Spaghetti with Chicken in Mushroom Sauce

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Spaghetti with Chicken in Mushroom sauce

My 4 year old daughter loves mushroom sauce and sometimes she prefers pasta over rice, so this is a product of her taste, trying to incorporate some vegetables in it and at the same time, the mother tries to avoid rich creamy sauce for some obvious reasons (i.e. she’s deliciously creamy enough!).  Seriously, for this recipe,  I skipped adding cream, as I used to, instead I boosted the amount of garlic and pepper to have some contrasting flavors of the earthy mushrooms, hence, it is still yummy less the extra calories.  But I found another way to make it tastier by using low fat milk loaded with garlic, will tackle that in another post with that picture.

Meantime, for reference, here it is.

Ingredients:

250 g. chicken breast, thinly sliced

300 g. button mushrooms, sliced

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 bulb of white onion

1 red capsicum/bell pepper

1 green capsicum/bell pepper

1 cube of chicken broth dissolved in 1 ½ C. warm water

olive oil to stir fry

1 T. cornstarch dissolved in 1 T. water

Freshly ground pepper

Salt

250 g. spaghetti – Prepared as per packet instructions.

Brown mushrooms in a heavy sauce pan with a dash of olive oil, set aside.  Sauté onion and garlic until translucent and fragrant, add chicken, add browned mushrooms, add warm water with chicken broth, and season with freshly ground pepper.  Bring to boil. While boiling, add cornstarch mixture gradually until the sauce thickens.  Add cooked spaghetti and mix.  Now add cheese and serve while it is still warm.

Note: As this has been a family favorite, a different variations has been developed, skipping the amount of water in the recipe.

1.     Add cooking cream to thicken the sauce and add 1 clove of garlic (grated)

2.     Alternative to the cream, 1 ½ C of low fat milk and 1 clove of garlic (grated)

It is also worth noting that while cooking the sauce, prepare the pasta at the same time so when the sauce is ready, mix the pasta straight away while it is still hot. It takes a skill to do it but once you’ll get the hang of it, it’s gonna be easy. Timing is essential.

Beef Lasagna

Lasagna

Lasagna is not a dish; its a way of life! - GARFIELD     :-)

Finally nailed it down. Lasagna with a firm 6 layers of goodness. The trick is not so liquidy meat sauce and used a scraper to spread the layers of meat sauce and béchamel sauce. Best of all I used homemade fresh pasta.

Ingredients:
fresh pasta
meat sauce
bechamel sauce
cheese

Fresh Pasta
300 g. flour
3 eggs

Place the flour on a flat working surface, make a well at the center and add 3 eggs. Mix the eggs with a fork and slowly incorporate the flour with the eggs until mixture forms a dough. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a log and cut every 2 inch. Shape each cut into another log and flatten with a rolling pin as thin as you can dusting with flour when necessary. Note that working with a smaller portion at a time is easier than making a bigger one. (just a personal point of view)  Cut the pasta into desired shape. (spaghetti, tagliatelle, lasagna etc.)


Meat Sauce
1/2  kg. ground beef
1 onion (finely chopped)
4 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 tsp rosemary (dried)
1 tsp thyme (dried)
1 tsp. basil (dried)
1 can tomato sauce (250 g)
4 tsp. tomato paste
salt and pepper

Sautee garlic and onion until translucent. Add rosemary, thyme and basil, add meat. Stir occasionally and let it simmer until the liquid has evaporated, add tomato sauce and simmer for 5 minutes, season with salt and pepper, add tomato paste. simmer for another 2 minutes.  The sauce must not be liquidy, it must be a little thicker like a paste.

Bechamel Sauce
3 Tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cup milk
2 cloves garlic
3 Tablespoons butter
salt to taste

Peel garlic and crush it at the back of a knife  until it becomes a paste and add it to the milk, season with salt. Melt butter in a saucepan in low heat, add flour and mix it with a wooden spoon until it forms a paste, add milk and mix vigorously until it thickens.

To assemble the lasagna:

Preheat oven at 350 C.
In a rectangular pan, place pasta sheet, add a thin layer of meat sauce, béchamel sauce and cheese. Repeat the layers until the pan is full; ending with cheese on top. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees C.

