Teriyaki Chicken Rice

Mike made a really yummy chicken dish yesterday. He never takes measurements, so I'll just describe what he did.

Ingredients:

teriyaki sauce
honey
1 onion
4 chicken breasts, deboned and deskinned
steamed rice (cooled)
1 egg, beaten
cooking oil

Methodology:

Marinde the chicken breasts in the teriyaki sauce and honey. In a wok, sautee the onions until translucent. Add the chicken and fry until cooked through. Add the rice and egg, mix well, and continue to fry.

Serves 2.
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Korean chicken rice

There's actually no such dish, but I didn't know what to call our latest concoction. We found some Korean bean paste in Shopwise but when we opened it, it wasn't the black bean paste we'd been expecting, but the red kind (ssamjang). It looks like the red chili paste kind you find in bibimbap, and apparently, the red chili paste is one of the main ingredients of ssamjang (I looked this all up on the Internet.

It's actually a dipping paste, but Mike and I decided to throw something a little different together and here's what we came up with.

Ingredients:

sesame oil
5 chicken thighs, deboned and deskinned
2 tbsp rice wine
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp pepper
1/2 onion, finely chopped
Korean red bean paste (ssamjang)
kim (Korean nori), cut into sheets measuring approximately 4" x 5"
steamed rice (one bowl per person)

Method:

Slice the chicken into strips. Marinate in rice wine, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, pepper and onion for about half an hour.

Stir-fry chicken in sesame oil until brown. Add 1 heaping tbsp of red bean paste (or to taste, depending on desired level of spiciness). When chicken is cooked through, add rice and 1 additional heaping tbsp of red bean paste. Fry, mixing well until flavors blend.

Transfer to serving bowl. Shred some kim on top. Serve with additional kim on the side.

Serves 2.

Verdict: Yummy, and super-easy.

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Chicken with tarragon and mustard cream sauce

After a long while, I decided to try something new (for the last few months we've just been cooking old favorites.

I went online for some ideas and finally adapted a recipe and came up with this:

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs, deboned and deskinned
salt
pepper
olive oil or unsalted butter
1 small native onion
1/2 chicken cube dissolved in 3/4 cup water
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp dried tarragon
1/4 cup cream

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken thighs in olive oil, 2 min each side, over medium flame. Remove the chicken and set aside. Reduce flame to low. Saute onions until translucent. Add chicken broth, scraping off browned bits. Return chicken to the pan. Bring to a boil then cover, lower flame, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove chicken. Add cream, mustard, and tarragon. Mix well and heat until sauce has thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Serves 2.

Verdict: Tasty; a little on the salty side, so next time I won't bother adding salt, or maybe I'll put less chicken cube. The broth almost dried out, so it might be good to double check when you're simmering and add water if necessary. Mike said he thought the sauce would go better on pasta instead of rice. The original recipe has brandy in it, and I'm sure the brandy would add a marvelous touch, but I had neither brandy nor white wine on hand, so I simply did without.

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What to do with leftover lamb

Mike brought home some leftover leg of lamb after a big business-related dinner at Cyma. So the other day we had a tweaked version of our lamb stew.



leftover lamb, chopped into small pieces
1 onion, finely chopped
3 slices bacon, chopped
1 can whole tomato, including the tomato sauce
garlic salt
pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp basil
olive oil

We cooked the onion and bacon first, in a large pot, until the onion was transparent, then we threw everything else in, brought it to a boil, then let it simmer.



Yum, it was delicious ...!

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Baked orange chicken

I got a recipe from Epucurious.com and adapted it a little. Here it is:

1 pack chicken drumsticks (8 pieces)
salt and pepper
1 tsp dried thyme

Citrus Mix:
2 tbsp calamansi juice from concentrate (mixed)
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1-1/2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp ginger root, crushed
2 tbsp melted butter/margarine or olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the ingredients for the citrus mix and mix well. Baste chicken pieces generously with the citrus mix. Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt, pepper, and thyme.
3. Bake chicken uncovered in a baking dish for 30 minutes.
4. Remove from oven. Turn over chicken pieces and baste generously again, with the rest of the mix.
5. Return chicken to oven and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until done.

Serves 3.

(For a slightly healthier dish, remove the chicken pieces from the sauce when cooked, and just pour a little of the sauce over the chicken to serve.)

