Vigan Miki Soup, plus Red Soup

Vigan Miki Soup, plus Red Soup. The Vigan Miki similar to other pasta and noodles, are best serve immediately. Otherwise the broth will be absorbed by the pasta or noodles, if serve at a later time. This is very true if the pasta or noodles used are dried type. The rehydration process does not stop when cooking is finished, it will continue absorbing the broth until all of the liquid is

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Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 51

I didn't do a meal plan last week, as I was really busy in the run-up to Christmas and also had some unexpected bad news to deal with. I realised just how much I rely on my meal plans - they do take a little bit of time but it's just once a week then for the rest of the week I just check back at what I was supposed to be making. Without a plan I really struggled and wasted time looking through the freezer trying to find something to cook. So this time I've managed to find time to do some planning!

In previous years I've done a lot of festive baking at this time of year and it's a shame I haven't really got time to do any this year. I would have thought that being on maternity leave I'd have more time than when I was at work, but my gorgeous nine month old is pretty all-consuming and when I'm not feeding, changing or playing with her, I'm trying to keep on top of housework and life chores. Maybe next year she will want to join in and bake something with me!

So here's this week's plan:

Monday
Breakfast for baby S: crumpet
Lunch for us: beans on toast as I have to go out to a playgroup at 1.15
Lunch for baby S: chicken and veg
Dinner for us: chicken goujons/ scampi and chips
Dinner for baby S: pouch of organic baby food that needs using by January, followed by baked apple

Tuesday
Breakfast for baby S: porridge with fruit
Lunch for us: bacon sandwich
Lunch for baby S:  tuna and avocado on pitta bread
Dinner for us: orange glazed chicken for him and salmon for me with roast potatoes if time
Dinner for baby S: baby pasta with tomato and chicken

Wednesday
Breakfast for baby S: toast
Lunch for us: hot dogs
Lunch for baby S: salmon from dinner yesterday followed by tangerine
Dinner for us: bbq pork loin steaks for me (using up freezer stash) and chicken for him, with croquette potatoes
Dinner for baby S: cod and sweetcorn chowder with apple crumble for dessert

Thursday
Breakfast for baby S: porridge with fruit
Lunch for us: pasta carbonara using packet sauce
Lunch for baby S:  pasta carbonara
Dinner for us: burger and French fries
Dinner for baby S: rest of cod and sweetcorn chowder

Friday
Breakfast for baby S: breakfast muffin
Lunch for us sandwiches
Lunch for baby S:  pitta bread, cucumber sticks, chicken pieces, followed by petit filous
Dinner for us: gammon steak and chips
Dinner for baby S: pouch of organic baby food that needs using by January

Saturday
Breakfast for baby S: fruity porridge
Lunch for us: mini pizza
Lunch for baby S:  mini pizza
Dinner for us: homemade fish pie for me (in the freezer), toad in the hole for him
Dinner for baby S: gammon, veg, mini potato waffle

Sunday
Breakfast for baby S: fruity porridge
Lunch for us: cheese on toast/ French toast combo
Lunch for baby S: cheese on toast/ French toast combo
Dinner for us: steak and chips
Dinner for baby S: pouch of baby food

And then tomorrow is Christmas eve! What are you doing for Christmas?

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Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 49

I've not managed to get my daughter into any sort of proper routine at the moment which means that sometimes we miss a solid meal I'd planned as she is asleep and then she just has milk afterwards - I'm also finding she wakes up too late for a solid breakfast if I'm giving her lunch as well at the moment. So from now on I'm going to plan three meals a day, and hope that she eats at least two of them! I'm also going to start giving her a cooked meal like fish pie or risotto at lunch and finger food at dinner as when she goes to nursery she will have her main meal at lunchtime.

Monday
Breakfast for baby porridge with fruit
Lunch for baby  roast beef from Sunday
Lunch for us beans/ macaroni cheese on toast
Dinner for baby homemade risotto from the freezer. For dessert - baked apple
Dinner for us cottage cheese stuffed chicken based on this recipe

Tuesday
Breakfast for baby  yogurt with fruit
Lunch for baby baby pasta with some chicken from our dinner yesterday
Lunch for us bacon sandwich
Dinner for baby not sure if we will be back in time (see below) so maybe some finger food
Dinner for us probably back late as baby S has an appointment at the allergy clinic so something easy from the freezer

Wednesday
Breakfast for baby  homemade breakfast muffins
Lunch for baby cheese on toast we didn't have last week
Lunch for us cheese on toast
Dinner for baby  something ready made to make it easy for my husband as I won't be home
Dinner for us I'm going into work this afternoon so something quick and easy for when I get back - pasta ready meal for me, something from the freezer for him

Thursday
Breakfast for baby  porridge or yogurt with fruit
Lunch for baby pitta bread pizza
Lunch for us pitta bread pizza
Dinner for baby cottage pie and green beans with petit filous for dessert
Dinner for us  Orange glazed salmon and mini roast potatoes for me that I didn't do last week, chicken for him

Friday
Breakfast for baby  homemade breakfast muffin
Lunch for baby salmon and potatoes from yesterday
Lunch for us sandwich with fresh bread
Dinner for baby spaghetti Bolognese using mince with baby food from a jar with poached pear for dessert
Dinner for us tuna pasta bake for me, chicken chargrills for him

Saturday
Breakfast for baby toast
Lunch for baby tuna pasta bake
Lunch for us  bacon sandwich again at my husband's request; I will have the rest of my pasta bake
Dinner for baby cod and sweetcorn chowder with apple crumble for dessert
Dinner for us beef and lamb chargrills with mashed potato or roast potato

Sunday
Breakfast for baby  toast or porridge
Lunch for baby  houmous and pitta with cheese and cucumber
Lunch for us breakfast burritos
Dinner for baby  cottage pie with petit filous for dessert
Dinner for us salmon en croute for me, chicken pie for him

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Ukoy na Alamang at Kalabasa

Ukoy na Alamang at Kalabasa. During my visits at the Vigan public market, the fresh alamang or aramang in Ilocano caught my attention.  They were several vendors that were selling fresh alamang, the alamang were definitely very fresh judging from their color. My concern was, would it be possible to bring it back to Manila and maintain the freshness with just storing the alamang in a cooler

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Turon na Saging

Turon na Saging. I had some plantain banana or Saba that came from our farm in Laguna. I have already cooked some of as Nilagang Saging the other day some was was cooked as Minatamis na Saging with Kalamansi Zest. I was surprised, the bananas were extraordinarily sweet, probably because the fruits were harvested when they are about to ripen.                     I thought the remaining

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Chicken Feet Arroz Caldo

Chicken Feet Arroz Caldo. What is the difference of Lugaw, Arroz Caldo and Goto? This is my own opinion you may have another description but this is how I find the difference of the three rice soup dishes. Let’s go back a couple of decade ago where food fusions were not as prevalent as today. And cooking was simpler during those times to understand what are the difference of the three.

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How to make a Felt Christmas Stocking Advent Calendar

I'm really looking forward to my baby's first Christmas and thinking of all sorts of ways I can make it special. I wanted to have a handmade keepsake of some sort that would hopefully be in our family for years, and I hit upon the idea of an advent calendar - consisting of little stockings, each numbered 1 to 24, that I can fill with all sorts of things year after year.

Given that I haven't done any sewing in years and can't think of any time I've ever sewed for fun, I found this surprisingly easy to make. It was a little time consuming but only because I don't get a lot of free time as I have an eight month old baby, and would sew a couple of bits in the evening here and there, over the course of several weeks. If you have a sewing machine that would speed up the process as well.

The design is my own - I know there are plenty of advent calendars like this out there but I didn't copy any of them and just thought about how I wanted it to look:

• I drew a stocking shape on cardboard to cut out and use as a template
• I drew and cut out the numbers freehand though made a template for the number 1 once I got into the teens
• I decided to alternate red and green felt for the stockings; I bought the
• Dovecraft Christmas felt bundle in shades of Reds & Greens, 16 Sheets, A4 sizedwhich had a set of red and a set of green but in different shades so I alternated the darker shades with the lighter ones
• After I cut out the stocking shapes I used the remaining felt to cut out the numbers
• I used white 'ric rac' trim similar to this along the top of each stocking
• 6mm Celebrate Ric Rac Braid Trimming White - per 4 metre roll
• I used these Papermania 36-Piece Mini Pegs, Red/Greento attach each stocking onto a length of jute string which I then tied on to my stair bannisters.

