Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Green Magic

Same time last year, I sowed a whole pack of basil seeds and patiently waited for them to pop out of the soil. Next thing I knew, every available space in my garden was filled with basil plants. A whiff of their aromatic fresh green grassy scent was a welcome treat as I watered them in the morning.



And when they were tall enough for harvest, I always ended up with a basket full of their green leaves. Leaves that quickly were grinded up with garlic, walnuts and olive oil for a cup of flavor-packed pesto.



I must have done something good because the basil plants just kept on sprouting new leaves. And one not given to waste a good thing, my freezer was soon filled with pesto; my neighbors were receiving a supply of basil leaves on a regular basis; and, many of our meals at home had basil as an ingredient or a garnish.



But alas, good things don’t last forever. Three weeks ago I smothered some angel hair pasta with my last batch of pesto. And like magic, in the middle of December, it was summer again. Why is it that you tend to savor something more when there is little left of it?

It’s time to search the plant nursery stores for a pack of basil seeds. With some luck, I might just bring back the magic.

Meanwhile, should you spy some basil in the produce section of the grocery, buy some and give the pesto recipe below a try.

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed tightly
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted or substitute for walnuts
1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon soften butter

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Process to a smooth sauce. Enjoy on Angel Hair pasta. Add as much parmasan cheese to your heart desires.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

It's a Wrap

It's interesting how some of the craft lessons picked up at school, countless vegetation time watching Martha S., Shabby Chic and numerous DIY teevee programs are proving to be very, very useful in these times of resources conservation and waste management. Mind you, I'm not aiming to make my own furniture out of my one and only Narra tree (but the idea had cross my mind when it lost a fat limb in the last typhoon). Borrowing from corporate indoctrination, I am going "to dream BIG; start small"-- or something to that effect.

So for starters, I have done all my Christmas gift wrapping myself spending very little or nothing at all. My gifts got all wrapped up in the most creative and attractive (read: funny) manner possible-- the recipients, though, have remained silent. My materials of choice:

Paper Wrappers: some new; mostly recycled. I turned them into gift bags complete with recycled handles. A de-constructed paper bag helped with the how-to.



Ribbons (most of which were recycled from past gifts. The plastic types easily turns into curls with a quick slide thru my scissors-- so very me.



Empty Cans that have been washed and re-wrapped in colorful paper. I have the most fantastic can opener that allows the lid to come back on without the sharp edge. Cans are great replacements for those plastic food containers to hold cookies, candies, nuts and the like.




Recycled Gift Basket In the picture below, I placed the basket made of woven rolled newspaper in a recycled sinamay bag. I stuffed not one item but several related items I felt the recipient would appreciate: a book, a dainty cup & saucer, a container or chocolate tablets to make into a hot choco drink -- something I picked up from Shabby Chic.



Cereal or Food Boxes The gift can be placed inside and the box dolled up with a ribbon. I just love the look of curiosity on the recipient's face with the possible thought bubble, "Tabasco? Why?"



Stretching my creative muscles by using the gift as wrapper. Like putting some baking tools inside a giant oven mitten.



ta- dahhhh!



For now, its gift wrappers. I look forward to bigger options out there that will help me along with my crusade to do my part in saving the trees from being cut for paper and the world from getting buried in trash.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Healthy Option From My Garden

Did I plant the seed of inspiration to start your own home garden?

Well, I do hope so because depending on what you planted, in a short time, you could be cooking up the following dish with produce from your garden! Meanwhile, you can start practicing by getting the ingredients for the following recipe from your local supermarket or wet market.

The recipe is for a vegetable stew-- so very Visayan. Although I think there is a Tagalog version of this but I can't seem to remember the name. Something about a thousand vegetables.

This dish is also very personal. The reason is that the vegetables used in the stew depends on the preference of the cook. So you may or may not add alugbati, okra, squash, string beans, or even gabi (yam). But the dish must have at all times Malunggay leaves-- no buts about it. To add flavour, you should have green onions, ginger and/or tanglad (lemon grass).

This vegetable stew pairs very well with fried fish. And if times are hard, a small dish of ginamos (fermented fish) or bagoong alamang (fermented shrimp) would do nicely.


