Mustard and herb-crusted lamb shoulder

Again, this is one of those "non-recipes" that I have :)

I used a 4-lb boneless lamb shoulder here.

Rub:
1 heaping tbsp. whole grain mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
big handful of fresh herbs (I used what I had in my herb planter)
     1 sprig rosemary
     3 sprigs thyme
     flat leaf parsley
     2 leaves of sage
     oregano
     1 sprig basil

(Use whatever you can find.  I find that this is a great way to use up extra herbs you have in the fridge as well.  If you don't have fresh herbs, dry works too.  Just remember that you need about 1/4 to 1/3 the amount of dry to fresh herbs)

Blitz all of the above in a small food processor and rub all over the shoulder.  Marinate for 4-6 hours, or overnight, in the fridge.

Take meat out of fridge about an hour before cooking to bring it closer to room temperature.  Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Stick a thermometer into the thickest part of your meat and roast meat until thermometer registers 145 degrees.  It took about 2 hours for this piece.  Rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.

I served this with the drippings (skin off the fat!) and some mint jelly. 

Roasted veal shank

I binge-watched "Mind of a Chef" one weekend and got hooked on April Bloomfield.  Her vision, her honesty, and her down-to-earth approach to cooking and eating really resonated with me.  One the episodes I enjoyed the most showed her cooking with Marcella Hazan.  This is one of the dishes they cooked together.

For those of you who have been reading this blog from the very beginning, you know my profession of love for Marcella Hazan.  Her cookbook has been a great source of inspiration and imagination.  It's sad the she is now gone, but her legacy truly lives on in her food.

This is not truly a recipe but rather a technique.  But the end result was so good, I don't think I would even tweak it much.

4-5 lb veal shank
1/4 cup olive oil
salt

5 shallots or 2 onions, sliced
1 whole garlic, separated into cloves, not peeled
1 cup dry white wine

Salsa verde (optional)

To make:

Rub the shank with oil and salt.  Place in a roasting pan just large enough to hold the shank.  Heat oven to 400 degrees and roast the shank for 2 hours, turning every 30 mins.

Lower oven to 300.  Place the onions or shallots and garlic around the shank and roast for 10-15 minutes.  Add the wine to the bottom of the pan and roast the shank for another 2 hours or so, basting every so often with the wine and aromatics.

The texture you are looking for is slightly crunchy on the outside, soft and slightly chewy on the inside.  You want the end product to be unctuous and tender but not falling off the bone.

Let shank rest for 15 mins then carve.  Serve with the remaining liquid and aromatics in the pan.  Some salsa verde adds a bit of freshness and acidity.

Salsa verde: I like to use parsley, arugula, basil, capers, vinegar and oil.  Blitz until it comes together.

Asian Baked Chicken

This is what a perfect week night dinner recipe should be...easy, inexpensive, delicious, and most of all, fast.

I adapted this recipe from here but instead of chopping the aromatics, I grate them.  Much, much quicker.  And all moms know that on week nights, every minute counts!

I marinate the chicken the night before so that I can just pop the entire thing in the oven when I get home.  But if you're using boneless chicken pieces, even just a couple of hours in the marinade is enough.

Anyway, here goes...

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1-2 tbsp grated ginger (depending on how much you like ginger!)
5-6 cloves of garlic, grated
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
10-12 pieces of chicken

For the chicken, I sometimes buy a whole one and have it chopped, or I use a combination of chicken pieces (like in the photo above), or I will also use boneless, skin-on thighs or breasts.  You can use skinless chicken pieces too but I find that it dries up too much before the sauce gets nicely caramelized.

And another tip: When I buy ginger, I cut them up into 2-3 inch pieces and grate as I need. I could never finish those huge pieces and used to end up throwing a lot of shriveled ginger.  Now, I always have fresh ginger on hand.  Plus, if you grate it, you don't even have to peel!  How grate (pun intended) is that?!

On to the rest of the recipe...

