Easy Crock-Pot Beef Stew for Those Who Can Wait

The temperature here in Chicago dropped drastically over the past weeks. Snow turned into ice, while the wind continues to whistle its frigid tunes. They wouldn’t have called it the windy city for nothing.

While I’m lazily slouching at the couch watching my favorite Food Network shows (Iron Chef America good, but I find Chopped to be more entertaining), I thought of making some beef stew to make myself warm. I’m not sure if I have all the ingredients and I don’t plan to drive on ice. This is the time when online grocery shopping and delivery services such as Peapod come-in handy.

I needed some beef parts such as brisket or sirloin, some onions, tomatoes, a little dried thyme, and I also need to move my lazy bones. Good thing I still all of the needed ingredients in my inventory like a pound of beef brisket, a can of diced tomatoes, some onions, and dried thyme (except moving my lazy bones). I did not need to order groceries online at that point.

Taste of Chicago

Taste of Chicago is one of the largest food festivals in the world. Each year, millions of people from within the city, other states, and different parts of the world gather in Chicago for 10 days of gastronomic adventure. During this event, different varieties of food prepared by Chicago’s top restaurants are available for tasting.

The event will start on Friday, June 25, 2010 and will last until July 4, 2010. This will take place in its usual location, Grant Park. Besides awesome food and drinks, the event also features free entertainment at the Petrillo Music Shell. Artists such as Salt-n-Pepa, Bell Biv Devoe, Rob Thomas, and Steve Miller band will be performing. Other entertainment locations include The Illinois Lottery Taste stage and Best Buy stage where other artists will hold shows.

How to Butcher a Chicken

Have you ever tried to butcher a whole dressed chicken? I remember the first time to butcher a whole chicken; it was confusing. Back then, I didn’t know where to start and I have no idea as to how many parts should I divide it into. I spent more than 30 minutes to complete the [...]

Food Review:Panda Express Beijing Beef

I felt that I needed a quick bite as I drove home from work. Luckily, I was about to pass-by a Panda Express location and decided to grab a box for dinner. I got a 2 entrée plate consisting of Orange Chicken, Beijing Beef, and Chow Mein for sides.

Let’s not talk about Orange chicken and Chow Mein for now because my attention is focused solely on Beijing Beef. However, you might want to check our Orange Chicken recipe post if you want to know more about it. As for the Chow Mein, the closest recipe that we have is the Pancit Canton- which I think is a better alternative.

There isn’t really anything extra-ordinary about the Beijing Beef – but I still like to have it once in a while. The flavor is probably the main reason why I like it. I am a fan of sweet and sour pork and this dish is pretty much similar – that is if you raise it to the next level. You’ll understand what I’m trying to say once you try one. After the first bite, the tangy taste immediately permeates in your mouth leaving you speechless – looking forward to the next bite. Since the flavor is so rich, it is advisable to balance it by having some sides (such as rice or noodles) while munching. The texture is unique compared to the other Chinese beef dishes that I had, so far. It also has the consistency of a fried flank steak but tender when chewed.

Igado

Igado is a popular Ilocano dish made from pork tenderloin and pig’s innards such as liver, kidney, heart. This is definitely one of the best Filipino foods around – in my opinion. However, some might still need to acquire a taste for it.

I’m not sure where the name “Igado” was derived from. Higado is a Spanish word for liver, it might be possible that this dish was named after it; don’t you think?

Since this dish deals with pig’s innards, it is important to make sure that the ingredients that you are using are clean. I usually clean the liver and kidney with running water before slicing; this washes away the impurities (but do not overdo it or you’ll lose the taste). As for the kidneys, I soak it in water with salt for 10 minutes after slicing in order to reduce the odor.

How do you cook your Igado? Do you have other tips to share?

Tuyo: Smelly but Lovely

It has been more than a week since I last posted an article for our What’s Cooking section so I decided to write something about what I had for breakfast this morning. After taking a shower and brushing my teeth twice, I’m now inspired to write something about one of my favorite breakfast foods: Tuyo.

Tuyo refers to salted dried fish (usually herring); this is also known as stockfish in some countries. In the Philippines, tuyo is considered as a poor mans food because of its cheap price – however, this connotation has been expunged over the years since people of different social status learned to love and enjoy it. This can be justified by the different recipes involving tuyo; these ranges from fried tuyo to gourmet pasta with tuyo.

5 Things to Consider in Making the Best Fried Rice

Fried Rice is the result when steamed or boiled rice are fried in oil or animal fat. For practical reasons, the Chinese first used this method to preserve and recycle leftover steamed rice for consumption. Nowadays, several varieties of fried rice are enjoyed throughout the world.

Making fried rice seems simple and easy. When asked as to how this is done, you might say “heat some oil and fry the steamed rice then add the other ingredients that you have”. While this statement is true, there are more things to consider that may help you make the best possible outcome out of what you have.

Humba

Humba is a sweet pork dish that resembles the famous pork adobo in terms of appearance. This is popular in the southern parts of the Philippines and is considered as one of the delicacies of the region. Pork belly, pork hocks, and pork ham are the 3 most common pig parts used to make this delightful masterpiece.

This dish uses all the ingredients of pork adobo; however, certain ingredients such as brown sugar, salted black beans, and banana blossoms make this dish stand out. There are also other variations wherein pineapple juice is used (I learned this from my friends that came from Cebu, Davao, and Gensan) – this gives more life to the dish as far as I’m concerned.

How to Make Spaghetti with Tomato and Basil

Who doesn’t want pasta? Even if pasta is not an authentic Filipino food, we still learned to love and enjoy it. In fact, there are some Filipino variations of some Italian pasta dishes that we really enjoy: like the Pinoy Spaghetti for example.

Our palate must have adjusted to the taste of different pasta dishes that we had over the years to the point that some of us consider it as our comfort food. I must admit that I love lasagna and I consider it as one of my comfort food. Is pasta one of your comfort foods too? What is your favorite pasta dish?

I noticed that people are embracing healthy pasta dishes these days. Spaghetti dishes with less meat and more vegetables are preferred because of its health benefits. It also goes without saying that preparation time is faster since vegetables cook fast.

What we have here is a very simple yet healthy pasta recipe that uses cherry tomatoes and fresh basil (I can still smell the basil as I write). This dish only took me less than 20 minutes to prepare and the taste was awesome.

I am a certified carnivore but embracing healthy habits is one thing that I am considering at this moment. I decided to first start on my eating habits; this affects the foods that I choose to eat. Don’t get me wrong. We will still be doing our favorite Pinoy recipes though healthy recipes and some food recipes for weight loss will be added- that is if you like the idea.

I would love to hear from you. Please comment on this post and share your thoughts.

Palitaw

Palitaw is a term used to call a sweet flat rice cake that is eaten in the Philippines as a snack or dessert. Originally, grounded or pounded sticky rice is used to make this rice cake (called kakanin in the local language) – however, the practice of using packaged rice flour became common because it [...]

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