So, did you all make it to church or other morning appointments on time yesterday when we moved our clocks an hour forward for DST (daylight savings time)?  I hope you did!  It would be quite embarrassing to arrive at an empty church or be an hour late to a party because our clocks displayed the wrong time.  Hee hee. :D

We’ve come to the last recipe of my lean cuts of beef series as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program in partnership with The Texas Beef Council.  I went Asian for the series and have thus far shared a Filipino, a Japanese and a Korean dish.  This fourth dish is Chinese…Beef Siu Mai.  Who doesn’t like dim sum?!

I’ve already done a lot of siu mai and dumpling recipes, mostly using ground turkey or shrimp. I’ve also done a combination of pork and shrimp, my first attempt at siu mai/sio mai making, which wasn’t a very pretty sight although it tasted good.   This is my first time to use ground beef, which I already knew both my hubby and my little girl will like.  My little girl had beef siomai at a popular fastfood chain in the Philippines when we were on vacation.  She loved it so much she practically wouldn’t share. Tsk!

Without further ado, here’s the beef siu mai recipe…

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground lean beef (95/05)
2 T chopped bamboo shoots
2 T chopped water chestnuts
1/4 C chopped onion
1 1/2 t sea salt
1/2 t sugar
1 t rice wine
1 t sesame seed oil
1 t soy sauce
2 T cornstarch

30 siu mai wrappers

DIRECTIONS:

1.  In a bowl, combine all the filling ingredients.

2. Place 1 tablespoon filling in the center of a siu mai wrapper and spread it upto about 1/2 in from the edge of the wrapper.  Gather the edge of the wrapper around the filling.

It will look like this when you’re done pleating/gathering the wrapper around the filling…

3.  Squeeze the center, flatten the bottom and smooth off the top of the filling with wet fingers.

Your siu mai should look just about like this…

4.  Arrange the siu mai pieces on a bamboo steamer (or whatever steaming apparatus you might have!) 1/2 inch apart and steam for 20 minutes.

5.  Serve with a dipping sauce mixture of soy sauce and lemon and if you want a little kick, add a bit of chili oil.

It’s a rather simple recipe, don’t you think?  One can probably fill a wrapper even in the middle of a bsn online session.  That’s multi tasking for you. Special shout out to those taking up bsn online! Hee hee.

I always double the recipe so I have a lot of pieces for freezing.  On lazy days, I just grab a pack from the freezer and steam away. ;)

Cheers and mabuhay, y’all!

Disclosure:  As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program in partnerhsip with the Texas Beef Council, I received a stipend to make the 4 lean beef recipes.  Thank you Foodbuzz and Texas Beef Council! :)

Spring break!!  It’s going to be a 9-day “staycation” for us.  After that month-long vacation in the Philippines over the holidays, we haven’t yet earned the right to go on another spending spree vacation, at least not yet.  Boo!  Moving on…

Last weekend, I made one of our favorite Korean dishes, Japchae/Chapchae (Cellophane/Sweet Potato Noodles with Beef and Mixed Vegetables).  I love being able to make our favorite restaurant dishes in our very own kitchen.  It’s quite rewarding actually.  That’s domesticated divaness for you. *wink*

Japchae is made from sweet potato noodles (dangmyeon) mixed with sauce (soy sauce, sesame seed oil, etc.) and stir-fried vegetables and marinated beef.  In keeping with the lean cuts of beef theme, I used sirloin.  Japchae can be served either hot or cold, as an appetizer or a main dish.  It can be served atop a bed of rice, called japchae bap (bap is Korean for “rice”).

