Chicken-Pork Adobo

Ingredients
1/2 kilo pork cut in cubes
1/2 kilo chicken, cut into pieces
1 head garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup vinegar
2 cups of water 5 laurel leaves (bay leaves)
4 tablespoons of cooking oil or olive oil
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Salt and pepper to taste

How to Cook
In a big sauce pan or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil then sauté the minced garlic and onions.
Add the pork and chicken to the pan.
Add 2 cups of water, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, vinegar and the bay leaves.
Bring to a boil.
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or when meat is tender.
Remove the pork and chicken from the sauce pan and on another pan, heat cooking oil and brown the pork and chicken for a few minutes.
Mix the browned pork and chicken back to the sauce and add cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken.
Add salt and/or pepper if desired
Bring to a boil then simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
Serve hot with the adobo gravy and plain rice.

Laing

Ingredients
150 gm pack dried taro leaves or gabi
3 big mature coconuts
1 onion
2 tbs crushed garlic
½ cup crushed ginger
1 stalk lemon grass tied in bundle
250 gm dried fish any meaty ones will do
250gm pork, diced
2 cups water
2 tbs chilli (siling labuyo)
salt to taste

Hot to Cook
Have the coconuts grated and squeeze until the milk is well extracted.
Strain the pulp out of the milk and set aside.
This should be the kakang gata or first squeezed coconut milk.
Add another 1 ½ cup of water in the pulp and repeat the process.
Put this 2nd squeezed milk in the pan or wok.
Add all the ingredients except laing, and bring to a boil while stirring continuously.
When the mixture has thickened, add the laing or taro leaves.
Stir occasionally over medium heat.
When almost dry, add the kakang gata, salt or a pinch of sugar (optional).
Cook over low heat until cocnut milk turned almost into oil.
Serve hot or cold with rice.

Minatamis na Saging

Ingredients
6 medium ripe saba (or plantain bananas)
2 cups brown sugar
3 cups water
1 tsp vanilla extract

How to Cook
Pour water in a saucepan.
Stir in sugar
Heat over medium heat
Bring syrup to a boil and then lower the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes
Peel bananas and cut into 1/2 inch slices
Add to simmering syrup and continue cooking for another 10 minutes more or until saba bananas are tender and syrup is slightly thickens and lightly golden brown.
Remove from heat. Transfer to a dessert plate and serve

This can also be used to make Saba con Hielo by letting the banana & the syrup to cool. Once cool, add milk about 1/2 cup of milk for every 3 saba w/ shaved ice, using the syrup to sweeten the mixture.

Beef Morcon

Ingredients
1 kilo beef, sliced 1/4 inch thick (3 pcs.)
1/4 kilo ground beef liver
200 grams sliced sausages or ham 200 grams pork fat (cut is strips)
3 hard boiled eggs, sliced
100 grams cheddar cheese in strips 100 grams grated cheddar cheese
2 onions, chopped
5 bay leaf (laurel)
1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1/2 cup vinegar
2 teaspoon salt
2 cups of water
2 meters thread or string (for tying)

How to Cook
Spread and stretch the sliced beef on your working table.
Arrange the filling on the sliced beef: sausage strips, cheese strips, sliced eggs, pork fat and some ground liver.
Roll the sliced beef with all the filling inside and secure with a thread or string.
Repeat the procedure for the two remaining beef slices.
On a pot, place the beef rolls and put the water, the remaining ground liver, grated cheese, chopped onions, bay leaves, ground black pepper and salt.
Cover the pot and bring to a boil.
Simmer for one hour.
Add the vinegar and continue to simmer of another hour or until beef is tender.
Slice the beef morcon, arrange on a platter and top with the sauce/ gravy poured on top.

A spoon or two of flour can be added to water to thicken the sauce. Instead of boiling in a pot, you can use a pressure cooker for faster cooking. You can also garnish with olives before serving.

