Thursday, June 25, 2009

A Big thank you!


Thank you so much Acdee for this award! I truly appreciate it! Now I would like to pass this award to five talented, creative and haute mama bloggers:
Mely , Manang Kim, Peachkins , Acdee and Karen

Here are the simple rules:
♥ Take your award and put the logo on your post. ♥Link the person who awarded you.Remember each recipient of the award should acknowledge the person who honored them and go to Mom's Special Diary to copy and paste the award. ♥Put your own blog title and link. ♥Nominate at least five deserving moms.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Neighborhood Dish: Episode 7 "A Taste of the Philippines"


Last winter, my friend Kristine and I taped a show for Neighborhood Dish, a cooking show on Malden Access TV. Neighborhood Dish is produced and hosted by the multi-talented and vivacious Karen and Paula. This cooking show rocks! Some of my neighbors and I have never missed an episode. I cook a lot but never in front of a camera. This experience was fun and nerve wracking at the same time. For this episode, we simply channeled our inner Rachel Ray and just had fun. If you want to see Kristine and I cook Filipino food on TV and live in the Malden, Melrose and Stoneham area, please watch Neighborhood Dish on Fios Channel 28 or Comcast Channel 3 on Fridays at 4pm, Saturday at 7pm and Sundays at 2pm. MATV will run this episode until the end of June/beginning of July. You can also watch the episode online:
Neighborhood Dish: Episode 7 " A Taste of the Philippines"

Karen and Paula worked hard on this episode and every single Neighborhood Dish episode. I don't know anything about TV production but I after watching this episode on TV, I gained an appreciation for the hours and hours of editing that goes into one hour of TV. Not being Filipino herself, Karen picked appropriate Filipino music that perfectly matched the content and transitions of this episode.

I'm very proud of "A Taste of the Philippines" because the representation of Filipino cooking and food on US TV is few and far between. I'm very grateful to Karen and Paula for featuring Filipino cooking on Neighborhood dish. My recipes for fresh vegetarian spring rolls or Lumpiang sariwa with leeks, shitake, fried tofu, Chinese parsley and green papaya, "French custard based" Ube Ice Cream, Kalamansi juice with simple syrup and Kristine's delicious Chicken Abobo recipe can all be found on the Neighborhood Dish Website:

Neighborhood Dish Website


Thank you so much Karen and Paula for letting us cook on your show!


Jen and Kristine with Karen and Paula

Kristine's chicken adobo with green beans

Jen rolling vegetarian fresh lumpia

"French custard based" Ube ice cream

Kristine, a rockstar in the kitchen!

Jen and Karen rolling some fresh lumpia.

The New British Invasion: Sheperd's Pie!

Today, I will show you how I make my version of Shepherd's Pie. This is exactly how I make it. It's not the most traditional recipe but my family loves it. This English meat pie is hearty, yummy and makes a great weeknight meal. I love meat and potato recipes that are easy to make like this one.

1. First, caramelize 1 cup of roughly chopped red onion and garlic. Why red? because it's very sweet once it caramelizes. This will take about 30 minutes. Add about 2 pounds of ground beef and saute until brown. Add one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and 3 tablespoons of brown gravy mix. The gravy mix will give the meat some flavor and will bind everything together. Don't forget to season with salt and pepper. Add frozen peas on top. There is need to thaw them. The residual heat from the meat will thaw them.
2. Add mashed potatoes. You can make it from scratch if you have the time but I use instant mashed potatoes. Spread the mashed potatoes evenly with a spatula or the back of wooden spoon on top of the meat and green peas.

3. Add your favorite cheese. This is not a traditional ingredient by any means but makes this dish richer. Most anything is better with cheese, right? When I make casseroles that require cheese, I add a great Mexican cheese blend from COSTCO.
4. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for approximately 30-40 minutes. The top will turn golden brown. Wait for 10 minutes before serving because it's steaming hot after it comes out of that oven. Serve with your favorite salad. Enjoy!