Clams

• 1 kg. clams
  2 tbps. oil
  2 cloves garlic, chopped
  1 small onion, chopped
  1 small thumb-size ginger, chopped
  
  Procedure:
  Wash and clean clams in cold water. (Water will help to remove the sand from the clams). In a deep pan, saute onions & ginger in hot oil, add clams (don't put water unless your recipe is for a soup) they release a natural salty juice and cover pot and cook over high heat about 5 minutes or just until clams open. Do not overcook as clams becomes tough (discard clams that will not open).
  
  
  Tips: Do not put salt. Clams juice are naturally salty. If you'll make a clam soup then add about 8 cups of water and salt to taste.
  

Pork Braised in Soy Sauce

Braised Pork Belly
1/2 kg pork belly with skin on

• 1 medium onion, diced
  
• ginger, peeled and cut into thin slices
  
• 3 cloves of garlic
  
• 2tbsp cooking oil
  
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
  
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
  
• 1 pc. bay leaf, crushed
• 3 cups water
  
  Procedure:
  Heat the pan over medium heat, add the oil, then the diced onions, chopped ginger. Continue cooking the onions and spices, about two minutes.
  Put the pork belly flat, on the pot over the onions and spices. Add enough water to completely cover the belly, add the soy sauce, crushed garlic cloves, brown sugar and crushed bay leaf.
  Put the lid on the pot and turn the heat up to high and bring the pot to a boil. Let simmer over low heat for at least 30 minutes or until the pork is cooked and tender.

You can serve this over rice or any kind of noodle you have. You can add as topping blanched bok choy or diced carrots.

Chicken Lollipop

Cut joints of chicken wings & scrape, push meat down to form a ball.

Coat with the dredging flour

Chicken Lollipops

10 pcs. chicken wings (upper portion of the wings)

1/2 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
oil for deep frying


Dredging mixture:
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. garlic powder
dash of red chillis (optional)

Procedure

Cut chicken at the joints. Pull skin and scrape the meat and push it down to the other end of the joint to form a ball. Set aside. Reserve the ther parts for soup or other purposes.
Marinate chicken with salt and pepper for half an hour Mix the dredging mixture. Combine the chicken and coating mixture. Let rest for half an hour. In deep pan, dip fry chicken over medium heat until golden brown. Serve hot with your fave dips

About Sweetlee

ABOUT SWEETLEE

Sweetlee interest in cooking has been influenced by many diffirent cultures having lived and travelled in 3 continents including her own country. She had worked in the hotel industry for over 15 years(not food related) a corporate executive until cancer came into her life but it didn't stopped her from traveling and working. As a survivor of 17 years (peri-ampullary) she was able to adjust her daily routine like cooking, baking, internet business, travel, and blogging for many hours (complaining of eye strain & poor eyesight - lol). The main reason why she made this blog is to talk about her recipes, cooking, baking and travel. She incorporates her cancer experience in this blog to let people know specially those who are "survivors" that there is hope, chance of survival and be normal again and do the things that you want to do while you are alive. You can say at the end of the day thank God you are alive. I need to live without regrets... to live the remainder of my life to the fullest and appreciate the simple things that sorrounds us, whether I will last for a number of years or for many decades more.

Sweetlee favorite food:

Noodles: She loves noodles. She can cook noodles in many ways. She can eat noodles everyday but she wouldn't do it, too much carb.

Veggies: When she was small she disliked veggies. But now it tops on her list.

Milk: was her favorite drink until 5 years old. Now she feels nauseated just thinking of it.

Sugary food: Because of her diabetes, she is careful about eating sweets.

Pop Soda: was top on her list as a favorite drink until diabetes stopped her from taking it.

Rice - to give her energy

Things you'll find in her kitchen cabinet:

All kinds of Noodles, canton, bihon, sotanghon, thai noodles etc.