To make them is very easy:
Cut out the stocking shapes from felt - you will need 48
Draw and cut out the numbers from 1 to 24
Sew the numbers onto what will be the front facing stockings first
Then sew on the ric rac edging onto the front facing stocking
Sew both parts of the stocking together along the edges
Attach the stockings  to some string with the pegs; you could also sew loops into the stockings instead if you want.

I'm really pleased with the way they turned out even though the stitching and numbers are slightly different on each; my husband says that just adds to the homemade effect and he thinks they will make a lovely Christmas keepsake.

My daughter will be nearly ten months old at Christmas so won't understand advent calendars and I had considered just filling it with chocolates for us this year, but I saw a set of finger puppets on a site called Once Upon a Time that are designed for a baby's advent calendar, at a very reasonable price, so I ordered them back in September. They were supposed to be with me by early November but with only a few days to go until the start of December they still haven't arrived and the site owner hasn't responded to my messages, so I'm hoping they will still come in time - she has a few days yet!

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Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 48

My husband is at home this week so I need to be a bit more creative with lunch ideas as I often just see what I can find in the fridge or cupboard when it's just me! On the plus side I should have a bit more time to make something for dinner or do some cooking for baby S with him to help look after her.

Monday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit
Lunch or dinner for baby S tinned tuna mixed with avocado and pitta
Lunch for us full English breakfast as a treat as it's my husband's first day at home of what will be at least a few weeks
Dinner for us salmon en croute and veg for me, chicken pie for him I was going to do last week but didn't.


Tuesday
Breakfast for baby S cheerios
Lunch or dinner for baby S pitta with tuna and avocado followed by fruity rice pudding
Lunch for us jacket potato
Dinner for us fish in lemon sauce and hassleback potatoes for me from this recipe for me, chicken chargrills for him


Wednesday
Breakfast for baby S homemade breakfast muffin
Lunch or dinner for baby S cottage cheese and pea mash
Lunch for us  fishcake and poached egg for me, cheese omelette for him
Dinner for us  homemade schnitzel - pork for me, chicken for him


Thursday
Breakfast for baby S yogurt with fruit
Lunch or dinner for baby S cheese on toast
Lunch for us cheese on toast
Dinner for us Orange glazed salmon and mini roast potatoes for me, chicken for him


Friday
Breakfast for baby S toast
Lunch or dinner for baby S salmon, potatoes and veg from yesterday
Lunch for us sandwiches (can pick up fresh bread when we are out in the morning)
Dinner for us  burger and chips


Saturday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit
Lunch or dinner for baby S sweetcorn and cheese multigrain packet meal followed by fruit or rice pudding
Lunch for us  soup and bread
Dinner for us pulled pork rolls with BBQ sauce and potato wedges


Sunday
Breakfast for baby S cheerios
Lunch or dinner for baby S banana pancake
Lunch for us pancake with ham and cheese
Dinner for us roast beef

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Minatamis na Saging with Kalamansi Zest

Minatamis na Saging with Kalamansi Zest. I wanted to add a little zest to the traditional Minatamis na Saging. Minatamis na saging is very easy to cook, and definitely simply delicious, I mean simple to cook. By tweaking the recipe, by adding a rind of a kalamansi make a lot of difference to the already yummy Pinoy merienda. The addition of zest to the Minatamis na Saging makes it refreshing.

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Pansit Bihon with Vigan Bagnet

Pansit Bihon with Vigan Bagnet. Some of our regular readers may already know that I am from Vigan, I grew up in Vigan. And I strongly telling everyone, one of the must foods you must have while visiting Vigan is the Vigan Bagnet. Bagnet is the Ilocano version of lechon kawali in the simplest description. Large chunks of pork leimpo, belly or pork sides, deep fried for at least two times until

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Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 47

My little girl wasn't well last week - just a cough and cold but she was off her food and sleeping loads, so we went back to just milk rather than solids as she wasn't really up to sitting in a high chair eating a meal (she's only eight months so going back to milk is fine). Hopefully she will be back to her normal self this week!

Monday
Breakfast for baby S homemade carrot, courgette and apple muffin
Lunch for me sandwich
Lunch or dinner for baby S roast chicken, potato and vegetable from yesterday
Dinner for us chicken curry

Tuesday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with blueberries
Lunch for me pitta bread with tuna
Lunch or dinner for baby S pitta bread with BabyLed Spread
Dinner for us spaghetti and meatballs I didn't do last week

Wednesday
Breakfast for baby S toast
Lunch for me jacket potato
Lunch or dinner for baby S swede and carrot mash with cod
Dinner for us salmon en croute and veg for me, chicken pie for him

Thursday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with banana
Lunch for me sandwich
Lunch or dinner for baby S chicken and veg risotto
Dinner for us fajitas (prawn for me) with potato wedges

Friday
Breakfast for baby S homemade muffin
Lunch for me tuna pasta
Lunch or dinner for baby S tuna pasta with cucumber and cherry tomatoes
Dinner for us beef grillsteak for him with croquette potatoes, lamb for me

Saturday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit
Lunch for us fresh pasta
Lunch or dinner for baby S cod and sweetcorn chowder from this recipe
Dinner for us something easy from the freezer as we need an early dinner before going to a 40th birthday party- maybe sausage and chips

Sunday
Breakfast for baby S Toast
Lunch for us With my family for my niece's birthday
Lunch or dinner for baby S If out, finger food; if home, pouch of pork and apple casserole
Dinner for us Frozen pizza

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Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 46

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Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 45

Monday
Lunch for all three of us cheese on toast
Dinner for baby S: chicken casserole from my freezer stash
Dinner for us: pizza - I was going to make something else but the baby was crying and restless and I couldn't start cooking til 7.30 so frozen pizza it was!

Tuesday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit
Lunch or dinner for baby S:  chicken and sweet potato mash
Lunch for me: frittata (ready made) with two leftover hotdogs from the weekend
Dinner for us: fish pie for me, chicken pie for him


Wednesday
Breakfast for baby S yogurt with fruit
Lunch or dinner for baby S: fish pie
Lunch for me: ham sandwich
Dinner for us: For me, broccoli and salmon bake from this recipe I meant to do last week but didn't; beef grillsteak for him


Thursday
Breakfast for baby S yogurt with fruit
Lunch or dinner for baby S: cheesy pasta with broccoli I didn't do last week
Lunch for me: mini pizza (bought this before we ended up having pizza for dinner on Monday!)
Dinner for us: homemade turkey burger for me, beef burger for him

Friday
Breakfast for baby S Farley's rusk
Lunch or dinner for baby S: jar of 'my first bolognese' with minced turkey
Lunch for me: sandwich
Dinner for us: chicken/ prawn tacos

Saturday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit
Lunch or dinner for baby S:  rest of jar of baby food mixed with mince and pasta
Lunch for me: soup and bread roll
Dinner for us: steak and chips

Sunday
Breakfast for baby S toast
Lunch or dinner for baby S: cod mixed with sweet potato puree
Lunch for me: fresh pasta with garlic bread
Dinner for us: toad in the hole

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Easy Vegan Pumpkin Pie to use your leftover pumpkin

I was determined to use up my pumpkins in cooking this year and not just throw them away so as well as this pumpkin and gnocchi gratin I made a pumpkin pie. I've made a pumpkin cheesecake (vegan) before, and this chocolate pumpkin cheesecake, but I've never made an actual pumpkin pie before.

I was spending the weekend with friends so a pie seemed like a nice thing to take; one friend is vegan so I needed to find a vegan recipe. I had a look online and ended up creating my own recipe based on this one from Yummy Mummy Kitchen, but using shop-bought shortcrust pastry, which is vegan, and using my fresh pumpkin rather than canned, coconut milk and cornflour to thicken, and brown sugar and golden syrup to sweeten it. The end result was a soft baked pie filling, almost the consistency of a baked cheesecake, which tasted delicious! It was very popular with my friends, vegan and non-vegan alike.

See below for the full recipe - I also want to mention here the vacuum seal food storage container from Ozeri that I used to transport and store my pie in. You get two large domed containers in the pack, and you simply close the valve at the top and push down to create a vaccum seal; when you want to open the container just open the valve. This keeps the food fresh and there's also a handy dial you turn to show which day you put the food in the container. They are fairly large to store but are a nice sturdy design and I like the fact that the lid is clear plastic so you can see what's inside, so this is also a nice way to serve food for instance when you are outside in the summer and want to keep the insects away!

 

It's currently available on the UK Amazon site but with fairly high shipping costs as it comes from the US, or you can find it on other Amazon sites which are cheaper to ship to the UK.

