simplified recipes

My New Home

2011-06-19T22:58:00.000-07:00

This site has moved to www.JemsRecipes.com

Simple Potato Salad Recipe

2009-04-15T00:11:00.000-07:00

This is a very tasty potato salad that's you'll love.

Ingredients:

3 medium sized potatoes
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
Chopped onion spring

Procedure:

Wash your potatoes well but don't peel. (It is so much easier to peel them when they are cooked) Cut them in desired bite size.
Put in a pot and cover with water. Add 1 teaspoon salt and let it boil until tender or ready.
Drain and put in a mixing bowl. If you want them peeled let cool for a few minutes before removing the skin.
Add all the ingredients and toss. Check if you want to add more salt.

How to make Kao Niao in the oven

2009-04-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

This post has been moved Jem's Recipes

Simple Coconut Macaroon Recipe

2009-04-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

1 egg
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 Can condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup dessicated coconut

Cooking Method:

Beat egg until fluffy. Add butter or margarine and sugar, then beat thoroughly.
Add vanilla, condensed milk and dessicated coconut and mix well.
At this time preheat the oven at 350 degrees or gas mark number 4.
Fill baking cups or place 2 scoops each and make a row in a baking pan.
Bake until the top gets brown.

Best chocolate cake for chocolate lovers

2009-03-25T08:36:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe online but I don't remember the site anymore. Anyway, it was my first time ever to make a chocolate cake and I must say I was very, very elated by the result. In fact, our tenant when he tasted it asked how I did it. And now he wants me to make them for his friend's daughter's birthday. So, it's really that good, otherwise, he won't recommend me.

Here's the recipe which I simplified and modified a little bit.

50g chocolate--preferrably 85%
2 scoop butter using a table spoon
3/4 cup sugar -- any type of sugar will do
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour or self-raising flour
1/4 cup milk--I used soy milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
a pinch of salt

For the Topping

50g chocolate
1 scoop butter
3 tbsp milk
1 can condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla

Procedure

Choose a pan large enough to mix all ingredients. But don't mix them all yet.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a hot water and stir continuously.
When it starts to boil, take away from the stove.
Since I use demerara sugar and they are big granules, I also melted the sugar with the chocolate mixture.
Beat the egg well and put in the chocolate mix. Beat again until they blend.
Add the flour and mix well. (Note: if you are using fine sugar add it now. You don't have to melt it like I did but it's really up to you.)
Add baking soda and beat well until you see tiny bubbles.
Set the oven to 350 Degrees or Gas mark 4
Pour the mixture in a 8x8 inch baking pan and bake for about 30 minutes.

While waiting for the cake, do the topping.

Melt the chocolate and butter together until they blend.
Remove from stove and add the milk and vanilla and beat well until they are well blended.
Add the condensed milk. Beat well again until blended. Leave until needed.
Basically, just pour it into the cake when it's cooked and leave in the oven but switch it off this time. The heat will make the topping thicker but do not cook it.
Enjoy your cake.

My first pizza

2009-03-25T03:07:00.001-07:00

Here's a vegetarian pizza that I made recently. Well, it included dairy cheese but you can substitute a vegetarain cheese for that.

I used mature cheddar cheese, eggplant, mushrooms, onion, and tomato

First I made dough using wholemeal flour. Then I baked it for about 15 minutes. When the crust was half-cooked I decorated it with the ingredients. First was the cheese of course then the eggplant or aubergine as they call it here in the UK, and then mushrooms. Next are the onion rings and the tomato slices. Finally another cheddar cheese on top, just a bit here and there. Sprinke a dash of salt and that's it. Bake until every veg is cooked.

Some of you may find it funny that I use eggplant. But no matter what vegetable you use is fine. Pizzas don't have to be the same way as they do it in pizza hut or shakeys or pizza company. You can mix your own vegetables and they will taste just as good or even better. But always remember, the secret to a great tasting pizza is in the crust. If you put enough salt in it everything else will taste great.

Lechong Manok

2009-03-08T03:44:00.000-07:00

I never thought making lechong manok or roasting chicken was this easy.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken of course
1 medium onion
3-5 garlic cloves
2 kalamansi or one half lemon
a dash of salt
herbs: thyme, laurel or bay leaves, rosemary
potato (optional)

Procedure:

Wash the chicken thoroughly and pat dry.
Cut the onion in any size you want and crush the garlic. Mix with the lemon, salt, and the herbs you have. If possible pound in a mortar so they mix thoroughly then stuff them in.
Put sliced potatoes around and finally sprinkle salt on the chicken.
Preheat the oven at 200 C or Gas No. 6. Cook the chicken and turn after 30 minutes. Cook for another 30 minutes. Enjoy your lechong manok

Balance Your Diet, Know Your Food Pyramid

2009-03-08T03:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a guide to have a balance diet. Print it and stick it on your fridge so you can refer to it and familiarize yourself to it.

Aglio e Olio

2009-03-07T11:55:00.000-08:00

Here's probably the simplest pasta recipe called aglio e olio. Don't be fooled by those words. They just mean garlic and oil. Simply saute the garlic and add it to your freshly boiled pasta. You might think it's kinda boring but it's not. If you wish, you can add parmesan cheese to give it a richer taste.

