Street Food: Potato Wedges

Ingredients:

3 large unpeeled russet potatoes, cut in wedges

1 Tsp. onion powder

1 Tsp. garlic powder

1 Tsp. dried parsley

1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, grated

Salt and Pepper to taste

Oil for frying

Bacon grease for frying

Procedure:

1. Boil the russet potatoes until tender but not mushy in enough water with a pinch of salt.

2. Drain the potatoes in a colander and shake to remove excess water. Set aside.

3. In a large pot, heat 2 cups cooking oil and 1 cup bacon grease.

4. Season potatoes with onion powder, garlic powder, and salt.

5. Deep fry the potatoes. Potatoes are done when the edges turn brown.

6. Drain on paper towel. Place the potatoes in a ziplock bag and add in dried parsley, cheddar, and pepper. Shake until everything is incorporated and the cheese has melted. 

7. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with parsley and grated cheddar cheese.

Serves 1 hungry person.😂🤣👌

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This fries is so heavenly. In a matter of minutes, it will be gone.🤣 It was made delicious because of the bacon grease. When purchasing bacon always make sure to store the rendered fat from it because it can be used in so many recipes especially in frying french fries, fried chicken, pork chops and even in cooking your favorite pasta.

It's best to use russet potatoes for french fries and mashed because they're starchy and rich in taste.

How about you any techniques you wish to share?

SWEET TREATS: Layered Fruity Jelo

Ingredients:

-1 pack unflavored gelatin powder

-1 pack lychee flavor gelatin powder

-4 cups evaporated milk

-14 cups of water

-3 cups of sugar

-fruit cocktail

-sakura essence

-red food coloring

Procedures for Lychee Gelatin Layer:

1. Dissolve 1 pack of lychee gelatin in 4 cups water with 2 cups evaporated milk and 1 cup of sugar. 

2. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add 2 drops of food coloring and stir.

3. Transfer to molding cups or tray and let it set.

Procedure for Sakura Gelatin Layer:

1. Dissolve 1 pack of unflavored gelatin in 6 cups water and 1 cup sugar. 

2. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add 1 drop of sakura essence.

3. When lychee gelatin is already set, add fruit cocktail and pour in sakura flavor gelatin and let it set.

Procedure for Lychee Gelatin Top Layer:

1.  Dissolve 1 pack of lychee gelatin in 4 cups water with 2 cups evaporated milk and 1 cup of sugar. 

2. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and when the Sakura layer is already set, pour in the lychee gelatin and let it set. Chill in the refrigerator before serving.

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One of the best ways to end a meal is dessert. May it be fruits, cakes, ice cream, rice cakes, and et cetera but gelatin is definitely a good one to finish a meal. Especially if it's made intricately and not the typical one layered drizzled with condensed milk which is kinda boring... You can have a multi-colored, multi-layered gelatin dessert, a 3d gelatin cake, or gelatin mixed in sweet milk topped with coconut or fruits and nuts which is more appetizing. 

There are 2 types of gelatin that I know. The healthiest is the agar-agar powder or seaweed gelatin which is sourced locally. Not only Koreans are fond of using seaweed in their cooking but Filipinos as well. We use seaweeds to make desserts and drinks but it can also be used in making savory dishes. And the other type of gelatin is made from animal bones, tendons and skin which is boiled for several hours until the mixture create a thick, condensed and cloudy consistency. I know it's a bit disgusting but most of the gelatin mixture you buy in the groceries that came from other countries like the USA are made of this one. So if you're the type of eating healthy or opt for a healthier version always READ LABELS 😄 and go for the locally sourced products. 

In this recipe, I tend to use a lot of sugar because gelatin is bland in nature and if you add sugar in it and gets cooled in the fridge the sweetness tends to lessen a bit. So this recipe is not for you if you're on a  diet. 😂

Breakfast Ideas: Scrambled egg with bitter melon

                                                                                               

Ingredients:

- 1 small bitter melon, sliced thinly

- 2 whole eggs, beaten,

- 1 small onion, chopped

- 2 cloves garlic, chopped

- 1 small tomato, sliced

- Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Saute garlic, onion, and tomato until tomato is about mushy.

2. Add in bitter melon and add a bit water cook until water evaporates and bitter melon is about tender.

3. Season with salt and pepper. (NEVER season salt and pepper when you already added in the eggs so season it first)

4. As you add in the egg continuously add in the eggs this is to avoid uneven lumps.

5. Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy.

Makes 2-3 servings

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This is one way for me to enjoy eating bitter melon or what we call ampalaya in Tagalog, parya in my native tongue, Ilokano. Most kids would not want to eat this vegetable because of that bitter taste. But this ugly looking, bitter-tasting vegetable is really good for the body. It's known to help people suffering from diabetes, high cholesterol level, obesity and the like because it's full of antioxidants and can help as well in clearing the skin.

