May Kulinarya Theme: Flores De Mayo

   And so this is my post!...

   I got all caught up with so many activities last April, and I was so sorry I was not able to post something for the Decadence Theme.   So when I received the email concerning the new theme which was for May I got so excited.  Our family was not really drawn to fiestas and celebrating patrons and the likes, but we do celebrate God's goodness and wonders through His creations, mostly on those that are edible, hehehe.  One of the beauties that most cooks wonder if they could use it in the kitchen are the flowers.  There were a lot of  flowers who can be eaten.   I've tried decorating a simple chocolate cake with sugar-coated rose petals from my garden.   I've eaten Nama Bars topped with dried Lavander flowers.   Blossoms of katuray, squash and malunggay have been used in dishes in our province in Bohol.  They are just to name a few.

To be honest I had so many things in mind to start off my May theme.   I asked hubby if we could visit Sonya's Garden in Tagaytay from some inspiration, cause I've heard they have something on their menu which has fresh flowers in it but we were not able to.   Tried to look for recipes in the net, didn't had the luck.

Then I went to the market and saw these lovelies.

These are blossoms of male winter squash locally known  here in Manila as kalabasa.  These are typically used for veggie dishes such as Dining-ding and Pinakbet.   And I have never tried cooking with it.   It was not hard for me to think of a dish.  I'm used to experimenting in the kitchen and what the heck.

How can anyone go wrong with fried and crunched male winter squash flowers (bulaklak ng kalabasa).

My kids love anything fried.  To make the dish inviting I added shrimps to fill the center.

Here are the ingredients:

20 pcs large kalabasa blossoms or more (remove the stem)
1/2 K of shrimps, cooked and diced
2 eggs, 1 for the filling and one for the coating
1 med. onion, chopped
dried banana blossoms,chopped
flour
salt, pepper and paprika

Here is how to do it:
For the filling, mix in a bowl the shrimps, onions, banana blossoms, egg, flour, and the seasonings.
Once mixed properly, fill each flower with a tablespoon of the mixture.  You don't have to close the top, as long as the mix is sticky enough and not runny.
Dip the flowers in beaten egg and dredge with flour and salt or with chicken coating mixture.
Deep fry each flower in canola or corn oil.
I know, it is that easy!

The glorious frittata!

   The experiment should I say was a success. My kids are always asking me when I will cook these again.   Even my eldest son who is a picky eater and don't like veggies, loved it.   He never have guessed it was a flower.   So I hope I contributed something to Kulinarya and may everyone have more fun in the kitchen as I've always been!

Sweet Temptations CupCakes

It was my daughter's 13th birthday and so I gave in to her raving about a sort of "tea/baking party".   We did not plan anything for that day, because we bought her favorite pair of shoes days ago and she had invited a few of her classmates to go to Meidolls Cafe.  But no, I didn't want that day to be wasted.  So I whipped up a plan, headed to the grocery and grabbed quickly the stuff I need for a decent dinner, one that somehow my family would call special.
Also, I need to make some experiments on how we will do my Dana's birthday cupcakes on her party on May.   Good thing Baker's Depot has a branch at Waltermart Pasong Tamo.  So we were able to buy a few items I lack and will be needing for that preparation.

Here is the recipe for the Sweet Temptation Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 bar butter,softened                       1/2 tsp.  Baking soda
2 cups sugar                                    1/2 tsp iodized salt
1/2 cup whole eggs                          1 cup evap milk
1/4 tsp vanilla                                   1/2 cup light syrup
1 tsp. Baking powder                       3/4 cup cocoa
                                                        2 1/3 cups all purpose flour

Procedure:
Mix cocoa and flour in a bowl, set aside.   Mix and beat all ingredients, adding cocoa-flour mixture last.   Pour on a cupcake lined pan.   Bake for 20-25 mins at 350*F.  Cool before frosting.

The last picture shows my daughter, Danielle (the celebrant) decorating the cupcakes.  One batch or recipe makes 22-25 cupcakes.

Lentil Soup with Pata

 Kulinarya March Challenge:  Vegetarian Dish

  This is my first entry ever, however I am so happy and humbled!  Everyone here have been so gracious in sharing their specialties.   I got inspired by Cusinera's entry about Mung beans.  I have been avoiding the dish for quite sometime now, my kids don't like the texture ones it's cooked, they only like the liquid part,  only if bacon is sauteed with it.   Me, I love munggo, specially if there's "ampalaya" leaves.   Only if I can be vegetarian, but i can't and i don't plan to, yet.   I cook for my husband, four kids and my employees, so I usually put meat or fish on any vegetable dishes I cook.  Sometimes, even though I cooked for everyone, I would still make a salad just for my self.  

   For days now I've been seeing a pack of  Lentils, which my mother sent for my birthday from Milan. 

Today it was my daughter's birthday.   While planning to cook something for "meryenda" or perhaps dinner I decided to cook this for lunch.  

Supposedly, this entry is an all veggie.   This can be, however, this is how I did this.

