If you want something appetizing on special occasions, you can try this juicy and crispy pata. Here we use the pig’s front leg boiled until very tender and fried. We need the following:

1 pc of pig’s front leg about 1.5 kgs.cut into 5 parts

2 tsp minced garlic,

2 to 3 tbsps iodized salt,

1/2 tsp ground pepper,

2 pcs bay leaf and

3 strands oregano.

1 tbsp baking soda

1. Clean pig’s front leg. See to it to scrape with a blade those excess hair.

2. In a cooking pot, place the pig’s leg. add minced garlic, iodized salt, ground pepper, baking soda, bay leaf and oregano and enough water to cook the meat. Close the pot and boil until tender.

3. When tender, wrap meat then put inside the chiller or evaporator of your refrigerator until it gets hard.

4. Preheat with enough oil to deep fry . Once the deep fryer is very hot, immediately fry the meat.

5. And it’s done. Ready to serve.

Monalisa bread is delicious when baked properly. It’s a mixture of third class flour and first class flour. It can also be taken with a cup of coffe or a bottle of softdrink or a cup of juice. Here, I will show you how to make a monalisa bread. We need the following ingredients:

800 grams first class flour

200 grams third class flour

180 grams white sugar

10 grams instant yeast

60 grams powdered milk or buttermilk powder

5 grams bread improver

450grams tap water

5 grams vanilla flavor

15 grams iodized salt

20 grams vegetable shortening

40 grams margarine

a pinch of egg yellow food color

100 grams egg( approximately 2 pcs)

Procedure

1. In a mixing bowl, sift three(3) times the first class flour, third class flour, powdered milk, bread improver instant yeast. Sifting allows air to be incorporated in the dough mixture, making it softer.

2. In a separate bowl, pour water, add iodized salt, egg yellow food color, white sugar and vegetable shortening and margarine.Be sure the iodized salt and sugar are properly dissolved.

3. In the flour mixture, make a well in the center and pour the water mixture. With your hands properly washed,mix properly the dough mixture.

4. Knead the dough with your hands on the floured board until dough becomes smooth and elastic. Or you can use a heavy duty cake mixer or a spiral mixer for fast kneading.

5. Allow the dough to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

6. Form into a long log and divide into 40 grams or depending on the size you want. Round each dough with the palm of your hand and make a slit on top of the dough and put in baking tray (greased with vegetable shortening).

7. If the dough has doubled in size or you can check by poking your finger on the dough. If it leaves a dent, then it is now ready to be baked.

8. Preheat oven to 250 to 300 degrees fahrenheit. Your oven should have the thermometer so you can monitor the temperature.

9. Once this temperature is reached, put the dough inside the oven. Open the oven door after 10 minutes to check if dough turns golden brown. Do not attempt to open oven door 5 minutes after or your dough might collapse.

10. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

11. Now it’s done. You can now it or store it in plastic bag.

Pork sinigang is one filipino recipe that is taken either in breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s appetizing especially when it is blended with mixture of spices that you would surely love once this is done . You may have other ways to cook your pork sinigang, but you may try this one.

1 kg pork spare ribs chopped depending on size you want (or you can use pork liempo)

salt and pepper to taste

1 pc medium size radish peeled and sliced

1 bundle string beans cut into 1 to 2 inches

1 bundle water spinach (or kangkong ) cut into 3 parts

1 pc taro or gabi peeled and sliced into cubes

few cloves of garlic minced

few cloves or onion minced

2 pcs ripe tomatoes

vegetable oil

note: be sure to clean all vegetables before using

Procedure

1. In a bowl or casserrole,boil the pork until tender but do not forget to add salt when almost tender. This is to have a little bit salty flavor. Set aside.

2., Stir fry gabi or taro in oil, then transfer to bowl.

3. Stir fry kangkong or water spinach until wilted then transfer to bowl.

4. Strir fry radish and okra, then transfer to bowl.

4. Saute garlic until golden brown, saute onion until wilted and tomatoes.then transfer to bowl.

4. Add additional water to the boiled pork if you want to have more soup.

6. .Allow to simmer. Then season with salt, pepper.

Chicken estofado is one filipino recipe where it becomes a favorite meal during fiestas. Without it , the table of food offered to visitors won’t be complete. A friend of mine shared to me this recipe. I tested it in my kitchen and it proved to be satisfying. Again, I am passing this to you who maybe interested in this recipe. Here are the ingredients you need.

1/4 kilo chicken tigh or breast chopped into 5 pieces

1/4 cup catsup

1 piece potato sliced into cubes

4 cloves garlic

1 clove red onion

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsps vinegar

1 tbsp soysauce

1 cup water

1 small can of pineapple chunks

Procedure

1. Wash the chicken thorougly , place in a wok

2. Add garlic, onion, ground pepper and salt, vinegar and soy sauce

3. Let it simmer without adding water until cooked. Set aside.

4. Saute garlic until brown, and onion until wilted and add the potato and catsup.

5. Add the cooked chicken. Put 1 cup water.

6. Add small can of pineapple chunks.

7. Let it simmer until potato is tender.

8. Serve.

Black forest cake is mouth watering cake that you cannot resist the first time you try. We have many of these in Red Ribbon bakeshop or Goldilocks in the Philippines. Well, if you try to do it at home, you could save a lot on ingredients plus you enjoy eating this as dessert. A copy of this recipe is shared to my by my auntie. I tried doing it and it’s so satisfying. The more I take a bite, the more slices of this cake I consume. and I am sharing this to you.

