blue potato and chinese sausage getting sauteed in olive oil and thyme before joining chickpeas and leek soup

© Joselito Briones

we thought the blue potatoes were really pretty (we bought it at the jesus market), and we've had these chinese sausages in the fridge for a long time already, so i thought i'd spruce up left-over chickpeas and leek soup with these. no idea how it comes out, still on the stove, sure is pretty tho against the pale green and yellow of soup.

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portioned, marzipanned, decorated, and wrapped the christmas cake.

© Joselito Briones

so we decided to share one of our home-made fruitcakes with our neighbors (we still have one soaking in brandy).  charles made marzipan from scratch (very good).

we went to the east village to get a present for one of our neighbors' new baby, then to broadway panhandler and got those green and red bits for cake decoration (above photo). we weren't gonna get anything from there - one of those things where "oh it's just there, let's see what they have" and of course we walked out with the cake decorations, a spatula, and an all-clad roasting pan.

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early christmas present from the sims

© Joselito Briones

© Joselito Briones

we were just about to have our coq-au-vin (photo above, burning in brandy flames before going in the oven), after a recipe from the two fat ladies, when the sim family (our neighbors from upstairs) came over and gave us early christmas gifts - japanese desserts.  shown on top is white chocolate mochi covered in green tea powder

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eating mini christmas cake at 2:30am

© Joselito Briones
whoever said that patience is a virtue obviously doesn't know the smell of baking christmas cake.  this is fresh from the oven, and is supposed to be drip-drowned in brandy for days before consumption, but i'm eating it now.  the large, proper-sized version is still in the oven (charles and i started baking late at 10pm), hopefully that one will last until christmas.

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squash blossoms

© Joselito Briones

saw some squash blossoms at the produce market and decided to stuff it with shiitake mushrooms, ricotta cheese, and parsley.

© Joselito Briones

dipped in batter (flour, cornstarch, beer) then deepfried. yum.

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king prawns

unlike their much smaller cousins who were jumping all over the place when i passed by the fish market tonight, these king prawns were already swimming in ice water.  i bought them anyway because they were so big (that's a proper sized fork for comparison) and they looked so yummy. i was gonna throw away the heads because of that gooey yellowy heart-attack stuff that's in there but i didn't. between that and the massive earthquakes i felt in my heart after drinking the long black coffee that i got from pacific coffee (i don't know what the hell they put in the coffee - 5 espressos?), i was desperate to run in bowen road again.  only there's a typhoon signal no. 1 hoisted, so i just stayed in and waited to see if i was gonna fall into a coma.

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yellow clams

these clams were different from the other batch in that these are prettier - the shell and the meat are yellowish, and the brown lines on the shell make for a pretty pattern.  they're more lively too.  when i bought them they were spitting water at unsuspecting passers by at the market.

things were kind of decided for me:  i had half a day-old baguette that won't be any good at all tomorrow, so i thought i'd make some soup to dunk it in.  i was thinking maybe cold tomato soup, but when i passed by the market i saw these pretty clams so i thought, well, clams in soup, maybe asian spicy style. but the stall where i buy herbs was out of cilantro, so i bought broad-leafed parsley and dill instead, and onion.  when i got home i found out that i ran out of chicken stock, so i just dumped half a bottle of white wine in it.  i really should learn how to cook properly.

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victimless dinner

last night's dinner wasn't as much fun.  the squids (HK$20, am enjoying how cheap and fresh food here is) were already dead when i bought them, so there wasn't any of that splashing thing. no silent screams, either. ah well.  and anyway even if they were still alive in the market they'd have died when i left them outside my door when i left to get emi's (girl who cleans my apartment) copy of my keys because i locked myself out.

this one's a quickie. as soon as the squid was cooked (on a really hot pan, about 3 minutes, probably less) i just tossed it with some rockets (HK$15 for a big bunch). so nice and summer-y.

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my guests tonight: clams

they were just huddled there together, a bunch of big clams, in a bowl, in the fish market, looking bored, a tag of HK$20 (US$2.50 - supah cheap!) dangling on the side, so i thought i'd bring them home and make their lives a bit more interesting.

so yeah, when i saw my pot with stock and mixture of herbs already steaming, i let my freshly washed guests  dive in (ok, i slid them in) and covered the whole thing.  they must have felt very much at ease, because when i removed the cover a few minutes later they all really opened up to me.  we had so much fun. by "we" i meant "i", of course.  they were already food at that point.  

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hello mr. dinner

first this pretty thingy trashed my kitchen by doing the flipping thing of his tail, splashing water all over the place.  then we had a staring contest (i lost).  then i gave him a bath of hot oil with minced garlic and ginger and rosemary.  then he was dinner.  yum.

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btw, his hot tub was a brand-new le creuset cast iron pot.  how i spoil my crustaceans.

cooking something

passing by the fresh fish market on the way to and from work everyday, it's taken much restraint on my part to not binge on home-cooked seafood.  my apartment is so small that the whole place would smell of cooked food if i did any cooking here.   now that i'm only gonna be here half a year tho,  i've given in.  i don't care about the smell anymore,  i'm gonna try every single thing that the fish market has to offer.  starting tonight.  :)

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potato salad

© Joselito Briones

today's dinner: potato salad with mixed mushrooms, sage, pepperoni, white wine, parsley and shaved parmesan cheese. i did the traditional german potato salad the other day (one with ham and gherkin) so i thought i'd try something else tonight.


