Dish 8: Greek (Chicken Kebab with lemon, thyme & Rosemary)/ Dish 9: Hong Kong ( Porkloin w/ pineapple & Star Anise)

My  9- dish challenge had ended last July, 15 2012 which happened to be my 30th birthday. I did the menu preparation months earlier and kept on revising until the last minute, so with the help of my mom, I was able to make a full course dinner party at home.

For appetizer we had Tapas, (ham and cheese platter), mom added grapes and wheat bread to make it look well-garnished in a wooden platter, and the outcome was really lovely. My first dish was a Greek style chicken kebab.  For this, I used lemon, salt and pepper, thyme & rosemary for marinading the chicken fillet, and dipped it to butter with same herbs and spices prior to roasting it on a grill.

Chicken skewers with tomato, bell peppers, & white onions

 The next dish is a recipe from my other grandma (Lola Leonor). It's a Hong Kong dish that looks like Adobo (Philippines) but with thicker sauce, ginger, and star anise that makes it taste like Chinese.

So I did my own version of this, I put the pork loin  in a pressure cooker with water and pineapple juice, brown sugar, salt and soy, with 4 pieces star anise, cooked it until tender at around 5-10 minutes. It was my first time to use pressure cooker and honestly, that thing is scary. Then, I roasted it in a Turbo broiler, with crushed pineapple and brown sugar, broiled it until the outer surface of the pork loin was toasted brown and the sugar on top had caramelized.

And of course as promised a continuation of my Dish 5: Spanish,  I made  Paella de Mariscos (Seafood Paella) for the first time, and luckily it turned out just right, my guests loved it! I was really excited making this dish, because it's  quite challenging, especially on the part where you have to put just the right amount of liquids (stock).

In addition to these dishes I also made a simple baked vegetable side dish. The meals were savored with a glass of red wine courtesy of my good friend PA, together with "catching -up" conversations, and hearty laughs. I'm so happy to see my family,  good old friends, as well a new found friends having a great time, and of course to thank  them all for celebrating my 30th birthday (even when getting to my house was a bit of a challenge to some of them ,and as always it rained heavily), I surprised them with a special dessert, my birthday cake.

I made this cake the night before my birthday with my best friend Karen, who helped pressed the buttons of my Electric mixer. This is the first time I made a Red Velvet cake with Cream cheese frosting, and I have a 50-50 feeling that it will not be successful just like the butter cakes I did before, and true enough when I baked it the top of my cake burned so I have to remove that and the other toasted parts and sculpt it to a perfect shape.

I thought it will be a disaster but I'm certain that whatever happens I know my friends will still eat it, because they love me(hehe). So the following day, It turned out  (visually)not bad,especially when I put the final frosting. However, the final judgement would be the taste, and the moment I sliced the cake, and saw how perfectly red and velvety it was, I started to calm down.  I was not saying anything but waiting for their reactions until I got smile from their faces, the cake was delicious and they were raving about it. Yehey!

My 30th birthday even though it's just a simple gathering was a success. For me, it's unforgettable because I put love with every dishes I made, and it's so fun preparing  meals for people you love. This challenge and my birthdays proved to me that I love food and making them is really one of my greatest passions.

It's a sweet stress, that I would love to do every day, and of course this will not end here, I still have lots of foods to taste, and foods to prepare for my love ones. It is just like how I welcome my 30's, ready and prepared for the wonderful things that will come to my life.  :)

Thank YOU!

DISH 7: JAPANESE (Sushi)

Last Sunday, my  mother and I  went out  to the nearest Japanese grocery store  to find the right tools and ingredients to make a home made sushi.

It's been a  longtime since we made sushi, and as always it was so fun. It was my mom who introduced me to Japanese foods when I was a little kid, and since then I had constant cravings  for Sashimi, Sushi, and my favorite of all Katsudon & Tempura. 

Nowadays, Japanese food is everywhere, I tried eating in Fast food, Hole in the Wall restaurants,  All you can eat buffet, and even the ridiculously expensive ones, and most of them is with mom.


