Apple Bloghop: My American Adobo (Apple Cinnamon Glazed Adobo)

If you read my blog regularly, you will know that I just posted my adobo wrap  2 postings ago, and now another adobo post? You might think I'm in an adobo loco mode, right?  But ok,  with "the move", my kitchen is in its temproary state as my whole pantry is still in transit. So I am only equipped with my Filipino basic ingredients of soy sauce, vinegar, pepper, etc.

But when  Annapet (one of the co-hosts) invited me to join Bloghop I was curious what it was all about.  Well Bloghop is a community of bloggers organized by Junia of Mis Pensiamentos.  Each month members cook with one special ingredient, and this month's event is called the apple love.  Silly me, despite knowing my kitchen constraints I still joined the group and committed to it.

While I was trying to get my inspiration on what to cook, I didn't realize I took 44 pictures of a single apple on my table.  A bit excessive, don't you think? 

I was fiddling with my camera as my thoughts wandered and I suddenly remembered that it's been a year since my father's passing.   A year ago, we were all mourning and in grief when Papa died... suddenly our lives changed and believe me we went through the various stages of grief. But we've moved on and a year later, we talk about remembering him through his love for us. So for his first year death anniversary my Mama gathered friends and relatives to celebrate the memories and the life he shared.  Similarly, my sister in Orlando gathered her friends who helped her go through her grief.

What's that got to do with the apple you may think?  But then again, while I stare at the few ingredients available to me, I hear his voice in my head saying "maganwa ka nge ta pulutan".  It is our dialect meaning "can you make some appetizers"  You see my father would love to challenge me that way, he would taunt me as saying, "let's see what  you could concoct this time" or "surprise me!"  He loved to drink a glass of brandy, or whisky or scotch on the rocks in out terrace right before dinner.  He would share a drink or two with a friend or relative or even just for himself.   My Mama would be seating close by and chat with him about her day.  And while he would drink, he loved to munch on appetizers.  I fondly recall it seemed like each time I was around, he would say "Sige nga, make me something special" ...   

I would politely go to the kitchen and amidst simple ingredients and homecooked food provincial style I would step up to his challenge. I would as Tim Gunn would say it "Make it work" . And when I present the appetizers with a little pizzaz , I could see his face light up - beaming with a wide smile, and hear him say his signature: "Dabe dabest!" (or "This is the best!").

While the rest of my family celebrated his anniversary the way he would celebrate special occasions, I had this simple plate to honor him:  an apple cinnamon glazed adobo.  I call it my American adobo (a dish I published here two years ago), which was one of my first posts - The Tales of American Adobo.  I tweaked it a bit and made it "special" for my Papa. In my head, I heard his Dabe Dabest trademark and picture him loving this "pulutan" for him.

Apple Cinnamon Glazed Adobo

Ingredients
1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c red wine (I used a left over)
2 tbsp sugar
pepper
a dash of oregano
a dash of cinnamon (i put half a tsp since we love cinnamon)
4 cloves garlic minced
3 bay leaves
a dash of parsley
3 lbs pork (I used boneless country ribs for easy slicing- please see pics)
1 pc apple thinly sliced.

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients (except for the pork) and let it simmer. On a different pan, brown the pork then add it to the simmering mixture. Allow it to cook until the sauce is reduced to a thick one. As soon as it thickens, drop the sliced apples. Make sure the glaze covers the apples as well as the pork. So simple yet so delish!

Cheers to you Papa... your passing made me bolder, I know I can do anything, because you are there watching over me...  I am now wiser, because you are the voice in my head as I make decisions...

and I am grateful... truly grateful for the kind of father you are.... You have anchored our family with love and faith , so strong and eternal!  I love you Papa, Cheers!

October is #applelove month!   

Please join in on the #applelove fun by linking up any apple recipe from the month of October 2011.  Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #applelove event. The twitter hashtag is #applelove :).

