Filipino style roasted chicken or lechon manok with mango and tomato salsa

Lechon manok or roasted chicken is one of the famous food in the Philippines, besides adobo ofcourse.

This is my own recipe for this yummy lechon manok.

For the marinate.
1cup carbonated drink ( like sprite, cola or 7-up)
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar
Half lemon squeezed
3 cloves garlic minced
1 onion cut into chunks
3 pcs Spring onions
3 stalks lemon grass
Pepper
1laurel leaves
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 tbsp oil

Mix the marinade and dip in chicken, be sure to coat the whole chicken with it (and the tummy part as well). Put the lemongrass, spring onions and garlic in the tummy of the chicken and marinate it for 1-2 days.

Grill or roast the chicken in 180°c for 40 minutes to 1 hour (depending how much the chicken weights - a kilo should be done in 1 hour.

For the mango and tomato salsa.

2 pcs not so ripe mangoes (sliced into small chunks)
3 pcs tomatoes (sliced into small chunks)
1 red onion (sliced into small chunks)
3 stalks coriander (minced)
Half of the lemon
Minced chili
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vinegar
Few drops of olive oil
Salt and pepper

Mix the vinegar, lemon, sugar, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Marinate the onio,  mangoes and coriander for about 30 minutes.  Add the minced chili and tomatoes and served.

Easy Brownies with walnuts and white chocolate bits

My love ones are very happy everytime I'm making this brownie recipe, it's so chewy, chocolatey, nutty and yummy.

Ingredients:
3 pcs large eggs
225 grams white sugar
170 grams butter
170 grams pure dark chocolate
56 grams all purpose flour
56 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
75 grams chopped walnuts
75 grams white chocolate bits

Preheat oven. 140°c

In a microwaveble bowl, put the dark chocolate and butter together and melt it. Be sure not to burn your chocolate.
For a safer way, you can use au bair marie style. It's melting the chocolate with a use of the steam of a boiling water.

When butter and chocolate are melted, whisk the eggs and sugar until mixed thoroughly together. Add the chocolate in the egg and sugar mixture. Remember to cool the chocolate first a little bit or the egg will cook.
Then add the flour and cocoa powder and mix well. Lastly add the walnuts and white chocolate bits.

Pour in a greased tray and bake for 20-25 minutes.

I assure you that this recipe is a bomb!

Enjoy and Eet smakelijk!!!

Easy blueberries and dark chocolate chips Muffins

I was watching TV last night and all of a sudden I had the urge of making something. Checked the time, it was 10:30 pm, checked my pantry and saw some ingredients for muffins, so I grabbed my baking tools and hoola, there I was, baking something yummy.

I decided to make blueberries and dark chocolate bits muffins.

Ingredients:
110 grams room temperature butter
250 grams sugar
250 grams flour
2 eggs
Teaspoon vanilla extract
150 ml milk
2 teaspoon baking powder
100 grams fresh blueberries
100 grams dark chocolate chips/galletes

Procedure:
Preheat oven. 180° Celsius or stand 4
Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat. Add the flour, milk and flour and mix thoroughly. Then slowly mix the blueberries and chocolates. Spoon the mixture in the greased muffin trays. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy!
Eet smakelijk!!

Couscous

Couscous is a staple food in North Africa. It is a traditional dish on th said region. It is made of semolina (durum wheat granules). It is often served with meat and vegetable stew.
I learned to eat and cook it here in the Netherlands. For me it taste like a flavored rice, but more healthier.

Are you curious how this one taste? Then try to cook it.

All you need: for making couscous
2 cups couscous
4 cups boiled chicken broth
Half Zucchini - minced
3 Spring onions - sliced into small rings
Half Paprika - minced
Few stalks Parsley - minced
5 pcs button mushrooms - minced
5 tbsp Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Put the couscous granules into a big pan, pour the hot chicken broth in, cover for 10 minutes. The hard granules will turn into soft, chewy, ricey structure. Pour and mix the olive oil in.
Saute the vegetables until done. When vegetables are ready, mix it with the couscous. Mix the minced parsley in. Taste, then season with salt and pepper.
Enjoy!

You can serve yours with some meat and stew, grilled fish or chicken or beef or anything you like . I served mine with grilled pork and green salad.

Creamy chicken pesto pasta

Simple ingredients, easy to make and a hit on the table. This pasta recipe is one of the all time favorite of my family.
I used a homemade pesto which was given to me by a friend. (Pesto recipe will be uploaded soon). But you can also buy a readymade pesto at a grocery store, it is available worldwide.