The dish was okay, except it was a little difficult to get the chicken cooked just right (I had to put it back in twice). Also, Mike said it was a little too gingery.

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Moussaka, with eggplant

We tried to put together a moussaka again today, this time with the eggplant. Here's what we did. Updated on August 27th. We tried it again, this time with a bechamel sauce. It's optional, though, and you can just do it with a regular cheese mix. I've listed both options below.

Ingredients:

250 g lean ground beef
garlic salt
pepper
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/8 cup red wine
2 tbsp English brown sauce (ketchup will also do)
2 tomatoes, diced
olive oil
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
dash of Tabasco
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 an eggplant (we don't like eggplants much, so we kept it to a minimum), sliced

Cheese Mix/Bechamel Sauce:

For an easy cheese mix: 1 egg, beaten and 1-1/2 cups quickmelt cheese, grated

For bechamel sauce, also add:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tbsp flour
1 additional egg, beaten

1. Chop eggplant into small pieces and put in a cup with salt water. Allow to sit.

2. Mix the tomato sauce, brown sauce, red wine, garlic salt (to taste) and pepper (to taste) into the beef.

3. Caramelize the onions in olive oil. Add the beef until brown. Simmer until dry.

4. While beef is simmering, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Celsius.

5. Rinse the eggplant pieces, then fry the eggplant in olive oil in a separate pan.

6. Prepare the easy cheese mix by beating the egg and mix in the grated cheese. To make the bechamel sauce instead, heat the milk and add the flour little by little, stirring constantly. Mix in the cheese and eggs, stirring until sauce has thickened. Remove from fire and allow to rest.

7. When beef is done, season with nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and Tabasco. Mix in the tomatoes.

8. Place a layer of the eggplant on the bottom of a baking pan. Pour beef as the second layer. Top with the cheese mix/bechamel sauce.

9. Bake for 20 minutes.

Yummy! Tastier than our last attempt, and cheesier. We didn't simmer the beef enough, though, so next time we'll dry the beef better. It took more work, but this is probably more authentic because it has a proper sauce. Nonetheless, it's also good with just the simple cheese mix.

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Moussaka, without the eggplant

We tried to put together a moussaka yesterday, but we didn't have eggplant, so it became a moussaka without eggplant.

Here's what we did.

250 g lean ground beef
1 egg
1 cup quickmelt cheese, grated
salt and pepper
2 potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup red wine
1 tomato, diced
olive oil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 onion, finely chopped

1. Fry the potatoes slices in vegetable oil. When done, allow oil to drain on a paper towel.

2. In a separate pan, cook the beef and onions in olive oil, until beef is brown. Season with oregano, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper.

3. When beef is brown, add tomato sauce and red wine. Simmer until dry, mixing in the tomatoes towards the end. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

4. Beat the egg and mix in the grated cheese.

5. Place a layer of potato slices on the bottom of a baking pan. Pour beef as the second layer. Top with the cheese mix.

6. Bake for 20 minutes.

The dish was yummy, but next time we'll add more cheese (around half a cup more) and do something more with the sauce. We'll also probably add some Tabasco to spice it up a little. And next time, we'll do it with the eggplant. :)

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Spaghetti and meatballs

Mike made a yummy spaghetti and meatballs dish for dinner.



Meatballs:

250 g lean ground beef
whites of 2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp ground allspice
pepper, to taste
garlic salt, to taste
1 native onion, finely chopped
3 cloves native garlic, ground
cooking oil

Sauce:

1 pack ready-made tomato spaghetti sauce (we used Del Monte)
1 slice of cooked double-back bacon, finely chopped (we used Earl's)
2 native onions, finely chopped
1/4 tsp dried basil
olive oil


In a mixing bowl, mix the breadcrumbs with the egg whites. Mix in the lean ground beef, allspice, pepper, garlic salt, and garlic. Mix well. Form meatballs. Sprinkle dried oregano and basil on the meatballs.

In a pan or wok, fry meatballs in oil until browned on all sides, about 5 to 6 minutes. Lay on a paper towel to drain oil.

Boil water for the pasta. While waiting for water to reach rolling boil, prepare the sauce separately. Heat olive oil in a separate saucepan. Add onions and allow them to caramelize. Add bacon until warm. Pour in spaghetti sauce. Allow to simmer for around 20 minutes, stirring from time to time to prevent bacon from scorching. Add dried basil. If sauce gets too thick, add a little water (not more than 1/4 cup at a time) and mix well. Add meatballs and allow to simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes to make sure that meatballs are cooked through.

