I know that in the U.S. cooking turkey is both a ritual and a tradition. As a non-American, turkey elicits no feelings for me except as food. I wasn’t even a turkey eater, having a preference for duck over the years until I discovered that turkey can be just as great if prepared properly. By…
My kids were home all day today. And yesterday. Stormy weather. Classes were suspended. According to the latest news, they will resume tomorrow. Anyway, this dish made with fried breaded strips of chicken thigh fillets, romaine lettuce, and cherry tomatoes was today’s lunch. The idea was to make a salad a la KFC. Although my…
This isn’t my recipe. I don’t even know where the recipe came from exactly. This was a school project for my daughter. The recipe was given to them in school and the project was to create meals and sell them in school as part of an entrepreneur skills training. According to my daughter, she was…
Almost everyone I know cooks pinatisang manok with sili leaves. I did, too, but my kids are not fans of sili leaves. Cooking sili leaves can be tricky overcook it a minute longer than necessary and the bitterness will become very pronounced. That’s why sili leaves are never boiled; they are added to a dish…
I have a friend who can’t appreciate any food that is not cooked in his hometown way and I think it’s sad. He’s missing his chance to try new things and it also makes him no-so-exciting company when eating out. Many years ago, there was a TV ad for baby cereals that said to teach…
Chicharo, those sweet crunchy peas in a pod, happens to be my 14-year-old daughter’s favorite non-leafy vegetable the top favorite leafy vegetables among my kids are cabbage and kangkong (water or swamp spinach). The legume chicharo is known as snow peas in some countries, and snap peas in others. Some say that snow peas and…
Entertaining at home need not be a daunting task. The trick is to divide the cooking over several days as much as possible. And it is never a good idea to cook too much. Making allowances for second helpings is a good rule but anything beyond that would be excessive. Jay and Jet David were…
Until I was introduced to Wok with Yan about twenty years ago, Chinese cooking was a mystery to me. Of course, I had been a fan of Chinese cuisine since childhood but my acquaintance with Chinese food had been limited to my role as a diner. Then, Wok with Yan came along and it demystified…
I’ve mentioned before that we have this Sunday arrangement my husband does the cooking on Sundays. There are times when he makes palusot (headache, don’t know what to cook or he just takes us out for the day) but there are occasions when he surprises us with really, really great home-cooked meals. Yesterday was one…
It rained non-stop for two days. What an excuse not to do the laundry! I just read, watched DVDs, and cooked. Maybe it’s just psychological but I always felt that a hot soup went well with cold rainy days. Good thing I still have two whole ham bones in the freezer perfect for a hearty…
