Aside from plainly boiling them, this is probably the simplest way to fix shrimps. Lately, rather than making pasta and shrimps, I've been cooking the shrimps this way separately so as not to get any essence of seafood for The Clone who will not touch any food tainted by the sea.

To make this dish, prepare:
Shrimps (head-on or less, peeled or not - your choice)
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 stick of butter
3 Tablespoons of flat leaf parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a skillet at high heat and briefly saute' the garlic before adding the shrimps. Quickly stirfry until the shrimps turn pink, add the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta or with good french bread and wine.

See the full recipe for zucchini fritters.

BRUNCH = is the meal that is not breakfast, not lunch, but something in between.

Whether I knew it or not, I've always been a 'bruncher' because I've never been an early riser nor organized enough to have a decent breakfast at the appointed time. Brunch is more the time when I take my first meal; that period sometime after 9am but before noon.

Peggy at What's Cooking in Carolina asked, Breakfast or Brunch?

Well, ever since I moved to North Carolina, I've totally embraced Southern cuisine. Well, I would probably embrace any cuisine, but hey. A girl's gotta eat. So in our kitchen, breakfast usually means Southern or Filipino breakfast. So please indulge me as I re-post for this meme, a previous post I made last year about Southern vs. Filipino Breakfast:

My husband loves breakfast, and since the girls went on summer vacation, we have been indulging too much. We've even had breakfast food for late dinner! We got us some true blue country ham, which reminds me of tuyo (salted, dried sardines), strangely enough, because of it's saltiness, and it's strong smell. It smells a bit like funky feet, but if you can get past that, which really, it dissipates as it cooks, is really quite delicious.

On this day, since we had plenty of green tomatoes, we decided to have some fried green tomatoes along with liver pudding (another southern specialty) and country ham, of course accompanied with buttery grits. Yummy cholesterol heaven!

The ham is so salty that I parboiled it first and threw out the first water, added a bit more and boiled it down until all the liquid has evaporated and the ham started to sizzle and take on some color. After the ham has browned, my mother in law used to deglaze the pan with coffee, producing what they call red-eye gravy which is then drizzled over the grits. I like frying rice in the same pan and getting that good country ham flavor all over the fried rice.

I have also taken a liking to fried green tomatoes which is simply dredged in flour and fried. We couldn't wait for the tomatoes in the garden to ripen, so this was a great way to have a sampling.

In contrast, this is my hubby's favorite Filipino breakfast meat, tocino.

This was my first attempt at making tocino at home, and it wasn't too bad, if I do say so myself. I simply marinated thin slices of a boston butt pork roast in apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and black pepper. No coloring, so this doesn't have the usual reddish color, but the flavor was good. I cooked the tocino over low heat until all the liquid evaporated and the marinade started to caramelize and take on that golden color. Tip from my dad: cook it slow, don't over cook it, and you will have a tender tocino. It worked!

If you'd like to see more breakfast dishes, check our archives here. I tag everyone who reads this post and loves breakfast or brunch to tell about your favorite things to eat for breakfast or brunch. If you're into the liquid brunches, that's fine too ;-)

This dish is a variation of the Sassy Chicken with Mushroom and Sour Cream which was a recipe borrowed from the PinoyCook. These chicken and cream dishes have fast become a favorite in our kitchen both for their flavor and convenience. The boneless skinless chicken thighs that I buy in bulk from Costco are perfect for this dish because they are pre-proportioned so all I have to do for a quick meal is defrost a couple of packs in the microwave and I can have dinner on the table in less than an hour.

Continue on if you would like the recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut in pieces
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large onion, sliced
1 Tbsp. fresh Thyme
2 Tbsp. fresh Flat Leaf Parsley
3 Potatoes, cubed
1 stick (1/2 cup) Butter
2 cups cream
Salt, to taste
Dash of Red Pepper Flakes (1/4 teaspoon)

I'm a big fan of one pot cooking since, as you probably already know how I hate washing dishes. If you do this in the right order, you won't need to dirty up another pot.

First in a skillet, melt the one stick of butter and brown the potato cubes. You don't have to cook them all the way through, just get some color on them. Take them out and set aside. In the butter remaining, saute' the garlic and onions for a minute or two then add the chicken pieces. Stir and saute for a few more minutes until they start to turn opaque. Season with salt and pepper and add the thyme and parsley. Add the 2 cups of cream and lower heat to a simmer. Stir, add the reserved potatoes and cover. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes making sure that the liquid does not evaporate too much (add more cream if necessary). Remove from heat when the chicken and potatoes are cooked all the way through and the sauce has thickened slightly. Adjust seasonings and serve.

