Balsamic Vinaigrette

I was craving for some light food since I've been lazy and buying Wendy's Apple Pecan Grilled Chicken Salad with their refreshing Pomegranate Vinaigrette.  So I decided to make my all time favorite basic dressing here.  Real fast and quick if you have all the ingredients in your cupboard and fridge.   

Ingredients:

1 tsp garlic, grated or finely minced
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste


Directions:

Whisk vinegar, mustard, lemon juice salt and black pepper in bowl using stainless steel whisk. Slowly add oil, whisking until well blended. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

Get your toss salad greens and drizzle the dressing over!!  Ono it's kaukau time!!  Enjoy!!  :D

Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken

Ingredients:

5 lbs chicken thighs, chicken hindquarters, or chicken drummettes/wings rinsed and drained.

Sauce:
2 cups Aloha shoyu
1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1-2 inch fresh ginger root halved and pounded.
6-8 cloves garlic smashed and peeled.  Rough chopped.
1 medium round white or yellow onion peeled and sliced    
4-6 star anise
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup shaoxing rice wine or straight whiskey
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice
Dash fresh cracked black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp vegetable or peanut oil


Garnish:
1 bunch sliced green onion
1 bunch cilantro or chinese parsley chopped
Sesame oil


Cooking Instructions:


In a big stockpot, heat oil til hot and add herbs of ginger, garlic, bay leaves,

round onion, and star anise to release aromatics.  Be careful not to burn them, 

then add shoyu, water, and whiskey.  Bring to a boil then add rinsed and drained

chicken pieces.  Bring to a boil then drop heat down to a simmer for 20 minutes.

 Slowly stir chicken and add sugar and black pepper and let simmer another 20

minutes.  Turn off heat and let stand for 15-30 minutes in pot.

Bring chicken to serving dish or pan.  Add garnish herbs over chicken and

drizzle sesame oil over chicken then add shoyu sauce from pot over chicken.

Serve with white or brown rice with Hawaiian Macaroni Salad!

So onolicious let's kaukau now!!

Enjoy!!

Serves 6

Pork Sarisari (Pork with Mixed Vegetables)

Here is a dish my grandfather would cook for us when we were little. It brings back so much memories. The pork is soft and tender with the sweet taste of the squash. The broth is rich and delightful on a cold night. Heat the soup and add cold rice and you got a typical Ilocano dish easy to cook and prepare.
This dish is locally also known as "Pork Sarisari" as in a mix of vegetables.  The local Ilocano restaurants make a shrimp version also.  Also a word of note.  This dish is only indigenous to Hawaii from the local Ilocanos which migrated to Hawaiian Islands during the plantation era of the 1900's.  Try go Philippines and ask them you want to order this dish or go to Max's Restaurant and they'll look at you funny.  :)

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs fresh pork chops, sliced thin (pork ribs is also good)
1 2 lb small Chinese long squash, peeled, cut lengthwise, then cut into 1/4" slices
1/2 round yellow union, sliced thin
1 whole red ripe tomato, halved and sliced thin
2 fresh cloves of garlic, crushed, peeled, and minced fine
1 whole bay leaf, ripped in half
2-4 Tbsp fish sauce (nuoc mam or patis)
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
dash MSG to taste (optional)
1 Tbsp white vinegar
fresh cold water
vegetable oil for frying
Optional vegetables :
2 long eggplants, diagonal slant slices
1-2 lb. Chinese long beans or sitaw, cut in 2 inch length pieces
1 bunch of ong choy or water spinach, cut in 2 inch length pieces.  Separate leafy part from stems.
Add stems first to simmering broth then add leafy part last.  Try not to overcook it.

Procedure:

Heat a 6 qt pot with cover. Add 2 Tbsp oil and heat til smoking. Add pork and stir fry. Brown and cook pork well done about 10-15 mins on high heat. Season with pepper and bay leaf while frying. Add onions, tomato, and garlic. Continue to stir fry until vegetables are translucent and wilted. Add additional oil if needed. Add 4-6 cups of fresh water to pot, cover and bring meat to a nice boil then lower heat to simmer. Simmer til meat is tender. Add fish sauce, MSG, and white vinegar to soup. Add squash to pot and cover. Cook til squash is soft. Add more pepper and patis to adjust to your taste. Serve with white rice.

