Recipe – Page 7 – The Adventures of a Calamari Queen

Filipino Chicken Adobo with Quail eggs

Chicken Adobo has gotta be one of the most famous dishes in Philippines. I’m not into it so much but my sister is. I prefer the pork adobo (pork belly adobo). There are many ways to prepare Adobo, like some people marinate the meat overnight and some fry it first before braising. I’m no Adobo expert, so I guess whatever works for you is fine. This is a very simple recipe and was satisfying to eat:) I got the recipe from the Food Network website!

Ingredients

4-5 lbs. chicken thighs ( I used drumsticks)
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.

Chicken with Mustard Mascarpone Marsala sauce

I’ve made this pasta dish a couple of times already and it doesn’t disappoint! This is by far my favorite Giada De Laurentii recipe.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, each breast cut crosswise into 3 pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 tablespoons butter, divided
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup dry Marsala wine
1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves, plus whole sprigs, for garnish
12 ounces dried fettuccine

Directions

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cool slightly.

While the chicken cools, melt 2 tablespoons of butter to the same skillet over medium-high heat, then add the onion and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 12 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until it is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Stir in the mascarpone and mustard. Cut the chicken breasts crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped parsley. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fettuccine and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drain. Toss the fettuccine with 3 tablespoons of butter and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Swirl the fettuccine onto serving plates. Spoon the chicken mixture over top. Garnish with parsley sprigs and serve.

Spaghetti Carbonara

I prepared this last night, after a long afternoon of cleaning our yard. So that means I wanted a quick and easy meal. Here’s another easy recipe that I got from my food network magazine cook book. What’s not to love about carbonara? Calories aside, it is the perfect pasta! Creamy and cheesy and of course, “Bacony” (if there’s such a word)

Baby Shrimp Scampi and Pasta

I cleaned our yard today so I’m really tired and just wanted to have a quick and easy dinner! There’s nothing as quick as pasta for dinner. This is a Rachael Ray recipe that I got on food network website:)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 lemon, zested
1/3 pound baby shrimp, 300 count
1/4 cup dry vermouth or white wine, eyeball it
1/2 cup grape tomatoes
1/3 pound angel hair pasta, cooked to al dente
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons chopped or snipped fresh chives

Directions

Get your pasta water going. Start the scampi sauce when you drop your pasta into boiling water to cook.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and melt the butter into it. Add shallots and cook a minute or 2, stirring constantly. Add lemon zest and shrimp and heat shrimp through, another minute or two. Add vermouth or wine and tomatoes. Toss another minute to heat the tomatoes through. Add cooked pasta to the pan and toss to coat evenly in sauce and to distribute the shrimp. Season libe

Pinakbet (Meat Vegetable stew with Shrimp paste)

My Sis requested this dish last week, and I’ve been wanting to eat this too so off we go to the Asian market to get the ingredients. Thank God that we have lots of Asian markets here in WA so we can easily get asian ingredients whenever we are craving foods that reminds us of home!

Ingredients :(www.allfavoriterecipe.com)

1/2 lb. pork, sliced
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 squash, cubed
2 cups sliced okra
2 cups 1-1/2 inch long cut sitaw (yard long beans)
2 eggplants, sliced
1 ampalaya (bitter gourd and/or bitter melon), sliced
1 to 1-1/2 cup water
2 to 3 tbsp. bagoong alamang(salted shrimp paste)
Procedures :
1. In a large, deep skillet (or casserole), heat oil over medium heat. Cook pork until it turns slightly brown.
2. Stir in garlic, onions and tomatoes. Sauté for a few minutes until tomatoes wilted.
3. Add squash and okra, stir-fry for a minute or two and then add the rest of the vegetables. Gently stir to combine.
4. Pour in water and add the bagoong alamang, and bring to a boil.
5. Lower the heat and simmer covered over low heat until vegetables are tender. Be sure not to overcook it. You may wish to correct the taste by adding a little bit of bagoong alamang. Gently stir to blend.
6. Immediately remove from heat. Transfer to a serving dish. Serve hot.

