Meatless days ahead

We went through our recipes collected from cookbooks, family and friends, and other sources, and found the following which we are sharing with you, our readers, hoping they will be helpful in planning your menus this Lent.

The Lenten season starts on Ash Wednesday, March 5. This ushers in the meatless days of Lent. That means our menus will be consisting of fish, seafood, vegetables and fruits. We welcome this, if only to stay away from heavy meat dishes and concentrate on a much healthier fare.

We went through our recipes collected from cookbooks, family and friends, and other sources, and found the following which we are sharing with you, our readers, hoping they will be helpful in planning your menus this Lent.

Prawns on Salt. Yes, prawns are quite expensive, but maybe there is a seafood market near your place. What sells for more than P700 a kilo in supermarkets are priced in markets at only a little over P500.

You need half a kilo of prawns, enough salt to make a bed in a casserole for the prawns and olive oil to cover them. Lay the prawns on the salt, pour the oil and cook over low fire.

Shrimps Okra Gumbo. You also need half kilo of prawns; 10 pieces okra; a stalk of celery cut into 1 inch pieces; one onion, sliced; one medium size tomato, cubed; olive oil; salt and pepper; a bay leaf; and shrimp broth cube. Cook okra, peel shrimps. Sauté garlic, onion, tomato in olive oil, add shrimps and cook for a few minutes. Gumbo normally has sausages, but skip them during this period.

Peninsula Fish Fillet. A recipe we got from the hotel’s published cookbook. Now be careful when buying cream dory. Lately we have noticed that some of those available in supermarkets are overly malansa (too fishy). So maybe you can use labahita and sole fillet for this.

For about ¾ kilo of fish fillet, you need a tablespoon of prepared mustard, one fourth cup of olive oil, a pinch each of basil and thyme, juice of a lemon, salt and pepper. Season the fillet with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Let stand for a while. Mix all other ingredients and marinate the fish in it. Grill, adding more olive oil as required.

Cream Dory with Mayo. You can use any other fish fillet. Rub the fillet with mayonnaise. Lay on a toaster and top with onion rings, and salt. Bake until done.

Bacalao ala Plantsa. Again Bacalao is quite pricey, so get daing (dried fish) instead. Marinate fish in olive oil with onions, vinegar, salt and pepper. Grill until done.

Here is a tomato-pesto blend that can be used for pasta. You need ½ cup olive oil; one can sliced, stewed tomatoes; 2 heads native garlic, crushed; 20 pieces black olives; a bottle of pesto sauce; two tablespoons brown sugar; salt and pepper.

In the olive oil, sauté garlic and tomatoes. Add the olives, season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for a while. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and allow to simmer for a while.

Breakfast food is another thing to consider. Get some dried biya, a little pricey, but don’t buy a kilo. Get about 100 gms of it, which should be enough for a small family breakfast. Fry to a crisp and serve with a salad  of tomatoes, onions, red eggs, vinegar and brown sugar. Super!

If you are into bread, make your own tuna salad by flaking a can of tuna (in oil, not tomato sauce), mix it with mayonnaise and pickle relish, salt and pepper. You might want to add the stalk of a celery (chopped) and grated Parmesan cheese for more flavor.

Alternatively there are canned salmon spreads produced by Ayam. They cost very little and are good on hot pan de sal. Remember, when eating out during abstinence days, there are lots of seafood choices in every menu card of restaurants. Japanese sushi and sashimi are perfect.

Enjoy your meatless days!

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