kilawen a kalding (goat "salad")

This is "kilawen a kalding" ("kilawing kambing" in Tagalog) or goat's singed/burnt skin and grilled meat and liver chopped and spiced and made into a kind of "salad." An Ilokano dish, it's kind of "exotic" to others but is a popular goat dish throughout the Philippines. What's distinctly Ilokano about it is that Ilokano folks, used to bitterness, err, bitter food, usually season it with the goat's bile or the pespes (extract of the undigested grass) itself.

Let's take a look at the mystery of this authentic Ilokano delicacy... Here's the goat's skin/hide, its hair singed, cleaned, this is slightly boiled to tenderize the hide:

And this is the meat and the liver, slightly grilled and so it's succulent and sweet:

Chopping time!

Chopped goat goodies:

And spiced with onions, ginger, salt, some vinegar (calamansi juice is better), chili if you prefer it really spicy, and pour in some bile or pespes and thoroughly mix the whole lot:

More...

• Pinapaitan a silsilet ti kalding
• Pinapaitan, the really bitter original innards stew

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pata, pork hind legs & knuckles

Oh, I sure love pork, and I'm particularly fascinated with its pata, tendon-y and fat-y and flesh-y pork's hind legs and knuckles, which magically turns into a delicious and insanely crackling crispy pata, or into a hearty and oh-so-tasty paksiw na pata ng baboy, hmmm, and into a heavenly adobong pata, too, so much so with my mission/ambition to get rid of fatty and cholesterol-laden foodstuffs, I just wanna indulge sometimes because I'm just a mere mortal, a human, so prone to sin!

Paksiw na Pata. Photo credit: Mga Luto ni Lola

Crispy Pata. Photo credit: Sweet Nothings

Braised pork knuckles. Photo credit: The Peach Kitchen

Pata Tim. Photo credit: Skip to Malou!

Lets have a try on these pork delights!

• Pata tim recipe from Skip to Malou!
• Crispy Pata recipe from Sweet Nothings
• Braised Pata recipe from The Peach Kitchen
• Paksiw na Pata recipe from Mga Luto ni Lola

...

roast goose

I always am fascinated with a goose, a goose dish, that's it. It's rare, meat and/egg are kind of scarce. It's not readily available in the local market, not common as chicken. It's not bred for mass production. It's rarity and thereby its high price might be reasons enough that it became a kind of delicacy, and even exotic just like duck (like Peking duck). But once I tasted goose stew or a tinola a ganso (boiled goose, soup, with green papayas and chili leaves) and it's so unforgettably delicious and wickedly tasty that I wished it was a regular fare. Of the roasted goose, I have yet to encounter. And so with a roasted duck. The elaborate preparation and the roasting is essentially the same, goose and duck, I guess so. A chance of a lifetime, especially if it's done as palatable as these:

(Photo credit: worldisround.com)

(Photo credit: wikipedia.org)

(Photo credit: simplyrecipes.com)

Why don't we try to roast or own roast goose? We'll follow some recipes at Simply Recipes and at Wrightfood!

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longanisa

Who doesn't love sausages or chorizos? Pinoys love it, and they have their own longanisa (longganisa, langgonisa, longaniza). Pork sausage, that's it. Perfect for breakfast, or in any meal time for that matter as it could serve as an appetizer to your main dishes. It can also be grilled or barbecued on stick and consumed as a snack. And it serves as a hearty delectable filling for empanadas like those ones in Vigan and Batac in the Ilocos. There's a lot of longanisas in the Philippines, almost every town or province has their own variation of this ground pork and garlic mix foodie. And here are some four of the most popular....

Vigan Longanisa. Photo credit: nomorewhitecoats.blogspot.com 

Batac Longanisa on stick. Photo credit: Leilanie Adriano

 Lucban Longanisa. Photo credit: pagkaing-filipino.blogspot.com

Ybanag (Tuguegarao) Longanisa. Photo credit: skiptomalou.net

Tuguegarao longanisa is not as popular as that of Vigan's or Batac's, but it has it's own distinct flavor and texture that's uniquely delicious. I want to try making it, join me, the Ybanag Longanisa recipe at the Skip To Malou! blog is worth a try!

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beef jerky

This is tapa as it's popularly known in the Philippines, be it beef, pork, lamb, carabeef (carabao, water buffalo), or python jerky. Dried meat, sun-dried or smoked. This is one of the delicacies that I long to make but I always fail to do, so when I came upon this on a wonderful food blog, Forks Knives & Spades, I literally salivated and promised myself to make my own beef or pork jerky ASAP!

Photo credit: forksknivesandspades.blogspot.com.

And it's not only one, but Forks Knives & Spades has three beef jerky recipes! See it for yourself here.

Let's do it and enjoy a delicious chew!


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cooking the perfect sirloin steak

(From Cook Sister!)


I always fantasize preparing and cooking steak, what ever kind of steak. Now, here's how to cook the perfect sirloin steak...

Wanna try it.

Want a try? Off you go to the Cook Sister blog and follow the recipe!