home cooking – Jellybeans in the City

Bring Italy to your table with Doña Elena’s Premium Pasta Sauces

There’s something magical about gathering around the table for a comforting, home-cooked meal—and for many Filipino families, pasta is at the heart of these shared moments. Whether it’s a simple weekday dinner or a festive celebration, a delicious pasta dish never fails to bring people together. Now, with Doña Elena’s line of authentic Italian pasta sauces, every home cook can create flavorful dishes that feel both effortless and gourmet.

A Taste of Italy, Made Easy

Known as a trusted name in olive oil and Mediterranean cooking essentials, Doña Elena continues to make European-inspired cuisine accessible to Filipino homes. Their newest addition, the Doña Elena 100% Italian Premium Pasta Sauces, is crafted from fresh, high-quality ingredients—no preservatives, just pure Italian goodness in every jar.

These sauces aren’t just for pasta. They’re wonderfully versatile, elevating pizzas, dips, spreads, and even marinades with a rich, homemade flavor. Whether you’re a kitchen beginner or a passionate home chef, these sauces promise to turn everyday meals into something special.

Four Flavors to Inspire Every Meal

Each variety of Doña Elena Pasta Sauce is designed to complement different pasta cuts and culinary moods:

Marinara – Made with 100% Italian Tomatoes
A classic sauce made from sun-ripened Italian tomatoes, slow-cooked with herbs to create a smooth, tangy, and savory flavor.
Perfect for: Spaghetti, Linguine, lasagna, chicken Parmesan, or roasted vegetables.
Arrabbiata – With Italian Peppers
For those who love a little heat, this fiery blend of tomatoes, chili peppers, and herbs delivers bold flavor with an authentic Italian kick.
Perfect for: Penne Rigate, seafood, or grilled vegetables.
Artichokes & Walnuts Sauce
A creamy and nutty combination of earthy artichokes and crunchy walnuts, enhanced with aromatic herbs for a rich, gourmet touch.
Perfect for: Fettuccine, pizza, bruschetta, or as a dip with crackers.
Pesto Sauce – With Pecorino Cheese
A vibrant, basil-based sauce with parsley, sunflower oil, and sharp Pecorino cheese for a creamy yet bold finish.
Perfect for: Linguine, grilled meats, roasted potatoes, or sandwiches.

Perfect Pairings with Doña Elena Al Dente Pasta

Of course, great sauce deserves great pasta. The Doña Elena Al Dente line—made from 100% durum wheat semolina and crafted using traditional bronze dies—boasts a unique texture that helps sauce cling perfectly to each strand or shape. Available in Fettuccine, Linguine, Lasagna, Penne Rigate, and Fusilli, this artisan-quality pasta ensures rich, flavorful bites every time.

Celebrate Pasta Month with Doña Elena

This Pasta Month, take your culinary creativity to the next level and discover your perfect pasta pairing. Mix and match the flavor profiles of Doña Elena Pasta Sauces with the different cuts of Doña Elena Al Dente Pasta—and enjoy endless ways to savor authentic Italian flavors right in your own home.

Make every meal a celebration of good taste, good company, and the goodness of Doña Elena.

Doña Elena Pasta Sauces and Doña Elena Al Dente Pasta are exclusively distributed by Fly Ace Corporation in the Philippines. For more tips, recipes, and promos visit @donaelenacuisineraclub on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Seafood feasts cooked at home, thanks to Mundo’s Seafood

Do you like seafood? Hubby and I do, and we’ve been trying to get the kiddos to develop a taste for them.

After all, seafood can be quite delicious: there are countless ways to prepare these bounties from the sea, from grilling to frying to baking, and they can be easily paired with a variety of different flavors and ingredients that make for exciting gustatory adventures for the fam.

However, eating seafood at restaurants can cost you a pretty penny. While a great way to get around this hurdle is to cook seafood at home, this presents another obstacle to overcome: how can we source seafood for delicious home meals that are fresh yet won’t burn a hole through our pockets.

Well, my ever-resourceful Hubby solved this problem the last two weekends when he had a strong hankering for some seafood.

