Lychee Martini

This is one of my favorite martinis. I'm going to put two different recipes. One will be a traditional martini while the other one will be a bit of a short cut. Here is how it is traditionally made.:

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 cup drained canned lychees (15 to 20, from a 16- to 20-oz can)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

6 oz (3/4 cup) vodka (preferI used Grey Goose)

1 1/2 oz (3 tablespoons) Cointreau or other orange-flavored liqueur

Instructions

1. Heat sugar and water in a 1-quart saucepan over high heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved, then pour into a heatproof bowl set in a large bowl of ice and cold water. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until syrup is cold, about 3 minutes.

2. Purée lychees with sugar syrup and lemon juice in a blender until smooth, then force through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids and then discarding them.

3. Fill cocktail shaker halfway with ice cubes and add lychee purée, vodka, and Cointreau. Shake 15 seconds and strain into Martini glasses.

Now here's my lazy version. This one I use for my mom since she happens to be the biggest light weight I've ever encountered.  In the cocktail shaker pour 1/2 a cup of the lychee juice from the can. Add a shot of vodka (or half a shot when it comes to my mother), a tablespoon of agave, squeeze a little bit of lemon juice and toss in some ice cubes. Shake for a few seconds and then strain into Martini glasses.  You could garnish with a few whole lychees from the can. You could also rim the glass with sugar or as in the case of my picture some coconut and sugar.

Balsamic Infused Strawberries over Ricotta

A pretty and healthy alternative to the junk I've been eating lately.

Ingredients

• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons honey/agave/pure maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 (16-ounce) container strawberries cut to pieces
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves

Directions

1. Put the ricotta cheese, honey and vanilla extract into the small bowl of a blender  and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2. In a small saucepan combine the vinegar and sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer over a medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool completely.

3. In a medium bowl, toss the berries with the basil and the balsamic syrup.

4. Divide the cheese mixture among 4 cocktail glasses, top with the berry mixture and serve.

Kalua Pork

This tastes great with a little hoisin sauce on top or if you can get a hold of Mang Tomas All Purpose Sauce (it's a Filipino sauce).

When I first came across this recipe I initially thought that the kalua referred to the alcohol. This recipe definitely doesn't use kalua. It's actually a traditional Hawaiian pork dish. This recipe is amazingly easy and produces such tender shredded pork. You just have to plan ahead with the recipe since it takes more than 12 hours to properly cook.

 
Ingredients:

·         4 to 5 pound pork butt

·         1 tablespoon liquid smoke

·         2 1/2 tablespoons sea salt  

Instructions:

1.      Place pork in the crock pot and stab it all over with the tip of a knife.

2.      Rub sea salt all over pork.

3.      Drizzle the liquid smoke all over.

4.      Set the crock pot to low and cook for about 16 hours. Shred with two forks.

Green Beans With Bacon, Cranberries and Goat Cheese

Ingredients

• 1/4 pound bacon, roughly chopped
• 1 pound of fresh green beans, washed and trimmed
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup dried crnaberries
• 1 logo f goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup chopped dill

Instructions

1. Cook bacon in a latge skillet until crisp, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfor to a paper towel lined plate to let drain.

 2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add green beans and cook until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl.

 3. Toss green beans with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and transfer to a large platter.
4. Scatter bacon, cranberried, goat cheese and dill over the top and servecaption

Mango Lassie

Mangos are my favorite fruit. That's why I try to incorpotate mangos in so many drinks. Here is a very simple recipe for a mango lassie. In a blender combine 2 cubed mangos, 1/2 a cup of ice cubes, a cup of greek yogurt, a tablespoon of honey or agave, and some milk ( depending on how thick you want your lassie to be). Pour into a glass and serve with a sprig of basil on top. God I love this warm weather. : )

Spinach Smoothies

I recently bought a new blender and I felt a need to test it out. I also had a lot of spinach and I knew we had to utilize them before they went bad.

