Sago with mango puree

· 2 pieces mango, cubes

· 1/4 cup sago(white)

· 5 tsp sugar

· 5 tsp condensed milk

· 500 ml mango puree or blended mango

· 1 cup full cream milk or evaporated milk

Boil the sago until translucent. Pour into a sieve and wash with tap water.

Add puree, sugar, sago, condensed milk, evaporated milk and chill before serving.

Chicken with grape sauce

Around middle of November, I started a fan group in Facebook named Cooking Club, with the aim of letting members to help and share their culinary skills and specialties.

For starters, I opened my kitchen for our first session.
For our lesson I shared:
Appetizer: Leafy shrimp salad
Main dish : Chicken with grape sauce
Dessert: Sago with mango puree

I love cooking with tomato sauce, coconut milk and fruits as one of the main ingredients. I got to know this recipe in 2004 from one of the local newspapers here in Singapore. I made some changes and improvements according to our tastes buds.

· 500g chicken breast boneless & skinless

· 250 gram grapes

· 2 tsp herbs (Italian)

· 2 tsp butter

· 1 cup white wine

· 1 cup chicken stock

· 1 cup cream

· olive oil

· salt & pepper to taste

· Additional 1/2 cup of full cream milk or 1/2 evaporated milk

Season chicken breast w/ herbs , salt and pepper for 30 minutes to 2 hours. Set aside.

Heat sauce pan in low heat with butter. Saute onion for two minutes or until soft. Add the white wine and bring to boil. Add the chicken stock and let it boil. Add the grapes and cream while stirring. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add additional butter or evaporated if desired to overpower the wine. Cook for 3 minutes or until grapes are slightly soft. Set aside.

Brush the non-sticky grill pan with olive oil and heat the pan in low heat. Lay the chicken and cook each side for about 5 minutes.

Cut the chicken in 1cm thick slices and pour the sauce with grapes over chicken.

You can serve with rice or pasta.

Leafy Shrimp Salad

· 1 Avocado

· 1/4 cup green onion, chopped

· 1 cup shrimp, cup into half

· 3 tbsp lemon juice

· 1 carrot

· 2 tomatoes

· lettuce or mixed green

· 1 tbsp lemon zest (optional)

· salt & pepper

· 2 tbsp ketchup

· 1/2 olive oil

· 3 hard boiled eggs

· 1/8 cup chilli sauce

· 1 cup mayonnaise

Blend mayonnaise, chili sauce, salt, olive oil, ketchup, pepper and lemon juice. Chill shrimp until salad is ready. Combine shrimp, onion, avocado and egg. Toss all ingredients lightly.

Beef Callos

This beef callos recipe is my simplified version as I didn't include an essential ingredient, the tripe. Nevertheless, it still tastes great and also healthier.

· 3 tbsp olive oil


· 4 cloves of garlic, crushed & chopped


· 1 onion, chopped

· 1 ½ cup tomato sauce
· ½ cup tomato ketchup


· 2 potatoes, cubes


· 1 carrots, cubes


· 1 cup garbanzo, peeled


· 1 green bell peppers, julienne

· 4 cup of water
· ½ kg beef sliced thinly or tripe, precook


· ½ cup bacon

· 2 tsp paprika
· salt and pepper to taste


Cook beef with 4cups of water, salt and pepper. Use pressure cooker if you want to soften the beef in a shorter amount of time. Set aside. Fry potatoes. Set aside.

In the same pan, sauté garlic until light brown then adds onion. Add the beef, tomato sauce, tomato ketchup and sauté for a few minutes. Add carrots and broth. Boil for 5mins. Add potatoes, garbanzos, green bell pepper, bacon and simmer for 5mins. Add paprika, salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Tinolang Manok

Tinolang manok is a simple dish that is healthy and easy to prepare. Whenever available, I actually prefer to use papayas (that are not ripe) over sayote. The original recipe actually requires malunggay leaves. We used spinach here instead because it is quite difficult to find malunggay in Singapore. Malunggay will definitely make the recipe healthier.

· 3 tbsp. oil
· ½ kg. chicken, cut into serving pieces
· 5 cloves garlic, minced
· 1 large onion, minced
· 2 pcs lemon grass, cut in 2" length
· 1/4 cup ginger, peeled, julienne
· 4 cup water
· 1 cup chicken stock
· 1 sayote, cut into big squares
· 2 red chilli
· 2 cups spinach leaves
· salt and pepper to taste

In the same pan, sauté garlic until light brown then add onion, ginger, and lemon grass. Sauté for a few minutes. Add chicken and stir for few minutes. Pour the water and chicken stock. Lower the heat and let boil for 15 minutes. Add sayote and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the spinach and chilli. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat. Serve hot with rice.

Fresh Spring Roll(Lumpiang Sariwa)

Lumpiang sariwa or fresh spring rolls is a popular Filipino dish for get-togethers and can also be a good nutritious snack.






· 2 tbsp cooking oil
· 1 cup water
· 20 spring roll wrapper
· 1/4 cup skinless, toasted peanuts, chopped coarse


· 2 cloves garlic


· 1 medium onion


· 250g minced pork


· 1 potato (1/2 cup)


· 1/2 cup Jícama or mexican turnip


· 1/2 cup shredded cabbage


· 1 cup carrots




· 3 cups of bean sprouts, roots removed


· lettuce leaves


Heat oil in medium heat to saute garlic and onions. Add pork and saute until almost dry. Add water and simmer for 10minutes. Add salt and pepper.

Add the potatoes, carrots and jicama. Stir for 5 minutes. Add the cabbage, bean sprouts and mix well. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Mix well and cook until the vegetables are done, careful not to overcook.

