Original Delicious Sud-an(Ilonggo vernacular for viand). The group will  lobby  U.S. Congress and the British Parliament and other economically superior nations  to willfully allow  immigrants, visitors and  workers to bring in their  exotic, pungent, ethnic food in the name of promoting world peace and harmony.  I was just kidding of course. But really, if rich nations really want to avail of our human resources, they must at least learn to respect  and appreciate our unique culinary traditions as this cannot be separated from the personalities they are hiring. This is a small token in exchange for exemplary service.

I am sure there are a lot of  fish tales and food "smuggling" misadventures ready to be told.

What's  yours?

Raspberry Mousse

Sometime before lunch today I got a call from a neighbor who needed to get her French cookbook that I borrowed.  In about 10 minutes she was at the door holding holding a plate with a big slice each of Tiramisu and Raspberry Mousse. Wonderful. We had an instant dessert. This was the first time I tasted a Raspberry Mousse and I think  I'll go for a repeat. Maybe I'll borrow another cookbok.

Kropeck

One of the more versatile finger food when you want  a quick nibble is Kropeck.

As a kid, Kropeck is  one of my favorite sari-sari store junk food. It is not as salty as Cheez Curls or Chippy and the crackle to the bite is just enough to send your fingers digging for more pieces in the thin transparent plastic bag. Never mind if the one of the main ingredient is the dreaded MSG.

As one grows older and learns to assimilate in a college barkada, Kropeck never fails to provide the instant pulutan to impromptu drinking binges. Its garlic and shrimp flavor dipped in vinegar(sinamak) laden with hot chili peppers(kutitot) and soy sauce is the perfect  match for San Miguel Beer,Tanduay Rum, firewater or whatever alcoholic concoctions  a measly school allowance could afford. It jives well with a choice soft drink as well. Perhaps, though I haven't tried, it could be paired with wine as well. In this stylish age of fusion cuisine  this lowly orange cracker could very well highlight any hors d' oeuvre platter of a saucy cocktail party. Given the right tweak, why not?
                                       
We never fail to stuff our luggage with ready to fry Kropeck everytime we fly from the Philippines to our adopted country. We smile when it is handed over as pasalubong. A gift so simple yet  loaded with  crackles of fun and laughter. It brings a family and friends together.

Yesterday, after school, my pre-schooler and I opened up a bag and deep fried the colorful Kropecks together.

Cheers! Even without the beer.
                                                            

 

 

 

A New Dining Experience

Looking for a new dining experience? Why don't you try this one-of-a-kind restaurant.

Roast Pork Loin Chops with Green Apples

A sinugba or inihaw was all I wanted  to do with the two ample sized pork loin chops. I was thinking of eating kamayan/kinamot style facing a bandihado of hot rice with  the pork slices dipped in a mixture of sinamak, and toyo drizzled with lemon juice. Nothing fancy. Just a homey meal that could eventually trigger a sweet snooze .

The chops have been chilling  overnight in the fridge in a marinade of lemon juice, a dash of of soy sauce, bay leaf and chopped garlic when I made a thoughtful U turn. I decided to roast the loin chops with green apples instead. The reason was the neat pile of Granny Smiths I saw in the supermarket  the other day. I was smitten by the crisp greenness of the apples.

Some slight changes have to be made  to execute the switch. The chops were were drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, rubbed with Italian seasoning, and given a good sprinkling of cracked black pepper before they were given the "marks" on the oven top in a grilling pan. The chops were then  placed in a heat proof  ceramic rectangular dish with the sliced green apples bathed in olive oil  arranged on top, and baked in a pre-heated 400 degree oven until  tender.   

Paired with a very casual Chardonnay, the fruity tartness of the green apples slowly absorbed by the roast pork  was the  tongue teaser for the evening. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garbanzos with Chorizo Bilbao and Tomatoes

Garbanzos,Chickpea,Chana or whatchamacallit....about a kilo and a half of these  have been languishing in the pantry for about two months. I just remembered about  the brown bagful of these dried beans  when I came across a recipe using  garbanzos. The funny thing is  when the inspiration came to cook them, I  couldn't locate the recipe. There is a scatter  of food magazines, recipe books  around that I can't pinpoint which among the publications contained  the recipe I wanted. Stupid of me for not bookmarking  the page. Too lazy to look again,I turned to Google.What  else is new?

The recipe I found  was almost similar to the one I wanted to try. It is Catalan ChickPeas with Sausage from the book Ready When You Are: A Compendium of Comforting One Dish Meals  by Martha Rose Shulman.

Here is the recipe which I tweaked a bit, as usual.

Soak the beans in water overnight.
Boil  the  the beans in  a pot of  water  with bay leaf and season with salt .
Boil until tender.
Drain  leaving a little of the water.
Set aside in another bowl.

In the same pot , saute in olive oil until slightly browned,4 pieces of chorizo bilbao sliced on the bias.
Add a little more olive oil in the pot and throw in  some minced garlic, chopped white onions and green peppers.
When the green peppers are tender add about 8 ounces of sliced canned tomatoes.
Stir occasionally until the flavors  come out.
Add  the  garbanzos and continue cooking in a slow simmer until the beans are tender.
Season to taste with salt and  fresh cracked black  pepper and serve.

   
 

David and Goliath:Foodie Version

This is good news for Slow Food advocates.

Richard Owen, reporting from Rome for the  Food & Drink section of The London Times Online (UK), writes that :

 The closure of McDonald’s in Altamura, Apulia, was hailed yesterday as a victory for European cuisine against globalised fast food.

To read more about "The baker who beat Mcdonald's" click here .

SIDETRIP to Malabon

Howie Severino' s blog  shares a secret on  where to eat the best Pancit Malabon in Malabon .

Turkey Lemon Rice

WE are still ridding the fridge of leftovers from the feasts of holiday's past.

In the labyrinth of tupperwares, zip locks and bowls donning cling wraps, I stumbled upon a chunk of baked turkey parts and some lemons that surely will be lemon lemons in a few days time if unused. What to do? What to do? My fingers ventured deeper into the maze and found half a small bag of  sliced mixed frozen veggies--the usual healthy suspects of carrots, sweet corn and a scant number of cut long beans.

I ordered (harrumph) the wife to shred the turkey pieces--the last survivors of Christmas gluttony, hopefully, and proceeded to chop garlic, white onions, half a stalk of celery, peeled a finger of ginger and flattened it with the flat surface of a chef's knife.

With the shredded turkey ready, I  heated the pot, gave it a good drizzle of olive oil and together with the turkey, sauteed the aromatics until the flavors steamed into my nostrils.

I poured in about a liter or so of cold water (I ran out of soup stock) into the pot, partially seasoned it with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper and let it run to a slow simmer while occasionally ridding it with scum. When the broth has sucked in all the flavors, I tenderly dunked a handful, maybe more, of raw rice, stirring it occasionally until it was was done. I  dropped the chopped mixed veggies, added the juice of freshly squeezed lemons, adjusted the seasoning and turned the heat off when the veggies were done.

The result was surprisingly rewarding: it was gratifying in that it wasn't only being wonderfully resourceful--leftovers weren't wasted, we also had a delicious repast of comfort food at its best, especially in the deep of winter, which is what January is in Canada.