This delicious smoothie is made from a handful of spinach, 6 mint leaves, 3 tbsp of vanilla yogurt, and 1/2 a cup of skim milk.

Another recipe involves some spinach, 1 banana, 1 tbsp of peanut butter, soymilk.

This one was made from 2 handfuls of spinach, 6-7 frozen strawberries, a drizzle of agave, about a 1/4 inch of finely grated ginger and a cup of water. 

Pisco Sunrise

So one day I wanted to make a drink with some of my pisco. I always thought that tequila sunrises were really pretty but I was never a huge fan of tequila. So I decided to make a drink that catered more towards my taste. So here is a pisco sunrise AKA a mago sunrise. Be warned that this is a really sweet drink. Some people make prefer a little more alcohol than what I put. If you can't find any pisco I'm sure the spirit of your choice will work as well. It's all about the different densities of the liquids that create the look of a sunrise anyway.

In a glass of your choice pour:

• shot of pisco
• mango nectar an inch from the top
• 1-2 tbsp of grenadine

Shrimp Ceviche Tacos

Here is a yummy, simple, and healthy lunch. However you do need to budget at least an hour after your prep is done before you can eat it.

Ingredients: 

• shrimp
• scallops (optional) 
• 2 lemons
• 1 lime
• butter lettuce/romaine lettuce
• 1-2 avocados
• cherry tomatoes 
• salsa 
• cilantro 

Instructions:
1. Sprinkle salt and pepper and over the scallops and shrimp. Heat oil in a pan and saute the scallops and shrimp for about 2 minutes until you see the shrimp just start to turn pink.  

2. Place the scallops and shrimps on a paper towel to drain the excess moisture. Afterwards dice the shrimps and scallops.

3. Juice the lemons and limes.

4. In a larger bowl mix the scallops, shrimps, avocado, tomatoes, and cilantro. Salt and pepper to taste and refrigerate the mixture for at least 1 hour. ***

5. Wrap ceviche in lettuce leaves and flavor with salsa .

***You can also keep the avocado, tomato, and cilantro out of the lemon lime mixture and mix it in later on right before eating.

Cake-like Cookie

So one day I was itching to bake. Unfortunately we didn't have any sugar or flour left in the house. I was bummed out. I really really needed to bake and relieve some stress. Luckily while perusing the pantry I realized we had way too many boxes of chocolate cake mix. My parents have been stock piling on the cake mixes for our next trip back to the Philippines. Since that trip isn't happening for another year I figured that I could replace it later. I was also in the mood for cookies so I had to figure out how to use the mix to make cookies. This is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

• 1 box of cake mix
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract 
• 2 tbsp of vegetable oil 
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Mix all of the ingredients together.
3. Form balls with the dough and place on an ungreased baking sheet. I like to use my mini ice cream scoop.
4. Bake for 8-10 min. 
5. Let cool on the sheet after taking them out for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

It's yummy with some ice cream on top.

Why not make an ice cream sandwich? Just one sandwich is enough. The cookies keep for more than a week so you could have an ice cream sandwich every night.

It's Super Bowl Sunday and my mom has asked me to make the dreaded seven layer dip. You might be wondering why I would dread making such a simple recipe. It's because I've never liked eating this wretched dip. The first time my mother pressured me into making this dip it was for her Christmas holiday party. Apparently it was so popular that she didn't really get a chance to eat much of it. These measurements aren't exactly precise since this I'm making this just for my family.

On another note, I hate olives! So this recipe strays from most seven layer dips since I don't include them. The only time I've ever liked eating an olive was at this great french restaurant in Baltimore called The Brass Elephant. The SGC girls and I went out for dinner and we decided on a cheese platter that had different looking olives on them.

Ingredients:

• 1 taco seasoning packet (I use the cheesy one)
• lettuce, shredded 
• 1 can refried beans 
• container of chunky salsa 
• sour cream
• cream cheese
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1-2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1lb, ground beef 
• 1 small white onion

Instructions

1. Chop up the white onion. Cook the onions with the beef and half of the taco mixture. 
2. In a medium sized bowl take the refried beans and blend the taco seasoning with it. 
3. In another bowl blend the cream cheese and the sour cream.
4. In your serving container spread the refried bean mixture. Then the cream layer.
5. In top of the cream mixture spread the layer of salsa, beef, peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce. 
6. Top with the cheese. 

