Potato Gratin with Creamy Cheese Sauce and Bacon Bits

One of the joys of working from home is being able to spend a little more time in the kitchen, even if you barely have a minute left to "log in". I like the adrenaline rush when the pot is boiling  and there goes my alarm saying "hey you gotta go now". Then come the sprinting and running up the stairs to my little office space. :)

We had so much potatoes last weekend. When Archie and I have our market day, he's actually in-charge of the vegetables. Because of too much excitement, he kind of "unintentionally" hoards tomatoes, onions, garlic (which I don't mind by the way because I love garlic!), carrots and potatoes. 

The first four are fine as we use them most of the time. Lately, the potatoes aren't used much. I have been watching on my diet for the past couple of months that I veered away from eating starchy foods (and lessened my carb intake and blah blah!)

So with all the potatoes piling up on our veggie tray, I figured they need to be given the attention they deserve! I thought of making mojos, mashed potatoes, sautéed potatoes with rosemary and gratin. I know, potatoes are very versatile! OK, so the debate in my mind (and tummy) went on for a few minutes and the gratin won! Which hubby was so happy about :)

I have no proper recipe for this, nor I followed a classic procedure on how to make a potato gratin.

Here's what I had and what I did: 

8 medium-large potatoes

8 cloves of garlic, minced

olive oil

about 2 tbsps butter

about 200 grams of bacon, chopped

3 packs of all purpose cream 

1/2 cup fresh milk

salt and pepper

2 blocks of quick melting cheese, grated

about 1 cup of grated mozzarella

First I buttered a 9 X 13 pan, set aside and pre-heat the oven at 180C.

I boiled the potatoes until they're tender enough but not to the point that they're mushy (I think this took about 30 mins to boil and make them tender) peeled and sliced them in rounds about 1/4 inch thick (I think this is thicker that the usual) and set them aside.

For the creamy cheese sauce and bacon bits, I sautéed the garlic in olive oil and butter, then added the chopped bacon. When bacon was cooked, I poured the cream, about 1/2 cup of grated quick melting cheese and fresh milk, a little salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble, I placed the first layer of the sliced potatoes on the buttered pan, poured some the sauce, just enough to cover the layer, sprinkled some grated cheese, then onto the next layer and so on. For this batch I had 3 layers. For the final topping, I used a combination of quick melting cheese (what's left of it) and mozzarella cheese. (I forgot I had Parmesan cheese. totally!)

I placed the pan in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through until the top was already a bit toasted and cream is bubbling. I placed the pan on the cooling rack and waited for a few minutes before serving.

So this was what I had for lunch on my busy Tuesday and Archie's "baon" for work! :)

Ahhh, the perks of working from home = the joy of having home cooked meals, served warm with love <3

P.S.

Days are getting busier and fuller. My little boy will be back to school next week! I didn't forget that it was my blog's 3rd birthday last May 16. Belated happy birthday bloggy! I so wanted to write a birthday post but that day was packed, as well as the following day! So better late than never! ;)

Ham, Cheese and Chili Crepe

Changes, changes... as they say, there is nothing constant in this world except change.

When change comes, I press the panic button before trying to step back a little to understand what is going on and think things through. When I panic, I usually make mistakes. tsk tsk.. Though sometimes, I am happy to say it's the other way around. Yes, just sometimes.

At least! :)

I wish changes, in all forms, is just as easy as changing your weekend food. I didn't go full circle, but I just tried to have something we don't usually have. Crepes. Oh yes, it's refreshing and rewarding after the changes, panic and the boo-boos... my boo-boos! :S

This is a savory crepe inspired by Café Breton's Vesuve. Sheila had me try this back in December and I instantly loved it.

For the ham filling, you'll need:

vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
about 6 cloves of garlic, minced
3 to 4 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
8 slices of cooked ham (not sweet), diced
Chili pepper flakes (start with half a teaspoon for a mild spicy kick)
pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 bar of quick melting cheese (this is about 100 grams, you can grate a little extra of you want)


Prepare the filling - heat the oil and sauté the onions until translucent, add the garlic, then tomatoes. When tender, add the ham, then sprinkle the pepper flakes, add just a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

For the basic crepe recipe, I got it from the book Joy of Cooking. I just made a little changes below:

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt

1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup warm water
4 eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted
extra 6 teaspoons of butter (for the pan)

mix dry ingredients (flour, salt or sugar) and set aside. melt butter, set aside
in a large bowl, mix the milk, water, eggs and add melted butter. Mix well
slowly add the dry ingredients by sifting it through the bowl, then mix thoroughly until there are no lumps anymore. I like my milk and water warm as it dissolves the dry ingredients faster.

