Chicken Macaroni Sopas

It's been 2 days that typhoon 'Maring' has been pouring all over Manila and other parts of Luzon. I hope everyone has found a safe shelter and some hot soup to keep you warm. Just wish to share this simple recipe that could warm you and your family in this cold weather.

This recipe is actually an inspiration from our cousin-in-law's family. It kept me warm this morning. :)

Ingredients:

1	tablespoon	Olive Oil
1	clove	Garlic, crushed and chopped
1/2	piece	Onion, peeled and chopped
1/2	piece	Carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2	tablespoon	Fish Sauce (Patis)
1/2	cup	Chicken, cooked and diced
1/2	cup	Ham, diced
1	cups	Macaroni, cooked
2	cups	Chicken Broth, defatted
1	tablespoon	Cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tbsp cold water
2	cups	Milk (Cowhead or Milk Magic would be great)
1/2	tsp	Salt
1/2	tsp	Ground Pepper
Procedure
1	Heat olive oil in a big saucepan. Saute garlic and onions until translucent. Add the carrots and season with patis. Cook for 5 minutes
2	Add the chicken, ham, macaroni and chicken broth and simmer for another 5 minutes
3	Add cornstarch mixture to thicken the broth and stir for about 5 mintues until thick.
4	Add milk, salt and pepper, stir until well heated and adjust seasoning according to taste.
5	Serve HOT

Serves 4

Ossobuco alla Milanese

It looked pretty much complicated as I was reading through several recipes, but once you get on it! It's just easy. It was my patience that I had to work with since it takes hours to get a good bite into this meat. 

Ingredients

1	cup	White Onions, finely chopped
1	cup	Carrots, finely chopped
1	cup	Celery, finely chopped
1/4	cup	Olive Oil
2	teaspoon	Garlic, finely chopped
1	piece	lemon peel strips (from 1 lemon)
1/2	cup	Olive Oil
4	piece	Veal Shanks, cut into 3/4 inch thickness
3/4	cups	All Purpose Flour
4	cups	Beef Broth
750	ml	Tomato Basil Sauce
1/4	teaspoon	Dried Thyme
2	pieces	Fresh Basil
2	pieces	Bay Leaf or Laurel Leaves
3	sprigs	Parsley
		Salt and Pepper
4	pieces	Potatoes, boiled and peeled
4	tablespoon	Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1	cup	Milk
2	tablespoon	Basil Leaves, chopped
		Salt and Pepper

Procedure

1 Preheat the Oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit (175 Celcius)
2 Pat dry all the veal/beef shanks with a clean towel.
3 Choose a heavy casserole that can hold the veal pieces later in a single layer. Put in the first portion of olive oil, onion, carrot, celery. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes to soften the vegetables. Add the garlic and lemon peel slices to end and remove from heat.
4 Heat Olive Oil in a skillet over medium high heat. When the oil is quite hot, Dredge and brown the veal on all sides one by one or how many pieces can fit comfortably into your skillet without cramping the meat. Stand the veal pieces side by side on top of the vegetables in the casserole.
5 Simmer the broth in a pan and pour into the casserole. Add the tomato basil sauce, thyme, basil, bay leaves, parsley, pepper and salt. The broth should cover the veal pieces. If it does not, add more broth.
6 Bring the contents of the casserole to a simmer on top of the stove. Cover tightly and put into the preheated oven. Cook for about 3 hours, carefully turning and basting the beal every hour. When done, they should be very tender when pricked with fork, and their sauce should be dense and creamy.
7 While waiting for the shank to cook, make the mashed potato to accompany the meat.
8 Put in the cooked potato, cream cheese, milk and basil chiffonade into a food processor.
9 Season to taste. Set aside.
10 Top mashed potato with pieces of veal and pour sauce over and serve piping hot.

Cooking tips and alternatives!
You have to put the shank into the skillet to brown as soon as You have dipped it in flour, otherwise the flour may dampen and the meat wont brown properly.                                                                         If the casseroles runs out of liquid while still cooking, you may add more broth or water.                    If the sauce is too thin and the veal is done, remove the meat to a platter, placed the uncovered casserole on top of the stove and over high heat boil the sauce until it thickens.

