"Pho-bulous" time for Pho!

I ate "Pho Cuong 2" in the Berryessa center (BX! Holla!). I've ate there a few times and the prices are reasonable and the service is.. sufficient. By sufficient that means it meets the bare minimum "most of the time", and by bare minimum I mean like following through with simple request like water refills. For those who eat at typical pho places, you know what i mean!

Anyway the pho here is good..! i like the taste of the broth, and i usually get brisket only or well done roundeye steak meat. Another dish i would reccomend is the Lemon grass chicken.




"Pho-bulous"! LMAO! =)

Beef Caldareta Tacos!

I get late night cravings all the time before bed and it never fails! So last night, I went to the fridge and put together this mouth watering "QUICK FIX".

Toasted some corn tortillas, then chopped and heated some left over beef caldareta. Then I chopped up some onions, avocado, and smoked Gouda cheese, then put it all together! Yes it was delicious, and full-proof!!!

High Protein mayonnaise free TUNA SALAD

Ingredients:

2 cans Tuna (Drained)
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
2 tbsp Sweet Relish
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Japanese Pepa
6 eggs hard boiled and peeled
1/2 yellow onion diced!
mustard (honey or hot)




Smash peeled hard boiled eggs through a mesh strainer. the eggs should be a fine mushy consistency. Mix the strained tuna, with the eggs, onions, relish, lemon juice, salt & pepa. when its all mixed together add the mustard or your choice to make the consistency of the tuna salad more cohesive. For this recipe I used Beaver brand honey mustard. Mix it all well together and serve with bread or crackas!

FYI: the Japanese pepa is "shichimi togarashi" found in Asian markets.



(my attempt at presentation! Tuna salad on crackas and toasted bread circles! W/ white wine)


My Review:
While trying to find a mayonnaise free tuna salad online i came across this recipe but changed everything, and really made my own recipe. The only thing i kept was the hard boiled egg mush to make it mayonnaise free. This recipe is healthy, tasty, and high in protein! The tuna salad actually has the consistency of pate' or liverwurst, and its not bad at all. You can totally pass this off as some fancy "hors d'oeuvres" at your next party! LOL



Last shot of my creation garnished with chopped salad greens and pimento pieces! =)

Flip Breakfast

LING NAM!
2211 Gellert Blvd
South San Francisco, CA 94080


Recently ate Filipino Breakfast at LING-NAM in South San Francisco. They serve Chinese influenced Filipino food, and the food is not bad and moderately priced. I had the Adobo-Silog, and a bowl of Arroz Caldo.



ADOBO-SILOG


Filipino breakfast is typically a plate, with a variation of very-seasoned and very flavorful meat, such as Tapa, Ticino, Longinisa, Bangus, spam, bacon, adobo, sisig.. etc.! Its served with a hearty portion of garlic fried rice, and sunny side up eggs. traditionally a side of atchara (sweet shredded pickled papaya) or tomato slices are served. Yes i know this breakfast is very filling! extra Full-Proof! LoL!



ARROZ CALDO

Arroz Caldo is also served for breakfast. It is a hearty Rice porridge that has chicken meat. Its usually garnished with chopped green onions and minced fried garlic. This can also be served with a side of fried tofu, and you can use patis (fish sauce) or soy sauce in the soup for flavor.



These dishes at ling-nam were not bad. The adobo in particular was mediocre and too salty. The Arroz caldo was very uninspired! But i did like the fact that the chicken meat was boneless.



I would recommend this place if you are desperate, and are really craving Filipino food. I also recommend this place if you want something late night and are in the area. because they are open 24 hour on the weekends!

Thai Curry

Thai Chicken Curry (Red Penag Curry)



Ingredients:

3 lbs Boneless chicken breast
2 pkg red Thai curry paste
2 cans Coconut Milk
2 yellow onions
2 red bell peppers
1 pkg white or brown mushrooms
1 large can sliced bamboo shoots
1 bunch fresh basil leaf
1 bunch green onions
olive oil

Additional Ingredients:
Salt
ground black pepper
cayenne pepper
fish sauce (to taste)

Depending on how hot u like it:
Tabasco
Whole fresh red Thai chili pepper

*These ingredients are for a LARGE pot, cut ingredients in half for smaller pot.


