Garden Chef's Needle and Pen

 Welcome this new dish--- Mushroom Tortillas--- on a rainy day. "Incessant heavy to torrential rains spawned by the southwest monsoon enhanced by tropical storm  Maring" ( Inquirer News says) struck the northern part of the Philippines yesterday. This brought heavy rains since last night and has left many flooded areas that aside from being a holiday in my place today (being Quezon City Day), suspension of classes and government offices has also been declared in the affected provinces. The photo below shows part of the South Luzon Express Way (SLEX) that Billy, my husband, was supposed to traverse today. It's a blessing that he was spared when he decided not to drive to the university (as he does very early Monday mornings every week) even before the no-class declaration was aired. This re-posted photo was shared by my husband via Facebook This simply means that, with hubby at home, I had to cook something healthy. So here's this new mushroom di...

After making Fresh Oyster Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce , the first of the series of mushroom dishes I planned to feature, I ordered more packs of mushroom from the distributor CMAR Mushroom World . I was fortunate to have the mushrooms delivered to my workplace. So I was able to make another mushroom dish, Tempura . Here it is... Ingredients: Oyster mushrooms 1/4 cup cornstarch 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1/4 tsp baking powder 2 eggs beaten 3/4 cup water 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper Cornstarch (or ready-made breadcrumbs) for dredging Mushrooms dipped in batter and dredged in cornstarch. Ready for frying.   Steps: Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Slowly whisk in eggs and water. Continue whisking to make a smooth batter. Dredge mushrooms in cornstarch, then dip into batter. Deep fry.  Serve hot. For the first batch, I followed the instructions to the letter. But when I was about to refill the cornstarch for dredging, I suddenly remembered that I...

I accompanied my husband to see his doctor for his regular check-up last week in the cardiac hospital where I work. Our hospital celebrates Nutrition Month for this whole month of July.  Part of the month-long celebration is the putting up of a Food Gallery at the ground lobby where various food entrepreneurs get to showcase their products. So now, let me share this mushroom recipe I got from one of the stalls when I bought a pack of mushroom. I bought this pack of organically grown mushrooms for P 100.00. After asking the saleslady about the lifespan of the product which she comprehensively answered (2-3 days at room temperature, 2 weeks when refrigerated, months in the freezer), she voluntarily handed me a list of mushroom dishes with recipes by their company, CMAR Mushroom World , located at Jala Jala, Rizal. Here they are... Fresh Oyster Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce Ingredients: 1/2 kilo mushrooms 2 tbsps cooking oil 1 cup water 6 tbsps oyster sauce 1/...

In my December 31 post , I mentioned that this will be a part of the repertoire of dishes I will prepare for the New Year's Eve. Honestly, I was attracted to the sight of the dish while browsing over Olive Magazine for the first time.  Leek - Mushroom - Spinach Souffle Omelette from Olive Magazine Here's the recipe... Ingredients: 2 handfuls of spinach butter olive oil 1 small, sliced leek 1 handful, chopped button mushrooms 2 eggs, separated 1 tbsp parmesan, finely grated Steps:   Put the spinach in a sieve and pour over boiling water. Cool and squeeze out moisture. Heat a little oil in a non-stick pan, add a slice of butter, the leek and mushrooms and cook until soft. Remove and set aside. Whisk the egg yolks with 1 tbsp of water in a bowl and season. Whisk the whites until they form soft peaks and fold them into the egg yolks, keeping in as much air as possible. Add more butter to the pan, then add the eggs. Cook for 1 minute...