He simply got in touch with one of his former schoolmates who now operates Mundo’s Seafood and ordered fresh items for our Saturday dinners:

3 kilos of Aklan oysters (“talaba”): ₱160/kilo (and another 2 kilos a week later because we liked it so much!)
2 pcs of tuna jaw (“panga”): ₱380/pc
2 kilos of wild prawns (“sugpo”): ₱750/kilo

Cheesy Baked Oysters

Mundo’s Seafood delivers fresh seafood to anywhere in Metro Manila and nearby areas, thereby bringing the pleasures of the sea to the plates of the metro’s seafood lovers.

All it took was for Hubby to place his orders and send his playments via GCash, then, voila! Fresh seafood was delivered right to our doorstep, allowing us to enjoy these benefits of cooking fresh seafood at home:

Freshness. Since the seafood were delivered the same day that we will cook them, these were not sitting around nor stored in the freezer for too long, ensuring that they seafood retain their flavor and texture. (Although we did get quite a workout when, together with Yaya, we shucked all those oysters and deveined those prawns!)

Health Benefits. Fresh seafood are loaded with nutrients, such as protein, vitamins, and minerals, that are essential for maintaining a healthy body. Cooking seafood at home allowed you to prepare them in healthy ways, like grilling or baking, which helped to preserve the nutrients and reduce the fat content. (Still, there’s nothing wrong with a little – or a lot of – deep-fried prawn tempura every once in a while, right?)

Cost savings. Since we were able to source our seafood ingredients from Mundo’s Seafood’s affordably-priced options, our delectable seafood feasts didn’t break the bank.

Grilled Tuna Panga

Variety. Cooking seafood at home allowed us to experiment with different recipes and cooking techniques. I was able to flex my culinary muscles by whipping up some Cheesy Baked Oysters and Wild Prawn Tempura (I learned the recipe from Chef Gene Gonzalez of the Center of Asian Culinary Studies) while Hubby showed off his grill-master prowess with his signature Grilled Tuna Panga.

Basically, we proved that cooking fresh seafood at home is a great way to enjoy healthy and delicious meals that give us a break from our usual weekend ulams. Plus, thanks to Mundo’s Seafood, we were able to enjoy our sumptuous seafood feasts without spending so much.

By the way, if you’re planning a party, you can wow your guests with freshly shucked oysters with the help of Mundo’s Seafood’s Oyster Bar. With packages ranging from ₱8,999 (good for 50 persons) to ₱15,999 (good for 100 persons), your guests can enjoy unlimited oysters for two hours along with free sauces and other inclusions depending on the package (such as baked oysters, wagyu cubes, shrimp cocktail and lobster rolls). Plus, the oyster cart can be decorated to match your party’s theme.

Wild Prawn Tempura

Now, what are the chances I can get Hubby to sponsor this for me for my birthday party? Hehehehe…

To know more about Mundo’s Seafood or to place your orders, send a message through its Facebook or Instagram pages, or call +63 918 3524786.

Whip up a Valentine feast in a jiffy with ready-to-cook dishes from the Max’s Group restos

Want to treat the people you love to something special for Valentine’s Day but don’t want to join the mad rush during this busy holiday?

Not to worry because the Max’s Group’s got your back with its new product line – MGI Kitchen – which consists of well-loved offerings from the Max’s Group restaurants, now ready to cook in your very own kitchen!

That’s right: no tedious preparations necessary and very minimal effort required for you to produce a show-stopping meal for the people you love most during this season of hearts.

These include:

Yellow Cab’s Oven Toaster Pizza Box.

My little boy’s favorite Pepperoni Pizza, already pre-made and placed in a box. All we needed to do is pop it into the oven for three to five minutes and it’s ready in all its cheesy and pepperoni goodness for my little pizza monster to enjoy!

Max’s Fried Chicken Box.

Who would have thought that my fam and I can feast on my well-loved Max’s classic sarap to the bones fried chicken just by heating these pieces up in the oven for ten minutes? Paired with steamed rice and a bit of banana ketchup on the side, it’s absolutely delish!

Pancake House’ Spaghetti Sauce.

That party fave just got a whole lot easier to make with Pancake House’ signature spaghetti sauce already prepared and packed. All we needed to do is to heat it up in the microwave for three minutes, ladle on to our noodles, add lots of cheese, and then serve!

