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I have missed cooking a lot. Ever since Erin was born, I have taken a break from the kitchen because I hardly have any time anymore to prepare food. These days, J does most of the kitchen work but with me supervising.

But last weekend, I just needed to get back into it once again. For one, there were two bars of Philly cream cheeses waiting for me to bake them into my long-time craving of blueberry cheesecake. Last time I made one was probably five years ago. It’s definitely time to do a repeat!

So, I entrusted Erin to J for the entire Sunday afternoon to get things done. After months of researching/studying of recipes, I decided Mik’s was the easiest one to make. Since it has been +/- five years since I last baked one, I lost the recipe my tita gave me so I needed to find another one fast.

I followed Mik’s recipe for the crust and the filling except I used just plain thickened cream (250 ml) in place of the mascarpone cheese. Also, instead of the sour cream topping, I made a blueberry glaze. Recipe of which is as follows:

Blueberry Glaze

1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, divided

In a 1-quart saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in water. Crush 1/2 cup blueberries; add to sugar and water mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and begins to bubble. Continue to boil gently for about 2 minutes, or until blueberry glaze mixture is clear. Cool completely. Arrange remaining blueberries over the top of the cheesecake. Pour cooled blueberry glaze over berries. Keep blueberry cheesecake tightly covered in refrigerator.

It was perfect! At least to our standards.

J and I have been yearning for some of mom’s pasta that I just had to email and ask her for the recipe. The sauce is pesto with sundried tomatoes and shrimp. Sounds complicated right? But I found out it was surprisingly easy to do. Thanks to this…

Leggo’s Sundried Tomato Pesto Sauce

The secret is to saute first a whole head of chopped garlic in lots of olive oil until they’re golden. Add the peeled shrimps. Once the shrimp is cooked, pour in one bottle (190 g) of the pesto sauce. Season with salt and pepper then mix it with your preferred pasta which has been previously cooked. Serve with a sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese and some toasted garlic bread on the side. Voila!

It was so delicious, I ate two platefuls of the dish! Yummy!

Yes, I know donuts aren’t exactly healthy, especially for pregnant mothers like me. But, hey, you got to cut me some slack! The line at their branch in Woden was short and it’s been weeks since I have been craving for these fellows. I begged J to allow me to buy just a tiny bit to satisfy my craving. Fortunately, he gave in and let me buy those sought-after goodies.

I ordered only half a dozen — two pieces per variety. I chose their famous original glazed, chocolate iced with creme filling and blueberry flavored. Their original glazed was apparently a crowd favorite as they had to get their stock directly from the kitchen. And since it did came fresh from the oven, the donut just melted in our mouths just as soon as we bit into the piece. Ahhh… heaven!

You’ll Need: 
1  pc small onion, chopped
1/4 kg ground beef
1 pc large carrot, diced
100 grams Elbow Macaroni
1 pouch (200 g) Tomato Sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tbsp water
4 stalks green onions, chopped
 
Here’s How:
1. Sauté onion and beef in oil. Add 4 cups of water and simmer until meat is tender. Add carrot and Elbow Macaroni. Cook for 8 minutes.

2. Add Tomato Sauce, salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in dissolved cornstarch. Cook until thick. Top with green onions  just before serving.

This is the original recipe I got from Kitchenomics. But I changed a few things:
- Since I did not have tomato sauce at the time I was cooking, I used tomato paste (50 grams) instead.
- After seasoning and tasting the soup, I found out it did not have the ’kick’ I wanted. So apart from salt, sugar and pepper, I added 2 ladlesful of fish sauce (patis).
- Next time I cook this, I’m thinking of adding the seasoning while I’m sauteeing the beef, before putting in the water. This might add more flavor to the meat and soup.

I was tired of cooking the same old meatballs (or Bola-bola as we Filipinos call it) so I decided to make a sweet and sour sauce to go along with it. Thanks to my mom who readily texted to me the recipe for the sauce in minutes.

Meatballs:
Ground pork (500 grams)
1 egg, beaten
1 onion, minced
1 tomato, minced
1 tsp cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:
White vinegar
Water
Ketchup
Sugar
A pinch of salt
Cornstarch

Procedure:
1. In a bowl, mix well all ingredients together for the meatballs. Leave for 30 minutes before frying. Form meat mixture into balls and fry in oil. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, mix well all ingredients for the sauce. (Sorry, I don’t have exact measurements for the ingredients. Test taste na lang and adjust accordingly).
3. Heat 1 tsp oil in a saucepan and pour in sauce mixture. For more flavor, you can saute garlic and/or onions prior to adding the sauce. Stir constantly until sauce boils. As the sauce is boiling, continue to stir but more vigorusly this time until sauce thickens.
4. Add meatballs into the sauce or pour sauce on top of meatballs. Serve hot.

