UNI IN CALATAGAN!

Holy week was spent in Calatagan with Marivic and JV. I was so happy that we got there in the afternoon after having a fun lunch in Sta. Rosa.

We headed down to the beach and decided to make the kids play in the sand. While walking around, we saw sea urchins...a ton of them. I got so excited!!! I remembered when we were younger, Marivic and I used to get them during low tide and bring them back to the house to serve them as sashimi for appetizers. That was several years ago and I was kinda glad that the sea life in Calatagan in alive again!

Scroll down so you can see what I'm talking about... Of course, we had to choose the big sea urchins and let go of the smaller ones.

Here I am with a rake... which I borrowed from the kids. I had to disrupt them from finishing their sandcastle. For me, getting the uni was more important haha.

Here it is. The sea urchin is cracked in half, then...

The meat is scooped out...the yellow part.

This what we got from a bucket of sea urchins, almost 3/4 of a bowl of uni

To serve, we drain the excess liquid.

This is Ari's creation...uni on top of sushi rice...with wasabi and soy...Yum!!!

GUACAMOLE WITH TORTILLA CHIPS

This is what I had for my snack today...Guacamole with tortilla chips. I made some guacamole last week for a shoot and today I was craving for it again. Not a lot of people like avocados. I actually stopped eating avocados a few years ago when I found out that more than 50% of its calories are made up of fats. Then I went back to eating it again, not regularly though but just once in a while when I read that the fats from the avocados are the good fats. In Australia, when we went to a fruit farm, they had this logo...an avocado a day keeps the wrinkles away. That was such a good logo right? So now, I try eat avocados when I can , specially when it's in season.

Ok, to make the guacamole, here's the recipe. This would be a good snack for 2-4 people....Oh and please, do not finish this on your own if you don't want to gain weight.

GUACAMOLE

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ingredients:

2 pieces avocado

1/2 piece onion, small dice

1 piece red chilli pepper, seeded, minced

1-2 tablespoons lime juice

3 tablespoons cilantro, minced

1 piece tomato , seeded, chopped

Directions:

1 Slice avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avacado from the peel and slice into cubes. Place in a bowl.

2 Add the chopped onion, pepper, lime juice,and cilantro. Stir. Slightly mash some avocados.

3. Season with salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning as needed.

4. Add the tomatoes and immediately serve with chips.

5. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready.

Serves 2-4.

Pair this off with a cool refreshing drink...Ice cold lime juice with mint. Now, I'm thinking if I should have beef tacos and/or grilled chicken quesadillas for dinner with a fresh tomato salsa...hmmmm???

BUFFALO CHICKEN WINGS!

I was browsing through my food photos and found this. I did this for a food tasting a few months ago.  Since I cooked the wings for a group of tasters, I served the whole batch thinking that there would be some left for me, but it got wiped out in a blink of an eye. They commented that it was good and that was enough for me to know that I did something right.

This is what I served for dinner tonight, together with a taco salad and cheese quesadillas. Would've loved to have this with a mojito but didn't have time to get some mint. 

BUFFALO CHICKEN WINGS

       oil for deep frying

         1/4 cup butter

         1/4 cup hot sauce

         1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

        1/4   teaspoon pepper

coating:

         1/2 cup all-purpose flour

         1 teaspoon paprika

         1/2 teaspoon salt

         1/8 teaspoon pepper

         10 chicken wings

DIRECTIONS

1.       Combine the butter, hot sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and reserve for serving.

2.       In a small bowl mix together the flour, paprika, salt and pepper. 

3.       Heat oil in a medium saucepan to about 375 F.  

3.       Coat wings well with the flour mixture.

4.       Fry wings for 10 to 15 minutes, or until parts golden brown. Remove from heat and             immediately coat wings with the hot sauce mixture.     Serve with blue cheese dressing.                            

BLUE CHEESE DRESSING

1 cup mayonnaise

        1/2 cup sour cream

    1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled        

1 tablespoon lemon juice

        2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

        1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

        1/4 teaspoon salt

        1/4 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

VIETNAMESE FRIED SPRING ROLL

Ingredients:

40 grams ground pork

30  grams crab meat

40 grams prawns, minced

15 grams dried ear mushroom

40 grams taro, grated 

1/2 teaspoon chicken powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1 teaspoon spring onions, chopped

1 teaspoon egg yolk

1 teaspoon shallots, chopped

6-8 pieces rice papers

fresh water

cooking oil, deep frying

Directions:

1.  Preparation: Dried ear mushroom:  soak in fresh water about 30 minutes.  Drain.  Discard the stem.  Cut julienne.

2.  Taro:  peel of the skin then grate.

3.  In a bowl, place a pork, crab, prawn, taro and ear mushroom.  Then add the shallot, spring onion, sugar, chicken powder, pepper, and egg yolk.  And then mash them until they are well combined and become a smooth paste.

4.  Spread a little coconut juice or water on the surface of the rice paper evenly (don't wet too much). Fold the edge of the rice paper about 2 inches towards the center.  Then place 1 Tbsp of stuffing on the space folded.  Start foldong the left and the right side of the rice paper into  the center.  Then roll up tightly from the bottom edge away to the far end.

5.  Deep fry the spring rolls in a pan on medium heat until lightly browned.

6.  Serve with lettuce, fragrant leaves, fresh rice noodles, and dipping fish sauce.

DIPPING SAUCE FOR SPRING ROLLS

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons lime juice

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1 teaspoon chili , chopped

Directions:

1.  In a bowl, add lemon juice and sugar.  Whisk until sugar is dissolved.

2.  Then add the fish sauce and stir until the sugar is dissolved completely.

3.  Then add the chopped chili and chopped garlic.  Stir again, then taste before serving.