Easy Fish Fillet in Wine Sauce and Creamy Asparagus & Corn

By Justine C. Tajonera

I got this recipe from the South Beach Diet book. It was extremely easy to follow and it's healthy as well. I just substituted the chicken fillet with fish fillet.

What you'll need:

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed (but in my case, I chopped it)
• 1/2 kilo cream dory (or two sides of fish), cut into strips
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (in my case, I used the small bottle of wine that we got as a gift: Fortant Sauvignon Blanc)
• 3 medium tomatoes, sliced

Procedure:

1. In a medium skillet, heat the oil and the garlic over medium heat.
   
2. Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper, then add to the skillet and cook for 7-10 minutes (in my case, 10 minutes).
3. Add the white wine and cook for an additional two minutes.
4. Remove the fish to a platter.
5. Saute the tomatoes until tender.
6. Place the tomatoes over the kitchen and cover with pan drippings.

Serves 3-4.

Side Dish: Creamy Corn and Asparagus (half invented and half lifted from Naty, my Dad's housekeeper)

What you'll need:

• 1 can corn kernels (you can also try creamed corn but for the dish I cooked last Saturday, I used whole corn kernels)
• 4-5 stalks of asparagus, cut into 2-3 pieces per stalk
• 1/2 onion bulb or less, chopped
  
• 1/3 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

• Saute the garlic and onion.
  
• Add the asparagus stalks. Cook until asparagus stalk is no longer tough.
• Add the corn.
  
• Season with some salt and pepper.
  
• Add the cream.
  
• Keep stirring for another 2-3 minutes. Then serve.
  

Sacred Sunday

I cooked this dish last Sunday, after swimming with Badger in the condo pool. Just that Friday Badger had been sick (read my poem about it here). But by Sunday, he was excited and full of his usual exuberant spirit. I remember just keeping my beach caftan on, not even bothering to shower or comb my hair because I was excited to cook. Of course, the dish was too sophisticated for Badger who usually opts for tuna hotdog and rice. But it was wonderful to be home, cooking something that smelled good and was easy to make too. With the smell of simmering garlic, olive oil and wine, Badger played with his blocks before settling down for a meal with his mommy and daddy. I wonder if he will remember, one of these days.

Valentine's Day Recipes: Calamansi Baked Fish & Toblerone Chocolate Fondue

by Justine C. Tajonera

We stayed in for Valentine's Day. But I cooked two things: a healthy (I think) fish fillet lunch at home and some (unhealthy) fondue after dinner at my Dad's place.

Calamansi Baked Bangus Fillet (adapted from the Lime Baked Fish of the South Beach Diet Book)


What you'll need:

• 1/4 kilo bangus back fillet (or half the pack)
  
• 1/4 cup calamansi (or Philippine lime) juice (from freshly squeezed calamansi)
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion tops

Procedure:

1. Arrange the fish fillet in a baking dish (on my end, I lined my toaster pan with some wax paper and then put the fish fillet in it)
2. Sprinkle with the lime juice, tarragon and onion tops (on my end, I added salt and pepper to taste)
3. Bake covered at 325 degrees F for 15-20 min or until the fish flakes easily (on my end, I left it uncovered but put some butter on the tops of the fish and toasted in the toaster oven for 20 minutes)

The Verdict: A bit sour and a bit peppery but overall, pretty good and healthy.

We ate the fish at home and paired with some sauteed crunchy Baguio beans and some corn (scraped off the cob) that we microwaved with a bit of butter. I enjoyed making this as it was really easy to do and I knew it was healthy (well, except for the dabs of butter!). It also didn't take too long to make.

For Valentine's Dinner Dessert: Toblerone Chocolate Fondue with Banana


Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/asbjorn_floden/2402328243/

What you'll need:

• 1/2 cup cream (on my end, I used Nestle cream in a tetra pak box)
• 2 bars of Toblerone chocolate (we bought the V-Day gift variety which consisted of one milk chocolate bar and one white chocolate bar)
• 1 tbsp of brandy (better if Cointreau or Kirsch Brandy... on my end, I made the mistake of putting in 1/4 cup of Carlos Primero Brandy and ended up adding the second bar of chocolate to make up for all that brandy!)
• 1 piling of Lacatan banana (sliced horizontally, just keep adding until the sauce is finished)
  

Procedure:

1. Put all the ingredients in one microwaveable pot.
   
2. Nuke in the microwave (I got the term "nuke" from my sister. I love it!) for less than a minute and stir with a wooden spoon or a spatula and keep nuking and stirring until it's a well-blended chocolate-y and gooey mass of fondue dip.
3. Dip in the sliced bananas and enjoy.
   