Note: This makes about 6 crepes. I am using a 9-inch non-stick pan. You can prepare the crepe batter ahead of time and store it in airtight container in the fridge.

To prepare the crepe, heat your pan, melt a teaspoon of butter and pour a ladle of the crepe batter (I pour about 1/2 cup) and tilt the pan in circular motion until you achieve the round form of the crepe. Cook until the bottom is ok, about 2 minutes on low to medium heat, like if you see a little toasted color under, then that's good.

Then in the center of the crepe, put about 2 tablespoons of the ham filling and a tablespoon or more of grated quick melting cheese, then fold the crepe. Careful on folding as the crepe tends to tear. I suggest you use two cooking spatulas/turners when you fold the crepe. If you want to cook/prepare all the crepes first, go ahead :)

The crepe batter is also good for sweet/dessert crepes. Just omit the salt and add 4 to 5 tablespoons of sugar (will post our dessert crepe soon!)


I am in the process of learning to accept the other side of change. That: it's not always bad, that it's not something to be scared about. I should think that change is also a step towards improvement. So here I am, resting on this well deserved weekend, preparing myself to embrace the changes that will come.

Happy weekend! :)

Baked Salmon a la Conti's

I am definitely not one of the most updated people when it comes to the newest things in the universe: gadgets, movies, restos and famous resto foods. Name it.

So... new restos, food craze... I do have a wish list though ;)


It was just recently that I got to try Conti's baked salmon. Ok, I know you are just about to laugh or maybe you are now - hehehe that's ok! :)

I have been there waaaaay way back. I have heard of that baked salmon a couple of times from friends raving about how good and tasty it is and all that jazz. Fine. I just don't know why I didn't get to try it before.

so anyway, better late than never! Archie took me there for brunch just recently and finally, in my own taste buds, I'm already able to relate to my raving friends.

Sabi nga ni Kris Aquino once upon a time in a cooking segment in one of her talk shows--- ang sarrrrrrrrraaahhhhhhp!


*Fireworks*

At bilang nagustuhan ko siya, of course, I definitely had plans of re-creating it at home. Just to add a little personal touch, I put some breadcrumbs on top of the cheesy mixture.


Here goes the experiment:

1 salmon fillet
salt and pepper
Juice of half a lemon


Cheese Garlic-Mayo topping

½ block cream cheese - softened
About 3 tbsp mayo
1 to 1 and a half tbsp garlic chopped finely (if you want it more garlicky, just add a bit more)
About 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup for the cream mixture and 1/4 for the topping)
Salt and pepper to taste
Breadcrumbs (optional. I like it w/ breadcrumbs, but the one served at Conti's does not have this)


Garnish - Buttered Vegetables:

Mixed vegetables
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

Rub salmon fillet with salt and pepper, then lemon juice for about 20 minutes

While salmon is marinating, mix thoroughly the cream cheese, mayo, garlic, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. set aside.

Pan fry salmon about 2 to 3 mins on both sides

Pre-heat toaster/turbo. Assemble the fried fish on baking tray, then top w/ cheese garlic mayo mixture, sprinkle w/ remaining parmesan cheese and bread crumbs, bake in toaster/turbo for about 10 to 15 mins at 175C

Microwave mixed vegetables w/ 2 tbsp butter for about 20 to 30 seconds until butter is melted, season with salt and pepper.

Put out the baking tray and surround the baked salmon with butter vegetables. You can actually use other veggies like brocolli, cauliflower, baguio beans, sayote, carrots strips if desired.

It came out pretty much ok, and tastes fairly the same, less the paella rice as it is served in the resto.

If Salmon isn't too expensive, this can be a regular on my monthly menu! You might also want to try it if you are a Salmon lover! Hope you like it! :)

Now back to my resto-wanna-go-wish-list. By the way, Happy second birthday, Happy Tummy bloggy! :)

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

Stuffed and Baked Potatoes

Since baked potatoes were born in Wendy's I couldn't help but feel sad with the little amount of toppings. Now where is justice there? Can i just say bitin at tipid?

Then came my goal to make my own simple baked potatoes with oozing cheese and lots of bacon bits to die for.

I wanted to submit this recipe to Eden Cheese's Sarap ng Buhay event as a contribution but failed due to laziness. Sorry! Next year nalang! Anyways, I am still happy that my pizza made it there! Yey!


On the photo I used:

3 medium sized potatoes


Stuffing:

1 tbsp butter
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup Cheez Whiz
1/4 cup All Purpose Cream
about 1/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup Grated Eden Melt Sarap, and some extra for topping (optional)
Mashed Potatoes

Topping:

about 100 grams fried bacon bits (drain the oil!)


