Chicken Satay

I love anything “cute” and on a skewer, just like this Tyler Florence chicken satay with peanut sauce… This is another simple dish that I’ve made a couple of times already because it’s quick, simple and delicous!  If you want the recipe, you can check Food Network and search “chicken satay” under Tyler florence.

marinating chicken

peanut sauce

Coho Cafe

I just love this place, simply because they have the BEST and I mean THE best slider I’ve ever had.  Their Kalbi beef short rib sliders are a must! I swear I can eat these sliders everyday.  So last Sunday after church, we had brunch at Coho and hubby really enjoyed his omelet and he had bloody mary too!  I had the sliders and a chicken curry dish:)

bloody mary
so yummy

omelet with salmon and goat cheese
chicken curry

rockfish with tartar sauce!

This is the simplest recipe of any fish I’ve prepared so far!  I like watching Secrets of a Restaurant Chef with Anne Burrel.  She is so much fun and energetic,  she really shares her restaurant knowledge with the viewers.  Now, back to the fish, Anne prepared Sole Meuniere this week and it’s really simple and inspired me to prepare this rockfish in a similar way.  We paired our rockfish with home made tartar sauce.  My husband prepared the sauce and he used Ina Garten’s recipe.

I seasoned the fish with salt and pepper,italian herbs.
dredge fish into flour
pan fried,2 minutes per side!

preparing tartar sauce.

Tartar sauce recipe: Ina’s Recipe

 

Coffee Creme Brulee!

This is just another version of the first creme brulee I made 2 weeks ago.  Instead of Vanilla Bean, it’s coffee this time! I really prefer the coffee flavor over the vanilla, since it’s more intense and there’s a “kick” on every bite of it’s creamy goodness!

Ingredients:

8 egg yolks
1/2 cup superfine sugar
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
6 teaspoon instant coffee granules or powder
tablespoon raw sugar to finish

Direction:

1. Use a fork to mix together the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Pour the cream into a saucepan and bring almost to a boil.Gradually stir into the egg yolk mixture.

2. Strain the custard back into the saucepan and stir in the coffee and keep stirring until the coffee has dissolved completely.

3. Arrange 6 ovenproof ramekins in a roasting pan. Pour the custard into the dishes,then pour water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 20-30 minutes until the custard is set with a slight softness at the center.

4. Leave the dishes to cool in the water, then chill in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. About 25 minutes before serving, sprinkle the tops of the desserts with the sugar and caramelized with a blowtorch. Leave at room temperature until ready to serve.

instruction,just copied here!

egg mixture
mixing the cream
I used 3 packets of starbucks coffee
ready to go to the oven!
after 30 minutes!!love the color!looks so good:)

sushi,tobiko,etc!

Last Friday we had sushi at home.  This is not the first time we did this, but I can honestly say that this was more “special.”  We made some rolls and had salmon and tuna sashimi, along with calamari salad!  I didn’t plan to have sushi that night but Hubby ordered a box of “uni” (sea urchin eggs) at our local Issaquah fish market and it’s not my fave so I suggested maybe we get salmon so we’ll have a little sushi party!  Hubby got so excited and suggested we go to the Asian Market (Uwajimaya@ Bellevue).  So off we go to the market, I stayed in the car because Riley was with us coz I dont want him alone in the house with him still recovering from his surgery!  My hubby can be an impulsive buyer! hehe, I SPECIFICALLY told him to get salmon but he ended up buying lots of fish that will last us for another day!  I ate too much sushi that night, I think I’ll have sushi again next year!

tobiko
calamari salad,my fave!
thanks to my hubby for slicing preparing the whole thing!
tuna and salmon rolls!
sushi set that we used for the first time,had this for 2 years now!

Uni

Pintxo Seattle!

It’s a rainy Monday here in Seattle and I’m craving for some appetizers ,so I asked my hubby if He wanted to go to Seattle to avail a deal I got online couple of months ago, $50 worth of food and I paid $25 for it! Pintxo serves Tapa style food. This is our second time at Pintxo and we love the food but not the service soo much. It took forever for our meals to be served, but we are not in a hurry so it’s OK with us, I’d like to think that we are patient people! LOL! btw,not bad for $25 meal right?

our drinks,some kind of a sweet wine!
cheese and meat platter
pintxo platter
paintings
the cozy place
rockfish,shrimps,mussels in spicy tomato broth
lamb skewers
bread pudding and olive oil citrus cake

OMG Crispy Pata!

