Button Mushroom Risotto

After a while,  I do get fed up with cooking chicken So here’s my mushroom risotto.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 500g button mushroom (Champignon de Paris)
• 1 .2 litres veal or vegetable stock
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 250 g risotto rice
• 8 cl white wine
• thym
• 20g butter
• 70g parmesan cheese
• fresh basil
• freshly ground white pepper

To Cook:

• Clean up the mushrooms and cut into desired size
• Keep the veal or vegetable stock warm to simmer.
• Heat oil in heavy based saucepan and add shallots. Fry over gentle heat for 2 minutes.
• Add the risotto rice and mix thoroughly until it is coated in oil.
• Pour in the wine and simmer, stirring, until the liquid has
  been absorbed. Add a ladleful of the stock and simmer, stirring again, until the liquid has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock in this way, until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is plump and tender.
• Stir in the mushrooms, butter and pepper and cook for another minute.
• Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese and garnish with basil leaves.

Serves 4 people.

Glazed Chicken Wings

I used the marinade I usually make for baby back ribs. For the chicken, I did not use Dry Sherry but Mead. It tasted even better and as my 6 year old keep saying, ” It is finger licking good!”

This recipe is very easy to prepare and cook.  I sometimes use the marinade for a whole chiken during Christmas or other special occasion.

Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1tbsp mead (you can also use lemon or dry sherry or cider)
• 3 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 kilo chicken wings (I used the one you get from Sainsburys for £1.80)
• dash of salt (optional)

Preparation

• Place wings in non-reactive container with lid.
• In bowl, combine marinade ingredients; sugar, mead, hoisin sauce, garlic, ketchup and salt (if desired).
• Mix well and spoon over wings.
• Cover the container and shake to coat the wings thoroughly with marinade. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours (Overnight for best results). Shake once or twice to coat chicken again.
• To avoid mess, cover cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
• Take wings from refrigerator and shake to coat again. Place the wings on the cookie sheet.
• Do not crowd or they won’t be perfectly glazed or crispy.
• Bake at 200 degrees C with fan for 20 minutes on the front side and 10 minutes on the other side.
• Check carefully if it is cooked enough or to prevent burning.
• Take from oven and serve immediately.

The marinade is also great with pork back finger ribs (1 inch wide and 3 inches long). You only need to cook it  for 30 minutes on both sides.

Turon

Ingredients:

Ripe Bananas, peeled and cut into half, lengthwise

brown sugar

3 cups cooking oil

Nem wrappers

1/2 cup preserved jackfruit  (optional)

Roll banana in sugar and wrap ( with jackfruit) in nem wrapper just like spring rolls. Fry in hot oil until golden and crispy.

Note: You are only limited to how many wrappers and banana you have available.

Longganisa (Filipino-style sausages)

Mixture of 30% ground beef and 70% ground port.

For every kilo of mixture, add:

2 1/2 tbsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp vinegar

1/8 level tsp saltpeter

1 tsp ground pepper

2 tsp chopped garlic

sausage casings

Procedure:

Mix all ingredients togethr and cure mixture for 5-6 days in the refrigerator and stuff  into casings. This kind of sausage should be stored in a cooler, ready for use.

Place small amount of water in the skillet. Place sausages and let boil in water for about 10 minutes. With a fork, pierce casings. The longganisa will be ready when juices flow out clear. Cook until it turn into dark caramel in colour.

Serve hot or cold.

Colombian Pineapple Custard

Here is another way to cook our favourite sweet – the Creme caramel or leche flan. But instead of lots of milk and eggs, we use pineapples. Interested? Check out the recipe below, it is very easy. I’ve also posted the book reference in case you want to get a copy.

Ingredients:
350g fresh peeled and sliced pineapples
150g castor sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten

For caramel:
4tbsp granulated sugar
juice of 1 lime

1. Put pineapple in blender (or food processor), blend until smooth. Scrape into a pan and add sugar. Cook until reduces by one-third. The mixture should be thick but not jam-like. Add water if too thick. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.

2. Meanwhile make caramel. Place sugar in a heavy pan over medium heat. Shake pan to mix melted sugar, do not stir. Remove from heat once all the sugar has dissolved and caramel has become golden brown. Immediately stir in lime juice. Hot caramel will spit when juice is added but this will soon stop. Divide caramel among 6 ramekins and turn them lightly so that they are coated evenly.

3. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Stir the eggs into the cool pineapple mixture. Divide mixture among the ramekins. Place the moulds in a roasting pan and pour warm water to come halfway up their sides. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until set. Allow to cool.

4. Just before serving, unmould the custards diretly into dessert plates. Loosen the edges with knife, invert a dessert plate on top of each mould and turn both over.

Recipe makes 6.
From The Caribbean, Central & South American cookbook
ISBN: 0-681-64274-2

2008’s Just cooking

I’ve decided to change the name and purpose of this blog since I also cook other dishes other than those from the Philippines.
Just Cooking is now it’s name. Depending on available time and energy left, I will do my best to post more food and recipes here. I might also add links to other food blogs and magazines. We’ll see.

Happy New year to All and thank you for visiting!

Chicken Stew

ingredients:
4 chicken thighs
1/2 l water (even a bit more)
1 red bell pepper
1 pack ready to cook green beans (uncut)
2 onions
salt to taste

can add:
1 bok choy
2 carrots
peas
<a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chayote”>chayote</a>

to cook:
if you want a bit of natural fat, leave some chicken fat. if not take them all off leaving the skin.
put together in a large casserole water, chicken, (carrots). Leave to boil for 30 minutes. then add green beans, onion and bell pepper. add salt. leave to boil for another 15 minutes, add the bokchoy, leave to cook for another 10 minutes.
Let it cool before serving.

Note: you can also put them all together except for the bokchoy and let it boil for 30-40 minutes then add the bokchoy last. long boing time means chicken is tender— very tender.

Prawn Puffs

Ingredients:

• 12 large prawns
• 2 tbsp plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
• vegetable oil for frying
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp finely chopped spring onions
•  1/2 tsp Five spice powder “chinese”
• sweet and sour sauce or sweet chilli sauce for dipping

Prodecure:

1. Peel prawns with your fingers and remove the heads, keep the tails on. Remove and discard black veins.
2. Cut each prawn in 3 lengthwise without cutting through. Rinse under running water, pat dry with kitchen paper. Coat in seasoned flour.
3. Pour enough oil in the wok for deep frying and heat oil to 190 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a bowl with spring onion and 5 spice powder
4. When the oil is hot, dip the prawn in egg mixture one at a time. Lift with a spoon, making sure there is plenty of egg mixture around each prawn.
5. Lower them gently into hot oil and deep fry in batches for 1-2 minutes until crisp and light golden. Lift with slotted spoon, drain on kitchen paper and keep hot while deep frying the remainder.
6. Serve at once as first course with dipping sauces of your choice.

Sea Bass with Spring Onion and Ginger

Bangus could also be used to make this dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole sea bass, gutted with head and tail left on
• bunch of spring onions , shredded
• 2 inches fresh ginger root, cut into thin strips
•  3 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp dry sherry or sherry vinegar
• 1 tbs caster sugar

Procedure:

1. Wash fish inside and out, then pat dry with kitchen paper. Cut short the tail and make deep diagonal slashes on each side of the fish with a sharp knife.
2. Place the fish on a platter that will fit in the bamboo steamer. Place half of the spring onions and ginger inside the fish, then sprinkle the remainder on tot.
3. Place the wok on its stand on the hob. Cover the steamer with its lid then place in the wok. Pour in enough water to cover  base of the steamer, then bring to a boil over high heat.
4. Lower the heat to a gentle steam for 15 minutes, checking the water level occasionally and topping up with more boiling water if necessary. Test to see if the fish is done. The flesh should look opaque near the bone. Steam for a little while longer if necessary.

Pork Rib Paksiw

Paksiw is very popular in the Philippines and could easily be used to cook other meats such as fish, poultry and beef. Paksiw is cooking something with vinegar and sugar and also used as means to cook the left-overs of letchon and roast chicken or beef.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg pork rib & belly
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 to 4 large red onions, sliced
• 4 tbsps. brown sugar
• 2 pcs bay leaves
• freshly crushed peppercorns
• salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Separate ribs. In a saucepan, mix together meat, water, vinegar and soysauce. Leave to boil until liquid had lessened to half or meat is tender.
2. Add the garlic, onions, bay leaves and sugar. Continue to cook over medium-to-high heat. Do taste the sauce and adjust to your liking by adding more of vinegar or soy sauce or water or sugar. stir often to prevent from sticking.
3. Cook until sauce is very thick or almost dry.
4. Serve with rice.

Makes 4 to6 servings.