Biko (Filipino sweet sticky rice)

I asked my Hubby what he wanted for his birthday, and he said he wanted me to make Biko. I’m not a big fan of Biko, but whatever my husband requests for his birthday then that’s what I’m going to make. He’s been requesting this since we got married and I ALWAYS have an excuse not to make it! I didn’t have the nerve to say NO today!hehe… So I checked online to look for the simplest Biko recipe I could find. This one was the simplest, with only 4 ingredients and an easy procedure. The result was pretty decent:).

Ingredients:

3 cans (14 oz. can) coconut milk
4 cups sweet rice (sometimes called glutinous rice)
2 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
1 cup coconut cream

Pour coconut milk and about a cup of water into a pot and let it come to a simmer over medium heat. When simmering, add in the rice and stir constantly to prevent burning. Lower the heat if necessary. Preheat oven to 350F.

When rice is sticky and almost dry (it will look like risotto), about 10-15 minutes, add 1 cup brown sugar. Stir well and take off heat. Pour into a lightly buttered 9×13 pan and smooth the top. Mix the remaining 1 cup brown sugar and coconut cream until smooth and pour it over the rice.

Bake for about 1 hour or until topping is dark brown and has thickened. Cool slightly before serving.

Guacamole

My favorite Guacamole recipe so far by the Barefoot Contessa herself! I love Ina Garten and her ALWAYS delicious recipes:) Thanks to my hubby who prepared this while I did the eating part!

Ingredients

4 ripe Haas avocados
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)
8 dashes hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup small-diced red onion (1 small onion)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 medium tomato, seeded, and small-diced

Directions

Cut the avocados in 1/2, remove the pits, and scoop the flesh out of their shells into a large bowl. (I use my hands.) Immediately add the lemon juice, hot pepper sauce, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper and toss well. Using a sharp knife, slice through the avocados in the bowl until they are finely diced. Add the tomatoes. Mix well and taste for salt and pepper.

Short Ribs in Red Wine!

A few weeks ago Hubby mentioned that he missed my short ribs dish while I was vacationing in the PI. This dish is so easy that I’m happy to oblige his request! I know my sister, who is staying with us, is also into short ribs so I was kinda excited to make this and see how she will like it! Let’s just say that she said “she doesn’t mind having this once a week!” Thus, I will be making this dish again sometime this week:)

browning the meat, the least fave part of the cooking process!

This is my second time to prepare this dish. The recipe can be found at Food network,under Claire Robinson’s “Red Wine Braised Short Ribs”.

French Onion Soup!

This is the first dish that I prepared after my vacation from PI. With the cold weather and fall season officially here, there’s no better time to make some yummy soup! I got this from the food network website and looks like Tyler’s recipe got the highest rating:) This is one delish soup!

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 fresh thyme sprigs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 quarts beef broth
1 baguette, sliced
1/2 pound grated Gruyere

Directions

Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn’t burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

When you’re ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle the slices with the Gruyere and broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.

Ladle the soup in bowls and float several of the Gruyere croutons on top.

Alternative method: Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls into the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese.

Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Orange

I got this recipe from Bon Appetit ( the Italy issue, May 2011) and let me tell you that this pasta dish was super easy and surprisingly yummy! Orange and Prosciutto, just two ingredients that I’ve never had together in my pasta before:) I’ve always loved Prosciutto so I knew I had to make this dish. We liked the dish and most likely I will be making this again, but I’ll have to remember next time to “follow” the recipe exactly because I “doubled” the amount of the prosciutto (was too excited!!) and it came too salty (DUH!!!).

You’ll need:

12 oz. egg tagliatelle or fettuccine(preferably fresh)

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto, torn into 1″ pieces

kosher salt,zest and juice of 1 orange

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

fresh black pepper,1/4 cup finely grated parmesan

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Season with salt; add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally,until 1 minute before al dente, about 2 minutes for fresh pasta,longer for dried. Drain,reserving 1/4 cup of pasta water.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large heavy nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add prosciutto; saute until browned,about 3 minutes.

Add reserved pasta water,orange juice,half of zest, and cream;bring to boil. Add pasta; cook,stirring, until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in cheese and divide among warm bowls.