Because I would rather go the faster way, I boiled the potatoes for about 15-20 minutes until they're tender. Then after waiting a few minutes for it to cool, slice the top horizontally, scrape off the remaining potato meat then set aside. For the bigger potato slice, scoop out about 2 tbsp as if you are making a potato bowl. The scraped and mashed potatoes will be added to the cheese stuffing later on.



While boiling the potatoes, save time by making your cheese stuffing:

In a small saucepan, melt the butter then add the minced garlic, cheez whiz, cream, milk and grated cheese. Allow to simmer then set aside. Add the mashed potatoes and mix well



and then put about 2 tbps of cheese stuffing on the potato or until full.


Top with extra grated cheese if you want, then the bacon bits, then bake it in your toaster for only 10 minutes or until cheese melts




Now I wouldn't have to be sad with other baked potatoes :)

I started this blog because of other great bloggers and realized that it also came through as a therapy (well, until now it still is).

I was dreaming to reach a hundred entries this December, obviously I didn't. Maybe I will, when I reach my first birthday here! So wish me luck!

My making up for lost times with my blog still led to another moment of making up for lost time. What on earth happened to the last 33 days? P-L-E-N-T-Y.

Anyway, it's the holiday season! It's time to cram!

Until my next "making up for lost time"!

In case I don't get back sooner --- Merry Christmas and a Happy 2010 to you all!:)

Ube Roll Cake - An attempt.

I have been dying to try this recipe of Kusina ni Manang for the longest time. I have waited for my Dad to arrive from his Baguio trip so that I could have Baguio Made Ube Halaya. MMMMmmmmm. Yum. (tapos, gawa pala sa Cubao at dinala lang ng Baguio eh?!! Joke!)



Just a brief background: I-HEART-UBE. Especially UBE Cakes - wherever it's from I don't mind. I like buying Ube Rolls from neighboorhood bakeries. My Dad brings me Ube Rolls in some of his visits. Hihihi.

To my dear Manang Kusinera - thanks for sharing your recipe! It was a blast! I super enjoyed making it. Though I goofed on the chiffon/sponge part, like I told you, the filling and icing took away my frustration in an instant!

Just to let you know, Manang's filling/icing recipe is the best by far. The combination of Ube and Cream Cheese made the difference. It was 'heavenly' for me. No exag, promise!

My Boo-boos on the cake roll:

1. I used a jelly roll pan (12X16) larger than the the size indicated in the recipe. My supposed roll became quite flat.

- It was the closest one to the size in the recipe (15X10). The other pan available is waaaay too small.

Gintong Aral - Huwag magmadali. Maghanap ng kaparehong sukat ng pan. Lookie down!



2. My first time to use egg whites in cake: Beat egg whites until stiff.

My egg whites never went 'really' stiff. I think I started whipping it when it was still cold.

Pers taym eh!

Gintong Aral - READ AND READ UNTIL IT SINKS IN.

Manang said: Best to whip whites when they are room temp. And this.


Sorryyyy! I was tooooooooo excited. Really. Just like what i said here about Tyler Florence's Ultimate Cheesecake: Now I know better. :P

The sponge instead became moist and heavy and definitely not like what Manang has perfected.

Nonetheless, it was all good - according to my friendly testers ;) Thank you guysh!



I will make this again and again until I get it and because I will never get tired of ube cake. Especially Manang's recipe! :)


'Till my next attempt! :)

Chicken Afritada: A Karinderia Moment

When I was younger, I have thought of a lot of careers - I wanted to be a doctor, a pilot, a stewardess, an architect, a painter/ an artist and a showbiz superstar. Later on, I wanted to become a chef. During my time in college, taking up Culinary Arts was the latest craze... only to find out that the course of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management (in my school) required 2 College Algebra subjects, 2 or 3 Accounting subjects and another term for practicum, aside from the humongous amount of tuition fee.

Huwag nalang! (never mind!)

With that, I decided to take Human Resources Management. I said to myself anyway, I can still continue cooking even without a degree in culinary. The dream to be called Chef Jam flew in the air and now in the milkyway. OK lang. Promise!

Well, if I did pursue culinary, I might have not met my darling hubby and not have our little J, right? Aww, destiny! :) HAHAHA!

Cheesy aside... Since I find extreme joy in cooking, and despite that I do not have the toque... Still, I really want to have a food business. Not a fancy resto but Karinderia or a Canteen that serves the masses. I would partner with my Mommy Tess, Ate Jeng or my friend Sheila who are all great cooks! We just need to save up for a capital, and a good good place for it.

