No to overcooked Pasta.

Anyone can make perfect pasta. Here are some tips shared by my friend. You see her brother works as a chef in an Italian resto here in the Philippines.

To start off...

Fill a pot with one quart (1 liter) of water per serving of pasta (1/4 pound, 100 g)  and set it to boil. Stir to ensure that all pasta is in the water and that the pieces are separated. Cook 7 - 8 minutes for long cuts like spaghetti, 8 - 10 minutes for short cuts like penne.
A minute before the pasta's cooking time is up, fish out a piece of pasta and check for doneness. You want an al dente, or chewy texture- Taste, or break open a piece of pasta to test for doneness. When it's ready, drain the pasta in a colander and serve immediately with your favorite sauce.

Now to make your sauce and pasta blend together try this strascicata technique.

To do this... Warm the sauce in a skillet while the pasta is cooking. Just before the pasta is done, transfer it, while it is still dripping, into the skillet. Turn to high heat and toss the pasta and sauce. This technique helps the pasta to absorb the sauce, imparting a more complex flavor. This is the technique that I usually do and for me it's a magical way of making my pasta dish more yummy.

Mangiamo!

Chorizo Fried Rice

One reason why I love weekend is because its the only time the husband and I can eat decent breakfast together. So I always make it a point to make a real good one. Like just this weekend, we had vigan longanisa  and chorizon fried rice. :)

Now let me share you the recipe for Chorizon Fried Rice.

You will need;

2-3 pcs chorizo de bilbao cut into rings

2-3 cups cooked rice

2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 small onion, peeled and chopped

1 sili labuyo

1 eggs, lightly beaten

Olive Oil or any cooking oil will do

Then what you'll do;

First...
In a non-stick skillet heat a little oil. Add egg and cook until set. Flip the egg  until the whole thing has set. Slice egg into strips then set aside.

Then lets cook the Chorizo Fried Rice...

In a wok, heat oil and saute onions then the  garlic, and sili. saute until onion is soft and garlic slightly brown.

Throw in the chorizo to the pan and sauté until  it's cooked.

Add rice to the pan and toss until heated through.  Add half of the portion of sliced egg and toss.Take the pan off the heat and transfer in a serving place. Use the remaining sliced egg as garnishing.

Serve and enjoy!

Car Air Filters

We knew that as with most things, cars will break down, will need upgrading or replacing at some point.

The same thing goes for our car’s Air Filters. We must be wise enough in choosing a good one so that the cleanliness of your machine can be maintained adequately.

Car air filter is very important, think of it as lungs for our car. If these get clogged, damaged or worn down it reduces its efficiency in your car. Without an air filter, these could eventually cause big damage, even leading to complete engine failure. Because it performs such an important function, replacing your air filter is one of those simple jobs that we should do regularly to maintain our car’s performance and extend its life.

If you want to find out more about air filters as well as where to purchase a reliable one, check the CARiD website.

CARiD by the way had been trading since 2003 and has different kinds of car and truck accessories as well as the filters that you needed.

They also have a wide array of dash kits, body kits, custom gauges, license plates, HID kits and allot more. It's worth having a look around, who know you might just to find something worth using for your cars.

Padthai

Whenever we eat at Thai resto, padthai is a must to order. Since this is my favorite, I wanted to make my own PadThai so one weekend I brave myself in making this dish.
With the researching and reading (online and cooking magazines) I did about this dish, I come up with this version....

What you will need;

8 oz. Hofan  noodles, available at  the oriental section of the supermarket

1 to 1 1/2 cups raw chicken breast or thigh meat, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion chopped
1 cup tofu cubed
1 fresh egg
3 cups fresh bean sprouts
3 spring (green) onions, sliced
1/3 cup crushed or roughly chopped peanuts
1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
lime wedges for serving
oil for stir-frying,

PAD THAI SAUCE:
Just mix everything.

3/4 Tbsp. tamarind mix (I used sinigang mix) dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
1-3 tsp. chili sauce
3 Tbsp. brown sugar

Then what you have to do;

1.Bring to boil a pot of water and  dunk in your rice noodles. Allow noodles to soak while you prepare the other ingredients. I boiled my Hofan Noodles for 3 minutes. Do not overcook as it will be soggy. Remove from heat, wash in cold water and drain.  Set aside.

2.Heat a large wok over high heat until very hot, saute onion then garlic. then add the chicken strips. About 1-2 minutes add the tofu.

3. Then add the Pad Thai sauce and simmer for a minute. Season with salt and pepper.

4.Low the heat and add the noodle, Stir rigorously, keep everything moving in the wok.

5. Then when everything is mix, push the noodles to one side of the wok and crack an egg into the middle. Let it set for 10-15 seconds and toss everything all together.

6.Add the beansprouts. Keep things moving. Add more sauce if it looks a little pale.

7. Throw in the spring onions. Turn the heat off, and quickly give the wok a good stirring to mix everything together.

8. Turn off the heat and transfer in a serving plate, topped it with spring onions and add fresh lime wedges :)

Pork Menudo

Menudo, is another comfort food that brings childhood memories. When we were kids, my mom owned this small food business. She offered dishes to her customers such as picadillo, dinuguan, kaldereta, sauted corned beef and menudo. So during lunch and dinner, my siblings and I can pick any viand that we wanted from our small carinderia. My siblings would picked picadillo while I preferred menudo. :)

I remembered we would helped mom chopped the onions and crushed the garlic she used in her cooking. That was the time I started to love cooking too. :)

Anyway, here is my simple Menudo recipe I learned from my mom.

You will need;

1/2k pork kasim, diced
1 cup diced pork liver
(marinte both pork and liver this also in soy sauce and pepper)
2-3 hotdogs sliced
2 cups pork broth
2 tablespoons vegetable or corn oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup cubed red ripe tomatoes
1/4 c. tomato sauce
1 green bell, diced
2 cups diced potatoes
1 carrots cut in cubes
2  tsp fish sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Then what you will do;

1. First fry the potato and carrot cubes, in batches, until the edges are lightly browned. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

2. Sauté onion, garlic and tomatoes then add pork then simmer uncovered, reduce the liquid to half.


3. Add the pork liver then mix, mix, mix.

4. Add tomato sauce, carrots, potatoes. Simmer stirring occasionally.


5. Then pour 1/2 cup pork broth. Season with salt.

6. Simmer for 10 more minutes.

7. Serve hot.

This is my entry for Food Friday. Happy FF day everyone!

Korean Army Soup

There are many version in making this soup. I am sharing you how my husband cooked this last weekend. I tell you, I super love this hot and spicy soup. :)

You will need;

1 tin Spam, sliced
4 hotdogs sliced on the diagonal
1 package Kimchi Ramyun
1 heaped tbsp chili paste
Sliced firm tofu
Kimchi

Then what you will do...
1.In a pot, place 2 cups of water. Let it boil

2.Then add the sausage, spam and sliced tofu. Simmer for a minute

4. Throw in the ramyun

4.Then add the kimchi according to your liking.

5. You can add korean chili paste if you want it more spicy.

6. Voila… Budae Jigae (부대찌개)!!

Yummeh!!!