MIDNIGHT SNACK

          Macaroni plus milk, plus seasonings is equal to a delicious snack.
          I've never thought that macaroni soup alone could feed our guests in our youth conference last September 3. My friends suggested this for our midnight snack during the overnight activity. Aside from it was easy to prepare we can also save more but can feed and satisfy the participants. great! It did. It's "sulit".
        Even if the activity is on going, I really have to visit the kitchen from time tio time to see how our cooks do it. Having missed their step by step procedure, I've tried to look for a recipe of this kind of food.

Macaroni soup

Ingredients

1 cup macaroni pasta
1 medium onion, mince
3 ounces cooked chicken meat, shredded or 4-6 ounces bone-in chicken piece/s, boil and shred meat, reserve broth
1 small carrot, about 2.5 ounces
4 ounces cabbage, thinly sliced or shredded
granulated garlic ( I used this instead of fresh because it’s more kid- friendly)
sea salt and pepper to taste or fish sauce (patis)
3/4- 1 cup evaporated milk or full cream milk
2-3 pieces of vienna sausage, sliced
1 boiled egg, sliced for garnish

Here’s how:

1. In a 2-quart saucepan or pot, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil. In it saute minced onion, carrots and uncooked macaroni; sprinkle about a teaspoon of granulated garlic and season with a little salt and pepper, cook for about a minute.

2. Pour in the 3 cups of chicken stock; bring to a boil and lower the heat a little and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the cooked chicken, simmer for about 2 minutes then add the cabbage, simmer for a couple of minutes then add milk and vienna sausage. Have a taste and adjust seasoning accordingly. 

4. Cook for a few minutes more or until pasta is tender.

5. Let cool a little before serving. Garnish with slices of boiled egg.

*recipe source:http://www.latestrecipes.net 

FOODS AROUND US

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      I was stocked in my hometown in Pilar recently due to the long holidays. And because our place is a countryside where there is no Internet connections, I can't afford to stay connected with the outside world. The only thing that I can use to get updated is my cellphone. And good thing, we have a good signal there. Television and radio even sound boring to me. I'd rather listen to the chirping of the birds, rustling of the trees as the wind blows, and watch the bushes and turfs dance in the breeze. In doing this, my attention was caught by multifarious green vegetation  around me. The leafy vegetables in our backyard in my father's little garden. Suddenly, a brilliant idea pops to my mind. Why not spend my long vacation in cooking using the veggies around us. Great!

       Then I suggested that I'll be the cook for the family for the whole week. In Monday, I cooked malunggay with pagi for lunch. In tuesday, I've sauteed ampalaya with shrimp. In Wednesday, I've made winged bean adobo. In Thursday, I did shrimp sinigang with stringed beans and kangkong. In Friday, I've served grilled eggplant with soy sauce- calamansi dip.

       

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       These are all vegetable foods and all of these were just found around us. Cheap but nutritious and delicious. Oha! Nice vacation.

Traditional Noche Buena Foods

    In the Philippines, ham is called "hamon" and is very popular during Christmas season. And the most popular variety of ham is "hamon de Bola" which is a ball-shaped ham. During Christmas season, Philippines tend to go to several supermarkets to buy this food which plays an important part during this Yuletide season. It is then served on the table in preparation for the "Noche Buena" together with the other delicacies and fruits. Other Philippines considered ham as a present or gift to other people like in the office or even to their own relatives. The reason behind why Philippines like ham is that they enjoy the sweet flavor of ham specially that it is being served during Christmas season.

"Hamon" is part of the diet, gifts, customs and culture of the Philippine people.

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    Ham is the thigh and rump of pork from the haunch of a pig or boar. Although it may be cooked and served fresh, most ham is cured in some fashion.

    The American people refer to the cuts as ham. Also, they considered it to be the ultimate holiday "entree". On the other hand, ham is called gammon in United Kingdom and jamon in Spain.

     The word ham comes from the Old English hamm. It is said that country ham is first mentioned in print in 1944, referring to a method of curing and smoking done in the rural sections of Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Vermont and other nearby states.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4877836

Traditional Noche Buena Foods

     A traditional Christmas in the Philippines is not complete without Queso de Bola, for it has always included in Christmas banquets. Queso de Bola is the Filipino term, from Spanish, for Edam cheese. The term literally translates to "ball cheese". It is a Dutch cheese in a spherical shape (usually slightly flattened at the top and bottom) and coated with red wax. With its festive appearance, it is a favorite at Christmas time especially as part of Noche Buena. 

Queso de Bola

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    Edam cheese has a pale yellow color and an elastic texture and is produced using skimmed or semi-skimmed cows’ milk from Holland. In Spain and Latin America, it is a delicacy. Aged for at least seventeen weeks, Edam is mild-tasting and slightly nutty. It gets saltier and drier with age and does not spoil easily. Edam is very close to another well-known cheese named Gouda, though it has a lower fat and moisture content (40% fat compared to Gouda's 48%).

    It is usually molded in 2 to 4 pound (0.9 to 1.8 kilogram) spheres and coated in red paraffin. It is also produced in red-coated rectangular loaves. Originally the rind was brushed with vermilion to distinguish it from other Dutch cheeses, a purpose now served by the red paraffin. The wax is either yellow, red or black, the black color an indication that the cheese has been aged for a minimum of 17 weeks.

    Edam cheese is an ideal table cheese and can be paired with fruits such as pears, apples, or peaches, breads and crackers, and wines such as Pinot noir or Zinfandel.