What do Pinoy canteens/karinderias serve? Easy. Pinoy Comfort Food! What else, right?

So let me then share with you another favorite in our household: Chicken Afritada

I play with the name by sometimes calling it Chicken Africhado (chado, from Mechado), Chicken Caldechado (Caldereta and Mechado) Chicken Caldetada (Caldereta and Afritada) because they taste so close to each other! I realized this after reading Bob Ong's ABNKKBSNPLAKO)

For this dish, I used:

canola oil
1 small onion, minced
about 1 tsp of garlic, minced
1/2 kilo of chicken, cut in serving pieces
3 medium sized potatoes, cut in quarters
1 big carrot sliced in bite size pieces
Fish Sauce to taste (careful with the Salt!)
Pepper to taste
1 250 grams pack of tomato sauce
about 1/4 tsp of brown sugar to taste (optional)
about 1/2 cup of grated cheese (Eden MeltSarap)
1 tbsp of McCormick Caldereta Mix (optional)
1 cup of water/chicken stock/rice wash (hugas bigas)
about 1/4 cup of green peas
1 Red Bell Pepper sliced in strips


The Way:

On Medium to Low heat, sauté onions and garlic in canola oil. Throw in the chicken and wait until it becomes a little brown in color, the chicken will release its own juice while you are frying it. Then add the potatoes and carrots. Simmer for about 15 minutes, then season with fish sauce and pepper, pour the tomato sauce, add sugar (optional), add the cheese, a tablespoon of caldereta mix and 1 cup of water/chicken stock/rice wash. you may want to add water little by little if you want a thick consistency. Taste your afritada once in a while so that you can decide whether or not it already suits your palette. I like my afritada with a thick sauce (aka ma-sarsa). Lastly, add the green peas and bell pepper and simmer for more or less 3 minutes to avoid the bell pepper to overcook.

You might want to garnish it with cheese just before serving. :)


'Till my next Karinderia entry :-)

Little J's 2nd Birthday

My little boy just turned 2 years old last July 6 and he is at the prime of his toddler stage.

Javie is our greatest joy and the best blessing in our life as a family. He makes us (hubby and i) more complete than ever!

Never mind his little tantrums and his fuzzy moments. Everyone goes through that anyway! I learned from Irene, my former boss, that it's best to focus on what our toddler can do and NOT on what he/she cannot do. Focus on your kid's positive side! With that, she erased the "terrible toddler" mentality and she called her toddler her Terrific Two! Please allow me to apply that with my own :-)

For my terrific two's birthday, our family had a get together last Sunday (as an advanced celebration). Then come his birthday, on Monday noon, we had a feast at Pepper Lunch at the Shang. Our boy liked the croutons from his dad's Caesar salad, slurped on his own order of miso soup and shared the Double Beef Pepper Rice with mom.

He likes playing with the chopsticks and he thinks they are drum sticks. He says "drums! drums!" acting like a little drummer boy!

Didn't end there. He had dessert of course! So we headed right up to the ice cream stall. He can't stop eating the rocky road. He wants to steal my pistachio and coffee crumble ice cream by the way. (He says: Ice shweee!!! Ice shweee!!! )

Look at that funny little mess!

In the afternoon, we brought pancit palabok for merienda to my in-laws' and headed home to get ready for dinner. His Ninong AG and Ninang Rica (aka Ninang Ganda) came to visit after work to spend some time with their chung chung. Thanks Ninong and Ninang! ( chung chung is a term of endearment that they call little J)

As a pinoy family tradition, I have to prepare something for long life. Hubby likes Spaghetti Bolognese. I have seen a lot of great recipes but I chose this one because of its simplicity as well as most of its ingredients are readily available at home. :-)

As much as I wanted it to be really authentic, I couldn't. Fresh parmesan cheese is expensive. Grabe. It's only as small as a 1/4 size of intermediate pad paper and only about 1/4 inch thick or less and with that you will say good bye to 139 pesos.

OK. We're good for now with Kraft's Parmesan and Romano Cheese! Not bad at all!

I have been wanting to make my own version of Green Tomato's Chicken, Pesto and Garlic Pizza for quite a long time now. It was my superfriend Owen who introduced me to it a couple of years back. It's one of my favorite pizzas aside from H-h-h-Hey Jude!'s Margherita Pizza!

It was a lovely match for the pasta...for a change. Instead of the usual garlic bread.