Here are the ingredients.

CAKE FLOUR - 500 grams

Sugar -600 grams

Baking Powder-18g

Butter or butter flavored margarine - - —-300 grams

Eggs ——330 grams

vanilla ———–5 grams

Water———-266 grams

Cocoa Powder- 50 grams

Milk powder- 30grams]

Baking Soda 18grams

Procedure

1. Cream butter and sugar using a hand mixer or a cake mixer

2. Add eggs one at a time still using the hand mixer

3.Mix gradually and alternately the remaining dry ingredients, like cake flour,baking powder, cocoa powder, milk powder and bakingsoda with water, and vanilla.

4. When the liquid and dry ingredients are properly mixed, prepare a baking tray with siding greased with vegetable shortening and place a wax paper where we pour the batter.

5. Pour the batter on the prepared tray.

6. Preheat oven to 250 degrees fahrenheit. When you reach this temperature, place the batter inside the oven.

and close oven door.

7. Wait for 20 minutes. Do not attempt to open the oven 5 to 10 minutes otherwise the cake will collapse.

8. Check to see if it’s done by inserting a stick into the cake. If it comes out clean, it means you now have a baked cake.

9. Remove from oven and invert tray. Remove also the wax paper and allow to cool.

10. Apply now th chocolate icing on all surfaces of the cake starting from top down to the sides. Here’s the chocolate icing that you have to prepare before hand.

200 grams all purpose flour

20 grams cocoa powder

1 can condensed milk

chocolate brown color just a dash of it

30 grams vegetable oil

2 tbsps cornstarch

to prepare the chocolate icing

1. In a double boiler. place the all purpose flour, cocoa powder, choco brown color, condensed milk. mix with a spatula. A double boiler has two same bowl with the first one on the bottom filled with water while the second bowl it’s where we put the flour mixture.

2. Place the boiler on top of a gas stove. Continue stirring with a wooden laddle until you would see that the condensed milk is cooked. Here you have to have patience in stirring as it will take time for the condensed to be cooked.

3. Add the vegetable oil and constartch. Be sure to dissolve in a small amount of water the constarch before adding to the mixture.

note: In applying for the chocolate icing,

1. First divide the cake into two. Set aside the cake particles removed while cutting.

2. Apply the icing on the first layer. Put the second layer cake. Apply again the icing.

3. Apply the cake particles all around the the first and second layer.

4. Apply on top of the cake whipping cream and decorate with strawberries.

OR simply.

1. Do not divide the cake. Just simply apply the chocolate icing all around the cake with the use of a spatula.

Brownies are superb mouth watering dessert when properly mixed, blended and baked. An auntie of mine shares her recipe on this and it comes to be very delicious. You may give a hand making this brownie. Here are the ingredients you need.

all purpose flour - 500 grams

brown sugar—– 1000 grams

cocoa powder——-125 grams

eggs—————400 grams ( about 8 pcs)

butter flavored margarine

or butter 400 grams

baking powder 5 grams

baking soda 3 grams

roasted peanuts

You will also need the following utensils/baking equipment

a spatula

weighing scale that can read 2 grams to 500 grams

mixing bowl

hand mixer

oven

Procedure

1. In a mixing bowl , sift three times the all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder , baking soda.

Sifting allows air to be incorporated in the dough so it would becomes airy and soft.

2. In a hand mixer, mix the brown sugar and butter flavored margarine.

3. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture . Continue mixing until batter becomes smooth .

4. Place on a greased baking tray with siding or a tray with vegetable shortening with added wax paper so it would be easy to remove the baked brownie later on. Sprinkle roasted peanuts

5. Preheat oven to 250 degress fahrenheit.

6. When you are arrive at this temperature, place the tray inside the oven.

7. Wait for 20 to 25 minutes. Insert a stick on the brownie, and when stick comes out clean , you are sure it is

done.

8. Remove from oven. Invert tray and remove wax paper. Allow brownie to cool.

note; You would notice that I am no longer using the cups and spoons for measuring. They are all weighed in grams so it would be easy for us to compute for the cost of the ingredients. If you go on commercial scale, you have to weigh all your ingredients. So you need a weighing scale. After all , buying those ingredients are in grams.

French fries are usually eaten with a bottle of softdrink or juice drink. Potatoes are sliced in trips, dried and deepfried. These are usually part of daily menu of known fastfood chains like Mc Donald’s, Jollibee, Wendy’s. Well, if you cannot afford to go there, you can make your own home made french fries. You wanna try this. All you need are slices of potatoes, salt and water.

Here’s how.

1. Peel potatoes and soak slices in water with 1 tsp rock salt or iodized salt for an hour. Then drain.

2. Boil water in a casserole. Drop potatoes until half cooked or half done.

3. Preheat oven to 250 degrees fahrenheit. When the thermometer register this temperaturem put inside oven until they get dry.

4. Preheat oil until sizzling hot, then deep fry potatoes until golden brown.

5. Place on paper towel to drain oil.

6. Serve.