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: