Philippines' Farmers Market

I don't like going to wet markets. If I must, I have to be mentally prepared and suitably dressed for it because it's no small effort to step on slimy floors, to get bumped by "kargador" (porter, stevedore), to get nasal assault on every turn, to haggle for good price, to guard against pickpockets, to pay for goods in bills and coins, count your change, and to carry your own shopping bags. In fact, things get even more challenging if the one shopping is a blogger who must take photographs to chronicle an adventure. :) It also doesn't help that I have to have my mobile phone with me at all times and my parking ticket, too! I could probably think of a hundred reason why I'll avoid going to a wet market on most days, except when I need fresh seafood.

(Photos: public weighing scale, the seafood and meat sections, fruit vendors)



And seafood were exactly what I need one Sunday morning when I got dressed in simple shirt and jeans and drove to Farmers' Market. Here in the Philippines, this wet market is an institution. Located in Cubao, Quezon City, Farmers' Market has a good selection of seafood, meat, fruits and vegetables, and flowers, too. I go here mostly for the seafood. It's not the cheapest market to shop, but I think many come here for the quality and wide selection of seafood.

So, without further ado, here are the pictures I took during my recent trip at Farmers' Market. I took close-up pictures only from stores or vendors I patronized because I was afraid others would mind if I took photos without buying. I love the one of the mussels because there's a tabby cat at the foreground looking jaded towards all that the seas and ponds in the country came up with that morning.



(Above, fresh fish: Lapu-lapu are the rosy ones, and Pampano, I think, are the flat, silver ones.)



(Above, basins of prawns and shrimps in different sizes, next to a basket of live crabs tied up so they don't escape.)



(Above, baskets of kuhol or escargot. I don't eat snails, ty. The next stand sells mussels guarded by a shy young tabby.)



(Above, scallops that sell for P350 a kilo or about $8. Next photo shows clams for P60 or $1.50 and oysters and seaweeds.)

Waffle Dogs

A quick snack that brings back childhood memories for me is wafffle dog. Every so often I feel like having one. Today is one of those days, so out came my yellow Kyowa waffle dog maker and after 15 minutes I have enough waffle dogs to last me till dinner time.

INGREDIENTS:
- a small box of waffle or hotcake mix
- an egg
- a teaspoon of cooking oil
- a cup of water
- 9 regular hotdogs (each cut in half)


TO COOK:
- follow the procedure on how to prepare the hotcake mix (read back of carton label)
- warm up the waffledog maker and one by one fill the molds with boiled hotdog and batter.
- close waffle dog maker lid and open only when it says it's ready (my Kyowa turns a green light on if the waffles are cooked)
- cook longer by half a minute if you want a darker brown waffle dog.
- serve with a cold drink. Enjoy!

Mussels in butter and garlic broth

Mussels, yum! I had my first chance to cook this shellfish recently. With some trepidation I tried to do it the way an Italian restaurant serves it. I must say my version came close because the mussels really tasted good as they swim in shallow butter and lemon sauce. I lovett!

INGREDIENTS:
- A kilo of mussels, cleaned and washed
- 3 cups of water
- 5 cloves of garlic sliced thinly
- a stalk of spring onion cut into small pieces
- 1 lemon
- 1/3 of a butter block
- salt and pepper
- half a cup of white wine
- half a teaspoon of sugar (optional if the wine is sweet)

TO COOK:
Boil the mussels with the garlic. When the shells start to open, add the wine, salt and pepper, sugar, and squeeze in the lemon. Drop the butter and spring onion last. Simmer for 5 minutes. Enjoy!

Cat cups and mugs

Let me deviate a little from blogging about 1 pot wonders to 1 cup wonders.

I love collecting cups and mugs with nice cat prints. It makes drinking coffee more fun for me. I have a small collection of cat cups and mugs and I will post pictures of each one in the days to come.

