Penne Tuna Creamy Pasta Recipe

This penne tuna creamy pasta recipe is one of the yummy recipes that my hubby makes.

When I arrived in the UAE on New Year’s Eve of 2008, I discovered that my then fiancée was famous for his creamy pasta dish. His friends were all praises of him and they beamingly call him as the “pasta master”. Friends can really be so supportive right? He can only cook one of the many sauces of pasta then he becomes the master! I couldn’t disagree with his friends because his creamy pasta is certainly delicious! A lot of friends have asked for the recipe and are proud of their own creation as well.

Nilagang Baboy (Pork Stew) Recipe

Nilagang baboy is a comfort food which is perfect during winter season. I grew up celebrating most Christmas with it because my mother would cook it for Christmas meal. I thought to prepare it as the temperature is now starting to drop here in the Middle East. In a few weeks, the long, dry and hot months will be gone.

This nilagang baboy recipe, which is a Kapampangan recipe, is a pork stew that is quite simple to make. It only involves one step of cooking that is boiling all ingredients by gradually adding them according to the required cooking time of each ingredient. For me, the trick to making a very tasty nilagang baboy is to use lots of different vegetables and make sure that the pork is tender. The pork and vegetables simmered together in a considerable amount of time will create a really tasty soup. All the minerals and vitamins from the vegetables will blend with the pork broth very nicely and one will be surprise at how the soup will taste healthy.


Nilagang Baboy (Pork Stew)

Spring Egg Omelette Recipe

We can always have fun with our egg omelettes by adding one or more other ingredients to it like vegetables or meat.

I am quite proud to this Spring Egg Omelette recipe because I was able to use the left over vegetables and created a vibrant egg omelette. The crunchiness of carrots added to the exciting texture. While the seasoning effect of the spring onions made it lighter to the taste compared to the usual sliced onions I am adding to my omelette.

I am not good though in flipping the omelette to retain it whole when cooking. Almost all the time it turns to be like small sheets of several omelettes just like in the photo. I’m not worried though because it doesn’t affect the taste :).


Spring Egg Omelette

Sinigang na Tilapia Recipe

Sinigang is a common dish for Filipinos. It is a soup characterized by its sour flavor. Different fruits can be used as souring agent such as tamarind (which is the most common), guava, green mango, kamias or bilimbi and santol. Back home, my most favorite fruit ingredient for sinigang is kamias or bilimbi, next is tamarind. We have a kamias tree in the backyard that bears fruits abundantly when in season. I hope it is still alive up to this day. That’s one of the things I would check when we go home this December for vacation.

Nowadays, powdered soup base or cubes have become popular in place of the natural fruits, especially for OFWs like us. They are commonly known as sinigang mix and are made of tamarind or guava. The tamarind powdered soup base is what I used for my sinigang na tilapia recipe. I usually like my sinigang to be really sour. Fortunately, hubby likes the same and so I used the whole sinigang mix pack.

It is best to add an assortment of vegetables to sinigang. I used pechay and banana blossom for this recipe. I learned from my mother that the banana blossom will make the soup white in color. Just be careful on the timing of slicing the banana blossom. I suggest slicing it seconds before it is added in the stew. Slicing it early will darken the color of the banana blossom.


Sinigang na Tilapia

Here’s my recipe for the Sinigang na Tilapia:

Ingredients:
2 pcs whole tilapia fish
1 bunch pechay
1 pc banana blossom, sliced to ½ inch thick, remove tough petals
2 pcs tomatoes, quartered
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced thinly
1 onion, sliced
2 pcs banana chili
1 pack sinigang mix (use only half if you prefer less sour soup)
2 cups water
Salt

Cooking Procedure:
Bring to boil 2 cups of water. Add tomatoes and onion. Simmer until the tomatoes and onions are tender. Add sinigang mix and ginger. Cook until sinigang mix has completely dissolved. Add tilapia and vegetable ingredients. Season with salt. Cook until tilapia is done. Adjust the seasoning according to your taste.

