Mum - breathe... take a break!
This was my daughter's message as I was telling her how intense this Coco Cooking Contest has become. Call it madness but I have been totally obsessed with trying to win this cooking challenge via online voting.
I'm afraid some of my friends would now avoid me when they see me online on FB. : ) They must have been irked with my appeal to please vote... Initially I said "vote - please" (in a soft tone)... But as the competition got more intense, I was now typing in caps: VOTE - or else... $!&@! (insert favorite curse word here). I paraded around Facebook with a loud gong and megaphone announcing to the world that I should win. And it must have been annoying! LOL! I now realize my folly - please forgive me my FB friends.
But through it all, I am most grateful to all of you - and I am glad that I have so many supportive friends. Thank you to my new friends I met through the promotion of my recipe for this contest. Thank you for voting for me from all over the world - my friends from the Southern Philippines, in Manila, and of course those in my hometown of Tuguegarao. Thanks to all those who voted in the US, special shout-out to friends and family in Las Vegas, San Diego, Oregon, Nebraska, Alaska, Georgia, Florida and New Jersey - some of these places I am more familiar to than others - but you were one in supporting me. I may finish second in the competition but your support made me realize that I have already won.
So to my friends, here's a recipe called Squid Adobo Balsamico Pasta. Thank you for your votes. And in case you have not voted (opps I can't help it.) I would like you to take a few seconds to give me your vote.
SQUID ADOBO BALSAMICO PASTA
I was staring at the thawed baby squid when my phone notification beeped. It was a message from my friend Orly. He was busy giving me his statistical analysis of the voting results when I asked him a random question: What is your favorite Filipino food? His reply was: Adobo, because of the myriad variety to cook it.On that note, I took the humble traditional squid adobo and amped it up like what I love to do. Thanks Orly for the inspiration and for all that you do.
Ingredients:
2 lbs baby squid (clean with salt and rinse well)
2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 tbsp crema de balsmico
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red onions, chopped
2 tbsp capers
fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
cooked pasta
Procedure:
First clean the squid and follow instructions here Make sure to reserve the ink sac.
In a pan, saute garlic and onions. Cook until onions are wilted. Add squid and its ink. Cook until squid renders its own liiquid. Add wrocestershire sauce, crema de balsamico and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cook for just a few minutes as overcooking the squid will make it rubbery. Sprinkle thyme, give it a quick stir. Add in the capers. The dish should be saucy and creamy. Pour over a platter of cooked pasta.
Garnish:
Drizzle with toasted garlic and olive oil.
Sprinkle grated ginger. (freeze a thumb size ginger and grate it over the plate of pasta)
Add more capers (optional but i do love capers so I usually add more)
Add cherry tomatoes.
Lovely, Malou! Wrought all over in every dish you make are ART, LOVE and CONNECTIONS! This Squid Adobo Balsamico Pasta says it all. Another testament of your talent and the goodness of your heart. (orlyjr)
ReplyDeleteOrly you are the inspiration behind this, so I had to add a lot of grateful spikes on it :)
Deletethanks again for all that you do for this contest and for this blog!
malou
looks really good, where do you get crema balsamica? and squids with ink sacs? I see them all too clean here.
ReplyDeleteHi there. Thank you for dropping by. Crema balsamica is available in some grocery stores. It is actually balsamic vinegar that has been reduced into almost glaze. It is widely available in the market and I hope you could buy them in your area too.
DeleteThe squid that I buy is not cleaned yet, so the ink sac comes with it. They are available in specialty seafood market. I usually get them in an Asian Market as it is a good source for uncleaned squid.
I hope this helps.
Malou
Hi Malou! Just know that we are all behind you and want you to WIN in the Coco Contest. If you ask me, you're already a winner with all these wonderful recipes you share. It's no wonder you have a large following. So relax, enjoy the ride, have some good eats, pour a glass of wine and just chill. This is another awesome recipe btw - I love the flavors you used here for the squid adobo. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI am so grateful that you are with me in this journey. Thank you for your tips and strategies. I hope I will stay in the course til Friday.
DeleteThanks mi amiga,
Malou
YUMMY! I'm a huge squid fan and I really wanna try this one out!:-)
ReplyDeletei hope you do nff.
DeleteI'm so proud about you Malou. It has always been your passion and you are exactly doing it. You deserve to win but if you don't remember that you have won the hearts of the people of Tuguegarao. They are working extremely hard for you. Be proud!
ReplyDeleteFound your site thru Cook Taste Eat, so happy to find a pinay in the compeition! I am living abroad and have been looking for a site for recipes that remind me of home, and here you are!
ReplyDeleteHuwag mag alala too much with the contest - I voted for your dish but also checked out the leader. She has something like more than 42,000 facebook followers (!) and 20,000 twitter followers (!) and siya ay napaka sikat on the internet it appears, so do not feel bad if she wins bc she has a lot of pull. It is natural that when ever she is asking for votes, many of her followers will give her a surge all of a sudden. We are proud of what you have done in the face of such a strong competitor! Suwerte!
-Ligaya Villanueva
Adobo squid pasta looks interesting and delicious. Must be very flavorful with all the sauce glazing the squid.
ReplyDeleteNever thought of adobong pusit on pasta but this looks heavenly!
ReplyDeleteGlad I found you through Betty Ann and Ray.
Love your blog.
So nice to meet lots of talented Filipino Bloggers.