Weekend Cooking

My idea of weekend cooking is cooking the freshest seafood I can find early in the morning at my town’s seafood market. I’m mostly a healthy eater, but when that craving for something fried and greasy strikes, I go for beer-battered fish.

Cream Dory is the best fish for me to deep-fry. Just a brush of lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt and pepper is enough to make this fish taste good. Using a beer batter would definitely make it taste even better. For the beer batter, you’ll need: 1 ¼ cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, 1 egg, 1 egg white, 1 ¼ cups beer (I use Heineken) and flour for dusting fish. For the sauce, I recommend Caper-Dill Sauce since it compliment any fried seafood and even makes for a great dip for vegetables. So, for the Caper-Dill sauce, you will need: ½ cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon pickle relish, 4 teaspoons chopped fresh dill, 1 tablespoon chopped capers, 1 ¼ teaspoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon cream, salt and pepper to taste.

On Sundays, my folks bring home the freshest seafood from the market. I like to make this hearty soup from the day’s catch. It’s great with bread. You will need: 1 cubed fish fillet, 250grams shrimp (peeled; reserve heads for stock),4 medium squid (peeled and sliced into rings), ¼ cup butter, 2 tablespoons oil, 3 tablespoons chopped garlic, 1 medium onion (chopped), ½ cup flour, 2 cups milk, ¾ cup heavy cream and salt and pepper for seasoning.

For the stock, you will need: 4 cups water, 1 cup white wine, 1 medium onion (diced), half a carrot (cut in small cubes), and 1 bunch leeks (sliced). First you should make the stock by combining water, white wine, onions, carrots, leeks, and shrimp heads in a saucepot and bring it to a boil. Then after the stock is made, you should blanch fish, shrimp, and squid in the stock then set aside. Simmer stock until carrots soften, about 15 to 20 minutes, then pass through a strainer. Discard shrimp heads and vegetables. Heat the butter and oil in a saucepot. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent. Add the flour to make a roux and cook for 5 minutes. Whisk in milk and seafood stock and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the blanched sea foods then stir in cream. Serve hot.

Since weekend is usually spent with family, these recipes would surely attract your kid’s attention. You can also include sliced veggies with beer-battered fish since Caper-Dill sauce would also taste good with it.

Pictures of Infinite Beauty

Mamutik Island, Borneo

Bloodstones

Corregidor south beach

Borneo Sunset

All art is imitation of nature. Nature is painting for us day after day.

Sabah, Malaysia

Sapi Island

Sabah Mosque

Mamutik Island

Kota Kinabalu

View from my hotel room

Mt Kinabalu from a distance

Flowers of Borneo

The hustle and bustle of city life does take its toll on me. Borneo is the perfect retreat, get lost in the jungle heaven of Mount kinabalu and explore its flora and fauna. The fascinating island of Borneo is home to an exceptional diverse variety of indigenous plant life. I did lots of hiking and found some interesting flowers, its colors are so vivid and very refreshing.







 

Pag-ibig ( LOVE )

Perfect song for my bro's wedding...he's marrying his best friend and his soulmate. They are one of those couples who have been in love since childhood. A case of their eyes meeting across a crowded playground. Grown up together and now the thought of a life without one another is simply unthinkable. Ohhhhhh I am so jealous! This is so romantic! I dream of something like this. Romantic love...when chemicals in your brain kick in and you feel an emotional high, exhilaration, passion, and elation. Love that never wears off and eventually becomes mature...with signs that include acceptance, emotional support, commitment, calmness, respect, caring, kindness, friendship, and consideration. Liking the feel of each other....wanting to have children together because they are the exclamation point of love. 

Oh well a girl can dream, can't she? I still live in La La land where there are rainbows and unicorns and prince charming is just waiting for me at the end of the jungle maze and all I have to do is slay the dragon, find my way to StoneStep Hill, negotiate the price of a love potion from a chinese witch ( give me a discount, and I'll buy 2! Will sell the other one to Cinderella for the price of 2 LOL ), then grab an ice cold beer and mix the love potion in it and finally give it to thirsty prince charming at the end of the maze.

Would you want a shotgun wedding??

Despite modern women claiming they don't need men, couldn't give two hoots about traditional conventions and would rather eat their toenails than listen to their moms when it comes to marrying the man that got them knocked up in the first place, there are more femmes that aren't as independent as I might have thought...

Some women are choosing to rush the nuptials and opt for a shotgun wedding, walking down the aisle with a growing baby bump courtesy of their bun in the oven.

There are also women who are purposely getting pregnant, or pretending to get pregnant, in order to con their unknowing gent into tying the knot, and fast. Well it seems to work like a charm, until after the wedding when he catches wind of her little conniving plan. If the only reason he would marry you is because you are pregnant and he feels obligated to follow tradition, then forget it. It will surely backfire and in the end you are stuck with a shrieking kid, dirty diapers and loads of bills. Then your body will change...extra fat, nasty stretchmarks, saggy breasts and you are more likely to lose confidence. Prince charming will lose interest and might meet a girl who looks fresh. I've seen a girl got pregnant on purpose and say " Now my bf will marry me and love me forever" with a big dopey grin on her face like she actually thought it worked that way. Little girls are sold on the image of the huge "white wedding" where she is the star and focus of the entire show. She gets gifts, has parties, gets all of her friends and loved ones together to celebrate her special day. Sounds like a fairytale huh?

Why not just focus on the quality of the relationship you have now, and see if ; as his love for you grows, he comes to the conclusion that he wants to spend the rest of his life with you.

Being his backup plan

Why would someone let another keep them as their second choice? Or worse, third choice. How would it feel to be someone's backup plan? Are you supposed to place your bid and wait and see if he chooses your number? Wouldn't you mind being second fiddle and getting hurt if his first choice ever pursues him?