We got these gorgeous turnip roots from the garden the other day and I wanted to cook them right away to take advantage of their freshness. Normally, I would simply cook these roots along with the greens or just boil them and simply buttered. This time around, I wanted to try something new because the 'simply boiled' recipes just was not such a big hit with the girls.

I thought I would try pan frying them, much like you would potatoes. It was a hit! The girls loved them cooked this way and we almost finished the whole dish in one sitting!



INGREDIENTS:
Turnip roots, sliced into 1/4 inch thickness
1 large onion, chopped
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Water

Melt the butter over medium heat. Place the turnips and onions and pan fry on one side for a few minutes until they start to get some color. Turn over and let it brown some more. Add 1/2 cup water, season with salt and pepper and cover. Let it cook until all the liquid has evaporated and it starts sizzling again. Adjust the seasoning and serve.

This recipe was cooked up by ASI based on the 'Frozen Chocolate and Berry Chequerboard Parfait' from the Crazy for Chocolate cookbook, part of the Kitchen Library Series by Bay Books.

She did everything by herself, and except for a minor glitch where her beaten egg did not quite peak and had to start over again, she did quite well for her first attempt. We luckily had some very good strawberries on hand, and they were delicious in this dessert. The recipe also suggested raspberries as a good alternative or in addition to strawberries, but this time we couldn't find raspberries in the store so this recipe only has strawberries.

The process took several steps and many bowls, but she did very well following the directions. Now if only she would learn to clean up after herself :)

Recipe follows...
WHITE LAYER:
1 cup white chocolate, melted
4/4 cup heavy cream plus 1/2 cup heavy cream, extra
2 eggs, separated

BERRY LAYER:
9 oz. fresh strawberries
1/2 cup white chocolate, melted
1 Tablespoon caster sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream plus 1/2 cup heavy cream, extra
2 eggs, separated

Prepare a loaf pan sized container, about 4x10x3 inch, by covering the insides with plastic wrap. Separate the eggs.

WHITE LAYER
Combine the white chocolate and 1/4 cup cream in a bowl and place on top of simmering water (double boiler). Stir the mixture gently until the chocolate is melted. When it is completely melted, slightly beat the 2 egg yolks and temper by adding a spoonfull of the melted chocolate mixture to warm it up, then slowly incorporate the egg yolks into the chocolate and cream mixture until well blended. Remove from the heat and let cool. In the meantime, in a separate bowl, whip the extra 1/2 cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form. Then again in another bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form (this is where Asi messed up the first time around because she didn't clean her beaters coming from whipping the cream. You have to make sure the beaters and bowl are dry and grease free or the egg whites will not attain peaks).

Using a spatula, gently fold in the whipped cream and egg whites into the white chocolate mixture and pour into the pan. Place in the freezer to firm up while you work on the next layer.

BERRY LAYER:
Place the strawberries in a blender or processor and process until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the white chocolate, sugar, 1/4 cup cream and melt over a double boiler as in the first process with the white layer. When the chocolate is melted and the mixture is well blended, temper the egg yolks as before by first adding a spoonful of the warm mixture into the egg yolks then slowly pour the yolks into the chocolate/cream mixture. Stir together until smooth and blended. Set aside to cool.

Again, as before, beat the remaining half cup of cream into peaks and the egg whites also beaten in a separate bowl until soft peaks form. Fold the cream and the beaten egg whites into the berry mixture and pour on top of the white layer. The white layer should be at a soft freeze stage by this time. Return the pan in the freezer and let harden for at least three hours or overnight.

PUT IT TOGETHER:
Unmold the parfait from the pan by turning it onto a board and pulling it loose by the plastic wrap. You'll have to work swiftly to keep it from melting. Cut the bar lengthwise into four. Turn every other segment to get the checkerboard effect, and push them back together. Place a large piece of platic wrap over the block and place the pan back over. Gently turn up and return to the freezer while you prepare the berry sauce.

BERRY SAUCE:
In a blender, mix 1 pound of strawberries, 2 teaspoons of caster sugar, and 1/2 cup of water and blend until smooth and of pourable consistency.

SERVE:
To serve, unmold the parfait again by turning on a board and pulling on the plastic wrap. Slice the block crosswise to get the checkerboard design. Pour some berry sauce on a plate and place a slice of the frozen parfait on top of the sauce. Garnish with whole strawberries, and enjoy!