Teriyaki Boy’s Teriyaki Chicken

Chicken teriyaki is the fusion of so many flavors: the savory, the sweet and the bit of gingery spice all come together to create a dish that appeals to so many people, especially to my fam! The best thing is, I can easily whip up this dish by pan-grilling Teriyaki Boy’s packed Chicken Teriyaki for ten minutes while basting it with its teriyaki sauce, then serving it garnished with chopped green onions.

Dencio’s Krispy Sisig

The sisig has long been a mainstay in many a Pinoy’s hapagkainan and my family’s is no exception. We prefer ours with ultra-crispy finely chopped bits of pork jowl liberally flavored with minced onions but with a hint of creaminess that makes it perfect when paired with lots and lots of rice, just like how Dencio’s does its Krispy Sisig. To bring this homegrown favorite to my family’s table, all I had to do was saute the contents of the pack on a pan together with its sauce until it attains the crispiness we prefer, then serve it topped with a sunny side up egg.

With these ready-to-cook packs from MGI Kitchen, serving up my love to the fam in the form of good food is super easy!

You can buy these at selected outlets of SM Supermarket/Hypermarket/Savemore, Robinsons Supermarkets, Waltermart, Shopwise, The Marketplace, Puregold, AllDay, Gaisano Market and at Max’s Restaurants, with prices starting at Php350.

Stock up on these ready-to-cook products so you too can just as easily whip up a feast for your fam to enjoy this Valentine’s Day, or any occasion!

Disclosure: Product samples were provided to facilitate this feature story.

#QuarantitaTreats: Lasagna from Kuki’s Fudtrip

With the holidays just around the corner, we #quarantitas are already on the lookout for tasty dishes we can serve the fam for the bevy of celebrations this time of year.

While most of us can whip up a pasta dish or two with ease, lasagna is a bit harder to produce.

Lasagna originated from Italy (as many yummy things do!) and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is made with stacked alternating layers of flat pasta, ragu (ground meat in tomato sauce) and cheese. The dish is usually assembled in a deep baking dish and cooked in an oven like a casserole. The name lasagna is said to be taken from the Ancient Roman word lasanum or “cooking pot,” the cookware in which the dish is made.

I attempted to make my own lasagna a couple of years ago and I got rewarded for my efforts with hard noodles that the fam wouldn’t touch. Needless to say, I stayed away from my culinary kryptonite.

That doesn’t mean, however, that my family’s craving for this dish has abated.

This is why I’m so glad that I can just have a tray of delicious lasagna delivered to me – no effort required in the kitchen – thanks to Kuki’s Fudtrip.

The woman behind this new online seller has actually been in the food business since 2007. Forty-six-year-old Maria Victoria Buenviaje started by selling ihaw-ihaw, managing a carinderia and catering to small gatherings.

When the quarantine started, she began selling merienda items such as pancit, turon and halo-halo.

At her daughter’s suggestion, she offered food trays of lasagna and other specialties online which were met with high demand and lots of orders.

From single orders of merienda items, she has transitioned to selling food trays, of which, the lasagna is the best-seller… and rightly so!

The aroma of the rich beef sauce and cheese greeted me as I peeled off the tray’s aluminum foil cover. Upon slicing into the lasagna, I saw the appetizing sight of layers of al dente noodles, meaty beef sauce and thick béchamel. A bite of this dish resulted to an explosion of flavor in my mouth.

The fam and I polished off most of the half-tray during our merienda. (My baby boy requested for a portion to be set aside for him for dinner – and I couldn’t say no to my baby!)

This Lasagna Special Tray (good for four to five people) sells for Php400 while a regular tray sells for Php700.

Other food trays available include:

Pancit: Bihon (Php400), Canton (Php400), Malabon (Php500) and Sotanghon Canton (Php500).
Pasta: Baked Macaroni (Php500), Carbonara (Php500), Tuna and Mushroom (Php500)

Call in your orders to +63 906 4330991 or message Kuki’s Fudtrip on Facebook two days before delivery date. Cashless payments via GCash, BPI and BDO are accepted. Delivery is free within Village East, Cainta; for other parts of Metro Manila, delivery can be booked at Grab or Lalamove, to be shouldered by the buyer.

So #quarantitas, why don’t you treat the fam to a tasty meal and order a tray?

Disclosure: Product samples were provided to facilitate an honest review.