Lentil Soup

1/2 Kilo of Pata

250 g Lenticchie (Lentils), pre-soaked in water (1 hour)

1 big sayote, cubed

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

Boil or pressure cook the Pata or Pork Legs.  Once the meat is soft and cooked, put the garlic and onion.   After 5 minutes put the lentils, without the water.   This will take about 30 minutes to cook.  Try to taste the lentils if they are soft enough outside and a bit hard inside, put the Sayote cubes.  Season to taste.

Sounds easy to make.  But everything including timing has to be considered.

Well guess what my husband liked it and so does my kiddos.

Drunken Shrimp

A Lumpia Like No Other

Smoked Alumahan and Salted-Egg Spring Rolls

YES!   I am so excited sharing this recipe.   I am not only happy my experiment turned out to be a success and my lumpia is delectable, but also my High School friends and I were able to set up a group of food lovers at Facebook.   We named our-selves "Food-Trippers."
So you ask why this lumpia is different.   For one, it is not the typical pork lumpia or lumpiang shanghai.   Let me tell a story first on how I had discovered this.  I was invited to a marketing stint of Alveo.   They have pulled up an event where they had envisioned a community to near perfection, with that they had invited three of the country's celebrated chefs, and with the chefs expertise they created a special menu distinct to the Alveo's products.   To know more about this you may read my other site.   Here is the blog and the link:  Three Different Southern Adventures with ALVEO.
Going back to my lumpia...  Inspired by Chef Florabel Co-Yatco's Smoked Bangus and Salted Egg Spring Rolls, mine was recipe out of what I tasted from that event, since there would be no way I could get grab a copy of Chef Florabel's recipe.

So here are the ingredients:
2 packs (4 pcs. medium-sized) tinapang Alumahan (smoked Alumahan)
3 salted eggs
1 packet of Rebisco Whole wheat crackers
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small scallion or red onion, chopped
olive oil
spring onions, about 4 stems, chopped
lumpia wrappers
Procedure:
Just like any other lumpia, you cook the filling and fold it in the wrapper and fry.
Anyway here is my version.
1.   Flake or shred the meat of the smoked fish.   Careful of  any fish bones not to mix with the meat.
2.   Removed the shells of the salted-eggs and chop.
3.   Saute garlic, onion on olive oil, once they are cooked, put the flakes and the spring inions.  Remove from fire after 5 minutes, do not overcook or burn the fish flakes.
4.   On a bowl, mix well chopped salted-eggs, the sauted fish flakes, crumbed Rebisco Whole-wheat crackers, and about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. 
5.   Get a tablespoon of the mixture and wrap it with the lumpia wrapper.
6.   Fry till golden brown.
7.  Serve with Mango Salsa or Cucumber salad or Atchara.

   For this I guess the best Smoked fish to use is the Boneless Smoked Bangus.   It was hard flaking the ones that have lots of fish bones.   I also have done a Shanghai Spring Roll with Flaked Tuna instead of ground pork.   Yen Arceta, a  friend of mine have made a very nice version of Lumpiang shanghai, see it here:
 http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/photo.php?fbid=130166267055739&set=a.124657287606637.23306.100001870983884&theater
Thanks for posting that picture Yen, I just hope you are  reading this, this really pushed me to blog about this!

Chicken Spaghetti Soup for a Gloomy Tuesday Morn

   Waking up from a nice rest and seeing the clouds gray, made me crave for Sopas.   But my youngest daughter will wake up in about 30 minutes.  I need a really quick dish to cook for her and my husband.    Good thing I have leftovers.    Scouting our fridge, I saw spaghetti noodles,  pieces of uncooked chicken legs, and sprigs of spring onions.

   This is easy!

   Cook the chicken until soft with minced garlic and red onion.  Put the noodles when the chicken pieces are cooked and then the evaporated milk or if you do have fresh milk that would be better.   Cover and simmer for a few minutes then put the chopped spring onion.  Season with salt and pepper.   Serve with grated cheddar cheese on top.

Spaghetti with Creamy Mushroom and Corned Beef Sauce

So many times we want to eat home-made spaghetti but don't have the complete ingredients to make some.
But what is so nice with this dish is its diversity.   You can never go wrong with the sauce, you can have it tangy (Italian, marinara version), sweet (kiddie or Filipino version) and in this case, creamy.   Why and how is it creamy?   I put cream on the sauce.
Also, everything goes well with any kinds of sauce.   I had tried a lot of experiments concerning this.  I'd also used different types of pasta to only one kind of sauce.
It really is fun dishing out in my kitchen.

So I got a can of corned beef, brazilian type, 250 g of italian style spaghetti sauce, half a cup of sliced button mushroom and leftover cream from my fridge.

Sauted a clove of chopped garlic and a small onion and poured in the corned beef, the mushrooms and the sauce. Once simmered, put the cream , about 1/4 cup and season with salt and pepper.   Serve with any cooked pasta.  Top with Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh basil leaves.

We had this for a late afternoon snack!