My KitCHEn Experiments

Probably the thing I love most about traveling is the culinary adventures - the hunt for that ever famous restaurant and finding out what the fuss is all about or just stumbling upon some hidden gem of a food joint with the tastiest most authentic dishes gives me more thrills than finding a bargain at the malls.  A year ago I am fortunate enough to travel to Bangkok Thailand with my family and boy did we eat! me and my dad were even brave enough to snack on fried crickets! yes crickets! I thought it would be icky but when you get pass the fact that they are once moving bugs you get know that they taste like crispy fried shrimps, kind of sweet and crunchy, it was good enough for me! I was kinda missing Thai food and so stumbling upon an instant Pad Thai pack at the grocers I had a quick idea of making a Thai themed Thursday dinner. I decided on making the Pad Thai and some chicken satay - I had once tried to make the peanut dipping sauce from internet recipes but it was a fail

It might be because I only cook for two people that I always have some ingredients left over. Half a tin of red kidney beans from making tacos, half a head of broccoli from a stir fry, a quarter of a box of coconut powder from making curry... everytime I try to make something it is almost always guaranteed that a quarter or half of this and that will be left over and the most recent is half a can of sweet condensed milk that was left over from when I made chocolate sauce. I stored it in a small bottle and tried to think of a way to use it up. I first though of using it for a sweet cheese muffin but that recipe only called for a few tablespoons so nope - not that recipe - I wanted to use every single drop of this sweet milk. Then while reading an article about the difference between a creme caramel and creme brulee I decided to make leche flan or creme caramel. Creme Caramel (for one) ingredients : - half a can of sweet condensed milk - 2 eggyolks - 1/2 cup sugar - 1/2 cup

We make spaghetti I think once every month - it is our go to dish on weekends when I the pantry and freezer is low on supplies, when I can't think of a new dish to try or when I generally feel lazy. Sometimes we make it an elaborate masterpiece with homemade marinara sauce and meatballs and sometimes for a truly lazy weekend pasta dish we just use bottled sauce. This weekend was once of those lazy days when I don't feel like spending too much time in the kitchen cooking - what with a throbbing headache, still I had to make something 'kinda' special because it is the weekend after all. So it was spaghetti thursday once again. I didn't feel like chopping onions and garlic and sauteeing meat so I used bottled marinara sauce, dumped it in a pot, added cubed ham and stirred until heated thru. Easy spaghetti that still felt like a special dish.

Old fashioned sweet and sour recipes that I know includes pineapple chunks, I have no problem with fruit on main course dishes but my picky brother doesn't like fruits in his so I tweaked this recipe for sweet and sour chicken that I found. No fruits just veggies. Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken ingredients: - 2 to 3 boneless chicken breasts cubed into bite size pieces - salt and pepper to taste - cornstarch - 1 bell pepper julienned - 1 medium white onion julienned - 1 medium carrot julienned for the sauce - 3/4 cup sugar - 4 tbs ketchup - 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar - 1 tbs soy sauce - 1 tsp garlic salt how to: - season the chicken cubes with salt and pepper - dredge in cornstarch - flash fry until golden brown, trasfer to a baking dish - stir fry veggies iuntil crisp tender - whisk all sauce ingredients in a bowl and pour oven chicken - bake in a 325 degree oven for 20-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through mixing in the veggies halfway thru

When I heard that my friend who gave birth to a healthy baby girl a couple of weeks ago was going to visit the office to sort out her planned extended vacation I immediately thought of baking something as a present for them. I have not visited as often as would have liked because I don't really know when would be a good time, I am sort of worried to be a nuisance when she could be sleeping or spending time with her kids. I know she must be tired with having a newborn baby and a three year old son to take care of so I felt that I should postpone my visit until she has settled on her routine. I first though of trying out that no yeast cinnamon bread recipe that I found but decided to make chocolate chip cookies instead. I made 2 batches actually - one with chocolate chips and almonds for the grown-ups and one with M&M's for my godson - her three year old son, to gobble up on.  Chocolate Chip Cookies ingredients: - 1/2 cup softened butter - 1/2 cup white sugar

It is typical of chinese restaurants to serve "buchi" for dessert - that round sesame seed covered fried balls of glutinous rice flour with red bean paste filling. It is my of my favorite chinese treat and I finally was able to experiment making it a few days ago using 'ube' or purple yam paste for the filling. Purple Yam Fried Mochi ingredients: - glutinous rice flour - warm water - sesame seeds - bottled or homemade sweet purple yam - oil for frying how to: - combine warm water and glutionous flour until you have a 'dough' - form into pingpong sized balls. form the purple yam into smaller balls as well - slightly flaten the rice flour balls and wrap around the yam balls and seal the seams - roll in sesame seeds and deep fry until golden I could not give you exact measurements for the recipe because I just sort of eyeballed everything. The fun is in the experiment so enjoy the process!!

It has become our habit to cook a special menu every thursday for dinner. As the last working of the week (where I am currently based at least) we sort of 'celebrate' and welcome the weekend with a good dinner. Sometimes we go out and eat but with the changing work schedule of my brother I just cooke and usually make something akin to restaurant fare and tonight I made honey-garlic baked ribs with a side of coleslaw and onion rings. Honey-Garlic Baked Ribs ingredients: - a slab of your choice of ribs - olive oil - minced garlic - brown sugar - salt and pepper *the amount of garlic, olive oil and brown sugar will depend on how big your slab of meat is how to: -  season the ribs with a bit of salt and pepper - rub the minced garlic all around the ribs and sprinkle more on top - drizzle with olive oil - sprinkle with brown sugar - bake loosely covered with foil of 30 minutes in a 250F oven and broil for another 15 minutes in a 150F oven until top is browned.