baby rambutan

this time of year, for a very short time only, these bad girls make a dramatic entrance to the grocery stores. this is the first time i’ve bought them ALIVE! imagine making do with it…otherwise?

the first time i ate them, at a seafood joint in Virginia Beach, i broke out into hives…quite hellish it was, because i was also carrying our first child and therefore could not take antihistamines. good thing my Auntie-Doctora was nearby and monitored everything. she thought that the crabs were probably not cooked well enough.

battered and deep fried soft shell crabs (”luno”) simply served on a bed of greens with a butter-lemon wine reduction. wasabi and soy sauce would be a nice dip too! or Nobu’s tempura sauce…i always make sure i cook them well , and definitely first check that i have a supply of Benadryl at hand.

*raffle! raffle! reminder *

a bunch of blue she-crabs!

i was STUNNED at how the prices have gone up everywhere. $100 of groceries used to be quite a few heavy bags of substantial food–chicken and seafood included. now the bags are few and they’re light-as-a-feather.
it was even sadder to see that even the signature blue crabs from the Chesapeake Bay area, though still affordable, have gone up in price.

enjoy now while they’re still here i say–these were heavy with crab roe and sweet meat. perfect, just steamed with rock salt and served over hot rice with a dipping sauce nearby (lemon juice and patis for me).

#2son can’t help but get tickled at the alias of Jaime Oliver and though i tried to explain what it means, he just can’t stop grinning and imagining things.

i didn’t watch many of his cooking shows because i got dizzy and motion sickness both from the handheld video camera shots and from his hyperactive leaps and jumps while cooking. Jaime Oliver is much more bearable agreeable to me in print, with his simply and starkly photographed dishes, than animated in a tv episode. also the techMaMa* of dis blag has highly endorsed his dishes, as seen on her foodblog.
and now i have a couple of his cookbooks, picked up my from my favorite salvage store, and i tried first the roasted chicken with sweet tomatoes sauce, from “Jaime Oliver’s Dinners.”

it was simply and starkly delicious, and well worth a train ride home in the pouring cold rain for my sick-of-dining-hall-food-famished #1son.

then i was inspired by his “concertina squid” with its Jean Paul Gaultier-style bands of squid…yes you guessed it i’ve been watching too much Project Runway! (i was rooting for Sweet P since the start )
what i got from the recipe is the special surgical technique (see below) to get that concertina/accordion effect–i roasted/broiled the marinated squid (garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme), surgically enhanced and skewered so they’d keep their shape) and served on top of a saute/stew of garlic, onion, parsley, red pepper, cubed potatoes, chick peas, and spinach and chorizo.



no one say “p-u-k-k-a” or else (eh ano nga ba’ng ibig sabihin non?)

yes! dis blag is fixed now, neverending cascading and undulating thanks to my *techMagicianGuru Thesserie for my transfer to a new bargain webhost … working so hard despite everything .

by dear darling husband.

from all recipesbaked Vietnamese-style chicken wings

roasted scrod with basil butter from epicurious.com.
(i apologize severely for these photos, i even tried to doctor them but alas no improvement. they were taken with the bright over head “green” lights at night. i know that natural day light would be perfect but these were our dinner items over the vacation week, when darling husband gave me a break and cooked from some new recipes he found on the web.)
anyway! they were really truly madly delicious! three thumbs up from the childrens!
recipes supplied, on request!

oysters were made for shucking
that’s what they should do
one of these days these oysters are gonna
shuck all over you
(to the tune of Nancy Sinatra’s boots)
I dunno why, the song just stuck in my head. Do you remember the first time you had oysters? Do you remember the first time you had oysters on the half shell, oysters in the raw?
Wow! I do, and it’s just one of those epiphanies in life, or at least in a wanna-be gourmand’s life, that stands out forever etched in one’s memory.
Anthony Bourdain describes it in such graphic, almost lurid, detail, that it equates to a person’s libidinal initiations.
Yet, as with any other guilty indulgence, raw oyster consumption comes at a price and must be consumed with caution. Some people just cannot eat them raw and so it truly pays to get educated about the risks and dangers involved in consuming oysters for individuals with conditions like diabetes or immune deficiency.

