Beef Kaldereta

Kaldereta is a classic Filipino dish which can be used to cook goat, beef, pork, chicken and even fish but my favourite one is always using beef. There’s something about that rich sweet and sour goodness that just hits the spot for me!

The secret is to always use the tough cuts of beef, specially for long hours of slow cooking to get all their flavors, searing them properly then slow cooking lots of onions and garlic till caramelized and freshly boiled, pureed chicken livers (not the canned ones - it makes a difference!). Using beef stock or beef stock mixed with a can of beer is a recommended option if you have more time! Once you had a taste of this, you’ll be hooked!

Ingredients

1 kg of stewing beef (brisket, short ribs or boneless shanks)
400g of white onions (or more), finely chopped
250g of tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 cup of finely minced garlic
4 red capsicum (2 finely chopped; 2 cut in wedges for garnish)
1/2 cup of tomato paste
1 – 2 bay leaf
salt to taste
4 tablespoons of olive oil (NOT extra virgin olive oil)
250g of chicken livers (cleaned, boiled and pureed till smooth)
4-5 potatoes (washed and cut into wedges)
12 green olives (stoned or pitted)
3/4 cup of frozen sweet peas
2-3 birds eye chili, chopped (reduce if you cannot take the heat)
chopped parsley for garnish
cooking oil for deep frying the potatoes

For seasoning: Salt, Pepper, Tomato Ketchup (Banana Ketchup)

Instructions

Cut the beef into 2 inch chunks.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy sauce pan or casserole for cooking the stew. Over high heat, brown the beef chunks, in batches – be patient and take care to brown all the sides. Searing the beef chunks is an important step! Set aside the seared beef chunks.

Using the remaining oil, add the chopped onions first, slowly cooking them on medium heat and constantly stirring them until they turn slightly light brown in colour. At this time, take care to use the onions to scrape the caramelized brown bits from the beef off the base and sides of the casserole or pan (this is the flavor!). Do not rush this process, the flavor base of the stew comes from your caramelized onions!

Add your garlic and stir for a while, then add the tomatoes, bay leaf, chili peppers and chopped bell peppers. Cook until the vegetables are soft then add the tomato paste. You can then add your seared beef chunks at this stage – mix well.

Pour in about 2-3 cups of water (you can replace this with beef stock or mix in a can of San Miguel beer!) stir well and bring to a boil.

Lower the heat, cover and simmer for two hours or until the meat is fork tender. Stir occasionally during cooking. If the sauce becomes too dry before the meat is cooked, add more water (beef stock or beer!), about half a cup at a time.

While the beef is simmering, prepare the potatoes. Wash, peel and cut them into wedges. Heat enough cooking oil to deep fry the potatoes. When the oil is hot enough (adding flour will create lots of sizzling bubbles), add the potato wedges and cook until golden. Drain and set aside.

When the beef is cooked, add the fried potatoes, chilies, peas, olives, wedges of bell pepper and mashed chicken liver. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

At this stage, you can adjust the seasonings to your liking. The Filipinos love to add ketchup and extra salt at this stage but if you can get yourself the popular banana ketchup, feel free to use it to add flavor! Add the chopped parsley and simmer a little while just before serving your guests! Serve hot on steamed rice! Oh yes!

Durian Crème Brulee

Have you ever wondered what a durian crème brulee would taste like? Imagine – the rich flavours of the durian but with the texture of a soft creamy custard. Hmmm… that’s heaven on a spoon I tell ya! During the durian season, I had an abundance of durian, so I decided to make some durian crème brulee. Since durian is already rich on its own, one does not need to use cream for this recipe. I used the good old evaporated milk for this recipe.

4 ramekins or 6 shallow ramekins

500ml evaporated milk
150g durian flesh (the white or yellow varieties)
6 egg yolks
60g (1/4 cup) white sugar
Pinch of salt
4 - 6 tsp of white sugar for the caramelized tops.

Preheat oven to 150 degrees celcius
Place a kitchen towel or silicone baking mat in the bottom of a large roasting pan and place the ramekins in the pan. Bring a kettle of water to a boil.

Combine the evaporated milk, sugar and durian into a blender and blend till smooth.  Bring the  mixture to a gentle simmer over medium heat, remove the pan from heat.
Add the warm mixture into your beaten egg yolks mixture VERY slowly to ensure you don’t cook the eggs. Remember to stir while adding the liquid.

After that, pour through a sieve to get rid of any lumps from durians or eggs.

Pull out the oven rack and place the roasting pan on the rack. You can either pour the custard mixture into the ramekins first then pour the boiling water in the roasting pan, or pour the boiling water first, then the custard. I like pouring the boiling water first into the pan followed by the custard into the ramekins to minimize splashing water into the custard. Pour the water until it reaches 2/3 up the side of the ramekins. Carefully slide the rack back into the oven.

Bake until the center of the custards are barely sit, not sloshy but a little jiggly.
Transfer the ramekins to a wire rack to cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Then transfer to a rimmed baking sheet, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cold at least 4 hours or overnight. You can keep this in the fridge up to four days.

