Spaghetti and Meatballs

My bowl of spaghetti

I love eating spaghetti from a bowl rather than a plate because this way I can easy twirl the pasta neatly against the inside of the bowl until no noodles are left dangling. No messy sauce splatting...hahahahha!!!!

Anyway, Im sharing this recipe that my husband and I loves. Especially when we're watching television :)

To make the meatballs;

Mix half kilo of ground beef plus chopped ham. Then add a dashed of salt and pepper. Sprinkled with a little flour. Mix mix well. Add 1 beaten egg.

Now this is the fun part. With the use of your hands, grab a small part of the mixture and form into balls. It’s up to you what size of the meatball you want. Deep fry in low heat so as not to burn the meatballs. When cooked, drain excess oil. Set aside.

Now for the spaghetti sauce, just the basic....

In a saucepan saute onions and garlic. I use one medium pouch of italian spaghetti sauce then I add 1 regular bottle of banana catsup. Salt and pepper to taste. Throw the sliced mushroom. Add the meatballs and simmer. Add the cooked pasta and mix well. Sprinkle grated cheese. Enjoy!

Beef Caldereta

Beef Caldereta is one of my favorite dish. When I was a kid, I would always asked my mom to cook it. You see ,she cooks a mean Caldereta that my relatives always asked whenever they visit them. By the way, it was 2005 when I first cooked my very first Caldereta dish. Now, I am sharing this recipe.

Beef Caldereta

For the ingridients you'll need;

1k beef

2 cups coconut milk

2 cans of tomatoes sauce (I didn’t use the whole thing, about a can and a half)

Potatoes (quartered)

3 red bell pepper

1 can liver spread

Grated cheese

hotdog (my favorite)

Salt

Crushed pepper

Olives

Crushed chili flakes

Now…

With the help of the pressure cooker, boil the beef with enough amount of water plus the two cups of coconut milk. Make sure that the liquid covers the beef. Boil for at least 35-40 minutes or until the meat is tender. Set aside the broth. Then cut the beef into cubes and fry. Set aside. Fry the quartered potatoes. Then set aside too.

In a separate pan, drizzle some oil and sauté the garlic & onions. Then add the beef. Stir-fry for a while. Then add the tomato sauce and hotdog. Mix for a while and add the beef broth (with gata). Simmer for 5 minutes. Then add the potatoes, olives, liver spread, bay leaf and bell pepper. Simmer for 3 minutes. Turn of the heat and throw-in the grated cheese. Let it melt. Done. Easy, isn’t it.

Cripsy Pata

Cripsy pata, hmmm sinful sinful pero cge na nga minsan lang naman ito.

To prepare this you'll need:

1 pork pata (preferably the front)

1 whole garlic (crushed)

1 whole onion (quartered)

peppercorns

some Salt

Here's how:

Clean and scrape the skin of the pata with a knife. Use a kitchen torch burn any remaining hair.

Place the pata in a casserole with water. Add the crushed garlic. onions, peppercorn, and salt. Set over high heat and let it boil. skimming off scum as it arises. Lower the heat and simmer again until meat is tender.

Remove the pata from the broth and drain well. I used my turbo and roast the pata. Set the turbo at 250 degree for 1-1/2 hrs or until the rind is golden brown.

Serve with steaming rice and ensaladang talong. Yummm.

Happy Food Friday Everyone!!!!!

Tapsilog

During weekends, I would always prepare simple yet yummy breakfast. So I asked hubby what he wanted to have. He suggested tapsilog (tapa, sinangag at itlog). I remembered I already posted a beef tapa recipe here but last weekend I used a different version of making beef tapa.

To make this one, you'll need;

2 lbs. Breakfast Steak For the Marinate

2/3 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup cane vinegar 1/4 cup brown sugar 3 teaspoons ground black pepper 2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or less) 2 tbsp minced garlic

Then what you'll do;

In a large bowl, combine everything until the sugar dissolves.

Coat each piece of beef in the mixture, making sure to coat all sides well or the beef. Arrange beef in a marinating pan. Pour any extra marinade over beef, marinate and refrigirate overnight.

When ready to cook, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan.Fry beef slices in batches, just until cooked through.

Drain beef on paper towels.

Serve with rice topped with fried egg and sliced tomatoes.

For the Sinangag (fried rice)

On the same pan, stir fry rice add salt and pepper to taste. I use powdered garlic to add the garlicky flavor. Serve hot with the tapa and fried eggs or sunny side eggs.

tapsilog-my breakfast favorite

Tuna Sashimi

I eat tuna sashimi although not really a big fan but whenever hubz will have this, I would eat a slice or two. It's his favorite, a scrumptious treat for him. So when we were at the supermarket the other day, he bought some. Dinner came and he eagerly devour the raw fish. To him the tuna sashimi tasted sweet. Funny, I cannot seem to experience that sweetness he was saying whenever I would eat sashimi. hahahaha!

