Beef Rizotto

Beef Rizotto

My first attempt of making rizotto.. twas a success... forgive me for not having the measurement... All i did was : stir-fried the beef and set aside, boil the rizotto rice until jst tender and drain. Saute' onion until transluscent in low fire, add some rosemary, thyme,sweet chilli powder, add rice add some beef stock jst enough to cover the rice, stir and continue cooking until the stock has been absorbed almost completely, add more stock, stir and again until the stock has been absorbed. Continue adding slowly the stock until the rice is done, add the stirfried beef and continue cooking for another 2 minutes. Done! Hubby is not really fun of rice but this was a hit for him! tsk tsk...

Spaghetti

Spaghetti

What makes your spaghetti different?? must be the sauce huh! This time, i used ground beef and made the basic tomato sauce with it, and ofcourse lots of cheeeeeze and toss with pasta! Voila! Quicky as well..

Pansit with Pork Ribs

pancit with pork ribs

Boil the ribs for 30 minutes or until well done. Marinate for another 30 minutes. Brown the meat in a very hot pan with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and straight to a very hot oven for 45 minutes. Serve on top with stir-fried pancit.

Stir-Fried Veggies with Beef

Stir-fried Veggies with beef

Easy and healthy.

Ingredients:

½ K. Lean beef
Cabbage (sliced in strips)
2 Carrots (sliced)
1 Red sweet pepper
1 Green sweet pepper
1 Onion (sliced thinly)
3 cloves garlic (chopped thinly)
2 T olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

I am a fan of Ken, Chinese cook in BBC Food and I always watch him stir frying vegetables but haven’t done really at home. The secret is to add stock or water little by little like 1 tablespoon at a time this will give a good steam cooked vegetables, which is really makes a difference. Different from what I’ve done before I knew the technique coz I used to stir-fry veggies all in one bank to the pan and add water or stock.. some veggies are not cooked and some are over cooked.

So here, I perfected for once!
Slice beef in strips. In very hot pan, add 2 T. olive oil add beef and stir-fry until sides turn brown. (Do not be tempted to add water, otherwise the meat would be tough). With the same pan, add oil and salt, sauté onion and garlic with olive oil, add first the hardest veggie then the leafy lastly. Carrots goes in first, add 1 T. of stock or water, stir fry and cover for 1 minute, add the red and green peppers, add another tablespoon of stock, cover and stir-fry for another minute, add the cabbage lastly, again cover and stir-fry for another minute. Add in the stir-fried beef and toss! Done! Every veggie has its own distinctive taste which gives every bite a worthwhile.

Quickie Pasta

Quickie Pasta

All time favorite quickie pasta. Lazy and hungry?? The quickest meal I could do is this! Just boil pasta and while doing that, sauté onions, mushrooms, ham or bacon and through in some cooked pasta. Add lots of cheese a good toss until cheese melts, season with salt and pepper. Done!

Breakfast Devine

Breakfast Devine

Got this from Sophie Grigson’s show, but substituted some ingredients.


Ingredients :

3 Eggs
2 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 slices bacon (thinly slized)
2 slices ham (thinly slized)
200 g mushrooms (thinly slized)
1 pc. white onion (thinly slized)
200 g. flamengo cheese (grated)
100 g. parmesan cheese (grated)
salt & pepper to taste

How to:

Preheat oven into 180 degrees C.

Separate egg white from yolk and set aside.

Heat olive oil and butter in a pan, add bacon & ham and fry just quickly until done. Remove from pan. With the same pan (with the remaining oil & butter used with frying the bacon, this really adds flavor) add mushrooms and continue frying, add onions and stir-fry until mushrooms turn golden brown at the sides. Add the cooked bacon & ham stir and remove from heat and set aside.

Add the yolks into the cooked ingredients, season with salt & pepper and set aside.

Beat egg whites with an electric beater until stiff. Slowly fold-in the yolk mixture into the stiffly beaten eggwhite. Return the whole mixture into the pan, continue cooking with low fire. Remove from fire and bake for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve immediately with toasted bread.

Note: Make sure to use oven proof handle of your pan otherwise, transfer the whole mixture to an oven-proof dish.

Roasted Chicken

Roasted Chicken

There maybe a hundred ways of roasting chicken but this one is quicker than usual roasted whole chicken! Tender and juicy!

