Personal Cook Files

How to Keep Fruits and Veggies Fresh with Proper Storage

2017-01-30T17:26:00.000-08:00

Eating a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables can be pretty expensive, and not knowing how to properly store them can make it even more so. With so many people chucking a huge chunk of their fresh produce mostly due to spoilage, it comes as no surprise that billions worth of food are wasted every year.

There are plenty of ways to keep fruits and veggies fresh, and if you learn how to do it right, you might just help prevent food waste and save yourself some money.

It’s Pretty Simple, Really

Just because they’re grouped together as produce doesn’t mean they’re supposed to be tossed together into the produce drawer. While some fruits and vegetables fare better on the countertop, others keep longer when stored in the fridge. Then there are certain foods that shouldn’t be stored together at all because some give off high levels of ethylene gas that the others may be sensitive to, speed up their ripening process, and cause them to rot.

Whether you’re just picking up a few at the farmer’s market or you’re growing them in your own garden, this quick guide will help ensure your fresh produce stays fresh until meal time.

With fruits making up the bulk of ethylene producers, and vegetables being generally ethylene-sensitive, it makes perfect sense to never store them together. If you’ve been storing your apples and bananas with your eggplants and dark leafy greens, then this explains why they tend to go bad quicker.

In or Out?

Sure, it’s almost always tempting to immediately place all produce in the fridge; however, it’s imperative to know the proper spots to store them to keep them from wilting into a soggy mess. Know what goes where, and you’re all set to keep your fruits and veggies fresh and flavorful for longer.

Countertop or Pantry: Fresh produce suitable for storage on the countertop or in the pantry typically keeps for 3-7 days. Store them in a bowl or a paper/plastic bag with small holes to speed up ripening; never in a sealed bag, as the lack of oxygen increases off-odors and speeds up decay.

Some items to store include apples (that are not too ripe), bananas, potatoes, whole pineapples and melons, avocados, and stone and citrus fruits (for slow ripening, move them to the fridge).

Fridge and Cool Storage: Fresh produce suitable for storage in the fridge has different needs. While some prefer to be exposed to the air, others are best kept in airtight containers. They can be pretty picky about temperature, too, and sometimes require special care.

Some items to store include chopped fruits and veggies, ripe fruits you want to keep fresh longer, root veggies (carrots, beets, and radishes), leafy greens and herbs, berries and mushrooms, and corn.

Fruits and veggies are the most commonly wasted food items in households. The good news is, it’s nothing a bit of planning and proper storage can’t fix. Follow these proper storage tips, and you’re guaranteed to contribute in cutting food waste—all while saving money and enjoying great-tasting food all year round.

Five Benefits of Dining In

2016-07-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

Despite the rise of cooking shows, blogs and vlogs which promote home-cooking and dining in, many people choose to buy prepared meals or to eat out, especially during a busy work week. Driven by their desire to save time, these people tend to overlook the many benefits of eating meals at home and preparing their own food.

Keen to know how you can benefit more from dining in than from eating out? Here are some quick insights.

Dining in helps you save money. Cooking with raw ingredients at home costs less than buying prepared meals, which usually include packaging costs, taxes and other charges. Home-cooking also allows you to buy ingredients in bulk and easily prepare food in large quantities. So you can take your home-cooked leftovers to work the following day instead of buying lunch.

Dining in helps you save time. It might take you 2 to 3 hours to drive to a restaurant, to wait for your order and to return home. That's enough time to cook a three-course meal while doing other chores. If you have a busy schedule, you can prepare your meals for the whole week on a Saturday or Sunday and store them in the fridge.

Home-cooked meals have less salt and trans-fats. Dishes served at restaurants are tastier because restaurant chefs use a lot of salt and trans-fats in preparing them. By making your own meal, you can control the amount of salt and oil used in your dishes. This will help you manage your weight and protect yourself from diabetes and heart disease.

Eating meals at home protects you from food poisoning. Eating at restaurants exposes you to the possibility of eating food made from cheap ingredients and prepared by inexperienced handlers. You're therefore more prone to ingesting harmful bacteria, parasites and viruses from contaminated food. Dining in allows you to consume food that is safe to eat and lets you enjoy your meal in a healthy environment.

Dining in and home-cooking brings family together. Cooking and eating meals as a family is a great way to bond with your children. You can share stories and plan family activities while cooking or having dinner. Preparing meals right in your own kitchen for your loved ones is an opportunity to express your love and to impart the importance of healthy eating habits to them. These are wonderful values which your children can pass on to their future children.

If dining in has never been a part of your lifestyle, it's not too late to include it in your daily routine. You can start by dedicating two or three days a week to eat meals with your family at home until you’re able to do it daily. Instead of having dinner with friends and relatives at restaurants, invite them to enjoy home-cooked meals at your place. You will be surprised at the amount of money you can save and the strong bonds you’ll form with family and friends.

