How to Cook Delicious Food

Yesterday, my husband surprised me with a bar of chocolate! It was a gesture of appreciation he said, for cooking delicious food these past few days.

Wow! That was a compliment! The chocolate was no extra ordinary but the compliment was!

I have been cooking all my 19 years of married life but yesterday was something different for me. I actually have been complimented for my cooking quite a number of times already. But yesterday, i felt there was something different...that made me reflect, what indeed have I done to have cooked those delicious food and thus received such compliment.

In the past, whenever I cook something new from recipes that I have found in books or magazines or have seen over a TV show, and when friends or relatives praised me for them and requested for the recipes, I always give them the same recipes I used myself that earned their praise.

I remember on some occasions when these friends would try cooking the same recipe I've given them, they would tell me that the dish tasted differently from mine. They would insist that I must have a secret to cooking the delicious food and beg me for it. Oftentimes, I would wonder myself what is it. The recipe that I pass on to them is the same recipe that I myself use and follow.

Meanwhile, even in our franchised bakery business, friends and customers will often tell me or my husband that our bread taste more delicious compared with the other franchised branches. This comment usually makes me wonder what makes the difference in the taste since all branches (of our franchised bakery business) are using the same recipe and source and brands of ingredients.



In similar manner, in my own kitchen back in my own home, the recipes that I cook there and the ones i share with relatives and friends (and now here in this webblog) are the same. If there is anything that varies, it probably would be just the salt and pepper.

Now looking back at my own cooking- this week and the last, I realized there is one thing that made all the difference. and that I think is the secret to cooking delicious food. That secret is in...no other than what I call the "cook" factor.

Yes! The "cook" factor- the one cooking. The chef or the baker (for those baked products like the ones in our bakery!).

When the one cooking is happy, and he enjoys what he is doing, it reflects in his food- the one he is cooking. This to me is all that made the difference in my cooking this week and the last.

I realized I was in a very bad mood last week, and it manifested in all the dishes I prepared myself. They were either bland or simply not delicious at all.

This week, however, I'm in a happy mood. Thus, it showed in the food that I have prepared. See? That simple. Just my mood; my disposition. And it showed in my creation- the food I prepared!

Fresh Fruit and a Quick Salad Dressing

My daughters and I have been cooking and baking some sweet goodies for desserts recently. Since we have a lot of fresh fruits available, we've been preparing fruit salad quite regularly.

Actually, we use just about any fruit available- buko (young coconut meat), avocado, pineapple, papaya, banana, etc. When we want more, we sometimes use canned fruit cocktail and add some nata de coco. We just simply mix them up with this quick fruit salad dressing:
All purpose cream and condensed milk mix completely at the ratio of 1:1/2 respectively.

This fruit salad dressing us best used chilled, but just in case your cream just came right from the grocery store, you may mix the salad dressing with the fresh fruits and chill it up before serving.

The fruit salad dressing actually is versatile. you can use it for a lot of other dessert recipes. I personally use the same cream for my Mango Float, Mango and Nata de Coco Delight, and just about anything I can think of for dessert that requires a sweet cream dressing.

Pata Tim

Pata Tim! It's one of those oriental dishes that makes me salivate.Hmmmm...

Long before I stumbled on the perfect Pata Tim recipe I'm about to share with you today (thanks to FOOD magazine!), I thought, whenever I eat this dish in restaurants, that it is probably difficult to prepare. But lo and behold! When I tried preparing this recipe, I found out, it's not difficult at all!

I'll tell you my little cooking secret.

Pata Tim is actually prepared in 4 stages. But I discovered based on my own experience that I can do it one stage at a time according to my convenient schedule.

So, let me give you the recipe and I'll insert my own cooking tips as I go along with the cooking procedure.

PATA TIM

Ingredients:
1 front pata, about 1 kilo
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. ginger extract
2 stems spring onions, chopped
oil for cooking
2 cups water
1 beef broth cube
1 tbsp. rice wine
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp. sesame oil

For the veggies-
1/2 cup butter
chinese pechay, sliced
carrot, cut into your desired design
red bell pepper, sliced
spring onions, sliced

Procedure:
1. Combine soy sauce, ginger extract and spring onions. Rub them on to the pata. Let stand at least for 1 hour.

Cooking Tip: You can do this the night before you plan to cook the Pata Tim.

2. In a wok, fry the pata in hot cooking oil until brown. When done, remove pata from wok and transfer it to a pressure cooker.

Beware: Do not overcook the pata to the point that the meat is already falling off from the bone. Keep it intact yet tender!

Cooking Tip: If you wish to stop here and continue for later, you can do so.

3. Pressure cook your fried pata in 2 cups of water, beef broth cube and rice wine. Cook until the meat is tender. Transfer the pata to a platter and reserve the sauce.

Cooking Tip: In many instances, this is actually the stage where I often "park" my cooking, and wait until we are about to serve the meal before I continue. That way, I always serve my Pata Tim hot, and the vegetables are not overcooked.

