Thursday, April 12, 2012

French Ratatouille


I have always wanted to try French cooking but somehow the complexity of their food preparation scares me. So I thought I'll try one simple dish, the Ratatouille also known as Provençal vegetable stew or poor man's dish. It's so simple that the vegetables needed are cheap, ample and colorful.

Ingredients:

1 kilo sliced zucchini
1 kilo sliced eggplant
1/2 kilo sliced white onion
1/2 kilo sliced tomatoes
3 red or yellow cored, seeded and diced bell pepper
3 cloves minced garlic
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
3 Tbsp white wine
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil


Preparation:

Place sliced zucchini and eggplant in a bowl, cover with water and let rest for 30 minutes. Drain.

Sauté the eggplant and zucchini with olive oil in a skillet. Set aside.

Cook the diced onions with olive oil in the same skillet. Stir in the minced garlic and add salt and pepper. Add diced bell pepper.

Add sliced tomatoes over the onions in the skillet. Cover and cook.

Add the eggplant and zucchini. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of parsley and fresh basil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Put 3 Tbsp or more of white wine. Adjust seasoning.

Serve with pork chop steak or sauted chicken.

Bon appetit!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Singaporean Chili Shrimp



It has been known that spicy food can help speed up your metabolism. The main source of the heat, the capsaicin is responsible for creating this effect because it generates heat and raises body temperature when eaten. Capsaicin is found in jalapenos, habaneros, cayenne, and on other chili peppers. For today's meal I used our local chili pepper, siling-labuyo. Have you ever heard of the saying Great things come in small packages? Well, the siling-labuyo is so small but it produces a lot of heat.

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo large white shrimps
2 small chopped red chili pepper/siling-labuyo
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 teaspoon butter
1 Tbsp finely minced garlic
1 Tbsp thinly sliced onion
1 teaspoon finely minced ginger
salt and pepper to taste
lemon
basil leaves




Preparation:

Clean, remove the shells and set aside.

In a hot pan add 2 Tbsp of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of butter, 1 Tbsp of finely minced garlic, thinly sliced onion and finely minced ginger.

Put in 1/2 kilo large white shrimps and cook for a few minutes.

Add 2 small chopped red chili pepper (labuyo) and 5 Tbsp tomato sauce.

Add salt and ground black pepper to taste then squeeze some lemon juice and a dash of basil leaves. Adjust seasoning.

For best results, serve with white wine. Enjoy!