Kinilaw Recipe – Northern Mindanao

2015-07-26T00:54:00.000-07:00

I was already an adult when I had my first kinilaw meal in Cagayan de Oro. I must admit; I ate because I was curious. Kagayanon kinilaw looked different from the simple vinegar dipped dish my Cebuano relatives prepared.

Aside from a whole heap of condiments, Kagayanons also use the juice of the tabon-tabon, a fruit found only in some parts of Northern Mindanao and the Visayas. The fruit juice is apparently able to remove the fishy smell and feel of the fish and can prevent indigestion.

To sweeten the dish, my father-in-law’s personal recipe includes using freshly harvested sweet coconut vinegar along with the more sour stocked vinegar.

The video below shows J preparing his father’s recipe.

Ingredients:

Fresh fish, cubed
Sweet coconut vinegar
Sour coconut vinegar
Tabon-tabon juice
Onions, chopped
Ginger, chopped
Chili pepper
Lime
Calamansi
Green onions
Salt

Procedure:

1. Scrape some of the tabon-tabon meat and add a few teaspoons of vinegar. Press the tabon-tabon meat until juice is extracted. Set aside.

2. Wash the fish with a little vinegar. Drain. Do this quickly and don’t overdo. Otherwise, you’ll end up cooking the fish.

3. Add salt, ginger, onions and two types of vinegar. Mix thoroughly.

4. Add calamansi, tabon-tabon juice and lime. Mix.

5. Top with green onions and chili. Serve immediately.

The tabon-tabon

Notes:

All ingredient measurements must be estimated by the person preparing the dish. There are no hard and fast rules, but the dish is best served while the fish is still opaque and not cooked throughout.

Want to know more about the dish? Read kinilaw’s origin, history and evolution here.

Wife’s Verdict: Eating kinilaw oddly gives me the feeling of carefree abundance. This dish is the manifestation of nature’s bounty and is the offspring of the marriage of freshness and taste. Exquisitely divine.

J’s Quip: "Don't let it wait."

Baked Layered Bacon and Eggs

2015-03-20T19:36:00.001-07:00

This was another one of his dawn breakfast masterpieces that left me stunned and unable to speak. It might have been my cholesterol levels kicking up a notch, but I'd like to believe I was simply mesmerized by the heavenly bacon in a cloud of fluffy eggs.

Ingredients:

Bacon strips
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ tsp. salt
5 pcs. egg
¼ tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
Chopped green onions

Procedure:

1. Coat a square baking pan with olive oil.

2. Arrange a layer of bacon on the pan. Top with another layer of bacon perpendicular to the first layer.

3. Repeat the process up to the desired number of layers.

4. Bake in pre-heated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for five minutes.

5. Beat eggs, add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Add parsley and green onions.

7. Pour over bacon strips and cook for another five minutes.

Wife's Verdict: I could be biased, but I think baked trumps fried. I was too busy stuffing my face to have jotted down more taste observations.

J's Quip: My wife has grown in wisdom and width.

French Beans with Yogurt Mint and Blue Cheese Sauce

2015-01-09T22:08:00.000-08:00

J saw Jamie Oliver prepare yogurt and mint sauce on TV and thought, “Let’s add some blue cheese in there.”

Regretfully, dawn meals and cheap cameras make for awful food photos. J said he’d recreate this for me so I can take a better shot, but he and I have been so busy, we’d probably have to schedule that reshoot ten years down the track.

So yeah, this awful image does not do this dish justice.

Ingredients:

French beans
Yogurt
Mint leaves, finely chopped
Half a cucumber
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. blue cheese

Procedure:

1. Steam beans and set aside.

2. Peel the cucumber and use the peeler to shave thin slices. Do not include the core.

3. Add salt to the cucumber. Squeeze and discard the juice from the cucumber shavings.

4. Mix yogurt, cucumber, mint and blue cheese.

5. Season with salt to taste.

Wife’s Verdict:

I start work at dawn, but because I was a cat in my past life, no amount of sleep, coffee and enforced habit are ever enough to keep me fully awake and enthusiastic before sunrise. Amazingly, this dish woke me up. I suspect the mint was responsible for the nudge, but it could have also been the uniquely perfect mix of yogurt and blue cheese. I’d put this recipe under the eye-popping category.

J’s Quip:

“Great cooks don’t stick to rigid rules and measurements.”

Asparagus with Honey Garlic Sauce

2014-10-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

I prefer my asparagus steamed, but J served this for breakfast, and he never has time in the morning for steaming. Every day we wake up at dawn. I start work at 4 a.m. while he has to be at his company bus stop by 5 a.m. Before he travels, he makes sure the kids and I have edible stuff in our food bowls. He has roughly 30 minutes each day to whip something up. Hence, ingredients invariably end up in the frying pan. Looking at this beauty, I don't think that's a huge deal breaker.

