Farfalle with Andouille Sausage and Mushrooms

Almost 3 months have passed and another trek across the country has brought us back to the very hot Southern California. We are finally settling in to our busy schedule here and so we are just now starting to get in to a routine. Home cooked meals are finally becoming the norm again and we are making an effort to make them healthier than their takeout counterpart.... which should be very easy taking in to consideration what we have been eating lately.

Home cooked meals have been a drag since taking on a busier schedule. It always comes down to just being too tired at the end of the day to cooking up a meal. Grabbing takeout was a much easier chore than slaving away behind a stove and so the cycle started and the pounds and the inches began to pile up as well. 

It was time to make better choices. Nothing too drastic. A little less meat and a little more vegetables. Whole grain foods and less processed. We even got a juicer to replace a meal or two. 

Before going on this journey, first things first... lunch.

30 minutes is all it took and it was much cheaper than takeout and most importantly, much much healthier. Give it a try and let us know.

Farfalle with Andouille Sausage and Mushrooms

Farfalle with Andouille Sausage and Mushrooms

1 pound organic whole wheat Farfalle (cooked al dente according to package instructions) (make sure not to drain away ALL of the pasta water)

8 ounces Andouille Sausage large diced (feel free to omit the sausage if you want the dish vegetarian and just double the mushrooms)

6-8 ounces button mushrooms quartered (any mushroom would get the job done so go ahead and experiment)

5 ounces cleaned and washed spinach 

2 Roma tomatoes large diced

1/2 a medium sized yellow onion large diced

6 cloves of garlic minced

3 tbsp chopped basil

1 tsp salt 

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup of pasta water

Parmesan cheese 

2 tbsp oil

Procedure

Boil water and cook the pasta. The time it takes to cook the pasta which is about 11 minutes, the sauce would be ready just in time as you are draining the pasta. Make sure you have all your ingredients prepared so as to not miss a beat. :)

In a separate pot, sweat the garlic for 30 seconds then add the onions. 

After another 30 seconds or so, add the sausage and the mushrooms. 

Once the mushrooms has softened a bit, add the tomatoes and saute until slightly broken down.

Add the pasta water then toss in the pasta and then season with salt and pepper. 

Toss in the chopped basil, turn off the fire and give it a final quick stir and serve hot with shaved Parmesan on top. Enjoy!

Vigan Longganisa

Everybody knows about Pancit, Adobo and Lumpia, but will Filipino food be truly "mainstream"? I've read different points of views on why it hasn't and will probably never be. Theories ranging from it being as simple as our food is just too greasy to an in depth study in Colonial mentality.

I have my own theory that falls somewhere in between those two. Before a chef goes off trying to make his or her version of a certain dish, make sure you've eaten the original/authentic version. Whether you had it a few times on vacation back home or your Uncle Boy is the master of said dish. This is important because inevitably, someone who has eaten said dish plenty of times or has their own Uncle Boy who makes said dish, you will have no shortage of haters for your own bastardized version. Plenty of Filipino restaurants fall flat because the regional specialties that they put out don't even come close to how they are suppose to be prepared. Stick to what you do well  for now and keep practicing at what you don't. Quality is what will bring our food to that stage.

Now I have to follow my own advice. Vigan Longganisa hails from the Northern Region of the Philippines. There are variations of this salty and garlicky sausage found in areas in the Central Region but it is made famous here in the north. My wife is from the north and she has had this plenty of times and I have actually had it in her hometown. She's definitely a worthy judge of my first go at Vigan Longganisa and I'm positive she'll be honest with the utmost disregard for my ego and this case, it's completely acceptable. :)

Vigan Longganisa

Vigan Longganisa

2 lbs ground pork butt/shoulder

1/2 cup minced garlic

4 tbsp of Filipino soy sauce

4 tbsp Sukang Iloko (or apple cider vinegar)

2 tbsp annatto powder

2 tsp salt

2 tsp coarse black pepper

mix well and once stuffed, let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least a day, then put in the freezer if you aren't cooking it yet.... but then again... why wait? 