It's a comfort food i must say!!! Thanks to patience, it came out to its desired tenderness :) 

7 hour Tomato Brisket

Oh! Lovely Sunday. Cooking my second meal since i got married (which has been a month now --- time flies by so fast). Waking up on a sunday to roast my 7 hour tomato brisket was amazingly easy. I guess it's just plain excitement that woke me up at 5 am to get ready for lunch! :)

Ingredients:

2 kilos  Beef Brisket (all fats removed) or Kenchi (I'd recommend this if it's available)
24 oz   Hunts Tomato Ketchup
2 pcs   White Onion (minced)
1/2 cup Fresh parsley leaves
2 tsps   Onion Powder
2 tsps   Turmeric Powder
2 tsp     Rock Salt
6 tsp    White Sugar
1/2 tsp  Ground Pepper
1 cup    Water

Procedure
1. Preheat over to 275 degrees fahrenheit
2. Place the brisket or kenchi in an oven safe pan (make sure it has good allowance for possible overflow of sauce)
3. Combine the white onion, parsley, onion powder, turmeric powder rock salt, white sugar, ground pepper in a bowl. Mix well together with the ketchup and 1 cup water until well combined.
4. Pour the sauce all over the brisket and turn upside down to coat the other side.
5. Cover with foil and roast in the oven for 7 hours.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and test the meat to make sure it is fork tender.
7. Slice the brisket into thin strips and put it in a pan. Make sure to slice it against the grain.
8. Get some of the sauce from the dish just enough to cover the meat on the pan.
9. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.
10. Line the meat in serving plate, pour in some sauce and garnish with Parsley and Serve Hot & Tender!

Weee... so happy Steve loved the dish. I just think the dish would be perfect with kenchi. No fat and would be so nice to roast and i can just imagine the tenderness of the meat i could have achieved. Perfect with the tangy tomato sauce ... which i think can be a pasta sauce already! :)

Serves 12

Strawberry & Onion Marmalade Beef Tapas

Wow! Just got a little bored at home, opened the freezer and the ref and found a new treasure dish. I had a bottle of Onion Balsamic Marmalade by Whisk (which i got as a treat from my friend Cheryl) , Strawberry Jam and freshly bought beef cuts!

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo  Beef Sirloin, thinly sliced
5 tbsp    Onion Balsamic Marmalade by Whisk
5 tbsp    Strawberry Jam
2 Tbsp   Sesame Oil
3 Tbsp   Olive Oil
Procedure:
1. In a bowl, mix together the beef sirloin, onion balsamic marmalade, strawberry jam and sesame oil. Marinate for atleast 12 hours.
2. In a pan, place 2 cups of water to boil.
3. Add the marinated beef and let the water evaporate in medium-high heat.
4, When the water has completely evaporated, add 3 Tbsp of olive oil and pan-fry the tapa until done.
5. To Serve: Rice + Fried Eggs (cooked to your liking) + Strawberry & Onion Marmalade Beef Tapas!

Just perfect for that craving tooth - something meaty and sweet! Sweet and Simple! Enjoy! :)

Beef Caldereta / Kaldereta (Beef Stew)

 
I super love the blend of tomato and cheese which makes every caldereta meal a hearty meal. :) My friend - Ria - is craving for beef caldereta today and so i decided to share our home recipe for this! We've loved our version of beef caldereta since our housemate Jovie came along three years ago! :) This is her recipe and you can actually do a variation of this with kambing/goat meat.

1 kilo            Beef kenchi (cut into cubes)
1 pc              garlic (whole - crushed)
4 pcs             red onions (sliced)
1 k                potatoes (cut into cubes)
2 pcs.            carrots large (cut into cubes or big chunks same size with your meat / potatoes)
1 pc              red bell peppers (cut into big squares / large dice)
1 pc              green bell peppers (cut into big squares / large dice)
250 grams    green peas
1/4 cup         cooking oil 
170 grams     liver spread (Reno Brand )
1 kilo            tomato sauce (Del Monte )
1 small pack tomato paste (Del Monte )
175 grams    quickmelt cheese (Che Vital )
                    black pepper, to season

** You can have any grocery or market butcher cut your meat to 'kaldereta' cut! -easy!

Procedure:
1.) Heat oil in a casserole with medium-high heat. When hot, saute garlic until golden brown, saute onion until translucent. Saute beef until liquid extract of meat evaporate until almost dry, season with freshly ground black pepper.
2.) Put in water just to cover meat. Put to a boil and lower heat to simmer for 2 hours (or until meat is tender), check once in a while and put in more water if necessary.
3.) When meat is tender, bring to a boil and put in liver spread, tomato sauce, tomato paste and quickmelt cheese for the meat to absorb the taste. Mix well until the mixture is well blended with the meat. 
4.) Put in potatoes, carrots, green peas, red bell pepper and green bell pepper. Bring to a boil and lower heat simmer for another 20 mins (or until potatoes are cooked to your desired texture)

Cooking is definitely about your and your guests! So just grab those ingredients and make it happen in your dinner table!!! Enjoy! :) Photos to follow!

