Basic Cooking tips...

The following fifteen is just a tiny handful of the many basic

cooking tips that you could integrate into your everyday life to save
time and money.

• Bacon: Reduce shrinkage by running cold water over it before frying.

• Beans: Stop gas attacks by adding a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda in a big pot of beans while they are soaking.

• Boiled Eggs: Add some vinegar or a little salt to the boiling
water when boiling eggs. This basic cooking tips will keep the egg in
the shell if it cracks.

• Ripening Fruits and Vegetables: Put your unripe fruit and
vegetables in a brown paper bag and place the bag in a dark cupboard
for few day. Using this basic cooking tips is an excellent way to save
money on fruits and vegetables that has to be ripened.

• Salads: Cut your iceberg lettuce into wedges instead of tearing salad greens to save some time making a salad.

• Spaghetti Sauce: Add a small pinch of bicarbonate of soda to your spaghetti sauce to lower the acid taste from the tomatoes.

• Corn: Place the corn directly into boiling water, and do not add
salt. Do not boil corn for more than three minutes. Overcooking reduces
the taste level.

• Frozen Vegetables: When they are stuck together, simply run boiling water over them.

• Grating Cheese: Freeze for twenty five minutes before grating. It will shred so much easier.

• Pancakes: Use a small amount of sugar in the batter and they will brown more quickly.

• Pie Pastry: Substitute one teaspoon of vinegar for one teaspoon
of the cold water called for in the recipe and the pastry will be much
flakier.

• Quick Sauces: Use condensed cream soups such as cream of
mushroom, cream of chicken, cream of tomato, cream of celery, to make
fast and easy sauces.

• Quick Tenderizer: Use vinegar as a meat tenderizer. Add a
tablespoon to water when boiling meat or ribs for stews. This basic
cooking tips will help tenderizer even the toughest meat.

• Wilted vegetables: Soak wilted veggies in two cups water, one tablespoon vinegar to help bring them back to life.

• Wooden Skewers: Soak all your wooden skewers in cold water for twenty minutes to prevent them from burning.

Inspiration
could be considered to be one of the key ingredients to writing. Only
if one is inspired, can one get to writing on any subject especially
like cooking.

Use some of these basic cooking tips to make your life in the kitchen more enjoyable.

lechon baboy in the making!!

Italian Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs

Ingredients:
MEATBALLS
1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg, beaten

SAUCE
3/4 cup chopped onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 bay leaf
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, parsley,
Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder and beaten egg.
Mix well and form into 12 balls. Store, covered, in refrigerator
until needed.
2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in
olive oil until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar
and bay leaf. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 90 minutes.
Stir in tomato paste, basil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and meatballs and
simmer 30 minutes more. Serve.

Cheesy Potato and Corn Chowder

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 3 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
• 1 (2.5 ounce) package country style gravy mix
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup shredded Mexican-style processed cheese food

DIRECTIONS:

1. In large saucepan, melt margarine over medium high heat. Add celery and onion; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth; bring to a boil. Add potatoes; cook over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in corn and chiles; return to boiling. Dissolve gravy mix in milk; stir into boiling mixture. Add cheese; cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted.

lumpia shanghai

In Filipino, lumpia are eggrolls that are deep-fried like a wrapped stick of meat. Lumpia is a spring roll filled with ground or finely mince of pork, beef or vegetables then served it with sweet and sour sauce. Sometimes I call this recipe lumpia shanghai.

This lumpia recipe or lumpia shanghai is one of the filipino recipes that I usually make, whenever we have a party or get together with friends, especially filipino friends, at home. One time, I was busy cooking filipino recipes, and one of them is this lumpia and my friend arrive early and help me in the kitchen. She notices that I my lumpia wrapper won’t stick together whenever I cook. I’ve tried everything from water, to egg wash and other type of paste but still no avail, the wrapper still broke loose.

Since she is also a good cook; she gave me the technique in making these wrapper sticks together. And guess what she told me, just used the egg white as a paste in binding this wrapper together. And it works! Since then, my filipino lumpia shanghai servings looks better and taste good.

Thank you Carmelita for the great tip!

Ingredients :

· 1 lb. ground pork
· 1 cup chopped shrimps
· 1/4 cup finely chopped onions
· 1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
· 2 whole eggs
· 3 tbsp. soy sauce
· 3 dashes of sesame oil
· salt and pepper, to taste

· lumpia wrapper
· vegetable oil, for frying

(Cooking Conversion Chart)

Cooking Procedures :

1. In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix until well blended.

2. Wrap into thin rolls in lumpia wrapper. Fry in deep hot oil.

3. Drain on paper towels. Transfer to a serving platter. Serve with your favorite catsup or make your own Sweet and Sour Sauce recipe.

Pakbet

• 1/4 kilo pork with fat, cut into small pieces

• 2 Amapalya (bitter melons) sliced to bite size pieces

• 2 eggplants, sliced to bite size pieces

• 5 pieces of okra, cut in two

• 1 head garlic, minced

• 2 onions, diced

• 5 tomatoes, sliced

• 1 tablespoon of ginger, crushed and sliced

• 4 tablespoons bagoong isda or bagoong alamang

• 3 tablespoons of oil

• 1 1/2 cup water

• Salt and pepper to taste

Pakbet Cooking Instructions:

• In a cooking pan, heat oil and fry the pork until brown, remove the pork from the pan and set aside.

• On the same pan, saute garlic, onion, ginger and tomatoes.

• In a casserole, boil water and add bagoong.

• Add the pork in the casserole and mix in the sautéed garlic, onion, ginger and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

• Add in all the vegetables and cook until the vegetables are done, careful not to overcook.

• Salt and pepper to taste.

• Serve hot with plain rice.

