Microwave Oven Baked Potato

Yesterday, I had a yearning for baked potato, but do not have much time and our oven is occupied with another dish. I saw several recipes on the web in how to bake potato in a microwave. But the following from allrecipes.com attracted my attention.

Ingredients

Original recipe makes 1 serving Change Servings

1 large russet potato

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

3 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

3 teaspoons sour cream


Directions

1.Scrub the potato, and prick several time with the tines of a fork. Place on a plate.

2.Cook on full power in the microwave for 5 minutes. Turn over, and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. When the potato is soft, remove from the microwave, and cut in half lengthwise. Season with salt and pepper, and mash up the inside a little using a fork. Top the open sides with butter and 2 tablespoons of cheese. Return to the microwave, and cook for about 1 minute to melt the cheese.

3.Top with remaining cheese and sour cream, and serve.

Source: allrecipes.com

Chicken Arroz Caldo ( Rice Porridge)

Yesterday, I cooked for the first time a dish that my wife loves when she is not feeling well. I have never cooked this dish, but I saw the following recipe from allrecipe.com. In the Philippines this is not considered as a main dish but only a merienda or snack. This dish was enjoyed by my wife yesterday since she had a hard time swallowing food because of her PD.


Original recipe makes 5 servings Change Servings

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (2 inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

2 1/4 pounds chicken wings, split and tips discarded

1 tablespoon fish sauce

5 1/4 cups chicken broth

1 cup glutinous sweet rice

salt and pepper to taste

1 green onion, chopped

1 lemon, sliced (optional)

1 teaspoon fish sauce for sprinkling, if desired (optional)


Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat; cook and stir the onion, garlic, and ginger in the hot oil until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken wings; cook and stir together for 1 minute. Stir the fish sauce into the pot, cover, and cook another 2 minutes.
Pour the chicken broth into the pot. Add the sweet rice and stir. Bring the mixture to a boil; cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to assure the rice is not sticking to the bottom of the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with the green onion, and serve with lemon slices and additional fish sauce, if desired.

Source: allrecipes.com

Personal Note: I omitted the fish sauce since I do not like it, but used Kikkoman soy sauce instead.

Salmon Fish Head Soup

Last night we have salmon fish head soup with boktoy and green beans based in tamarind sauce. Thus I reposting the following recipe I wrote about a year ago. yum, yum, yum!


When I saw the salmon fish heads yesterday at the grocery store, I changed the menu for our dinner instantly. I was planning on purchasing 2 rib eye steaks to broil, but the temptation for fish head soup was just so great, I forgot about the rib eye steak. I paid only six dollars for two large salmon fish heads instead of $18 dollars for two pieces of rib eye steaks.

Fish head soup ( sinigang) is a delicacy in the Philippines and one of the most common dishes in an oriental family's diet. My favorite fish head soup besides salmon is the head of bingao, a big ocean fish that belongs to the snapper specie However, to most non-oriental fish head soup is not for human consumption and just looking at the fish head disgust them. My four US born children and six grand children do not eat fish head soup, but they love salmon steaks or red snapper fillet. Of course they love Fish and Chips.

When I was growing up in the Philippines the fish head was always reserved for the head of the family(my DAD) or for the guest of honor at dinner time. The other parts of the fish are for other members of the family. I have a very simple recipe for salmon head fish soup which contained a lot of vegetables( green beans, baby bokchoy, tomatoes, radishes and eggplant)and of course flavored with tamarind cubes.

Here's my recipe. If other vegetables are not available in your area, baby bokchoy, radishes and green beans must be a must if you want your soup to taste good! The following recipe will serve from 6 to 8 adults with other dishes in the dinner table.

2 pcs salmon fish heads (red snapper or other big ocean fish heads may be used)
1.5 liters of water
1 medium onions (quartered)
2 tbsp of ginger slices
2 pcs of medium tomatoes (quartered)
6 pcs string beans (cut 3 inches approx)
6 bunches of baby bokchoy( Kangkong is used in the Philippines)
2 small raddish (sliced)
2 pcs of egg plant (sliced)
1 pck of sinigang mix (Tamarind based) (for 1.5 liter mix)



In a large sauce pan, boil water and onions & ginger then add fish and cooked for approx 5-10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients( slice the vegetables evenly) except for the bokchoy and cooked for about 2-3 minutes and serve hot. Add the baby bokchoy last. Shut off the heat and let the pan simmer. Do not over cook veggies.

