I made this pizza from scratch when I was still living in Los Baños. This was my first time to make pizza from scratch and I so love it I made pizza on consecutive weekends. By scratch, I meant making my own thin crust topped with whatever ingredients we had at hand. It’s easy to do, not much kneading required (which I like a lot). The highlight was finding out how  great freshly chopped garlic goes with the rest of the toppings. Garlic pizza, anyone?

I am saving for an oven in my new home in Gen San (perhaps the oven that blogging bought?) and pizza will probably be the first dish that I will cook on it!

My first ever thin crust pizza
(Modified from Yummy magazine)

1/2 tbsp yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cool water
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt

Whisk yeast, lukewarm water, 1/4 cup flour in a bowl. Dust lightly with flour then let rest for about 20 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour, water, olive oil and salt. Knead then gradually add remaining flour. Knead the dough until elastic. Shape into a ball, dust with flolur and leave to rise double in bulk. Flatten the ball with a rolling pin to your desired shape and thickness (or thinness). I didn’t use a rolling pin (I knew we had one, but I couldn’t find it!) so I just flattened the dough with the palm of my hands and let it fit an 8-inch pie pan.

To dress up the crust, drizzle the crust with olive oil. Add some chopped garlic. Spread catsup  and pesto all over the crust. Add the toppings you have at hand. In my case, I added black and green olives, onions, bell pepper and salami. Top with grated cheese, fresh tarragon, and more chopped garlic. Bake at 300 F for about 20 minutes.

Baconsilog - bacon, itlog (eggs) and sinangag (fried rice)

My sister and I have always wanted to make our own bacon given the fact that we love bacon for breakfast. I found a lot of recipes for making homemade bacon but really didn’t have the inclination to do it at home until I read Marketman’s account on making bacon. Last December, my sister and I set out to make not just one but 4x doing two variations - baked and smoked.

The recipe and procedure is basically from Saveur although I did modify the spices and herbs according to what was in our pantry then. Pork belly and spices

Homemade Bacon

Spice/Herb rub for 1.5 kgs pork belly

2 1/2 tbsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1.5 tsp fennel seeds
1.5 tsp dried oregano
1.5 tsp dried thyme
2 laurel leaves
2 garlic cloves chopped finely
1 tsp paprika

Since I didn’t have a large space for curing the bacon, I chopped the pork belly into three blocks. Mix all the spice/herb rub together and cover the pork belly blocks with mixture. Wrap in plastic bag and refrigerate for a week. Turn over every other day. On the 7th day, wash pork belly and smoke for two hours. Trim edges then cut thinly and store.

To bake, after washing pork belly blocks, bake at 200 F for two hours.

So what do we prefer? I think baking the bacon is better than smoking as the smoke flavor tends to overpower the bacon flavor. In any case, both versions are delicious and will certainly often repeated at home.

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General Santos is not all tuna and Manny Pacquiao. Pork and beef is way way cheaper here than back in Los Banos or Metro Manila. Premium spare ribs costs around 110 pesos a kilo while ground beef costs only 155 pesos. You can even goat meat on sale in the market though I have yet to fully appreciate its flavor.

There’s a restaurant in Los Banos called Bonitos. They serve this Brazilian spare ribs braised in coffee then grilled. I decided to braise pork ribs as well though I stewed them in tomato sauce and paired with linguine. I even added dried shiitake mushrooms, but the next time I make this dish, I will leave them out.

Coffee braised pork ribs over linguine

225 grams linguine, cooked according to package instructions
500 grams pork ribs

Marinade

1 tbsp instant coffee
3 tbsp lukewarm water
1 tsp each salt and pepper

For the stew

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 tbsp cooking oil
50 grams dried shiitake mushrooms
2 bell peppers, cut into quarters
2 cups tomato sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Dissolve coffee in lukewarm wate. Rub salt and pepper to pork ribs then add the coffee. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. Soak mushrooms in 1 1/2 cups hot water. When mushroom has expanded, squeeze to remove water. Reserve soaking water.Remove mushroom stem then cut the mushroom into quarters. Heat cooking oil in a pan. Add the pork ribs and brown meat on all sides. Remove meat from pan. Add onions to pan. Stir fry till onion is cooked through then add the garlic. Stir till garlic is almost brown. Add half a cup of the reserve soaking water for shiitake. Stir to remove brown bits on pan. Add back the pork ribs then add the rest of the soaking water.Bring to a boil then simmer over low flame for 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, mushrooms, and bell peppers. Continue to simmer over low fire till pork ribs are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Tuna and Eggplant in Oyster Sauce

150 grams crazy cut tuna
2 eggplants, cut lengthwise then to 2-inch pieces
salt and pepper
flour for dredging
oil for frying
1 green bell, roughly chopped
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup water
sesame oil for drizzling

Season eggplant and tuna with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour then fry till golden brown. In another pan, heat a tbsp of oil then saute bell pepper for a few minutes until limp. Add the oyster sauce and water and simmer until thickened. Add the fried eggplant and tuna and toss well to coat with the sauce. Drizzle with sesame oil then serve with rice.

