Presenting… The Day-Off Chef

“The Day-Off Chef” is a new category am putting in this blog which will detail my hard-pressed attempts at domesticity in the most-cherished part of my week: my day-off. Hopefully, this will motivate me to spend more time in the kitchen -something I have been doing less and less of ever since I discovered that snoozing, shopping, gadget-reviewing, blogging and doingathousandotherthingsbesidescannotbe doneallatthesametime by someone pretending to be Superwoman. Thankfully, my kiddies are still eating decent meals but I thought it’s high time to flash the apron and try something new.

Banana Choco Cuppacakes

My first venture was the Banana Chocolate Chip muffins I saw on Epicurious. I have been meaning to bake cupcakes and was taken in by the recipe because the kids love both bananas and choco chips. It was a bonus that these muffins were easy to make even though they were not as robust as Mrs. Fields. Still, they tasted luscious coming straight from the oven and are best eaten when hot, just as the choco chips are melting away from all that heat. Hmmm.. For the do-it-yourself, click here.

Mom’s Picaddilly

The second dish I tried for this DO (day-off) is a comfort food and family favorite. My mom calls this picadillo although I doubt if that’s the correct name. It’s a tasty soup which basically falls for sauteing strips of lean beef in onion, garlic and lots tomatoes. Then, add water and cover the meat till it’s almost tender, season to taste with patis and put in the potatoes cut into cubes. Lastly, add the pechay leaves (also cut into strips) and turn off the heat. The pechay will cook by itself in the hot broth. Serve fresh from the casserole.

Hurrah! I’ve just updated my dormant food blog (heheh)