Kulinarya September Challenge: Filipino-Spanish Dishes!

!Hola everyone!

I am here again and in case you were wondering where I was for the past 4 months since my last post, I was working with some paperworks to be with my husband and I am already with Mi Amore at this moment! oh love love...(hearts and kisses) wishing..wishing...my little man will be with us soon here too..=)

Moving on, for this September in KCC, I am proud and honored to be the co-host together with our special guest, Ziggy of myfilipinokitchen.com. The theme we have chosen for Kulinarya September is: Filipino-Spanish Dishes!

I have chosen Arroz caldo, which literally means "hot rice". Arroz is a spanish word which means rice and caldo means hot. It is similar to chinese congee which is also popular in the Philippines and have equally been made in various ways to suit the tastes of the us Filipinos. Arroz caldo is more closely related to risotto, due to its yellow hue from saffron and also by the large cuts of meat.

The usual Arroz caldo I grew up with is the native chicken Arroz caldo. Using native chicken meat gives a very rich flavor and the broth from it absolutely gives a very silky texture to the rice. Unfortunately, native chicken meat doesn't exist in Doha. =P

Beef Arroz Caldo

1/2 kl beef pieces cut into chunks (choose beef meat with good amount of marbling)

1 thumb-sized fresh finely chopped

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

10 cups water

1 beef buillon cube

salt to taste

2 cups-lightly packed, freshly-cooked Asian long grain rice (I used Jasmine rice) if you are in the Philippines- use 7-Tonner

few saffron threads (optional)

Top with:

crispy fried garlic

chopped chives/scallions

sliced boiled egg

deep-fried beef slices

fish sauce or salt and black pepper to taste

Combine first 6 ingredients. Boil until the meat is fork-tender. Add water if needed.

Remove the meat from the broth. Set aside. I fried a few pieces of meat for added texture to the whole dish. You may strain the stock/broth to another bowl if you want to get rid of the garlic and ginger.

Add freshly-cooked rice and saffron threads to the broth (about 5 cups of broth) and simmer gently until the rice becomes creamy, add water if the mixture becomes too thick. Turn off the heat. Stir in the cooked meat.

Serve topped with crispy-fried beef slices, sliced boiled egg, crispy-fried garlic, chopped scallions and fish sauce/salt & pepper to taste.

* That alternating slices of fried beef and yellow "stuff" is actually the boiled egg. So funny looking, but it actually tastes good though. =)

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Papaitan for Pinoy Dinner

Pinoy Dinner is a food gathering of all Pinoys and non-Pinoys who love Filipino cooking which happens usually at the end of every month if not the first week. The idea came up when me and Ate Beth were talking about who has the highest work hours for the month of January 2009 . We are, mind you, very obsessed with our work hours because that will ultimately determine our pay slips! (alam ng mga Pinoy ‘to, aminin!)

In short, we, Filipinos, are very very hardworking individuals. =) That's how I put it. =)

So, I came up with the idea that whoever gets the highest hours worked- and of course-it follows- the highest paycheck, he/she will host a “Pinoy Dinner”.

I brought the idea when we were all present. Some questions were raised such as “what if I get to have the highest hours worked for two or three consecutive months? Of course, the answer is simple, then, you will be the host for those months! =) Follow-up question was, isn’t it unfair? Answer: No, you got the highest pay so consider it as sharing your blessings…hehehe. Don’t you want to share your blessings to the less fortunate ones? =P

So, all agreed, at gunpoint! Kidding!

The Criteria are simple.

1. Highest Hours Worked
2. Pinoy Dinner not less than 10GBP (don’t feed us with egg and hotdogs! =P )
3. Schedule it where most of Pinoys are not on duty.
4. No ready meals. (pre-packed) You have to cook at least 1 viand and 1 dessert. (simple!)
5. Of course, Filipino Food or Asian cuisine.

There are 7 of us Filipinos and we all live in one house and we also work in the same company, however, we don’t have much time to sit down and talk to each other because of our conflicting work schedules.

