Assorted Pastillas
Topic: Desserts
When we were in college, my cousin Mors taught me the basics of cooking desserts like cassava cake, kutsinta and Milk Pastillas, however I forgot the exact measurements, so when I made this pastillas yesterday, I did not able to finish it quickly eventhough it was very easy to prepare because I was experimenting the measurements like adding condensed milk again when the texture was so rough then adding milk powder again when it became too moist and so on until I reached the good texture. I take note the measurements every time I added an ingredients so that by the time I will make again, it will not be an experimentation anymore. When I was finished, I devided the mixtures into 3 parts, first part was a plain milk, I added chocolate powder to the second part and ube jam to the third part, hence, I ended up having assorted pastillas.

Ingredients:
1 cup milk powder
1/2 cup condensed milk
2 tbsp. chocolate powder (I used Cadburry choco. powder)
1 1/2 tbsp. ube jam
1 tbsp. milk powder
1/2 cup white sugar
butter cooking spray

Directions:
1. Mix 1 cup milk powder and condensed milk in a bowl. Blend well until smooth.
2. Divide the mixtures into 3. Set aside the first part.
3. Add chocolate powder to second part, stir and mix well until the chocolate are blended well with the mixture.
4. Add ube jam and 1 tbsp. milk powder to the other part, stir and mix well until smooth.
5. Cover a tray's surface with the 1/2 cup sugar.
6.Grease a flat surface (I just used large and flat dish) with the butter spray.
7. Take a small amount from the mixtures and roll it in the lightly greased surface until you meet your desired sizes. (I made it almost like a size of a regular pencil). Then, cut it uniformly about 1 1/2 inch length. Place the cut pastillas into the tray with sugar, roll to cover the surface and avoid sticking.
8. Repeat no. 7 until all the mixtures are done. That's it!

Bihon Rolls
Topic: Appetizers
I just name it Bihon Rolls because I really don't know what should I call it, we had few cooked bihon leftovers by our cousin Gem, the amount was not enough for us all, so I wrapped it with the mini spring roll wrappers and fried it so that everybody can eat. Mini spring rolls is one of our favorite at home and everytime we had a guest, my hubby always suggested to prepare that dish. Almost all our guest at home appreciated our mini spring rolls because of its crispiness and easy to bite and of course the delicious taste. Sometimes they will asked me if this and that can be cooked into spring roll fillings, I said you can put whatever you want to put inside that wrappers as long as you will cooked it in a right way, then the taste will be good.

See also:
Bihon Guisado (version 2)
Vegetables Mini Spring Rolls

Chicken with Pineapple
Topic: Chicken
Pineapple is one of my favorite ingredients for any dish that I cooked like rice, fish, chicken, etc. While I was preparing the Milkfish Kinilaw yesterday for our lunch, I didn't able to used all the pineapples on it so I let my sister Jong used the remaining slices on the chicken that she is about to cooked also that time.

Ingredients:
700 g chicken, sliced into serving portions
juice of 1 lemon
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
1 ripe tomato, slice thinly
2 tbsp. grated ginger
1 cup pineappne chunks
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
3 tbsp. cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Combine chicken slices and lemon juice. Mix well.
2. Heat oil in a pan, stir fry the chicken until slighlty brown.
3. Add onion, tomato and ginger, stir well and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add pineapple slices and chicken broth, cook until the liquids are reduced.
5. Add milk, cook for few minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

See also:
Fried Rice with Pineapple
Fish in Sweet n Spicy Sauce
Fish Teriyaki
Citrus Chicken Adobo

Milkfish Kinilaw
Topic: Fish
While we were still in bed with my hubby yesterday morning, I was surprised when he said “how he wished that there will be kinilaw because he miss to eat it already”. So after we ate our breakfast I checked what’s in the fridge to make for kinilaw, what I found was a milkfish only, hence that was what I made. For those who doesn’t know what Kinilaw is, well, it is one of the popular Filipino cuisine usually seafoods which is sour-cooked in vinegar or other souring agents like lemon juice, green mango, etc. It is combination of raw and cooked foods. The kinilaw’s texture is somewhat like the firm softness of the raw but reach the state of being cooked.

Actually I did not know how to make a good kinilaw because this is not one of my favorites, what I made was an experimentation only with the help of my sister Jong, a kinilaw lover.

Ingredients:
1 whole medium milkfish, deboned and cut into small cubes
2/3 cup white vinegar
juice of 3-4 lemons or to taste
1 onion, sliced thinly
2 thum-sized ginger, cut into strips
1 stalk green onions, chopped
1/3 cup evaporated milk
2/3 cup pineapple chunks with light syrup
chopped red pepper
salt to taste

Directions:
1. Combine fish cubes and vinegar, mix thoroughly. Let stand for few minutes or until the color changes and reach the state of being sour-cooked. Drain.
2. Add the lemon juice to the fish. Mix well.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Bitter Melon with Beef
Topic: Vegetables
I just wanted to experiment how to make a bitter melon less bitter because my hubby hates its strong bitter taste that's why I cooked this recipe and the result was very impressive.

Ingredients:
1 medium bitter melon, sliced thinly
1 cup thinly sliced baguio beans
1/2 cup ground beef
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
1 ripe tomato, sliced thinly
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced into strips
2 tbsp. light soy sauce
3 tbsp. tomato sauce
2 tbsp. oyster sauce
1/2 tsp. sugar
3 tbsp. cooking oil

Directions:
1. Sprinkle about 1 tbsp. salt to the bitter melon, mix well, squeeze to extract the bitter taste. Rinse with cold water, drain and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan, saute onions, tomato and ginger until tender.
3. Add ground beef, stir and separate the lumps. Stir until the meat are cooked.
4. Add the vegetables, stir well.
5. Add the light soy sauce, tomato sauce and sugar as well. Cook for 2 minutes or until vegetables are done. Then stir in the oyster sauce. Cook for few seconds. Turn off the heat and serve.

See also:
Bitter Melon and Carrots
Spicy Ground Beef Pinakbet