A Scientist in the Kitchen

Summer is gone, but the memories of luscious mangoes linger on. Everytime we harvest mangoes, we always make it a point to make this no-bake mango cake.

It’s so easy to make. Chop some ripe mangoes. Mix all-purpose cream and condensed milk according to taste. Dip graham crackers in milk and line a glass pan. Layer with mangoes and cream. Continue to layer graham crackers, mangoes and cream till you reach the top.  Decorate any way you wish. Refrigerate for several hours before serving.

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Yellow is not only a color of summer but a color of hope for the fight against cancer. This month’s Click Photo Event is Yellow for Bri, dedicated to a fellow food blogger Bri of Figs with Bri, stricken with cancer.

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I should have posted this a few days ago, but anyway, here’s the winner of the book:

And the winner is: Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe! Congratulations and thank you to all who joined the second edition of To market, to market…!!!

There’s surprising mix of entries for this edition’s To market… to market. Still as colorful and interesting as the first To market, to market round-up.

Maggie of A Taste of Both World shares with us pictures of the Avi Market in Israel, fill with freshly harvested fruits and vegetables at very cheap prices.

Johanna’s of Green Gourmet Giraffe back with Carlton Farmers Market in Melbourne. Check out her swag of goodies: orange and poppy seed biscuits, Chef’s Own basil pesto (which is such a lovely brilliant green), chat potatoes, corn , broccoli, brussels sprouts, free range eggs, Milawa cheddar, hemp soap (by Scent Sational Handmade Soaps) and spelt bread.

Take a tour of the different farmers’ markets in Barcelona, Spain with Nuria of Spanish Recipes.

Or you can talk along the roadside market in Crimea with Chossid as your guide.

Check out, too, the goodies in an Asian market in Philadelphia in the US - bene shouga (pickled ginger colored red), bonito (dried fish flakes), sakura ebi (shrimp), baby octopus, seaweed, a restock of some spices, and fresh fruit and veggies - enough to stock up Amanda’s (of Aspargus Thin) Japanese pantry.

Katie of Thyme for Cooking cooked up Spanish Rice for me as she talks about French and Spanish markets.

Teri of Faking It Gluten Free Style talks about her favorite market in Vicenza, Italy as she enjoys shopping for cheese, fruits and vegetable on Saturday mornings.

What’s Cooking in Clevelend? Morrel mushrooms, spices, goat cheese milk fudge, Amish cheese, buttermilk pie… and herbed ninja’s??? Check out Ohio Mom’s Saturday Market Report!

Snowys‘ from North East Victoria in Australia shows us the roadside stall of pumpkins where she got the pumpkin for her pumpkin meals.

sea-urchin1

Have you tasted sea urchin? Well, Kai of Bucaio in the Philippines tells us of her adventures in eating sea urchin from a market in Puerto Princessa, Palawan in the Philippines. (Note to Kai - sorry about this, I can’t seem to make the figure appear but if you click on the link, you can see the sea urchin in its full glory).

PS - Who won the book Home Chefs of the World? Check out in a while

To commemorate the 110th anniversary of Philippine Independence, I am sharing with you one of my comfort foods - adobo.

Adobo is considered a national dish of the Philippines. The basic ingredient is vinegar and garlic and meat can be chicken or pork. I prefer to use pork belly. I like to add lots of garlic to my adobo. Some version would add bay leaves. For this version, I combined garlic and bay leaves to add some zest to adobo.

The basic adobo uses meat, vinegar and garlic. The Chinese influence in Filipino cuisine brought soy sauce to the dish and probably made it even better. The kind of vinegar will also impart a different flavor. It is common for us to use coconut or cane vinegar. It is a popular dish even before the prevalence of refrigerators as this can be stored for several days at room temperature. They say adobo tastes better a day after cooking. I don’t know, though, it doesn’t seem to last at home longer than a day.

Pork adobo

1 kilo pork belly, cut into serving pieces
1/2 cup cane vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
3-4 dried bay leaves
1 tbsp whole peppercorns
6-10 cloves garlic, chopped

Mix all the ingredients in a pot. Add enough water to cover the pork belly. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Don’t mix the adobo while cooking. Simmer until pork is tender. Add more water if necessary. Once pork is tender, keep on simmering until sauce has thickened. Best eaten with garlic fried rice.

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Submitted to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Astrid of Paulchen’s Food Blog.

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