Sinigang na Lechon

Tomorrow I will start on a low-carb, low-fat diet.  I only have 5 days more before my Palawan trip with my girlfriends.  And I still need to lose a few more inches on my tummy area. 

As I bid farewell to carbs, albeit, temporarily for the next few days,  I’d like share with you the sinigang recipe I did using the lechon I bought at Mercato Centrale last weekend.  Isn’t this entry ironic? ^_^

As written in my earlier entry about Mercato Centrale, I bought a half kilo of Cebuana Native Lechon from Abub which I meant to cook as sinigang as opposed to the usual lechon paksiw.  

Sinigang is my kids’ comfort food.  They tend to eat a lot when there’s hot and sour sinigang.  

Lechon Sinigang

½ kilo Lechon

2 pieces ripe tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

1 medium size red onion

1 pc labanos, cut into diagonal slices

1 bunch Kangkong leaves

1 bunch string beans

1-2 siling pangsigang

Souring fruits like sampalok, kamias,  (I used the commercial sinigang mix powder)

4 cups water

Salt & pepper to taste

  In a pot, bring to a boil the 4 cups of water.  Add garlic, onion and the tomatoes.

  Add the sinigang mix, lechon and labanos.  Let simmer for 5 minutes.  Season with salt & pepper.

  Add string beans, kangkong and sili (for spice-optional). Let boil for 2 minutes.

  Serve piping hot.

Next time, I’ll use fresh  corned beef like the one in Sentro 1771  ^_^

Garlic Parsley Finger Sandwiches

Another recipe Pipay did in cooking class is  Garlic parsley finger sandwiches.  They first made the cream cheese spread which is so easy to make.  From the basic cream cheese and garlic recipe, you can vary the ingredients to add. You can remove the garlic and add fruits, jams or nuts for a sweet filling.

Last night Pipay replicated the cream cheese recipe as filling for her sandwich baon for school.  She made two kinds of spreads – the creamy bacon and the second one she put mixed herbs like basil and parsley and bacon.

These spreads go well with melba toasts, potato chips, biscuits or as filling for sandwiches. 

Creamy Garlic Cheese spread

1/2 c cream cheese

2 garlic cloves minced

Parsley, chopped

Garlic Parsley finger sandwiches

5 pieces wheat bread

1 piece tomato, sliced

Basil leaves for garnish

Procedure:

For the Cream cheese spread, combine cream cheese, parsley and minced garlic

Cut bread using small round cookie cutter

Spread cream cheese mixture on top of each bread, topped with a slice tomato.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Garnish with thinly sliced basil leaves.

Potato Skins with mixed herbs

In my previous entry, I wrote about Pipay’s cooking lessons.  They made simple dishes like biscuits, sandwiches & potato skins with mixed herbs.  The latter was my favorite.  And I am sharing here how it’s done.  ^_^

Potato skins with mixed herbs

Ingredients:

4-5 pieces potatoes

½ c grated quickmelt cheese

½ cup grated cheddar cheese

¼ c mushrooms, sliced

¼ cup bacon bits

2 tbsp olive or melted butter

1 tbsp each of chopped rosemary, thyme and basil

Procedure:

Boil potatoes until done.  Hollow out the top of potatoes, forming a small boat shaped shell.

Mash the scraped out potato pieces with fork.

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients with the mashed potatoes.

Brush the potato shells with melted butter.

Fill each shell with the cheese-herb mixture.

Assemble potato shells in a tray. Top with bacon bits.

 Bake until cheese melts and potatoes are heated through, about  8-10 minutes.

Serve immediately with herbed sour cream on the side.

Recipe courtesy of 
CCA Kitchen 
Eastwood Mall

Learning to cook

In one of our food trips at Eastwood Mall, we chanced upon CCA Kitchen’s  Young Chef’s Academy cooking class schedule.  Pipay got a bit interested. 

Now, I’m not the kind of Mom who would drag her kids to all sorts of extra-curricular activities like karate lessons, ballet, even, photography class, unless they show interest and willingness to pursue them.  I just let them be…. when they’re ready, then I’ll be the most supportive mom!

At home, whenever I cook, there were times when Pipay would offer to help out.  I look at this as an opportunity to have a mom-daughter bonding and teach her the rudiments of cooking.  I don’t like her to feel that it’s a chore or a must-do thing in your life as a girl. I want her to enjoy and appreciate food and cooking. 

So, I got the flyer for CCA’s class schedule for September.  There’s a junior chef class for her age bracket.  I forgot all about it when a week after, she asked me about the cooking class again. I asked her if she likes to join.  She said yes.  

September 18, a Sunday, we went back to Eastwood Mall for her first formal cooking lesson.  I could teach her to cook (which could save us enough money to buy us 2 dinners), but I also wanted her to experience the classroom set-up just like what I did 13 years ago (also at CCA Katipunan for the 5-day professional cooking course).

She was given a toque, an apron  and a sheet of paper containing the 3 recipes they’ll be cooking that day – Pimiento drop biscuits, Garlic parsley finger sandwiches and Potato skins with mixed herbs. 

