Special Fried Tilapia

 

Some people don’t want to eat this kind of fish because of its earthy smell and some would call this as nasty fish. Well every individual has its own opinion and I respect that, but for me, I would say it’s one of my favorite!! I don’t know - but the taste would just simply suits my taste buds and I have nothing more to question about it.

A day ago in my hometown we had harvested this Tilapia from our pond. Since we have plenty of catch and a fan-eater of this, I decided to share with you how I prepare this dish without the earthy-smell-thing on the fish. I’ve been cooking this for my family many times so for now I’m sharing this simple thing for you too. When we say ‘fry’—yeah it’s very simple!! Heat a pan, pour-in cooking oil, fry and serve! This time I made some ritual to get rid of the smell so I did added milk as an ingredient. I also added an egg into it to be more special and tasty to complete the dish. Sometimes I do it by adding more seasonings like pepper and garlic but this time we will focus on the simplest way in order to preserve the somewhat like close to original taste of the fish.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 pcs fresh Tilapia, medium size, cleaned

• 1 large egg, raw

• 1/4 cup evaporated milk

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup cooking oil

Procedure for Special Fired Tilapia:

1.    In a clean bowl, whisk the egg, milk and salt. Mix well. Set aside.

2.    Partially slice the body portion of the fish in order to absorb all the mixture in it while dipping. Dip-in cleaned fish on the mixture for about 5mins. (Be sure to coat everything of the fish including the entire head).

3.       Heat the pan on a medium heat.

4.       Fry both side of the fish until golden brown.

5.       Serve and enjoy!

 

Big Tummy Pastry (Stromboli inspired recipe)

 

 

I got interested on what Stromboli is. This is quite the same in pizza recipes out there but in the absence of using sauce and the procedure of rolling up the crust makes it unique. Stromboli is when you roll up pizza topping in a pizza crust. Here, I made home cooking more exciting as I substituted empanada dough instead of pizza crust for this recipe. Making dough from scratch needs time and proper care. It sounds hard as other thinks but for me it’s fairly easy. After mixing-in wet and dry ingredients in a mixer I prefer to continue doing it with my hands because I know this only requires minimal kneading and it’s more fun so it's not really tiring though!. Kneading is very much important in making dough so you’ll have a smooth and elastic result and free from cracks. . I don’t have enough egg whites used here to glaze the dough the reason why the color turns pale. But if you want a golden brown finish, much better if you glaze it with whisked egg whites more and evenly all over. This is good when served hot. I did try this twice at home and it really tastes awesome!!! I wanted also to try the next time rolling up with pizza crust which is the original ingredient of the recipe. Exciting!!!

Ingredients:

Dough/Crust

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 sticks butter, cold cut into small pieces
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1 raw egg
• 4-5 tablespoon water, cold

Filling:

• 1/2 pound SLERS bacon, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup green bell pepper, thinly sliced or chopped into small pieces
• 1 large egg
• tablespoon water (for glaze)

Procedure:

 

Dough

1.     Whisk flour, salt and sugar in a bowl then place the mixture in an electric mixer with the dough hook or in a food processor.

2.    Add the butter, egg and water until a dough forms. (butter and water should be cold)

3.     Knead the dough until the texture is smooth and elastic.

4.     Place the dough in a bowl and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Filling

1.     While cooling the dough, prepare the bacon. Place a pan on a medium heat. Cook the bacon until the sides turns light brown. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

To Assemble

1.     Roll out the dough into enough thickness.

2.    Arrange cooked bacon, cheese, and then green bell peppers. Sprinkle with enough parmesan cheese. (as shown in the above picture)

3.     Roll up lengthwise. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. (refer to above picture)

4.     Separate the egg white from the yolk. Beat egg white and add water. Glaze all over the rolled dough. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

5.    Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until the dough turns golden brown.

6.     Remove from oven.

7.     Serve hot and enjoy!

 

Note: If you wish to make this recipe using pizza crust instead of homemade dough, you can cook in a preheated oven 375 degrees F and bake for 20-35 minutes or the top turns golden brown.

