Bicol Express

Sigarillas or winged beans is one of the most common Indian vegetable here in Qatar. I grew up with this vegetable, my mom always cook it either in sinigang, ginataang sigarillas or with sotanghon. Now that I  have my own family, I learned  to cook Bicol express using this vegetable. My eldest son likes it so much. He call it kangkong, well in fact he calls all the green vegegetables kangkong and as long as it is kangkong he will  surely eat it. That is why I did not correct him anymore.

Hot dog and burger steak

 

I have some left over home made burger patties in the fridge and was thinking what else to  do with it for my son .Until I read  Mga Luto ni Dennis at iba pa 's Longganisa with a twist   but instead of sausage I put hotdog on it and add the left over burger.I just fried the sliced hot dog and diced burger patties. Put some Maggi seasoning ,salt and pepper,parsley and onion rings.

My food trip friday entry  for this week is  hotdog and burger steak.

              

Mango Festival

I went grocery shopping today at Lulu Hypermarket, one of my favorite store here in Qatar. The store is a one stop shop where you can get almost every items you want aside from the fact that it is very near to  my place.

My last stop is always at the fruit and vegetable section. And look what they have there! A mango festival where in they sell different kinds of mango from different country except  from Philippines. Too bad  because these mangoes are not as good as  the Philippine mango.

Anyway, I looked around and see if I could find one that I like. I saw one kind of mango surrounded by shoppers and almost  sold out, the Badami Mango which is only QR 6.75/kilo . I asked  one Indian lady if it is good and she answered yes, so I grabbed a  plastic bag and get me some, unfortunately I was able  to get only 2 pieces, all others were no good at all. So I  looked for another mango again  and got  the Daseri Mango which is QR 14.50/kilo.This mango is similar  to Philippine mango and tasted good too.

They are good for shake or smoothie, a healthy meal for my kids.

Eggs

Have been to grocery store 2 days ago. Food items has become too expensive here in Qatar after the 2006 Asian games. Price goes up tremendously. During my early years here, eggs cost only QR 10/tray and now it ranges from QR14 - 20/tray. I bought one tray of egg and put it at the back seat of my car while the other grocery stuff went inside  the trunk. I went back home around 2:30 pm. Unloaded everything with the help of my son.

The following morning while preparing to take my son at school, I saw the eggs at the back seat. I don't know what to do, keep the egg or throw in trash? So I decided to call hubby who was  in the US  for a vacation and asked his opinion. He asked mother first and the decision was to throw them  in trash since it was already exposed to too much heat. I had a  Summer post to give you an idea how hot it is i my place right now. Egg exposed to temperatures above  40°F  for more than 2 hours is unsafe to eat and should be disposed .
 

For Egg safety:
1. Keep eggs refrigerated.
2. Avoid raw and runny eggs, eat only well cooked eggs.
3. Wash hands after handling eggs.
4. Use only pasteurized eggs in foods calling for uncooked eggs

Sauteed String beans

I was able to get some fresh string beans last week at the grocery store and had the chance to cook it only today. The string beans  still looks  fresh after a week of being stored in the refrigerator. Whenever I have this vegetable,  I just want to cook it sauteed with lots of ground beef .

My lunch for today beef longganisa and sauteed string beans with lots of rice.

Click the badge for more Yummy Sunday

Halu halo

My family back home went to Boracay last week for  a weekend treat. While looking at them enjoying the white sand I can't help but feel envy  for our(me and the kids) absence. They really have fun in the Philipppines and I am missing them a lot. My eldest son keeps on  whining about us being away from our relatives  and not to be  able to join them everytime they go out of town. Well, what can I do, that is life! 

I was looking at my niece FB photos and this  big bowl of Halu- halo in front of my nephew caught my attention. It is really mouth watering. She did not get a good shot of it but  it's okay, at least  she tried to show me this yummy cold dessert..

                                

Eggplant omelette

Tortang talong is my sons most requested meal. It is so easy to prepare and very affordable. You can cook it  in different ways either with or without ground meat .