Spaghetti With Mussels and Basil Pesto

Spaghetti with mussels and basil pesto.
The half shelled mussels were grilled with garlic butter

Spaghetti with Mussels and Basil Pesto

While the mussels are grilling in the oven as the appetizer, the main course is on the way as well.

Ingredients:

Fresh basil leaves (a good harvest from our tiny garden)
Olive oil

Spaghetti (good for 3 persons)
2 Tablespoons Vegetable oil
1 pc. Onion, finely chopped
3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 pack mussel meat (about 500 g)
salt to taste
cheese

Cook spaghetti until al dente. Meanwhile, blitz basil leaves in a food processor, add olive oil and blitz further until combined. Season with salt and set aside.

Sauté onion and garlic, add mussels’ meat, stir occasionally until mussels are done. Add the prepared basil pesto.

Drain the pasta and add directly to the mussel mixture. Stir to combine. Sprinkle parmesan cheese. Serve hot.

chilli chicken with stir-fried noodles

I always see dark stir-fried noodles in food courts and fast food restaurants. It is often served in a sizzling plate with the noodles swimming in dark sticky sauce obviously loaded with cornstarch. It looks so good but I'm often disappointed with the blank taste of the sauce. the advantage of making it at home is you can modify it the way you like it. I just discovered the sauce to use, it is the dark soy sauce. With just minimal amount to add to the egg noodles, it turns magically into a very rich dark color but not too salty. I didn't make much sauce as I don't my noodles swimming in sticky sauce like in the fast food stalls. I just stir-fried it with the sauce for a few minutes.

This is a quick simple meal to make. I'm not very precise with the amount but you may adjust it accordingly. It is important to keep everything ready next to before start cooking because everything happens so quickly in this dish and they are not so pleasant when overcooked or not cooked at the same time. You may use two burners so as to cook the noodles and the chicken at the same time.

onion and garlic
Chicken fillet (cut in strips)
jelapeno chili
egg noodles
dark soy sauce

Sauté garlic and onion until translucent, add chili, chicken and stir-fry until chicken is done.

Prepare the noodles by blanching it in a boiling water for few minutes until half cooked. Drain and place it in another pan for stir-frying. Stir fry with soy sauce for a few minutes stirring constantly until noodles are well flavored with the dark soy sauce.

Serve Chicken with noodles. Best eaten while still warm.

Curried Seafood Pasta

Curried Seafood Pasta

Once in a while me and hubby crave for spicy and aromatic foods that reminds us of our days in India. Yes, we had lived there for 6 months. Before we had our apartment we lived in a hotel for a month with inclusive of dinner buffet. We were both not new to Indian food since we had also both lived in U.A.E. where Indian restaurants are just everywhere, but to some point, when we were in India, having all Indian food every night at the buffet table with the entire spicy aroma around the dining hall it lingers to your shirt and even to the room. At the end of the day, you smell spicy as well. Lols

I think we both have explorative palates, we try some of the dishes that are unfamiliar to us, knowing that it is served the buffet gives us confidence that the food is safe. So we did tried several foods that are new to our senses, new to our eyes and nose and the stomach have no choice for that matter. Anyways, the bottom line of the adjustment in terms of food you know when it comes out the other way in the morning. When there’s no problem, it’s ok. At times it became a daring game for us who has a tougher stomach. Despite few stomach upsets, overall I love the experience.

Well, I’m truly amazed of the diversity of food that this world has to offer. Depending on where you are. The challenge is to enjoy, savor the local flavors wherever you are.

And this dish is an Indian influence to us, which we crave for from time to time. It is creamy and spicy at the same time.

Ingredients

2 large onions (Sliced)

3 cloves garlic (Diced)

200 g. squid (cut into rings)

200 g. Shrimps (shelled and deveined)

300 ml coconut milk

200 g. fish curry paste

1 tsp. chili flakes (optional)

Parsley (finely chopped)

Pasta

Salt and pepper

Procedure:

Cook pasta until al dente. While cooking the pasta, in a medium fire, sauté garlic and onions until onions become translucent. Add shrimps and squid until all the liquid has evaporated stirring from time to time. Add fish curry and chili flakes paste and continue stirring. Lastly, add coconut milk. Reduce fire and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add pasta and mix with the sauce until well absorbed. Season with salt and pepper. Lastly, add parsley just before serving. Serve while still hot.