This dish is closely similar to Pork Sinigang but without the tamarind powder mix.  The broth or sabaw is not tangy.  Also I add a Tbsp of vinegar to the broth so the dish keeps and doesn't "turn" or spoil quickly on account of the tomatoes.  It makes the sabaw acidic like how adobo doesn't spoil without refrigeration.

Serves 3-4

Ok I hungry let's kaukau!!

The Secret Cebu Whole Lechon Baboy Recipe

A secretly guarded recipe for many generations lechon is the Filipino version of the roast pig and is a highly popular main dish during events holidays and festivities.  Especially sought for is the craving for the lechon's crispy skin and soft juicy flesh.  But among many varieties, the Cebu lechon is tagged as the Philippines finest and probably the whole of Asia.  It is so widely popular that even domestic airlines have accepted it as normal freight straight from the oven to various parts of the country.  What makes the Cebu lechon distinct is the arousing flavor that the Cebuanos have carefully tendered for so many generations.  Historically, the word lechon is literally leche, a Spanish word for milk.  So called because young pigs that are not yet mature enough are cooked over low coal fire during colonial times. Thus, the colloquial for suckling pig among other popular terms. The first known recorded fact of such method was practiced by the tribes of Papua New Guinea, who hunted wild boars for offering and cooked them over deep pits of burning hot stones. Eventually, Spanish adventurists in the Pacific began to import the method back to Europe and its Spanish colonies like Puerto Rico, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.  But the Filipinos actually inherited the method from its Chinese trading partners and eventually perfected the technique after World War 2, soaring into popularity by the 1980’s, a time of great political upheaval and celebration after the fall of the Marcos regime.  It was during this decade that the Cebu lechon started to flourish and spread to all over parts of the Philippines.  It even gave way to festivities celebrating lechon as a tradition of rich cultural values like the Parade of Roasted Pigs in the Balayan Festival of Batangas, Philippines.  But the original Cebu lechon recipe still remain the most popular to this day, still sought by Filipinos and foreigners alike.  And here’s that original secret Cebu lechon recipe that everyone of us has been so eager to learn.

Ingredients:

1 whole native pig (live weight 18 – 20 kilos)
salt and black pepper to taste
soy sauce
For the glaze:
1 liter of Sprite or 7up
For the stuffing:
10 bundles lemon grass (tanglad)
1/4 cup star anise
6 pieces of laurel or bay leaves (cut into small parts)
5 cups of crushed garlic
2 kilos green onion leave
8 pieces of halved saba bananas. (half-cooked through boiling)

Instructions:

1. First, shave hair follicles of the pig and remove the innards.  Rinse the pig and make sure there’s no more lumps of blood inside the stomach.
2. Then rub the insides with salt and pepper including the body.
3. Rub a little soy sauce on the inside belly of the pig.
4. Stuff the belly with saba bananas, anise, green onion leaves, crushed garlic and laurel leaves.
5. Next, stack the lemon grass the center stomach, and stitched the belly, making sure that no ingredients slip out.
6. Skewer the pig with a mid-size bamboo and split roast over hot charcoal. Do not put the charcoal directly underneath the belly of the pig but over both sides, slowly churning the pig roast.
7. While slowly roasting the pig, glaze it from time to time with sprite using a sponge. This will make the skin extra crispy.
8. Roast for a couple of hours until the meat is tender. Do not overcooked.

The spices and the lemongrass makes the flavorful Cebu lechon aromatic aside from its rich succulent taste. When you visit the Philippines, try every carnivore's favorite dish, whole roasted suckling pig or lechon baboy!