Prepare pasta according to directions. Drain.

Serve spaghetti topped with sauce and meatballs. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

A yummy classic!

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Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

I had a piece of pork tenderloin in the freezer and decided to try my hand at a stuffed loin. Here's the recipe:

1 250g piece pork tenderloin
2 tsp grain mustard
a few leaves of salad lettuce, cut into shreds
some bacon, cooked and chopped into bits
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried oregano
Tabasco
whites of 2 eggs
3 tbsp bread crumbs
2 tsp Mesquite powder
vegetable oil

1. In a pan, saute onions until caramelized.

2. Remove some of the excess fat (although leave a film so that the pork does not lose too much moisture when cooking). Butterfly the pork loin and open flat. Pound on meat to make it thinner. Place on top of a sheet of alumnium foil.

3. Spread mustard on the top surface of the pork loin. Mix the bread crumbs into the egg whites and spread half of it on top of the mustard. Sprinkle garlic powder, sage, oregano, a few drops of Tabasco, and the shredded lettuce. Spread onions and bacon bits on the loin, then top with the rest of the egg whites and bread crumbs.

4. With a knife score the entire pork loin down the middle, lengthwise. Fold one half of the loin over the other, so that the stuffing is inside.

5. Brush a little bit of oil over the surface of the pork loin. Rub the surface with Mesquite powder.

6. Wrap the entire pork loin in the aluminum foil and leave it in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.

7. Remove pork loin from the foil and place it in a baking dish. Roast, uncovered, in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Allow pork loin to rest for a few minutes before serving.

Serves 2.

Verdict: The pork loin came out quite tasty, although both Mike and I were looking for some sauce to dip it in. Next time, I'll probably prepare it with a light mustard sauce or barbeque sauce.

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Baked Honey-Mustard Chicken

We have a relatively new oven that we haven't used much, so today I wanted to experiment with it. I also had a jar of sunflower honey from Baguio, that I hadn't opened, so I decided to try an old classic: honey-mustard chicken. Below is the recipe I came up with. I actually wanted to use tarragon instead of basil but we're all out.



7 chicken thighs, washed and patted dry
2 tbsp butter or margarine
2 tbsp mustard
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
juice and rind from one small lemon
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp dried basil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

In a saucepan, combine over low heat the butter, mustard, honey, garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce and ground pepper until the butter melts. Mix well. Remove from heat then slowly mix in the lemon juice and rind.

Place the chicken thighs skin-side down in a greased oven-safe dish. Brush chicken with sauce. Bake covered for 30 minutes.

Remove chicken thighs from oven. Turn them over, skin-side up. Brush chicken with the remainder of the sauce. Sprinkle basil on the chicken. Return to oven and bake uncovered for another 30 minutes. For a healthier meal, pour out and throw away the drippings before serving.

Serves 3.
Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour
Calorie count: approx. 500 calories per serving

Verdict: It was yummy but we had to keep some extra sauce on the side to dip the chicken into as we went along. Next time I think I'll actually marinate the chicken instead of just brushing the sauce on it, for more flavor. Mike also suggested adding something to the sauce to give it an extra kick; I think I'll add some chili garlic next time for a little bit of spice.

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Lamb Stew

Mike's parents have a lamb recipe that is so good, Mike has dubbed it "Lamb of God." Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the sheet of paper where I copied that recipe, so instead I did some experimenting in the kitchen today, and tried to make a lamb stew from scratch.

Here's the recipe I used.

500 g lamb for stewing (shoulder, shank, neck or leg), chopped into cubes and excess fat trimmed
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 garlic, finely chopped
2 medium native onions, finely chopped
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
1-1/2 cup water
1 tsp sugar
4 native tomatoes, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and thickly sliced

1. Sprinkle the lamb with salt and pepper.

2. Heat olive oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Brown the lamb in batches, about 4 to 5 minutes per batch. Return all the lamb into the pot.

3. Add garlic and stir until fragrant.

4. Add onions, dried rosemary and dried thyme. Saute for a few minutes until onions have begun to caramelize (about 5 minutes).

5. Stir the sugar into the water until the sugar has dissolved. Add the water to the pot. Bring to a boil, then add the tomatoes and carrot. Wait until the stew boils again.

6. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover with lid slightly ajar. Allow to simmer until lamb is tender (about 45 minutes to 1 hour). If stew dries out, add more water, 1/4 cup at a time. Season with salt to taste.

7. Serve stew with steamed rice.

Serves 4.
Calorie count: approx. 420 calories per serving.

Verdict: I'm proud of this dish. It's very flavorful. Mike liked it too.

As an afterthought, I threw in a chopped up chorizo sausage in the last few minutes of simmering, to make the dish taste a little more Spanish, although I added it too late to alter the flavor of the stew much. Maybe next time I'll try putting in the chorizo from the beginning, or replacing the carrot with chorizo and bacon to see how that'll taste. I'll try it next time and I'll let you know.

Just a quick note about the teaspoon of sugar. When Mike and I went to England on honeymoon we found out that English tomatoes are very sweet, unlike Filipino tomatoes which are rather sour! Since then, whenever I've encountered a Western recipe calling for tomatoes, I've continued to use native tomatoes but have added a little sugar, to bring the overall taste of the dish close to what was originally intended.

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Beef a L'orange

Hey everyone! Sorry for the long absence. M and I were away for work, then I was away on holiday. But we're back and raring to get back into the kitchen.

It's difficult to find real orange juice in small quantities in the supermarket; the brand I buy only comes in 1-liter bottles. Once you open a bottle, it has to be consumed in a week, and I don't really drink the stuff for breakfast, so I thought it would be a good idea to look for additional orange juice recipes to make it easier to finish a bottle.

I found this recipe online and adapted it a little, and here's the version we finally tried.

2 beef steaks (suggested: tenderloin), cut 1 inch thick
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
2 tsp. dark sesame oil, divided
1/8 c. Soy sauce
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. fresh orange juice
1/8 c. balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp. chili garlic sauce

Pound beef steaks, flattening to 3/4-inch thickness. Sprinkle both sides of steaks with garlic salt, ginger and pepper; brush with 1 teaspoon of the oil. Mix soy sauce and cornstarch in small saucepan until smooth. Add orange juice, vinegar, and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat; simmer just until sauce becomes thickened, stirring constantly. Cover; remove from heat and set aside.

Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in large skillet over high heat. Add steaks; pan broil 3 minutes on each side (for medium rare). Add sauce to pan. Bring to a boil, turning steaks once or twice to glaze. Spoon half the sauce in equal amounts onto 4 individual plates. Place steaks on top of sauce; spoon remaining sauce in equal amounts over steaks.

Serves 2.
Total preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes.
Calorie count: approx. 264 calories per serving.

Verdict: It's all right but not fantastic. A "B" perhaps. The sauce is interesting; a little like teriyaki sauce, but less sweet, with a sour, tangy taste.

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Mesquite chicken

Mike made a yummy fried chicken dish the other day. He rarely doesn't measure ingredients when he cooks, but here, in general, is what went in the dish.

Ingredients:

5 chicken thighs, bones and skin removed
tomato catsup
mustard
vinegar
mesquite powder

Mix catsup, mustard, vinegar, and mesquite powder together. Marinade chicken in the mixture.

Fry covered until chicken is cooked through.

Extremely delicious dish.

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Lamb Masala

Mike and I did our grocery at the supermarket at Market Market for the first time this week, and we were thrilled to find an amazingly large Asian spices section, and a very good meat section as well.

One of our many finds was a meat masala mix from Pakistan.



We bought some lamb from the butcher section and today we tried a lamb masala.

The recipe was on the back of the box was easy enough to follow. We made only a few changes. The first was using minced garlic and minced ginger instead of garlic/ginger paste (I don't have a blender yet, that's why). Secondly, the original recipe called for 1 cup oil or ghee (ghee is clarified butter, made by evaporating the water from butter). You'll see the change I made in the recipe. Third, we used less masala powder, just to be sure that it wouldn't be too spicy for our tastebuds.

