lime chicken in oyster sauce

This was simply an update to my previous post on Chicken in Oyster Sauce. Actually, this is the fourth version of my Chicken in Oyster Sauce, you can view them here, here and here. Hehehe... The difference?... I just marinated the chicken with lime. It's a bit sour because of the lime but I liked it.

Ingredients:
2 pcs. chicken breast, cut into serving portion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced
1 tbsp. ginger, minced
1/4 cup oyster sauce
salt and freshly ground pepper
1-2 pcs. lime
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. cooking oil

Procedure:
Marinate the chicken with lime juice for a few minutes.

In a wok heat olive oil and butter and saute garlic, ginger and onion until aromatic.

Add the marinated chicken (optional: you can include or exclude any remaining juice from the marinade) and cook until a little browned and cooked.

Before putting off the fire, add the oyster sauce. Stir until chicken are fully coated with sauce.

Place in a serving dish and sprinkle with some spring onions on top.

pork with potato and carrot in spaghetti sauce

Menudo or not or something like that... Hehehe... Whatever. Just couldn't think of anyhting to prepare that time. We were still arranging and getting sttled at the new house... and no internet. I was lazy I didn't like to cook... really... too lazy all I want to do is sleep because I was tired arranging the house (boxes and platics of things were piled after each other). But somehow I was able to prepare our lunch and dinner... same dish since Kim and I are not eating dinner (die-eat... hahaha).

With some pork belly slices, a potato and a carrot, and some spaghetti sauce at hand, lunch and dinner were solved. I placed the pork belly slices with a lot of fat in a wok with a little water and seasoned with salt. I let it simmer and when the liquid has evaporated it released it's own oil and I let it cooked in it until the pork belly slices are brown and crisp. I took it from the wok and set aside. Then I sauteed minced garlic, sliced onion and jullienned ginger (in the same wok with the oil from the pork belly) until aromatic. Added the remaining pork belly slices (the ones with less or no fat) and sauteed until brown. Then added the carrot and potato (cubed) and sauteed again for a few minutes. Then added about a cup of the spaghetti sauce. Seasoned with salt and pepper and even a little bit of brown sugar (so that the sauce would not be too sour or just to make it a little bitty sweet). That's basically it. I just placed it in a bowl and sprinkled some pring onion leaves on top and the pork belly that I browned and reserved earlier.

quick canton

Another quick dish. Quick in a sense that it's done very quickly while baby was sleeping and the ingredients were only a few. We're consuming almost everything now since we're going to transfer house in a few more days. So everything in the pantry box and refrigerator should go before we transfered. I was successful in preparing this dish because I done this inless than 30 minutes. I started just after I put the baby to sleep and immediately do the chopping, slicing, sauteing. And just a few minutes after I took some photos, the baby started to wake up. Hahaha... success right? Hehehe... Well, good thing the baby cooperated.

I minced 3 cloves garlic, sliced a small onion, 1 carrot, 1 large cabbage leaf, and sliced into thin strip some pork belly and seasoned it with salt and pepper. In a wok I put 2 tbsp. olive oil and sauteed the onion and garlic until fragrant then added the pork belly and cooked them until the pork is browned. Then I added half of a pork broth cube and continued to saute. Then I added about a cup of water and 2 tbsp. oyster sauce and let it simmer. I tasted it according to my preference. Then added the canton noodles in... then mixed and mixed until the noodles are almost cooked and the liquid almost evaporated. Then I added the carrot and cabbage in... I mixed again until the liquid has fully evaporated. That's it... quick canton.

potato and pork with black beans

I know I promised to post a recipe yesterday but obviously I didn't... I got caught up with the scrapbooking kit I have in mind. Hehehe... But here I am, I'll try to post all the dishes I was able to prepare within the last month.

I prepared this one when Kim decided not to go home for lunch since school has not yet started and I assured him that it's okay, I can take care of Kuya and the baby. This was just a quick dish. I ran out of oyster sauce that's why I used black beans instead.

I didn't measure the ingredients here but everything will be upon your preference anyway. The pork part that I used was with no fat and I believed this would be much tastier if using pork belly or even pork pata as long as there's fat. Hehehe...