Start off by Cleaning and chopping the vegetables. Yellow onions sliced lengthwise and set aside. Red bell pepper should be de-cored and de-seeded and slicked in little chucks. Basil Leaf picked from the stems and washed. set aside. Mushrooms cleaned thoroughly and sliced. Green onions should also be minced and set aside. Open the can of bamboo shoots and drain liquid, afterwards rinse the bamboo shoots while still in can.

Cut the boneless chicken into chunks and set aside. Season the chicken with Salt, black & cayenne pepper, and a little bit of fish sauce. Heat about 1 table spoon of olive oil in a large pot. when oil is hot put in sliced yellow onions and cover while stirring occasionally. when onions have become soft but not transparent put seasoned clicked chicken in pot with onions and cover, cook for about 5 mins. Then open 1 pkg of red curry paste and put in with chicken and onions. let cook for another 2-5 mins. when its all mixed together.. add bamboo shoots, bell pepper, mushrooms, last pkg of curry paste and two cans of coconut milk. mix it well all together and let it simmer for 35-45 mins on medium low heat.

When the vegetables look soft and the curry looks all red and orange, mix in the minced green onions and basil leaf. let it cook for another 5 mins and then remove from heat and let it stand to thicken and then serve hot with while rice.


*if you like it extra hot, add Tabasco to the raw chopped chicken, and poke holes using a fork to the whole Thai pepper. this will allow the heat from the pepper to distribute while its being cooked with the curry.




My Review:
This Recipe is amazing! I've been cooking this for a while and It gets better each time. The flavors really melt all together, and make this a very interesting dish. Serve with white rice and some hot tea, and you'll really feel like your eating authentic Thai food!

Other Variations:
You can use boneless skinless thighs, if you want dark meat. You can also use beef, or pork, or come seafood, like shrimp or fish. Just make sure its all boneless. You can also add other vegetables if you like or take some vegetables out of the recipie. Give & take, is fine! If you like more flavor add an additional pkg of red curry paste. Always be sure that 1 pkg of paste is good for 1 can of coconut milk. And if you like it more spicy add fresh thai pepper.






Please... ENJOY!!

Guam Fiesta

WARNING: Viewing this Dish will cause intense HUNGER.




Hafa Adai!



*SIGH* this is the average Guam fiesta plate that I had at a family party last weekend. Red Rice, Chicken keleguen, BBQ short ribs, and potato salad. The only thing missing was some finnadenne and Pickled papaya!


I really grew my appreciation for food, when i was raised on Guam! Such a melting pot of different foods and cultures! Lanya Nai!

ADOBO Fried Rice

ADOBO Fried Rice
(original recipe)



Ingredients:

Leftover Adobo (chicken, pork or beef)
Day old white rice
1 Yellow onion chopped
olive oil

*any other fried rice items. Be creative!


First mince chop yellow onion and set aside. Then debone the adobo meat, and strain all the sauce and oil from the leftover adobo through a mesh strainer. Heat up a large pan with olive oil and all of the left over adobo sauce. Chop up the deboned meat, in small chunks.

Heat up a large pan or wok, with the olive oil and strained leftover adobo sauce. When mixture is hot enough, fry onions until it becomes translucent and soft. Next add the chopped adobo and mix with the onions. Immediately mix the white rice in and keep on mixing until the rice breaks up completely and is all separated. Add salt to taste. Serve HOT!





