Zucchini, Caper & Anchovy Salad May 23, 2007

I found this recipe in an old cookbook given to me as a birthday gift by my youngest cousin a few years back. This salad is easy to make, refreshing and absolutely delicious! It’s also a bit unusual for me because it uses raw zucchini which I’ve never had before.

Zucchini, Caper & Anchovy Salad
from Classic Italian Cuisine edited by Rosemary Moon

450 - 500 grams zucchini
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon capers
4-6 anchovies, chopped
1 tablespoon anchovy oil
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
juice of half a lemon
salt & pepper

Trim the zucchini and slice them very thinly (by hand or machine). Mix with the onion, capers and chopped anchovies. Make the dressing by mixing the oils, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Toss the dressing with the salad ingredients.

Salad Days April 26, 2007

Who said dieting had to be a dreary undertaking? I need to lose 1o pounds to get back to my normal weight and I was well on my way to losing the weight I put on a couple of years ago, but visiting J in Bacolod last week for a week of pure gluttony was no help at all. The food in Bacolod is irresistible and hanging out with another foodie spelled disaster for my figure. So I’m back in the city, exercising and dieting. My diet consists of lots of fruits and vegetables from the organic market (using organic produce makes a huge difference in terms of flavor and when your dieting flavor counts a lot!) and absolutely no starch. In the mornings I have a bowl of pineapple and cottage cheese or granola with low-fat milk. For lunch I have a big salad and in the evenings, it varies, sometimes I have an omelet or fish or some more salad or cereal. The two salads I’ve made so far are really good and I’m not missing anything by being on this diet. This could be a habit…

Tuna & Green Bean Salad

1 can tuna in brine, drained
1 can anchovies, chopped, reserve oil
a handful of green beans
salad greens mix
a good extra-virgin olive oil
a good balsamic vinegar

Steam the green beans for 3 minutes. Cut into 1 inch pieces.

Toss the salad greens with some olive oil. Then toss everything else together with the greens.

Eggplant & Sardine Salad

3 Japanese eggplants (the long kind)
3 sardines in oil, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
extra-virgin olive oil
a good balsamic vinegar
seafood seasoning

Grill the eggplants until charred, peel and chop to 1-inch pieces. Toss everything in a bowl.

Delicious!

Prawn with Chives & Fenugreek Leaves July 26, 2006

Adapted from the cookbook 50 Great Curries of India by Camelia Panjabi. The book failed to say that the vegetables needed draining so I went ahead and added the whole bowl of soaking chives and methi (fenugreek leaves). I then added cream to the dish because I felt the dish needed it. If you want a dry dish, which would be the case if done correctly, drain the soaking chives and methi before adding it to the pan and omit the cream. Although I have to say, this version turned out pretty good.

1 1/2 cups chopped chives
2 tablespoons dried methi, crushed fine
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon calamansi or lemon or lime juice
400 grams shelled prawns
3 tablespoons virgin coconut oil or vegetable oil
1 - 2 jalapeno chilies
4 large cloves garlic
1 inch piece ginger
1/4 cup cream
*3/4 cup coriander leaves

Soak the chives, methi and salt in a bowl of water. In another bowl add the turmeric, chili powder and calamansi juice and marinate the prawns for about 30 minutes.

Chop jalapeno, garlic and ginger in food processor. Saute this mixture in oil. Add 1 tablespoon water. Add (drained) chives mixture and cook 5 minutes. Add the prawns, just before serving, and cook another 5 minutes. Mix in cream.

*the original recipe called for coriander and was added with the chives

Mixology Monday V: Lemon July 14, 2006

Lemon is the main ingredient for this month’s Mixology Monday hosted by Jiggle The Handle. At first I thought of making a Lemon Drop cocktail but that was too obvious. So I searched for something else, a drink that had some mystery. The name of this drink caught my attention. I even found a song that goes with it.

A Night In Old Mandalay
A very refreshing drink that would go perfectly with barbeque.

1 oz Tanduay rum
2 oz Añejo Tanduay rum
2 oz Orange juice
1 oz Lemon juice
6 oz Ginger ale
2 twists of Lemon peel

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the light rum, añejo rum, orange juice, and lemon juice. Shake well. Strain into a highball glass almost filled with ice cubes. Top with the ginger ale. Garnish with the lemon twist.