In an oven proof dish, mix the first 6 ingredients.  Coat chicken pieces well with the marinade and leave for 12-24 hours in the fridge.  When you're ready to cook, take the chicken out about an hour before to let it come as close to room temperature as possible.  Bake in a 475 degree oven for 30-45 minutes.  Baking time will largely depend on what pieces you decide to use and whether you use bone-in or boneless chicken.  If you don't get that nice crust on top and the chicken is already done, turn on the broiler for a few minutes.  Watch closely because the sugar in the marinade will cause it to burn quickly.

Serve with lots of white rice to sop up all the sticky, sweet, savory sauce.

Braised short ribs

I found this recipe from Anne Burrell and was intrigued by the fact the the mire poix in her recipe is not chopped but pureed.  Plus, she also asks you to from a crud.  Now any recipe with the word crud is certainly worth trying!

Here's the recipe

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/braised-short-ribs-recipe/index.html

And here's my finished product:

I have to say, crud makes for very good short ribs!

Sweet and sour meat balls

Once in a while, I like to pretend I'm on Iron Chef or Chopped :)

I had more beef patties left over after I made this so I checked my pantry and looked at what I wanted to finish off.  I found half a bottle of teriyaki sauce, 1/3 bottle of banana catsup, 1 can of mandarin orange slices in syrup and these: packets of ketchup and chili sauce from previous take out and delivery meals:

So I divided up the beef patties into meat balls and stuck them in a 450 degree oven for 20 minutes to brown.  Into a sauce pan went the teriyaki sauce, banana catsup, the entire can of oranges with the syrup, 1/2 cup of water, 1 tsp of garlic powder, 1 diced onion, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds, several packets of tomato ketchup, and several packets of chili sauce.

I simmered the sauce for a few minutes then threw in the browned meat balls.  Simmered again for 15 minutes or so until all the flavors came together and the sauce thickened up to just the right consistency.

Success!  I love it when I'm able to put a dish together on the fly, made with ingredients just sitting in the pantry.  And using up the chili sauce and ketchup packets cluttering my kitchen...that was the best part :)

Burger steak

We had a barbeque a couple of days ago and I set up a burger bar here at home.  Chili, sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, 3 kinds of pickles, the works.  Of course, true to Filipino form, I bought too much food and now had to contend with lots and lots of burger patties in the fridge.  It's a good thing Son #1 absolutely loves, and I mean LOVES, burger steak.

6 large beef patties (got mine from Costco so they were gigantic) or 12 smaller ones
1 can low-sodium Campbell's cream of mushroom soup
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 large onion, sliced into rings
steak seasoning
1 tbsp. whole grain mustard

1.  In a large pan, brown patties well on both sides.  They don't have to be cooked all the way through, but a nice brown crust is essential.
2.  In the same pan, saute the onions and mushrooms.
3.  Add the mushroom soup.  Fill the can with water and pour that in as well.
4.  Mix in the mustard and season with steak seasoning (alternatively you could use liquid seasoning, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, beef bouillon, or even just salt and pepper).
5.  Place the patties back into the pan, partially submerging them in the sauce.
6.  Cover and simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes until beef is cooked through.
7.  Uncover and continue to simmer until sauce thickens a bit.  Adjust seasoning to taste.

Son #1, this is for you :)

Sausage, mushroom and apple stuffing

This was our Thanksgiving table this year :-)

I made this stuffing (in the boat-shaped container on the left), which I baked outside the turkey. I find that that gives me better control of how cooked I want the stuffing and the bird to be. Plus I like my stuffing with some crisp parts, which you can't get if you cook it inside the bird. Don't forget the gravy and cranberry sauce!