Brown Sauce:

· 1/4 cup brown sugar
· 3 tsp white sugar
· 1 tsp salt
· 1/4 cup soy sauce
· 1 cup of chicken stock or water
· 2 tbsp cornstarch in 2 tbsp water

Combine sugar, salt, soy sauce and chicken stock in a sauce pan. Bring to boil in low heat. Add corn starch solution and stir until thicken. Serve with 3 minced.


Wrapping:
Place lettuce leaf at the center of the wrapper, put 2 heaping tbsp of vegetable mixture. Sprinkle a teaspoonful of peanut over the filling. Fold along an inch of the wrapper, on the left end over the filling, fold the wide side of the wrapper over the filling and roll to the other side to make a neat cylinder with the left end closed and the other side is open.

Ginataang Gulay (Vegetables in Coconut Milk)

This is a traditional dish that my husband likes to eat. This goes very well with fried daing or fish. It's a very simple dish that's easy to prepare, good for those who are busy and always in a hurry to cook their dinner.


· 250g pork belly, cut into small pieces


· 4 cups pumpkins, sliced to bite size pieces


· 5 pieces of okra, cut in 2-3 peices


· 10 pieces of long beans, cut in 3 inches length


· 5 cloves garlic, minced


· 1 onions, diced
· 3 tablespoons of cooking oil
· 1 cup water
· coconut milk
· 2 tbs fish sauce
· Salt and pepper to taste

In a wok, heat oil and fry the pork until brown, remove the pork from the pan and set aside. On the same pan, saute garlic and onion. Add water, pumpkins and fish sauce. Cook for 5 minutes. Add long bean, lady fingers and coconut milk. Cook for 5-10 minutes. Add pork. Cook for 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and cook until the vegetables are done, careful not to overcook.

Leche Flan

A popular dessert in the Philippines that probably has some Hispanic origin or influence as the name goes (the Spanish word "leche" means milk while "flan" means pudding.)

· 1 cup evaporated milk
· 8 egg yolk
· 2 eggs
· 1 cup condensed milk
· 2 tbsp grated orange, lime or lemon gind

In large bowl, mix eggs, egg yolks, condensed milk and evaporated milk. Add the grated orange and mix well. Strain mixture into caramel-line containers.


· 1 1/2 cup water
· 1 cup sugar

Pour the water in the non-sticky pan. Put the sugar in the center and let it boil. Do not stir. When sugar starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat. Tip the pan back and forth to distribute caramelized sugar evenly in the pan. Steam for 30 minutes. Let it coll the chill before serving.

Turn the container onto the plate to serve.

Fried Spring Rolls

Fried spring rolls, or lumpia in Filipino, is a popular recipe in the Philippines that is always present in parties or special occassions. There are actually many types of spring roll recipes but for this one, I opted for a healthier variation so I used less meat and more vegetables.

· 2 tbsp cooking oil
· 1 cup water
· 20 spring roll wrapper


· 2 cloves garlic


· 1 medium onion


· 250g minced pork


· 1 potato (1/2 cup)


· 1/2 cup Jícama or mexican turnip


· 1/2 cup shredded cabbage


· 1 cup carrots


Heat oil in medium heat to saute garlic and onions. Add pork and saute until almost dry. Add water and simmer for 10minutes. Add salt and pepper.

Add the potatoes, carrots and jicama. Stir for 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and mix well. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Mix well and cook until the vegetables are done, careful not to overcook.


Wrapping:
To wrap envelope style: Place 2 tablespoon of filling diagonally, leaving 1" edge space on both sides. Fold one sideover the the filling. Then fold left and right side towards the centre and roll along the width of the wrapper towards the end.

After wrapping all. Heat the non-steaky pan. Pour oil and heat 2-3 minutes. When hit, fry rolls until golden brown on all sides.

Bola-Bola (Meat Balls)

My maid, Juvy went back to her hometown in Cauayan, Isabela for a two-month vacation. For almost two months since she left, I didn’t blog on my cooking because I didn’t have someone to help in preparing the ingredients and clearing my mess after cooking. In my cooking sessions in the past two months, I was just busy clearing my mess after cooking that I didn’t have the energy to blog on my kitchen adventures. She’s finally back here in Singapore so here I am again to share my recipes.



Bola-Bola (Meat Ball)

In English they call it meat balls. This is popular in the Philippines. My school canteen during my high school days served nice Bola-bola which I usually ordered for my lunch. So guys and gals, here is my version of Bola-Bola.

Meat balls:

• 500 grams minced pork
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 egg white
• ½ cup of plain flour or All purpose flour
• 1 tsp Salt and pepper

Sauce:

• 1 carrot (1cup)

• 5 cloves garlic, chopped

• 1 onions, chopped

• ½ red bell pepper (1/2 cup)

• ½ green bell pepper (1/2 cup)

• 1 cup pineapple chunks

• ¼ cup tomato ketchup
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• ¼ cup pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup water
• Salt and pepper

Mix meat, onion, salt and pepper. Form the mixed ingredients into balls. Dip with the white egg and roll it with the flour.

Heat the frying pan and put oil. Fry the meat balls until they become golden brown.

Heat a wok in low heat and sauté garlic and onions. Add the meat balls. Saute for 3-5 minutes. Add the carrots, ketchup, tomato sauce and water. Mix well and let it boil for 15 minutes. Add the red and green bell pepper and simmer it for 5 minutes. Add the pineapple chunks, pineapple juice, salt and pepper. Simmer the sauce for 5 minutes or until it your desired sauce thickness.