Tinolang Manok sa Zucchini

Tinolang Manok sa Zucchini. I was craving for chiken tinola but I cannot find papaya or sayote at the supermarket, I thought zucchini would be a good alternative. This is not the first time that I used zucchini on some of my Pinoy Dishes. I even have a version of pinakbet using zucchini as one of the vegetable ingredients.

Please note that zucchini cooks quickly and becomes really soft and mushy when overcooked, I suggest that to add the zucchini at the end of cooking do not overcooked it should still be crisp.

I have also used some baby spinach in addition to the zucchini. Cooking is straight forward, it is basically the same with my tinola recipes in the archives.



Tinolang Manok with Sotanghon

Tinolang Manok sa Patola

Tinolang Manok sa Ampalaya

Tinolang Manok sa Papaya

Chicken with Ampalaya Tendrils and Sotanghon

Chicken Binakol

Chicken Halang Halang



Here is the recipe of my Tinolang Manok sa Zucchini.





Ingredients:



1 kilo chicken, cut into serving pieces, bone in

4-6 zucchini, cut into wedges

150 g baby spinach

2-3 thumb size ginger, skinned, cut into strips

1/2 head garlic, peeled, crushed, chopped

1 medium size onion, peeled, chopped

3-5 pcs. long green chili

1 tsp. peppercorns

1/4 cup fish sauce

1 tsp. sugar

salt

cooking oil

Cooking procedure:



In a large sauce pan sauté garlic, onion and ginger until fragrant, add in the chicken and stir cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the fish sauce and stir cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in 4 to 6 cups of water, add in the peppercorns bring to boil and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Then add in the sugar, long green chili and zucchini simmer for another 3 to 4 minutes or until zucchini are just cooked. Correct saltiness if required, add in the baby spinach and cook for another 1 minute. Serve hot.

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Slow Cooker Baked Potato

I haven't used my slow cooker for a few months since I moved in August, so was inspired by the Slow Cooker Challenge on Farmersgirl Kitchen to dig it out. Janice, aka Farmersgirl, has an open theme this month so I had a look around on other blogs to find something that would be fairly easy. I came across a couple of recipes for jacket potatoes done in the slow cooker - it never occured to me to bake them like that. Jacket potatoes take a good 1-2 hours in the oven depending on size (I like to choose the biggest potato I can find) and in a slow cooker they take pretty much all day: about 4 hours on the high setting, or up to 8 hours on the slow setting, which the other bloggers recommended. However, I wanted a baked potato for lunch and wasn't getting up that early in the morning, so I did mine on the high setting.



One useful tip I came across was to wad up little balls of tin foil and place them on the bottom of the slow cooker, and the potato (wrapped in foil) on top. This stops the bottom of the potato from being in contact with the base of the slow cooker and developing a brown spot.



I rubbed the potato with a little oil before I wrapped it in foil but that was all I needed to do. Four hours later I had a beautifully soft potato. The skin didn't crisp up which I do quite like, but then sometimes in the oven I find the skin crisps too much and is inedible (I really enjoy the skin of a baked potato though I know a lot of people don't).

I was in the mood for a sour cream and chive filling but didn't have any sour cream or any chives. Instead, I had a little pot of blue cheese salad dressing so I mixed some of that with a spoonful of mayonnaise and two spoonfuls of fat free natural yogurt, and added some chopped parsley (the only fresh herb I had) on top. It tasted lovely!



I wouldn't normally bake a jacket potato in the slow cooker over doing it in the oven if I was at home, but the beauty of the slow cooker is that you can put it on then go out all day. So if you want a baked potato with your dinner but don't want to wait an hour or more after you get home from work (if like me you aren't home until 7pm) rather than having to do it in the microwave I would definitely recommend doing it in the slow cooker. And the blue cheese and parsley filling was very tasty!



As already mentioned, I'm sending this to the Slow Cooker Challenge, hosted by Janice at Farmersgirl Kitchen.

Using a slow cooker is also more economical than using the oven and potatoes are cheap as chips (literally) so I am sending this to Credit Crunch Munch, the thrifty cooking challenge hosted by Hannah at A New Addition on behalf of Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla at Fab Food 4 All.

