12 posts tagged “recipe”

This is a dish that I love, love, love. It's very traditional Filipino food and since it is, it's one of those dishes that has a lot of variation. It's basically a dish that has an equal amount of meat and vegetables in a "bath" of sour broth. Lots and lots of sour broth. That's the best part!

I was craving it the other day and managed to find a recipe that doesn't have tamarind (sampaloc in Filipino) in it. I wasn't sure I could find it at the local grocery store. I substituted lemon juice and distilled vinegar instead and ended up with a perfectly acceptable, American-grocery friendly version that my hubby really loved. This is how I made it:

2 lbs. pork stew meat (they were ribs I think)
6 cups of water, more if you like it soupier, broth if you like it richer
1 large japanese eggplant, cut in chunks
1 daikon radish, cut in chunks
1 bok choy or similar green veggie
1 medium onion, cut into strips
Half a bunch of string beans, also called long beans (not green beans) cut into 3 inch lengths
juice of 2 lemons
1/4 c. distilled white vinegar or coconut vinegar if you can get it
salt

Boil the pork in the water until the meat is tender. Add the daikon and onions which, next to the egg plant, is the best veggie in this stew. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add the beans* and eggplant. Cook for about 5 minutes then add the bok choy. Cook until the bok choy turns bright green. The daikon should be easy to pierce with a knife and will have soaked up a lot of the sour taste of the broth. YUM. Serve over hot rice. Make the rice swim in the broth!

Traditionally, this dish has patis (or called nam pla in other south Asian countries) which is a fermented fish sauce. It imparts a strong pungent taste. Since we can't have that on our diet (Feingold.org), I eliminated it. All I wanted was the sour and I got just as much as I wanted :) You can also use other veggies with this, of course, even okra (I like okra, but I am an odd one out I think). My grandma made it very simply and that's how I like this humble dish.

* I have no idea how long it takes to cook the beans. I couldn't find any at the store but my grandma always made it with string beans for me. I was sad that I didn't have any this time around but that's ok.

My version of a recipe that's found here. I'll note my changes as I go.

6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
Zest of two lemons
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Juice of two lemons
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

1. Generously grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine melted butter or margarine and sugar. Add eggs, and mix until light and fluffy. Add milk, lemon rind, and chopped nuts if using. Mix well. Sift flour, baking powder and salt and gradually add to mixture; mix to just combine.
3. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. While bread is baking, combine lemon juice and confectioners' sugar in small dish. Stir well before using. Immediately upon removing bread from oven, place pan on a cooling rack. Using a large fork, poke holes all over the bread. Pour lemon juice mixture over the top of the bread. Cool for 15 minutes, and then remove from pan.

My changes: I doubled the amount of zest and lemon juice to give it a much stronger lemon taste. I put the baking powder in with the other dry ingredients and I added salt. This recipe is for a single batch, but so far I've made double batches with no nuts and they taste fine. In fact, the kids took this to church and NM said the kids liked it better than the other snacks that were brought to his class. The second time I brought this, J's teacher took the leftovers home. Hehe.

IMG_5669-
Originally uploaded by Phisch

I used Chantal's New York Cheesecake recipe and topped it with home-made lemon curd. The crust is made of crushed ginger crisps (about 1 1/2 c.), some sugar (a bit less than 1/4 c.) and butter (4 tbs. melted).

It's so good but so crazy rich. This tiny sliver is almost too much (but hey, who am I to waste a bite?). I only wish the photo were better because it's not all that convincing.

The cheesecake is more tart than the recipes that call for heavy cream (I don't like the taste of dairy cream). The lemon curd is a bit sweet for me, but it's very tart and that is a good foil for the cheesecake.

Adopted from this recipe because I don't like bacon (sorry!).

1 package penne, 16 oz.
1 c. ham, finely diced
1 bunch broccolini
12 cloves garlic, finely minced (who are we kidding? throw in more!)
2 tbs. olive oil plus more for pasta
1/3 c. grated parmesan
salt and pepper

Note: this recipe tastes like it would benefit from additional veggies like strips of bell pepper, sun-dried tomatoes or olives.

Prepare the penne according to package directions. Two minutes before the penne should be removed, add the broccolini to the pot and blanche for 2 minutes...no more! Turn off the heat and add some cold water or ice to the pot to stop the cooking then drain (you want to keep it all warm). Drain.

While the penne is cooking, saute the garlic in 2 tbs. olive oil over medium heat. Don't let them burn! Add ham and toss until the ham is mixed nicely with the olive oil and warmed through.

Put everything back into the pot including the ham and garlic mixture. Add more olive oil, seasonings and cheese then toss. How much oil depends on you; I guesstimated and I think it was around 1/4 cup. Dish out the still-very-warm pasta and enjoy.

I got compliments from the hubby on this one, as well as from the oldest. NM asked me to chop the teeny little buds from the broccolini and tossed them with everything else. Sure, he left most on his plate but it was his idea (problem solving skills!) and he loudly proclaimed how much he enjoyed it. Yes, he did spend a lot of time stuffing the tiny bits of broccolini, ham and garlic into the penne while he gave us a play by play, Alton Brown-style. Dinner took longer than it should have, especially when J followed suit. But they ate it. They ate broccoli(ni) and liked it!!! (yes it deserves three ! and another parenthetical)

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup miracle whip
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 bag coleslaw salad mix

Mix all the ingredients except veggies together and make sure they're blended well. Add the coleslaw mix.

