Kare-Kare!

Hi Friends! Hope you’re having a great weekend:) I wanted to share a Filipino dish that I cooked early this week, Kare-Kare. It’s an oxtail dish with a thick peanut sauce. Now a days, in Filipino restaurants and homes they use beef, seafood, and other kinds of meat instead of oxtail (I personally like Oxtail). I rarely make this at home (I think this is my second time to make Kare-Kare (but I always order this if we’re in a Filipino restaurant). It’s a comfort food for me! I watched a couple of youtube videos (just searched for Kare-Kare recipes) and checked some kare-kare recipes online too for inspiration. I used my crockpot to tenderize/cooked my oxtail meat (just to save gas, instead of the stove). It was cooking for 7 hours then I finished it in the stove to make the peanut sauce. Traditionally, you mix all the veggies in at the end together with the sauce but I decided to plate them separately this time. I sautéed the eggplant and steamed the green beans and bok choy. The Hubs and I prefer it this way. Last year, when we visited Manila, I remember we had Kare-kare and the restaurant presented it this way too.

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Oxtail meat ( I got 4 lbs.)

 

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This is my new crockpot and I’ve been using it a lot lately!

I sautéed some minced garlic(3 cloves) and chopped onions(1 medium), then added the cooked oxtails and broth (approximately 6 cups).  You can add more broth for a thinner sauce;let it simmer. I added the peanut butter (1/2 a cup) and stirred until it dissolved. In a small bowl I added 1 teaspoon of achiote powder mixed with 1/2 cup broth,once the powder dissolved I added it to the sauce. The achiote is the ingredient that will give the dish that classic orange color. I then seasoned the sauce with salt and pepper. I didn’t use a lot of salt though because Kare-kare is always paired with shrimp paste when eaten.

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Almost there!
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Sautéed eggplant
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Yum!
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My kare-Kare (sprinkled with chopped peanuts).
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Extra sauce,rice, shrimp paste

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Happy Cooking and eating Friends!

 

What’s for Dinner?!

Hello friends! It’s been a while since I last posted here. Life got a little hectic. I’ve been wanting to share our dinners since last week but I wasn’t able to. Here’s our meals for the last 2 weeks or so.  I’ve been cooking most nights but on the weekends we go out or have take out. I hope you’re all having a good week and happy cooking!

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chicken wings adobo (my fave chicken part)
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chicken wings adobo with green beans

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grilled pork chop,roasted sweet potatoes,roasted jalapeno poppers,avocado
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take out food from our fave Indian resto
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crockpot chili
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my husbands messy chili!
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Banana blossom

My husband had banana blossom for the first time when we visited the Philippines last year. He really liked it and he’s been NAGGING me to try cooking it for him. We got the blossom at the Asian market and I found the recipe on youtube (panlasang pinoy). He liked it and said I’ll have to make it again(we’ll see!).

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Banana blossoms in coconut milk
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daing na bangus(milkfish),banana blossoms in coconut milk
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grilled salmon
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crispy potato with red bell pepper,onions,parmesan cheese
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crispy potato,eggs,avocado
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breakfast for dinner:scramble eggs,bacon,rice,coffee
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our homemade version of “chipotle” steal bowl

we also had take outs and dine outs for the last couple of weeks:

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My fave cheap pizza from papa johns

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Dinner at Big Fish (local resto) after watching Starwars
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Brunch at Lot No. 3 in Bellevue after Church with Julia (SIL)

Spaghetti with Truffle Butter

Hi friends! I wanted to share a very simple recipe from Ina Garten. I watched her show last month when she prepared this dish and it was so easy and looked good. So when my Dad InLaw went to Seattle during Christmas week we asked him to stop at Dilaurentis ( a specialty store in Pike place market) to get me some truffle butter. Truffle butter is so inexpensive compared to truffles themselves. This is a quick side dish and perfect for a busy weeknight dinner with family. Zach was raving about it! Happy cooking friends!

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Basic ingredients!

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We had a simple salad to go with the pasta.

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Tagliarelle with Truffle Butter  (Ina Garten from Foodnetwork online)

*I didn’t have the tagliarelle pasta that Ina used, I only have spaghetti so that’s what I used instead.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup heavy cream

kosher salt, ground pepper

3 ounces white truffle butter

1 (8.82 ounce) package Cipriani tagliarelle dried pasta or other egg fettuccine

3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

3 ounces Parmesan, shaved thin with a vegetable peeler

Directions:

Add 1 tablespoon salt to a large pot of water and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large (12- inch) saute pan, heat the cream over medium heat until it comes to a simmer. Add the truffle butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, lower the heat to a very low, and swirl the butter until it melts. Keep warm over ver low heat.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes, exactly. (If you’re not using Cipriani pasta, follow the directions on the package.) When the pasta is cooked, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. Add the drained pasta to the saute pan and toss it with the truffle-cream mixture. As the pasta absorbs the sauce, add as much of the reserve cooking water as necessary to keep the pasta very creamy.

Serve the pasta in shallow bowls and garnish each serving with a generous sprinkling of chives and shaved Parmesan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve at once.

 

What’s for dinner?!

Hi Friends! Happy Monday:) One of our “goals” this year is to really be intentional with our family budget. I’m responsible for budgeting, paying bills, getting groceries, and making meals while the hubs earns the money! We’ve already talked/made plans this past weekend about our financial goals for the year so I’m glad that is taken care of. Anyways, I wanted to share our dinners last week (after Christmas) and our menu plans for this week. I did the grocery shopping this week and came under budget (YES!). We have well stocked refrigerators right now and I plan to use what we already have for the coming weeks. Here’s to saving money and cooking at home!

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Pork and chicken adobo
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Beef caldereta ( filipino version of beef stew)
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Chopped pork belly
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Bittermelon with eggs,grilled pork belly
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Veggie fried rice,chicken shiomai,shrimp
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My plate!

Here’s our meal plans for the week:

M: Leftovers (we had beef caldereta; it’s a filipino version of beef stew)

T: Pasta with truffle butter (Ina Garten recipe),salads

w: Pork chop, rice, green beans

Th: Leftovers

F: Take out/Pizza

S: Chili

Sun: Salmon,veggies

*Our breakfast are usually :coffee and toast,yogurt,cereals,oatmeal then sandwiches and leftovers for lunch.

My groceries this week. The fridges are already stocked so I only bought produces that will be good this week, and I got some meat that was on sale that I can freeze for consumption in the coming weeks. Meat prices are getting ridiculous so I try to save money this way.

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This will be good for a week or more

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Happy New Year!

Hello 2016! How was your New years day friends? Ours was relaxing, the way I like it! NYeve we had Zach’s parents over and we ordered sushi and Chinese food. We watched the times square celebration on tv and then called it a night! This was the first time we missed the Space needle countdown celebration. It was just a long day for us. I’ve been having a cold for the last couple of days (I’m sleep deprived lately) and Zach did some errands with his dad most of the day yesterday. This afternoon, we had a little family walk. Riley loved it and had a blast. I hope you’re having a great 1st day of the year so far!

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charcuterie plate, sushi, chinese food
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Yum!

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Missing Auntie Puss!
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With my Mom In Law Kathy!

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Cranky puss!
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My mom in law gifted me this cookbook! Browsing while enjoying my coffee!
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Riley met a new friend!

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Happy puppy!

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