   Edam cheese was one of the most popular cheeses during the 14th to the 18th century. It was preferred by most travelers because it could mature very well and last a long time. This made it ideal for traveling on ships to remote colonies.

   This cheese was also said to have been used as ammo for cannons because it is hard, big and round, like a cannonball. Its name comes from the Harbor of Edam where the cheese was widely sold.

Filipino Foods with Sabaw (clear broths)

   Nilaga in Filipino means "boiled". Nilagang Baboy is another Filipino food recipe that is easy to make that you just throw everything in the pot and let it cook until tender. It can be with pork or beef with any kind you like and just add any vegetables of your choice. 


   Corns and ripe saba (Banana plantain) is also good in this dish. You may or may not add pork and beans , it's up to you if you'll like it thickened or just a clear soupy dish. You can even add a thumb-size ginger for a pungent  flavor. Nilaga is good in any kind of weather.


   My family love nilaga. They love soupy kind of dish that they quickly finish their meal. We always had our get-together with my tito's, tita's and cousins every weekend. 

NILAGANG BABOY (boiled pork)

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Ingredients :
· 1 kilo pork (choices of belly, neck or any bony parts of pork like spareribs), cut into serving pieces. You can opt to use beef shanks. Pinoys love the marrow ("utak") part. Deadma na muna sa cholesterol.
· 5-6 cups water
· 3 cloves garlic, crushed
· 1 onion, quartered
· 1/4 tsp. peppercorn
· salt to taste
· 2 potatoes, quartered or baby potatoes (leave skin on)
· pechay (bok choy) or cabbage leaves

Cooking Procedures :
1. Place pork in a big pot and let it be covered with water. Bring to a boil.
Lower the heat and let it simmer until pork is tender for about an hour. Do scoop out and discard the coagulated blood that accumulates on top of the broth. This happens especially when the meat is freshly butchered. You may want to put in the potatoes, too, after "cleaning" the soup.
2. Add sliced onions, peppercorn and season with salt.
3. Add Baguio beans. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Remove from heat. Add pechay or cabbage leaves. The remaining heat from the broth will make sure you do not overcook your veggies.
6. Serve immediately and with patis 

(fish sauce) on the side.


Philippine kitchen tip (oddities):
Don't laugh now, but if you want your tough beef to be tender in no time during boiling, put a spoon or teaspoon into the water along with it. It works. Don't ask me how or why. Just do it.

Filipino Foods with Sabaw (clear broths)

      Most Filipinos never let their guests go hungry. That’s one Filipino way of taking care of their guests. To give a warm welcome to their homes, they often serve Tinolang Manok to their guests.

     One of the many popular dishes in the Philippines is known as Tinolang Manok. It is otherwise known as Chicken Ginger Soup. Pretty much like the chicken soup our moms used to make with an Asian twist due to the ginger. Each province in the Philippines would its own version of Tinolang Manok. They’re all based on a single theme — chicken and ginger.

     You can't say that Tinolang manok without the ginger. The ginger gives the tinolang manok a special Asian aroma and taste. Without ginger, the tinolang manok would lose it's identfying zest and appeal. 

Now here's how to cook Tinolang Manok. Let's begin with the ingerdients of the dish. We would need  the following to make the Tinolang Manok. 

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TINOLANG MANOK (Chicken Stew)

Tinolang Manok (Chicken Ginger Stew) Recipe

Estimated cooking time: 45 minutes

Tinola Manok Ingredients:

• 1 kilo whole chicken, cut into pieces.
• 1 small young papaya or sayote, cut into small pieces.
• 2 tablespoons ginger, crushed and slliced into strips
• 1/2 cup dahon ng sili (chili leaves) or mallunggay leaves
• 1 liter of water
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons patis (fish sauce)

Tinolang Manok Cooking Instructions:

• In a stock pot, heat oil and sauté garlic, onion and ginger.
• Add water and the chicken.
• Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes or until chicken is almost done.
• Season with patis
• Add papaya and continue to simmer for an additional 5 minutes or until papaya softens but not overcooked.
• Add sili leaves then turn off the heat.
• Serve steaming hot on a bowl with plain rice on the side.

  

Filipino Foods with Sabaw (clear broths)

Filipinos are not so fond of thick , creamy soups, . Instead, they love sabaw (clear broths), which they often use to kanin (boiled rice).


These are Filipino dishes that are known for their sabaw:

SINIGANG

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Sinigang Recipe

Estimated cooking and preparation time: 1 hour

Pork Sinigang Ingredients:

• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 100 grams Kangkong (river spinach)
• 100 grams String beans
• 2 pieces horse radishes, sliced
• 3 pieces gabi (taro), pealed
• 2 pieces sili pag sigang (green finger pepper)
• 200 grams sampalok (tamarind)
• 3 tablespoons of patis (fish sauce)
• 1 liter of rice wash or water

Sinigang Cooking Instructions:

• Boil sampalok in water until the shell shows cracks. Let cool then peal off the shells and with a strainer, pour samplalok (including water) into a bowl. Gently massage the sampalok meat off the seeds, strain again.
• In a pot, sauté garlic and onion then add the tomatoes. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add pork and fish sauce then add the rice wash. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes then add the gabi. Continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or until the pork is tender.
• Add the horse radish and simmer for 10 minutes then add the string beans, kangkong and sili (for spice-optional). Let boil for 2 minutes.
• Serve piping hot.

Sinigang Cooking Tip:

• Instead of sampalok fruit (tamarind), you can substitute it with any commercial souring seasoning like Knorr sampalok seasoning or tamarind bouillon cubes for this pork sinigang recipe.