Note: before you add the veggies, you might want to check out Alton Brown's coleslaw episode to find out how he gets rid of the excess fluids that cabbage leaves have. I have a lot of fluid in the bowl after this is sitting in the fridge for a bit. Not yucky, but it would look nicer if it's not there.

Also, this is based on a copycat recipe you can find on the internets. I adjusted the amounts of the miracle whip, milk and buttermilk to our liking. The copycat recipe has a too-strong mayo taste.

A little help for those who need to get veggies in kiddo diets.

2 1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. cocoa
1/2 c. wheat germ
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 beaten eggs
3/4 c. each brown sugar (well-packed) and oil
1 c. each sugar, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla (I didn't have any but you should put it in)

Grease two 8"x4"x2" loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift cocoa. Add flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Sift until mixed together.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add oil, sugars and vanilla and make sure they're well-blended.

Add the wet to the dry ingredients and add the grated veggies. Mix together gently until moistened which isn't easy to do as it's a very thick batter.

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (no batter).

Notes: this is based on some recipe I found on the internet and I've since lost the source. I have several other carrot-zucchini bread recipes because I was trying to replicate the version sold at Trader Joe's in California. This version seems to have come the closest in terms of texture. Of course...I added the wheat germ and cocoa as well as eliminated the walnuts so it tastes a bit different from the TJ's version. There's no reason not to add the nuts, though. I would think that if you have kids with nut aversion that ground nuts would work.

The nice part about this is that my kids eat it like it's their last meal. That's after they helped me make it! The trick is that I made it once and brought it with us to church. They had it afterwards when they were good and hungry and not paying attention to the green and orange confetti in their food. We established it was good stuff first and only then did I let them help make it. Hehe.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the original recipe I had called for only 1/2 c. each of oil and brown sugar but it wasn't moist enough for me so I increased. Also, it works in a square pan (8x8), but needs to bake a little bit longer.

3 lbs stew meat
8 oz. brown mushrooms
1 bay leaf
3 tbs. each butter and flour
1 1/3 c. beef stock
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbs. chopped fresh parsley

Finely chop half of the mushrooms and slice the rest. This is so little ones with mushroom apprehension disorder can still enjoy them and can't pick them out.

Melt butter over medium high heat and add flour. Whisk until they're blended together. Slowly add your broth while whisking to avoid lumps. Add the mushrooms and boil for a little bit.

Put everything but the parsley in the crockpot and set to cook for 6 or 8 hours.

When it's nearly done, check to see if you need salt or pepper. Add in the parsley and stir. Serve over hot egg noodles.

Note: I think this was a little runny and needs to be thickened. Maybe adding more flour and butter will help with that because a tbs. of cornstarch so far isn't helping. This recipe was based on one in a book called Beyond Macaroni and Cheese which called for canned mushroom soup and sherry so I made quite a few substitutions for those and added the bay and parsley leaves.

IMG_4385
Originally uploaded by Phisch

I don't have exact measurements so I hope you'll forgive me. But this was pretty good, if I do say so myself. Err...make that God needs the credit because He created garlic.

2 small heads broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into strips
3 heaping tbs. (tablespoons!) of garlic, finely minced (maybe 4)
1 tbs. oil
enough beef for 4 people to each have a portion the size of a deck of cards
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger (I didn't have fresh)
1 heaping tsp. corn starch
3 plus 1 tbs. soy sauce
salt (i think) and pepper

Blanche the broccoli and peppers for 2 minutes max. Don't throw the water away. Saute garlic over medium heat until your house smells Italian (that is an oh-so-good thing). Saute the meat until you no longer see pink. Dissolve the corn starch in 1 tbs. of soy sauce. Put the rest of the soy sauce in the pan onto the meat and garlic. Add about 1/2 c. of water from blanching the veggies. Add cornstarch/soy sauce and cook until the sauce becomes clear, about two minutes. Add veggies and toss to coat with sauce. You can add more veggie water if the sauce is too thick for you.

The garlic is king in this dish at least for us since we aren't allowed oyster sauce in our diet.

NOTE: Yum, yum, yum! The key to this one is a ham that you love the flavors of. I saved the bone from our Christmas dinner which was a Wellshire brand ham. Also, if I had to do it again, I'd probably limit it to 1 qt. plus 2 cups of water because it probably would be better if it were a little less soupy. I think that's a matter of preference.

1 meaty, meaty bone from a ham
1 bag of dried, split peas
1 c. carrots, small dice 
2 ribs celery, small dice, include leaves
3 tbs. dried chopped onion
1 tsp. dried garlic granules
1 bay leaf
1/4 c. fresh parsley, minced fine
1 1/2 qt. chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste (I put 2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. pepper, if you have white pepper it will look nicer)

Put everything in the crock pot and set to cook for 8 hours.

A few minutes before you plan to serve it, carefully remove the ham bone, remove the meat and put the meat back in the crock pot. Check the seasoning to see if you want to adjust it.

Serve with freshly baked whole wheat bread.