So here's how I made my pumpkin pie
Serves 10-12

Flesh from one large pumpkin, skin removed, chopped
500g shortcrust pastry block
The cream from the top of a 400ml tin of coconut milk plus some of the milk making up 200ml in total
150ml golden syrup
75g brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
3 tbsp. cornflour

Stew the chopped pumpkin in a pan of boiling water until softened then drain. Allow to cool then pulse in a food processor until you have a smooth puree.

Preheat oven to 180C. Roll out the pastry and use to line either a deep tart tin or a loose bottomed cake tin. Line with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans and blind bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is starting to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cook while you make the filling.

In a large bowl, mix the pumpkin puree, coconut cream and milk, golden syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cornflour and beat until smooth.

Pour into the pie crust and return to the oven for 45 minutes. If the top of the pie starts to brown too much, cover with foil.

 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool then chill overnight in the fridge - this should make the filling set.

I'm sharing this with Baking Crumbs hosted by Jo's Kitchen Larder and CookBlogShare hosted by EasyPeasyFoodie.
 

Thanks to Ozeri for the food storage containers to review.

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Pumpkin and Gnocchi Gratin

Around eight million pumpkins are expected to be thrown away in the UK after Halloween this year - and according to this Guardian article, only a third of consumers will cook and eat any of them.

I didn't get around to carving a pumpkin this year but did buy two, for some photos with my little girl!

I then made use of them in various ways - soup, pie, and this pumpkin and gnocchi gratin. The recipe is from an old issue of Weightwatchers magazine; but I added bacon lardons as well (if you want it without, this makes a nice vegetarian dish). I also used more cheese and allowed more gnocchi per person.
This is really tasty - I'm not a huge fan of gnocchi as it's very doughy and needs more than just a tomato sauce, but it works wonderfully in this recipe - you could also substitute the pumpkin for butternut squash.

Serves 4
400g pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 small red onion, cut into wedges
4 tbsp. chopped fresh sage - I used 4 tsp dried sage to keep the cost down
200g bacon lardons
low fat cooking spray (or oil if you are not following Weightwatchers)
500g gnocchi
250g tomato passata
5 tbsp. grated cheddar

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with foil and spray with non stick spray or pour in a little oil. Roast the pumpkin, garlic, onion and sage, and sprinkle over some salt and pepper then toss in the oil. Roast for 20-25 minutes until the pumpkin has softened.

Meanwhile fry the bacon lardons in a frying pan.

Cook the gnocchi in boiling water according to the pack instructions - it only takes a few minutes.

Squeeze the garlic out of its skin and mash with a fork, discarding the skin. In a large ovenproof dish mix the garlic, pumpkin and onion, bacon lardons, gnocchi, then pour over the passata and gently mix in. Finally sprinkle over the cheese.

 

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes; serve with a green veg like broccoli or a salad and garlic bread.

A lovely winter warmer, and a good way to use up pumpkin so it isn't wasted.

 

 And here's my little pumpkin herself!

 

I'm sharing this with Cook Blog Share, hosted by Easy Peasy Foodie.

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Insarabsab, Ilokano Broiled Pork Tossed with Ginger and Onion in Vinegar

Insarabsab is an Ilokano dish made up of quickly broiled or grilled pork strips, then sliced to serving pieces. The pork is then tossed with finely diced ginger and onion with Iloko vinegar. The dish is similar to dinakdakan another popular Ilokano dish except that dinakdakan is made up of grilled pre-boiled pork face and ears while insarabsab could be any other choice of pork cut but usually

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Slow Cooker Hot Chocolate

Now the clocks have gone back and the nights are drawing in, I'm thinking of cosy warming meals and making more use of the slow cooker.

I kept seeing recipes for hot chocolate made in the slow cooker on the internet and decided to have a go. Be warned - this is a very indulgent recipe and a little goes a long way, but it's really something that should just be an occasional treat - perhaps after an evening of trick or treating or coming back from watching the fireworks.

You need:
397g tin condensed milk
400ml semi-skimmed milk
250g Nutella or chocolate spread
4 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
handful of marshmallows



Whisk the condensed milk, milk, chocolate spread and cocoa powder and pour into the slow cooker dish. Cook on low for 2 hours, adding the marshmallows for the last half an hour.

 

Once the slow cooker is switched off this will stay warm for a while - it's best served with a ladle and you can top your drinks with whipped cream or mini marshmallows but this was rich and sweet enough for me!

I used my new kitchen scales by Ozeri to weigh the ingredients - the Ozeri Touch II digital kitchen scale, which I like because it is so slimline, it takes up so much less space in my cupboard than other scales. It also comes in an attractive teal blue and is easy to wipe clean if you touch it with messy fingers! You can also choose whether you weigh in grams or ounces etc which is handy if you are following a recipe with measurements different to the ones you usually use and don't want to have to keep converting them!

I also enjoyed my hot chocolate in my llama mug, because that's how I roll.

Thanks to Ozeri for the scales to review, all opinions are my own.

 

 

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Lechon Kambing at Iba pa...

Pinas Sarap: Lechon kambing ng Tarlac, paano niluluto?Madalas na bida ang lechon baboy at lechon manok pagdating sa mga handaang Pinoy, pero ibahin n'yo ang Tarlac dahil ang kanilang specialty... lechon kambing! Paano kaya ito hinahain?

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Tuna Lechon at Iba pa...

Pinas Sarap: Ipinagmamalaking tuna lechon ng GenSan, paano niluluto?Kung darayo sa GenSan, tiyak na grilled tuna belly at tuna panga ang hahanapin mo. Ngunit alam n'yo ba na ang tuna, ginagawa ring lechon?

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Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 44

Monday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit
Lunch for baby S Leftover chicken with veg
Lunch for me pasta salad
Dinner for us Chicken and pesto pasta to use up chicken from yesterday

Tuesday
Breakfast for baby S pancake
Lunch for baby S cheesy pasta with broccoli
Lunch for me sandwich or salad
Dinner for us salmon and broccoli bake from this recipe for me, sausage rolls for him

Wednesday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit
Lunch for baby S  jar of 'my first bolognese'  mixed with added minced turkey
Lunch for me ploughman's/ sandwich
Dinner for us tuna steak for me or if time rosemary chicken from this recipe https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8159/rosemary-chicken-with-tomato-sauce, chicken chargrills for him


Thursday
Breakfast for baby S toast
Lunch for baby S rest of jar of baby food mixed with turkey
Lunch for me pumpkin soup
Dinner for us mince tacos

Friday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit
Lunch for baby S fishfingers and peas
Lunch for me pumpkin soup
Dinner for us spaghetti Bolognese to use rest of mince

Saturday
Breakfast for baby S toast
Lunch for baby S Lamb hotpot
Lunch for us cheese toasties
Dinner for us fish pie for me, chicken pie for him

Sunday
Breakfast for baby S pancake
Lunch for baby S fish pie
Lunch for us bacon sandwich
Dinner for us Toad in the hole

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Ozeri Stone Earth Pan Review

One of my husband's favourite meals is steak and chips, which luckily is very easy to cook - all you need is an oven and a frying pan!

I have a couple of Ozeri frying pans which I really like, and was recently sent another one to review - the Ozeri Stone Earth Frying Pan. I got the 30cm size which is available from the French Amazon site (which delivers to the UK) here.

It's made of durable die-cast aluminium so I was expecting it to be heavier than it was but it's really comfortable to hold and easy to clean. It's called the 'stone' earth frying pan because the non-stick scratch-resistant coating is derived from stone. It also looks very stylish.

I have an induction hob so it heats pans really fast and you have to be careful not to overcook things sometimes. This frying pan heated really evenly and my steak - or rather my husband's steak as I was having something else - was cooked to perfection!


Thanks to Ozeri for the frying pan to review.            

