Tapioca’s Aoili Pasta

It is one of those rare moments when Tapioca would whip up something in the kitchen so we can have a decent hot meal.

Tapioca used to cook a lot. When he’s at home on a day off or whenever he feels like it, he will always cook something. But because we didn't have a yaya for over two months, our days off were mostly spent taking care of the Munchkin. That's number one priority. Anything else takes 2nd place. Including sleep and taking a shower. Lelz.

But on this day, he was in the mood to cook. He cooked something quick and easy but still feels special. It only needed a handful of ingredients already available in the pantry. Pasta, olive oil, garlic (lots of it) and cheese (tons of it). And of course, salt and pepper.

Pour yourself a glass of vino and voila! Fine dining at home. Home cooked with love.

. . . aoili pasta by Tapioca

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Christmas with the Apat na Sikat

It was a pleasant surprise when we got a message from Vanj saying she'll be in town for the holidays. This is one of those rare occasions when the four of us see one another and catch up with each other's lives. No matter how crazy the schedules are, we're able to squeeze in an impromptu gathering. We all met up at Ivy's place. She whipped up a simple meal and I brought a cake. It's like celebrating my birthday all over again!

 

They were requesting for Banapple's cheesecake, however the store was closed. This was the next best thing.

Tapioca once bought this cake for my nephew's birthday (yeah, a pink cake for a guy). The cake was yummy. It was not overly sweet and the sponge cake was not dry. No umay factor, too.

I love that Goldilocks is improving it's cake lineup unlike Red Ribbon. I recently discovered that Red Ribbon has taken out the blueberry cheesecake from the menu. Sigh. First, it was the New York cheesecake. Now the blueberry. What's next Red Ribbon?!?!

. . . Ivy's special carbonara

 buttered toast . . .

Simple yet delish meal prepared by Ivy.

the apat na sikat with Rhian . . .

We got bitin with all the chikahan so after 3 days, we continued the session at home. Unfortunately, Anjee couldn't make it as she had to leave for Ilocos. This time we had an inuman session.

. . . with tanduay ice

Tapioca prepared the pulutan :-)

  chicken with leeks . . .

 pan-seared pork chop with dry rub . . .

 . . . baked potatoes with butter and herbs

 

buttered mushroom . . .

Vanjee commented that the dishes reminded her of China. She said it was exactly the same way Chinese made their dishes. Well, what can I say? Tapioca's cooking is mostly influenced by Chinese.

We drank merrily while eating and watching No Other Woman. The three of us haven't watched it yet.  So glad I got to see it with my girlfriends. I rarely (make that never ever!) watch Pinoy movies especially with Tapioca. He abhors Pinoy films. But with my girlfriends around, he's left with no choice but to make nasty comments about Anne Curtis hahaha!

We really missed each other so much we continued the bonding session the following day. We went to Eastwood and attended the Sunday mass. For lunch, we headed to Food Junction. Vanjee missed Filipino food and I missed my favorite bulalo. Sorry but no more food photos. We were hungry and busy with the kwentuhan and finding out the latest chismax. We did get a souvenir photo at the Eastwood CityWalk with these fake Christmas trees and snow.

. . . vanj and yours truly

Ivy the photographer not included. The girls and I spent lots of time together but I think it still wasn't enough. I was kinda sad when we bid each other farewell. I know they're just an email/sms away but it's never the same when you're with each other's company. 

I can't wait till we see each other again. I miss you already! 

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Tonight's Dinner: Fish & Soup

Tonight's dinner is simple. 

Boneless daing na bangus and creamy vegetable soup. All prepared by Tapioca. 

The soup reminds me of sopas except it didn't have macaroni noodles and chicken. Just chopped cabbage, carrots, celery, ham and cream. 

It was comforting. Perfect for the rainy weather.

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Penne Pasta & Meatballs

It's pasta night at Casa Reyes. I told Tapioca I wanted Pinoy style pasta, therefore the hotdogs. We can' t get over the meatball spaghetti from Shakey's so we decided to make our own.

. . . ingredients for the pasta dish

The meatballs from Shakey's are oven-baked. We don't have an oven yet so the next best thing to do with these babies is to pan-fry them . . .  in butter(!!!) and oil so the butter won't get burnt.

 making the garlic toast . . .

Tapioca was in charge of the pasta while I was in charge of the garlic toast. I discovered an easy way to make garlic toast thru Topaz Horizon's blog (check it out here) and gave it a try. First is to toast the bread. The rough surface of the bread acts like a grater when you rub the garlic on it. Tapioca was against the idea. He said he would rather add the garlic directly into the butter. Since I'm in charge of the toast, I get to do what I want.

Lastly is to seal the garlic flavor by slathering butter all over it.

Here's our yummy meal. The penne pasta was delicious, especially the meatballs. The garlic toast was a failure. I didn't like the raw garlicky taste on the bread. Perhaps I will try to look for other ways to make garlic toast.

One last look on the wonderful pasta. Yum!

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Home Made French Fries and Hash Browns

I've been going crazy over French food and French cooking shows lately. I'm not sure why. I think I share with them the love for simple food and BUTTER. It's orgasmic. It's fattening. But it was sooo good. With butter you can turn a simple dish into something that seems out of this world. I'm exaggerating, I know.

