Cooking moments: Kaldereta

In my attempt to have a variety of meals to cook aside from the usual tinola, sinigang and adobo, I took a chance to make kaldereta! The usual kaldereta that mommy makes is the one with the coconut milk. They say that the Tagalogs do it that way so to be different and have the usual kaldereta taste from the street karinderia, I searched online for a recipe that will call the use of liver spread! I just went to the kitchen after I have the ingredients and procedure in my head. I really do not usually follow the ingredients, the measurement and the procedure to the dot. I want to experiment and do my own version. I do taste test and base the flavorings on that. I know I will not be a very good recipe write someday! Hehehehe... I learned to cook that way. I just watch attentively and taste.. So you know why I am very very healthy! Hahahaha...

For the ingredients,

• garlic
• onion
• bell pepper
• tomatoes
• potato
• carrots
• liver spread ---> I used one small can of Reno!
• 1 kilo of pork ... you can use beef if you have the budget!
• pickle relish ---> i added this to the last minute for some sweet taste
• cooking oil
  
• achuete extract
  

The way that I cooked it is very simple:

1. Sauteed the usual suspect ---> Garlic until golden brown or fragrant... Add onion until translucent and then the tomatoes. I usually cooked the tomatoes and let is stew in its own juices to have that tomatoey! taste...
   
2. Add the pork and let it brown a bit
3. When the pork is somewhat brown, I added some seasoning like 1 pack of magic sarap, a dash of knorr seasoning, a tablespoon of oyster sauce, a teaspoon of pepper and 1 cube of beef cube
4. Add the green bell pepper ---> Love love bell pepper
   
5. Cook until the peppers are wilted
6. Add some stock ---> I added water to the achuete extract, just add the stock to the amount of sauce that you want
7. Let is simmer
8. Add the potatoes and cook until tender
9. Put in the liver spread on the last end and add a tablespoon of pickle relish
10. You can put in chili peppers for that distinctively kaldereta spiciness
    

As usual, I have the ingredients ready so I will not waste time looking for the stuff I need

I love the smell of bell peppers cooking

Mommy munching on something...

The finish product.. I forgot to take a picture of Christian eating this one!

Cooking moments: Kare kare

I have always been a fan of Kare-kare. It has always been my favorite Filipino dish. I can eat it with rice for days! I love to cook and kare-kare has always been my hurdle. I don't know I think the good taste of it always intimidated me and I would only have it during special occasions or when we eat out. With my dad being ill, me and my mom would think of ways for him to have vegetables. So kare-kare was one of them. My dad can have all the vegetables he can eat without the bland taste.

Mommy bought all the ingredients for it already and planned to cook it one fine Sunday morning for lunch but she and my younger sister have to go out that day to the dentist! I was left to cook it. My mind was racing! Oh gosh.. how would I do it? So I opened the internet and read the instructions... The first website provided the steps and I found it easy. I told myself, this could not be the kare-kare I always ate so on to the next Google result.... Hmmmm! It is the same!

Armed with the instructions in my head, I prepared the ingredients:

• 1 kilo of pork (you can use the usual tripe, oxtail or beef chunks, I used pork since beef will be harder to cook and because of budget constraints!)
• Pechay
• Banana blossom (puso ng saging)
• Eggplant
• green beans (sitaw)
• ground peanuts
• ground rice
• achiote seeds extract
• garlic
  
• onion
• cooking oil
  

I really do not measure. I based the quantity of the vegetables with the number of servings. Since daddy will be eating it, I put more vegetables. This is not a cheating recipe. Notice that I did not use any kare-kare mix or peanut butter but used the ground peanuts that you can buy at the local market. You can use these items if you don't have any resource to buy the ground peanuts.

For the steps:

1. Boil the meat until tender. In my case it was a short time. I boiled them while I prepare and cut the remaining ingredients. I like kitchen preparation. I would usually do a mis en place.. have all the ingredients ready and place them on the stove, just like what they do on cooking shows!
2. Set aside the boiled meat and broth.
3. Saute garlic and onion in another pan with cooking oil. Place the sauteed items in the pot of boiled meat.
   
4. Set to boil.
5. Add achiote extract and peanut grounds.
6. Put in green beans, banana blossoms, eggplant and boil until tender.
7. Add the ground rice. Be careful with this one since it will thicken the sauce. Use it according to your desired thickness.
8. Place the pechay on the last part of the cooking process.

I am no longer intimated by kare-kare. I will be looking forward to the next time I will cook it. My mom told my sister to watch out the following weekend for I might cook the dish again since she, well all of my family, knew that it is my favorite.