van.nurse@gmail.com – Page 74 – The Adventures of a Calamari Queen

Patatim

This is my version of Patatim ( Pork hocks in brown sauce). Growing up in PI, this is a family fave whenever we go out and eat at our fave chinese restaurant we always order this. If I’m right Patatim is originally a Chinese dish, but a lot of filipino restaurants come up with their own versions though. The recipe always calls for Pata (pork hocks) but I was craving for this dish and we’re not close to an Asian market so I just decided to use pork shoulder, lesser fat and cheaper cut of meat!

Ingredients:

2 ½ pounds pork hocks
2 T chopped scallions
1 T chopped ginger
¼ C hoi sin sauce
¼ C soy sauce
¼ C dark brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 C rice wine or sherry
1 C water plus more if needed
baby bokchoy, well cleaned and dried

Procedures:

1. Place all ingredients except bokchoy in a pot and bring to a boil, skim off top.
2. Turn heat to very low, cover and simmer for 3 – 4 hours or until meat is very tender. Once in a while check and add water or sherry if needed. There should be about a cup and half of sauce.
3. Steam bokchoy for 3 minutes, set aside, keep warm.
4. Turn heat off and transfer cooked meat into a serving platter.
5. Remove bones and discard. Arrange cooked bokchoy around the meat. Pour the sauce all over the meat.
6. Serve with steamed rice.

so tender now after 3 hours of slow cooking

Mother’s day weekend!

What a busy and yet great weekend! Friday night we had a late cinco de mayo celebration with some of our couple friends! We had fajitas, guacamole, salsa, leche flan and hubby made some yummy drinks(mojito, pina colada) then we played this game called “Dominion” lots of fun! Saturday, we celebrated my mom in-laws 60th birthday, we had take out chinese food from our fave chinese restaurant here in Issaquah, had yummy chocolate cake and she opened her gifts! She doesn’t look like she’s 60, so fit and just gorgeous for a 60 year old woman:-) Then today, we headed to hubby’s Grandma’s to celebrate mothers day and another celebration for mom in-laws 60th! We had portobella mushroom lasagna (Ina Garten’s recipe) it was so good! I cannot wait to try that recipe:) It was great seeing everyone and just enjoying each other’s company!

turkey sandwich from panera bread,saturday brunch!

Hope you had a great mother's day weekend! happy mother's day to all moms:)

Chicken with mustard mascarpone marsala sauce

What a long name for a very easy dish! I’ve prepared this dish a couple of times now and I can honestly say that everyone liked it. This is one of my fav Giada recipes, it’s such an easy, creamy, elegant dish if you want to impress someone (looks and sound complicated but it’s so easy!) I added some bacon because we have left over bacon and I dont want to waste BACON (no wonder I don’t lose weight! LOL)! Then my mom in-law baked German chocolate cake that day, and we are always a “recipient” of her baking goods! It’s one of the many reason why I like being neighbors with my in-laws, we always get yummy goodies from them, like meatballs, cookies, cakes!

more mascarpone,just love its creamy texture!

i love it!so good..german chocolate cake

Milkfish, sushi, brisket sandwich..

Last Saturday, I had to renew my PI passport in Tacoma Washington (1 hour drive from home) and somethings never change in the Philippine government. It takes 3 hours just to give your old passport, new application, money! It’s always an ordeal whenever I have to deal with government people:( ..I have to wait 3 months for my new passport to arrive here in Washington (meaning I’m stuck here in US) but I’m not complaining:-)..After a grueling Saturday morning hubby asked me where I want to have lunch, and it just happend that filipino resto is on our way back home so we stopped and ate there! I have realized that hubby likes milkfish(bangus) our national fish in PI. Don’t ask me why we always have “national” for almost anything (national fish, plant, tree, dish, you name it PI has a national title for it! lol). Then we had sushi after church and beef brisket for dinner! yummy food for our weekend!

going to make caramelize onion for beef brisket sandwich

Chicken Adobo!

We’re suppose to be in Seattle tonight to watch a performance of the Seattle symphony but hubby is just too tired and still has so much work to do! What a waste of tickets, but I’d rather not watch something than be with someone who will just sleep the entire performance of the show!! Anyways, I’ll just post some foodie recipes we prepared these last couple of weeks ( I’ve been slacking in updating my food blogs last week, so I’m trying to catch up). So, Chicken Adobo is so popular in the Philippines, it’s considered to be the national dish in our country. I prefer “humba” over adobo, because whenever I make adobo I can never get it right(either too vinegary or salty) and I’d like to think that people like my humba a lot! haha..I got this recipe on food network ( search for filipino chicken adobo). Very easy and yummy recipe this one:-) Here are the ingredients:

4-5 lbs. chicken thighs
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. black peppercorns
3 bay leaves

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Cover and marinate chicken for 1-3 hours. Bring to boil, then lower heat. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and simmer until sauce is reduced and thickened, and chicken is tender, about 20 more minutes. Serve with steamed rice.

I use whole chicken,then just cut them into pieces..

someone loved adobo with rice and dog food!