Check out my blog posts on other small enterprises and startups in the food business:

#QuarantineCookbook: Easy Mac ‘n Cheese

Last Sunday morning, in a bid to stop me from buying a mass-produced mac ‘n cheese packet when we went grocery shopping (or probably to flex his cooking muscles yet again!), Hubby promised me that he would make some macaroni and cheese for me and the kids.

Fast-forward to the afternoon of the same day, my Significant Other is bustling about in the kitchen (in between watching scenes from his latest Korean drama binge-fest) to make what was arguably my daughter #ExhibitA’s favorite macaroni dish.

Macaroni and Cheese (affectionately called Mac ‘n Cheese by its aficionados) is a dish of cooked macaroni pasta in cheese sauce (normally cheddar). Traditionally, this dish is baked in an oven as a casserole but it may also be prepared on a stove using a saucepan. Or you can just add water to a packaged mix and zap it in the microwave.

Similar dishes have been around in Europe since the 14th century. Since then, Mac ‘n Cheese have grown in worldwide popularity, even being considered comfort food in the US.

In his valiant effort to provide the fam with a filling snack that Sunday afternoon, Hubby improvised on an existing Mac ‘n Cheese recipe he found online.

Ingredients:

2 cups of uncooked macaroni
4 cups of milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup parmesan
1/4 cup grated processed cheese
2 tbsp butter

Procedure:

In a large pot, bring the milk to a boil.

Add the macaroni into the pot, stirring constantly for about ten minutes until the pasta is al dente. The milk would have been greatly reduced by then.

Turn off the heat, add in the cheddar and mix well.

Then add butter, parmesan and grated cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve while hot.

I love how milky and creamy this pasta dish is. And, well, Hubby’s version is way better than the packaged mix. 🙂

Try this recipe out the next time you want a yummy snack or appetizer, or when you need to contribute something hearty to a family potluck and let me know what you think.

Looking for other easy-to-cook dishes to try out while in quarantine? Check out my other kitchen adventures:

#QuarantineCookbook: Easy Creamy Pesto Chicken

Even while stuck at home because of the quarantine, I’m still a busy working mom. The demands of my job often precludes me from spending too much time in the kitchen.

This means that I rarely get enough time to devote to discovery and exploration of culinary possibilities to expand my family’s menu beyond the usual staples or to make dishes and ingredients from scratch.

This is why I’m so glad that I have a jar of The Saucier Homemade Classic Pesto in my ref.

In case you’re wondering, a saucier, also known as the saute chef, prepares the sauces, stews and the hot hors d’oeuvres as well as sautes food to order.

With The Saucier’s homemade and preservatives-free sauces and dressings in my cooking arsenal, it’s like I have my own saucier right in my kitchen. Coming up with an extraordinary home-cooked meal is so much easier when half the work is already done.

For our dinner last night, I made a new fam favorite: Creamy Pesto Chicken. Check it out!

Ingredients:

Half-kilo of boneless chicken thigh fillets (I prefer chicken thighs to chicken breasts as these tend to be juicier and more flavorful. Fortunately, I can get a pack of boneless filleted thighs at Landers.)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 1/2 tbsp The Saucier Homemade Classic Pesto
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup grated parmesan

Procedure:

Rub the chicken pieces with salt, pepper and pesto sauce.

Prepare the sauce by whisking together the flour, garlic, pesto sauce and evaporated milk. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and mix well.

Heat the olive oil in non-stick pan then fry the chicken pieces for up to five minutes on each side or until thoroughly cooked. Set aside.

In the same pan, cook the cherry tomatoes in medium to high heat for up to a minute or until they begin to soften.

Add the sauce mixture to the skillet and bring to a boil.

Place the cooked chicken back into the pan and cook for up to three minutes until heated through and well-coated by the sauce, then remove from heat.

Serve your Creamy Peato Chickeb with pasta, rice, or in my fam’s case, some sliced Ciabatta and Special Dip from Chef Jessie which really strengthened our meal’s Italian flair.

Once again, my foray into the kitchen has yielded a hit with the fam!

Try this recipe out and let me know how it goes!

For more details or to get your hands on The Saucier’s sauces and dressings, as well as its tasty Mushroom Burger, visit The Saucier on Facebook or call +63 2 76233600, +63 2 79015526 or +63 917 8870125.