Fish heads contain a lot of omega 3 fatty acids and fish oil that promote brain development according to a recent report on nutrition and health. There are some studies that shows that if a pregnant women eat fish (which means lots of omega3 fatty acids or fish oil on her diet) her babies will have higher IQs and fewer learning disorders, and were less likely to develop mental retardation or cognitive delays.

As for me even if I can not get pregnant, I will eat fish as often as I can, since I love fish and I know it is good for my health and in my aging years. For those of you who hate fish, especially fish heads, I feel sorry for you since you are missing one of the most nutritious and delicious dish easily available all over the world.

The Fruits of Summer in Our Kitchen

Mango Fruit in my Garden in the Philippines

This morning, when I woke up, I saw IMMEDIATELY the tray of fresh fruits in our kitchen. I realized then that my wife and I are lucky to have an abundance of fresh fruits that we did not have to buy. How in the heck did this happen?. Let me explain.

Our next door neighbor who is a widow and also our casino buddy, has an orchard in her backyard. She has almost all kinds of fruit trees both in her back, side and even in her front yard. Since she is alone in her 4-bedroom house, she just can not consumed all the fruits that she harvests every summer.

This week she gave us Japanese pears, plums, grapes, apples, figs, prunes and peaches. Last month we enjoyed the blueberries and raspberries from her garden. She has lemons, oranges and kumquats in her garden also. There is no grass in her ½ acre of yard, but only ground covers and fruit trees. The fruit orchard was the project of her late husband.

Speaking of gardening, my fruit orchard in Marinduque has also a varieties of tropical fruits. I have papayas ( several varieties), mangoes ( THREE varieties), avocados, bananas (several varieties), starapples, guayabanos and Cashews trees. I have also guavas, rambutans, santol, duhats, jackfruits and lanzones fruit trees. I have also planted several varieties of citrus trees, pomelo, kalamansi, native oranges and lemon trees. My durian fruit trees( two) was a victim of Typhoon, Reming, a couple of years ago.

Have Fun and enjoy your summer days. Keep cool and indulge on the fruits of summer.

My Favorite Lapu Lapu Escabeche Recipe

The other day, My wife and I went to Seafood City in Elk Grove about a 40 minute drive from our residence. We purchased a number of fresh fish including a Lapu Lapu. Here's my favorite recipe from www.pinoyrecipe.net that I used today.

•1 Kilo Lapu-lapu Fish
•1 1/2 cup Canola Oil (for deep frying)
•1/3 cup white vinegar
•6 tablespoons brown sugar
•3 table spoons tomato ketchup
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 thumb-sized Ginger,sliced in strips
•3 cloves garlic, minced
•2 medium-sized onions, cut into 8 pieces
•1 medium sized carrot, julienne
•1/2 cup red and green pepper, sliced in strips
•2 green onions, sliced for garnishing
•2 tomatoes, cut in wedges
•2 tablespoons cornstarch, diluted with 2-3 tablespoons water

Escabeche Cooking Instructions:

•Clean the Lapu-lapu fish and remove the internals, make a diagonal slice on each side of the fish
•Then rub salt on it and inside the fish cavity
•Deep Fry the Lapu-lapu fish in a deep frying pan.
•Once done, remove the fish from the pan and drain excess oil with paper towels.

How to prepare the sweet and sour sauce.
•Combine the vinegar, sugar, tomato ketchup, salt and ginger.
•Add the cornstarch mixture then mix well.
•Now add tomatoes, onions, carrot, tomatoes, garlic, red pepper and the other ingredients.
•Boil once. Make sure the sauce is slightly thickened and not runny.
•Pour the sauce on fried Lapu-lapu and serve immediately.
•Garnish with green onions.

