SHINE!

Bopiz is originally a spicy Spanish dish adapted by Filipinos. Its main ingredients include pork lungs and heart  sauteed in herbs and spices. Cooking time is around fifteen minutes so it can be categorized as a thirty minute dish, including prep time. Here’s how:

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo ground/minced/cubed pork lungs and heart

1 whole garlic head, crushed and minced

1 whole onion head, minced

1 red bell pepper, minced

pepper

chili slices (adjust according to taste)

atsuete /annato seed oil

2 tablespoons cooking oil

salt

*you can substitute salt for patis/fish sauce

Procedure:

Heat oil in a pan and saute garlic until you can smell its aroma then mix in the onions. After two minutes, mix the pork heart and lungs. Cook for about five minutes or just until the meat turns brown. Season with salt, pepper and the chili slices. Pour in the annato seed oil and bell pepper. Stir and let cook for around ten more minutes, adjusting the taste as you go along. Serve with plain steamed rice.

Hong ma, or slow-cooked pork in Chinese, is one of the best Chinese dishes I have tasted so far. The fusion of flavors and textures is superb and I am even more amazed at how simple one could achieve that melt-in-your-mouth meat tenderness.

Today would be my second attempt at this mouth-watering dish. The first one was a flop in a sense that I didn’t really use the right ingredients because I didn’t have a clue what they were. I basically relied on instincts, trying with a degree of desperation, to recall and mimic the taste of that hong ma dish we ordered at Ongpin back in early 2008.  I almost got it right, but the lack of enthusiasm on my Chinese husband’s reaction on his first bite was a bit discouraging.
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You can never have too much garlic, right? I saw the original recipe for this dish at A Year of Crockpotting and sort of “salivated” over the thought of slowly cooked chicken in a bed of forty cloves of garlic rolling on my tongue. Yum!

Needless to say, I copied her recipe but added a few other ingredients for extra kick. What else did I put aside from the onions, garlic, pepper, paprika and teaspoon of olive oil? Herbs. Basil, Rosemary and Chili powder.

It. Was. Heaven!

I also made some mashed potatoes to go along with the chicken and as expected, the Hubby had a blast!

This shrimp dish is a bit like Szechuan shrimp but it is also not quite the famous Chinese food that Szechuan shrimp is… Am I making sense? Anyway, to put it simply, this also has that spicy, tomatoey flavor plus more. It’s something I made from scratch yet again and yes, with much success too!

Ingredients:
Shrimps (You can choose to shell, devein and slice them in half if you want. Mine’s cooked with shell and head and well, it’s just a preference.)
fresh Basil leaves chopped
peppercorns
tomato sauce, about 1/4 cup only
ketchup, dollop
onions, minced
garlic, minced
dried Rosemary leaves
dash of Cumin
dash of Oregano
dash of salt
cooking oil
Tabasco sauce or any preferred spice agent
1 piece chili cut in half

Procedure:
1. Saute garlic, onions then shrimps. Let the shrimps cook until their color changes to light orange.

2. Throw in basil, pepper corns and the rest of the herb ingredients. Stir to blend all the flavors.

3. Pour tomato sauce with a little water, spice agent/ hot sauce and sliced chili.

4. Let it simmer until the sauce thickens.

5. Serve with steamed rice and vegetables.

Remember those sun-dried tomatoes I had out on the balcony as well as those that I made from the microwave-oven? I finally got a good use for them with my pasta puttanesca.
They raised the dish to a whole new level, they rendered that surprisingly delicious soury taste that made the whole thing a pleasant meal experience.
Plus, this pasta dish is so simple, filling and quick, it’s the best alternative meal for those busy weekdays and jampacked weekends. Here’s my own recipe, please feel free to experiment and change or add up to what I have, this one works well for me and my family but you could most definitely let those creative juices flow and alter a little to suit your tastes:

Ingredients:
olive oil
Parmesan cheese
fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
a dollop of pesto
sun dried tomatoes, about 6 pieces
fresh and ripe tomatoes, halved
anchovies
black pitted olives, quartered or sliced in half (your choice)
optional: capers (I don’t like capers much so I didn’t use it on this dish)
pasta
salt to taste
dried basil leaves (optional)
garlic (optional)

Procedure:
Cook pasta according to package directions or al-dente.

