Laing, American style

Dried gabi leaves is the main ingredient for this dish. Since spinach was on sale and spinach has similar texture as cooked gabi leaves, I think my laing could be as good as the original recipe. I don't need siling labuyo, if I can use the jalapeno peppers instead. In the end, my version of the laing is not that bad. It was spicy enough to produce the same kick.

Ground pork and eggplant

My son said I can be a short-order cook for a Chinese restaurant when I first cooked this dish.

It's an easy dish for someone who wants to cook Chinese dishes. You can even use the store bought sauce. Start by sauting 2-3 cloves of garlic, then add the ground pork. When the meat is no longer pink, add the sauce and eggplant that was previously fried in cooking oil. I made my sauce from scratch with oyster sauce, Chinese wine, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch and chili garlic sauce.

Meatballs and tofu soup

I tried recreating this soup we tried from the Thai restaurant we went for my son's birthday.

Ground pork with tofu squares and some coriander leaves on top.

Shepherd's pie

Step by step pictures of how to create the shepherd's pie. Supposedly, a poor man's dish since you need a small amount of ground beef and a lot of mashed potatoes. Complement this dish with a bowl of watercress salad.

Potstickers

Yes, these potstickers are homemade. I wrapped them and pinched each and everyone of them. The wrappers are store bought, but I made the meat fillings with chopped water chestnuts.

The initial plan was to prepare molo soup with the ground pork filling. My daughter who bought the wrappers, picked up the white thicker wrapper used for potstickers instead of the yellow thinner wonton wrappers. My fillings did not go to waste as these potstickers were equally good. A package of the wrapper can produce around 20-40 pieces. Good thing is, you can freeze and serve them later.

Best way to cook these potstickers would be to steam them initially over a double boiler and then fry them with a small amount of cooking oil in a covered frying pan. Frying would create the crunchy bottoms, seen on the second picture.

One can buy these potstickers in Flushing, Queens. The vegetable potstickers cost 4 for a $1. The store offers a variety of dimsum and freshly made taho with ginger syrup.

Buta no kakuni

Japanese braised pork belly with tofu and eggs. So simple, yet so good with a bowl of hot rice. My mother had cooked something similar to this. Maybe that is why I enjoy eating this dish as it reminds me of my mother's cooking.

Reflecting how it was when I was growing up. I did not think I would enjoy cooking as I thought the process was too tedious and time consuming. I was never a picky eater and everything is as good as the last meal. As I grew older, if not heavier, trying a new and unknown dish is always an adventure for me. This is always true when I travel to a new place I've not been. Aside from researching the places to see, I also would find out the local favorites. Eating street food is one way of starting your food adventure. Research where the locals go and you would new go wrong.

Like Mother, like daughter

Irish Soda Bread
My daughter first try in cooking bread was a success. Her Irish soda bread was really tasty and moist.

Gift for your Mom who likes to cook

When my daughter went to Germany for a business trip, she brought me home a set of J.A. Henckles knives-popular brand made from Germany, another addition to my refrigerator magnet collection, Lindt chocolates and a bag of my favorite tea.

What's for dinner?

Inihaw na liempo ng baboy with watercress, sliced apples and diced tomatoes

Enjoying watercress requires an acquired taste. I enjoy the cruchy stems and the slightly bitter taste. The salad is the perfect complement to inihaw na baboy and a plateful of white rice.

Omaha Steaks

This was the package i got. The package includes several cuts of steak, hamburger patties, ham and cheesecake in four flavors.

How much steak can you eat? I tried to finish everything and each weekend had tried to plan dishes where I can use the different cuts of meat. I have included two weekends meals we had in the previous weeks including mother's day weekend. We still have to finish the cheesecake even though my daughter's cat had the leftover cheesecake left on the table.

Side dishes for steaks

I got a package from a friend with several cuts of steaks and cream cheese cake. I decided to prepare different side dishes to complement the steaks. Broccolli rabe with garlic and pine nuts was one of them. The roasted vegetables includes brussel sproats, suchini, red and yellow sweet peppers and red potatoes. We also made our favorite stewed mushrooms and onions and our famous mashed potatoes with parmesan cheese and sour cream. Don't you think we have enough side dish?

Mothers' day feast

We all enjoyed our Mother's day feast consisting of farfalle with ham, green peas and grape tomatoes on a bed of watercress. We each had a hamburger, but everyone was hungry and did not have time to take the picture. In addition, we had pasta with clams cooked with pesto sauce finished with lots of grated parmesan cheese. For dessert, I made bread pudding from challah bread with custard at the bottom. I was trying to copy the famous bread pudding at the Bellagio's.