Inihaw na Bangus (Grilled Milkfish)

I love bangus! I can have bangus the entire week and never get tired of it. This is just one of our home recipes that makes me crave for bangus each and everyday! A simple dish which I learned to make at the age of 12! :) I used to grill in an outdoor charcoal grill, but now... thanks to George Foreman Grill and/or nice and easy to use ovens, I can grill anytime. Hope you enjoy this one! :)

Ingredients:

4 pcs. Fresh Tomatoes - slice
3 pcs. Red Onions - slice
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Large Boneless Bangus (Milkfish)
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper

Foil (big enough to wrap the fish)
Oil to baste

Sauce:
6 pcs  Calamansi
3 Tbsp soy sauce

Procedure:
1. Mix together sliced tomatoes, onions and soy sauce sauce to be used as filler, set aside
2. Flip open the fish, season with salt and pepper and top with filler (sliced tomatoes, onion and soy sauce mixture.)
3. Oil the Foil to avoid the fish skin to stick on the foil later on and wrap the Fish with foil
4. Grill for 20 mins (10 minutes each side)  in your George Foreman, Choarcoal Grill or Oven.
5. Open and Smell the fragrance! Serve with calamansi and soy sauce mix! and of course, RICE :)

Procedure with Photos:

1. Mix together sliced tomatoes, onions and soy sauce sauce to be used as filler, set aside

2. Flip open the fish, season with salt and pepper and top with filler (sliced tomatoes, onion and soy sauce mixture.)

3. Oil the Foil to avoid the fish skin to stick on the foil later on and wrap the Fish with foil

4. Grill for 20 mins (10 minutes each side)  in your George Foreman, Choarcoal Grill or Oven.

5. Open and Smell the fragrance! Serve with calamansi and soy sauce mix! and of course, RICE :)  

Serves 3. :)

Paella Ala L (Version 1)

This recipe was inspired by Paella ala Majorcana from my recipe book from CACs (where i took up Basics in Cooking and Baking) and made several changes according to the availability of ingredients from the grocery and my own gut feel!!! It was a merry merry merry Christmas eve since I got to appreciate my own cooking. 1st try and i can say that it was a success. I was so afraid of cooking up Paella before and with courage i plunged on to try it this Christmas.... and with love, i shared it with my family. :)

So I'm sharing my experience with you with this recipe.

Ingredients:

Meat / Seafood

1/4 k pork menudo cut

1/4 k chicken thigh with skin (cut into 4 per piece)

3 pcs Chinese Chorizo Sausage (sliced diagonally)

2 pcs. Pusit / Squid (big)

12 pcs. Shrimps

Vegetables

1 pc. garlic (chopped)

2 pcs. onion (chopped)

2 pcs. red bell pepper (diced into 8 per piece)

Others

1 cup olive oil

1 pack (about 1 teaspoon) saffron

4 cups uncooked rice

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 liters chicken broth (2 pcs. knorr chicken cubes in 2 liters water)

1/2 cup green peas (boiled)

2 pcs. hard boiled eggs

Instruction:

1. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil. Saute garlic until gold brown and saute the Shrimp and Pusit until half cooked and mix in the red bell peppers. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside in a bowl.

2. Using the same skillet, heat 1/4 cup olive oil. Saute the half of the onion until translucent.

3. Saute in the meat and chicken until cooked (about 8-10 minutes). Season with salt and pepper, cayenne pepper and the saffron. Set aside together with the seafood in a bowl.

4. In the same skillet or paellera (if you have one), heat remaining olive oil (1/2 cup). Saute onion until translucent. Saute the Chinese chorizo sausages. Place in 4 cups of rice and make sure that all the grain are well coated with oil. Pour in the chicken broth by cup. 1 cup at a time while constantly stirring the rice. Make sure that there is just enough stock to cook the rice at one time. You will have to pour in the stock in 6 batches as you patiently wait for the rice to cook. Turn off the heat.

5. Mix in the seafood and meat with the rice and place it in a oven safe plate or you can use the paellera (if you're using one).

6. Bake in the over for 50-60 minutes at 350-450 temperature.

7. Top the paella with green peas and egg before serving. :)

Too bad, it didnt make it to anyone's camera. Next time! :)

Thank you to my sisters - Elyse, Ernaline, Eunice - and helper - Jovie and my mom and dad for appreciating the food! Eda, I'll cook up for you some time. Wish you were here for Christmas.