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