Showing posts with label Home Cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home Cooking. Show all posts

May 19, 2011

Embutido! (Steamed Meatloaf)

I have been busy the last four days. Sunday was our fiesta, and the last three days were for my summer classes. I have been urging to write more for this blog, it's just that I had no time so this one is late. I was actually planning on documenting all that's on the menu for our fiesta, but I had no time. I was crammed full of visitors, from my high school friends and my college buddies. It was a very busy and tiring day, but at the same time, it was a hefty serving of fun. One food on our menu, was Embutido. 


Embutido is a common word for sausages in Europe, which most countries include Spain and Portugal. In the Philippines however, it is a steamed meat loaf that isn't wrapped like the traditional sausage. We still had leftovers from the fiesta, stored in the fridge. So I heated one and got it for my breakfast at 9:30AM just this morning and yes it was a great morning meal indeed. Embutido is a roller coaster ride inside your mouth. The soft texture of the meat loaf plus the  the boiled egg wedges and sausages makes an adventure inside your mouth until you finally shove them through your windpipes. I helped making these, by being the taste-tester and because it was so delicious I hereby detest that our family's embutido is one of the best. 


Here's how they made Embutido, the scrumptious Filipino way. Ingredients,

  1. 1 Kilo Ground Pork
  2. 3/4 Cup of Minced Carrots
  3. 5 Tablespoons each, red and green bell pepper
  4. About 10 Slices of minced cooked ham
  5. 1/3 cup sweet pickle relish
  6. 1 Pack Raisins, about 1 1/2 Cup.
  7. 5 Fresh Eggs, beaten.
  8. Salt and Pepper to taste, or Magic Sarap.
  9. 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch or Flour.
  10. 1, 185 Grams pack of Cheddar Cheese, sliced into wedges.
  11. 7 hard boiled eggs, sliced into wedges.
  12. 2 Cans Vienna Sausages, sliced into wedges too.
Procedure,

1. Mix all ingredients from number 1 to 9. 
2. Divide the mixture into your desired sizes and portions.
3. Take portions of the mixture you divided and place it over the tin foil.
4. Flatten the mixture so you can place the hard boiled egg, cheese and sausage wedges on the center.
5. As you have placed some wedges on the center, roll it over with the tin foil so it would look like the wedges are the filling of the meat loaf. Repeat with the remaining embutido mixtures.
6. Steam it for about an hour. You can also use a wire-rack placed over a broiler with water as a steamer. Another function for this can also be for cooking Puto. 
7. After steaming, let it cool for 15 minutes before serving. Unwrap and enjoy! Leftovers can be placed on the fridge and can be good for over a week.

April 28, 2011

Inihaw na Baboy at Manok! (Grilled Pork and Chicken)

Another food on our menu last Easter Sunday, this one or these pair had to be my favorite. Every body loves barbecue. This one however, had the simplest yet most tasteful recipe of all - for me, and may be for you too. My uncle is the one that cooks for us ever since I was a kid, because my parents were too busy at work. We brought the marinated chicken and pork at the beach and grilled it there.

Tonight, we'll make my favorite grilled food. First up, the marinade.

For the marinade, just mix these ingredients in a bowl where you'd also submerge the chicken and pork afterwards.

1. Soy Sauce or simply Salt
2. Pepper
3. Kalamansi/Lime Juice
4. Minced Garlic
5. Chopped Onions

Grilled chicken ingredients,
1. Chicken Thighs

Grilled pork ingredients,
1. Pork belly

Dressing or dip,
1. Sliced Onions
2. Lime Juice
3. Vinegar

Procedure:
1. Marinate the pork and chicken overnight or at least how much time you have, minimum is half an hour.
2. Prepare the grill of course, then toss the marinade away.
3. Cook the pork and chicken on the grill until it is lightly charred and rightfully tender.
4. Enjoy!

The chicken was served on barbecue sticks, and we preferred a dip of banana ketchup and vinegar for it. While the pork was plated like a salad with the lime juice, vinegar, and onions like that on the photo. The flavor is very rich even of the recipe's simplicity, we made sure that you taste great grilled pork and not the marinade. Like a salad, I also added cubed pineapple to add sweetness and give it a twist.

We also grilled Milkfish, Tilapia and Hot dogs for the kids. Grilling fish is very simple, just adding salt over it then laying it straight into the grill.

Pinoy Spaghetti!

As tradition in the Catholic community, people will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. I celebrated my Easter Sunday with my family in Palo Beach in Baras, previously mentioned in my post. This time, there were a lot of people also celebrating the festivities. It is said that Easter Sunday should be celebrated as grand as Christmas, because it was the day that our Lord Jesus Christ has defeated death and saved mankind. Locally, Easter Sunday is also called Hallelujah - meaning God be praised. Hallelujah or alleluia because God has shown his glory through his ascension to heaven on that very day.

We had a reservation on a cottage the day before, because it's sure that people will flock the beach. The food we brought were Spaghetti, Pork and Beef Steak, Pork and Chicken Barbecue, Vegetable Lumpia, we also grilled Tilapia and Milk fish, rice of course, and had some beer and tuba, also known as palm wine. 

