David’s Pancit with Bacon, Salmon, Vegetables and more Seafood

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday so of course we had to have pancit! This post is dedicated to him and also to my mother-in-law (birthday the 17th), my grandparent’s-in-law (June 9th wedding anniversary, birthdays on the 10th and 11th), and uncle-in-law (birthday on the 1st). This weekend we are also celebrating my brother-in-law’s graduation from college. Lots of things to celebrate in June! (See the Remixed Chicken Tikka & Aloo Gobi post on June 1st for my sister’s birthday) I think this is a noodle recipe that’s perfect for all of these special occasions. It is hearty, meaty, yet light and fresh-tasting. It’s not as filling as pasta, but it’s satisfying. Plus, there’s bacon in it! In our families, you can’t go wrong with good bacon! We also love seafood and one of my husband’s favorite fish is salmon. In fact, at our wedding, he chose to have salmon over filet mignon. I think I’m becoming a salmon-cooking master. I cook it often as we are able to get good wild-caught salmon at the market. Also, a noodle dish isn’t a pancit unless there are some sort of veggies mixed in (and calamansi or lemon!). If my husband David were to make a pancit recipe,  I think he would make something similar to this, a noodle dish centered on fun ingredients that he enjoys with pasta (like bacon and shiitake mushrooms!) with rich flavors.

Molecular Mac & Cheese in a certain shade of orange

What? Molecular macaroni and cheese? Yet another macaroni and cheese recipe! Yes! If you like to experiment and spice up your weeknight dinners, this is a fun recipe to try. But it’s really delicious too! And you don’t need a roux! Yay that rhymes 🙂 What makes this mac and cheese recipe “molecular” is the use of a molecular or modernist technique of emulsifying sauces (cheese sauces in particular) with sodium citrate. It’s a salt that comes from citric acid. Citrate itself is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle and thus is involved in the metabolic processes of aerobic organisms. If you majored in science, like I did, you would know citrate intimately, and if you finished a masters in biochemistry like I did, you would know it even more intimately as a friendly metabolite. Add on a sodium ion via bicarbonate and you get sodium citrate, which is nothing to fear. At least I don’t. It’s in our bodies even if you don’t use techniques from modernist cuisine.

Happy National Doughnut Day 2013!

Yay it’s Doughnut Day!

Every first Friday of June is a great odd holiday of National Doughnut Day. We’ve been celebrating this holiday for years. I think it was my husband who brought it up first when we first started dating. Since then, I always keep it in my mind to remember the day and to make some doughnuts. These round bread-y pastries  have always been popular, but in recent years it seems like it’s popularity has skyrocketed. There are even pretzel doughnuts, muffin doughnuts, and I still have to try those “cronuts!” Or maybe if you want to try a new type of doughnut, try some of the pao de quiejo donuts that I made a few weekends ago. With donut maker electric appliances and doughnut baking pans, no wonder these have become more popular, especially homemade. This year I tried a baked version from Official Hungry’s “Eat My Vegan” recipe. I have been eye-ing this for some time and adapted it to a gluten-free recipe.

Happy Birthday to My Sister! Chicken Tikka Masala and Aloo Gobi Matar Remixed

Happy Birthday to my sister! I hope you have a good time today! You deserve it! If only I can send you some of this food! A fun memory I have of my sister while we were kids was when we had some visitors over and a lady asked my sister, she was then a 3 year old, “What is your favorite food?” My sister responded enthusiastically, “Chicken and mashed potatoes!” However, the lady’s daughter, about the same age said “Malunggay!” I can’t believe I still remember this, it makes me laugh thinking about that time. So, for her birthday, I made chicken and mashed potatoes, inspired by Indian cuisine. She loves Indian food and even traveled to Southeast Asia for a mission trip last year as a nursing student. We are really proud of her achievements and desire to help people. In addition to serving many people, I think she developed a taste for foods with spices. So for her birthday, here is an Indian fusion dish:  Crispy potato chip chicken tikka masala with aloo gobi mash.