Spaghetti with Tuna and Herbs

Spaghetti with Tuna and Herbs

1 tin can tuna chunks

A handful of parsley and basil

¼ cup olive oil

1 onion (chopped finely)

2 cloves garlic (chopped finely)

Spaghetti

Salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese

Procedure:

Prepare the herbs; chop basil and parsley until coarsely fine. Using a mortar and pestle, crush the herbs, add 1 clove garlic and add olive oil. Set aside. (Picture below)

Cook spaghetti until al-dente

While cooking the spaghetti; sauté garlic and onion in another pan until fragrant and translucent. Add tuna. Stir-fry for 1 minute, add the herbs. Add the spaghetti while it is still hot. Toss nicely. Add shavings of parmesan cheese. Serve warm.

Pesto Pasta with tuna

Pasta Pesto with Tuna

I could have been proud if I made this, but I did not. In fact I’m even prouder coz DH made tonight’s dinner which is fantastic! How it all started? Well, he was just quietly playing his PC game at the terrace and I was just hanging around looking at our fast growing herbs when I asked him how to make a pesto.

He just pouted his lips and said, “I don’t know …hmmm… u may need some pine nuts and of course olive oil and the herbs. Why do you ask?”
“I’m just thinking of pesto with pasta” since we got nice fresh herbs (Thai basil, purple basil, sweet basil and parsley)

Then I settled for his answer and told him; “Okay, let me do a little research” then went back to the study room to search for a recipe of pesto. But before I could finish my research, my Dear Hubby is already in the kitchen pounding some fresh herbs in the mortar and pestle. I can’t really tell the details of what he did coz, once he is in the kitchen I leave him alone to do his stuff, otherwise, two chefs in the kitchen would often argue. So I left him alone. After some time, the whole house smells heavenly with the herbs. Pasta was done and he is mixing pesto with tuna, then tossed together with the pasta. Dinner was ready! Yumm! it was unforgettable…

“Wait, can I take a picture and put in my journal for my reference?”
“But you didn’t make it yourself”
“Of course I’m not going to claim it myself that I did’ it”

Obviously, I had his approval before he had his first bite.

Pasta (Fettucini) with Prawns

Pasta (Fettuccini) with Prawns

I love this creamy pasta served with prawns. The prawns were fried separately to keep its shape without getting soggy. However the flavors of the prawns is being infused with the sauce using the heads and shells of the prawns. This recipe may take a little of your time, but remember, good food CAN NOT BE RUSHED. Read on.

Ingredients:

½ Kg. Tiger Prawns
1 onion (diced)
1 garlic (diced)
1 egg
1 can button mushrooms (sliced)
1 small can all purpose cream
1 small can evaporated milk
Cheddar cheese
Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
Fresh herbs : sweet basil, parsley, and purple basil (finely chopped)
Fettuccini pasta for 2 persons

Procedure:

Before you start cooking, it is essential that all the ingredients must be prepared and keep them on your side coz everything happens so fast and timing is essential in this recipe.

Wash the prawns, remove the head and shells but keep the end of the tail to retain its shape, slice a slit at the back and remove the vein. Set aside the cleaned prawns. Keep the shells and the heads.

Sauté onion and garlic, add the shells and the heads of the prawns. Stir fry until the juices of the heads had come out. The color must have changed from fresh grayish to red. Add milk. Bring to boil and turn the fire off. Set aside and let it cool while preparing the white sauce. This way, the flavor of the prawns has been infused well with the milk.

Prepare the white sauce:

Pass through a strainer/sift the milk mixture (with the heads and shells of the prawns). Discard the heads and shells, hence, use the milk only.

Assemble a DOUBLE BOILER; put the cream, milk and egg in a small sauce pan. Cook over a simmering water whilst stirring constantly to avoid the egg from scrambling, add the cheeses, stir until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente. While the pasta is cooking, you still have time to cook the other ingredients. In a hot pan, add 2 T. oil. Stir-fry the shelled prawns until done or until color has changed to red orange. Remove from heat. In the same pan, with the flavor of the prawns in it, stir-fry the mushrooms until the sides turn a little bit brown.

Now, that gives you enough time for the pasta to cook. Drain the pasta, in the same pan used to cook the pasta while it is still hot, put the cheese mixture and mushrooms. Add the drained pasta and mix altogether. Lastly, add finely chopped herbs. Toss altogether. Serve with the prawns on top of the pasta and serve immediately.