All you need are:
200 grams chicken fillet (slice as chunks)
150 grams broccoli (blanched)
300 ml heavy cream
2 tablespoons pesto
1 medium onion (minced)
1 pc garlic (minced)
Salt and pepper to taste
150 grams boiled pasta at your choice.
Grated cheese
1 teaspoon cornstarch or flour mix with 100ml water to make your sauce thicken.
You can also make a roux. (a cooking term for a butter and flour mixture for making foods with sauce thick)

Optional: red bell pepper (sliced in small cubes)

Now let's cook!
Boil the pasta and be sure that after straining your pasta wash it with cold water and sprinkle with olive oil. While boiling the pasta, heat a pan and saute the onion, garlic, chicken and pesto. If the chicken is almost done, add the heavy cream. Let it boil, add the cheese and season to taste. Add your flour/water mixture while stirring. Add the broccoli and enjoy!
I advice not to mix your sauce and pasta in the big pan but on your plate itself.

Easy and yummy chocolate mousse recipe

Chocolate mousse is an airy and frothy sort of dessert. You can use it as cupcake topping, cake icing or just eat it with fruits. A heavy but yummy dessert. 

If you love chocolate, then you should try this chocolate mousse recipe.

What you need:
200 grams pure chocolate (melted)
2 pcs large egg white
40 grams powdered sugar (confectioner)
250 ml heavy cream (beaten until hard)
10 ml cold heavy cream

While melting the chocolate, beat the egg white with the powdered sugar until stiff. Then beat the heavy cream. When the chocolate is melted, mix the cold cream, be sure to mix it fast and thoroughly. Chocolate can go back to its temperature fast. Then mix the beaten egg white. Then mix the heavy cream. Store in a small containers or glasses for nice serving. Keep it cool for the next 6 hours or more.

Enjoy! Eet smakelijk!!

Yes, I'm definitely back!

Years have passed, a lot happened and I know I'm now a better person and cook! Yes, I'm now a professional cook and I'm proud of it! 
It has been years since my last post, I've been very busy with my studies and work, but I keep telling myself that I'll be back into blogging as soon as I'll have the time for it. And now I am definitely back with lots of new cooking ideas and recipes.

See you around!

Baked chicken breast stuffed with herb cheese and wrapped with bacon

Yummy and easy recipe for a busy mom. I am a working mom, so I always go with easy but yet yummy recipes.

What you need:

3 pcs chicken breast (cleaned and slightly cut in between)

3 tablespoons herb cream cheese

9 pcs bacon strips

salt and pepper for seasoning

toothpicks

What to do:

Pre- heat the oven 180 degrees. Flat the chicken fillet, season with salt and pepper, put the cream cheese in the middle and slowly roll it. Wrap the rolled chicken fillet with the bacon and Put some toothpick at the end to hold the bacon in the meat. Put in the oven for 40 minutes.

Best served with vegetable salad.

Oven grilled Cajun Chicken and Broccoli salad with bacon bits and cashew nuts

We love chicken, it is okay with us to eat chicken everyday. You can make a lot with chicken, either you grill it, bake it, fry it, stew it or just a simple salad with it is really satisfying. This time, I made a Cajun Chicken.

All you need:

6 Pcs. Chicken Drumsticks

2 Tablespoon Cajun powder

1 Tablespoon dried Thyme

1 tablespoon Paprika powder

Mix the Cajun, thyme and paprika powder together and rub it evenly on the chicken. Grill it uncovered in the oven for about 50 minutes. And there's your Cajun Chicken.

For the Broccoli salad:

All you need are:

1 meduim size Broccoli (cleaned and cut into bite pieces)

1/2 cup cashew nuts

100 grams bacon bits (pan fried til brown)

5 tablespoon Herb salad dressing

Boil the broccoli for about 5 minutes or until you will get the soft but still crunchy texture. Then thow it into cold water to stop the cooking. Pat dry, then put in a mixing bowl, add the nuts, the bacon bits and salad dressing. Mix thoroughly and ready to serve!

Meatballs with gravy

Meatballs are the most common and easy meal you can make. You can do a lot of experiments with it. I love my meatballs in my spaghetti or meatballs in my soup. This time, I made Meatballs with gravy and serve with mashed potatoes.

All you need:

500 grams Ground beef or pork or mix

1 meduim onion minced

2 cloves garlic minced

2 tablespoons parsley

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

1 tablespoon paprika powder

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon of your favorite bbq sauce

a pack of ready made gravy (set aside)(cooked according to pack instructions)

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly then form it into balls and brown it in a pan. Put it in a bowl that can be put in the oven. Pre-heat the oven for 180 degrees.

