Adobong Kangkong (Water Spinach Adobo)

Back when I was young, there was this TV commercial in the Philippines of a school boy reciting a poem about kangkong (water spinach) which became so popular with the tagline, "Ang Kangkong, Bow". That commercial was one of those launched by the Philippine Department of Health in its effort to promote healthy eating among school children. It specifically tells about the nutritional benefits of kangkong --- how rich it is in Vitamin A which is needed for good eyesight. Kangkong wasn't one of my favorites...and that commercial was like a wake up call for me. I was only in grade school that time, and my mom was already wearing eye glasses. She couldn't read nor sew without it...and I knew that I don't want to be like her. I always want a 20/20 vision so I told myself if that's what I want, I better eat lots of kangkong...and that's what I did! Little did I know that time that the Vitamin A content of kangkong is actually very little which is only 2.9 mg per 100 g. Oh well, no regrets! I'm still thankful to that commercial...at least I learned to eat kangkong which is rich in protein, calcium and Vitamin C, though not as rich in Vitamin A as I expected it to be. 

Kangkong is a widely spreading vine that grows on land and water. The land-grown type has long, narrow leaves with pointed ends while the water-grown has broader leaves. It can be found throughout the Philippines in stagnant streams, fresh-water swamps, and ponds. Filipinos mainly used the shoot tips and leaves of kangkong in sinigang, but it can also be cooked on its own. It can be steamed and served with bagoong (shrimp paste)...or it can be cooked adobo-style like this...

This is a very simple and easy way to enjoy this nutritious greens...all you need is soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and onions. Just do a little sauteing and you'll have a delicious and healthy vegetable dish in no time. I usually cook it with ground pork just to encourage my daughters to eat it...but it can be cooked with no meat at all. It can be served with rice and fried fish/meat or with rice alone. 

Chocolate Cake with Cherry Cream Cheese Frosting

More than two decades ago, I prayed for someone who will love me truly...and yes, God answered that prayer! He gave me Ryan...the man who has been by my side for the past 19 years and who's now my husband and father of my two beautiful girls. He is all that I've asked for and many more...he's a wonderful and loving husband, a great father, a good and loyal lover and friend, and above all that, my hero and strength. I'm truly lucky to be blessed with a man like him in my life.

Today is his birthday, and as he turns 39, all I wish and pray is that God will keep him healthy and give him long life so we could spend more wonderful years together. I can’t remember life before him, and I never want to imagine life without him.  I love him so much and growing old with him is one of those things that I truly look forward to...

Because it's a special day, I want to share something special with you! This is one of Ryan's favorites among the few cakes that I make. It's a simple chocolate cake which is actually the same one I made for Clarise's birthday last year but the filling/frosting is what makes it a big hit to Ryan! It's freshly made cherry compote mixed with cream cheese...which are both Ryan's favorite. Does it sound good to you??? Well, I tell you, it really is!

As you join me in wishing Ryan a happy birthday, check out this recipe and see for yourself the goodness that this cake has to offer...

Sinampalukang Manok (Chicken in Tamarind Broth)

Just 3 more days and fall is officially here. I am really enjoying the weather! The temperature nowadays only stays in the mid 80's which is a big relief from the scorching 105°F! Though my family love soup all year round, it's during days like this when we enjoy it more....and Filipino soupy dishes like nilaga, sinabawan, sinigang and tinola are very often seen on our dinner table. 

This recipe that I have for you today is what many call the chicken version of sinigang. Sinigang (as some of you may know) refers to any dish with sour broth. The main ingredient that makes it sour can be tomatoes, guava or tamarind, though tamarind (or what is know in the Philippines as sampalok) is most commonly used. This dish here is one of those that make use of tamarind and it is called Sinampalukang Manok.

Unlike in other sinigang wherein only the tamarind fruit is used, in this dish, tamarind leaves plays an important part. Tamarind leaves have subtle tart flavor and is a good addition to this dish. It can be released by stripping them from the stems and then crushing them a little using mortar and pestle. Fresh tamarind leave aren't available here so I content myself with bottled pickled tamarind leaves. They're good enough when it comes to flavor...but they are bottled with the stems which are too hard to eat so I still have to remove them one by one. But that's all right! This delicious and comforting Sinampalukang Manok is worth the effort! ;)

Ultimate Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies

It's the 15th of the month again...and that means it's time to share with you what we made at Baking Partners! The theme for this month's challenge is...

Yes, COOKIES!!! And I got the privilege of selecting one of the three recipes that we could choose from...and I went for this Ultimate Cream Cheese Cookies recipe from Baked Owners Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.

I've tried making these cookies before (when I first got my Food & Wine Best of the Best Cookbook Recipes Vol. 14) and I want my friends at Baking Partners to experience its melt-in-your-mouth goodness, hence I chose this recipe. This is very easy to make and the end result is fabulously delicious! You will definitely love the wonderful combination of chocolate and cream cheese in it! It has a very rich flavor and a distinctively chewy texture, and really good by itself...but my daughters insisted that we put frosting on it. Well, I gave in to their request. I made a white chocolate, cream cheese glaze and I let them decorate some of the cookies. I included the glaze recipe here just in case you would like to try it too! 

