Popsicles for a hot summer day

Summer is upon us in our part of the world! The searing heat, the dry,
oven like puff of heat that fills the air has got to call for some way
to cool us down, specially my kids.

The abundance of summer fruits such strawberries, cantaloupes,
Watermelons, mango abound in the Market.

What better way to cool down from the Summer heat than to suck
on these frozen popsicles treats made with fresh fruits like a 5 yr old kid?

Lately, I've been buying boxes upon boxes of Otter Pops
from Cosco Warehouse market. These products are nothing
but plastic tubes, that contains sugar water and artifical flavoring like
orange, strawberry, cantaloupe, mint, lemon-lime, etc... fruit flavor.

My three kids, and together with their playmates
would place these popsicle products in the freezer
overnight then take them out the following day
and sip and suck these frozen cool treats with pleasure on
hot and thirst triggering Summer days.

To me, these popsicles are nothing but artificial flavor,
sugar which is something I prefer my kids or
their playmates not to get used to. Not healthy for their teeth, I must say.

Well, its time I made my own Popsicles that I had better control
of the ingredients put in these cold treats.

I'll be posting a series of Popsicle recipes for the days to come
as I make them.

Strawberry Banana Posicles will be the first recipe and provided below.

Acknowlegement:

I would like to acknowlege Lazy Luau (the vendor
whom I bought my popsicle molds at in EBay) for sharing her Popsicle recipes
where these Popsicle Recipes were based from.

Accoriding to her, she used these Pospicle recipes
while raising her two sons. Thanks :-) .

Strawberry Banana Popsicle

Ingredients:

-1 cup bananas
-1/2 cup plain yogurt
-1 -1 /2 cups fresh and ripe strawberries, leaves taken out, and quartered
-1 (13.5 ounce) can crushed pineapples
-2/3 cups evaporated milk

Preparation procedure
-Put all the ingredients in a blender and blitz them until smooth puree is attained.

-Fill popsicle molds and poke the mold's stick in the middle.

-Put the popsicle in the freezer upright and freeze for a few hours.

-Take out and enjoy!

Poem: You Are Gone by Justin Sinlao

I just wanted to share a poem written by my son Justin.
Justin wrote this poem as a tribute to his best friend McKinley.
McKinley lived in our neighborhood. They were so close to
each other like brothers, but then one day,
for some personal reason McKinley had to leave the
the neighborhood without a trace.

***************

You Are Gone
by Justin K. Sinlao

The flowers are blooming
And winter is gone
Summer has come
But you are gone

I wish you were here
I miss you so much
I think about you no matter what
Weather in my dreams
Or in my thought

I think about you
And how I miss you so much.

Coconut Shrimp and Cucumber salad over a Rice Pilaf

I got the inspiration for this dish from
Chef Dave Lieberman's Spicy Coconut Shrimp with Spicy Mango Basil salsa and
Lime Jasmin Rice recipe in Food Network website.

I didn't have ripe Mango, and my kids tolerate spicy foods poorly
so I was in a mood for modification of the original recipe.

I used cucmuber as a Salad side dish instead as a Salsa.
I deseeded the Korean Pepper to take away the spiciness of the dish.
I also added half a cup of Sprite to add a sweet tone to the dish.

My shrimps were already shelled and deveined so that was a real time saver.
I usually limit my cooking time 30 - 45 minutes
since my kids get impatient about waiting for dinner.

Here are the components of the dish:

Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Serving Yield: four


-Coconut shrimp and its sauce

-cucumber salad side dish

-Rice Pilaf

Ingredients and Cooking Procedure for each component is provided below.