I suggest serving it with a good white wine.

Pasta (Penne and Fusilli) in herbed tomato sauce

Pasta (Penne and fusilli) in herbed tomato sauce

With this dish, I really appreciate our tiny herb garden more and more. It’s such a delight to have herbs freshly picked just before you needed it. I intend to make tomato sauce with sweet basil only but hubby had hand picked all the kinds of herbs that we had, before I can complain, a hand full of herbs greeted me in the kitchen window just adjacent to our tiny terrace garden. Knowing how pleased he was to have a little harvest for the night, hence I have to use all of them, but it really was great combination of flavors. So we had sweet basil, Thai basil, purple basil and parsley. The only herb that didn’t come from our garden is thyme, which I bought from the supermarket. So for the time being, I could say I graduated from using dried herbs to fresh herbs! (silently proud) he he.. The flavors are of huge difference from that of dried. The smell in the kitchen and the dish on the table is definitely alive!

For the pasta, I’ll explain you briefly why it is mixed penne and fusili. I was more than demanding to ask hubby what kind of pasta he likes for the night, so he had a choice of spaghetti, penne, fusilli, boat tie or ribbon and fettuccini. He chose quickly said “penne!” Only to find out that I don’t have enough for the 2 of us. Hence, I have to choose another kind, which I wouldn’t mind having mixed them together with the same sauce. I don’t think it’s forbidden to mix pasta, is it? If it is forbidden by Italians, then sorry for that. I’m just trying to make our dinner.

Anyways, I wont leave you without the recipe, so here it is… its just as easy as ABC.

Ingredients:

Fusili pasta
Penne pasta
1 pc. Onion (diced finely)
2 cloves garlic (diced finely)
4 large ripe tomatoes (sliced in small cubes)
6 Tbsp. tomato paste
Cheese
Fresh herbs :
Parsley
Sweet basil
Thai basil
Purple basil
thyme

Procedure:

Sauté onion and garlic until onions are translucent but not browned, add tomatoes and the sprigs of fresh thyme. Continue sautéing until tomatoes are wilted. Add tomato paste. Add 1 cup of water, season with salt and pepper, bring to boil and lower the flame, leave to simmer for 10 minutes until the liquid had reduced. Remove the sprigs of thyme and discard.

While the tomato sauce is simmering, cook pasta in salted water until al-dente. Drain in a colander and mix with the tomato sauce, add the finely sliced herbs (basils and parsley) and mix all together. Add grated cheese.

Handy tip: Add the herbs on the last minute in order not to loose its flavor. Except for thyme coz the aroma of thyme lingers longer.

Here, I served it with slices of pork.

This recipe is good for 2 servings, you may adjust the amount of sauce and pasta according to your needs.

Creamy Tuna Carbonara

I love carbonara. It doesn’t look very glamorous on the table yet, it really has mild flavors that just melt in my mouth.

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. cooking oil
1 can tuna chunks in oil
1 can button mushrooms (sliced thinly)
1 pc. Large white onion (minced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
2 eggs
1 small can all purpose cream
¼ cup milk
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
1//4 cup cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
Spaghetti

Procedure:

Prepare the sauce first before preparing the pasta. The heat of the pasta is essential to cook the eggs further. I’m very keen on egg safety these days as it is not good for preggy, hence, modified the standard procedure in making carbonara for safety reasons.

In a hot pan, add oil and sauté onions until wilted, but not brown, add garlic and continue sautéing in low-medium fire. Add Mushrooms and stir fry for about 1 minute until sides of the mushrooms turn brown. Add tuna and stir fry for another minute and season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat and set aside.

Mean while cook the spaghetti until al-dente while making the white sauce.

To make the white sauce:
In a DOUBLE BOILER,put all purpose cream,milk and eggs in a smaller pan. Cook over simmering water, whilst stirring constantly. Do not stop stirring while doing this because the eggs might scramble. The aim is cook the eggs without scrambling, so go on stirring until it becomes thick. Add the cheeses and stir. Add in the sautéed tuna and mushrooms, add the hot spaghetti and toss everything together.

Enjoy!

Stif-fried Flat Noodles

Here’s a hit for the night! Stir-fried flat noodles. I used to make pancit or the normal egg noodles and used to put soy sauce, but this time, I like it differently as I’m avoiding the smell of soy sauce, strange as it may sound but blame it on baby on my belly.

