sunday lunch: burritos

been a while since i cooked anything. and, influenced by watching anthony bourdain’s episode on mexico, i thought i’d try my hand at burritos. the idea was to serve a buffet and then everybody could just roll their own. for the proteins, i went with beef and chicken

marinated with salt, pepper, and garlic and then tossed on the grill

after this, it was a bit tougher since preparing all the sides and condiments was very labor intensive. first off, grilled bell peppers and onions

i actually don’t season these, but grill until all sides have a soft, easily peel-able texture

also prepared guacamole. avocado, onions, cilantro, lemon juice (though lime would be better) and chili. just mix it all up, mush the avocado up a bit

this is to taste, of course – but i went with a proportion of something like 1 part onion to 3 parts avocado. for 2 avocados i used half a lemon and 1 sili labuyo (para medyo mild).

also prepared salsa. tomatoes, onions, cilantro. made a cool and hot version. for the hot version, i went with 3 sili labuyo to go with 6 tomatoes and 1 onion. cilantro totally to taste. in this case i went with a ratio of 1 cilantro to 4 tomatoes

i made refried beans by rendering the fat from bacon, tossing in enough red beans (soak overnight and boil first) to be coated with the fat. then i added cheddar cheese, then put in the bacon bits.

also had rice which i did by sauteing garlic and onion, putting in the rice, then adding tomato sauce and chicken broth to let it cook

tortillas? just bought a few packs at the supermarket. all in all i think this worked well. nothing hard, really – but rather labor intensive. still, if you have on of these with a cold beer, it’s totally worth it

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sunday lunch: burgers and fries

inspired by a couple of cooking shows, i decided to try my hand at burgers and fries for lunch. well, mostly the burgers and condiments. the fries were done by our cook – who really does excellent, crispy fries.

so to start – the beef patties: got a couple of kilos of ground sirloin – with the fat, please. and into that we added garlic, bacon, salt and pepper. knowing that everyone would want bacon in their burgers, we just went ahead and added them in. for binder we had egg and shredded bread. my sis-in-law told me that this is better than bread crumbs as it creates air pockets which make for moister, fluffier burgers. after a day of marinating, the burgers hit the grill

for the main condiment, i made honey onions. which basically means the transformation of a pot of onions

to this

and that is as simple as can be. heat olive oil in a pot and throw in some white onions. add more olive oil to make sure each sliver of onion has oil on it. you’re caramelizing, so you can’t leave any onion piece out. season with salt and pepper. just let the onions sit, don’t fuss. after 10 minutes, add enough honey to make sure each sliver of onion gets a little honey. then stir a little and let it sit again until the onions get soft. then you’re ready to serve. this can be served cool, so you can plate it last.

now off to the fries. make sure they’re dry as a desert. really really dry. then toss them with some corn starch then fry deep in oil. we don’t have a fryer so a wok would have to suffice. believe me, these will come out crispy

the main thing to remember is that your fries have to swim in oil and not saute. and once they’re out of the pan, sprinkle with salt. now back to the burgers. on their last flip, we added some cheddar cheese

put all together, i swear this meal put all burger fastfood joints to shame

a christmas turkey dinner

as is tradition, each year i prepare the christmas turkey – whom we now fondly call “pabs.”

having done this so often, some parts of the preparation are done almost automatically. like we take the neck, the giblets, and the, um, bottom, and boil them to make stock for the gravy. as for the turkey itself, the most important thing for me is to get into the space between the skin and meat and insert a good number of garlic slivers in there – then rub the outside with rock salt and freshly/roughly ground pepper.

what i like to play with around sometimes is the stuffing – the basics for the base are always there of course: garlic, onion, carrots, celery – but this time around i added apples, chestnuts and mushrooms. i also pre-roasted the onion over coal to remove any strong “onioniness” and to bring out more sweet and smokey. these are my stuffing ingredients:

in the pan i put a little bread and a little knorr cube (a little cheating maybe hehe) just to act as a binder. not too much, it isn’t really a bread stuffing, but an aid in the scooping out and serving of the stuffing later on

another thing i did this year was to baste the turkey with the gravy – not the stock, not the drippings – but the actual gravy. not too much, just a couple of coats, but i do believe it did a lot to retain moisture in the bird and enhance flavor

so after 3 hours in the oven, here’s pabs

beside the turkey is mashed potato – and here’s something i recommend. roast some garlic over coal (or even in a oven will do) then mash it. cook it in a little milk and a little cream – season with salt and pepper then mix that into your potato as you mash. remember, roasted garlic. enjoy!

green papaya with gata (coconut milk)

i had a really great lunch – just one dish. green papaya with gata

very very simple. just sautee ginger and a bit of garlic, then add the “unang piga”  – the milk you get from the initial squeezing of the coconut meat. then add the green papaya and some daing (fish cured in salt). and when the papaya is almost tender add the “kakang gata” or the second squeeze from the coconut meat. season with salt and pepper of course and you’re good to go.

this dish is soooo good. and sensationally healthy and inexpensive. my advice though is you don’t need to eat the actual daing – it may not really match with the rest of the stuff, but put it in there for the flavor and aroma – makes a world of difference

chicken stuffed with sticky rice, sausage, and mushroom

sunday lunch was at my brother’s house and my sis-in-law prepared a dish i really really like – as the title says: chicken stuffed with sticky rice, sausage and mushroom.

for the stuffing, just mixed together cooked sticky rice (malagkit), chinese sausauge – although i’m sure this will also be excellent with spanish chorizo, or even filipino longganisa – and mushrooms. this time she used shitake. but i’m sure the dish can take something earthier like the portabello. season it with some oyster sauce, salt and pepper and it’s good to go.

as for the chicken, just season it with salt and pepper – put the rice mixture in the cavity and dump into the oven until cooked.