The Verdict: Nakakalasing (gets you drunk)! But after adding the extra bar of Toblerone chocolate, we just kept going.

This was really, really easy (except for my mistake with the brandy!). It's great for any kind of cook (although, some would want to cook this in a proper sauce pan on low heat). I enjoyed the simplicity and the yummy goodness of this fondue and I expect to have more of it in the future. Maybe, I can mix in dark chocolate later on. Also, when I do find some Cointreau or Kirsch Brandy, I'll see how this recipe goes.

My First Stew: Good Wishes Gumbo du Monde

by Justine C. Tajonera

I followed Chuck Taggart's Gumbo du Monde recipe but made some changes based on what I could find in the grocery and what kind of pot I was using.

He couldn't emphasize the stock making process enough so I did follow his advice and spent the whole day cooking!

The Stock (very important):

• I didn't have a big cast iron sauce pan so I didn't exactly follow the number of quarts required in Chuck's version. Since I was using my rice cooker-cum-pot, instead of 8 quarts of cold water I used only 9 cups (250ml) or 2.5 quarts.
• Around nine pieces of chicken parts from a Magnolia soup pack
• 1/2 kilo of shrimps (with heads and shells)
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 big stem of celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 heads of garlic, chopped
• Sachet of spices (I emptied a tea bag and stuffed it with the following spices):
• 1 teaspoon of cracked black peppercorn
• 1 bay leaf
• 1-2 parsley sprigs
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves

Procedure:
Make sure the chicken is in 3-4 inch pieces, exposing the bone. Brown the chicken parts in a skillet with oil.

Put the chicken in the stockpot with the water and bring slowly to a simmer. Periodically skim off any scum that forms. Let this simmer for 3-4 hours. In my case, I really let it simmer for four hours. It's the long simmering process that extracts maximum flavor from the chicken meat and bones.

Add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery. Place the peppercorns, parsley sprigs and dried herbs in a tea ball (in my case, an emptied tea sachet). Tie it up. To make it easy to retrieve, tie the end of one string to the pot handle so it's easy to retrieve. Simmer for one more hour. Then add the shrimp shells and heads. Simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Remember not to stir the stock while simmering.

Strain thoroughly. Ladle the stock out and pour through a strainer. A tip from Chuck: If you did this ahead and want to keep the stock for the gumbo to be done the next day, you can cool down the stock by freezing some water in a Ziploc bag and putting it in the stock (that way, you cool it down without putting it in the refrigerator right away) and you don't dilute the stock.

Make some Roux!

What you'll need:

• 1- 1/4 cups flour. I used 1/3 only because I had such a small pot
• 1 cup oil. I used only 1/4 cup (1/8 butter and 1/8 oil)

Procedure:

Blend thoroughly on a skillet. Be careful not to burn it. If you see black specks on the roux that means you've messed it up. You have to throw out that batch and start again.

I got so scared of this warning that I cooked the roux on low heat (as in, the lowest heat) and ended up stirring the roux for an hour! Just keep stirring and don't let it clump up, otherwise it gets ruined. If you don't have enough time, then cook in medium heat but wait only until the color is peanut-buttery. Don't get any splatter on you. Because I cooked mine on low heat, I didn't get any splatter.

This roux will be mixed in with the strained stock. You can make this ahead and refrigerate or freeze. Thaw and heat up when you're ready to mix with the stock.

For the Rest:

• Chicken, cut up (since I was budgeting, I used the same chicken in the stock. I could not see myself throwing out that chicken!)
• 1 Schublig sausage. Ideally, you should use andouille sausage or any smoked or creole sausage. The schublig was the only one I could find in Shopwise that was smoked. Badger ended up eating only this part of the gumbo.
• 1/2 kilo shrimp (de-veined and peeled)
• You can have crabs but I skipped the crabs
• Okra. I used 10 pods of okra (cut up diagonally)
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 1 bunch green onions (chopped) but I wasn't able to buy any so I skipped this.
• 2 bell peppers
• celery, chopped (I used one really long stem)
• garlic, minced (I used half a clove)
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 bunch fresh parsley (chopped)
• Creole seasoning (in my case I used some ground nutmeg, cayenne pepper, black pepper)
• Salt to taste
• Tabasco to taste
• Rice

Procedure
Sprinkle the chicken with some spice and brown (I had to fry because I don't have an oven). Slice the sausage and brown as well.

