The Perfect Sansrival Cake

This must be pure joy in cake form.

With extreme glee written all over my face, I felt like wolfing down a slice or two the minute I got this. Pistachio sansrival cake by Delize of Chef Jill Sandique, it’s simply the Louie Vuitton of cakes, hands down.

Had my mom taste it and grabe, she was blown away, big time. Haaay, new finds like this get me very giddy. I’m like “oh-dear-this-must-be-love” as I was tasting it, yeah love at first taste!

I particularly like the use of pistachio nuts as opposed to the traditional peanuts in this cake. Definitely an excellent source of protein, it dramatically reduces cholesterol too, among some of its benefits. Love pistachio nuts.

The butter wasn’t overwhelming. Not at all. I did not feel that I was munching on some butter bar with ‘incidental ingredients’ like nuts. Walang daya.

Great taste plus the vibrant green color of the nuts spelled excellence in this cake. Gooey, creamy-rich and really pretty, Chef Jill is the pastry rockstar!

This just worked its way on my ‘top-of-mind-party-potluck-contribution’ list. Loveeet!

*for orders, please call/text 09228262673 look for Lea.

Inadobong Baka Sa Gata

It started this way. ADOBO. Yum.

Half of me clamored for some classic adobo and the other half  howled for some dish that used rich gata (coconut milk). And, both sides won. Yehey.

Beef, isn’t really the most popular main meat of the traditional adobo. It’s usually pork and chicken grabbing the lead star spot in any adobo fare, but hey, beef rocks too.

In fact, tonight, I did both adobong baka and inadobong baka sa gata.

inadobong baka sa gata

I know that was insane. I just had to scratch the  itch to cook and taste adobo in two ways. And, was it good!

I am a serious advocate of pinoy food. Very serious, actually. In fact, this post has to be the nth time I am talking about adobo, otherwise touted as Philippines’ flagship dish. Yeah, mabuhay ang adobo!

Okay, here’s how to do it. You will need:

1 kilo brisket, cubed (choose the part that has the fat marbling all over!)

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 laurel leaf

salt and pepper to taste

1 pack instant gata (hey, was running late eh!)

water

oil

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1. Season beef with salt and pepper. Put garlic. Pour vinegar, soy sauce and water enough to cover the meat. Simmer. Continue adding water until meat is very tender and most liquid has evaporated. Once sauce has been reduced to half, add oil. Proceed by adding laurel during the last 3 minutes of your cooking.

2. Add gata. Stir for about 5 minutes more. Serve hot.

Corn Chip-Coated Chicken Fingers

chicken fingers on tomato-wheat pasta

I love the thousand and one ways you can have your chicken fingers. In most fast food restaurants, their basic breaded chicken is always given a makeover, usually by way of adding special sauces to it.

Traditionally, the sauce choices for the chicken include teriyaki, curry, sweet and sour and other great-tasting sauces. Why, as long as the chicken finger is made excellently (translation: crunchy, moist and juicy!), pouring over any good sauce on it will definitely yield a perfect combination.

On the other hand, it is also used as  pasta topper, usually in any pasta that’s meatless and tomato based. It provides the crunch and savory factor in the otherwise almost subdued taste of a simple tomato-based pasta.

Today, I whipped up a corn chip-breaded chicken fingers on a simple, basic tomato based-pasta for dinner. The corn chips actually got my hands into doing this dish. It’s the first time for me to get those chips onto my fillets, a momentary breakaway from my Japanese bread crumbs.

Now, here’s how to do it. You wil need:

1/2 kilo chicken breast fillet

1/2 cup bread flour

1 cup corn chips, coarsely pounded

1 egg, slightly beaten

salt and pepper to taste

For the pasta, you will need:

1/2 kilo whole wheat spaghetti

2 cups tomato sauce

4 cloves garlic

1 large bell pepper, cut into strips

1 tbsp hot sauce

salt and pepper to taste

parmesan cheese

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chicken fingers

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour then dip in egg. Coat with corn chips. Let stand for 5 minutes. Deep fry for four minutes on each side. Top on pasta.

tomato pasta

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meantime, in a sauce pan, saute garlic and bell pepper. Add tomato sauce. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce. Toss in pasta. Sprinkle with cheese on top.