I used flat noodles which I happen to grab from the super market even if I don’t have any plan of doing something with it… I guess I was curious with different types of noodles I saw from the Chinese noodles in the shelves of various shapes, and it stayed in my pantry untouched for quite some time. (picture below)



Anyways, I had a handful of the following ingredients that went along with it:

Sweet peas
Red pepper/capsicum (sliced thinly)
Green pepper/capsicum(sliced thinly)
Button mushrooms (sliced thinly)
Garlic (sliced thinly)
Onion (sliced thinly)
1 chicken breast (sliced thinly in strips)
Cabbage (sliced thinly)
Pechay (sliced thinly)
Oil for stir-fry
1 cube chicken stock (dissolved in ¼ cup hot water)


The trick with stir-frying is to keep everything ready at your side coz everything happens so quickly. It’s a different way of doing it the way I used to before, like everything will go in the woke and estimate the amount of liquid to be absorbed by the noodles which I usually end up either with the noodles sticking at the bottom (lack of liquid) or the noodles are over cooked and soggy coz I put too much liquid. Well, now, I learned how to do it perfectly.

You will need 2 pans at the same time, 1 deep pan to boil water and a woke for stir-frying. First, bring to boil about a liter of water in the deep pan, while heating the woke.

Sauté onion until soft, add the garlic and mushrooms. Stir-fry until the sides of the mushrooms had turned brown, add chicken and continue stir-frying. Keep it is important to keep the ingredients moving. On the other hand, while the water is boiling, you are ready to blanch the vegetables. Use a slotted ladle to do this. Blanch the sweet peas into the boiling water in a few seconds and add to the woke, blanch cabbage and add to the woke, blanch the white part of the pechay, add to the woke, blanch the green part of pechay add to the woke, add the pepper/capsicum to the woke, whilst stirring constantly after each addition, add chicken stock and continue stir-frying. Add the noodles to the boiling water and boil for a minute; do not over cook the noodles. Drain and add to the stir-fried vegetables. Continue cooking for 2 minutes more and you’re done.

Handy tip:
In stir-frying, add ingredients with the harder in texture first and the leafy ones last so that everything will be cooked at the same time. Hard vegetables like sweet peas needs a little more time to cook than cabbage.

Seafood Fettuccini

I don’t usually measure my ingredients when I’m cooking something like this, so I had roughly a little of everything of the following:

Ingredients:

Shrimps

Mussels

Oyster

Squid

Smoked salmon

Garlic

Onion

1 can all purpose cream

1 glass of white wine

Oil for stir frying

Salt & pepper

Home-made fresh fettuccini

Procedure:

While making the sauce, boil water and salt in a large casserole for the pasta.

Make the sauce:

Sauté garlic and onion, add shrimps, mussels, oyster and squid; stir-fry for a little while after each addition; add wine, and let the alcohol evaporate until the seafoods are done, add cream and lastly add the salmon. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the fresh pasta to the boiling water and cook for 4 minutes until al dente, drain in a colander; mix the pasta with the sauce; add parmesan cheese and serve.

Champagne was ready! Happy New Year 2008!

Fresh Herbed Fettuccini

What’s the heck of making fresh pasta when there are available ready made in the supermarket? Well, the taste really differs!!! Been wondering why some restaurants are very proud to tell their customers that they make fresh pasty and that makes it quite pricey! Fresh pasta is more succulent and there is the flavors just comes alive in your mouth every bite compared to the dried lifeless ready made ones, but the TIME is the essence! Do you really have time to make your own fresh pasta? Well, it is really up to you, good food doesn’t come quickly.

It’s New Year 2008 and I think the very last night of 2007 deserves a special treat for some detailed cooking! So, if you really want to make something special you have to find the time. Another advantage is you can add your own flavors as desired plus you know what’s really in there. Today, I will try to add some herbs from my tiny garden.

300 g. Plain flour

3 pcs. eggs

1 tsp. salt

Parsley leaves (finely chopped)

1 cup flour (for dusting)

In a bowl, slightly beat eggs, add parsley and set aside. Place the flour on a clean working board and make a well in the center, add egg mixture in the center. Working with a fork, slowly mix with the flour starting from the center. Keep the well shape until almost all of the flour is mixed with the egg. Gather the flour and shape it into a ball start kneading like bread dough until soft and elastic but not sticky. Kneading will take about 7 minutes. If the dough still sticks to your hand, add a little flour or if its too hard, add a little egg, however dough must not be soft as it would jam in the pasta machine. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and shape each like a ball. Wrap each with plastic and let the dough rest in 15 minutes.

