Lato Salad ( Grape Seaweed Salad)

Lato salad is one of the seaweeds salad that I like a lot, I love popping it inside my mouth, yummy! Adding the vinegar few minutes before you eat it, will spoil the freshness of the "lato" it will not be juicy anymore. This seaweed is abundant in Davao regions of  Philippines and the neighboring regions.

Ingredients for 6 servings:
1/2 kilo lato ( grape seaweed)
1 tomato
1 small onion
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste

Procedure:
1.. Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Make sure that you do this when it's already time to eat because if not it is better to separate the vinegar to maintain the freshness of the seaweeds. Putting the vinegar more than 5 minutes before you eat it, will make the seaweeds sagged.
2. Serve with  grilled or fried fish or meat.

Beef Pares

Pares means pair, that's why this popular beef dish is always serve with either steamed or garlic rice and extra broth, that is the pares (pair) for this.

 Ingredients for 4 servings:
1/2 kilo beef brisket
7 cups water
1/4 cup soy sauce ( add if needed)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 minced onion
2 cloves garlic (minced)
3 cups broth ( add if needed)
2 pieces star anise
2 teaspoon corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup water

Procedure:
1. Put the water and the beef in a pot then boil it for 2 hours or until really tender, if pressure cooker is available you can boil it for 30 minutes. When it is tender remove the beef, set aside and reserve the broth.
2.Saute ginger, garlic and onion then add the beef , soy sauce, black pepper and sugar then stir well and simmer for 3 minutes.
3. Add 4 cups of beef broth, anise and salt to taste, then bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add the cornstarch mixture while stirring to avoid it from forming lumps, then simmer until it thickens and turn off the heat.
5. Serve it with rice and extra beef broth, enjoy!

Homemade Lite Caesar Dressing

It’s another quick and oh-so-easy recipe to eat well and stay healthy!  Here is a salad dressing that is much better for you than the off-the-shelf (what-the-heck-is-in-it) fare you find at the grocery store.  If you do not know about ‘Grapeseed oil’, it has some super health benefits and a lighter, ‘cleaner’ taste than olive oil.

ingredients

• 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 small clove garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon Nan’s Honey Roasted Garlic Mustard Blend (a good Dijon will also work)
• 2 good quality anchovy fillets
• 1 tablespoon Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil
• 1/3 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt

In a small bowl of a food processor add the cheese, lemon juice, chopped garlic, mustard and the anchovies.  Pulse the machine until well combined, 15 to 20 seconds.  Add the oil and yogurt and let the machine run for another 15 seconds.

Makes 3/4 cup.

Slow Cooker Balsamic Shredded Pork

This is an easy recipe for those of us who love the convenience of a crock pot or slow cooker.  A pork sirloin roast can be used instead of the shoulder roast.  This shredded pork makes for one heckova slider!

ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast
• Kosher salt, to taste
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/3 cup Pastamoré Barrel-Aged Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Pastamoré Barrel-Aged Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey

Season pork all over with salt, garlic powder and red pepper flakes and place in the slow cooker.  Mix together the broth, vinegar & Worcestershire and pour it over the pork,  Finally drizzle the honey over the pork and set the timer for 4 hours on 'high' or 6-8 hours on 'low'.

Once the pork is cooked and tender (it should fall apart easily with a fork), remove from slow cooker onto a serving dish.  Shred lightly with two forks.  Drizzle ½ cup of the remaining sauce over the shredded pork and keep warm until ready to eat.  As Nan says, “super easy…”!

Cheese and Hotdog Roll

A simple to make snack, that's good to serve once in a while. The light toasted bread is crispy in every bite.

Ingredients:
6 pieces Sliced Bread
6 pieces hot dog ( cooked)
liquid cheese

 Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven at 200C.
2. Spread liquid cheese on the sliced bread then put the hot dog then pull both ends of the bread and tuck at the center  then secure with toothpick.
3. Bake for 5 minutes then remove and top with liquid cheese, remove the toothpick then serve.

Rice Bibingka

One of the best Filipino dainties is bibingka.

Ingredients for 4 servings:
1 cup rice flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1 beaten egg

Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients then sift.
3. Combine the coconut milk and egg then mix well and pour into the dry ingredients and mix well until fully combined.
4. Pour in a molder with banana leaf and bake for 25-30 minutes.

5. When it is done remove from the oven, spread with butter and sprinkle with sugar and serve.

Chocolate Ice Candy

A delicious ice candy with soft ice by adding a corn starch to the mixture.

Ingredients for 1 dozen Ice candy:
1 cup water
1 cup evaporated milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water with 1 tablespoon cornstarch ( dissolved well)
2 tablespoons Milo or Ovaltine

Procedure:
1. Boil  1 cup water, then add the water with dissolved corn starch ( mix well before adding to avoid lumps) stir very well until it boils, then add the Milo and mix well until dissolved, add sugar and simmer until dissolved then turn off the heat.
2. Add the evaporated milk then let cool.
3. Use a funnel then wrap and freeze until frozen.
4. Serve and enjoy.

soft ice, yummy!

Buttered Vegetables

This is a perfect side dish for your meat or fish.