Leche Flan

Ingredients
1 can (390g) evaporated milk
1 can (390g) condensed milk
10 egg yolks
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or lemon essence

For the Caramel
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water

How to Cook
In a saucepan, mix the sugar & water.
Bring to a boil for a few minutes until the sugar caramelize.
Pour the caramelized sugar into aluminum moulds - you can use any shape: oval, round or square.
Spread the caramel on the bottom of the moulds.
Mix well the evaporated milk, condensed milk, egg yolks and vanilla by hand or blender.
Gently pour the mixture on top of the caramel on the aluminum moulds.
Fill the moulds to about 1 to 1 1/4 inch thick.
Cover moulds individually with aluminum foil.
Steam for about 20 minutes (the traditional way to make Leche Flan is by open-air steaming on either an open cooking fire or stove top) OR Bake for about 45 minutes.
Before baking the Leche Flan, place the moulds on a larger baking pan half filled with very hot water. Pre-heat oven to about 370 degrees before baking.
Let cool then refrigerate.

Embutido

Ingredients
1 kilo minced pork
3 raw eggs
1 onion chopped finely
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup raisin
1/2 cup sweet relish
1 cup sausage/hotdog, chopped
1/2 cup grated cheese 2 hard boiled eggs quartered
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
3 tbsp bread crumbs
Salt & pepper, to taste

How to Cook
In a large bowl, combined all the ingredients except for the hard boiled eggs
Mix well, until blended.
Spread half of the mixture in an aluminum foil (enough to make one roll)
Arrange the hard boiled eggs on top.
Roll the mixture over to form a jelly rod.
Roll tightly and wrap in aluminum foil, seal both ends.
Repeat with the remaining pork mixture.
This can make 2 jelly roll depending on how big /small you want it.
Place the roll in a steamer for one hour. Chill.
Remove from wrapping before serving.

Bukayo

Ingredients
1 kg grated coconut
1 kg pulot-ipot (molasses)
½ kg corn syrup
½ g potassium metabisulfite

Utensils
kitchen scale
carajay
wooden spoon or ladle
cheesecloth
wooden mold
stainless steel knife
Packaging Material: Cellophane and PE bags (0.003 in. thickness) or tin containers

How to Cook
Dissolve corn syrup in a small amount of water in a carajay over low flame.
Add pulot-ipot previously strained thru cheesecloth to remove impurities and other extraneous materials.
Add potassium metabisulfite previously dissolved in a small amount of water.
Boil mixture to 115°C (239°F) with occasional stirring.
Add grated coconut and cook to desired end point, i.e., when the mixture no longer sticks to the sides of the carajay when scooped out.
Spread on a wooden mold.
Cool and cut into desired pieces.
Wrap individually in cellophane and place in polyethylene bags.
Store in tin containers.

Bibingka

As with the Rice Cake Logs, this cake made of rice flour is also a part of the holiday season. When I was younger we had to wait till xmas before we could buy and eat our hearts out but these days this can be bought almost at any malls.


Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup NESTLE Fresh Milk
¼ cup butter
¼ cup sugar
½ cup grated cheese
2 pcs salted eggs, sliced

Cooking Instruction
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and line bottom of 2 8-inch layer baking pan with banana leaves or wax paper. Set aside.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
Beat the eggs until light and creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition.
Add flour mixture alternately with NESTLE Fresh Milk into the egg. Beat to blend thoroughly.
Pour mixture in lined pans.
Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven.
Spread butter on top then sprinkle with sugar and grated cheese.
Decorate with salted egg slices and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more.

Puto Bumbong or Rice Cake Logs

Christmas wont be complete with this seasonal rice cake being sold almost always near churches. It s a favorite snack/dessert after attending the Misa de Galo.


Ingredients:
1 Kilogram malagkit (glutinous) rice, mixed with
125 grams ordinary rice
1 pc mature coconut, shredded
butter or margarine
violet food coloring
banana leaves
water
salt
sugar

How to cook
Soak malagkit and ordinary rice mixture in salted water with violet food coloring for 1 hour.
Let dry overnight by putting inside a flour sack.
Put something heavy on top to squeeze out water.
Mixture is ready for cooking the following morning.
Heat steamer (lansungan) with enough water.
Put a small amount of rice mixture inside bamboo tubes(bumbong).
Attached bamboo tubes to lansungan or steamer.
When steam comes out of bamboo tubes, remove and immediately push out puto bumbong.
Top with coconut shred and sugar before serving.

Note: The lansungan or a specially made steamer is constructed with two protruding tubes on a kettle like shaped steamer. The tubes are for holding the bamboo tubes filled with the puto bumbong mixture in order for the steam to pass through.