Just remember, the secret to making it good is in the pasta. So make sure you put sufficient amount of salt in the water when you cook the pasta but just enough to give it a taste.

Carbonara Recipe

2009-02-17T11:48:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

350g pasta

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can tuna chunks

1 large onion

100g mushroom

garlic

olive oil or any available oil

chicken cube or salt

Procedure:

Saute garlic and onion. Add the sliced mushroom after 5 minutes. At this time you can put the chicken stock/cube or salt. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Pour the cream of mushroom soup and cook until the sauce becomes thick stirring occasionally.

Drain tuna and pour in the pan. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Meditarranean Salad

2009-02-16T16:54:00.000-08:00

This is another of my favorite healthy salad. It's very simple but great.

Ingredients:

Lettuce
Carrots
Olives
Mozarella
Olive Oil
Salt
Lemon

Procedure:

Basically just mix them all and you're ready for a healthy snack.

Best Coconut Macaroons

2009-02-16T15:45:00.000-08:00

This is a simple recipe for Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients:

1 coconut or a pack of desiccated coconut.
1 can condensed milk
2 small eggs
100g plain flour

Procedure:

Grate coconut and extract the milk. Set the milk aside.

Pour two-thirds of the condensed milk and mix with the coconut sap.

Beat the egg and add to the mixture.

If it is too wet add some flour until the mixture is not too wet nor too dry.

Preheat oven.

Pour misture in a molder and cooked in low-medium heat for 45 minutes.

Enjoy your macaroons.

Corn Chips Delight (Haystack)

2009-02-16T12:14:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite healthy snack is haystack. Well, for some it's actually a main menu but since I grew up in the Philippines, rice is the only staple food for me and corn chips are for snacking.

Actually, my husband thinks my haystack is not 100% healthy because corn chips contain preservatives. But rather than eating them alone, I thought that haystack is making it a healthier option.

So here's my simple Corn Chips Delight

You need:

cucumber or lettuce
tomato
grated cheese

Additional optional ingredients:

baked beans or monggo guisado
onions
black or green olives

Procedure:

Cut each ingredient in relatively bite sizes just like you would do in a salad.
Crush corn chips and just mix them all together.
Enjoy your healthy snack.

Why eat brown bread, pasta, and rice

2009-02-16T09:28:00.000-08:00

For the obvious reason that brown bread, pasta, and rice are more fibrous and therefore they easily get flushed down. Also choosing brown from white reduces the risk of diabetes 2 because white bread and rice have more sugar.

Hubby and I always buy brown version all the time. Personally, I think that browns taste so much better apart from being healthier.

How to cook rice

2009-02-12T14:19:00.000-08:00

Do you prefer your rice al dente or soggy? I bet you like it al dente like most people do. For every cup of rice use one cup of water. That's it! Whether you are using a rice cooker or an ordinary pot, this measurement will surely make your rice al dente no matter what.

Even fastfood in restaurants like Jolibee, MacDonald, KFC and the likes, their rice is soggy most of the time and I don't like it very much.

Another technique when cooking rice is to add some salt. For every cup of rice add 1/3 teaspoon of salt to enhance the taste of rice.

How to cook pasta

2009-02-10T12:04:00.000-08:00

I used to think cooking pasta was such a tricky job. I even thought it was easier to make rice than pasta. But actually, they are just the same.

So here's the easy steps to cook pasta.

Boil the water. (One and a half liter for every 250 grams of pasta)
Add salt when the water starts to bubble or as soon it is warm enough. Don't wait till the boiling point as it won't seep through the pasta. Use approximately one teaspoon for every 250 grams of pasta.
As the water boils, slowly put the pasta and stir with a wooden spoon so they won't stick together. You don't need to put oil. Just stir them as soon as you placed them in the boiling water.
Lower the fire and constantly stir every 3 minutes.
To check if the pasta is cooked, take one and bite into it. If you see the middle is still whitish or hard leave it for a little bit more. If you want your pasta to be al dente or firm, remove from the fire as soon as you don't see a white spot in the middle of the pasta. Most pasta takes 10 minutes to cook.
Drain it and put oil preferrably olive oil so the pasta won't stick to each other.

Pasta lesson

2009-02-10T11:12:00.000-08:00

First, I think it's important that we get acquainted with what we love to eat--pasta. Most Filipinos -- including me -- only know spaghetti. And no matter what pasta is used, if it is with tomato sauce and beef or vegemeat for vegetarian then it's spaghetti. Now, you're about to kiss your ignorance goodbye. LOL! Don't worry was in the same shoes until I married my Sicilian husband.

spaghetti -- is the most common pasta, the long stick
macaroni -- is the bended pasta which is hollow inside
conchiglie -- (pronounced as Kong-Kil-ye) it's the one that looks like a shell, used by Pinoys to make sopas (soup)
penne -- is like macaroni which is hollow but it's straight with slanted ends

For a more comprehensive list check Wikipedia's List of Pasta.

Each type of pasta can be cooked with tomato sauce and meat and the recipe is called according to the type of pasta and the sauce. Example, macaroni and tomato sauce, macaroni cheese, spaghetti and tuna etc, etc.