Ingredients 4 servings:
1/4 kilo broccoli
1/4 kilo cauliflower
1/4 kilo carrots
1/4 kilo shrimps
2 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:
1. Boil all the vegetables until half cooked then drain and set aside.
2. Heat the butter then add the garlic and saute until brownish then add the shrimps and saute for a minute then add  all the vegetables and stir  well.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste then stir until done.
4 Serve it hot with fried fish or meat. Enjoy.

Pancit Sinabaw

The not so popular pancit sinabaw from Davao region of Philippines, I do not know if other provinces or regions in the Philippines also have this, let me know. The usual pancit is guisado which is dry, this one is sinabaw that's why it is soupy because sinabaw or sinabawan is a Visayan word for soup or something that is soupy. I like this way of cooking pancit specially during rainy days.

Ingredients for 3 servings:
1/4 kilo pancit ( washed and drained)
100 grams ground beef
3 cups water ( add if necessary)
1/2 cup sliced green beans
1/2 piece bell pepper
1/4 kilo cabbage
1 small carrot
4 tablespoons soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure
1. Saute the garlic and onion then add the ground meat, stir well until the pinkish color is gone.
2. Add the soy sauce and simmer for 30 seconds then add the water and bring to a boil.
3. When the water is boiling increase the heat to high and put all the ingredients then simmer for 3 minutes or until done.
4. Serve it hot.

Lumpia Ubod

Our viand yesterday afternoon was ginisang ubod ( sauted coconut pulps), and there are some leftover so I decided to make it into lumpia.

Ingredients:
ginisang ubod ( Click here for the recipe)
Lumpia wrapper
oil for frying

Procedure:
1. Spoon a portion of the ginisang ubod, then wrap well with a lumpia wrapper, repeat the process until everything is done.
2. Deep fry until golden brown.
3. Serve with dipping sauce and a sweet smile :-).

Don't waste food!! It's part of God's blessings. Learn to recycle the leftover.

Banana Delight

A delicious dessert that is very easy to make, how about surprising your loved ones this weekend with banana delight after a meal?

Ingredients for 8-10 servings:
3/4 kilo sliced banana ( you can use lakatan, cavendish, latondan)
1/2 cup condensed milk or according to your taste
1 1/2 cup Nestle Cream
Some Hershey Kisses chocolate

Procedure:
1. Combine the milk and cream then add the sliced banana, and mix well.

2. Top with shredded chocolate, cover and refrigerate before serving. If you have some extra Chocolate kisses, you can top each serving with it.

Avocado Ice Candy

It is perfect to spend time with the family this weekend while savoring the creamy avocado ice candy and have some fun. The kids will surely enjoy this and those who are kids at heart :-).

Ingredients:
1 piece medium size avocado
6 cups water
1 cup fresh or evaporated milk
1 cup condensed milk
1 1/2 cup sugar or to taste
50 ice candy wrapper

Procedure:
1. In a blender put the water, sugar and avocado then blend well until smooth.
2. Put in a pitcher and add the milks and mix well, use a funnel then fill the ice candy wrapper with the mixture and tie the end of the plastic tightly.
3. Freeze until frozen, then serve and enjoy.

Pasta Mix & Match #4

This is another in our series of ‘mix & match’ ideas for making great and fun meals with your Pastamoré flavored pasta.  As always, remember the mix and match concept:  you can change any aspect of this to your liking or even to what you have in your fridge at the time.  Obviously other seafood combos will work: clams, mussels, scallops, tilapia, etc.  We went with a 50/50 ratio of Meyer Lemon Oil to regular olive oil as we did not want the lemon flavor to overpower, but you may find a different proportion to work better.

While this combo will work great with most of our pasta, for this we chose our Thai Citrus, which has an orange and ginger flavor profile.  Here are a few others which we recommend highly:

• Artichoke Hearts Linguini
• Fresh Cracked Pepper Fettuccine
• Lemon Pepper Linguini
• Saffron Fettuccine
• Garlic Chive or Garlic Toasted Onion Fettuccine

ingredients

• 5 ounces cooked shrimp
• 5 ounce imitation crab, ‘chunk’ style
• 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tablespoon Pastamoré Meyer Lemon Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• 12 ounce package Pastamoré Thai Citrus Ginger Linguini
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

Combine shrimp, crab, tomato and garlic in a small bowl.  Drizzle both oils over the mixture along with the salt & pepper.  Mix thoroughly and refrigerate for at least one hour to meld flavors.  Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Cook pasta to al dente according to instructions on package and strain.  Divide pasta into four pre-heated individual pasta bowls.  Spoon seafood/tomato mixture evenly over each pasta dish.  Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.

Serves four as an entrée.

Lukot Salad

This is not a green colored rice noodles, but this is a secretion from a sea slug which the Visayans called "Lukot"  Have you tasted this before? You should try this delicious salad.

Read more about lukot: http://www.mysmartschools.ph/web/dumiykinakain/lukot.html

Ingredients:
1/4 kilo lukot ( seaweed) wash very well
1 small carrot ( sliced)
1 cup vinegar
1 small cucumber
1 onion (minced)
1 tomato (diced)
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste

Procedure:
1.  Combine all the ingredients and mix well.
2. Garnish with pomelo and mango then serve. You can garnish it with any fruits and vegetables that you like.