500g package mild Italian sausage, casing removed
2 apples, chopped into half inch cubes
2 cups chopped mushrooms (I used cremini)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, mined
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
3 eggs, beaten
salt
pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp. dried fennel
1 whole baguette, cut into 1 inch cubes (about 7-8 cups of bread cubes)

1. Saute the sausage and break up the meat as it cooks.
2. When the sausage is no longer pink, add the onion and garlic.
3. When the onionis soft, add the celery. Saute for a few minutes until the celery softens.
4. Add the apples and mushrooms, season with salt, pepper, thyme and fennel.
5. Saute until everything is cooked and the flavors meld together.
6. In a large bowl, put the bread and pour in the sausage mixture.
7. Pour in the milk, broth and eggs.
8. Mix everything well until the bread has soaked up all the liquid.
9. Bake in a 9x13 pan at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

Braised lamb shanks

I didn't write this recipe down (again!) but it was very, very good! If I remember correctly, it was just a basic braise.

Season meat. Brown. Remove from pot. Saute the mirepoix. Add one cinammon stick, bay leaf, oregano, rosemary. Put meat back in. Add whole tomatoes in juice. Cover and braise for a couple of hours. Remove meat. Stick under broiler while thickening the sauce. Serve with carbs of choice, in this case roasted carrots, roasted yams and herbed rice.

Sorry no proportions!

Meatloaf

This was another quick, throw-it-together-in-15-minutes dinner that came out very well! I was able to make two loaf pans of meatloaf, one of which we had for dinner and the other one the boys took for lunch the next day. This is the first meatloaf I've ever made so I haven't been to tweak the recipe and explore the possibilities yet. I have to say though that for the amount of effort I put into this, the returns were certainly much greater :-)

750 g. lean ground beef
750 g. lean ground pork
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup bottled BBQ sauce
2 tbsp. onion soup mix (this is probably optional)
salt and pepper to taste
6-8 strips of bacon, cut in half

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except the bacon.
2. Mix well. I used my electric mixer so as it was doing its job, I prepared the potatoes that I roasted along with the meatloaf.
3. Line 2 loaf pans with bacon, overlapping the strips a tiny bit.
4. Divide the meat mixture into 2 and place in the pans. Pack firmly.
5. Bake in a 350 oven for 40-45 minutes.
6. Get a sheet pan, remove the loaf pans from the oven, and invert the loaves onto the sheet pan.
7. Put the sheet pan in the over and bake about 15 minutes more until the bacon browns and crisps us a bit.

A few notes...you can nuke a tiny, tiny bit of the meatloaf in the microwave for 10 seconds or so. By doing this, you can taste the product and adjust the seasoning before baking the entire thing.

Next time, I think I'm going to sneak in some veggies (like chopped carrots). I'm thinking some sauteed chopped onions will improve the recipe too.

Callos ala Madrilena

I've mentioned that being under Spanish rule for 300 years has left an indelible mark on Filipino culture. This dish is another testament to that.

I grew up with my mom's Callos frequently gracing the buffet table during special occasions like Christmases and birthdays. As a child, I often skipped over this dish and gravitated toward more mainstream fare like pasta and fried chicken and lechon. But as I got older and my tastebuds matured, I began to appreciate the complex marriage of the tripe, chorizo and ham, slowly simmered until the flavors became one. It's been a while since I've had my mom's Callos...years and years and years. But the memory has been imprinted in my culinary consciousness.

I was walking around the grocery one day, and lo and behold, they had lots and lots of tripe! Cleaned, parboiled and packaged ever so neatly, they called to me and gave me the perfect opportunity to finally try my hand at making one of my mom's specialties. After I bought the tripe, off to the Latin market I went to buy fresh chorizos and a day later, there it was.

I didn't have a recipe so I cooked it al oido (which literally translates to by ear...my mom uses this phrase a lot to mean just play it by ear/just wing it/make it up as you go along...anyway, you get the idea). It turned our really well. Really, really well. And there was A LOT of it. Much more than what our family of four could consume. Besides, the 2 kids weren't crazy about tripe. It was seredipitous that a day later, we were going to Tito O and Tita M's house to celebrate Lola H's 96th (!!!) birthday. So I brought this huge container of Callos and it became part of a wonderful celebration, just like the Callos of my childhood.

Callos ala Madrilena

400 g beef tendon, sliced into 1-inch pieces
500 g tripe, cleaned and sliced into 2 inch long strips
3 pcs. chorizo (sliced if using canned/dried, removed from casing and crumbled if using fresh)
1-2 cups chopped ham
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 red pepper, diced
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 can tomato paste
1 can whole tomatoes
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. chili flakes
1/2 cup grated sharp cheese
1 cup green olives, drained
2 tbsp. knorr seasoning
1-2 cups beef broth
1 large can chick peas/garbanzos, drained
sugar to taste
salt to taste

1. In a large, heavy pot, saute the onion and pepper in the olive oil until soft.
2. Add the chorizo and saute until it renders it fat.
3. Add ham, paprika and tomato paste.
4. Add the tripe and tendon and saute for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, pepper, chili flakes, knorr and pepper.
6. Cover with a tight lid and simmer slowly for 4-5 hours, until the tripe and tendon are very tender. Check every so often to stir and make sure that it doesn't dry up. Add beef broth as needed just to keep the sauce going.
7. When tender, add garbanzos, olives and cheese. Adjust seasoning with salt and sugar.
8. Simmer for 15 minutes more to help all the flavors meld together.

The seasoning of this dish will depend a lot on the flavor of the chorizo that you use. I was lucky enough to find fresh chorizo. But I'm sure canned or dried chorizo would taste just as good. The amount of salt you will need depends on how salty the other components of the dish are, so wait until everything is tender and adjust your seasonings then.

Sugar is something that I think many people underuse when cooking savory dishes, especially tomato-based ones. Vine-ripened tomatoes are very sweet and when picked at the peak of their flavor probably would not need any additional sugar. However, I find that canned tomatoes lose a lot of that sweetness and they often do not have that balance of sugar and acid. So I often will add a pinch (or more) of sugar to many of my tomato-based dishes. Of course this is a matter of preference and if you don't like any hint of sweetness in your savories, just omit this ingredient. You will regret it though. Hehe!

Chicken Casserole ala Campbell

What can you make with chicken thighs, a can of Campbell Cream of Mushroom Soup and some imagination? You can come up with a dinner that's surpisingly very good and extremely easy to make!

Chicken Casserole ala Campbell
8 chicken thighs, trimmed of excess skin and fat
garlic seasoning (which I got from Costco...I think any steak seasoning would make a good sub)
3 shallots, sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 can water
1 tsp. pepper
salt to taste (if necessary)
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. whole grain mustard

1. Sprinkle chicken generously with seasoning.
2. Over medium-high heat, heat oil in an oven-proof skillet (I used an enamelled cast-iron one).
3. Brown chicken on all sides. Set aside.
4. Saute shallots until soft.
5. Add soup, water, pepper, worcestershire sauce and mustard. Mix with a whisk until smooth.
6. Taste and adjust the seasoning at this point.
7. Place chicken in the skillet.
8. Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes.
9. During the last 5 minutes or so, turn on the broiler to brown and crisp up the chicken skin. Watch that it doesn't burn! (I'm notorious for this!)

I served this with smashed potatoes with the sauce as the gravy. Another "make again" dish for me.

Apple-Onion Pork Chops with Smashed Garlic Potatoes

It's only been 3 days, yet I feel like I haven't posted since forever! Well, for Tuesday night, we had M over and it was pasta for dinner, but I used bacon instead of chorizo. Then Wednesday night was left-overs for the boys since I had a work thing. So to make up for left-over night, for dinner we had this...

Apple-Onion Pork Chops

6 pork chops, boneless, each about 3/4 inch thick
kosher salt
pepper
2 fuji apples, peeled and diced
1 sweet onion, sliced
1 heaping tsp. whole grain mustard
4 sage leaves
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth

1. Season chops generously with salt and pepper.
2. In a heavy skillet, sear meat until both sides are well browned.
3. Remove meat from skillet, lower heat to medium and add onions and apples.
4. Saute until onions are partly softened, about 5-7 minutes.
5. Deglaze pan with white wine and add mustard and sage.
6. Reduce until almost all of wine has evaporated.
7. Add chicken broth.
8. Return chops into skillet along with juices.
9. Finish in a 375 oven for 15 minutes.