 

so while a lot of it does go inside the chicken, i must admit i like the stuffing so much i had seconds that lunch – just the stuffing.

quick recipe: cucumber and tofu salad

i can’t say when regular posting will resume, but here’s something we had at home recently that would make a good side dish with many things you yourselves will be serving.

first, slice up some cucumber into small cubes – keep the skin on. then cube some tofu and boil that.

for the dressing, mix up 2 parts sesame oil, one part white vinegar, a dash of sugar and salt.

toss in the tofu and cucumber and then sprinkle some sesame seeds on it.

trust me, this is good stuff

noodle soup, pancit macau, whatever it’s called

another rainy day, came home with wet feet. the bottom hems of my jeans were also wet and i hate that. but as i walked through the door my mood considerably brightened: i saw our cook pouring hot soup into a serving bowl. it smelled great – and when i peeked into the bowl i saw noodles, quail eggs, some chicken, and chicharon bits.

asked what it was called, our cook said pancit macau. i have no idea if that is really it’s name or something she just thought off the top of her head. but regardless of name, it’s really good and this is how you make it: boil chicken, salt the broth a bit then take out the chicken and chop the meat. add oyster sauce to the broth (add cornstarch too if you want it really thick), canton noodles, boiled quail eggs, crushed chicharon, and the chopped chicken. season with salt and pepper and serve.

good, quick, rainy day happiness

sunday lunch – chili con carne and corn muffins

cooked sunday lunch again – partly because i had the ingredients ready pre-flood and partly because it was therapeutic. the main dish was chili con carne

very simple to do. for half a kilo of ground beef, brown a head of garlic and one onion. add to that around 3 tbsp of cumin powder, 1 tbsp of chili powder and however many sili labuyo it takes to make you happy. once you can smell all those nice spices, put in the beef and brown that too. add about 2 cups of tomato sauce, salt and pepper then let simmer. as it’s simmering, taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. if possible, if you want to moisturize your beef, don’t use plain water – use beef stock instead. oh, and don’t forget to season your beef before adding it. once it’s all nice and thick, it’s ready to eat.

my main side dish with this was rice and vegetables done in a mexican sort of way.

i heat up some oil then put in uncooked rice. once that got nice and warm i poured in a mixture of blended tomatoes, bell pepper, onion and garlic. once it was nice and covered, i added carrots and zucchini, covered the whole mixture with chicken stock then let the rice cook.

we also had corn muffins which i did following the first recipe i saw on google. it was ok, but didn’t rise – maybe because i didn’t have enough flour and so put in more cornmeal to make up for it. made the final product rather dense, but yummy. whatever corn muffin recipe you use, make sure you put in fresh corn – makes it that much better.

so after making that meal, i understand better why chili is so big as an american one-pot wonder. will certainly be making more of that

afternoon meals – a pasta dish and a steak sandwich

been suffering from a bad cold this week which means i’ve been home in the late afternoons. home and hungry. which means i get the chance to have nice light before-dinner meals – suits me just fine.

yesterday, i made myself a pasta dish using pretty much what i could find in the fridge. that turned out to be some frozen peas and some shrimp that have been shelled but not cooked. good enough.

in a pan i heated some olive oil and put in about half a head of garlic chopped fine and cooked it til it was almost brown. then i threw in the shrimp and then a fistful of peas. seasoned with salt and fresh black pepper. added more olive oil so it would look like a pasta sauce instead of just sauteed shrimp then put in the noodles. worked well enough for me. just remember, season the shrimp with salt and pepper before putting it in the pan so the dish is tasty all throughout.

today, when i got home, i saw some leftover steak (which here at home the cook seasons with salt and pepper and a little knorr). so put that and a slice of kraft cheddar singles in between two pieces of bread, toasted, and ta-da! cheese steak. certainly not a sophisticated version of it, but it was still pretty good.

afternoons are really the best time to polish off the leftovers…

an american inspired home cooked lunch

this sunday’s family lunch was on me. i volunteered to cook almost everything and was waiting for the outcome before deciding if it was worth blogging about or not. fortunately, it was.

on the menu: barbecued chicken (thigh and leg), salsa, and a warm corn salad.

spent yesterday evening making the barbecue sauce for the chicken

first i roasted garlic, chopped finely, then set it aside. in a pot i then put in an onion and let it sit until it was all soft and sweet, then threw in the garlic. when their smells fused, i put in a pack of del monte tomato ketchup.

to that mixture i put in worcestershire sauce – not too much. for a cup of ketchup, maybe a couple tablespoons. also added a tablespoon of A1 steak sauce (love it), fresh ground pepper, salt, and about half a cup of brown sugar.

so this morning, the chicken had a great soak in that marinade then hit the grill all the while being brushed with this mixture. we kept on basting throughout, ensuring the chicken was moist and tender off the grill

then the corn salad. for this i started by roasting bell peppers on the grill. peeled them and sliced them. then i threw in a couple of slices of bacon in a pan, added some button mushrooms and the roasted peppers. then i put in sweet corn, salt and pepper, and then topped this with kesong puti

then the salsa. it was just regular tomatoes and onions and cilantro – but what i did to make the spice more subtle, was i crushed a sili labuyo with the salt and that’s the salt i used in the salsa.

with all of these we opened a bottle of homenaje blanco which is viura with a bit of chardonnay – given i was in front of the stove and grill the whole morning, i enjoyed having a cold white. given time, i’ll certainly put together a meal like this again