Menu Planner: a Collector's Item

Gourmet the Supermarket Way 2013. That's the name of the menu planner I got from a promo December last year after accumulating some grocery points at the nearest Rustan's Supermarket, where we usually go for our weekly household supplies. Looking at my menu planner makes me realize how swiftly time has passed! It's the 1st day of June and I have just barely written on it.

I'm a collector of notebooks! Some (uhh uhh... many?) of them I haven't used yet. But that's what collections are for, right? Menu planners are no exception to my collection.

Well, I remember telling myself that I would use this year's menu planner for keeping my original recipes. Define original recipes... Recipes that I invent or concoct myself. In my notebook I refer to them as "Eve's Originals." But once uploaded, they then become Garden Chef's property. :)

Let me introduce you to my 2013 menu planner ...

The cover

Let's see what's inside...

A daily planner with special events reminder.

This is where you write the menu you have planned for the day, like this...

Kitchen tips

Attractive photos of dishes featured on special glossy paper

Recipes of dishes. There are quite a number of recipes for selected dishes one can serve anytime of the day--- breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks.

Quotes for the day by famous personalities, including chefs

Oh, I almost forgot, it also includes conversion charts. Then, the notes pages where you can keep a diary. But I use these pages to write the drafts of the original recipes I cook. See what I have written inside.

I bring my menu planner to the kitchen to jot down specific instructions in making a dish. Writing down what you do as you go along allows you to remember some details which you might forget later. Besides, I wouldn't want to soil my laptop with wet or oily hands! Although I often refer to recipes on line while trying some new dishes.

For this post, I'm featuring one very simple and easy recipe I tried lately, a modification of a very native dish we call "laswa". This dish is a favorite and popular dish in the Visayas region of the Philippines where I grew up.

Sauteed Shrimps with Saluyot
Ingredients:
Oil
1 clove minced garlic
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
1 large tomato, sliced
1 cup shrimps, pre-boiled; skin and head removed and soaked in water to make 1 cup shrimp stock
1 bunch saluyot / tugabang leaves (Corchurus Olitorius or jute leaves)
pinch of salt

Steps:
1. Spray oil in stainless pan. Saute garlic, onion, tomato and shrimps.
2. Add half of shrimp stock before mixing the saluyot leaves. Simmer for one minute.
3. Add more shrimp stock according to desired consistency.
4. Season with salt. Simmer until saluyot leaves are cooked.
5. Serve with fried or grilled fish or pork.

I will feature a similar version of this dish in another post next time. For now, I've ushered you into the main door of my kitchen laboratory! Welcome to Garden Chef's Needle and Pen! A blessed Sunday to all!!!

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Pesto Spanish Sardines Pasta: A Remake

There's a saying that goes, "One is enough, two is too much..." Uh uhhh, not for this!!! I'm referring to the Spanish Sardines Pasta which was my welcome post this year. My daughter, Ayana Grace, bought a bottle of pesto from the grocery store last month (she usually does...we seldom run out of pesto sauce in our cupboard) and I just wasn't able to resist making another try of the Pesto Spanish Sardines Pasta so here it is... Ingredients: 2 tbsps reserved oil from bottled sardines 2 tbsps olive oil 1 tbsp minced garlic 1/4 cup diced tomato 1 cup flaked Spanish sardines 1/3 cup Pesto sauce 1/4 cup pitted black olives 1/4 cup button mushrooms 1/2 kilo pasta noodles, cooked according to package instructions salt and pepper to taste Whole pieces of Spanish sardines (1 piece as topping per serving) Parsley for garnish Steps: In a large saute pan, heat oil from sardines. Add olive oil as needed. Saute garlic until fragrant. Add diced

Ensaladang Mustasa

It's back to work today, after five days of rest, something I've been looking forward to. As if the long Christmas holiday vacation was not enough :) Well, days just seem to fly so fast! Thanks to the additional non-working holidays brought about by the Pope's visit to my country, the Philippines. I had time to relax, stay at home, bond with family and yes, sort picture files in my computer. In between social networking, of course, I cooked for my family. With my husband home, there has to be fish and vegetables on the dining table. There was a bunch of mustasa (mustard) leaves left in the vegetable bin. What could be a better and perfect partner to fried fish than Ensaladang Mustasa (Mustard Salad)? Very simple and easy, here's how I did it. Ingredients: 1 bunch of mustasa leaves Rock salt 2 medium-sized tomatoes, sliced 1 small onion, sliced thinly 3 tbsps vinegar Iodized salt, ground pepper and sugar to taste Steps: 1. Cut mus

Ensaladang Alugbati (Malabar Spinach Salad)

This post appeared in my Facebook memories today. I'm glad it did! I featured this salad in my FB page a year ago. Alugbati (Malabar Spinach) Salad (Ensaladang Alugbati). This came up when I received for the first time this bouquet of alugbati from Erik, my officemate. He shares with us fruits and veggies fresh from his garden.

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