Pineapple Chicken - Pine-Apple Chicken for Sunday Meals

This is a very easy recipe for Sunday lunch. This is for moms who would like to make their Sunday meal especial without getting too tired because after all, moms still need to preserve energy for the Monday workload. This can be prepared in less than 30 minutes. There is no need for very long preparation time. No special culinary skill is required.

This Sunday meal recipe is good for a family of 3 or 4. 

Pineapple Chicken - Pine-Apple Chicken

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo chicken (choose small pieces)
1 big potato (cut into cubes)
1 big carrot (cut into cubes)
1 big apple (sliced about 1/2 cm thick)
1 onion (sliced into rings)
1/2 clove garlic (diced)
1 small pack of young corn
1 green bell pepper (if kids like it)
1 can pineapple tidbits
salt and pepper
oil
water

 Procedure:
1. Saute onion and garlic in oil.
2. Add half a cup of water.
3. Add chicken. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the syrup from the pineapple tidbits. Add the potato and carrot cubes. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes.
5. Add apples slices, pineapple tidbits, young corn and bell pepper.
6. After a couple of minutes add salt and pepper to taste.

*To prevent the apple from turning brown after slicing, dip it into the pineapple syrup or squeeze lemon/calamansi over it.

I hope this Sunday meal recipe will help you have a special family bonding time on Sunday.

How to Make Chocolate Candies - Valentine's Day Fever

Okay! It's February and as they say love is in the air! Well, I'm not so into this Valentine's Day stuff but since its something I cannot runaway from then I'll just join the bandwagon. No, I'm not gonna go out on a date on Feb. 14. I mean I'll just give you a recipe for making chocolate candies.

Ingredients:

chocolate block (dark or milk chocolate)
fillings (nuts, raisins, marshmallows, dried fruits, shredded coconut, oats, corn flakes)

pic from kev79.wordpress.com

Materials:

double boiler
spatula
mold
flutter paper cups
boxes


Procedure:

1. Cut the chocolate block into small pieces (to melt easily).
2. Put the chocolate pieces in a double boiler.
3. Place the boiler over steady heat. When the water simmers the chocolate will start to melt. This is the signal for you to start stirring (use wooden spatula). Stir constantly until chocolate becomes smooth and thick.
4. When the chocolate has completely melted, scoop some chocolate and pour onto the mold. Fill only about half of the mold.
5. Add your desired filling.
6. Pour chocolate again onto the mold.
7. Let the chocolate cool for a bit then put in the refrigerator (small ones could be kept in the refrigerator for about 5 to 10 minutes while larger ones would need 10 to 15 minutes).
8. When the chocolate is already firm, turn the mold upside down and tap to remove the chocolate candies.
9. Put in flutter paper cups or just simply arrange in a box.

You can buy chocolate candy molds at low prices. Some of the shapes are star, heart, moon, flower, etc. But do not be limited by the molds that you can buy in stores. Look around your kitchen and you  will surely find something that can be used to give shape to your chocolate candies.

One thing I would like to try as a variation to the regular fillings is using fresh fruits. It may decrease its shelf life but fresh fruits are still nicer than dried ones. Instead of drying you may just need to drain the fresh fruit slices well so that whatever liquid they contain will not mix with the chocolate. I'll try it soon.

NOTE: Practice first with this simple recipe before venturing into making flavored chocolate candies. Also, practice with regular molds before trying  to make chocolates with elaborate designs. Practice then practice some more. Who knows, maybe next Valentine's Day you can already make export quality chocolate candies.




   

Mr. Poon - A Second Serving

Here are additional pics from Mr. Poon  (Guerrero St., Manila). You can visit the previous post about Mr. Poon to read more about the  restaurant.

Their Lomi has thick sauce and lots of toppings.  The Chicken feet is tender. The sauce is not too sweet nor is it too salty. It tasted good but I still added chili. The Mr. Poon mix rice (?) is a complete meal in itself. Get the one with steamed rice - yes  there is fried rice but it is different even though they go by almost the same name (just ask the waiter for the diff, okay?). The Halo-halo has a lot of beans which I do not like so you can expect that I didn't like it much. But my friends did. I just wonder if you can ask them not to include the beans.

Lomi

Chicken Feet

Mr. Poon rice mix (?)

Fish Fillet with Tofu in Tausi Sauce (I think that's how it's called or it could be shorter)

Lugaw - Congee

Halo-Halo

Mr. Poon - Richard Poon?

Mr. Poon restaurant. Who is POON you know these days? I bet you'll say Richard Poon - the singer. You see him regularly on ASAP on ABS-CBN Channel 2. Richard Poon has gain a following a few years ago so many actually associate the Mr. Poon restaurant with him.

But Mr. Poon restaurant did not cone into being because of Richard. There was already a Mr. Poon restaurant probably before he was even born. The original Mr. Poon opened in 1974 according to one internet report. The original Mr. Poon was along Mabini St. in Malate.

Now, there is a new Mr. Poon restaurant in Ermita (or is it Malate? - never knew the difference). It's along Guerrero St. If you are facing St. Paul's University, Manila, Guerrero St. is the street on its left. Its just a few blocks from Robinson's Place, Manila.

The restaurant still serves what they say the popular dish then which is steamed Lapu-Lapu. It comes with different sauces. Anyway, that's not what I tried when we ate there. Here are pictures of the dishes we sampled. I must say they all satisfied my cravings for that night. My favorite is the togue.

The two times I've been at Mr. Poon I spotted who else but Richard Poon himself. I wonder if he sings to their customers! Hmmm