My Own Recipe of Pancit Canton

This is my first time to cook Pancit Canton, although I have already cook Pancit Bihon. I prefer the Bihon noodles because when I was growing up, I did not like the smell of the Canton noodles. However, just recently when we went to the Pinoy store Macrine picked up a package of the Noodles. Here's my own creation, substituting ingredients that I have in my cup board/refrigerator.

1/2 lb medium shrimps, cooked ( shelled and deveined)
1 chicken breast roasted ( Shredded)
3 tbsp. cooking oil
2 med carrot, cut in strips
1 cup shredded cabbage
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms
3 cloves minced garlic
1 medium onion, sliced
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt
2 cans chicken broth
1/4 lb peapods ( or snow peas) clean edges and deveined
1 16 oz Pancit canton ( oriental style noodles)
1 hot Portuguese sausage( instead of Chinese sausage) parboiled and sliced thinly

Saute onion and garlic in hot oil. Add the shredded cabbage, garlic salt followed by the carrots and chicken broth. Cooked until cabbage is soft. Add the snow peas and fresh mushrooms and mixed and cooked for 2 minutes. Add soy sauce, the cooked shrimps and chicken breast and additional garlic salt to taste. Lower the heat to moderate and add the noodles. Cook stirring until noodles are done and most of the broth is absorbed. Serve hot, garnished with sliced Linquisa. On the side dish, Patis for my wife and fresh lemon slices( instead of calamansi in the Philippines) for me. Because of my diabetes, I used salt sparingly. So all the dishes I am cooking is not too salty. Enjoy!

A New Recipe-My Banana-Raisins Pancake

I woke up early this morning with the sun shining in our bedroom. It has been raining here in Northern California for the last week with floods, threat of overflowing dam and evacuation of residents. This is a much welcome sun as another storm is expected to hit Northern California tomorrow.

I felt good to see the morning sun and was wondering what I will cook for breakfast this morning when I saw one over rife banana. I have chunks of fresh mangoes in my refrigerator and a box of newly purchased raisins. I was not sure if I had a Pancake Mix. But luck is with me today. I have a Betty Crocker Complete Pancake Mix in my cupboard. Here's my very simple recipe:

1 cup Pancake Mix ( Betty Crocker or Equivalent)
3/4 cup Milk
1 Egg
1/8 cup raisins
1 over rife banana

Mixed all the ingredients: Cooked in Portions of the mix (amount will determine the size of the pancake) in a Skillet with trace amount of cooking oil. I used olive oil today. Serve with butter and pancake syrup. Garnished with fresh mango chunks and blueberries as shown in the photo above.

With freshly brewed coffee from the Philippines ( Baracco brand)-this recipe can qualify for a Good breakfast for all Seasons.

Enjoy!

New Dungeness Crab Omelet Recipe

Last night my wife and I prepared my favorite dish, normally served only on special occasion. It is the Dungeness Crab Omelet with shredded cabbage and sweet Vidalia Onions from Hawaii. Today is not my birthday or some other special occasion. However, I saw a sale of the Dungeness crabs( for only $5.99/lb) at Food Mart yesterday.

The last time I tasted this dish was last year, but the crab was from the Maryland crabs known also as the blue crabs. Preparing the dish is simple. The hardest part is to remove the crab meat from the claws and legs. The cabbage is shredded (1 bowl) and sauteed with the onions in olive oil until partially cooked. An equivalent amount of crab meat is added to the shredded cabbage and onions and cooked in olive oil until the cabbage is fully cooked . The crab and cabbage patty mix is added to beaten eggs with a small amount of corn starch. The patty is then fried in olive oil until the egg is cooked. The omelet is served with Picante Sauce (Hot or Mild) with steam rice.

My wife's other recipe is the use of cube potatoes, bean sprouts or green beans( julienne) instead of the shredded cabbage. Try it and let me know if it is good.

Do you know the difference between the Dungeness and Maryland Crabs. The Maryland crabs, also known as blue crabs are much smaller in size and very similar to the Philippine crabs in appearance and taste. The Dungeness crabs are big and are caught here in the San Francisco Bay area and northward up to Alaska. The Maryland crabs are from the Chesapeake Bay of Northern Maryland and Virginia.

The Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister (formerly Cancer magister), is a species of crab that inhabits eelgrass beds and water bottoms on the west coast of North America. It typically grows to 20 cm (7.9 in) across the carapace and is a popular seafood. Its common name comes from the port of Dungeness, Washington. The crabs is a special attraction to tourists in the San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf during the Crab Season. The season for the San Francisco Bay starts in the second Tuesday of November.