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
1 lemon
5 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
Fresh Mint
Gravy

Preheat oven to 250 degrees C.
Butterfly the chicken
Crush 5 cloves of garlic, fresh mint, salt and pepper.
Work the skin starting with your fingers, insert them in between the skin and the flesh working from bottom part of the chicken forming a pocket. Separate the tissues by pushing further your hand into the leg part, breasts and wings. Insert Spices into the just formed pocket and rub the spices to the flesh.

Add slices of lemon in it.

Squeeze the rest of the lemon over the whole chicken and season the other side with salt and pepper.

Pan-fry the chicken skin side down with olive oil until golden. This would take around 6 – 8 minutes each side. Transfer to oven proof dish and straight to the hot oven for 45 minutes. Done! Serve while still hot.

To make the gravy:
With the meat drippings in the pan (where the chicken was fried) add ½ cup of water, chicken cube (stock), 1 tsp. cornstarch, and season with pepper.

Note: The herbs doesn’t really matter particularly mint. I just used mint because I have it fresh from the garden. Parsley, Corriander, lemon grass would be great as well, I think. I just found out that mint and garlic are good friends! The mint refreshes the garlicky flavor and broken by the lemon.. Really works well… This is one of the sinful lunch I had… Why??? Because I had much and the gravy is so tempting! One thing I like with this one is just quick and easy and the flavors are easily absorbed into the meat. I saw it on TV show the other night but I don’t know the chef. Sorry. I wanted to acknowledge him. When I get his name.. tsk tsk.. I will post. Promise.

Stuffed Chicken Roll

Stuffed Chicken Rolls

Another Stuffed Meat! I love stuffing meats! It’s just like a surprise inside. So what’s the stuffing this time?? It is shredded potatoes seasoned with lots of pepper and dash of salt. Spicy inside coz I didn’t season the meat this time!

Slice meat very thinly or flatten with meat hammer.
Shred 1 medium sized potato and season with salt and pepper
Slice 1 medium sized potato as thinly as you can.
Place the Shredded potatoes at one end of the meat and roll until you reach the other end.
Tuck with toothpicks and fry. Not necessarily deep fry, just enough to seal the meat. Bake for 15 minutes at about 250 degrees C.
With the same pan, add the thinly sliced potatoes. This will absorb the drippings of the meat while being fried.
Serve the dish with sauce.

This is good for 1 meal. 2 Potatoes are enough for one person, don’t forget the other one is inside the meat. Here, I got a spare empty passion fruit where I placed the sauce. It is just for the sake of ArT!

Stir Fried Beef

Stir-Fried Beef

One of the menus we serve in our “karenderia” way back when we had business of our own in Dumaguete City, Neg. Or. Our customers were mostly students of Foundation University and Silliman University and this dish was one of students all time favorite except for the additional potato dumpling that I added.

Ingredients:

½ Kilo Lean Beef
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
Potato dumplings (optional)

Sauce:
2 Potatoes (sliced in wedges)
2 Carrots (sliced in wedges or julienne)
1 Onion (sliced)
2 Cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
1 Cup Chicken or beef Stock
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch (dissolved in water)
Salt & Pepper

How To:

Slice lean beef in strips. In a very hot pan, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add beef and stir-fry until sides turn brown, remove from the pan and set aside.

With the same pan, add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, sauté garlic and onion until translucent, add soy sauce, add potatoes, add chicken or beef stock, bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes, add carrots, season with salt and pepper, simmer for another 2 minutes or until carrots are done. Add slowly cornstarch to thicken the sauce. Add the stir-fried beef and potato dumpling to the sauce and simmer for another minute. Add water or stock if you want it very saucy.

Tip :

1. To avoid lumpy sauce, dissolve cornstarch in water and add slowly in thin stream while stirring the sauce constantly until it thickens.

Potato Dumpling

Potato Dumpling

Another potato recipe! Just love it with sauce!!

1 Cup Mashed Potatoes
½ Cup flour
5 Cups Chicken Stock
2 eggs

How to:

Place mashed potatoes in a floured board, make a well and add 2 eggs, sprinkle flour and knead until mixed well. Divide the potato dough into two and roll each forming a long sausage sized dough. Sprinkle with flour and slice the rolls according to liking. You may form various shapes, like what you can see in the picture, I made squares and rolls. Bring to boil the stock, add the dumplings slowly by batches until they float, removing each batch and add another to avoid deformation. When the dumpling floats, it is done. Serve it as side dish, alternative to rice with your favorite sauce.

