While brain is still functioning on second wind motion, the little boy has gone to his dreamland of Backyardigans and Diego, and Archie is at work, I am now having my unexpected nevertheless enjoyable Me time.
Since it is a bit chaotic here lately, I have to make adjustments. And menu planning is part of it. Or is there such a thing now? :P
It's all about stir-fry's in some days! I am happy that I have a couple of recipes handy. And some of them, have been tried, tested and already made for a couple of times!
One of our favorite stir-fry recipes is Chichajo's Roast Pork Belly Stir-Fry. Way back, I remembered myself looking at its photo. It made me salivate as I also like eating Liempo (Pork Belly) very very much. My first attempt on it was during the holiday season of '08 using left over lechon cebu and we just loved it. I know, some may tell me I should have made Sinigang or Paksiw na lechon out of it but hey I had no regrets at all! And after a couple of days - due to recipe hangover, I made it again with left over Christmas ham! Wonderful! I believe you can just use any meat for that matter and I can say the recipe is universal. And it does not call for just left overs, of course. So here is a beef version of it!
Choose meat of really good quality and have your butcher slice them in thin strips, please. If you are in a situation like mine - my beef was not that good enough as it has unfriendly, uncooperative grains. The "cut through the grain" did not work for this batch. I discovered it because half of it was used for beef tapa. A blessing in disguise. So I decided to pressure cook my beef slices first, drained them (kept broth in freezer for future use), and sliced them to strips. They became really fork tender after the pressure cooking. Yahoo!
Stir Fried Beef Strips and Peppers
(inspired by Chichajo's recipe of Roast Pork Belly Stir-Fry)
1/4 k beef sirloin strips, sliced thinly
Cooking oil
1 small white onion chopped
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (I like it with lots of garlic!)
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 tsp of soy sauce
1 tsp of Knorr liquid seasoning
Pepper to taste
Extra Knorr seasoning (optional)
Sauté onion, garlic and pepper strips until soft but not wilted. Color check the peppers and make sure they are screaming Christmas.
Toss in the beef strips, stir fry for about 2 to 3 minutes or until beef is cooked
Add the soy sauce, seasoning and pepper, toss again, turn off fire, then VOILA!
* For my dear friends who are not meat eaters (anymore), please try it with chicken strips and let me know what you think! :)
While Archie and I loved our first version of it with lechon, we absolutely like this version too! We love the sweet aftertaste of the beef and peppers! Serve it on top of a bowl of hot rice....and Iced tea! I had a second serving by the way. More than enough to last the day!Did I say I was gonna go on a salad diet at night time?Now, off to dreamland!
Nytie Nyt Y'all! :)
During Sundays, I'm sure some Pinoy families have nilagang baka for lunch, otherwise, sinigang na baboy. That is, according to some of my friends and according to... yours truly.
Eh bakit nga ba lagi nalang nilaga o sinigang pag linggo? Truth is, di ko talaga alam. Di ko talaga alermmmm :-) Sabi nga nila, you can never can tell. Etchos!
Hmmm, I think, reason why we have it during weekends is because it's a just "family thing". When everyone is present at home.
It's a soup to share with everyone (sniff! sniff!).
Parang ang saya pag nag papasahan kayo ng soup bowl and you say: "...sabaw please?!"
we like it because of the homeyness and warmth of the soup (yeah it's a comfort food and well, some like it really boling hot, like my husband - yung asawa ko kasi merong medyas sa dila)
we like it because of the tasty flavor of the beef, as well as the crunch of the fresh veggies from the market.
sabi nga ni Nanay noon, "o, damihan mo ng pres beydstabols" ;-)
And for some people who are not so very concious about their cholesterol level, they also enjoy the cherry on top of it all - the Great BULALO.
And sure I am one of them!
"Akin ang utak, I need it!" (utak = bone marrow)
Kebs! Habang bata!
Most of us are so excited to go to Tagaytay to have a taste of their nilagang bulalo from Leslie's or wherever there is.
But if you have a sudden craving for it, especially during the rainy days and you can't get out of your batcave to go south, I pretty think you can, YES - YOU - CAN - make it at the comfort of your own kitchen.
I think our family makes one of the yummy bulalos in town... and my Mommy Tess has given more justice to this ever so staple pinoy weekend dish.
The classic and commercial one is just as delicious, of course, but it can be more delicioso if you want it to!
Let me share our family's Nilagang Bulalo:
2 medium sized beef shanks with meat
1 to 2 medium sized onions, chopped (quartered or whatever size you like)
1 Knorr Beef Bouillon Cube
A little Patis (Fish Sauce) (uh-oh, not too salty!)
Knorr Cream of Asparagus Soup Mix
2 to 3 Potatoes (quartered)
1 medium sized Cabbage (quartered)
Cracked Pepper to taste
You can also add:
Carrots
Pechay Tagalog
Onion leeks
Kamote (Sweet Potato)
Saging na Saba (Plantain Bananas)
Corn (cut into half or in threes depending on the size)
and for more sowshyalness, Asparagus (yun yun eh!)
Actually, the more, the merrier, but for us, we're happy with the potatoes and cabbage..
When carrots are available, then they're part of the show.
The Way:
Boil the beef shanks (bone and meat) until tender (start early!). Best if you pressure cook it to achieve tenderness half the time. For pressure cooking know how, please see entry #1.
When meat is tender, take some of the broth and set aside.
Add the onions and the beef bouillon cubes and patis to the shanks and continue to simmer.
Mix the cream of asparagus powder and the beef broth that was set aside, then when it has completely dissolved, add it to the simmering shanks et. al. (i like the "simmering shanks" effex ha!)
When everything looks good, then it's time to throw in the veggies and the pepper and just leave the cover on for a few minutes then turn the heat off and it's ready to serve. Do not overcook the veggies! No lantang gulay allowed!
I love it when I use a mix of patis and calamansi as a condiment :-)
Some add chili pepper flakes for a one helluva kickin' soup!
I hope you will like the semi-creamyness of the bulalo soup.
It is more hearty, indeed!
And of course...your Nilaga weekends will never be the same again ;-)