 

"Eye Scream" Float

It’s too hot outside!!? Yeah, summer is right in the corner! And speaking of summer, we’d rather slurp something sweet and cool desserts to chill us up!! Something a treat which doesn’t need an oven as well as that can be ready in just a couple of minutes------I want “eye scream”!!!? Yeah you heard it right!--- ice cream! Since we want it to be more special and have it made with exciting variation, I’ve come to this idea of a cracker plus an ice cream garnished with sliced mango and ganache! I knew this is not ‘kinda new to us but just a random thought, good thing I have this! Mouth-watering???— Delish indeed!!

Note: This Can also be served with your favorite fruit and/or nuts. It’s better to make ganache to garnish than using chocolate syrup because some bought products can ruin the taste to this recipe. If so, buy those products that you know it tastes right for you. Using semi-sweet chocolate for the ganache is recommended than bitter-sweet.

Ingredients:

Ganache (garnishing)

·          2 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into small pieces

·          1/4 cup Whipping cream

·          1 teaspoon butter, (I prefer slightly salted)

 

Ice Cream Float

·          1.3L Ice Cream (brand of choice)

·          1 pack Graham crackers

·          2 ripe mangoes, sliced to garnish

 

Procedure:

For the Ganache

1.     Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Set aside.

2.     Place a pan over a medium heat. Place the butter in the pan then pour the cream and bring just to boil.

3.     Turn off heat and pour boiling cream into the chopped chocolate. Stir gently with a spoon until you can’t see any lump or until smooth. Set aside.

For the Float

1.     Take about 4 pieces of crackers and pulverize. Set aside.

2.     Line or arrange the crackers in a rectangular glass pan or anything available, leaving no space on the base.

3.     Scoop evenly the ice cream over the arranged crackers.

4.     Do the same (step #2 and #3), ending with an ice cream as top of everything.

5.     Sprinkle evenly the pulverized cracker then decorate the sliced mangoes. Garnish with ganache on top.

6.     Chill for about an hour. Serve and enjoy!

 

Makes 10-12 servings

Beef Steak (Filipino Style)

 

This is our favorite way of cooking beef garnished with boiled ampalaya and thinly sliced fresh carrots. Here, I have the option in choosing ampalaya as garnishing to have a healthier menu. Ampalaya is also called Bitter Melon or Bitter Gourd and also known as herbal too. I used squeezed lemon juice instead of any vinegar which is one of the secrets when marinating.

I’d love cooking it for lunch and the leftovers is greatly served for dinner. My family love this much when cooked a little bit saucy than dry, so I prefer to cook it by not letting all the water evaporates in the pan. The semi-sweet and tangy sauce made us add more cups of rice!! Mouth watering!—this recipe broke our rules in diet….!!! What I also love in cooking this, is the aroma that lingered all through the house which really boost our appetite and enjoy most in eating the food!!!
 

Ingredients

• 3/4 kilo beef, breakfast steak cuts
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 1/2 cups water
• ampalaya and carrots, to garnish (optional)

Procedure for Beef Steak:
 

1.   Thaw the beef if it is frozen. Take each steak and cut into small pieces or divide into three slices. Place in a clean container. Add-in soy sauce, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper.  Mix well.
 

2.   Marinade and place it in the fridge for about 30mins. (You can also set it overnight to properly absorb the mixture into the beef if you planned to prepare it the next day).
 

3.   Place 1 1/2 cups of water in a pan and bring to boil.
 

4.   Put-in the marinated beef and cook for about 20-30 minutes or until the water evaporates. Stir occasionally. Add-in cooking oil, stir and simmer for about 2 minutes. (If you want it to be saucy don’t let all the water evaporates. This time add-in cooking oil and simmer for a couple of minutes then turn off the heat.)
 

5.   While the beef cooks prepare the garnishing. Thinly slice a carrot and set aside. In another pan, heat 3 tablespoons of water, place the ampalaya, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and let it boil for about 1 minute. Turn off heat, transfer to a plate and set aside.
 