Pan Roasted Potatoes

Pan Roasted Potatoes

Lots of ways to prepare potatoes! Here is one of my favorites! Got the method from hubby J

Ingredients:

2 large Potatoes (peeled)
1 Onion (sliced)
3 cups Water or chicken stock
4 Tablespoons Olive oil
2 Cloves Garlic]
Salt & pepper

How to:

Bring to boil water or chicken stock, add peeled potatoes (whole) and sliced onion, cook until just done. Drain potatoes and discard onion and stock. Slice potatoes into wedges or rounds. In a hot pan, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add garlic to extract the flavor and aroma. With the garlic flavored oil pan roast potatoes until sides turn golden brown. Season with salt and pepper then serve with favorite dish.

Tip :
1) Do not over cook potatoes, it breaks easily when sliced deforming them.

2) Remember that the potatoes are already cooked; pan roasting process just adds flavor texture and color to the potatoes. I have tried pan roasting directly but potatoes are still tough and needs more oil to cook and I always ended up with very oily fried potatoes.

3) Keep the oil and garlic at the center of the pan and potatoes at the sides so that potatoes don’t absorb much oil. Tip pan from time to time to spread the oil to the sides of the pan.

Open Wide for Breakfast

Open Wide for Breakfast

Here’s easy and quick breakfast! Three layered flat bread alternate with cheese, ham, bacon, and tomatoes. Flat bread can be made by mixing flour, water and salt until hard dough consistency is reached, flatten dough with rolling pin as thin as you can flouring the dough from time to time and then straight a very hot dry pan. Have one flat bread as a base and add cheese, bacon, ham and tomatoes alternately. Bake for 5 minutes until cheese has completely melted. Serve with mayonaise and ketchup.

Roasted Beef Loin 'N Creamy Sauce

Roasted Beef Loin 'N Creamy Sauce

Ingredients :

Beef Loin
French beans (locally known in Phil. Baguio Beans)
Carrots
250 ml cream
1 onion
olive oil for frying

How to:

Preheat oven to 350 0 F. In a very hot pan, put 4 Tbsp. oil, brown all the sides of beef loin. Don’t cook too much, just enough to seal the sides into a lovely golden brown color. Place on an oven rack and bake for 1 hour or until done according to liking. Some like rare, medium rare or well done for beef. Remove from heat when done and let rest for 5 minutes.

To make the sauce:
While the beef is at rest, bring to boil 1 cup of salted water, add the beans, drain and set aside.
Heat a sauce pan, add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, add onion and stir-fry until translucent, add beans, add cream and bring to boil. Remove from heat and garnish the sauce to the roasted beef.

Tip: Place a pan under the oven rack for the meat drippings and use it for gravy to substitute the creamy sauce.

Fried Okra

Fried Okra

I think this is gorgeous for side dish, but some really dont like slimy foods like okra. I used the same batter for onion rings as posted in appetizers.

T-Bone Steak

This is just quick and easy... Season meat with garlic salt or plain salt and pepper.. Grill 3 minutes each side or according to liking – Rare, medium rare or well done. Serve with potatoes or rice. Today I got a ready made Portuguese product grain, boiled it and mixed with some veggie.

Fish 'N Bacon

Fish 'N Bacon

Ingredients:

5 Thin slices of smoked bacon
5 Fish Fillet (deboned)
1 Tbsp. Butter
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Pepper

How to:

Cut fish fillet according to the thickness of the bacon slices, season with pepper and drizzle with olive oil. In very hot pan, sizzle fish for 3 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and wrap with slices of bacon. Put back into the pan until bacon turns golden brown, (don’t be tempted to add oil coz ham will just release its own oil as it caramelizes) upon turning it over to the other side, add 2 Tbsp of butter to add richness.

Serve immediately while still hot!

Pork Kebab

Pork Kebab

This is great for picnics and beach outings!

Ingredients:

Thin slices of pork
Barbeque Skewers or sticks
Marinade

Marinade:
Barbeque Sauce
Garlic
Onion
Ginger Powder
A dash of sugar
Salt & Pepper

Note : the quantity varies on the quantity of meat.

How to:

Mix all marinade ingredients with the pork and skew them with barbeque sticks or skewers and grill until done. Serve with rice!