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Chicken Bopis

Chicken Bopis. To Overseas Pinoys who are lovers of bopis and have for some time craving the dish but cannot cook one because the pork or beef internal organs for some reasons are not available in your locations, I would like to share a chicken version instead. Otherwise try my vegetarian version Vegeterian Bopis.

Occasionally on some supermarkets here in Australia chicken innards are available, and I am sure it may be available elsewhere specialty where there is a large community of Asian or Filipino in particular. For the chicken innards ingredients of my version of Chicken Bopis, I used the hearth, gizzard and liver. Similar to my pork bopis recipes the chicken innards has to be parboiled before chopping to small cubes. Just remember that the gizzards will take longer to cook.



Here is the recipe of my version of Chicken Bopis, bring out the beer! the mango beer?

Ingredients:



1/2 kilo chicken hearth, parboiled, diced, finely

1/2 kilo chicken gizzard, parboiled, diced, finely

1/4 kilo chicken liver, parboiled, diced, finely

1 medium size labanos, skinned, diced finely

1 medium size carrot, skinned, diced finely

1 red bell pepper, deseeded, diced finely

1 green bell pepper, deseeded, diced finely

2-3 red long chili, sliced

2 tablespoon black pepper, coarsely ground

1/2 head garlic, peeled, crushed, chopped

1 medium size onion, peeled, chopped

1/4 cup atsuete / annatto in oil

2-3 pieces hot chili, chopped

1/4 cup soy sauce

3/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup patis

3-4 pieces bay leaf

cooking oil

salt

Cooking procedure:



In wok sauté garlic and onion till fragrant, Add in diced chicken hearth, liver and gizzard and stir cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until it start to sizzle. Add in vinegar and cook for 2 to 3 minutes now add in annatto oil, patis, soy sauce, bay leaf and black pepper, stir cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add in 3 cups of water and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes now add in carrots, labanos, and hot chili, simmer for another 3 to 5 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Correct saltines if required. Add in bell pepper and red long chilies, cook for a minute or two. Serve hot with a lot of rice.

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Masterclass: Mike's Amazing Cakes

Mike of Mike's Amazing Cakes

At this year's Cake and Bake Show in London I took a masterclass with Mike McCarey of Mike's Amazing Cakes, a US bakery that is known for producing elaborate three-dimensional cakes for weddings, birthdays and other occasions. He can often be seen on the television channel the Food Network, though I have to admit when I signed up to the class I had never heard of him before - I gathered he was famous though and was interested in what he was going to demonstrate!



I hadn't been to the Cake and Bake show before or booked a masterclass at any similar shows so I had been expecting a small group of us - maybe 12 people - to be learning and creating something under Mike's supervision. Unfortunately that wasn't the case; instead there were about 50 of us sitting in rows, watching Mike do a demonstration at the front. And what's more, he wasn't actually making a cake, but showing us pictures of a cake he had previously made.



Now, I know that sounds like it was rubbish but in fact I learnt a lot. There's no way Mike could have made even part of the cake he was demonstrating in the 45 minute session as he was showing us how to make a standing up dog.



The photos I took are terrible as I was seated several rows back and couldn't see what Mike was doing directly, and had to watch instead what was projected onto a screen, but there were still people's heads in the way and the bright screen doesn't come out well in photos. However, I wanted to share with you a few of Mike's tips and a broad explanation of how to make a 3D cake, without giving away any of his secrets of course!



It never occured to me but a large freestanding 3D cake can't stand up by itself... you need a solid structure to build it around. Mike actually makes his out of MDF and styrofoam, and of course covers any parts that will come into contact with cake.



Here you can see a diagram of the model Mike built for the dog; he measured and drew a sketch from a photograph, enlarged it on a photocopier and laminated parts of it to use as a template.

The type of cake itself is important; sponge cake is too light and won't support the structure (in this case, the dog's head) so he recommends pound cake - I'm not sure what we call that in the UK but I know madeira cake is good for carving. Rather than use a lot of fondant for creating shapes like the dog's head, Mike likes to use modelling chocolate, and he says if you use fondant put it in the freezer to harden it.