Here’s the recipe…

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz  lean beef (Note: I used sirloin.)
1/2 lb sweet potato noodles (dangmyeon)
1 leek, sliced diagonally
4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water, stems removed and julienned
1 oz carrot, julienned
1 green bell pepper, julienned
3/4 t oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 omelet, cut into strips for garnish

Beef Marinade:

2 T soy sauce
1 t sugar
1 t sake
1/2 t mirin
2 cloves garlic, crushed
a pinch of sesame seeds
finely chopped green onion

Noodle Sauce:

1 t sesame seed
2 1/2 t soy sauce
1 t sugar
1 1/2 t sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed (Note: Use more if you love garlic)
pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Cook the sweet potato noodles in boiling water for 3-4 minutes until transparent.  Drain then cut into 2 1/2 inch length.  (The noodles are very long!)  Set aside.
2.  Cut the beef into strips.  Mix the beef marinade ingredients then add the beef.  Set aside.
3.  In a skillet, heat oil then add the (diagonally sliced) leek.  Saute for a few seconds then add the the julienned mushrooms and vegetables.  Season with salt and pepper.  Saute briefly (about 2-3 minutes) then transfer to a plate and set aside.
4. Add a little bit of oil in the skillet where the vegetables were cooked.  Once the oil is hot, add the beef strips and cook until done.  Set aside.
5.  In a bowl, combine the noodle sauce ingredients.  Add the noodles and mix well, making sure the noodles are well-sauced.
6.  Add the vegetables and beef to the sauced noodles.  Mix lightly then transfer to a serving platter or serve in individual bowls.  Garnish with omelet strips.

Yum!  This turned out really good, so much so that it was quite difficult not to have seconds.  I am definitely going to make this again..and again…and again.  It will save us a trip to our favorite Korean restaurant, which is more than all right with me.  After the Lenten season, I will be cooking more of our favorite Korean dishes.  Korean barbecue, baby! ;)

Cheers and be safe, y’all.  Mabuhay!

Disclosure:  As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program in partnerhsip with the Texas Beef Council, I received a stipend to make the 4 lean beef recipes.  Thank you Foodbuzz and Texas Beef Council! :)

On Thursday, Saturday and Sunday last week (yes, just before the start of the Lenten Season!) I cooked 3 beef dishes, all of them Asian and two of which I made for the first time.  For this entry, let me share with you the recipe for the Japanese dish: Gyudon or Beef Bowl.

This was the first time I made gyudon.  I scolded myself for not having made this sooner because this dish was so easy to make!  It was flavorful, too!  It received praises from my two favorite diners: hubby and my first grader. They really know what’s good for them! :D

INGREDIENTS:

6 cups of cooked rice (We used brown rice.)
10 1/2 oz. thinly sliced  tenderloin
4 dried shiitake mushrooms, softened and sliced into 1/8 in strips – Do not use stems!
4 oz. spinach leaves
2 T water chestnuts, coarsely chopped
4 eggs

Note: To soften shiitake mushrooms, soak in warm water, making sure they are submerged.  Placing a flat pan, plate or a lid on top of the mushrooms ought to do the trick.  Discard stems and use only the caps.  The water where the mushrooms were soaked will make for a good stock.

Cooking Sauce:

1 C water
1/4 C soy sauce
1/4 C mirin
1 t sugar
1 T instant dashi stock powder

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Mix the water and instant dashi stock powder in a 12″ skillet.  Stir  until dissolved then add the soy sauce, mirin and sugar.  Add the meat and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the beef slices have turned into a brown color.

2.  Add shiitake mushrooms, water chestnuts and spinach.  Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

3.  Pour beaten eggs.

4.  Continue cooking without stirring until the eggs are set.

5.  Divide cooked rice into 4 to 6 and place on serving bowls.  Top with the cooked beef and sauce.  Serve and enjoy!

Easy.  Simple. Yummy. ;)

Cheers, y’all!

Disclosure:  As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program in partnerhsip with the Texas Beef Council, I received a stipend to make the 4 lean beef recipes.  Thank you Foodbuzz and Texas Beef Council! :)

I’ve decided to feature Asian recipes, recipes I am most at home and familiar with. I’m kicking-off this 4-part recipe series with a popular dish from the Philippines, Nilagang Baka – Boiled Chuck Shoulder Roast with Vegetables.

