Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with Beef

When the cat's away, the mice will play.

Indeed, that's exactly what I did when he was away.

No silly, wipe off that naughty smile on your face. You see if you follow my blog, you will notice that my new post veers away from my usual flavor profile. And when you cook for yourself, it gives you a chance to be playful.  That's the kind of play I'm talking about - being creative in the kitchen without any constraints or limitations.  And I especially focus on the flavors - new and old - and experiment with unfamiliar ingredients.

I've always loved stuffed peppers - it is always in my to-cook-list that I carry around. Why is it on the list?  Well I'm not sure. So when I saw the vibrant colors of bell peppers at the store the other day, I knew right away that stuffed peppers will be in my menu very soon. Quinoa, on the other hand, is something that I've only discovered recently. And how to spell the word quinoa - much more how to enunciate it - is always a challenge but I love to use this pseudo-cereal as a substitute for rice.

So I must admit, I have been terrible on the occasions when I need to fend for myself. Why bother cooking just for me? But the colorful bell peppers in my fridge seduces me to change my mind... So A-HA!... The moment to make stuffed peppers reveals itself to me. They look so festive, nutritious. And most of all, it makes me happy! 

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with Beef 

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
1/4 c water
1 can beef broth
1/2 lb beef
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 pcs bell pepper
1/2 c crumbly Gorgonzola, divided
1/4 c Panko bread crumbs
1/2 c pineapple tidbits
1/2 c cubed tomatoes
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Pre-heat the oven at 375 degrees.

Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh.  In a stockpot, add the broth and water.  Bring to a rolling boil.  Stir in the drained quinoa.  Lower heat and cook it for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the top of the bell peppers. Remove the seeds and the insides, creating a nice pepper cup.  Set aside.

In a pan, saute onions and garlic with olive oil. When onions are translucent, add the beef.  Sprinkle the Italian seasoning and season with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, mix  the cooked quinoa and beef.  Mix them together.  Add pineapple tidbits, grogonzola and tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Fill the bell peppers and bake it for 15 minutes.  (Note:  I want to keep my peppers firm and also make sure not to dry up my beef and quinoa)

When the cat is away the mice will play?

Hmm maybe I did.  *wink... *wink.  Thank you Ann, Viv and Dave, Rene and Majessa for keeping me busy over the weekend  Cheers!

Red Snapper with Lemon Coleslaw on a Spinach Cup and Wasabi Mayo

He called me from work last week and asked  "What are you having for lunch?"

 "A Spinach Wrap!"  was my reply.

And he said "It sounds healthy and refreshing! That's good!"

Then, the next day, he called again and asked the same question and I replied "Spinach Wrap" 

"Hmm, Yum Again!" he said.

And for the remainder of the week, he popped the same question.  Yes you guessed it right, I answered: "Spinach Wrap!"

"What?  SPINACH WRAP Again??? Don't you get tired of it?" he asked in disbelief. "Love, you are usually creative. What happened?  Aren't you inspired at all?"

I smiled, little did he know that I've been enjoying my spinach wrap marathon lately. I use my spinach wrap as a blank canvass, and pretty much. everyday I create a colorful new picture. It depends on my mood, really.  Sometimes I could easily throw in any left-overs from the previous night to a bed of spring greens.  Sounds healthy, right?  Or sometimes, I would grill it with cheese (oooh gooey) or add some cream with fresh fruits... oh so divine...  

So ok, in case he calls today, and he pops the same question... I will not say Spinach Wrap.  This time I would say:  Red Snapper with Lemon Coleslaw on a Spinach Cup and Wasabi Mayo.  

I can't wait to  hear what he has to say this time.  How about you... What are you eating for lunch today?

Happy Monday!

Red Snapper with Lemon Coleslaw on a Spinach Cup and Wasabi Mayo

Ingredients

Pan-fried fish strips
I used Pan Fried Red Snapper which I seasoned with salt and pepper and lemon.  Pan fried each side, takes about 4-6 minutes)

Lemon Coleslaw
Mix 1 cup coleslaw mix, 2 tbsp mayo, lemon juice from lemon, 1 tsp sugar ,salt and pepper to taste. You may also add a drop of sesame oil a teaspoon of toasted sesame seeds.