He built up the cake layer by layer and then sculpted the sides - you can see the dog's body taking shape here.

Don't try to cover your whole cake with fondant in one go if it's an unusual shape with little details; instead do it in two halves and then work the seam together until smooth. Mike recommends using Massa Ticino fondant but it's not cheap.



Here is the dog with the limbs attached (all made out of modelling chocolate) and then covered in fondant.

Rather than knead colour into the fondant Mike airbrushes his models at the end which allows him to build up layers of colours. I might have to look into airbrushing!



This is the finished cake, doesn't it look amazing? It was just a shame we only got to see a picture and not the real thing!

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Kinilaw na Tanguige sa Strawberry, Strawberry Flavored Kinilaw

Kinilaw na Tanguige sa Strawberry, Strawberry Flavored Kinilaw. This is my second strawberry innovation on a Pinoy dish. May be some of my regular readers would remember that I have used strawberry in one of my sinigang na bangus, Sinigang na Bangus sa Strawberry. That was some fruity sininigang that something to try whe you are tired of your usual siningang na bangus.

For today I tried to add a fruity twist of one of Pinoys favorite, kinilaw. There is no top secret with this recipe it is still similar to my other kinilaw recipes listed below.



Kinilaw na Blue Marlin with Green Tomatoes

Kinilaw na Pusit

Kinilaw na Malasugi

Kinilaw na Talaba

Kinilaw na Dilis

Kinilaw na Tanguige

Kinilaw na Tanguige na may Kamatis

Kinilaw na Lato

Kinilaw na Pusit (Cuttlefish)

To make my Kinilaw na Tanguige sa Strawberry, Strawberry Flavored Kinilaw, I still used the same basic method of preparing kinilaw using a lot of tomatoes which is a popular kinilaw ingredients in the Visayas and Mindanao. To this kinilaw more colorful I used different colors of tomatoes. For the strawberries I used fresh firm only.



Here is the recipe of my Kinilaw na Tanguige sa Strawberry, Strawberry Flavored Kinilaw, try it now.

Ingredients:



1/2 kilo tanguige, cut into large cubes, skin removed

1 1/2 cup white vinegar

2 thumb size ginger, skinned, thinly sliced

2 medium size onion, peeled, chopped

4-6 unripe strawberry, trimmed, cut into slices

6-8 assorted color/rainbow tomatoes, cut crosswise

2-4 red hot chili, chopped

2-3 green or green long chili, sliced

1 lemon

salt and pepper





Method:



In a big bowl place the vinegar and toss in the fish, let stand for 5 to 10 minutes while preparing the other ingredients. Using a sieve drain the vinegar from the fish (do not squeeze) and return fish to the bowl add in all the chopped ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze over the juices of the lemon over and toss until fully mixed. Chill in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes or before serving.

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A Filipino Sari Sari Store in Darwin

A Filipino Sari Sari Store in Darwin. Rapid Creek Sunday Market is one of the several and more popular week end fresh produced market in Darwin Australia. Darwin is the closest major city in Australia to the Philippines, It is located at the northern top most part of Australia. The Asian population is quite significant including a large Filipino community. However similar to my travel around major cities in Australia, I have not found a Filipino restaurant.

I am somehow disappointed despite Darwin’s close proximity and large Pinoy community there is no true Pinoy Restaurant. I was expecting at least there should have been a couple similar to the ones in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. There is one take away food stall called Fresh Cuisine in Hibiscus Shoppingtowh, where you can order on menu Pinoy food for dine in or take away, I will do a separate post for this one.

The Rapid Creek Sunday Market is held every Sunday at the Rapid Creek Shopping Centre on Trower Road. The place is jam-packed with stalls offering vegetable, fruits and other local produce indigenous to Asian the likes of Indonesian, Vietnam, Thailand and The Philippines. Prices are generally cheap. There are also food stalls selling all types of food and drinks including Curries, Laksa, Chinese stir-fry, noodles, fresh fruit juices, Smoothies, Coffee, and fried snacks.