This has got to be one of the easiest of Philippine dishes to cook.  One just needs to be patient specially in the absence of a pressure cooker.  I do have a pressure cooker but I decided to go old-school with the dish.  That is, I boiled the beef until very tender, which took 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  Boiling also happens to be one of the healthiest methods of cooking.

There are many interpretations for this dish. At the barest minimum, I usually cook it with napa cabbage and some potatoes.  But I wanted vibrant colors for this assignment so in addition to napa cabbage, I added some carrots, sweet corn on the cob, and instead of just regular potatoes, I used red potatoes.

Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

2-3 lbs. chuck shoulder roast, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 medium onion, quartered
1 large carrot, cut into 1/2-inch thick pieces,
2 ears of corn, cut into thirds
10 pcs red potatoes, cleaned (with a vegetable brush) and halved
1 nappa cabbage, cut off the core and separate the leaves from each other
10 pcs. peppercorns
sea salt

For the dipping sauce:

1 lemon
fish sauce
jalapeno or chili  peppers, sliced

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Put the beef cubes, peppercorns, and onion in a stock pot.  Fill the pot with water until it is about 2-inches above the beef.  Add some sea salt then boil.  Skim the scum that rises.  Turn down the heat and let the beef simmer until it is fork tender (about 2 to 3 hours).  Add water as needed, keeping the water level 2-inches above the pieces.

2.  Add the potato halves and carrots during the last 30 minutes of boiling and the corn during the last 10 minutes of cooking.  The nappa cabbage can be added during the last 2 minutes of cooking.  Adjust seasoning then serve with steamed brown rice and dipping sauce.

3.  For the dipping sauce, mix the juice of one lemon, fish sauce then add the jalapeno/chili pepper slices. :)

The hour after hour after hour of boiling brought out the natural flavors and goodness of the beef.  The broth, in spite the use of only a handful of seasonings (if not less!) was really good and flavorful.  The beef and the vegetables were all oh-so-tender.  The number 1 beef fan in the house (hubby!) couldn’t be more pleased.  As for me, I was very well pleased, too.  After all, this was a meal that took me back to my Nanay’s (grandma’s) kitchen, back when I could eat anything I want and not worry about things like fat burner, metabolism, calorie count, etc. *sigh*

Mabuhay, y’all!  Cheers to meals that take us “home”!

Of course, lengua is at it’s gorgeous best when it’s already sitting pretty ion a platter, gravy on the side or drizzled on top.  Cooking it is a whole different story.  Not that it’s hard, just plain, well, eeeeew.  Hee hee.  What’s a domestic goddess with lengua cravings to do?  Eating in a restaurant would have been the easy way out.  But I decided to do my ancestors proud.  A few weeks into domestic life here in the US three years ago, I cooked lengua myself. And I tell you, my Nanay must have been smiling at me.

I made this dish for hubby’s birthday celebration.  It is one of his favorites dishes after all.  If you have a pressure cooker, bless you.  It will not take you very long to wait for the tongue to become tender.  As for the pressure-cooker deprived me, I boiled the ox tongue for more or less three hours.  The long wait was well worth it.  The lengua was oh-so tender. ;)

INGREDIENTS

Ox Tongue
1 onion, quartered
salt and pepper
garlic (lots of it)
butter (for frying)

Sauce/Gravy

1 can cream of mushroom
water or (ox tongue) broth
1 can sliced mushrroms, drained

Directions:

1.  Boil the ox tongue in salted water and the quartered onion until tender.  Like I said, it took me approximately 3 hours.  Save some of the broth for the gravy.  When desired tenderness is reach, take the ox tongue out of the pot and cool until cool enough to handle.
2. Peel off the leather-like outer skin of the tongue.  It’s not too difficult to peel, but you will need a knife to help you along.  Remove some of the fat under the tongue, too.
3.  Slice the tongue into 1/2 inch thick pieces then season with salt and pepper.
4.  In a skillet, melt about 1-2 table spoons butter.  Then add some garlic.  At this point, it’s upto you how garlicky you want the ox tongue to taste.
5.  Brown the tongue slices in the butter and garlic, then arrange on a serving platter.  Pour warm gravy over the ox tongue slices.

