Proper Blokes' Sausage Fusilli

The deadline for the H2Ope for Haiti Raffle has been extended to March 7! Visit the link above to enter!!
Last Friday found me eating lunch with old college friends of mine: Allyson, Lorie, and Belle. Allyson was one of my team-mates in Microbiology class and we had a laugh about how much time I (as self-appointed leader) would sulk as he and my friend Bulit would squirt bottles of alcohol at each other and poor Vice. My excessive sense of responsibility could have easily irked Allyson (not that he had a right!!) but we always got along fine regardless. Watching The Hangover a few days later got me thinking about the friendships I form with other guys.

It seems like a bit of an eyeroll-inducer. Men by nature do not analyze friendships with other men. Unfortunately I'm wired a little differently and I do think about things other people won't, and having recently read that "men are idiots" (although not phrased so politely ;) made me think about how we're so underrated. Right Caitlin, Y, Pea? (Feel free to chime in if you, either by choice or coercion, hang around a bunch of other guys.)

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Momofuku's Roasted Rice Cakes

We now interrupt my usual story or philosophical rant for a (and here we substitute my Oprah-yelling voice) GIVEAWAAAAAAAAY! Duncan and I are giving away a copy of acclaimed book... MOMOFUKUUUUUUU! by David CHa-AAAAAANG!

Before the rest of my chatter: head on over to The Gastronomer's Bookshelf to find out how to participate. Also, check out my newest review, for Momofuku! (You can also check out our archive page to read all our reviews so far.)

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Tartine's Gougères

The strangest thing happened to me when I was walking the streets of San Francisco last month. For some reason I wanted to enter a camera shop so I can find a way to clean the lens of my Powershot G7 and a good tripod. Being a tourist (and click-happy at that), I was always armed with my G7 hanging around my neck, but I found that I couldn't enter the camera shop. Because there were enthusiasts hanging outside the door. With their spiffy SLRs.

Can you believe that? I was embarrassed. I'm trying hard to think whether I embarrass easily. There was a party where I once set the dance floor on fire-- and not in a good way. But I was completely untouched by alcohol; I just did it because I liked moving my ass. I eat out by myself all the time. And I am not ashamed to fall hard on my ass on the skating rink; I just laugh it off (serves me right for going so fast). But just put a group of photogs together and I shrink.

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Big Sur Bakery's Baked Beans

So I am back from my observership from North Carolina- and if you've been paying attention, it won't be long before I have a travel post on it. I'm not quite sure if anyone's interested, but of course I'll try my best to make it interesting. Certainly it was a good trip and I enjoyed my time there thoroughly, but a lot of it had to do with my time inside the hospital, and of course I did my best not to take any pictures of anyone in the hospital or the surroundings (there were some really endearing patients along the way, but I'm protecting their privacy of course). So we'll see what I'm able to write. But I'm here now, in case you were wondering if I died or something. Observership gave me a cold hard look at how much time I'd be spending on my blog if I had work (and observership isn't even work!) and the sad fact is, it's nearly zero hours. Well, unless you count the time I spend actually cooking. Maybe I can spend my one free day cooking and the free day next week blogging. Two posts (or less) a month, ha ha ha!

Now I wait. I applied for a not-small number of hospitals and now I'm expecting the first invitation to interview. Annnnny day now. In the neeeext minute. It must be their coffee break. I'll check again in ten minutes. Just kidding- they actually have tons of applications to go through and if I've learned anything from this whole experience, it's to be confident of the skills you've acquired, because no one else will see it if you don't.

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Barefoot Contessa's Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad

I've heard someone say that one of the worst ways to start a speech is with an apology. I'm glad then, that this isn't a speech, and I'm me, and I am rarely too proud to apologize when I have to. Again I dropped out of the blogosphere for a whole week, except for the few times I logged on to Twitter and had a nice time chatting with a bunch of folks. You see, I'm trying out this thing where I only read and comment on blogs once a week.

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Ruins Longanisang Hubad

Ruins Naked Filipino Sausage

It's my first time to participate in Marc and Susan's event, Dinner and a Movie (see the announce), this month for Breakfast at Tiffany's. I thought it would be a good one to participate in, because it is such an iconic movie and I'd never seen it before. It would be really easy for me to talk about being afraid to fall in love or being a slut (er, not really), but as I tweeted while watching it, I just couldn't get over particular scenes involving Mr. Yunioshi, and how he 1) acted like no Japanese person I know, and 2) could ever stoop so low as to play such a stupid and misinformed stereotype. It turns out, he wasn't Japanese at all, and was played by Mickey Rooney in yellowface (well duh, Manggy).

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Lemon Chicken

Sitting on my virtual desktop I actually have a text file that contains several topics I think I may eventually want to talk about on the blog. Whenever I think of something and it turns into an essay in my mind, I file it there just so my food, for some reason, can have a pinch of loopy in it. However, looking at the file and scouring my brain for any sort of content I want to accompany this dish (it also determines the subtitle in the picture), I realize I didn't want to talk about anything at all. I am aware that sometimes you probably don't feel like reading or commenting on anything except the dish, and sometimes I just go on and on not realizing I didn't say anything about the dish. Oops. Well, today's a good day because this one's a no-brainer. Aaah!

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Paella

Susan once told me over at Twitter that she imagined I wasn't a problem child and gave my parents no headaches. That's probably true... To some extent. I didn't hang around the kids in my neighborhood (plenty of cousins to keep me entertained), didn't get to any fights, and was quite content to stay indoors and draw away on my sketchpads, and a bunch of other introverted hobbies like origami or listening to music.

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Chicken Pandan

Gai Hor Bai Toey

This is my second entry to Darlene's Regional Recipes event, featuring Thailand. Except that the fantastic Thip just posted this days ago and she wrapped it better too, haha :P

During the day my pretty crappy neighborhood can get on my nerves. Even though the construction that made my ears bleed is done, every now and then the serenity will be broken by the impossibly loud honk of a truck's horn. Imagine that coming down not 4 meters from your window. Even without the vehicles, the children who live in the area (a squatters' area sadly) are horrible thugs in the making. In the afternoon they play dodgeball, which is fine-- kids should be able to play as much as they want especially during holiday. But these brats scream and yell at each other like lunatics. Having nine year-olds scream "(Pu)tang ina mo!" (literally "your mother is a whore" but the usage is more similar to "Fuck you!") at each other is quite jarring. When they combine forces, it's so tragic it becomes funny again:

(Kids play on the street, yelling obscenities at each other.)
HOOOONK!
Kid: (Tauntingly) HA HA, HINDI KAMI NAGULAT! (Ha ha, we weren't startled!)
Truck driver: UMALIS KAYO SA DAAN, SA SUSUNOD SASAGASAAN KO KAYO! (Get out of the road, next time I'll run you over!)
Kid: 'TANG INA MO! (Fuck you!)
They grow up so fast.

(The next few pictures were taken from my grandmother's house in Pampanga last All Saints' Day.)

At night, all these harsh elements go away. Lovely Siberian winds have brought us a gentle chill (if you can call it that, o people of the frozen north), with temperatures of about 24°C (75°F) at night. I usually sleep with the electric fan on, but recently I've wanted to feel the cool temperature on my skin without any help. Even though the electric fan has a barely noticeable whirring sound, the quiet that resulted was a sweet surprise. Nothing but the crickets. Amusingly, when I was a boy I thought that it was the sound the moon makes.

Flowers for my grandfather

What I think is my grandfather's old bike (it certainly is aged and beautiful, like he was). The tracks on the side were from rain falling from the scalloped roof edge.
It reminded me of those times in my childhood when we spent the evening at my grandparents' one hour North (in Pampanga). Some rooms had no electrical outlets or fluorescent lamps, and we slept on mats on the floor, in pitch darkness and with the sound of frogs and crickets outside our lullaby. I hated those nights; I longed for my light and my television. However, during my recent quiet nights, my memory only associated my sleepovers with a feeling of calm. And now that the year is ending, as always, reflection.

My grandmother's tools: a chopping board and a paddle (for washing clothes).

Overgrowth of kangkong (water spinach) at my grandparents' pond
Though there were many joys and triumphs this year, it had its share of tragedy as well. But after the dust settles, I can't deny that life has been very kind to me. I'm so looking forward to the opportunity to start giving back to the world again as a working physician.

Jackfruit tree

Seat from my grandparents' siesta hut, made of bamboo (and nails).

My favorite non-food photo I took this year, of a Passion flower I just happened to find near the water pump. Probably the first time the beauty of the shot matched the beauty of what I saw with my eyes.
This year I also got to meet a lot of new blogging friends, and a lot of new places to enjoy on the web. Thanks so much for your support-- I thoroughly enjoy your company and your food, even if I can only taste it through the monitor! Even though by mid next-year I'll be posting a lot less due to work (crossing fingers!), I hope you'll still continue visiting. I'll make it a point to still visit you guys each time I get a chance. But that won't be for a while, so let's enjoy ourselves for now :)

Gai Hor Bai Toey
This is one of the first Thai dishes I ever tasted, and it still is one of my favorites. Quite kid-friendly too, and though I am not a fan of cilantro and the aroma is quite strong as it marinates, the end-result is very pleasantly flavored and not offensive at all. There are plenty of recipes out there (here's Syrie's quick and delicious version, which was the one I adapted): this is a hybrid of all the versions I saw, though a little simpler on the ingredient-aspect (no coconut milk). I encourage you to add whatever you feel may be good-- I particularly liked Thip's addition of red chili powder-- wish I had thought of it.

• 500g (1 lb) chicken thigh fillets (I used skin-on, just a preference)


• about ten stems of cilantro (coriander), roughly chopped


• 5 cloves garlic


• 1 teaspoon white pepper


• 2 teaspoons brown sugar


• 1 tablespoon cornstarch


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 3 tablespoons oyster sauce


• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil


• vegetable oil for frying


• 20 fresh pandan (fragrant screwpine) leaves, cleaned

Cut each fillet into 2 or 3 pieces, each about 2-3 inches. Mash together the cilantro, garlic, white pepper, brown sugar, cornstarch and salt (alternatively you could blend/process it all with the oyster sauce and sesame oil). Add the oyster sauce and sesame oil if you haven't already. Coat the thighs in the marinade, cover, and leave in the fridge overnight. The following day, wipe the marinade off each chicken piece with your hands (just to make sure there aren't any big pieces of cilantro or garlic sticking to it) and wrap each with a long pandan leaf (sorry I can't diagram these; as you can see I didn't do a good job of it-- a skewer helps to keep it in place). Place in a steamer for 5-7 minutes, then fry until golden brown all over, about 3 minutes each side. Serve with sweet chili sauce on the side.

Fish with Red Curry Sauce

Pla Phad Phrik Khing

This is my entry to Darlene's Regional Recipes event, this month hosted by Darlene herself, featuring Thailand. Check Blazing Hot Wok on the 20th for the round-up-- and I'll have another Thai recipe up before then. W00t! Also, you might like to read a short article I wrote about my biggest food-related Christmas wishes over at Table for Three, Please.

Again over the past 2 days I've been neglecting visiting my favorite blogs, because of a nagging headache from lack of sleep (to be remedied in... 8 hours ;). Since I got the news that I passed my Step 2 CS exam, my impending trip to the East coast has become more tangible. Of course, I'd booked that January 1 (gulp) flight weeks ago, but there was always that uncertainty, the fear that I might have flushed a lot of my parents' money down the drain if I failed the exam. Thankfully, that isn't the case and now I have to worry about my interviews and how I'm going to spend my days in a very, very, very cold country (it's 80°F-- 26°C here, at night) without valuable parts of my body falling off. At the same time I'm wondering what the hell makes scarves so expensive ($30 on average here), and if it's a bad sign that the super-cute 2-pack of skull and crossbones beanies/skullcaps I found at Debenham's fit me well, even though they're for boys age seven (didn't buy them yet-- looking for a hat that makes my head look... Bigger, apparently).

My home base during that time will be Middlesex, New Jersey, and leave it to me to try to find a way to make the suburbs verrrry interesting (will it be MORE fun than El Segundo?). So far my interviews are in:

1. Akron, Ohio (staying January 11-13) BRRR!!!


2. New York (The Bronx), New York (January 16)


3. Chicago, Illinois (staying January 21-24)


4. Reading, Pennsylvania (staying January 25-26).

Hopefully there will be more interviews aside from those. I'm pretty pumped about the places I'm going to (would I be Manggy if I wasn't?), but it would do wonders for my confidence now if I felt... I dunno, wanted by more hospitals. But no matter what happens, I'll do my best and enjoy myself as best as I can, and of course you guys will once more be subject to WAY too many pictures! (Hopefully none of me getting slammed into a pile of garbage. New York fascinates and frightens me. By the way, that is a reference to 30 Rock Season 1, episode 20: "Cleveland." I won't spoil it. Watch it. Damn Youtube removed that clip I love so much.)

Sooo... As a substitute, we have Kylie. No reason.

As for meeting bloggers-- I'd love to, but it's freaky to invite myself to things. The main reasons why I had the moxie to ask Todd and Diane and Marvin to meet with me in El Segundo was because Todd and Diane had invited me to a party long before, and a mutual friend assured me Marvin would love to meet me (plus, he's kind of a homeboy, so...). And even then I was deathly afraid of letting them down. Hopefully in a few days I'll get everything straightened out. For sure I'll want to see Ann (and I'm pretttty sure she'll want to see me. I hope). I won't cause any more undue pressure by naming names, but you'll know if it worked out... When I post the pictures :)

Oh, and why aren't there any West coast hospitals? Believe me, I checked. The specific recruitment policies make it very difficult for non-residents of the United States to even think of applying.

This is also my contribution to Maryann and Joe's Seven Fishes Feast blog event! Contribute a fish/shellfish dish by the 19th and you might win a wonderful basket of goodies!

Pla Phad Phrik Khing adapted from The Celadon Restaurant at the Sukhothai Hotel, Bangkok (Gourmet February 2004)
This is an extremely easy recipe from one of the high-end restaurants of Bangkok. I'm not sure if it's a function of the brand of red curry paste I used, but I found the end result a tad salty (my dad gave it two thumbs up, though). Since the sauce requires only the barest minimum of cooking after seasoning, you're definitely free to adjust the amount of either dried shrimp or fish sauce without fear of wrecking the whole dish, and it'll be perfect. Oh-- and this is quite spicy. Juz the way I like.

• 2 tablespoons dried shrimp


• About 4 cups vegetable oil (I used about one... come on)


• 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (preferably Mae Ploy brand)


• 1 14-oz (397mL) can unsweetened coconut milk at room temperature, stirred well (I used one 50g packet of coconut milk powder dissolved in 400mL hot water)


• 1-1/2 teaspoons Asian fish sauce


• 2 teaspoons sugar


• 1-1/2 lb (1kg) skinless snapper fillets, cut into 2-inch pieces


• 1/8 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 cup Asian rice flour (not sweet-- I used cornstarch)


• About 10 Chinese long beans (snake beans or string beans) or 4oz (120g) green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces

Grind dried shrimp in an electric coffee or spice grinder until fluffy, about 1 minute. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook curry paste, stirring constantly, 30 seconds. Add coconut milk gradually, whisking until smooth, then add fish sauce and sugar and cook, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Stir in ground shrimp, then remove from heat and keep covered.

Heat 1 inch oil in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan until it registers 375°F (190°C) on thermometer (eh, I wasn't that exact, for once). Pat fish dry and sprinkle with salt. Dredge in rice flour, shaking off excess, and arrange in 1 layer on a plate.

Cook beans in oil 30 seconds and transfer to paper towels to drain. Return oil to 375°F (190°C) and fry fish in 2 batches, turning, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Transfer fish to fresh paper towels to drain. Bring curry sauce to a simmer, then add fish and cook, turning fish gently to coat with sauce, about 1 minute.

Serve fish curry with long beans scattered on top. For styling purposes, I reserved a few drained fillets to place on top and drizzled some of the remaining curry sauce over.

Kalbi Jim

Korean Braised Short Ribs

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let those who subscribe to my feed using an RSS Reader (super-thanks, by the way! :) know that I've signed in to Feedburner and I would very much appreciate it if you switched the link to reflect that change. Thanks so much for your support!)
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I've been wondering if I should even post something like this, but lately it's been one of those days when I stare blankly at the computer or lie awake in bed, thinking about everything that's happened in the world lately. This post, in particular, encouraged a healthy amount of calorie-burning pacing from me. First of all, it brought to mind these two pages from the comic book Excalibur, issue 15, published in 1989:

It's interesting how very rarely true world crises are reflected in the pages of comic books, given how the start of each mission usually involves an imagined one. Even more interesting is when writers (Chris Claremont above, at his finest) do include them. These pages in particular prompted a very passionate reader to write the editors a letter, part of which I quote here:

That comedian Sam Kinneson did a black humor bit about how the starving Ethiopians should just get out of the desert. What he apparently did not know is that Colonel Miriam (sic)... put about a million of his countrymen onto freight planes, and dumped them four hundred miles out in the desert, with the warning that they'd be bayonetted to death if they somehow got through the deadlands back to more livable regions. He did it to insure that rebels in the area would have their food supply taken by these refugees. It is apparently these rebels who are attacking the relief workers, to entrench their long-term strategic positions.

What hurts most of all is that the world not only has its share of seemingly insurmountable problems, but it is also littered with real-life super-villains who have, in some cases, come to seats of power, enjoying the hatred and fear that choke the people of the world until there is nothing left.

Thought comic books may be afraid to expose real problems too much because it may sugar-coat and mislead the readers into thinking they are too easily solved, especially with, oh, maybe reality-altering powers and boundless telepathy and telekinesis (Phoenix force, I'm counting on you), it still goes to show that we can get knowledge, understanding, and hope from what may seem like the unlikeliest of places. I don't know if the first ever person who wrote the first on the first food blog in the universe ever thought that someday, it would get people to unite for so many causes, or in special cases, one special person. My heart is broken that Bri is gone, and I hope that I was able to touch her life, even if it was only for a short time. I know she did mine and I will always be grateful for that.

Whenever you cook something for someone else, even if it's just their daily meals, you really are making the other person infinitely happier than whatever praise or gratitude you may get makes you. Which is why I'm glad to be part of the community of food bloggers. Even if we individually have our faults, there are good people out there. Sorry if I may sound like an airheaded hippie (not to mention preachy, I think), with all this free love and peace, er, thingies. I just had to, at least today. I wish for love and peace for you, gentle reader :)

Kalbi Jim
I couldn't find a way to insert the word "faux" into this, because true Kalbi Jim is braised for several hours, not to mention marinated. While this version isn't (it doesn't even have Asian pear or ginger, which I think are part of the original), it's still extremely flavorful-- don't be fooled by the water-only pressure cooking. I haven't yet optimized it so that there's no transfer of pots at all (which means pressure cooking throughout), but I'm satisfied with the outcome. I prepared this for Genie and Vany when they helped me with my exam practice, and they pressured me to release the recipe as soon as possible. This is yet another one of those "Making History" recipes, out of my mom's kitchen notebook, with a few revisions by me.
Photography notes: Well, this is for my own archives, anyway. The main inspiration is Masashi Kuma's work. There's no way I can achieve his hyper-elegant style but again, I'm quite satisfied with how it turned out, especially since I was forced to go out of my white comfort zone and experiment.

• 2.5 lbs (1kg) beef short ribs, cut into about 2-inch lengths


• 1 cup soy sauce


• 1 tablespoon sesame oil


• 1/2 cup sugar


• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 small onion, minced


• 2 large carrots, cut into large chunks


• a handful of dried mushrooms, torn up (I used Chinese white mushrooms and black wood-ear mushrooms on different occasions, and I like them both.)


• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted


• 3 stalks green onions, chopped

Place the short ribs in a pressure cooker and add enough water to cover. Snap the lid in place and bring to pressure over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium and process for an hour. Take off the heat and release the pressure (our model works by dousing the top of the cooker with cold running water for a minute). Transfer the ribs to a pot (save the broth) and add the rest of the ingredients except the sesame seeds and green onions. Add enough of the broth from the pressure cooker to complete cover the ingredients and cover. Bring to a low boil and cook for 40 minutes. The meat will be tender, but if you want it to melt away, simmer over very low heat for an additional 1-1/2 hours. Alternatively you could use a crock pot for this step-- it will take about 3 hours. Turn the heat off at the desired stage of tenderness and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and green onions.

Cooking notes: I wonder how feasible the results would be to make it from start to finish in a pressure cooker, or a crock pot?

Spaghetti Tetrazzini

Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Bake

This is my entry to dear Susan's Blogiversary Bash at Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy-- a friend to this blog as you all probably know. Let's unhinge or mouths, point our noses at the sky, and with dangling arms, give our best Muppet "YAAAY!" for SGCC!
I think many of you would hate me if you could read my mind. And guess what, I'm sharing a little bit more of it today! Confession: each time I browse the used magazine piles, I encounter Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine, and other titles (Bon Appetit, Cook's Illustrated, Fine Cooking) that boast meals that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less, and I think to myself, "What's with the arbitrary cut-off time of thirty minutes? Does food beyond that officially become too much of an undertaking? What about developing flavor? What about the joy of cooking? Of the process? What about skill?"

These are just some of the insensitive thoughts I think when I'm feeling pedestal-y and grumpy, like when people walk too slowly in front of me (WHAT?! They're TEXTING!!!) or when people on television bake poorly (Seriously. I saw Julia Louis-Dreyfus on The Rachael Ray Show, and they made baking seem a thousand times harder than it was. Just disorganized, and wrong, wrong, wrong. No wonder people are afraid of baking). Then of course I think to myself quite guiltily that I am between jobs and when I do get one, I'll be lucky to squeeze thirty minutes out of my schedule for a decent meal. (Hockey) moms must have it much more difficult, picking up the kids from school and getting the house in order with just enough time to slap together a decent meal that the cute young ones will hate no matter what you do (barring making a burger or pizza). I was feeling a bit under the weather last, last weekend, while hauling major ass to produce a pasta dish for my grandmother's birthday last September 8 (all birthday celebrations must have a pasta dish, which everyone must eat for long life). Hence the substandard pic. But I assure you, the taste was not substandard.

I was actually quite surprised how much I liked this pasta dish, especially since I am a sworn member of the red sauce brigade. But my grandmother loves cream sauces (ugh), so I decided on this dish without hesitation. It's also my first time to cook for a party of 50 (okay, 60) people, and I'm quite pleased with the results and how inexpensive it was. The hardest part was cooking a kilo and a half (3 pounds 5 ounces) of dry spaghetti-- no pot we had was big enough, so I understirred the pasta at the bottom.

So I'm thinking right now how much more my pictures would suck if I actually had work. Oh God, I've got to stock up on great recipes before I start residency!

At the party, my grandmother was gifted 6 cakes. I am puzzled by this behavior. Do people really come to birthday parties thinking there might not be cake and they're saving the day? Because we had a huge sheet cake. Obviously. Over the next 4 days, we (a household of 6 people) had to eat all the cake and since I'm the designated sweet tooth, I had a bigger share, and I ended up weighing 4-5 pounds heavier and feeling very ill (seriously). Give a tiny red envelope of money containing a third of the cost of a cake. Or preserves, they keep for months. Prayer cards would be GREAT for my grandmother, she loves those. Mango chutney would be nice. Just not cake. NEVER cake. It's just not wise.

Spaghetti Tetrazzini adapted from Jamie's Italy
This is from an old Italian cookbook, I swear Jamie said that. Even if it does sound like something out of a school cafeteria. But you cannot argue with good taste. And once you've fed 60 people, you really can't argue with the results.

• 3 small handfuls (80g or 3oz) dried porcini mushrooms


• olive oil


• 200g (8oz) bacon, chopped


• 8 chicken thighs, boned (what I really got was the hind part of the chicken with the thigh and minus the leg, so they were quite large. Try deboning, it's fun just "winging" it-- chicken humor)


• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced


• 450g (1 lb) mixed fresh mushrooms, cleaned and torn


• 2 cups white wine


• 1.5kg (3lbs 5oz) dry spaghetti


• 750g (3 cups) heavy cream


• 500g (18oz) Parmesan cheese, grated (I had no budget for this much Parmesan, so I subbed a major portion of this with whatever cheese I could get.)


• a handful of fresh basil, leaves picked

Put the dried mushrooms in a bowl and pour just enough boiling water to cover them. Leave to soak for a few minutes. Meanwhile, place a giant pot over medium heat and pour in a splash of olive oil (be conservative, as plenty of oil will come out of the bacon and the chicken). Add the bacon and fry until lightly brown. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, then pushing the bacon to the side, lay them skin side down on the pot (you may have to do this in 2 batches as pots will rarely be able to hold all the chicken). Once the bacon and the chicken skin has become brown and crisp, turn the chicken and continue cooking until cooked through. Once all the chicken is cooked, chop them into bite-sized pieces (I used a pair of shears) and park off the heat. Strain the porcini mushrooms, reserving the soaking water. Turn the heat up to high, and discard all but 6 tablespoons of the oil in the pot (or not... Your arteries), then add the garlic and all the mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes, then add the wine and porcini liquor, and turn the heat down to low and allow to reduce a little. Add the chicken and the cream. Bring to a boil then turn off the heat. Add the basil and 3/4 of the Parmesan and stir well. Season with salt and pepper (I find that the salt is unnecessary).

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water according to the package directions and drain well. Toss with the cream sauce and transfer to 2 or 3 large ovenproof dishes. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake until golden brown, bubbling, and crisp.

Squash and Sage Risotto

Risotto ai Zucca e Salvia

Ooh, you like the 90's-style food pic? Best I could do under the circumstances.
Strangely enough there are quite a few declarations that instantly become untrue when you make them. I'm humble (No.). I'm feisty. I'm quiet. I lack self-awareness. I'm fierce (Ew.). How about this: I'm funny?

My friend Mira and I were having a heart-to-heart about something I've forgotten by now, and in the course of the conversation, I told her that I actually thought I was funny. She made this face of such disbelief: all that was missing was an impression of David Walliams' Sebastian character from Little Britain. "WOT." I actually became quite offended! It's funny now, when I think about it.

I faced up to the fact that I wasn't the most attractive guy in my group of friends (uh, just hunt for a picture if you like, it's out there), and neither was I the smartest. I don't know what made me think that being funny was my thing, especially now when I can name lots of friends who are funnier (I was going to add "in a traditional sense," but let's just leave it at that for now). Obviously I had let it get to my head when someone suggested I should do stand-up (I KNOW. It's silly. And difficult.) or when people ask me to say something witty at a moment's notice like a court jester.

It must be (even more of) the foolishness of youth, the way we flatten our personalities to fit certain stereotypes. It's probably only on television that these roles get filled out so perfectly: in your group of friends, there's the attractive one, the neurotic one, the funny one, the smart one, the secretary, and the slimy green ghost that manages to let all the evil ghosts loose (or the giant rat that teaches you martial arts). Or, in the case of other shows, the whiny one, the bossy one, the prissy one, and the slutty one. It's only after a period of self-reflection that you realize: there are no roles to fill. You can be everything you want to be, and other people won't always be there to fill in the gaps of your personality. Refuse to be defined in the context of your other friends: if you want to be funny, be funny. Don't let the fact that there are funnier people out there dim your light.

The Italian food fanatics among you (let's face it, even those who aren't) will notice something glaringly wrong with the picture. I know, I know, risotto isn't supposed to... mound like that. It would certainly enter the gallery of regrettable food if it didn't actually taste good. I know people don't really care if I have an excuse for such shoddy work, but it was for Father's Day lunch and I was juggling a lot of other dishes. Apparently if you leave wet risotto alone for more than a few minutes with the lid on, the rice will absorb the rest of the liquid and give you dry, overcooked risotto. Factor in the time you take to take a picture. Oy.

This is my entry to Michelle's Thursday Night Smackdown for October, with the theme Orange.

Squash and Sage Risotto from Cook With Jamie

• 1 cinnamon stick


• 1 dried red chili


• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


• 1 medium butternut squash, quartered and seeds discarded


• extra virgin olive oil


• 1.5L (6 cups) chicken or vegetable stock


• 2 tablespoons olive oil


• 1 tablespoon butter


• 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped


• 4-5 ribs of of celery, trimmed and finely chopped


• 600g (3 cups) Arborio rice


• 270mL (1 full wineglass) dry white wine


• 1 tablespoon mascarpone cheese


• 100g (7 tablespoons) butter


• 1-2 handfuls freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving


• a bunch of fresh sage, leaves picked

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). In a mortar, pound the cinnamon stick and chili with a good pinch of salt until you get a fine powder. Rub the squash with some olive oil and the spice mix. Place on a baking sheet and roast 45 minutes, or until soft. Set aside.

Meanhile, in a large skillet, add the 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter over very low heat, then the onion and celery and cook very slowly for about 15 minutes without coloring. Once the vegetables are soft, add the rice and turn up the heat. Keep stirring the rice and after a minute it will appear translucent. Add the white wine and keep stirring. Once it has cooked into the rice, add the stock ladle by ladle, stirring and massaging the rice grains, until you've added about 2/3 of the stock (1 liter). Pour in a cup more of the stock and scoop the flesh out of the squash and add it to the risotto, stirring to break it in. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer until the stock has been absorbed. If the rice is still not yet cooked, add the remaining stock a ladleful at a time until it is. If it still isn't after using up all the stock, you can add hot water until the rice is soft but still al dente. Add salt and pepper to taste. Take off the heat and stir in the 100g butter, grated Parmesan, and mascarpone. Put the lid on and leave for a minute. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a frying pan and fry the sage leaves for a minute, until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Serve the risotto with the crispy sage leaves and some more Parmesan cheese.

Old-School Pork Chops with Apples and Sage

Sorry about the alarming subtitle. It really has nothing to do with pork chops. I was just thinking about friends (again): about what importance I put in friendships ten years ago to what it means to me today. Fitting that I write it today because just a few hours ago, I watched a movie with my ooooldest friend Anton (15 years and counting), whereas the movies I watched in the theater over the last 7 years were mostly by myself. The line is Charlie Brown's lamentation to his peers, from a book of the same name.

However, the main reason I wanted to write about friends is because of the many new friends I've made since I started writing this blog. Like Ann of Redacted Recipes. She first stumbled on my blog when I wrote about the Banoffee Pie (since her sweet babboo Jack is English) and we've rarely missed each other's posts since. She wouldn't consider herself sweet ("extra bitter" is what she'd prefer, heh), but she's sweet to me, and that's all that counts in my little world. A few weeks ago she sent me a gorgeous care package of her homemade orange-rhubarb marmalade, maple syrup, Gourmet salts, and a moo card of her Palmiers. I've been eating big spoonfuls of the coralline marmalade daily (with toast of course!); it's quite addictive and insanely good-- I love the unique fragrance.

The other friend I was thinking of is fellow reality television fiend Allen of Eating Out Loud. He linked to my blog shortly after my post on baked eggs in cream cheese biscuits and I visited his to thank him. It didn't take long before I realized how fun it is to talk to him. He sent me a congratulatory gift (for passing the USMLE Step 1) of The Sweet Spot (YAY!) and a DVD I've been searching for my dad of Friends (what a coincidence, eh?), starring Anicee Alvina and Sean Bury. It's one of my dad's favorite movies.


If you've been on the food blogaverse long enough, you'd have known that Lucy's boasting is quite empty. It's possible to be popular without having any friends, but having friends to celebrate or commiserate with makes my journey sweeter and more effortless. I like talking about my life. I like hearing about yours. Even though I don't initiate e-mail often, I do think about my blog friends and what they're going through.

When I was young I had a lot of criteria to consider someone my friend. I still do, but I don't hold it against my friends any longer if they can't be there for me. Like the book said, a friend embraces you for who you are, not what they wish you could be. In my unfairness to my friends in the past (Anton included, haha), I'd overlooked that I wasn't really that great of a friend to them, either. What can I say, I'm human too. These days, I try not to be so hard on them-- and hard on myself. I just try. (By the way: a friend I can sock on the arm? That's Graeme, especially post-tattoo. But you guys can sock me on the arm if you like.)

In the same shelf where "I Need All The Friends I Can Get" was, I found "Happiness Is A Sad Song." Passing this page, I immediately thought of Jen and it made me happy to think that her cancer treatments were coming to an end. I thought about Bri and how glad I was that the donations for her treatment exceeded expectations. Starting this blog about 1 year or almost 200 posts ago, did I think I'd ever feel such emotions for other food bloggers? Hell no. I'm glad that's changed. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's kept me company (be it in physical form or on the Internet). I really appreciate it.

(Passing this page I realized how it's so NOT like Jen, and SO like me. Ha ha ha.) I also wanted to give a huge hug to yet another blogger friend: Kittymama of Okasenko Chronicles, who gave me a Sharing The Love, uh, citation a few weeks back. I was deeply honored, and her extremely generous description of me certainly helped, heh. Her blog is a relatively recent discovery of mine, and each trip to one of her posts is sure to find me amused, or my heart warmed.

Old-School Pork Chops with Apples and Sage from Cook With Jamie
Jamie Oliver recommends 1-inch deep cuts on the fatty side to prevent the pork chops curling as they cook. I'm doing that from now on. I like the dactylic appearance, and of course the fact that it's flat and browns evenly. I discovered that a really good tool to use is a pair of poultry shears. Someone gifted us with a Henckels and it is dangerously sharp. I love it.

• 4 9-oz pork chops


• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


• olive oil


• 2 good eating apples (e.g. McIntosh or Cox), cored and each cut into 8 wedges


• a knob of butter


• a handful of fresh sage leaves


• optional: 100g (3-1/2 oz) good strong cheese like Stilton or taleggio

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Make 1-inch deep cuts along the fatty side of the pork chops, extending into the meat, so they have a fringe-like edge. Sprinkle the chops with salt and pepper. Place a heavy skillet over high heat and add a some olive oil. Fry the pork chops for 4-5 minutes on each side or until golden brown. When the chops are nearly done, lift them out of the pan and place them into a roasting pan. To the skillet, add a knob of butter and the apple wedges and fry until lightly golden. Place 4 apple wedges on each chop, top with the sage (and cheese if using), then drizzle olive oil on top. Bake for 4-6 minutes or until everything is golden and melted.

Caprese Salad

Insalata Caprese

I'm sure many of you are starting to get sick of my usual boo-hooing on your blogs-- "That looks wonderful! Too bad we don't have raspberries/ rhubarb/ fleur de sel/ celeriac/ apricots here!" Actually that list would be longer if I had included things that were available, but really rare or prohibitively expensive. Case in point: US artichokes just made their way into the supermarkets here, each one 5-6 inches in diameter and about $9.22 each. Clean-up on aisle 4, someone just barfed forever and ever. Guess I will have to settle for canned ones. Another one of those expensive things is buffalo/fresh mozzarella, which would probably be about $4.50 at the popular delicatessen for a few tiny balls you can snort with a thin pipe.

Imagine my delight when I saw locally-produced fresh water buffalo mozzarella (3 2-inch balls for about $3.25) at Market! Market!. I didn't exactly know what I'd make when I bought them, but I had to check out the quality. Verdict: the smell threw me off a bit (ah, so this is what real cheese is like), but the texture, color, and taste is absolutely dreamily creamy. Not gray/yellow, rubbery, and salty. Now, if only I had good, ripe tomatoes to go with them. The cherry tomatoes I used for this salad are typically prematurely-picked, sour-ish balls of disappointment (note to farmers: WAIT TILL RIPE, SERIOUSLY). But my friends did enjoy the salad a lot (right, Genie and Vany? Anton?). The picture above is not of Market! Market!, but I thought I'd continue with part 2 of Wow! Philippines with my trip to the posh Salcedo Village Saturday Farmer's Market.

Taking a cue from Jen's pictures of Boulder County's Farmers Market, I decided to show you guys our version, right in the middle of the financial district of Makati (you might see Joey of 80 Breakfasts if you look hard enough). What we lack in artisan cheeses, we make up for in attendance. Take a gander at the crowd! I am talking SHEETS of people, weaving around each other the whole day. Foodies, foodie wannabes, and food-lovers who hate the term "foodie" (me!)-- they all come here. There were also some people armed with DSLRs, which made me kind of cringe with my lowly PS in hand. For some reason, I can't get over the embarrassment of getting in some vendor's face and taking a picture of their stuff, especially if I'm not buying. It's not like eye-rolls will kill me. But I feel like I'm disrupting business.

One of two seafood stalls, where you can regularly procure lobsters. The other one has frozen seafood. This was a big let-down, as the seafood was DEAD and not on ice. Yuck. Get a clue, fishmongers. I'm surprised people actually buy from this stall. The other one had the promise of frozen Monkfish, which I'd been looking for forever, but they said they hadn't caught any for a long time now, which made me depressed.

Organic vegetables... (good, if ordinary, selection-- but at least the quality is nice)

... and fruits. From the back: apples, tangerines, avocados, lemons, custard apples, mandarin oranges, santol ("wild mangosteen"), rambutans, mangosteens, lansones (Lansium domesticum). From the picture above: bananas, melons, pineapples, durians, what look like yams, and tamarind.

There's a staggering array of prepared food available (uh, I bought a samosa, hah) from several cuisines (notably Spanish, Persian, Indian, Vietnamese, Singaporean, Thai, French), but of course the spread for Filipino food is most interesting. Quick run-down: Menudo (pork and liver, carrots and potatoes in tomato sauce), Ampalaya (bitter melon), Monggo (mung beans), Pork Adobo (pork stewed in garlic), Tokwa't Baboy (tofu and pork), Bopis (pig heart and lungs in tomatoes), Pork Giniling (ground pork with carrots and potatoes), Tortilla (ground pork cake in eggs-- hey, a pattern), Talong with Pork Bagoong (Eggplant stuffed with pork and shrimp paste), Ginataang Kalabasa (squash in coconut milk).

Plus: Baked Tahong (Mussels), Papaitan (some bitter stew I haven't tried), Laing (taro leaves in coconut milk), Adobong Kangkong (Water Spinach cooked in garlic), Sinigang sa Miso (sour soup with miso base), Bicol Express (pork and chilies in coconut milk), Tortang Talong (battered eggplant), Pinakbet (squash and string beans in shrimp paste), and Ukoy (vegetable fritters).

Skewered pork, fish, and squid, ready for the grill (er, again).

I dare any other Farmer's Market to produce a whole cow roasting on a spit!

... Or a young pig, for that matter (but that's a lot easier).

French food corner. I didn't try the guy's macarons.

One of two (!!) creperies in the area. Also littered around are about 3 or 4 scooperies. Dessert-wise I wasn't too interested in the offerings-- some sugar-free and homemade stuff here and there. Not that they weren't great, but making my own desserts is a snap, plus I can blog about it.


As usual, there are the locally-produced crafts. There's so much more I didn't take a picture of, such as the plant nursery (I bought dill, rosemary, and oregano) and the dairy stall (where you can get all the water buffalo products you could ever want).

Insalata Caprese from Jamie's Italy
Wow. This barely needs a recipe. But Jamie has an interesting way of making Caprese salad that may appeal to some of you.

• 4 5-oz balls buffalo mozzarella (obviously I just bought what I could afford and winged it)


• 2 handfuls of good mixed ripe tomatoes of different shapes and sizes


• the white part of 1 spring onion, very finely sliced (I omitted this, as I forgot it)


• extra virgin olive oil


• good-quality herb vinegar (I didn't have any, so I used balsamic... good for counteracting the acidity of my unripe tomatoes at least)


• big handful of fresh basil leaves


• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Roughly chop the basil and pound with a good pinch of salt in a pestle and mortar. As I didn't want to make too dark a dressing, I opted to very finely mince the basil. Add a splash of oil and stir.

Tear the mozzarella onto a large serving plate. Chop the tomatoes roughly and dress in a bowl with the spring onion, some olive oil, herb vinegar, and salt and pepper. Place the tomatoes in and around the mozzarella and drizzle the dressing over. Sprinkle with some more basil leaves (I used oregano here) and serve.

This is my entry to Weekend Wokking, this month hosted by DP of Blazing Hot Wok. Do check out the round-up in a few days!