To most Pinoy in Darwin who visit the place, it is the time to buy the week’s supply of Pinoy vegetables like kangkong, okra, talong, sitaw ect. It is also the time to visit the Asian Sari Sari Store for Pinoy grocery and a change to send money back home. At this time of the week Asian Sari Sari Store’s take away food stall comes alive with the selection of Popular Pinoy food like Hamonadong Pork Pata, Dinuguan, Lechon Paksiw, Sisig, Kaldereta, Pansit and Lumping Shanghai. Just be there early because it sell out fast.

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Delicious Makes magazine: review

Have you ever come across those hobby magazines where you get a free gift with every issue, that builds up to create something - like a ship in a bottle, or a model of a Spitfighter? The first issue is usually 99p, the second is £1.99 and before you know it, you are paying six or seven quid per issue as you need every single part to build your model once you have started.



Well, in the past few years I've noticed an upsurge in these partwork magazines but in the genre of baking and cake decorating. The best thing is, as well as getting a free gift with every issue, you don't need to buy every single one or you can't finish your project - you can dip in and out as you like.



At the train station a week or so ago I spotted a new one called Delicious Makes. It came with a magazine, a pink plastic cake stand for an individual cupcake, a pack of decorative ribbon and some cardboard doilies - and all for just 99p.

The magazine is actually a mix of recipes and crafts, mainly ways to present and decorate your bakes, which I think is a nice idea and makes it stand out a bit from other baking magazines. The recipes themselves didn't blow me away however. The tiramisu Charlotte on the front cover is great, but the creme pat and raspberry tartlets and cornets filled with chocolate truffle aren't things I am likely to make. The recipe for the party layer cake is a bit disappointing in my opinion, as it's essentially a plain sponge cake decorated with raspberries. The crafts are interesting; there are instructions for making bunting to decorate a cake, pom poms made from tissue paper (not particularly appealing to me personally), a suggestion for tying ribbons around mini loaf cakes and a couple of other ideas.



The magazine is quite slim and isn't brilliant but it does have some nice ideas, I really like the little cake stand that comes with it and for 99p you can't really go wrong!



The next issue looks like it comes with a cake tin and a rubber cookie stamp so I will keep my eye out for it.

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Meal Planning Monday 2014- week 37

Lack of internet access at home (it's taking two weeks to install as we've moved) and lack of access to my blog at work means I have been a bit quiet on the blogging front lately! I didn't want to miss a week for the meal plan but I must apologise for the scrappy nature of this post as I am writing this on my phone!



Monday

I'm at a choir rehearsal so taking a sandwich and have bought my boyfriend a pizza



Tuesday

Chicken with a new kind of Mexican sauce I bought



Wednesday

Spaghetti bolognese



Thursday

I'm off work decorating and supervising the men doing our new floor

Lunch - leftover spaghetti bolognese

Dinner - Chesapeke fish for me, beef burger for the other half



Friday- off work as yesterday

Lunch - TBA

Dinner - I'm going up to London for a friend's birthday drinks so probably need to eat dinner before my boyfriend gets home from work so I might have pasta and he can cook himself something with chips



Saturday

Brunch - bacon sandwich

Dinner - at a wedding



Sunday

TBA

Back on the redecorating!



Hopefully normal service in terms if planning meals, cooking and generally blogging will be resumed next week!

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Butterfly Tea Birthday Card

I like this pretty, girly birthday card. I had some printed backing papers with pictures of cake and afternoon tea, and cut out a rectangle slightly smaller than the card I was mounting it on. I added an outline edging sticker around each side to make a frame, and then two 3D butterfly stickers - the wings lift up and stand out from the card- in two corners. Finally a 'happy birthday' outline sticker and the card is complete.

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Meal Planning Monday 2014 - Week 36

Very rough this week as we have just moved into our new house, are in the middle of redecorating and haven't got internet access, so I'm doing this on my phone!

Monday-

I'm at a choir rehearsal so my boyfriend will go to his mum's



Tuesday

Out at an iPhone photography lesson, goodness knows I need it!



