Nacho Rice

There came a time in our family life when Mr. M. thought of nothing else to feed his family but tacos or nachos. We were having the same snack as a dish for 3 straight meals when I figured out “hindi lang sa nachos nabubuhay ang tao”.hehe Since I believe that rice is still the best option in filling one's tummy, I figured why not combine it with the only readily available resources we had - the nachos’ ingredients. I then accidentally discovered this dish.

Cooked Rice
Meat filling (see cooking procedure here)
Tomatoes
Onion (I didn’t put in in my rice meal though)
Chili Sauce
Cheese Spread
Oil, salt and pepper

1) Add a little amount of oil in a pan, break the cook rice, add a dash of salt and pepper.
2) Add the meat filling, tomatoes and onion, mix evenly.
3) Season with hot sauce and cheese spread. Mix well.

Pardon the photo, I was gearing towards the half of it when I though of taking a picture. ;) This dish was actually inspired by Shawarma Rice and surprisingly it was as good. Of course, you'll never go wrong with cheese, even on rice. Be very careful though because it will make you eat more without you knowing. But hell no, I still wasn't able to convince him to try this. He's loyal to his nachos, remember. hehe 

Home Made Nacho

I am blessed Mr. M. is one loyal man. That loyalty goes to as far as food choices. He sticks to his comfort food and very hard to convince to try other. He doesn’t mind repeating the same dish over and over as long as it’s the same dish. Like just recently, he had this love affair with nachos which we had for every single weekend for more than a month.

Nacho Chips
Meat filling (ground pork, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, oyster sauce, chili sauce, ketchup)
White Onion
Tomato
Cheese Spread
Chili sauce
Ketchup
Grated Cheese

For the meat filling:
1) Place the ground pork in a pan, add water, salt and pepper. Break it until the water fully evaporates and the ground pork is brown.
2) Saute garlic, onion and ground pork. Season with oyster sauce and salt and pepper. Add chili sauce and ketchup to make more flavorful.
3) Arrange all the ingredients in a plate, preferably in the same order as the listing above. 

My take: Home made nacho is always way better than commercially bought. It's less costly and you can put or adjust everything you want depending on your taste (as the same way as you can omit what you don't like, sorry onion (me thinks)).

Tip: You can add cabbage or lettuce, no rule say you can't do that.

The verdict:  With this snack, who wouldn't be loyal?

Penne Pasta Spaghetti

I am a pasta lover. I eat cooked pasta with ketchup as a kid, that’s spaghetti for me already. But when you grow older, you became meticulous about your favorite dish. You become specific and particular of every details of it. Okay, I shouldn’t talk in the second person when it might be only me. But yes, as I aged, I became so hard to please when it comes to pasta. This recipe is actually my mama’s but I improved it a little to fit my taste. 

500 grams penne pasta (cooked per package instruction)
500 grams Spaghetti Sauce
¼ kl ground pork
¼ kl hotdog
1 big can mushroom
Onion, garlic
Salt and pepper
For white sauce:
1 bar butter
1 small can evaporated milk 

1) Brown the ground pork. Add the hotdog, let it fry a bit.
2) Set the ground pork mixture around the pan. Let the oil drain into the middle of the pan, leave just enough oil for sautéing.
3) Sauté garlic and onion. Combine it with ground pork mixture. Add mushroom.
4) Add spaghetti sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
5) Add the cooked penne pasta. Mix evenly.
6) In a separate pan, melt butter and add evaporated milk. Simmer.
7) In very low heat, pour butter mixture in the spaghetti. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes.
8) Serve hot. 

My take: This proportion always works best for me, although my mama would always argue (she uses ½ kilo pasta : 1 kilo sauce). Cheese in this recipe is optional, the white sauce mixtures takes its place. 

Tip: If cheese is available, I put it directly on the pasta while it is still in the strainer. 

The verdict: This recipe is always a hit, though I really don’t share the works (it my trade secret). But then again, different stroke for different folks (literal meaning) applies. hehe 

Tortang Talong with Giniling

Mr. M’s all-time favorite dish. I can say that because he always orders it at a single glance. He even orders this from the canteen once he heard it's available, even if we already have baon for lunch. But even if this is his favorite, it is seldom seen in our dining table because 1) he can’t cook it and 2) I don’t want to cook it as often because 1) I do not eat it (vegetable, that is) and 2) it’s too complicated to cook. But during last Sunday's grocery, he grabbed all its ingredient and ordered me to cook it without giving me a chance to say no. So that night, armed with a lazy butt, I cooked Tortang Talong with love. J 

Talong (eggplant)
Egg (preferably 1 egg : 1 eggplant)
Giniling of your choice meat (ground meat)
Oil, Garlic, onion, salt and pepper

1) Sauté garlic and onion. Add giniling, season with salt and pepper. Continuously break the meat apart until it turned to brown. Let cool and set aside.
2) Grill the eggplant.
3) While grilling, beat the egg in a wide bowl. Add some salt and pepper.
4) Once the eggplant is soft, remove from fire and peel it.
5) Flatten the peeled eggplant in the same bowl of the beaten egg.
6) Fry the dipped eggplant (with egg) and add a spoon of sauteed giniling, top with beaten egg to make sure the giniling sticks to the eggplant.
7) Fry both side. 

My take: Eggplant and giniling are oil frenzy. I should have armoured myself against all the talsik ng mantika from the pan. Also eggplant absorbs oil a lot. 

Tips: Use paper towel to absorb the oil from the omelette. Toyo-Suka-Bawang mixture as sawsawan is the most suited dip for this. One of my officemates suggested to asked your suking barbeque-han to grill the eggplant to save you the hassle. My eggplants are gas grilled, btw.

The verdict: It was a hit both with Mr. M. and in the office (the next day). I was not even able to take a picture because they didn't give me the chance. And most of all, I was able to finish half of the eggplant.hehe

Misua with Meatballs and Patola

I remember my highschool teacher said that it’s better to drink hot beverage when the weather is hot because it releases the heat out of your body and will help you feel refresh after. Following that concept, I cooked misua with meatmall and patola on a hot summer night. You’ll going to use a lot of hand here so make sure you have a clean one.

           For the meatball:

Ground Pork
Onion, grated
Carrots (optional), grated
Egg, Flour
Cooking oil, Salt and Pepper

1) Mix all the ingredients together with the use of your hand.
2) Make the mixture into small balls and fry. Set aside.

For the Soup:

Misua
Meatball
Onion, garlic
Patola
Cooking oil, Water, Salt and Pepper, Fish Sauce

1) Saute onion and garlic, add water. Put the misua and patola.
2) When the patola is tender add in the fried meatballs.
3) Serve with rice.

My Take: This dish is full of nutrients you’ll get iron, calcium and phosphorus with the patola alone. Plus the benefits you’ll get from the carrots.

Tip: Hand-mix your meatball mixture for a more even blend.

The Verdict: Who says soups are only for cold nights? You can always turn your ACs on and eat soups with your hearts’ content.haha 

Giniling Guisado

It’s true that you change preference as you grow older. When I was younger, chicken was my favorite. Having said that, any dish that has chicken in it was a hit for me. But now, I outgrew my love for the winged fellow and shifted to the less favorit-able, ground meat (pork, beef, even chicken). Ground meat is always in our grocery cart every week, I just decide what to do with it as the need arise. This week, I whipped ginisang giniling for diner. This dish has nothing special in it, just that it’s my favorite (for the moment). 

Ground pork
2 pieces potatoes, cubed
1 piece carrot, cubed
Garlic, Onion, Tomatoes, diced
Oyster Sauce, Fish Sauce, Salt and Pepper, to taste
Water and Cooking oil 

1) In a pan, sauté garlic, onion and tomatoes in oil. Add ground pork and brown it, making sure to break it apart as you mix. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
2) When browned add in potatoes and carrot. Add water and simmer until the vegetables are cooked.
3) Season with oyster sauce/fish sauce, salt and pepper.
4) Best served on top of rice. 

My take: Oyster sauce adds flavour to the meat, I always use it as a seasoning to any guisa recipes. 

Tips: You can always add extenders like hardboiled egg or quail egg, I’ll do and show that next time. Left-overs can turn in omelette for breakfast, I’ll show that too, next time. 

My verdict: We all enjoyed our dinner in bed.