The cup in the photo is my latest find from a local store called Mobler that carries a selected number of Ikea products and other cool brands for the home. Please do tell and show me if you happen to own cute cat cups and mugs, too. They sure make perfect coffee-table chat points. :)

Cheese and mushroom omelette

I am a big breakfast person. I don't used to be. Not even when I was studying. I think it's because I didn't have time in the morning. That changed when I started working as a writer in a company that allowed me to start my day late. When I have extra time I enjoy cooking my own breakfast like cheese and mushroom omelette with garlic Spam and wheat bread on the side. Here's how I do it:

INGREDIENTS
- two beaten eggs
- one cheese singles (cheddar or anything milky)
- about a scoop of sliced button mushrooms (fresh or canned)
- cooking oil

TO COOK
Simply pour the beaten egg in a skillet with hot oil. Wait for the egg to brown underneath before carefully laying the cheese and mushroom on one side of the frying egg. Flip the egg halfway to make a pouch. Brown a bit more before serving.

You can fry the meat afterwards, toast the bread with some butter and always serve with a hot mug of freshly brewed coffee. Enjoy!

My cook books

Who doesn't own a cook book, raise your hands?

I didn't own a cook book until my late '20s when my love for food and my palette started to get a little complex. I now have about 10 cook books, complemented by print-outs of recipes I find online, recipes printed on the back of canned good labels or food cartons that I keep, and post-its with my hasty handwriting of recipes I see on TV.


The first cook book I owned is called The Little Book of Fish & Seafood, which I now find odd that it's my first cook book because I'm a meat lover. I hardly use this book because some of the fish featured are not easily available like skate and herring.

Later somebody gave me the Practical Wok & Stir-Fry and the Practical Barbeque cook books. These two are right up my alley because most recipes were easy enough for newbie cooks to follow.

Discovering food and loving it unfortunately could make one put on weight. That must be the reason why someone gave me a Low Carb cook book, which I love because most recipes are well thought of, delicious but not too involved to prepare.

Another step-by-step cook book I have is called Meat Dishes from the Essential Cooking Series. This is also a friendly cook book that I consult from time to time.

I'm also a proud owner of three books by Ina Garten. I have the Barefoot Contessa At Home, Barefoot in Paris, and Barefoot Contessa Family Style. I love watching Ina Garten cook in her lovely home at the East Hampton. She is very generous with the ingredients and her environment -- her own herb and flower garden, the small food shops she frequent, etc. -- is something I wish to have or visit. I have attempted to replicate a number of her dishes already. Several of her ingredients, however, are unique to the U.S. so I have to make adjustments to recreate her recipes. I noticed, though, that she loves to use flour and butter a lot. She's also a heavy user of the food processor. Nothing wrong with these, really, and her dishes are great. But sometimes I do struggle with some of the "big production" recipes that seem so easy to follow when I'm just watching her do them. I also wonder who keeps her kitchen looking so pristine before, during and even after her cooking episode. Because mine certainly looks like where a bomb dropped after I finished cooking.

Last Christmas I acquired the two volumes of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I am that intrepid! But that lasted only a few minutes before real trepidation set in because the moment I leafed through the pages (and saw the old-style reference drawings which I like but also kinda wish there are updated color photos of the dishes) of Julia Child's masterpieces, I felt so foolish to even think about replicating what a kitchen goddess had done.

I think 10 cook books will serve me for sometime when the mood to cook something new hits me. I just took them out from the shelves today and studiously listed and typed down the ones I think I'll try cooking in the days to come. Wish me luck :)

Beef shank with vegetables

Here's a beef shank dish that I've managed to cook on several occasions already. It's a simple meat-and-potato kind of dish but with a little extra garden variety and I make it extra tomatoey.



INGREDIENTS
- 1 kilo of beef shank, cut to serving size
- 1 can or a small pack of tomato sauce
- 8 small potatoes (peeled)
- 2 big carrots (peeled and cut)
- 2 large onions (sliced)
- 1 yellow capsicum (sliced)
- few olives
- garlic (crushed)
- a cup of red wine
- a tbsp of white sugar
- a dash of oregano
- wombok leaves
- salt and pepper




TO COOK:
Boil the beef shank till it's tender. Add the tomato sauce,potato, carrots, onion and garlic and continue boiling. Before the vegetables are done, add the wine, sugar and all the seasoning like salt, pepper and oregano. After it simmered for about 15 minutes, add the wombok leaves and the capsicum. Always sample the sauce to suit your taste. You can add some Knorr seasoning for more flavoring. Enjoy!