While watching an episode of Julia Child's cooking show (Tapioca downloaded it for me :-P) about potatoes, I suddenly had cravings for French fries. Tapioca on the other hand wanted hash browns. I'm not a fan of hash browns. McDonald's or even the frozen ones from the supermarket I don't like. But since it's going to be homemade, I thought it might prolly change my mind. We went to the nearest market and bought a bag of potatoes.

My French fries are made from 100% real potatoes with no preservatives. It was then deep fried with lots of oil until crispy. I wish I could use butter but it has a low smoke point and burns easily on high temperature.

Tapioca's hash browns. Made from real potatoes, too. He shredded the potatoes using a grater and flattened them out like a pancake. They key in making the fries and hash browns crispy is by removing all the excess moisture from the potato. You don't want an explosion when you fry these babies, do you?


The Verdict  


Nothing beats homemade French fries. It was awesome. Real pure potato goodness. If only potatoes are cheap I would make a whole bunch of them. The hash browns on the other hand were blah. Still did not like it homemade or not.

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Tonight's Dinner: Pork Chop Ala Pobre

We're doing some experiments in the kitchen testing out the right proportions of vinegar and soy sauce to create the perfect balance for adobo. And the venture ended up with more ideas and then branched out to another soy-based dish namely the 'ala pobre'.

I told him I wanted a saucer dish so I could drown my rice. And my wish is his command.

Eyelurvit!

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Meatball Sandwich, Mac n' Cheese and More Surprises

Remember our experiment with meatballs (see it here)? As I've mention a long time ago, Tapioca came up with a better idea. You see, he loves meatball sandwiches. Sadly, Subway or any other deli or sandwich places here in Manila don't offer this kind of sandwich. If you do know a place though, please let us know, okay?

Here's what he did. First, he made the meatballs and steamed them in a rice cooker. Next, he made marinara sauce. You can find tons of marinara sauce recipes online or if you're too lazy to make one, you can always buy store-bought marinara sauce from the supermarket or deli shops. He also bought a baguette from French Baker.

. . . baguette from French Baker 

steamed meatballs . . .

Now it's time to assemble the sandwich.

. . . meatball sandwich baby!

Slice up the baguette and remove the insides so the meatballs will have space. Spread the marinara sauce. Topped with parmesan cheese. Voila! To make it healthier, you can opt to put fresh greens, tomatoes, onions, cucumber, etc. 

Here's the deal. I was not able to try this. It was all gone by the time I got home. The only consolation I got were the photos. I should be angry but my guy prepared something else to make it all up.

mac n' cheese . . . 

It looked instant because he used powdered cheese. Ya know, the stuff we put on french fries as flavouring. By the way, it tasted instant too. LOL!

. . . Campbell's cream of mushroom

Another instant item on the table. I'm not complaining though. I love Campbell's. Actually, I love soup. Anything with soup.

A&W root beer . . .

The original aged vanilla root beer. Our favorite :-) For dessert, we got cakes from Banapple.

. . . strawberry amaretto cheesecake

jeepers creepers pie . . .

As usual, the cakes were too sweet for my taste. Again, I'm not complaining. It's the thought that counts. At least nakabawi cya for not saving some of the meatballs. Hehehehe!

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Tonight's Dinner: Tuna and Cheese Omelet

For dinner, Tapioca whipped out this huge tuna and cheese omelet. He used five eggs, two cans of tuna, some white onions and lots of cheez whiz. It was cooked on a 12-inch non-stick pan.

. . . twelve-inch omelet 

You know how meticulous I am on how my eggs are cooked. From what it looked like I can tell it was overcooked. But I'm being considerate. The size alone was very unusual. I understand cooking that big of an omelet was a challenge so I let it pass. 

Anyway, it's the effort and TLC that he puts on his cooking that counts, right?

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Nanay's Picadillo

You have seen Tapioca's version of picadillo. Now you will see my Nanay's picadillo. Nanay isn't really a cook but she tries her darndest to serve us home cooked food. When cooking, Nanay is notorious for scrimping on ingredients and doesn't put much thought on how it would taste. Her motto, "Basta may lasa, pwede na". 

You can just imagine how my brother and I would be so disappointed with her cooking. But you know if you're hungry wala ka na choice but to eat what's on the table. Couldn't really blame her. Despite her busy schedule she still tries to cook something for us. Until now, Nanay hasn't changed a bit on her cooking style.

Just look at the photo. Looks yummy right? But the taste, hhhmmmm lasang picadillo naman but lacks flavor. Nanay didn't mind us picking on her cooking. I guess she has been so used to it as we have been used to her cooking as well.

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Tapioca's Picadillo

Tapioca got this recipe from his late grandma.

1. In a big pot, saute the tomatoes until soft.

2. Add onions and garlic.

3. Add ground beef. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Once the meat has turned brown, add diced carrots, potatoes, corn kernels and green peas. Add water and bring to a boil. Stir-in sinigang mix and simmer for a few more minutes then serve.

A pot full of picadillo. It kinda reminded me of sinigang because of the tamarind mix. This picadillo is too much for two people so we brought some at the office to share with our colleagues.

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