Baked Clams
Topic: Misc. Seafoods
Clams are already delicious even you bake it as it is without any spices. Sometimes I did it that way when I wanted its very natural taste, and it is still the best for me. Sometimes cheese is also nice additions on it. I tried baking it yesterday using the recipe below and it was good but I still prefer the one that was baked without any spices on it.

Ingredients:
Clams, one valve remove
1 tsp. olive olive
1 tbsp. lemon juice
Few dried basil leaves
Few chopped dried red chili
Salt (optional, some clams are already salty)
Directions:
1. Combine together olive oil, lemon juice, basil leaves and chili, add salt if desired. Blend and mix well.
2. Put few amount of mixture over the clams's meat.
3. Arrange in a baking dish and bake in preheated 250 degree C for 10-12 minutes. (If you prefer it to be a little bit dry, then bake it for 15-20 minutes.)
4. Serve immediately.

See also:
Clams Soup

Arroz Caldo
Topic: Rice
Few days ago, my hubby said we did not able to eat Arroz Caldo for a long period of time, so maybe he missed the dish, hence I decided to cook one last night. When I cooked Arroz caldo, I never used glutenous rice, I just used jasmine rice instead of it since I found the glutenous very sticky. The starchy texture of jasmine rice is already good for me and my hubby likes it too. I always add vegetables too to complete the nutrients on it. Boiled quail eggs is also one of my favorite additions.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup jasmine rice
6 cups water
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
2 tbsp. butter

500 g chicken, sliced into serving portions
4 cups water
1 medium onion,minced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 thumb-sized ginger, crushed then minced
1 medium carrot,sliced into strips (optional)
2/3 cup sliced baguio beans, sliced thinly (optional)
2 tbsp. fish sauce or to taste
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. black pepper powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. cooking oil

Garnish:
roast onion slices
1 dozen quail eggs, boiled

Directions:
1. Wash the rice once then drain.
2. Heat butter in a pot, saute slices of 1 onion until transparent, then stir fry the drained rice until lightly brown.
3. Add 6 cups water to the rice and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, stir occassionally.
4. While waiting for the rice to cook, prepare the chicken. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a separate pot. Saute garlic until golden brown, add onions and ginger, stir for a minute then add chicken slices and 4 cups water. Let it boil, remove scums as it rises, lower the heat.
5. Add fish sauce, sugar,black pepper, salt and pepper. Simmer for 2 minutes or until the chicken are done.
6. Add the vegetables, cook for 3 minutes.
7. Add the chicken mixture to the cooked rice. Stir to mix well and cook for 2 minutes more.
8. Garnish and serve.

Mango Float
Topic: Desserts
This dish doesn't float and until now I still don't know what it's origin and why the name is Mango Float. I tried and tasted many variations already, like using graham crackers, sliced bread, chiffon cake, wafer, marie biscuits or soda crackers as its base and what is the best for me was the latter, the skyflakes soda cracker, (I hope skyflakes will give me credit for writing this, lol). My siblings, cousins and friends also like it. I remember one time when I was still in Phillippines and I served Mango Float with soda crackers to our guests and she asked me how did I made it since it tasted different from the mango floats she ate before. She said the combination of the ingredients are really good. My favorite way to prepare it is to refrigerate it for an hour then freeze it for another one hour and the texture will be really great.

Yesterday, I tried using the Swiss made butterfly biscuits in our home. A very nice thin and crispy biscuits with hazelnuts on it. I thought it would make a nice different since the biscuits itself are really delicious but I was wrong, I still prefer my old recipe, the soda crackers. LOL :)

Ingredients:
1 cup thick cream
2/3 cup condensed milk
3 tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla essence
1/2 cup mashed ripe mango
1 or 2 ripe mangoes, thinly sliced
Soda crackers (or any biscuits of your choice)
Few slices of mango for garnish

Directions:
1. Blend together cream, milk and butter until smooth. Add mashed mango and vanilla, mix well.
2. In a clear dish, arrange 1 layer of soda/graham crackers at the buttom. Add few slices of mango above the crackers, then pour few amount of cream mixture on it. Cover again with the crackers and repeat procedure until all the ingredients are done. Making the cream as the last layer.
3. Garnish with few slices of mango and crushed crakers.
4. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
5. Freeze for another one hour before serving. (optional)

Naked Fried Shrimps
Topic: Shrimps
As what they said, sometimes simplier is better, this recipe was cooked in a very simple way. I named it naked fried shrimps since the shrimps were being peeled then fried as it is, no batter, no breadcrumbs.

Ingredients:
Shrimps, peeled and deviened
salt and pepper to taste
green onions, sliced into 1 inch length
1 tbsp.light soy sauce
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup cooking oil

Directions:
1. Season shrimps with salt and pepper and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a skillet, fry the shrimps over medium-high heat until the color changes to pink. (fry batch, don't over-crowd the skillet).
3. Drain on paper towels. Add the green onions.
4. Combine the ligth soy sauce and lemon juice, pour the mixture over the shrimps. Serve.

Grilled Squid
Topic: Squids
We used to eat medium-large squids (white variety) in Philippines everytime we dine at any seafoods restaurant in Iligan, Cagayan or Davao and I really miss those squids. Unfortunately I cannot find that kind of squids here in Kuwait, I stayed here for more than 4 years and until now I did not able to see it yet in the fish markets here. All they have here are the pink variety (not so large), and one very large variety, the thick one, I forgot the real name of this squids which I cooked it this way and this way and this way and also this way. LOL :)

Ingredients:
Medium squids
1 medium onion, minced
2 tbsp. crushed ginger
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. black pepper powder
Sesame oil (optional)

Directions:
1. Mix together onion, ginger and garlic powder.
2. Make some slits at the squids' belly horizontally. Insert few amount of onion mixture to each slit.
3. In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, lemon juice, olive oil and black pepper powder.
4. Brush each squid with few amount of soy sauce mixture.
5. Grill over medium heat brushing occassionally to avoid drying until done.
6. Brush each squid with the sesame oil. Serve over Lettuce Salad if desired.

Tips: Marinate the squids with 7-Up and few amount of soy sauce for an hour before grilling and see or taste the big difference!