Seafood A1 (ewan)

Maybe I've been working too hard that I dont have time to put one more recipe on this spot. Everyday I prep something - old or new - for sure that recipe is not here.

My kids visited their grandmother today. Each visit is a cooking adventured filled with a lot of memories (and I can rack up a few after 50 years) from the old house in Pasay to the big house in BF so when my son and daughter told me they were having crabs today at Lola's, i could almost taste it...

We are surrounded by so much coastline that it would be criminal not to know how to prep at least one decent seafood dish. In and of itself, anything swimming in the water has to be delicate and will not take well to extreme flavor. I promised myself I would have to avoid broth cubes, too much salt, too much pepper which is so different from how I cook really . . .

This one is anchored on a basic bechamel flavored with onions, carrots and bell pepper - kinda like a mirepoix without the celery.

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
scant teaspoon of olive oil
1 glass of milk
1 tsp green tops of onion leek sliced fine
1 tsp basil cut chiffonade (rolled and sliced into strips) cut only before adding into the dish

1 small onion chopped fine
1 small carrot diced
1/2 a large green bell pepper diced

fillet of white fish (grouper, snapper, dory or tilapia) about as big as your palm sliced to approximate the size of the shrimp.
4 medium shrimp peeled and split lengthwise in two

salt and pepper to taste

You want to have a nice creamy white sauce so you will be working with a small to medium flame throughout.

Start with a medium size pan, drizzle the olive oil and butter and as the butter melts, add in your onions bell pepper and carrots.

As the onions wilt and get translucent sprinkle the flour and make sure its combined well into the cooking vegetables. Keep it moving so it will not burn. Now you can add your milk, slowly but completely stirring while pouring.

The mixture will start simmering along the sides. As bubbles start to form along the sides, turn your flame down to low

Now add the fish fillet and shrimp a little at a time and allow them to be submerged in the roux.

Cover and simmer for five minutes or until the seafood is poached until cooked. Salt and pepper to taste. To this sprinkle your chiffonade of basil and simmer for 2 mins more and you're ready.

Serve over hot rice, hot pasta or toasted crusty bread. I think if I added some cubed potatoes and chopped clams, it could be a good seafood chowder. Definitely chardonnay.

The salty kind of tapa

Northwest of Manila are the Ilocos provinces and it is a harsh environment. The palate is oriented more towards the salty and strong flavored. My grandmother is from Laoag city in Ilocos Norte and she used to make this tapa right in our backyard at home. This is something she learned from her mother and was almost always the object of fun and criticism but regardless, when it was ready, it was nice just fried in a small quantity of oil, until brown and crisp.

Tapa ni Mamang

½ kilo sirloin

¼ c of salt on all sides

Pepper to taste

½ c vinegar

Let sit for 12 hrs

Hang to air dry until you achieve jerky consistency, try piercing through

Refrigerate to store

I wish I could do this all the time . . . as you fry that nutty aroma of meat wafts across the entire house. dont over fry it though, you want to have something you can chew on

Callos ala Corazon

My mom just got back from a 9 month "vacation" in New Zealand and discovered the wonder of the world wide web there. She is incessant on Yahoo Messenger, on email and simply staying online and in touch.

Do you remember all that comfort food your mother used to make? This is one of them.

A lot of people are going to tell you that authentic callos calls for day long simmering of tripe and an endless process of scrubbing and cleaning until the "off" smell is gone. Truth be told, why eat callos if even just a trace of that off smell or tripe smell is gone? It will pretty much be like cooking a piece of leather.

That's why if the tripe smells bad at the outset, dont even use it. Go somewhere that cleans the tripe before serving. Normally a US Tripe or Australian would be clean otherwise, please smell it before you buy it. Monterey is generally reliable.

One conversation I had with my mom, she recounted how Juan of Reina Castilla restaurant had taught her his version of Callos Madrileno. It is a country dish and uses simple country ingredients. Even if he was from Barcelona, he had been a chef for different restaurants in Madrid. I managed to squeeze the recipe out of her so here goes:

Me: i am not going anywhere mom, just here
Mom: pata ng baka maybe just one then (pressure cook for 25 minutes)
Me: 1 kilo of goto for us (Pressure cook for just 20 minutes)
Mom: boil separately
Mom: throw boil water of the goto
Mom: dont make it too soft
Mom: soup of the pata you can save
Mom: sautee onions, garlic no tomato (I add tomato and a spoonful of paprika)
Mom: add one cup tomato sauce one cup tomato paste (let the simmer with the aromatics
Mom: add the goto then pata then potatoes (cut them into bite sizes using scissors)
Me: put chorizo and bell peppers and onion leeks (slice chorizo into coins)
Mom: dont forget to put vinegar while sauteeing the goto and pata, about one serving spoonful about 1/2 cup
Me: tabasco
Mom: salt and pepper
Mom: use canned bell peppers so it wil be soft
Mom: finally add the stock
Mom: add garbanzos - canned remove the skins put these last
Mom: as it simmers and the oil starts separating from the mixture, its good to go
Me: splash of liquor to soften it - wine or brandy to soften the flavor
Mom: No

1 kilo clean tripe
1 kilo Ox feet sliced
I cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1 large onion chopped fine about 1/2 cup
4 small tomatoes chopped fine about 1/2 cup
I bunch of large onion leeks cut into two inch lengths
1 medium red bell pepper baby's fist size
1 small pack tomato paste
1 small pack tomato sauce
1 chorizo (El Rey, Alba, or Rustan's chorizo pamplona)
1 small can garbanzos
1/2 cup cane vinegar
1 tsp spanish paprika mild
Salt and Pepper to taste

I tried this the other day and couldn't find any ox trotters so ended up with pig's trotters. It does work just as well but it can only be as good as the ingredients you use. Don't overboil the pork trotters. Try the chorizo el rey, in its absence, go to any Alba's restaurant, in Makati or Tomas Morato and buy the chorizo there by piece.

I swear by this,