Ingredients:

• 4 cloves garlic 
• 1 small onion 
• 1/4 cup chopped carrot. 
• 1 small potato chopped finely 
• 3 eggs 
• salt and pepper to taste 

Instructions:
1.Grill eggplant, peel and set aside. 
2. Saute garlic, onion, minced beef, carrot and potato, add saltand pepper to taste. Remove from heat. Let it cool. When cool, add 1 egg, mix well.
3. Beat the remaining egg very well.
4.Flatten the egg plant in one plate, pour beef  mixture on top. Add egg.
5. Heat oil. Slide the eggplant carefully and cook in low fair  to medium fire. Turn and brown  the other side.

Blog Anniversary Giveaway

  Rose's Obstacles and Glories is  celebrating blog anniversary  by  giving away $100 promotional code sponsored by CSN online store. I started checking out items that I like to have if ever I  won. I love to have them all especially the Wedgewood collections( been dreaming to have them for a long time).Let me just show you the item.

Since I cannot  afford to have a set  of Wedgewoood ,I chose another one worth $100 that I really like too.Here is my choice in case(fingers crossed) I got lucky.

Zwilling JA Henckels Twin Flatware Angelico 45 Piece Flatware Set - 22773-345 

List Price:$168.00 

You Save:$68.01 (40%) 

Sale Price:$99.99

By the way, this giveaway, that CSN is sponsoring, is open to Canadian and American residents only but since our dear Rose loves us so much ,she will still give the non US and Canada resident a chance to win cash money worth  $25  thru a paypal account. I know I am getting excited here, lol.

Visit  Rose's Obstacles and Glories now to see the mechanics of the contest. It is  so easy to join.
 

 Goodluck to all of us.

Daing na Bangus (Fried Milkfish)

 

I usually buy frozen bangus (milk fish)  for my  Daing na Bangus. I like the frozen one better than the fresh one because it doesn't have the muddy taste in it. I just thawed it a little bit then cut and clean  by a kitchen scissor and a knife. Scissors makes splitting the fish so easy. Make an incision from head to tail using the scissor followed by a knife to totally wide open the fish. Remove all the internal organs and the gills. No need to scale the bangus. Clean well with water.

Ingredients:

• 2 pcs. frozen bangus (milkfish) 
• 1 cup vinegar 
• 1 tbsp. iodized salt 
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper 
• 4 cloves crushed garlic.

Direction:

1. Put all the milkfish in a glass baking pan.
2. Add all the ingredients.
3. Marinate for 1-2 days. 
4. Cover with foil and keep refrigerated. 
5. After a day or 2, remove from marinade.
6. Wrap in a ziploc plastic or vacuum seal
7. Keep frozen. 
8. When needed, just take it out from the freezer, no need to thaw.  Fry it frozen for a juicy and firm fried milkfish.

Suman

Suman is a Filipino rice cake wrapped in coconut, palm or banana leaves. It can either be sweet or bland. You can serve it with grated coconut and sugar  or a sauce made from sugar and coconut milk.

 I always buy Frozen Suman sa Ibus for my son, he likes to eat it with  sweetened coconut milk anytime of the day. I just steamed the suman  for a few minutes. Open a can of coconut milk, add sugar and boil to thicken.

Another suman that I like is the Suman sa lihiya. It is made of glutinous rice and lye water wrapped in coconut leaves. It is very popular in my grandmother’s hometown on All Saints Day or Undas. I miss those days when we go to the province and get back home to Pasay City with bag full of suman and my mother cooks a lot of  sauce for us.

Suman sa ibus

3 cups glutinous rice

2 tsp salt

2 cups coconut milk

Direction:

Soak rice in water for an hour or until grains are swollen. Drain, .Add coconut milk and salt. Mix well. Prepare the leaves then fill with rice mixture, seal the end and tie with buri or coconut strip. Arrange in a big saucepan and cover with water. Boil for 2 hours or until done.

How to wrap Suman sa Ibus

1. Fold the end of the buri leaf by 1 ½ inches.

2. Fold the bottom edge into a triangle.

3. Start rolling up the buri leaf in an overlapping manner.

4. Roll up the buri to make a tube.

5. Attach a small piece of wooden pick to secure the tube.

6. Fill the tube with malagkit.

7. Seal the ibus tube.

8. Tie with strips of buri.

Shrimp Scampi

 Shrimp Scampi  is one recipe that I've been cooking back in Saudi Arabia for many reasons:

1. Easy to cook- just mix all the ingredients (shrimp melted butter, garlic salt and parsley) together and throw in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

2. Very cheap- we can buy it at the fish market at very low price and the pay for one kilo and you will get one and a half kilo shrimp by simply showing your charm and sweet smile. That's how generous the vendors are to their costumer.