Ingredients

500 g lamb (or other kinds of meat), cubed and excess fat trimmed
3 medium onions, finely sliced
1 meduim tomato, finely diced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 to 2 tbsp ginger, minced
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-1/4 tbsp masala powder
water

1. In a frying pan, heat butter on high-medium heat until it bubbles. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook uncovered until butter turns golden and foam has risen to the top.
2. Add vegetable oil. Then add lamb, garlic, ginger and masala mix. Stir-fry for a few minutes.
3. Add onions and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Then add tomatoes and 2 glasses of water.
4. Cover and cook on low heat until the lamb is tender (at least 45 minutes).
5. Uncover, increase heat and stir until oil/ghee has separated from the masala. Keep frying for a few minutes. Add 1/2 cup water for desired thickness of the gravy.

Serves 4 (based on recommended portion size).
Calorie count: 795 per serving (assuming you pour all the sauce over your rice).

The verdict: The resulting lamb masala was super- yummy!!! We will definitely buy this mix again.



Some adjustments we will make in the future:

• The recipe didn't need quite so much water. The final 1/2 cup at the end wasn't really necessary. (The original recipe had actually asked for 1 to 1-1/2 cups water.)


• The sauce was fine as it was, but for health reasons, we could've reduced the butter and it would have still turned out all right. Next time I will try it with just 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup vegetable oil.


• We served some yogurt on the side to see if the dish would taste better with or without yogurt. Next time we will try it with maybe 1/2 cup of yogurt.

Ah, delicious. I love South Asian food!

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Baked pork loin with apples

Because of the Christmas season, our house has an overabundance of apples. My aunt gave me several apples to bring home from noche buena, and I already had two apples in the fridge. So today, I decided to baptize our new gas oven by attempting a dish that uses apples. I used Fuji apples for this dish.



Ingredients:

250g single piece of boneless pork loin
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 apple, cored and sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1/4 cup red wine
1-1/2 tbsp sugar

Rub:

1/2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

For the additional sauce (optional):

1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp sugar


Combine rub ingredients in a bowl. Rub over roast. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 165 degrees C (325 degrees F).

Heat oil in a non-stick pan and brown pork loin in the oil for about 4 minutes, turning every minute so that all sides are browned.

Place pork loin in a roasting pan and bake uncovered in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

While pork loin is baking, arrange 3/4 of the slices of apple and all of the onion slices on the bottom of a separate baking dish. Sprinkle sugar and cinammon powder on top of slices. Set aside.

After pork loin has baked for 30 minutes, remove from oven. Discard fat. Transfer pork loin to the other baking dish, on top of the apples and onions. Pour 1/4 cup red wine over everything.

Allow pork loin to bake uncovered for another 30 to 45 minutes, until done. (The length of time will depend on how thick the cut of the pork loin is. Check to see that pork is cooked through. If you have a cooking thermometer--which I don't--the internal temperature of the pork should be 70 degrees C/160 degrees F.)

To make additional sauce, chop the remaining apple slices. Combine with 1/4 cup red wine, 1/4 cup water, and 1 tbsp sugar. (Adjust amount of sugar to taste.) Cook and stir uncovered over medium heat for about 20 minutes. Serve.

Serves 2.
Calorie count: 460 per serving (based on recommended portion size)

Do you have any tips for consuming your oversupply of Christmas food?

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Sun-Dried Tomato Burgers

Grocery-bought sun-dried tomatoes are so expensive but they're sooo tasty that they add a punch of flavor in the simplest burger recipe. Here's a recipe that Mike likes to cook, adapted from our Better Homes and Gardens Indoor Grilling cookbook (purchased really cheap at a Booksale branch).



Ingredients:

260 grams lean ground beef
1 tbsp finely chopped sundried tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 cup Italian salad dressing
1 tsp dried basil
1 egg
1 tbsp bread crumbs

Mix all ingredients and shape into burger patties. Grill until cooked. Done! :)

Serves 2.
Cooking and preparation time: 15 to 30 minutes (depending on thickness of the burger patties: for a 1/2-inch patty, grill about 3 minutes each side on a covered grill or 7 minutes each side on an uncovered grill)

Mesquite Burgers

Mike ordered a bottle of mesquite powder from my mom in the US. The big bottle arrived a few days ago.


For dinner this evening Mike made this incredibly simple but incredibly flavorful dish.

Ingredients:

260 grams ground beef
1 tbsp mesquite powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1-1/2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 small egg

Mix all ingredients together. Form into hamburger patties. Grill or pan-fry until cooked. Serve!