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baked chicken

© Joselito Briones
fresh from the even


© Joselito Briones
ready to go

i made this last sunday. basically chicken breast filled with basil-butter, then wrapped in bacon, then baked with potatoes and cherry tomatoes, and capers. that leafy thingy in the photo is of course rosemary. the recipe was from some charity thingy back when we were still in london.


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do try this at home

© Joselito Briones

i don't know why but i cook almost everyday but rarely take photos of the food i make. maybe i should always set up the camera even before i started cooking, i think usually by the time i'm done in the kitchen i always just want to eat it quickly.


© Joselito Briones

today's food is home-made potato gnocchi and braised oxtail. i made the gnocchi earlier in the day (i'm kinda messy, as you can see), the oxtail a few days ago (always better reheated), i decided to take out the bones and just serve the meat and sauce. would've been better if instead of the basil i used fresh sage fried to a crisp, but i don't have any sage today. ah well, next time.


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lovely dinner

© Joselito Briones

After Dovedale, we all went back to the house for the dinner that Ann's group prepared. It was most excellent. Salmon and vegies on bread and olive-filled mini pastries for starters, perfectly done roast leg and shoulder of lamb and potatoes for main, and Eton mess for dessert. This is what holidays should always be like.

Photo above is Jerome carving one of the two big pieces of roast. We finished all of it.





© Joselito Briones

Chow time!





© Joselito Briones

Ann and Chris making the dessert.


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Markknocken vom Rind

© Joselito Briones

Yet another experiment in the kitchen. A bit of a mixture of a traditional Filipino food (Bulalo), and traditional German food (soup ingredients - carrots, celery root, leek, etc.). Beef bone with marrow (Markknocken vom Rind) and meat in clear vegetable soup. Fresh spring onions and thyme topping. What you see is what you get. Okay, not exactly. I placed the bones and poured the soup on a bed of fresh field greens (Feldsalat), which stayed at the bottom of the bowl.


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Valentine's day dinner

© Joselito Briones

Poor Jerome. He should've known better than to bring his Valentine's Day present for Ronnie to Wil's. Upon greeting Jerome at the door, Wil immediately asked if the flowers that Jerome was carrying was for him. Wil being the host and Jerome the guest, there was really nothing else for him to say but yes, indeed he bought the flowers for Wil. Upon hearing the commotion at the door, I took a peek. When Jerome saw that I saw him giving the flowers to Wil, he was forced to give me something too, to be fair. He handed me the box of chocolates he was holding. Good thing he still had one more thing in his hands, a bottle of pink champagne from Brüt, which he immediately handed to Ronnie, the intended recipient of all three presents, in case somebody else turns up to greet him at the door and he'd have to give up the champagne to somebody else, too.


© Joselito Briones

On the menu tonight was roast leg of lamb, and honeycomb cannelloni with tomato and mushroom ragu, which Wil prepared while Ronnie and I watched (photo, above).

He had to return to the grocery store a couple of times, having forgotten some rather key ingredients (for a dish that's basically cannelloni in tomato-based sauce, he forgot to buy both cannelloni and tomato).


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More of Taal Volcano

© Joselito Briones

Here's a digitally enhanced film version of the photo of Taal Volcano, as viewed from Tagaytay. I think last time I showed you the digital version of this, it was accompanied by complaints about food there, so I'm making this one into another foodie, with a recipe for fresh fennel atsara (more like a salad).

Fresh fennel salad (for 2)

Ingredients:
1 bulb fennel, finely sliced and thoroughly washed,
1 small red onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, diced or cut into decorative shapes
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
fresh chillies or pepperoni - as hot as you can take, optional
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp. vinegar
palm sugar to taste
salt and pepper

Mix fennel with vinegar and lemon juice with hand thoroughly, squeezing the fennel slices. Add ginger, palm sugar, carrots, chillies, and onions. Toss. Add salt and pepper. Chill before serving.

It goes really well with any grilled or roasted meat.


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Color overload

© Joselito Briones

Photo taken in Cat Street, Hong Kong.

And another recipe for Wil:

Baked Ribs

Marinate ribs in:
1 Lemon Juice
1 Onion (or 3 shallots)
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp A1 sauce (optional)

In a baking tray, put marinated ribs in preheated oven (220 C), bone curve up, for 20 minutes. Take out the tray, cover with aluminum foil, put back in, for at least an hour. Remove cover, and flip ribs. Broil for 10 minutes.


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Fusion

© Joselito Briones

My first attempt at fusion. Or maybe I've always been doing it, just don't realize it. For tonight's dinner, I curried (yellow) mashed banana and with lemon juice, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, coconut milk, and grapefruit slices. I thought the curry would overpower the banana flavor, but the banana persisted. I ended up with a thicker than usual curry sauce, poured all over pan-grilled fish fillet.

The photos above are quite old... on the left is Tour Eiffel, of course, taken September 1994, and on the right is a temple in Bangkok, Thailand, taken September 1996. I used to do my travels mostly in September.




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