Fresh Ideas

Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Ingredients:

 

• 1 kilo pork belly (Liempo)
• 1/2 kilo pork liver
• 1 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 medium size potatoes cubed
• 2 medium size carrots cubed
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 dried bay leaf (dahong laurel)
• salt and pepper to taste
• oil for sauteeing

 

Instructions:

 

1. Saute garlic and onions. Add the pork and cook until no longer pink.
2. Add the pork liver. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for about 15 minutes or until liver is cooked (turns gray in color).
3. Add the bay leaf and pour the tomato sauce. Add water and let boil.
4. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the meat are cooked and sauce slightly thickened.
5. Add the carrots and potatoes. Simmer until the veggies are tender. 

In Western-style cuisine, the Chinese dumpling is a simple staple, a source of carbohydrates and great comfort food. Done Chinese style, it is a work of culinary art.

This is a concoction made of dough stuffed with meat and/or vegetables. It is often served as part of dim sum. Proper preparation takes a bit of time and effort. But the results, when done correctly, are well worth it.

 

Ingredients

Wrap:

• 4 cups white flour
• 1-1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tsp salt

Chill the water to just above freezing and dissolve the salt into 2 cups of it. Blend thoroughly and add the extra 1/2 cup only if the dough isn’t completely wetted. Knead well and ensure that the result is firm. If needed, sprinkle in a bit more flour. Then chill the dough.

Filling:

• 1 lb lean ground meat
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp brandy
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp white pepper

 

Instructions:

1. Combine all the ingredients, then stir. Don’t overdo it in order to avoid making the meat mushy.
2. Bring out the chilled dough and separate a piece into two parts. Flatten each section until they’re about 1/8 inch thick. Layer the meat mixture onto one then cover with the other. Crimp the edges until the result looks something like a white fortune cookie crumpled around the rim.
3. Repeat until you’ve used up all the dough and meat.
4. The raw dumpling can be boiled or fried, as desired.
5. To boil, use a pot large enough to cover the dumplings with a couple of inches of water. Bring the water to a boil, then layer the dumplings along the bottom of the pot. Stir gently to prevent them sticking together. Continue heating until the mixture boils again. Add a cup of cold water and allow to come to a boil again, then remove from heat.
6. To fry, simply line a wok with a layer of sesame oil and bring to a high heat. Then toss in the dumplings. Remember that woks cook very quickly. You’ll need to keep the dumplings moving in order to get them evenly cooked on both sides. It’s particularly important to ensure that the meat inside is well done.

Serve
The results are often dipped into a sauce of equal amounts of black vinegar and soy.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ziti pasta
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella
• 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
• salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 1/2 pound hot Italian sausage
• 1/2 medium onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 can tomato paste
• Fresh Thyme
• Fresh Basil

Directions

1. This will be a very long direction to follow, so please bear with me hehehehe!
2. Remove the casing of the sausages and crumble.
3. Add two teaspoons of olive oil, and proceed to browning the sausage.
4. Put the tomatoes in the blender and puree it.
5. Diced the onions.
6. Chop the basil, thyme and garlic.
7. Add onions and garlic to now-browned sausage. Cook for a few more minutes until transparent.
8. Add the tomato puree.
9. Add the chopped spices (basil, thyme and garlic). Stir this up and let it simmer on low for 10 minutes.
10. Cook the Ziti.
11. Grate your own parmesan, and get FRESH mozarella. You can tell the difference. It’s wet and sweet like ricotta.
12. Cut the mozzarella half of it into 1/2 inch cubes, the other half in as thin of slices as you can manage.
13. Add a can of tomato paste to your sauce to thicken it up and give a more intense flavor.
14. Add the pasta, your sauce, the mozzarella and half the parmesan in a baking dish. Add some salt and pepper to taste.
15. Mix all.
16. Top with the sliced mozzarella and the remainder of the parmesan.
17. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.

Ingredients:

 

• 1/2 kilo beef, cut into cubes (select a cut good for stewing)
• 1 small head of a cabbage quartered
• 1/4 kilo Chinese cabbage (pechay)
• 2 medium sized potatoes quartered
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 5 Saging Saba peeled and sliced in the middle
• 1 big can of pork and beans
• 2 cups water
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 small onion sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

 

1. Start by frying the saging saba. Just let them fry until slightly golden brown. Take off the oil and set aside.
2. Saute the garlic and onions. Then add in the beef. Saute until it changes color. Season with some salt and pepper.
3. Next add in the tomato paste and water.
4. Mix and let it boil. Cover and simmer over low medium heat until beef is tender.
5. Once the beef is tender, add in the potatoes. Let it simmer some more until the potatoes are cooked.
6. At this point you can add in the rest of the ingredients. The veggies, pork and beans and plantains. I usually just pile them in and cover for a few minutes allowing the veggies to wilt a bit.
7. Afterwards, gently mix them into the sauce.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 455 g sweet Italian sausage
• 340 g lean ground beef
• 80 g minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 364 g canned tomato sauce
• 120 ml water
• 25 g white sugar
• 1 g dried basil leaves
• 1 g fennel seeds
• 2 g Italian seasoning
• 20 g salt
• 0.5 g ground black pepper
• 15 g chopped fresh parsley
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 455 g ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 3 g salt
• 340 g mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 75 g grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In an oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Our recipe of the day is…

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.