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I’ve adjusted a bit now, and while I still feel a bit homesick, there are ways that I can lessen the pull of home. It’s not as bad, and I believe I am doing rather well with all the changes happening. I still have to fully accept the idea that I am changing my crop of interest, from rice to maize. But that is another story.

Penne with Fresh Vegetables
(modified from Yummy)

250 grams penne pasta, cooked al dente (reserve 1/2 cup water from cooking pasta)
4 tbsp olive oil
1 medium sized onion
6 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp mix of dried herbs (basil, rosemary, oregano)
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium sized carrots, sliced into thick half moons
8 pieces asparagus, sliced into three pieces each
2 bell pepper (red and green), cubed
5 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely

Saute onion in olive oil until limp. Add the garlic until garlic has cooked. Add the fresh tomatoes and herbs then let simmer a few minutes. Add the carrots and asparagus and simmer until vegetables are cooked. Add some of the pasta water while cooking the vegetables a little at a time until vegetables are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked penne and mix well to coat the pasta. Have a taste and season some more with salt and pepper to taste.

Submitted to Presto Pasta Nights hosted this week by Aquadaze of Served with Love.

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Need some new knobs?

Well, aside from Manny Pacquiao and tuna, an often overlook richness of of Gen San is it’s many seafoods. Here’s another seafood recipe I’ve enjoyed lately. I don’t have a charcoal griller yet so I’ve made do with pan-grilling them.

Pan-grilled seafoods

An assortment of seafoods (shrimps, fish, shells, squid, crabs)

Marinade:
1/2 cup naturally-fermented soy sauce (Kikkoman)
1 tsp finely minced ginger
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp chopped chives

Mix marinade ingredients thoroughly then marinate the seafoods for 10-20 minutes. Reserve marinade. In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil, coat pan surface and arrange the fish, shrimps and squid.Grill till each type of seafoods is cooked. Pan-grill shells last. Place each shell on the pan and cook until each shell has opened. Discard shell that has not opened. Place marinade in pan and simmer for about a minute. This serves as the dipping sauce.

There are two ways to serve this. The first one is with rice. And the second is with pasta. For the pasta, cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Heat olive oil in a pan. Add some asparagus and cook till asparagus is limp. Add the reserved marinade and the cooked pasta. Toss well to coat pasta then add the seafoods. Season with salt and pepper. Toss once again then serve.

I’m sharing this pasta dish to Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Ben of What’s Cooking.

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Tuna Salpicao

500 grams tuna cubes
6 cloves chopped garlic
salt and pepper to taste
dash of paprika
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Knorr seasoning
3 tbsp olive oil
additional 2 cloves chopped garlic

Mix everything except oil and marinate for 20 minutes. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a nonstick skillet. Squeeze tuna lightly and reserve

marinade. Saute tuna in oil until cooked. Remove from pan. Heat remaining oil then saute the garlic till almost browned. Add the

reserved marinade and gently simmer. Pour over cooked tuna and serve.

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Tuna balls

Tuna embotido, tuna chorizo and tuna spring rolls, all for 10 pesos only!

Drinks galore to cool you down

There were other attractions as well - shows, rides, pageants, etc… For more Kalilangan Festival events, head over to Bariles Republic.

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Pinoy Pork Barbecue
(Modified from Foodie)

1/2 kg pork belly (bacon-sliced)
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 pieces calamansi
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, cracked
3 tbsp white sugar

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Marinate pork for 1 hr. Skewer the pork slices and reserve the marinade. Grill.

To make the sauce: Boil the marinade then add sliced chilis. Reduce volume to half then strain. This is now your sweet and spicy barbecue sauce.

Banana Heart Burger

1 puso ng saging
1 tsbp salt
1 small carrots, grated
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 bunch of kinchay, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 tsp black pepper, cracked
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour

To use the puso ng saging, remove the red layers till you get to the yellowish core. Chop the core finely then add the salt. Mix then press the chopped core to remove as much liquid as you can. Put in a bowl then add carrots, kinchay, onion, garlic, black pepper, Worcesterchire sauce and olive oil. Mix thoroughly before adding the eggs and flour. I usually cook about a tbsp of this mixture to check for taste. Adjust taste according to your preference. Shape into burger patties then pan fry in a non-stick pan. To assemlble the burger, toast sliced bread. Spread mayonaise on one side, add sliced cheese then the patty. Top with slice cucumber and tomatoes and a dollop of coleslaw. Cover with toasted sliced bread.

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