I served this dish with smashed garlic potatoes, which is one of my favorite ways of preparing potatoes. The skin provides a wonderful contrast to the rustic creaminess of the potato chunks.

Smashed Garlic Potatoes

6 Yukon gold potatoes, washed well
1 tbsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup cream or milk
salt and pepper

1. Boil potatoes with their skins on until tender.
2. Drain. In a large bowl, use a potato masher or a large sturdy fork to smash potatoes. Smash the skins as well. You want small and large chunks, not a homogenous, mushy mass.
3. In a small skillet, heat butter and brown garlic just until fragrant. Pour butter and garlic into smashed potatoes.
4. Add cream/milk and season with salt and pepper.
5. Mix everything together until well blended.

Brown Sugar and Mustard Roast Pork

I felt like making a nice dinner tonight. Our menu:

Goat cheese and arugula salad with pears, dates and walnuts

Brown sugar and mustard-crusted roast pork

Rosemary-garlic duo of potatoes

Brown Sugar and Mustard-Crusted Roast Pork

*2 tbsp. whole grain mustard
*1 tbsp. packed brown sugar
*1 tsp. salt
*1/2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
*1 tbsp. olive oil
*1 tsp. dried rosemary
*6 cloves garlic, each clove sliced into 4 slivers
*1 to 1.5 kg pork roast

1. Mix first six ingredients and set aside.

2. Stab pork roast in several places and insert garlic sliver into each hole.

3. Put pork in roasting pan and rub with mustard mixture. Let stand to marinate for a couple of hours.

4. Roast in a 350 oven until thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 140, approximately 60-90 mintes. Once your thermometer reads 140, turn oven to 500 and finish roast for another 10 minutes. You can also use the broiler for 5-7 minutes.

5. Let roast sit for 10-15 minutes before carving.


Rosemary-Garlic Duo of Potatoes

*6 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cubed into 2 inch pieces, skin on
*2 yams/sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed into 2 inch pieces
*3 tsp. minced garlic
*1/2 cup olive oil
*2 tsp. kosher salt
*1 tsp. cracked black pepper

1. Toss everything together.
2. Roast in 350 oven for 30-45 minutes.
3. Brown under broiler or put back in oven when you raise the roast temp. to 500.
4. Watch closely because the sweet potatoes can burn. Brown for about 5 minutes.

Goat Cheese and Arugula Salad with Pears, Dates and Walnuts
*3 cups arugula leaves
*2 slices goat cheese, cubed
*1 bosc pear sliced
*1/2 cup walnuts, toasted lightly
*4 dried dates
*2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
*3 tbsp. olive oil

1. In a small skillet, saute pear slices and dates in a bit of olive oil until pear slices are lightly caramelized.
2. Toss with arugula, goat cheese and walnuts.
3. Dress with an emulsion of 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar and 3 tbsp. olive oil.

Ribs and Rolls

Another successful dinner tonight...Korean BBQ beef ribs and Vietnamese rolls. I had originally planned to grill the beef but alas, the weather did not cooperate. It's been raining on and off since 2 days ago. Not a very good start for the summer...

So I used the broiler and the ribs still turned out very well. We just had to contend with the smoke detector. Hehe!



KOREAN BBQ BEEF RIBS

3 lbs beef ribs (Korean style cut)
1 cup light soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar (dark brown, preferably)
2 tbsp. vinegar
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. grated ginger
1/2 tsp. chili in oil (optional)
1 tsp. sesame oil

1. Marinate ribs for a few hours.
2. Grill or broil until charred in a few spots
3. Serve with rice, lettuce leaves and kimchi. The lettuce is used to wrap a small portion of rice topped with some beef, like so...

