Fish Fillet Salad

This is a delicacy in Asia, particularly in the Philippines, in places along the sea, where fish are fresh. Known as "kinilaw" it is similar to "ceviche" and "sashimi". It is a fresh fish seasoned with vinegar, sea salt  and garnished with fresh vegetables.
Ingredients:
      1. Fish--we have silver fish for this recipe.  Filleted tuna or salmon cut in cubes are excellent
      2. Lemon or lime
      3. Onion bulb or/and onion with leaves (chopped crosswise)
      4.  Sea salt
      5. Ginger, chopped
      6. Hot pepper; Jalopino, chopped
      7. Tomatoes; cherry tomatoes, chopped
      8. Cilantro, peppermint, spearmint or basil may be added as desired
      9. Vinegar, either coconut or apple cider
The work:
      1.Mixed all ingredients in a bowl--season to taste
      2. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
      3. Best if served with ice-cold soda, beer or dry white wine. Enjoy!

Fried Brown Rice "Fried Rice in the Valley"

As good as it gets, Brown Rice is it! Healthy, fibers abound, it is rice at best; it is filling too. Just perfect for those weight- watchers, and health conscious fashionistas...just like you (?)

Here's how:
1.  Cook brown rice as you normally do with white rice.
 (just enough not to cook soggy).
   
Additional ingredients:
1. String beans--cut about two inches-- enough for your cooking size
2. Oyster sauce or stir fry sauce -- enough to taste
3. Roasted peanuts-- from the can -- enough to add texture
4. Salt and seasoning, optional, to taste
5. Onions, garlic
6. Dried cranberry or raisins

The work.
1. Heat wok or any large pan, as a 17" cast iron skillet.
2. Add garlic and onion and stir it for one minute
3. Add string beans and stir
4. Add the cooked brown rice, stir
5. Add peanuts and dried cranberry or raises
6. Add oyster sauce, stir until  thoroughly  mixed
7. Continue stirring and cook for about three minutes
8. You're done

How To Make Your Cooking Taste Better?

1. Just cook enough--as in economics, supply glut is bad business. Cook small portions and make everyone crave for more.
2. Cook when hungry (?) Chances are, you'll cook better when you are craving. Craving prompts that delicious imagination in us.
3. Use appropriately sized cookware. It is better to use bigger cookware that allows mixing ingredients easier.
4. Maintain a clean and ample space for food preparation.
5. No matter what, salt makes your cooking tastier. Use more seasonings, to compensate salt, should you want it reduced.
6. Use fresh ingredients. Dehydrated seasonings are okay, but do not use wilted veggies. Remember, it is the crunchiness in vigies that make them delicious.
7. Use good quality meat or fish. They are tender, juicy, and cook faster.
8. Use as few utensils and cookware. Don't let the worry of cleaning ruin the taste of your delicious cooking. (1Pancook only uses 1 pan for most of her cooking.) Remember, the syntax is, cook a little, enjoy and relax better.
9. Eat in a clean, clear table--no clutter. Things that don't belong to a dining table should not be on the table. Candle for an elegant candle lit dinner is a welcome, however.
10. Make your cooking stand with wine. After all, you just don't want to get full, but to enjoy as well.

Fish Steak

I got this from my Mom...guaranteed to Wow your palate!

This is a 15-minute dish...so easy, yet so delicious.

Ingredients:
1. Any Fish (skinless or with skin--I use salmon fillet from Costco)
2. Soy sauce
3. Lemon
4. Ground pepper to taste
5. Onion bulb, cut in rings
6. Flour


The work:
1. Coat pan thinly with oil, just to ensure fish won't stick.
2. Cook fish, medium heat, six minutes on each side, or until cook. Then remove and place it on a platter.
3. Stir fry the onion. Remove  once they separate, and place the onion rings on top of the fish.
4. Pour enough soy sauce and lemon (enough to your taste) into the pan. This would be the sauce.
4. Add ground pepper, and enough flour to the mixture, and stir for consistency.
5. Remove the sauce when it boils (about two minutes), it would be syrupy. Pour it onto the fish.
6. You may add celantro, mint or rosemary. That's it...