Cook the gravy according to the pack instruction then add it in the meatballs. Put it in the oven for 30 minutes, and there's your meatballs..

You can add some mushrooms too in the sauce for some vegetables. Best serve with rice, noodles or mashed potatoes. Eet smakelijk!

Stoofpotje met roode wijn (Beef stew with red wine)

The saying says "Don't cook with wine if you can't drink it". I don't drink any alcoholic beverages but last week, I was challenge to cook this beef stew with red wine. Saw the recipe in the magazine and tried to cook it. It turned out so yummy, the result, Hubby had 3 plateful of it. :D

So here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. olive oil

1 kl. lean beef meat (cut into small chunks)

1 orange (peeled and get the juice)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

2 onions (sliced)

1 carrot (cut into 1 cm)

1 stem of celery (cut into 1cm)

2 laurel leaves

2 tbsp. fresh parsley

2 tbsp. tomato puree

1 1/2 tbsp flour

salt and pepper

400 ml red wine

400 ml beef stock

Procedure:

Heat the oil in the stew pan, then brown the beef. Take it out the pan, from the same oil, saute the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, orange peel, laurel leaves, parsley and tomato puree. Cook until the onion is done. Put the beef back in the pan and add the salt, peper and flour. Add the wine, beef stock and orange juice. High fire until boiling point, then cook it in low fire for 2 hours or until the beef is soft. Best serve with rice or mashed potatos.

Enjoy!

Crispy Tamban (Sardines)

Tamban or Sardines are seasonal. There are times that this fish are so cheap, and you don't know how to make it anymore, my Mama invented this recipe. Last week, I bought some sardines in the market and decided to make some last week and my daughter and husband loves it!

Debone your sardines. Open the stomach using your thumb, look for the middle bone and slide your thumb going down to the tail of the sardine, and do it at the other side of the bone, and there's your sardine fillet.

Recipe:

5 pcs. Tamban (sardines fillet) - you can use some other fish of your choice too.

breading mix (you can make your own breading mix too with flour, salt, pepper and some onion powder)

1 cup of oil

wash the sardines, pat dry with kitchen paper or towel, dip into the breading mix and crispy fry till golden brown.

best serve with a fresh salad.

Strawberries!

My last harvested strawberries.

My strawberry plants, with the last fruits.

We love straberries specially my daughter Nia. Last April, we planted some strawberries in a pot and hanging in our backyard. Commercial straberries taste so different than strawberries you plant at the garden or backyard. Winter is coming, so it's already the off season of strawberries. I can't wait for next year's spring so we can plant some new strawberries again and maybe some raspberries too! YUM!

Cooking with wine

I am working in the kitchen of a 4 star hotel, Apollo de Beayerd in Hulshorst, Netherlands. I love to watch the cooks cooking, and sometimes, I'm doing thier recipes at home. They use wine to flavour thier foods, so I decided to make something with red wine today, I can't wait for the result, I hope it will be yummy.. It is a Stoofpotje in dutch or Beef stew. I'll post the recipe with the pic when it's done. :)

Let's go Dutch!

My husband is dutch, so I am learning to cook the dutch foods. I bought some dutch cook books to get more knowledge on thier foods. Dutch foods has influences from the different European countries but they still have thier own kick.

Everytime I will try to cook the foods, I will always ask my mother-in-law how and what to do. Sometimes, it is not perfect but hey, we learn from our mistakes, right?

This time, I made a Stampot Prei (mashed potatoes with leek). Stampot is a common winter food for dutch, it is a hearty and healthy food.

Stampot Prei met worst en jus (Stamppot Leek with smoked sausage and gravy)

What you need: This is good for 6 persons.

1 kl. potatoes (peeled and cut into half)

2 teaspoons salt

2 pcs Leeks (sliced)

2 pcs hard boiled eggs (sliced)

100 grams bacon bits (spek)

any gravy of your choice

smoked sausage (prepare it according to the package)

What to do:

Boil the potatoes with salt for 20 minutes or until done. While cooking the potato, get another pan and blanch the leek for not more than 2 minutes and remove from the pan using a strainer to get the excess water. Fry the bacon bits until brown. Boil the eggs. When the potato is done, remove the water from the potato using the strainer. Put the potatoe back in the Pan (be sure you used a big pan) add the remaining ingredients and start to mash it - no need to add salt because the bacon bits are salty enough. Then your dutch food is ready for serving. Serve with the smoked sausage and gravy.

Eet smakelijk! (enjoy your meal!)