Recipes: Chicken Parmigiana

(This article originally appeared in my Helium.com page until the site closed down)

For this recipe, you will have to separately prepare chicken cutlets and marinara sauce at an earlier time. You can check videos on how to prepare the best tasting chicken cutlets (which are themselves ready-to-eat foodstuffs) and marinara sauce online. Marinara sauce is a regular ingredient households prepare, especially if the one who’s making most of the meals is descended from Italy or one of those cooks who have learned the fact from someone who has been doing Italian-based dishes. I learned this from my landlord who used to own and run his Italian-American restaurant for many years. We would prepare marinara sauce and freeze it for future meals. 

And with both chicken cutlets and marinara sauce prepared sometime ago, you can proceed to make your own chicken parmigiana now. Note that this meal can be expensive if you have it from restaurants; the preparation time accounts most probably for the reason why it’s pricey than other entrees. To prepare it from scratch, you need to spare time to prepare chicken cutlets as well as the sauce, but you can always use short-cuts that you may want to discover and follow. You will learn these from other sources and as long as you allow your creativity to play as well as take the time to prepare meals in your own kitchen.

Please prepare the following:

shredded mozzarella cheese (approximately 2 cups), 8 oz (227 grams)

1 can tomato sauce, 8 oz (227 grams)

1 can or bottle of marinara sauce, approximately 26 oz (1 lb 10 oz or 737 grams), or your own previously prepared marinara sauce

8 pieces of medium size chicken cutlets, approximately equivalent to 1.5 lbs of previously prepared chicken cutlets (or buy equivalent quantity of prepared foods from the supermarket) 

1 tablespoon of grated Italian cheese or muenster cheese

Steps:

1) Heat oven at 430 degrees Fahrenheit.

2) Place aluminum foil to cover all the top side of your rectangular shaped baking dish, which you will use to contain all the chicken cutlets you’ve on hand. Then place all chicken cutlets into this cookware.

3) When oven is already heated enough, place chicken cutlets in the oven and heat them up for at least 30 minutes.

4) Bring out cookware from oven and place the very hot chicken cutlets on a plate using kitchen tongs in the meantime.

5) Pour contents of tomato sauce at the bottom of the oven cookware and spread them all over the cookware using a spoon.

6) Using the tongs, place all the chicken cutlets in the cookware. 

7) Pour and spread all over the chicken cutlets your marinara sauce. 

8) Sprinkle the Italian cheese (or muenster cheese) on top of sauce and chicken cutlets.

9) Heat oven again at 430 degrees Fahrenheit, which should be quicker now because the oven has just been used.

10) Spread all the grated mozzarella cheese on top of the chicken cutlets and the sauce. Make sure all top portions are covered by the grated mozzarella cheese.

11) Put the cookware in the oven, and bake for at least 8 minutes. You have to watch from the glass screen of the oven and make sure the cheese won’t burn. The melting cheese should look like the cheese you see from pizza that has just been brought out from the oven in a pizza shop.

Serve this meal while hot with your favorite side dishes. This is good for 4 persons.

The differences between Equal, Sweet’N Low and Splenda

Here’s the article as it used to appear onn my Helium.com account until the site closed down (subtitled ‘Artificial Sweeteners’):

All are artificial, non-nutritive sweeteners that have been developed and introduced in the market progressively in the past years to meet the needs and wants of targeted buyers and consumers on what they have to eat during their snack time and mealtime. All are organic (carbon-containing) chemicals that your mouth receptors willingly associate with the taste of sweet, thus stimulating sensations of sweetness to most users (unless you’re one among the most finicky eaters around us).

When the artificial sweetener saccharin (mainly known to a large sector of the market under the brand “Sweet’N Low” in pink packets) replaced cyclamates in 1970, it was also proposed by the FDA to ban its use, as studies suggested both set of sweeteners caused cancer in rats and mice. But a Congressional act (the “Delaney Amendment) amended food and drug law such that by 1977, Sweet’N Low became the number one brand of artificial sweeteners known to most people willing to consume artificially sweetened food and drinks. It’s the one used in the soft drink “Tab” by Coca-Cola.

Then aspartame came into the market (known mostly under its brand name “Equal”) after its accidental discovery in 1965 by a scientist at Searle. It’s commercially sold as NutraSweet, while offered for individual use as a table sweetener as “Equal.” Some finicky eaters could taste the bitter aftertaste of Equal when added in certain foods like coffee, or diet drinks. It’s got one component (among three), the amino acid phenylalanine, which is problematic to people with phenylketonuria – the genetic inability to metabolize phenylalanine. It’s the one sweetener found in the soft drink “Dr Pepper,” and various kinds of diet Pepsis.

