CHICKEN WITH OLIVES IN SOUR CREAM SAUCE

2 Chicken leg quarters

2 Tbsps Fish sauce

Black pepper, freshly ground

1 Tbsp Olive oil

4 Cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 White onion, chopped
2 Tbsps Green olives, pitted

1 Salad Tomato, chopped

2 Tbsps Roasted Green Bell Pepper, chopped

2 Tbsps Sour Cream

Cut the chicken leg quarters into 2 segments. Score the chicken, then marinate in fish sauce and black pepper for 5 minutes.

Saute garlic and onions in olive oil until transluscent. Add the chicken pieces with the marinate. Wait until brown, then add the tomatoes,olives and the green bell pepper. After a few minutes, add some water and let the chicken and the vegetables stew. 

When the chicken is almost cooked, add the sour cream and let the chicken thoroughly cook and sauce thicken.

I served this to the kids with mashed potatoes and a salad. :-) (And i forgot to take a photo! But the kids loved it!)

Red Snapper Fiesta!

PESTO:

In a food processor, pulse the following together:

Basil leaves

Garlic

Parmesan Cheese

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil

Nuts-> optional

RED WINE REDUCTION:

Cook red wine, bay leaves and a bouillon cube and reduce until syrupy. Add butter to enrich the sauce.

ROASTED GARLIC:

Slow cook garlic cloves in olive oil until soft and caramelized. It's almost like poaching the garlic in olive oil.

FRIED LEEKS:

Slice and fry in the oil used for the garlic! 

FRIED ASPARAGUS:

Cook in the oil used for the garlic and leeks, season with salt and pepper.

GARLIC-SOY RICE:

Season the water for cooking rice with soy sauce and garlic powder. Cook.

RED SNAPPER MUNIERE:

Season with salt and pepper, dip in cornstarch and pan fry in olive oil until cooked and crispy outside.

Assemble all the ingredients and plate as you wish.

Westernized Laksa

Kevin loves Laksa! And we haven't found any good laksa so i thought that it would be best if I made it for him at home. But, my style of course! I didn't have any noodles on hand, but I had angel hair spaghetti. Neither did I have any squid balls or prawns, but i had soy fish cakes. So here is my version of laksa.

Angel hair spaghetti, pre boiled and drained

Veat Fish cakes (vegetarian, made of soy protein), pre-cooked

Eggs, fried and cut in strips

Cucumbers, washed, deseeded and sliced

Ginger and Garlic, chopped and fried to use as topping

For the soup:

Garlic, chopped

Ginger, chopped

Laksa Sauce, packed

Coconut Milk

Saute the garlic and ginger, add the laksa sauce andteh coconut milk and simmer until slightly thickened.

Arrange on a plate the noodles, the fish cakes, cucumbers, eggs and top with the crispy ginger and garlic. Serve the soup on the side and pour when ready to eat.

Enjoy!

MIGHTY MEATY MALUNGGAY PESTO

Have you met the MIGHT MEATY PESTO? If you haven't, let me introduce you! Usually, when we have pesto in pasta, you almost never see anything else in it but the pesto sauce (basil leaves, garlic, parmigiano, pine nuts, olive oil, salt and pepper). But in my home of meat eaters, that usually doesn't cut it. As requested by The King, there has to be other components in the pesto sauce like the way his Mom makes it. So here is my first attempt at making the pesto sauce more fit for royalty.

1 cup of pesto sauce (fresh or bottled)

Olive oil, for sautéing

1/2 cup finely chopped onions

2 Tbsp finely chopped garlic

1/2 cup finely chopped green olives

1/2 cup finely chopped ham

1/2 cup finely chopped mushrooms

1/4 cup dried malunggay/moringa flakes

salt and pepper to season

Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil until translucent. 

Add the olives, ham, and mushrooms.

After a couple of minutes, add the pesto sauce and the malunggay flakes. Simmer for 5 minutes and season.

Top on pasta.

Simple, beautiful, delicious. Enjoy!

YOGURT CHICKEN

Chicken Thigh Fillets
Greek Yogurt
Garlic powder
Za'atar spice blend
Chicken powder
Cream of Mushroom powder
Chili flakes
Rosemary
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and Marinate the chicken for 1 hour.
Pan fry,  until thoroughly cooked then add some more yogurt to make a sauce. Season the sauce with more garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Top with chopped parsley and enjoy!!!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

• For the cake:
  2 cups All Purpose Flour
  2 tsp Baking Powder
  1 tsp Baking Soda
  1/2 tsp Salt
  1 tsp Cinnamon
  1/2 tsp Nutmeg
  1/2 tsp Allspice
  4 Eggs
  2 cups Brown Sugar
  2 tsp vanilla extract
  1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
  2 cups grated Carrots
  1 can (20 oz) Crushed Pineapple drained
  1/2 cup dried Dessicated Coconut
  1 cup chopped Walnuts
  1 cup Raisins
  Preheat oven to 350F/170C/Gas Mark4.
  Coat a large loaf pan, 10x15x2 baking dish or bundt pan with oil or cooking spray.
  In a medium mixing bowl stir together using a wooden spoon the FLOUR, BAKING POWDER, BAKING SODA, SALT, CINNAMON, NUTMEG and ALLSPICE. Set aside.
  In another larger bowl mix together using a wooden spoon the EGGS, SUGAR and VANILLA.
  Stir in the OIL until the mixture is thick.
  Gently stir in the DRY ingredients.
  Fold in the CARROTS, WALNUTS (optional), PINEAPPLE, COCONUT, and RAISINS.
  Pour slowly into prepared pan and spread evenly.
  Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.
  Let cool for 15 minutes, then turn out on to plate or platter.
  For the Frosting:
  8 oz of cream cheese, very soft
  4 oz of butter, very soft
  1/8 tsp salt
  4 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
  1 tsp of vanilla extract
  
  Beat the cream cheese and butter with the salt until light and fluffy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, and the vanilla - beat until smooth and creamy. Ice the cooled carrot cake. Top the cake with some coconut.

Truffled Poached Egg on Greens

I am not really a fan of Philippine eggs...mainly because they don't taste as fresh as they should be. But lately, I have been getting organic eggs that are always fresh with very orange yolks. So this morning, I had an idea. I just arrived from the U.S. and I got silicone egg poachers, and thought, why not make some poached eggs today...plus, I also had black truffle oil and himalayan salt...already sounds good right? 

So here is what I made for breakfast.

A poached egg seasoned with truffle oil, salt and pepper on a bed of mixed lettuce and arugula with a sweet vinaigrette. Absolutely delicious!