Sardine Pasta

Sardine is a common household item here in the Philippines.  We have all kinds, in tomato sauce, in water, in oil and all types of fish.  This is a very simple and budget-friendly recipe, so simple it only takes three steps to prepare, and all of the ingredients are already available in your pantry.  If you like sardines, the one in can with tomato sauce, then this dish is for you.  You can use any brand of sardines you would like.  I used a local brand here in the Philippines, in tomato sauce.  This dish I make almost once a week.  So, if you're in a hurry and want something tasty yet easy to prepare, why not try this dish and see for yourself.

Ingredients:
one 155 gram sardines in tomato sauce
one serving of cooked pasta, use any kind
1 medium size onion, chopped
2 bulbs of garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter
grated Parmesan or cheddar cheese

Procedure:
In a saucepan, melt butter.  Saute onion and garlic until the onion is lightly transparent.  Add the sardines and stir and cook for about 2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat and toss in the cooked pasta.  Transfer on plate and top with grated cheese.

See, so simple.  Enjoy!

Puto

Puto is a classic Filipino snack that is usually paired with other Filipino snacks, like palabok, pansit and most commonly with dinuguan or pork blood stew.  This recipe is a variation of the usual puto that is made with rice flour, producing a more delicate and cupcake-like consistency.  Puto molds are sold at almost all baking supplies in the Philippines, but you can always use any mold you have, like muffin or cupcake trays.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
3-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 tsp pandan flavoring
1/2 tsp ube flavoring
1/4 cup melted butter
1 medium size egg
Cheese, cut into strips

Procedure:
Put 2 cups water on steamer and set on medium high heat while you make the puto mixture.

Combine all dry ingredients - all purpose flour, baking powder and sugar.

Add the butter, evaporated milk, and egg.  Mix well.

At this point, pour half of the mixture in a separate bowl and add the pandan flavoring on one bowl.  Mix just until the color is distributed and do not over mix.  Then, add the ube flavoring on the remaining mixture.

Pour mixture on individual molds and top with cheese slices.  You may also top the others with slices of salted egg for variation.

Transfer molds on steamer and steam, covered, for 20, more or less depending on how big your molds are.  You will know that the puto are done when a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.  When the puto are cooked, transfer on wire rack and let cool completely.

Chopsuey

Chopsuey is a vegetable dish that is very common in the Philippines and it is believed to be one of Chinese influence.  It is a mix of different vegetables sauteed in garlic and onions.  Aside from vegetables, different meats are also added to the dish, which makes the dish festive.  The sauce is usually thickened with cornstarch, but in our family, we usually thicken it with cream of mushroom soup powder in sachet.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 medium size onion, chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup chicken breast, cubed
1/2 cup chicken liver, sliced
1/2 cup shrimp, shelled
1/2 cup squid rings
1 cup snow peas
1/2 cabbage head, cut in quarters
1 medium size carrot, sliced
1 medium size green bell pepper, sliced
1 medium size red bell pepper, sliced
1 small cauliflower head, cut into pieces
1 small broccoli head, cut into pieces
1 medium size sayote, sliced
1/2 cup cream of mushroom soup powder dissolved in 1/2 cup water
1 cup water
1 tbsp oyster sauce
About 20 pieces quail eggs, boiled and peeled
1 small can button mushrooms cut in half
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:
In a large heavy pot, saute garlic and onion in oil.  Add the chicken breast and cook for about 3 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink in color.  Add in the squid rings, shrimp and chicken liver and cook for another 4-5 minutes.  Add the oyster sauce and 1 cup water and mix well.  You can now add the vegetables one by one, starting with the carrots, sayote, snow peas, broccoli, mushrooms and cauliflower.  Mix well.  Cover and let it cook for a few minutes, about 5 minutes, or depending on how crunchy you still want your vegetables to be.

Next, add in the bell peppers and mix well.  Add the cabbage, quail eggs and cream of mushroom mixture and let it simmer until the sauce thickens.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat and transfer on a serving plate.  Serve while hot, with plain steamed rice.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:
1 cup mashed bananas
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cashews or any nuts

Procedure:
Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.  Line an 8 x 4 loaf pan with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.  In a mixing bowl, combine the mashed bananas, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and sugar.  Mix well.  Add in the flour mixture and mix just until combined.  Transfer mixture to the loaf and top with chopped cashew nuts.

Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.

Chicken Fettuccine

A very festive dish.  This chicken fettuccine recipe is anything but simple.  My cousin, Jen, actually taught me this recipe, so thanks a lot cuz!  Love lots!  The recipe is good for 20 persons or more, so you can adjust the recipe for smaller group.