The main reason of its great popularity is because it is a delicacy which is so versatile that it can be combined with all kinds of  ingredients and then come up brand new dishes.  These new dishes can be sometimes termed as the recycled or leftover dishes.  An example of these dishes is lechon paksiw (paksiw na litson) which consists of leftover meat soaked in a vinegary sauce.  The most popular part of the lechon which usually eaten by many is the crispy pig’s skin which is like brittle candy or broken glass.  I love it because of its crispiness and it is the most delicious part which can be dipped in a liver gravy sauce, ketchup/catsup.  But most times I prefer Tabasco sauce and shoyu or my fave sili labuyo a Filipino condiment in a jar consisting of vinegar, garlic, spices, and baby birds-eye chili peppers.  The Philippines consists of 7,107 islands throughout the country, so you can expect that every island has its own versions or processes on how to roast lechon with its selected variant (chicken, pig, turkey, or beef).  The best is the Cebuano version in my opinion because of the use of tanglad or lemongrass.  The Indonesians have their version which is another story.  ;)

Ok I'm hungry now!!  Shucks no 24/7 lechonan here in Hawai!!  :P

oh wellz for another day.

Let's kaukau!!  :)

Romaine Salad with Chicken, Cheddar, Apples, Spiced Pecans and Cranberry Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3-4 medium)
Salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 cup water
1 large head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces (about 8-10 cups)
8 ounces sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped or sliced thin
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 cup spiced pecans, store-bought or following the simple recipe below

1 recipe Dried Cranberry Vinaigrette, see below for recipe

Method:

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season both sides with the salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until the oil is shimmering and hot. Add the chicken and cook until it is nicely browned on one side, about 3 minutes. Flip the chicken over, add the water, and cover the skillet. Cook the chicken, letting it poach, until it is cooked through, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it cool slightly before carving.

Toss the lettuce, cheese, apple, pecans, onion and dried cranberries together. Divide the salad among the serving plates. Slice the chicken on a diagonal and arrange over the salad. Serve with the vinaigrette. I prefer to let everyone douse their own salad with dressing, but you could toss the salad with 1/2 cup or so of the vinaigrette before assembling it on the plates and serve the extra dressing on the side.

Quick Spiced Pecans:

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
2 cups pecan halves
1 tablespoon sugar

Melt the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in the spices and then the pecans. Toast the nuts, stirring often, until the color deepens slightly and they are lightly toasted, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a bowl and toss with the sugar. Let them cool completely before tossing with the salad.

Dried Cranberry Vinaigrette:

*Makes about 1 1/2 cups dressing

1/4 cup cranberry juice or water
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup red wine or raspberry vinegar
1 shallot, peeled and quartered
1 small garlic clove, peeled
2 teaspoons fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Combine the cranberry juice (or water) and cranberries in a small microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for one minute until hot. Process the hot cranberry mixture, vinegar, shallot, garlic, thyme, mustard, salt and pepper in a blender until the shallot and garlic are finely chopped. With the blender running, add the oil and continue to blend until the dressing is smooth and well-combined. Thin the dressing, if needed, with additional cranberry juice. 

Serves 4-6

Refrigerate until ready to serve.




Enjoy good kaukau!!  :)

Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1 garlic clove
1/4 cup quaity Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
pinch of salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
3/4 cup quality extra virgin olive oil
sugar or sweetener optional to your taste or none for a zero carb dressing

Method:

Add the Balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard and salt, pepper, and garlic.

Give it a quick whisk  allowing the mustard and vinegar to combine and begin to emulsify.

Or you can cheat like I do and use my salad dressing mixer shown below which I purchased from Pampered Chef along with the garlic press!

Begin to slowly add the olive oil until well combined, being careful to add just a little bit at a time so the dressing will emulsify, the mustard should help emulsification so don't leave it out. 

You can add other ingredients, herbs and spices to kick it up a notch it's up to you.  But this is the basic recipe I use.

Store in a glass jar for about a week.

Ono!!  Enjoy with your Apple Orchard Chicken Salad!!

:)

Pork Tabungao (Pork with Chinese Long Squash Soup)

Here is a dish my grandfather would cook for us when we were little. It brings back so much memories. The pork is soft and tender with the sweet taste of the squash. The broth is rich and delightful on a cold night. Heat the soup and add cold rice and you got a typical Ilocano dish easy to cook and prepare.
This dish is locally also known as "Pork Sari-Sari" as in a mix of vegetables.  The local Ilocano restaurants make a shrimp version also.