Saute the onions, green onions, garlic, bell pepper and celery. Add to the stock (with the roux). Add the chicken and the sausages. Add the bay leaves and more spice (to taste) and stir. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes. Keep tasting and adjusting the seasoning as needed.

Add the okra and cook another 30 minutes. Make sure the "ropiness" or "stringiness" of the okra is gone. Add the parsley. Cook for another 15 minutes. Add the shrimp last. Give it another 6-8 minutes until the shrimp is cooked. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp. Skim the fat off the top of the gumbo.

Serve the gumbo over steaming rice.

The Story Behind this Recipe:

Badger and I watched The Princess and the Frog the other weekend. There were two instances in the movie that gumbo was cooked. I got so hungry watching all that gumbo being cooked so that right after the movie, Badger and I ended up in Gumbo (the Atrium, Megamall). I got so enthralled with the gumbo that I decided to try cooking it. Quite ambitious for a first time cook, right? I was thinking that my love for the dish would carry me through. Also, it's a really messy looking dish so I wouldn't fail on presentation. Hahahaha!

When I looked up Chuck Taggart's recipe I was challenged by the fact that it takes the whole day. I've never really cooked before, much less the whole day. So I told myself that it would be worth something if I cooked a dish the whole day.

Stretching the Groceries
Just buying the ingredients was a challenge. My husband told me, "Honey, next time you have a craving for gumbo, just buy some." Our grocery bill was high (I think that was due to the numerous spices that weren't available in small sachets). After cooking the gumbo, though, I realized that even a 2.5 quarts recipe was still too large for our small family so it would last us for another day, saving us more ingredients. I think we might be able to stretch our groceries for another week. :-) Also, try to re-use as much of the ingredients from the stock. I felt really bad about throwing some of the ingredients out together with the shrimp shells.

Cooking Prayers
Cooking the gumbo was kind of like a prayer for me. In meditation class, I remember my teacher telling me that cooking is a big deal because the cook imparts her psyche into the food: the more good wishes, the better the overall sustenance of the dish. So, I took the opportunity to put all my good wishes into the stock, into the roux, into the whole gumbo dish. It's actually, literally a Good Wishes Gumbo! Because it takes so long, there are moments when you get lost in the smell of the stock and your thoughts get drowned out with the aroma from stirring such a potent stew.

The results: my husband's praise and lots of time spent with my son. In between checking the pot, cutting things up and stirring, I spent a lot of time with Badger! And when Vier got home he couldn't help but comment on how good our condo unit smelled. Badger didn't like the gumbo because of the okra so he ended up eating a lot of the sausage in the gumbo (I'm glad I put cut-up pieces of a whole sausage in it!). But Vier and I had a feast. It's not exactly the same as the gumbo from the restaurant but I was proud of my first efforts. Because of my mindfulness, I didn't burn anything. Because of the love that I was constantly stirring in my mind, we had a fabulous and filling dinner together.

Flipping Sunday Pancakes

by Justine C. Tajonera

My first attempt at cooking, since the start of this blog, was Sunday Pancakes. My sister asked me if I made it from scratch (which would have been a feat worth bragging about) but, no. I told her, "I made the pancakes from a box" to which she responded, encouragingly, "Hey, that's still something!"

I won't put up the recipe here because... it's on the box of pancakes.

But here are some things I learned:

1. My husband suggested that we add an egg to the mix (even if the directions did not include it). It came out pretty well.
2. When they start the directions with "preheat the pan," you should really preheat the pan. Hahaha! Typically stubborn, I told myself that since this was my first time I should just concentrate on mixing the batter. But what I didn't expect was the amount of time it takes to get the pan heated in the first place. Unless the pan is hot and ready, your batter will just lie there and amass some oil. So, to be efficient with your time, trust the directions.
3. I love flipping pancakes!!! I get really excited to turn over a pancake and see that I didn't ruin it. I think this is exactly how I will feel about flipping an omelet.
4. After cooking, I made sure to soak my cooking utensils and pan in water so I wouldn't have trouble scraping off the dried up batter later on.
   
