Chicken Pastel

This is one of my mom's specialties. The Chicken Pastel. Why is it called Pastel? That means lightly colored and creamy. And so the soup is very creamy and tasty. Basically it uses milk and cream as one of the main ingredients. It's a good source of protein since we're just using just the lean meat of the chicken breasts. We removed all the skins in it. Any meat will do for this recipe however Chicken is still the best meat to use for this, And Did I mentioned that the butter also makes it more flavorful and appetizing? Yummy! Have one today.

Ingredients:

1/2 kl Chicken breasts, skins removed, sliced in small portions
1/4 c butter
1 small can evaporated milk
1 c all purpose cream
1 medium carrot, sliced in cubes
2 medium potatoes, sliced in cubes
1 c button mushrooms
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 c water

Procedure:

1. In a pan, melt the butter and add onions and garlic. Saute it then add the chicken and mushrooms. Saute it until chicken turns light brown.
2. Pour the water then add the carrots and tomatoes. Simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Pour the All purpose cream and Evaporated milk. Give it a good stir. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add the red bell pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Stir until all cooked.
5. Remove from heat. Arrange it in a platter and garnish with some finely chopped Parsley. Get your camera ready and snap a few good shots. Happy clicking and eating! Enjoy!

Tip:

For a more flavorful soup, substitute the water with chicken broth.

Fried Chicken (Wet Batter)

Who doesn't love fried chicken? the crisp and juiciness in every bite makes you want to have more. But did you know that some other way of preparing the batter is just as easy as dipping it to your favorite sauce? No need for flour dredging, just dip it into the wet batter and your chickens are ready for frying. Sounds easy? Try it.

Ingredients:

1 kilo Chicken (Wings/Drumstick)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup water
Salt & Pepper

Procedure:

1. Mix water, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt & pepper in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.
2. Dip chicken on wet batter until it is completely covered.
3. Tap chicken for excess wet batter.
4. On a deep fryer, fry chicken for 15 minutes until crispy.
5. Serve hot with your favorite sauce and enjoy.

Lechon Manok

If you get to walk around the busy streets of the main cities and town around the Philippines, you probably passed by in a Lechon Manok stand. This is because the famous filipino style roasted chicken is the best selling Chicken recipe around the country. It is often served on Birthdays, holidays or just on an ordinary days. But if you happened to be outside of the Philippines, we are going to share you on how to cook the Lechon Manok, home-made style. Here it is.

Ingredients:

1 kl dressed whole chicken
1 medium onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 thumbsized ginger, sliced
3 tbsp Calamansi or lemon juice
8 oz or 1 small can Lemon soda
3 tbsp white sugar
3 tbsp soy sauce
Ground black pepper
2 stalks lemon grass
2 pcs bay leaves
salt
1 c butter

Procedure:

1. Marinate the Chicken with the next 8 ingredients. Let it stand for about an hour. I suggest to marinate it overnight for best result.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
3. Remove the chicken from the marinade mixture. Reserve it for later use.
4. Stuff the chicken cavity with tied lemon grass, bay leaves and pepper.
5. Inject the inside of the Chicken with the marinade mixture.
6. Season the Chicken's skin with salt, pepper and brush with butter.
7. Roast the Chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until the Chicken turns golden brown. While roasting, you can brush the Chicken with butter.
8. Serve hot and dip it with your favorite sauce. Enjoy!

Fried Chicken Wings

Personally, my most favorite part of Chicken is its wings. Although this part don't have much lean meat comparing it to other parts, it still taste good. And for the most fun part of eating it is the crunchiness of the skin while savoring the juicy part of the meat. So, how about making Fried Chicken wings for lunch?

Ingredients:

4 pounds Chicken wings

2 eggs

2 c butter milk

3 c flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Oil for frying

Procedure:

1. Beat the eggs and the milk together. Coat the chicken wings with the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. In a bowl, mix the flour, salt, pepper and Cayenne pepper. 

3. Remove the chicken from the egg and milk mixture and coat the chicken into the flour. 

4. Pre-heat the deep fryer. Cook the chicken wings in batches. Each batch is cooked for 10 minutes. Check the breading if it turns golden brown and the wings are no longer pink on the bone. 

5. Remove from heat, drain the excess oil on paper towel.

6. Serve hot with your favorite sauce. Enjoy!

Chicken Macaroni Soup

Chicken macaroni soup. A one perfect way to pamper yourself on a rainy evening while sipping the creamy taste of  chicken macaroni soup. This is one of our favorite comfort food as it satisfies our taste buds with all the rich flavors mixed with it.