Wasabi mayo: 2 tbsp mayo, a dot of wasabi (you may add more if you want)

Small Spinach wraps

Assemble them all together and you will enjoy a refreshing lunch in no time.  Enjoy

Weeknite Cooking | Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops

If pork chops were characters in a play and I am the writer, they will definitely fall into the main character. Where will Kermit be without Miss Piggy?  The pork chop is the star of the play - acting along with the most valuable supporting casts, including veggies shrimps, crabs and steaks. They are always a good fit for a feel good story.  Much like a Julia Roberts-Hugh Grant romantic comedy.  Oh and the Kermit-Miss Piggy relationship is one of the successful long-term Hollywood relationships.

Pork chops always bring smiles to my dinner table.  And there's a delightful feeling of nibbling at the meat on the bones, savoring every flavor it brings... It's one of the characters in my fridge because yep, it's easy to prepare them and it always spells SPECIAL once on the dinner table.

.

And while I was taking pictures, the pork chop evokes sweet memories of Sunday dinners past. I remember when my brothers came home from the seminary and you know it's a special dinner because pork chops are in my Mama's repertoire. Perhaps you would enjoy having it for your weekday dinner - as a pick-me-upper for the Tuesday Blues - just as it did for me and my husband... Enjoy!

Pork Chop in Balsamic Reduction

4 pcs pork chops (bone in)

2 large onions

1 cup baby bellas

2 tbsp cooking oil

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1/3 cup crema di balsamico

2 tbsp steak sauce

salt and pepper

Procedure:

Heat a heavy pan.  Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Make sure to season both sides.  Put oil into the pan.  Add the chops.  Leave it alone for 4 minutes.  The pork should have a nice brown crust. Turn the chops and do the same on the other side. Set aside the chops.

Pour the drippings and leave around a table spoon of oil in to the pan.  Add sliced onions.  Cook until onions are caramelized.  Add mushrooms, give a quick stir.  Add crema di balsamico and steak sauce.  Let it simmer. Put the chops back into the pan.  Let it simmer for about 6-8 minutes or until the chops are cooked.  .... voila... ENJOY! 

Spring Fling | Lumpiang Hubad (No Wrap Spring Rolls)

I feel like having a Spring Fling.

OK, calm down now, I was referring to the weather. Spring has remained elusive... well, especially here in St. Louis and in most parts of the East Coast. But this morning, the gentle warmth of the sun touching my skin made me instantly fall in love with the season.  It's about time to park those winter layers inside the closet... put away those boots... and yes let the song "Here comes the sun..." get stuck in your head.

Along with getting rid of the layers of clothing, maybe it's also a good time to get our bad habits out the window and say... "I'm ready for a fresh start!"

Lately, I've been challenging myself to eat healthy.  And it feels good to be in that zone.  Nope I'm not even saying the dreaded words ("I'm on a diet") but keeping a healthy option is what I go with.

So for today, I share a classic Filipino dish called Lumpiang Hubad (or Spring Roll sans the wrapper). Filipinos have different kinds of lumpia (spring rolls), the most popular one is called Lumpiang Shanghai. It is filled with pork rolled in a thin wrapper and deep fried.  But the healthier version is what we call Lumpiang Sariwa (or Fresh Lumpia). The word "fresh" means it's not fried. It is made mostly of vegetables and rolled in a thin crepe that is soft and refreshing to the palette. But this recipe calls for no wrap or spring rolls.  Sorry I find it hard to directly translate the name of this dish.  Hubad in Filipino means Naked in English... so it doesn't sound right to call it Naked Spring Rolls haha.. But before I confuse you any further with my Spring Fling, here's the recipe.

Lumpiang Hubad (No Wrap Veggies)

1 chicken breast julliened
1/4 lb shrimp, deveined and julliened
1/2 medium sized cabbage, sliced into strips
2 medium carrots, sliced into strips
1 medium singkamas, sliced into strips
1 c green beans, julliened 
4 pcs garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp oyster sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp annatto powder (optional)

In a cooking pan, saute onions and garlic with olive oil. Mix in annatto powder, give it a quick stir. Add chicken slices. Saute for five minutes, stirring frequently. Add shrimp and give it a quick stir.  After about 4 minutes add in all sliced vegetables and season with oyster sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes or until done. 