Assemble the pasta machine on a working table and flour the rollers. Keep a cup of flour at your side; you will need them each time the dough rolls out of the machine.

Take 1 ball of dough and knead a little shaping it into a rectangle using your fingers and then flatten with a rolling pin. Pass the dough into the rollers of the machine which is set to the widest setting and start rolling manually. As dough rolls down the machine, catch it with your hand so it would come out straight but don’t pull as it would tear. Flour the dough and pass through again at least twice on the same setting and eventually narrow the rollers each setting. It is important not to skip a single setting because the dough is likely to get stucked at the bottom.

As you narrow the rollers the dough will become thinner and longer until the thinnest setting is achieved then you get a nice long sheets of dough. Pass the sheets into the desired cutter like fettuccini or spaghetti. Some machines need the cutter to be attached, but the one I had, it’s already there and all I need to do is transfer the dough and roll from there. Hang the pasta and let it rest for at least 30 minutes, this gives enough time to dry. I used the oven rack to hang them. Then your pasta is ready to cook until al dente.

Here’s a tip in cooking pasta, after boiling to al dente, wash the pasta with running water to get rid of the extra flour so that the pasta won’t stick together so that you can incorporate the flavors of your sauce into it.

Spicy Squidrings with eggnoodles

Spicy Squidrings with eggnoodles

What I had:
For squidrings:
Frozen squidrings
3 tablespoons chili powder
¾ cup flour
1 tsp. salt
Oil for frying

For egg noodles:
1 pack egg noodles
½ liter water
1 carrot
1 red capsicum (bell pepper)
1 yellow capsicum
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 pc. Onion (thinly sliced)
Salt & pepper

Procedure:

To cook eggnoodles:
Bring to boil ½ liter of water, add eggnoodles until al-dente. Wash with cold water, (this is to get rid of excess starch and prevent them from sticking together) drain and set aside.
Sauté garlic and onion, add sliced capsicums and carrot. Add the eggnoodles and mix well. Cook for 2 minutes more.

To cook the squidrings:
Thaw squid rings completely and drain. Set aside.
Mix chili powder, flour and salt. Coat the squid rings with the flour mixture and shake off excess flour by using a sifter or colander.
Deep fry until golden and serve with the eggnoodles.

Cannelloni

Cannelloni

Ingredients:

Cannelloni

Béchamel sauce

3 Tablespoons olive oil

½ kilo ground beef

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

2 white onion (finely chopped)

1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1 ½ cup tomato sauce

4 fresh tomatoes (finely chopped)

2 carrots (finely chopped)

1 red pepper (finely chopped)

Salt and pepper

Grated cheese

Parsley (finely chopped)

Basil (finely chopped)

To prepare filling:

Heat oil in a pan and sauté garlic and onion. Cook until translucent. Add fresh tomatoes, mix thoroughly, and cook until tomatoes are wilted. Add ground beef and cumin. Mix vigorously to get rid of lumps; continue cooking until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Add carrots, pepper and tomato sauce. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

To prepare Cannelloni:

Boil 1 liter of water. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 Tablespoons of oil. Add cannelloni and simmer until cannelloni is done. Taking care not to over cook them as the easily split when filled if overcooked. Strain with a strainer, place under running cold water. Drizzle with oil and mix carefully without breaking each. Set aside one by one with greased plate.

To prepare béchamel sauce:

4 Tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

2 Tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic

1 white onion

Bring to boil milk ,onion and garlic. Let stand for 10 minutes. Pass through a sift to get rid of garlic and onion. Discard garlic and onion and keep the milk. Heat butter in a small pan over low heat. When butter has melted, add flour 1 Tablespoon flour and mix vigorously until it forms a paste. Add milk little by little alternately with flour, whilst mixing vigorously to avoid lumps. Continue stirring until all the flour and milk has been added. Remove from heat and set aside.

To assemble:

Carefully fill each piece of cannelloni with cooked meat. Spoon béchamel sauce in an oven dish and arrange the filled cannelloni. Add grated cheese on top and bake at low temperature for 10 minutes or until cheese has melted. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and basil before serving.

