my special chicken macaroni salad

i have been so busy lately...busy wasting my time on things i don't need in my life...okay, the so-called mid-life angst has set in again. but what the heck...it happens to almost everyone at my age. and i'm glad to be back..maybe not 100% yet ...... but i am..... and i'm blogging again. :)

aside from donuts, my other comfort food is chicken macaroni salad (cms). (there was a time, at the height of my anemia, i craved crazily for persian cucumbers, the small ones. i've outgrown those.) whenever i want to feel good, i prepare cms whenever i can..and i've "converted" my kids to liking it. i guess the fondness for this food started when i was a kid. i always thought that my mom cooked the best cms.....i'd like to share with you my recipe as inspired by my mom's (request na rin by my good friend, libay lim) . here it is :

Ingredients

• 2 cups elbow macaroni. for texture, i use half macaroni and half spaghetti pasta cut in half
  
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 5 teaspoons pickle relish or chopped pickles
  
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup nestle cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups shredded chicken breast
  
• 1 /2 tsp salt
  
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 1 can crushed pineapple
• 1 can pineapple tidbits
• 1/2 up shredded or cubed cheese (cheddar is better)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 cup apple cut in small cubes (optional)
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots (optional)
  

Directions

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the macaroni (and spaghetti), and cook until tender, about 8 - 10 minutes. place under running cold water in a drainer. drain very well..
2. In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients. Stir in pasta until well blended. Add more mayonnaise, if needed. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. The longer, the tastier it becomes. Serve cold.
   

lumpiang shanghai

Per my cousin, Mhai's request, I am posting my own lumpiang shanghai recipe.

As with other kids, mine love lumpiang shanghai a lot...however, i grew up not liking the dish. i preferred (and still do) lumpia vegetables especially toge (bean sprouts). My lumpiang shanghai can have anything and everything in it...it could be ground pork, ground beef, ground chicken or even turkey...i also grind and add any vegetable that is available in my refrigerator. but most of the time i use carrots and/or potatoes and celery.

ingredients:

2 lbs ground pork/beef/chicken/turkey or combination

½ cup green onions

1 cup carrots - ground or minced

i cup potatoes - ground or minced (optional)

1/2 cup celery - ground or minced

minced or chopped kintsay or cilantro (optional)

1 cup onion - chopped finely

1 egg as binder

1 tbs salt

2 tsp ground black pepper

Lumpia wrapper (Spring roll skin)

Mix all ingredients very well. Wrap in lumpia wrapper folding the edges. If you are not cooking the lumpia right away, line them up in a sealed container placing wax paper in between layers then freeze. You don't have to thaw the lumpia before cooking it. Deep fry making sure that all sides are cooked. I use low to medium heat to avoid burning and to make sure that the inside is well cooked. Drain in paper towels before cutting them into 3- inch pieces. Serve with sweet and sour sauce or spiced vinegar.

If you are making your own sweet and sour sauce, combine 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup vinegar, 3 tsps cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce, 1 tsp catsup, 3 tsps sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Make sure that the cornstarch is melted with no lumps before simmering. Boil/simmer stirring the mixture until you've reached the right consistency.

Enjoy.

crispy chicken wings

this is really not my own recipe. a good friend shared it with me upon my request... he kindly obliged...i've tried doing it a couple of times and in both times they turned out so good that i'd like to share the recipe with you too...im sure he wouldnt mind. so here it is:

crispy chicken wings

“actually i used split chicken wings kasi madali maging crisp sa oven. i marinate the wings overnight sa ref (with toyo, lemon juice, little ground pepper and crushed garlic - enough to soak the wings). tapos ihahalera ko sila sa mesh over a tray (para saluhin yung manitka). i pre-heat the oven to about 350 degrees and put the tray in the middle. let it bake for about 15-20 minutes (you'll see the skin tightening and oil dripping), then turn the wings over para yung kabilang side naman for about 7-10 minutes and then turn it again to get the skin really super thin crisp. dahil sa toyo, nagiging brown yung color ng chicken. you have to wait a few minutes bago baligtarin kasi nakadikit pa yung skin sa tray. pag nag cool down a bit, kusang humihiwalay sa pagkadikit para di masugat yung skin. nilalagyan ko din ng water yung tray sa ilalim para di mahirap linisin pagkatapos. it's nice kasi malutong yung skin natanggal pa yung oil." and he added "yung crispy wings ko, dapat kainin agad pagkaluto, otherwise nawawala yung crispness." and yeah, sabi din nya:

carla,
sa broil mo i-set hindi sa bake para nasa itaas ang heat (kaya ko nga binabaligtad baligtad) silip silipin mo lang para hindi ma-burn ng maaga (depende kasi sa mga oven yung heat)

try this recipe..madali lang naman...for sure you will like it too :)

Why does Carla Millet cook?

I cook mainly for my family, which is why we're all 'healthy.' haha I also love feeding my friends. And yeah, I cook because I can and I'm pretty good at it. I guess... No. It most definitely runs in the family: from Nanay Belen, my lola (grandmother) to my mother and father. Yes, both of them that's why all my siblings are good cooks, too. I hope that my love for food and cooking will be passed on to my daughters. Chuchai (my eldest) and Micky (my youngest) are already showing promise/future at it. Si Inna at Bea (the middle ones) na lang. Hopefully, you too, friends. Enjoy!

Things to remember:

• -Mostly, I cook simple, everyday Filipino food. No offense. :)


• -These foods are prepared in the easiest ways possible because I'm lazy, easily bored and kulang sa time (aren't most of us?).


• -My entries will mostly depend on your requests. I'm a lazy writer, too. (Coming up with new content is exhausting for a non-writer material like me. haha)