For the Chicken, Pesto and Garlic Pizza:

Pre baked Pizza Crust
about 2 cups of Chicken breast cut into small chunks
a combo of about 1/4 cup of Eden Melt Sarap and 2 tbsp of mozarella
2 tbsps minced garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Basil Pesto

marinate the chicken in a few tbsps of pesto then set aside.
drizzle the pizza crust with olive oil, put pesto on top
followed by the marinated chicken, cheese and minced garlic.
use some more garlic if you want.
bake for about 10 minutes at 230C or until crust is lightly toasted.


For the pesto, either you use the bottled pesto from the grocery
or you can make your own pesto pinoy style:

Fresh basil leaves (I used 2 packs from Rustan's Supermarket)
about 1 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
about 1 tsp of minced garlic (add more if you want it to be garlicky)
a few pinches of salt and pepper to taste
about 2 tsps of parmesan cheese
about 1/2 cup of cashew nuts

mix all ingredients together in your food processor or blender until smooth.

if you have some more money to spend, use pine nuts! There are actually a lot of options. I believe you can use any kind of nut. whatever nut you like.

this recipe makes about 4 pizzas

Over dinner, the little birthday boy joined us and got his shares of pasta and pizza, drank soda, then ran to his dance floor (our living room) and made his dance moves: a combo of feet stomps and clapping hands and another funny step that only he can do. I could not put it into words.

We like the way he says "Dance! Dance!". He says it like a brit says it. Promise!

Then he invited his ates to dance with him, as well as his Ninong AG, went back to the dining area, had his bites and soda, and went back to his dance floor. This went on for about an hour or more. He slept at half past 10. Went really low batt! ;-)

So that was how we spent our terrific two's birthday last Monday. I can say he enjoyed his day a lot as much as we did! Wonder what we will be up to next year!??!

He is growing up so fast and I wish I can hold on to his childhood, stop the clock and savor the moments as much as I can! (Ok, I'm getting cheesier than my pizza)

Happy birthday Javie! No matter how old you are, you will always be mommy's and daddy's baby dudels. (dudels - another term of endearment)

Kahit trenta ka na tabi parin tayo matulog. JOKE!!!


P.S. What did Lady Gaga do to my son? Just Dance and Poker Face are his favorite songs now! Where did Incy Wincy Spider go??? :-) Anyway, happy weekend!!!

Another P.S. Coming very soon: The belated and imperfect square chocolate birthday cake!

Easy French Onion Soup

I have seen relatives and friends feast on french onion soup a couple of times on different occasions in fancy restos and wondered why they liked it so much.
Onions? Soup? No way! Eww!?? Yep, that's what I said before!

It was only last December when I became so curious that I thought that it's time I should give it a try. It was my friend Pauline's order of French Onion Soup from Tender Bob's that made me appreciate it and made me understand why this soup is lovable. Yes, Pau, you started it! ;-)

After that memorable day of finally shaking hands with the soup, it then became a staple order during our frequent visits to TGIFriday's.

Frequent = equals = Gastos (Expense).

So why not look for a recipe and make one at home?

I have found a few but they look quite difficult to make...

Talk about career!

Thanks to this neat video I found, I watched it a couple of times, took down notes. And Voila! :-)

In lieu of what's in the pantry and in the fridge. I used:

2 big white Onions
about 3 tablespoons of butter
1 Knorr beef bouillion cube, diluted in about 3 cups of water (for the broth)
Dried thyme leaves
(Fresh thyme leaves to be procured sometime soon.. Husband, will take me there.)

Salt and Pepper to taste

For the topping, I used left over french bread, a mix of Eden Melt Sarap and Mozarella Cheese.

The Way: Click me! Click me!

Top it with toasted bread and your choice of cheese.
Most recipes call for Gruyere and sharp cheddar. Whatever works, I guess.

Lesson Learned #1: Put less amount of Eden Melt Sarap vs. amount of Mozarella
Lots of Eden Melt Sarap made the topping extra salty than expected. (Natuwa ako mashyado!)
That's what happened to bowl # 1 and 2.

Bowl # 3 had a good balance of Eden Melt Sarap and Mozarella
so goody enough for my kidney! ;-)

Lesson Learned #2: Look after your cheese! I almost goofed big time! Almost.

Mmmmmm.. still wonderful and hearty on a slightly cold weather.

Bye bye gastos!!! :P

This cyber soup is dedicated to two lovely people:

my best friend Abi - who happened to confirm (just now over text) that I still have a sharp memory - I remembered that she ordered French Onion Soup
on our first dinner in TGIFridays Glorietta... 14 years ago!

Yes Day, 14 years ago!

and to the one who hooked me up with this wonderful soup, Pauline.

Enjoy!

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!