my blah blah blog

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

today saute, tomorrow souffle

i've been meaning to write this entry since last week, but only now have i had the chance to do so because of my hectic workload.... i've learned how to saute! hahaha!

two weeks ago the only things i knew when it comes to cooking are frying and boiling. the most complicated dish i knew how to cook was pasta with mushroom sauce, which only entails boiling. hahaha! but then just a week ago, sauteing came into my life....

the first dish i've experimented on was bagis, a tarlaqueno dish similar to sisig, which is so easy to cook. it's basically ground beef sauted in garlic and onions then simmered with fresh calamansi juice. chilis and other spices are added to taste. first try was a success, second try was even better.

i was gonna stop my culinary illusion with this dish because it's really basic, and i felt that i don't have a future when it comes to cooking. however, on my way home from work last thursday, the cab i was riding on passed by a market near our condo where i got mesmerized by a sweet gourd (upo - bottle gourd daw sabi sa www.tagalog-dictionary.com but i like sweet gourd better). boy, was i craving for veggies! but then again, the sweet gourd might have just struck my attention because it's so phallic! wahahaha! and so i got off the cab and eyed on the much desired sweet gourd. i asked the vendor how much it is and he said it's 25 pesos. wow! how cheap! and it's so huge! but little mister naive me didn't know that one could actually buy chunks of the gourd. and so it was too late when i learned about this since i've already bought the entire gourd! when i got home, i sauted pork and a third of the gourd with garlic, onions and tomatoes, and again added spices to taste. i got so fond with the success of this experimental dish that i ended up cooking another third of the gourd the next day, and ate sauted sweet gourd for two consecutive days! yummy!!! i still have the the remaining third of the gourd in the fridge, which i'm planning to cook again in the next couple of days. hehehe!

saturday morning, i was craving for pinakbet. thus, another experimental dish to look forward to. of course i only chose the veggies that i like - string beans, squash and eggplant (another phallic veggie-hehehe!). again, i sauted pork and the veggies with garlic, onions and tomatoes. i let it simmer with fish paste (bagoong isda-kasi kung shrimp paste ang bagoong alamang edi fish paste ang bagoong isda.... wahahaha!) and several cups of water. of course, spices to taste ulit. hehehe! end product: nyalap-nyalap!!!

woohoo!!! i can now say that i can cook! i'm now living up to the reputation that kampangans can cook really good food. next projects, sauted baguio beans and the more challenging shrimp with green peas and quail eggs.

sauteing has changed my stance towards cooking and eating.... that no matter how laborious and time-consuming it is, the feelings of accomplishment after cooking a dish and satiation after eating it is certainly incomparable. perhaps for some, sauteing is such a basic task but for me this is such an extraordinary feat. i guess i've developed a passion for cooking for the past week; so i think i'll be sauteing all the way from now on and probably try more complicated cooking styles. leo's challenge to me, make a souffle. hmmm.... let's see.... =)

editor's note: i tried using the "e" with the french accent on top for the words saute and souffle and the n with a tilde for tarlaqueno but it wouldn't reflect on the published entry.

posted by cho at 9/28/2005 03:11:00 AM
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Friday, September 02, 2005

which tennis hottie are you?

i so agree with this.... mwahahaha!

posted by cho at 9/02/2005 12:00:00 AM
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