my sangria

i have not been very good at estimating ingredients but i really do love to experiment. so one day, after finding what looked like a very good sangria recipe online, i decided to try it, incorporating other stuff written by other readers.

why do i want to make the sangria? because i miss the time when my friends and i had lunch with sangria in madrid. now, i'm trying to relive the moment at home. however, the recipe here is somewhat of an estimate because as i said earlier, i'm not good with estimates so when i placed the ingredients the first time, it came out very strong. hoping to let it settle, i tried tasting it again after a day but it did came out strong so i had to make a patch with my citrus. this is, finally, my recipe...

1/2 cheap red table wine
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 apple, sliced
1 1/2 orange, juiced
1/2 orange, quartered or sliced
1/5 tequila (optional)
2 cups orange juice (from the bottle)

put in a pitcher the sliced apple and orange. put in the sugar and mix. crush the orange a bit so the juice will come out. put in the orange juice (fresh and bottled) then mix again, followed by the tequila and red wine. mix thoroughly. let it settle for at least two hours before serving.

according to the recipe i read, you can put ice on the glasses before serving the sangria :)

luncheon meat with apple

saw this easy to make sandwich online and i liked it. maybe you would, too! :)

luncheon meat
apple, thinly sliced
wheat bread, toasted
mayonnaise (or smashed avocado for substitute)

fry luncheon meat then set aside on paper to drain oil. on the wheat bread, put in mayonnaise, sliced apple, and luncheon meat.

serve hot :)

gambas and chili mushroom

ingredients
button mushrooms
garlic, chopped
chili oil
vegetable oil
medium-sized shrimps, scale removed, deveined and seasoned with salt and pepper

in low or medium heat, heat oil in pan. when oil is already ready, put in chopped garlic, followed by button mushrooms then chili oil. wait until mushroom is a bit brown. set aside in the pan.

in the same pan, cook the shrimp until pink. then mix the button mushroom to have equal chili covering for the shrimp and mushroom.

serve hot.

kabsa by olie and greg

Stayed over at a friend's place during my last visit to the UK and they prepared this wonderful meal that I surely would love to make back home. I just had to ask for their recipe :)

--------

Here are the ingredients used nung nagluto kami. You can adjust it depende kung for how many people yung niluluto mo.

Chicken - 1 Kilo
Tomato - 4 pcs chopped (these are big ones so kung maliit lang yung gagamitin mo, dagdagan mo na lang)
Carrots - 4 pcs shredded
Onions - 2 pcs chopped
Lemon Zest (optional)
Easy Cook Rice - 5 cups

Put the chicken with the onion, carrots, and tomato on a pressure cooker. Put in 5 cups of water, perhaps more if you don't use easy cook rice. Rule of thumb is kung ilang cups of rice, ganun din kadami yung water, although nagpapasobra kami ng 1-1.5 cups of water.

Once it cooks on full pressure (that ringing sound), leave it for 20 minutes.

After this, take out the chicken. Put in the rice, and cook the rice in this broth.

Put the chicken pcs in the oven to grill until brown.

Then, serve the meal with lemon and cucumber. A little bit of salt would add taste to the chicken as well.

I think that's it. I'm not sure kung paano siya lutuin without a pressure cooker, but I'm sure it can be done.

 the final kabsa

pinoy kakanin sa holy week

in preparation for the long holy week break, i asked my mom to send me a gelatinous rice flour pack. i was craving for traditional filipino food that i enjoyed when i was a kid -- those that my mom cooked when we had a long break, or during merienda times in the afternoon.

so last holy week, i decided to make two filipino desserts: palitaw and tsikalang, or what is known in manila as pilipit.

palitaw in tagalog means 'to float.' this way of cooking is simply that, letting the rice dough float in boiling water. when it floats, it means that it is already cooked and ready to be served.

ingredients:
1/4 cup baking flour
3/4 cup gelatinous rice flour
water

mix ingredients until it forms a dough. shape into flat circles then drop in boiling water. wait for it to float then scoop it out.

for the "garnishing"

ingredients:
grated coconut and sugar

put in hot pan the grated coconut and sugar. mix well until color of mixture is light brown. serve mixed or separate from the palitaw.

tsikalang as we call it in zamboanga is also known in manila as pilipit. although of different shapes, they have the same style of cooking.

 

ingredients are the same as that of the dough mixture of palitaw. shape it in braid-style or strudel-shape. once ready, fry in hot pan. remove from the pan when brown. then in another pan, caramelize brown sugar with water (some uses oil with the sugar). once it is a bit sticky, pour in the fried tsikalang and coat it with the sugar. once coated, remove from pan and serve.

remember thought that the sugar mixture must not be too thick so that when it is coated onto the bread, it will not dry thickly on the bread when cold.

palitaw

1/4 cup all purpose baking flour
3/4 cup gluten rice
water

grated coconut
white sugar

mix the flour, rice flour and water to create a dough. when done, cut dough into tiny pieces to create flat circles. dip into boiling water. the dough is cooked when it rises. in filipino, palitaw means 'to float.'

for the "dip," mix the sugar and grated coconut in a hot pan. serve when fully mixed.

pilipit

1/4 cup all purpose baking flour
3/4 cup gluten rice
water
brown sugar

mix the flour, rice flour and water until it produces a dough. cut dough into pieces and form into desired shapes (e.g. pretzel style). fry until brown. set aside.

in another pan, mix sugar and water to form a caramel. when ready, pour in the fried dough until it is fully coated. remove from pan and serve.

sweet potato with bacon

cut bacon into bits. cut sweet potatoes in bite sizes.

cook bacon. when well done, remove from pan. leave the oil produced from the bacon. put in the cut sweet potatoes. when brown, remove from pan.

serve hot. sprinkle salt and cut onion chives. :)