Some of my friends at Baking Partners made Cornflake Cookies and some others made Homemade Oreo Cookies. Wish I had the time to try them out too! They look really good! Be sure to check them out too! 

Creamy Broccoli Soup

So how's your week going so far?  Mine didn't start good. I woke up yesterday with a stuffy nose and a terrible headache. I'm not sure what caused it...but thank God, I'm well now. I guess the fresh orange juice that I made helped. By the end of the afternoon, I was already feeling better...and I got to cheer for Christina Wilson and Christine Ha in the Hell's Kitchen and MasterChef finales last night. I've been rooting for them the whole time, and I'm glad I didn't miss the chance to see them win! 

I'm also glad that I can be here today to share with you a book review and at the same time, this very flavorful soup...

A few weeks ago, I was asked to be part of the Back To School, Healthy Living Recipe Tour which features nutritious recipes from the book, Must Have Been Something I Ate by Registered Holistic Nutritionist and author Peggy Kotsopoulos. As you know, I am always in search of healthy meals that I can prepare for my daughters, so I decided to jump on the opportunity. Well, I'm glad I did! Peggy's book is very informative! The concept she's trying to give emphasis in this book is very simple: what we eat affects the way we look and feel...but is something that's usually taken for granted. If you are interested to delve into this topic, and want to discover the connection between food and your mood, weight, beauty, and overall health, then this is the perfect book for you. Peggy has a very good sense of humor so I tell you, it won't be boring to read. The book is divided into five sections for easy reading: Food-Mood Connection, Food-Weight Connection, Food/Beauty Connection, Food-Health Connection and Recipes. In the first four sections, Peggy clearly discussed the most common health issues and at the end of each, you'll find food suggestions that can help alleviate those issues. In the fifth and last section, she provided some recipes that will help you put everything you learned from the previous sections into practice.

I must say Must Have Been Something I Ate is a good book and is a must read especially for women. Though I noticed that the book has no index and has some typo and grammatical errors, I still like it, especially the section on natural beauty treatment. Now I know olive oil is a good anti-aging moisturizer...and that my favorite strawberry isn't just for cupcakes and ice cream, it can be used as skin exfoliator and teeth whitener too. Of course, I also like the recipe section. There are only 25 recipes included so you shouldn't expect too much. But they all look delicious and really healthy. I tried the BeYOUtifying Cleansing Cocktail which is a simple combination of celery, cucumber, apple, ginger and lemon...and it was really refreshing. I also made Peggy's Creamy Broccoli Soup for the recipe tour, and this is what I am sharing with you today. I must tell you, this is packed with so much flavor! Why wouldn't it be when it has broccoli, celery, yellow onion, garlic, fresh ginger, lemon juice, dried oregano, black pepper, sea salt, veggie stock, olive oil, and avocado? It’s a thick raw soup which is very filling and satisfying and perfect on warm weather. The best thing about it is it doesn't require cooking except for steaming the broccoli. It's so easy and simple to make, and is really very creamy even if it doesn't actually have cream. The creaminess of this soup comes from the pureed vegetables. I didn't have arame and dulse flakes nor kelp granules, so I wasn't able to top the soup with everything Peggy recommended. Nevertheless, the soup was awesome! My daughters both enjoyed it...though they said it's more like a dip so they ate it with tortilla chips. :) 

Here's the recipe! You should try it!

Cherry Ice Cream with Cashews and Marshmallows

It's Friday again! Can't believe two weeks have already gone by since school started! But I'm glad that my daughters are really enjoying school! Would you believe that my youngest, Cherlin is already receiving an award today? She'll be awarded "Hippest in the House" this afternoon! It's how they call the star student award in their school. This award is given every month to one student in each class who has best exhibited the identified monthly character trait. For September, it's RESPONSIBILITY. As Cherlin's mom, I know that she's such a very responsible little girl...but I'm not sure how she was able to impress her teacher within such a short span of time! For her to be able to do that in just 1 week is really amazing...and I am truly proud!!! (^.^) Oh well, before I get over excited about it, I better go on with the real reason why I am here, and that is to bring you this yummy treat...

It's Cherry Ice Cream with Cashews and Marshmallows! I made this a few weeks ago, and it's so good that I want to share it with you before summer ends. I used a pound of fresh sweet red cherries for this. I blended ½ cup of the cherries with cream and milk and the rest was made into a compote which I added to the ice cream in the last few minutes of churning. My daughters requested that I added cashews and marshmallows too, so that's what I did! The result is a delicious and refreshing frozen delight that I'm sure you'll love just like we did! 

Pork Afritada

In June of last year, I've featured a Filipino dish called Afritada. It is a tomato-based stew which is commonly cooked using chicken. This time, I'm sharing with you the pork version of the said dish...

The ingredients and the manner of cooking are the same with the chicken version...the only difference is the longer cooking time for Pork Afritada. For this dish, you may use whatever cut of pork you like. You can even use pork ribs. But if you are using boneless pork, be sure to cut it into cubes and not into thin strips so your dish won't be mistaken for Pork Menudo. Pork Afritada and Pork Menudo are both tomato based stews, and though the latter is cooked with liver, they may look similar at first glance. The way the meat is sliced: cube for afritada and strips for menudo, will make it easier to distinguish the dish from each other:

If you like pork, you should definitely try this dish! It's very delicious and comforting!