Pork Cordon Bleu and Pesto Cream Cheese Dip

Happy New Year! :)

I guess my goal to write often will always be part of my wishlist *lol*

A lot of things get in the way here and there but I would still love to spare a little time sharing something here - like this super easy and cheesy dish! It's fun to make and it's not the same as what we're used to, which is chicken. It was our helper back in my highschool days who taught us how to make these. The mini "pork rolls" were sealed by toothpicks and fried in oil. This version has a little more to it - the bread crumbs, eggs and the works, plus pesto cream cheese as dip. Yum!!!


Pork Cordon Bleu

about 8 pieces pork tenderloin cut thinly (size is about 4 X 5) or thin pork chops w/o the fat and skin
salt and pepper to season
quick melting cheese, cut in sticks (size that fits in pork when you roll it, i was able to consume 1/2 of the cheese bar)
toothpicks (for sealing)

flour
2 eggs
Japanese bread crumbs / Panko
Vegetable Oil for frying

Pesto Cream Cheese Sauce

1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup of cream cheese
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp ready made pesto
salt and pepper to taste


- season the pork w/ salt and pepper, place the cheese sticks in the middle, fold sides and ends over cheese and roll up; secure each with a toothpick. Dip roll-ups in flour, then egg mixture, then roll in crumbs and fry until golden. Drain well. Remove toothpicks carefully for presentation purposes!

*you can put garlic bits or bacon bits or what have you in the rolls ups together with the cheese!

- on low heat: melt butter in pan, add cream cheese and milk, simmer until cheese has melted, then add the pesto, salt and pepper to taste and serve w/ pork cordon bleu


Cheese is really overflowing in this recipe but it won't hurt our diet if this will be eaten occasionally! :) Serve with hot rice or can be served as pica-pica too! I know...the holidays are over and summer is definitely coming (beach! beach!). But this does not stop me from eating anything delicious! This is where the 3-day diet programs and tankinis come in! :P

Vegetable Samosas (Not so!)

I have been craving for Max's veggie lumpia bites that I have tasted during Cana's christening and Archie and I thought it's something close to Samosas. (Cana: my God daughter, daughter of my friend and former boss)

Tutal, it was the weekend and I had a little bit of time to do it since Javie was taking his siesta and Archie is sleeping the day away.

I know, I know they don't look exactly like the real samosas :P they are bordering empanaditas or triangular lumpia. Hehehe.

This was my first ever attempt to use Phyllo pastry, so please forgive me for violating her rights and not giving her some justice. I wanted to make some Baklava but I do not have enough goodies for it so I decided to make it into something healthy.

However, this did not come out really right - Aesthetically speaking. It appeared in other shapes and sizes and the ones on the photo are the nicer ones, mind you.

I wish I read more carefully on how to thaw it as it is indeed a delicate kind of pastry. I wish I researched more BEFORE I made these. This was too much excitement in action!

Being too excited/gullible is my weakness. Sad to say.

But I am happy to tell you that the filling recipe is really good. I just added some chopped cabbage and used chicken broth instead of vegetable stock. Then I wrapped them in various ways since the pastry is really breaking already, I was on panic mode. Then I fried, drained then placed on paper towel to absorb excess oil.

On how to wrap samosas properly, please watch this.

Therefore I learned.

So in the future, I shall be more diligent in following package instructions, get away with food waste and save money! Or else, use lumpia wrapper :P

Molten Cheese Risotto Patties

I like cutting out recipes from magazines or newspapers. Especially if the photo looks really enticing and mouthwatering! I have a lenten special recipe cut out from The Inquirer last year and I said to myself that I am really gonna make it very soon.

How soon was soon? Let's say, after 365 days or so! And just in time for the Holy Week, on a Maundy Thursday here in my cooking kingdom.

This is a "project" that I proposed to Rica a couple of days before the Holy Week. Shyempre, game si sister! So let's go!

I learned from the OB boys, especially from Chef Richmond (hubby's friend) that cooking Risotto is no joke at all.

So there we were stirring like crazy for about 3 hours... It took us about 5 hours for the preparation and cooking time. Whew!!! But hey, it was really worth it! Thank you to AG and my house angels for helping us! As sung by The Wonderpets on Nick Jr., "What's gonna work? Teamwork!"

The original recipe is called Molten Cheese Risotto Balls. So why oh why did we make it into patties?

Let me tell you a story: We really did make balls at first. Please see photos below:

Yup! My hands!

See!?? BALLS!!!

But the ending was:

Not so-BALL looking balls aren't they? :(

Why did we not achieve perfect deep fried balls?

Maybe the balls would have to sit for a couple of hours or overnight in the freezer to make the balls firm enough so they won't melt during deep frying! Wekwekwekwek!

But we enjoyed it that night, anyway! ;-)

So the following day, after some moments in the thinking chair, with a little enhancement on this "full of effort" meal - I decided to transform the balls to patties and coat them with more bread crumbs - a mix of the ordinary ones and the Japanese. After doing so, I kept them all in the freezer overnight and fried a few patties the next day and have seen great results!

Since the risotto patties were already full of cheese, I intended to make a non-cheesy dip as opposed to the original recipe. So what could be best with this cheesy meal? Ting!! Another light bulb moment: why not a marinara sauce a la TGI Friday's fried mozarella!

For the home made marinara sauce, here's what I used:

a can of peeled tomatoes (I used Molinera)
** if this is not available, you can definitely use fresh tomatoes (about 4)! Just peel them and take out the seeds and chop

olive oil
1 small white onion, finely chopped
about 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped, you can add some more if you want it more garlicky!
dried herbs: basil, oregano, marjoram and parsley
salt and pepper

The way:
in a pan, saute the onions and the garlic in olive oil, then add the peeled tomatoes with some of sauce from the can. Crush the tomatoes and then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for a few minutes!

Presto! Ready to serve!

I feel blessed that my pantry has a few cans of peeled tomatoes waiting for their own spotlight! How convenient was that? :) Thank you Lord! :)





When you try this, just remember to start early! Better yet, as learned from Rica (on her 2nd attempt!), the risotto rice can be well done faster when you use a shallow sauce pan! The long wait is over! Thanks, sis! :)

Hot, crispy, cheesy and golden brown! This is great with wine! Cheers!

P.S. All the photos were taken during night time! Waaah! Ok lang busog naman ako! Hehe!