Sassy Lawyer Mom’s Journal
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CASA Veneracion » Iced tea mojito
You can prepare this drink in two ways — as a cocktail drink or as a non-alcoholic iced beverage. If course, the non-alcoholic version won’t be a anything similar to a mojito and you can call it anything you like. Like minted iced tea. It’s really very good. But if you feel a little naughty [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » 15-minute oversized pork burgers with creamy mushroom sauce
Need to get dinner on the table in 15 minutes? No problem. Season some ground meat, form into patties, throw into the skillet and cook until nicely browned. Cook sliced mushrooms in the same skillet, add cream and season. Spoon the creamy mushrooms over the burgers and you have a great meal. Recipe: 15-minute oversized [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Tofu: General Tso’s style
One of the most widely known Chinese dishes outside of Asia is General Tso’s chicken — floured bite-size chicken pieces fried until crisp then tossed in sweet-salty sauce. This is the no-meat version using silken tofu. Instead of the usual onion leaves, the saucy tofu cubes were garnished with snipped cilantro and toasted sesame seeds. [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Pork patty, herbs & arugula spring rolls
If a food show has a reality TV format, I skip it. It’s that simple. I prefer informative and entertaining but sans the contrived drama. Like Good Eats with Alton Brown. And Foodography. These are two of the few programs in Food Network that we still watch (Foodography actually airs via Cookingchanneltv.com but, locally, we [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Mocha and almond trifle
The inspiration started with a photo. The finished dessert turned out to be something else because, believe or not, it was partially made with “failed cookies.” What failed cookies? Last Sunday, Sam saw photos of “Coraline” cookies and wanted to make them. Coraline? You know, the Neil Gaiman book about the little girl who had [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Gelato, cappuccino, bento and udon
A story I almost forgot to tell. It was in December between Christmas and New Year and my mother wanted to go out to buy her Christmas gifts for the girls. The gift-buying part took a very short time. It was the eating — from noon ‘till evening — that took up much of our [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Got young kids? Look! Bladeless electric fans.
After running errands and spending hours at the showroom of a custom kitchen designer, Speedy and I had dinner then proceeded to the grocery — first at S&R for dog food, cat food, vegetables and fruits, then at Shopwise Libis for rice paper (you know, for making Vietnamese spring rolls). At Shopwise, the first thing [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Sweet and spicy rice sticks (bihon) with pork and pineapple
I admire the Italians for their ability to turn basic pasta dough into so many shapes and sizes, then combine the noodles with all kinds of meat, seafood, sauces, vegetables and herbs to create endless dishes that taste, smell and look different from one another. I admire the Chinese for the same reasons. I am [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Chicken, shrimp and pasta salad
Breathe new life into your macaroni salad by using pasta spirals, combining chicken with shrimps and adding lightly toasted sliced almonds. Don’t look too impressed though. It’s really just about getting creative with leftovers. Yes, seriously. I made chicken, pasta and pineapple salad last Saturday, I set aside two portions for the girls to bring [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » How to skin and cut a whole pineapple
I’ve seen a lot of chefs on TV cutting off a thick chunk of the pineapple’s skin to remove the “eyes.” So wasteful. Those eyes are at least a quarter of an inch deep, there’s a lot of edible flesh between the eyes and, ergo, so much of the luscious flesh gets discarded with the [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Nutella and white chocolate cookies
I had no idea that cookies can be this thin and still be chewy inside. But that’s how these cookies are and they are just so good. So easy to make, no decorating required. If you feel like making them even richer, you can spread Nutella on the bottom of a cookie and sandwich it [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » New York cocktail
And there it goes again — the reference to the Super Bowl. This drink from The Slow Roasted Italian, called the New York Cocktail, was “invented” in honor of the New York Giants which I’ve only vaguely heard of. Categorized as a “ladies’ drink” (why, I have no idea), this is a bright-looking and fresh-tasting [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Skillet sausage and eggs
A perfect breakfast dish that you can enjoy any time of the day. It’s the classic sausage-and-egg dish cooked with a twist. The sausages are sliced and browned in a skillet, onions, tomatoes and fresh basil are added, meat and veggies are pushed to create craters, eggs are cracked into the craters and cooking continues [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Chicken, tofu and spinach stir-fry
A little chicken goes a long, long way. Two well-seasoned chicken thigh fillets were cut into bite-size pieces, stir fried with garlic and ginger, tossed with silken tofu and blanched spinach. A drizzle of fish sauce, light soy sauce and lemon juice were added and lunch was ready. Sounds simple, right? And it is. The [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Sausage muffins
Spending time on Tumblr has its benefits (yes, I do have an account there). I come across food blogs I’ve never seen before, get acquainted with other food bloggers and discover dishes that are totally out-of-this-world terrific. For instance, although I have read and heard about “Super Bowl” recipes before, I never knew exactly what they [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Bacon-wrapped chicken satay
Think of satay (that ubiquitous Southeast Asian food that consists of skewered and grilled small pieces of marinated meat) and rumaki (bacon wrapped liver attributed to Polynesia but may not have really originated there). Combine the two and this is what this dish is all about. Small pieces of chicken thigh fillet are marinated in [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Chicken with mixed berries and almonds
I’ve heard it often said that sweet and spicy go well together as they enhance each other’s flavor. Well, this dish proves the truth of that statement. The chicken fillets were cooked in white wine with sweet-tangy dried berries, ginger and chili. Pearl onions and toasted almonds were added for a surprising contrast. I often [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Rocky road: a no-bake, no-cook dark chocolate dessert
Wouldn’t it be lovely if the most delectable desserts were fuss-free and did not require baking nor cooking? Unfortunately, most desserts take a lot of time and effort to prepare. Fortunately, there is rocky road which requires no baking nor cooking but demands patience for it needs to set perfectly before it is cut and [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » The quickest pork and tofu curry ever
Ground pork and lightly fried firm tofu cubes make the base for this tasty and fast-cooking curried dish. If you aren’t into tofu, you can omit it. I added tofu because I love tofu and I find that an otherwise too-heavy dish becomes so much lighter and easier to digest when tofu replaces part of [...] [Link]
CASA Veneracion » Green, red and yellow curry: what’s the difference?
First of all, curry is a blend of spices, not a single spice. It is primarily used in South Asian and Southeast Asian cooking although it is fast becoming popular outside of these regions. What spices are included in the mix varies from cook to cook and region to region. For the home cook, the [...] [Link]