Now for the VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS

For 6 rolls, you will need:

• 6 rice paper wrappers
• 9 pcs. shrimp, boiled/steamed, shelled then cut in half (butterfly style)
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• a handful of rice vermicelli, soaked in boiling water until soft
• 18 very thin cucumber slices
• 18 thai basil leaves

1. Soak the rice paper wrapper in a bowl of water for several seconds until slightly soft.
2. Wrap all the ingredients.
3. Serve with dipping sauce.

For the dipping sauce, mix:

• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 tbsp. water
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. sweet chili sauce
• 3 thai basil leaves, sliced thinly
• 3 slices cucumber, sliced into thin strips

Porkchops bistek-style

I miss calamansi. Bistek is not the same, pancit is incomplete and nilaga with lemon and patis just isn't quite right. But nonetheless, we need to make do with what we have, so here goes.

Bistek (Pork version)

-- I know, I know. Bistek means beef, but I only had porkchops in the fridge.

8 porkchops (about 1/2 inch thick) or 500g thinly sliced beef

1/2 cup dark soy sauce

2 tbsp. kikkoman soy sauce

juice of 1-2 lemons (depends on how sour you like it and how big the lemons are)

1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce

pepper

1 large sweet onion, sliced into rings

2 tbsp. oil

1. Marinate meat in the next 6 ingredients for about an hour then drain well. Set marinade aside.

2. In a pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Cook the onions until lightly caramelized. Set aside.

3. In the same pan, cook porkchops in 2 batches, letting each batch brown well before cooking the next.

4. Once both batches are browned, return meat to pan, add the marinade and simmer for about 15 minutes.

5. Add the onions last and simmer for a few minutes more.

6. Done! Quick and easy :-)

Note: Some soy sauces are saltier than others.

Suggestion: Taste your marinade before putting the meat in. Adjust accordingly.

Beef with Broccoli

Surprisingly, my 2 sons LOVE broccoli. And other cruciferous vegetables too. I've fed them cauliflower, kale, rapini, broccolini, chinese broccoli, broccoflower, bok choy, cabbage, watercress, and even the dreaded brussel sprouts. They will eat them all! In fact, among Son #2's favorite foods is kale. Weird, no?

Stir fried beef with broccoli, because it's a complete meal in itself (with rice of course), is a staple recipe in our household. The thing about today's version is that...

...the hubby cooked it! Yes, my husband, whose culinary skill is limited to frying Spam, actually cooked. Of course I did most of the prep work like slicing the beef. But his first foray into cooking was a resounding success :-) Sa uulitin! Hehe!

Beef with Broccoli

Beef

300-400 grams flank steak, sliced across the grain into thin pieces

2 tbsp chinese cooking wine

3 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp pepper

Sauce

1/2 cup beef broth

4-5 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

2 heads broccoli, cut into florets

2 tbsp oil

4 slices ginger

1 tsp chopped garlic

3 stalks green onion, chopped into 2 inch pieces

1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp water

sesame oil

1. Marinate beef in next 3 ingredients for abour 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, parboil broccoli. We use a microwave broccoli steamer. Make sure not to over cook.

3. Mix the ingredients for the sauce together. Set aside.

4. In a stir fry pan (I use a wok but I let hubby use a non-stick pan--less tricky to work with), heat 2 tbsp oil. When hot, put in garlic, ginger and green onions. Saute for about a minute.

5. Put in beef. Spread around pan to let it caramelize a bit. Don't touch for about a minute then start sauteeing with the aromatics.

6. Once the beef is no longer pink, add broccoli and sauce mixture.

7. When the sauce comes to a boil, add in the cornstarch mixture and cook until the sauce thickens.

8. Add a few drops of sesame oil to finish the dish.

This dish comes together in no time at all. The only thing is that you have to work fast because you're going to be working with high heat. Such is the beauty of stir-fry. It's quick, easy, relatively healthful and delicious. Plus, you can let your husband do it.

