I have always envied people who creates the best looking fried meat dishes. I’ve been cooking since I was young. I already tried various frying mixes, egg-then-cornstarch technique but I still end up having less coating on the meat. Until last Sunday.

Two Sundays ago, I bought some lemon from the grocery as hubby did his fruit shopping. I wanted to make lemon chicken. Last Sunday, I finally had time to cook and it is when I made the perfect batter that gave me a gorgeous fried chicken fillet.

Here is what you need to create the perfect batter.

– 2 large eggs, beaten
– 4 tbsp cornstarch
– 1/3 tsp salt
– a pinch of white pepper

All you have to do is mix all the ingredients in a bowl until lumps are gone. Then you are ready to coat your meat with your batter.

My first encounter with a red velvet cake is when Xocolat was featured in one of the groupon sites I frequent. I was still addicted to vouchers and deals then and I thought, it is time to try Xocolat’s cakes. Me and my sisters were not disappointed even if we have to travel the cake by two hours from Quezon City to Las Pinas!

Since I got our little oven, I have been dreaming of making red velvets on my own. I have realized that dream already! Woot woot!

Recipe adapted from Paula Deen’s original recipe of Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

What you will need

For the batter
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, slightly chilled and cubed
2 packs cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

What to do
1. Preheat oven to 150ºC. Line muffin pans with cupcake liners.

2. In a bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

3. With an electric mixer on low speed, beat vegetable oil, yogurt, eggs, red food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla extract. Add sifted ingredients slowly and mix only until incorporated and there are no visible lumps. Fill liners to about two-thirds full. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

4. Make the frosting: Beat butter carefully with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Mix in cream cheese and vanilla. Add the confectioners’ sugar one cup at a time and beat until smooth, tasting the frosting after each cup of sugar.

5. Top each cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Ok, so my frosting isn’t really gorgeous but they taste great! And no, I am not saying that because I was the one who baked it, I am just telling the truth. Oh, except that the frosting was a little too sweet for my sweet-tooth.

It has been months since I last made a batch of this yummy cuppies. My cocoa and red food coloring are about to expire soon so might as well put them to good use.

My hubby has been craving for the liempo-sisig we buy in Perpy’s, Pilar, Las Pinas. We have not visited my mom for some time now thus no chance of satisfying his craving.

When we went to the grocery, he bought a large chunk of American ribs, visualizing they will be his crispy liempo-sisig. It was a huge success. For this post though, I will just share with you how we oven-grilled the American ribs which we later on transformed into a sisig.

What you need

1kg American Ribs, cut in two large chunks
2 heads of garlic, crushed
salt and ground pepper

What to do

1. Put the pork in a tub, rub with salt, pepper and garlic. Refrigerate overnight.

2. In a deep casserole, put the marinated pork and all the garlic. Add about 2 cups of water and boil for about 30 minutes.

3. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

4. Grill the pork for 20 minutes at 200 degrees. Then another 10 minutes at 250 degrees for the skin part only. Brush the pork with its drippings every 10 minutes.

5. Serve and enjoy your oven-grilled ribs!