The (Mis)Adventures of Superboink

I am trying to give our fried chicken a face-lift --- doing away with the supermarkets’ instant breading mixes which contains mostly flour and salt. Herbs and spices are the most effective way – whether fresh or dried – to give food flavour while keeping it healthy. Spices are “concentrated sources of natural antioxidants” as McCormick says (My favourite brand of readily available dried herbs and spices). I made a dry rub for the chicken pieces I bought from the grocery using McCormick spices – Italian seasoning (which has dried marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano and basil), Salt and Ground Black Pepper and Cayenne Pepper Powder for some zing. :: :: :: Herbed Chicken Ingredients: Chicken pieces, cleaned and patted dry McCormick Italian Seasoning Salt and Ground Black Pepper Cayenne Pepper Powder (not too much if you don’t like your chicken spicy) Oil for Frying How I Did It: I thoroughly cleaned the chicken pieces and patted dry with paper towels. On a plate/bowl,...

It is a very sad day for Japan as they were hit by a tsunami following an 8.9 magnitude earthquake .   Countries like the Philippines and Indonesia are also on tsunami watch.   It is so devastating to see and hear the news.  My twitter and plurk timelines are full of updates about the incident, I can barely read each of them. Times like these, we need to pause awhile and pray for everyone affected. Not only for Japan, but also for the healing of Middle East , New Zealand and the whole world. Calamities like these are straight up reminders that what happens in our lives are not of our own ordering (just as the saying goes...). My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Japan.  Keep the faith. Xoxo,

What do you do on weekends when your whole family is together? For M, W and I --- we catch up on sleep! haha! But when we're awake, we find time catching up on each others' stories about the week that has been. We also bond over food, no matter how tight our budget is on a certain week and no matter how picky they are in the food they eat. Despite of how high bread and baking ingredients costs have become, I've decided to prepare some ensaymada and cheese breads for this weekend. We're heading south this Saturday and I thought that instead of a McDo drive-thru (which usually costs us not less than Php300) I'll pack this bread along with some juice or coffee on our take-away tumblers. I must say that it is really a transition for me living on our own now, as I have lived all my life with my parents who are very generous especially with food -- and now I have to stick to a certain budget every week for us to make both ends meet. Back then, I get to have just about a...

Don’t you just love liempo? Liempo (pork belly) spells heart attack (next to lechon, crispy pata…) but I must admit that this is the easiest and my most favourite part of the pig to cook. When I cooked PINAKBET yesterday, I included some pork belly bits to replace the Bagnet in the dish. I also paired the vegetable viand with pan fried liempo for extra protein. Thinly sliced, pork belly absorbs marinades and rubs easily. This is why fried pork belly is my go-to dish whenever I need a quick ulam especially for M’s packed lunches I prepare in the morning. I also love the fact that I can easily infuse flavors to the liempo just by using soy sauce, tomato ketchup (or banana ketchup) and ground black pepper. These are very basic ingredients that are readily found in most Pinoy homes. :: :: :: Pinoy Fried Liempo (Pork Belly) Ingredients: Slices of Pork Belly/Liempo Soy Sauce Tomato Ketchup Salt and Ground Black Pepper How I did it: Using a resealable bag like Ziploc, (which makes m...

Coming from a big family, I am admittedly having a hard time adjusting on proportions when cooking now. Though I use the quantities of ingredients in the recipes I read as a guide, I most often adjust using "tantiya" method (rough estimate) and hopefully soon I'll be versatile enough to know how much of each ingredient to use when cooking for 20 or just for three. Same goes when doing grocery shopping - it now takes me awhile to list down the ingredients from the weekly menu plan I make, sum up all quantities and list them in such a way that when I order from the butcher in the supermarket, the meat are already divided into individual packs based on weight. I do that so I don't have to thaw a whole bag of a kilo of ground beef, just to get half of it for my spaghetti. Buying and cooking vegetables for me is the hardest since I only need a few of each ingredient to make a one-pot meal but would end up buying too much because (for example) you can't cut a labano...

I have always had difficulty finding the right shoes for me. Inside my shoe cabinet, you would find over a dozen flipflops (Fit Flops/Havaianas/Old Navy/Ipanema,etc), rubber shoes for running, rubber shoes for cross training, some crocs and just 1 pair of heeled footwear. It is definitely not a stiletto -- not my style. Though some may feel espadrilles are a thing of the past, I believe having a pair is one of the most comfy things you could do for your feet. And so whenever I see Sanuk (these are not shoes, as they claim) or Toms, I feel like I am HOME. :: :: :: I own a couple of Toms . I think they feel better than Sanuk, even after it gets wet. I never got sores from the fabric and I always get that airy feel whenever I wear it. Another good thing about it is that whenever you purchase a pair, they give a pair to a child in need. It was Blake Mycoskie who started it all --- and now they were able to give their millionth pair. And though a pair costs a whopping Php2000++, one coul...

I have been inspired by my friend Lanie's adventures in her kitchen. A few weeks back, she posted a photo of her own version of the Pinoy Beef Salpicao at her facebook account. I felt a sudden urge to make one for our dinner, but never got to it until today. I searched my cookbooks, but the closest I got was the Beef Salpicado - nothing close to what Lanie and Mark (another friend) was describing as authentic -- which is using Worcestershire sauce and Oyster sauce . And so I searched the internet for the recipe closest to what my friends were talking about. I got two different yet similar versions from Home Cooking Rocks  and Panlasang Pinoy . Studying their recipes, I proceeded to make my own version -- adjusting some things along the way. :: :: :: Beef Salpicao (chunky style --- but after tasting and all, I suggest you guys cut the beef into thinner and smaller bits as the high heat might render your beef tough if not done properly --- or for reheating's sake) Ingr...