Cooked From the Heart » Archive
IMBB 11 – Clay Pot Pork & Beans
I have been a long time fan of the Is My Blog Burning events originally conceived by Alberto, but have never participated since I am never organized enough to plan for the submission date. Today, at the prodding of Karen, I decided to make an entry. I just hope it makes it on time, as it is kind of late. So pleeease Cathy, accept my entry? Anyway, for the longest time, I had wanted to try making a cassoulet type dish, but I also wanted to use my sand pot that has become more of a kitchen ornament than a utensil. I didn’t have time to get all the ingredients for a proper cassoulet, so once again, I improvised. Here is my humble offering, which I’m happy to say came out … Read entire article »
IMBB 11 – Sinigang na Pata
With the cold weather, it seems that a lot of food blogs (Baby Rambutan made Pho, Sassy made chicken soup, for example) have been cooking lots of soups. I actually was looking for ox tails like what chef Celia had, but couldn’t find any. I did find fresh ham hocks, so I decided to make sour soup. Sinigang na Pata Recipe type: Main Author: Jeanette Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 2 hours Total time: 2 hours 15 mins … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Filipino, pork, soup, vegetables
Chicken in Lettuce Cups
With the cold weather and holidays, we have been indulging in fairly heavy and (fat) rich meals, so we decided to have a light dinner last week and decided to have diced chicken wrapped in lettuce. The problem was, I was out of hoisin sauce. So, we improvised a bit this time, and made our own sauce. I still prefer the hoisin sauce though. 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, diced fine 4 dried shitake mushrooms – soak in warm water and dice 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 onion, diced 1 teaspoon ginger, minced 2 tablespoons oil 1 teaspoon cornstarch 2 teaspoons dry sherry 1 tablespoon oyster sauce 2 tablespoons water Serve with: 1/2 cup green onions, finely sliced lettuce leaves hoisin sauce OR (since I didn’t have any hoisin sauce) Mixture of 1 tsp. oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons bottled barbeque sauce, 1/4 cup Catalina dressing, … Read entire article »
Salmon & Eggs
Here is how we recycle lefover baked salmon. My lola used to do this with either canned salmon or canned sardines, but it works well with leftover fish too. This is good for breakfast with fried rice, or as a light supper with salad. 2 cups flaked salmon 3 garlic cloves, chopped 1 onion, chopped 2 tomatoes, chopped Oil 6 eggs, scrambled salt & pepper to taste Saute garlic and onions in hot oil until fragrant. Add tomatoes, and sautee until soft, then add salmon flakes. Stir together well. Add scrambled eggs, and stir slowly to allow the eggs to set. Some like to keep the whole mixture whole, fritata style, and I do that too sometimes, but this time I decided to just mix it all together. Season with salt and pepper. … Read entire article »
Green Mangoes
I can tell Durham is catching up with the times when I start seeing mangoes at the grocery store regularly. This week, they were also on sale, 2 for a dollar, so I bought some for me and the girls. These mangoes are from Mexico or Chile usually. Not as good as the Philippine Mango, but when you haven’t had Philippine mango in almost a decade, you’d be glad to get any kind. Luckily some of them were still hard and green, so I got a couple of those for me too. The girls ate their mangoes ripe and sweet and scooped out of the hull. For me, this was my chance to eat the green, crunchy ones with chili salt. The girls always look at me strangely when I … Read entire article »
Momma Dot’s Coconut Cake
Aside from Momma Dot’s Sweet Potato Pie, another holiday must for us is her Coconut Cake. She used to make this every year, and then she taught it to me. After a while, she gave me the privilege of making this cake at every family gathering. She passed away this summer after a courageous battle with brain tumor, so she was sorely missed this holiday. This is our way of remembering and honoring her memory for she surely not only fed our stomachs well but also our souls. For an island girl like me, this is an acquired taste. I prefer my coconuts young, and have always turned my nose up on processed coconuts. But, when in Rome…you know how it goes. The coconut used in this recipe is the fresh, … Read entire article »
Green Beans & Tomato Salad
To counteract the richness of the roast pork, we decided to have this salad with it. It’s really quite simple. My lola used to make this all the time, she still does, but she uses calamansi & bagoong dressing which I prefer, but could not get my little Clone to eat, so I had to improvise. 1 pound of green beans, boiled until done and cooled in ice water 1/2 head of napa cabbage, boiled until done and cooled in ice water Drain beans and cabbage on a collander and place in large bowl. Add: 1/2 red onion finely sliced 2 medium tomatoes, sliced Drizzle the dressing over the vegetables: 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon salt … Read entire article »
Filed under: salads, vegetables
Roast Pork
WooHoo! The computer hogs go back to school tomorrow, and are already in bed. I know they are not asleep yet though. Their schedule is all messed up. They have been staying awake until past midnight everynight during their holiday break. I don’t envy them tomorrow when they have to get up at 6 to go to school. They have been sleeping in til almost noon. I sure felt tired when I went to work today…. Anyway, since it’s just us for Christmas and we didn’t really feel like having anymore turkey, we decided to try out Purple Girl’s Roast Pork. It was delicious! The girls and I practically ate all the crispy skin. Yummy! … Read entire article »
Fish & Chips without the Chips
Christmas eve fell on a Friday this year, and even though we are not overtly religious, we (my husband and I) are both from families who are, and grew up eating fish on Fridays. We still do it for the most part, but mostly out of habit. I have been having the strangest craving for English style fish & chips, but the only place around here that makes them fairly decent is an Irish style pub, but unlike the UK English pubs, this one is not quite so kid friendly. So I decided to try making it myself using a beer batter recipe that I have been meaning to try for a while now. I just couldn’t get myself to fry “chips” with it though, so we had a slaw … Read entire article »
Filed under: seafood
Crunchy Cabbage Ramen Salad
Since we were having something that was just sinful like the fried tilapia, I didn’t really want to fry potatoes to go with it, but I didn’t think a plain ol’ salad would pair well with it either. So Jade and I decided to try out this recipe from, believe it or not, the package of Ramen noodles that is a staple at our house. It was actually pretty good, it provided the crunch to go with the fish, but not too heavy or too sweet like regular coleslaw. 4 cups finely shredded cabbage 3 tablespoons toasted sunflower seeds 1 package chicken flavored Ramen Noodles (broken or crushed) DRESSING: 3 tablespoons white vinegar 1 Ramen seasoning packet 1 teaspoon dijon mustard 2 tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 teaspoon chopped cilantro Combine cabbage, broken … Read entire article »
Filed under: salads, vegetables
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