Good morning, sunshine!!

Here's an early-morning experiment..

Cinnamon french toast

**WAIT! Be warned. I basically just mixed everything up without really measuring them but since I've used measuring spoons and cups at least once in my life, I'm giving you estimates. Good luck!**

2 eggs

1/2 c milk

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or thereabouts.. I kinda just tipped the little jar about five times)

a pinch of salt

a lil vanilla

four loaf slices

butter

-Whisk up the first five ingredients.

- Dip your bread one at a time. Now, there are recipes which call for soaking the bread for 20 seconds, others say that makes it too soggy.. so just do whatever your comfy doing.. I mean, for all I know, you may be one of those who like 'em soggy breads, right?

- Melt a lil butter on a pan and fry/toast your bread.

- I believe this is normally served with powdered sugar or maple syrup but we don't have any of that. What we do have is like a ton of canned peaches so I opened one up to make it seem like we're having some fancy-shmancy breakfast!

Identity crisis

Exhibit A: Pork Binagoongan

Fat. Lycopene. Cholesterol. Anti-oxidants. Hypertension. Cancer prevention. Oil. Vitamin C. The contradictions could go on forever, but I was just really hungry one Sunday night.

Kontrabida:
#1 - 1/2 kilo pork belly, cut in about a square-inch or so
#2 - 62.5 grams regular Barrio Fiesta bagoong (that's about one-fourth of a small jar)

Bida:
1/2 kilo rrred, rrripe tomatoes
2 to 3 tiny heads of garlic (I've been told the huge imported ones do not pack the same ummph! as the native variety), minced
onion, minced

Extras:
Juice of one calamansi
1 green chili (the one that's used for Sinigang.. I'm not sure what it's called, really)
1 tiny chili (err.. labuyo?)
Salt and pepper for the fun of it

- Boil Kontrabida #1 until it begs for mercy (read: just tender). Set aside but keep about a cup of the broth.
- In a separate pot/wok, heat a small amount of oil; saute garlic until it's slightly brown. Add onions and let it sweat haha! Drop in the tomatoes and saute some more. I seriously considered skipping the rest of the procedure at this point. The aroma of the tomatoes and the garlic just made me want to boil some pasta and toss 'em all together. Siiigh..
- Add Kontrabida #2. Saute. Stir. Sing. Dance. (Add the tiny chili if you want.)
- Pour in your calamansi juice.
- Toss in the pre-boiled porkies and coat every slice with the bagoong+tomato mix. Add in some of the broth if you feel like it.
- Simmer. Season to taste.
- Pop in the green chili, turn off the heat, wait until everyone's mouth waters.
- Serve!

(Thanks to Tito Mon of BSP for this recipe! My mom loved it although she had to pop a few pills right after dinner, just to be safe.)

Sneak preview..

Chocolate truffles (coating variations: chopped white chocolate, plain cocoa powder, cocoa powder and cinnamon, cocoa powder and instant coffee)

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Panacotta drizzled with caramel syrup

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No-bake blueberry cheesecake

(Thanks to Des of PhilStar!)

Peer pressure!!

It's technically Friday but it's only 2 a.m. so it would be totally weird if I just suddenly hit the kitchen and started cooking. Besides, I'm still torn between panacotta and chocolate truffles for my weekend adventure. My family is going out of town again (aaargh!) and cooking an actual meal would be out of the question so I will just be experimenting with desserts/snacks. Plus, my only chance to actually make something would be Friday night. Goodbye, social life!

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My college friend G, who taught me practically everything I know about putting stuff on this blog, has unwittingly (or deliberately! haha!) pressured me into posting a recipe of something I made about three or four weekends ago.

My mom is totally crazy about Koreanovelas so I thought I'd treat her with some homemade bulgogi, grilled right on the table, and served complete with the lettuce leaves and raw/grilled garlic. 

Apologies to the author of this recipe.. I don't know who you are, and I visited so many websites to get a recipe that's simple enough for me to follow. I can't exactly remember where I 
got this. Anyway, it turned out awesome so thank you for making it available online. Sharing it now....

BULGOGI (marinated grilled beef) 

Ingredients 

1 1/4 lbs thinly sliced beef (I used half a kilo of sirloin)

1 medium onion (scatter-brained me totally forgot about the onions!!!!)

5 tablespoons soy sauce 

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar 

4 tablespoons chopped green onions 

2 tablespoons minced garlic 

2 tablespoons sesame seeds 

2 tablespoons sesame oil 

1/2 teaspoon black pepper 

1 kiwi fruit, minced (optional) 

Lettuce leaves

Thinly sliced garlic

Directions 

- Slice onion. 

- Mix the last eight ingredients in a bowl.

- Throw in your beef and onion slices.

- Mix everything well and leave for one to two hours in the fridge to marinate.

- Grill up!!

- Grab a clean lettuce leaf and use it to wrap the pieces of meat and slices of garlic (you can grill the garlic or eat it raw as long as it's clean and you don't have to kiss anybody after the meal!)

I also got a separate recipe for pork barbecue, which I can't find right now. I do remember using about 1/4 kilo of pork, bacon-style cut.

I sauteed some bean sprouts and carrots to go with the barbecue. The whole meal of meat and veggies fed six hungry adults and one picky seven-year old. 

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Lessons learned:

~ Don't forget the onions. I wouldn't know the taste difference in adding it, but if the recipe calls for 'em bulbs, it must be for good reason.

~ If you're wondering about the kiwi - it works as a tenderizer.

~ Attendants in supermarkets' meat section make really nice and uniform slices. I'm thankful they exist.

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I saw a couple of friends from work yesterday and they gave me new recipes to try out. I am now looking forward to making:

The totally sinful Pork Binagoongan

Bongga Puttanesca

Seemingly stress-less Cheesecake

My ultimate favorite Pesto (love it but I haven't really tried making it)

Yeah, yeah... I just added the exaggerations but I'm hoping my "finished products" turn out as expected.

In the meantime... Panacotta or Chocolate Truffles?