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Restaurant review: JJ Cafe Pie & Mash Carshalton

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Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 43

Monday
Breakfast for baby S just milk as I had an appointment
Lunch for baby S chicken pieces and veg
Lunch for us (my husband is off as he is looking after baby S during my appointment) hot dogs
Dinner pork fillet with cheat's tonnato from Delicious magazine for me I was going to do last night but didn't, steak for him

Tuesday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with mashed banana
Lunch for baby S homemade lamb hotpot
Lunch for me any bits and pieces I need to use up from the fridge
Dinner pasta with rest of tonnato sauce for me, pasta with meatballs for him


Wednesday
Breakfast for baby S crumpet
Lunch for baby S some of my haddock gratin from yesterday
Lunch for me macaroni cheese on toast
Dinner smoked haddock and cauliflower gratin from a magazine cutting (You Jan 2017) I was going to make last week but didn't , for him something ready made like chicken kievs


Thursday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with apple
Lunch for baby S cheese on toast
Lunch for me cheese on toast
Dinner gnocchi and pumpkin gratin for me from Weightwatchers magazine recipe, chicken chargrills for him

Friday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with mashed banana
Lunch for baby S some of my dinner from yesterday
Lunch for me mini pizzas
Dinner burger and chips

Saturday
Breakfast for baby S toast
Lunch for baby S homemade beef casserole
Lunch for us Tex Mex sausage rolls from Sainsburys magazine cutting
Dinner Bombay chicken one pot roast from Tesco magazine

Sunday
Breakfast for baby S pancake
Lunch - out at a birthday party
Dinner - not sure when we will be back so might do something from the freezer

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Di Oro Seamless Spatulas Review and Discount Code

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Dinuguan sa Kamias

Dinuguan sa Kamias. Some of our readers may  remember our Dinuguan sa Sampalok post, I would say that was one of the best Dinuguan Recipe that we had. The sourness was  not acidic , it was definitely sour but  you could taste the difference , it was mellow but still sour as we wanted. Today I would like to share another dinuguan version, Dinuguan sa Kamias.  Just reading the word

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Buko Almond Salad with Vanilla Ice Cream

Buko Almond Salad with Vanilla Ice Cream. While browsing around at the supermarket for the gulaman powder for my Buko Pandan Salad with Pandan Ice Cream, I again saw these packets of almond flavoured gulaman powder which incidentally I have used in my Almond Jelly, Lychee and Pineapple Salad.  I was supposed to make Buko Pandan Salad with Pandan Ice Cream out of the buko strips from 12

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Buko Pandan Salad with Pandan Ice Cream

Buko Pandan Salad with Pandan Ice Cream. One Pinoy sweet salad dessert is the classic Buko Pandan Salad. The recipe goes back to our grandparents where the only source of gulaman gelatine come from Agar Agar bars. Agar Agar is gelling agent from a kind of seaweed. Today we now have the options of the Agar Agar in easy to use powder form. Buko Pandan Salad is not new to OPC in fact it

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Fried Pork Lumpia Roll with Ham

Fried Pork Lumpia Roll with Ham. Lumpiang Shanghai is served with Pansit are the two Pinoy dish that probably the most popular “handa” during birthday celebration or any other similar family celebration. The popularity of Lumpiang Shanghai and Pansit are also true to most if not every OFW and overseas Pinoy. With these celebrations it has become venues for the introduction of Lumpiang

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Binagoongan Kamias at Baboy

Binagoongan Kamias at Baboy. I have been having a steady supply of kamias lately, rather than letting the sour fruit go to waste I thought I could incorporate it to my Binagoongan Baboy Recipe that did become a hit to my fellow OFW. Sourly and salty have always been a complimentary flavour to most Pinoy. It makes everyone salivate just the thought of it. In the Visayas they use

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Adobong Puso ng Saging, Banana Blossom Adobo

Adobong Puso ng Saging, Banana Blossom Adobo. The first time I had Adobong Puso ng Saging was from a dinner with our crew on a work project assignment. One of our technicians brought several banana blossom or bud back from a break. I asked what shall we cook out of those several banana blossoms. Most of the guys really do not know any other cooking method except Adobo. Adobong Puso ng

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Nilagang Saging na Saba at Bagoong

Nilagang Saging na Saba at Bagoong. Boiled unripe plantain banana dip in bagoong na isda. “Sa Bisaya pa, nilung-ag nga hilaw na saging ug ginamos, kalami”. Most Bisaya love boiled unripe saba bananas dipped in guinamos.  The Warays even served boiled unripe saba banana as accompaniment to Lechon. Nilagang  saging na saba at Bagoong is served as “meryenda”,  snack food while on outing

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Paho, Paho Salad

Paho, Paho Salad. Most of my readers would most likely do not know what a Paho is?  If you search on google about  Paho, there is little information. Those information most likely came from a single source. Search will also return two recipe of Paho, Paho Salad and Pickled Paho. To give you an overview what is Paho, I will not echo the information from the web, you probably have

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Baked Tulingan, Sinaing na Tulingan Style

Baked Tulingan, Sinaing na Tulingan Style. Do you love the Batangas Sinaing na Tulingan and want to impress your family or friends here is my innovative baked version. The ingredients including the banana leaf wrap are basically the same with the usual Sinaing na Tulingan. Or you may use your own usual ingredients if you think my recipe is missing some ingredients. To cook my Baked

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Grilled Tagaytay Beef T-Bone Steak with Mushroom Sauce

Grilled Tagaytay Beef T-Bone Steak with Mushroom Sauce. On my recent trip to Tagatay Mahogany Market I have noticed that some of the stalls there are selling also beef T-bone steak cuts, besides the usual Bulalo. Local tourists are also going to Tagaytay for the cheap beef besides enjoying the Taal Volcano scenery and cool weather.  Ok back to the T-bone steak, I have noticed that

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Sautéed Ilocano Vegetables with Ground Beef

Sautéed Ilocano Vegetables with Ground Beef. It has been sometime since I had an authentic Ilocano vegetable dish. Today I am sharing the beef version of a similar Ilocano vegetable dish Sautéed Ilocano Vegetables with Ground Pork. Cooking procedure is basically the same all I did was used ground beef instead of ground pork. The vegetable ingredients are a medley of Ilocano vegetables

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Mang Raul’s BBQ

Mang Raul’s BBQ is a popular neighbourhood BBQ stall located in BF Almanza, Las Pinas. I am pretty sure that you have already seen Mang Raul’s BBQ on your searches if you are one of those who frequently been searching for eating places around Las Pinas, Alabang or particularly BF Homes here in the South. Mang Raul’s BBQ is famous in Las Pinas for its delectable pork and chicken isaw,

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Pork Adobo with Garbanzos

Pork Adobo with Garbanzos. I have been thinking for a while on what to do with the canned garbanzos that I have bought several weeks ago. I am too lazy to cook a tomato stew dish, I just wanted a simple Pinoy dish with garbanzos, but I ran out of ideas. Besides all I had was just a half kilo of pork rashers that was also in the fridge for several days now. Out of my laziness to cook

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Turon Tikoy and Fried Tikoy

Turon Tikoy and Fried Tikoy. These is not a about how to cook Tikoy, I mean how to actually cook a Tikoy Cake. I really do not know how to make Tikoy. But all that I know  the Tikoy Cake is usually cut in thin slices then fried with beaten egg coating. That is how we have been cooking Tikoy ever since I could remember. But recently Tikoy Cake slices are now cooked Turon Style, yes

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Kasoy Kare Kare, Pork Hocks

Kasoy Kare Kare, Pork Hocks. I just found out that I still have one bottle of the cashew spread that I brought home from Australia. To make the best out of it I decided to make another Kasoy Kare Kare. This time, I decided to use pork pata/hocks. My Kasoy Kare Kare, Pork Hocks is basically similar to my Kare Kare, Pork Hocks, cooked from scratch, no kare kare mix. Ingredients are

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Dinengdeng na Saging na Saba

Dinengdeng na Saging na Saba. Unripe plantain banana to genuine Ilocano can be cooked into Dinengdeng. Beside making saging na saba as Minatamis na Saging or Nilagang Saging, plantain banana or saging na saba can be cooked as “ulam” or viand.  Of course we have been adding plantain bananas to out Pochero, Nilaga and other Pinoy food. But our Dinengdeng na Saging na Saba uses unripe

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Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 42

Monday
Breakfast for baby S pancakes
Lunch for baby S cheese, tomato, cucumber, mini rice cakes
Lunch for us: ploughmans
Dinner for us for me - smoked haddock and cauliflower gratin from a magazine cutting (You Jan 2017) , for him something ready made

Tuesday
Breakfast for baby S yogurt and fruit
Lunch for baby S :  some of my haddock gratin from yesterday
Lunch for me: sandwich
Dinner for us fishcake for me, chicken chargrills for him

Wednesday - with my parents
Breakfast for baby S  pancakes
Lunch for baby S homemade chicken dinner
Lunch for us: beans on toast/ macaroni cheese on toast
Dinner for us Mary Berry's sausage dish, from a magazine cutting (You Jan 2017)