Imagine how happy and surprised I was when last week I did our weekly grocery and I saw the pork hocks/legs, totally surprised because I shopped in an  American market and rarely  you will see this kind of meat cut!  Usually I prepare Crispy Pata when I go once a month to the Filipino store/market in Tukwila(Seafood city) where I get other Filipino products (magnolia quickmelt cheese,nagaraya,chippy,ug uban pa) and produce ( like ampalaya,japanese eggplant). Once in a while I do crave Filipino comfort food and once I do, nothing can stop me!  So this morning I was not sure what to do with the “pata”, maybe patatim or crispy pata! We had humba ( braised pork in pineapple juice)  last week so I wasn’t really up for that savory sauce this week!  Bring on the Crispy Skin!!

Ingredients:
Pork Pata (hocks)
Canola or vegetable oil for deep frying
Onions,black peppercorn,bay leaves,salt

Procedure:

  • Rinse hocks and put in a big pot with cold water. The meat should be covered completely with water.
  • Bring to a boil, remove any particles/scum that stick to the meat.
  • Put chopped Onions, peppercorn, bay leaves and lots of salt! This will flavor the meat while simmering.
  • Simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours till tender . On low heat, I did mine for almost 3 hours. But you don’t want to over cook it because you want the whole thing intact!
  • Drained meat and put in a colander, let it air dry for 30 minutes.  If you’re not in a hurry you can put the meat in the ref or freezer for couple of hours. I did both, after draining I dry it then put it in the ref!
  • Prepare your deep fryer or Wok. Heat the oil,deep fry the meat! maybe 10-15 minutes..You gotta be careful coz splattering is inevitable!LOL..that’s why I prefer the fryer! Drain on paper towels! Enjoy the fruits of your labor! lol
about to go swimming!
boiling/simmering with the spices for almost 3 hours now..super tender!
drained
air dried for 30 minutes then chilled in the ref for 1 hour
hot tub!
crispy and tender meat!
perfect with vinegar or soy sauce dips
soo good!

Steak Tacos

I wanted to try Tyler Florence’s recipe, Tacos Carne Asada, because I love carne asada but I didn’t have half of the ingredients.  So I searched online for a simple steak tacos recipe but I thought plain salt and pepper would not bring out the best in my beef sirloin so I just added other spices and herbs to marinade the beef.  Again, I just “eyeball” the seasonings.

Ingredients:

Beef Sirloin Steak
Salt, Pepper
Red pepper flakes,cayenne pepper,cumin powder,olive oil,cilantro,lime juice (marinade seasonings)
Flour/corn tortillas

marinated beef for 2 hours!
grilled it for 5 minutes total!
looking good

toppings! red onion,tomatos,lettuce,cheddar cheeses,avocado
Zach's tacos!

side dish!
fave juice

Sweet Potato fries with Basil salt and garlic mayo!

Growing up in the Philippines we ate a lot of sweet potatoes because my Dad liked it a lot (He prefers steamed potatoes) and it’s also popular as an afternoon snack together with “bananaque” (deep fried banana).  I only had it deep fried with lots of brown sugar or steamed/boiled, either way it’s delicious!  So when I watched my fave show on the food network, Giada at Home, and she prepared this simple dish I knew I had to try this.  So simple yet so good!  My husband loves it too coz I heard him saying, “I can have this everyday!”  The mayo garlic sauce is just perfect with these fries!  You can check the recipe here: Giada’s Recipe.

Ingredients

  • 5 sweet potatoes, cut into about 1 by 5-inch “fries”
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.Place the sweet potato “fries” on a foil-lined baking sheet and toss with the olive oil. Bake until golden, about 45 minutes.Meanwhile combine the basil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. In another small bowl combine the mayonnaise, garlic, and lemon juice, and stir to combine.When the sweet potato fries come out of the oven, sprinkle with the basil salt. Serve with the garlic mayonnaise alongside for dipping.

sweet fries:)