First, I cut the pork and potato into chunks, minced a few cloves of garlic, a little onion and ginger and mushed some black beans. In a wok, I placed the pork and potato chunks and add a little water (not too little that it would evaporated quickly; just a little water to simmer the pork and the potato). When the water have evaporated, take out the potato chunks and set aside. Put a little olive oil in the same wok and fry the simmered pork chunks just until it started to get browned. Then add the garlic, ginger and onion. Saute with the pork until aromatic and the garlic well browned. Then add the black beans and season with pepper (you can season with salt if your black beans are not pre-salted). Then add the potato chunks and continue mixing just until everything is well blended.

i'm here...

hallerrrr... i'm here again. it's been a while really. we just got our internet connection lately and i opted to update my scrapblog first since i was so excited to post the freebies i created while i was off. but i'm here now and hopefully be able to start posting some recipe by tomorrow.

as for the new house, everything was okay. moving and transfering was very tiring indeed. kim and i decided not to move again. hahaha... this was our second move and this was more tiring than the first one since we have so many things now. hahaha... well the house was nice even if the partition wall was not yet painted, the house is clean and it looks more organized now. and you know what i like the most here at the new house? the bathtub! yes we have a bathtub... hahaha... we just had to buy a new drain cap so that we could enjoy it. hehehe... but the front yard needs quite a lot of work since it's all sand and water is almost flooding. the dates trees planted outside our main door need to be trimmed, too. i told kim i wanted paving tiles in the front yard just along our perimeter area and some rocks/stones should be placed around the 2 dates trees. we also allocated the area around the trees for our kangkong, lemon grass and tomato plants since the owner of the house keeps a water hose with holes passing through all their dates to water them, so it will also water our plants. then as for the perimeter fence, we planned to plant some vines to screen our house from the main street. but we cannot do these just yet because the other houses inside the villa are not yet finished, they are still working on it, and they have to use some of our perimeter area to place some of their materials. it will be quite a while really. i can't wait. i wanted it started a.s.a.p... hahaha...

as for the cooking and baking... not really. i was busy arranging the house and applying for work. i wanted to bake a couple of cakes and cookies but i was lazy to do it. hehehe... sorry... but i will, i will. hehehe...

so just here for now. i'll start posting recipe tomorrow. :)

OFF for a while...

Heloo people. I've been out for a while... cleaning stuff and packing (haven't finished packing yet). This is a short post.

I will be out for a few days or week or a month. We will be transfering to a new house near the town (right now, we live quite away from the town and our neighbors are local here, so, I really don't want to go out and ride a taxi to the town, or just stroll/walk around outside --- I don't feel that secure as well). Our new house is located near the hospital, grocery store and there are a lot of Filipinos living there, too. I'll be blogging about it as soon as we're settled there and the internet connection is available already. Yay... no net for a month? even cable tv? Yay... what will I do?! No Eat Bulaga... no Bubble Gang... no Survivor Philippines 2... no Stairway to Heaven... no Darna... no 24 Oras?! Huhuhu... Anyways, that's the time I'll be able to organize the house and look for work since the househelp already arrived. Woohooo...

So, see you soon... :) Hope to post a few recipe when I resumed blogging. :)

banana cake with buttercream topping

Banana bread/cake has never failed our palate. I've baked it many times since I was still single many years ago and we always consumed it right away. I've tried a few banana cake recipe and this one's what I liked the best so far. The original recipe was from Lydia Teh.

I already posted a banana bread recipe here; however, I'll post it here again. I like the outcome of my banana cake this time. I divided the batter in 4 2-1/2 x 7 x 3" aluminum loaf pan because I intended to share the other 3 with my friends. It was however right on time when they invited us on an iftar at the park the next day. As I've said, I liked the outcome of my banana cake this time, the color and the sweetnes was just right. Maybe because of the bananas that I used? I used the banana that's in the verge of really getting spoiled. I believe that the best banana for a banana cake is of that kind. Another difference is that I topped or shall I say frosted the top with buttercream frosted (the recipe I got from Confession Nook). Hehehe... I was really happy with the outcome and taste of the buttermilk frosting I made for my chocolate cocoa cake that I baked a few days ago, that's why I decided to try it on my banana cake. Hehehe... The outcome? It was okay... It tasted well with the banana cake.

For the Banana Cake
Ingredients:
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1-1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup mashed bananas*
1-1/2 cup cake flour, sifted**

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 175°C. Grease and flour 4 2-1/2 x 7 x 3" aluminum loaf pan.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light. Add eggs and beat well.

Dissolve baking soda in the sour cream, add it into the butter mixture. Beat well.

Stir in mashed bananas and vanilla then fold in cake flour.

Pour batter into the loaf pans and bake for 35 minutes or until done.

For the Buttercream Frosting:
Ingredients:
8 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Procedure:
Whip butter until light and fluffy; add sifted icing sugar little by little until well-incorporated. Beat in the yolk. Add vanilla extract to mix.

• • • • • • •

* The banana that I used was those that's almost in the verge of spoiling.

** To make 1 cup cake flour, in 1 cup measuring cup, place 1 tbsp. cornstarch then fill with all-purpose flour.