[Maude's Quarantine Kitchen] Filipino-style Spaghetti

I said in my 2020 comeback post that I will try to write about what keeps me busy during the #circuitbreaker in Singapore. And since most of my free time is spent in the kitchen these days, the first dish that I wanted to share with you is my Filipino-style Spaghetti. It's one of hubby's favorites so I know it's quite shareable :) Thinking about it now, I realized that this is my original recipe pala. Maybe my one and only original recipe, meaning I didn't tweak right after googling. Haha! So I am very happy to put it here.

Imma write it down along with the pictures ha, I'm not yet in the vlogging level eh! LOL

First, prep the ingredients:

• 1 large onion, diced
• about 6 cloves garlic (or more, there are no hard rules here! :)), minced.
• 6-8pcs Purefoods TJ hotdog (because it's not Pinoy style spaghetti if your hotdogs aren't red! haha), sliced diagonally
• 600g ground beef (looking at the pics now, bakit parang pork to?! hahaha maybe it's not available that time. So yeah, use beef as much as possible because it tastes so much better. ok, enough blabber >_<)
• 500g pasta of choice. I often use vermicelli but since the COVID19 hoarding episodes here, I've never chanced upon it in the grocery
• Del Monte Filipino Style spaghetti sauce (the largest pack, i wasn't able to check the size, sorry!)
• 2 slices of processed cheese
• 2 tbsp of condensed milk
• Olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• more grated cheese for toppings

Sooo, first step, cook the pasta according to package instructions. Aim for al dente, or better not cook pasta at all. Wow ah. haha! Make sure to add salt in the water. And as I learned over the years, there's no use putting oil while boiling it, just drizzle it with olive oil after draining so it won't stick. But you all know that already, right?

Then, saute the garlic until light brown and add in the onion till it's translucent.

Ground meat, in (channeling Gordon Ramsay!). Cook till it's brown.

Add a little bit of water (maybe 1/4 cup), this will help to soften the meat.

Add in the hotdogs, stir and cover.

Once the water is gone and you can see the meat cooked through, add the spaghetti sauce. Stir it well.

Season with salt and ground black pepper then wait for it to boil. Stir constantly so it won't stick.

Add the cheese and the condensed milk. Oh, I remembered I got this little secret of putting condensed milk from my Tita A some 20 years back! Thanks, Ta! Mix and simmer for 5 more minutes.

Get a serving of pasta and top with the sauce and voila, it's done! Hey, don't forget some grated cheese too!

Serve with a smile to the husband who always requests for it :D

I also made Baby Back Ribs that day, but that's for another post ;-)

Note: This sauce recipe is actually good for more than 500g of pasta. It's just that we are only 2 people here and we like our spaghetti saucy, so 500g it is.

Let me know if you are able to give this a try, ok? :)

Ciao!

Anniversary Dinner at Serenity Spanish Bar and Restaurant

Last June, Jhay and I celebrated our 10th anniversary as a couple and at the same time our 2nd wedding anniversary (yes, we got married on the same date :D). It's such a big milestone having been together for a decade so initially I was planning an out-of-the-country trip or at least a beach getaway but in the end, none of that happened because (1) I am fickle-minded, I cannot decide where to go up to the last minute and (2) we figured we better put the finances towards an investment that we've been dreaming about since forever.

So yeah, no grand getaway for us this year. But my husband had a pretty bouquet of flowers, a box of chocolates and a little plush toy delivered to my office first thing in the morning of June 4th -- something he hasn't done in a while. He even had a short, sweet note with it that made my heart melt like vanilla ice cream on a scorching summer day.

Lakas maka-teenager ng bouquet no? Hihi.

After work, we had a lovely dinner at Serenity Spanish Bar and Restaurant. What I liked about the place is its romantic yet laid-back vibe made more wonderful by the live music and a spectacular view of Sentosa Island. For people like us who are used to alternating fast food and home-cooked meals, this is indeed a treat!

We were seated right across the mini stage so we really enjoyed the good old ballads as well as some Spanish songs whose lyrics we may not understand but still have soothing melodies.