My Review: This Recipe was so easy to make.. and didn't require anything to tedious besides chopping and frying. It was also very FULL-PROOF. Next time i would add extra ingredients like green onions, fried egg, maybe a frozen vegetable medley (without the lima beans). The thing i love about fried rice is that its very easy to make and you can be very creative each time. Fried rice also becomes more FULL-PROOF when you add more ingredients and Hella White Rice! =)

Beef Lomo

BEEF LOMO
(Recipe of Filipino origin)




Ingredients:

1.5 - 2 lbs of Boneless Beef short ribs
8-10 cloves garlic
1 large yellow onion
2 large tomatoes
3-4 heads of bok choy
Fish Sauce (Patis)
Ground Black Pepper
olive oil

Wash all vegetables thoroughly
Peel, smash and mince garlic. Slice Yellow onion, and cube chop tomatoes. remove bottom core of bok choy and chop length wise. set vegetables aside. Slice beef in small even cuts, and heat olive oil in a wok of small pot.

When olive oil is hot enough, fry garlic first until it becomes fragrant and golden in color. Add onions and fry together until onions become soft but not translucent. Add Sliced beef and 2 table spoons of fish sauce, with black pepper. Add tomatoes and cook over medium low heat.

Cover and stir occasionally for about 10-15 Min's. when When tomatoes have reduced and skin starts to peel. Add more fish sauce if desired, for salty flavor. Lastly place chopped bok choy in beef lomo and mix together. cover with very low heat until the bok choy is soft but not over cooked.

Remove from heat and serve it warm with white rice!






My Review:
This recipe was taught to me by my Grandma Baby, who is an exceptional cook. This recipe is savory and very FULL-PROOF, especially served over a lot of white rice. I love how the vegetables and meat cooks down and creates such a delicious flavor. Its very easy to cook and is even better the next day because all of the flavors really sit and mix together.

Other variations:
You can use boneless chicken or pork instead of beef. If you like more sauce with this recipe, rapidly boil the meat with 1 can of beef broth until reduced and some what thicker. The vegetables already reduce down to create sauce, but some may want more for their rice. You can also add fresh sliced mushrooms to the recipe and let it cook down. Asparagus is another good vegetable to add or use to replace bok choy. Cayenne Pepper is also good to add for spice and color, depending how spicy you like it. I regularly mix black and cayenne pepper in this recipe.

Spinach & Broccoli potato bread stuffing

Spinach and Broccoli potato bread stuffing
(adapted from Emeril Lagasse's spinach artichoke stuffing recipe)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 1/2 pounds spinach, washed (3 cups cooked and roughly chopped)
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning blend
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 heads broccoli stemmed and chopped
  
• 2 large eggs
• 1 can cream of chicken
  
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 12 to 13 slices lightly toasted potato bread
• 1/2 cup milk
  
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted, about 30 seconds. Drain and rinse with cold water. Once cool, squeeze as much water from spinach as possible, then roughly chop, and reserve.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until golden brown and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, 2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the Broccoli and cook, stirring, another 5-8 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve.

Combine the eggs, cream of chicken, chicken stock, lemon juice, remaining 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, remaining 2 teaspoons salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the bread, spinach, broccoli mixture, milk, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and stir to combine. If bread does not absorb all of liquid immediately then let rest until this happens, about 20 minutes.

Pour the bread pudding mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan over the top and drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Bake until firm in the center and golden brown, about 1 hour. Serve warm.

My Review
I made a lot of changes to the original to really make it my own. first of all: brie and heavy cream was substituted for Skim milk and cream of chicken. Artichoke was replaced with broccoli an french bread was replaced with potato bread. I managed to make this dish healthy by cutting out extra fat calories.

I <3 Stuffing! so to me, this recipe was really savory and tasty. I don't think stuffing should be reserved just for thanksgiving and holidays. It's a really creative dish that could be made anytime, in my opinion. I know the picture doesn't do it much justice, but it was so flavorful and yummy. Try it next time and let me know what you think.

Food brings Flavor to Life!

So I'm finally creating a food blog to follow all my food sightings, cravings, and recipes. For my first few entries I'm gonna share some food recipes that i cooked in the past. Pardon the poor pictures as I'm just starting this new blog. Most of the photos are from my phone. >_<

I hope my insight to food will make your eating experiences more FULL-PROOF!



Regards,

Lex