Cooking: Tips & Tricks - Omelet

• -          Use omelet pan or other pan that have low and sloping sides for easy stirring and turning.

• -          For about 7 to 8 inches wide pan, use two eggs.

• -          Preheat the pan with medium-high heat. While the temperature is still low, grease the pan with about ½ tablespoon of butter or oil and then cook the omelet.

• -          Pour the mixed eggs into the heated pan, tilting it to make the eggs cover all the bottom of the pan. When the eggs begin to set lift it using a spatula to make the uncooked part runs underneath to be cooked, put back the omelet over the pan. Within about 1 minute the eggs should be cooked.

• -        When cooked, turn the heat to low and add fillings. Gently, spread them all over the half of the eggs. Fillings that couldn’t cook instantly should be precooked and warm. Cheese filling must be grated and at room temperature.

• -          When the fillings are cooked or warmed, use spatula and gently fold one-half of the omelet over the other half sandwiching the ingredients in between. Use the spatula again to lift the omelet and put it onto a plate for serving.

Food: Tricks - Of raw and hard-boiled eggs

- In order to peel hard-boiled eggs easier, add some salt to the boiling water while cooking the eggs.

- Prevent the white of the egg from seeping out from the shell during cooking by adding a teaspoon of salt or few drops of lemon juice or vinegar to the boiling water.

- To determine whether the egg is cooked/hard-boiled or not, you may spin it on its end. The cooked/hard-boiled egg will spin firmly while the fresh/uncooked egg wiggles following the force of the liquid materials within it.

-  To test the egg for freshness, put the egg in a container of cold water. The fresher the egg the faster it will get to the bottom. If it floats on the water, it suggests that the egg is destroyed or rotten.

Food: Meat - Chicken Feet Adobo (Adidas)

Chicken feet adobo is one of the delicacies of the Filipinos. It earned its popularity through the fact that it is truly palatable and sticky delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 kl peeled chicken feet
• 50 ml soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
• 3 onions

Materials:

• chopping board
• knife
• cooking container
• ladle

Procedure:

1. Wash the chicken feet thoroughly.
2. Put the chicken feet into the cooking container and then pour over the soy sauce.
3. Slice crosswise the onions, into thin onion rings, and then toss them into the cooking container.
4. Sprinkle the black pepper powder over and mix them all well.
5. Start cooking for about 30 to 45 minutes. Once in a while the food being cooked must be stirred.
6. After 30 minutes, when the adobo is already tender, it is already cooked ready for serving. It is really better when overcooked though.

It can be taken as wine dish, snack, or eaten with rice during meal.

Food: Salad - Chicken ata-ata | Chicken breast salad

Ata means raw and fresh. This dish use the fresh meat (breast meat or pitso) of chicken for salad.

Ingredients:

- 1 Chicken breast (Use uncooked fresh pinikpikan chicken, do not use frozen dressed chicken, pinikpikan chicken is a chicken that is dressed with fire)

- 3 tablespoons of diced Ginger
- 3 tablespoons of diced Onion
- ground Black pepper
- Vinegar
- Calamansi or Lemon juice
- Salt
- Other spices (optional)
- Additional foods (optional, we will use Cucumber and Long Green Pepper in this preparation)

Pinikpikan chicken

Sliced chicken (pinikpikan) breast

Calamansi juice and Long Green Pepper

Calamansi fruits

Diced Ginger and Onion

Materials:

- Bowl to contain the food
- Chopping board
- Knife

Procedure:

1. Slice the chicken breast into 1 inch by 1 cm sizes.
2. Use the bowl to soak the sliced meat in a vinegar for 40 minutes to 1 hour.
3. Drain the vinegar from the bowl.
4. Add all the other ingredients to the bowl of meat and mix well.
5. After mixing well, the food is ready to be served.

Chicken ata-ata salad with Cucumber and Long Green Pepper

It can be eaten alone for snack as wine chaser, or with rice during mealtime.

Gardening: Produce more tomato or pepper fruits using epsom salt (magnesium sulfate)

- When the first bloom of tomato or pepper appears, blend 1 tablespoon of epsom salt to a gallon of water.- Spray the mixture on plants.
- After 10 days, spray another mixture on the same plants.



- Do it again and again after 10 days until the plants bear more flowers.
- The magnesium content of epsom salt boosted the production of more flowers and fruits.

Organic Food: Salad - Arosep Salad (Arosep or Ar-arosep is Ilokano term for Sea Grapes/Green Caviar)

Arosep is a juicy green seaweed with sour taste. It is perfect to be consumed during sunny day or hot/warm season no wonder why it is one of the favorite foods in the tropical islands during summer time.

After buying it from the market, it is advisable to consume it immediately because it continues to lose water content when stocked for more hours.

Ingredients:

- 1/4 kilo of arosep seaweed
- 1 medium size onion
- 1 medium size tomato
- 2 medium size leeks
- 3/4 teaspoon of salt
- 2 calamansi or 1 medium lemon
- 2 tablespoons of fish sauce (optional)

Arosep, Green Caviar, Sea Grapes

Materials:

- 1 bowl to contain the seaweed and other ingredients
- kitchen knife and chopping board
- mixing spoon

Procedure:

1. Wash the seaweed.
2. Dice onion, tomato and leeks and then put them into the bowl.

3. Sprinkle the salt, pour the fish sauce, and squeeze out the juice of the calamansi over the seaweed salad.
4. Mix all the ingredients inside the bowl and serve in two.

Consume with rice during meal time.

Arosep Salad

Food: Soup - Green Beans & Meat Loaf Soup

Ingredients:

10 pieces of standard-sized green beans (Sliced into half-inch pieces)
1 small can of meat loaf (alt. sausage) (Sliced into half-inch cubes)
5 standard-sized leeks (Sliced into half-inch pieces)
10 cloves of crushed garlic
1 tablespoon of pounded or diced ginger
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 liter of water
culinary herbs (optional)
other soup seasonings







Materials:

Cooking container
Knife
Chopping board
4 soup bowls
Ladle

Procedure:

1. Cut green beans into half-inch pieces and cook in a liter of water.



2. When cooked, add all other ingredients except the leeks.
3. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add the leeks and mix.
5. Serve in four bowls.



It can be eaten alone or with rice during meal time.