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs fresh pork chops, sliced thin (pork ribs is also good)
1 2 lb small Chinese long squash, peeled, cut lengthwise, then cut into 1/4" slices
1/2 round yellow union, sliced thin
1 whole red ripe tomato, halved and sliced thin
2 fresh cloves of garlic, crushed, peeled, and minced fine
1 whole bay leaf, ripped in half
2-4 Tbsp fish sauce (nuoc mam or patis)
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
dash MSG to taste (optional)
1 Tbsp white vinegar
fresh cold water
vegetable oil for frying
Optional vegetables :
2 long eggplants, diagonal slant slices
1-2 lb. Chinese long beans or sitaw, cut in 2 inch length pieces.

Procedure:

Heat a 6 qt pot with cover. Add 2 Tbsp oil and heat til smoking. Add pork and stir fry. Brown and cook pork well done about 10-15 mins on high heat. Season with pepper and bay leaf while frying. Add onions, tomato, and garlic. Continue to stir fry until vegetables are translucent and wilted. Add additional oil if needed. Add 4-6 cups of fresh water to pot, cover and bring meat to a nice boil then lower heat to simmer. Simmer til meat is tender. Add fish sauce, MSG, and white vinegar to soup. Add squash to pot and cover. Cook til squash is soft. Add more pepper and patis to adjust to your taste. Serve with white rice.

This dish is closely similar to Pork Sinigang but without the tamarind powder mix.  The broth or sabaw is not tangy.  Also I add a Tbsp of vinegar to the broth so the dish keeps and doesn't "turn" or spoil quickly on account of the tomatoes.  It makes the sabaw acidic like how adobo doesn't spoil without refrigeration.

Serves 3-4

Chinese long squash or tabungao in Ilocano and Upo in Tagalog.

Let's kaukau!! Enjoy! :O)

Cheeseburger Macaroni & Cheese Goulash

Yesterday for lunch I cooked "Cheeseburger Macaroni & Cheese Goulash". I had a huge bag of elbow macaroni from Sam's in the cupboard and hamburger in the freezer. My mom taught me this recipe when I was growing up. It's one of those type dishes for the whole family that spawned from eating Betty Crocker's Hamburger Helper. It's good on the budget and is very filling. You don't have to buy Hamburger Helper since this is made from scratch. Much more onolicious. Good to bring to potlucks since you can make choke amounts so everyone can take home. I'm watching my carb intake but been good at portioning my servings for a dish like this.

Ingredients:

2-4 Tbsp canola oil
2 lbs ground beef
2 cups elbow macaroni
4-6 cloves of garlic, crushed and finely minced
1/2 round onion, sliced and chopped fine
1 bay laurel leaf ripped in half to release aromatic scent
1 8oz can corn niblets
2 80z cans tomato paste or spaghetti sauce or ketchup
Dash pepper to taste
Dash salt to taste
Dash MSG to taste (optional)
6 inches of celery top of stalk with leaves, chopped finely
6-8 American cheese slices, more if you want it cheesier (cheddar may be subsituted)
1/2 block of butter or margarine to taste, to counteract the sourness of the tomato sauce

Instructions:

Follow directions on macaroni packaging.
Boil water in pot, add oil and salt.
Add uncooked macaroni and stir so macaroni doesn't stick together. Cooking times may vary according to cooking instructions on packaging. Usually 6-10 minutes cooking times. Cook until macaroni is aldente'.
Drain and rinse, set aside in strainer.
In another pot, add oil and heat.
Add garlic, onions, celery and bay leaves. Fry until onions are translucent. Do not burn garlic.
Add ground beef and brown. Mash meat up to break apart chunks. Cook till well done. Drain and spoon out excess oil.
Add tomato or spaghetti sauce. Bring to a high simmer then low simmer.
Stir in macaroni.
Add cheese and butter.
Stir in can of drained corn niblets.
Simmer til desired consistency of cheese and sauce approximately 8-10 minutes or until macaroni is tender.
Add optional sugar or Splenda for desired sweetness if you don't want it tangy and sour from tomato sauce.
Add pepper and salt to taste.
To get fancy you may place in a pyrex casserole dish and layer cheese on top and bake in the oven for 450 degrees for 20 minutes or until the cheese melts and browns.

Serves 6-8 or about a weeks worth of good eats.
















Enjoy!  Let's kaukau!!