simple celebration

june 1, 1997, cebu city... k and i became officially on. from then on, we always see to it that we could celebrate our monthsary (so to speak) for the first year and our yearly anniversary for the following years. today, even if we are already married, we still somehow celebrate the day we became boyfriend-girlfriend even in little ways... cooking food or eating out. this time, i chose to prepare a simple pasta dish with my first time-to-make frozen brazo.

this was our dinner, for the 3 of us. still quick and easy to make, my spaghetti with shrimp and tomato sauce.

ingredients:
a handful of spaghetti, cooked as per package direction
1 cup shrimp, cleaned, shelled, deveined, heads discarded
1 tbsp. garlic, minced
1 onion, minced
1 cup spaghetti sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1-2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup cheese, grated
1/2 cup cheese, grated for the topping
2 tbsp. cooking oil

procedure:
season shrimps with salt and pepper. heat oil in a wok and fry the shrimps for 2-3 minutes. set aside.

using the same wok, saute garlic and onion until aromatic. then add chicken stock. let simmer until the stock is reduced in half. then add the spaghetti sauce and tomatoes. let boil. season with salt and pepper, sugar and cheese. mix well. then add the cooked shrimps. simmer for another 3-5 mintes more.

pour over the cooked spaghetti and topped with the grated cheese.

then for the dessert, something special for a special occasion... frozen brazo de mercedes. i saw this recipe in a cooking show at qtv11, true confection and seemed to be easy to prepare... just changed an ingredient and then instead of using a 4x7 pan, i used 2, 2-1/2x6-1/2 pans. k and m loved it so much that they kept on asking for more. hehehe...

ingredients:
for the meringue:
4 large egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp. confectioner's sugar

for the graham crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp. sugar

for the custard:
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup condensed milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup butter, cubed

for the ice cream layer:
1 liter vanilla ice cream

procedure:
for the meringue:
preheat oven to 250ºF.

grease and line the bottom of an 8x12 inch pan. grease and flour the paper again then spread the meringue on the pan.

beat the egg whites with cream of tartar in a bowl of an electric mixer on high until fine bubbles form. then gradually add the sugar. whip to stiff peaks but not dry.

using an offset spatula, spread the meringue over the prepared pan making sure to fill even the edges. use a cake comb to create texture on the meringue.

bake in the oven for 30 minutes. dust with confectioner's sugar and allow to cool until ready to use.

for the graham crust:
combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar in a bowl. mix well. place the graham cracker crumbs in a 4x7 rectangular baking dish and evenly spread on the bottom of the pan.

for the custard:
in a double broiler, mix the eggs, condensed milk and vanilla. stir for about 30 minutes or until pouring consistency.

add butter a little at a time until melted and blended in. cook longer to make it thicker. pour over the graham crust and allow to cool to room temp.

for the frozen layer:
leave ice cream at room temperature for about 15 minutes or until softened. mix until consistency of soft serve ice cream. place over the custard layer.

finish off by cutting a 4x7 rectangle from the meringue to fit the size of the container and placing over the ice cream.

place in the freezer for at least 4 hours or until stable before serving.

• • • • • • •

happy 12 years of togetherness to us... xoxo

macaroni fruit salad

we have always been enjoying fruit salads and we always see to it that we have some in the refrigerator. so that everytime we wanted to have some dessert or snack, there'll always be a bowl ready to enjoy.

everytime we go for a grocery at carrefour, i always make sure i grab this biscocho... so perfect for my macaroni fruit salad. i always enjoy my biscocho with warm milk or chocolate drink or cold juice or simply as it is.

well, my macaroni fruit salad is so simple to prepare and nothing special about it. i just combined a cup of cooked macaroni with a 500gm. fruit cocktail, a bottle of kaong and a bottle nata de coco (everything should be well drained. i reserved the syrup of the fruit cocktail for later use.) then i added diced cheddar cheese. then i added 4 tbsp. cream, 4 tbsp. mayonnaise and 1 tbsp. condensed milk. just mixed everything together and chill before serving.

spaghetti with tomato and mushroom sauce

this is a very simple dish to make. don't want to spend so much time in the kitchen since it's so hot now. but this spaghatti dish is simple and quick... finished it just in time for dinner.

i just saute 2 cloves garlic and 1 small onion until aromatic then added 4-6 tbsp. ground pork. cook until ground pork is a bit browned. then added 2 diced tomatoes. then added 1/2 cup button mushroom and 1 cup spaghetti sauce. then added 1 tbsp. brown sugar and some cheddar cheese. seasoned with salt and pepper. then tossed the cooked spaghetti over and added more cheese (since makuy loves cheese).

served it with grilled bread slices.

