a little RR

if i were asked to pick my personal domestic goddess, it would be rachael ray of the 30-minute-meal fame. she's so warm, effusive, and most especially, practical! i can't help but like her! her tips and recipes have rescued my household from insipid cooking so many times.

you know what it's like, most of us have been there...manila life and a leisurely schedule simply cannot be! i can hardly count the number of times i have to scramble to cook a semi-decent meal and serve it on time. occasionally, i'd cheat and just buy take-out, but nothing is as welcoming as hot, home-cooked comfort food.

so if i manage to get home on time to watch rachael's show or catch a rerun, i take notes and try to serve that recipe for the next meal.

good thing my family's palate is extensive so i don't have to restrain my menu to the usual prito and tinola. since most of us are trying to avoid white rice, i've been serving potatoes instead. here's an old recipe i tweaked a bit, rachael ray style: meatloaf and cheddar cheese mashed potatoes. it's not exactly thirty minutes, but then i'm not rachael ray.

first, pre-heat the oven or the turbo broiler--which is what i use--at 350°. clean four large potatoes and put them in a pot of water and leave to boil.

i use half a kilo of ground beef or hamburger meat, one large egg or about a half-cup of mayo (which i prefer using), a cup of breadcrumbs, and a cup and a half barbecue sauce. if there's no barbecue sauce available, i make do with ketchup mixed with a little soy sauce and worcestershire sauce.

mix the first three ingredients plus a cup of the barbecue sauce. make sure everything is integrated well and add salt and pepper to taste. shape the ground mixture into two medium-sized loaves and place on a baking pan. sometimes i fix this the night before and store it in the fridge to let the flavors set in. however, if you're making this on the spot, let it chill for about 15 minutes to allow the shape to hold before cooking.

when ready, put the loaves on the pan in the oven or broiler and cook at 350° for 30-45 minutes. occasionally, brush the loaves with the remaining barbecue sauce to keep it moist.

when the potatoes are done, peel and mash. stir in about a cup of warm milk, two tablespoons of unsalted butter, a cup of grated cheddar cheese, plus salt and pepper to taste. mash the potatoes till soft and creamy.

take the meatloaf out when the tops are starting to go deep brown and serve the mashed potatoes alongside. add gravy, if you like.

now that didn't take too long, diba?

i bow to the king of fruits

one of the best things about being a davaoena is having ready access to durian!

i don't have any durian recipes to share. there's no real point to this entry except...i just had some durian earlier and so, i'm still kinda high :D

i was a durian virgin up until i was 25. stupid noh? i could have lapped up a quarter-century's worth of gastronomic ecstasy and i didn't because i was put off by the smell. sheesh!

but finally i gave in...and have been hooked ever since! there's absolutely no other taste like it! it's exquisite pleasure on the tongue ;D

deep-fried catfish

have you ever eaten hito or catfish?

it's ugly as hell, but absolutely delish!

we were on our way home from marilog, davao city, when we passed by a stall selling live hito along the highway. i deliberately held my feet away from the squirming catfish packed inside a plastic bag--i prefer my fish, filleted and cooked.

a less brutal way of--there's no other way to say it--killing the hito, instead of whacking it on the head, is pouring rock salt on it. it's a freshwater fish so it can't tolerate that much salt.

i hate preparing fish; cleaning it usually takes too much time, that's why i opt for easy cooking.

after taking out the innards & cleaning the catfish, i chopped it into several medium-sized portions for easy frying. i prepared a rub of calamansi and salt and let it sit on the hito for while to allow the taste to be absorbed.

you can add pepper if you want, in this case i didn't since the breading mix i was planning to use already had seasoning in it (this is what i meant by easy). you can prepare your own by mixing breadcrumbs, cornstarch, and whatever seasoning you want to put it. mine comes prepared in a neat little package i bought at the local supermarket. it has cayenne pepper and a few other spices.

just before frying, dip the rubbed fish in the breading mix and make sure it's sufficiently covered. i usually dip one at a time and immediately place each piece in the deep-fryer so the breading won't get soggy; this will assure you a crisp coating.

once golden brown, take out the fried catfish and drain excess oil. serve while still hot.

the catfish meat is sweet and tender and the crunchy seasoned fishskin makes it all the more mouthwatering!

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baked turon

i'm trying my hand on healthy cooking ( i find the turbo broiler to be a big help!)

here's a recipe for one of my favorite merienda:

the ingredients are: saba bananas (plantains), lumpia wrapper, muscovado sugar* and butter.

slice several saba bananas lengthwise. take a half piece and place it on the lower end of the lumpia wrapper. sprinkle about a teaspoon of muscovado sugar--adjust the proportion to your taste--on top of the banana. you can also use brown sugar if you don't have muscovado. fold the wrapper as you would a spring roll, and dab a little butter on the other end so it would stick and enclose the banana securely. you can also dab butter all over the wrapper if you want--guaranteed to enhance the taste! of course, that means you cannot straight-facedly call this healthy cooking anymore :)

another option is adding sesame seeds to the sugar filling. its taste blends well with muscovado.

place the wrapped bananas on the grill inside the turbo broiler and heat it to 350°. cook for 15-20 minutes, or until crisp and the sugar melted. yummy!