Stir-Fry Squid with Broccoli Recipe

This stir-fry squid with broccoli recipe is supposed to duplicate the Chinese recipe I researched on the Internet. Unfortunately, we do not have rice wine on our shelf as we are not using such ingredient in our cooking. Rice wine is one of the required seasoning for this recipe. We were a bit lazy to go to the supermarket to buy one at the time. Nonetheless, having missed out one of the ingredients did not stop me from cooking this delectable dish. I replaced the rice wine with water and added cornstarch to thicken the sauce. The result was a delicious seafood-vegetable dish that is perfect for steamed rice.

So far I cannot tell the difference in taste if I had use rice wine, but I would love to test it in future. I’d like to point out though that the water is not a substitute for the rice wine in terms of taste, instead it was intended to replace the sauce that could have been produced by the rice wine.

Meanwhile, here is my recipe for the Stir-fry Squid with Broccoli.


Squid with Broccoli

Ingredients:
500 g squid, fresh
500 g broccoli, cut into small florets
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 thumb-size ginger, finely sliced
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
100ml water (as needed)
Cooking oil

Cooking Procedure:
1. Clean fresh squid. Remove ink and peel the skin. Score lightly on one side and slice to bite-size pieces.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Sauté ginger and garlic. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
3. Add soy sauce and sugar together.
4. Stir-fry the broccoli florets in the mixture for 2minutes over high heat.
5. Add water and cornstarch. Let it simmer for 2 minutes.
6. Add squid and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly.
7. Do not overcook the squid as it will turn out to be gummy.
8. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Linguini with Clams Recipe

We love watching cooking shows. This linguini with clams recipe is inspired by many pasta recipes we’ve watched in different shows. As I previously mentioned in my Clam Soup Recipe, clams are in season here and it’s a good thing to take advantage of its abundance because for sure they’re fresh.

There is actually nothing exactly like this recipe because I tweaked it a little, like instead of using parsley for the herb I used fresh basil leaves, which I and hubby are both crazy about. In addition, most pasta with clams recipe I’ve seen are using white wine for the sauce. I intended to skip the white wine, instead I planned to replace it with vegetable cubes to turn it into a broth but we couldn’t find any veggie cube so I settled for the pasta water for the sauce.

I may say my linguini with clams recipe is a success. Hubby enjoyed it so much and I would definitely love to prepare it again in the future.


Linguini with Clams

Here’s is my linguini with clams recipe:

Ingredients:
1 kg clams
500 g linguini pasta
½ bulb garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 handful fresh basil leaves
100 g parmesan cheese, grated
1 pinch dried chili flakes
olive oil

Cooking Procedure:
1) Clean clams well and soak in water for at least 2 hours. Replace the water every half hour. Throw away clams that have opened.
2) Cook pasta according to instructions. Linguini will be cooked al dente in boiling water with a teaspoon of salt for 10-11 minutes. Drain pasta and sprinkle with olive oil then set aside.
3) Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet.
4) Sauté garlic, do not brown.
5) Sauté onion until translucent.
6) Add in clams and half cup of pasta water.
7) Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until most of the clams have opened.
8) Add basil leaves and dried chili flakes. Stir well.
9) Turn off the heat. Add the cooked pasta and parmesan cheese in the same skillet and combine well with the sauce.
10) Serve hot. Sprinkle with dried chili flakes, grated parmesan cheese and olive oil if desired.

Paksiw na Galunggong Recipe

Paksiw na Galunggong is one of the varieties of paksiw na isda recipes. I like the small-size galunggong or scad fish better than the large ones as I find them more flavorful.

Paksiw is a process of stewing meat or fish in vinegar and some spices. The spices added to it may vary depending on the main ingredient, regional cooking style or preference of the cook himself.

When I’m making paksiw na isda, I don’t use garlic as most people would do. Instead, I’m using onion, which I think makes the broth more appetizing. Another tweak that I do is I add a teaspoon of olive oil to the broth just two minutes before I remove it from heat.

