The Adventures of a Calamari Queen

I prepared this last night, after a long afternoon of cleaning our yard.  So that means I wanted a quick and easy meal.  Here’s another easy recipe that I got from my food network magazine cook book.  What’s not to love about carbonara? Calories aside, it is the perfect pasta! Creamy and cheesy and of course, “Bacony” (if there’s such a word)

I cleaned our yard today so I’m really tired and just wanted to have a quick and easy dinner! There’s nothing as quick as pasta for dinner.  This is a Rachael Ray recipe that I got on food network website:)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1/3 pound baby shrimp, 300 count
• 1/4 cup dry vermouth or white wine, eyeball it
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes
• 1/3 pound angel hair pasta, cooked to al dente
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped or snipped fresh chives

Directions

My Sis requested this dish last week, and I’ve been wanting to eat this too so off we go to the Asian market to get the ingredients. Thank God that we have lots of Asian markets here in WA so we can easily get asian ingredients whenever we are craving foods that reminds us of home!

Ingredients :(www.allfavoriterecipe.com)

• 1/2 lb. pork, sliced
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 squash, cubed
• 2 cups sliced okra
• 2 cups 1-1/2 inch long cut sitaw (yard long beans)
• 2 eggplants, sliced
• 1 ampalaya (bitter gourd and/or bitter melon), sliced
• 1 to 1-1/2 cup water
• 2 to 3 tbsp. bagoong alamang(salted shrimp paste)
• Procedures :
  1. In a large, deep skillet (or casserole), heat oil over medium heat. Cook pork until it turns slightly brown.
  2. Stir in garlic, onions and tomatoes. Sauté for a few minutes until tomatoes wilted.
  3. Add squash and okra, stir-fry for a minute or two and then add the rest of the vegetables. Gently stir to combine.
  4. Pour in water and add the bagoong alamang, and bring to a boil.
  5. Lower the heat and simmer covered over low heat until vegetables are tender. Be sure not to overcook it. You may wish to correct the taste by adding a little bit of bagoong alamang. Gently stir to blend.
  6. Immediately remove from heat. Transfer to a serving dish. Serve hot.

I asked my Hubby what he wanted for his birthday, and he said he wanted me to make Biko.  I’m not a big fan of Biko, but whatever my husband requests for his birthday then that’s what I’m going to make.  He’s been requesting this since we got married and I ALWAYS have an excuse not to make it!  I didn’t have the nerve to say NO today!hehe… So I checked online to look for the simplest Biko recipe I could find.  This one was the simplest, with only 4 ingredients and an easy procedure.  The result was pretty decent:).

Ingredients:

3 cans (14 oz. can) coconut milk
4 cups sweet rice (sometimes called glutinous rice)
2 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
1 cup coconut cream

Pour coconut milk and about a cup of water into a pot and let it come to a simmer over medium heat. When simmering, add in the rice and stir constantly to prevent burning. Lower the heat if necessary. Preheat oven to 350F.

When rice is sticky and almost dry (it will look like risotto), about 10-15 minutes, add 1 cup brown sugar. Stir well and take off heat. Pour into a lightly buttered 9×13 pan and smooth the top. Mix the remaining 1 cup brown sugar and coconut cream until smooth and pour it over the rice.

Bake for about 1 hour or until topping is dark brown and has thickened. Cool slightly before serving.