Wednesday

Spaghetti bolognese



Thursday

I have to work late tonight so won't be home for dinner



Friday

garlic and herb chicken with mashed potato



Saturday

lunch- bacon sandwich for him, maybe macaroni cheese on toast for me

dinner - will be redecorating so something quick TBA



Sunday

lunch- still planning to be decorating so will grab something easy TBA

dinner- toad in the hole

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My Front Door and My New Life

My boyfriend and I have spent the last six months trying to buy a house. I say trying, because everything that could go wrong, did go wrong - between the vendors and our solicitor who equally appeared to dither, delay, they said they had sent things when they hadn't, and right before we exchanged it seemed like the vendors might have changed their minds (and on the day of completion, our solicitor got their bank details wrong so the money nearly didn't go through). That's not to mention the fact that the vendors drew out the process so much that our mortgage offer actually expired and we only secured an extension at the last minute.



Still, we persevered and had to push through the sale of my house, and ended up moving in with my boyfriend's mum for three weeks until our vendors were willing to complete on their sale. Everything went into storage - several times when I wanted to cook something, I realised the pan I needed was over at Big Yellow and it wasn't worth the trip to go and get it (not that I knew exactly which box it was in anyway!).



Finally we were able to move into our new house, which really is my dream home. It has four bedrooms, a double garage and is in a private mews road which has no through traffic so is perfect for my cat! Best of all though is the kitchen - a huge open plan area, with a modern induction hob, room for an American-style fridge-freezer (which we are going to order!), space for a dining table and there's a built-in a breakfast bar, where my boyfriend can sit and chat as I cook. The utility room just off the kitchen has more cupboards and will be the perfect place to store my baking and cake decorating equipment. I feel like the last six months have been a real slog, but worth it!



The vendors left the house in quite a state - every wall had holes and marks from pictures that had hung there for years, and we discovered that in some of the bedrooms, they had only carpeted as far as the furniture, so now they had taken the wardrobes, there are now huge sections of floor with no carpet and only grotty floorboards. So that's more money we have to spend.... but it does mean we can decorate the house how we want. We've only been there two days and we have already painted half our bedroom - it made sense to redecorate before we really unpacked.



One of the first things we did was change the front door locks of course - you never know who has keys - and bought a Yale lock from B&Q which was really easy to fit and only cost about £10. So we have security and peace of mind, even if we haven't unpacked yet.

So my front door - my brand new front door, to a house I have only lived in for two days - represents a whole new life for me and my boyfriend. It's our first home together, and has enough bedrooms that we can welcome friends and family to stay - and there is plenty of room if we decide to start a family of our own. My front door is really important to me, as it's a symbol of what I have worked so hard for and wanted for so long. At least, it will be once we have replaced the door, as I'm not keen on the stained-glass effect front - or the doorbell that plays the Lone Ranger theme tune!


This is my entry to the Yale Door blogging competition.

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Cute Kitten Birthday Card

Here's a cute birthday card I made for a female friend, using a piece of pretty pink backing paper and some raised puffy stickers of a cat and some flowers. I also added a 'birthday wishes' sticker that has pink wording on a clear background.

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Sweet Chilli Turkey Burgers

These sweet chilli turkey burgers are low fat and really zingy, they make a lovely change from a beefburger and are very easy to make.

Allow about 100-120g turkey mince per person. Mix the mince in a bowl with some chopped red onion, chopped spring onion, 1/2 tsp oregano per person and 1 tsp sweet chilli sauce per person. Combine well and shape into patties with your hands.

Place on a foil lined tray and cook in the oven for 20 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve with rocket, and tomato if desired, in a crusty bread roll or burger bun.

I'm sending this to the Spice Trail Beach Barbecue Challenge, hosted by Vanesther at Bangers and Mash.

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New Baby Boy Card

I made this card while a friend was pregnant before I knew whether she was expecting a boy or a girl; I made two cards and in the end this one was not needed! The embellishments were really cute and only cost 99p, I think from the Works - they are wooden and come with an adhesive pad already attached. I chose a piece of backing paper with birds that I thought would work well with the baby theme (they are not storks but not a million miles away) and used a silver outline border sticker to frame the backing paper, which I stuck in the middle of the card. I placed one of the baby embellishments in the middle and two more in the bottom corners, and a 'congratulations' silver outline sticker along the top. I've got this one ready now in case anyone else I know has a son!

