Learning to Cook and Other Things

I have a strong craving for pancit tonight. Why I can’t cook it tonight at 11:34, local time is not really a wonder. No eating for me beyond 10:00. Am trying to take care of my health, you see Pancit or 'chow mein', is my comfort food. Anytime, I am feeling deprived, I cook pancit. In our home, all birthday and other celebrations are usually accompanied by pancit. Craving and all, please not those advertised on TV. So tomorrow it shall be. Just like so many pancits I have prepared in the past, this one is going to be devoured like I have not eaten for three days. Imagine, having to wait 8-9 hours before breakfast. I shall use as usual ½ cup boiled and flaked chicken (usually from the breast) ½ cup boiled shrimps ( medium sized) peeled and deveined ½ cup pork,boiled and sliced ½ cup ham strips (left-over from the previous weeks’ menu) ½ cup light soy sauce 1 cup cabbage shredded 1 cup carrots sliced in long strips 1 cup shredded celery 1 pack 400 gms Chinese noodles (Canton) 5...

Yes, I am. My experiment to plan out a weekly menu utterly failed. These are two of the more important reasons: 1. It proved very expensive because some of the veggies and fruits I purchased ahead of time perished before they could be cooked. 2. I got too tired because the plan was to cook a new dish every meal. This is so impractical, what with the high cost of energy required for cooking. It crossed my mind you know, but I just had to try it. I am not sure if I want to do it all over again. Maybe, this time I shall use a different tack. Like buying my veggies for 3 days instead of a week's supply. But that would be two trips to the market. Still good for my daily exercise :-) My weekly menu as planned starts Tuesday and ends on a Monday. Tomorrow, local time, is the day for marketing and grocery shopping. I have tonight to make my final decision. As of today, I still have meat and poultry good for 2 days. Actually, I reached the decision to discontinue my plan on my third ...

I love Mediterranean cooking. Pasta, loads of herbs, lots of fresh vegetables, balsamic vinegar olives and olive oil. I know it is nutritious and best of all, it is delicious. This is a fact: the incidence of heart disease in Mediterranean countries is low compared to that in the United States . Could this be entirely because of the food the Mediterraneans eat? You better believe it. But what is a Mediterranean diet? The Mediterranean diet was found to have high consumption of fruits, vegetables, bread, cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds. Olive oil is significantly consumed which is deemed to provide mono unsaturated fat. Take note that poultry, red meat, fish, eggs are consumed from almost nil to 4 times a week, while wine is consumed from low to moderate amounts. Think about it: more than half the fat calories in a Mediterranean diet come from mono unsaturated fats mostly provided by olive oil. Mono unsaturated fat doesn't raise blood cholestero l levels the...

To minimize my stress around my cooking chores, I have decided to make a weekly program of our meals. Taking after what my mother did way back. To segue it was a rule that I watch her cook so I can learn. Disinterested yes, but I would always abide. My mom's word was like God's. By the way, our meals were planned on a weekly basis because she needed the extra time away to do some extra income generating activities. To segue again, my own daughter did not benefit from any cooking lessons from yours truly. We could afford the help, those days. Matured or elderly help who are expert cooks. Aside from that my mom stayed with us and so cooking was always on her agenda. But 6 years ago she got her own place and I was left to fend for myself. A good help was out of the question. And I turned out to be the default housekeeper. Housekeeping included cleaning the house, cooking, marketing, supermarting, etc, etc, etc. aside from working on a full time job. (I became a full time SAHM...

Certainly, not Mr. Barack Obama. I am talking about our own coffee variety called barako. Four excellent-tasting varieties of coffee are grown in the Philippines . The ‘robusta,’ comprise 90% of total coffee production. Robusta serves as the main ingredient for the local instant coffee products. The ‘arabica,’ ‘excelsa,’ and ‘liberica’ or the Philippine barako'' make up the remaining 10% of total output. Barako coffee beans are largely known for their strong aroma. Many claim that it is better tasting than arabica. Though I think that is true I find it too strong for my palate. Barako coffee beans are round in shape and large, and grow in clusters. The trees grow to be 18 feet, and possess thick leaves. Liberica because of its strong and acidic flavor do not have many coffee flavor fans but I remember almost 40 years ago, I used to buy ‘barako’ coffee from the wet markets. That distinct powerful odor as it was being grinded, overpowered my adolescent sense of smel...

Ahh it is the holiest Week of the Philippine calendar. Families taking a break find respite from polluted air city living and go to vacation resorts. Families 'bond' care of the beach and the beautiful rustic and oftentimes rural sceneries. The food? No problem. The locality's food business service will take care of that. They will enjoy the freshness of harvest from the sea: shrimps in Dakak , lobsters from Palawan , and the mollusks of Cavite . For us city-dwellers forever (only because we cannot afford a 5 kilometer travel away from our homes), we plan our meals around fish this time of the year. As Catholics are supposed to be meatless and instead 'endure' fish and veggie eating or none at all. This year would not be any different. I bought some tilapia and bangus , also some yellow fin tuna. Grilled, steamed sauced, our fish will be thymed, oreganoed, basilled, cuminned and black peppered. Delish and healthy. But aren't we Catholics supposed to m...