Our First Taste of Dungeness Crab This Year

Purchase 4 Dungeness Crabs in Safeway Today

My mouth is salivating now just thinking of the Dungeness Crabs I purchase from Safeway today. It cost me $6.99 per pound. Each of the four are at least 1.5 lbs. The season opened last week. When I opened my FaceBook today, I saw from a friend status of the availability of the crabs in Safeway. I immediately called our local Safety store if they have it. It was a resounding yes. In two minutes I was driving to the store. Last year the season was a bust due to the demonic levels of domoic acid in the waters of the Bay-a toxic substance.

Crab has been showing up on some Bay Area menus and in grocery stores since the season started in Oregon and Washington, and now supplies have been supplemented with freshly caught crab from Northern California, where the season started last November 15.

In case you are not familiar with the Dungeness Crab Season here in Northern California, here's an article that I wrote in 2014 describing the Crabbing season in Northern California. http://theintellectualmigrant.blogspot.com/2014/11/dungeness-crab-season-opens-today.html

Barquillos and Ice Cream for Merienda ( Snack)

Today, Macrine and I had Barquillos( rolled milk wafers) and ice cream for merienda ( afternoon snack). This reminded me of my teenager days in Iloilo. This nostalgic memories reminded me of my Father, Dr David Jamili Javellana K(C)atague from Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, Philippnes. In the late 1940's just after the American-Japanese War in the Philippines, the third class town of Barotac Viejo did not have an ice cream store and bakery. So every week, my Father and I would take a 2 to 3 hour ride by bus to Iloilo City to purchase our monthly supplies of groceries and bakery goods. The roads at that time from Barotac Viejo to Barotac Nuevo were not paved and the bus trip was very bumpy. During the rainy season some parts of the national road is flooded.

However, in the early 2000 when my wife and I visited Barotac Viejo, the roads were paved, so the 60KM auto trip from Iloilo City to the town took us only about 55 minutes.

http://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2014/12/where-heck-is-barotac-viejo-iloilo.html

If you are not familiar with barquillos: Barquillos are thin rolled cookies of Spanish origin. In the Philippines, Iloilo is particularly known for its barquillos. They are made by pouring a thin batter is onto a wafer iron (barquillera). Once the wafer is cooked to a light brown it is immediately rolled while still hot. It becomes a crisp rolled cookie when it cools. Barquillos are now available in local flavors like ube and pandan. Sometimes they are filled with polvoron powder to make a sweet called barqueron. Here in Nothern California, Barquillos are sold in our local Pilipino grocery store. They are imported from the Philippines. Here's a short video in how to make barquillos or rolled milk wafers.

Mango Pancake for Breakfast Today

I woke up early this morning with the sound of welcome rain in my roof. It has been raining here in Northern California since yesterday. This is a much welcome rain. The last significant rain we had was last February this year. I was wondering what I will cook for breakfast this morning when I remembered I have chunks of fresh mangoes in my refrigerator. I was not sure if I had a Pancake Mix. But luck is with me today. I have a Betty Crocker Complete Pancake Mix in my cupboard. Here's my very simple recipe:

1 cup Pancake Mix ( Betty Crocker or Equivalent)
3/4 cup Milk
2 Eggs
1/4 cup smashed fresh mangoes

Mixed all the ingredients: Cooked in Portions of the mix (amount will determine the size of the pancake) in a Skillet with trace amount of cooking oil. I used olive oil today. Serve with butter and pancake syrup. Garnished with fresh mango chunks and blueberries as shown in the photo above.

With freshly brewed coffee from the Philippines ( Baracco brand)-this recipe can qualify for a Good breakfast for all Seasons.

Enjoy!

I Ordered Ready to Eat Gourmet Meals from Freshly Today

If you have been following my blogs, you probably know that I have been ordering gourmet ready to eat meals from Munchery.com Today, I ordered six meals for $36 (a promotional price) with this food delivery company( Freshly) that I saw in Facebook. The regular price for this 6 meal plan is $59 from the company website, https://www.freshly.com Here's the six meals I ordered:

https://www.freshly.com/subscriptions/779005/weekly-orders/1268891/deliveries/700226

My first shipment will be next week and every Friday. The promotional price included free delivery to my front door. The meals are packed in dry ice. Just heat the meals for 1.5 to 2 minutes in the microwave and you have your dinner, lunch or breakfast. I am lazy to cook, so ordering good quality meals with out driving to a restaurant is a must for our lifestyle. The following videos (6) summarizes what Freshly is all about.