Utan Binisaya



Basic Ingredients:
Leaves from 4 stalks of kamonggay (malunggay)
2 stalks of green onions (sibuyas dahonan;murang sibuyas), sliced into 2 inch length
1 stalk of tangad (lemon grass), tied in a bundle
1 thumb-size luy-a (ginger), quartered
salt to taste

Optional:
1 small tawong (talong), sliced into cubes
3 pieces string beans (batong; sitaw), sliced into 2 inch length
1 small sikqua (patola), peeled and sliced into cubes
Leaves from 1 bunch of alugbate
1/2 c cubed calbasa (squash)
1/2 c cubed gabi (yam)
2-3 pcs okra, sliced
1 sili espada (jalapeno)
Procedure:
Boil 3-4 cups of water. When the water is boiling, drop in the ginger and the tanglad. These are the ingredients that will flavor and add a lovely scent to your stew. Then add the vegetables in 3-5 minute intervals. Start with vegetables that take a while to cook (eggplant, string beans, squash, okra) and end with the malunggay. If you want some heat to the stew, add one sili espada. Season with some salt. The malunggay cooks quickly so you can kill the fire and just cover the pot for a few minutes. Be proud to serve such a healthy, nutritiously economical dish.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

My Nurturing Garden

"Mary, Mary quite contrary
How does your garden grow?"

Lines taken from a nursery rhyme remind me that my little garden needs some tending so that I may reap what I sow (so to speak). Now more than ever, with the rains becoming less frequent, the plants call to me. I could have a gardener come in but that would defeat the whole purpose. I feel that getting a gardener would cheat me of experiencing the feel of the earth on my fingertips; and, the satisfaction of seeing a living thing take root and grow. As I tend my garden, it nurtures me in return by giving me the feeling of peace and contentment that all is well with the world.

When I am up to it, I can get lost in a world of weed pulling and re-potting. I stop only when I notice that the sun is adamant in burning me to a crisp or when the mosquitos make a feast of me-- ouch!

And what do I plant, you ask? Well, nothing fancy. But I do have two garden rules:
1)my plants must be happy to grow in clay-ish soil and not require constant attention.

2) my plants must give back in terms of pleasing my senses: be it the scent they lend to the breeze; their colors that delight; their willingness to grace my dinner table.

So indulge me as I take you on a quick tour of my garden. My pride and joy are a line of white lilies. They are special to me as I bought 2 pots of the lilies on a whim 11 years ago during an out of town trip. And over time I have transfered them to line up my front wall and some I have given away as gifts.



I have a sprinkling of orchids but they're the hardy ones and I don't pay much attention to them unless they are in bloom.



Then there is my jasmine bush. This one I got from my mom's garden. So many childhood memories are triggered from whiffs of their delicate flowers.



Let's not forget, plants I gathered from neighbors' gardens-- with their permission of course. A cut here, a cut there-- San Franciscos with their different leave patterns; Santan minitures; fake Bird-of-Paradise; Periwinkles & a bush with lavender flowers whose name escapes me now.



I shouldn't forget to mention my lovely trees. You would think that I have hectares and hectares of land. But no, I just cram the little space I have with a "Kamuning" ( this is the one that have fragrant tiny white flowers every so often and whose dark colored leaves also give a pleasant smell).



Beside the Kamuning is my Narra (now that it's a giant, it pains me when I have to trim it's top); how I love to sit under it's shade with a cool drink and just day dream.



At the back of the house is my grafted pico mango tree (gifted to me by my sister) which last year blessed me with tons of yummy green mangoes.



Speaking of fruits, I have a lemoncito shrub (calamansi in Tagalog) not yet heavy with fruit. Maybe my constant checking is stressing it out.

And not to forget, my kamias or iba (in visayan)that is swollen with fruit. As quickly as the fruits are ready for picking, I too am ready with all sorts of recipes needing some of it's fruits to give that sourness so delicious to the palate: sinigang (fish soup), paksiw (a fish stew), ginisang kamias sa bagoong (sauteed kamias with shrimp paste).



Now the mother of all vegetable plant in the Philippines would have to be the Malunggay. I just have to stick a cut stalk in the ground and in a couple of weeks, I can see little leaves coming thru. Coming in second would be the aromatic tanglad or lemon grass-- more of a herb than a vegetable.