Thursday - with my parents
Breakfast for baby S  porridge and fruit
Lunch for baby S  homemade Lancashire hot pot
Lunch for us: cheese and tomato puff pastry twist with salad
Dinner for us baked salmon and gnocci from Delicious magazine

Friday - with my parents
Breakfast for baby S  toast
Lunch for baby S  homemade beef casserole
Lunch for us: hot dogs
Dinner for us tacos - either chicken or mince

Saturday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit
Lunch for baby S crumpet
Lunch for us: crumpet pizzas
Dinner for us: takeaway with my mother in law

Sunday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit
Lunch for baby S salmon with pasta and peas
Lunch for us: breakfast burritos I didn't do last week
Dinner for us: pork fillet with cheat's tonnato from Delicious magazine for me, steak for him

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Tinolang Tahong with Sotanghon

Tinolang Tahong with Sotanghon.  I had a similar dish called Tinolang Halaan with Sotanghon. Today I tried a version using tahong or mussels. Cooking the dish is basically the same, it is also similar to any tinolang tahong or tinolang halaan. All I did was to add some extra liquid and some soaked sotanghon noodles. Tinolang Tahong with Sotanghon is obviously soupy dish that is ideal

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Chicken Mushroom Adobo

Chicken Mushroom Adobo. I had a similar post using pork belly, Pork and Mushroom Adobo. If you love adobo and you have not seen that post, I suggest click the link now and visit the post. The pictures make you droll and crave. It may not be presented as fancy as a glossy recipe book, but it is how we Pinoy serve our meals every day. It is served strait from the pan with out all those cosmetic

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Ginisang Delatang Salmon

Ginisang Delatang Salmon. Being an OFW myself ginisang sardinas is a regular fare for us.  Sardinas is nutritious, cheap and easy to prepare. Most overseas Pinoy would likely not miss picking a week’s supply of canned fish on their weekly visit to their Asian Store. If you are located on an area where there are no Asian Store it is always worth a try to check out the Asian section of your

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Pansit Bihon Gisado Topped with Bacon

Pansit Bihon Gisado Topped with Bacon. Who do not like crisp bacon? Would you like to be more creative with your pansit bihon gisado? Top it with bacon. The dish just come out casually when I noticed that I have still half of the bacon the I used in my Cabbage and Bacon Pinoy Style, Ginisang Repolyo with Bacon. To make my Pansit Bihon Gisado Topped with Bacon, I elected to make my

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Garlic Sotanghon

Garlic Sotanghon. If you have been eating at Conti’s Pastry Shop or at Reyes Barbecue you may already be familiar with their Garlic Sotanghon. It is basically a ginisang sotanghon overloaded with fried garlic with minimal meat and vegetable ingredients. Not unless you love your garlic in your ginisang pansit you will definitely would not try to order it on the second time. I would probably

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Cabbage and Bacon Pinoy Style, Ginisang Repolyo with Bacon

Cabbage and Bacon Pinoy Style, Ginisang Repolyo with Bacon. Today I would like to share a delicious, quick and easy to prepare vegetables dish which is inspired from a classic cabbage and bacon. The dish is actually just a ginisang repolyo but instead of using fresh pork for the meat ingredient, I used bacon. Cooking my Cabbage and Bacon Pinoy Style, Ginisang Repolyo with Bacon is as

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Chicken Tinola with Sotanghon and Ampalaya

Chicken Tinola with Sotanghon and Ampalaya. I just love my tinola with ampalaya, I just can’t resist the gingery bitter taste of the broth. Be warned to those who hate ampalaya, this dish is obviously bitter. If you do not like the dish please skip this one.  I do have some other tinola version in the archives to browse. This is not a new dish. I had already a few similar recipes in

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Stirfry Chicken Heart in Oyster Sauce

Stirfry Chicken Heart in Oyster Sauce. Chicken offal like the liver, gizzard, heart, etc. are dead cheap but are dreaded by most because they are intimidated on what dish to cook out of it. To the average Pinoy chicken offal would probably best cooked adobo style. It satisfy the Pinoy palate, goes well with hot steaming rice and of course it is a failsafe and easy to cook. I have in

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Pinatolang Oxtail

Pinatolang Oxtail. While looking for vegetables at Darwin’s CBD Woolworths Supermarket it immediately caught my attention on a vegetables that seams look like patola. It was strange but after making a closer look it was a patola indeed. Without hesitation I grab some of the good ones. Without any doubt I am making pinatola soup out of it. Immediately proceed to the meat section of the

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Ginataang Pinakbet

Ginataang Pinakbet. I have been planning to cook pinakbet with gata for some time now. Ginataang Pinakbet is not new. I have seen some recipes in the net already. Today I would like to share my own take of Ginataang Pinakbet. My version was cooked while I am here in Australia. Obviously I am limited to vegetables that are only available at Woolworth Supermarket. All I had was some Asian

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Pinoy Ground Beef Stroganoff over Egg Noodles

Pinoy Ground Beef Stroganoff over Egg Noodles. Beef stroganoff is a classic dish, I no longer see the dish in today’s restaurants. Provably because it is no longer as popular as it was decades ago. If you are looking for a simple recipe, I do have my own version of cooking beef stroganoff using beer instead of wine. Today I am making Pinoy Ground Beef Stroganoff over Egg Noodles. It is

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Chicken Humba

Chicken Humba. The humba is usually cooked using pork. However there are countless versions in every place of the country. Versions are defendant of locality, personal preference and availability of ingredients. Today I would like to share my version of Chicken Humba.  Cooking is basically similar to my pork humba. I did not have the banana blossoms or even the lily buds so I have to

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Chicken Guya Adobo

Chicken Guya Adobo is what I cooked on the second set of the chicken guya with immature eggs set that I bought from South Supermarket in Filinvest Alabang. To those who are new to OPC the first set was made into arroz caldo style. Check out that post of Chicken Guya Lugaw if you are interested. As I mentioned on my Chicken Guya Lugaw post, the guya set consist of the guya or the

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Nilagang Beef Ribs, Nilagang Tadyang ng Baka

Nilagang Beef Ribs, Nilagang Tadyang ng Baka. To most Pinoy beef ribs are best for nilaga. Beef ribs has the correct balance of meat and bones that is essential to a good nilaga dish. Today my Nilagang Beef Ribs, Nilagang Tadyang ng Baka is made up of course the beef ribs, some bok choy, potatoes and carrots. I decided to slow cook the beef ribs with celery stems in addition to the usual

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Pinoy Egg and Tomato Salad

Pinoy Egg and Tomato Salad. I am one of the countless Pinoy who loves the egg and tomato salad. It is a salad to the non-Filipino but for most Pinoy the egg and tomato salad is served as a viand to be eaten with a lot of rice. It is full nutrients, it is delicious and of course it is a cheap Pinoy viand when times are lean. The Pinoy Egg and Tomato Salad is a regular fare to most OFW

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Chicken Guya Lugaw

Chicken Guya Lugaw. Have you tried Lugaw or Arroz Caldo with chicken innards with immature eggs? Today I am sharing you my Chicken Guya Lugaw. If you are from the South of Metro Manila, Alabang in particular South Supermarket at Filinvest Alabang you could find all kinds of farm poultry products like black chicken to native ducks, they are frozen but it is good enough if you live in Metro

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Pork Ribs Tinola with Sotanghon and Ampalaya

Pork Ribs Tinola with Sotanghon and Ampalaya. This dish was inspired by the Ilocano tinola version where ampalaya is used instead of the usual vegetable tinola ingredients. Similarly sotahnghon is also added to some versions of tinola. Today I used them both on my Pork Ribs Tinola with Sotanghon and Ampalaya. To make the dish firs we need a fresh pork ribs, for this recipe. I used the

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Adobong Pusit at Baboy

Adobong Pusit at Baboy. I still remember my very first post of Adobong Pusit. It created a lot of discussion on the cooking time of squid or Adobong Pusit. As I mentioned on that post squid should either be cooked in less than 2 minutes or more than 20 minutes. In cooking between, the squid will turn rubbery. Cooked less than 2 minutes and the squid are half cooked and fishy if cooked with

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Black Peppered Prawns Pinoy Style

Black Peppered Prawns Pinoy Style. I the tradition of Black Peppered Crab I am today sharing a version of Black Peppered Prawns Pinoy Style. I used whole shell on large prawns for this recipe. I wanted to eat the prawns using my hand. Eating with your hands is a Pinoy thing that we really enjoy when eating shelled seafood in our own dining table. Now it you wish to remove the shell of

