Weekend Food Tour: No Place Like Home

Last weekend, I went home to the Philippines to attend my grandson's baptismal (my niece's son) Liandrei Luis, and I'm also one of the sponsors. The highlights of the ceremony is in my travel blog. After the church, the reception followed at our house and most of the food were home-made by my older sister. From give-aways to cakes, cupcakes and brownies, and main course. I was mentioned in my introduction page that I was influenced by her, that's why I started to learn how to cook.

Here are the captured food, enjoy!

The settings...

Carrot cake with cream cheese icing... yum!

more cakes... big one and small ones for give-aways....

Blue cupcakes, I enjoyed placing them in the boxes...

She's cooking four dishes at the same time...ham, baby back ribs,

shrimps in chilli sauce, and meatballs in tomato sauce

 (Actually, she started her business last year -  Christmas Ham for Sale)

the rest of the food....

My older sister - Jelly, and me out there taking photo...

We also had lechon "roasted pig", and lots of drinks...

Family, relatives, sponsors, and visitors enjoying the food...

*****

Luscious Saturday 

 Yummy Sunday

Cold Noodles with Left-Over Beef

Almost the same as what I posted last time Cold Noodles with Beef, Vietnamese Style. This cold noodle is one of my favorite! I specially make this kind if I have left-over steak. All what I do is to slice the beef, boil noodles, chop some green onion and fresh tomato, mince garlic. Add salt and pepper + Italian seasoning. Add a drop of extra-virgin olive oil, mix and another meal is created!

Sometimes, I also add fresh chopped basil leaf! Yum!

*****

Sunrise Parfait

I'm still not cooking since I arrived from the Philippines. I'm just posting some of my line-up collections. For today, I'm sharing this breakfast from SDB Recipes.

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 cup non-fat, sugar-free yogurt

1/2 cup cereal

Layer the strawberries, yogurt, and cereal in a bowl or dessert glass.

Guest Heart Thursday

Gingered Chicken Breast

Another easy recipe from SBD, I made this a long time ago and just forget to upload. As usual I used lime juice because that's the common available in the market. I like the mixture taste of lime and ginger that absorbed the whole meat because I marinated it overnight.

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic
2 boneless chicken breasts
olive oil

Combine the lime juice, ginger, pepper, and garlic in a small bowl. Place the chicken breasts in a deep bowl. Pour ginger mixture over the breasts, turning once to coat both sides. Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 2 hours. In a pan, heat oil on a medium-high until hot. Add the chicken. Cook, turning once, until tender.

I mixed the gingered chicken with fresh salad!

Weekend Food Tour: Ten Choices of Spaghetti

These are some spaghetti I've tried around Taipei

1. Seafood with Cream Sauce

2. Seafood with Tomato Sauce

3. Seafood with Black Ink (Squid Ink)

4. Seafood with Tomato and Cream Sauce

5. Asparagus and Mushroom with Cream Sauce

6. Tofu with Pesto Sauce

7. Tuna and Mushroom with Tomato Cream Sauce

8. Ground Beef and Mushroom with Tomato Sauce

9. Seafood with Tomato Sauce and Squid Ink Pasta

10. Fresh Tomato with Cream Sauce

My favorite is seafood with tomato sauce... yum!

About to Board

Ten Quesadillas

One, little two, little three, quesadillas, four, little five, little six quesadillas, seven, little eight, little nine quesadillas, ten quesadillas all! Yes! I've been eating quesadillas last week, and I never get tired of them. I love cheese, and food with cheese I couldn't resist. Here they are, some I would definitely try again, others I'll add something to make the taste better.

One - Simple Quesadillas

The basic and easiest to make, I usually eat this in the morning before I go to work. Just heat one tortilla in a Teflon (no need to add oil), sprinkle some cheese or sometimes I used singles until melt. Put another tortilla on top, and cook until the both sides of tortilla turn golden brown.

Two -  Peppered Beef Quesadillas

Same procedure, just added peppered beef. Ham also is added, if preferred.

Three - Scrambled Egg Quesadillas

I scrambled the egg first before I added as a filling together with cheese.

Four - Hot dog Quesadillas

I just sliced hot dog, added to the melted cheese.

Five - Asparagus Quesadillas

What I did here, I pan-grilled the asparagus first, you can also blanch before adding to the tortilla.

Six - Spinach Quesadillas

I used frozen spinach, sauteed it with onion and seasoned with salt and pepper + few fresh chopped basil.

Seven - Tomato and Broccoli Quesadillas

I used fresh tomato, seeded and cubed; I blanched the broccoli before adding all the fillings in tortilla. I like the blended taste of tomato and broccoli.

Eight - Scallop Quesadillas

I used one large tomato, seeded and chopped; one stalk chopped green onion, one minced garlic, salt and pepper, and fresh chopped basil. The 100g scallops were boiled before adding to all the ingredients. Cooked until the sauce was thicken. Then, I sprinkled some freshly grated mozzarella cheese.

Nine - Avocado Quesadillas

The same procedure with my home-made salsa, except I added some chopped avocado. I think, I prefer the salsa as dip, instead of adding the mixture as the fillings.

Ten - Fresh Tomato Salsa Quesadillas

This one is my favorite, I made this last May from scratch. I bought the corn flour from Japanese Store. I also made the salsa from scratch. I will never get tired of eating this kind... Yum!

Shrimp Salad with Louis Dressing

Another My Meatless Monday here! This time is just shrimp salad, but it's the dressing that made it yum! I got the recipe from SBD. If you notice, the first photo has no eggs and garbanzo. Actually, everything was ready but I forgot to add since I was so hungry and can't wait to eat. Luckily, we can buy fresh deveined shrimp and made that easier for me, plus my left-over garbanzos I used in my Hummus. I also used cherry tomatoes to make the salad a little bit sweet.

 

Shrimp Salad

1 cup baby or medium-size shrimp

1 small lime juice

sat

1 cup garbanzo beans, drained (I used fresh)

1 large ripe tomato, cored and sliced

2 eggs, hard-cooked, sliced

2 lemons, cut in half

4 ripe black olices

4 thin round slices green bell pepper

lettuce (I used romaine)

Louis Dressing

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

2 tablespoons chili sauce

1 tablespoon grated onion

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (omitted)

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon Worcershire sauce, or more

To make the shrimp

Drop the shirmp in boiling water flavores a little salt and lime juice. Cook until just pink, usually a minute or two. Drain, cool slightly; shell and devein. Place in abowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill.

Chopped some romaine lettuce and place in a dinner plate. Place a mound of shrimp in the middle, and a mound of garbanzos. Place the  eggs, tomatoes, lemon, green pepper, and olives the way you want them. Cover and chill of not serving immediately.

To make the Louis dressing

Combine mayonnaise, chili sauce, grated onion, parsley (omitted), salt, black pepper, cream, Worcershire sauce, and hot sauce (if using). Stir until blended. Chill, covered, until serving time. Serve the dressing in a small sauce saucer.

I used the dressing as a dip since it has a large amount of mayonnaise.

My Meatless Monday