Cooking Demo On MomWorx (Lifestyle Network)

I have no regerets having dabbled into newscasting for a good decade or so. Why, it was a dream waiting to happen since I was seven years old! When all the kids obsessed in becoming doctors, lawyers and artista, little me fantasized in becoming somebody like Tina-Monzon Palma. And, as fate would have it, it ‘kinda’ happened although not in the magnitude that I wanted it to be. Still, newscast was one of  my life’s most remarkable highlights, bar none.

Now, fast forward to 2009. I’m now officially out of the newsroom and finally in the kitchen! Yehey! Like a fish thrown back into the water, like an eaglet back in the wings  o f her mother, I can’t be happier in the company of my ‘sandok’ and ‘kawali’. Like I always tell my friends, I’m better off annotating how to ‘gisa’ than annotating  rallies in Edsa!

Cooking is ME. Since birth. And yes, even in my past lives.

And now that I’ve become the ‘kusinera’ that I have always dreamt of becoming (back to back with my news ambitions…), I sure have to tighten my grip in holding on to this dream and focus, focus, focus! It’s definitely the best recipe to succeed:)

Anyway, here goes a video clip from a guesting I made for Lifestyle Network’s “Momworx” with Maricel laxa-Pangilinan. All the recipes I did were lifted from this site.

I hope in my own small way, I am able to offer you a third hand in your kitchen.

Baked Dory In A Hurry

pre-cooking stage of the dory

All too suddenly, my palate started to nag me for a juicy, tasty and very savory dish of baked fish. So, I rushed to the freezer to grab some dory fillets to silence my craving. I knew I just had to have it right away!

I am a fan of dishes with salty, sweet and sour combinations. And, with a fat, juicy and moist dory to go with it, ahh, it’s the best, baby.

Anyway, here’s how to do it.

You will need:

2 whole dory fillets (medium-sized)

salt and pepper to taste

2 large lemons, seeded and sliced (see picture on top of this page)

3/4 cup mayo

1 tbsp honey

5 cloves of garlic, minced finely

3/4 cup parmesan cheese

3 tbsps bread crumbs (optional)

1  tsp fresh rosemary, chopped (optional)

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1. Preheat oven to 350c. Season fish with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. In a baking ware, bed  lemon slices vertically. Lay fillets on them (see picture on top of this page).

3. In a bowl, mix mayo, honey, rosemary and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

4. Top fish with mayo mixture. Sprinkle cheese and breadcrumbs on top.

5. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese become bubbly hot. Serve warm.

Creamed Pork Stew

A crowd pleaser, this creamed pork stew is definitely a delectable treat at any given dining ocassion. Creamy and extremely  palatable with the other flavors jumping out of this dish, this should be on your plate this very minute!

classic pork stew

I originally  cooked a simple but delish pork stew and I thought it tasted  sooo good as it was until I had a eureka moment again and decided to pour in some cream to further liven up my stew. The dish just got better and better. And yeah, it turned out to be  the best!

Okay, to do the creamed pork stew you will need:

1/2 kilo pork loin, cut into thin strips

3/4 cup shitake mushrooms, sliced

1/2 kilo ripe tomatoes, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium sized red onion, sliced

1 medium-sized bell pepper, julienned

1/4 cup soy sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup all-purpose cream

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1. Saute pork in onion, garlic and tomatoes in butter and oil. Add pork, season with salt and pepper and soy sauce.

2. Bring to a medium simmer. Add water until pork is tender and tomatoes totally wilted. Midway into cooking, throw in bell peppers and mushrooms.

3. Add cream. Bring to a simmer and stir for about four minutes,. Serve hot.