Nelly The ElephantTo Bombay
A travelling circus came
They brought an intelligent elephant
and Nellie was her nameOne dark night
she slipt her iron chain, and of she ran
to Hindustan and was never seen again

oooooooooooooooooo…
Nellie the elephant pack her trunk and
said goodbye to the circus
of she rode with a trumety trump
trump trump trump

Nellie the elephant packed her trunk
and trumbled of to the jungle
of she road with a thrumety trump
trump trump trump

Night by night she danced to the circus band
When Nellie was leading the big parade she looked
so proud and grand

No more tricks for Nellie to perform
They taught her how to take a bow and she took
to crowd by storm

oooooooooooooooooo…
Nellie the elephant pack her trunk and
said goodbye to the circus
of she rode with a trumety trump
trump trump trump

Nellie the elephant packed her trunk
and trumbled of to the jungle
of she rode with a thrumety trump
trump trump trump

The head of the heard was calling far far away
they met one night in silver light
on the road to Mandalay

oooooooooooooooooo…
Nellie the elephant pack her trunk and
said goodbye to the circus
of she road with a trumety trump
trump trump trump

Nellie the elephant packed her trunk
and trumbled of to the jungle
of she road with a thrumety trump
trump trump trump

Roundup 1 - lemon mixology

Roundup 2 - lemon mixology

Apple Walnut Cake July 13, 2006

I adapted this recipe from Nigela Lawson’s “How To Be A Domestic Goddess”. The cake can be baked in a round cake pan as well. It is so good we’ve been having it everyday. This cake can keep for about 5 days without refrigeration. I suggest its eaten before then because the consistency of the cake changes when refrigerated, it becomes pasty and dense. The fresh cake is moist, airy and utterly delicious!

7 tablespoons raisins
75 ml water [or rum]
150 ml extra-virgin coconut oil [can use walnut oil or olive oil]
14 tablespoons muscovado sugar [can use white sugar]
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon AP flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (450 grams) apples, peeled, cored and cut into small dice
7 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Bring the water and raisins to a boil, remove from heat and set it aside to macerate.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Butter and flour a loaf pan or 9″ cake pan.

Beat sugar and oil in a bowl, add eggs one at a time and continue beating until lightly thickened. Fold in the dry ingredients, then the apples, drained raisins and walnuts. Pour the thick batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for 1 hour.

The Spice Is Right 4: Its Too Darn Hot: Chilis July 10, 2006

July is both a hot and rainy month. The humidity sometimes feels like your wrapped in a hot wet blanket! I do love the rain though. The best thing about the sultry weather are days when it rains early in the morning and you wake up to a clear sunny day and everything looks fresh and clean.

For this months theme of The Spice Is Right, I made something hot and sticky to match the weather. I adapted this delicious jam from Lex Culinaria.

Spicy Onion Jam

2 lagre red onions chopped (about 5 cups)
1 + 1/4 cup golden sugar
2 teaspoons white peppercorns or 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 + 1/2 cups red wine vinegar
1 cup water
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 +1/2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup cold water

Place onions in a large saucepan and saute over medium heat for 5- 10 minutes, stirring constantly until onions begin to soften and sweat. Add remaining ingredients, except cornstarch/water mixture, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 - 15 minutes or until flavours are well blended and onions are fairly soft, but retain some crunch. Stir through cornstarch mixture and cook a couple of minutes more. Pour into clean hot jars. Loosely apply lids and set aside to cool. When cool, tighten lids and refrigerate. Jam should keep in the fridge for 4 to 6 weeks. Serve with cream cheese and crackers.

Makes 5 x 250ml jars.

Roundup Part 1
Roundup Part II
Roundup Part III

Santol Preserves July 2, 2006

I managed to get the last batch of santol for the season from my cousins trees in Bacolod in order to make these delicious preserves.

Blanch whole santols in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Drain and peel. Quarter peeled santols and remove seeds. Place in a large bowl and cover with filtered water. Let it soak for 12 hours in the refrigerator. Drain and repeat 2 more times.

about 6 cups seedless diced santol
12 cups water
3 cups muscovado sugar
3 cups white sugar

Bring sugars and water to a boil. Add santol and simmer for about 3-4 hours. Let it cool.