Ingredients:

Asparagus, cut
3 tbsps. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1 tbsp. honey
20 grams butter
Salt and pepper

Procedure:

1. In a small bowl, coat asparagus with 1 tbsp. olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper.

2. In a saucepan, melt the butter with 1 tbsp. olive oil. Fry garlic until golden brown.

4. Add honey, mix and remove from heat.

5. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan and fry the asparagus for approximately 4 mins., making sure to turn the stalks constantly.

6. Remove asparagus from the heat, arrange in a plate and pour sauce.

7. Garnish with minced onions.

Wife's Verdict: I am decidedly neutral towards asparagus. To me, it's one of those veggies you just have to eat for its nutritional value. I suppose the secret to making it more appealing is the sauce. Most recipes I've tasted pair asparagus with some type of cream sauce, so this sweet innovation is a welcome change.

I'd imagine this would have been overpowering if sugar was used, but honey gave it a more subdued tone, mixing perfectly with the mildly bitter garlic and the moderate sharpness of minced onions.

J's Status: Working to perfect the honey sauce.

Baked Meatball Sandwich

2014-07-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

When Jan feeds me breakfast like this, he says he has an ulterior motive. He says he wants to fatten me up. For what reason, I'm not sure, but I can almost imagine him channeling the wicked witch from Hansel and Gretel. Kidding aside, I know why he does this. He simply enjoys it.

Ingredients:

½ kilo        ground beef
3 tbsp        tomato paste
2 cups        diced tomatoes
1 cup        water
2 tbsp        dried oregano
2 tbsp        dried basil leaves
2 tbsp        olive oil
1 cup        chopped onions
Salt and pepper
Aluminum foil
Butter
Mozzarella cheese slices
Thick slices of bread

Procedure:

Sauce:

1.    Sautee onions in olive oil until translucent.
2.    Add the diced tomatoes and tomato paste.
3.    Add water.
4.    Add half the dried oregano and basil leaves.
5.    Add salt and pepper to taste.
6.    Let it boil in slow heat.

Meatballs:

1. Mix the remaining basil leaves and oregano with the ground beef.
2. Add salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.
3. Form into balls about 2 ½ inches in diameter.
4. Brush aluminium foil with butter and arrange meatballs.
5. Preheat oven for 15 minutes at 200oC and cook the meatballs.

Sauce and Meatballs:

1. Spread tomato sauce on two slices of bread.
2. Arrange 3 meatballs on top of one slice.
3. Pour 1 tablespoon of the tomato sauce over the meatballs and cover with a slice of cheese and the second slice of bread.
4. Return to the oven for another 5 minutes.

Wife's Verdict: Jan's taste often veers towards salty but this one was noticeably subdued. That was just as well though. I think meatballs with tomato sauce are supposed to be low in salt so the real stars of the dish can shine through.

Jan's Quip: "This is how spaghetti sauce should taste like."

Roast Chicken Breast Wraps

2014-04-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

We all ate in silence, pondering the gentle roll of sweet cherries over a fusion of soft chicken and crisp bacon. We passed out after, unhealthy but profoundly happy.

We haven’t been able to post anything here for some time. As many of you understand, life can sometimes get in the way, but when J is able to jump back into the kitchen and I onto my keyboard, the result is always a gustatory celebration.

This time, J decided to recreate a recipe from Perfect Roasts by Paragon Books Ltd. Of course he’s had to improvise. Thanks to my mom, we now have an oven to make improvisation and experimentation a lot easier.

To prepare the meat for cooking, simply season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. We’ve had to use seven half chicken breasts instead of seven whole ones. Wrap each in bacon strips and sprinkle with thyme.

Spread some butter on aluminum foil, one piece per chicken breast. Wrap each breast lightly in foil.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. While waiting, prepare the sauce. For our version we’ve had to use cherries instead of cranberries as recommended in the original recipe. Melt some butter in a pan and add lemon juice, cherries, sugar, salt and pepper. Use your best judgment on the measurements because these days, J hardly ever uses exact measurements, making life difficult for his scribe. :P Cook for a minute or two.

Next, cook the chicken breasts in the oven for 15 minutes. After which, remove the foil and transfer the chicken breasts and its drippings on to the roasting pan. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve with the sauce.

How does it taste? Sweet. Crunchy. Soft. Mildly salty. Yes, I’m never able to write complete sentences when there’s good food on the table.

Pan Seared Salmon with Basil Pesto Sauce

2014-01-24T19:40:00.000-08:00

I’ve been out of sorts lately, too busy to even comb my hair much less blog. Hence, none of the personal cook’s delectable dishes have found their way here. There were quite many in the past two months.

