Menudo

I ate a lot of menudo when I was a child. It's a staple in cafeterias, carinderias, during fiestas and every household I knew, it's the second adobo in the country. They may have different ingredients but they seem to taste the same wherever you eat it. As an adult, I rarely had it, can't explain why and it's a wonder this is only the second time I made this dish.

Menudo
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1½ pounds pork, diced into ¼ inch pieces
1 Spanish chorizo, diced into ¼ inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 teaspoons sea salt
ground black pepper
1 large tomato, diced
1 cup water or chicken broth, or more as needed
1 large potato, diced into ¼ inch pieces
1 can green peas

• In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil, add garlic and onion, stir fry for 2 minutes. Add red bell pepper, pork and chorizo. Stir fry for 3 minutes. Add tomato, salt, black pepper and water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add potatoes, simmer for 5 minutes. (Add more water or broth if needed). Add drained peas and cook 1 minute until peas are heated through. Serve with rice or as pan de sal filling.

I remember menudo had liver in them. I don't like liver, if you do just add them with the potatoes, or cook them separately and add to the cooked dish.

Milan - A Most Annoying Movie

Filipino Movie Review

Milan F

I just wasted 90 minutes of my precious time watching this really really really annoying Tagalog movie. This is one of the reasons I rarely watched Filipino movies in the Philippines. Recently, I started watching tagalog/Filipino movies and liked some of them, even the corny but entertaining Enteng Kabisote and Crying Ladies, if you can believe it. The Debut and Pinoy Blonde are very good, I highly recommend them.
Somebody in my house put Milan in our Netflix list and I was also interested because I had a cousin who was murdered a little over a year ago by a fellow Filipino in Italy. He was an Italian citizen, had lived in Italy for over 12 years. He was killed because the other guy was jealous of the success of his business, which was recruiting Filipinos to work as domestic helpers, etc. in that country.

The cheesy opening music was a bad sign that this movie will suck, but I was determined to watch it and give it a chance to prove me wrong about Filipino movies. I did not know IT WAS HOPELESSLY BAD! The movie opened with a shrill nagging voice of a woman, who turned out to be the daughter of Nora Aunor, and the whole movie seemed to have lots of shrill women... AND men. The main character, Lino went to Milan to look for his wife, he did not have her telephone number or address, it never occured to him she did not want to be found, dumb. Lino was so wimpy, kept harassing Filipinos outside subways and on the streets and refused to understand the word NO, that I wanted to hit him upside the head during the entire movie. Near the end of the film the pretty wife turned up with an unbelievably ugly baby, he finally learned what happened to her and he went outside, started hitting the wall while crying (he's always crying) and kept saying "I am not stupid, I am not an idiot", I kept answering the TV hoping he'll hear me "yes, you are too", like a child in a playground, I can't help it because he IS STUPID, AN IDIOT, AN IMBECILE.... Stupid acting, stupid directing and stupid dialog, arrgh! The movie tried to show THE HARDSHIPS OFWs have to endure working abroad, but I remained unsympathetic, I'm sorry to say, but they are there illegally and they chose to work there as domestic helpers, duh! Watch this movie only if you are a masochist.;D

Memorial Day

no-frills hamburger

and

PB & J ice cream

Happiness Is A Warm Bun Part 2

crusty pandesal filled with cheese pimiento

if you're weird like me, soft pan de sal with pancit guisado (rice noodles)

I wrote about my love for sweet breads, rolls and buns before, this time I made 2 kinds of buns called Pan de Sal (salted bread), the crusty, salty ones and the soft, sweetish kind. The latter are more popular in the Philippines. Who doesn't love pillowy soft, sweet bread? The pan de sal is very similar to the Spanish country bread and French baguette but the Filipinos love sweet things and added more sugar, some butter and egg to the original recipe. Honestly, I love both kinds either with butter or filled with sausages and other meat spreads.

Crusty Pan de Sal
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons dry yeast
5 cups bread flour
very fine bread crumbs

• In a stand mixer bowl, combine ½ cup water, sugar and yeast, mix well. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add the remaining water and 2 cups flour. Attach paddle and mix for 1 minute, add salt and oil and the rest of the flour, mix for 2 minutes. Replace paddle with dough hook and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Transfer into a lightly greased container, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1½ hours. Punch dough down, divide into 24 pieces and shape into ovals. Roll in bread crumbs, place slightly apart on a cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. Bake in a pre-heated 425°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Soft Pan de Sal
1¼ cups water
¼ cup warm water
2 teaspoons dry yeast
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup powdered milk
1 egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup sugar
4 cups bread flour
very fine bread crumbs

• In a stand mixer, combine 1 tablespoon sugar, warm water and yeast, mix well. Let stand for 5 minutes. In a small bowl heat water and butter for 30 seconds. Add to the bowl with 2 cups of flour, the rest of the sugar, powdered milk and egg. With paddle attached, mix for 1 minute. Add salt and the rest of the flour, mix for 1 minute. Replace paddle with dough hook and knead for 5 minutes. Dough will be a little sticky. Place dough in a lightly greased container, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. Punch dough down, divide into 24 ovals, roll in breadcrumbs. Place in an ungreased 13 x 9 inch pan, rolls touching. Cover and let rise for 40 minutes to 1 hour and bake in a pre-heated 400°F oven for 15 minutes.

arrange soft buns touching for height support