sharing food.

Now that I don't have instant access to my mom's cooking anymore, I found that I'm eating less Filipino food and more American food. Especially in the things that I cook nowadays for my husband. Being Caucasian, he's got a thing about textures and isn't overly fond of most Asian cuisines outside of Panda Express. In an effort to expose him to more Filipino food besides the usual adobo and pancit (and to help me reconnect to my heritage), I thought that I would make him one of my favorite Filipino dishes: my mother's kare kare.

Kare Kare is a traditional Filipino stew usually made with oxtails and veggies in a savory peanut sauce laced with annato and shrimp paste. It's another of my favorite dishes that my mom makes. In her version, she would use the less expensive beef chuck cuts for stew marbled with a little fat. Also, she adds cabbage to hers and usually blanches the vegetables in the beef broth. I remember that whenever my mom made this, I would eat a couple (sometimes three!) platefuls of it with a heaping dollop of spicy bagoong mixed in the rice. Those were some tasty goodness, right there!

While I might rant and rave about how good this dish is, I wasn't so sure if the hubby would have such a similar response. For one thing, it has eggplants...one vegetable that he's not so keen on. Also, another "weird" ingredient that he might be wary of was the peanut butter. I only had crunchy peanut butter so texture and taste was really something that I was worried about. But I went ahead and made it... hoping for the best. And to cut time, I skipped the blanching of the vegetables in the broth and hoped it would still taste the same...

I really shouldn't of worried. When the hubby walked in, the first thing he commented on was how good the house smelled. Yay! Then, after further investigation in the kitchen, he also remarked on how good the stew looked. Double yay! So when he finnaly took the first few bites, his only complaint was that he wished there were more bok choy (which was funny because I had left out the cabbbage for fear that he wouldn't like it). And you know what the best part of all this was? It tasted just like how mommy makes it! Fuck yeah!

So now, whenever I make this in the future, I won't be plagued by worry or doubt because I know that the hubby will eat it...but most importantly, *like* it as well. Huzzah for sharing cultures!!

P.S., you might notice that the directions don't match the pictures. The instructions below are for my mom's "real" kare kare...with cabbage and banana heart. :)

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Kare Kare
(Beef Stew with Vegetables in Peanut-Based Sauce)

2.5lbs beef chuck roast, cubed
6 to 8 cups water
1 medium-large banana heart, blossoms separated and heart chopped
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 heaping tbsp annatto powder
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 tbsp shrimp paste (bagoong)
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup rice water (first wash)
2 to 3 small eggplants, sliced into chunks
1 bundle Chinese long beans, cut into 3-inch length
1/4 of a cabbage
2 to 3 baby bok choy, halved
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

In a large pot, add beef and enough water to cover the meat by about 1-2 inches. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the meat is tender, about 2 hours. Strain the meat out once tender, and keep the stock. Set aside.

Take prepared banana heart and blossoms and place in a large saucepan. Add enough stock to cover blossoms then boil until tender. Strain, discard stock, then set aside.

On medium-low, heat the oil in another large pot and stir in the annato powder. Let the annato infuse the oil for about 5 minutes then add the garlic and onions. Increase heat to medium and let cook for a couple of minutes until onion is slightly translucent. Stir in the shrimp paste (bagoong) then add the beef. Cook for another few minutes, stirring constantly.

After the meat just starts to brown, add the rice water and let simmer for five minutes. Stir in the peanut butter. If the mixture becomes too thick, add some reserved beef stock 1/4 cup at a time as needed.

Add the eggplant and banana heart and simmer for another 3-5 minutes. Then add the beans and cabbage, simmering for another 5-8 minutes. Check the consistency of the sauce and add stock as required. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Lastly, add bok choy, and remove from heat. Cover and let sit for 5-10 minutes to finish steaming the bok choy. Serve with shrimp paste (bagoong) over hot plain rice.

cinnamon overload.

I didn't really start to appreciate the taste of cinnamon until I met my husband. He's a huge cinnamon fan...he loves his cinnamon french toast, his cinnamon red hots, snickerdoodles, cinnamon-sugar pretzels, and other cinnamony things that I wasn't too excited about. But since he loves the stuff so much, that particular spice started to grow on me. Actually, now I'm finding that cinnamon is my go-to spice whenever I'm craving something sweet other than coconut or chocolate.

Except red hots...I'm never going to like them. Ick! But I digress...

Today was one of those days that I was craving something cinnamony sweet. I thought about making a cake, but it wasn't quite what I wanted. Then it hit me...a quick bread! And I knew just the perfect recipe to try.

What really caught my eye about the bread was the sheer amount of cinnamony goodness that it had. But I wanted so much more! So, to satisfy the cinnamon craving, I decided to throw in a big cup of cinnamon chips in the batter. I also halved the recipe and used a little more spice than the recipe called for. And to top it all off, I added some cinnnamon icing to contribute to the cinnamon overload. :)

I loved the bread that I ended up with. It was exactly what I wanted...sweet cinnamon in every bite. Next time I make this, I would throw the chips in with the flour so they'd be distributed more evenly and reduce the risk of over mixing the batter. Also, must check pantry before starting projects! I ran out of sugar so the swirl (which ended up disappearing, by the way, because I couldn't follow directions) was made out of powdered sugar. Anyway, here's the original recipe...