Take the guess work out of the safe consumption of the briney bivalves by checking out Gulf oysters and keep yourself healthy and informed while enjoying one of the greatest foods ever from the beckoning sea.

well what can i say? i want to win! i join every contest that comes my way. every contest!
here’s my entry for Thess’ guess what it is contest…wish me luck!
The contest rules: guess what’s the grotesquely gruesomely ugly but edible creature in thesserie’s latest photo.
Pick a recipe from her foodblog, substituting the what’s-it, then leave her a comment.
think i won?

original photo fromhere.
Thess’ Zeeland mosselen with…tadah! geoduck (pronounced goo-eeey-duck in these parts)!

“2 kilos cleaned [mussels] prepared* geoduck
a bag of mixed vegetables (chopped/julienned) such as carrots, leeks, celery and parsley.
4 pcs chopped garlic
2-3 tbsp olive oil
a cup white wine
salt and pepper
500ml - 1 liter fish stock ( I have used commercial stock)

Like I always said on my past mussel-entries, throw away any opened mussels upon purchase. Soak scrubbed mussels in fresh water for few hours before cooking.

In a deep large pan over medium heat, add oil. Stir in onions and saute until turned translucent, add garlic in. When garlic turns light brown, add mussels, half of the wine, and fish stock then just let simmer for 3-4 minutes remained covered. Add the vegetagles and rest of the wine. Give a little toss and cover the pan for another 4 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

That was really it! I guess I got lucky when I found the tasty bunch.”

* To prepare geoducks after soaking, immerse in boiling water a few seconds, then drain and rinse with cold water. Pull off the skin of the siphon.

Much like abalone, geoduck steaks should be pounded or scored to tenderize them. Cook them very briefly, a few seconds per side, as they will toughen quickly. –SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "my entry to Thess’ contest…", url: "http://www.babyrambutan.net/2007/12/12/my-entry-to-thess-contest/" });

“the consequence of a particularly ruinous event.” yeah, ruined my diet, fer sure!

we kept a lot of old recipes, and added a few new ones. the crowd favorite: husband’s New England codfish chowder.

i’ll supply recipes/links later or upon request. it feels like i just ran the Boston Marathon.

starring roast turkey with oyster stuffing, with a fine supporting cast…

brussels sprouts with chestnuts

Southern Pride sweet cornbread (special request of my 3littlekids)

cranberry-dried mango sauce

taro sweet rice pudding by MaMa (Grandma)

shrimp with celery and and dried fungus from sis-in-law

20 of us for dinner! it was a tight squeeze…

the remains of the desserts…(it got pretty hectic after dinner, which was so contrary to how i felt: sleepy-tired, almost slumping over at the counter. must be that good old tryptophan!

deep dish apple pie from Cook’s Illustrated

pumpkin cheesecake with streusel topping

pumpkin flan with toasted pumpkin seeds

kids had their own “dessert buffet” with the leftovers…this is #2son’s plate.

my favorite photo:

found at his usual spot, positioned right in front of his favorite shrimp cakes brought by a GooGoo (paternal auntie). later on during dinner, “i don’t know why i feel so full…”

we know why #2son !!!
my brunch the day after

and i am not above rewarding myself with a treat, what i call my “kiss-the-cook” trophy:

for a change!
i know the photo is sort of squid-squarely-in-your-face…i guess you either love it or hate it.
a simple and easy pasta supper…just briefly grill squid and scallops to almost done-ness, then saute in extra virgin olive oil, with garlic and basil leaves, before adding the just-cooked angel hair (capellini).
i moistened the sauce with reserved boiling water from the pasta. then garnished with basil (these are Thai, i thought i’d experiment). season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. i also added “ichimi togarashi” the super-hot Japanese red pepper sprinkle on my portion. or else the kids might do this to me .
it was swell.

this is the time of the year when my life goes on fast forward, the pace going non-stop until the new year arrives.
because we party!!!
with the two younger children’s birthdays so close together, it somehow adds up to 3 or sometimes 4 celebrations: each child on the real date and a family get-together. one year we had two parties in two weeks! i’ve acknowledged that i can’t do that anymore, my spirit is willing but my flesh bones are weak and aching now…
so in addition to the family favorites and take-out food, i cooked this as “something” new, and different to try.
this is a reconstructed? or deconstructed? shrimp toast. camarron rebosado, as i remember it, is a shrimp paste mixture slathered into little triangles of white bread then battered and deep-fried, then served with a sweet and sour dip. it was my Lolo’s favorite treat!