Place in clean bottles.

The preserves filled two bottles. Notice the syrup doesn’t cover the santol? So I added rum to one bottle as an experiment…

Amaranth and Portabello Fettucine June 30, 2006

I didn’t take any measurements but I suspect this is a very forgiving recipe. I used green amaranth leaves which taste more like spinach than the purple ones. I’m glad my farm is overrun with 7 foot stalks of amaranth! The leaves are tasty, I’ll be trying them in more recipes.

Amaranth leaves, stems removed and cut in about 1-inch pieces
portabello mushrooms, diced
garlic, chopped
butter
flour
milk
Parmesan cheese
fettucine
salt

Saute mushrooms and garlic in butter. Add amaranth, stir until wilted. Set aside.

In the same pan, add flour and equal amount of butter to make a roux (approximately 1/2 tablespoon each for a sauce serving 2 persons). Slowly add some warmed milk and whisk until thickened. Add amaranth mixture.

Boil fettucine in salted water. Add pasta to creamy amaranth mixture and heat until very hot, mixing constantly. Stir in some cheese. At this point the sauce may get too thick, thin pasta sauce by adding some of the salted water.

*Cooked amaranth leaves contain about 8% protein, 4% carbohydrates and are rich in calcium, iron and vitamins B and C in higher concentrations that spinach. For example, only 47 g of cooked leaves contains 100% of the minimum daily requirement of Vitamin C.

Lasang Pinoy #11: Summertime Coolers & Memories of Summer June 30, 2006

Cool drinks are what I love in the summer, especially coconut juice and drinks with coconut milk. A last hoorah for the end of summer…

Batida
I first had this drink when I was living in Boracay (yes, I was actually living on this beautiful island beach resort) about 10 years back. Gosh! Has it been that long? I lived in a cottage fronting the white sand beach for two sun-kissed years. I would have this drink in the late afternoons just before the sun begins to set. This is actually a Brazilian drink but uses ingredients easily and commonly used in the Philippines. If I didn’t know better I’d think this was a Pinoy creation. I have an ex-boyfriend to thank for this one, he substituted Tanduay rum for cachaca in the original recipe . I think he’s still lounging in Boracay…

1 13.5-0z can coconut cream
filtered water
approximately 2 shots Tanduay rum
6 tablespoons muscovado sugar
ice cubes

Shake coconut cream, rum, 1 can of water and sugar in a bottle until sugar dissolves.

Fill shaker with ice cubes and cream mixture.

Pour into glasses and add ice cubes.

This is my entry for Lasang Pinoy #11 which is being hosted by JMom at In My Kitchen.

Amaranth: From the Farm to the Frying Pan June 20, 2006

Amaranth plants just sproated everywhere right after a few days of heavy rain, coming from plants I uprooted a few months ago. The variety I’m using has reddish purple and green leaves. I’ve never tried eating these so I wanted to try it in its simplest form. I adapted a recipe for Sichuan Stir-Fried Amaranth Leaves with Garlic.

Amaranth has a very interesting history and has many food uses as the entire plant is edible, including the stalk. It also has an impressive amount of nutritional value.

Steamed Amaranth Leaves with Garlic
It taste amazingly like alugbati, a native edible vine, whose leaves are also of the same color as the amaranth. It has an intense smoky sweet spinach flavor and can therefore be substituted for any spinach dish.

300 g bunch of fresh amaranth leaves
1 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
salt to tast

Place leaves in a steamer for 2 minutes or until leaves wilt and shrink to about a fourth of its original quantity.

Heat butter, salt and garlic in a saucepan on low heat, just until garlic starts to sizzle and salt dissolves. Garlic should not change color.

You may either remove garlic from the oil or leave it in (I leave it in), then add the steamed amaranth.

*The cooked leaves contain about 8% protein, 4% carbohydrates and are rich in calcium, iron and vitamins B and C in higher concentrations that spinach. For example, only 47 g of cooked leaves contains 100% of the minimum daily requirement of Vitamin C.