Coconut shrimp and its sauce ingredients:
-2 pounds shrimps, peeled and deveined
-2 peppers (I used Korean peppers) deseeded and chopped
-5 cloves of garlic, minced
-zest of one lime
-a bunch of basil leaves torned
-1/2 cup coconut milk
-1/2 cup Sprite or Mountain Dew soda (soft drink)
-2 tablespoon vegetable oil
-1/2 teaspoon salt
- 20 grinds from a pepper mill
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- ginger the size of a thumb, peeled and grated using a microplane



cucumber salad side dish ingredients:
-1 cucumber, unpeeled, cubed into small peices
-10 basil leaves, coarsely chopped
-10 cilantro (wansuy) leaves, coarsely chopped
-2 lime juiced
-salt and ground pepper


Rice Pilaf ingredients:
- 3 tablespoon peanuts
- 1- 1/2 cups rice, washed and drained
- 4 cups Chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon of chopped butter
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 bunch onion greens (white and green portion) sliced thinly
- fresh ground pepper
- fresh thyme, 4 sprigs
- 2 cloves of garic, smashed and coarsely chopped

Cooking Procedure:

For the Shrimps, prepare and marinade for up to four hours:
In a mixing bowl combine the chopped peppers, minced grated ginger,
brown sugar, soy sauce, lime zest, coconut milk, Sprite, basil, vegetable oil, salt and pepper.
Blend and dissolve thoroughly. Add the shrimp to the bowl. cover the bowl with a plastic cling film,
put in the bowl into the refrigerator and marinate for up to four hours.


Prepare the salad side dish:
Combine the cubed cucumbers, basil leaves, cilantro, lime juice. Season with salt and pepper
to taste.


Prepare Rice Pilaf. (see procedure below)

When the shrimps are ready to be cooked, heat a skillet over high heat.
If using a regular skillet, put 2 tablespoon of oil on the pan.
use a tong to remove to remove the shrimps from the marinade and
place on the skillet being careful that they don't overlap.
Do NOT throw the marinade.

Turn the shrimps over to the other side when each side turns pinkish.
Do not cook longer than 5 minutes so they are tender. The last two minutes of cooking time, sprinkle
with minced garlic. toss the pan. Transfer the cooked shrimps on a plate.

In the same pan, add the marinade. Turn flame on stove on medium heat.
Let boil until the marinade is thick about 5 minutes.

To Serve do the following:

Put a mound of Rice Pilaf on the dish.
carefully lay the shrimps on top of the Rice Pilaf being conscious of presentation.
carefully pour the coconut sauce on top of the shrimps, rich and around the rice mound.
Use a spoon to put the cucumber salad at the side of the mound of rice Pilaf.


********
Rice Pilaf Cooking Procedure:

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium pan.Add the smashed garlic and stir often to prevent it from burning.
Add the chopped peanuts and stir often with a wooden spoon or else it will burn. When the peanuts has turned brown,
add the drained rice grains to the pan. Add the stick of butter. Stir occasionally until the rice has turned brown.
Stir in the Chicken Stock. Let it boil then lower the heat to low setting. Cover the pan (the steam is what is needed to cook the rice).
Add more liquid as needed to soften the rice.

Remove the rice from the heat source. sprinkle with chopped onion leaves. season with salt and pepper as needed.

Sinampalukang Manok

I planned on Cooking another classic Filipino Dish - Chicken Tinola
for lunch except that I was in the mood for some experimentation.

I tried this Sinamalukang Manok dish from Mama Sita Fourth
generation cookbook ISBN 971-91219-0-4. The dish's sauteed
tomatoes, Onions, garlic, and ginger compounded by the
acid flavor of tamarind gives me the impression that this dish
originated from the Tagalog region.

As usual, I modified the recipe and provided below. It is a nice departure
from Chicken tinola that I was accustomed to eating from
my childhood days up to the present.

Here's my take on Sinampalukang Manok:

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp cooking oil
4 lbs. mixture of Chicken Thighs and Chicken wings
1 piece tomato chopped
2 (thumb sized) Ginger julienned
1 piece Onion chopped
4 tablespoon garlic minced
4 tbsp Tamarind base (Sinigang Mix) Powder
1 cup Green beans (AKA Baguio beans, French beans) cut 3 inches length
2 cups Chayote (Sayote) Squash cubed
2 cups Sili leaves or any green leafy vegetable
3 cups water
Patis (Asian Fish Sauce) to taste

Directions:
1. Cut the Chicken thighs to serving pieces using a butchers knife. Season the cut up chicken thighs and wings with salt and ground pepper.

2. In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat cooking oil. Heat oil until it barely starts to smoke.

3. Fry the chicken pieces in batches. Turn the chicken pieces over using a tong. Transfer them to a plate when cooked.

4. In the same pot, saute garlic until sightly brown (burned garlic tastes bitter). Add the chopped onions until it turns opaque followed by the ginger.

