HAM AND POTATO CHOWDER

Lately I have been addicted to soup, I dont usually like soup that much because I came from a tropical country...(honestly? I dont even know what lentils are for!:-)but now that I live in this cold weather, (especially winter) I managed to learn (and still experimenting some) how to cook different types of soup.

When I was in Muscat (Oman) my friend took me to this coffee shop it was somewhere in Qurum I think, it's just a simple coffee shop with limited food on the menu list, but my friend said, their clam chowder is to die for...

So I went to order this soup and when they served it, the presentation was amazing. See the picture above (it was similar to that.)

I tried and copied their soup, but ofcourse there's no way they'll give me the recipe...I googled for the recipe but my kids are not so keen of clams so I thought I will revise it...

this is almost close to the taste of clam chowder:

HAM and POTATO CHOWDER soup.
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2tbsp Butter or margarine
1/4 c Onion -- chopped finely
1/4 c Green pepper -- chopped
4 md Potatoes -- washed, peeled &
- cubed (3 cups)
1/4 tsp Paprika
3 tbsp corn flour (dissolved in 1/2 cup water)
2 cup Milk
1 can (12 oz) Whole-kernel corn
- undrained
1 1/2 c Ham -- cooked & diced
2 1/2 c -Water

chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

HOW TO COOK:

Melt butter in 3-1/2-quart saucepan. Saute onion and
green pepper until tender. Add potatoes, 2 cups
water, salt, paprika and pepper. Cover and simmer
about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
Combine cornflour and 1/2 cup water in small bowl; blend
well. Stir into potato mixture. Add milk. Simmer
until slightly thickened, stirring frequently. Add
corn and ham; heat through. Sprinkle each serving
with parsley.

Chicken Adobo

If you go to the Philippines every household probably know how to cook this recipe..Again there are different versions already- I experiment using different sauce like 7-up, pineapple juice, coconut milk etc..but for everyday cooking try this simpler version:

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs and legs
3 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 large potatoes cut into chunks (see photo above)
Preparation
1. Heat oil in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes, then turn over and cook an additional 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.
2. Pour off all but 1 tbsp. of pan drippings and return pan to low heat. Add garlic and sauté until soft, about 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and stir to incorporate. Return chicken to pan and add potatoes -cook, covered, for 20 minutes.
3. Uncover, increase heat to medium-low and cook 15 to 20 minutes more, occasionally spooning sauce over chicken, until sauce thickens a bit and chicken is tender and nicely glazed with sauce. add a tspoon of sugar (it taste great) Remove bay leaf before eating.

Serve with rice..

Bistek (Beef Steak Filipino style)

In the Philippines where I come from (Central Luzon) we have this version of BISTEK (Beef steak) but we call it "BISTIG"

This is my family recipe...with my revise version: Lols :-)

Ingredients
1/2 kilo of beef (round, sirloin or tenderloin), sliced

2 medium size of lemon juice

1/4 c. of dark soy sauce

1tbsp of lea n perrins sauce

freshly-ground pepper

1 tsp. of minced garlic

2 large onions, cut into rings2 tbsp.

a dash of paprika (optional)

spring onions for garnishing

Procedure:

In a glass mixing bowl, mix the lemon juice, lea and perrins and soy sauce. Add beef, garlic and ground pepper. Mix well. Let sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Heat a heavy skillet. Add oil. Lightly fry the onion rings. Remove from skillet and drain on paper towels. Keep warm.
Reheat oil until smoking. Pan-fry the beef slices in batches, removing them as they brown. When all the beef has been cooked, pour the marinade sauce into the skillet and boil for 1 minute. (add the paprika)

Arrange beef slices on a plate. Place the onion rings on top. Pour the sauce over the onions and beef.

garnish it with spring onions if you like...(sarrappp!)