My First: Chicken Cordon Bleu

It all started when my husband and I had dinner at French Baker (which was my FTF entry last week). He said that the Chicken Cordon Bleu I ordered reminded him of his mom. He told me, that my mother-in-law would always whip up homemade cordon bleu for the family. The following day, I went to the grocery store and while my husband was at work, I got my kitchen apron ready, my chopping board at hand and the ingredients for my own version of Chicken Cordon Bleu.

There were downs on this first attempt, that's why I still can't post the recipe.

1. I chose the wrong kind of cheese

2. I got small sizes of chicken breast fillets

Bicol Express

As requested by...

It's "the" Filipino dish that I never really liked because it's spicy. But to be honest, I haven't even tried tasting it. One evening, I got a call from my husband asking me, if I know how to cook Bicol Express. Obviously, the answer is no, but I know for a fact that it is an easy dish to prepare. So, I said, okay, I'll try my best to be able to nail a good Bicol Express just for you. Knowing my husband who loves spicy food and hot dishes, I just gotta do it and get the right flavor.

Bicol Express is known to be one of the hottest dishes served from any busy Filipino Kitchen. It is a pork stew cooked with chopped green chili (siling mahaba), coconut milk, shrimp paste, onion, pork, and garlic.

I mixed my recipe with 2 kinds of Chilies: Siling Haba (green chili) and Siling Labuyo (Bird's Eye Chili in some countries)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 K pork cutlet (chopped into small pieces/ menudo cut)
• 1 cup coconut milk (you can add more coconut milk)
  
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp shrimp paste
• 5 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 small red oinion (chopped)
• 1tsp minced ginger
• 8-10 pieces green chili (siling haba)

(5 pieces green chili - (seeds removed then soaked for 15 minutes, chopped)
(3 pieces green chili - (seeds removed then chopped)

• 5-6 pieces red chili (siling labuyo) (minced)
• 1 medium red bell pepper (sliced)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2tbsps olive oil
  

How To:

• In a pan, saute garlic in olive oil until light brown.
• Add chopped onions and ginger, stir for a few seconds.
• Add pork pieces, stir for about a minute.
• Add 1 cup water and simmer until pork is half-cooked.
• Add soaked chopped green chili and add 1/2 cup of water.
• Simmer until pork is cooked.
• Add coconut milk, simmer for a few minutes until thick.
• Add red chili and red bell pepper, simmer for about 2 minutes in low fire.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Add remaining freshly chopped green chili. Stir again for a few seconds.
• Best served with hot Jasmine Rice.

Enjoy! and what do you know, it is now one of my favorite Filipino dishes. It was so good... It was very hot and it was very delicious.

Scrambled Eggs with Ham and Cheese

As requested by my husband. It took me months to prepare this easy scrambled egg dish for breakfast again. Aside from serving it with hot rice and coffee, I enjoy eating it with bread.Mix your preferred omelet ingredients in a pan.
Stir for about a minute. Add beaten eggs.
Add quick melt cheese.

Join Us Friday Food Trippers at: Food Trip Friday

Crispy Bangus Belly

As requested by... I had to think of another way to serve Boneless Bangus. Filipinos are very fond of Milk Fish cooked in guava (Sinigang sa Bayabas). If not, marinated then fried. I originally planned to cooked the fish in vinegar, salt and garlic first.

I marinated it for about an hour with Calamansi juice, salt, pepper, minced ginger and garlic instead.

Dipped in egg, rolled on bread crumbs, then deep- fried. Waited for each to turn golden brown.

As Requested By--- Pancit Bihon and Lumpiang Prito

The Pancit Bihon was requested by my husband. Early Monday, my parents brought us Pancit. It was so good. In a way, my husband got "bitin" (left hanging and craved for some more). We went out to buy the ingredients for the pancit he requested.

Pancit is noodles in Filipino cuisine. It was introduced by the Chinese and have been adopted into a local cuisine. The term pancit is derived from the Hokkien pian i sit which means "something conveniently cooked fast." Different kinds of noodles can be found in Filipino supermarkets which can then be cooked at home. Noodle dishes are also standard fare in local restaurants. Food establishments specializing in noodles are often referred to as panciterias.

The type of Pancit shown above is called--- Pancit Bihon Guisado

Thin rice noodles fried with soy sauce some citrus, possibly with patis, and some variation of sliced meat and chopped vegetables.-source-


My recipe includes:

17 oz Pancit Bihon
1 medium onion (chopped)
5 cloves garlic (minced)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
10 pcs of string beans (chopped into small pieces)
1/4 kilo of meat or ground meat (sliced into small pieces)
10 pcs. squid balls (cut into half)
1/ cup soy sauce
1/2 water
1/2 medium cabbage (chopped into small sizes)
2 bunches of Kinchay leaves (flat leaf parsley or 5 stalks of celery chopped)
5 pcs. Tainga ng Daga---a tropical mushroom known as Auricularia (soaked and chopped) Shitake will do
Salt and pepper to taste

To match our afternoon pancit snack, I requested my husband to buy some Lumpiang Prito for me.

Lumpiang Prito/Lumpiang Gulay

It's a good thing that our favorite vendor was around to sell us some straight from the frying pan.
It consists of spring roll wrapper filled with mung beans sprouts and various other vegetables such as string beans and carrots. Deep-fried then dipped in a special vinegar mixture when eaten.

As Requested By The Mr.--- Lumpiang Shanghai

Another week full of question marks on what dishes to prepare for the family. Sometimes, I just go blank even there's a lot of dishes in line. When this happens, my husband thinks for me. So let me start a new segment called "As Requested By" It could be a from a friend, my siblings, my parents, my son and most likely from my husband.

As requested by my other half. Lumpiang Shanghai for dinner!