Chicken with Vegetables in Creamy Cheese Sauce

Another chicken recipe that I have created. I included some vegetables in the recipe so that it will be more nutritious.

Ingredients:

1 kg Chicken breast fillets

¼ kg Carrots (cubed)

1 pc. Chayote (cubed)

1 pc. Red bell pepper (cut in squares)

1 cup Quick melt cheese

¼ tsp. Black pepper powder

¼ tsp. Iodized salt

1 cup Water

5 cloves Garlic (minced)

1 pc. Onion (medium, thinly sliced)

1 tsp. Marjoram (dry)

½ tsp. Sugar

1 tbsp. Safflower oil

Cooking Instruction:

Heat oil and sauté the garlic and onion until the garlic turns golden brown and the onion starts to caramelize. Toss in the chicken and stir. Mix and cook for 2 minutes with cover. After 2 minutes, add water, marjoram, sugar, salt, and cheese. Turn up the heat until it starts to boil. Mix until the cheese melts and is dissolved evenly in the broth. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cover for 15 minutes. Add the vegetables and mix well. Continue simmering for about 10 minutes. Serve with bread or as topping with plain steamed rice. You may also use this as sauce for pasta.

Pork Curry

You can cook virtually any meat in curry and this recipe I made using pork. However, what is different in this type of curry I made is that I did not use coconut milk to provide that creamy taste to the curry which is customary for this type of recipe; instead, I used skim milk powder which reduce the fat content of the dish. The taste does not deviate much from the original one using coconut milk. A nice alternative for cooking low fat curries.

Ingredients:

1 kg Pork (cut into large cubes)

4 tbsp. Skim milk powder

½ cup Water (for suspending milk)

½ tsp. Black pepper powder

½ tsp. Iodized salt

1 tbsp. Garlic (minced)

1 pc. Onion (medium, thinly sliced)

1 cup Water

½ tsp. Curry powder

1 pc. Bell pepper (cut into squares)

1 pc. Carrot (large, cut into large pieces)

1 cup Potatoes (cut into large cubes)

1 tbsp. Soy sauce

1 tsp. Sugar

1 tbsp. Safflower oil (for sautéing)

½ cup Cooking oil (for frying the potatoes and carrots)

Cooking Instruction:

Heat the ½ cup cooking oil in a deep frying pan and fry the potatoes and carrots separately. The potatoes until golden brown and the carrots until surface begin to brown. Set aside the fried carrots and potatoes on top of paper towels to reduce excess oil.

In a pressure cooker, heat the oil and sauté the garlic, onion, and ginger until the garlic turns golden brown and the onion begins to caramelize. Toss in the pork and stir. Cook for about 2 minutes and add the soy sauce, black pepper, salt, sugar, and water. Pressure cook for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and allow the pressure cooker to cool normally. Do not hasten cooling by venting the steam as the additional time required for normal cooling of the pressure cooker is used as additional cooking time to further tenderize the meat. This will take an additional 10 to 15 minutes. After the temperature has lowered sufficiently, open the pressure cooker and skim off any excess fat that may float on the broth to further decrease fat content. Again turn on the heat and add the skim milk suspended in ½ cup of water and boil until the volume of the sauce remaining is about 1 cup. Toss in the bell peppers, potatoes, and carrots and cook further for 2 to 5 minutes and serve. Enjoy with plain steamed rice or with bread.

Ampalaya con Carne (Bitter Gourd with Fermented Black Beans and Pork)

Bitter gourd or ‘ampalaya’ in the Philippines is the source of a substance that is known to lower the glucose levels in blood. Therefore, they think that consumption of this fruit might be helpful in controlling hyperglycaemia, helpful for controlling diabetes. Depending on a variety of cultivars and specie, the bitter taste may also vary. However, I have noted that you can easily remove most if not all the bitterness by allowing the sliced fruit to be in contact with rock salt. The rock salt might increase the rate by which water may diffuse through the cells bringing with it the bitter compounds that may easily be rinsed. The remainder of water and salt that may have diffused into the tissues of the sliced fruit may be removed by gentle wringing out either on itself with bare hands or with the use of a cloth.

Ingredients:

1 pc. Ampalaya (large, seeded and cut into serving slices)

½ kg. Pork (ground)

1 tbsp. Fermented black beans

4 cloves Garlic (minced)

1 pc. Onion (medium, thinly sliced)

½ tsp. Black pepper powder

1 tbsp. Iodized salt

1 cup Tofu (cut into small cubes)

3 tbsp. Premium dark soy sauce

1 tsp. Sugar

1 tsp. Cornstarch

1/2 tsp. Sesame oil

½ cup Water for suspending cornstarch

1 cup Water

Cooking Instruction:

Heat the oil in a wok and sauté the garlic and onion until the garlic is golden brown and the onion starts to caramelize. Toss in the ground pork and stir. Cook for two minutes and add the the tofu soy sauce, sugar, black pepper, black beans, and water. Boil continue to cook at high heat for about 10 minutes. Add the ampalaya slices and lower heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes more and again increase the heat. In a small bowl, place the cornstarch and add water, mix to suspend evenly the cornstarch (take care that no lumps of cornstarch remains). Add the sesame oil and mix well. Add this suspension into the cooking mixture and mix well. Continue stirring until the cornstarch is cooked. Enjoy with plain steamed rice...

Yellow Tail Fusilier Fillets in Tomato Sauce

'Dalagang bukid' (yellow tail fusilier) is a popular fish in the Philippines which is normally used in several recipes. A very versatile fish for many types of recipes.

Ingredients:

500 grams Dalagang bukid fillets

2 tbsp, Cornstarch

½ tsp. Black pepper powder

½ tsp. Marjoram

½ tsp. Iodized salt

2 tbsp. Safflower oil (for frying the fillets and potatoes)

4 cloves Garlic (minced)

1 pc. Onion (medium, thinly sliced)

1 tbsp. Safflower oil (for sautéing)

½ cup Tomato sauce

1 ½ cups Water

1 pc. Green bell pepper (cut into large strips)

Dash of freshly ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Cooking Instruction:

In a bowl, mix the cornstarch, black pepper, marjoram, and salt. Toss in the fish and mix well to coat every fillets with the cornstarch. Heat the oil in a Teflon coated frying pan and fry the fish fillets until both sides are nicely browned. Set aside on paper towels to remove the excess cooking oil. Fry on the hot oil where the fish fillets were fried the potatoes until both sides are nicely browned too. Add additional oil as needed. Set aside the fried potatoes on top of paper towels to reduce excess oil.

In a suitable saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the garlic and onion until the garlic turns golden brown and the onion starts to caramelize. Add the fried fillets, potatoes, bell pepper, water and the tomato sauce. Boil and lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cover for about 5 minutes. Add the black pepper and salt to taste. Serve with bread or use as rice topping for plain steamed rice.