4. Dissolve cornstarch in the 1/2 cup water. Add to the reserved sauce of the cooked pata.

5. In a separate pan, combine sugar and sesame oil and heat until sugar is dissolved. Add to the cornstarch mixture. Heat in a saucepan, stirring constantly until smooth and thick.

6. Pour sauce over pata before serving.

7. Cook the vegetables. Stir fry the vegetables over heated butter. Put the carrots first followed by bell pepper, pechay and then the spring onions. Serve as side dish to the Pata Tim.

Cooking Tip: I like serving the vegetables laid underneath the pata and on the sides of the serving plate. Choose a nice serving dish. It would make your Pata Tim look more palatable!

Wheeew! Just sharing this with you makes me crave for Pata Tim!

This recipe yields 6 servings.

A New Twist to the Pork Barbecue, Pinoy Style = Ala Rack's

I hope you like the Pork Barbecue recipe I shared earlier.

Of course you may always substitute the pork with chicken or any meat of your choice if you don't like pork.

Warning on the use of sugar: It will easily burn your barbecue. So, regulate your fire/stove. In my case, I like cooking my barbecue over charcoal fire. And, I only use half of the sugar in the recipe. Occasionally I substitute sugar with honey.

Please feel free to adjust the seasonings according to your taste. That's the beauty of cooking!

When we were staying in Manila some years ago, I used to love the barbecue of Rack's, a very popular restaurant there. I have often wondered how they prepared their babyback ribs barbecue- so tender and delicious!

With the Pork Barbecue recipe, I tried experimenting with it. This is my version of Rack's tender and delicious babyback ribs barbecue!

Pork Barbecue Ala Rack's (My version!)

1.I usually substitute the pork kasim or lomo with special ribs, cut into my desired size.
2. Wash, and pressure cook the ribs with enough water and some salt just until tender when the meat still sticks with the bone without falling off.
3. Drain and cool.
4. Mix the pressure cooked meat with the marinade sauce. Leave overnight.
5. Grill just until it browns the meat. Brush with the marinade.
6. Serve!

Yummy!!!

For more barbecue recipes, click here.

P.S.
Sometimes, I marinate the ribs first before I pressure cook them. I cook the left over marinade as instructed and brush it on the ribs while grilling them.

Try it and decide which way appeals to you the most. Enjoy cooking!

P.S. 2

If you like my blog, please be a fan. Just look for the Followers label, click on the Follow link found under it and register. Thanks!

Reason For This Blog and a Pork Barbecue Recipe, Pinoy Style

Hi!

I have always wanted to put my collection of recipes in a document but have not actually found the time to do so. Actually, I also did not exactly know how to do it except to write all the recipes I have tried cooking and wanted to try in a notebook and some on index cards. Otherwise, I simply bought some cookbooks and/or food magazines and referred to them whenever I wanted to cook something.

Finally, I have learned how to blog, and have found this avenue a very fitting way of documenting my collection of recipes both Filipino foods and international. I hope you'll find my collection worth referring to.

The recipes I'll be sharing here with you are not necessarily my own. I have learned of them through cookbooks, food magazines, my mom and from other people. But what makes these recipes different perhaps from their sources is my own personal touch whenever I tried cooking them myself.

Through the years I've learned that COOKING is an ART. There is actually no rigid rule in cooking. The only guide you are to follow in cookingis your taste buds and those who's gonna eat what you have cooked, and for you to ensure that your food is safe for eating.

But it's different in baking. Baking requires exact measurement of ingredients. I'll talk about baking in later posts...

By the way, between baking and cooking, I like baking more. But as a mother, cooking is indispensable... Thus, expect that here, I'll also be sharing some recipes and cooking tips on baking.

So... for my initial salvo, let me share with you a recipe for pork barbecue. The Filipinos love their food with a hint of sweetness and saltiness, thus, this barbecue recipe. My family loves this recipe a lot.

PORK BARBECUE (recipe from The Best of FOOD Magazine)

Ingredients:
2 cups white sugar (reduce sugar if you prefer less sweet taste)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 head garlic, chopped
1/2 bottle (320 grams) or about 1/2 cup+2 tbsp. banana catsup
2 tbsp fresh calamansi juice
3/4 cup clear soft drink (ex. Sprite or 7-up)
1 kilo pork kasim or lomo (I personally prefer special ribs), cut into 1-inch pieces

Optional:
2 tbsp. banana catsup

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except for the pork meat and the optional ingredient. Mix well.
2. Marinate pork pieces in this mixture for at least 3 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
3.Heat grill to medium-low. Drain pork pieces and reserve marinade.
4. If using kasim or lomo, thread the pork pieces into skewers and cook over grill.
5.In a medium saucepan, heat reserved marinade to boiling. Brush barbecue with marinade when almost cooked.

Note: Extra marinade can be served as sauce. Add the 2 tbsp. banana catsup and reheat. Stir until smooth.

6. Serve. (I like serving my pork barbecue with atchara/pickled papaya.)

Until next post... God bless!