Sunday, September 29, 2013

Penafrancia Fiesta; All Day Home Cooked Feast

Penafrancia Fiesta  
All Day Home Cooked Feast


While we have always watched the Penafrancia
Translacion Procession every year at Caby’s Cabana,


..and the Penafrancia Fluvial Procession in one
of Avenue Plaza Hotel’s riverside suites,
we failed to book a hotel reservation earlier and
it was already fully booked as early as  June 2013.







So there would be no Fluvial Procession watching
for us this year as no one was willing to suffer
the misery of braving the mammoth crowd.


It was a very, very long weekend 


...as the kids did not have any classes  
anymore from Thursday and schools 
would resume on a Monday,



…we were left with nothing to do, and since most
of our house helpers were also on a long holiday,
we sustained ourselves in dining thru delivery.


But  on the second day of the long vacation, they
stopped accepting orders by delivery as they got too busy
 and that they are understaffed during the festivity.


The kitchen beckoned me to do some holiday cooking
for my family the next day until the chaos that
is the week long Penafrancia festivity is over.


I raided the pantry to source out ingredients.
I am a “Pantry Chef”, I cook whatever is available
on the food cupboard and on the pantry…


…and came out with the following dishes: 

Slow Cooked Pork and Beans, Chunky Prawn Sandwich,
Breaded Crispy Pangasius and Grilled Pangasius.



...all ingredients were taken from whatever 
is available from the pantry.

1. Slow Cooked Pork and Beans

I found a pack of Pinto Beans in the pantry
and this would be perfect for Pork and Beans
everyone’s favorite dish for breakfast.


Soak the Pinto Beans with water
overnight to soften the beans.


Prepare the ingredients in the morning.




Cook the pork and the tomatoes,
in low fire  until soft and tender…




Chop onions,


…and add to the pork
and tomatoes.


Fish out the tomatoes halfway
and mash it once soft and set aside.


The mashed tomatoes would add texture
to the otherwise plain tomato paste.


Once the pork is cooked and tender,
add the Pinto Beans and simmer
in low fire until fully cooked.


Add the mashed tomatoes,


…the Tomato Paste,


…and other ingredients like
brown sugar, salt and
apple cider venigar to taste.


Serve piping hot,


…with freshly baked Pan Legazpi
and black pepper on the side.



Fiesta breakfast is ready.  

2. Chunky Prawn Sandwich

The kids would need a whole day of snacking
and the pre cooked Prawn leftover would be
perfect for  special Chunky Prawn Sandwich.


Prepare all the ingredients.






Tuna flavored sandwich spread rather
than plain mayonnaise is favored for this
dish as the fish per- flavoring blends well
with the flavor of real plump prawns.


Clean the prawns, remove carapace.


Cook the eggs until hard boiled.


Cool down the hard boiled eggs
by soaking it in ice cold water.


Mix all the ingredients,


…sprinkle with herbs and
black pepper.


Chop sunny side up fried eggs,




…and mix it with all the ingredients as this
would add texture to the sandwich spread.




Prepare the bread,


…evenly spread butter on one side,




…and generously top it with the
chunky Prawn Sandwich spread.


This would be an all day yummy
snacks for everyone.



3. Grilled  Pangasius 
  
This dish is very easy to prepare and even kids would be
able to cook this healthy but tasty Grilled Pangasius .


Thaw  the frozen Pangasius Fillet on the sink.


Once the fish fillet was deforested,
prepare other  ingredients...



Marinate the fish with Oyster Sauce
 and herbs  for few hours,



Let it stand for few hours.



Prepare fish for grilling.


...and grill until cooked (my family likes the  fish
 well done although this would dry the fish a little bit 
but it is just as tasty as the juicier medium rare).



Serve  with Papaya Atchara, topped with
 Pickled Gherkins as a side dish.

 

This is delightful preserved pickles is available at the
 Redemptorist Monastery  in Legazpi City in Albay.




4. Breaded Crispy Pangasius Fillet 

Prepare all the ingredients.



The secret ingredient  for this tangy dish
is the Barrio Fiesta Lechon Kawali Mix.


Marinate  the Pangasius fillet  with a very 
small amount  of the instant mix for few hours.
(using too much would make the fish very salty)


Cut the marinated fish fillet into match box sizes,



...and prepare the breading ingredients,


Coat the fish nuggets evenly with the breading 
beginning with egg, followed by flour 
and lastly with generous amount of breadcrumbs.



Fry until golden brown.


Serve with tomato Kethup,


...or an instant mushroom sauce
 as a gravy for a dip.



Interestingly this dish also goes well
with the pickled gherkins from Albay.



Fiesta Buffet

Lay all the dishes on the dining table
for whole day feasting for your family.


The long Penafrancia Fiesta break is best celebrated 
at home with the family with no guests to please and entertain.

Happy Fiesta.



Read here for related posts: 

@ Caby’s Cabana, Naga City

Jardin Real de Naga Clubhouse