I DRESS-UP AND EAT

Have you ever heard of the word UPCYCLING? The term upcycling is defined as the process of converting old or discarded materials into something useful and often beautiful. In my case, I am not Upcyling materials but I am reworking on FOOD LEFTOVERS, making it still edible but more tastier.  - Upcycled SPICY LECHON SKIN Ala Sirila - - Upcycled SPICY LECHON MEAT or called in our dialect as LECHON PAKSIW  Ala Sirila - First main ingredient for this cooking challenge is LECHON ! Cebu is best known for its tasty lechon .  And this grandiose tasty roasted whole pork is almost at all times the highlight in the food table of every occasion in the city and perhaps the entire province and the Visayas region. Spices and various condiments are the basic ingredients that I used in the two "upcycled" recipes with the lechon leftovers, from our town fiesta, as the core ingredient. The lechon has actually two main parts, as I would l...

A is for Alphabet, P is for pasta! Yes, Pasta!  The main dish for our dinner.  The foods above made up our humbling dinner which was good for some dieting that I needed though.  My sister planned for this dinner and she was the chief cook that night too.   We named this dish as A-B-C PASTA ALA MAY (f.y.i - May is my sister's nickname).  The main ingredient:  The pack of pasta that I bought from Hong Kong but was actually made in Italy. It was the first time that I saw a unique form of pasta, so I did not hesitate buying it.   The other equally important ingredient  is the red sauce with ground pork and sliced veggies.  The molten cheese as the perfect garnishing.   Can you locate the letter"B"?   We enjoyed looking for the letters of our names.  We sort of played a game as to who can form her / his own name.  Well, I did not win though. With 5-letters from my name to dig int...

We had dined at Rico's Lechon (near Ayala, now closed) and I had to order one of their appetizers as I was famished.  What I ordered was "garlic butter squid balls". It was a bit pricey as we can buy squid ball sticks at 20 pesos from street eateries and  a bowl of that order was around Php 140.00 pesos for 12-14 pieces (not so sure). But anyway, the first bite of their squid balls have instantly deleted those cost grumbles.  Oh, it was just so delicious, according to my judgment. And since, the appetizer seemed pretty easy to re-create, so I had to closely analyze and memorize the melange of tastes in every nibble for my future reference once the time will come that I will itch for this dish. And as my craving never ceased, I had to prepare my own version, taking inspiration from that one memorable meal at Rico's Lechon. Episode 2: GARLIC BUTTER SQUID BALLS The ingredients are so simple and readily available in the kitchen. You w...

From this day on, aside from blogging about my restaurant reviews, my travel escapades with food, I am also now beginning to share my other new found love: cooking. I don't bake, I cook. I prefer most cooking viands in particular and always choose those green ingredients for a sumptuous and healthy meal.   Episode 1:  V E G G I E S   AND   T U NA Recipe 1  Fresh Lettuce with Sauteed Mushroom and Cherry Tomatoes filled with Feta Cheese with herbs    Recipe 2  Broccoli, Asparagus and Young Corn in Oyster Sauce and Sesame Oil Recipe 3  Spicy Tuna Fusili Pasta in Carbonara Sauce   Simple details on how to prepare Recipe 1: The cherry tomatoes are de-seeded.  The feta cheese slice in sizes that can fit inside the cheery tomatoes.  The tomatoes with cheese and mushroom are sauteed.  A plate filled / arranged with fresh lettuce are topped with the sauteed vegetables and then garnished...