While pasta is cooking, heat a pan and pour a little olive oil. Sliced side down, line the tomatoes on the pan and sprinkle a little salt and dried basil leaves on them. Let them cook for about three minutes, or just until they’re soft enough. Turn to cook the other side and set aside.

Using the same pan, pour a generous amount of oil, cook the anchovies until they blend well with the oil. You can put a little garlic along with it if you want, but it is not necessary. Put in the fresh basil and dollop of pesto. Stir. Let cook for a minute, then stir in the tomatoes and using your laddle or spoon, press on each tomato until the skin and meat separates and blend together with the oil and anchovies. Mix in the olives and let the whole sauce simmer for three to five minutes.

Reduce heat to low and pour in your cooked pasta, toss together with the sun dried tomatoes until well blended. Replace in a serving dish, top with Parmesan cheese and garnish with basil leaves. Put a slice or two of pesto or garlic bread on the side to complete not just the look, but the meal.

Pesto bread alternative:
1. Get a slice of loaf bread
2. slice in half to make two triangles
3. spread on a coat of butter and pesto
4. Toast

buon appetito!

Hubby asked for a chicken casserole dish and I was craving for something creamy and peppery so I searched for a recipe on the net, but couldn’t find one that would satisfy both of our taste buds. Not in the mood to be defeated, I decided to just whip up something from scratch.

So for today, I give you last weekend’s Food Couch chicken casserole recipe:

Here’s something quick and easy, a 30-minute meal that’s just as filling and sumptuous. I sort of “invented” this dish and surprisingly, the first try was a major hit so I decided to dress it up a little by adding an ingredient that gave it an Italian twist.

Here’s what you need for this:

Pasta of your choice, cooked al dente’ or according to package directions
Butter
Spanish sardines, fish flaked a little and with about 3 tablespoons of its oil along
salt to taste
pesto or minced basil
Parmesan cheese for topping

Heat butter in skillet, throw in pesto or basil and Spanish sardines and oil, sprinkle with salt, toss in pasta and blend everything together. Replace in a serving dish, top with Parmesan cheese. Serve.

See how easy that is? It’s not even a 30 minute meal, it cooks in waaaay less than that! Oh, I really don’t have a name for it yet, maybe just “Pasta sardini”? Hmmm… No, how about “Spanish-Italian Pasta”? Yaiks, not that one either… Okay, how about “Sardines and pesto pasta medley?”… No? Hmmm, whatever. It tastes good anyway so that should be good enough. Lol!

I first encountered the brand Barilla through a fellow food blogger’s blog,who happens to be in Italy, and because, as you all probably have an idea by now, I am such a pasta freak, I salivated with envy thinking that we are so third world and such beauties take a while to reach our soil…

Well, literally, I bonked myself on the head because one trip along Timog Avenue in Quezon City is all it took to find my own private oasis… Santi’s!

Santi’s Delicatessen offers prime Italian produce, they have a wide selection of fresh meat and dairy products – all kinds of cheeses, meatloaf, cold cuts, different sausages and ham among others. Their shelves are filled to brimming with different Italian ingredients – spices, herbs, fruits, condiments, olive oils, balsamic vinegars and vegetables. They also offer a wide array of jams, chocolates, nuts, preserves and yes, pasta!

Like any other girl who went to the big city, I shrieked at the sight of the blue cartons lined on one of the shelves. Barilla. Oh yes, and even when the Hubby insisted that all pasta tastes the same, I still didn’t budge. And thank heavens I didn’t because when I cooked my first pasta dish using this brand, he had to throw in the white towel because if truth be told, Barilla makes the best tasting pasta ever!