I can’t just let this blog die though. After all, the objective has always been to maintain a place to document all of his culinary experiments --- online memories we can someday happily revisit. So here’s one of them. He whipped this up to make me feel better while the responsibilities of life harassed me.

Ingredients:

2 slices salmon steak
2 tbsps. sliced button mushrooms
4 tbsps. olive oil
1 tbsp. pesto
2 pcs. basil leaves, shredded
¼ cup cream
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper

Procedure:

1. Pat salmon steak dry and season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat 2 tbsps. olive oil in a non stick pan and fry salmon for approximately one minute on each side or until a light brown crust has formed. Remove from heat.

3. Heat the remaining olive oil and sauté the garlic and mushrooms.

4. Add the cream, mixing occasionally for one minute.

5. Mix in the pesto and basil leaves.

6. Remove from heat and pour over salmon.

Wife’s Verdict: My mother-in-law would only eat fish if it was fried stiff, so when we were living under her roof, fish always had to be cooked that way. Although I’d eat fish regardless of how it’s prepared (as long as it’s not cooked black as charcoal), I do prefer fish with a little juice in it. This one was just what I needed. Soft, juicy, creamy… yum.

Jan’s Implied Quip: “When life gets you down, have some salmon.”

Tomato Pesto Pasta

2013-10-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

Rustans Fresh opened in our city a couple of months ago and we are eternally grateful that it did. For the first time, we found new ingredients not readily available in regular grocery stores. It was in Rustans that Jan discovered an amazingly wonderful thing, tomato pesto!

Sometimes I find plain pesto a little strong, but the one mixed with tomato is milder and a lot tastier. The bottled paste that we bought is light orange in color and can be found in the imported section.

Here's Jan's perfect pasta dish with tomato pesto.

Ingredients:

250 grms. pasta
2 packs all purpose cream
1 medium sized onion, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can button mushroom, sliced
3 tbsp tomato-pesto
1 tbsp olive oil
Parsley to garnish
1 tbsp dried basil leaves

Procedure:

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions.

2. Heat oil in a pan and sauté garlic until slightly brown.

3. Add onions until transparent.

4. Add mushrooms. Cook for 1 min.

5. Pour cream and let it cook for 4 mins. Mix thoroughly.

6. Add tomato-pesto and mix. Cook for another 4 mins.

7. Add basil leaves.

8. Remove from heat and pour over pasta.

9. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Wife's Verdict: Surprisingly tasty! I did not expect this because I always found green pesto strong and veering towards "herbal" in taste. I suppose the addition of tomato into the pesto paste changes everything. This is by far my favorite of Jan's pasta dishes.

Jan's Quip: "My best pasta recipe. At least until the next one comes along."

Tuna with Salted Japanese Seaweed

2013-09-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

Maybe we should learn to read and write Japanese. We like Japanese food a great deal but unfortunately, many imported ingredients available at the grocery store carry only Japanese labels and instructions.

Just recently, a Japanese consultant at Jan’s office left for Japan and very generously bequeathed the contents of his pantry to us. Unfortunately, we absolutely have no idea what most of the food and ingredients we have are. Jan has had to make guesses based on pictures on the packaging.

This dish is probably more properly categorized as a “guess” recipe.

Ingredients:

1 can tuna in brine, drained
2 tbsp. Japanese salted seaweed strips
2 leaves lettuce
1 tbsp mirin
½ bell pepper, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Procedure:

1. Heat pan and saute garlic in olive oil until golden brown. Add bell pepper.

2. Mix in the tuna.

3. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Add mirin.

5. Remove from heat and arrange on top of the lettuce leaves. Top with salted Japanese seaweed.

Wife’s Verdict: Simple and tasty. I must say though that those salted seaweed strips were an absolute marvel. I couldn’t get enough of them. I just hope we used them correctly. Hahaha.

Jan’s Quip: “Of course I understand Japanese. What are pictures for?”

Spanish Mackerel - Tangigue Steak with Vegetables and White Wine

2013-08-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

Jan and I love Jamie Oliver. He’s inventive, a bit of a maverick and wears cooking like a second skin. Also, he makes British cooking look extremely tasty.

As expected though, replicating his dishes isn’t easy for Jan. There are too many ingredients that aren’t found in our city. This wonderfully perplexing mish mash fish recipe however is largely inspired by Oliver’s daring style of just putting things together.

