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Friday, November 04, 2011

Kuting's Kitchen - Boiled Kamote

No big kitchen production here.  Just sharing a simple and healthy snack.  I got the idea from my dear former officemates who bring this to the office as a snack or as a substitute for rice J  Miss you guys!


Boiled Kamote

Ingredients:
Kamote
Water

Steps:
1.     Boil kamote until soft.
2.     Eat it while it’s hot!

Kuting’s Tip:  It took me 25 minutes to make it soft for my liking.



Monday, October 24, 2011

Kuting's Kitchen - Ginisang Ampalaya with Egg

Ampalaya is not loved by many because of its bitter taste.  But, you will find in this entry that it is possible to lessen the bitterness.  Although, some may still find it not ok but you be the judge :)

Ginisang Ampalaya with Egg
Ingredients:
1 medium sized ampalaya, thinly* sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 onion, sliced
garlic
salt and pepper
oyster sauce
water
1 egg

Steps:
1.      Saute garlic, onion and tomatoes.
2.      Add the ampalaya.
3.      Add oyster sauce.  Add a little water if becoming dry.
4.      If ampalaya looks a little soft already, add egg.  Mix.
5.      Season with salt and pepper.
6.      Cover and let it cook for a while until done.


*Kuting’s Tip:  In preparing the ampalaya, you have to slice it thinly.  Put salt then mix with hand.  Wash the salt off from the ampalaya under running water while still mixing with hand.  



Sunday, October 23, 2011

Kuting's Kitchen - Chicken Sopas


I am really on a roll!  After cooking the grilled rosemary porkchop, I started on my all time favorite - chicken sopas.  

  
Chicken Sopas


Ingredients:
650 ml chicken broth* (why 650? I was not able to measure the water when I prepared the broth and this is how much I ended up with :)
1 can (370 ml) Carnation evap
1 1/2 glass of water (use as needed)
1 piece chopped carrots
1 piece sliced garlic
1 piece chopped onion
chopped celery without the leaves
cabbage
salt and pepper / fish sauce
spaghetti pasta (most of the recipes list elbow macaroni but I use this since we always have this in stock).

Steps:
1.   In a pot, put some olive oil. Saute garlic, onion and carrots.

2.   Add shredded chicken and continue mixing.

3.   Pour your chicken broth.  Cover and let it boil.

4.   After the first boil add the pasta and continue cooking for another ten minutes.  Make sure that there is enough water for the pasta to cook.  Just add water if needed.

5.   As soon as the pasta is ‘al dente’ (not quite cooked, but already softened), add the carrots and celery. Stir.

6.   After 2-3 minutes, add the shredded cabbage. Keep stirring.

7.   Slowly add the milk and keep stirring. Remember not to add the milk all at once and always stir.  Otherwise, the milk might curdle.

8.  After putting in all the ingredients, check if there is a need to add salt and/or pepper. Some also opt to use fish sauce (which I did).

Kuting Tip #1:  When storing the left over sopas, separate the soup and the noodles so that the noodles will not get soggy.  When re-heating, heat the soup first then just add the noodles to avoid overcooking. 

Kuting Tip #2:  The chicken bones can also be used to prepare another batch of broth with onions and peppercorns.  I used this 2nd batch of broth instead of water when I re-heated the sopas since my sopas absorbed all of the original soup.

(for the original recipes, go to http://www.magluto.com/pinoy-sopas-chicken-sopas and http://www.filipinofoodstore.com/recipes/chicken-sopas.html)

I prepared the broth the day before, some of which I used in the Chicken and Tomato in Balsamic Vinegar.

For the chicken broth, below is the recipe which I got from the ever reliable net.  Some chicken broth is as simple as boiling the chicken bones with pepper corns and onion. But since I have the time, I chose this recipe to increase the probability of a flavorful chicken sopas!

*Chicken Broth

Ingredients:
chicken pieces with meat (to be shredded for the sopas)
celery ribs with leaves, cut into chunks
medium carrots, cut into chunks
medium onions, quartered
whole peppercorns
dried rosemary, crushed
cold water
bay leaves
*the proportion depends on how you would like your broth to taste

Steps:
1.   Place all ingredients in a pot.

2.    Slowly bring to a boil; reduce heat. Skim foam. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

3.    Set chicken aside until cool enough to handle. 

4.    Remove meat from bones. Strain broth, discarding vegetables and seasonings. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Skim fat from surface.

(for the original recipe, go to http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/homemade-chicken-broth/detail.aspx)