Several sili labuyo bushes (I believe they are called bird chili) can be found in my garden's nooks. THeir fruit gives the zing needed in my caldereta (beef stew). Or their leaves take center stage in my tinolang manok( chicken soup).



And finally, I also have some alugbate creepers. These are the vegetable that have violet stems and sticky sap and used in many simple Philippine veggie stews. I just stick into the soil stems of this plant and it will quickly take root. I help it along by putting some twigs near it to facilitate its climb.



Yes with a little investment in time, you too can enjoy the nurturing a garden can give. You don't need a large plot of land. You can even start with used cans that have been cleaned and have holed punched at the bottom. If you don't have soil, you can buy a pre-mix bag of fertile dirt at a local garden shop.(Now a days you have to pay even for dirt.) You could also dig up someone's vacant lot too-- the thrill of being caught can give you a great high.

I hope I have interested you enough to start out your garden. You must remember that all good things come to those who wait. Be relaxed in your approach and you will be richly rewarded with your own plant experience-- be it on your dinner table or sitting under your tree's cool shade.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

New Beginnings

In my mind's closet,
I have locked away
the regrets and the fears of 2009.
In that closet went the cynicism,
the morbid, and the heartaches.
The key of which I hope to misplace.

In ziplock bags,
I have stored
memories of laughter and joys shared.
Their crispiness and freshness,
I intend to savor
when my spirit is dry and the mood is hot.

In soft muslin wraps,
I tenderly laid
embraces, kisses and warmth of clasped hands.
They will do nicely
to shed me someday
from life's harsh stress winds that may blow my way.

Now 2009 is neatly packed away.
Labeled and mothballed
for maybe a viewing someday.
What lies ahead in 2010?
New beginnings for me---
again!

==================

To begin the year on the upbeat, I would like to share with you a delicious roast chicken recipe. It's "taste tested" and guaranteed to to bring out the wows and have lips smacking.



You will need:
1.3 - 1/5 k dressed chicken
1/2 c course salt (not the iodized) dissolved in 1/2 gallons or 2 quarts of water

Stuffing:
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
3 pcs star anise
thumb-size ginger, sliced

Marinate:
1T soy sauce
1T kitchen wine
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp dried basil (optional)

Glaze:
1 T honey

Wash your chicken and soak in the saline solution for at least 4 hours or overnight for better result. Once completed, rinse the chicken thoroughly and pat dry.



Stuff the chicken with the onion, garlic, star anise, and ginger.
Brush or pour the marinate over the chicken and let stand in the fridge overnight. Turn the chicken every now and then.
When you are ready to roast the chicken, set your oven or turbo broiler to 375 degrees. Oil your pan or turbo rack. You may or may not pour the marinate into the chicken's cavity. Set the chicken ( breast down) in the pan or turbo rack and place in oven. After 20 minutes, carefully turn your chicken on it's back. Continue to roast for another 25-35 minutes at 350 degrees. If you notice that the chicken is turning too brown too quickly, cover with aluminum foil to prevent it from burning. You will know that the chicken is done when after pricking the thick part of the thigh, the liquid that comes out is clear and not pink. After setting your chicken on a serving platter, brush with honey.

The bird is now ready to be carved!

Notes:
• You can skip the saline solution part and move on to the marinate. But the saline solution does make for a tastier and juicier chicken.This is a new lesson I learned.
• You may omit or substitute some of the herbs/spices mentioned for spices you have on hand or just use salt and some pepper.
• You may want to make some gravy out of the resulting drippings. Just pour the drippings into a small sauce pan, bring to a boil and add 1 tsp cornstarch that has been dissolved in 1 Tablespoon of water. Stir until the mixture is nice and thick.
• I soaked my chicken in the saline solution mid morning of Saturday. I then rinsed the chicken after dinner. I stuffed and marinated it, placed it in the fridge and went to bed. At 11AM Sunday, the chicken went into the turbo/oven. At 12 noon, it was ready. At 12:20PM, smiles were on satisfied faces, and nothing was left over for dinner.

Dream come true

Ladies and gentlemen, the making of sweet dreams:



Credits: Mahna Mahna song from Sesame Street and footage by my daughter