Behind me is Sentosa at sunset. Too bad I forgot to take a photo of the view outside.

We ordered calamari for starters. The serving is quite small but it's very crispy. The squid was really fresh, too. It was gone in 5 minutes or less. Haha.

For the main course, we had Crispy Pork Knuckle (Crispy Pata for us Filipinos) and the house specialty Seafood Paella. I know our choices are quite lame because both dishes are common in the Philippines as well but sadly, I'm not one to settle for the unfamiliar. I find happiness in food that gives me a feeling of home. That or I'm just making excuses ;P

Anyway.. here's what they look like...

Again, the serving is quite small for the price. It is really just good for 2 persons. It is, however, very flavorful and since it's my first time to eat Paella, it made me look forward to exploring other variations of this dish.

And then this. It's deadly, yes, but it's also devilishly good! Best crispy pata I've tasted. The skin is perfectly crispy and the meat... soooo tender! The level of saltiness was also spot-on. And have you noticed the sauce beside it? It's made of tomatoes and cinnamon and it made the whole thing work. Like, really. I'd go back to Serenity just for this :)

The obligatory "date night" shot :)

Overall, we were satisfied with the food but we can't say the same in terms of value for money. We paid around S$ 150 including taxes and service charge and to be honest we can eat in other restos thrice for the same amount. Well maybe we paid for the relaxing ambiance and the location. It's a place to just chill and take everything slow -- something that we don't get to experience every day :)

Happy 10 years to us, honey!
Praying for more and more decades of love, bliss and blessings for our family! :)

'Pinas Vacation Day 2 Part 1 aka Family Day-out

*I hope you don't mind if it took me a month and a half to post this ;P*

After a busy day 1, we started the second day of my quick vacation late. Instead of the planned early morning visit to Dad, we got there just an hour short of noon. Seeing his "new place" still makes me shake my head and think, "I'm sorry, Dad, I wasn't able to buy us our dream house yet. You so deserve better than this." Not a good way to start this post, eh? Fine, good vibes na :D

Here's a cute photo of Haley to cheer us up ;-)

I would've visited Dad every weekend if I were staying in the Philippines but I'm not so I made the most out of the hour or so that we were there. I talked to him like he was actually in front of me and I told him just how much I miss having him around. Looking at his picture brings me back to the day it was taken -- the first time I went home for a vacation last March. It's my sister's graduation and it's something that I wouldn't want to miss so I surprised my family by showing up at the exact moment she's delivering her Valedictory Speech. That day we're a complete, happy, proud family and I swear if I could stop time right at that moment, I would do it in a heartbeat. 

We all miss you, Daddy.

After visiting Dad, we all headed to our next stop: Seaside at Macapagal Blvd. I've always wanted to treat my family to a seafood feast so there's no better place than this. We bought the fresh seafood ourselves at the talipapa then had them cooked at Aling Tonya's Seafood Palutuan. I spent only about Php2000 for crabs, prawns, squid and salmon belly. Oh my, I am salivating again as I type! O_o

Butter Garlic Shrimp

Calamari

Halabos na Alimango

Sinigang na Salmon Belly

Tempura

Since we have kids with us, we also ordered Inihaw na Liempo but I didn't have time to take a photo of it  for it was swiped in an instant! Haha! All the dishes we ordered at Aling Tonya's were delectable that even my grandmother who's a picky-eater loved them. It's the tempura that I keep coming back here for but the salmon belly was the crowd favorite.

Here are a few snaps during lunch:

Mi familia.

Mi familia  in action. Haha!

Haley and her huge appetite never fails to amuse me. Yes, she can and she did eat on her own! :D

It is in moments like this that we miss Dad all the more.

One time while on Skype, Haley told me... "Ate nung andito pa si daddy, pumunta kaming MOA eh, nanood kami ng fireworks..." Hearing a little child reminisce of her father like that instantly made my eyes well up and I promised her right there that we'll all go to Mall of Asia when I go home. I'm not one to break promises so you know where we went next ;-)

The globe and the multi-cab shuttle service -- two things that scream MOA to me. LOL!

