spinach in cocomilk

     I just imagined this recipe as the native laing we used to have at home. With a little imagination and tweaking, there goes the finished product into our tummies tonight.

spinach in cocomilk

   My lab does not have all the ingredients this recipe needs so I experimented on what I have. I don't have shrimp paste but I have anchovy fillets in vegetable oil. I tried using tamarind paste instead of lemon juice and the outcome was good. 

     I find it almost traditional, for my family, at least, that any vegetable cooked in cocomilk is best served with fried fish. We have some fried mackerel that went with this for dinner.

Ingredients:

600g frozen spinach

1 can coconut milk

about 10 fillets anchovies in vegetable oil (leave 2 fillets for garnish)

1 onion sliced

1 big plum tomato, sliced

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

a knob of ginger, sliced (about 2 inches)

2 hot dried chilis, deseeded

2 tablespoons of tamarind paste

fish sauce

pepper

oil

Process:

In salted boiling water, thaw the spinach. Squeeze excess water. Set aside.

Saute the garlic until golden brown, in a tablespoon of oil.

Add the ginger, the chilis, the onion and the anchovies with the oil. The fillets will become paste with few stirring. At this point, add the tamarind paste. Stir for a few seconds.  

Add the cocomilk and let boil.

Add the well drained spinach and mix with the sauce. Adjust the taste with fish sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with shredded anchovy fillets. Serve hot with fried fish and steamed rice.

PLAICE AU GRATIN AND BUTTERED VEGETABLES

     We caught some virus, I guess. Cough and colds and aching muscles made me too weak to cook and to scribble anything for almost a week. All I could do was browse the net and plant seeds on my farm, while thinking of a nice recipe I could prepare when I get well. :-) I thought some fish and vegetables would be nice. 

     

     I was about to just fry the fish but then changed my mind when the first two fillets were already in the pan for frying. So this gratin was fried a little first before hitting the oven and it was good, well, to my taste and hubby's. After all, being fed with easy meals for days, mostly soups, boiled and steamed anything, this one comes as a treat. 

   

     One thing though, I should have layered the bread crumbs first, then the cheese to get its nice gratin look that I expected. But I have written the recipe in correct order anyway. So the next time I make this, I"ll be sure to get it right.

PLAICE AU GRATIN AND BUTTERED VEGGIES

buttered veggies and gratin plaice

Ingredients:

For plaice au gratin:

4 pcs of plaice fillets or any fleshy fish fillet

juice of a large lemon
salt and pepper
panko bread crumbs
grated cheese
butter

For buttered veggies:
1 cup of corn kernels (I used the canned ones)
1 cup of cooked green peas
2 boiled carrots cut into small cubes (about a cup)
1 onion, finely chopped
butter
salt
pepper

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Mix together the lemon juice, about a teaspoon of salt and generous amount of pepper, then pour over the fish fillets.  I did this first before chopping the onions and cutting the carrots into cubes. This would give enough time to marinate the fish before hitting the pan.

In a shallow pan, melt about a small knob of butter, just enough to cover the pan. Fry each fillet for about a minute on each side. They will continue to cook in the oven later.

Lay the fillets in a baking dish, large enough to accomodate all four. Cover with a layer of panko, then grated cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

While the fish is baking, in the same pan over medium-low heat, melt another knob of butter.

Sautee the onion until it gets soft and opaque, not browned.

Add the corn, carrots and green peas.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss for a few times and cook for about 5 minutes.

Serve hot with the fish.

INTO OUR TUMMIES: easy chicken beans

INTO OUR TUMMIES: easy chicken beans:      A little before 11am?! The husband would be arriving in an hour and  the chicken intended for lunch was still inside the fridge, whole ...

easy chicken beans

     A little before 11am?! The husband would be arriving in an hour and  the chicken intended for lunch was still inside the fridge, whole and untouched!  Oh no!  I had to rush planting those seeds and stop clicking my mouse! hehe.  And oh yes, I had to prepare something easy, with the ingredients available in the pantry!  And so finding a can of cooked red beans and a small can of green peas in the cabinet, a few tomatoes in the fridge, I knew I'd be fine.
   

