The Sassy Lawyer & Pinoy Cook on food, family and home.
Small bites, finger food, cocktail food, bar food, street food snacks, dainty and not so dainty concoctions that are great for starters, munching, in-between meals and midnight snacks.
When I first came across this spinach recipe in The New York Times health section, it was labeled as an appetizer. The recipe itself was not all that simple — the dressing had to be boiled and reduced. Wondering if there were simpler versions, I searched around using “Japanese spinach sesame seeds” as a key ... (more)
Easter Sunday is exactly seven days away. My family does not celebrate Easter but we love egg dishes any time of the year. And the egg hunt, a Western tradition that did not became popular in this country until the last two decades, is not something I grew up with. And why is the egg associated ... (more)
Some five days ago, craving for something sweet past midnight, Speedy started spooning dulce de leche from its container. He was in the kitchen and a few inches away was the jar of Nutella. I don’t know provoked him. He scooped some dulce de leche with his teaspoon then scooped Nutella. He ate the two ... (more)
Ten years ago, if you had asked me what my favorite sauce is in the whole world, I’d probably have said, “Sweet and sour sauce.” If you had asked me the same question five years ago, I would have said, “Pesto.” These days, it’s the sweet and tangy Vietnamese nuoc cham. It’s basically a sweet ... (more)
One of the most widely known Chinese dishes outside of Asia is General Tso’s chicken — floured bite-size chicken pieces fried until crisp then tossed in sweet-salty sauce. This is the no-meat version using silken tofu. Instead of the usual onion leaves, the saucy tofu cubes were garnished with snipped cilantro and toasted sesame seeds. ... (more)
If a food show has a reality TV format, I skip it. It’s that simple. I prefer informative and entertaining but sans the contrived drama. Like Good Eats with Alton Brown. And Foodography. These are two of the few programs in Food Network that we still watch (Foodography actually airs via Cookingchanneltv.com but, locally, we ... (more)
Think of satay (that ubiquitous Southeast Asian food that consists of skewered and grilled small pieces of marinated meat) and rumaki (bacon wrapped liver attributed to Polynesia but may not have really originated there). Combine the two and this is what this dish is all about. Small pieces of chicken thigh fillet are marinated in ... (more)
Each time I posted photos of Sam’s homemade sushi, there would inevitably be requests for the recipes among the comments. I really don’t know how I can give any recipe since Sam rarely follows any but often uses just about whatever she finds in the fridge. She doesn’t follow traditional combinations of ingredients, she’s bold ... (more)
There is so much that needs to be said about these tuna and tofu spring rolls recipe. First, it is possible to generously feed four people using a 180-gram can of tuna. Second, tofu is a great extender. Third, San Marino tuna fillet in water is not so very tasty. I used a can of ... (more)
Pizza is a great party dish. It’s a crowd pleaser, it’s not fussy to eat and it evokes an atmosphere that is both friendly and relaxing. While it is easy to have pizza delivered to your doorstep, personally, it’s an option I no longer consider feasible. About five years ago on Sam’s birthday, we had ... (more)
I don't buy marinated tapa. What I do is buy sukiyaki or yakiniku cut beef, … »»
From reader Elaine of New Jersey: Most Filipino cookbooks specify buntot … »»
After a quick trip to the market, Speedy checked his Facebook account, … »»
Still experimenting with alternative methods of cooking, after using the … »»
If you're looking for the easiest cocktail drink recipe ever, you just … »»
A simple, easy and very tasty pasta dish that you can cook in one pan. … »»
I can't resist a good recipe when I come across one. I was browsing food … »»
Casa is Spanish for house. CASA is also an acronym for Connie, Antonio, Sam and Alex. We are all surnamed Veneracion. We all love to take photos -- of anything that catches our fancy. It's a family obsession.
This is a journal of how we live, eat, learn, play and have fun. Work? Work is part of playing and having fun. Seriously.
In 2003, a time when I hadn't heard of the term "blog", I started a recipe website at cooking.houseonahill.net using a now defunct content management system that ran on ASP. Ok, never mind the geek talk, I'm sure you're not interested in that. The contents easily multiplied and, in 2004, I moved the food site to pinoycook.net. Always unhappy with the fact that the dot com versions of houseonahill and pinoycook weren't … (click here to read all »)
It has a graham cracker crust and it is baked but at a lower temperature … (more...)
If you Google "melon cocktail", you'll find that there are two categories. … (more...)
According to Tastefully Done, age means deep fried and dashi, of course, is … (more...)
Okra has a bad reputation in our house. So bad a reputation that I'm the … (more...)
When I first came across this spinach recipe in The New York Times health … (more...)
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