For the Cream of Mushroom Gravy…

1.  Cook the cream of mushroom as per instructions on the can.  Substitute water with the ox-tongue broth.
2.  Add the mushrooms and simmer for a minute or two.
3.  Pour sauce over the ox-tongue slices or transfer to a gravy boat.

Funny how I’m making myself hungry as I type this entry.  I should cook lengua more often.  Hee hee. We just had this on November 28th. Do you think Christmas Eve is too soon to have it again?  Holiday parties galore in the new few days, one after the other.  I already have dark circles under my eyes getting ready for ‘em.  Still, there’s so much more that needs to be done.  It’s the most wonderful time of the year! ;)

Happy Mid-Week! Cheers!

My very first accidental beef tapa was marinated in the very same marinade I use for Beef Steak Tagalog, which is, as a rule of thumb: 1/3 cup soy sauce and the juice of 1 lemon per pound of beef.  These days, whenever I make beef tapa, if only to distinguish it from bistek, I add lots of minced garlic to the marinade and a tablespoon or so of brown sugar.  To cook, you can either just let the beef simmer in the pan with the marinade until it dries up or you can just fry the marinated beef in hot oil. :)

If I have leftover rice in the fridge, I make fried rice in the same pan where the Beef Tapa was cooked.  ;)  That’s exactly how I cooked the rice you see on these photos.  This is best served with eggs for that oh-so-yummy TapSiLog (tapa, sinangag, itlog).  I think I was out of eggs when I made these beef tapa meal, which is why instead of eggs, I had a side of vegetables…that’s TapSiLay for you, where “lay” stands for gulay (vegetables).  Hee hee. :P

With that I say, eat meat in moderation, ok?  Even if you have bcbsnc coverage. ;)

I hope you’re having a great week because I sure am! Cheers! :)

INGREDIENTS

1 lb beef sirloin
1/3 cup soy sauce
juice from 1 lemon
1 onion sliced into rings

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Marinate the  beef in soy sauce  and lemon juice and let sit in the fridge  for  30 minutes or so.
2.  In a pan, saute the onion rings in a tablespoon or two of olive oil.  Once the onions have reached your prefered level of doneness, take them out of the pan and set aside.
3.  In the same pan, cook the beef in low fire  together with the marinade until tender.  Top with the onion rings and serve with hot rice.

I usually don’t let the marinated beef sit in the fridge anymore.  I just go ahead and throw the beef, soy sauce and lemon in the pan after frying the onions.  I just don’t want to risk having an overly salty beef.  But that’s just me. :)

I hope y’all had a great weekend as did I.  Have a fantabulous new weeks ahead!  Cheers!

After two months, I finally get to post where we had lunch of the most succulent barbecued meats on Mother’s Day. :D  I’ve been meaning to do this but I’m up to my neck with food posts that are still begging to see the light of day.  That’s summer induced laziness for you.  Hee hee.

No, this isn’t the Outer Banks.  This is the parking lot of The Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood Texas, a good 38.7 miles away from where we live…a 52 minute drive according to Google Maps.  Yes, we drove that far for my Mother’s Day lunch.

The Salt Lick’s main dining room

For the longest time, Countyline BBQ has been hubby’s and my favorite as far as beef ribs is concerned and Rudy’s for moist beef brisket.  But friends have been raving about The Salt Lick being the best of ‘em all that we just had to give it a try.  Actually, there’s one that’s closer to our home (The Salt Lick at Round Rock), but I hear they don’t have a “barbecue pit”, which is a much raved about feature at the Driftwood branch and which you shall see in a while. ;)

This is The Salt Lick menu.  Take note, “CASH ONLY”.  No credit cards.  No separate checks. Minimum charge of 4.95 per person.  So you better be ready when you visit!  They do have an ATM so you won’t have to panic when you’re told they only accept cash. ;)

If you’re finicky about restaurant interiors and furniture, then you may have to think twice before you head over to The Salt Lick.  You’ll be sitting on wooden benches and eating on wooden tables, which have a very DIY (do-it-yourself) appeal about them.  I actually think the ambiance is quite charming.  Although honestly, I was afraid my daughter might not agree to sit on the bench.  Ha! :D

For starters, we had the customary bread slices.