*muscovado is unrefined sugar with a strong molasses flavor. it's dark brown in color and has a moist texture. commonly used in making bacolod's local delicacy, piaya.

phoenix, eggs, etc.

why did i revive this? not quite sure...i just can't seem to let go.

let's start with something simple.

omelette. that's what i served this morning to my aunt's new boyfriend.

i was not-quite-rudely awakened by hungry relatives who came without warning to have breakfast at our house. they'd just come from the airport to fetch the beau. it was meet-the-family time and he was to be introduced to the family matriarch (their branch).

after giving him the once-over and subjecting him to our version of "twenty questions", i scurried to the kitchen for something more palatable than oatmeal.

eggs to the rescue! scrambling several, i added sweet basil, ground oregano, white pepper, and a little salt. i heated up a tablespoonful of canola oil and some butter. the oil helps the butter from burning quickly. my omelette is not for the dieting or cholesterol-conscious.

after dumping the bowlful of eggs into the pan, i added my fave filling--cheese. i prefer using quickmelt cheese, though i sometimes use cheddar, or mozzarella if i have it in stock. don't grate the cheese, use cubed instead. i like biting into melted hot cheese.

fold the egg mixture gently with the cheese and flip to the other side. i like my eggs light and fluffy, so i don't keep it in the pan too long.

i slipped the omelette onto a nice plate with pan-fried hungarian sausages, and voila! bribery for the beau to keep on answering more questions.

why i don't go to church

(sa maka-gets lang)

a few years back, i stopped going to church, as in church the building. the fellowship i was with decided to dissolve the organization and instead meet in a more intimate, familial setting. this caused a lot of furor and misunderstanding. some people labelled us as "cultic"--probably, they are people who are uncomfortable of jumping out of box, reluctant of getting out of their comfort zone.

but, contrary to their wild imagination, we have not abandoned Christ. in fact, we realized that in accepting Jesus Christ in our lives, He is now, therefore, living in us. hence, we should live out the reality of His life and let other people see Him in us without even having to utter a single word. for what is preaching if we cannot walk the talk.

it is not an easy path to take, especially when it goes beyond what people are used to. even before 'the great upheaval', i have lost my enthusiasm for christianity. though we were taught that being "born-again" was a relationship and not a religion, it somehow went off-track. we were still following the pattern of organized religion and we weren't reaching out or touching people's lives as deeply as was initially intended. also, there was that "pride" of being born-again, of being one of the righteous that some people have adopted--even i, at some point--that certainly turned me off.

when it was decided that our fellowship be dissolved, a lot of the members loudly condemned the act and some quietly slid away, while there were also those who remained silently undecided until they could be swayed by the "more powerful" politic. but, amidst the chaos was order. with those who remained, a spiritual family was born and nurtured.

sure, it's not a "happily ever after"; after all, we're not following a fairy tale. but we are in a real quest--the revelation of Christ's truth and His manifestation in all humanity--and what we do have is Heaven.

ate, aka pseudo-mommy

my brother had a nosebleed yesterday. too much manila heat, i guess.

my heart was in my throat when i opened the door to find him bleeding in the garage. my first thought was that he had an accident. he had taken the car out earlier to have it registered, but i was surprised to hear him drive in earlier than expected.

good thing, i didn't have a class yesterday so i was just at home reading. it was a flustering ten minutes, getting him cleaned up and settled. thank god for airconditoning!

when i heard him lay down, i sat down as well. it's hard to be Mom.

when i first moved to manila, my brothers were already here--one working, the other studying. finally! after nine years of living apart and just seeing each other during vacations, we're finally living under one roof. my parents were so obviously happy.

i was relieved as well. though i would never admit it out loud, i missed having them around. when i left for college, i left as an angst-filled, self-absorbed teenager. then my brothers eventually left to go to different colleges and different cities so when i went home to davao, i was alone.

coming here, i had the chance to be Ate again. it was fun, getting the house in order and fixing meals and just bonding without parents hovering in the background. but that also meant that i was in charge which, normally, is not a problem for me.

however, being top honcho meant being troubleshooter, nursemaid, the one who cracks the whip, and it meant saying No at the time they least want to hear it. that made me popular with my parents--who are spared from the stress of disciplining--and unpopular with my brothers and cousin who's also living with us.

being head of the household confused me. i'm not always sure when i'm doing the right thing--most of the time, i feel sure i'm doing it wrong. what i'm slowly realizing is i have to learn to let go. and i am...one reluctant finger at a time.

for the meantime, let me baby my brothers

nosehair surprises

ha!ha!ha!ha!


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