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New Baby Girl Card

My friend Jane just had a baby, yay! I made a girl and a boy card in anticipation as I didn't know which she was going to have; it turned out that she had a daughter.



I went with the traditional pink theme and used a pink card blank, and cut a rectangle from a piece of printed backing paper that I thought would make a nice contrast. The swaddled baby, the small heart and the larger heart with the word 'baby' are made of wood, and all came from the same sticker pack. I think cards look nice where they are symmetrical and elements are within the lines but it can also look good to cross lines and borders, like I have done with the 'baby' heart which cuts through the border. The border itself is a silver outline sticker, as is the 'congratulations' word.

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Restaurant Review: Hot Rocks, Bournemouth

The feeling of sand in your toes, sun warming your skin and the sound of the sea lapping at the shore can't be beat... especially when it's the middle of the week and you feel like you are playing truant from work. I was getting to the end of my tether with the house buying process (five months and counting, thanks to Mr and Mrs C, the most awkward people I've ever had to deal with) and decided I needed to get away from it all. Unfortunately, with the sale of my house imminent I can't go away on holiday, but I realised I had only taken one day off since I started my new job back in February and it was about time for some R&R. Hearing that a heatwave was forecast I decided there was no time like the present and booked the following day off work - and a train ticket to Bournemouth.

My boyfriend couldn't get any time off at such short notice but luckily one of my best friends is a supply teacher and didn't have any work on for the next day, so happily agreed to meet me in Bournemouth. We spent a lovely few hours on the beach, though the promised heatwave never materialised - it was quite cloudy and windy by the sea and I ended up at one point having to put clothes back on! The sun was strong nonetheless, as I discovered when I got home that evening and noticed the sunburn!

We didn't want to stray far from the beach at lunchtime but liked the idea of getting out of the wind for a bit so wakled back up to the promenade. There is a huge Harry Ramsden's on the beachfront but after eating in one in Brighton last year and not being especially impressed, I didn't want to go there.

We debated checking out the restaurant at the end of the pier but instead went to Hot Rocks, a large restaurant only a minute away on the promenade. It has a large outdoor seating area and a long queue inside, but we were told that the queue was people who were sitting outside having to order their food at the bar, whereas if we sat inside, we would have table service. Outside was pretty crowded anyway so we decided to sit inside.



The menu is fairly broad and in keeping with a "surf shack" theme, e.g. luau chicken, malibu ribs, big kahuna burger and shark island, which is a vegetarian patty on foaccia with stir-fried vegetables. Strangely, a lot of the dishes seemed to come with stir-fried vegtables and I'm sure it was even an optional topping in the burger!



I had a lovely non-alcoholic cocktail to drink and the big kahuna burger (without the stir-fried veg) but it was just too big - this is a meal and a half! The burger was quite dense and it came with three onion rings in the burger, and salad and chips on the side. I don't like wasting food (and normally have a big appetite) but left about a quarter of it, it was so filling!

My friend enjoyed the exotically-named luau chicken which was the rather less exotic chicken breast topped with bacon and BBQ sauce (and those stir-fried vegetables again!). I was expecting prices to be steep given the beach front location but thought the £11.95 for my burger and £10.95 for her chicken was pretty normal, until I remembered we weren't in London! I am so used to paying London prices that I forget other parts of the country are usually cheaper (a meal out with the whole of my immediate family in Wiltshire sometimes comes in at less than a meal for my boyfriend and I alone in London!). I was reminded of that when we paid for all day parking in a car park only a few minutes walk from the beach; I was expecting it to cost about £12 but in fact it was £4!


After our afternoon on the beach we walked through Bournemouth's Winter Gardens and I spotted one of my favourite activities as a child - crazy golf. I've played on this course countless times and usually won (whether I was good, or cheated, or my family let me win as I was the youngest, I'm not sure!). It's a traditional course where all the obstacles are made from rocks or wood or involve a bridge or tunnel - none of the clown faces and windmills you sometimes see. Needless to say, I won!

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