Fridge raid.

By now you know that one of my biggest pet peeves was wasteage. So, this principle applies not just to recycling garbage items but also in food. When my grandfather was still alive, he was very creative in the kitchen. He would wake us up to the smell of something delicious on a weekend morning but when asked what the 'concoction' is, he'd just say - "Just eat, it's good". And whether it's vegetables, meat or fish - he'd throw something in the stove and voila, a good dish is right before your eyes! I always thought that a good cook/chef is someone who 'creates' (remember the movie Ratatouille???) because he/she can imagine the flavour that would make it taste divine - and I think my lolo was some sort of a chef then! Anyhow, I digressed... hahaha...It's the same inkling of not having anything go to waste that I end up learning new food things.

I'm no chef by all means as I'm not someone who can just whip up anything within a whim but I'm no stranger to online research - so there is my simple solution! If I have anything that is in excess in the fridge and I know that the expiration is just around the corner, I use it for something - be they a dip for an appie, a baking, or really, a new dish! How do you think I learned what a regulach is (a Jewish cookie that looks like a mini-cinaroll) or made a bruschetta and pesto and frittata if not for sites like cooks.com, epicurious.com and allrecipes.com? Yes, now - the secret is out! :) I type in my 'excess' or needs-to-be-used-before-it-expires-ingredient online and there I go - a whole new recipe!

So what did I come up this time? For the yogurt, here is my new creation.




Yogurt & Almond coffee cake. The original recipe was called Mini-yogurt coffee cake from Epicurious.com. However, I was lazy to put them in the smaller tins so I poured them over my 9" cake pan instead and there you have it! :) Truth be told, I'm not usually fond of coffee cakes because I find most of them either a tad too dry or sweet. So, I was quite pleased when this one turned out to be moist! I do think it's the yogurt that made the difference and the combination of almond slivers and cinnamon (that's why it's brown) makes that hint of a spice without being too sweet!!! I dusted it with powdered sugar to make it look pretty! hahahaha


Sidenote: Do you know that a 'coffeecake' DOES NOT contain coffee??? :) It's called as such because this 'baking' is supposed to be used as your accompaniment with coffee!

How about a week-old brocolli and some inside beef rounds (that's cut really thin), celery, carrots and some sugar snap peas (chicharo but a bit fleshy)? Stir-fry of course!!! So, yes, chop seuy it was! :) And for the mains, a salmon that's just dusted with olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano and thyme with a quick dash of honey. And here is supper:


So there you have it, last night's concoction. And if you're wondering why there has been tons of pictures lately, I finally found the dang cable to the digital camera! Yay!!!! :) And you know what that meant, right? More pictures to come!!!