Happy Mother's Day

So, how was your Mother's Day gastronomic celebration yesterday? Whether it was a family gathering at home or a socially-distant eat out at a favorite restaurant, as long as we all pay tribute to our Mothers in our own ways, it's always a meaningful celebration.

Ours was just a simple family gathering of four and we prepared what we can think of days or even hours before. It was a mix of meat and seafoods as well as vegetables with pasta, salads and desserts for the finale!

How about some fried chicken, grilled bangus belly and fish barbecue resting on some turbo-broiled hash browns?

These would go well with a sili-mansi-toyo dip or that big batch of kimchi (which I forgot to take a solo pic), beside the cake on the main photo above.

More seafood, in the form of the simple Linusgusan nga Pasayan or Halabos na Hipon. This is basically shrimps cooked in water and salt or some use clear soda for an added sweetness to the shrimps.

After noticing that we sort of lacked some vegetables, an on the spot Chicken Chopsuey was simmering in the pan. Good thing we have vegetables in fridge especially the cauliflower that we bought online for only PhP 130/ kilo. With chicken, carrots and bellpeppers, it was one deliciously healthy on the spot dish.

A challenge to cook on the spot, this baked "shell" pasta still is a pretty simple dish to make. Just saute ground meat with veggies then add tomato sauce. Season it according to taste, or add some cream.

Mix with your favorite pasta, place in a microwave safe container, then top with more sauce, meat and veggies. I love spreading some Pimiento Cheez Whiz or any cheese spread, since it melts and tastes better.

This is how the "shell" pasta looks like, thanks to this pasta and fruits salad. Using some canned fruit cocktail and the usual mayonnaise, cream and condensed milk combo, this salad is just one easy to make, delicious dessert.

If it looks experimental, it really was one! This smorgasbord dessert consists of buko pandan flavored gelatin which I made into "buko" strips, Ube flavored violet gelatin cubes, store-bought macapuno balls and cheese cubes.

And just to maximize this experiment to its fullest, I used mango-flavored condensed creamer - how about that! In the end, this became an instant halo-halo with the ingredients and ice mold into one!

Speaking of gelatin, this was supposed to be a Crema de Fruta but with the unavailability of a high quality clear gelatin, it sort of became a mixed fruits float. With layers of Graham and egg-enriched cream sauce, this was a dessert with a tamed sweetness but full of flavor.

Capping off the celebration is a simple cake which is an all time best seller in our town. With a delicious chiffon based and a yummy caramel icing, they say is made with boiled condensed milk in can, this was a perfect finale for this year's Mother's Day celebration.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mama's Kitchen and Sinamay House in Arevalo

A stones throw away from the plaza of La Villa de Arevalo is an ancestral house where one can find not only good pasalubong items but also a look into the past of the district. Known as the Sinamay House , this well preserved ancestral house is an attraction not only in the outside but also what it houses inside. A collection of what the past like is housed in the two storey edifice which also acts like a museum of sorts. Sinamay is simply known as abaca by most and, here, a variety of products made from this fiber can be found. I remember watching a feature on tv wherein the owner proudly showed a framed letter signed by the late Princess of Wales, Diana, showing her appreciation of the handkerchief she was given as a gift coming from this very shop. But the attraction I am most familiar with are the chewies and crunchies made by Mama's Kitchen. Attractively packed in boxes showing their current flavours and variety, this is among the better...

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece por...

Easy Century Tuna Recipes

If you're looking for simple, easy and delicious Century Tuna recipes online, congratulations, you've found it right here! How about spicy tuna sisig or tuna sinigang ? Maybe stir fried tuna with pickles or just yang chow fried rice . I love Century Tuna from its flakes in oil variety, the spicier the better, but when I discovered the versatility of its solid variant, it became an obsession. At first I was just into the usual tested recipes; pasta and sandwich filling, but then it got simpler – I just eat it straight from the can! Usually with a piece of bread or an apple. I just add a few drops of vinegar to spice it up a bit. Then came the experiments. Yup I got tired of that habit that one day, I decided to test my skills in the kitchen. Serendipity, you might call it yet most of them turned into good recipes that I have shared now and then. Satisfying my Palabok cravings had me experiment on this recipe on the spot. With Century Tuna in lieu of the us...

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare. ...

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