Pork Sinigang kabayan

• 3/4 kilo Pork, cut into chunks

• 3 tomatoes, sliced

• 2 onions, diced

• 100 grams Kangkong (river spinach)

• 100 grams String beans

• 2 pieces horse radishes, sliced

• 3 pieces gabi (taro), pealed

• 2 pieces sili pag sigang (green finger pepper)

• 200 grams sampalok (tamarind)

• 3 tablespoons of patis (fish sauce)

• 1 liter of rice wash or water

Sinigang Cooking Instructions:

• Boil sampalok in water until the shell shows cracks. Let cool then peal off the shells and with a strainer, pour samplalok (including water) into a bowl. Gently massage the sampalok meat off the seeds, strain again.
• In a pot, sauté garlic and onion then add the tomatoes. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add pork and fish sauce then add the rice wash. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes then add the gabi. Continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or until the pork is tender.
• Add the horse radish and simmer for 10 minutes then add the string beans, kangkong and sili (for spice-optional). Let boil for 2 minutes.
• Serve piping hot.

Sinigang Cooking Tip:

• Instead of sampalok fruit (tamarind), you can substitute it with any commercial souring seasoning like Knorr sampalok seasoning or tamarind bouillon cubes for this pork sinigang recipe.

very simple inihaw na liempo

We like to grill at home. And the simplest thing to grill (our favorite as well) is pork belly. Just rub both sides with salt and grill till cooked. We chop them in small pieces and serve with a salsa made of tomatoes, onions, chiles, vinegar, soy sauce and any other herbs at hand (spring onions, cilantro or chives) on the side. Or mix the grilled liempo with the salsa for a more than the usual treat!

Pastel de Lengua

Ingredients:
1 beef tongue
1/2 c. cooking oil
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, cubed
3 potatoes, cubed
1/4 c. green olives
1 can vienna sausage
1/2 c. tomato sauce
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. maggi sauce
2 tsp. ground pepper
1 tsp. vinegar
2 c. beef tongue broth
2 - 3 tbs. flour dissolved in 1/2 c. water.
Pie crust (ready made)
1 egg, beaten with a little milk

Instructions:
Boil the tongue until soft, scrape white coating on the surface, then cut into 1" squares, put back into the broth and bring to a boil. Add the rest of the ingredients. Allow to simmer in the sauce pan until all vegetables are cooked. Thicken sauce with dissolved flour. Let simmer for 5 minutes and pour into a pyrex dish. Cover with pie crust. Brush top with beaten egg and milk. Bake until golden brown in a hot oven.

Salpicado

Ingredients: 2 fillet mignons, cubed Olive oil 2 cloves Garlic, minced ½ cup Soy sauce ½ tsp Maggi (or Knorr) ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
Instructions: Marinate the steak in soy sauce, Maggi and Worcestershire sauce for about 15 minutes in a bowl. Heat olive oil in a pan. Saute garlic for about 2 minutes. Saute steak till desired doneness. Serve with garlic fried rice

Morcon - Stuffed Flank Steak Roll

Ingredients:
1 kg. beef flan steak, butterfly-cut for morcon, about 3/4" thick, in one piece
2 tbsp. calamansi juice or lemon juice
1/4 c. soy sauce
4 pcs. vienna sausage, cut into 4 diagonally
2 pcs. sweet gherkins or 4 pcs. sweet pickles, cut in thin long strips
2 hard cooked eggs, sliced
100 gms. cheddar cheese, cut in strips
1/2 pc. carrot, cut into long strips
3 slices bacon
2 tbsps. flour
1/4 c. cooking oil
3 pcs. bouillon cubes dissolved in 3 c. boiling water
1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions:
Marinate beef in calamansi or lemon juice and soy sauce. Arrange strips of vienna sausage, sweet gherkins, hard cooked eggs, cheese, carrots and bacon on marinted beef. Roll neatly and tie with a string. Dredge in flour then brown in hot cooking oil. Transfer to a big saucepan. Add bouillon water. Season with salt. Cover and simmer until beef is tender. Slice, arrange in a platter. Pour sauce on top. Garnish with sprigs of parsley.

Mechado (Beef)

Ingredients:
1 kg. beef kabilugan (whole eye of round) or rump roast
1/4 c. cooking oil
4 cloves garlic
1 onion sliced
2 potatoes quartered, fried
1 carrot, cut in 1/2 inch round
1 slice dayap or lemon with rind
2 tbs. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. peppercorn
1 c. tomato sauce
1 laurel leaf
1 tsp. salt
1-1/2 c. hot water

Instructions:
Brown meat in cooking oil. Set aside. In the same oil, saute garlic and onion. Cook 5 minutes. Put in dayap, soy sauce, peppercorn, tomato sauce, laurel leaf and salt. Simmer a few minutes more. Add water, cover and simmer for approximately 2 hours. Add potatoes and carrots when meat is tender. Slice meat and arrange on a platter with the vegetables. Strain sauce and pour over meat.

Beef Kaldereta (Beef Stew) (Beef)

Ingredients:
1 kilo beef (Chuck Roast), cut into chunks
1/4 cup cooking or olive oil
1 big can (350g) liver spread or ground liver
5 onions, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
6 tomatoes, sliced
1 cup tomato sauce
3 green peppers, diced
3 red peppers, diced
4 pieces hot chili peppers, minced
3/4 cup grated cheese
2 cups beef stock or water
Olives (optional)

Instructions:
In a casserole, sauté garlic and onions in oil. Then add tomatoes, red & green pepper and chili peppers.

Add in the beef, tomato sauce, liver spread and water or stock. Salt to taste and let simmer for at least 1-1/2 hours or until the beef is tender.

Add cheese and olives (optional) and continue to simmer until the sauce thickens.

Serve with steamed white rice.