We only did a little shopping then off we headed home. Both the kids and the young-at-heart were tired but happy nonetheless. For me and Jhay though, there's no room to lounge around because we're running late for the day's last appointment -- Surprise Dinner with the School of Fish! That's up next ^^,

Day 35 - 40

Because I'll be very busy in the coming days, indulge me as I squeeze 6 days in one post :)

Day 35 - A picture of your hometown

I've been living here since birth but I don't have a real picture of my hometown. Haha. This will do. :-)

Thanks Google Maps! ^^,

Day 36 - A picture of your favorite toy when you were younger

Polly Pocket. I have a Country House, a Pizza Parlor, a Ski Chalet, a heart-shaped small house and the one in the photo below - a Mansion! I'm pretty sure you can tell which is my favorite! Haha. I and Ate Pants play with these all the time. With our Polly Pockets combined, we get our very own village! Geez, I miss being a kid! :-)

Credits here and here.

Day 37 - A picture taken at school

On our last day as students of our beloved Pamantasan.

Day 38 - A picture of your favorite drink

When I'm too tired or too sad, I buy myself a grande Java Chip and the world is a better place again. Haha.

Day 39 - A picture of your favorite food

No other than home-cooked Pork Sinigang. I am sooooo bringing packs of Sinigang Mix to SG ;P

Me: *drools*

Day 40 - A picture of your friends

Lucky to have these people in my life!

Happy to be almost halfway through the challenge,

Day 31 - A picture of food you made

I like the 100-day picture challenge because I get to share photos from yester-years... Like this one... :)

This photo was taken Valentine's Day last year. We just go out on V-day year after year so I thought we needed a breath of fresh air -- We're celebrating at home! I cooked Carbonara for the first time and not to toot my own horn but it was a massive success! J getting a second round was enough proof ;-)

To your left is what we had for dessert, a refrigerated cake also made by yours truly (gosh this feels so long ago -- look how small Haley is in the picture!). I painstakingly wrote those 3 characters using strips of ripe mangoes with oreo bits on the background. In fact, I almost didn't wanna slice my masterpiece when it's time to serve! Hahaha!

I'm making this combo again for Christmas Eve and if you don't have plans yet for your feast, you may want to try them. Yes, I'm sharing the recipe! :)

Pasta in Creamy White Sauce (Instant Carbonara)
Credit goes to my friend Noreen for the original recipe but this one I already tweaked to my liking :-)

Ingredients:
* 1 kilo spaghetti noodles
* Cooking oil
* 250 grams bacon
* 200 grams ham
* 1 chicken breast
* 1 small can of Jolly button mushrooms, sliced thinly
* ½ cup butter
* 2 cans Jolly Cream of Mushroom
* 2 packs of Nestle All-purpose cream
* 1 small can of evaporated milk
* 1 pork cube
* 1 box of quickmelt cheese
* regular cheese (for toppings)
* 8 cloves garlic
* Pepper

Procedure:
1. Cook the noodles according to package directions.
2. Boil the chicken breast, shred then set aside. 
3. In a pan, fry the bacon until crisp. Let it cool down then dice into bits. In the same pan, fry the ham. Cut into squares.
4. In a separate pan, in low heat, melt the butter and sauté the garlic. Mix the cream of mushroom, all purpose cream, milk, pork cube and grated quickmelt cheese. Continuously stir until the sauce starts to boil so that it won’t stick. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water (be careful not to add too much of it cause the sauce will be bland).
5. Add the mushrooms, ham, chicken and about 2/3 of the bacon bits. Add pepper to taste (no need for salt as the cheese is sufficient). Simmer.
6. Put pasta into a plate then add sauce. Top with bacon and cheese. Voila, Carbonara! :-)


Ref Cake a la Maude :P

Ingredients:
* 2 packs of graham crackers
* 3 packs of all purpose cream
* 1.5 cans of condensed milk
(Note: My milk to cream ratio is 1:2 because I have a sweet tooth. By all means, adjust it to your preferred sweetness.)
* Ripe mangoes and oreo bits for the toppings