Read more: http://www.pinoyrecipe.net/escabeche-recipe-fried-fish-with-sweet-and-sour-sauce/#ixzz3cVViNqVL

Dinner For Four From the HoneyBaked Ham Store

In my recent posting, I discussed that ordering dinners and meals from restaurants is not new to me. However, last week was my first time to order a family meal from the HoneyBaked Ham store near us.

I have been ordering for the last 5 years just ham, or turkey from the store. I have not tasted the side dishes that you can order for the family meals. The store offers 10 side dishes to accompany your meals. You can order one or ten side dishes if you desire. The meals can be ordered for 2, 4 or 8 persons without reservations. If you plan a party with more than 10 persons, it is recommended that you call ahead for reservation.

Last week, I ordered a family meal of ham and roast beef( tri-tip) for 4 with four side dishes. I selected the cranberry salad, pecan stuffing, mash potatoes and baked beans. The meal cost me only $34.99. The side dishes I ordered were delicious specially the cranberry salad. We happened to have a guest, a new-found relative from the Lodi-Stockton area for the occasion.

The other side dishes available are spinach Alfredo, creamy corn, gravy, potato salad, cheese potatoes or yam souffle.

The store also sells more than a dozen sandwiches for only $5.99. My favorite sandwich is the HoneyBaked Ham Hawaiian. It consists of the ham, Swiss cheese, champagne mustard and pineapple ginger chutney. Their best seller according to the store manager is their Honeybaked Ham Classic consisting of the ham, Swiss Cheese, lettuce, tomato, tangy Mayo and Rich Hickory Honey Mustard. Bread choices are croissant, multi-grain, marble rye, sweet white, sourdough or Hawaiian roll.

Besides the Ham, I have ordered the smoked and oven-roasted Turkey Breast. I like the smoked turkey breast better than the oven-roasted. The store also offers Barbecue Baby Back Ribs, but as of today I have not tasted the Ribs. I plan on ordering the ribs the next time I do not feel cooking our dinner.

So if you are lazy to cook with or without company, buying your meals from the Honeybaked Ham store is another alternative you can do besides ordering meals from regular restaurants such as Olive Garden, Red Lobster, El Tapcio ,El Torrito or from Chinese or Filipino restaurants in your area. Bon Apetit!.

Note: Of course if you want to save a little money and do not count your calories, the other alternative is to buy your meals from the fast restaurants chain, MCdonald, Carl Jr. Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger KIng, etc,,,

My Quick and Easy Recipe for Pinakbet

Pakbet or Pinakbet is a tasty Pinoy dish of mixed vegetables with pork. It originated from the Ilocos Region but have been modified by the Tagalogs and Ilongos and from other regions of the Philippine archipelago .

My Pinakbet Recipe- This is a quick and simple recipe that I cooked recently. I did not have pork meat in my freezer, but I happened to have one bag of pork rind or chicharon. My Kano son who hates bago-ong loves this dish.

Ingredients

1/4 lb bag of pork rind( instead of pork meat)
1 large egg plant, sliced ( Chinese variety recommended)
1 medium-sized bitter melon, chopped
1/4 lb squash, chopped into 2×1 inch cubes (Acorn or Philippine squash)
1 piece onion, chopped
1 tbsp ginger, minced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6 to 8 pieces okra ( trimmed of edges)
3 tbsp shrimp paste
1 cup water
3 tbsp cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Procedure

1. Heat the pan and put the cooking oil. When oil is hot enough, saute the garlic, ginger, and onion
Put-in the squash and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until texture becomes soft

2. Add the remaining vegetables and mix with the other ingredients. Simmer for 5 minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked. (Do not overcook the vegetables). You want the Okra to be crispy not too slimy.

3. Put-in the shrimp paste and pork rind (chicharon) and cook for 2 minutes. Add water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4.Serve hot with steamed white rice and shrimp paste as a side dish ( Barrio Fiesta is my favorite brand)

The usual recipe uses pork meat(tenderloin). This recipe uses pork rind or chicharon which does not need to be cooked more than 2 minutes. Very quick and easy.