Spices - pepper, bay leaf, 5-spice powder, curry, star anise,

Cooking condiments - oyster sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, cooking oil, cornstrach, Wasabi, dried mushroom, canned Tuna, canned mushroom, eggs, onions, chilli pepper

Baking - baking powder, yeast, brown sugar, butter, cocoa, chocolate chips, flour, cream of tartar, vanilla,

Kitchen gadgets

baking pans, mixer, bread machine, spatula, peeler, pasta machine, turbo, ovens of different sizes aside from the six-burner Elba gas/electric range, slow cooker, coffee maker and many more.

Collections:

hundreds of cookbooks and cook & house magazines, cooking ware.

Others:

PC, scanner, webcam, printer, fax machine

Eggplant Salad (Ensaladang Talong)

This week, I'll be posting some Filipino recipes that are easy to make. I started off with Sinigang na baboy. My second posting is Eggplant Salad. Talong or eggplant is one of fave veggies. You can cook a variety of eggplant recipes like Tortang Talong, Rellenong Talong, Ginataang Talong, and many more. Eggplant can be prepared by grilling but I prefer boiling 'cause it's time consuming.
Ingredients:

2 pcs. med. size eggplant (long purple ones)

2 med. size tomatoes, sliced in wedges

1 pc. green onion

For the dressing:

3 tbsp. fish sauce or bagoong

2 tbsp. white vinegar

dash of black pepper or chillis

Procedure:
Boil eggpant (cut-off the stalks) in water until cooked. Remove from pan and let it rest and cool. Cut or chop into bite-size pieces with the skin on. If you don't like to eat the skin, cut in half vertically and scrape the meat. Set aside. Slice tomatoes into thin wedges. Slice green onions.

Mix in a deep bowl or in a shallow platter all of the above ingredients. Season with fish sauce, white vinegar and dash of pepper. Mix and toss lightly. If you want a spicy taste you can add chilli powder cut red chillis. Let stand for 15 minutes minutes in the ref. before serving.

Colorado Scenery

Aspen Town

Continental Divide Map
In the USA it is located in the Rocky Mountains.

Indepence Pass (Continental Divide)
The Independence Pass connects Aspen with Twin Lakes. The elevation is 12,095 feet, because of the altitude I'd seen a lot of tourists throwing-up especially people coming from low altitude places. The scenery was dominated by snow-covered peaks

Colorado tops among my favorite state in USA.

Freemont Pass and Mt. Elbert (click photos to enlarge)

On our way to Aspen Colorado, passed by this breathtaking scenery. We stopped and took photos of the peak as my backdrop. It was an amazing sight, picking flowers was prohibited but nobody was watching, can't resisit the temptation, so I picked one anyway. The mountains were covered by snow on a sunny day . The drive over Indepence Pass to Aspen is one of the most beautiful scenic drives in Colorado. You can see the beautiful scenery out of your car window. It was awesome.

Sinigang na Baboy (Pork Sour Soup)

My sister and I were debating as to what vegetables and souring agents to use in cooking pork sinigang. There are many local veggies to use such as eggplants, radish, beans, etc. and souring ingredients such as tamarind, kamias, guava, vinegar and calamansi. After 15 minutes of deliberation she had chosen kangkong and gabi plus the sinigang mix. If I have my way, I like to use radish, cabbage and okra in my sinigang.

Ingredients

2 lbs. pork belly, cut into 2 in. cubes

1 medium size gabi(taro roots) cut in 2 in. cubes
1 medium onion sliced thinly
1 small tomato, diced
4 cups of kangkong or spinach or pechay (bok choy)
2 pcs. chillis(long green chilli)
½ packet of Knorr Sinigang Mix
Salt to taste
6-7 cups of water (add more if necessary)

Directions:
In a large pot bring to a boil 6 cups water. Add pork, cover, and let it boil. Remove scum from the broth. Add onions, tomatoes, salt to taste, the sinigang mix and let cook for 15 minutes or until pork is tender.

Add gabi, cover, and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. Lastly, add Kangkong, long green chilli. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes. Serve with hot rice.

Note: If kangkong is not available, you can use spinach or bok choy