Ingredients:
1 kilo fettuccine pasta, cooked according to package direction
1 cup chicken hotdog, sliced
1 small can button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup bacon, chopped
1 whole chicken breast
1/2 cup butter
1 can cream of condensed chicken
1 cup all purpose cream
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 medium size onion, chopped
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning

Procedure:
Boil and cook chicken breast in 2 cups of water.  Once cooked, remove from bone and cut into strips or bite size.  Reserve 1 cup of the chicken stock.

In a large saucepan with a little bit of oil, cook the bacon until lightly crispy.  Add in the butter and saute garlic and onion until translucent.  Add button mushrooms and let it cook for about a minute.  Put in the sliced hotdogs and cook for another minute.

Next, add the all purpose cream, cream of condensed chicken, evaporated milk, chicken strips and chicken stock.  Mix well and let it cook until it starts to boil.  Add in the cheddar cheese and Italian seasoning and continue to cook until the cheese has completely melted.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  When the mixture has thickened a little, remove from heat and top on your fettuccine pasta.  Serve and enjoy.

Easy Garlic Shrimp

A buttery, garlicky shrimp dish with subtle sweetness from the addition of drinking soda.  Very easy to prepare, just be careful not to overcook your shrimps or they will be rubbery.  You can tell the shrimps are done when they turn orange in color from being grey.  This recipe goes well with vinegar with lots of garlic, onion and chopped chili.

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo raw shrimps
3 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup Sprite or lemon soda
1/4 cup butter

Procedure:
Saute garlic in butter until slightly browned.  Add in the shrimps and mix well.  Add the drinking soda, mix well, and cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes or until the shrimps are fully cooked.  Transfer on a serving plate and enjoy with you favorite dipping sauce or vinegar.

Buttercream cake with bear topper

Chocolate cake frosted with American buttercream.  Cake toppers are made out of sugar paste.  Visit my Facebook page Derek's Sweet World to order a cake and see other cake designs and baked products.

Tuna Carbonara

Carbonara is an Italian dish which consists of pasta, egg, bacon and cheese.  But here in the Philippines, any pasta dish that has a white sauce is called carbonara.  The sauce is this recipe is versatile in that you can use any kind of pasta.  In this dish I used spaghetti pasta.

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo spaghetti pasta, cooked according to package direction
1 medium size onion, chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped bacon
1/2 cup sliced button mushrooms
1 can tuna flakes in oil
1 cup all purpose cream
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp minced parsley leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:
In a saucepan, heat butter and cook bacon until crispy.  Scoop bacon out of the pan and set aside.  In the same pan, saute onion and garlic until onion is lightly translucent.  Add in the sliced mushrooms and cook for about a minute.  Add in the all purpose cream and evaporated milk.  Mix well and when the sauce starts to boil, add in the tuna flakes, oil included.  Mix and add in the cheddar cheese.  Add in about 3/4 of the cooked bacon and chopped parsley.  Season with salt and pepper.  Continue cooking, mixing continuously, until the sauce is slightly thickened.  Remove from heat and top on cooked pasta.  Garnish with cooked bacon and chopped parsley.

Kwek-Kwek

Kwek-kwek is a deep fried hard boiled quail eggs covered in a colored batter, usually orange in color.  The orange color usually comes from the use of atsuete or anatto, but I colored mine pink just because.  I just half all purpose flour and half rice flour because I find that by using rice flour the batter is extra crispy and remains so for a longer time than using all plain flour.  This is a very popular street food in the Philippines and it has a cousin "tokneneng" which is a a similar version except it uses hard boiled chicken eggs instead of quail eggs.  Tokneneng is best paired with fish ball sauce or vinegar.

Ingredients"
Hard boiled quail eggs, around 20 pieces, peeled
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rice flour
4 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp anatto powder or 1/2 tsp food color
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

Procedure:
Dredge hard boiled quail eggs in cornstarch.  Set aside.  In a bowl, combine the flour, water, salt and pepper, and anatto powder or food color.  Mix well.  Dip each egg in the batter, and using a spoon, scoop one by one and deep fry in hot oil for a few minutes until crispy.  Make sure the oil is hot enough or your batter will just soak the oil and they will not be as crispy.  Drain in paper towel.  Serve while crispy.

Chili crab

This is a very straightforward dish.  It's sauteed crabs with the addition of crab paste, which gives the dish that distinct crab and very savory taste.  Crab paste is preserved crab meat, usually in sold in bottles, and is almost always available at the supermarkets in the Philippines.  The dish also calls for the addition of chili paste, but you can always omit it.

Ingredients:
10 medium-sized crabs
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup crab paste
1 tbsp chili paste

Procedure:
Saute garlic in butter until lightly browned.  Add in the crabs and stir.  Add about 1/4 cup water.  Cover and let cook for about 5 minutes.  Open the lid and add in the crab paste and chili paste.  By this time the crabs should have turned into a pinkish, reddish color.  Season with salt and pepper as necessary.  Stir well and cover again and let the crabs cooks thoroughly for another 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Enjoy.