Longsilog

Spicy Asian Style St. Louis Ribs

In the kitchen, whether professional or home, you make do with what you have and hope for the best. I had a slab of St. Louis Ribs thawing and when you have a set picture of how you want a dish to be, sometimes you begin to ask yourself, is the juice worth the squeeze? We have an electric oven and so I figured it wasn't worth the 2 hours of low and slow cooking for 1 lonely slab of ribs. It's probably illegal in some Southern States to even mention this but the pressure cooker was calling and what the oven would take 2 hours to do, the pressure cooker was up to the challenge in doing it in less than 20 minutes. If the barbecue purist hasn't passed out at the thought of pressure cooked ribs, well he or she should brace themselves. I didn't even have a charcoal grill to finish them off at. All I had at the moment was a Korean style stove top grill to get the job done. That's cooking in a nutshell, though. With the millions of recipes floating around there telling you how make a particular dish, you aren't always going to have all the ingredients in your pantry or the equipment. The important thing is being able to improvise and just letting your creativity flow. Learn to trust yourself in the kitchen and make sure to go easy on the salt. Everything else you can adjust.

Spicy Asian Style St. Louis Ribs

Spicy Asian Style St. Louis Ribs

1 slab of St Louis cut ribs (or a rack of Baby Back ribs)

5 cloves of garlic minced

4 tbsp of Spicy Korean Sauce (gochujang,  pictured below)

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp sesame oil

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

Procedure

-mix all the ingredients for the marinade. cut the slab in half and place in a freezer bag with the marinade for at least 2 hours. overnight preferred.

-remove the ribs from the marinade making. strain the marinade removing the garlic from it. set aside for basting.

-pressure cook for 15 to 20 minutes (closer to 15 than beyond 20 or the meat will have completely fallen of the bone.

-fire up the grill or in my case the stove top grill and brown the ribs make sure to baste it to give it a nice sweet caramelized glaze

Enjoy!

Ground Beef Omelette (Tortang Giniling)

Torta is the Filipino version of the omelette and it is my absolute favorite dish. Ever. The most common of these omelettes would be the Giniling or ground pork/beef and Talong or Eggplant. However, we pretty much make Tortas out of everything from corned beef to crab. I remember when I was young, my mom would buy a huge bag of crabs and my Dad would steam them and one by one, pick the meat for the sole purpose of making the omelette. The patience of this man when it came to preparing food for the family is unparalleled. The end product though was rich, decadent and heavenly. Another story I remember from my childhood was when my grandma would make raisins from grapes that were picked from a friend's farm in Bakersfield, Ca and send them back home to Philippines. My dad must have added raisins to everything he cooked and Tortas were usually the recipients of those raisins, which I admit, really helped round out the dish. This particular recipe will have raisins it it, but as usual, is optional.

Ground Beef Omelette (Tortang Giniling)

Ground Beef Omelette

1 lb ground beef or pork
1/2 an onion diced
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of frozen cooked peas
1/4 cup of raisins
1/4 cup of tomato ketchup
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp all purpose flour
3 tbsp sliced green onions
4 large eggs

-brown the beef or pork then drain the fat
-saute the onions and garlic until fragrant then add the browned meat
-add the peas and raisins and saute on high for a minute or so then add the ketchup
-once the ketchup has caramelized a bit, add the soy sauce, mix for another minute then set aside to cool

-once the meat has cooled, crack the 4 eggs in to the mixture, add the green onions, sesame oil and flour then mix thoroughly,
-heat a well oiled pan and pan fry 3 tbsp sized patties until both sides have a nice crust.

Enjoy!

Ground Beef Omelette (Tortang Giniling)

Bacon Potato Hash with Egg

Bacon. All the cardiologists in the world screaming bloody murder cannot stop the goodness that is Bacon. In reality, it isn't in our best interest to indulge so moderation is definitely key. I was at the market today and found these beautiful red and yellow creamer potatoes. Creamers are generally Yukon Gold and Red potatoes that are harvested before they mature and so they are less starchy. I love potatoes because it's such a great flavor canvas and at $0.69 per pound it works out balancing the budget for the dish because bacon is definitely not cheap nowadays. First off, bacon used to come in 1 pound packages. These past few years, the 12 ounce pack has quietly made it's way in to the shelves and starting at $5 for said package, bacon in moderation makes a ton of sense. I was lucky that the market that I went to carried a brand of bacon that sold packs of irregular slices for about $1.50 less than the perfectly sliced ones. Brunch for 4 at about $10 is not too shabby. It's pretty hard to mess up a bacon dish, but this dish is definitely a Sunday Brunch keeper.