chicken baked macaroni

...or perhaps baked chicken macaroni… hehehe… i found this recipe on the web. i was searching the web for an easy baked macaroni since i have limited ingredients in my kitchen. i found this article in a newspaper website with the baled chicken macaroni (i forgot the site).

it was easy but i didn't follow it since i don’t have the other ingredients. k & m liked it and that was good. i still have some left for their baon the and for my breakfast the next day. a couple of things though, i should have added more sauce so that it won’t be a bit dry; and i think i added breadcrumbs more that what was asked.

the next time i make baked mac, i’ll try ground pork or ground beef instead. i’m sure it would be more tasty that the chicken or another variation of baked macaroni. lol...

ingredients:
250 gm. macaroni, cooked as per package directions
1 chicken breast, without skin, deboned and minced
1 cup spaghetti sauce
1 cup tomato sauce
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 onion, sliced
salt and pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup cheddar cheese grated
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup mozarella cheese, grated
1/4 cup breadcrumbs

procedure:
pre-heat oven to 230°C.

in a work, heat oil and saute onion and garlic until fragrant and a garlic a bit brown.

add minced chicken and season with salt and pepper. saute until chicken are brown.

add the spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, brown sugar, water and the 1/4 cup cheddar cheese. season with salt and pepper if needed. mix and simmer for 3-5 minutes.

turn off the heat. combine with the cooked macaroni and mix until fully combined. transfer to a baking dish.

in a separate bowl, mix togthere the cheddar cheese, mozarella cheese and the breadcrumbs. top over the combines macaroni. bake for 15-30 minutes or until the cheeses melt.

special meaty spaghetti

i have been wanting to cook spaghetti since november last year and i already bought the ingedients. it has been waiting in my kitchen for a couple of months already.

last night, i decided to cook spaghetti since kim's on a diet (daw ;)) and makuy's been asking me for century for this... and i still have ground pork and hotdog in the freezer. i was happy with the result. as usual makuy doesn't want any meat on his pasta, only the sauce and sometimes only the cheese. but last night, he ate everything, the sauce with the meat, hotdog and mushroom... and he ate alot.

i decided to make garlic bread since i like spaghetti better with garlic bread. even without parsely, it's still okay.

i've learned from mamely's foodblog that the secret for a yummy spaghetti is the slow cooking of the sauce. although i only simmered my sauce for 45 minutes and not as she said, it still came out quite good. since i was tasting the sauce while i was cooking it, i was thinking that it's a bit sour and makuy doesn't like that. but when we started eating it, the little sourness was gone and it tastes good. maybe because it already blended well with the pasta and the cheese... well, that's what i thought. mmm... maybe because the spaghetti sauce that i bought already flavored with onion, garlic and herbs and spices.

here's my version of my special meatty spaghetti...

ingredients:
250 gm. spaghetti pasta
1 cup ground pork
2 chicken hotdogs, sliced diagonally
2 hotdogs, sliced diagonally
cooking oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 cup button mushroom, sliced
1 can (250 gm) tomato sauce
1 can (250 gm) spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
salt
freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 cup cheese, grated

procedure:
cook the pasta as per package direction at the same time you start cooking the sauce. make sure that you rinse the pasta in running water after it has been cooked to stop the cooking process and it will prevent the pasta from being too soft and stick together.

cook the hotdogs in a little water in a wok. when the water evaporates put a very little oil and continue cooking until a little bit browned. remove from wok and set aside.

using the same wok, put 1 tbsp. oil and brown the ground pork. for me, i wanted it really brown and i seasoned my ground pork with salt and pepper already. remove from wok and drain excess oil.

with the remaining oil in the same wok, saute garlic and onion until onion becomes transluscent and wilted. then add the mushroom and continue sauteing for a couple of minutes. then add the hotdogs and cooked ground pork in the wok and atil for a few minutes.

add the tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce and water. season with salt and pepper and mix well. lower your heat and slow cook the sauce for 45 minutes.

add the brown sugar and continue mixing for a couple more minutes. remove from fire.

pour over the cooked pasta and top with the grated cheese.

for the garlic bread...
ingredients:
6 slices bread
4 cloves garlic, diced and crushed
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, soften but not melted

procedure:
combine the garlic and butter and make into paste. if you like, you can season it with a little salt and pepper. you can also add diced parsely.

brush each slice of bread with the garlic-butter mixture and lay on a baking sheet/dish.

broil in a preheated oven for about 5 minutes or until fragrant and a little brown but not burned. always watch it while broiling in the oven to avoid burning the bread. you can also cover the baking sheet/dish with aluminum foil to avoid burning and broil in the oven for about 7-8 minutes.

take our of the oven and ready to be served with the spaghetti.