5. Add the chopped tomato and saute until it start to thicken as in a paste.

6. Returned the cooked chicken pieces to the pot.

7. Add the water to the pot. Adjust the water by adding some more such
that the chicken pieces are barely covered.

8. Season the dish with Fish sauce.

9. Add the tamarind base powder.

10. Cover the pot, simmer in low heat for another 10 minutes.

11. Uncover the pot, and add the Chayote, green bean cook uncovered for another 5 minutes.

12. Turn off the heat and add the Sili leaves.

13. Serve warm with freshly cooked steamed rice.

Busy workperson’s Pochero

-Dish modification by Julius Sinlao

Pochero, is a Filipino stew dish with definite Spanish influence. With a rich combination of vegetables such as carrots, potato, cabbage, ‘saba’ banana, chopped onions, minced garlic, and meat such as brisket beef, and Chorizo de Bilbao (One of Spain's most popular cooking chorizo sausages) this dish is a definite delight after a tiring day at work.

I followed PinoyCook.net Pochero recipe. Click here to view the Recipe. I modified Connie Veneracion’s recipe to utilize the 3 1/2 quart slow cooker. I also decreased the ingredients size in order to accommodate the dish in a Slow cooker. I titled it “Busy workperson’s Pochero” because it utilizes a slow cooker,and could be convenient and tasty dish for (who else) the busy person.

Prepare the dish 30 minutes before leaving for work. Let it sit in the slow cooker at low setting all day. By the time you arrive home from work, the dish is ready to be served.

I’m forced to rewrite the whole cooking procedure since I decreased the ingredient amount; omitted an ingredient or two , and modified some of her procedures. Here’s my take on PinoyCook.net’s Pochero:

Serving: five

Ingredients:

5 ounces (2 sticks) of Chorizo de Bilbao

3 pounds brisket steak

1 white medium onion chopped

2 tablespoon garlic

2 plump tomatoes chopped

2 carrots coarsely chopped

1 - 6 ounce can tomato paste

1 - 15 ounce can tomato sauce

4 bay (laurel) leaves

4 pieces Saba Banana sliced 2 inch

Cabbage coarsely sliced

Salt and ground pepper for seasoning

Cooking Procedure:

1. In a frying pan, heat cooking until it is barely starts to smoke (not profusely smoking).

2. Sear the Brisket steak on the frying pan to seal in the juices in the meat. About 4 minutes each side.

3. Let the steak rest on a draining grate or a plate for about 5 to 10 minutes to allow it to cool down and allow the juices to circulate in the steak.

4. Cut the brisket to 1 inch cube.

5. Cut the vegetables to desired size.

6. In the slow cooker, place the vegetable and meat in layers, those longer to cook a the bottom most in this order:

· Bottom most layer: potato cubes

· Carrots

· Chopped onions and minced garlic

· Chopped tomatoes

· Saba bananas

· Brisket cubes

· Sliced Chorizo sausages

· Tomato paste

· Top most layer: Tomato sauce

7. Pour in the tomato paste and tomato sauce.

8. Add a cup of water.

9. Season with salt and ground pepper.

10. Cover the slow cooker. Set the slow cooker to low setting. Connect the slow cooker to a timer. Program the timer to run for eight hours. Plug in the timer to an electrical outlet.

11. Fast forward to late afternoon/early evening. Steam or boil the string beans and sliced cabbage in a pot or steamer to tenderize it.

12. Using a slotted spoon transfer the contents of the slow cooker in a wide bowl.

13. Combine the softened string beans and cabbage in the Pochero dish.

14. Serve the dish while it is hot.

qoute of the day, 29JAN2008

Sometimes we must be Hurt in order to Grow,
Sometimes we must Fail in order to Know,
Sometimes we must Lose in order to Gain,
Because some lessons in life are best learned through PAIN...
-anonymous

qoute of the day, In life series, 22JAN2008

In life, it doesn't matter who you are
but whether someone appreciates you for what you are.

A real friend is one who walks in
when the rest of the world walks out.

-qoute from my friend Ailleen