Recipe: Stir-fried Honey and Black Pepper Beef

I've been spending lots of time in the kitchen for the past two weeks. Last week, I got inspired by a book I saw in my office about Stir-fried food. So even late at night (on a workweek, take note hehe), my husband found me whipping up something in the kitchen. My first try at stir-fried food: Honey and Black Pepper Beef.

What you'll need:

Oil for cooking
500 grams beef, cut into strips
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 onion, sliced
300 grams snow peas
2 tbsps honey
2 tsps soy sauce
2 tbsps oyster sauce
A dash of black pepper, to taste

What you'll need to do:

There are three phases for this recipes:

(1) Cooking of Beef

Heat the wok until very hot, add 1 tbsp of oil. Stir-fry the beef in batches over high heat. Wait until beef becomes brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.

(2) Cooking of Vegetables

Reheat the wok, add 1 tbsp of oil. Stir-fry the onion, garlic and snow peas. Wait until snow peas softened (about 5-7 minutes). Remove from the wok and set aside.

(3) Cooking of Sauce

Pour in honey, soy sauce, oyster sauce and black pepper into the wok. Simmer medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until sauce thickens. Increase heat, then add in the beef and vegetables. Toss for 3-5 minutes.

Preparation and cooking time: 20-30 minutes; Serves 4.

Calories per serve: 335 calories.

Recipe: Homemade Tocino

This recipe was handed down to me by one of my aunts. I love doing my own Tocino marinade because at least I know how it is made and what it is made of. It is also very easy to prepare.

What you'll need:

1 kilo pork neck, sliced thinly

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon food color (pink)

Cooking oil of your choice for frying

What you'll need to do:

1. Marinate pork in sugar, salt and food color.

2. Refrigerate overnight for curing of pork.

3. To cook, fry marinated pork in oil.

Tocino is served during breakfast with fried rice and egg or can be served during lunch and/or dinner. Kids and adults also love to eat this for baon (take away food for lunch) in school or at work.

Notes:

a. You can use other kinds of pork (such as pork chop), however, I always use pork neck as it is softer compared to others without having to tenderize it.

b. I always use brown sugar for cooking but white sugar is also acceptable if you want to use white sugar.

c. You can do without the food color as it does nothing to the flavor of Tocino, it is added for visual reasons.

d. I always use Canola Oil for frying and cooking vegetables.

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Recipe: Baked Fish

For a Wifey like me who works during the day and tries to go home on time (4pm for me) just so dinner will be ready by 7:00pm, this recipe is heaven-sent. Not only is this recipe one of the easiest to cook, it is also one of healthiest food you can serve your family.

What you'll need:

3 pieces of Barramundi Fillets (other options: Dory Fillets or Salmon)

3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

5 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce

1/2 Lemon, squeezed

5 Tablespoons of Water

What you'll need to do:

1. Put all ingredients into a baking pan or Pyrex container

2. Bake in oven at 150 degrees for 20 minutes

Serves 3-4 persons.

I usually serve this with a siding of vegetables. Last week, I served it with a siding of carrots, beans and asparagus.

Lunch Box Meme: Green Salad with Tuna

This entry is for The Filipino Mom Blog's Lunch Box Meme.

One of my favorite baon for lunch is making my own green salad with tuna. For today, my green salad comprises of Spinach and Baby Rocket Leaves, Tomatoes and Olives. My choice of dressing for today is French dressing.

On some days my green salad varies when I feel like adding carrot sticks and using a different dressing like Caesar, Italian or Balsamic Vinegar.

Happy Lunch!

Lunch Box Meme: Grilled Chicken Wrap

For my first entry to the Lunch Box Meme, I will share with you how I made a Grilled Chicken Wrap for our baon today.

I used Tortilla Wraps for the wrap, grilled chicken and spinach and rocket leaves as ingredients.

First layer: Spinach and Rocket leaves

Second layer: Grilled Chicken

Third layer: Sauce (in this instance, the husband requested for Ketchup)

Roll the wrap in foil.

:)

See The Filipino Mom Blog for more.

Recipe: Binagoongan

I'm not an expert when it comes to writing recipes and even if I read a recipe, I never follow it to the dot especially the measurements. I always base the taste of whatever I'm cooking on how my my tastebuds react, in other words, "to taste" has always been my concept. So bear with me on my first try at writing a recipe. Measurements of ingredients below are estimates of how much I put into the Binagoongan I cooked last week.

This is for you Zita, for urging me to write my recipe for Binagoongan. My Binagoongan is nothing special, I just put together the recipe that was handed down to me by my mum and some tips I read online.

Here's my ingredients:

1/2 kilo of pork, cut into cubes
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 onions, chopped

1 tomato, chopped
3 tablespoons of shrimp paste (bagoong)
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of vinegar
1 tablespoon Canola Oil (you may also use Vegetable Oil or Olive Oil)
1/2 cup of water

Optional:

* 1 piece eggplant, sliced into cubes (I always want a vegetable or two present in our every meal and eggplant seemed to be the safest [in terms of taste] vegetable to mix with the Binagoongan.

* Chili (Pulang Sili) or Hot Sauce - for those who want their Binagoongan spicy. When I cooked the Binagoongan last week, I didn't have Chili at home so I added a tablespoon of Hot Sauce instead.

1. Boil pork until water evaporates and produces its own oil.

2. Fry the pork til golden brown then set it aside.

3. Saute onion, garlic, tomato and chili with Canola Oil, then mix in the pork.

4. Add shrimp paste (bagoong), stir for 5-7 minutes.

5. Pour in the vinegar and add sugar.

6. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Serves 3 to 4 people. Best served when hot.