We went to the beach around 7:40AM. When we arrived, we immediately hit breakfast. My dad said, this was the first time he had spaghetti for breakfast. My mom's spaghetti, without a doubt is the best spaghetti in the whole world. Not just because she's my mom or I've been used to the spaghetti, but because I really love its flavor. That's why on this post, I will show you guys how to make one with our family's recipe. 

The ingredients for a 1KG Spaghetti serving are,
  • 1 Kg. Spaghetti Noodles
  • 500g. Ground Pork
  • 250g. Beefies Hotdog, Sliced diagonally
  • 1Kg. Tomato Sauce/Spaghetti Sauce
  • 250g. Sugar (Optional)
  • 1/2 Cup grated Cheese
  • 2 pcs. chopped Onions
  • 1 minced Garlic
  • 3 tablespoons of cooking oil
  • 1 cup of water
  •   1 cup of condensed Milk
  •   salt and pepper for flavor
The procedure to make one is as follows,

1. Cook the Spaghetti in boiling water until tender.
2. Sauté the onions and garlic.
3. Then add the ground pork and when browned, add water. Let it boil then simmer for 7-10 minutes.
4. And add tomato sauce, milk, and salt and pepper - simmering it for another 10 minutes.
5. Then for sweetness, add the sugar and the hotdogs. Then the final simmer for 3-5 minutes.
6. Plate some spaghetti noodles, then top it with the sauce, then with grated cheese.
7. Enjoy!

April 26, 2011

Ginataan! (A Good Friday in Palo, Leyte)

I spent my Good Friday in Palo, Leyte with my high school friends. It was our fourth time to spend the Holy Day together and climb Guinhangdan Hill to light candles on the cross and pray to our Lord Jesus Christ. The Palo Cathedral and its yard is flocked by locals and tourists alike by the thousands to witness the reenactment of the Passion and Death of Christ. Penitents called Tais-Dupol (distinguished through their hoods, Tais meaning pointed for single men and Dupol for married men) are famous in the place. Details of the Pamalandong tradition were from PIA VIII. The finale would be the procession around the town of Palo. 

So I went to my friend's house first, our assembly area, around 11:00AM. They scolded me for being so late, because we agreed that we were to meet around 9:00AM but I got stuck watching Dragon Ball Z on GMA7. We then, in a hurry went to Purisima where Guinhangdan Hill is rooted. We were surprised that the line of people waiting to climb the hill was so long that we almost reached the gate of Sitio Caloogan, the next village to Purisima. We waited in line around 30 minutes before we can even see the entrance to the hill. Organized by volunteers and fraternities, people with ropes assist pilgrims like us to climb the hill safely. It took us around another 30 minutes to reach the cross because of the human traffic. 


When we reached where the cross was, we bought candles, lit it and placed it on the foot of the cross and prayed to the Creator for penance, thanks giving, and our own intentions. After the prayer, we saw an Ice Candy peddler and had some, mentioned previously in my blog. Resting for a short while, we decided to climb down the hill and have lunch around 2:00PM at my friend's house which we usually do on Good Fridays. At last, what I was waiting for, I'm gonna taste Ginataan. Technically, from the root word Gata meaning coconut milk, Ginataan is Filipino food cooked with coconut milk. It can be of various dishes and ingredients, from pork, fish and to vegetables. 

But the ones I love is the Ginataan as dessert and the Ginataang Bilo-bilo, known locally as Mola-Bola which is another form of ginataan but contains solely of glutinous rice balls. The ginataan consists mainly of the cooked coconut milk,  cubed sweet potato, taro, sliced plantain, and tapioca/sago pearls, all sweetened by brown sugar. Our lunch menu was ginataan, ginataang bilo-bilo, pandesal, fried fish and rice. Meat, except fish is a cultural taboo for Catholics on this day as part of penance. 

The ingredients for Ginataan are,

1. Water
2. Gata (coconut milk)
3. Brown sugar  
4. Cubed Kamote (Sweet Potato)
5. Cubed Gabi (Taro)
6. Sliced Ripe Saba (Plantain)
7. Tapioca/Sago Pearls (This is optional)
To make one is as follows,
1. Bring to a boil the coconut milk, water, and sugar then lower the heat.
2. Then add the kamote, gabi, saba, and sago.
3. For about 15-20 minutes, cook them over low heat while stirring frequently. 
4. When all is rightfully tender, serve hot!
5. Enjoy!

Making Bilo-bilo is similar with the original Ginataan recipe. This recipe is my friend's mom, and they say that this is how people in Palo make Mola-Bola (Bilo-Bilo). Ginger gives the bilo-bilo its distinct and tangy taste.




Ingredients are,
1. Glutinous Rice Flour
2. Water
3. Ginger
4. Coconut Milk

The procedure is, 
1. To make the glutinous rice balls, mix the flour with water then shape into balls.
2. Then boil the rice balls, ginger, water, and coconut milk.
3. When it has boiled, simmer it for 15-20 minutes or until the rice balls are cooked.
4. Serve and Enjoy!

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