Stoofpotje met roode wijn (Beef stew with red wine)

The saying says "Don't cook with wine if you can't drink it". I don't drink any alcoholic beverages but last week, I was challenge to cook this beef stew with red wine. Saw the recipe in the magazine and tried to cook it. It turned out so yummy, the result, Hubby had 3 plateful of it. :D

So here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. olive oil

1 kl. lean beef meat (cut into small chunks)

1 orange (peeled and get the juice)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

2 onions (sliced)

1 carrot (cut into 1 cm)

1 stem of celery (cut into 1cm)

2 laurel leaves

2 tbsp. fresh parsley

2 tbsp. tomato puree

1 1/2 tbsp flour

salt and pepper

400 ml red wine

400 ml beef stock

Procedure:

Heat the oil in the stew pan, then brown the beef. Take it out the pan, from the same oil, saute the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, orange peel, laurel leaves, parsley and tomato puree. Cook until the onion is done. Put the beef back in the pan and add the salt, peper and flour. Add the wine, beef stock and orange juice. High fire until boiling point, then cook it in low fire for 2 hours or until the beef is soft. Best serve with rice or mashed potatos.

Enjoy!

Crispy Tamban (Sardines)

Tamban or Sardines are seasonal. There are times that this fish are so cheap, and you don't know how to make it anymore, my Mama invented this recipe. Last week, I bought some sardines in the market and decided to make some last week and my daughter and husband loves it!

Debone your sardines. Open the stomach using your thumb, look for the middle bone and slide your thumb going down to the tail of the sardine, and do it at the other side of the bone, and there's your sardine fillet.

Recipe:

5 pcs. Tamban (sardines fillet) - you can use some other fish of your choice too.

breading mix (you can make your own breading mix too with flour, salt, pepper and some onion powder)

1 cup of oil

wash the sardines, pat dry with kitchen paper or towel, dip into the breading mix and crispy fry till golden brown.

best serve with a fresh salad.

Strawberries!

My last harvested strawberries.

My strawberry plants, with the last fruits.

We love straberries specially my daughter Nia. Last April, we planted some strawberries in a pot and hanging in our backyard. Commercial straberries taste so different than strawberries you plant at the garden or backyard. Winter is coming, so it's already the off season of strawberries. I can't wait for next year's spring so we can plant some new strawberries again and maybe some raspberries too! YUM!

Cooking with wine

I am working in the kitchen of a 4 star hotel, Apollo de Beayerd in Hulshorst, Netherlands. I love to watch the cooks cooking, and sometimes, I'm doing thier recipes at home. They use wine to flavour thier foods, so I decided to make something with red wine today, I can't wait for the result, I hope it will be yummy.. It is a Stoofpotje in dutch or Beef stew. I'll post the recipe with the pic when it's done. :)

Let's go Dutch!

My husband is dutch, so I am learning to cook the dutch foods. I bought some dutch cook books to get more knowledge on thier foods. Dutch foods has influences from the different European countries but they still have thier own kick.

Everytime I will try to cook the foods, I will always ask my mother-in-law how and what to do. Sometimes, it is not perfect but hey, we learn from our mistakes, right?

This time, I made a Stampot Prei (mashed potatoes with leek). Stampot is a common winter food for dutch, it is a hearty and healthy food.

Stampot Prei met worst en jus (Stamppot Leek with smoked sausage and gravy)

What you need: This is good for 6 persons.

1 kl. potatoes (peeled and cut into half)

2 teaspoons salt

2 pcs Leeks (sliced)

2 pcs hard boiled eggs (sliced)

100 grams bacon bits (spek)

any gravy of your choice

smoked sausage (prepare it according to the package)

What to do:

Boil the potatoes with salt for 20 minutes or until done. While cooking the potato, get another pan and blanch the leek for not more than 2 minutes and remove from the pan using a strainer to get the excess water. Fry the bacon bits until brown. Boil the eggs. When the potato is done, remove the water from the potato using the strainer. Put the potatoe back in the Pan (be sure you used a big pan) add the remaining ingredients and start to mash it - no need to add salt because the bacon bits are salty enough. Then your dutch food is ready for serving. Serve with the smoked sausage and gravy.

Eet smakelijk! (enjoy your meal!)

A fruity and vegie salad

A yummy side dish makes your main course more exciting. Last sunday, It was a great weather here in Netherlands (at last, after months of rain! LOL). Me and hubby really loves barbeque, so we decided to have barbeque for dinner and eat at the backyard. I always love to eat outside the house if the weather allows me :).

Barbeque is a heavy meal, a meal that is full of protien, so to lighten it up, I made a fruit and vegetable salad. It is so easy and yet so healthy and yummy.

I just grab some lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, silver onions in a pot, Kappers, oranges, apple and salad dressing ( i used a natural herbed dressing). Sliced them and tossed them all in a big bowl. Finish with a pinch of salt and pepper. And whaalaaa! There's the yummy-healthy-easy fruit and vegetable salad.

You can use some pineapple tidbits, Corn, pear and other fruits you want.

Mami (Philippine beef noodle soup)

It has been almost 5 years since my last mami or beef noodle soup. I just missed it so much, so I decided to make it last week. A yummy soup for a cold rainy weather is always the best!

So this is my own rendition of Mami because some of the ingredients are not available here.

All you need:

250 grams egg noodles (cooked as what in the pack says)

Lean beef (sliced into tiny chunks)

1 beef knucle (for the stock)

Carrots (sliced thinly)- for garnishing

bell pepper (sliced thinly) for garnishing

Chinese cabagge (sliced thinly) for garnishing

2 pcs. spring onions (sliced thinly) for garnishing

1 onion

thumbsize ginger

2 liters water

salt and pepper

2 tbsp. oil

3 tbsp. fish sauce

pinch of Vetsin

2 pcs eggs (fried and sliced thinly) for garnishing

chicharon (pork skin crackling) crushed- for garnishing

Set the garnishing ingredients aside

for making the stock:

saute the onion then add the beef chunks, when the color turns brown, add the beef knuckle, ginger and water. Simmer until the beef chunks are soft. Put the fish sauce, vetsin and pepper (taste if it is salty enough for you, you can add more fish sauce or salt)

Put the boiled noodles in a bowl (enough for 1 person) put some vegetables (it is sliced thinly, so it will be cook with the hot stock) then add some eggs and chicharon. Pour the hot boiling stock into the noodles. Just enough for one person. Then set aside for 2 minutes to let the vegetables cook and enjoy!

Spaghetti Napolitana (inspired) with meatballs and zucchini

I love pastas, for me, it is like a comfort food after a busy day. When I make my pasta, I always put vegetables on it. This time, I cooked Spaghetti Napolitana with meatballs and zucchini or cougette (this is my own recipe).

This recipe is so easy and so yummy.

To make my Spaghetti Napolitana, you need the following; (good for 4 persons)

2 tbsp. Olive oil

1 medium size onion chopped

1 red paprika (bell pepper) sliced

1 small cougette sliced

750 grams ripped tomatoes, skinned and chopped or you can use ready made tomato sauce (I used the ready made tomato sauce about 500 grams)

fresh basil leaves

1 tablespoon sugar

salt and pepper

Pasta (any pasta you want)

Meatballs (cooked)

What to do:

Boil the pasta.

Get a pan, saute the onion in the olive oil then add the meatballs and vegetables, when the vegetables are done, add the sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. Let it boil and add the torned basil leaves. Put it over your pasta and topped with cheese!

Old Fashioned Tea

These days, we usually buy our tea in a grocery store. These teas are already packed in a factory. It's yummy but have you ever tasted the old fashioned tea? I love to drink a cup of tea while watching tv and sitting on the couch after a rough day. My 2 year old daughter loves tea too. So what I really mean about old fashioned tea?

Last sunday, me, hubby and my daughter went biking after dinner and decided to drop by in my brother-in-law's house. My sister-in-law offered me a cup of tea, it was just the best tea i've ever had. Then my she showed me the freshly dried fruits and spices which smells like heaven, it's not like in a grocery that is packed for a cup of tea, you have to use an old fashioned container to hold the peices of tea leaves, fruits and spices. That's what I mean of old fashoined.

She told me if I want to buy something, she'll go with me and show me the store nearby.

I am free from work today, so I called her and we went to the tea/coffee store. While I was walking inside, I can already smell the aromas of fresh coffee beans and tea spices. It's just like smelling your favorite perfume. So relaxing!

They have about 30 kinds of tea flavours. I bought some Rooibos Chocolate kiss (Rooibos tea with chocolate pieces, Zorgelos (anti stress) and Autumn tea.

I will difinitely go back thier and buy more tea. hmmmmm.. Wanna have a cup?

Chicken with fruit cocktail

Yeah, you're reading it right! Chicken with fruit cocktail. Actually, I got this recipe from my Mama but she's using pineapple juice and chunks. Yesterday, I was thinking on cooking something yummy and something that my daughter will love. So, I checked my pantry and saw the can of fruit cocktail. I checked the ref, and saw the defrosted chicken drumsticks and I said "I know what to make today".

I was right, my 2 year old daughter loved it so much, because of the balance taste of sweetness, sourness and saltiness of it. It is always a hard time feeding her, but yesterday, she had 2 pieces of chicken legs and lots of rice. I was really amazed.

If you want to make your kids eat a lot, then this is the perfect recipe for you!

Ingredients:

Chicken drumsticks (about 800 grams)

1 meduim size onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 can fruit cocktail

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 cube chicken bouillon or 1 tablespoon chicken powder

1 tablespoon oil

1 lemongrass

salt and pepper

Procedure:

Get a wok or a pan. Warm the oil and saute the lemongrass, onion and garlic, when the garlic becomes a brown, put the chicken and soysauce. Brown the chicken, then add the juice of the fruit cocktail and chicken bouillon. Simmer for 10 minutes and add the fruits. Simmer again for 5 minutes. Then that's ready! Best served with rice.

