My quick & easy Pancit Canton ♨

      My loev for Pancit Canton was quite evident since childhood when Lucky Me was not really widely known and overly taken as staple food for those who wanted every food to be instant especially if one is in a hurry and starving. I started cooking this at the age of 10 while mom was away doing her grocery every weekend and I was left with my then 2 month old youngest sister ( Well, She's already 21 now...) Well, of course with my Lola's supervision with the baby... While she's busy looking over my baby sissy AVA, I often sneaked in to our kitchen and kinda mess around a bit... I found noodles on our kitchen cabinet and some veggies inside the fridge and TA-DAH!!! 30 minutes after... my Lola was surprised to see merienda being prepared by me!!! This has been a routine each and every weekend before I discovered the joy of baking 2 years after... before graduating in primary school. I remember making this usually after watching Shaider and Bioman of course   ツ 

      It was the simplest and tastiest pancit they've ever savored as per my LOLA & LOLO... who has been  my regular clientele. I sincerely loeved cooking and baking for them... making their Tummies HAPPY!!! Pancit Canton, My Biko, Maja Blanca, Nutty Brownies, Oatmeal Cookies, Moist Banana Cake and Devil's Food Cake were among their fave. Anyway, enough of the reminiscin'... 

Here's my very simple dish: 

   (Can regard as an Instant Pancit Canton, prep time 10 mins)

Ingredients:

✓Pancit Canton

✓Garlic and Onion

✓Squid Balls

✓Wombok

✓Carrots

✓Baguio Beans

✓Soy Sauce

✓Chicken or Beef Stock

✓Salt and Pepper to taste

*** If snow peas are available better add that up for more nutritional value... (I'm finding it hard to get it from the supermarket I usually go to... But I normally had that as one of my ingredient.

Method ☞  Simply sauté 2 cloves garlic and medium sized onion on a wok, add the squid balls cooking it for 3 mins. Add in the veggies, 2 tbsp of soy sauce, salt & pepper to taste. Set aside leaving only about ¼  of the vegetable mixture. Pour in stock on the wok, just eyeball soy sauce depending on your taste preference. Let it boil before adding the canton noodles.  It would only take 5 mins to soften the dried noodles and you're already done. Plate it. Top it off with the veggies that you have set aside earlier.

        Drizzle it with a native lemon, Calamansi before munch time. 

        

Despite being sick for almost forever, I managed to cook it this morning to satisfy our cravings... very simple lang naman eto... no fancy ingredients.

Made this last July 13th. I had left over Lechon from Baliwag, and so I was inspired to create this.

     It doesn't take any Birthdays or any kind of celebration to cook this fave Filipino Food... In fact instead of cooking instant pancit canton such as Lucky Me or whatever... find time to cook this perhaps on second thought, enjoy it more on the nutritional side!  

Pinoy Breakfast

        Due to the constant raining we are experiencing ... and the cold weather... "Masarap tuloy ang daing na danggit at Boneless Dilis na may kasamang Sinangag na kanin" PLUS atsara on the side.                                                                                    SUPER YUMYUM!!!

The Rattan Fruit

     I'm always a big fan of SOUR fruits not until I was diagnosed with Endometriosis 3 years ago. I pushed myself hard to try to forget this bad habit which is really for me.... a freakin' bad statement.  "Breakin' all the rules"... I still try to sneak in... a few times of indulging to this simple treats would do... especially if your monthly friendly visitor just happened to pass by... *wiNk-

      And so I had a treat yesterday...  The Rattan Fruit!!!

    Since I first tasted this back in Baguio City 11 years ago... I fell in love with its taste, despite hardships in opening the said fruit. I didn't give a damn! It was one of the things that I can call my "comfort food".

        The fruit is enclosed in a very hard-scaly like shell. You need to press it until the skin breaks open, and ALAS after a few skin cuts,  there's the fruit. Normally you'll see 3 stoned like fruit, brownish in color, the taste is soured to perfection...

Rattan Fruit

My Version of Biko, Sweetened Sticky Rice

    
My Family's version of BIKO (Sweetened Sticky Rice)

     I've been always planning to make Biko for years now... but can't seem to find time... it's not that I'm procrastinating, it's just that I don't know when is the perfect moment to do so. Plus I need to get a freshly squeezed coconut milk (without all the dirty works of doing it myself) and I think I can only find it in  the  Market where I grew up. ( And when I mean freshly squeezed, it is... In that Market they actually have a machine for freshly grated coconut that would squeeze right away to a coconut milk ) For me, it would really entail quite a work. Though store-bought Coconut milk is readily available, I still prefer making BIKO using fresh coconut milk. Anyways, 10 years after...on my 32nd birthday... coincidence find its way somehow, tapping me to cook  my speacialty. And really I should say... I've been missing doing this.

     This was supposed to be my mom's gift on my birthday since I always asked each and every special occasion that pass... but then again, I can't just let her cook since she just had her dialysis... Just as I thought and just like in the old days, everything went smoothly ... this is MY Kitchen, my original kitchen that is, in the first place, anyway. 

