Grilled Pompano Fish

Yesterday, my sister-in-law (JM) from the East Bay visited us since it was her day off. As usual, she always bring us Pinoy delicacy and goodies that she purchased on her way to our residence. Her favorite store is the Grill City Restaurant in Seafood City in Concord. Yesterday, she brought us barbecued pork and chicken, tinola and her favorite dish grilled whole pompano fish. The fish was stuffed with onions and tomatoes and cooked to perfection. Macrine and I enjoyed the fish with my favorite vinegar sauce. Again, JM thanks a million for the food and your visit. Because of the this visit, I searched for recipes on grilled pompano. The following is a video of grilled fillet pompano for your viewing pleasure.

Simple but Delicious Breakfast All Year Round

Today, I decided to cook polish sausage ( Kielbasa) with scrambled eggs with vidalia sweet onions and home grown and ripened tomatoes from my garden. It turn out delicious and moist, because I did not overcooked the onions and eggs, and the kielbasa. Along with the dish I have steamed rice, Batangas coffee and mango slices for dessert.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Polish sausage ( Kielbasa)
1/2 sliced sweet onion ( Vidalia)
1/2 sliced and diced Tomato( over riped)
oil and or butter
Garlic and Salt to taste

Cooked the kielbasa in one cup of water. Boil the sausage for five minutes then turn it and boil for another 5 minutes until all the water evaporates. In another pan sauteed the sweet onions with oil or butter ( do not overcooked). Add the tomato slices, cooked until tomatoes are half cooked. Add the scrambled eggs. Continue the cooking until the eggs are half cooked. Shut off the heat and wait for 5 minutes. Serve with steam rice and hot coffee. Enjoy!

Cooking My First Lobster Tails ( Baking)

I always wanted to cook lobster tails. However, I am scared I will ruin it and since lobster tails are expensive, I never had the courage to buy this delicious seafood. However today there is special sale at our local Food Mart. The price is only $12.49 per lb, regular price is $16.99. I purchase 3 medium size tails for only $9.99, indeed a good buy. I searched in the Internet for a Recipe and here is what attracted my attention:*

Directions:

Make sure lobster tails are thawed completely before cooking for best results.

To prepare the lobster tail for baking or broiling:

Grab a pair of kitchen shears and grab the lobster tail in your hand. Begin cutting down one side of the lobster tail as close to the side as you can. Repeat the cut down the other side of the lobster tail. Cut the shell across the middle at the base of the tail. Grab the top of the shell and peel back. Take a knife and cut around the lobster meat so when it's finished cooking, it's easy to remove.

Lay each lobster tail on individual sheets of foil. Prepare lobster marinade of 3 tablespoons each of lemon juice and clarified butter, with a pinch of paprika, white pepper, garlic powder and sea salt. Drizzle lobster marinade over lobster.

Fold up the ends of the foil so your lobster tail is completely sealed. Bake lobster tail according to the chart below in a 450° F. preheated oven.

2 oz. - 12 minutes....................4 oz. - 18 minutes

6 oz. - 22 minutes....................8 oz. - 26 minutes

12 oz. - 30 minutes................14 oz. or more - 35 minutes

Once the lobster is cooked, unwrap the tail, dunk in butter and enjoy!

*From: http://festivalfoods.net/cooking/5188/Baking_Lobster_Tails

My Simple Recipe for Kare De Pata( Pork Feet, Hocks and Shanks)

The other day, I purchased 2 lbs of pork feet, hocks and shank as it was on sale at our local food market. With it I purchased 3 bunch of baby boctoy( pechay),1.4 lbs green beans and 2 large size Chinese eggplant. For the peanut sauce* I purchased Peanut Powder by Jif. This is the first time I have used this product. It says it has 85% less fat than the traditional peanut butter. The above are the major ingredients for this recipe. The other ingredients are:

1 medium onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tumeric powder for coloring
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 cups water
Garlic salt and or ground black pepper to taste
Shrimp Paste ( bagoong)-optional

Cooking Instruction:

1. Pour 8 cups of water in a cooking pot along with the pork feet, hocks and shank. Add a dash garlic salt and black ground pepper. Boil at high heat for 1 hour or until the meat is tender. Remove the pork from the cooking pot and set aside.

