Halayang Ube - How To Cook Purple Yam Jam

How To Make Ube - Halayang Ube Dessert
http://www.mercifulg.blogspot.com/ How to cook Sweet Purple Potatoes Jam or Halayang Ube or Ubi. Considered one of the top Superfood of 2010 by Dr. Oz, this vibrant purple sweet potato yam is just as delicious as it's color. With just few ingredients added, you can have the so-called Halayang Ube or Purple Yam that you can serve on any occasions. Commonly served as desserts during the Filipino town fiestas or feasts, Christmas, New Year or any occasions. Taste great if topped with ice-cream or mixed with the Halo-halo.  You may find the purple yam in your local oriental stores and usually costs more than regular sweet potatoes. Simply boil, steam, peel, grate and fry them in a pan, add the condensed milk or coconut milk, evaporated milk and granulated sugar. Stir until thickened, transfer to a pan, chill and the next day you have a mighty, tasty dessert. On this video, I mixed all the ingredients prior to cooking and it turned out as tasty, delicious dessert that I ate when I was a kid. The sweets that our sweet neighbor Ti Mel made and brought them over to our humble home every Christmas or town feasts.  I do miss her. Nothing beats a good neighbor.

Taste great also when re-heatedwith some butter using the microwave/. Great hot dessert too! Yummy.

You may use frozen and grated yam if fresh are not available.

Spring flowers

It’s spring and flowers are everywhere! I captured these moments with my simple Sony camera to enjoy the beauty and colors of each flower I saw last weekend. See some varieties of Orchids. The colors of Hydrangeas that's popular all over south. I do have the blue and just bought some pink. They are  so gorgeous. Famous singer, Madonna is not a fan of hydrangeas , I guess because it's a southern kind of flower or maybe she just loved thorny roses.  Hydrangeas for me are one of those perfect flower that Mother Nature painted for us to see and appreciate and I feel lucky to have them growing in my garden and blossoms during spring and summer.. There are also bougainvilleas which grows wildly in the  Philippines but selling  here in the States for a good price. I never knew that those thorny bushes have such value. I saw some knockout roses, my - those awesome Dahlias, another perfect plant and the Daisies which I saw growing by our church grotto. Life is just beautiful especially during spring time.

How To Make Tahini Dip

http://mercifulg.blogspot.com/ Great side dish made of ground sesame seeds mixed with olive oil and garlic. With my recipe, I added especial seasoning that even made it tastier. Very easy to make as it needs only few ingredients. Try with your meat and vegetables or crackers.  I used quick process by toasting the seeds then processed all the ingredients using the food processor. Store them in jar then refrigerate.  It's almost like butter.

Ingredients: Sesame seeds, olive oil, chopped garlic, orange juice, chicken broth seasonings, salt.

Avocado - Apple - Jicama Salad

http://mercifulg.blogspot.com Quick and easy avocado, apple and jicama salad recipe  with olive oil, mixture of parsley and cilantro, dijon mustard, toasted walnuts, squezzed of fresh lemon juice and dash of salt and pepper dressing. I love this salad, came out so flavorful with just few ingredients. You can mix all the dressing ahead and pour them over fresh cut avocado, apple and jicama and serve in any occasion or take it for your lunch.  Light and healthy dish, try and enjoy it.

Ingredients: 

1 avocado - peel and slice
1 medium size apple - chop to bite size
1/4  cup sliced jicama - peel and slice to bite size

Dressing:

1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp parsley and cilantro- mix
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
salt and pepper to taste
Mayonnaise -optional

Directions:
1. Cut the avocado in half. Remove the skin and slice.
2. Cut one apple into bite size.
3. Chop piece of Jicama- about 1/4 cup.
4. Mix the above ingredients.
5. Mix the dressing, olive oil, dijon mustard, parsley and cilantro mix, 1/4 cup of toasted walnusts, add salt and pepper. Save half of the toasted walnuts as dressing before serving.
6. Pour the dressing into the  avocado-apple-jicama. Mix to blend.
7. Add the remaining nuts on top and serve.

How To Make Turkey Egg Rolls - Lumpia made of ground turkey

Appetizing recipe using the leftover turkey meat besides just turkey sandwich or soup. I love turkey but as always, we ended up with mounds of leftover, especially the dark meat so instead of the same leftover dish idea I created a recipe and turned this tasty meat into a great appetizer or snacks. Try this recipe and the best thing, you can freeze and save the rest for later.  Have you heard of lumpia or spring rolls or egg rolls? The dish is similar to it but instead of using ground beef, pork, seafood I used my leftover meat, ground it mix with some ground sausage, some seasonings, wrap in pastry wrapper, fry and then serve with hot melted cheese. I wish I thought of this recipe before. They are pretty tasty. And the best thing, I don't have to throw my leftovers rotisserie chicken too.

How To Make Pitsi Pitsi - Yuca Recipe

http://mercifulg.blogspot.com/ Pichi-pichi or pitse is an easy to make Filipino dessert recipe made of cassava. Also called yuca, mogo, manioc, mandioca or plain kamoteng kahoy from my native country, the Philippines. In America, it's the source of tapioca. The dish needs very few ingredients and cooked in very short time. All you need are grated cassava, coconut milk, granulated sugar and some butter.  Fry until brown, blend with some granulated sugar and some coconut milk and once cooked, coat them with freshly grated coconut. And that's it. Serve with hot green tea and yes, you feel like you're back in the tropics. Old-fashioned dessert that my dear mother shared to me and I believe the first dish I learned to cook. Try them now.  I bought them for 99 cents a pound but maybe more in your store but am pretty sure a lot less in other countries.  It is not an expensive dessert as it seems you can share one tube into 6-8 servings. In this video, I cooked only half of the tube. I'm amazed on how pearly white these crops are. Just like gifts from heaven.

The cassava or yuca I bought for $0.99 a pound

Wash and peel.

Beautiful white yuca

Grate the cassava

Pour some coconut milk in the pan or wok and bring to simmer.

Add the grated cassava.

Once cooked or golden brown, remove from the pan and roll into freshly grated coconut.

And then serve. You may sprinkle more sugar if you desire. The sweet pitsi pitsi dessert, one of the famous street food in the Philippines and just perfect with hot tea.

How to make Chicken Chopsuey

  http://mercifulg.blogspot.com/ Famous stir-fried dish in Philippines. Gather some fresh vegetables or pull your frozen veggies sauteed with sliced chicken breast or turkey steak. The dish is similar to making salad but the selected vegetables were cooked in high-heat in very few minutes or longer if you prefer your vegetables well done. To save preparation time, buy mixed oriental frozen vegetables but the fresh ingredients are preferable. Meal you will enjoy especially when served hot. Or if you want them spicy, add some of my home-made hot chili oil sauce.

Ingredients:

 

2 cloves of garlic- diced

1/4 cup shallots
8 oz of chicken breast, sliced into strips
4 oz of chicken liver, sliced into strips (optional)
2 oz of turkey sausage - diced
1 button of mushroom - sliced
1 tsp of lemon juice
1/4 cup baby corn (from can)
1/4 cup grated carrots
1 - 2  tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp of ground pepper
1/2 cup of chinese bokchoy. Chopped.
2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup water
1 packet of chicken bouillon seasoning
1 tsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp oil - canola or olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat the pan to medium to high heat.
2. Saute the garlic and shallots and stir until translucent.
3. Add the chicken strips and cook, should be turning white and off pink.
4. Add the chopped chicken livers. Cook until done about 6-8 minutes
5. Add the turkey sausage, cook for 2 minutes.
6. Add the mushrooms, followed by carrots. Stir.
7. Add the baby corn. Keep the heat on high.
8. Add the fish sauce and then the ground pepper.
9. Add the dissolved cornstarch and stir.
10. Add the chicken bouillon seasoning. Stir.
11. Turn the heat down to simmer.
12. Add the soy sauce.
13. Squeeze the lemon juice and stir.
14. Wait until the sauce thickens and cooked.
15. Serve hot over your favorite rice.

How To Cook SOPAS - How To Make Chicken Noodle Soup and Chicken Rice Soup

http://mercifulg.blogspot.com/  Filipino famous soup. I love this simple and easy to make soup besides being low in fat, low sodium and tasty it helps me when I have the cold or worst the flu. Inexpensive meal. Easy to find ingredients cook until the pasta are soft and soup is creamy and when it's ready, serve with some rolls, crackers or toasts. Topped with scallions or green onions. Try it and learn how to make your own soup. Have you tried using the Kindle Fire as recipe viewer? Just the right size media for my tiny kitchen.

Directions:

1. Turn the oven to medium-high.

2. Fry the shallots in 2 tbsp of olive oil, followed by diced chicken (that's about 4 ounces).
3. Add the turkey sausage and saute for 2 minutes. That was just about 2 inches of turkey sausage.
4. Add the chopped cabbage 1/2 cup, followed by a 1/2 cup of mixed frozen vegetables.
5. Add the rice. I used my left-over brown rice, a cup of it.
6. Keep sauteing.
7. Add the chicken broth.  A can of clear broth but homemade is better if you have them.
8. Add the chicken seasoning that was dissolved in a cup of water.  Add them, and add another half-cup of  water.  The more liquid, the better as it helps you when you have the cold.
9. Add some ground pepper.
10. Of course, my favorite.. a tablespoon of fish sauce.
11. Stir and let it boil and once boiling, turn down to between low and medium heat.  I cooked it for about 45 minutes for better taste.
12. Add a tbsp of butter, Stir.
13. Taste it.If not salty enough, add salt.
14. Serve in a bowl and top with cut green onions and or other call it, scallions. A squeeze of lemon juice would be fabulous.. Enjoy with some crackers or some fresh rolls.

How To Make Good Praline Pecans

http://mercifulg.blogspot.com/ Learn how to make your own pecan pralined as sweet treats. Easy to follow dessert recipe. Great snacks anytime, great gift idea for Christmas or Thanksgiving holidays. Made with my own mixed ingredients such as coconut rum, orange juice, cinnamon, all ground spice, brown and granulated sugar. Cooked in  butter, mixed with the special sauce, baked for few minutes then bake and Shake, my kind of pecans. Popular nuts in the south. I used the Planters brand pecan but the fresher the pecans, the better. It's an easy to follow  nuts recipe.
 

Ingredients:

1 cup of Pecans
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of all ground spice
2 tbsp butter
1-2 tbsp coconut rum - Optional
2 tbsp orange juice
 

How To Make Fish Balls or Filipino Bola-bola

www.mercifulg.blogspot.com/ How to make fried fish balls? Turn your big catch into fish balls and serve them to your guests as appetizers with sweet and sour chili sauce on the side. Healthy and light dish.

Ingredients:
1/4 lb minced fish - snapper or your choice
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1/4 cup grated carrots (about 3 in)
1/2 cup chopped bella mushrooms
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp chives (I used the dried)
ground pepper
salt
1 tsp fish sauce
1 egg white
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
white wine (optional)
cooking oil