Ginisang Bulaklak Ng Katuray (Sauteed Corkwood Tree Flower)

I bought the katuray or corkwood tree a couple of years ago and it's now yielding flowers. I planted it in front of our house, outside the fence. This is a seasonal vegetable and the tree yields its flower during summer. It gives a lot of flowers almost everyday. It's best to cook it as salad or ginisa (sauteed). Most Ilocanos love this veggie and I don't know if it's true but they said it's good for people with high blood pressure.

Ingredients:

2 handful of bulaklak ng katuray

2 tablespoon fish sauce

3 tomatoes

1 onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1/4 cup water

Cooking Instruction:

1. Remove the pistil or the long stem-like on the central portion of the katuray flower

2. Cook the flower in boiling water for about 2 minutes. Remove from water and set aside.

3. Heat cooking oil in a pot, saute garlic, onion and tomatoes until soft and fragrant.

4. Add fish sauce

4. Add the flower and mix.

5. Serve with rice.

Sinigang na Ulo Ng Tanguigue

I love eating sinigang but I was not good in cooking it. I remember my grandmother used to cook sinigang when were kids and I just love the way she cooked it. At that time, I didn't bother to ask her or observe her while she was cooking. All I was interested that time was to eat what she cooked. My grandma had already passed away many years ago and I didn't get her sinigang recipe so I can't cook sinigang the way she cooked it before. Her sinigang was not that sour unlike those in the restaurant that all you can taste is the sour tamarind powder that they added. It really turned me off. Until 2 years ago, my sister taught me how to cook sinigang the way our grandma used to cook. I was so glad to learn it and now I can cook good sinigang as my grandma did. I love to buy the head of the tanguigue fish because the soup really taste good and it's really perfect for sinigang.

Ingredients :

1 kilo fish head of tanguigue, split open and gills removed
1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced
2-3 tomatoes, diced
5 pcs of medium size kamias
a bunch of camote tops or chayote tops or kangkong tops
1 small piece of ginger, crushed
salt or patis

Cooking procedure:

Put the sliced fish head in the pot over low fire with salt or patis, sliced onion and crushed ginger. Simmer it for about 5 to 7 minutes stirring once in a while. Add 5 cups of water and bring to a boil then season with salt or patis. Add the tomatoes or camias and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the camote tops or chayote or kangkong tops. Simmer for 3 minutes. Serve at once.

Kare-Kare

I’m posting another great Filipino recipe. It’s kinda tiring and complicated (well, at least for me) but it’s worth the effort making it from scratch. Kare-kare is a famous Philippine dish which is often referred as a stew. It is made of peanut sauce and is added with different kinds of vegetables, stewed oxtail, beef and offal or tripe. The delicacy is usually eaten with bagoong or shrimp paste. It is also spiced with chili, added with calamansi or lime juice.

Ingredients :

250 g. of ox tripe
250 g. of ox tail
250 g. of ox leg
1/8 c. of annato seeds
1/2 head of cabbage
1 bunch of pechay
1 bunch of sitaw (long string beans)
1 eggplant
1 puso ng saging (heart of banana plant)
1 c. of peanut butter
1/4 c. of rice flour
1 whole garlic, minced
2 onions, diced
5-6 c. of stock
2 tbsp. of cooking oil
salt to taste

How to :

Wash ox tripe, tail and leg well. Place in a large casserole and cover with plenty of water. Bring to a boil, removing scum as it rises. Cover and simmer until tender, about 4 to 6 hours. Transfer meat to a plate, cool and cut into serving pieces. Strain stock and measure 6 cups (you may need less but it’s better to be prepared).

Cut cabbage half into 2 and remove core. Cut off roots and 1/2 inch of stalks of pechay and discard. Cut of roots of sitaw and cut into 2″ lengths. Discard tough outer layers of puso ng saging and cut inner layers into 2″ x 2″ pieces. Cut eggplant into 2″ x 2″ cubes.

Place rice flour in a skillet and toast over medium-high heat until golden. Set aside.

In a casserole, heat oil over medium heat. Add annato seeds and “cook” until they render color and the oil is a bright red. With a slotted spoon, remove annato seeds and discard. Increase heat to medium-high and saute onions and garlic for about 30 seconds. Add meat pieces and cook until they absorb the color or the oil. Pour in 4 cups of stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and add vegetables in the following order with a 2-minute interval : sitaw, eggplant, puso ng saging, cabbage and pechay.

Meanwhile, mix peanut butter with 1/2 c. of stock. Mix roasted rice flour with 1/2 c. of stock. Once the pechay has been added, pour in peanut butter and rice flour mixtures into the casserole. Stir to blend well. Season with salt. Cook for about a 2 minutes until sauce is thick.

Serve hot with bagoong alamang.

Tortang Talong

When I was in high school, my mom always cook tortang talong for my "baon" to school. I like the way she cooked it because it really tasted so good. I've eaten in restaurants and their tortang talong got no taste to me. My mom's tortang talong is the best. I learned to cook it from her and I've been cooking it for me and my hubby. He really love it.

Tortang Talong…the way I cook it.

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 Filipino eggplants (or other Asian eggplants…or any eggplant that is long and thin)
* 2 eggs, beaten
* cooking oil
* soy sauce with vinegar
* 2 cloves garlic, diced
* salt

DIRECTIONS:

- Roast and peel the eggplants. This is most commonly done over the flame on the hob until black and kind of charred, after which it is fairly easy to remove the skin. Leave the stems on.
- After peeling, lay the eggplant in a colander and flatten gently with a fork, being careful not to break it.
- Beat your egg in a flattish bowl and add a dash of salt. Mix soy sauce with vinegar and add the diced garlic. Dip the eggplant with the soy sauce mixture and then lay your eggplants to the beaten eggs, turning to coat evenly.
- Heat the oil in a skillet. Once hot, gently place the eggplants in the pan. Pour the remaining egg mixture to the eggplant and leave to sizzle until golden brown. Flip to brown other side. (since you have left the stems on you can do this whole operation without a spatula or flipper…just use the stem to move the eggplant around).
- Drain on paper towels when done. Serves two.

Beef Pochero

This is one of the popular Filipino recipes. In our dialect, we call it lauya nga baka. The soup is good and it is served best with rice.

Cooking Information:

* Estimated Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

* 1 kg (2 lb) boneless beef shanks
* 3-4 saba bananas (plantains)
* 2 pieces chorizo sliced into 1-cm (½-in) pieces
* 2 liters (8 cups) water
* 2 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
* 100g (¾ cup) chickpeas
* 1 cabbage, quartered
* 2 tablespoons patis (fish sauce) or salt

Procedure:

* Peel and slice the saba bananas then cut diagonally into pieces and set aside.
* In a stockpot, bring the beef shanks and beef stock to the boil, place in a lower heat and simmer for about 1½ hours or until beef is almost tender.
* Add water if necessary to make sure it does not dry out.
* Add the potatoes and bananas. Simmer for about 15 minutes more. Add the chickpeas and chorizo then continue simmering for another 5 minutes.
* Add the cabbage and season with patis. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes or until the cabbage is tender crisp.

Kaldereta (Goat Stew)

Ingredients:

* 3 - 4 lbs goat meat, cut into 2 inch pieces ( if you can't find goat meat, substitute with beef brisket)
* Marinade
o 3/4 cup vinegar
o 1 head garlic, crushed
o salt and pepper to taste
* 2 tbsp cooking oil (I prefer olive oil)
* 1 cup water
* 1/4 cup sherry (optional)
* 1.2 cup olive oil
* 1/4 cup sliced onion
* 1 pc red bell pepper, cut into strips
* 1/2 cup green peas
* 1 small bay leaf
* 1 tsp white pepper
* 1/2 cup tomato sauce
* 1 slice goat liver (about 5 inches square and 1/2 inch thick) - can be substituted with 1 pc chicken liver or beef liver
* 6 cloves garlic, crushed
* 1 cup green olives
* 1 cup potatoes, cubed
* 1 tsp sugar
* hot sauce to taste

Directions:

* Prepare meat by marinading it in vinegar, garlic and salt and pepper.
* When marinaded meat is ready, fry potatoes in olive oil, set aside.
* Fry meat until brown in both sides. Add water, sherry and onions and simmer until tender. Add olive oil and bay leaf, white pepper, red pepper and garlic. Then add tomato sauce and more water. Simmer until the vegetables are tender.
* Meanwhile, brown the liver and then pound to a paste. Add water and then add to the meat.
* Season with sugar and hot sauce, then add the olives and the green peas just before removing from heat.

Chicken Empanada

It's been a while that I haven't cooked empanada. My hubby likes it so I decided to make some yesterday. I just cooked 8 pieces yesterday and I put the remaining dough and filling (I used chicken) in the refrigerator. Then this afternoon I cooked all of it, 11 pieces. After I cooked hubby came in the kitchen and grabbed a piece. It was still hot, fresh from the oven. I prefer baked empanada than fried. My hubby loves it and he said he can eat it all. He said they are so good. Oh my, I told him to leave some for me because I was going to take a shower. I told him I will eat after I showered. He told me to hurry up before he can eat them all. I know he was just teasing me. He just ate three pieces then we went to church for the mid-week service. After we got home from church, we ate our supper and of course we also ate the empanada. It was all gone in a matter of minutes. Here's the recipe.

Chicken Empanada

Ingredients:

Dough:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg
ice water (enough to make a ball)

Filling:
1 chicken breast, boiled and himayin
2 medium potatoes, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
canola oil
salt
pepper

Instructions:

Mix the ingredients for the dough. Knead it well using a rolling pin. If the dough is already okay and doesn't stick to your hands no more, cut it into pieces according to your desired size. For the filling, sautee the garlic, onion, chicken then add the rest of the ingredients. Put salt and pepper according to taste. If it's already cooked, let it cool first. Then form a ball of the dough that you cut into pieces and roll it with the rolling pin to flatten. Then put the filling about 1heaping tablespoon. Then wrap it. Use a fork to seal the edges. Beat 1 egg and just use the yolk. Apply it to the empanada using a brush before baking. Bake it for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.