3. Availability- because the place where I used to live is near the sea, there is too much supply of fresh sea food everyday.

4. Fresh- and if you are lucky enough you'll get live ones too.


Serve with rice and a  Lemon Butter sauce dip.

Sizzling Plate

Last night, I got me some Sizzling plates for a good price of  QR 29 ( $7) in one of my favorite shop. For this price, I know that  it is not one of the best quality cast iron plate, but I still want to give it a try. Stores here don't sell sizzling plates so I was really surprised to see it in different sizes and shape and grabbed the regular/standard  ones  that the restaurant owners usually use.

Since this is my first time to own a sizzling plate and very proud to have one. I must learn how to use and take care of it properly.

To start with, this is how I get the sizzle and the smoke effect in the plate. Make the cast iron really hot ,add some fat and the food. The sizzle does not do anything for the food taste, but it just gets the people’s attention for the restaurant owners to attract more customer.

Proper way of cleaning:

1. Do not use soap. The metal is porous, and the soap is difficult to rinse all the way and you will end up with a soapy flavored food.

2. Just wash is with hot water and a scrub .

3. Then dry it with a towel

4. Put back in the burner to completely dry it .

5. Let it cool then apply a very light coat of oil with a paper towel then wipe again with clean paper towel to remove any excess oil. Makes sure to coat the plate entirely with oil. This will keep the rust away while being stored. Use vegetable oil if you use it often and mineral oil for a once a month use.

Watch out for my next post using the hot plate. I was thinking of making a sizzling burger steak.

Turon - Banana Fritter

Turon or  Banana roll is one of the most pupular  Filipino snack  made of  ripe plantain  and spring roll wrapper. It is commonly seen being sold along sidewalks freshly cooked right in front of the pedestrian or  sold house to house by a street vendor.

Misua Soup

If you are in a hurry and craving for a good tasting  filipino soup, try this easy to prepare recipe. Here in Qatar we never run out of vegettables from India  and patola is one of them.

Patola /loofah  is commonly used by Filipinos when making misua soup together with  some meat or shrimp. I usually like frozen or fresh shrimp for my misua soup, depends on whatever is available.

 Misua Soup

Ingredients:

2 small patola/gourd (loofah) ,peeled and sliced
1 cup frozen shrimp
1 cup misua
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 small onion ,sliced
3 cups water
1/2 beef cubes
salt and pepper
1 tbs cooking oil

Direction:

1.Sautee garlic and onion ,add beef cubes and water ,bring to a boil .
2.Add patola and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Season with salt and pepper according to taste
4.Add the misua  and let cook for another 2 minutes or until done,
5.Serve hot.

Devilled Eggs

I had a first taste of the appetizer back in 1999 while I was working in Saudi Arabia. A friend of mine has a birthday party and we were served with devilled eggs first while waiting for the main dish. Then I tried it on using the recipe in one of my cookbook with some variations according to my taste.

Ingredients:

1 dozen eggs
2 teaspoons Dijon or yellow mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp minced onion
Salt to taste
Paprika for garnishing

Directions:

Boil the eggs for 12 to 15 minutes. Let the eggs cool. Peel and Cut into half-lengthwise. Scoop the egg yolks and set aside the egg whites. Mashed the egg yolks add the minced onions, mustard, mayonnaise and salt. Spoon the egg yolk mixture into the egg white halves. Sprinkle with paprika. Chill before serving.

Scalloped Potato

This recipe is very easy to prepare. Just dump everything in the baking pan and throw in the oven. My hubby and son  loves  it so much .  I asked them how was it, they just said it is good. Well, if they say so.

 Scalloped Potato

Ingredients:

• 2 big potatoes,pared and sliced 
• 2 tbsp butter/margarine 
• 2 tbsp flour 
• 1/4 cup mashed potato dissolved in 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup fresh milk. 
• 1 tbsp parmesan cheese 
• 1 tbsp salt /onion salt, add according to your taste

Direction:

1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put all the ingredients inside a rectangular pan.
3. Mix well.
4. Bake for 1 hour.