I can assure you that kids will love this!

Adobong Pusit (Squid adobo)

Adobo is a very common dish in Philippines. I love it, so as my hubby and daughter. Sometimes, I'll make about a kilo of pork abodo and nothing will be left (in just one meal). That's how we love adobo!

I got some fresh squids at the local market nearby, so I decided to cook it as adobo.

This is the picture of my Adobong pusit (Squid adobo).

It is so easy to make it, and it doesn't take so much time.

Here's the Ingredients you need:

Fresh Squids - about 500 grams

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup vinegar

3 cloves garlic (crushed)

1 meduim size onion (minced)

2 laurel leaves

black pepper (slightly crushed)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon oil

Heat a wok/pan, add the oil, saute the onion, garlic and squids. When the squid changes the texture and color, add the rest of the ingredients and let boil. When boiling, simmer for a few minutes or until the sauce thickens.

Best serve with white rice.

Eet smakelijk!

Chocolates!

Diamonds are ladies best friend, but for me, chocolate is my best friend! (haha!)

Yeah, I just can't resist for a piece chocolate. It is my stress medicine. Any chocolate will do, but my most favorite one are the Raffaello white chocolates. And, yeah! Don't forget the famous Belgian chocolates! They are sooo yum!

I don't think about the calories and sugars, I just want to enjoy a piece of chocolate from time to time.

And you? Wanna have a piece?

Grilled Shrimps marinated in Jen style

My husband and daughter loves this so much, it was just an experiment recipe. And ended up so delicious and yummy.

So here's the recipe:

Shrimps (you can use peeled shrimps and with out head)

Barbecue sticks

for the marinade: Good for a pound of shrimps.

crushed garlic

1 small onion (minced)

1 teaspoon paprika powder

2 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon sugar

mix herbs (celery, parsley, rosemary, thyme) minced

flavouring (pepper, salt and powdered bouillion) (pinch of each)

Mix all the ingrediant in a bowl and marinate the shrimps for at least an hour. Put it in the barbecue sticks and grill it!

I'm sure you will all enjoy this recipe because we did!

PS. Use the picture as my background as well.

Shrimps

I was so happy seeing shrimps with head at one of the supermarket nearby. Usually, the shrimps here are peeled and head are out. So when I saw it, I bought some and cooked it right away at home. My husband loves seafoods a lot, so am I and my daughter Nia is loving it too.

I bought about 500 grams of it and cooked it all for our dinner. I made 2 viands of it; a Shrimp sinigang and Grilled Shrimps with Jen style marinade.

Sinigang na Hipon (Shrimp sour soup)

Here's the recipe for Sinigang na Hipon

about 10 pcs Tiger Prawns with head

Spring onions

a thumbsize ginger

1 big tomato - quartered

1 1/2 liter water

Sinigang mix (or fresh tamarinds)

string beans - cut about 2 inches

kangkong leaves (water spinach) or Pechay (chinese white cabbage)

Eggplant (cut about 1x2 inches)

1 teaspoon salt or Patis (fish sauce)

Put the water into the soup pan, let it boil, when it's boiling, add the ginger, spring onions and tomatoes. Let it boil again then add the shrimps, string beans, eegplant and sinigang mix. When the vegetables are ready (not overcooked) add the Patis/salt.

IMPORTANT: If you are using the fresh tamarinds, you have to boil it first and get the broth. Add some of it (depending on your type of sourness on the soup) I have found a link which is so helpful on getting the tamarind broth. Here is it. Getting tamarind broth.

The Recipe of the Grilled Shrimps with Jen style marinade will be in my next post.

Stuffed Paprikas with a twist

"What's for dinner?" hubby asked me when he saw me cooking.

I said "Stuffed paprikas with a twist"

"With a twist?" he asked

"Yeah" I answered with a smile.

Stuffed paprika with a twist (as what i call it). Usually they are cooking stuffed paprikas only with ground meat. My twist is ground meat cooked with green peas, carrots and corns (in a can) but you can use fresh ones too if you want.

So if you want to try this, here's my recipe.

Ingredients:

3 Paprikas (seeds out)

a pound of ground meat

a can of mixed green peas, corns and carrots - or fresh ones

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

a tablespoon oyster sauce

salt and pepper to taste

sliced parsley

What to do:

Saute the onion and garlic on the pan, then add the ground meat, flavour it with oyster sauce, parsley, salt and pepper. When the meat turns brown, add the vegies and your stuff is ready.

Put it inside the paprika. Put it in the oven for 40 minutes on 180 degrees.

Hope you''ll enjoy my recipe for stuffed paprika.

Eet smakelijk!