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Tanguigue Steak Paksiw with Eggplant

Tanguigue Steak Paksiw with Eggplant. Paksiw na isda is often cooked topped with vegetables usually eggplant. The eggplants are cooked or steamed from the vapors of the cooking liquid of fish paksiw. The vegetables juices dripped and are infused to the paksiw broth adding an additional layer of flavors to the Paksiw na Isda. Our Tanguigue Steak Paksiw with Eggplant post today is my

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Meatless Pinakbet, Fish Pinakbet

Meatless Pinakbet, Fish Pinakbet. This is my take of meatless pinakbet. Instead of using pork I used fried tanguigue cubes. I am sharing my Fish Pinakbet in time for the Holy Week or Lenten Season. To make my Meatless Pinakbet, Fish Pinakbet I have to cut the tanguigue steak slices in to serving pieces cubes. The fish is fried to a crisp to hold together the fish and to prevent it from

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Fried Fish Fillet with Mushroom Sauce

Fried Fish Fillet with Mushroom Sauce. In observance of the Holy Week specifically on Good Friday most of us will be keeping away with meat dishes. Traditionally most Pinoy will be having mostly fish or meat free dishes. If you are looking for something different, today I want to share my first Holy Week fish dish. Fried Fish Fillet with Mushroom Sauce is simple and easy to prepare. The base

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Adobong Pork Chop

Adobong Pork Chop. If you are a regular reader of OPC you have provably read my post on Chicken Adobo, Food Safari Chef Ricky Ocampo’s Recipe. Today I am posting a similar post but this time instead of using chicken on the recipe I used pork chops. Cooking is similar to that adobo cooking technique of frying instead of braising the meat. The pork chops are first pan fried before adding

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Pork with Spring Onion Stirfry

Pork with Spring Onion Stirfry. I can no longer count how many stirfry dishes I have shared. I just can’t help it. Stirfry dishes are easy to make and are always a hit. It is one of the dishes that you cannot go wrong literally. Stirfry are popular particularly is Asian cooking. Today’s Pork with Spring Onion Stirfry requires minimal ingredients. However it is packed with flavors.

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Snapper Fillet Pinoy Escabeche Style

Snapper Fillet Pinoy Escabeche Style. I am still having some of the snapper fillet that I used on my Fried Snapper Pinoy Bistek Style. Today I pan fry and cooked them Pinoy escabeche style. Fish escabeche Pinoy style is simplier version of Sweet and Sour dish. It requires few ingredients. It is tasty sweet, salty and gingery. The fish is first fried either crispy or just pan fried.

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Pansit Sotanghon with Roast Chicken Breast

Pansit Sotanghon with Roast Chicken Breast. Most often we reserved the breast part of our roast chicken or lechon manok for a planned Pansit dish. Pansit Sotanghon with Roast Chicken Breast is not a new recipe. Most likely you have already cooked pansit sotanghon using your leftover lechon manok. Most of my readers may not need this recipe but again for those who are learning how to cook.

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Fried Snapper Pinoy Bistek Style

Fried Snapper Pinoy Bistek Style. I have cooked this similar dish using salmon fillets before. Check that post of Fried Salmon Pinoy Bistek Style. Cooking is definitely exactly the same.  Similar to the salmon recipe our Fried Snapper Pinoy Bistek Style was cooked perfectly. The pictures speaks for itself… a thousand words! Of course beside good photos the dish came out really great. It is

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Pinoy Omelet

Pinoy Omelet. The Pinoy omelet is one of the comport food which brings back childhood memories. It is a regular breakfast fare with fried rice that I grow up with. I am pretty sure that most Pinoy would have memories of the Pinoy omelet. The Pinoy omelet is made up of sautéed tomatoes and onions and mixed with beaten egg, cooked omelet as in torta style or scrambled. Cooking is fairly

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Pork Adobo with Coca Cola

Pork Adobo with Coca Cola is not your regular adobo. I am not even sure if it should be called adobo at all. Our Pork Adobo with Coca Cola is made up of pork belly with rib bones braised with vinegar, some tomato paste and coca cola beverage drink.  We Pinoy have always been using carbonated drink in some of our dishes. We use carbonated drinks on our cooking for the reasons that they

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Pork Gisantes and Garbanzos

Pork Gisantes and Garbanzos. This dish is an adaptation to Pork Guisantes. Pork Guisantes is not your usual home dish. It is most likely serve in Fiestas. At home I rather cook menudo or afritada. To make the Pork Guisantes more inviting I tweaked the recipe by adding garbanzos to the recipe. I myself like garbanzos better that green peas. Garbanzos are crunchier and add more texture to the

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Pork and Asparagus with Oyster Sauce

Pork and Asparagus with Oyster Sauce. Stir-fry dishes are easy are quick and easy to prepare. Stir-fry could be a combination of any tender meats or seafood with vegetable and with a choice of savory sauce.  Today I would like to share another variety of a Pinoy style stir fry dish, Pork and Asparagus with Oyster Sauce. It is made up of pork loin and some asparagus stir fried with

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Pinoy Burger Steak with Onions and Oyster Sauce

Pinoy Burger Steak with Onions and Oyster Sauce. Here is my take of burger steak with onions and oyster sauce. First of all find a good beef burger. Panfry the beef burgers with using just some oil, just enough to keep the burger from not sticking to the pan. Cover the frying pan to evenly cook the burger steak. Now using the same pan, fry some onion rings. Now simmer the fried onion and the

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Ginisang Kamatis at Itlog

Ginisang Kamatis at Itlog is a Pinoy version of scrambled egg with tomatoes and onions. It is a quick Pinoy breakfast fare served with garlic fried rice or pandesal. It is popular and easy to prepare. Because of the ease to cook, it is ideal for those who have limited time to cook for breakfast but want to have some variety on their fried eggs. Most of my readers may have cooked

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Adobong Baka sa Gata

Adobong Baka sa Gata. I have never cooked Ginataang Baka before. Today I tried to cook one. There is some cube cut beef that was lying in the fridge for some time now. All I have in the pantry that is useful for a new recipe is a can of coconut cream. I am intimidated to cooked Ginataang Baka in the past. I have to get over it so I decided to cook Adobong Baka sa Gata. To make the dish

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Tortang Giniling

Tortang Giniling is a Pinoy classic dish. It is inexpensive and easy to prepare.  Tortang giniling are best for baon for the reason that it does not have sauce and it has a longer shelf life. All that is needed is a banana ketchup dip. When I was in school the dish was a regular pack lunch in school. Tortang giniling is served also during breakfasts and of course garlic fried rice. To

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Eggplant Pinoy Bistek

Eggplant Pinoy Bistek is another OPC’s innovative Pinoy dish that is simple, economical and most of all very yummy that suit the Pinoy palate. For this recipe, I used the large classic eggplant. Sliced the eggplant crosswise into thin round slices. I then fried the slices in batches. Please be aware that the eggplant will absorbed the oil during frying. Now if you are not into very

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Beef with Garlic Stem Stirfry

Beef with Garlic Stem Stirfry. Garlic stem may not be normally found in Public Markets or most supermarket in Manila. I do regular see them at South Supermarket in Filinvest Alabang. When they are available or in season I regularly buy them for my stirfry dishes. In Fact I have already posted a pork stirfry with garlic several years back. Check my Pork with Garlic Stem Stirfry if you like to

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Ginataang Tulingan Steak with Pechay

Ginataang Tulingan Steak with Pechay. I had this large sized tulingan steak that was sitting in the freezer for some time. I decided to cooked ultimately cooked it with coconut milk with some pechay that are similarly in the refrigerator for a couple of days already.  For my coconut milk I used the fresh one from a wet market near our home. The coconut milk was freshly extracted using

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Oxtail Sarciado, Kinamatisang Oxtail

Oxtail Sarciado, Kinamatisang Oxtail. Our kinamatisan version is not new but it is one of the earliest innovative Pinoy dish that we have published here at OPC. My kinamatisan was inspired by a dish that was regularly cooked by a good friend and work colleague when I was working in Abu Dhabi. That kinamatisan recipe uses pork or chicken. Click the link list below to check them out. Chicken

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Pinatolang Sugpo

Pinatolang Sugpo. Pinatola is a soup dish usually made up of boiled beef with patola as the vegetable ingredients. Patola is a versatile ingredients for Pinoy soup dishes. The vegetable is added to any nilaga or dishes soup dishes. This includes a variety of noodles soup dishes and meat nilaga recipes including the bulalo. In fact I have already cooked several variation of Pinatola dishes. Now

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Seafood Tinowa with Malungay

Seafood Tinowa with Malungay. Today I want to share a comport food. A classic dish from the Visayas and Mindanao. It’s another version of my seafood tinowa. Seafood Tinowa with Malungay, as the name suggest, I added some malungay to the basic tinowa. The addition of malungay bring up the simple tinowa to another level. This probably not new but I could not resist to share it. How could you

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Giniling at Patatas Carinderia Style

Giniling at Patatas Carinderia Style. My love to the Giniling goes all the way when I was still a student and when I was working in several companies in Manila. Giniling then would be a staple dish in in school canteen, office canteen and road side carinderia. Giniling is cheap, very yummy and goes a long way with rice. I still cook and enjoy the classic giniling. The classic Giniling

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Ginisang Togue at Sigarillas

Ginisang Togue at Sigarillas. I cannot help it I have to post another version of Ginisang Togue. Winged bean or sigarillas is one of the vegetables that you would see very often in vegetable markets and most supermarkets in Metro Manila. Sigarrillas best used in sinigang. Other than that you may be wondering how to cook sigarillas other than one of the vegetable ingredient for sinigang.

