Category: Recipe

Imagine how happy and surprised I was when last week I did our weekly grocery and I saw the pork hocks/legs, totally surprised because I shopped in an  American market and rarely  you will see this kind of meat cut!  Usually I prepare Crispy Pata when I go once a month to the Filipino store/market in Tukwila(Seafood city) where I get other Filipino products (magnolia quickmelt cheese,nagaraya,chippy,ug uban pa) and produce ( like ampalaya,japanese eggplant). Once in a while I do crave Filipino comfort food and once I do, nothing can stop me!  So this morning I was not sure what to do with the “pata”, maybe patatim or crispy pata! We had humba ( braised pork in pineapple juice)  last week so I wasn’t really up for that savory sauce this week!  Bring on the Crispy Skin!!

Ingredients:
Pork Pata (hocks)
Canola or vegetable oil for deep frying
Onions,black peppercorn,bay leaves,salt

Procedure:

• Rinse hocks and put in a big pot with cold water. The meat should be covered completely with water.
• Bring to a boil, remove any particles/scum that stick to the meat.
• Put chopped Onions, peppercorn, bay leaves and lots of salt! This will flavor the meat while simmering.
• Simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours till tender . On low heat, I did mine for almost 3 hours. But you don’t want to over cook it because you want the whole thing intact!
• Drained meat and put in a colander, let it air dry for 30 minutes.  If you’re not in a hurry you can put the meat in the ref or freezer for couple of hours. I did both, after draining I dry it then put it in the ref!
• Prepare your deep fryer or Wok. Heat the oil,deep fry the meat! maybe 10-15 minutes..You gotta be careful coz splattering is inevitable!LOL..that’s why I prefer the fryer! Drain on paper towels! Enjoy the fruits of your labor! lol

The first time I had Thai Iced tea, I didn’t like it. I’m a coffee person so I didn’t really drink tea growing up in the PI.  So when I moved here to Washington and found that my hubby can drink like 3 glasses in a meal, I’m like what’s so special about this drink?! Eventually I learned to loved it to the extent that when we had dinner at our fave Thai resto we asked the waitress how they prepare this drink.  She was kind enough to go back to the kitchen and showed us the Thai tea mix they use and told us how they prepare the drink..I just “eyeball” the ingredients here, and you can adjust it to your liking!

• 2 cups Thai tea leaves
• 6 cups Water
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• half and half

  

 

 

 

Ha! I’m just saying the healthy way because this is baked instead of the usual fried wings with lots and lots of butter and hot sauce! This is Alton Brown’s recipe and the only recipe I’ve used since I saw him making this on his show on the Foodnetwork. I really like this because it’s very crispy but not oily unlike the regular deep fried wings. You can use more or less of any of the ingredients depending on your liking!
Buffalo wing recipe

Ingredients
12 whole chicken wings
3 ounces unsalted butter
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
Place a 6-quart saucepan with a steamer basket and 1-inch of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.

Remove the tips of the wings and discard or save for making stock. Using kitchen shears, or a knife, separate the wings at the joint. Place the wings into the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam for 10 minutes. Remove the wings from the basket and carefully pat dry. Lay the wings out on a cooling rack set in a half sheet pan lined with paper towels and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Replace the paper towels with parchment paper. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook another 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.

While the chicken is roasting, melt the butter in a small bowl along with the garlic. Pour this along with hot sauce and salt into a bowl large enough to hold all of the chicken and stir to combine.

Remove the wings from the oven and transfer to the bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve warm.

I’ve always wanted to make creme brulee but for whatever reason I didnt! So last Vday Hubby and I had dinner at Pearl bar and dining( Bellevue square) and for dessert I ordered their mocha creme brulee and it was so good that I promised myself I’m gonna make this at home! Off we went to the grocery store and home depot to get the necessary “gadget”, hello blowtorch!!!

We are happy with the result of our first creme brulee making adventure! I cannot wait to try other recipes like the coffee creme brulee and triple chocolate creme brulee!