Sucralose is another FDA approved artificial sweetener that started to be marketed in 1998. You see this added in drinks and in table form in yellow packets (famously known as “Splenda”). Sounding like sugar because of the “-ose” ending, it’s “made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar.” It’s chlorinated, thus making the sugar component of it not available to digestive enzymes, thus difficult to absorb or metabolize, and ending up excreted by our bodies mostly intact. Its difficulty in being absorbed by our bodies helps make its claim of “no calories” when used as a sweetener in foods sold to the public as largely valid. It’s now the leading artificial sweetener, among 3 brands discussed here. It’s also used as a sweetener in baked goods that claim to be “sugar free.”

Just make sure you read the labels of all processed and canned foods you purchase. All three artificial sweeteners claim that a little dose of each kind of sweetener is safe. All brands are carried by different competitors that have huge stakes in keeping, running and increasing their business. It’s really up to you the consumer to get yourself more curious and take more action to know more about the ingredients of the food you take.

For more information on the brands, please feel free to visit their corporate websites here:
1) Sweet’N Low
2) Equal
3) Splenda

Main Source:
“What to Eat” Marion Nestle, North Point Press New York 2006

Recipes: fried tilapia

English: Pla thot (Thai script: ปลาทอด): a simple deep-fried fish, often served with a spicy dipping sauce. The fish in this image is pla nin, a Nile Tilapia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Recipes: fried tilapia – http://ow.ly/bmCou Frying is a very basic approach to cooking food in the Philippines, as well as in many nearby countries. And one favorite food that’s almost always fried is the tilapia fish. The fish is almost always available in the wet market, practically anywhere in the Philippines. And unlike in westernized countries, frying tilapia entails cooking the whole fish after it has been cleaned, i.e., entrails removed, fins and tail cut away, scales scraped away. The fish head is almost always kept intact; don’t be shocked by the idea that the fish going to be served you will still have its head attached to it. It’s practically the whole fish, fried, except that it’s salted a bit. And you’ll have to make your own sauce where you’d like to dip pinchings of the meat, plus the head. You’d certainly love the fish fried crisp, so make sure you request for that (in case you find yourself in a food place that serves fried tilapia)

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A guide to the best food trucks in Manhattan

Image via Wikipedia

A guide to the best food trucks in Manhattan http://ow.ly/565IS

Notes:

A mentor who decided to build his businesses using his knowledge about European culture (he was born and raised in Italy) once remarked to me that I could very well get into the food truck business here in NYC. The business is dominated mainly by Arabs and of course, the Chinese people. But then he thought I may not really like it, which is truthful. I actually don’t like being in and running the business as I gained very practical experiences on it back in the Philippines – it actually entails so much work than what it seems to most of its customers who think they’re paying so much from the food they decide they like to buy from these food trucks. Some of them would even have the gall to point out that profits are derived from charging 200% from costs, & voila, the owner pockets the money! And seldom you’ll see food trucks owned by people from the Philippines; I think most Filipinos know it better that the business is not at all glamorous as some people may think of it when looking at the surface.

But we have to agree that part of being in NYC is to experience having food from food trucks; they certainly offer the best food you’ll have here in NYC. Coffee, hotdogs, shawarma, ice cream, yogurt, pancakes – name it, you’ll see it offered in one of these food trucks and presented lovingly by the entrepreneur and/or his helpers. I’d even see the mayor having hotdogs with some top ranking officials with their pictures splashed on the tabloids, which can be very amusing. What’s so unusual with that? It’s not because you have much cash in your bank account that you won’t consider having food from food trucks. The issue of ‘cleanliness and hygiene’ can be valid for some, but I can see that most who have issues against buying food from food trucks are merely projecting their own uncleanliness in their personal lives – I can say this because I’ve observed it a lot of times with the people I’ve meet here. They behave as if you look ‘dirty’ but you go take a closer look and you’ll see they’re slobs as well in the privacy of their homes. And I’ve got lots of stories to tell about this, which is all together a different topic.

And going back to the topic of food trucks here in NYC, consider exploring them as there is more to be learned from them other than the food. They’ve been built by great entrepreneurs who actually serve as the backbone of the very strong food industry (and industries further in the business and commerce industries) here in NYC. They’re committed and hardworking, and most of them love what they’re doing, which is something you’ll seldom catch a sight of from countless workers who are employed by small/medium/large sized companies alike in NYC. You’ll see the results with the food they offer as you can get an excellent feeling in your guts of their usual happiness, enthusiasm and thrill over preparing, selling, and making profits from meeting the needs of hungry New Yorkers!

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The best restaurants in New York City Chinatown

Image via Wikipedia

The best restaurants in New York City Chinatown – http://ow.ly/44m2D

A rather long note to the link:

Don’t wonder aloud if you think you’ve read the article in the link from somewhere else. I’ve got 2 versions of this article that are found online, which resulted from the editing and updates I’ve been doing to the original article. Actually, this article grew out of the need to list down those Chinese-food restaurants I’ve actually been to, and have found to be among the best food places here in New York City (NYC).

