Here’s another favorite mango dessert that’s easy to cook. You can add ice to make a chilly dessert perfect for this warm weather.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup small sago pearls
3 to 4 tablespoons sugar
2 cups water
2/3 cups evaporated milk
6 tablespoons coconut cream (optional)
1 cup mango puree
2 mangoes (cubed)

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Posted: March 30th, 2009 under Recipes, desserts.
Comments: 3

You must have heard the news by now that Ludy’s Peanut Butter Sweet and Creamy and Ludy’s Peanut Butter Spread have been pulled out of the shelves in groceries due to salmonella contamination. Even unbranded peanut butter will be tested by the FDA. Well, maybe it is time to make our own peanut butter ala Ludy’s Peanut butter way. You will need a food processor to make this peanut butter.

Ingredients

1 kilo peeled peanuts (buy them unroasted, with the peel removed. Should appear white and dry)
1 cup honey ( or 2 cups refined sugar)
1/4 cup vegetable oil (optional if sticky texture is desired)
Salt to taste

(you can cut the recipe in half or 500 grams peanuts if you want to experiment this recipe)

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Posted: March 23rd, 2009 under Recipes.
Comments: 4

One of mom’s specialties in her Sally’s Bake Shop was Special Mamon or what Americans commonly call as Yellow Sponge Cake. Customers raved about the creamy and soft texture of mom’s Special Mamon. My sister shared this Mamon recipe which is reminescent of Goldilock’s special mamon recipe. According to my sister, this is Minna Picache Cruz’s Special Mamon recipe and a friend of Sylvia Reynoso-Gala. I hope you like it.

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Posted: March 23rd, 2009 under Baking Recipes, Cakes.
Comments: 19

Pork barbecue is a fast selling food item. It’s easy to cook and convenient for the hungry customer. The only thing I dislike about grilling the pork barbecue is the smoke. In our old neighborhood, I told the maid to grill just outside the gate. Now some passerbys often think we are selling barbecue. Hehe, maybe I will sell them one of these days. Anyway, I prefer my barbecue to be a bit sweet. Here’s my recipe for Pork Barbecue Marinade:

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Posted: March 19th, 2009 under Cakes, Pastries & Desserts, Filipino Food, Grilled, Pork, Recipes.
Comments: 24

My family cooks grilled dishes every sunday, maybe because my husband is home is eager to cook for us. Sundays is spent trying all sorts of grill dishes. The favorite is pork barbecue of course. Next in must-have grilled dishes is Inihaw na manok. Here is how we cook it.

Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken (chicken thigh or breast)
Bamboo skewers, 6 inches
1 head of garlic (minced)
2 pieces hot chili pepper (minced)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. whole black peppercorns, crushed
1/2 tsp. salt
2 teaspoons calamansi juice

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Posted: March 18th, 2009 under Recipes, chicken.
Comments: 3

Sinigang is a Filipino soup dish with a tamarind base which is well known for its sour taste and the variety of ingredients that you can put in it. The dish often incorporates fish (bangus), pork, shrimp, or beef, along with vegetables like string beans, kangkong, okra, pepper, radish, and kamatis (tomato). Sinigang has always been a childhood favorite and is still one of those dishes that can make my mouth water upon merely hearing its name. For some reason, I can’t stand the taste of shrimp sinigang or sinigang na bangus; my favorite kind is beef sinigang though pork sinigang is good too.

The best kind of sinigang is one that’s mouth-curdling sour but with the right amount of salt and spiciness. I attempted to make beef sinigang a couple of months ago and I’ve yet to achieve the precise flavor I love in my sinigang. But here’s the recipe I used if you’d like to give cooking sinigang a shot:

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Posted: March 16th, 2009 under Filipino Food, Pork, Recipes.
Comments: 3

This minatamis na saba with sago is perfect for the hot summer months. Like halo-halo, this is such a respite from the heat. One can even feel chilled after taking a cup of this yummy dessert in a hot humid weather.

What do you need?

6 pieces firm saba (not soggy)

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 palm sugar or (panocha)
1 tablespoon honey

1 cup sago
Evaporated milk
Crushed ice.