Space Needle

Zach’s company had a dinner party in Seattle’s Space Needle today! So much fun to see his co-workers and their families, it was such a fun evening. Yummy sushi and spring rolls for appetizers, tacos and pasta for dinner and cheesecakes, chocolate mousse, custard and flan for dessert,and bottomless drinks too( beer,wine,sodas). I didn’t take pics during our dinner to provide privacy ( we don’t want to announce that anyone ate 4 tacos, 5 salmon rolls, 2 cheesecake, etc!). I just love Seattle during this time of day. We got lucky that the weather was nice too so we got to see the beautiful city (puget sound, lake union). They also played some games like Roulette and Blackjack! It’s such a blessing that my husband works for a good company! To know that people value his contribution and appreciate his work…what a wonderful night…

Baked Meatballs

I’ve been slacking with my blog since last week and I realized I have a couple of recipes/dishes I have to post here! Here’s another Alton Brown recipe that I used when I prepared the simplest meatball recipe out there. This is my first time to make meatballs and although the result is not as yummy like my father in law Phil’s meatball recipe, I’m happy with the result of this one ( I didn’t use ground lamb and spinach here!).

Ingredients

1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground lamb
1/2 pound ground round
5 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
1 whole egg
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup bread crumbs, divided

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the pork, lamb, ground round, spinach, cheese, egg, basil, parsley, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs. Using your hands, mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Use immediately or place in refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup of bread crumbs into a small bowl. Using a scale, weigh meatballs into 1.5-ounce portions and place on a sheet pan. Using your hands, shape the meatballs into rounds, roll in the bread crumbs and place the meatballs in individual, miniature muffin tin cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Tzatziki sauce!

Hubby wanted to have a healthy snacks this weekend,so he made this sauce to accompany his veggies! I just wish I had some gyro meat,so I can fully enjoy this sauce.

Tzatziki Sauce: (Alton Brown’s recipe)

16 ounces plain yogurt

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped

Pinch kosher salt

4 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

5 to 6 mint leaves, finely minced

Place the yogurt in a tea towel, gather up the edges, suspend over a bowl, and drain for 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Place the chopped cucumber in a tea towel and squeeze to remove the liquid; discard liquid. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the drained yogurt, cucumber, salt, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and mint. Serve as a sauce for gyros. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Chocolate mousse!

Happy Royal wedding day! I’m excited to see the wedding tonight but I will probably not stay up the whole morning just to watch it because I know for sure they will be showing it the whole day (again and again). Growing up in the PI, Prince William was my celebrity crush, not a lot of people knew but I use to “collect” pictures, books, magazines (anything that is related to HRH Prince William (I’m a normal teenager too!) But I have to leave my so called royal “memorabilia” when I moved here to the states! I’m excited to see Kate’s wedding dress and how handsome William will be (just thinking about it brings back memories when me and my sisters got so excited and screamed like crazy whenever William and Harry were on tv!

Enough of my Royal talks, Hubby made a very yummy chocolate mousse tonight! I’m having a really bad headache today that kept me in bed most of the time. So Zach knew I’m having a bad day because of this and just wanted to make me feel better, so after his work, he had to stop at the grocery to get some ingredients of my fave dessert ( one of my fave). I’m so blessed to have him, such a sweet, loving, husband I got! Who needs Prince William?! LOL..

This Chocolate mousse is Alton Brown’s recipe, If you’re a big chocolate fan you are going to love this mousse!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups whipping cream
12 ounces quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 ounces espresso or strong coffee
1 tablespoon dark rum
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon flavorless, granulated gelatin

Direction:

Chill 1 1/2 cups whipping cream in refrigerator. Chill metal mixing bowl and mixer beaters in freezer.

In top of a double boiler, combine chocolate chips, coffee, rum and butter. Melt over barely simmering water, stirring constantly. Remove from heat while a couple of chunks are still visible. Cool, stirring occasionally to just above body temperature.

Pour remaining 1/4 cup whipping cream into a metal measuring cup and sprinkle in the gelatin. Allow gelatin to “bloom” for 10 minutes. Then carefully heat by swirling the measuring cup over a low gas flame or candle. Do not boil or gelatin will be damaged. Stir mixture into the cooled chocolate and set aside.

In the chilled mixing bowl, beat cream to medium peaks. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining whipped cream in two doses. There may be streaks of whipped cream in the chocolate and that is fine. Do not over work the mousse.

Spoon into bowls or martini glasses and chill for at least 1 hour.Garnish with fruit and serve.

(If mousses are to be refrigerated overnight, chill for one hour and then cover each with plastic wrap).

Easter weekend!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope that you had a great Easter and remember to thank the Lord for what He did for all of us, to celebrate Him everyday because He is Alive, He is Risen!

We had a great Easter weekend, nice weather (blue sky, sun is out = perfect weather).. Hubby and I had dinner at seattle last Friday in this Spanish tapa place called “pintxo”. This is our 3rd time at pintxo’s, we really like the food because it gives us a little taste of Spain through the food that they serve! We had the typical cheese and meat platter, their appetizer plate, that consists of olives, chorizo, shrimps, meatballs (very tasty). After hearing the Easter service, off we went for our Easter brunch to Anthony’s (@kirkland), lots of people there and although my mom in-law had a reservation we still had to wait for a good 20 minutes..view was nice, good brunch with family…it was a great Easter sunday for me!