Easy Barbecue

We need a good marinade to marinate a tender meat for a delicious, juicy barbecue. This is rather subjective as people have their own preference. People tend to stick to the taste that they have grown with. Most, if not all, prided their own way.





Anyways, if you are adventurous and open, try this:

1. Prepare marinade

  A. Mix coconut vinegar or apple cider vinegar with soy sauce to taste.
  B. Add chopped garlic, enough to season
  C. Add seasoning (parsley, rosemary, etc.) of your liking, enough to seasons
  D. You may add sugar, if you desire
  E. Add ground pepper to taste.

2. Marinate meat with the prepared marinade. Massage and prick meat with a fork to induce marinade into the meat. Place the marinated meat inside the refrigerator, preferably for two hours.

3. You may grill the marinated meat over kitchen cook top on a cast iron griller for six minutes each side. Baste meat with olive oil when the meat is about to cook.

Cooking Eggplant

Eggplant could be chopped crosswise and stir fried. Eggplant could be chopped and added to soup.

But the best is coming from the grill--from a charcoal grill. Then you could fry it with eggs, or  make a salad with other vegetables, seasoned with vinegar and seasoned to taste.

But the dilemma is, how to grill an eggplant indoor? We have experimented for quite sometimes, and this is by far the best.

1. Grill the eggplant on top of your kitchen cooktop with a cast iron grill.

2. Place the eggplant on an aluminum tray or cast iron grill, and place it in the middle tier in the oven, and roast it for 30 minutes @ 450 deg F.

And don't forget: You need to prick the eggplant to avoid bursting, and, at least  turn them once for even cooking.

Should We Measure Our Ingredients?

Measuring ingredients is tedious, and we hate it! Could be the reason on why people don't like to cook, or don't even try!

When just starting, maybe, yes--just feeling the waters. Subsequently, cooking is just pure fun. It is about imagination, experimentation, and never giving up.

Furthermore, stay away from frying. The hot oil splatters are terrifying and oops fattening!

Enjoy ;-)

For the Love of Mint

After taste? Or cravings for sweets after meals? Try mint it is zero calories--that's right.

Mint would surely gives that minty flavor to ones delight. Mint added as a food seasoning, or to a glass of iced water is simply refreshing. It would make vodka, saki, whiskey taste even better. I personally feel that there is some elegance in it, as well.

We like peppermint, spearmint, Basel and rosemary. They are so good! They are easy to grow with minimum care. It is fascinating to pick their minty leaves--fresh from the garden straight to dinning table!

We grow ours in our yard, some on pots and some on an elevated planters. They are sweet smelling and adorable plants.

Understanding Cast Iron Grill and Pan

Aside from being heavy, cast iron utensils are best. Simply best.
1. It is very versatile. A pan would even grill perfect, in addition to normal frying, sautéing,  deep frying, and stir frying.
2. A griller with grated and flat cooking surface is great. The flat surface cooks sunny side up and bacon easy. The grated side provides impeccable grill marks on your steak. And, simply put,
3. Very sturdy and lasts for generations.

Why are these grill and pan not famous, if they are that great? They are cheap, maybe (?).

Like the Aspirin, it is not rare that good things are sometimes taken for granted. In cast iron, you just got to be tired of it...they are guaranteed to outlast all else. They are rugged and indestructible!

These are what you need:
1. Season your cast iron pan and grill before and after use with oil. The light oil deposit coats the cooking surface to prevent food from sticking.
2. Clean your cooking utensils with water only. A brush with a plastic scraper at the back of the brush head is a perfect tool for cleaning and scraping hard deposits.
3. Heat the cast iron cookware for about four minutes. These would prepare the surface for clean, stick-free and even cooking.