     But still I had to cut and clean the chicken. Separate and keep the breast part that hubby asked me to, for his own recipe tomorrow, which happen to be his kitchen day also. He loves to cook too! And invents his own recipes also. In fact, he appointed himself as in-charge of the kitchen on Sundays and I willingly obliged. Who wouldn't?  :-)

     Last night, he talked about this 'invention' running on his mind for a couple of days already. I know he has to do something about it and I'm curiuos. But that can wait until tomorrow. I had to cook our lunch first.

easy chicken and beans recipe

   

     When I'm in a hurry like this morning, and time is limited, this easy dish usually comes first on my mind and I never go wrong, at least, not yet.  Sometimes I use fresh green beans, or leeks or celery stalks, or whatever I have at hand. Sometimes I use pork or beef or mixed.  But I don't, actually, know how to call this recipe. Hubby calls it 'alla arrosto-alla stew'. I'll just call this one, easy chicken and beans. A very versatile dish for me, and very tasty, too.  One thing I've noted though, when cooking this kind of dish, try and adjust the taste when it's almost done.

Here's the ingredients I used for this dish:

1 whole chicken, minus the breast
1 can cooked red beans
about 1/2 cup of canned green peas
3 small carrots
1 big tomato
1/2 medium onion
1 clove garlic
extravirgin olive oil
a teaspoon of dried chopped rosemary
salt and pepper
1/2 glass white wine

How I did it:

I took off the skin of the whole chicken first.  Cut into serving pieces, cleaned and drained.
Sliced half of a medium sized onion, threw it the pan.
Washed and sliced one big tomato, threw it in the pan.
Crushed and peeled a clove of garlic, threw it in the pan.
Over them, I put the pieces of chicken and placed the pan over medium-high fire.
Poured about 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Sprinkled with dried rosemary, salt and pepper. Tossed a little, just to coat everything with everything and leave them there while peeling, washing and chopping the carrots into about a quarter of an inch. Put the carrots into the pan and tossed it again.
Washed the beans and the green peas and drained them.
When the pan started to sizzle a little, I poured in half a glass of wine.
Let it simmer, uncovered, until about half of the liquid already evaporated then covered it.
Turned the meat once while cooking and added a little water when I thought it was almost dry.
Ten minutes before 12nn, I added the red beans and green peas, gave it another toss.
Adjusted the taste and let it continue to cook, covered
Five minutes after 12nn, hubby and I were seated at the table.  :-)

tilapia and mushroom in cream and tomato sauce

This is the first real dish that I've cooked for this year and posted in my album on facebook, "...into my tummy".  And if you'd care to notice, it was from the same album where I took this blog's title.

Anyway, it was mid week after the holidays, two more days before market day, and all I had in my refrigerator was a package of champignon mushroom, some left-over tomatoes in can and some left over cooking cream. I had two whole tilapia sitting in the freezer for a few days which I had intended to cook for New Year's Eve, but we changed our minds at the last minute and went out to a restaurant instead with friends.

I knew I had to cook those tilapias soon so I decided to make a light dish after feasting on the holidays which turned out to be a not-so-light dish as I've used some cream on it and fried the fish, which in the end, we sinfully feasted again. :)

tilapia and mushroom in cream and tomato sauce

Ingredients:

2 whole clean tilapia (about 300g each)
one package (300g) fresh champignon mushroom, clean and quartered
2 medium peeled whole tomatoes (I used the canned ones)
about 2-3 Tbs. cooking cream (It's called panna da cucina here. I think it's the thin cream, the light one.)
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
salt and pepper to taste
oil

How to:

I sprinkled salt and pepper generously over the clean fish on both sides and inside the cavities.

In a non-stick pan, I heated about 2 tablespoons oil and fried the fish for about two minutes on each side. The fish were not really cooked at this point (I did this just to keep the skin from tearing).  I set them aside.

In the same pan, I sauteed the garlic until fragrant. Added the peeled and crushed tomatoes. Stirred for a few seconds. Then added the mushrooms. Cooked for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I added the cream and brought to a boil. Placed the not-so-cooked fried tilapia with the mushrooms and cooked for another 15 minutes, turning each on the other side once after about 5 minutes. As the fish were already sprinkled with salt and pepper, I did not adjust the taste anymore.

I served the fish and mushroom with hot steamed white rice.