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Cinnamon Bread
(from Five Heart Home)

For Bread:
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

For Cinnamon Sugar Swirl/Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

 
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 2 full-sized loaf pans (or 3 medium-sized loaf pans or 5 to 6 mini loaf pans) with softened butter (or spray with nonstick cooking spray) and generously sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. Turn pans to coat sides and then hold pans upside down while tapping to remove excess cinnamon-sugar.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In another bowl, blend together buttermilk, oil, and sugar until well-incorporated. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and then vanilla. Slowly stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined.

In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon. Set aside.

Evenly divide half of the batter between the prepared pans. Distribute 2/3 of the cinnamon-sugar mixture by sprinkling it on top of the batter in each loaf pan. Divide remaining batter between pans, adding it on top of the cinnamon-sugar. Use a butter knife to swirl through the batter in each pan and distribute the cinnamon-sugar through the bread. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon-sugar on top of the loaves.

Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaves comes out clean (50 to 60 minutes for large loaf pans, 40 to 50 minutes for medium loaf pans, and 30 to 40 minutes for mini loaf pans).

When bread tests done, remove from oven and cool in pans for 5 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges of each pan to make sure bread is loosened and carefully turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.

meat.

I'm not a big red meat eater. Most of the stuff that I make tend to be poultry based. For me, whenever I eat red meat, I end up feeling heavy afterwards. The hubby, however, is definitely a meat eater.

When I went grocery shopping last week, I had picked up a steak for him but had no idea what to do with it. A quick search on pinterest resulted in this recipe that didn't seem too hard to make. And as an added bonus, I had everything that was called for. So, I went ahead and made it. If I do make this again, I think I would do the pan juices as suggested as my steak came out a little dry. Well...I also can't cook steak so there's that too. Practice, practice, practice!!

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Flank Steak Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Goat Cheese, and Basil
(from Elly Says Opa!)

10 oz. (ish) flank steak
2 oz. goat cheese, brought to room temperature to soften
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Optional pan sauce:
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. white wine

 
Preheat the oven to 400.

Butterfly the flank steak, and then pound is to flatten it slightly. Sprinkle both sides of the steak with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, combine the softened goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, basil, a few grinds of pepper. Spread the mixture on top of the flank steak, and then roll it up to form a log. Secure the steak with kitchen twine or toothpicks.

Heat a large, ovenproof skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the flank steak and brown it on all sides. Place the flank steak in the oven to finish cooking to your desired level of doneness (about 12 minutes for me). Place the steak under a foil tent to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

If you want to make a pan sauce, put the same pan you cooked the steak in over medium heat on your stovetop. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the browned bits (and, whatever you do, don’t touch the handle without an oven mitt). Reduce the sauce slightly and then season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary. Strain and serve over the flank steak.

taste it and make it: chicken salad!

Back in 2003, I used to work for Boudin Bakery at the downtown mall back in San Diego. I spent a whopping four years there making salads, sandwiches, and realizing that sourdough wasn't so icky after all. It was also there that I found my love of making all things sandwiches.

Of all the sandwiches that I used to make at my time there, there were two kinds that I really, really loved: their tuna sandwich and their chicken walnut. When I left, and years passed, I've developed my own tuna recipe that was based off Boudin's. Their chicken salad, however, was something that I miss and would never change.

Well...unfortunately, when I went to Boudin the last time and ordered their fabulous chicken salad sandwich, I found that they had changed the recipe. Gone were the walnuts and the cranberries that used to dot the salad. And where was the walnut bread that they used to serve the sandwich on?? This was NOT the sandwich that I loved!

So I've been thinking about the recipe for a while now...and trying to remember exactly what went into the salad. Pre-cooked grilled chicken definitely went in it, as well as Dijon mustard. Granny smith apples, cranberries, and toasted walnuts were also in the mix. Today, I decided to finally sit down and try to re-create the recipe from all those years ago. The result? Exactly like I remembered and a kick-ass copy cat, if I do say so myself.

Ladies and gentlemen, here's Boudin's old-school chicken walnut salad...

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Chicken Walnut Salad
(adapted from Boudin Bakery)

2 to 3 cups cooked chicken, cubed (I usually use this or a couple packages of this)
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 granny smith apple, chopped
1.5 to 2 cups (about 4 ribs) celery, diced small
1 cup dried cranberries
1 small red onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
3/4 cup or so mayonnaise
kosher salt
coarse ground pepper

Combine chicken with walnuts. Add remaining ingredients to the bowl except for the mayo. Slowly add mayo until desired consistency is reached, adding additional mayo if needed and seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Let chill for 30 minutes before serving. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

If using homemade mayonnaise, this will keep for three days. If using store bought, chicken salad will keep for up to a week.

Serving suggestions: Serve on sourdough or walnut bread with romaine lettuce as a sandwich or on spring lettuce/romaine mix with additional dried cranberries and candied walnuts with a side of walnut bread as a salad.