Ingredients:

½ kilo     Spanich mackerel (tangigue) steak (about 3 slices)
1pc    lemon
1 ½ cups white wine
1 cup    milk
5 tsp    olive oil
1 pc    onion, chopped
5 pcs    cherry tomatoes, halved
15 pcs    water spinach (kangkong) leaves
2 tbsp    dill, chopped
2 tbsp    parsley, chopped
1 tbsp    salt
1 tbsp    pepper

Procedure:

1.    Shape aluminum foil into a rectangular dish, about 1 ½ inch deep.

2.    Season tangigue with salt and pepper on each side and arrange in aluminum foil.

3.    Arrange along the sides the cherry tomatoes and onions.

4.    Cover steaks with mixed parsley and dill.

5.    Drizzle lemon zest all over the dish. Slice the lemon thinly and put on top of dill/parsley mix.

6.    Put the dish on top of grill and pour white wine and olive oil.

7.    Cover the dish with aluminum foil and let it boil (around 5-10 mins).

8.    Add the milk and arrange on the sides the kangkong leaves and cook for another 5 mins.

9.    Gently remove the fish and arrange on a plate with the kangkong, onions and tomatoes on the sides. You can add grilled asparagus to serve.

Wife’s Verdict: Sweet. Zesty. Heavy. Light. Sharp. Dull. Never has there been such a joyful, agreeable contrast in flavor and texture.

Jan’s Conflict Resolution Strategy: Keep me well-fed.

Simple Pesto Vegetable Salad

2013-06-15T23:38:00.000-07:00

Jan has been experimenting a lot with salads lately. Perhaps he has observed my alarming horizontal growth and has seen the error of his ways. So now I sometimes get salad for breakfast. Haha!

I don't mind though. To Jan, making a salad is just like writing poetry. The work should be inspired and the resulting masterpiece should have elements that are unique but are in perfect agreement with each other.

Ingredients:

4 leaves Romain lettuce
6 pcs. cherry tomatoes, halved
2 hard boiled eggs, quartered
4 tsp. pesto
1 tsp. lemon zest
3 tsp. olive oil
cheese, thinly sliced
salt and pepper

Procedure:

1. Arrange the lettuce on a plate. Drizzle with half of the olive oil.

2. Arrange the eggs and cherry tomatoes on top of the lettuce. Top each slice of egg with pesto.

3. Add salt and pepper and drizzle with the remaining oil.

4. Top with thin slices of cheese.

Wife's Verdict: Surprisingly eye popping but light at the same time. To me that's a little bit of a contradiction that just happened to make sense. The egg made it quite filling despite the absence of meat and was evened out by the zesty and mildly sour mix of flavors.

Jan's Quip: "Cooking is all about imagination and feelings."

Tuna Pesto Sandwich

2013-05-10T19:55:00.001-07:00

Jan discovered pesto for sale for the first time in the grocery store a few weeks ago. He has since been eagerly using the ingredient here, there and everywhere.

His salads with pesto have been pretty good, but I never imagined that the ingredient can be added in tuna spread too.

Ingredients:

1 can tuna flakes in vegetable oil
4 tbsps. mayonnaise
1 white onion, chopped
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp pesto
1 tsp pepper
Sliced loaf bread
Lettuce

Procedure:

1. Lightly toast bread and set aside.

2. Drain tuna and mix with mayonnaise, onions, basil, pesto and pepper. Chill.

3. Put lettuce over a piece of bread and top with the tuna pesto spread. Cover with another slice of bread. Enjoy.

Wife’s Verdict: Another strangely comforting creation.

Jan’s Quip: “I’m good.”

Yes, we’ve established that Jan.

Beef Bacon Burger and Shoestring Fries with Cuban Seasoning

2013-04-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

Again we have Bobby Flay’s genius and the PSC girls who bought his book for us to thank for a deliciously fattening Sunday meal. This time Jan, used Flay’s Miami Burger and Cuban Seasoning recipes as cheat sheets.

The original recipe called for ground turkey, smoked ham and Swiss cheese. Due to the limitations of our local grocery store, these had to be promptly substituted with ground beef, bacon strips and cheese squares. The rest of the ingredients were easy enough to obtain --- regular burger buns, mustard, mayonnaise and cucumber.

This treat was extra special because instead of cooking on a skillet, Jan grilled the patties over hot coals. I have a bias for grilled patties. I think they’re a lot tastier than fried ones. There’s just so much more juice and the smoked flavor is a welcome bonus.

The shoestring potatoes Jan seasoned with Flay’s Cuban seasoning, a mixture of ground bay leaves, cumin, garlic, onion, oregano and turmeric. Yum. So this is how Cuba "tastes" like.

It’ll probably take another month for my weight to normalize after this feast, but the weight gain was worth it. I hope we do this again on another Sunday.

Easy Creamy Seared Salmon Steak Recipe

2013-04-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

By now it should be obvious to anyone who’s ever come across this blog that we have a deep love affair with good food. Clearly, that just makes it difficult for us to practice frugality. We try to resist as best as we can, but when there’s a big slab of fresh salmon steak calling to us, there’s just no resisting.

So here we are then with Jan’s seared salmon steak. Oh joy!

