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I am baking some CHEWY RAISIN COOKIES once again. I finally get to use the Crisco shortening Tita Mely of pinoyamericanrecipes.blogspot.com sent me few months ago. Thanks for sending me tons of nuts. My kids enjoyed cracking the almonds and walnuts. We just get to crack peanuts here.

I also baked CHOCOLATE OATMEAL COOKIES and my BEST RAISIN OATMEAL COOKIES. You may check them all to experience the difference but they all taste good!

CHEWY RAISIN COOKIES

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup Butter Flavor Crisco Shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375F degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

Mix shortening, brown sugar, vanilla at a medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until blended. Stir in raisins.

spoon rounded tablespoonfuls of cookie dough onto ungreased baking sheets and press gently to lightly flaten dough.

Bake for 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

If you want them crisp, bake for 11 minutes.

Serve your CHEWY RAISIN COOKIES with a cold softdrink.

And everybody loves pasta. And we love most our own PINOY STYLE BAKED MACARONI. It is just simply a bunch of cooked pasta, combined with a meaty sweet tomatosauce and topped with a very easy to make creamy cheese topping. If you don’t have an oven at home, you can still enjoy this recipe by heating a large pan, then there toss your pasta and the meaty sauce, cook until pasta absorb the sauce. Make sure you do this on a low heat so as to prevent your pasta from being overcooked. Enjoy!

You may also try this pasta recipes: CREAMY FETTUCCINI and CHEESY ZITI.

PINOY STYLE BAKED MACARONI

1 kilo elbow macaroni

Pinoy style spaghetti sauce:
3 tbsp. butter
500 grams ground lean beef
500 grams corned beef
1 cup chopped ham
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 medium white onions, peeled and diced
250 grams tomato sauce
1 cup fresh red tomatoes, seeds removed diced
1/2 cup Filipino banana catsup
500 grams sweet-style spaghetti sauce
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3 tbsp. tomato paste
1 piece beef buillon (optional)
1/2 cup water
salt
ground black pepper

cheese sauce:
4 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cup fresh milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 block of cream cheese, cubed
salt

Cook you elbow macaroni pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse, drain and set aside.

To make the sauce, heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet. Brown ground beef, transfer in a bowl and set aside.

With the remaining butter, saute garlic, tomatoes and onions. Add the corned beef and chopped, cook for few minutes, stirring occassionaly. Add browned ground beef.

Add tomato sauce, Pinoy banana catsup and spaghetti sauce, cook for 7-10 minutes on a medium fire, stirring occassionaly.

In a 1/2 cup water, dissolve beef buillon and tomato paste. Pour this in the pan. Then season with sugar, salt and pepper. You may adjust flavor and thickness by adding sugar, salt, pepper and water. Cook for another 15-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To make the creamy cheese topping, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add flour, stirring constantly until dissolved. Whisk in the milk until the sauce is thick. Add salt according to your taste. Add the grated cheddar cheese and cream cheese, stirring constantly until all cheeses melt.

Now, to prepare your PINOY STYLE BAKED MACARONI, preheat oven to 375 F.

In a large baking dish, combine your cooked elbow macaroni and macaroni sauce. Toss until all pasta is well covered with sauce. Top your PINOY STYLE BAKED MACARONI evenly over your macaroni mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven. Serve your PINOY STYLE BAKED MACARONI with toasted bread.

Valentine’s Day is just 4 days away. Here are some of my rich and elegantly baked and made sweet desserts to show your loved ones how much they mean to you. Let my top 10 sweet treats express the words I LOVE YOU!

CHOCO OATMEAL BARS

BEST OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

CHOCOLATE CRINKLES

SUGAR COOKIES

LECHE FLAN

CARROT RAISIN BREAD

OATMEAL COOKIES

CHOCO BANANA MUFFINS

LEMON BREAD

This is a tempting chocolate cupcake recipe that my cousin taught me. She assured me that this is the best chocolate cupcake recipe she ever had. I am so glad she shared this priceless recipe. So I am calling it SUPER MOIST CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE for it really is a chewey, chocolatey, bitter-sweet cupcake that everybody would want more.

Cupcakes created several TV shows like the DC Cupcakes and The Cupcake Girls. Cupcakes are on trend this days. There are local shops dedicated in selling cupcakes only. There are hundreds of thousand of blogs featuring cupcakes. There are millions of online selling of cupcakes from a simple plain cupcake to a very exquisitely designed cupcakes. There is no sign of stopping these little cakes fever.

