Learning to Cook and Other Things

Marikina. This is my first successful try at linking. Aaaarrggghh. How dense! Are you looking at me? Ha! Ha! And guess what after today all the rest of my posts shall have links if there's a need for it.

Salads prepared using veggies grown from your own backyard are the best. I am also trying to experiment using Picasa .

I borrowed this recipe from somewhere. Not that I didn't know how to cook this quite simple dish. It is just that the recipe calls for the true blue sampalok fruit not the usual run of the mill ready made sampalok mix. BTW, this gorgeous dish is best cooked in a clay palayok. Ingredients: FRESH shrimps (cleaned)shell on 2-3 strands of unripened sampalok fruit salt and pepper 2-3 cups of boiling water Boil 2-3 cups water. As soon as it starts boiling, add the sampalok fruits. Crush with fork until tender. Add the shrimps. Do not remove the shell. As the sampalok fruit continues to boil put the shrimps in the palayok. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover the palayok. Add more water as needed. Cook at low-medium heat for about 10 minutes without removing the cover. As soon as the shrimps becomes turns orangy in color it is cooked. Serve with fish sauce as dip to counter the tanginess. Serves best with fried rice. (Watch the oils)

This is a Marikina concocted dish which I borrowed. Ingredients: 1 whole fresh chicken fryer, cut into small serving pieces or use chicken breasts for a more delicate taste 1 cup 7-Up soda (for marinating chicken pieces) salt and white pepper for seasoning 3 tbsps vegetable oil 1 garlic clove, minced 1 medium size white onion, finely chopped 1 small fresh pineapple, cut into 1-inch chunks or use 1 small can pineapple in chunks, drained and reserved juice on the side 1/2 cup of heavy cream or evaporated milk Preparation 1. Put chicken pieces in a large bowl. Pour over the 7-Up soda on the chicken and mix slowly. Cover the bowl and let marinate the chicken for 2 hours in the refrigerator. 2. In a small casserole, heat the oil in a medium heat without burning, add and sauté the onions until soft, then add the garlic. 3. Drain the chicken pieces from the marinade and add to the casserole with the onions and garlic. Fry the chicken pieces in a medium heat until cook (for about 25 minutes),

This is also a Marikina concocted dish. Ingredients: Ground Pork Carrots (minced and some sliced in flower form for decoration) Onions (minced) Tomato sauce or paste Salt and pepper to taste Bell Pepper (optional)- minced Raisins (optional) Garlic Eggs (beaten), some use itlog ng itik Eggs (boiled for decoration) Saute Garlic and onions, tapos ilagay ang ground pork, then ilagay ang Tomato sauce/paste and salt and pepper to taste, igisa until lumabas ang sariling mantika. Ilagay ang Carrots, Bell pepper at raisins. Set aside hanggang lumamig. Lagyan ng itlog (beaten) ito ay para mabuo at magdikit-dikit ang sahog. Ihanda ang llanera lagyan ng cut-write o aluminum foil ang ilalim ng llanera para hindi dumikit. Ilagay ang pangdekorasyon na Itlog at carrots o ibang pa gusto mong pang-decorate. Ilagay na ang nilutong ground pork na may itlog. Steam ang llanera for 15 to 30 minutes depende kung mabubuo na ang Everlasting. Viola, meron ka nang everlasting.

Another life saver I find hard to live without. I use it with my honey in the morning; as garnish to my home made tuna or sardine spread; as an added flavor to my green salad vigniarette; a sensational dip when combined with olive oil and mustard; and as a coctail deco item. How alkalinely divine! Cheers!

My cousin warned me against eating too much tomatoes. She said it is high in uric acid . And for us on the way to senior citizenship, we do not need uric acid. Well, all I know about tomatoes are their are rich in Vitamin C and lycopene (when heated). Lycopene's are anti oxidants. Did I get that right? Anyway, that was a long time gone and I haven't had the chance to verify this from nutrition sites. When I do I will surely check back to update this post. Cheers!