Looking for other easy-to-cook dishes to try out while in quarantine? Check out my other kitchen adventures:

#QuarantineCookbook: Sausage Pasta with The Saucier’s Creamy Sundried Tomatoes

Today, I was faced with a Mommy Problem: What do you do when dinner time is near and all that’s left in your freezer are some Hungarian sausages?

How did I get to this state? Well, I blame it on the quarantine… and, okay, on me too.

I thought I stocked the ref with two week’s worth of meats for the fam’s ulam, but apparently, I was one day short. Here’s the thing: during the quarantine, my city imposed specific market days when residents of a certain area can go to the wet markets or grocery stores to restock on food items.

When is our area’s next market day? Tomorrow. When did we run out of beef, pork or chicken for our ulam? Today.

Yikes!

Fortunately, I espied a package of Hungarian sausages and some fusili pasta that I bought at the nearest Landers branch during my last grocery run. Plus, a friend of mine recently sent me a bottle of Creamy Sundried Tomato from The Saucier.

So I had an idea: why not make a Sausage Pasta using The Saucier’s Creamy Sundried Tomato?

In the culinary industry, a saucier, also known as the saute chef, prepares the sauces, stews and the hot hors d’oeuvres as well as sautes food to order.

As I discovered, if you have a bottle or two of The Saucier’s homemade and preservatives-free sauces and dressings, it’s like you have your very own saucier in your kitchen.

Sun-dried tomatoes, in case you’re wondering, are made by drying out ripe tomatoes in the sun after treating them with salt so that they lose most of their water content. This is a traditional way of preserving tomatoes in Europe, guaranteeing a steady supply that can be enjoyed and provide nutrition during the winter months. Sun-dried tomatoes also have a more intense sweet-tart flavor than fresh tomatoes, making their use popular across a variety of dishes throughout the world.

The Saucier’s Creamy Sun-dried Tomato is made of sun-dried tomatoes, cream, olive oil and spices, definitely no preservatives. Since it already has cream incorporated in the sauce, it saved me the effort of experimenting the ratio of cream to sauce that would have plagued me if what I had on-hand was just plain sun-dried tomato. Whew!

Wanna know how my bright idea turned out? Here’s the recipe I used:

Ingredients:

250 grams fusili pasta, cooked according to package instructions and drained well
5 links of Hungarian sausage, boiled for twenty minutes until cooked, then sliced thinly
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 chicken bouillion cube, dissolved in 1 cup hot water (my substitute for 1 cup chicken broth)
1/2 cup The Saucier’s Creamy Sun-dried Tomato
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (apparently, I also ran out of this cheese, so I used the remaining half tablespoon of parmesan and substituted the rest with ordinary cheese)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

In a large saucepan or casserole over medium heat, melt the butter in the olive oil. Add the garlic, and cook for up to two minutes, stirring frequently until fragrant.

Whisk in the flour for one minute until it turns light brown, then gradually whisk in the chicken broth whisking constantly for up to two minutes until the flour is well incorporated into the broth.

Stir in the creamy sun-dried tomato, cheese and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir in pasta and sausage until these are well-coated with the sauce.

The resulting pasta dish is rich in taste and has a creamy texture.

Well, if the emptied-out casserole and the happy faces of my fam are any indication, I would say this makeshift dinner was a success, thanks in large part to the new and wonderful flavors introduced by The Saucier’s Creamy Sundried Tomato.

For more details or to get your hands on The Saucier’s sauces and dressings, as well as its tasty Mushroom Burger (more on this coming soon!), visit The Saucier on Facebook or call +63 2 76233600, +63 2 79015526 or +63 917 8870125.

Looking for other easy-to-cook dishes to try out while in quarantine? Check out my other kitchen adventures:

#QuarantineCookbook: Homemade Avocado Ice Cream Cake

Relief from this summer’s oppressive heat and humidity is few and far between.

It makes me want to cool down with some frozen treat. How about you?

Well, since I recently learned how to make homemade ice cream, I set about learning how to add a twist to it: make it into a cake!

And of course, I just had to try it with my favorite fruit: the avocado!

This fruit has been having quite a resurgence lately, appearing in a variety of trendy and previously unheard-of dishes from toasts to pastas. However, the avocado’s real siren call to me is as a dessert. Its rich and creamy texture, as well as its earthy flavor make the avocado absolutely sensational when sweetened, making it a great showcase ingredients for desserts such as this homemade avocado ice cream cake.