The bread was all right, but I’ve definitely tasted better.  This isn’t their specialty after all.  Haha!

We wanted to sample as many of the meat choices as possible so we ordered a plate of Beef Ribs (the reason why we’re here!) only, and a combination plate of  (moist) Beef Brisket and  Pork Ribs.  When our first plate got to our table, there were sausage slices together with the beef brisket and no pork ribs in sight.  Oops!  When we called our server’s attention, he quickly brought us a plate of pork ribs.  So we had bonus meat for our carnivorous bunch!

The beef brisket is indeed moist, tender and juicy…a few notches better than Rudy’s.  I’m not a huge fan of sausages because they’re too peppery for my taste but I found the Salt Lick’s sausage to be good as well.  Each plate comes with cole slaw, potato salad and beans.  The potato salad was a winner!  My little girl liked it a lot.

And here’s the star of our lunch table, the Beef Ribs…

At first glance, hubby and I were just too giddy with excitement.  The beef ribs were huge.  But upon closer inspection, we saw that there was too much fat on the ribs.

Here, see for yourself…

Shiny shiny fat!  It’s heart attack on a platter!  When we told our friends about this later, they said we could have requested our server to replace the ribs with leaner ones…you know, ones that won’t kill us on the spot.  Oh well.

The beef ribs were succulent, yes, but they were hard to enjoy because with every bite, fat juices ooze out much quicker than the barbecue flavor.  Huhu. :(

I easily forgot about my beef ribs disappointment when I was invited to take close up photos of the barbecue pit when we were in line to pay for our lunch.  Woot woot! ;)

Go ahead, identify the different meats!  Here’s my favorite bbq pit pic….

This, I say, was the highlight of our Salt Lick rendezvous.  Overall, it was a pleasant dining experience for us.  But I doubt if we’ll make that far a drive again for barbecue any time soon.  Now that I’ve seen the famous bbq pit, I’d be very happy to just drive a third of the distance for some moist brisket.  I’ll give the beef ribs another chance, promise.

Have a great week, y’all!  Cheers!

It’s all about “The In-Laws Factor” this week over at WifeSpeaks.   For FoodieWednesday, participants are requested to answer food-related questions about their in-laws.  I’m skipping the question and answer. Instead, I’m going to tell you how the in-law factor changed the way I cook adobo. :D

Ask several people from the Philippines (who does some cooking) how they cook adobo and I’m pretty sure you won’t get two answer that are exactly the same.  The recipes may be similar to some extent, but they will never be exactly the same.

My Nanay’s (maternal grandma) adobo, for one, is bordering on the dry side, meaning it only has but a hint of soy sauce when it hits the dining table, but it has lots of oil.  Some  adobo,  have the pork or chicken practically swimming in sauce, almost soup-like.  In the southern part of the Philippines, I hear, they put coconut milk in their adobo.

So what kind of adobo do I serve hubby and little daughter?  One that is not soupy but definitely saucy. :D  I’m also very careful with the amount of vinegar I use because what garlics are to vampires, vinegar is to my husband. Hee hee.

Since some time last year, my Mom has been telling me to add an extra step in the way I cook adobo.  That is, to fry the meat after stewing them in soy sauce and vinegar, before dumping all of them back again in the sauce.  She swears by this additional step, which came as a bit of  a surprise because we never cooked our adobo that way.  So I made a mental note to give it a try but whenever I found myself cooking adobo, I get too lazy to fish out the meat and have them fried.  I just want to dig in right away already!

Early this year, I finally got around to doing it.  Hubby was surprised to find me frying the pork and added that that’s how his mom cooked adobo.  Hubby looked very pleased, to say the least.  Awww.  Since then, I’ve been cooking adobo a tad longer than I used to.  Haha!