Pinoy Dinner is a perfect opportunity to gather around. We get to enjoy each and everyone, talk about our family, our dreams, our plans, joke about each other, laugh and just bond. We get to know each other more .We always have the company of our non-Filipino friends, Marek (Slovakian) and Babitha (Indian) who have learn to love Filipino cooking and have learned one or two of how “kalog” Filipinos can get!

If my memory serves me right, the first Pinoy Dinner was hosted by Floro, on January 2009. He didn’t however cook the pork adobo himself, but, left me with the ingredients ready and asked me to cook for him. Then he left, leaving me to “host” because he was on graveyard shift. He was the only one absent in his Pinoy Dinner!

Then the next host was Cyde, my sister, then Ate Rose, the ultimate top grosser who hosted two consecutive months!

And then..tantararataaaanannnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ME!weeeeeee


So what did I cook?

Papaitan and Ginagmay and fruit salad for dessert!!!

For this post, I will share the Papaitan Recipe.

Papaitan/Papait (in Bisaya) is a bitter, spicy and peppery, offal stew- a famous native dish from the Philippines. It is usually made using goat’s tripe and innards or offal (kidneys, heart, liver) and then flavored with bile thus the name “papaitan” from the word “pait”which means bitter.

There are so many versions of Papaitan, but whether it is made of goat, pork, or ox, it always uses the animal’s tripe, innards and of course bile.

I was so excited to have found an Ox Papaitan pack at a Filipino/Indian store downtown. A set consists of tripe, kidney, heart, liver and a small packet of diluted bile. Goldmine! Yahooooo!

My mom, of course, taught me how to cook this one. I called her up before I started cooking and although most Papaitan versions look like stew/soup, our version is less of a soup, but definitely not less of the taste!

Try it for yourself. =)

Caution: For non-Filipinos, a well-trained palate is a must and you must embrace the thought of eating tripe and offal. =)

Papaitan

1 Ox Papaitan Pack (tripe, kidney, liver, heart, and bile) cut in strips
5 cloves chopped garlic
¼ c chopped garlic
1 c chopped onion
1 c julienne (strips) ginger
2 red hot chillis chopped
1 small sweet red pepper julienne
1 small green bell pepper julienne
Salt and pepper
Spring onions for garnish

Directions

Wash ox tripe thoroughly. Cut into strips, add 3 cloves chopped garlic, ¼ c ginger, salt and pepper, 1 cup water and simmer gently until tender adding water as needed.

Halfway thru the process, in a separate pan, combine ox kidney, heart, liver, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1 cup water, salt and pepper and simmer for 20 minutes. Transfer on a dish. Set aside.

In the same pan, heat 2 tbsp oil over moderate high heat. Sauté onion and garlic until translucent and slightly browned. Then add ginger and hot chillis, sauté for another 3 minutes.

Add cooked innards and tripe including its broth. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Pour in bile little at a time until desired bitterness is achieved. Then simmer for another 3 minutes.

Turn off the heat, add sweet and green bell pepper and cover for 5 minutes while you prepare the table =P.

Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve with rice.

Best paired with a mug of beer! (we didn’t, instead we had ice cold cola! wholesome kami! nyehehehe)

Kainan na!!!!!! (Let's eat!)

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Filet Mignon with Reduced Balsamic Vinegar Sauce

*Filet mignon is a French term which means exquisite or dainty fillet. It is a steak cut of beef taken from the tenderloin, or psoas major of the steer or heifer.

There's nothing dramatic in cooking filet mignon. This is a quick, easy and delicious main dish. I have read quiet a few recipes and food articles on how to cook a perfect steak using filet mignon and there is nothing more than seasoning it with salt and pepper enough to bring out the best of this exquisite and luxurious cut.

One key though is to wrap it with bacon to prevent the meat from drying out during the cooking process since it has little marbling (low levels of internal fat).

The meat preferably would be about an inch and a half or two thick and is always cooked in high heat whether you grill, roast, or pan-fry it.