I did not eat the sashimi that night by the way but there are few more slices left inside the fridge. Maybe I might join him next time. :)

How about you, do you love eating sashimi?

Eggplant Ensalada

This is another easy recipe that I paired with the chicken insal. Just grilled the eggplant, peeled set aside (you can steam or boil it, your choice). Chopped onions and tomatoes. In a plate arrange the peeled eggplant, top it with the chopped onions and tomatoes then add shrimp paste. You could also used green mangoes instead of the eggpant if you like :D

Try also this, another version of ensaldang talong: You need:

4-5 pcs eggplants (boiled or grilled then peeled)

tomatoes chopped

onions chopped

crushed garlic

soy sauce (1/4 cup)

vinegar (1/8 cup)

sugar (1tsp)

chili peppers

Mix everything except the eggplant. In a separate bowl put the eggplant. Pour the dressing over the vegetable and toss. Let it stand for 30 minutes.

Dali noh, sarap pa :D

Chicken Inasal

To prepare this you'll just need

1 kilo chicken, thigh or leg part

for the marinade

2 thumbsized ginger, minced

1 tbsp. fish sauce

4 stalks lemongrass, chopped

salt

1 tsp fresh coarse ground black pepper

1/4 cup calamsi juice

1/4 cup vinegar/

for achuete oil you'll need:

1/4 cup achuete (annato seed)

butter (I used magnolia lite)

So what I did, I mix all the marinade ingredients and marinate the chix about an hour or much better if you'll marinate it overnight.

For the baste... in a saucepan heat the butter (you can use cooking oil instead of butter) then put the achuete and heat for a minute, it’s ready when the oil turns orangey.

when grilling the chicken just baste it with the achuete oil once in a while until the chicken part are done :D

There..thats so easy right.

Tips on grilling:

Avoid using gas for grilling...the fume of the gas somehow effect the taste of the dish. You can use your gas stove. Put the grill wire-rack and the charcoal on stove. Heat the charcoal until they became red hot then transfer at the griller. :D

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Fresh Lumpia

This was our brunch yesterday.

Crispy Liempo.

The liempo was thinly sliced and fried to crispy perfection.

Sinful yes but who cant resist this crunchy piece of meat. So for dinner, I wanted to make something healthy to eat. Therefore, I decided to make this.

Fresh Lumpia

For the filling;

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half, thinly sliced

1/2 small carrot, finely julienned

2 cups sliced cabbage

2 green onions, finely julienned

2 teaspoons oyster sauce

1 teaspoon fish sauce

ground pepper to taste

It easy to do the lumpia filling. Just saute onion and garlic. Stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the chicken, stir-fry. Remove from pan. Heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add carrots, then cabbage.Cook until vegetables are tender crisp, about 2 minutes. Return chicken mixture to pan; oyster sauce, fish sauce, and pepper; cook for 1 minute.

Cool filling mixture and spoon a tablespoon in lumpia wrapper. Repeat with remaining filling and wrappers.

For the wrapper, I usually use the wrapper bought at the supermarket but this time I like making the crepe type wrapper. I got the recipe here. :)

For the lumpia sauce, this is the recipe I usually use;

1/4 c. brown sugar

3 tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 c. soy sauce

2 tsp. ground garlic

1 1/4 water

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Stir in soy sauce and garlic. Add broth and mix well. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens. Serve over Fresh Lumpia.

I considered making fresh lumpia as a labor of love (matrabaho kasi) but if husband wanted it, i shall make it. Thats love...mushy now. hahahaha!!!

Enjoy the week everyone!

Siomai Overload

The husband would always be excited for the weekends to come. Why? Because it's the only time I can cook something good for him.

So last weekend, I prepared pork siomai for our dinner. :)

You'll need:

half a kilo of ground pork

1 onion minced

bunch of spring onions chopped

a thumbsized ginger, peeled and grated

1 medium-sized carrot, peeled and grated

2 teaspoons of sesame oil

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 egg beaten

siomai wrapper

Then you have to;

dump everything in a bowl and mix. Take a teaspoonful of the mixture, fry in a little hot oil. Taste and make the necessary adjustments. Meanwhile, boil water and brush steamer with oil.

To make the siomai, take a tablespoon of mixture into each wrapper. Fold and seal. Steam in briskly boiling water for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve at once with a mixture of kalamansi juice and light soy sauce on the side.

Note: You can add half a cup of uncooked minced shrimp to the filling to make it more tastier but I am allergic to it so bye bye shrimp, hehehe!!!!