RECIPE 2 - 

ITALIAN SPAGHETTI

Sometimes, I just like to eat the classic spaghetti: chunky, saucy, simply good. So, here is my recipe for you and five of your friends.

My buying list at JS Ilustre:

• 1 package of spaghetti noodles (Ram, Php33)
• 1/4 ground beef (Php65)
• 1/4 ground pork (Php50)
• 1l three-cheese-spaghetti sauce (Php59)
• onions, garlic
• McGormick's Italien Spices (Php44)

Ready... Chunky go!

Step 1 - heat the water until it starts to bubble and insert the whole package of spaghetti noodles into the pot and let them cook in it for about seven to eight minutes until they are al dente!

Another tip: add a bit salt to the water. and then after the noodles are al dente, leave the noodles in the pot until you serve your dish.

Step 2 - Meanwhile, grab one big white onion or two small red/purple onions. Slice them into dices and do so with the garlic. Heat a frying pan with a bit of olive oil (or any other cooking oil) and wait until the onions get a bit transparent and then add the garlic to it. after a minute remove the pan from the fire and leave it aside. 

Step 3 - Grab another frying pan with a bit of cooking oil (preferable olive oil) and cook first the pork and add then the beef. The McGormick adds pretty good taste to the meat by then. After ten minutes, add the diced onions and garlic. Cook that awesome mix for a few minutes. 

Step 4 - You need now a bigger pot to pour the 1liter of Three-cheese-spaghetti sauce and 1/4 cup of water. heat it up. After a few minutes add the mix of meat, onions and garlic into it. Add McGormick to get a strong Italien spices dish!

Step 5 - Grab from the shelf a big plate and serve first the noodles and pour just on the top the hot, chunky spaghetti sauce! Sprinkle the Italien spices on the top with a bit of Parmesan (Php189) Promise, no guest can resist the aromatic bouquet of this food trip!

Read more »

The Five Wonders at Bankerohan

The wonders at Bankerohan market offers to Dabawenyos everything 

that makes a Pinoy food to a perfect dish.

FRUITS

Davao offers the perfect place to grow various kinds of fruits. It abundance of tropical fruits has made its name all over the country and far abroad its boundaries. Incredible fruits that make your kind of dish perfect.

We might even call Davao Philippine's Banana Republic No. 1 - our agricultural sector is said to earn $1billion a year by exporting bananas all over the country, Asia and to Western Countries, might it be as fruit or as delicious banana chips. Banana are a great food choice here in the city: Php 5 for Banana BBQ sprinkled with sugar is a good snack along the way! Dont to miss out the well known Beef Stew with Banana pieces! a local delicacy!


Especially Durian which is cultivated in the fertile grounds in Calinan, you can buy at its lowest price at Bankerohan crossing. Even off season you can make a good bargain of PhP50 to 100. Of course, during the peak season in Davao, around August, you can get it as cheap as Php 20 to 35 depending on the kind and seize. I can much recommend Puyat and Arancillo (native Durians) that are said to be the sweetest types that have a smooth texture in its spiky cover. But to those who have some health issues like high blood pressure, beware, it might shoot your score a bit too high. Despite that fact, Durian is a unique dessert that adds a rafinesse and a smile to your guest's lips. Different. Rich in flavour. A food of Gods.


Jacks Fruits is huge and prickly - might be mistaken by the first look as Durian. The inside shows a big number of yellow pods which have an amazing sweet taste. Experienced Filipinas know how to perfect dishes by adding the yellow fruit in Fruit Salads, Binignit or Beef Stew!

VEGETABLES

Food, food, food... and vegetables cannot be left out at a Filipino dish. Like Malungay, a tree with small green leaves. The leaves are full of minerals and has a good dose of Vitamin C. Soups are refined with that kind of healthy leaves - quite affordable at Php10 at Bankerohan!

Eggplant are renowned for its deeply purple, glossy beauty as well as its unique taste (yet pleasantly bitter) and spongy texture - which makes it to another essential ingredient in the Philippine cuisine. Eggplant also contains important phytonutrients, many which have antioxidant activity (free radical scavenger that has been shown to protect cell membranes from damage). 


Another amazing vegetable to work with in dishes is Ampalaya. Ampalaya is a quite bitter taste, the most bitter among its kind. Research about Ampalaya has shown that Amplaya increases the production of beta cells by the pancreas, which improves the body’s ability to produce insulin. Insulin controls the blood sugar for diabetics which is quite important. Aside, it is an excellent sources of Vitamin B, iron, calcium, and phosphorus. It is also rich in beta carotene which we need for our hair and nails.

FISH

Tilapia, a fresh water fish which is caught in shallow streams and rivers along the seashores of Davao river or the wider sea. Another fish in Davao is the Lapu-Lapu, a quite tasty fish if steamed or cooked well. Especially nice with vegetables and sweet-sour sauce, daw. The fish was named after the hero of Mactan, Lapu-Lapu, who is known as the first native of the archipelago to have resisted Spaniards attempt to colonize the island, and is now regarded as a Filipino hero. Two ladies there showed me all their fishes from fresh over to tried fish, the Bulad.




A salty delicacy here! The smell was different, it smelt like sand and the wide ocean, which was a surprise to a girl who used to live merely out of the fridge back home.

Read more »

Recipe 1 - Pasta ala Capers & Anchovies

Today, I decided to grab my cooking spoon again and cook some fine dinner for me and apartment mate last night. Much to my dismay, I was short and yet I couldnt think of anything else than pasta. Buying fast food was a no go on that day - isn't it much more satisfying to have come up with something brought up by your own hands? That was the inspiring thought that brought me into JS Ilustre's grocery inside. With only 250Pesos in my wallet... I thought I would need to think of something simpler and less pasta-like, since I needed to calculate five people who are going to eat tonight.

Much to my surprise I was able to create two different pastas that evening in a wing! With a little bit of raffiness and creativity - I had full folks at the table with having spent not more than 250Pesos.

- RECIPE 1 - 

PASTA ALA CAPERS & ANCHOVIES:

Buying list at JS Ilustre's grocery:

• half package of pasta noodles (Ram, Php30)
• cooking oil (much better if olive oil, but ordinary works too, Php35)
• anchovies (in can, Php100)
• green capers (in glass, Php58.75)

Step 1 - heat water with a half tablespoon salt. Place the whole pack of noodles (the other half is needed for the second pasta!) and make them al dente by checking on them after seven  minutes and remove pot from the stove.. 

Step 2 - Leave the noodles still for a while in the water. Step 3 - Get a frying pan and heat the green capers and anchovies (add garlic and onions if you like!) and saute all for three minutes add pepper. 

Step 4 - The fun about the story is you can pour the whole content on the top of the noodles and serve it as it is! Do not give efforts to mix the noodles with the capers and anchovies, it will look incredible just the way it is.

To make the serving even more impressive, serve the noodles on a big plate and add some vegetables at the side. It gives the entire story a knack!

Check out my next post to see how easy the second pasta went!

Read more »