And because this is one of our favorite foods to eat, I grew up learning to make some of them, well almost. :) Anyway, so for this recipe, we used Kani, and Tamago.  We also made sure we have the right class of Japanese Rice, which is quite expensive, but overall both mom and I agreed we achieved the right taste and presentation for this sushi. 

DISH 6: THAI (Pad Thai)

What can I say about Pad Thai? Well,  I was first introduced to it at The Makansutra  (now MAKAN-MAKAN) located inside the Manila Ocean Park, then at Som's & Sen Lek Thai Noodle House. I think  It is the most flavorful stir- fried Asian noodles I've ever tasted so far.

It's a  put-it-all-together ingredient dish. The crunchiness of  fresh cabbage,bean sprouts and  crushed peanuts, the sweetness of brown sugar, sourness of lime & tamarind paste, and the pungent taste of thai chili paste.  It also has bitterness of crunchy garlic, and  has eggs,  tofu, and shrimps for added meat/protein. It's a complete meal, along with the carbo-rich Thai noodles.

Pad Thai

It is one of my food choices during weekdays of white meat & vegan diet, and another comfort food during rainy season, and boring or stressful  hungry days. Fortunately,  If I'm not in the mood of making one, Sen Lek is  just a walking distance away from home, making me love the idea that I can get it nearby.

Anyways, three dishes to go and I'm all done with this challenge. I'm just happy and proud of myself  for being able to do the things I love to do nowadays, and as early as now  I'm into planning new ideas after this, and I'm so excited, I  just can't wait. :)

For my next dish, I will make something Japanese..... 'til next blog!

DISH 5: SPANISH (Gambas al Ajillo)

Gambas al Ajillo

Finally, a time to update my blog. I had been busy for 2 weeks now, doing errands and adjusting to my new work but nevertheless,  I'm 100%  still focus on finishing my challenge. 

For my fifth dish, I made one of Spain's favorite Tapas, the Gambas al Ajillo, or the simple Garlic Shrimps. Tapas, are variety of appetizers that you can nibble on any part of the day, however tapas can also be prepared on large quantities and can become a dish during dinners, or celebrations.  

This was a very easy dish that can be done for 5 minutes or less, I chose this because of the availability of fresh shrimps in the market and the limited time I have because I woke up late that time.

This was not really my  planned dish, that's why I'm planning to make a part 2  or another dish from Spain after the whole challenge.  I wanted to do a  much more complicated dish which is the Paella, I find this dish really interesting and detailed and  I was lucky enough to have tasted two different versions ( Seafood Paella & Paella Negra) at two different birthday parties  for two consecutive weeks. It was like telling me to give it a try one of these days. 

So, this is it my Gambas al Ajillo, made of lots of Garlic, Olive oil, Butter (must-have), Spanish Paprika, Salt & Pepper, and you can add dried Thyme & Rosemary. It can be served with a toasted crusty bread, or rice. 

Next Dish: THAILAND:  Pad Thai

DISH 4: INDIAN (Indian- inspired Chicken Curry)

I was supposed to do a Greek dish last week however, there’s a need to help out a friend to prepare a healthy pre-planned Indian curry for her mother & their guests, so I decided to make that happen.

My best friend, Karen is into health food nowadays, she’s replacing all their groceries with something organic and fresh, like for our chicken it has to be native or free range. No more processed meats, and even fresh pork & beef, only white meat like chicken & sea water fish.  Milk has to be full cream, and from green grass-fed cows, and lots of fresh organic fruits & vegetables in large quantities in a meal and natural herbs & spices to make the dishes tastier.

I must admit eating organic has this guilt free feeling, makes me feel light just right for attaining my goal of 100 lbs.  Nevertheless, to be able to survive this in a long run is another thing especially that I have a craving palate, because  I’m not happy eating raw, bitter, tasteless veggies, so experimenting and making tasty dishes is quite a challenge. So to start off my friend’s asked me to make a chicken curry.

Google to the rescue, I searched on how to make a very rich Indian-inspired chicken curry, and I’m glad that I almost have the ingredients inside our pantry like it’s my first time to use turmeric, cinnamon, and cayenne powder in my curry, plus yogurt to make it richer. All these ingredients are good for the body & spice like turmeric is well known for its antioxidant effects, making curry as a perfect dish.

