Food challange: Flour Titiyas

I was in the mood to cook last weekend so I made some of my Auntie Jean's famous flour titiyas. The last time I made these things was when I was attending college in Las Vegas. To my surprise, it turned out pretty good, considering it has been over a decade since I made it!

Coming from a family of cooks, I realized that my titiyas wasn't perfect, but it also wasn't a disaster. The taste was there, a bit too sweet for my taste so I figured I'll cut the sugar content down the next time I make tityas. It also lacked the "fluff" in it and I felt it was too flat. Floyd said it was perfect and my BFF Kiki said it was super good.

Sometimes I don't know how to take a compliment.

Move over Rachel Ray....

Last week I was in the mood to bake and cook so I attempted to make rosketti (a Chamorro cookie) and pancit (Filipino noodle dish) for the first time ever. Lucky for me, they both turned out good.

The recipie that my mom gave me for the rosketti made close to 300 peices of rosketti, I nearly died! There was no way I was going to eat all of that so I passed it out to family members. I received good reviews from many and also received some awesome feedback from my tasters and viewers. So the next time I make it, it's gonna be even more delicious the next time around!

My sister-in-law was craving for some pancit and asked if I knew how to make it. I told her that I have seen it being made many times at family parties, but never actually made it myself -- but I sure can try. She was willing to let me do it and it turned out mmm, mmm good! Floyd even certifies that it tastes good. I added a little too much noodles this time around, so I'll adjust the next time I make it.

Bee-bee-que anyone???

Last week we were all craving some good BBQ. Someone was in charge of marinating the meats. Someone was in charge of cleaning the grill. Someone was in charge for barbequing the meats. My task? Make some of my family’s famous Chamorro Red Rice. It seemed like an easy task that I could handle. And when I was asked to make red rice, it seemed so easy as I said, “Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” But when I started the process, I was absolutely nervous! I’m always nervous when I know that what I’m cooking is going to be consumed by more than myself and Floyd. Heck, I still haven’t found the courage to cook in front of my parents!

So there I was chopping, measuring, cooking…..sweating! But the rice turned out pretty good. I don’t know why I doubt myself knowing that I made red rice before and knowing that I also seen my family make it a million times before. I’m just weird like that.

So how did I know it was good? Let’s just say that when I went back for seconds, there was no more red rice in the pot! And that made me feel real good :)

Iron Chamorro Chef

Since Floyd and I decided to leave island, I've been using some of my free time to brush up on my Chamorro cooking skills. The most recent dish I tried to make was chicken chalakilis. I've got to admit that I didn't make it the traditional way and resorted to the "semi-homemade" way of making it. Hey man, I got the approval from my auntie Cel, who is like the head cook in our family and she makes the best dishes EVER!

So my first try with chalakilis was not so bad. The taste was there, but I didn't get the right consistency. It's supposed to be a semi-thick soup, but for some odd reason, it turned out too thick that I had to keep adding water. My second try was even worse because the consistency was so super thick, you would think I was making tamales gisu! Instead of beating myself up about it, I started laughing and figured WOW! at least I'm on the right track to making tamales gisu, LOL!

I'm really going to miss all the good food my family makes. Even something as simple as barbeque chicken, ribs and red rice seems to be the best when my family makes it. We are mostly cooks in my family so (almost) anything that they make, will make my tummy happy! I shall keep you all posted on my progress each time I make (or attempt to) make a Chamorro dish. STAY TUNED.