A Scientist in the Kitchen

I’ve always dreamed of having pasta with very large meatballs ever since I ate meatballs spaghetti in Sbarro. That was way back when I was a teen-age girl. Somehow, I only got to cooking large meatballs spaghetti during the holiday season last year. I forgot about it until I saw this picture so it is only now that I am writing about it.

Large Meatballs and Linguine Pasta

500g ground pork
500g ground beef
freshly ground pepper
salt to taste
2 tbsp of dried herbs (oregano, basil, thyme)
250 grams unooked linquine pasta
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large white onion, chopped
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup broth from cooking the pasta
1 can diced tomatoes
fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix first five ingredients together. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Divide meat mixture into four and shape into balls. Brown the meatballs in a pan. Place the meatballs in the side then add the garlic and onion to the pan. Saute till they are cooked but not browned. Mix in the meatballs. Add the wine and broth and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes before adding the tomatoes. Add the fresh basil, salt and pepper. Simmer everything till sauce is reduced. Add the cooked pasta, mix everything to coat pasta. Serve with cheese.

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Presto Pasta Nights is almost a year old. Thanks to Ruth for organizaing this event Ever wondered how a market looks like in other parts of the world? Check out “To market, to market”. Or you can share yours, too.

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Almost summer here, perfect for hiking up the mountain. Be great if I could get that Merrell shoes I’ve been eyeing for some time.

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Imagine a mountain range built like ricefields… Imagine a mountain, instead of trees, you find sloping ricefields… That’s how the Banaue Rice Terraces look like. No matter what new surveys would say, about the new wonders of the worlds, I still feel that the Banaue Rice Terraces is one of the wonders of the world. It is a breathtaking sight, the rice scientist in me would always look up to for inspiration. They have been here for thousands of years, and continue to exist despite my miniscule contribution to the science.

World famous rice terraces - the stairways to the gods

Etag - the local ham or bacon, salted then smoked

Mangoes and local oranges

Banaue legumes

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Ever wondered how a market looks like in other parts of the world? Check out “To market, to market”. Or you can share yours, too.

One of the people that has inspired me to cook is my dad.

I’ve always remembered him in the kitchen since I was a young girl. Cooking, cooking and cooking. When he was assigned to another province, his boss/best friend wanted him to stay in the same house with him so he wouldn’t get hungry! I remember my Nanay telling my sister and me that my dad courted my mom by cooking for her rellenong bangus (stuffed milkfish). In my dad’s family, the men can cook. I have memories of my grandfather and me in the kitchen as well as preferring my uncle’s pork dishes whenever we have potluck parties.

Birthday invitation in Tagalog

But back to my dad. I learned Tagalog cooking from him. Some of my favorite dishes are his chicken adobo in coconut milk and his Filipino style spaghetti. I know I inherited my love of cooking from him. He likes to roast chicken or turkey the old-fashioned way. Much like I do, I especially like the planning and preparations that goes with it. After cooking a dish, he would always sample his cooking. I do, too. Each of us trying to catch the other eating in the kitchen, shouting “sample time”! He has a sense of humor when it comes to food. Whenever our birthdays are near or their wedding anniversary is close by, he would always say at breakfast that he cannot sleep anymore because he is already planning what to cook for us.

“Sample time!”

So recently, it was our turn to turn the tables on him. On how we cannot sleep at night because we are planning for his birthday! He turned 70 last February 11 and we had a celebration the following Sunday. Most of the dishes were his favorite, we asked him in advance what he would like to eat. Most of the dishes I have blogged before, though some are new and which I will blog in detail later.

I baked Dad’s birthday cake!

The buffet table, the centerpiece are flowers from weeds that grew in our garden (my sister’s idea) and the origami cranes are the birthday souvenirs.

Happy birthday Dad!

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For more stories of men and women who inspired us in the kitchen, check out Apples & Thyme at the Passionate Palate by Jeni.

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Ever wondered how a market looks like in other parts of the world? Check out “To market, to market”. Or you can share yours, too.

What’s in a name? And what’s that latinized name for all living things, you know, the italized name in parentheses that usually comes after the common name? Well, that is the scientific name. This is the permanent name given to an organism, so no matter what part of the world, people can still understand what organism they are referring to. Of course, there are thousands of organisms out there already whose common name is well known - think dog, cat and apples. But imagine in the Middle Ages, where communication between people must have been very difficult, organisms are described rather than named, often long descriptions which can be subjective. Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy, deviced a scheme, the binomial nomenclature as the scientific names of organisms. It is in Latin, well, because Latin is a dead language and it won’t change it’s meaning over the years. It consists of the genus and species (much like the surname and the first name). It is italized (if your typing in a computer) or underlined separately (if you are writing it down. The genus starts with a capital letter and the species name in small letters.

So the proper way to write the scientific name would be:

Oryza sativa or Oryza sativa

Not: ORYZA SATIVA, Oryza Sativa or Oryza sativa.

Can you guess what I’m featuring in this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging?

Right, it’s all about rice - the crop on which I do my research work. I’d like to share with a New Year tradition, a type of rice called palitaw which I have blogged about already. But, hey, we had extra rice flour so I made another batch. The recipe can be found here.

The sesame seeds I used are white ones. There are black sesame seeds which I will be using as another palitaw variation in the coming weeks.

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Lia of Swirling Notion’s is host this week. Ever wondered how a market looks like in other parts of the world? Check out “To market, to market”. Or you can share yours, too.