Before bruleeing, place a paper towel on the surface on the custards to soak up any moisture. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of sugar on the surface (may need to use more for shallow dishes), tilt and shake the ramekin so the sugar covers the surface completely, and brulee until the sugar forms a caramel colored crust.

 

Oh custardy durian goodness!! Muacks!!

Avocado Ice Cream

Here's a recipe for Avocado Ice Cream - I am still researching making Green Tea ice cream using Avocadoes, replacing the eggs in the recipe - wondering if avocados would affect the flavour.

Usually Green Tea ice creams use artificial flavourings to get that green colour. Substituting the eggs wih avocados would give the green tea the natural green colour and also adds lots of health benefits. Just concerned only with the flavour of the green tea. Will only find out if I tried it. If anyone else has attempted it, please post your comments. For now, here's the easy recipe for Avocado Ice Cream

1 large avocado
2 tablespoons orange or lime juice
2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream

Peel and roughly chop the avocados. In a blender, combine the avocado, orange juice, and egg yolks, and blend to a fine puree.

In a medium size bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and whisk in the sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time.

In a separate bowl whip the heavy cream until it forms peaks. Gently fold in the egg white mixture and the avocado puree into the whipped cream. Pour the mixture into a freezer tray, cover, and freeze for several hours.

To serve, scoop out into a dish and garnish with whipped cream or fruit.

Someone Like You

I was browsing friendster one day - and I came across this song sung by Sissel.

Sissel Kyrkjebø, or fondly known as just Sissel is a Norwegian singer. She is best known for singing the Olympic Hymn (Hymne Olympique) at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, for duets with Plácido Domingo, Warren G and The Chieftains, and for participation on the Titanic film soundtrack. Her work on the soundtrack to Titanic has led to comparisons with Irish singer Enya.

She has such a heavenly voice!

Download ‘Sissel - Someone Like You’ MP3

I highly recommend this song. Now I know this is a food blog but occasionally I will post some non-cooking related stuff. However, I'll post a recipe here that matches her heavenly voice and that's heavenly Double Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins!

Double Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins.
Ingredients
75 g cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups flour
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt 1 egg (beaten)
60 g butter (melted)
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 190°C Beat cream cheese & 2 tbsp sugar together & set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, chocolate chips, 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa, baking powder & salt.

3. Make a well in the centre. Pour in egg, butter & milk stirring till just moist.

4. Spoon some chocolate batter into each muffin tin & drop 1 tsp of cream cheese mixture on top. Then cover with chocolate batter. Basically you'll have a cheesecake centre.

5. Bake 15-20 min till springy to touch.

So bake the nice heavenly muffins and enjoy the music. Bon Appetit!

Chai Kuih (Crystal Vegetable Dumpling)

Chai kuih or Choi Pau means vegetable cake. Basically, its stir fried vegetables(usually turnip) wrapped in crystal like dough skin Sometimes there is a pork or chicken filling in it. The skin is slightly sticky but has a very nice chewy texture. The vegetables inside are crunchy and delicious. Below's the recipe to make your very own chai kuih at home. They don't cost very much but for those who are overseas or always wanted to make their own, here's the recipe. This is clearly one of my favourite snacks and since it's steamed, it's quite a healthy treat!

Ingredients
Crystal dough:

180g wheat starch flour (tang meen fun) 90g tapioca flour 375ml boiling hot water 1/2 tsp salt 1 tbsp shortening or corn oil Filling: 300g yam bean (sengkuang), peeled and shredded 200g carrots, finely shredded 25g dried shrimps, chopped 1 tsp chopped garlic 2 tbsp oil Seasoning: 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste 1/4 tsp sugar Dash of pepper 1/4 tsp chicken stock granules Method Sift wheat starch flour and tapioca flour into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre. Melt salt in the boiling hot water. Stir boiling water into the flour and mix into a lumpy dough. Add shortening and knead dough until smooth. Form a cylindrical roll. Cut into 25 equal pieces. Lightly grease a cleaver and flatten each piece of the cut dough into thin circles using the flat side of the cleaver. Place a tablespoon of cooked filling in the centre of the dough. Fold it into half and gather the outer edge of the circle to form pleats, then pinch the edges together. Do the same for the rest of the dough pieces. Place dumplings in a greased bamboo basket. Steam over rapid boiling water for six to seven minutes. Glaze with garlic oil after steaming. To make the filling: Heat oil, saute garlic and add dried prawns. Stir-fry until aromatic. Mix in yam bean and carrots and stir-fry well. Add seasoning and cook until vegetables turn soft and liquid thickens. Dish out filling to cool and drain off gravy before using as a filling for the dough.

NOTE: Tang meen fun is actually the normal wheat flour which has all its gluten (protein part) removed.

Guacamole

In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned Avocados - the healthy fruit. Here's a very classic use of Avocados - GUACAMOLE Dips! They are very tasty and heavenly with chips.

4 avocados
2 mangos, diced
1 red onion, diced
1 bunch cilantro (coriander), chopped
1 red bell pepper (capsicum), diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper

Peel and remove the skin from the avocados. Place the avocados in a large bowl and crush them using a fork. Add the mangos, onion, cilantro, bell pepper, olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Mix until well blended but chunky.

To serve, place on a platter with your favorite dipping chips.