Co-Hosted by:

Baker Street 
Bloc de recetas  
Bon a croquer 
CafeTerraBlog 
Cake Duchess
Elephant Eats 
Hobby And More
Knitstamatic 
Mike's Baking
My Twisted Recipes 
Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives 
Queen's Notebook 
Skip to Malou
Teaspoon of Spice 
The Daily Palette 
The Spicy RD 
Vegan Miam 
Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen

adobo wrap with pineapple vinaigrette

Between unpacking boxes, exploring the new city and adjusting to a new job, forging new friendships is one of the daunting tasks associated with moving.  So when we learned of a wine tasting event at the lobby of our loft, my husband and I knew it was a good way to meet new friends.   It's a little awkward not knowing anyone. You navigate around people and it feels like speed dating! But once you get a connection, and say the words " Really? me too!" a potential friendship begins.

So after that evening of wine tasting, I received a text message the following day.  And thanks to my four semesters of  studying French , I was able to give my phone number in French to Emily, mon nouvel amie.

Would you like to join us for a ladies' evening? We will watch the season opener of Desperate Housewives came the text message.

Before I could even realize that I never watch the series,  I typed in Y-E-S then pressed sent.

Great was the reply.  I will have some pizza and drinks but feel free to bring some food.

While I was deliberating on what food to bring, I saw a note on my Facebook wall from Divya,  the daughter of my dear friend Nimmi B from Florida. On her note, Divya asked me how I make my adobo. Ta-dah... there it was an A-HA moment!  I remember how we met the B's: Both of our families just moved to Florida at that time, met in a church event, had some "Really, me too!"  connections then  our friendship flourished through constant get togethers. Filipino dishes like adobo were prepared on my end and warm nan along with her spicy curry dishes at their house.  With that in mind, I was convinced that  bringing Adobo wraps to Emily's place will be the start of a new friendship in a new place. Thank you Divya for the inspiration!

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Adobo Wrap with Pineapple Vinaigrette 

For the adobo: (and Divya this is specially for you!)
 There are so many variations in making adobo.  I like to keep mine simple.  Also, adobo is better as it sits longer, so I usually make a big pot of adobo and hang on to the left-overs.  To get an authentic adobo taste, I would advice using  Filipino vinegar and soy sauce.  You could buy them from any Asian Store.

 2-3 lbs. pork/chicken
3/4 c vinegar
1/2 c soy sauce
pepper
4 cloves of garlic (minced)
3 bay leaves (crushed)
3/4 c water (you could add more as needed)

In a saucepan, combine all the wet  ingredients and crushed garlic together. Let it simmer.  Add black pepper and crushed bay leaves.  Allow the ingredients to fuse in together for a few more minutes then you are ready to add the pork/ chicken. Cook for about 30 minutes. (For Divya, you stop here. Adobo is cooked and ready to be eaten... that simple.  But for this particular wrap, please continue) Drain the pork and set aside the sauce as you will need it later on for the romaines. Let it cool.   Slice the cooked adobo into cubes (bite size)

Pineapple Vinaigrette

1/2 c pineapple juice
1/2 c apple cider
2-3 tbsp rum (optional but highly recommended as this was suggested by my friend Basil, and it definitely added the zing!)
salt and pepper to taste.
1/4 c white sugar (you could add more if you want it a little sweeter)
2-3 tbsp olive oil

In a separate pan, combine all ingredients and let it simmer, Continue to stir until the sugar dissolves.  Let it cool.. Pour the sauce mixture in a bowl.  Add 2-3 tbsps of olive oil.  Whisk it together.  This will serve as your dressing.

For the wrap we need:
Boiled eggs
Grapefruit

Pineapple chunks
Romaine (hand torn)
Tomatoes (sliced)
Cashews

In a bowl, toss the romaine with the adobo sauce. Layer all the other ingredients, tomatoes, sliced boiled eggs, pineapple chunks, grapefruit slices and cashews. Drizzle a generous amount of the Pineapple/Vinegar/Rum dressing.  On a flat surface. lay a piece of tortilla wrapper.  Put the tossed ingredients in the middle, add  adobo cubes  and roll it tightly to make a nice wrap... Enjoy!

Guest Post Wednesdays: It's All in the Family by Marge B.

 The BIG CHANGE is coming very soon and you'll soon know, I promise. For now, I'm trying to bring back some sense of normalcy around here. So sit back relax, because ta-dah my Guest Post Wednesday feature is back.

