Picadillo : Cuban Sytle

Ingredients


1-1/4 potatoes
salt to taste
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon olive oil5/8 onion, minced
5/8 green bell pepper, minced
1-1/4 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 pound lean ground beef
1-1/3 cups dry red wine
5/8 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce1/4 cup and 3 tablespoons pimiento-stuffed green olives, drained and chopped
1/3 cup capers, drained
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons golden raisins
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
5/8 pinch dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon olive oil

Directions

1.Place the potatoes into a large pot with enough water to cover; season with salt. Bring the water to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, place a cover on the pot, and cook the potatoes at a simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.

2.Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat; cook and stir the onion, green bell pepper, and garlic in the hot oil until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes.

3.Crumble the ground beef into the onion mixture, breaking the meat into smaller pieces as you mix; cook and stir until the beef is completely browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Drain as much fat from the mixture as possible.

4.Stir the red wine, tomato sauce, olives, capers, golden raisins, cumin, oregano, black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt into the ground beef mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook at a simmer until the wine had reduced significantly, 25 to 30 minutes.

5.Peel the cooled potatoes and cut into chunks.

6.Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the potatoes in the hot oil until browned, about 5 minutes.

7.Gently fold the cooked potatoes into the simmering ground beef mixture; cook together 5 minutes.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cuban-style-picadillo/detail.aspx   Trivia: Picadillo is a traditional main dish in Latin Americas and in The Philippines. Picar is the root word of Picadillo which means "to chop".

Salmon Pochero

INGREDIENTS:

4 cloves (20 g) garlic, crushed
1 pc (50 g) medium onion, sliced

4 slices (400 g) medium fish (salmon or any lean fish)

3 pc (750 g) medium saba bananas, cut into 4 (with peel)

1 pc (200 g) medium kamote, cut into chunks

10 pc (170 g) sitaw, cut 2" long

1 pouch (250 g) DEL MONTE Original Style Tomato Sauce

2 heads (200 g) medium pechay, stalks separated from leaves

2 tbsp (28 g) cooking oil, for sautèing

1 tbsp (14 g) iodized fine salt or iodized rock salt

1/2 tsp (1.5 g) pepper

1 tsp (5 g) sugar

1. SAUTÉ garlic and onions. Pour in 2-1/2 cups water. Season with 1 tbsp iodized rock salt (or 1 tsp iodized fine salt), 1/2 tsp pepper and 1 tsp white sugar.

2. ADD saba and kamote when water boils. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add sitaw and DEL MONTE Tomato Sauce. Simmer for another 15 mites. Add fish and pechay. Simmer until cooked or about 5 minutes.

From: http://www.kitchenomics.com/recipe/fish-pochero/669/

Trivia: Saba banana and sweet potato make the pochero taste really good. You can replace fish with chicken or pork if you wish.

Fish Vindaye : Mauritius

Ingredients:


1 tsp mustard seeds, lightly ground
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsp of red chilly powder
200ml white vinegar
1 tbsp ginger, grated
1 kg firm, thick fish fillets
Vegetable oil for shallow frying
2 medium onions, thickly sliced
2 tsp turmeric powder

Preparation:


Fry fish in oil over a moderate heat until pale gold on both sides. Transfer to a shallow, non-aluminium dish.
In the same oil, stir-fry onions briefly with ginger and garlic.
Mix turmeric with vinegar and add to onions and stir well.
Return fish to pan with onion mixture and sprinkle over chilli and mustard seeds. Mix gently to coat fish with spices.

Reference : http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/154/Fish_vindaye
Trivia:

I've never been to Mauritius but I know how great this great place is. Mauritian cuisines are influenced by African, Chinese, Indian and French. Just like Indian food, spices such as Turmic is a big part of their recipe. By the way, I used turmeric to make yellow based curry.

Beef Patties Baked Potato

Picante de Pollo from Bolivia

I've never been to Bolivia but it marked in my mind when I watched sundance kid movie.

Tilapia with Blush Wine Vinaigrette and Cream Cheese

Tilapia or any fish you want
Onion
Fresh Strawberry
Blush Wine Vinaigrette
Onion Cream Cheese

Bring to boil the vinaigrette and add the chopped onion and strawberry
Once the onion looks crispy, add the fish and cookfor 5 min on each side.

Melt the onion cream cheese

Serve the fish and add cream cheese on top.

Burmese Chicken Curry

Burmese's cuisine had been greatly influence by China, Thailand and India. They don't eat too much pork and beef because of religious reason. Poultry is common in Burma's landlocked cities like Mandalay thus I chose chicken curry.

Pork & Sausage Casserole - Spanish Style

Mini Mexican Pizza

Mini Mexican pizza is healthy and easy to prepare. My husband like this very much.

German Potato and Sausage Casserole.

The main ingredient of this German Potato and Sausage Casserole is Sauerkraut. For some reason, i don't like Sauerkraut but when I cooked this food and realize that it's gonna be tasty if you will mix it with milk and cream of potato. Sauerkraut means sour cabbage. The sour taste of it came from from the lactic acid that forms when the bacteria ferment the sugars in the cabbage.

