Baked Sweet and Spicy Chicken

Marinate chicken in brown sugar, sliced ginger, soy sauce, paprika, salt and pepper. Set aside for 30 minutes to an hour. Bake in the oven at 450 degrees for an hour (you may use a cookie sheet covered with foil if you do not have a roasting dish). Then put the oven to 'broil' mode for 5 minutes.

You may serve this with your favorite soup or side dish. For this recipe, I chose mushroom soup with diced potatoes. Just heat butter in a pan, then saute diced potatoes, add evaporated milk and a little flour, salt and pepper and finally, add a can of mushroom soup. Stir until the soup is hot enough but make sure it does not boil or it will lose the right consistency. Garnish with flaked parsley on top.

Easy Ribs

This recipe is as easy as one-two-three.

One: Boil the ribs (beef or pork) with just enough water, onions, salt and pepper.

Two: Marinate the boiled ribs in your favorite barbecue sauce for half an hour.

Three: Broil the ribs in the oven for 20 minutes.

You may use the grill instead of the oven, but remember to keep basting while the ribs cook.

Elvis' Sandwich

Here's a nice idea for a quick, healthy and unique snack.


Grab a hotdog bun or any kind of bread you like. Spread with peanut butter (I used Nutella in my recipe) and pop in a couple of slices of ripe bananas. You can add ground hazelnuts or use a chunky peanut butter instead. You can also experiment by using marmalade or your favorite spread. Be creative.

Smothered Ziti in Mozzarella

Heat pan over low heat and put a cup of butter or margarine. Saute minced white onions and let it caramelize. Add 2 tablespoons of flour, evaporated milk or 2% milk and cream of mushroom. Stir until thick. Add a generous amount of grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Mix. Remove the pan from heat.

Drench the cooked penne pasta in the mixture and sprinkle two handfuls of shredded mozzarella cheese. Continue mixing until pasta is evenly covered. Place the pasta in a microwavable dish and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake for 5 mins at 350 degrees. To make that crusty, golden brown cheese topping, switch the oven to 'broil' and let the pasta cook for another 3 mins.

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged. Twice. And so as not to lose that certain culinary 'feel' of my blog, I let my taste buds speak about 8 facts that a lot of people might not know about me.

Here are the mechanics:

>>>In the 8 facts about [name], you share 8 things that your readers don’t know about you. At the end, you tag 8 other bloggers to keep the fun going. Each blogger must post these rules first.

>>>Each blogger starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

>>>At the end of the post, a blogger needs to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

>>>Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Now, time to know more about your online chef wannabee!

1) I will not eat peanut butter sandwich unless it's Nutella -- the original, creamy hazelnut spread from Ferrero. It's quite expensive but it's really the best.

2) My all-time specialty is chicken soup. However, my secret ingredient will remain secret.

3) At 6 yrs old, I discovered my true passion for cooking when I saw my lolo cook Kare-Kare using carabao meat. Carabeef, as they call it, is indeed tastier and more succulent than regular beef.




4) Next to the electric light bulb by Thomas Edison, I think the latest and greatest American invention is Hot Pockets.



5) My least favorite Filipino food is palabok. Reminds me of halo-halo placed on top of cooked pasta.



6) I get serious headaches when I drink coffee or anything with coffee in it. But when I unusually crave for coffee, I drink it with the strongest antacid I can find.




7) I find it most difficult to cook adobo.



8) You can take me to KFC for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack and I won't get tired of their fried chicken. I just can't get enough of it. Me and my best friend even call it our 'friendship fastfood chain'.

So to Eliza, Jaya, Lois, Aimee, Karl, Helen, Abi and Chat.....it's your turn! You've been tagged!

Happy tagging everyone! =)