artwork by patriciasoliani

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas Recipe 2010: Morcon

Every year on Christmas, I try to cook something for the first time..Just a small tradition that I've been doing at least for the last 3 years. In the past, I've done Carbonara, Fudge Brownies, Kare-kareng buntot and an authentic Kaldereta ( i.e., no ready-kaldereta mix used).

This year, I'm cooking Morcon, a Filipino meat roll stuffed with sausage or hotdogs, carrots, pickles, cheese, and egg.

Here's the recipe I found on the net: (though I did some variations I will mention below)

Ingredients:

2 lbs beef eye of round or flank steak, 3/4 inch thick in one piece
2 pieces beef cubes dissolved in 3 cups boiling water (beef stock/broth)
1/4 tsp salt
1 piece lemon
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 piece medium sized carrot, cut into long strips
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cooking oil
4 pieces hotdogs, cut in half lengthwise
2 pieces pickled dill or sweet pickled cucumber, cut lengthwise divided into 4 equal pieces
3 pieces hard boiled eggs, sliced
3 ounces cheddar cheese, cut in strips (about 1/2 inch thick)

Optional:

2 cans of 240 ml. Pineapple Juice

Cooking procedure:

1. Marinate the beef in soy sauce and lemon juice for at least 1 hour. (For the marinade, I used a ready-made mix)
2. Place the beef in a flat surface and arrange the hotdogs, pickle, carrot, cheese, and egg on one side ( I skipped the pickle because my wife is not a big fan of it)
3. Roll the beef enclosing the fillings and tie with a cooking string to ensure that the meat will not open-up
4. Place cooking oil in a pan and apply heat
5. Dredge the rolled beef in flour and fry until the color of the outer part turns medium brown
6. Transfer the fried rolled beef in a casserole and pour-in the beef broth then bring to a boil
7. Pour-in half of the soy sauce-lemon juice marinade,salt and simmer until the beef is tender, about 2 hours using ordinary casserole or 30 minutes if a pressure cooker is used. (For this dish, I decided to use 2 cans of Pineapple Juice for a little twist, the remaining marinade and 2 beef cubes.)
8. Optional: Fry the simmered meat for at least 2 minutes
9. Remove the strings and slice into serving pieces
10. Place in a serving dish and add the sauce.
11.Serve hot. Share and enjoy!

You can watch the cooking video here.

and now here's the photos of my Morcon:




Well, it ain't bad for a first try huh?

* Recipe and Cooking Video courtesy of Panlasangpinoy.com

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Humor Pics :)

Just want to share some funny photos I found while browsing....Photo credits to original owners)

Battle-ready?

Tatlong Itlog Massacre

High Tech

Tough Life

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Exchanged Gift


Yesterday, Dec. 17, me and my wife went out to buy a gift for Cianna's exchange gift, something suitable for either a boy or girl..We spent about two hours searching for the best gift until we decided on something we both liked - a Scrabble-inspired Math Board game..I actually liked it very much that I almost bought another one for Cianna herself..Good thing, my wife said no..

Mommy then prepared and wrapped it in a nice paper bag with the words " Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!From Cianna Mercado " written on it.

So our little girl went to the party this morning..After a few hours, she arrived home happy.....and still with the same gift in hand but now with the number 15 on it.

Naturally, Mommy was surprised and asked her why she still has the gift.  Did she take the same number of her own gift and not bother to inform her teacher about it?..She didn't get a clear answer from her so she asked me to call the teacher and ask about it.

We figured out, when the gift-giving was over, the children went on to play and have fun..When its time to go, the teacher told them to get their things and prepare to go home.. Cianna must have gathered her things ( like she always do)...AND INCLUDING HER GIFT!

So now, Cianna ended up with a very nice present--something we chose carefully, something her mommy and I both liked, something I like for her to have...

and some other child is looking for her gift at school :)

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Mercado Family Get Together

One of the best, if not the best, things that happened during our recent vacation to the Philippines is to finally have that rare chance for our family to be complete again.. Yes, we may be just a small family but because I had to be away most of the time, and even my youngest brod, Mon has to leave the country also,  we hardly had  the opportunity to be together again...I mean, all of us- me and my brothers, our respective wives and all of our children- all in one place and eat, talk, play and just have fun...So we thank the good Lord we finally have this chance this year..I know Tatay and Nanay couldn't be happier..we hope to do it again soon!





Saturday, December 4, 2010

Vacation 2010: The Girls' Plane Ride

The girls are just excited to get inside that plane!
Kuwait International Airport, Oct. 28 10 AM

Zoe's still in a playful mood
Doha International Airport Oct. 28, 2010

Cianna also gets in the mood

Aren't we there yet, Dad?
onboard QR644 to Philippines Oct. 28,2010

Zoe won't stop exploring. It's her first flight after all!
onboard QR644 to Philippines Oct. 28, 2010

Do I have to finish all these?
(Return flight to Kuwait QR645 Dec. 03, 2010)

Whatever..someone's having fun with her in-flight entertainment huh?
This toy's mine!

I got my Spongebob too...Thanks Qatar Airways!

Vacation 2010: Flight

Good Morning and Good bye, Philippines
NAIA Terminal 1 December 03, 2010 6:30 AM

See you again, Philippines!

Above the clouds

Next Stop- Doha, Qatar from 18,000 feet
Hello Kuwait..We're back!