Optional: I love guacamole but apparently my parents don't. I would have some guacamole on the side for an extra layer. Or if you get some avocados I would slice them and squeeze some lemon juice and sprinkle some onion powder on top. You could toss it in with the tomatoes and bell peppers. 

Caramel Almond Bar

So I recently found out that my mom is pre-diabetic. Since I'm living at home I have to make food that my parents can eat unless I want to gain even more weight. My goal for this year is to post 1 diabetic friendly recipe per month. I apologize for the blurriness of my photo I currently have a new camera on my birthday wish list.


Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar substitute 
• 1/2 cup margarine , softened
• 1 teaspoon almond extract 
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate morsel
• 1/2 cup caramel morsels  

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F Grease 9-inch-square/round baking pan.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat sugar, margarine and almond extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Spread into prepared baking pan.
3. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes. Remove pan to wire rack. Cool completely in pan on wire rack; refrigerate for 5 to 10 minutes or until chocolate is set. Cut into bars.

Pisco Sangria Punch

I love sangria. It always brings back memories of the holiday parties during college. I normally made sangria with red wine but I had a lot of cheap white wine from my Christmas party so I threw this together one night.  

Ingredients:
1 cup white wine
1 orange thinly sliced
1-2 shots of pisco
2 tbsp agave
thinly sliced strawberries
ginger ale

Directions: 
1. Combine agave, oranges, lemon, and strawberries in a large pitcher.
2. Cover with the white wine and pisco.
3. Chill sangria for several hours.
4. To serve, spoon fruits into glasses or goblets, pour wine over top of the fruit.
5. Top glasses of sangria off with a splash of ginger ale and serve.  This serves 2-3 people.

Butternut Squash Casserole

I think butternut squash has become one of my favorite vegetables. This is an excellent side dish for ham and turkey.

Ingredients

• 4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 cup asiago cheese
• 1 cup bread crumbs

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400˚.
2. Cube butternut squash in 1/2″ cubes. Toss with the onions,  olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Remove and place in a large bowl. Reduce oven to 350˚.
3. While squash cooks, whisk together cream cheese, egg, 1/4 cup parmesan, 1/2 cup of asiago, and 1/2 cup of bread crumbs. Once squash is done, fold cream cheese mixture with the squash and place in a small baking dish.
4. Sprinkle remaining cheeses and breadcrumbs on top. Bake at 350˚ for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve hot.

Dragon Fruit Salad

So as many of my previous know, there's a Filipino superstition that I follow for New Years. Traditionally you're supposed to create a fruit basket that contains 12 different round fruits. I don't know how this tradition turned into 13 different fruits, but that's how we do it in my family. As you can imagine finding 12 different round fruits is really difficult so we kind of just stick with 13 different fruits in general. For the New Year my mom and I went to the Asian market to get our fruit. We were struggling with the 13th fruit when we saw this beauty:

My mom automatically asked, " Why is it called dragon fruit? Is it because it comes from a real dragon?"

Me: "Really ma? Really? That's something I expect Tatay to ask, not you."

Mom: Well it would have explained why it's so expensive!  

Expensive indeed. But we were intrigued. I wasn't sure what to make of the fruit. When I cut it in half and tried a piece it didn't really have a lot of flavor. It had a similar consistency to a kiwi but it didn't have a very distinct flavor. I decided to whip up a quick fruit salad with it.

Ingredients:

2 tbsps of buko- coconut strips in syrup

1 dragon fruit

1 tsp agave
juice from 1 orange
2 basil leaves roughly chopped


After mixing the ingredients together refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. This got a little addictive. It's a good thing I only had 1 dragon fruit : )