6.   Once the beef is cooked, transfer to a clean plate and garnish boiled ampalaya and carrots.
 

7.   Serve and enjoy!

 

 

 

Chicken 'en Garlic

 

Fried Chicken is one of the most common variations of cooking chicken. Everybody loves to cook fried chicken at home especially with kids. It’s very quick and easy to prepare and it's is usually good for dinner! What I love for fried chickens are “every bite is a crunch!” Hmmmm.. nam.. nam…

This is my ever favorite simple recipe to make for my family and chicken is also one of our favorite too! I love to eat the crunch together with a chili sauce or gravy. We can’t resist taking another cup of rice whenever I’m cooking this at home… Well, I should do it just once in a while of course to observe our diet! We can always buy the ready to mix breading for this, but what I usually do is to make it from scratch which is very simple. Another thing why I love this recipe is because of its garlic flavor and the nice aroma which added the taste of the chicken more tasty. What I did is fry first the garlic into the heated cooking oil until brown so that the cooking oil will then have its own garlic flavor.

If you are fun of eating deep fried chicken, you must try this recipe!

 

Ingredients:

• 6-8 pieces sliced chicken breast (you can also try it with leg part or wing if you like)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3-4 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 1 piece raw egg
• 2 cups cooking oil
• 5 cloves garlic, cut into halves

Procedure for Chicken 'en Garlic:
 

1. Mix all-purpose flour, salt, ground black pepper, minced garlic and bread crumbs in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the egg and milk in another bowl. Set aside.
3. Coat the chicken with salt about half teaspoon. Set aside for about 2-3 mins. Dip the chicken slices in the egg and milk mixture and roll in the flour mixture. Make sure that all the sides of the chicken are coated.
4. Pour the cooking oil in the non-stick frying pan on high heat.
5. When the oil becomes hot, fry the sliced garlic clove until brown and remove it from the pan.
6. Lower the heat so that the inner part of the chicken will slowly cooked without burning the outer part or the breading. Deep fry the coated chicken for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the color turns golden brown.
7. Turn the heat off and remove fried chicken from the pan.
8. Prepare a clean plate and place a ply of kitchen tissue on it and transfer the fried chicken. (Tissue paper will absorb the remaining oil from the chicken leaving the chicken not oily).
9. Serve hot. (You can serve with any sauce you like)

 

Bacorella Pizza (Bacon and Mozzarella)

 

Lately, I’ve made my Chicken ‘en Cheese Buffalo Wings Pizza for you (click link for the recipe). Here is now my revised recipe for pizza lovers out there….Yeah! You heard it right. I am saying ‘revised’ because I made some revisions on the recipe! I used bacon instead of shredded chicken and spaghetti sauce instead of buffalo wings sauce.. That’s right! It’s awkward to use spaghetti sauce in pizzas but what I am thinking is when it comes into sauces, they almost have the same texture and appearances so why not try! This time I’m making it sure too that I pre-cooked the dough on its prescribed baking time as it should be so my pizza topping won’t get overcooked as what I have experienced from my previous recipe. I’m so much excited on what is going to be the output and what the taste is, considering that I made some experiment on the recipe. And the result…..---Mouth-watering, yum… yum!!!

So you guys out there why not give a try on this delectable experiment!!! Delizioso!!

Ingredients

• 1 Roll Pizza Dough (I used 8 diameter thin Crust)
• 100g Bacon (I used SLERS but you can have your own preference of brand; on how meaty your pizza is, you can add more bacon if you like)
• 1/3 cup spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup (or 200g) grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 green onions, thinly slice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Procedure for Chicken and Cheese Buffalo Wing Pizza:
 

 

1.    Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).  Butter the baking sheet. Set aside.

2.    Thaw the dough for about 5mins. Place the dough in the prepared baking sheet and pre- bake in the oven for about 6-8mins.

3.    While the pizza crust bakes, prepare the bacon. Lightly cook the bacon. Place the pan in a low heat. Pour olive oil in the heated pan and cook for about 2-3 minutes or until the edges of the bacon turns light brown. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

4.   Once you finished baking the dough remove it from the oven. Spread the sauce over the baked pizza crust then arrange the cooked bacon over the sauce; add-in the cheese then mozzarella. Arrange the sliced onions on top of everything. (As shown in the picture).

5.   Bake the pizza on the same heat in 6-10 mins or until cheese has melted.

6.   Serve hot and enjoy!

Makes 6-8 servings