Indian- inspired Chicken Curry with Red Rice

All the ingredients played with each other and the taste is just full, and rich.  I like my curry a little hot so I put cayenne to give it a kick, and cinnamon for that aroma, everything was well- blended together to make a wonderful flavor.

I’m happy that my friend and her family loved it. It’s literally became a comfort food to everyone especially that last Sunday, Manny Paquiao was defeated by Bradley and almost all men are pissed off (that includes my dad). Oh well, Manny, I wish I could give you some of my curry, don’t worry you’re still our people’s champ!

I’ll save my Greek dish on my Birthday.

Next Dish: We’ll see…hehe J

DISH 3: ITALIAN (Italian Herbed Tomato Farfalle)

I'm now on my 3rd dish and at the same time we celebrated my brother's birthday last weekend, and there's nothing more appropriate but to cook him his favorite dish of all time, Spaghetti.

But prior to that, I just like to share that I started a new family tradition that I will in all my might must do in every birthday morning for love ones, and that is, Happy Birthday Pancakes! A little segue about this one, I found this idea on the internet, pile of pancakes with colorful touch. Ever since I was a kid I always  love pancakes they are one of the many childhood recipes I like doing every day and  there was a time that "The Pancake House" is my favorite place, like I will have dinner and pancakes for dessert. When other kids love hotdogs all the time, me it's always Pancakes.  Then through the years I make  lots of batches as  breakfast treat for my family, and it's always a charm, sweet gesture for them. Anyways, now it will be a birthday tradition and here are my brother's hotcakes.

I added colors to make it look fun! :)

So going back since the weekend plan is to make my only "baby" brother smile and  to spoil him a little I decided to make his dream come true, but instead of spaghetti I used the Farfalle pasta in the pantry and made him a simple Tomato- Based Italian Pasta.

Italian-Herbed Tomato Farfalle

I did not overdo this pasta dish, because I agreed with the Italian chef on TV's opinion, that Italian food should be kept simple, to allow it's ingredients to have its own character. Mangiamo!

Ingredients:

250 grams Bacon
1  Small can of Champignons
5 Fresh Tomatoes
Fresh garlic & Onions (Saute)
2 Tbsp Dried Italian Seasoning
1 Tbsp Dried Oregano
Fresh Basil
1 Big Can Tomato Sauce (Stewed)
Parmesan Cheese
Salt & freshly ground pepper

Next Dish: Greek!

Ciao!

DISH 2: CHINESE (Lemon Chicken)

My Chinese Style Lemon Chicken

Last Sunday daddy celebrated his 63rd birthday, and of course I want to prepare something really nice and CHINESE because it has always been his favorite food, so I decided to make two dish Ma Po Tofu & Lemon Chicken. Lemon has been my fruit of interest for several weeks now, and I learned that consuming lemons has healthy benefits on the body too. It is best on diets, maintaining healthy hair, & has multiple advantages on the skin. So reading about this sour , yellow fruit become an activity for me, and I make sure I always have one in the refrigerator, furthermore last Sunday I use some to make one of my favorite Chinese Dish. It's actually very easy to do, but lemons are too flavorful and citrus- sy aromatic, and without balancing the taste an attempt to do the dish can lead to a disastrous Lemon Air- freshener like dish. Getting the perfect breading and syrup glaze needs careful attention and practice. This dish had good memories too, it reminded me of my college buddy, Rachelle munching Chinese take-outs over Grey's Anatomy marathon at their house & my work buddy, Honey with whom I share great passion of eating Lemon chix after working hours,& during rest days. And even when they're living far away from me now, every time they go home & we go CHINESE, Lemon chicken will always be a part of our sumptuous feast. Anyway, I'm just not happy with my photo, because I took this using my phone because my camera was not properly charged that time, yet despite of that mommy said I was able to get the recipe right, and that's very important..well for me. :) Next Dish: Brother's Birthday! ITALIAN!