Celebrating New Year

I love learning new recipes and cooking food that requires me to go to stores I don't typically frequent.  I also love to cook things that curb cravings that usually drive people to go out to eat.  And one thing I learned when I lived in the Bay Area working with so many amazing Pinay ladies is that some food is ALWAYS better homemade than take-out.

This New Year's Day I rang in the new year with some Filipino flair and made three delicious staples.  Unfortunately I didn't have the battery power to give everything it's deserving Paparazzi.  Maybe next time.

I timed things just right to get it all done at the same time to have a fabulous dinner (plus leftovers).  I started with Chicken Adobo.  It's hard to find a trustworthy recipe since everyone I've ever known who made Adobo used different cuts of meat, different lengths of time to marinade and different spices.  But the constants I saw were vinegar, soy sauce, peppercorns and garlic.  This is the recipe I decided to use to adapt to the two chicken leg quarters I had on hand.  I let the chicken marinate for about 9 hours before starting to cook.  And it was beautiful when it was done.


I also made Pancit Canton, what one might consider the Filipino version of Chow Mein.  Only more delicious.  I used a recipe from Food Network as my guide, although I made a much smaller amount, omitted the pork, mushrooms (I love 'em, but was not in the mood) and fish sauce.  Also, if anyone knows were I can get calamansi, please let me know.

The noodles were pretty incredible; I picked up a bag at Pal Do world and expected them to be somewhat like Ramen because they're stiff and hold their shape in the packaging.  But once they hit the hot broth they softened quickly and absorbed the liquid easily without getting mushy.  Luckily they're the last step to the dish so the chicken and shrimp and veggies were all ready to go before adding broth and noodles.


Last but not least was Lumpia!!!  If you like eggrolls you'll love Lumpia.  They're very similar, but Lumpia are a bit thinner and the wraps don't end up with big bubbles in them and are nice and smooth like a spring roll (and perfect for making flautas instead of using tortillas, but that's another post).

I just checked my archives and I can't believe I've never posted about flautas... note to self...


This one didn't have a recipe, it just came by feel.  I've made them so many times, and eggrolls, too, that I just go with it.  But here's a guide recipe that looks like a pretty good one to try out.  I used chicken thigh meat instead of pork in mine.  The blog post that goes along with that recipe is also a good read.

So Happy New Year!  Here's to a wonderful 2012, hopefully full of new experiences and kitchen experiments, growth in skill and lots of tasty new things to share.  So a toast to anyone following, champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends...  Cheers!

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