ASIAN MAP:

Maybe you're thinking why I have a map on this site. I added the Asian map to easily  decide what to make for my Saturday kitchen exploration. I'm done with The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and India.So, what's next???? Watch out for my weekly update :-)

Hummus

"Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6.[16] The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and dietary fiber; the tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds, which are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the chickpeas. Depending on the recipe, hummus carries varying amounts of monounsaturated fat.[17] Hummus is useful in vegetarian and vegan diets; like other combinations of grains and pulses, it serves as a complete protein when eaten with bread."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummus

Moussaka

Moussaka is an aubergine (eggplant) based dish of the Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean, and the Middle East. The best known variation outside the region is the Greek one.

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moussaka

Baklava

Ingredients:

Filo Pastry ( 6 large sheets)
Butter  (melted 6 tbsp)
Macadamia (chopped 1/2 cups)
Pistachios (chopped 1/2 cups)

Almonds (chopped 1/2 cups)

Walnuts (chopped 1/2 cups)

Biscottio (crushed)
Ground Cinnamon (1 tsp)
Mixed Spice (1 tsp)
Nutmeg (1/2 tsp)
Honey (1 cup)
Lemon Juice (4tbsp)

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375degF
2. Butter the baking dish
3. Unroll the pasty, brush one sheet with melted butter and place in the baking dish and do it two to three times
4. Mix together the nuts, biscottio and spices in a bowl and spoon this mixture into the lined baking dish.
5. Brush the three pastry sheets with the melted butter
6. Distribute the remaining melted butter on the filling
7. Layer the sheets on top of the filling
8. Cut the baklava diagonally into diamonds.
9. Bake in the oven for about 30 mins until golden
10. While the baklava is in the oven, heat the honey and lemon juice together in a pan.
11. When the baklava is cooked, remove from the oven and pour the syrup  over while the baklava is still warm.
12. Leave to cool completely, re-cut into diamonds and serve with as sweet smile

Trivia: "It has been claimed by many ethnic groups, but there is strong evidence that it is of Central Asian Turkic origin, with its current form being developed in the imperial kitchens of the Topkapı Palace." taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baklava

Chicken Pastel

Chicken Pastel is one of my favorite main entrees. I love this because it has milk, egg and veggies.

Maple Syrup Korean Teriyaki Chicken

This is taken from http://koreanrecipes.org/


INGREDIENTS
* 1/4 cup soy sauce* 1 cup water* 1/3 cup maple syrup* 3 tablespoons dark sesame oil* 2 cloves garlic, crushed* 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root* 2 teaspoons ground black pepper* 5 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves* 1 cup brown rice* 2 cups water* 2 tablespoons cornstarch
DIRECTIONS
1. Mix the soy sauce, 1 cup water, maple syrup, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Set aside 1/3 cup of the mixture. Place the chicken in the bag, seal, and marinate at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the oven bake. Lightly grease a baking dish.
3. Pour marinade from the bag into a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Mix in the cornstarch, and cook and stir until thickened.
4. Place chicken in the prepared baking dish. Basting frequently with the reserved 1/3 cup marinade, bake for 16 minutes.
5. Place chicken over the cooked rice, and top with boiled marinade to serve.


Trivia: Maple syrup is of course from maple trees (red , black and sugar). It is strange that my friend from Canada gave it to me and i found out today that Quebec, Canada is the top producer of maple syrup.

Swaii & Fennel Tagine: Morocco

Ingredients:
Swaii or Cod Fish - cut into bite-size chunks
Prawns
Olive oil - 2 tbs
Onion - (1) chopped
Fennel Bulb - (1) sliced
Potatoes -(1) halved
Fish stock - 2 cups

For Charmoula:
Garlic cloves - (1) crushed
Ground Cumin - 4 tsp
Paprika - 4 tsp
Parsely - fresh chopped
Coriander - fresh chopped
White Wine Vinegar - 3 tbsp
Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp

Preparation:
1. Charmoula - blend the garlic, spices, herbs, vinegar and lemon juice togetherin a bowl.
2. Place the fish and prawns in two separate shallow dishes, add half of the Charmoula marinade to each dish and stir well to coat evenly. Cover with clear film and set aside in a cool place for 30 min - 2 hrs
3. Heat the oil and fry the onion for 2 mins. Add the fennel and cook over gentle heat for 5-6 minutes until flecked with brown. Add the potatoes and stock and cook for 10-15 mins until the potatoes are tender.
4. Add the marinated fish, stir gently and cook for 4 minutes, then add the prawns and all the remaining marinade and cook for a further 5-6 min, until the fish is tender adn the prawns are pink. Serve with lemon wedges.

Reference:Best of Morocco by Valerie Ferguson

Trivia: "Charmoula is originally a seasoning for grilling meat and fish in Moroccan cuisine." from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chermoula

Baked Salmon with Tomato