Salted Fish Mandarin Sausage Fried Rice

On lazy Sundays, all I want to do is lie down on the bed and watch TV or catch up on my reading. But for some reason, my darleng usually craves for Salted Fish Chinese Sausage Fried Rice on Sundays. I cannot resist making it as it somehow became his comfort food. This dish is an all-in-one meal, that has the right sweetness from the Chinese sausage, saltiness from the salted fish and the "munchiness" from the cabbage.

3 - 4 cups Day Old Cooked Rice
3 cloves garlic,minced
1 small onion, chopped
3 Mandarin Sausage
2 salted fish, fried, deboned and flaked
1/4 cabbage, sliced
1 egg
1 stalk of green onion, sliced
 salt and pepper to taste


1. Slice mandarin sausage.

2. In a deep pan, let mandarin sausage sweat in medium heat until it renders oil.

3. In the same pan, saute garlic and onion. Season with salt.

4. Combine salted fish and cabbage.

5. When cabbage is cooked, add rice. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

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6. Add egg, and mix until thoroughly combined.

7. Add green onion and turn off fire. Serve hot.

 

 

This fried rice can be eaten alone, but my darleng usually pairs it with spanish sardines. Delish!

Fish Patty Burger

One of the best gifts I've received in Christmas was a year long subscription of Yummy magazine from my good friend, Tin. This magazine can make your mouth water with its visual stimulating pictures. One feature I look forward to is that of Myra Santiago's. Having 3 boys, she features practical and easy to do recipes that are delicious and healthy. Here's one recipe I saved from their February 2009 issue: 


1 package frozen cream dory or sole fillets
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
a dash of pepper
1/2 cup flour
canola or corn oil for frying
6 to 8 hamburger buns
1 cup shredded lettuce, to serve

For the tartar sauce
1 cup mayonnaise, reduced fat preferred
2 tablespoons pickle relish
1 tablespoon minced white onions
1 teaspoon prepared mustard (optional)
salt and pepper to taste


1. Cook fish fillets in salted water and flake.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked fish, eggs, breadcrumbs, sesame seeds, salt, and pepper. Mix well and form large, palm-size patties. Dredge the fish patties lightly in flour and fry until golden brown, with slightly crispy edges.

3. To make your own tartar sauce, combine the mayonnaise, pickle relish, onions, mustard, and salt and pepper in a small mixing bowl. Mix well and set aside until ready to use.

 3  When almost ready to serve, heat a pan and toast the insides of the hamburger buns. Serve this with the fish patties, your homemade tartar sauce, and some shredded lettuce leaves.

Yummy! The tartar sauce is a must! So easy to make that I can replace beef hamburger for this healthier option any time!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Living in a city that produces a lot of bananas, I can enjoy this delicious and potassium-rich fruit all year long. While bananas have a lot of varieties, my favorite is Lacatan. It is sweet and has no bitter aftertaste. Recently I found overripe lacatan in the kitchen counter, not wanting it to go to waste, I decided to make Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes.


1/4 c butter
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 c mashed ripe bananas about 6 ripe bananas
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 c chocolate chip (reserve 1/4 c for topping)

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, oil and sugar.

2. Add the eggs, vanilla, bananas and buttermilk.

3. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; then add to banana mixture.
 

4. Mix in 1/2 c chocolate chip to batter.

5. Fill 24 paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.

6. Divide equally the remaining 1/4 c of chocolate chips and top on the batter.

7. Bake at 140 degrees C for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

 

8. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

In this recipe, I used white sugar which caused the cake to turn pale. Next time I would use brown sugar to achieve a pretty golden color. If you have excess overripe banana, you can store it in the freezer for future baking use.

The cupcake was moist and the banana flavor was evident. After baking this, I didn't try other banana cupcake recipe again. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Beef Short Ribs

Whenever I need a new recipe to try or ideas to improve an old recipe, one site I always visit is allrecipes.com. They have a comprehensive collection of recipes that can be sorted by category, by main ingredient, by popularity or by rating. Users can rate and comment on the recipes. They can post pictures too. One thing I really like with this site is their Top Ten feature, where they highlight the highly rated recipes of the selected ingredient.

This recipe of Slow-Cooked Beef Short Ribs landed on the Top Ten List for Beef Short Ribs. Seeing how easy it was to make, I tried it and tweaked it a bit to make even easier. If you are a fan of American-style Barbeque Ribs, this one is for you.


2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 pounds boneless beef short ribs ( I used almost 1 kilo of Beef Short Ribs)
1/4 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, salt and pepper. Add ribs in batches and shake to coat.

2. In a large skillet, brown ribs in butter.

3. Transfer beef to a pressure cooker. Set Aside.

4. In the same skillet where the beef were browned, saute onion and garlic.

 5. Combine the remaining ingredients. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil, make sure the sugar has melted. 

 6. Pour sauce over ribs.
 

7. Cover and cook on low for 45 minutes in pressure cooker. Make the liquid covers all ribs. Add water if necessary.

 Finished product - Beef Short Ribs!

The original recipe calls for the beef to be cooked in low fire for 8 - 9 hours. I made a short cut and cooked it in pressure cooker. The ribs still turned out tender and caramelized from the sugar. The sauce was a bit sweet for my taste. I would lessen the sugar next time and maybe add more chili powder for added kick.

Word of warning though, if you plan to make it either using a pressure cooker or slow cook it, make sure to use low fire as the sugar tends to stick at the bottom of the pan. It has the tendency to burn, so make sure to stir occasionally to avoida burnt pan.

Kick Off!

2012 - New year, New Beginning. This year I resolved to bring new dishes on the dining table. I was driven to do this when I recently made Iberian Chicken for my darleng (aka my dear husband). His face literally lit up when the beautifully golden-roasted chicken was served before him. He was amazed to see this new dish  at home. The dish was something you order from restaurants, not made in our own kitchen, he said. I asked, why not? It seems hard to do, he replied. I thought so too. Iberian Chicken sounds intimidating to cook, yet I surprised myself at how easy it is to make.

Here's the recipe:

Iberian Chicken

1 whole chicken (1.2 kilos), cleaned and pat dry
2 tbsp rock salt
2 tbsp ground peppercorn
calamansi juice from 8 to 10 pcs calamansi
3 heads garlic, peeled and chopped
3 tbsp chicken essence
6 pcs lemon grass, tied
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup water
8 pcs potatoes with skin, well washed and sliced into 6 cubes

1. Mix rock salt, ground peppercorns, calamansi juice, chopped garlic and chicken essence. Rub this mixture all over the chicken and inside its cavity.
2. Insert lemon grass into the chicken's cavity and place the chicken in a baking dish. Dash olive oil on the chicken. Pour water into the baking dish. Marinate 8 hours or overnight.
3.  Preheat oven to 160°C. Put cubed potatoes in the sides of the baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1-1/2 hours or until meat thermometer inserted reads 180°.

The chicken was aromatic, garlicky and yummy! The meat was tender and flavorful, while the potatoes were perfectly baked. Seeing my darleng's grin after his dinner, I was inspired! I could do this often! Can't wait to try another new recipe to bring on the dining table!