i’ve heard husband lamenting it’s absence from most of the appetizer menus of restaurants.

flipping through the Gourmet cookbook that i checked out of the library, i was immediately intrigued by the idea of this.

a tasty shrimp mixture rolled in tiny little bread cubes then double deep-fried, i chose to deep-fry only once, literally at the last minute, with guests hovering around and watching all the action.

this looks like little tiny pieces of edible sculpture. the recipe suggests Szechuan pepper and salt dip; i made a coconut vinegar and soy dip from Corinne Trang’s Essentials of Asian Cuisine*.

hundred corner shrimp balls ( from both online and book versions at Gourmet/epicurious.com)

1 1/2 lb large shrimp (30), peeled and deveined
1/2 cup water chestnuts , rinsed and finely chopped (if using canned, first blanch for 1 minute in boiling water before chopping)
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons finely chopped chilled fresh pork fat or lard
1 tablespoons rice wine

1 & 1/2 tsps. finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 & 1/2 tsps. finely chopped scallion greens
3/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1& 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
20 slices thinly-sliced white sandwich bread, crusts removed, cubed into 1/4 inch dice, left to dry out at least 3 hours or up to 12 hours

click for a larger photo

About 8 cups vegetable oil

Pulse shrimp in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl, then stir in water chestnuts, egg white, pork fat, rice wine, ginger, scallion, salt, and cornstarch. Beat shrimp mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon and throw it against side of bowl until combined well and compacted. Wet your hands with cold water and form teaspoons of shrimp mixture into balls, arranging in 1 layer on a wax-paper–lined tray. Coat balls, 1 at a time, bread cubes, then arrange in 1 layer on another wax-paper–lined tray.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Heat oil in a 5-quart pot until a deep-fat thermometer registers 375°F and fry balls in 4 batches, turning, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, or until golden and just cooked through. (Return oil to 375°F between batches.) Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. When all shrimp balls are fried, reheat on a rack set in a shallow baking pan in middle of oven until just hot, about 2 minutes.

Cooks’ note:
• Shrimp balls may be coated and fried 1 day ahead, cooled completely, then chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before reheating.
#2son still counts each day after his real birthdate, but leading up to the family party, as the birthday week.
i looked for a recipe to use up most of the apples from our apple picking adventure and found this,apple bundt cake, deliciously moist and fragrant, again from epicurious.com.

running out of time, i persuaded daughter to pick out a cake from our favorite cake shop. she chose black forest cake, a toned-down kid-friendly version–it used to be drenched in kirsch and kids used to wrinkle up their noses at it–much more subtly flavored but still deeply darkly chocolatey.

it sure is nice to see the cousins hanging out but wow, they have all grown so fast….

p.s. i thought i could breathe a sigh of relief and start on our Christmas prepping. but husband’s siblings decided to draw lots for who’ll be hosting Thanskgiving dinner this year. guess who “won”?

*coconut vinegar dipping sauce recipe…. (more…)

i did something seemingly insane on the weekend that my son moved into his new habitat.

i scheduled a cookout-sleepover for my daughter and her friends.

it was MAD! but of course it was also the antidote to driving myself mad, for this event took my mind off the launching of my son into his new almost-adult life, apart from us, and kept me frantically preoccupied.

we set up our old picnic table and bench, dusted off the grill, marinated and soaked, sliced and diced.

we had a bon fire which was a big hit with everyone–they toasted marshmallows and played theatrics by the fire.

since i had no implements for making s’mores i set up the fondue pot on the picnic table and melted some honey-nougat chocolate bars for dipping strawberries, bananas, and homemade yogurt cake.

i prepared this pasta dish to be the anti-meat and it was a big hit with the young women, with its subtly tangy tuna flavor (canned yes! but the good Italian, in-olive-oil, brand).

pasta with golden onions, tuna and beans

recipe adapted from Gourmet Magazine, August 2006Gourmet Magazine, August 2006; i added tuna and replaced parsley with basil from my windowsill.

you can safely wager that the girls did not sleep much! fortunately we have doors to separate the living room from the upstairs bedrooms. there was much squealing and giggling from the 12 and 13 year olds….

and a bit of snoring from the old folks upstairs.