Today's guest blogger is Marge.  I've always known her to be a foodie even before the word foodie came about.  She would lug with her loads of homemade goodies during her annual trips to Florida which made me suspect that she carried more bags of goodies than bags of clothes! She together with her husband Patrick, would have us indulge with good food and good wine whenever we get together. 

I'm glad that the wrath of Irene didn't stop her from submitting a post. Yep Marge hails from New Jersey and  today she's sharing with us a coconut dish from her father's cookbook called The Coconut Cookery of Bicol. 

Grab a chair, join us, as we welcome Marge General-Bautista!

It's All in the Family

by: Marge General- Bautista

My familial relation to Malou is quite distant. In Western standards, we aren’t considered family. Malou is the younger sister of the wife of my husband’s first cousin on the father side. Were you able to follow that? It does not matter to the Filipino how distant our relation is we are all considered family once there is a connection. Everyone is considered an aunt or an uncle or a cousin. And Malou and her family have become family to us through the years spent vacationing in Florida.

A few years back, while vacationing in Florida with cousins, Malou and I were seated beside each other in the back of the vehicle during one of our many trips to somewhere. We started talking about needing and wanting to pursue a career involving our love for food. You see, Malou and I are both foodies. We love to cook and bake and eat with gusto. I was so thrilled for Malou when she started this blog and most especially when she found a following. I love Malou’s gift for gab. It made many a visits to Florida fun and memorable. I, on the other hand, can get tongue tied quite easily. So, one can only imagine my reaction to Malou when she asked me to be her guest for her blog. “ME? I won’t be able to write anything interesting?” I told her. She told me to just do it and it’ll come, so here I am.

My husband is a foodie as well. We both love to cook, bake and most importantly, eat good food. My husband is a certified sommelier and that has brought up our level of awareness for good food a few notches. Good food especially paired with good wine is always a source of excitement for my husband and me. My husband and I come from families of foodies as well. My husband’s youngest brother is a chef back home in Manila. In 1994, my father published a cookbook called the “The Coconut Cookery of Bicol”. My father wrote about what he grew up cooking with – coconut milk. He comes from the region of the Philippines where coconut trees grow in abundance and is used in all sorts of cooking. Have you ever heard of ripe guavas cooked in coconut milk? Yummy!! How about dinuguan or adobo cooked with coconut milk? Equally as yummy! Chicken adobo cooked in coconut milk is one of my favorites and I had asked my dad to cook it for me during one of his visits to my home in New Jersey. I can never cook it as well as my dad can. And I would like to share the recipe with you. As with anyone who cooks from memory and by taste, measurements will vary. That is how my father cooks, so feel free to adjust the amount of the ingredients to your liking.

ADOBONG MANOK SA GATA (Chicken Adobo with Coconut Milk)

Ingredients:

2 lbs. chicken pieces (you may use 1 lb. chicken pieces and 1 lb. pork belly)

1 head garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tablespoon peppercorns, whole or cracked

Vinegar and salt to taste

Milk from 2 medium-size coconuts in 1 cup water (I use 1 can of coconut milk)

2 bay leaves

Cut the meat into portion-size pieces. In a wok, heat some cooking oil. Fry the garlic until lightly browned.  Add the meat and increase the heat to high. If you are using both chicken and pork, add the pork first, allow to cook for about fifteen minutes before adding the chicken. Stir frequently to ensure even cooking. Add the peppercorns, vinegar and salt. Continue cooking until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Add the coconut milk. When the milk comes to a rolling boil, reduce the heat to medium until the meat is tender. In the last few minutes, add the bay leaves.

  

I like this recipe both on the dry side (with almost no sauce and the coconut oil already extracted from the milk) or with some sauce remaining so that I may add it to my rice as I am enjoying this. Pairs well with Chardonnay or Riesling.

There you have it.  A dish with suggested wine pairings to boot.  Thank you Marge for gracing my blog.  I truly appreciate the time and effort you put in to share your recipe and to write this post.  I hope to have Patrick do a post for me soon??? Did I hear a "yes?" Oh there you have it folks, we have a sommelier as a guest blogger in the near future!