Some people add hard boiled chicken and/or quail eggs to their adobo, as a garnish of sorts.  And because we have a ton of eggs anyway, I decided to throw in some hard boiled eggs as well. :)

As a rule of thumb, I use 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1/3 cup of soy sauce per pound or so of meat and just adjust the measurements accordingly depending on how much I’m cooking.  For the adobo in the photo, I doubled the amount of vinegar and soy sauce. In addition to the pork or chickem meat, I also add some chicken liver (which makes the sauce thicker!) and chicken gizzards to my list of ingredients.

Here’s the rest of my adobo recipe…

INGREDIENTS

1 pound of pork cubes (or chicken pieces)
chicken liver
chicken gizzards
lots of garlic (We want a garlicky adobo. :D)
1-2 bay leaves
1/4 cup vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 to 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns

oil for frying (if you want the additional step…and trouble. :D)
hardboiled chicken or quail eggs for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Put all the ingredients in a pot and cook in medium to high heat until the sauce starts to boil.  Turn the heat to low and continue to cook until the meat becomes tender.
2.  When the meat is of your desired tenderness already, take them out of the pot and fry until brown.
3.  Depending on how much sauce you want in your adobo,  you may throw the fried meat pieces back into the pot of sauce or just drizzle some sauce over them before serving.  Don’t forget the steamed rice! :D

So, have you altered the way you cooked a dish for dear hubby…because that’s how his momma does it? :D

This week at WifeSpeaks, we’re talking “Ideal Marriages”.  For Memoir Mondays, most blog carnival participants posted photos of couples whose marriages they found inspiring.  ChikaTuesday, on the other hand, was all about inspiring showbiz marriages.  In translating that to food, we’re having ideal recipes/meals/dishes for FoodieWednesday.

An ideal everyday dish for me is one that doesn’t require such a big production to cook, yet elicits the ideal reaction from hubby and 4-year old daughter, that is, asking for seconds and plates practically wiped clean of all signs of food.  Take for instance yesterday’s dinner, Beef Salpicao.

If hubby can eat beef everyday, he will.  His idea of an ideal dish definitely has beef in it.  It was in October when I first (and last) cooked Beef Salpicao.  I don’t know why I never got around to cooking it again but yesterday evening I did and I vowed it won’t take me another 6 or so months to cook it again.

I love that this dish takes only 10 minutes to cook, 12 minutes tops, and requires only a few ingredients: beef, paprika, olive oil, butter, garlic, oyster sauce, seasoning and salt & pepper.  To get the best flavor however, it is best to marinate the beef in the fridge for several hours.  I marinated the beef in the morning and didn’t cook it until around 6:30pm.

This is a better Beef Salpicao than the first one I made because I reduced the amount of seasoning and oyster sauce in half, which translated to a dish that was just perfectly seasoned…an ideal marriage of flavors, so to speak. :D

The Little Munchkin wiped her plate clean, and so did hubby.  ;)

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb beef tenderloin or sirloin or other tender beef cuts,  cut into 1/2 inch chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup minced garlic
salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp paprika
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons oyster sauce (add more according to taste)
1/8 cup liquid seasoning (add more according to taste.)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine

DIRECTIONS:

1.  In a bowl, marinate the beef chunks in oil, garlic, salt, pepper and paprika for a couple of hours in the fridge.
2.  Saute the beef cubes with the marinade in very hot oil.
3.  continuously saute the beef cubes in high heat until they are browned evenly.
4.  Add the oyster sauce and liquid seasoning.
5.  Saute for a few more seconds and then add the butter.
6.  Turn off the heat and serve immediately with hot rice.  You may top it with garlic slivers and garnish with chopped parsley.
7.  It shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes for to cook this dish.  Otherwise, the beef will lose its tenderness.

A pound of beef proved to be too much for us, specially since we’ve been watching our food intake. :D  So we’re having this for lunch again today.  Yeehaa! :P  Do eat this in moderation though, even if you’ve already bought yourself insurance online. Hee hee. Life is good, you know!

Check out the ideal food other wifeys cooked up HERE.