We have the common practice of salting the bitter melon to remove that bitter or acrid taste which is very effective. BUT, this process is not helping your body get the maximum health benefits from the vegetable because it was already rendered through salting, so never do that.  But if you're health-conscious, it's good to mix it with your power shakes, juice it alone or eat it raw.

If you want this to feed to your child and they're familiar with its appearance and taste, what you have to do is to chop it finely and mix it with meat and form to meatballs or add eggs to it. Very effective, my child eats ampalaya with egg and never notices the bitter taste of it or I put it on meatballs. YES, mommies, THERE'S A MAGIC IN MEATBALLS. You can ADD VEGETABLES TO IT so that your kids can eat the right amount of veggies and nutrition in their bodies since we all know they're such a picky eater. 👍

NOTE not to season salt the entire recipe when you already added the egg always, always season salt first on the sauteed bitter melon before adding the egg or else the salt will be tasted on the eggs, not on the entire dish.

I do have a lot of meatball recipes to share with you which I will share soon specifically the healthy ones.

How about you? any recipe to share? Enjoy cooking everyone! ❤😋

FIESTA: No Tipid Spaghetti

                                                       

                                                                                 

Ingredients:

400 grams of spaghetti noodles

500 grams of spaghetti sauce, Filipino style or Sweet style

1 cup ground beef

1 cup cheese hotdog, sliced

1 cup button mushroom, sliced

1 cup beef stock

1 cup water from the cooked spaghetti pasta

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 large onion, chopped

1 garlic bulb, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

2 tbsp. dried parsley

2 tbsp. paprika

Pepper to taste

Procedure for Spaghetti Sauce:

1. Saute garlic and onion until onion is translucent.

2. Add in the ground beef and continue stirring until the meat turns brown.

3. Add in the carrot and mushroom and cook until the vegetables are slightly brown.

4. Add in the parsley and paprika and continue stirring for 1 minute.

5. Pour in the beef stock and water and simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

6. Pour in the spaghetti sauce and add in the hotdogs and simmer for another 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

7. When the spaghetti sauce comes to a gentle simmer, add in the grated cheese and continue cooking.

8. Season with pepper. If the taste is a little bit bland, you can add salt. Spaghetti Sauce is ready when the consistency is a bit thick but not too thick and the cheddar cheese is completely melted.

9. Place cooked pasta in a serving dish and pour spaghetti sauce. Garnish with cheddar cheese and parsley. Makes 9 servings.

Procedure for Spaghetti noodles:

1. Boil enough water and add in a handful of salt. NO OIL! why? because the spaghetti sauce will not coat the pasta and will just slip through.

2. Cook spaghetti noodles according to package. wait.. not really.😁 It depends, to be honest on what kind of ingredients used and of course your preference on how firm and soft the pasta can be. If durum semolina is the main ingredient for the pasta it's al dente for 7 minutes but I cook it for 8-10 minutes. But if you use pasta made from wheat flour it can be al dente when cooked for 12 minutes.

Note: It's best to cook spaghetti sauce in a non-stick casserole.

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Filipinos love their spaghetti, sweet style and if with hotdog, tons of hotdog. 😂 A well-known brand here in the Philippines and now a global empire started this recipe and sold internationally and loved not only by Filipinos but foreign people as well.

Spaghetti is always served during birthdays, christening, fiesta and almost all event gatherings you can attend. No birthday is complete without spaghetti since kids love it so much. My early memory of spaghetti was when I was in grade 2 during our Christmas party and I can only have Jollibee spaghetti once a year until high school that is when we buy our school supplies in San Fernando La Union which can take 45 minutes to an hour ride from my hometown. So much waiting for a spaghetti right.😁

I have other spaghetti sauce recipes but this one is THE BEST sauce I've ever made because my family loves it so much and I make sure that I don't compromise the taste.

Choosing pasta for spaghetti shouldn't be taken lightly because if you want to make the best tasting spaghetti choose pasta wisely. In cooking pasta, there are brands that tend to expand in a drastic way and some tend to be soggy and mushy despite following package instruction while some brands when cooked retains its shape and size and don't expand so much. So, in my opinion and base on my experience, I go with pasta made from durum semolina because it doesn't expand so much and they don't stick together when left for an hour. I cook my spaghetti pasta last because I tend to cook a portion of the sauce with the pasta to coat every strand so that the pasta can absorb most of the flavor of the sauce.

The spaghetti sauce has lots of ingredients on it that is why it is a NO TIPID Spaghetti recipe. I normally use cheese hotdog rather than the regular ones and instead of oregano for the herb I used parsley because kids are not used to the aromatic scent of oregano. If I'm eating spaghetti with kids this is my recipe but if I eat spaghetti alone, I normally use loads of herbs in it like oregano, basil parsley and instead of spaghetti sauce, I use stewed tomato and I replace meat with shrimp. 

How about you, how do you like your spaghetti?