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« November 2007 | Main | January 2008 »

Cooking Frenzy Explained!

"Ahh...so THAT'S why!" I can't help but say to myself as I have a sit-down and chit-chat with my aunts at my granma's house for a little family dinner before our own Noche Buena at home.

It never really occured to me but my aunt perfectly made it clear: "Liwat jud si Twinkle sa iyang lolo, kusinero man jud 'to!" (Twinkle really takes after her grandfather, who was a cook!)

That's right! My dad's father WAS a cook! In fact, they had a restaurant when my dad was still a teen.

Maybe i DID take after my grandaddy. Right now i am beginning to think: why the hell didn't i take culinary arts..?? I just looooove to cook. I am never happier than when i am in the kitchen taking charge.

The best part is hearing praise from other people, as i sit down with them and enjoy the hearty meal that i prepared with my heart and soul. But the best praise of all is not one that is said, but it is the expression of pure delight I see on their faces as they grab the serving spoon and help themselves to a second serving.

Anybody out there need a cook..? Hehehe...

(I just don't like when it's time to scrub the pans!!)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!!

Cooking 101


I honestly don’t know what’s gotten in to me lately, but recently I have found myself cooking nonstop! I don’t know…maybe I’ve been away from home sooo long, having missed the sweet succulent taste of home-cooked meals that I am somehow trying to make up for all that lost time by cooking and cooking until all this food is going to waste! (There are only three adults in this house, two of which don’t eat much (including me!) and two kids. I usually cook food that’s good for a group of 10!)

 

Here are a few quick-mix recipes that I thought would help jolt those seemingly BLAH meals in to Okay-I-Think-You’ve-Actually-Got-Something-Here:

 

SCRAMBLED EGGS

What you need:

2 eggs

2 tbsp Basil leaves (I use McCormick)

2 diced tomatoes

½ finely diced onion

Butter (to lube the pan)

½ tbsp minced garlic

Optional: anything you can throw in from yesterday’s breakfast, cooked eggs (that’s not rot!), corned beef, etc.. Just make sure you chop em up so they mix well with the batter.

WHAT TO DO:

Break eggs in to a mixing bowl and stir with a fork. Add your basil leaves in to the batter and stir stir stir.

Heat the skillet and put in butter, just enough to lube the bottom of the pan and NOT to fill up an Olympic-size swimming pool.

Sautee your onions and put in your tomatoes after the onions have caramelized slightly.

Gently pour in your egg mixture in to the skillet and cook. Add in your minced garlic.

Voila! Gourmet eggs for breakfast, anyone..? :-)

 

Okay, as some of you may or may not already know, I am a mushroom freak (NO! Not THAT kind of mushroom!) I’m talking champignon mushrooms. My sisters and most everyone in this house don’t like mushrooms. But I found a way to make these little suckers a little bit more interesting to these people:

 

ADOBONG MUSHROOM (credit goes to Ed Jhann for the inspiration of this recipe!)

What you need:

- Champignon mushrooms (I prefer whole. The quantity is entirely up to your preference)

- Oyster sauce

- Worcestershire sauce (I prefer Mother’s Best. Call me weird but we have Lea Perrins here but I still prefer the taste of imitation Worcestershire over the original brand)

- Soy sauce

- Vinegar (the white one)

- diced/crushed garlic

- minced garlic (McCormick)

- sugar

HOW TO DO IT:

Heat skillet and butter/grease up the bottom.

Sautee your diced/crushed garlic until they are just a tad bit golden brown.

Add in your mushrooms and sautee (sometimes I mix in halved mushrooms with the whole ones for added texture).

Depending on the amount of mushrooms you used, add in your oyster sauce, just about enough to coat each mushroom. (A big can of Jolly brand mushrooms is about 1 tbsp oyster sauce).

Toss in just a splash of soy sauce and vinegar.

Add about a teaspoon of sugar (I use white).

And now just cook until mushrooms have gone from slightly brown to brown brown, but not chocolate brown. Just about around Michael Jackson in the late 80’s kind of brown.

Garnish with the minced garlic by sprinkling it over each cooked mushroom.

And SERVE! Enjoy!

OPTIONAL: If you really have to have meat, you can add in ground beef (COOKED, of course) at the end of the recipe.

 

 

I’ll post more recipes when I find the time.

 

 

Aside from that, form now on, I am keeping my blogs as short as humanely possible (if you are already acquainted with my novel-length blogs). Recently, I’ve subscribed to Say No To Crack and I realized you don’t really have to delve in to every minute detail of everything in order to write a successful blog. 2 to 3 paragraphs are enough.