Here’s an easy-to-make snack/appetizer for all you busy bees out there. This one only takes a few minutes and you can store the beef in the ref for future use. It’s quite filling, mind you, that sometimes we just make it our dinner if we’re a little lazy to cook something grand.

Stuff you’ll need:
Nacho chips
Minced beef (500 grams)
Mozzarella cheese
Sour cream
1/2 cup of Water

What to do:
- Brown the minced beef in a pan. No need to add oil, especially if you’re using a non-stick pan.
- Once the meat is cooked, add the taco seasoning and half a cup of water.
- Simmer until the sauce has thickened or it has dried out. (We love to dry the sauce out so it’s not messy to eat.)
- Arrange chips on a serving dish. Top with the seasoned beef and some mozzarella cheese. Put dish in the microwave and cook until the cheese has melted.
- Serve chips with your favorite dip. Ours is sour cream.

Now, wasn’t that easy?

J was requesting for some white sauce pasta and I whipped this up last night to give him a treat. This is based on my mom’s recipe which has always been a winner in our books. The original recipe is good for 15 people. I used the same amount of ingredients except for the chicken meat since I did not have enough in our freezer.

CHICKEN PASTA

Ingredients:
1 head garlic (minced)
1 onion (minced)
1 k chicken breast (boiled and cubed; save broth)
1 can Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream
1 can evaporated milk (tall can)
3 cups chicken broth
olive oil
1 can mushrooms (sliced thinly)
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 kilo pasta (preferably penne)
1 large pepper/capsicum (cubed) or 1 can sweet pimiento
salt to taste
2 tbsp cornstarch (dissolved in a little water)
cheese (grated)

Procedure:
- saute garlic, onions and chicken in olive oil
- add chicken broth, mushroom soup, and mushrooms
- season with salt, pepper and paprika
- allow to boil for a few minutes
- add cream, cheese and evaporated milk
- let simmer for a few minutes
- check taste and add cornstarch (dissolved in a little water) to thicken sauce
- add pasta just before serving
- garnish with parsley and spinkle with parmesan cheese

I tried. And I failed…

I was so keen to make beef tapa the other week because friend Vi served us her version of it and it was delicious! Syempre, I wanted to try it for myself. But being a proud person, I did not ask Vi for the recipe. Instead, I scoured the web.

I came across Market Man’s version and immediately undertook the task of preparing it. I did not have the same amount of meat so I took it upon myself to estimate the right proportion. Or so I thought!

After two days of curing in the ref, I finally took it out on a Saturday morning to cook what else but Tapsilog. The excitement was building up as I saw it cook to visual perfection.

It does look yummy, doesn’t it? But sadly, I couldn’t say the same taste-wise. It was way too salty! And as I look back, I realised I did deviate a little from the original recipe by using iodized salt instead of rock salt. Silly me!

Oh well, I learned the hard way. I am still setting my sights on perfecting it. Also, alternative or new ways of approaching the dish would be helpful. Care to share your ideas?

When the household help is a rarity, as in the case in most developed countries, sometimes it can be quite a real chore to think of menus that will last you at least for the entire week. Oftentimes, I find myself in such situations and I admit, during those times, I wish I could just open a can of sardines or corned beef and say, “What the heck!”

In my three months of stay here, I have now succumbed to recipes that are easier and quicker to prepare. For instance, Spaghetti with beef can actually be a quick instant recipe if not for the onions and garlic that you still need to chop. These days, when we crave for a little pasta, sometimes, I just open up a can of Campbell’s spaghetti sauce with beef. I just saute a little minced garlic, put the sauce in and add some grated parmesan cheese in. Constantly stir the mixture until it has heated up and voila! Instant yummy spaghetti!

Last night was another one of those lazy episodes. I wanted to cook some beef caldereta. Not knowing what really is put in to create such a dish, Mama Sita’s Caldereta Spicy Sauce Mix came to the rescue! Hehe… There were even easy-to-follow directions on the back of the pack to help you out. I changed the procedures just a bit though. Instead of boiling everything together, I initially sauteed some garlic and onions, then added the pan-seared beef that has been left previously to boil in water to tenderize it. After which, I just dumped in the rest of the ingredients (Mama Sita mix, potatoes, carrots, peas and bell pepper) so that they could altogether simmer in the pot. End result, we both loved it!

Poll: Do you have any quick fixes yourself? Share them with me!