Enjoy the photos just as much as I enjoyed documenting my daughter’s first formal cooking lessons and being a stage mom!  ^_^

 

 

Food Finds at Mercato Centrale part 2

09.18.11

Last Saturday morning, I went back to Mercato Centrale to try the other  goodies I haven’t tried on my first visit.  This time they moved their location near MC Home depot on the 34^th & 8^th sts.  I met up with Lenz after a short run around Boni Hi Street.

My daughter Pipay came with me.  It was Pipay & Lenz’s first visit. 

Here’s a rundown of what we had:

Mi  Paella de Andaluz – this is one of the most  raved about dish in the recent Ultimate Taste Test held in Rockwell (unfortunately for me, I missed this as I have work that day).  And since I love paella, I don’t want to miss this.  It got mussels, clams, chicken, chorizo, bacon bits.  I particularly like  my paella with a bit of tutong underneath. One order cost P180. I was only able to eat half of the serving.  One serving is good for two people, unless you have a hearty appetite.  Honestly, I like Chef Ed Quimson’s paella over at the Salcedo Market better.  

Taclings  -  these are bite size tacos shaped like a siomai. 




The crispy, ruffled shells come in two varieties – regular and malunggay flavor.  I chose the regular flavor because even though I know the malunggay flavored shells are more nutricious, I didn’t like the shade of green. Looks kind of unnatural for me.  One bite, and all I can taste is the garlic cream. I can't remember tasting the ground beef.  I wish they would put more meat and season it more with Mexican spices. It lacked a bit of that Mexican taste from cumin and other spices.

Abub Cebuana Native Lechon -  I bought half a kilo  (P340) which I meant to cook into Lechon Sinigang for dinner (this merits a separate blog entry).

Other food items that caught my attention, but wasn't able to try.

Wha Pao – oven baked siopaos in the usual flavors  asado and bola bola; they also have chicken adobo and dulce de leche.  

MedChef by Hasset Go – home made cakes and pastries like chocolate revel bars, cream cheese brownies, walnut brownies cut into big squares, and sold at P100 for  3 bars.  I’m not fond of chocolate sweets lately so I passed up on these. 

 

What I forgot to buy was their bread pudding crème brulee (P200). I made a mental note to come back and buy these after tasting a tiny bite, but I forgot to go back. This will be the first on my list when I come back for another visit. I love anything caramel and custardy.

As we went around the tented area looking for something to eat for breakfast,  we passed by this Morrocan food stall.  I got curious on their rice pilaf and fish fillet, and their Chicken Saffron Tagine.  I want to try the Chicken Tagine, but my tummy hankered for the Paella Andaluz.  Have to go back if only for this Morrocan chicken dish.

 

I also got the must haves – Baked by Anita cupcakes  and pistachios from Nutsylicious for my kids. 

Pipay, a picky eater,  ate grilled corn and snowcone from Matthew's....(that's a bag of pistachios she's holding  ^_^  )  

Till next time…

Food Finds at the Mercato Centrale part 1

Note: This is a late post. 

It was mid-February when I first went to Mercato Centrale in Fort Bonifacio. I met up with my friend, who is a chef/food stylist/photographer.  Mercato was still on its original location, a walking distance from Boni Hi-Street.

I arrived early morning around 7AM.  I was too early, some stall owners haven’t set up yet.  There were so many food choices. 

First meal was the fish and chips from Chuck’s Grubberie.

Deep fried beer battered dory fillet with salted potato wedges and tartar sauce conveniently contained in a paper cone. It came with a lemon wedge. My fillets were a bit burnt and dark though, but still yummy.

Next, we lined up at Bale Datung for the Pan de Bagnet. 

 

Thin slices of crispy bagnet, layered with mustard leaves, red onions, and their secret sauce tucked inside a ciabatta bread.

I also got the Lechon Tortilla to take home.

After our meal, I went inside the tent to look around for goodies to take home.  Here’s what I found…

Cupcakes from Baked by Anita -  what attracted me to her stall was the array of tiny cupcakes  with unusual  flavors.  A bit pricey for such small cupcakes, but I was won over when I tasted the Sticky Date.  It was like food for the gods. 

I got the following flavors - clockwise: caramel apple topped, mango with tamarind buttercream, orange cranberry (with valharona chocolate glaze), sticky date, saffron n black salt, chocolate with brandied cherries (i love cherries!)

Tina’s Pies – I read about these savory pies on lori b’s blog.  I got the chicken cordon bleu and beef san Miguel pies. 

Cereal Bars from the Muesli-Granola Kitchen -  these were healthy snacks I got for my second child, gabby, who loves cereal bars. 

They used muscovado sugar as sweetener and come in different flavors.

 

Anatolia’s  baklava  -  I got one piece to try, the pictachio baklava. These little Turkish delights were made from thin layers of phyllo dough, honey and nuts.

 

Macarons from Empire -  I love macarons.  

I bought the 12 pc pack of different flavors. 

 

Nutsylicious  -  here you’ll find nuts  still in their shells – walnuts, brazil nuts, pecans, hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds, etc.  They also carry the green raisins, my first time to see one. I bought pictachios and dried figs.

And since it was a Valentine weekend, I got a pink cake pop from Lollicake Factory for pipay. 

More Mercato food finds on my next entry….