Bacon Potato Hash with Egg

Bacon Potato Hash with Egg

2 lbs red and yellow creamer potatoes quartered (but feel free to use whatever potatoes you have on hand)

1/2 pound bacon rough chopped 

1 large onion sliced thin

6 cloves of garlic rough chopped

2 Roma tomatoes large diced

3 tbsp sliced green onions

1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Procedure

boil the potatoes for about 20 minutes or until tender but not overcooked. set aside

brown the bacon, set aside and reserve the bacon grease

in the same pan, saute the garlic and onions together until they start to caramelize then add the tomatoes and saute until tender then remove from the pan and set aside.

now add a few more tbsp of bacon grease in the same pan and throw in the boiled potatoes in high heat.

do not pick at it too much. let it develop some crispy bits.

once the potatoes are golden brown and slightly crispy, throw in the garlic, onions and tomato and stir for a minute or so to incorporate the flavors.

add the bacon and about a minute later, as soon as the dish is heated through, add the cheese and stir for about a minute, serve with a sunny side up egg on top and ENJOY!

Chinese sausage and Shrimp Fried rice

One pot meals are usually your garden variety stick to your ribs comfort food. Fried rice, the one wok meal is no different. Day old rice from the fridge is best. The rice dries out and is much easier to separate. Leftover meat entrees are great to toss in. Went freezer diving and found a pack of Chinese sausage and some shrimp and who doesn't have a bag of carrots and peas in the freezer? There is no set guidelines to making fried rice.

Chinese sausage and Shrimp Fried rice

Chinese Sausage and Shrimp Fried Rice

3 cups cooked rice (preferably day old from the fridge)

3 pieces of Chinese sausage diced

1/2 cup medium shrimp peeled and deveined

2 eggs beaten

1 cup frozen peas and carrots

1/4 cup sliced green onions

1/2 onion diced

3 cloves garlic minced

4 tbsp of soy sauce

salt and pepper to taste

have all the ingredients ready because stir frying is quick and on high heat. ingredients will burn quickly

-in hot wok/teflon pan start with the scrambled egg. cook 10 seconds and remove from the wok

-then fry the sausage until lightly browned then add the garlic and onion. 

-add the carrots and peas

-then add the rice and quickly break up the clumps

-season with soy sauce, salt and pepper

-lastly, add the shrimp, the green onions and the scrambled egg then stir for about 2 minutes or just until the shrimp is cooked

serve hot and enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

The 4 year old isn't a big fan of meat. I have a feeling she just doesn't like to chew the meat, so ever since she was able to eat solids, it's been ground meat made in to her favorites. She does get tired of the same old dish so I have to change it up. Siu Mai to Spring rolls to 5 spice pork and now....the meat ball. She calls all the food she likes her favorite. If it's red and sweet....it's her favorite. It's so hard to get this littler person to eat sometimes and I'm sure many of you can relate. Hopefully this one becomes a new favorite by the Boss Lady....

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
2 eggs
1 cup small diced red onions
4 clove garlic minced
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
4 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for an hour
brown the meatballs in a pan then finish them off in the oven for 15 minutes at 375.
you can also just cook them off in the oven for 30 mins at 375.

Sweet and Sour sauce

1 tbsp sliced ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp diced red onion
2 tbsp diced red bell pepper
5 tbsp ketchup
1/8 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
(slurry: 1 tsp of cornstarch in 1/4 cup of water)
pinch of salt

in medium heat, sweat the garlic and ginger and when fragrant, add the onion and bell pepper

saute for a minute then add the ketchup and stir for another minute
add the water and vinegar and bring to a boil then add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
whisk in the slurry, stir for another minute on low heat.

Black Bean Braised Country Style Ribs

The boneless Country Style Ribs you see at the supermarket are usually from the shoulder, cut in to strips. These are cheaper cuts and would typically be the tougher cuts of meat so low and slow would be the way to go. Just because it's cheaper doesn't  mean the quality goes out the window. These particular cuts have tons of flavor in them as compared to their easy to dry out counterparts. In my opinion, braising is a great cooking method because it is almost impossible to mess up and once it's on the stove, you can just walk away from it and do something else while it works it's magic. Whether it's a lazy Sunday or a hectic Monday, this recipe will fit right in the schedule just as long as you plan ahead.