Another tip that is worth trying is to keep the paksiw for a day in the ref then re-heat. It’s much tastier this way. Also, it is best to pair it with garlic fried rice. Yum!


Paksiw na Galunggong

Here’s my recipe for the Paksiw na Galunggong:

Ingredients:
250 grams Galunggong (scad) fish
½ cup vinegar
¼ cup water
1 thumb size ginger root, crushed or finely sliced
1 small onion, sliced
3 pieces banana pepper (siling haba)
2 large eggplants (optional), sliced according to your liking
1 teaspoon olive oil (optional)
Pepper, roughly ground
Salt

Cooking Procedure:
Clean fish well. Remove gills, innards, etc. Combine all ingredients in a pot except olive oil. Turn on the stove and cook from 10 to 15 minutes over low fire, or until the fish and eggplants are cooked. Just keep in mind to add in the olive oil two minutes before turning off the heat. Serve with steamed rice or fried rice.

Turon Recipe

Turon or fried wrapped banana is a popular snack among Filipinos. It is usually made of saba bananas covered with brown sugar and wrapped in a very thin pastry wrapper or lumpia wrapper, which is the simple recipe. Another recipe is by adding slices of langka or jackfruit to add flavour and fragrance to Turon.


Turon or Fried Wrapped Saba Bananas

My Turon Recipe is based on the simple version. You only need the following ingredients:
4 plaintain bananas or saba
Brown sugar
8 lumpia wrapper
Cooking oil

Method:
Start by peeling the plaintain bananas or saba and cut them in half horizontally. Roll the bananas in brown sugar. Using a large flat plate or clean cutting board, spread one lumpia wrapper then place the banana. Roll the lumpia wrapper halfway, then fold both ends, and roll the rest of the wrapper. Dip you fingertip in a bowl of water and wet the flap of the lumpia wrapper to seal. Repeat the process until all bananas are wrapped. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot enough, lower the heat and fry the wrapped bananas for 3-4 minutes each side or until the lumpia wrapper has turned golden brown and crisp. Remove banana wraps in oil and drain on paper towel to remove excess oil. Serve immediately.

Thai-Inspired Beef Salad Recipe

Inspired by the Thai Beef Salad we had last weekend at the Bowling Village, which tasted fairly authentic, hubby requested that we prepare this light salad for dinner.

We bought 100g of thinly sliced beef from the supermarket which we marinated in soy sauce, garlic and pepper for a couple of hours to absorb the flavor then pan-fried them.


Thai-inspired Beef Salad

To create the Thai dressing for the beef salad, I used the recipe from Yummy Magazine, which was quite simple to make. I wish to have added more chopped red chili though to attain the hot kick on the dressing. I’ll definitely do that next time.

This recipe is worth a try. Aside from being healthy and easy to prepare, this beef salad is a wonderful fresh salad with a fusion of sweet, sour and hot flavors.

Here is our Thai-inspired Beef Salad Recipe.

Ingredients:
100g thinly sliced tender beef
Romaine lettuce or variety of greens, cut into 1-1/2 inch strips
2 cucumber, quartered, seeded and diced ½ inch
1 large tomato, seeded and sliced lengthwise
5 scallions, thinly sliced
2 coriander or cilantro stems with leaves, roughly chop

For the dressing:
1 lemon or lime juice
2 tablespoons patis or fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 red chili, seeded and chopped finely (add more if you desire)

Method:
1) Heat a little amount of oil in a shallow pan over high heat.
2) Fry the marinated beef slices for 3 minutes on each side or until cooked to your liking. Remove from heat and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing thinly.
3) Combine romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, onion and coriander in a large bowl.
4) Add the thinly sliced beef to the salad.
5) Drizzle with the dressing and gently toss using your hands (like Jamie Oliver does!).
6) Divide salad among plates and serve immediately.