There's nothing serious in mortality. All is but toys; renown and grace is dead, The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees Is left this vault to brag of. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Macbeth, II. iii. (100) I am thinking of writing about wines. Why? There this heady and acrimonious feeling that I seem to be wanting to drown with a glass of wine. But I don't really drink. Not even socially. But learning recently, that a SINGLE glass of wine taken twice or thrice a week may be able to improve the performance of the heart's arteries made me stop and give wine drinking a more appreciative look. Despite some bad news in our family's midst, I need to do a post. Okey. I shall write about wine and food. His element is so fine Being sharpened by his death, To drink from the wine-breath While our gross palates drink from the whole wine. W.B.Yeats (1865-1939) All Souls' Night I found out from my ...

After talking about food toxicity, here's one for health - from farm-fresh, luscious, red strawberries. My cousin arrived from Baguio and brought loads of strawberries. I thought perhaps, aside from making strawberry milkshake for the afternoon snack, I would also prepare crepe with strawberry filling for a very late breakfast. Here’s what I used to do the crepe batter. 4 eggs 1 c. flour 2 tbsp. sugar 1 c. milk 1/4 c. water 1 tbsp. melted butter, cooled Beat eggs in medium mixing bowl. Gradually add flour and sugar alternately with milk and water, beating until smooth. Beat in melted butter. Refrigerate batter at least one hour before use. When ready to use, lightly butter 6-8 inch non-stick pan. Pour scant 1/4 cup of batter into preheated skillet. Immediately rotate skillet until thin film covers bottom. Cook until light brown, turn and cook other side until light brown. Stack with waxed paper between each. Keep covered. Will yield 12 crepes. Strawberry Fill...

Look at what I found lurking at the bottom of my frying pan as I was just about to clean it. Yes I found this black, stiff as ordinary plastic stuff. I believe it's the residue after cooking tocino. Now what and where on earth did this toxic substance come from? I know that it is a by-product of something. And I know it is NOT healthy. Sodium Nitrate I suppose? By the way as defined by wikipedia tocino or "tosino is a cured meat product native to the Philippines It is usually made out of pork and is similar to ham and bacon although beef is also used. It is often reddish in color and has a sweetish taste. Its name is derived from the Spanish word tocino, which is used to describe bacon or cured meat". "The meat is sliced into thin strips. Anise wine, annatto , water, salt, sugar, and saltpeter are combined in a container. Each strip is the sprinkled with the mixture and then piled on top of each other in a separate container, which is covered and ke...

My Korean neighbors were celebrating something the other day and they invited me to come over for some chat and food. Aside from the traditional kimchi the mistress of the house served what she called Korean Beef. I must admit it was kindda sweet for my taste but the beef was tender, to spicy for my palate. The chopped peanuts and the pear provided the relief and from the cholesterol count too. And today I realized Korean and Japanese food have something in common – mirin  Am I telling you?  With very little English on her part we were talking more through sign language. Her children are better English speakers than herself. The children really pick up faster than adults. Me thinks Before I left and with the best sign language I can master I politely asked her if she had the recipe for her Korean beef. She was motioning something and from what I made out of it she was promising to hand it to me the next day. Thank you and Good night. The next morning, her help was buzzing, my r...

After posting about those delish cheeses from Europe, I go back to the Asian style of food preparation. Try Japanese. I am posting about that dish called Teriyaki? I am not from Japan . I have not lived nor visited Japan. Well, almost in 1994, the local Japanese Embassy in fact granted me a business Visa. Look, I didn’t know it was winter in Japan that time L . So my trip was cancelled although my scheduled companion-friend went ahead anyway. But I digress. Ah yes - never lived, never visited the cherry blossoms country. But I got me a couple of Japanese friends, okey? I met them when I attended a business conference in Singapore . With little English on their part, we talked about what else, food. Sign language you see. And yes, we were dining in a Japanese restaurant at that time. And Yessss we were feasting on teriyaki. That’s what I call a seguey :-) So, what is Teriyaki? Teriyaki is one of the many ways of Japanese cooking. The word, teriyaki is a com...

I was supposed to write this in Feb 26 after applying for membership to Post Mama hoping I'd be able to take advantage of 100 Entrecard credits. However, I forgot all about it till tonight. Anyway, I'd still want to quote the invitation from their message board as follows: "A message to all members of Posh Mama Posh Mama is an online magazine and a social network exclusively for women from all around the world. The network is a supportive, interactive, and highly engaged community of Posh Mamas who share information on fashion, beauty, style, home interiors, art, book reviews, author interviews, fitness, nutrition, unique products for women, cool gadgets, high-tech toys and important product recalls". "You don't have to be a "Mother" to be a 'Posh Mama'. " So if you think this community is for you "come hang out with" us at www.poshmama.com .

“Cloned-animal products aren't on store shelves yet — the industry won't begin selling them for at least a few months, after a government-recommended "transition period" — but when they finally do appear in supermarkets you may not even notice, because they won't be labeled. "The FDA does not require labeling if there [are] no food safety issues," said Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, at a January press conference. That's where Dr. Patrick Cunningham, the former director of the Animal Production and Health Division of the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization, and Ireland 's current chief scientific advisor, comes in. Cunningham's 12-year-old company, IdentiGEN, specializes in DNA tracing of meat products — a process that can save valuable time during industry recalls, like the massive one on Sunday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) involving 143 million lbs. of...