           

•  Prepare either a 14x10 Baking Pan or an Equivalent Size Bilao. 

•  In a stove top, run about 2 whole Banana leaves onto the heat until it softens ( just be careful not to overdo it) 

•  Arrange Banana leaves on either Baking Pan or Bilao. ( but I really did not mind  using Bilao with Banana Leaves, anything will just do )

•  Set this aside.

         

• Cook 1 Kilo of Glutinous Rice (same cooking procedure as the regular rice plus pandan leaves to make the rice more fragrant) 

• Pour coconut milk (purely Kakang Gata) + a cup of water to a large wok, bring to a boil with continous stirring until it becomes a LATIK... Sieve Latik leaving the oil in the pan. Lower down heat.  

Latik

• Put the cooked Glutinous rice gradually adding the brown sugar into the coconut oil, stirring rigorously ensuring that all rice are well coated with oil and brown sugar.  Add 2 tbsp of Vanilla extract.

• Continue Mixing until all ingredients are well incorporated. Mold Biko onto the prepared baking pan or bilao. 

Just Mixing... Whew! Very tiring...

• Topping it off with the prepared Latik.

•  Serve

 

***Best eaten after letting it cool after hours. For some they like eating it after being on the fridge for quite sometime.

There is another way though to prepare Biko,this was the very first method I did back in 1st Year HS. And this for me was really arduous and entails more time of preparation.

The other way to do it is by dissolving Brown Sugar to the Coconut Milk (Gata), adding 2 tbsp of Vanilla extract. Simmer until it thickens. Procedure is like making a COCONUT JAM but the consistency is a a bit thinner that the jam of course. Add the cooked glutinous rice, make sure to mix it well. On this method, I have to make LATIK separately. But it would definitely just boil than into one... the taste is very similar.

Puto ala RV

   

    I got tired of the normal hotcakes each and every breakfast... One day when I was in fifth grade... I decided to put it into something new...

    This Puto was one of those that I would do back in the days... I loev making stuffs from our/"MY KITCHEN". I started messing that up when I was 8...

And one of my creations...

 

                         I prefer to use Maya hotcake Mix than Pillsbury though... it's more fluffier and more yummy.... adding cheese and pulang itlog is the best garnish you can top your puto...

Creamy Carbonara... My style, Made Simple.

( made out of scratch... from our kitchen )

Cook Spaghetti as directed ( you may also use any pasta, such as Fettuccine or Linguini)

Béchamel Sauce:

My leftover Low Fat Milk +  RUE, to slightly thicken the sauce.
             RUE is a mixture of equal parts of fat and flour. Which is simply Butter and just regular flour.   

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter with equal part of flour, mixed lightly until the mixture would become paste-like. Add the Low Fat Milk making sure to mix it continuously using a wooden spoon to avoid lump build up. SEPARATE.
  

On another medium pan, render the chopped bacon for about a minute on medium heat or until Bacon gives out its own fat/oil.  SET ASIDE. Use the oil to sweat the onions and mushroom. Pour in the Béchamel sauce/white Sauce and put the bacon back in. Mixed all together and bring to a boil. Add Parmesan cheese until melted. Season with salt and white pepper according to your taste. Mixed in the cooked pasta and garnish it with Dried Parmesan Cheese & chopped flat parsley & McCormick Basil Leaves Whole (Optional).

This is not as complicated as to those with eggs, but not as simpler as to those with the all purpose cream. But I can guarantee that this is more healthier to eat!!!



Baby Potato Bites with Smoked Fish

Baby Potato Bites with Smoked Fish on my Tumblr too

♥ Our New Year's Special ♥ 

Credits to Yummy Mag

                  

Got struck with the recipe’s simplicity and uniqueness… So we decided to give it a try just in time for the Medya Noche and though it was really a tough job to remove the pulp of each baby potatoes, mind you… it was really worth the effort… The taste was indeed… HEAVEN!

 

 Baby Potato Bites with Smoked Fish    By: Jun de Guzman

My piece of love ♥

Baby Potato Bites with Smoked Fish

Baby Potatoes topped with Cream Cheese & Smoked Fish

   Serves6 to 8 Prep Time 20-30 minutes Baking Time 45 minutes to an hour

Ingredients:

150 to 200 grams baby or new potatoes, rinsed well

salt and freshly ground pepper

olive oil

3 tablespoons skim milk

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup fat-free cream cheese

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan  cheese

3/4 cup finely chopped smoked fish

Procedure:

1  Preheat oven to 350F. 

2  Put potatoes on a baking pan. Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with some olive oil.

3  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until tender. 

4  Cut each baked potato in half, remove pulp, and set potatoes aside. 

5  Mix potato pulp, milk, butter, cream cheese, Parmesan, and smoked fish. Season well. Spoon this mixture back on the potato halves.

6  Return stuffed potatoes in the baking pan and bake for another 15 minutes.

                  Definitely HEAVEN, every bite means something!!! A must try