Ingredients:

1 pc.        Salmon steak (large)
1 tbsp.        button mushroom, sliced
1 tbsp.        fresh basil leaves, shredded
¼ cup        beef stock
½ cup        cream
½ tsp.        salt
½ tsp.        pepper
2 tbsp.        olive oil
1 tbsp.        pesto

Procedure:

1.    Pat dry the steak with paper towel and rub both sides with salt and pepper.

2.    Heat oil in a pan and sear the steak, around 1-2 minutes on each side.

3.    Remove from pan and set on a plate.

4.    In a sauce pan, heat remaining olive oil and cook the mushrooms until tender.

5.    Add the stock and cream (add more cream until desired sauce thickness).

6.    Add the pesto and basil leaves.

7.    Pour over the salmon steak and serve.

Wife’s Verdict: Of course it was creamy, but the big draw was not so much the sauce as the soft, juicy salmon meat. This was one heavy, satisfying meal.

Jan’s Quip: “I’m not sure I can have a food business. Cooking for your family isn’t the same as cooking for a living.”

Tuna Capers Creamy Pasta

2013-03-16T00:39:00.002-07:00

Jan and I like to pretend to be healthy, so we sometimes use ingredients that have a positive reputation among health buffs, like tuna, olive oil and capers. If you look closely at the other ingredients of this recipe however, you’ll see what it’s really all about. Get a load of cholesterol with all that cream and milk. Yum.

Ingredients:

2 180g cans tuna in vegetable oil, drained
500g pasta
250ml all purpose cream
231ml evaporated milk
40ml olive oil
Capers
½ cup garlic, minced
5 small onions, chopped
Parsley, chopped
1 small bell pepper, minced
1 tsp. salt
Marjoram
1 tsp. white pepper

Procedure:

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions.

2. Heat olive oil in pan and saute garlic, onions, bell pepper.

3. Add tuna and mix for one minute.

5. Add cream and simmer for another minute.

6. Add evaporated milk and salt and simmer for four minutes.

7. Add capers, marjoram and white pepper and cook for another 3 minutes.

8. Top pasta with sauce and parsley and serve.

Wife’s Verdict: White sauce for pasta, specially the rich, overflowing type that many of us Filipinos are partial to, always seems too excessive in taste and appearance. So I think the tuna and capers created just the perfect balance. The taste was strangely comforting but didn’t smother.

Recreating Bobby Flay’s Garlic Butter Burger

2013-02-15T18:19:00.001-08:00

We have a love affair with burgers. Well okay, we have a love affair with food in general, but burgers are special. Whenever Jan has to extend his work shifts late into the night, he’d often come home with quarter pounder burgers. Even if my work schedule is early dawn, I’d always get up and we’d eat our midnight snack together.

Clearly, this doesn’t seem like a very healthy practice, but I can’t put a stop to it now. Our best conversations happen during our late night burger feasts and somehow, that has made us better.

It was therefore understandably a happy moment when Jan came home with one of Bobby Flay’s burger books, a gift from his female officemates. Last year, they also gave him a pasta cookbook. I’m close to becoming eternally indebted to these girls.

Jan’s first reproduction is Flay’s Garlic Butter Burger. Like almost every other recipe he recreates, we couldn’t follow the instructions to the letter due to limitations in ingredients and equipment. I’m still not entirely sure though if I can post the complete recipe here without infringing on copyright. You’d probably have to get Flay’s book from Amazon to get the complete recipe.

Just to give you an idea though, our version simply involved throwing in onions, garlic, butter and parsley into a blender and using the mixture to top the patties while cooking. We also tried to follow Flay’s advice on making patties. He makes his with a depression in the middle and seasoned only with salt and pepper on both sides.

I don’t need to make a verdict on this. The photo should make it obvious that this was a hit. It was so good, I ate three.

Jan says he’d like to try recreating more of Flay’s masterpieces before he ventures on creating his own burger recipes. Now I have a new dream for him. I hope one day he opens his own burger only restaurant.Then we could have more regular late night burger chats.

Thank you to our girl friends in PSC.

Bicol Express All Chili Version

2013-01-20T23:09:00.000-08:00

Bicol Express is perhaps one of the country's most popular dishes. It draws its inspiration from traditional Bicolano cooking which is characterized by the generous application of coconut milk and chili peppers. If you want to know more about the history of this hot dish, you can read about it on this other blog post.

Like many popular Philippine culinary creations, there are countless versions of this recipe. This one is from Jan's Bicolano co-worker and unlike the toned down versions, this has little meat and has no Baguio or string beans. Instead, it's chock-full of chilies and incorporates salted shrimp fry.

