Going Away Granola

August 24, 2012 4 Comments

I hate going away. Both ways it is always sad. If you are the leaver, the one who left a place or a person, there always is a part of you, even just a molecule or maybe an atom of your being, that will attach itself to that somewhere or someone, leaving an emptiness in you. And if you are the leavee, the one left by somebody else whether by choice or by circumstance, well, this can even be more painful.

Last Saturday, I was a leavee. The Husband left for his much deserved annual home leave, while I was left here in our wee home in the desert to, well, work as most of us, expats are here for.

I knew he was leaving and was honestly quite excited to have time for myself, but as I’ve said earlier, being a leavee is always painful. I sent him off with a kiss as he was whisked away by the taxi to the airport. As I closed our wee home’s front door behind me, I found myself crying into my favorite pillow, imagining it was The Husband. Our wee home felt empty. I was alone and lonely.

But I knew I had to deal with this loneliness head on as this could not continue for the next two weeks. I brushed my salty tears away and went into a cooking frenzy in our wee kitchen. Somehow cooking has started to become my go-to zen activity, whenever I go through a roller coaster emotional ride.

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A fool for foul (medames)

August 4, 2012 Leave a Comment

The Husband and I have been smitten by Foul, homey Egyptian dish made with slow cooked foul medames or fava beans, usually anointed with some olive oil, a splash of lemon juice and chopped fresh parsley and served with warm Arabic flat bread. Maybe because foul somehow evokes some familiar flavors that’s why we are quite in love with it. Honestly, it reminds me of a Filipino comfort food favorite, monggo (mung bean soup), and a family favorite of mine, the chili con carne, which is actually on our menu list this week.

So, as I saw some foul medames on sale at the grocery (Yes, The Husband is a sucker for items on sale – aside from having a soft spot for foul. Hence, making it much easier for me to convince him to buy the lot.), I decided to be brave and try to just give our favorite bean stew, chili con carne a twist.You could say it was an Egyptian inspired chili con carne dish ;-)

How did my little experiment turn out?

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Bacon pimped monggo (mung bean soup)

June 23, 2012 4 Comments

There are just days that are plain ordinary.

In the morning, at around 7AM, I get up, do my morning routine in the bathroom, cook and eat breakfast and leave for work. Then for 8-solid hours, I work almost non-stop to get to clock out on time and get home. After a 15-minute trip home, I exercise (or sometimes just try to in my head) then cook or reheat dinner and hit the sheets. Those are ordinary weekdays.

There are also ordinary weekends like this. Uneventful, no parties or get-togethers to attend, no errands to run that I end up cooped up in our wee flat, busying myself with house chores including my favorite chore: cooking, watching TV series or movies, reading through my Kindle and surfing the net.

But somehow, there is this itching feeling to make something extraordinary out of the sometimes boring ordinary day. There has to be something special everyday, right?

Monggo (mung bean soup), one of the humblest and standard Filipino comfort food dishes, was on our menu list and I gave it an upgrade by using bacon to give it the salt and smoky flavor it needs.

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The I-don’t-like-Arroz-Caldo recipe

May 15, 2012 1 Comment

The Arroz Caldo (chicken congee or porridge) is a bowl of comfort for millions of Filipinos out there. Perhaps the counter part of chicken noodle soup from the North Americas, it is a cure all for the sick. It is also a warm hug for the grieving, often present during memorial services, especially in the chilly evenings.

Unfortunately, the Arroz Caldo does not earn a coveted spot in my line-up of comfort foods. It not one of my favorite Filipino dishes. In fact, I don’t like it. There’s something about dishes with boiled chicken, especially those with the bumpy skin on, that have me heading for the hills. *insert Goofy yoddle here*

But then as The Husband and I were menu planning, he wanted arroz caldo to rid our wee pantry of the not-so yummy jasmine rice we bought. Then arroz caldo it is…Gulp!

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Sinangag: Upcycled rice

May 1, 2012 6 Comments

Recycling never tasted this good.

I hate to see food go to waste, so good thing I’ve learned howto recycle, or rather upcycle food from my mama. One of the most basic Filipino food items upcycled is almost stale rice.

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Project 30: A Bowl of Comforting Chili Con Carne

October 14, 2011 11 Comments

Chili con Carne from Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food.

One of the things that can comfort me on a dreary rainy day is a big bowl of Mama’s Chili con Carne topped with chopped red onions and grated cheese and, of course, a steaming heap of white rice. Fortunately, Chili con Carne is also one of The Husband’s favorites; so we decided to cook some yesterday. I wasn’t able to grab my Mama’s famous recipe, so we followed Jamie Oliver’s recipe from his Ministry of Food cookbook (my first ever cookbook, which is a steal because I bought it at 30 AED / estimated PHP 300 / USD 7 only at Borders MOE).

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