5. We used a box of pancakes that came with syrup. According to my husband we save money this way because we only buy enough syrup for the one serving and we don't need to store syrup in the fridge.

Next time, I'll see what I can do about making pancakes from scratch (or maybe modifying the pancakes and adding more exciting stuff to it).

I just love pancakes. I associate pancakes with "the good things in life." I don't know when I started doing that. I mean, it's just fried batter, right? Whenever I eat pancakes I feel like it's a special occasion. I guess my enthusiasm over pancakes rubbed off on my son because he really loves it too. What was so great about making my own pancakes was the idea that I could rely on myself and trust myself to create something that I love to eat without waiting for anyone to do it for me. Also, it was really thrilling for me to actually prepare it and serve it to my husband and son, with love.

That's how I saw my pancakes: not the best pancakes in the world... but special pancakes, nevertheless, because they were full of my love for my family.

Calling on people who have pancakes recipes they want to share!

(Feb. 3, 2010)
Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/31899105@N05/3683698682/

Spaghetti Carbonara: A Recipe of Comfort and Love from my Dad

By Mercedes Camacho Peterson

I learned how to make Spaghetti Carbonara fr0m my Dad. I was probably in 5th grade when I learned the recipe. Daddy always enthralled us with his story of learning this recipe of "authentic" carbonara from his Italian friend from Cebu. And so I learned it by watching, and learned it by heart.

Growing up, we moved houses a lot. From our beautiful, sprawling bungalow in Maria Luisa in Cebu where we spent the majority of our childhood we left for Manila and then the endless pilgrimage from house to house started. We must have lived in at least 6 houses in Loyola Heights, a condo in Magallanes Village and at one point lived in Paranaque. During these upheavals, making carbonara was a way to settle down in each home. We'd gather around the table and partake of the best comfort food--carbonara. I would normally make it for Sunday lunch.

And the tradition still continues--I never fail to make carbonara during special occasions especially when family and friends are around. I make it from memory because I've made it so many times and is one of the few "savory" dishes I make because my forte are desserts.

Here is the wonderful recipe from my Dad.

What you'll need:

• 1 pack spaghetti (use any brand you like and cook according to directions, al dente)
• 1 pack of Purefoods bacon ( medium pack, the round tightly packed one, add more if you want more bacon-ey goodness) cut into small pieces. I use kitchen scissors to make the job easier.
• 2 heads of garlic, crushed and then chopped finely. (Don't forget to remove the garlic peel!)
• 1 small carton all purpose cream (Nestle works)
• 1 small bar of Quickmelt cheese, cut into tiny cubes
• 4 to 5 eggs, beaten slightly
• 1/4 stick or around 4 tbsps. butter (salted)

Method:

1. Melt the butter over medium heat in a big wok (this works really well with big batches of carbonara) or any huge Teflon pan--I use the Teflon pasta pot where I cooked the pasta so I have less pots to wash.
2. Brown the garlic until lightly golden, then add the bacon and "render" (meaning let the fats sizzle out and brown it a bit) when it is slightly brown, drain some of the fat so that the pasta doesn't become too oily.
   
3. Add the pasta and toss with the bacon and garlic, and at this point you can add the cream and the cheese as well. Toss everything under low heat until cheese melts and all ingredients are mixed well. Be gentle!
4. Turn heat off and add the slightly beaten eggs, mixing quickly (or else your eggs will become scrambled eggs if you're not quick enough!) until homogeneously mixed.

Serving suggestion Side Dish:

Garlic Bread With Parsley Butter

What you'll need:

• 1/2 stick salted butter
• 2 tbsps. of chopped curly parsley
• 1/2 head of garlic, peeled and chopped very finely
• 1/2 loaf of baguette or pan de sal or whatever bread you have on hand

Method:

1. Soften butter by nuking in the microwave ("defrost" for 12 secs).
2. Mix in the garlic and parsley with a rubber scraper (spatula).
   
3. Spread on your bread with a spatula or knife.
4. Toast in your toaster for 7 minutes or in your moderately heated 150 c oven for 12 minutes.

Best enjoyed with family and friends and huge litro of Coke zero :-)