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Ginataang Manok sa Dilaw

Ginataang Manok sa Dilaw. Are you one of those who have caught with the turmeric powder health craze? There is no question about the health benefits of turmeric but we are not talking about that at this time. Instead I made a Pinoy recipe to make use of that same turmeric powder. Turmeric is no other than the luyang dilaw we used in some of our Pinoy dishes. Turmeric is not new to OPC in fact

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Steamed Pampano with Soy Sauce and Sesame oil

Steamed Pampano with Soy Sauce and Sesame oil. Steaming fish similar of what is served in Chinese restaurant is a challenge. Most of the time you will end up with visually unappealing plate of fish. Worse is it may also taste awfully fishy. This is of course if you try to steam a fish without first reading at least a how to steam a fish Chinese style book or a recipe.  Steaming a fish

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Lechon Manok, Pinoy Barbecue Marinade

Lechon Manok, Pinoy Barbecue Marinade. I have been cooking Lechon Manok and trying different marinade combinations. Today I want to share another of my Lechon Manok. This time I used the classic Pinoy barbecue marinade made up of soda drink, soy sauce and kalamansi juice. Of course the marinade includes the basic Pinoy aromatic ingredients. For staffing I had lemongrass, spring onion and

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Ginisang Labong at Ayap

Ginisang Labong at Ayap. Every Pinoy should know what labong is. Still thinking? Labong is the edible bamboo shoots. The Pinoy variety is fibrous compared to the Chinese varieties. Because it is woody it require skills to thinly slice it. It also requires a lot of boiling time to get the bamboo shoot acceptably tender. Never the less forget about slicing and pre boiling. Labong in Metro

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Easy Loaf Tin Carrot Cake

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Chicken Tinola with Gold Squash

Chicken Tinola with Gold Squash. When in overseas every now and then, we find ourselves craving for our favorite comfort food. One of the Pinoy comfort food that I do crave most is Chicken Tinola with a lot of ginger. Every time I see fresh chicken in the chicken shelves of supermarkets, the first Pinoy food that lights ups in my brain is tinola.  And I believed it is very likely it is the

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Mais Baboy at Langka or MBL

Mais Baboy at Langka or MBL. This dish was inspired by Kadyos Baboy at Langka or KBL one of Ilongo’s signature dish.  I was trying to look for kadyos beans when I stumble upon these beautiful fresh glutinous white corn in a Public Market near where I live in Manila. If I do not have kadyos for my KBL why not use the white corn instead. Immediately without hesitation bought 4 white corncobs and

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Buridibud a Parda ken Malaga

Buridibud a Parda ken Malaga. Buridibud is an Ilocano vegetable dish. It is made up of combination of native vegetables cooked with kamote or sweet potato and flavored with bagoong na isda. Buridibud is usually topped with grilled or fried fish. The pungent aroma of the bagoong na isda compliments the flavours of fresh vegetables and the sweetness and texture of the kamote.  The

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Paksiw na Alumahan sa Kamias

Paksiw na Alumahan sa Kamias. I just recently posted my Sweet and Sour Alumahan. But I need to post this Paksiw na Alumahan sa Kamias. As the name suggest I cooked my Paksiw na Alumahan using kamias as the souring ingredients. For some reason paksiw na isda dishes make me drool. Some will shy away from paksiw na isda dishes for the reason or belief that paksiw is fishy and un-appealing. But

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Pork Chop Steak, Bistek Style

Pork Chop Steak, Bistek Style is not new. Pork chop cooked Bistek Style is very common especially in most carinderia and canteen or similar turo turo restaurants. This is because pork chop is one of the most favorite pork cut of most Pinoy who loves pork. Pork chop in turo turo restaurant is very easy to quantify or measure, it is served by piece therefore it is priced by piece. Pork Chop

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Sweet and Sour Alumahan

Sweet and Sour Alumahan. Alumahan is one of the very common fish in the Philippines. The fish is very affordable and always available in public markets and most supermarkets in Manila. In fact I do have a couple of alumahan post, check them out to find out about how I cooked them. Fried Fish, Pritong Alumahan Inihaw na Alumahan Now if you are still looking for other sweet and

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Batso with Pasayan, Ginisang Upo with Hipon

Batso with Pasayan, Ginisang Upo with Hipon. Batso is an Ilocano dish made up of diced upo or bottle gourd flavored and colored with atsuete or annatto. Batso or some call it batcho is nuclear in color because of the annatto coloring. The dish is very tasty and really goes very well with white rice. It can be a side dish but it is normally serve as a vegetable main dish. Click the

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Buko Fruit Salad, Fresh Buko Version

Buko Fruit Salad, Fresh Buko Version. Buko Fruit Salad is unique to Pinoy. It is one of the more popular Pinoy dessert. Today buko fruit salad come in many forms, there is an ice candy version, an ice cream version, a refreshing drink version and other sweet food and dessert with buko fruit salad as the main ingredients. Check my other buko salad recipe listed below. Buko Salad

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Ukoy na Hipon at Bulaklak ng Kalabasa

Ukoy na Hipon at Bulaklak ng Kalabasa. Ukoy with large shrimps always caught my attention in week end markets. For some reason ukoy will most likely sell in the food section of most weekend markets, in Metro Manila in particular. I bought to try it of a couple of occasions but they are either lump or saggy, that was my personal experience. Those bad experience has inspired me to make my

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Ginisang Ampalaya with Pork

Ginisang Ampalaya with Pork. To most Pinoy Ginisang Ampalaya is made up of sliced ampalaya sautéed with garlic, onions and tomatoes bind together with scramble egg. Today I level-up the Ginisang Ampalaya by adding some pork slices to the dish. Cooking method still the same, all I did was just add the pork. Since Ginisang Ampalaya with Pork is a stirfry dish, I used pork loin. Pork

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Grilled Tanguige Steaks with Star Margarine Garlic Sauce

Grilled Tanguige Steaks with Star Margarine Garlic Sauce. King fish or Taguige is a tasty but delicate. When sliced into steaks grilling is sometimes tricky. The fish meat will tend to stick to the grills or grilling plates when it is not heated properly. They also disintegrate or break up when turned or fliped prematurely, otherwise grilled tanguige steaks are great and definitely all fish

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Sizzling Bulalo Steak

Sizzling Bulalo Steak. Bulalo to Pinoy is beef shanks boiled for hours till all the flavors are extracted and the meat and tendons almost fall off the bones. Ok that is the how most Pinoy enjoy their bulalo. Today I would like to share another cooking method of bulalo, Sizzling Bulalo Steak. The idea is not new in fact it also one of the more popular restaurant Pinoy dish. Cooking the

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Ham and Egg Fried Rice, Yang Chow Style

Ham and Egg Fried Rice, Yang Chow Style. It has been sometime since I posted a fried rice recipe. I know it is only a fried rice and most would probably know how to cook some kind of fried rice. But I believe that a lot of our readers are looking for a recipe of fried rice other than the Pinoy garlic fried rice. We do have several versions of fried rice in the archive including a

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Hotplate Grilled Tulingan

Hotplate Grilled Tulingan. I wanted to make sure that my recipe for Inihaw na Talakitok sa Hotplate will work with other similar big sized fish. As expected the fish was cooked perfectly without complicated grilling procedure and minimal cooking effort. It was so beautiful that I could not resist sharing it. Of course preparation and grilling of my Hotplate Grilled Tulingan is similar