Korean Beef Stew

One of my favorite food court places is Kimchi, that Korean stall that's been around forever. I remember as a child, my lola would pick me up from school, we'd then pick up my brother and we would all head straight to Greenhills for merienda. Beside Unimart, where all the tiangges now are, there used to be a food court. And Kimchi was one of the stalls. I remember always being torn between the beef stew and the beef bbq. Such were the decisions I had to make in my childhood :-)

After Kimchi, it was a scoop of Coney Island ice cream for dessert. My favorites were New York, New York and Mandarin Orange Royale. My brother would choose between Grape Cordial and Bubble Gum.

I look back now and I can't believe we would eat all of that for an afternoon snack! No wonder we're all "not slim"...

Anyways, I've tried my hand at Korean beef stew several times in the past, but this, I think, is my favorite recipe. The broiling step makes a huge difference.

Korean Beef Stew

1 kilo beef ribs, cut into 2 inch cubes

2 cups water

1 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup dark brown sugar

6 slices ginger

10 cloves garlic

6-8 green onion stalks, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 tsp. sesame oil

sesame seeds, toasted

chili flakes (optional)

In a heavy pot, simmer ribs in the next 7 ingredients until tender. If you're using chili flakes, this would be the time to add it too. This step takes about 2 hours. Just make sure the liquid doesn't all evaporate. If the liquid runs low, just keep adding water so that the pot doesn't dry out.

Once the ribs are tender, take them out, drain well and put them on a baking sheet or broiler pan. Broil for about 5-10 minutes until you get some dry, crisp spots. Flip and broil another 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, reduce the sauce until thick and syrupy. Put the meat back in and simmer for a few minutes more, just until all the meat gets wet again. Drizzle with sesame oil and sesame seeds. Serve with lots of rice, kimchi and blanched bean sprouts drizzled with sesame oil.

Capelin fish

In Manila, one of regular haunts was a Japanese resto in Makati called Izakaya Kikufuji. They had a dish called shishamo -- grilled whole female smelts bursting with roe. It wasn't exactly a cheap dish (I think it was P200 for 5 0r 6 pieces) so having it was a treat.

Apparently, the smelt or capelin fish is caught off the shores of the Canadian east coast. And so here in TO, they are pretty easy to find. I buy the capelin fish in the asian grocery and fry them up. Frying makes the fish delectably crunchy and allows you to eat the entire thing. Head, fins, tail and all. All the fried fish needs is a sprinkling of kosher salt and a tomato-onion-balsamic vinegar salad on the side...

Turbo Chicken

Sometimes simple is best. Take "turbo chicken" for instance. This is our favorite way of cooking chicken. Nothing beats a butterflied chicken, seasoned generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, cooked in a "turbo broiler". I like it with Jufran, worcestershire and sriracha. Hubby uses tabasco instead of sriracha, Son #1 just has Jufran plus worcestershire, and Son #2 eats his with Heinz tomato ketchup.

The final product, a golden brown chicken with perfectly crisp skin, reminds me of Max's Fried Chicken. So good!!!

How to cook: Butterfly chicken, season both sides generously with salt and pepper. Cook in turbo at 200 degrees Celsius, skin side down for 25-30 minutes. Flip over and cook another 20-25 minutes until golden. Trust me, this recipe is foolproof!

Squid ink pasta

Don't you just love the way the redness of the tomatoes contrasts with the dark, inky strands of pasta? A sprinkling of green from the parsley and basil provides just the right accent. So simple, yet so stunning.

Squid Ink Pasta with Shrimp and Tomatoes

1 package of squid ink pasta, cooked as directed

1/2 c olive oil, preferably extra virgin

2 heaping tsp. chopped garlic

3-4 slices of bacon or pancetta, chopped

1/2 tsp. chili flakes

400 g peeled shrimp

16-20 pcs. grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

handful of parsley or basil or a combination of both, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pan, heat olive oil and saute pancetta (or bacon) until almost brown. Add in garlic and chili flakes. Saute until garlic is very slightly brown. Put in shrimp and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until shrimp is opaque and tomatoes are slightly wilted but not mushy. Turn off flame. Add chopped parsley and/or basil.

Put drained pasta into pan. Toss with the "sauce" until well-blended.

Ooohh, I think I will submit this for Presto Pasta Nights...