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Posted: March 15th, 2009 under Recipes, desserts.
Comments: 8

Mechado is a usual stew served in our dinner table. Traditionally, it is cooked with beef briskets, potatoes, pimiento (red bell peppers), and tomatoes. It is similar to a beef stew, with elements of Filipino ingredients such as patis. I don’t use patis so that’s out of the question. Here is the recipe:

1 kilo beef (strip of fat inserted)
1 heaping teaspoon peppercorn
3 cups water
1/3 cup vinegar
1 bay leaf or laurel leaf
1 big onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic crushed
1 red pepper, in strips
1/4 cup green peas
1 tomato, cubed
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 slices bread, cut to crouton sizes or cubed
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cooking oil

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Posted: March 12th, 2009 under Beef, Recipes.
Comments: 1

Before the ready-mix Kare-kare came into the market, I cooked kare-kare the old fashioned way. Of course, busy homemakers prefer that method. Wikipedia notes that the kare-kare is made from Oxtail, with the skin on and cut into 2-inch lengths, and ox tripe are boiled until tender. Sometimes pieces of ox feet or shins are added. In some varieties, other types of meat are used, such as pork or (rarely) chicken (there is an instance of one version omitting the meat altogether and using vegetables). When the meat is tender, the soup becomes glutinous and to this is added ground roasted peanuts (or peanut butter), ground roasted glutinous rice to make the soup thicker. Atsuete (annatto) is added to give color. The basic vegetables for kare-kare include young banana flower bud or “heart” (puso ng saging), eggplant, string beans, and Chinese cabbage (pechay). Kare-kare is often served hot with special bagoong alamang (sauteed salted shrimp paste)..

Now for those that want the old, traditional way, here is how I do it.

Ingredients

1 buntot ng baka (ox tail) roughly 1 1/2 kilos
1 pata (ox leg) – Note: (You can always substitute the ox tail and ox leg with beef brisket)
6 cups water
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 head garlic, crushed
2 medium-sized onions, chopped
1/2 cup atsuete seeds for coloring
1/2 cup water (for atsuete)
4 eggplants, cut in 1/2 inch slices
1 banana heart, sliced crosswise
2 bundles stringbeans, cut in 2 inches length
1 bundle Chinese Cabbage (Pechay)
Optional vegetables (ampalaya, celery)
1/2 cup bagoong alamang
1 cup ground peanuts (if you prefer, substitute with peanut butter)
1 cup toasted to light brown, ground rice (if using peanut butter, reduce to 1/4 cup toasted ground rice)
Juice of 5 calamansi
salt and pepper
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Posted: March 10th, 2009 under Beef, Recipes.
Comments: 3

Ingredients

1 kilo ulo ng baboy or dila ng baboy, cut up
2 quartered onions
1 laurel leaf
1 tablespoon rock salt
1 tablespoon peppercorn
1/2 kilo shrimp
1/2 kilo squid (with ink sac removed)
1/2 cup achuete
1 cup minced onion
hebe or dried shrimps
1/2 kilo ground beef
3/4 cups cornstarch
2 eggs
1/3 cup patis
bihon
boiled eggs
sliced green onions
chicharon
flaked tinapa

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Posted: March 8th, 2009 under Noodles.
Comments: 2

During our dorm days at Sampaguita Residence Hall at UP Diliman, my aunt shared with me her fabulous Tuna Spaghetti. I remember preparing this dish one year for our annual Open House at “Sampa.” Check it out!

For every pack of Italian spaghetti (regular-sized box of 500 grams), use the following:

2 cans of tuna or tuna flakes or approximately 1 cup (in oil or water, your preference)
2 cans of tomato sauce or around 2 cups (I did not say tomato paste)
1 box of grated Kraft cheddar cheese or 1 cup (225 grams- the same size as a bar of butter)
2 cans of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup of mushrooms, sliced
pepper to taste
salt to taste
dash of Italian seasoning

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Posted: March 6th, 2009 under Pasta, Recipes.
Comments: 10

I have featured a Puto Recipe made from all-purpose flour for a quick and easy way to prepare puto. I am sure you also want to know the traditional and old-fashioned way of preparing puto. Here is one recipe that makes use of Galapong Bigas.

Ingredients

6 cups Galapong Bigas (see method of preparing Galapong Bigas)
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder (optional since galapong bigas already has trapped yeast to make puto rise)
1 3/4 cups refined sugar
1 teaspoon anise seed
1 1/2 cups coconut milk (see procedure on Coconut milk preparation)
grated cheddar cheese (for topping, optional)
salted egg (for topping, optional)
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Posted: March 4th, 2009 under Baking Recipes, kakanin, suman, native rice cakes.
Comments: 1