Aug 04 2007
Cooking with Toe 2
Whoopee! An overwhelming majority of last post’s commenters had faith (truly blind faith) in me that I could be a housewife. Move over Martha Stewart! 
Funny though that I’m practicing to be a housewife while my husband is not around.
Stranger still, while I’m slaving away with domestic chores here in Phnom Penh, he lives with my parents in Kamuning where he is being spoiled silly by MY yayas. When he’s hungry, food appears in front of him as if by magic. When he’s done eating, his enchanted plate is wiped clean. It’s almost like being in the Great Hall of Hogwarts Castle (sorry, only HP readers could relate to this). Grrrr, the thought makes me mad while I wash the big wok or when I’m mincing the garlic.
Anyway, I have managed to create two dishes on my own. The first one is Guisadong Repolyo or Sauteed Cabbage. I got this recipe from one of those cute Periplus Mini Cookbooks – Homestyle Filipino Cooking.
I love these mini cookbooks and we have quite a collection (which I hardly use, naturally). Their recipes are simple, easy to follow, and usually consists of only three to four steps. It’s small and thin so I don’t have to lug these heavy hard bound cookbooks in my tiny kitchen, the pages of which never want to stay in the place where I want them and I have to crank it with a bottle of soy sauce.
Anyway, I must be getting better at this cooking thing because I managed to improvise the recipe a bit. I removed a couple of ingredients – pork and chicken liver, which I detest. Like Niceheart, I boiled the chicken first before browning it so that it would be easier to slice. Then, instead of using Knorr chicken cubes, I used the water I boiled the chicken with. O-ha! I have chicken, este kitchen sense. And then… TAJAN!
And mixed with brown rice, I have this perfectly healthy well-balanced meal…
… only broken with the high-sugar sans rival my friend gave me… acheche!
My second masterpiece is Beef with Ampalaya which I got from Ting-Aling’s blog. You can get the recipe here. I improvised a little again and added tomatoes. It was sumptuous! I have a strong suspicion that I’m a cooking genius. And again, TAJAN!
So after slaving for hours in the kitchen (I chop stuff really slowly), I dine alone and relish the food I cooked in…. 15 minutes, tops! @#$! And now, who will clean up all this mess??
Haaay! All this domesticity is driving me crazy. I don’t think I’m going to resign from my job yet and that Martha Stewart can sit safely on her throne for now.
Technorati tags: cooking
repolyo
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Periplus Mini Cookbooks
- Cooking with Toe
- Gourmet Sunday
- How to Cook Microwave Puttanesca if You Don’t Have a Kitchen and You Don’t Know How to Cook
- Pasta Alla Toul Kork
- Hainanese Chicken Rice and Pasta with Garden Herbs
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Wowwww!!! Congratulations! I am soooo impressed! I wish I was there to taste the Guisadong Repolyo (can’t eat the red meat, remember?). Cooking can be fun, I only discovered that myself a couple of years ago… and when I did… it was straight to gourmet cooking! I still remember our dinners at my place, and I miss that. Ayan, you can cook na for us when you get back to Manila.
When Honey gets back next week, he has already forgotten how to cook and how to wash pot , pans and dishes. Hindi na siya sanay. He will then depend on you.
You remind me of Jim…he was left to fend for himself (in the kitchen) when he was all alone in Australia (Lydia has gone back already and he is now in Manila :-p). Well, he had to learn how to be househusband and lately has been bragging about his delicious adobo and other ulam he learned to cook. Hmmm…if Jim and you can learn how to cook, I am sure I will, too…1 day… Why oh why didn’t we get this talent from our moms???
congratulations Toe! your dishes look delicious and i noticed that you go for natural flavors like opting for chicken broth for flavor as opposed to using knorr chicken cubes, and brown rice as opposed to white rice…the healthy kind. way to go!
congrats!!! guisado is a good start to learn cooking.at me imbento ka pa pala hah. =) mas ok yan actually kasi magagawa mo ang gusto mong pagkain sa iyong panglasa hihihi. (mahilig din ako mag imbento ng recipes.) =)
Aba, talagang seryoso na ito, ha? Good job! Mukhang masarap yung guisadong repolyo. Looking forward to your adventures in the kitchen
Ang sarap kainin nang pinagpaguran di ba? Problema nga yang kalat…hehehe.
Hahaha! Nakakatuwa naman. mas lalo na yung last scene. Nung ako nag-aaral magluto parang mas matagal pa ata pag linis ko ng kalat sa kusina kesa sa pagluto.
Pero congrats on cooking that two dishes. tas haluan mo nga ng sansrival. Masarap yun.
Great recipes Toe. What I like about them is they’re done in 15 minutes
If it takes me more than 30 minutes to cook, I’d rather drive to the nearest fast food mall hehe 
Ces, dapat nga you were here… it took me a week yata to finish each dish.
I miss eating nga at your house with Raul! I loved his shakes and basil pesto. 
Mom, diba that’s why he’s coming back here… to cook for me?
Ollie, ha… oo nga… I read his blog.