I follow my taste buds and my wallet, plus my sense of what makes good quality service whenever I rate these food places I’ve been to.  Check the list itself if any of the foodplaces has been under your radar and would get you excited enough to consider visiting the place soon (or even be included in your to-do-list). I know from experience that the food in most foodplaces here in NYC has been updated to cater to American tastes. They’re actually different from the tastes I remember having when I came to China as well as those I’ve been to in the Philippines, which is a country much closer and more closely linked to China.

By the way, some regional Philippine cuisines have very strong similarities with regional Chinese cuisines. For example: lo mein or any other kind of noodle meal in Chinese cuisine has its counterpart in the Philippines – and what’s odd is that they taste very similar. And in other cases, Philippine Chinese-influenced cooking tastes better, hands down. Another example: the Philippine lumpia versus the Chinese spring rolls you’ll have in Chinese restaurants here in NYC – the Philippine lumpia is easily the winner! But we’re going too far with our topic here, as we say this.

And to be more honest about it, Chinese food here in NYC pales in taste and flavor for some reason or another. I think it’s the ingredients, including the condiments, or perhaps the way the chefs are preparing the food.  Most have that fast-food taste that you find in McDonald’s or something similar. Actually, the word is ‘bland!’ Chinese food here in NYC, with certain exceptions, is basically bland. I suspect that most of those who have been eating Chinese food here in NYC have never been to China. Ever found yourself in a lauriat where they serve Peking Duck in a Chinese restaurant here in NYC? They’re noticeably toned down in taste, just as to make the unknowing customer get convinced that [s]he is not eating something that’s cooked in its own oil. Peking Duck tastes a lot better when roasted in the oil from the melted fat that came from the duck itself….but it’s not done as often here in NYC as people are scared of confronting their own health issues as they munch on these Peking duck servings.

But nevertheless, take the courage to check these foodplaces I’ve been recommending in my list.  Begin with the noodle houses.  You want to make sure if a Chinese food place offers what can be considered ‘good quality’? Check if there are Chinese customers around who’d buy and eat food from the place. If you see them showing up there, you’ll be assured the food is really of good taste and quality. Most of these places are found in Chinatown – all the rest happened to be just visited most often by customers who are non-Chinese, hence, these places have become well-known.

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Recipes: Stuffed peppers

Recipes: Stuffed peppers (This article originally appeared in my Helium.com page until the site closed down)

My roommate introduced me to stuffed peppers, which is among his personal favorites. A whole piece of medium-sized, baked stuffed pepper can be a complete meal by itself.

We have stuffed peppers at least once every two weeks. My roommate says this dish happens to be one of the most frequently ordered by his customers when he used to run and own an Italian-American restaurant. This recipe will also allow you to prepare a variation of a meat loaf from the extra meat mixture (batter) you’re making.

Ingredients you need:

5 lbs of chopped meat, pork, thawed
6 pieces of large-size green (or depending on your preference) Bell peppers, with their tops removed, cored, washed, with all the seeds  removed
2 cups of rice
1 can of tomato sauce (14.5 oz)
3 medium sized onions, diced
3 medium sized eggs
1 tablespoonful of Garlic powder
2 tablespoonful of Parsley flakes
1 tablespoonful of Oregano flakes
3 tablespoonful of grated Parmesan cheese

Prepare the steamed rice. If you’re not sure how to make this, then follow these instructions. Wash the rice first. Then start to add water into the pot. Use one of your hands as an improvised measure; the water you’re pouring now has to reach up to the first horizontal line of your longest finger from the tip of the nail that you will dip into the pot with rice, with you looking at the palm of your hand. Measurement approximately starts from top of the now-washed rice up to the surface of the water. Then cook it under medium fire; reduce to slow fire when it boils until the rice is cooked.

When rice has been cooked, stir it to help it cool down (so that you can then mix it with the other ingredients without fear of getting scalded from the just-cooked rice).

In a large bowl, add the chopped meat, eggs, grated cheese, onions, oregano, garlic, parsley, and rice. It’s best to mix everything with your hands, so you’ll be able to see if you need to add more ingredients. Its consistency when mixed well should not be soggy; the batter has to be easily molded by your hands.

Fill in each one of the peppers, making sure the space inside is crammed, and packed with the meat mixture; you may want to fill it up way over the top.

Set the oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit).

On a baking dish, line up all the stuffed peppers.

Whatever is left in the mixture, mold it into a loaf that looks like your typical home-made bread loaf. If there’s still space in your baking dish, place it next to the lined-up peppers (if not, then use another dish).

Pour the tomato sauce on top of each of the peppers, plus the meat loaf, such that they’re all covered by the sauce. Add some water in the open spaces of the baking dish, as this will help you in cooking the peppers.

Cover the whole dish with foil. Bake for one and half hour (at the most). Remove the foil after one hour of baking.  This will help the pepper not turn dry and crunchy at the end of cooking.  

Good for 6 persons. Bon appétit!