Lasagna Chips

lasagna chips

Lasagna pasta sheets

Oil for frying
Cheese Powder
Water
Salt

Procedure:

Boil salted water in a deep pan and add lasagna, boil for 2 minutes, or until al dente. Do not overcook. Set lasagna one by one by letting them drape over a rim of a deep pan or strainer to get rid of excess water. When cold enough to hold; cut them into strips or triangles. Deep fry and drain in kitchen paper to get rid of excess oil. Put the chips in a container with cover and sprinkle cheese powder. Shake the container to spread the flavor evenly. I had cooked lasagna 2 days back but got excess pasta sheets so I kept in the fridge. Today, I am looking to cook something like cheese puffs and use the lasagna sheets to wrap it but I found out the break easily when folded, so I sliced them and deep fry, instead of throwing them, I remember I have stocked cheese powder! It tastes just like Piatos chips!!! (if u know what I mean, its one of my favorite chips in Phil. I don’t have to worry if I don’t have chips to serve to unexpected guests… I know how to make quickie chips!

Pasta Salad

Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

Ribbon Pasta

Parmesan Cheese (grated)

Dressing:

2 Tomatoes (diced)

1White onion (thinly sliced)

1 clove garlic (crushed)

¼ cup Seedless green olives (sliced)

¼ cup Seedless black olives (sliced)

1 cucumber (peeled and diced)1 Tsp.

Capers

Juice of ½ lemon

Lemon zest

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt & pepper

To prepare pasta:

Boil pasta with salted water or stock until al-dente. Strain in a colander and run a cold water to get rid of excess starch. This prevents pasta from sticking together.

To prepare Dressing:

In a mixing bowl, put garlic, capers, lemon zest and onion. Squeeze in juice of half a lemon, add olive oil and mix thoroughly. Add in tomatoes and olives; mix further. Add the prepared pasta and toss thoroughly to mix the dressing. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese on top and serve. Could be served at room temperature or chilled.

Pan-fried Chicken breast with rice noodles

Pan-fried Chicken Breast with Vermicelli (Rice Noodle)

Remove the skin of the chicken. Slice diagonally on opposit directions forming crisscross cuts and rub with salt. Pan fry for about 2 minutes on each side to seal the meat until chicken turns golden brown. Continue cooking in the oven for 10 minutes at 250 degrees C.

While the chicken is in the oven, prepare the vermicelli noodles. Bring to boil 1 liter of water , add salt and add the vermicelli noodles. Cook until al dente (Like cooking spaghetti). Do not over cook otherwise it will be very soggy. Rince the noodles with tap water and set aside. Stirfry onions, garlic and peppers (capsicums) and toss the noodles and continue stirfrying. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Serve with the chicken.

Chicken soup with taglierini

Chicken soup with taglierini

Ingredients:

1 Chicken Breast (sliced in cubes)

1 round of taglierini (about a handful)

1 potatoe (diced)

1 red pepper (sliced in squares)

1 green pepper (sliced in squares)

6 stalks of green beans (sliced)

1 onion (sliced thinly)

1 clove garlic (crushed)

4 cups water (or chicken stock)

1 T. vegetable oilSalt to taste

Preparation:

Sauté onion and garlic until onion complete soften. Add Chicken and stir fry for 1 minute. Add stock or water and bring to boil. Add diced potato and simmer for 5 minutes or until potatoes are done. Add beans and red and green peppers. Lastly add taglierini and cook for 2 minutes further. Serve hot.

Good for 2 – 3 servings

This reminds me of my childhood days, but we use misua instead. I just substituted with taglierini coz I can’t find misua here. Taglierini is an Italian egg noodle.

Stir-fried Pancit with pork ribs

pancit with pork ribs

To prepare pork ribs:
Boil the ribs with water for 30 minutes or until well done. Marinate with soy sauce for another 30 minutes. Brown the meat in a very hot pan with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and straight to a very hot oven for 20 minutes.

To prepare stir-fried pancit (egg noodles)

1 onion

1 garlic

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

250 g egg noodles

salt and pepper to taste

Cook egg noodles by boiling 1 liter of water for 1 minute until done. On another pan, saute garlic and onion, add the peppers and add the noodles. Toss well until well mixed and season with salt and pepper.

Serve pork ribs with stir-fried pancit.