You may also try HEAVENLY MUFFINS.

SUPER MOIST CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2cup white sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 1/3 cups sour cream
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup cocoa powder, diluted in 1/4 cup water and 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup boiling water

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.

Cream sugar and butter in a mixing bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well, after each addition. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla.

Add alternately the sour cream and flour mixture into creamed mixture. Mix on low just until combined.

Stir in water until blended.

Pour into paper lined cupcake tins.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until insterted toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pans for about 10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to completely cool.

Serve your SUPER MOIST CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE.

Yipee it is MANGO season once again! Mango is generally sweet when ripe and deliciously sour when unripe. Unripe mangoes are usually pickled, cooked for sour broth, and eaten by itself as an appetizer or side dish with a fish paste (bagoong) or shrimp paste (alamang). Green mangoes can also be eaten with salt, chili or soy sauce, for those who are not used to bagoong and alamang. Mangoes are high in prebiotic fiber, vitamin C and vitamin A. It also has folate, B vitamins and many more. No wonder mangoes are loved so much by everyone. I am so much grateful to be ina tropical land where mangoes are beautifully abundant!

My most favorite native green mango side dish recipe is ENSELADANG MANGGA or GREEN MANGO SALAD. It is just a combination of chopped onions, green mango, tomatoes and shrimp paste or alamang. For best ENSELADANG MANGGA, you have to use a shrimp paste or alamang from PANGASINAN, where best alamang is made!

ADOBO is a FILIPINO classic dish. A mastered dish of every moms and a weakness of every dads in Philippine Islands. A truly easy and flexible dish that only requires a perfect combination of salty, sour and sweet taste. A hundred ways to cook ADOBO still to try, but just don’t forget the secret ingredient which is the Bay Leaves or Laurel Leaves.

I made a SWEET CHICKEN ADOBO WITH FRIED POTATOES to make it more kid-friendly taste. I separately fried the potatoes to make a change. I ate this dish with the fried potatoes on the side instead of rice. And it was great pair, pouring the sweet Adobo sauce on fried potatoes, YUMMY!

You may also try ADOBONG BABOY or ADOBONG PUSIT.

SWEET CHICKEN ADOBO with FRIED POTATOES

1 kilo chicken cut-up
1/2 cup light soy sauce
3 tbsp. cooking oil
7 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
10 black peppercorns
4-5 laurel or bay leaves
1 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar

5 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced into bite-sizes
cooking oil

Season potatoes with salt. Heat oil in a pan. Fry potatoes until cooked and tender. Drain excess oil and set aside.

Combine the first eight ingredients in a covered pot large enough to hold the chicken in one layer. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, about 30-40 minutes, turning once or twice, until chicken is cooked through.

Season with vinegar and brown sugar. You can adjust the flavor with adding water, soy sauce, vinegar or sugar.

Serve your SWEET CHICKEN ADOBO with fried potatoes on the side or steamed white rice.

CRISPY FRIED CHICKEN, HOT AND SPICY FRIED CHICKEN and PAN-FRIED CHICKEN are some of the ways to fry chicken cut ups. This time, I am going to share a BREADED FRIED CHICKEN. A very easy and juicy fried chicken that you will surely make again and again. This BREADED FRIED CHICKEN recipe is best if you are planning for a children’s birthday party to be paired with my MEATY SPAGHETTI. You will surely put a smile on your kids face on each bite.

FRIED CHICKEN WITH BREAD CRUMBS

1 kilo fresh chicken, cut-up
6 tbsp. kalamansi juice
3 tbsp. salt
2 cups cooking oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups bread crumbs
2 eggs

Wash chicken cut-up with running water and drain.

In a large bowl, marinate chicken with kalamansi juice and salt for 1 hour.

After marinating the chicken, add flour into the chicken cut-ups, coating all chicken cut-up. This is easy when you use your hands in coating the chicken.

Put the bread crumbs on a shallow plate. Beat eggs in a separate bowl.

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.

Dip each chicken cut-up in egg then drop the chicken cut-up into bread crumbs. Make sure to coat chicken cut-up well.

Fry the chicken cut-up. Do with the rest of the chicken cut-up.

Make sure that chicken should be completely immersed in oil. Do not overcrowd the pan, allowing one inch space between each cut-up.

Fry chicken until golden brown and tender, turning the cut-ups, about 6-7 minutes on each side.

Use a wire mesh strainer to remove excess oil.

