Foot and Fire

Let food be your medicine.  And I bet this soup is one example of a food that really heals. I have been avoiding commercial dressed chicken from the market, the then 45 days had been reduced to 22 days. That number refers to chicken's lifespan from hatchling to being ready for dressing. I only eat such chicken whenever I can't avoid it or simply miss it. So, it is always a joy to find a backyard raised native chicken. Given the convergence of the native chicken, the mongo and the ginger and the lemongrass, the broth is aromatic and tasty. 700g native chicken 2 thumb-sized ginger 150g mongo (mung beans) 200 g ubad (banana pith or core stem) Olive oil 3 cloves of Garlic 1 medium onion Water Lemongrass, tied Nutritional yeast Salt Fish sauce Soak mongo overnight. Drain and let boil until tender and can be mashed. Set aside. Boil chicken pieces and ginger covered with water for 25 minutes, just until fork tender. Set aside. Halve the banana pith or core stem and slice t...

Bahay ni Tuding is homey and has an in-house restaurant  which is a good thing during rainy or lazy days during a vacation.  Please check out how the hometel fared during our November 2014 vacation  in my foot and fire blog  here. Bulalo. *** Guayabano spread. *** *** Complimentary Home-made yogurt. *** *** *** *** Calamansi and lemongrass juice is a hit for us! ***

By GERLIE M. UY Linaga nga Baka with Langka... Weekends are best as we have time to slow-cook like this linaga. Beef soup are best with slow cook so that one can get the real beef stock. It is always a treat! Once in a while, it is great to have meat protein for this vegetable girl. 1 kilo Beef (Cuts with bones) 3 liter water batuan (sour fruit popular in Visayas) 3 thumbs of ginger 1 knot of lemongrass leaves Jalapeno Chili Salt 1 T of Chinese Five Spice (optional) Slices of unripe jackfruit Wash the beef cuts and place in a cauldron with water. Bring to boil until meat is tender. At least 2 hours in charcoal fire. But this must be shorter in pressure cookers. Add crushed batuan, crushed ginger, and lemongrass. Bring to boil until the spices are in the soup. Add salt. Add jalapeno, more salt if needed, Chinese five spice and the unripe jackfruit. Let boil until jackfruit is cooked. Where we cooked it... Whole fresh batuan, crushed. Sliced unripe jackfruit.

Like The cold cucumber salad... Be the first of your friends to like this. 3 pcs medium sized cucumbers Dressing 3 stalks of lemon grass (white portion only) 6 calamansi juice 1 tbsp Green Curry Paste  1tsp Cumin Powder  1 tsp Curry Powder  2 tbsp Refined Sugar,   3 tbsp Ground peanuts (reserve 1 tbsp for garnish) 1-2 tsp chili powder (use fresh green and red jalapeno pepper if available)  Salt and ground pepper Peel cucumbers alternately so as to leave green stripes. Cut into half lengthwise and remove seeds. Cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick. Chill. In a blender, put all the spices and blend. Adjust taste with salt and pepper as well as sugar. Pour dressing in the cucumber and mix well just before serving. Arrange in a serving platter with lemon grass, jalapeno or ground peanuts as garnish. Topped with peanuts, this cold cucumber salad is rich in flavor. Taste of Thailand. Left to right: Green Curry Paste, Cumin Powder, Curry Powder,  Refined Sugar, ...