Pero talo nya yata ako… I’ve never tried adobo yet. Oo nga… para tayong hindi mga apo ni Lola Antonina! 
Belle, yes I’m trying to eat healthy so that I’ll be sexy when Honey comes back.
Unfortunately, I have a weakness for dessert. 
Carlotta, good start? I think that’s the end all of my cooking.
momoftwo, I think my adventures will end there… Honey is about to come back.
Ann, hay naku… I wish that someone would clean up the kalat for me.
Ferdz, haha… oo nga… matagal din ako maghiwa… pagkain yung pinakamabilis.
BW, ah… no… I chop and mince so slowly… so it actually took me hours.
It’s the eating that’s only 15 minutes… hehe! 
Enviable. You could easily start a food blog and be good at it I feel for certain. I wonder why even if I follow the instruction of the cook book to the hilt, the result is always far from what I imagined. Maybe, practice is one important essence of cooking.
hahahaha Toe you are so funny!
I love you but if you offer me that Beef with Ampalaya…I won’t eat it hehe you know how I hate veggies hehe
Major Tom, perhaps aptitude is the key… I have none for cooking. And I don’t like chopping stuff.. they all end up uneven and wonky-shaped.
If I’m going to have a food blog… it’s about food Honey cooks. 
Verns, papagalitan ka ni Yaya Lets… sasabihin niya… pampaganda ‘yon.
So we don’t need to eat ampalaya, huh! 
I guess the old saying is true, Necessity IS the mother of invention… or in your case, the fear of going hungry.
there you go
you’re honey will be so proud… ultimate domestic goddess in the making!
Toe, is it safe to say we share the “like” for Top Ramen? Sarap with sliced cabbage and onions, no? If not for my HBP, I would eat it everyday. Now you can add cooking (improvising) to your list of accomplishments!
naalala ko bigla nung nawalan na magluluto dito sa amin, nag seach ako sa internet kung paano magluto ng adobo. hehe. buti nalang edible pa rin yung pagkain nung naluto.
keep on cooking toe, pwede patikim luto mo?
tajan! and you are getting good! kelangan masamplelan yan ni hubby pagdating!
beef with amplaya is one of my favorite, you can also replace ampalaya with brocolli tapos with oyster sauce and black beans, hmm, sarap!!!
ansarap nyan with yang chow fried rice hehe.
Way to go Toe, I’m proud of you!
Despite all that effort, you still managed to take pictures of your ‘masterpieces’ so you could post it on your blog. That’s funny!
Aba, you’re already improvising. That means you’re on your way there Toe.
Okay lang na mag-practice ka para magulat si honey pagbalik nya. 
Snglguy, well, I’m ready to hand in the ladle, Honey is coming home na.
Pining, oooh… yeah… that’s a title to strive for… domestic goddess.
Tina, yeah… that’s what Honey does with the Instant Ramen… he puts so many things in it and it’s so delicious. Me, I just put boiling water.
Iskoo, sige… exchange tayo ng adobo mo.
I’ve never even tried cooking adobo. 
Zherwin, naku, favorite ko yang chow fried rice! But sobrang pampataba.
Yeah, Honey makes excellent beef with broccoli in oyster sauce! 
Daphne, bow! bow!
Hehe… I need to show off my little works of art… hindi nyo naman malalasahan e… so I can always say that it tastes good. 
Niceheart, pagbalik ni Honey, siya na ulit magluluto.
Last Saturday, I cooked roast chicken with stuffing (carrots, liver, bread and celery) and pad thai. Both turned out very well (Raul said pang-restaurant daw- naks!!! I love you hon!) and were wiped out in seconds
Ooops I almost forgot to say that it’s my first time to roast chicken. Hindi ko naman alam na napakatagal naman pala non maluto!!! We ate at 9:30pm at gutom na gutom na kaming lahat kaya wiped out in seconds ang pagkain!!!
Wow i am impressed with the look of your dishes Toe. They look wonderful and yummy!
Oh, it is so nice to see an improvement in your cooking skills. I love ampalaya and beef. Pagdating ng hubby mo, surprise him with your cooking. Wala ng hotdog dinner ha?
So you must be a closet culinary genius. Do you know you would have come ou of closet sooner if hun wasn’t such a whiz in the kitchen. Ang sarap yatang pa-ask-ask lang “anong ulam” and opening the caldero for surprises.
Sixter, wow sarap! I wanna try your pad thai. But you had Elena to clean up the mess and wash the dishes afterwards.
Thanks Chase.
But I still don’t have the aptitude for cooking. 
Ipanema, Honey is arriving tonight… and I’m surprising him all right… I ORDERED all his favorite foods from the carinderia.
Annamanila, I don’t think so… in fact, right now… I couldn’t bear the thought of going back to the kitchen to cook.
Bravo Toe you are making an effort ! How about cooking for honey when he comes back ? Kahit simple lang basta pinaghirapan at ikaw ang nagluto !
Haze, mas masarap yata pag siya ang magluluto.