Ingredients:

2 cups pecante chilies, chopped
½ cup minced garlic
2 cups coconut milk
½ cup minced ginger
1 cup salted shrimp fry
½ cup bird's eye chilies, finely chopped
¾ cup pork fat, thinly sliced
Salt

Procedure:

1.    Pour coconut milk in wok at medium heat.

2.    Add ginger and garlic and let it stand for 2 mins.

3.    Add the chopped chilies.

4.    After 3 minutes add the pork fat.

5.    After 2 minutes add the shrimp fry.

6.    Add salt to taste. The amount of salt to add should depend on the saltiness of the shrimp fry.

7.    Remove from heat while there is still a little of the coconut milk left.

Wife's Verdict: HOT!

Jan's Quip: "I've brought grown men to tears with my cooking."

Holiday Leftovers Recipe - Cucumber Cups

2013-01-01T16:54:00.000-08:00

Jan and I both come from families that put a premium on ensuring that nothing goes to waste in the kitchen and the dining table. In military school, my father was told to lick his plate clean while Jan's father came from a poor family and food was scarce, so there was always the need to utilize every edible bit. Sometimes my father-in-law went to bed with nothing but water in his stomach.

On regular days in our own household we try to make sure we carry on with the food values we were taught as kids. We try even harder on the days following the usual Filipino Christmas and New Year feasts.

This year, the concept for one of Jan's holiday leftovers recipes is inspired by Food Magazine. The original recipe by Jill Sandique featured couscous. Ours are filled with bits of holiday ham topped with cheese.

Ingredients:

2 leaves lettuce, finely chopped
1 pc. hard-boiled egg, finely chopped
½ white onion, minced
1 cup diced Christmas ham
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 pc. cucumber, peeled
½ cup thin slices of queso de bola

Procedure:

1.    Mix all the ingredients in a bowl except for the cucumber and queso de bola.

2.    For the cucumber cups, cut most of the cucumber into ¾ inch slices and remove the core. Cut an equal number of ¼ inch slices. Place the thicker cut on top of the thinner cut.

3.    Fill the cucumber with the mixture and top with the thin slices of queso de bola.

Wife's Verdict: Quick, simple and feels healthy. After all the Christmas binging, this is exactly what you'd want to snack on.

Jan's Quip: "Back to dieting."

Lemon Grouper Fillets with Bamboo Shoots

2012-11-30T17:53:00.000-08:00

Just like black beans, I'm not head over heels crazy over bamboo shoots. In my defense, I don't think even pandas would find cooked shoots palatable. Again, just like with black beans, Jan has a way of making everything tasty. One of these days I'm certain he'll find a way to make me like eating snakes and frogs as well.

Ingredients:

4 grouper (lapu-lapu) fillets
1/2 cup bamboo shoots
2 tbsps. paprika
2 tsps. salt
2 tsps. ground black pepper
1 tsp. powdered oregano
2 tsps. grated lemon skin
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 tbsps. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt

Procedure:

1. For the marinade, mix paprika, 2 tbsps. salt, ground black pepper, powdered oregano, grated lemon juice and olive oil.

2. Rub fish fillet with marinade and let it stand overnight in the chiller.

3. In a pan, heat olive oil and fry fish fillets, 3 mins. on one side and 2 mins. on the other. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. In a small saucepan, soak bamboo shoots in simmering water for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and drain.

5. Mix lemon juice and 1/2 tsp. salt and spread over fish fillets. Serve.

Wife's Verdict:

The taste of lemon stood out with the paprika and pepper lending only a very slight hint of spice. The texture and bland taste of the shoots however saved this dish from being citrus boring all the way. This is an excellent diet dish if you're looking for something tasty that's ultra light.

Jan's Quip: "You only miss me because with me around, you get to eat."

Simple Potato Salad

2012-10-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

Jan and I are desperately trying to eat light. We've both been told to lose weight. Hence, the attempt at inventing salads. With mayonnaise and bacon tossed into the mix though, I'd think this fails as a diet meal, which really makes it my ideal dish. I can't survive on "light".

Ingredients:

5 medium-sized potatoes
4 lettuce leaves, shredded
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
4 strips cooked bacon
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp. pounded oregano
1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Procedure:

1. Boil the potatoes for 20 mins. and slice them into bite sized cubes.

2. Chop the bacon and mix with the lettuce and potatoes.

3. For the sauce, mix the onions, bell pepper, mayonnaise, oregano and cayenne pepper.

4. Add the sauce and mix.

Wife's Verdict:

Cooked potatoes and mayonnaise are always perfect together but the addition of cayenne pepper and oregano added a unique flavor boost that stripped the rich taste of mayonnaise. Bacon, which has become a staple ingredient in many salads is of course, a welcome addition for me.

Jan's Quip: "I'm on a diet but I keep on overeating."

Simple Steamed Kitong - Rabbitfish or Spinefish

2012-10-05T17:18:00.000-07:00

Jan and I both have a fondness for Kitong. I'm not sure what it's called in English but I've heard others call it Rabbitfish. If that is an accurate translation, I'm not sure it's a fitting name. Kitong in the Philippines look nothing like rabbits. They're slim with sharp spines sticking out. I've also heard it called by another name --- Spinefoot, which seems more appropriate.

