Recipe: Squid Adobo (Adobong Pusit)

It's the new year and I'm sure we all made the resolution to lose weight by eating less fat and more vegetables (and perhaps seafood!)
Here is a Filipino seafood dish that has very little fat in it and is quick and simple to make.
I first tasted this dish years back when a dear friend made it for me to try in her tiny kitchen in Queens.

I was lucky to receive a pound of fresh squid this year as a Christmas present!

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh squid (cartilage quill and beak removed)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
•  6 whole peppercorns
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 plum tomato sliced thinly
• 1 small onion sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar

 Directions

1. Rinse and clean the squid making sure that the hard quill is removed and the hard beak.
2. Put the squid, water, vinegar, and peppercorns into a large saute pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to low and simmer for about a minute.
3. Remove squid and cooking liquid to a medium bowl. Set aside.
4. Rinse out saute pan and put back on the heat. Allow pan to get hot (you'll notice the pan start to get dry)
5. Add the oil and saute the onion, tomato, and garlic until it is all soft.
6. Add the squid back to the pan and saute together with the vegetables for a minute then add the reserved cooking liquid, soy sauce, and sugar.
7. Stir until everything is all combined.
8. Remove from heat and serve with white rice.

Recipe: Spaghetti Al Limone

Sorry it's been a while since I last blogged but hopefully it gave you a chance to look over my older postings for Summer recipes for August. ;)
It's been mainly salads and the basic Summer BBQ fare on my end but as Summer ends and the cool Fall weather approaches, here's a last taste of Summer for you.

While perusing the online sales circular for Pathmark, I noticed that San Giorgio Pasta is on sale this week for 88¢ a box and a 2 pound bag of lemons is $2.99 perfect for making this classic simple and quick Italian dish of spaghetti in lemon sauce. There are many recipes on the internet for Spaghetti al Limone ranging from the use of heavy cream and white wine to the additions of garlic and shallots but in it's simplest form, it is just a sauce made with lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. A Microplane rasp or the fine side of a box grater is needed to get the lemon zest off the lemon before you juice it. Depending on the size of the lemons you buy, you may need 2-3 lemons for this dish.
This will serve 4 people and pairs well with my Lemon Roast Chicken with Parsley.


Ingredients 

• 1 pound spaghetti 
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest 
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
• Salt
• Ground black pepper 
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley or basil leaves (whichever is on sale, in your garden, or your taste preference)

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook spaghetti according to manufacturer's directions.
2. While the pasta is cooking we make the sauce. In a large serving bowl, add the lemon juice and zest. Slowly whisk in the extra virgin olive oil until it is emulsified and looks creamy. Then mix in the Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. When pasta is al dente, drain in a colander and add to the large bowl with the lemon sauce.
4. Toss well to coat pasta in the sauce and then sprinkle the chopped herb on top.
5. Serve. 

Note: It's best to allow the pasta to sit a bit in the sauce to absorb more of the flavors.

Recipe: Sweet Simmered Kabocha

I stopped in at Whole Foods to see what they had on sale and saw that Winter Squash was selling for $1.29/lb (although it rang up as 79¢/lb). I bought a nice sized Kabocha Squash (Japanese Pumpkin) since I've had it before in Japanese restaurants and it's so tasty but never cooked it myself. The cooked texture is creamy and starchy almost like a sweet potato, not stringy like a common orange pumpkin. Nice thing about Kabocha is that you can also eat the skin after it's cooked so no need for peeling it..

Here is a recipe courtesy of About.com's Japanese Food Guide, Setsuko Yoshizuka.

Kabocha is commonly simmered in Japan. Kabocha amani (simmered sweet kabocha) is the most popular kabocha dish. It's often served in a Japanese-style meal as a side dish.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kabocha (1 lb.), seeds removed
• 1 cup water
• 4 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce

Preparation:

Cut kabocha into about 1 and 1/2 inch cubes. Peel kabocha skin around the edges. Put water, sugar, soy sauce, and kabocha in a medium pot. Heat on high heat and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low. Put a drop-lid or a sheet of aluminium foil on kabocha and cover with lid. Simmer kabocha for about 15 minutes, or until the liquid is almost gone.
*Makes 4 servings

Recipe: Campbell's Kitchen: Autumn Cabbage Rolls

This hearty and filling dish is an easy to make recipe that I found courtesy of Campbell's Soup.
Cabbage tends to be inexpensive usually going to a few cents per pound. When ground turkey is on sale, I buy it to make this or keep it in the freezer until I have everything ready to make this dish.

10 large cabbage leaves

1 pound ground turkey

1 small onion, minced (about 1/4 cup)

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Tomato Soup

1 slice stale or toasted Pepperidge Farm® Whole Grain 100% Whole Wheat Bread, crumbled

1 1/4 cups water

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 small onion, sliced (about 1/4 cup)

1/2 cup shredded cabbage

1 medium carrot, sliced (about 1/2 cup)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

• Place the cabbage leaves into a 4-quart saucepan and add water to cover. Heat over medium-high heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes or until the cabbage is tender. Drain the cabbage leaves on paper towels.
  
• Cook the turkey and minced onion in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until the turkey is well browned, stirring often to separate meat. Pour off any fat.
• Stir the turkey mixture, soup, bread crumbs, 1/4 cup water and black pepper in a large bowl.
• Spoon 1/4 cup turkey mixture in the center of each cabbage leaf. Fold the cabbage leaves around the filling. Place the cabbage rolls, seam-side down, into a 12-inch skillet.
  
• Add the sliced onion, shredded cabbage, carrot and remaining water in the skillet and heat over medium-high heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 1 hour or until the filling is cooked through, basting the cabbage rolls occasionally with the pan liquid.
  
• Remove the cabbage rolls from the skillet and keep warm.
  
• Stir the lemon juice, brown sugar, and cornstarch in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth. Stir the lemon juice mixture in the skillet. Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture boils and thickens. Serve the sauce with the cabbage rolls.

Recipe: Fettuccine Alfredo with Broccoli and Shrimp

I was in the mood for something a little more "fancy" for dinner without much work and difficulty. I always stock up on pasta when it's on sale for 99¢ a box and stock up on frozen vegetables when they are on sale.
I decided that I would make fettuccine Alfredo since I had a bottle of Classico Alfredo sauce in my pantry. I wanted to bulk it up and make it more heartier so I looked in my freezer and found a bag of frozen headless shrimp that I had bought when it was on sale. "That would be perfect!" I thought and then turned towards the freezer door and spied a box of frozen broccoli florets. "I'll add that as well to make it healthier".

This makes 4 servings in my household for dinner. Figure 5 shrimp per person.

Ingredients

• 1 16oz. box of fettuccine noodles
• 1 15oz. jar of Classico Alfredo sauce
• 1 10oz. box of frozen broccoli florets (thawed)
  
• 20 pieces frozen shrimp (thawed and shelled)
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles. When water comes to a boil, add two handfuls of kosher salt. Bring water back to a boil.
2. Put broccoli florets into the boiling water and allow to cook for 2 minutes. Remove from water with a large sieve. Set aside in a bowl.
3. Put shrimp into the boiling water and allow to cook until pink. Remove from water with a sieve. Set aside in a bowl.
4. Add fettuccine to the boiling water and cook following manufacturer's directions.
5. While noodles are cooking, empty the car of Alfredo sauce into a 12" saute pan. Put some of the pasta water into the jar and swirl around to get all the sauce out of the jar. Add to the pan.
6. When pasta is done, strain and toss into the saute pan with sauce. Add the cooked broccoli and shrimp and toss all together until fully coated. Add the pepper and toss again.
7. Serve.

Recipe: Quiche Lorraine/ Quiche Alsatian

Bacon and eggs seem like the typical American breakfast. It can become mundane if you have it all the time so if you feel a little adventurous, you can take those ingredients and turn them into a classic French dish!
Quiche Lorraine is actually name for the Lorraine region in France (not for someone named Lorraine). The quiche itself was created around the 16th century. If you add onions to the quiche, it becomes Quiche Alsatian. The addition of onions is nice to get some vegetables into your diet otherwise...LOL!




Ingredients

• 6 slices of bacon sliced into small strips crosswise the length
  
• 2 medium onions sliced thinly (if you want to make it Alsatian)
  
• 4 eggs beaten
• 2 cups half & half
• 4 ounces Swiss cheese shredded
• 1 frozen deep dish pie crust
• pinch of nutmeg (optional)
• salt & pepper
  

Directions

1. Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Add onions into the pan with the bacon fat until onions are tender (about 6 minutes). Spread onions and bacon evenly on the bottom of the crust.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, half & half, nutmeg, salt & pepper.

3. Pour into the frozen pie crust just to the top (you might have some quiche mixture left over which you can make into an omelet to preview the taste). Top with the shredded Swiss cheese.

4. Bake in the oven at 350° for 30- 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out dry. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. You can also eat this at room temperature.

I like to serve this with a small salad for lunch or a light supper.

Serves 6-8 people.

Recipe: Butternut Squash Soup with Parmesan Croutons

Nothing could be simpler to make than this when you stock up on frozen winter squash and chicken broth when on sale.
Thanks to Birdeye for this easy recipe.



Ingredients



* 2 boxes Birds Eye® Cooked Winter Squash (12 oz)
* 2 cups chicken broth
* 1 cup Parmesan croutons
* Dried chives


Instructions

Combine squash and broth in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until heated through, about 10-15 minutes. Season with ground white pepper if desired.

Serving Suggestions

Garnish each serving with croutons and chives.

Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich

Just made a sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. Bought the sausage patties from Walmart and English muffins when on sale. They keep nicely in the freezer until needed. A large cookie cutter sprayed with PAM makes a nice egg mold and prevents sticking.

I was so hungry that I forgot to take a pic of it and ate it voraciously. It was SO good!

Ingredients

1 egg
1 English muffin
1 sausage patty
1 slice American cheese

1. Spray a small saute pan and the cookie cutter with spray oil (I used PAM)
2. Heat pan over medium heat.
3. Break the egg into a cup and gently pour it into the cookie cutter. Cook until white sets.
   
4. Lightly toast the English muffin
5. Microwave the frozen sausage patty according to package directions
6. Gently remove cookie cutter and flip egg over to other side and cook until done.
7. Assemble sandwich with English muffin, sausage, egg, and layer cheese slice. Top with English muffin.
8. Enjoy!

I used maple flavored sausage patties for a slight sweet taste against the salty sharp tang of the American cheese.

5 Easy Ways To Budget

So that you are not living paycheck to paycheck!