Black Bean Braised Country Style Ribs

2 lbs Country style ribs

1 cup rough chopped carrots

1 cup rough chopped celery (or Chinese celery)

1 cup rough chopped yellow onions

5 cloves garlic smashed

1 large knuckle of ginger peeled and rough sliced

1 cup Chinese rice wine

1 1/2 tbsp whole fermented black beans (or the prepared jarred black bean sauce will suffice)

2 tbsp sized chunk of rock sugar (granulated sugar will do)

2 pieces star anise

1 bay leaf

3  pieces dried Shiitake mushroom

1 tsp sesame oil

salt and pepper 

(optional step)

2 tbsp thin sliced green onion

2 tbsp chopped parsley or Chinese celery tops

2 tbsp butter

2 cups Crimini mushroom quartered

what packaging for rock sugar, rice wine and black beans would looks like

Cut the meat in to 2 inch strips and season both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat up the pot or a Dutch oven with a about 4 tbps of oil and sear the meat on all sides. this helps seal in the juices and also adds flavor to your dish.

When the meat is done searing, drain some of the oil and with the fire on medium high, drop the ginger and garlic for about a minute then follow it with the carrots, celery and onions.

Once fragrant, about 2 minutes or so, deglaze the pot with the Chinese rice wine and with a wooden spoon, scrape up the brown bits left from searing the pork. 

Reduce by half then remove from the fire.

Now add the meat back in to the pot along with the black beans, star anise, dried Shiitake mushrooms, bay leaf and rock sugar then add water to cover the meat. 

Bring this to a boil then lower the fire to a low simmer.

Meat should be fork tender in about an hour and a half.

Essentially, at this point the dish is done and ready to eat, but why not turn it into a restaurant quality dish with just a few easy steps? 

Remove the meat from the pot and strain off the braising liquid. Skim off some of the fat on top then put the braising liquid back in to the pot and reduce it by half. Once reduced, add your mushrooms and stir for a minute then whisk in the cold butter to thicken the sauce. Remove from the fire and add the herbs. Arrange the meat in a bowl and drizzle the sauce over the top. Serve with rice or pasta.

This recipe would also work great in a slow cooker. Leave the carrots in larger sizes and add some whole creamer mushrooms and serve it with some hearty bread. 

Give the recipe a try and let us know how you like it!

Pork and Shrimp Siu Mai

A craving is a powerful thing, I tell ya. Dim Sum. It has been a while and it has taken it's toll. Back in L.A., if you wanted Dim Sum, it was 20 minutes away. Wherever you were.... there was a joint 20 minutes away and it was GOOD. Downtown L.A. or Alhambra/Monterey Park or Hacienda/Rowland Heights or Anaheim... well you get the point. Here? I haven't had any. I have been told about this "one place" in Orlando and it was "pretty good"... Look, there's just no way I was going to drive a ridiculous hour for this "one place" which was "pretty good". You're gonna have to do better than that. I want "this place is so *expletive* good that after driving an hour, you'll gladly have the grouchy waiter spill a whole pitcher of water all over your khakis because the Siu Mai is just THAT...DAMN...GOOD.

Maybe some other time...If i'm in the area we'll give it a try and with soaking khakis, tell you all about how great it was..... But not today. I'm going to knock this one out and then I'm going to teach my little girl how to ride her bike...without training wheels. Let's Rock.

A few notes before hand. For the sake of getting as close to authentic as possible, try not to use ground pork. Grab a pack of pork stewing meat, which is usually pork shoulder and mince it yourself. Don't worry if you have bigger pieces than others. That's the whole point of it. You'll end up with a better texture and a juicier dumpling because ground pork will tend to dry up on you. Another is MSG. Oh the evil MSG. If it makes you sick? Omit. If not.. well put it this way, if you ended up going to the Dim Sum place, you would have consumed much much more than your conscience would allow you if it was you putting it in your dish... either way it's up to you. Last thing, do not use wonton wrappers. Make sure it says Shu mai or Siu Mai and it has Hong Kong style and or thin wrappers. They are yellow and most of the time square. Trust me there is a huge difference and you will be much happier with the end product.

Siu Mai

1 lb pork, minced
1/4 lb shrimp peeled, deveined  and rough chopped
2 tbsp rough chopped reconstituted dried shiitake mushrooms
2 tbsp rough chopped water chestnuts
1 egg white
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp Xiao Xing cooking wine
2 tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp MSG
(carrot for topping) optional

Mix everything thoroughly then cover and keep in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Stuff the wrappers and should come out between 16-20 dumplings. Steam on high for 10 minutes.

Give the recipe a shot. Leave us a comment and let us know how you like the recipe! Thanks and see us again!