The most common way to cook Kitong is to fry it. If you fry it for a few extra minutes after it's cooked, you'll end up with crunchy, edible spines. It's normally tastiest this way but Jan has never been a culinary conformist. When one way of cooking has been used too many times, he thinks it's time to reinvent. So he steamed.

Ingredients:

3 medium sized Kitong
1/2 cup minced garlic
1/2 cup grated ginger
3 tbsp. salted black beans, canned variety
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup water
Salt
Pepper
Spring onions

Procedure:

1. Rub salt and pepper on the fish.

2. Stuff fish with minced garlic through the gills and steam.

For the Sauce:

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan and add ginger.

2. Add black beans and cook for 1 minute. Add water and let boil.

3. Add soy sauce and sugar. Simmer for two more minutes.

4. Pour sauce over fish and garnish with strips of spring onions.

Wife's Verdict:
The taste is more subdued than the fried variety but I'd say that makes the dish seem slightly more sophisticated than its fried counterpart. :D Like most of Jan's dishes, this one was a fusion of tastes. There's a mild hint of sugar, salt and spice in it.

Jan's Quip: "Take the road less traveled in cooking."

Pork Vegetable Mix with Teriyaki Sauce

2012-09-14T19:38:00.002-07:00

This is an old recipe Jan concocted early this year that never really got published. I suppose I let it sit for too long maybe because there were too many vegetables in it (hehe) or maybe because we used too much store-bought flavoring in it. Doesn't that just make you feel guilty? In any case, I think it looks too good to skip. So here it is.

Ingredients:

1/2 head cauliflower, sliced
1/2 head broccoli, sliced
1/4 carrots, cubed
1/4 cup ready-made teriyaki sauce
1 cup lean pork, cubed
1 cup pork fat, cubed
2 tbsp. sesame oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bellpepper, cut in four
1/2 tbsp. cornstarch, dissolved in 4 tbsps. water
3 tbsps. cooking oil
1 broth cube
1/2 cup water
Cut of butter
White onion, sliced
Spring onion, sliced
Small cut of ginger, minced
Dried basil leaves
Peppermill
Salt

Procedure:

1. Mix the broccoli, cauliflower, white onions, carrots and bell pepper on a sheet of aluminum foil. Add basil, peppermill, salt and sesame oil. Steam for around 9 minutes or until vegetables are cooked.

2. In another pan, heat oil and sweat the pork fat for 5 minutes, keeping the pan covered but stirring occassionally.

3. In a separate pan, melt butter and saute ginger, garlic and onions. Add the broth cube and lean pork.

4. When the lean pork changes color, add the pork fat and water. Let boil.

5. Add peppermill and teriyaki sauce and simmer for 2 minutes.

6. Gradually mix in the cornstarch and cook for 2 more minutes.

7. Drain the vegetables and put on a plate. Top with sauce and spring onions.

Wife's Verdict:

I found it interesting that the taste of the teriyaki sauce and ginger dominated the taste buds, but it was really the crunch of the vegetables that won the day for me. Vegetables are at their absolute best when they're crunchy.

Jan's Quip: "Vegetables are a state of mind."

Japanese Buckwheat Noodles with Dipping Sauce

2012-08-29T01:01:00.001-07:00

Jan and I were at one of our favorite hang outs, the grocery store, when we first got a glimpse of these dark noodles. Jan loves anything strange so naturally, I had to get a pack for him. The label said it's Japanese buckwheat noodles, but aside from the noodle cooking instructions at the back, we had no clue how it was supposed to be served.

Enter the Internet. He searched while I waited to be served my meal. We have Just Hungry to thank for the dipping sauce recipe. Of course, we didn't have every single ingredient on the sauce recipe list so Jan had to tweak this according to what was available.

Ingredients:

4 tbsps. soy sauce
2 tbsps. mirin
2 tbsps. sugar
2 cups chicken broth or broth cube dissolved in boiling water
Nori sheet cut in strips
Onions, thinly sliced
Salt
Lemon juice

Procedure:

1. Cook noodles according to packet instructions.

2. For the sauce, mix soy sauce, sugar, mirin and chicken broth.

3. Top noodles with nori strips.

4. Serve with thinly sliced onion mixed with salt and lemon juice.

Wife's Verdict: We were supposed to dip the noodles into the sauce but being Pinoy, I like my dishes floating in sauce so I poured the dipping sauce over the noodles. The taste is definitely subdued but it was surprisingly filling --- thick noodles with a mildly salty, sweet taste. The nori and onions were nice flavor enhancers.

Jan's Quip: "Edible experiments are my forte."