Category: Food

A Filipino friend used to make me her chicken adobo and it was the best I had ever had. Of course I had to ask her to spill her secrets! So, this is what I learned! Btw, this is the base recipe I use with these four tweaks below.👇🏼

1. Use seasoned rice vinegar instead of distilled white vinegar

Other chicken adobo recipes I had tried were too salty. This little switch makes a huge difference in balancing out the saltiness of the soy sauce. It’s perfection!

2. Add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar or coconut palm sugar during the last 5 minutes

Other chicken adobo recipes I had tried were too watery. Adding this tablespoon of sugar at the very end makes for a thicker, more caramelized sauce. I swear if you do this, you’ll never go back!

3. Put the whole black peppercorn in a metal tea bag

I love the flavor that the whole black peppercorn gives to the dish, but I hate having to fish out whole peppercorn while I’m eating. This solves the problem! Since it’s metal, it can cook with the dish.

1. Serve with eggplant

My friend started me on this too. Eggplant pairs really well with this dish! I just pan fry it and add a little bit of brown sugar and this soup base until the eggplant is caramelized. Serve everything with brown rice!

As of late, I’ve been wanting more veggies! These are three things I make all the time.

Hungarian mushroom soup

This is probably the thing I make for other people and get the most requests for a recipe! That’s how I know it’s good! I also get cravings for this soup, and after the summer season is over, it’s one of the dishes I can’t wait to start making again. It’s rich, creamy, dilly and delicious.

Cucumber Sandwiches

When nothing looks good and I don’t feel like eating, this has saved the day! Literally just crusty bread, cream cheese, sliced cucumber, and freshly ground salt and pepper. Have you ever had this??

Vegetarian Sandwiches

I have never met a meat sandwich that I like better than my veggie sandwiches! Bold statement, I know. But there’s something about the combo of just bread, cheese, mayo, and crunchy vegetables that really go well together. For me the secret is slivered red onion, freshly ground salt and pepper on my tomatoes, and I’ll throw whatever else I have in the fridge in there- grilled or fresh bell peppers, sliced cucumber, micro greens, lettuce, or spinach. Don’t knock it until you try it! I get cravings for this.

Have you ever been gifted a recipe? It’s so special. The recipes I’ve been gifted by relatives, friends, and even a bed and breakfast, are recipes that I repeat and go back to most often. I also love seeing them labeled in my collections by the giver- mom’s gluten and onions, Rochelle’s beans and rice etc…

Here are 5 I have been eating currently –

Bed and breakfast green chili quiche-

Back in college, I worked at an acupuncturist’s office located in a Victorian home. We visited the bed and breakfast across the street for brunch once and I tasted THE. MOST. MOUTHWATERING. quiche I had ever put in my mouth. I told the owner how much I loved it. She said, “Do you want the recipe?” I’ve made this quiche for decades and added anything and everything- ham, bell peppers, zucchini, broccoli, spinach, kale… it goes with everything. I will never make another quiche again. Is it a quiche or a frittata, who knows?!

Hikari’s grilled Greek meat marinade

I am a self professed lazy foodie, so I want to get to the eating part as quick as humanly possible. I love this marinade so much because it tastes good on every kind of meat- I’ve tried it on lamb, beef, and chicken. Superb. I get asked for this recipe when I make it for people. I will never make another grilled Greek meat marinade again.

Mom’s tofu and green beans

My mom is not a cook, BUT she had three must eat recipes on repeat and the one I’ll share is my favorite tofu recipe of all time. It’s a Filipino dish with soy sauce, tons of garlic, lime, sugar, and pepper. It brings me back to my childhood every time I eat it. The annoying thing is that it has no measurements like so many typical inherited recipes. Just know that the base needs to taste more sweet than salty or tangy. It is sweet and garlicy with a hint of tang and saltiness. Good luck 😆

Rochelle’s black beans and garlic rice-

I don’t personally know Rochelle, but Rochelle was my brother Allan’s classmate and she gave him this recipe and he gave me this recipe. I never make any other kinds of beans and rice. I get regular cravings for this and make it at least once a month. The thing that makes this rice and beans so special is that the rice contains an entire head of garlic. So if you are a garlic fan, you will LOVE this.

Sol’s cucumber, tomato, onion salad

I eat this almost every week, with almost any meat or protein- see black beans above. 😆 It’s so simple and so delish! Again, no measurements but I do about 1 capful of apple cider vinegar and a lot of salt, like 25 grinds on my salt grinder-

Do you have any recipes you’ve inherited that are you make over and over? I’d love to know!