Ingredients:

1 cup macaroni
1/4 kilo chicken ( slice into small pieces)
3 cups water ( add if needed)
1 cup evaporated milk
1 small carrot (strips)
1/4 kilo broccoli
3 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 small size onion
salt  to taste

Procedure:

1. Saute garlic and onion then add the meat, salt and pepper,  simmer for few minutes.
2. Add the macaroni and saute for a minute, then add water and bring to a boil.
3. Stir occasionally  so that the macaroni will not stick at the bottom of the pot, when macaroni is tender,  add the carrot and broccoli then simmer for a minute.
4. Add the milk let it boil once and turn off the heat.
5. Serve it hot and enjoy.

Adobong Manok

Everybody loves chicken adobo and I myself love this dish! This is just easy to cook and every Filipino knows how to cook this!

Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken, cut into serving pieces
3 pieces dried bay leaves
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 to 2 cups water
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 tablespoon white sugar
salt and whole peppercorn

Procedure:

1. In a large container, combine the soy sauce, vinegar and garlic then marinade the chicken for at least 1 to 3 hours.
2. Place the cooking oil in a pan and apply heat.
3. When the oil is hot enough, put-in the marinated chicken. Cook all the sides for about 5 minutes.
4. Pour-in the remaining marinade and add water. Bring to a boil
5. Add the dried bay leaves and whole peppercorn. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
6. Put-in the sugar, and salt. Stir and turn the heat off.
7. Serve hot. Share and Enjoy!

Chicken Binakol

This is a popular dish in the Visayan Region specifically in Iloilo. This dish is a bit similar with tinolang manok but the difference is the coconut water and coconut meat. Try this and you would surely love this!

Ingredients:

4 pcs. chicken drumstick
1 piece green papaya, cut into serving pieces
1 cup chili leaves
1 thumb-sized ginger, cut into strips
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoon fish sauce
3 cups coconut water
1 cup coconut meat
4 tbsp oil
salt

Procedure:

1. In a sauce pan, heat oil then saute ginger, garlic and onion.
2. Add chicken then season with fish sauce. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked.
3. Pour coconut water and cover. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add in coconut meat then simmer for another 5 minutes.
5. Add papaya and cook until papaya is tender.
5. Season with salt.
6. Add chili leaves then turn off the heat so as not to overcook.
7. Serve and enjoy!

Fried Isaw

If you have been in the Philippines you would see a lot of street food vendors scattered on all places and one of the most famous specialty they sell is this chicken intestine or as what we call it here as "isaw". If you want to go on an adventure with food, try this!

Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken intestine, cleaned
1 cup flour

Wet batter:

1 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup water
salt and pepper

Procedure:

Wet batter:

1. Combine water, egg and 1 cup flour. Set aside.
2. Season with salt and pepper.

Coating the chicken intestines:

1. Skewer chicken intestines in a zigzag pattern.
2. First, coat chicken intestines with flour.
3. Then, dip in wet batter. (just enough to coat chicken intestines)
4. Lastly, coat again with flour. Set aside. (do this with the rest of the chicken intestines)

Cooking chicken intestines:

1. In a pan, heat oil about 1 inch.
2. Cook chicken intestines until golden brown.
3. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce!

Spicy Chicken Adobo

Chicken adobo is a famous dish in the Philippines. I personally love this because I love adobo and chicken at the same time!

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cut into desired size
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup vinegar
1 onion, chopped
1 head garlic, crushed
2 pcs chili peppers, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 black peppercorn
1/2 cup water

Procedure:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot.
2. Bring to a boil, then lower heat.
3. Cover and let it simmer for 30 mins.
4. Uncover and let simmer for another 20 mins or until sauce thickened.
5. Serve with lots of rice!

Chicken Liver with Eggs

For those of you who haven't tried to eat Chicken liver, this part of the chicken is not that gross to eat, in fact, it is low in sodium and has a good source of Thiamin, Zinc, Protein, Vitamins A and C as well as Riboflavin. But the down part of it is its very high in cholesterol so better eat it in moderation. For this recipe, we combined the liver with some boiled eggs for a more protein rich recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo chicken liver
4 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon ginger strips
1 onion
2 tablespoons soy sauce
6 hard boiled eggs
1/2 teaspoon corn starch
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Saute the ginger, garlic and onion. Add the chicken liver, simmer until it is cooked.
2. Add the water, soy sauce, salt and pepper then simmer for 2 minutes.
3. Dissolve the cornstarch then add and simmer for 1 minute, add the eggs and simmer for 2 minutes.
4 Garnish then serve.

Homemade Fried Chicken

I prepared fried chicken today for my first blog post. It was very yummy according to my loved ones.

Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken

1 1/2 cups flour

6 pcs. calamansi

oil for frying

salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Marinate the chicken with calamansi, salt and pepper.

2. Coat the chicken with flour.

3. Heat oil in a frying pan.

4. Deep fry the chicken until golden brown.

5. Serve it hot.