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Sinigang na Bilong Bilong sa Kamote

  Sinigang na Bilong Bilong sa Kamote. Sinigang na isda one of the most common fish soup dish to most Pinoy. It is easy to prepare, almost every fish can be used and similarly there are a lot of choices for the vegetable ingredients. Today I would like to share my Sinigang na Bilong Bilong sa Kamote. Obviously for my main ingredients I used bilong bilong or moon fish and kamote tops for my

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Ulam Burger, Pinoy Burger Steak Style

Ulam Burger, Pinoy Burger Steak Style. We do have already posted a Pinoy Burger Steak in the archives, that Burger Steak was however uses real ground Australian beef and Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Condense Soup for the gravy, premium  ingredient for our premium version of the Pinoy Burger Steak. Today I would like to share an affordable version of the Pinoy Burger Steak, our Ulam

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Tinolang Manok sa Buko

Tinolang Manok sa Buko is inspired by a similar dish called Chicken Binakol, a native chicken cooked with young coconut water in bamboo tubes. Our Tinolang Manok sa Buko is instead cooked in a regular household kitchen, with usual kitchen utensils and ingredients that should be available in wet markets and supermarkets including the buko or young coconut. Tinolang Manok sa Buko is

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Pork Tenderloin with Mushrooms

Pork Tenderloin with Mushrooms. I would like to share a simple Pinoy version of cooking stirfry with fresh mushrooms. My point is to try to educate our readers that fresh mushrooms are also available in Manila. They are reasonably priced, and they are available in most supermarkets in Metro Manila. The only reasons in my opinion that fresh mushrooms are not priced at affordable level to

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Pansit Bato, Pansit Bicol Special

Pansit Bato, Pansit Bicol Special. If you are health buff, Pansit Bato has healthier options. Pansit Bato dried noodles are also available fortified with vegetables, the noodle colors are indicative of what type of vegetable are added to the ingredients of the dried Pansit Bato. For green it is fortified with malungay, yellow with kalabasa and orange with carrots. We do have already a

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Dinuguan sa Sampalok

Dinuguan sa Sampalok. I have finally had a chance to cook Dinuguan sa Sampalok, no this is not Tinumis. Tinumis uses sampalok leaves instead of the unripe fresh sampalok fruits that I used in my Dinuguan sa Sampalok.  To highlight my sampalok ingredient in my Dinuguan sa Sampalok, I included same whole un-crushed sampalok in my photos. The sampalok paasim should be cooked

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Pinaniki, Ginattang Bopis ng Laguna

Pinaniki, Ginattang Bopis ng Laguna.  If you are not from Laguna you may not know that there is a ginataang version of bopis. In Laguna they call it Pinaniki, do not ask me why or what is in the name, I hope our readers from Laguna or those who have first-hand knowledge of the Pinaniki, Ginattang Bopis ng Laguna can share more information about it. My version of Pinaniki, Ginattang

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Meal Planning Monday 2018 Week 41

Monday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with apple
Lunch for baby S  finger food of chicken and veg
Lunch for me: smoked salmon leftover from Sunday with bread and butter
Dinner for us: spaghetti bolognese

Tuesday
Breakfast for baby S toast
Lunch for baby S leftover spaghetti Bolognese
Lunch for me: Also leftover spaghetti Bolognese as I always make too much!
Dinner for us: gammon grills/ cauliflower cheese grills

Wednesday
Breakfast for baby S Farley's rusk
Lunch for baby S  salmon with sweet potato and broccoli
Lunch for me: toasted sandwich or mini pizzas
Dinner for us: salmon with hollandaise sauce for me, sausages for him


Thursday
Breakfast for baby S yogurt with peach
Lunch for baby S salmon with tomato and possibly baby pasta- S seems to have a mild egg allergy to am waiting to see if I should try pasta or not
Lunch for me: sandwich
Dinner for us: tacos with potato wedges

Friday
Breakfast for baby S yogurt with apple
Lunch for baby S houmous and breadsticks and carrot sticks (cooked)
Lunch for me: houmous and bread sticks and carrot sticks (raw)
Dinner for us: burger and chips

Saturday
Breakfast for baby S porridge with fruit
Lunch for baby S  fingerfood - cucumber, cheese, mini rice cakes
Lunch for us: soup and bread
Dinner for us: for me (and to go in the freezer for baby S) slow cooker Lancashire hotpot, something different TBA for him

Sunday
Breakfast for baby S toast with peanut butter
Lunch for baby S pouch of coconut chicken and butternut squash curry
Lunch for us: breakfast burritos
Dinner for us: Santa Fe chicken

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Inihaw na Talakitok sa Hotplate

Inihaw na Talakitok sa Hotplate. Sometimes it is more convenient to grill a fish using your regular stove using hotplate. This will spare you of all the troubles of preparing your outdoor barbeque grill for just one serving of fish for the lunch or dinner. Be aware also that grilling fish indoors will trap all the smoke and fumes created in grilling fish indoors. Therefore I would suggest

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Cake and Bake Show 2018 and Bake with a Legend

This week I made bread with one of the finalists from the Great British Bake Off. It's not every day that you can say that!

I was lucky enough to get a free ticket to the Cake and Bake Show for the Friday, and lucky that my husband offered to take a day off work and look after our seven month old baby. I wasn't gone for the whole day but I did miss my little girl, though she was quite happy with daddy!

The show is a mixture of stalls selling everything from cakes and fudge to cake decorating equipment to kitchen knives, with three demonstration stages and a handful of other things to do - for instance one of the cake decorating stalls had a table where you could sit and be shown how to make a simple sugar flower, or you could get your nails done for free by students from a beauty college (the first time in seven months I've worn nail varnish I think!).



Jane Asher demonstrating at the Cake and Bake Show



Paul Jagger demonstration
 

Bake with a Legend had a stand with none other than Jane Beedle, GBBO 2016 finalist, where you could sign up for a free baking session, so I did. Bake with a Legend allows you to hold an event like a party, hen night or corporate event, where you bake with one of a selection of GBBO participants - or you can sign up to a public session and buy an individual place. It's not cheap - £99 for the public session or £895 for a group of up to 20 in your own home - less than £45 per person if you can get 20 people but I'm not sure how easy that would be, or a group event at £85 per person at one of their locations around the UK for a minimum of 12 people.

It's a great idea as many GBBO fans would love to have a go at baking with their favourite contestant - it's much more than just a meet and greet and doing any sort of baking class usually doesn't come cheap. The company doesn't have any of the actual GBBO winners on their books but there are contestants from different series and whether you were a fan of Howard Middleton or Paul Jagger (who made the amazing lion shaped bread in 2016) you are sure to find someone you like.

At the Cake and Bake Show, I made focaccia with Jane, topped with olives and tomatoes. It was a nice easy recipe - there was even a child taking part who had no trouble with it - but I picked up some useful tips like if your dough is too wet, don't add flour as that changes the ratio of ingredients, but instead add more oil.



Jane was lovely and happy to answer questions about her time on Bake Off, telling us about some of the things she made for her auditions, and that one of her favourite bakes on the show had been Jaffa cakes and the hardest the dampfnudel from one of the technical challenges.

We made the dough and put it in a tin foil tray to take home and bake in the oven. Focaccia only needs a single prove so it did that while I carried it home (it was quite a warm day!) and then I baked the bread later. It was delicious, particularly dipped in a little oil and balsamic vinegar.

I also got to meet Paul from the same series of GBBO who stopped by for a chat.

That was definitely the highlight of my day at the Cake and Bake Show. I realised from looking around the stalls just how much cake decorating equipment I already have! I really must find time to start using it again...

I did buy a few bits and pieces - a set of Lego style moulds that I think I will use for my husband's next birthday cake, some circular cutters (I couldn't remember if I already had any, and they were cheap), a textured mat to roll out icing to make it look like wood, a tiny bow mould and a '40 and fabulous' cake topper which I expect I will get some use out of as I and my school friends all turn 40 next year!

I also had a look at the competition cakes - this is a big part of the Cake and Bake Show. There was a cakes for children section, a wedding cake section, and the main section which had a theme of 'around the world in 80 cakes'. I took a few photos of some of my favourites which you can see below.

If you are interested in cakes and baking and can get to London I recommend the show - I also went to the Cake and Bake Show in 2014 and Cake International in 2012, which were really good as well. A nice day out and of course I couldn't come home without some cake for me and my husband as well!

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