Serves 2.
Cooking and preparation time: 15 to 20 minutes

Beef soup with lemongrass

Vietnam was in the news yesterday. ANC was doing a comparison of the growth of Vietnam's economy (incredible) with the Philippines' (lame). So from Singapore we now head to Vietnam with this recipe which I got from "Vietnamese Favorites" by Wendy Hutton, part of the Periplus Mini Cookbooks series available at National Bookstore. We adapted it a little.

Ingredients

200g sukiyaki beef (or beef sirloin sliced paper thin)
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp patis (fish sauce)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 spring onions, green and white parts separated, finely sliced
1 tsp oil
1 stalk lemongrass (thick bottom part only), outer layers discarded, inner part thinly sliced
2 thin slices ginger root
2 to 3 beef cubes dissolved in 6 cups hot water
2 tsp rice vinegar (can be substituted with 1 tsp rice wine and 1 tsp sukang puti)
1 tsp sugar
1 medium tomato, cut into wedges
coriander leaves to garnish (optional)

1. Marinate beef in 1 tsp garlic, 1-1/2 tsp patis and black pepper.
2. Heat the oil in a stockpot over medium heat and stir-fry the remaining garlic, spring onion white bulbs, lemongrass and ginger for about 2 minutes until soft. Add the remaining fish sauce, beef stock, rice vinegar, sugar and tomato and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.
3. Just before serving, bring the soup to a boil. Add the beef and simmer until just cooked, about 30 seconds. Remove and transfer to individual serving bowls. Garnish with spring onion greens and coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Serves 3 - 4.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 8 to 10 minutes

This is a yummy recipe and incredibly easy to make! It's like Filipino nilaga with a Vietnamese kick, and the soup is very Vietnamese-y. Mike suggested that I serve it with additional patis on the side as an option for the Filipino palate. We ate this meal with steamed rice, but we imagine it would also be great as a pho, with bihon (rice vermicelli) added. If you want to eat it as a pho, add the bihon before the last step, then wait around 2 minutes before adding the beef.

Curry fish head attempt

Growing up in Singapore was an exciting culinary adventure. One of my favorite Singaporean dishes is curry fish head, and tonight I will attempt to make one, for our department's potluck tomorrow.

Below is what I am going to attempt. I will let you know if it works, and what changes I am going to make. Updated 24 Nov 06: The original recipe I attempted was way too spicy for my lame Filipino taste buds. I made some alterations to neutralize the spice and got general good reviews from my colleagues (naubos!) though some of them also found it too spicy.

Nonetheless, here's a revised version. I'll let you know again when I try this version.

Ingredients:

1 whole fish head (maya-maya), cut into 2 (about 1 kilo)
2 tbsp oil
5 garlic cloves, crushed
1-1/2 native onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp crushed ginger
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1-1/2 cups gata (coconut milk)
1 green chili, seeds removed and cut in half lengthwise
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tamarind cube
1/2 cup hot water
1/3 cup curry powder
1 tsp chili powder
5 okra
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 stalk lemon grass, finely chopped (use the stalk, discard the leaves)
3 tomatoes, quartered

Steam the fish head until barely cooked. Set aside.

Mix 1/2 tamarind cube with 1/2 cup hot water. Add curry powder and chili powder, and mix to form a paste. Set aside.

In 2 tbsp oil, stir-fry the garlic, onions, ginger, turmeric powder until fragrant. Add curry-tamarind paste and stir-fry until cooked. Put in 1/2 the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add the other half of the coconut milk, okra, chili, tomatoes, salt and sugar. Bring to a boil then add steamed fish head and simmer gently for about 5 minutes.

Beef Stroganoff

Here's my experimental beef stroganoff. Updated on November 21. I'll keep trying to improve it.

Ingredients:

salt
200 g beef, sliced into strips
1 cup sour cream
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 can champignon mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp butter
dried oregano
1/4 cup beef broth

Marinade:

2 tbsp red wine
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/8 onion
pepper

Rub the beef with salt, then marinate for at least 30 minutes. Over medium heat, sautee the onion and garlic in butter. Add beef and beef broth. Simmer until beef is tender and broth is almost gone (around 1 hour). Add mushrooms. Season with dried oregano. When mushrooms are cooked, lower heat and stir in the sour cream little by little. Simmer awhile to thicken.

Serve on rice or pasta.

Serves 2.

Preparation time: 30 minutes.
Cooking time: a little more than an hour.
Estimated calorie count per serving (including 1 cup rice): 750 calories