Procedure:
1. Put the condensed milk and all-purpose cream in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
2. In a rectangular tray, lay the graham crackers. Make sure that there are no spaces as this will make the cream go all the way to the bottom of the tray once poured.
3. Pour the milk and cream mixture until the layer is completely covered.
4. Put strips of ripe mango on top of the cream. I used to think this is optional but soon I figured that this is the secret to a moist ref cake cause it prevents the layers from sticking together, thus absorbing the cream between them :-)
5. Repeat steps 2-4 till you fill the tray. I can usually make 4 or 5 layers with the ingredients above. Tip: Spare a generous amount of cream for the top layer.
6. Now do your thing with the strip of ripe mangoes and crushed oreos. Be artsy or cheesy, totally your call! :-)
7. Refrigerate for 6-8 hours. Serve with a smile ^_^


Happy Christmas Weekend, dearies!

Sunday Lunch at YakiMIX

I loooooove weekends. I can list down lots of reasons to support that statement but perhaps there is one thing I don’t like about it – during weekends, it’s a struggle keeping up with the diet. Well, I admit that 4-letter word and I have a love-hate relationship but on Saturdays and Sundays, we are always always on the verge of breaking up. Hahaha.

Last Sunday was no exception. I was invited by tita-in-law for lunch to celebrate the 20th birthday of their unica hija.

Meet Mariz. I like her because she’s blessed but she stays simple and down-to-earth. I love her fashion sense too! We jive because we are both into all things girly – Forever21 and bottles of nail polish included :P

We ate at YakiMIX in Trinoma. I’ve been hearing good things about the buffet resto so I was really looking forward to trying it out.

It's located at the 4th level, near the cinema.

The queue was cuh-ray-zee! J and family arrived before 11 am but they we’re already 19th (yes, 19th!) on the waiting list. We were seated almost 1:30. Kaloka di ba? Lesson learned: Be there waaaaaay ahead of time to be able to eat lunch on time. Haha.

The interiors and overall feel of the place is very sosyal :-)

The down side is that since it's jampacked, it's gets a little noisy.

As soon as we’re settled, J went to the buffet table to get us some (raw) food. I’m a first timer in a resto with a grill-your-own-food setup so I had fun cooking some bacon, beef and chicken right at our table. BTW, the rolled bacon is delish!

Then J and I went to get cooked dishes. I must say the buffet area was huge and filled with an array of viands, different kinds of sushi, cold cuts and sinful desserts. I wanted to take pictures of each section but I was too hungry to bother. Hehe.

I was never a fan of Japanese cuisine (except tonkatsu and tempura) so my first set was a little boring. Oh speaking of tempura, I still think the one we had at a seaside resto is the best -- fresh, hot, crispy and the prawns are just soooo yummy! The one I had at YakiMIX wasn't as impressive to me (or maybe the ones that I got has been on the table for some time, I dunno).

My second set was mostly fatty food – chopped crispy pata (or a Japanese version of it which I enjoyed), more bacon, crabsticks, 1 little serving of pastry and a slice of cake – so I didn’t take a picture of it anymore.

I finished the meal with a bowl full of ice cream.

I told you, diet is completely forgotten that day.

Now on to some group shots :-)

When J saw this picture, he couldn't believe how much he's grown (weight-wise). Haha. Sorry babe, reality bites.

With the celebrant! I intended to post this on Sept. 12 (her real birthday) but it's past 12mn already so belated happy birthday, pretty girl!
And good luck on the upcoming CPA board! ^_^

I know I just said that I don't like blurred pictures but I just had to post this.

See how close I and MIL2B were?! It's one for the books! :P

 Mariz with her parents and some close family friends.

Bro-in-law, his wife and TJ (I owe that little guy a lot! Find out why here.)

I could've eaten more had MIL2B not been seated at the edge of the couch. It's dyahe to ask her to stand up just so that we can go for another round. Hahaha.

And here are some must-knows about the restaurant, should you wish to give it a try :-)

Overall, YakiMIX still gets my thumbs up (the tummy couldn't agree more). I'd love to be back, probably when it's just the two of us so that I can take a trip to the buffet table as often as I want. Hahaha ;-P