To my dear readers, let's show Marge that we enjoyed this post.  Can you please give me a show of hands people?  ok one, two, three... anymore?  Haha yeah your comments are greatly appreciated.  Til the next Guest Post  Wednesdays folks! Enjoy the rest of the week.


P.S.
 A few months ago, Marge sent me  her dad's cookbook: The Coconut Cookery of Bicol.  I treasure it so much as it is one of the last copies available, and it was a signed copy! Here are some snapshots  Thanks again Marge!

Here's how Adobong Manok sa Gata looks like when reduced to dry.

The Cover of the Cookbook

Honesto C. General -- the Author

hmm the oscars or kpbs?

Last Sunday, I kept switching channels (and hooray for DVR!) between The Oscars and the local public television station, KPBS. Why the PBS station on the night of the Oscars, you might wonder? Oh well it's because my son was on TV! Ok, it wasn't really a TV appearance or performance like American Idol, but my son volunteered to answer phone calls on KPBS. His face, together with the other volunteers', was flashed on TV... Nonetheless it's still TV, which got our family excited that Sunday night, while everyone else we know watched the Academy Awards.

"Don't forget to watch me on TV" he said on his way out.

"It's Oscar night, are you kidding me?" said my daughter in jest.

Funny how his role was just sitting in the background and yet it brought a bigger thrill than seeing Penelope Cruz walk down the stage in a crimson Donna Karan gown. He didn't have any speaking line that was audible (he was answering the calls remember) but every time we see him open his mouth, we laugh just as the way we laughed at Alec Baldwin's punch lines. He didn't walk the red carpet but yes, we gave him a 10 for choosing a pinstriped long sleeve shirt to look the role of “business casual" required of the volunteers for the show.

My husband looked at me expecting me to cry just as I would cry in episodes of Undercover Boss, but a-ha, I didn’t cry. Instead, I just looked into the wide-screen TV with Joey there, I was mesmerized. Yes, I'm simply amazed at how time flies, my son all of 17 years looks so grown up... there he was JOEY! At his young age he organizes and volunteers for various civic-oriented activities similar to this one. He genuinely cares about the community. For me, he is my American Idol.

And the OSCAR goes to... Ooops, I missed it because just when I was about to enjoy both shows, my husband asked "What's for dinner?".

Quickly I ran to the kitchen and hmmm I thought hard... with the TV beckoning, I thought of ordering take out, but heck no. I thought I could prep something on the fly... hmmm IMPROMPTU (IMPROMPTU DIVA used to be the name of my blog and I think I miss being called the IMPROMPTU DIVA, hahaha). As I was tying my apron strings, I thought about my cooking templates for quick meals. I usually have a template: if it's Italian - it's spaghetti, if it's korean - it's bulgogi, but I was in Filipino food mode, so my Filipino default dish for easy cooking calls for... adobo!

But I didn't want to have just plain adobo, so I added a twist. Luckily, I saw the POM wonderful drink (pomegranate juice) in the fridge. By the way, let me digress a bit, I just want to thank the wonderful people at POM WONDERFUL for sending me a package of 12 bottles of their 100% pomegranate juice. I was so excited to receive my first package ever sent to SKIP TO MALOU! I just received a dozen chilled bottles and before it reached the fridge, the four of us chugged four bottles down instantly… like it was a drinking challenge! Phew that was good! I never tasted pomegranate before so it was all new to me. I like the tart taste, which reminded me of cranberry. I always wanted to try it when it first hit the shelves at the grocery store. The packaging is also novel, and with the shape of the clear bottle, it accentuates the rich red color.
 

So going back to my impromptu take on the adobo Oscars Sunday, the Oscar goes to: the POM GLAZED ADOBO.


Here's how:

Ingredients:
1 cup POM 100% pomegranate juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 crushed bay leaves
pepper
3/4 c sugar
pork

In a saucepan mix all the wet ingredients and garlic together. Let it simmer. Add black pepper and crushed bay leaves. Allow the ingredients to fuse in together for a couple of minutes, then add the pork. Cook for about 30 to 40 minutes or until the pork is cooked. It's that simple... then you're ready to enjoy your pom glazed adobo....

For plating, I blanched some okra to make an okra bed. Since it was Oscar's night, I made an okra star shaped bed... and voila: