Recipe | Aglio Olio Spaghetti with Sprimps

In one TV Cooking Show, I learned that there are three kinds of pasta sauces: Tomato Based, Cream Based and Oil Based. Of the three, my I love oil based pasta the most because I love that I could taste the pasta more and I admit I kinda like the grease on my lips.

Sometime last year, our next door neighbor gave us a plate of pasta. We didn't know what's it called, but sister and I loved it. When the same neighbor gave us another plate of similar looking pasta earlier this year, we finally learned the name of the dish: Aglio Olio Spaghetti. I loved how simple the dish is, and because I found myself craving for it, I decided to search the Internet for a recipe I could follow.

The recipe I am about to share was originally posted on Noob Cook. I decided to try this recipe from all the Aglio Olio recipes I have read because it has prawns, something I am currently loving right now.


Prawns Aglio e Olio
{Serves 2}

Ingredients:

• 180g spaghetti, cooked per package directions
  
• 3 tbsp pure olive oil
• 40g butter, divided
• 10 to 12 large prawns
• 10 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced or chopped (not too finely)
• 2 red chili pods, sliced (or 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes)
• 30g Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• salt and freshly cracked black pepper (to taste)
  

How to Cook:

• While cooking the pasta, remove the shells and veins from the prawns. Set aside the shelled prawns, but don't discard the heads and the shells. Use these to make a stock by putting the heads and shells in a small pot and add a little water. Simmer for about 5 minutes then strain and set aside the stock.
• In a sauce pan, heat half of the butter and cook the prawns. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook both sides and set aside.
• Using the same pan, add olive oil and saute garlic and chili just until the garlic bits turn light brown (not completely toasted).
  
• Turn off the stove. You can cook the garlic until they are golden brown or you can now add the cooked pasta and prawns, as well as a little of the stock, parsley and the rest of the butter to give the pasta that shine. Stir, making sure the pasta has a coat of all the sauce. Season with salt and pepper, according to your preference.
  

This was my first try to cook such a dish. I realized, I didn't really like the addition of the stock - that I preferred my dish just with olive oil and butter. I did love the addition of the prawns. The recipe called for flat leaf parsley, but it wasn't available at the supermarket, so I just went for the curly parsley.

I have cooked this dish about three times after this one. I have made some changes and now I finally found the taste I wanted.

• I loved adding a dash of Italian seasoning as I saute the garlic and chili.
• I found out that dried chilis tend to be spicier - which I loved more.
• The more garlic, the better.
  
• To make the oil more garlic-ky, I would leave some cloves of garlic into the oil and leave it overnight.
• I prefer the dish to be as simple as this... no need for cheese.
  

The one neighbor gave us had bacon bits and sliced black olives. I will go ask them how they cooked it and maybe use chicken or turkey franks instead of bacon.

Original recipe can be read HERE. Thanks for the inspiration, Noob Cook.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Recipe | Ginisang Pechay at Tokwa

This was an old picture that I wasn't able to share...

The "Mama Sita's Lutong Bahay" cookbook proved to be a very useful cookbook for me - dishes were easy to make and it has saved me during days when thinking what to cook was quite difficult. My mom couldn't eat any soy products (because of uric), so this I had for lunch one time ago.


Ginisang Pechay at Tokwa (Sauteed Bok Choy and Tofu)
{Serves 4}

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 block tofu
  
• 1 big clove of garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, sliced thinly
• 2 small pieces of ripe tomatoes, sliced
• 2 tablespoons Mama Sita's Oyster Sauce
• 300g Bok Choy, washed and cut in half
• 3 tablespoons water

How to Cook

• Fry tofu in oil until golden brown. Set aside and cut into small cubes once cooled.
• In the same pan, saute garlic, onions and tomatoes. Wait for the tomatoes to cook a little then add the cubed tofu, water and oyster sauce.
• Add the white part of the bok choy and mix for about 30 seconds. Add the green part of the bok choy, mix, then cover the pan. Turn up the heat for a few seconds to cook the vegetables then serve the dish.

The tofu cubes were a bit soft because it absorbed the liquid, but the whole dish was turned out good. It was a light lunch that can be eaten with or without rice, and can be paired with fried meat, if wanted.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Recipe | Diced Chicken with Cashews

Since I cooked the very first dish from Mama Sita's "Lutong Bahay" cookbook, I found myself checking it every now and then if I wanted to cook and eating something healthy and new. Last weekend, I tried another one of their dishes... because I saw some snow peas at the market and it reminded me of this recipe.


Diced Chicken with Cashews
{Serves 2}

Ingredients - Chicken

• 100g chicken breast, diced
• a dash of pepper
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rhum
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil (or any ordinary oil)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• small piece of ginger, smashed with the flat surface of knife
• 50g snow peas, ends trimmed
• 1/2 cup green peas
• 1/2 cup toasted cashews
• 3-4 drops of sesame oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients - Sauce

• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon Mama Sita's Oyster Sauce
• 2 tablespoon cornstarch

How to Cook:

• In a bowl, combine chicken, pepper, soy sauce, rhum and cornstarch. Set aside.
• In a different bowl, add all ingredients for the sauce and mix well. Set aside.
  
• Heat oil in a pan and saute garlic and ginger. Once the garlic turn light brown, add the marinated chicken and cook for a few minutes.
  
• Add stock, oyster sauce, and the sauce. Simmer for a few minutes.
• Add the vegetables and cashews and allow the ingredients to cook. Drop some sesame oil and season according to your preference. Serve.

This reminded me of the beef dish I tried because it basically had the same ingredients, only that the sauce of this one had a hint of sweetness. I liked the dish and it is something I will cook again, but not when mom's around because she isn't fond of dishes even with a slight hint of sweetness to it.

I am actually collecting more and more chicken dishes (those that uses chicken breasts), and I am glad I got to try this. If you have any chicken recipes you'd like to share, just share them to me. Thanks!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Recipe | Fish Lumpia with Afritada Sauce

I don't get to cook that much (new recipes, that is) since I started watching my food intake, but while browsing some magazines to look for healthy and veggie packed recipes, I come across this and hoped to cook it.

It's not really vegetable-packed recipe, but it was easy and it was a new way of cooking cream dory fish... one of the family's favorite foods. This recipe was taken from the vol.1 no.4 issue of Foodie Magazine, and is a recipe by chef Sunshine Puey-Pengson, wife of the celebrity chef Rob Pengson.


Fish Lumpia with Afritada Sauce
Serves 8

Ingredients - Fish Lumpia

• 1/2 kilogram dory fillets (or any fish fillets), cut vertically into 1/2-inch strips
  
• 1 piece large white onion, sliced
  
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
  
• salt and pepper (to taste)
  
• a stack of round Lumpia wrappers
  
• vegetable oil (for frying)

How to Cook - Fish Lumpia

• In a pre-heated pan with olive oil, saute onion over low heat until caramelized. Set aside.
  
• Season fillet strips with salt and pepper. Place a strip on one lumpia wrapper and top with a teaspoon of caramelized onions. Fold ends and roll tightly. Do the same with the rest of the fillet strips.

Ingredients - Afritada Sauce

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
  
• 1 small carrot, diced
  
• 1 small potato, diced
  
• 1/2 cup water
  
• 1 cup tomato sauce
  
• 1/4 cup raisins
  
• 1 small red pepper, diced
  
• 1 teaspoon sugar
  
• salt and pepper (to taste)

How to Cook - Afritada Sauce

• In a preheated pan with oil, saute garlic, carrots and potatoes over medium heat for 5 minutes.
  
• Add water, tomato sauce, and raisins. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
  
• Add bell pepper and sugar. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the lumpia.

To maximize time, I cooked the sauce while frying the fish. Trying this dish, I was a bit half-hearted about it because I wasn't sure what it would taste like - especially the lumpia. I do like the taste of raw onions, but I personally don't eat much cooked onion, unless it's Onion Rings. :) Anyway, the dish tasted good - the slightly sweet/tangy sauce provided much flavor to the slightly tasteless fish and the caramelized onions provided the dish with sweetness. The lumpia and the sauce went well together, but even without the sauce, the lumpia still tasted good for me.

Another way to cook the dory fish...a much better option to the typical pork lumpiang shanghai. Nice!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Recipe | Buffalo Wings a la Certified Foodies

One of my cravings this week was a good serving of Buffalo Wings. Our family was able to try out the McCormick Buffalo Wings mix, and even if we liked its taste, part of me still wants to try my hands at cooking the dish "from scratch."

I then remembered, days after the first Bloggers' Buffet at Carol's Texan 5 where we had a good serving of Buffalo Wings, siblings Mhel and Ken (of Certified Foodies) shared their own version of the dish. I quickly copied their recipe and tried to re-create it.


Homemade Buffalo Wings
Recipe by: Mhel and Ken of Certified Foodies
Yield: 2 Kilos

Ingredients - Chicken and Breading Mix

• 2 kilos of Chicken Wings, each cut into two
  
• 1 cup flour
  
• 1 teaspoon paprika
  
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon thyme
  
• oil for deep frying

Ingredients - Buffalo Sauce

• 3/4 cup cayenne hot pepper sauce or any hot sauce
  
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
  
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  
• 2 tablespoons honey

Ingredients - Cheese Dip

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  
• 2 tablespoons cheese spread
  
• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

How to Cook - Chicken

• Combine the ingredients (except chicken and oil) and mix to evenly distribute each of the ingredients. Coat each chicken pieces and fry in hot oil until golden brown. Once cooked, place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil.

How to Cook - Buffalo Sauce

• Combine all ingredients and cook for a few minutes (or until the butter is completely melted) over low heat.

How to Prepare - Cheese Dip

• Combine all ingredients and mix well.

How to Assemble:

• Place the wings in a big bowl and pour the Buffalo Sauce and mix well, making sure each piece is coated well with the sauce. Serve on a platter with the Cheese Dip on the side.

Believe it or not, I am currently on a diet so parts of the recipe I altered. I still followed the breading, but for the Buffalo Sauce, I used lite margarine and I didn't add the sugar (only went for the honey), and I also opted to go for fresh minced garlic because I couldn't find the container of garlic powder. I decided not to make the Cheese Dip anymore because we didn't have parmesan cheese, and I didn't want to add more calories into my lunch. Actually, even without the cheese dip, the wings tasted so good. It was spicy and a little sweet - highly addicting! Good thing I only cooked 1 wing (cut into two) because if I went to cook all the chicken wings we have in the freezer, for sure I would have a difficult time controlling myself. :)

I told brother how good the wings tasted, but since I only cooked for myself, I will just cook this again some other time so the whole family can savor its goodness, too.

My deepest gratitude to Mhel and Ken for providing this awesome recipe. Do know that I really loved your version of this dish.

For the step by step (with picture) guide on how to cook this recipe, check out their blog post HERE.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad