2007 holiday cooking

the holiday season means a lot of eating and cooking. i've decided to just write one post because my christmas cooking was very minimal. to be more specific i only whipped up one dish. it's just stir fried hofan noodles and even before the 25th i wasn't sure if i'll make it chinese or thai style. i opted for the latter. here's my pseudo phad thai christmas noodle dish.



i used chicken breast, shrimps, long bean sprouts (not togue that is available locally) and garlic chives. to make it authentic you should add some chopped peanuts and wansuy and some lemongrass.

for the new year, i made a fruit salad. boring? probably for some but i haven't made this in ages so it's quite refreshing. actually, it just so happens someone gave my mom some fruit salad ingredients and we didn't want to put it into waste. lucky me, i didn't need to fret about getting a cake once again.

i got some grana padano from alexa's deli which is close to my office. anton likes this cheese so i wanted to try it out. it's a hard cheese with a flavor falling between the parmigiano and queso de bola. with such cheese, it's best with pasta and beef. i didn't want to make the traditional bolognese so i decided to make an oil and garlic pasta with some stir fried ground beef.



got some tiger prawns as well. they're huge but they could get tough and rubbery especially if you overcook or reheat them. these ones are 750 PHP a kilo. i think the best ones are the smaller ones which usually fall between 350 to 500 PHP per kilogram. they're easier to cook and the spices seep through the shell well.


we had some lechon turbo as well hehe. it's supposed to be lechon kawali but made it in the turbo to be more healthy. it has this reddish crunchy skin which makes it oh so yummy. the secret to making great lechon kawali or crispy pata is to tenderize the meat by cooking it first with water and spices so that the flavors seep through the meat. my mom nailed the tenderizing this time, it was flavorful all through out. she did not tell me what the spices were but i know what she put in them even if she thinks i don't hehe.



that's it for me. next cooking season will be next year, so till then.