2. In another cooking pot, saute the onions and garlic. Add the pork. In a cup of water add 5 tablespoon of peanut Powder( by Jif) and mix. Add the mixture to the pot, and green beans. Cook for another 2 minutes.

3. Add the eggplant, and the tumeric spice and let it simmer another 2 minutes. Lastly add the pechay and cook at low heat for another 2 minutes.

4. Serve with steam rice and with shrimp Paste on the side. My favorite brand of Bagooong is Barrio Fiesta.

* Normally, I use roasted and ground peanuts for the sauce. My discovery of the peanut powder by Jif saves time in praparing this dish. The tumeric is my own coloring ingredient, which is optional.

My Favorite Pancit Bihon Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb pancit bihon (Rice Noodles)
½ lb. pork, cut into small thin slices
2 cups diced cooked chicken breast meat
⅛ lb. pea pods or snow peas
1 cup carrot thinly sliced
½ small head cabbage, chopped
1 medium sized onion, chopped
½ tbsp garlic, minced
5 tbsp soy sauce
3 to 4 cups water
Fish Sauce( Patis)
2 lemons -cut into wedges for garnish( Lime or calamansi may used instead of the lemons)

Instructions

1. In a large pot or wok, Saute the garlic and onion. Add the pork let cook for 4 minutes. Then the chicken breast.

2. Put in the carrots, pea pods, cabbage, and simmer for a 15 minutes or until the cabbage begins to soften.

3. Remove all the ingredients in the pot except for the liquid and set them aside. In the pot with the liquid in, add the soy sauce and mix well

4. Add the pancit bihon (makes sure to first soak it in water for about 20 minutes) and mix well. Cook until liquid evaporates completely

5. Put-in the vegetables and meat that were previously cooked and simmer for a minute or two. Add the lemon wedges for the garnishing. Serve with Fish sauce ( Patis) on the side if desired.

My New Recipe of Sinigang na Sugpo in Tamarind Sauce

Last week Macrine and I bought 1 lb of prawns for $6.99/lb at Seafood City in Elk Grove. Today is the only time I had a chance to cook it using the easy and simple recipe I have in my file. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
2 medium tomatoes, quartered
2 Chinese eggplant, end trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 bunch of pechay or Chinese boktoy, stems cut and leaves separated
1/4 pound of green beans, end trimmed and cut into 2-inches in length
1 pound shell-on shrimp, tendrils trimmed, washed and drained well
1/4 pouch of Mama Sita Tamarind Seasoning Mix for Sinigang ( about 0.45 oz or 12.5 g)
Garlic Salt to taste. Patis or fish sauce may be used instead of the garlic salt.

Instruction

1. In a pot over medium heat, bring water( 4 cups) to a boil. Add onions and tomatoes and cooked until softened. Add the eggplant and green beans. Continue cooking until the vegetables are half-cooked.

2. Add shrimps and tamarind seasoning. Season with garlic salt. Continue cooking until the shrimps changes to pink( do not overcook the shrimps) and vegetables are tender but crisp. Add the pechay pushing down into the broth with back of the spoon. Turn off heat and allow the residual steam to cook the pechay leaves. Served hot with fish sauce on the side if desired.

( Note I am an Illongo so I hate Patis, but my wife loves Patis very, very much. Bon Apetite!

Pompano Fish in Sweet and Sour Sauce

Today, I cooked my first fish dish in sweet and sour sauce. The fish was pompano. My wife and I purchased the fish from Seafood City yesterday. This recipe is very easy and simple to follow. Try it!

Ingredients:

4 medium sized pompano fillet (from 2 whole medium sized fish). The whole fish(including the head) may be used if desired.
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 cups oil for frying
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1 can ( 8 oz) pineapple chunks, juice reserved
1 1/2 tablespoon white sugar
3 tablespoon ketchup
Garlic Salt to taste
1/2 cup water

Direction: Marinate the pompano fillet(or whole fish) in soy sauce for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in deep-fryer or heavy sauce pan to 375 degrees F. Deep fry the fish until golden brown. Drain the pompano on paper and set aside.

Prepare the sauce as follows: Saute the onion, the red and green peppers and pineapple in a skillet for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved pineapple juice, sugar, ketchup, water and the flour. Mixed and stir for about 2 minutes then add the garlic salt to taste. Cook until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add more flour if necessary.

Serve the fish with sauce on top with steam rice and papaya( pickled green papaya) achara. Bon Apetit!