The steak cut I used was thin and has not even reached 1 inch, around ¾ of an inch , so I didn’t put it in the oven for roasting. Talk about online shopping, this is what you get when you don’t hand-pick the meat. Lesson learned. However, I have tried making this with a 2-inch cut before and it was super!

It is best to buy a center-cut tenderloin and portion it to you desired thickness. A 2-inch thick filet mignon would be ideal.

Pan- Seared Filet Mignon with Reduced Balsamic Vinegar Sauce

Side Dishes:

Baked Potatoes with Smoked Paprika Cheddar Cheese
Shiitake Mushrooms and Peas in Butter

2 pc -2-inch thick Filet mignon (room temperature)
1 tbsp. Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven 500F and oil a baking sheet.

Pat the steaks dry with paper towels.
Coat with olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
On moderately high heat, heat 1 tbsp olive oil on a skillet. Brown the filets about 3 minutes on each side without moving it, creating a nice brown crust.
Transfer filets to a shallow baking pan and roast in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes (medium rare).
* proceed with making the sauce while the steak is roasting
Remove from the oven, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let it rest for 5mins.

Reduced Balsamic Vinegar Sauce

100 ml Balsamic Vinegar of good quality
1 tbsp cold butter

In a small saucepan, simmer the balsamic vinegar until reduced by 2/3. Stir in butter until completely melted. The sauce has a velvety smooth texture and coats the back of the spoon. Serve over filet mignon.

Bon Appetit!

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filet_mignon

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Beef Stroganoff

Finally, a 2-day off from work! I have been working so hard these past few days that I just felt I needed to reward myself. What better way to give yourself a treat than to make something "special" in the kitchen. I've been flipping my cookbook for a hour, however, none of the recipes caught my eye. I wanted to make a special beef dish. Then, Beef Stroganoff popped in my mind..

This is my first time making this lavish Russian dish. I wanted to make it perfect. My last posted dish was a disaster and I don't want to humiliate myself again. =P Besides, I don't want to eat burned dinner. =P ( I was in the kitchen the whole time, brought my laptop while cooking, keeping an eye)

I have seen lots of Beef stroganoff versions. According to most of the recipes I found, the best mushroom to use is shiitake, it adds more flavor than any other mushroom. I tried going to a local store nearby but they don't sell shiitake mushrooms, so I just used button mushrooms.

Some uses creme fraiche and some just sour cream. Some recipe has dry white wine however, the recipe calls for a little bit of sugar, so I thought why not just use sweet white wine (i bet, there must be a reason for that). But well, my instinct tells me to use sweet white wine (I want to drink a sweet wine not dry one, if there's anything left =) so there ). Other recipes have tomato paste and some don't. They say the real Russian Beef Stroganoff has a hint of tomato but mainly it has a white sauce base. Now, I'm confused. So I thought...why don't I mix it all up, a little bit of everything and see how it goes.

Verdict: It was absolutely delish! =) yey

Beef Stroganoff

1 pound filet mignon sliced into strips
2 tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 tbsp Butter
1 cup slice onions
3 cloves garlic minced
½ cup Sweet White wine
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups water
1 beef bouillon cube
1 pack mushroom soup (I know, but just try!)
dash of paprika
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz fresh mushrooms
1 cup crème fraiche
1/2 cup sour cream (topping)
chives chopped for garnish
linguine cooked al dente


Directions

Season the filet mignon strips with salt and pepper.
Fry on EVOO to brown over medium high heat. (a couple of minutes on each side) Set aside.
On the same pan, melt butter. Sauté onion for 2 minutes until translucent then add garlic and sauté 1 more minute.
Add the white wine, let it simmer. Then add the tomato paste. Mix well.
Pour in water and bring to a rolling boil. Add beef bouillon cube, a pack of mushroom soup, paprika, salt and filet mignon. Stir and return to boil. Simmer till fork tender adding water as needed.
Add mushrooms to cook. Lower the heat and stir in crème fraiche. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Spoon the dish over linguine cooked al dente. Top with sour cream and garnish with chopped chives.

How do you say happy eating in russian? =)

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