It turned out to be so easy!

Ingredients:

For the crust:

2 cups crushed Christia toasted bread (can be replaced by an equal amount of crushed Graham crackers)
1 stick of softened butter
3 tbsp white sugar

For the ice cream:

1 cup avocado puree (made by pureeing the flesh of two ripe avocados in a blender)
1 300ml can of condensed milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Procedure:

In a bowl, combine the crushed Christia toasted bread, butter and sugar. Press the crumb mixture onto the bottom of two 6″ x 2″ cake tins then set aside.

In another bowl, mix together the avocado puree, the condensed milk and heavy cream at low speed until the ingredients are well-combined and the mixture begins to thicken.

Increase the mixer speed to medium and continue mixing until the mixture forms stiff peaks.

Transfer the mixture into the prepared cake tins, gently pressing the mixture into the containers and smoothing out the top using a spatula.

Freeze for at least six hours or overnight.

What you get is a wonderful creamy blend of avocado sweetness and crumbly buttery crust with each spoonful. My kids (and I!) absolutely love it!

Well, it sure looks like I’ve got new favorite dessert!

Plus, wouldn’t you know it! You can use this recipe to make other fruit-based ice cream cakes! You might need to adjust the amount of condensed milk you use depending on the native sweetness of the fruit you’re using. Check them out:

Mango!

Banana!

Strawberry!

If ever you need to bring dessert to a potluck party or want to give out ice cream cakes as gifts, you know you can always whip ’em up in a jiffy.

Which fruits would you like to make into homemade ice cream cakes? Try this recipe with your favorite fruit and let me know how it turns out.

PS: Truth be told, the recipe originally called for Graham crackers but after scouring through three supermarkets looking for this out-of-stock item, I decided to use Christia toasted bread as a substitute. It had a buttery flavor and a more crumbly texture that went well with the ice cream. Still, if you want a more conventional crust for your ice cream cake, you may opt to stick to the crushed Graham crackers.

Looking for other easy-to-cook dishes to try out while in quarantine? Check out my other recipes:

#QuarantineCookbook: Bulalo Steak from Leftovers

Hmm… What to do with leftover Bulalo? Make a Bulalo Steak with it!

Anybody who knows me is aware that almost nothing gets my hackles up than wasting food.

That’s why when Hubby (again!) flexed his culinary muscles to bring about some steaming-hot Bulalo for our family’s lunch and had a lot of leftovers – whick included meat, potatoes and broth – I just had to find a way to finish off all that food within the day.

(Note, though, that the leftovers resulted from his overestimation on the fam’s capacity to devour two kilograms of meaty beef shanks, despite how yummy the resulting dish was. )

Well, thanks to the leftovers, the Bulalo Steak for the fam’s dinner was quite easy to whip up using ingredients which were already on-hand.

Ingredients:

(Leftover from the Bulalo)
1 kilo cooked beef shanks, sliced into 1 1/2-inch thick pieces
2 cups of cubed boiled potatoes
1 1/2 cups Bulalo broth, strained

(Additional Vegetables)
1 bunch of French beans (could be substituted with Baguio beans)
1 large carrot, cut into thin strips

(Additional ingredients for the sauce)
6 tbsp butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup sliced Champignon mushrooms
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp liquid seasoning

Procedure:

Re-heat the cooked beef shanks by placing them in a baking dish and into a 200 dec C oven for twenty minutes.

In a saucepan over low heat, melt four tablespoons butter, then add the flour, mixing to form a paste. Add in the milk and broth, mixing to avoid lumps until it thickens to your desired consistency, then add in the mushrooms. Add more beef broth little by little if you want to thin it down.

Parboil the French beans and the carrot strips before sauteing them along with the boiled potatoes in two tablespoons butter. After sauteing, arrange them in the baking dish with the reheated beef shanks.

Pour the sauce over the beef shanks and buttered vegetables. Serve immediately. It is best enjoyed with lots of steamed rice.

This recipe serves five, with 530 calories per serving.

If you want to make this dish but don’t have leftover Bulalo, you can boil up to 2 kilos of beef shanks (with enough water to fully over the meat) in a large pot for up to 2 hours or until tender. Or you can cook them in a pressure cooker for up to an hour. Be sure to save the resulting broth.