Serve with steaming white rice or with a pasta.

Another Pinoy healthy vegetable dish, GINISANG KALABASA WITH SAYOTE TOPS. Kalabasa or Squash is a common vegetable ingredient for Pinakbet. But this time, kalabasa will be the star in our lunch.

GINISANG KALABASA with SAYOTE TOPS

1/4 kilo pork, sliced
1/2 kilo squash or kalabasa, peeled, seeded and sliced
bunch of sayote leaves
cooking oil
garlic, peeled and crushed
onion, peeled and sliced
salt
fish sauce or patis

Boil sliced pork in 2 cups water, season with salt, covered, about 10 minutes. Separate cooked meat from broth.

In a separate pan, heat oil. Saute garlic, about a minute. Then add onions, saute until transluscent, about a minute also.

Add boiled meat, saute until they turned light brown.

Add sliced squash, stirring occassionaly, about 5 minutes. Then add the remaining pork broth.

Season with fish sauce and a little salt.

When squash slices are tender, drop sayote leaves. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Serve while hot with steaming white rice.

Best with FRIED PORKCHOP.

Royce’s most awaited day of the week is Sunday. This is the day when I let him indulge the not so healthy food in the world, like CRISPY FRIED PORK CHOPS. Huhu. This makes me guilty but I am just letting him have a taste of delicious fatty meal even once in a while. I feed my family with healthy and nutritious vegetable and seafood dishes most of the week, but I spoil them every Sunday lunch. And I want them to enjoy Sunday meals after our Church meetings. Royce favorite is anything that is pork, SINIGANG NA BABOY, INIHAW NA LIEMPO, PORK AFRITADA, ADOBONG BABOY, it’s endless, as long it is pork, he will surely love it!

This CRISPY FRIED PORK CHOPS recipe is a quick, simple and most of all, an inexpensive way to make pork chops.

CRISPY FRIED PORK CHOPS

1 kilo pork chops, sliced thinly
salt
ground pepper
1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups oil for deep frying
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground paprika (optional)
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk

Wash pork chops with running water. Drain with paper towels. Place pork chops in a bowl. With a fork, prick the pork chops thoroughly to tenderize the meat. Season with salt. Marinate for 10-15 minutes.

In a shallow bowl, mix 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, garlic powder, ground paprika and all purpose flour.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and milk until blended well.

Now, dip the pork chops on egg mixture. Then gently press the pork chops into the flour mixture to coat and shake off excess flour.

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Fry the pork chops until the crust is crisp and golden brown, about 5-6 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and drain the excess oil on paper towels.

Serve your CRISPY FRIED PORK CHOPS with steaming white rice.

Last November, Royce and I had a chance to visit Bohol. And it truly was a great experience seeing wonderful places like Chocolate Hills and the white sand of Panglao Beach. My most exciting part is dining on a floating restaurant at Loboc River. I loved the river tour, the Filipino songs performed by the singer, and most specially the unlimited food adventure. While riding on the boat, we get to dine and enjoy all Filipino dishes, from appetizers, soups, main course, fruits and desserts. Since all dishes were our own, I thought that I won’t get to learn and discover much. But I was wrong. I thought the food attendant just misplaced the plate of Lumpiang Shanghai on the dessert table. I was wrong… just for a camote or sweet potato rolled in a lumpia wrapper. A crunchy and sweet lumpia with camote in it. It was indeed to be on a dessert table. I wasn’t able to get a chat to anyone from the kitchen about it, but I guess it is a Boholano dessert. CAMOTE LUMPIA or KAMOTENG LUMPIA was a great dessert or a snack discovery to share.

LUMPIANG KAMOTE or CAMOTE LUMPIA

kamote/camote or sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into strips
brown sugar
cooking oil
lumpia wrappers
water

Separate each lumpia wrapper. Set aside.

Pour brown sugar on a shallow bowl. Also pour water on a separate bowl.

Rest a wrapper on a plate. Get a strip of kamote and dip sides on brown sugar. Place the kamote on lumpia wrapper. Fold two sides of the circle over the camote then roll the wrapper up. Dip your finger on the bowl of water then spread the water on the end of the lumpia wrapper to seal it.

Do same procedure with the rest of sliced kamote.

Heat oil in a small frying pan. On medium high heat, fry the LUMPIANG KAMOTE until golden brown. Drain excess oil.

Serve your LUMPIANG KAMOTE or CAMOTE LUMPIA as a snack or dessert.