Ube Jaleya / Purple Yam Jam
The ube jam of Good Shepherd in Baguio is good. 
Almost too good… a perfect color, smooth and creamy and delicious. I have never been able to replicate it at home though I have come close on just my fourth try… I took earlier comments on my ube jam posts to heart and did some things differently this last attempt… first, I washed and brushed the ube very well to remove all remnants of soil and other cooties. Then I boiled it with its skin on (previously I peeled it and bled it colorless…) and after cooking it removed only the thinnest of outer layers that looks more like bark than skin. Just under this “bark” is the most intensely purple part of the tuber and I suspect a lot of the color resides in this out ¼ inch of the ube.
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For some reason, if it was close to Christmas, it meant there was likely a jar or more of ube jam in the fridge. I have only discovered recently why this was the case in our home. Turns out the season for kinampay or ube in Bohol, where my mom grew up spending her summer vacations, starts in late November and lasts until late January. The incredibly fragrant ube from the island of Bohol is available in abundance during the holiday season…duhhh, that was simple. Boholanos are proud of their ube and it seems the combination of weather conditions, soil quality (or lack of it), etc. has yielded, in their minds, a provincial specialty unlike that of other ube growing regions in the country… I, of course, as a “descendant” of the province…buy the “our ube is best theory,” of course…
lapu-lapu (grouper) with dill, onions, lemons, tomatoes and sliced new potatoes. When you chance upon or acquire a large and really fresh lapu-lapu or grouper, make sure you have it cleaned through its mouth (no cut in the underbelly for juices to ooze out of, and scaled properly. Then put it in a baking dish and add thinly sliced lemons, some dill or other herbs, lots of salt and pepper, sliced onions, new potatoes, tomatoes and lots of olive oil. Bake in a 375 degree oven until cooked (say 30-45 minutes, depending on size) and serve with all the juices that accumulate in the pan and the veggies.