Also, if you happen to have a sizzling plate, you can make this dish a Sizzling Bulalo Steak. Arrange the cooked solid ingredients on a heated sizzling plate then pour the sauce over them until it sizzles.

Looking for other easy-to-cook dishes to try out while in quarantine? Check out my other recipes:

Delicious home-cooked meals from The Happy Kitchen

There is something magical that happens when family and friends sit down together over a home-cooked meal.

When people get together at the dinner table, an array of freshly cooked dishes spread before them, good conversation, good vibes and good times are not far behind.

However, with today’s hectic lifestyle and busy schedules, not everyone would have the time to constantly slave over the stove to come up with mouth-watering meals.

Enter The Happy Kitchen.

And by enter, I mean invite it to your home to bring you and your loved ones the flavors you love and grew up with.

The Happy Kitchen (or THK) is the brainchild of Risa Cirineo, a full-time food entrepreneur based in Cainta, Rizal.

She originally operated a canteen in her home to take advantage of a new business opportunity presented by a new school opening nearby, as well as an office canteen in a car dealership.

When she had to close down the office canteen, she jumped on a new and more practical business opportunity: selling party trays online.

In 2018, she started doing exactly that: selling party trays of comfort food such as Beef Caldereta, Kare-Kare and Sisig on Facebook to anywhere in Metro Manila.

Today, her product lines include include party trays, packed meals and “paluto” requests of comfort food and party favorites, some of which were sent over for me and my family to sample:

Beef Caldereta (Php650 good for 6 | Php1,100 good for 10). A mainstay in many family gatherings and fiestas, the caldereta is a showcase of Spanish influences on Filipino cuisine. Named after the caldera – the cauldron where the ingredients are stewed in – this dish combines simple ingredients such as marinated beef, rough-chopped vegetables and a bit of liver pate to bring about a comforting and hearty dish. In THK’s version, the meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender while the tomato sauce was rich in beefy flavor with a bit of cheese and just a hint of spice.

Special Pork Sisig (Php500 good for 6 | Php850 good for 10). This Kapampangan dish is actually one of my daughter’s favorite viands and would usually order it whenever we dine out. She took a liking to THK’s rendition of this classic dish as it was not overly oily and the crunch chicharon bits gave it added texture and flavor. This dish is great as an appetizer or as bar chow.

Chicken Cordon Bleu (Php600 good for 6 | Php980 good for 10). Another party classic, this dish is made of chicken breasts thinned and wrapped around pieces of ham and cheese, then breaded and pan-fried to a golden brown. It’s great as a viand accompanied by rice or by itself as a finger food during cocktails, and is usually a hit with the kids because – duh! – cheese and chicken. 🙂

Korean Chicken (Php520 good for 6 | Php880 good for 10). With all things Korean being a hit in the Philippines these days, it’s no wonder that THK began offering Korean-style braised chicken to its clientele. Risa built on her mom’s recipe – a family favorite for years – by adding gochujang to this dish made with tender chicken pieces in a flavorful sauce of aromatics and herbs. This fresh take on a chicken-based viand is a hit with my son.

These dishes from The Happy Kitchen showcase the care and pride that Risa puts into her cooking. They feature meats that are tender to the bite, veggies with some crisp freshness and flavors that appeal to everyone in my family.

Many thanks to Risa for sending over these THK best-sellers!

Here’s how you can get these delectable dishes for your family dinner or clan gathering:

Visit The Happy Kitchen on Facebook to check out its menu of available dishes.
Text the following details to +63 922 3057613 or +63 917 5493643 at least three days in advance: your name, contact number, your orders and your preferred delivery date, time and address or your preferred date and time of pickup
Pay via bank deposit or online fund transfer to BPI or BDO: 50% downpayment at least three days before pickup or delivery and the remaining 50% one day prior to pick up or delivery

Aside from party trays, THK’s dishes are also available as packed meals good for meetings or as crew meals, with sets priced at Php110 for 1 viand + 1 rice, Php135 for 1 viand + 1 vegetable side dish + 1 rice, Php165 for 2 viands + 1 rice and Php195 for 2 viands, 1 vegetable side dish and 1 rice.

Disclosure: Product samples were provided to enable an honest review.

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