The Unofficial Cook

I finally made a Chicken Mami that satisfied my craving for this very common Filipino dish.  The noodles were always the key, for me anyway, and it so happened that I found a good brand of noodles at the Filipino Sari-Sari Store today.

Chicken and noodles go so well together every country probably has its own version.  In Southeast Asia, the chicken noodle soup you’ll find is most certainly Chinese in origin.  Mie is the Chinese word for noodles.  So in Indonesia, Malaysia  and Singapore, this dish is called Mie Ayam or Chicken Noodle.  It’s only the Philippines where there came a slight change.  (more…)

Lasang Pinoy, the Filipino food blogger’s event,  has a very interesting theme this month:  Distinctly Pinoy with a Twang. Pinoy Fusion. Philippine cuisine, as we know it, is even now a fusion of various influences:  Malay, European, American, Chinese and Arab influences….a veritable melting pot of the various cultures that left an impact on our own culture, our language and our traditions.  The Filipino’s contemporary reality has made the mix even more fascinating. I can’t wait to see what my fellow Filipino food bloggers out in cyberbia will come up with.

Here’s a dish I like to call Italian Adobo.  It’s similar to Chicken Scarpariello and a recipe I saw on a PBS cooking show hosted by Lidia Bastianich.  I’ve made both recipes in the past and came up with this…it has more complex flavors while using an easier method of preparation. (more…)

Here’s another Cuban-style Arroz con Pollo recipe, second in a series I said in a previous post I would undertake for this blog. Between this recipe and the first one, I prefer this one for flavor. Although, I think I’ll marry the two recipes and come up with a better one that will be for keeps…until the next best recipe I find anyway!

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This is my first attempt at Chicken Inasal…not so bad but I have a feeling it’s far from the real thing, which I have yet to try.  The real thing is found in Bacolod,  capital city of Negros Occidental province in the Visayas region of the Philippines.  ”Inasal” is actually an Ilonggo word which refers to the grilling method of cooking.

Spouse and I went to the Bacolod Chicken Inasal outlet at the Greenbelt Mall in Makati a couple of years ago and he just went gaga over their chicken.  Everytime we had to go out to eat he would give me this goofy grin and suggest, “Bacolod chicken?” (more…)

Here’s the chicken dish I made using the salsa from yesterday.  It’s a cross between a chicken and pepperoni recipe I found in our local newspaper and the chicken salsa recipe a former officemate told me about.  It’s pretty simple to make… (more…)

This Filipino dish was one of the first ones I learned to cook. It’s pretty simple and follows the very basic Philippine saute then braise manner of cooking.

This particular recipe uses chicken breasts but you can use pork or a combination of pork and chicken, which is how we always had it at home.  It may look like a Chicken Cacciatore with all the bell peppers, but there’s one big difference  - fish sauce.  We use fish sauce to flavor this dish and it works very well.

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I’ve always, always loved this dish….from the time I first set foot in Singapore on a Christmas Eve years ago.My friends and I promptly went to a hawker center on Scotts Road the next day for my first taste of this Singaporean staple in the Lion City.

The origins of Singapore Chicken Rice goes all the way to Hainan, China.  Immigrants from that Chinese province brought it with them when they settled in the British-occupied Singapore.

Over the years,I’ve experimented with several recipes using different cooking methods but this is the best I’ve found.  It comes closest to what you will get in Singapore. Youngest Sister asked me for a recipe a couple of days after I cooked this particular one and the feedback was great.  I hope you’ll try it too. (more…)

I have so many recipes for Arroz con Pollo which I still have to try.  This is a dish which most every Hispanic country calls their own.  Quite surprising to see how many different versions there are out there. There must be a different version for every country Spain colonized through the centuries.

I’m contemplating starting  a kitchen experiment of the different versions of Arroz con Pollo I can find.  Then I’ll decide which one I’ll adopt for my own.

Let’s start with this Cubano version.  The rest of the recipes just have to wait…until I get back to Colorado from visiting family in the Philippines. (more…)

Chicken…always on everyone’s grocery list and a staple in most households. In fact, chicken is the one thing religions do not single out as unclean and therefore excluded frpm their followers’ diet.

Then came the Bird Flu when chicken and all fowls got a bad rap. While the flu hasn’t reached US shores and the Rocky Mountains, I’ll continue to enjoy my eggs for breakfast and my chicken for dinner and lunch.

This Chicken Marsala is derived from several recipes I’ve tried over the years. This particular one has cream but no rosemary. I don’t exactly like the mix of cream and that particular herb.

For a Chicken Marsala without the cream, I prefer it with garlic and rosemary. It’s delicious and perfect for a warm summer day with a light salad. Whatever version I choose to cook, I always end up serving it with spaghetti. (more…)

I felt like celebrating tonight and decided to make us an Old-Fashioned Chicken Pot Pie that didn’t include skimmed milk or skinless, boneless chicken breasts.  No siree.. this recipe called for cream…and lotsa butter and I did use butter with a clear conscience.

I got a call from my doctor and al my blood work came back normal. Normal!!!!!  Normal blood sugar, normal cholesterol….wheeeeee!  Awright, too much personal information here, I’m stopping now.

So anyway.  In celebration of the very happy circumstances of my health,  I made this American classic with only a couple of concessions.  I used split chicken breasts instead of a whole chickem, and I only made a top crust.  But the crust came out extra-ordinarily flaky this time.  I guess there’s truth to that old wive’s tale about being in a good mood when making a pie crust.  Sadly, I forgot to put in the peas which I always have in the freezer.  Mea culpa.  The dish would’ve been so much better with the peas.

This particular recipe is based on James Beard’s version which I found off the internet and found it to be the best I’ve tried.  It does take hours to make, but most of it is simmering and won’t require hard labor. The results are worth it.  There are just certain recipes you have to try doing without the usual shortcuts. (more…)

Adobo is the acknowledged Philippine national dish.

When Eldest Sister went on a diet years ago, you could ask her kids what her favorite dish was and they’d all say, “Adobo Kangkong.” Yup, you can cook vegetables, meats, seafood (mussels adobo is fantastic) and fish using this method.  You’ll probably find this dish anywhere you might  land on any of the 7,100 islands of the Philippines.

Chicken and Pork Adobo is the most common and favored.  I came up with my own version a couple of years back.  It’s nothing complicated, just a last minute splash of balsamic vinegar before turning off the heat.  Then a sprinkling of extra virgin olive oil before serving.  But my goodness…it does make a difference. The Ilocanos in northern Philippines must be familiar with the taste.  Balsamic vinegar tastes very similar to basi vinegar of the region.  This recipe is the regular adobo. (more…)

Lovely weather we’re having in Colorado…light snow and single-digit cold since yesterday and into the middle of next week!  Perfect night for a bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup.

My recipe is based on Jeff Smith’s Chicken and Noodles from “The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American” cookbook.  It’s a lovely, comforting soup with thyme and sage.  Like a lot of old-fashioned, good recipes, this one will take a lot of time to prepapre and cook.  If you have the energy, make a double batch of noodles and keep it in the freezer.  It will take almost as much time to make half a batch or double the batch. (more…)