Pasta Puttanesca

Pasta Puttanesca

According to Wikipedia... Puttanesca Pasta or Spaghetti alla Puttanesca means "Whore's Pasta" :D I don't care what it means but this pasta is so good. To bad I didn't put chili peppers since my sisters doesn't like spicy food. I made it for my sister's 11th birthday last May 31. It's like breaking out from our traditional filipino style spaghetti which I got tired of. :) This pasta is tangy, salty and supposed to be a little bit spicy. It's made out of tomato puree and diced tomatoes (I bought them canned courtesy of Hunt's), black olives, anchovies, shrimp and capers. Plus salt and pepper to taste of course.

It's my dad's first time eating this kind of pasta... all he knows is the filipino one or Spaghetti bolognese... hehe... :D My other sister's birthday is coming up. We decided we'll make baked penne with bacon and mushroom.. yummy!

AH1N1 virus is spreading rapidly... private schools here in my country are mostly suspended. According to the news it's increasing from time to time. I hope this disease will stop... sheesh!

Cupcakes for a friend

Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Sauce

I was planning to bake a Chocolate cake with caramel filling for my friend on his birthday. Unfortunately, I can't find the right cake box-- no, wait... I couldn't find any cake box with the right size for my cake. It's so frustrating right? So I decided to make Chocolate cupcakes instead... then I even bought the wrong box size or the wrong cupcake holder size. But I couldn't do anything so I just go with the flow... Sheesh.

It's a basic chocolate cupcake that I used in the past then I made the caramel sauce which I got the recipe from the book. Oh well, I took a lot of time in that. :) We celebrated my friend's birthday on my sister's birthday (my friend's birthday is May 30 while my sister is 31). I was supposed to make cakes for them but then with the cake box disaster I didn't and my sister chose chocolate chip cookies for her. I made both pastries the same day. I didn't take any picture of it since my sisters hogged the cookies lol.

I'm happy that I got a new phone. Now my phone is upgraded to 3MP camera... hahahaha... my pictures are not blurry anymore. But I still feel the need of buying my own digicam... sheesh.. have to save up money...

Bacon-Liverwurst Canapes

Bacon-Liverwurst Canapes

Canapes or Hors d' ouevres are food that are eaten in one or two bites. It's usually serve during cocktail parties or served as appetizers. In the baking world, we have Petit Fours which has the same concept but petit fours are sweet while canapes are savory or salty.

I made these just to see what it tastes like. My brother loved it, I think because he loved bacon and liverwurst. Lol. I don't have any idea. Anyway, the recipe is simple, just dump one can of liverwurst in your food processor then add some garlic, mayonnaise, salt and pepper then blend it all together. Once blended, put in on top of your pullman bread that is cut in circles (using a cookie cutter) or any designs that you want (it can be in triangles, crosswise, squares.. whatever. Then add some strips of lean bacon on top. Broil it until the bacon is cooked and crisp.

By the way, Broiling means cooking in the oven where the heat is on top. :)

It's June! Rainy season is here. The last few days have been rainy here because of the monsoon, there's even Tornadoes visiting the city (I really can't believe it... sheesh thanks to Global Warming Tornadoes are hitting unexpected areas. So people we need to stop it!) and I love it. But now it's back to humid again. :( Oh well.

Beef Teriyaki

Beef Teriyaki

This was supposed to be Beef Negimaki... where you used the beef like nori and wrap around the spring onions... but then.. the butcher in the supermarket sliced my sirloin into strips... I have no choice but to make this one. *sigh* It's pretty flavorful though, I got the recipe in my Garde Manger book that I bought back when I was in college. Hehe.. I spend my allowance for that book. Books are really good investments, I love to read and also explore new recipes. I actually look recipes either online, in my books then tweak it to make it mine. :D

Cupcakes! (again)

Chocolate Cupcakes without Sprinkles

Hehe... I guess I was so bored I just made these stuff.. It's chocolate cupcakes but I made different frostings... I made a Chocolate frosting and Cream cheese frosting. When I plated it, it looked like checkerboards lol. Black and White. I added some sprinkles to add more color. :D So there. Hope you like it! :D

Chocolate Cupcakes with Sprinkles

It's been a while since I last posted... :) That's because my laptop is still in the hospital. I'm really pissed off since I SMSed them earlier and they asked for my AR#, I gave it to them then they didn't even reply back. I SMSed them twice but no response. Stupid people. I wanna whack them with my rolling pin! Grr.. anyway.. I'm using our pc right now, I have to share it to my brother. I got a new phone so I got some USB cable to connect to (I used my bluetooth when I still have my laptop). Then uploaded some pics that I wanna blog. My brother is not home right now so I'm free to use this without any hindrances. (he likes to take the pc away from me) hahaha. :D Oh well.. 1st post it up! :D

Broccolli Cheese Dip

Brocolli Cheese Dip with Breadsticks

I was looking for some hors d'oeuvres recipe that I just felt researching in the net last night. I saw this recipe at Epicurious. :) So earlier this day, I went to the local market in Manila and bought some brocolli, the rest of the ingredients was bought in the supermarket (after I made some back and forth exhausting errands this afternoon, I also forgot that I haven't eaten lunch yet! :) I just realize it around 5 pm, I was really hungry. I bought some Jamaican patty by the way plus Fruit Magic's Strawberry Yogurt drink) since you wouldn't be able to find Yogurt, Sharp Cheddar or Cream Cheese in the market streets, well you might see one but I don't think it's 'safe'.

Anyway, I just made the dip tonight. When I first tasted the dip, it was really bland. I decided to add some salt (pepper was included it the recipe) to add some saltiness in it, a couple of teaspoons is good (taste, taste, taste). Then done.

My brother liked it, he said the saltiness of the dip contradicts the sweetness of the breadsticks that he liked. I like it too, I agreed to what he said, its like a match when you think about it. My sisters loved it too. :)

The dip itself has cream cheese and cheddar cheese (sharp) which contains fat and cholesterol but I think with some Yogurt, Scallions, Garlic, and Broccolli it evens out. It's a healthy-fun dip. I'm sure kids will love it.

I also added more garlic, my family loves garlic-y dishes. So there! :D

** You can also dip in Brocolli, Nachos, Pretzels, Chips, etc. :D

Crispy Water Spinach

Crispy Water Spinach

Or we call it "Crispy Kangkong" in my country. :) I don't eat vegetables that much when I was a kid, I was a picky eater back then (of course, you're a kid right?). We went to this party (which I vaguely remember) and they serve this as appetizer, my mom told me to try it, at first I was hesitant but decided to try one. I loved it, ever since then, whenever this dish came up I would be delighted to eat it.

I ate them last year when my friends and I celebrated our friend's birthday outside Manila (we went to Laguna, we stayed overnight). We went to a certain supermarket and decided to eat lunch there as well. :) I saw it on the menu and immediately ordered it. Then last night, one of my friends made these and told me online, I asked him the recipe and he gladly gave it to me. So I told my godmother to buy me two stalks of water spinach (which costs Php 20/stalk in Divisoria). I made the batter and cooked it as our afternoon snack.

The dip I made is Wasabi Mayonnaise, well, I really dislike the mayonnaise we have, it's too sweet so I decided to add some salt and pepper and wasabi. I like the combination of the two.

You can also substitute mayonnaise as your dip, sour cream is good, a friend of mine even dipped it in ranch too. :D