For the peanut sauce 
1/2 cup of light soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar (you could adjust it accordingly)
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 c cornstarch dispersed in water (make sure to have no lumps)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c peanut, crushed

Directions: 
Mix all the ingredients together : soy sauce, water peanut butter and sugar into a saucepan. When boiling, add the cornstarch mixture, stirring continuously to avoid lumps. Remove from heat when the sauce begins to thicken.

Garnish with crushed peanuts and minced garlic.

Semana Santa (Holy Week)

Around this time last year, I had the privilege of observing Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Tuguegarao (my hometown). After more than fifteen years, it was wonderful to be part of the festivities again. Through my pictures, I hope to share with you my experience.

This is Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral, the seat of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao. On a personal note, this Cathedral is where most of my family's sacraments took place:  my parents' wedding, my siblings' and my baptism.  And when I was young, this is where we would attend mass each week.  What's most exciting for me is that the current Parish Priest is my brother, Fr. Gerry :)

The cathedral was built in the 1700's and is considered one of the biggest in the region. During Sundays and holidays, the cathedral is fully packed with devout Catholics.

Just like any other Catholic church, Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral's Holy Week schedule is full.  One of  the highlights is Good Friday's "Way of the Cross" procession.  Here are some images.

Each image is assigned to a family or clan.  For almost 50 years now, our clan has been in charge of the statue of Sta. Veronica.   With the permission of my cousin Nanny P. - I am sharing pictures from his Facebook wall.

Shown above is my brother Francis, who owns a local flower shop in Tugue called Blooms Central, and is in charge of the flower arrangement.

And my cousin Nanny writes:

This is an annual Holy Week activity that my whole family and relatives look forward to since our childhood. It has been an obligation handed down to me by my maternal uncle about 28 years ago. The holy week of the family is incomplete without honoring SANTA VERONICA during Holy Thursday and Holy Friday processions. 

And when the procession ends, all the flowers are gone.  The town folks scramble to get flowers throughout the procession, as their panata or belief is that the flowers will bring them luck.

What ever you believe in, I hope the true meaning of Holy Week - which is of love and hope - reaches your heart!. And may the real gift of the risen Lord be yours to keep...Happy Easter!

Seafood Weekend | Crawfish ala Hot and Juicy

I love it when my husband cooks with me in the kitchen.

Well OK, maybe sometimes!  There are times when we disagree, and oh you don't want to hear that part of the story. : )  But I can say that for the recipe I'm about to share, it states that "I'm lucky I fell in love with my best friend". Yep, this is definitely one of the best collaborative cooking experiments that we've done.  

For today's recipe, my husband and I prepared a Hot-N-Juicy (H-n-J)-inspired crawfish and shrimp with Louisiana-Style seasoning. We went to the market earlier today and they had live crawfish. So crawfish it is... and we want it spicy... Oooh Baby!

Hot N Juicy is similar to The Boiling Crab in Southern California - which is well known for the long lines and wait - but it is soooo worth it.  So H-n-J is a crawfish joint that started in Las Vegas and has several locations in the East coast and So Cal. We've visited the Orlando location - thanks Dick and Marvie for the invite. Expect it to be hot and messy when you dine here, as the seafood can be really spicy and it is served in a plastic bag with all the juices and seasoning.   

So taking the cue from Hot N Juicy, we cooked the crawfish with shrimp, potatoes, corn and sausage - all sprinkled liberally with spicy seafood seasoning - or simply known as the crawfish Louisiana Boil recipe.  To put a Filipino take on this dish, we added sweet longganisa instead of andouille sausage.  And guess whose suggestion that was?  Yep I have to give it to my husband.  And the result is outstanding! Uhm let's say we were in a food coma after, haha!

Crawfish Ala Hot and Juicy

You could use Louisiana (brand) boil powder - but there is a hint of anise - which may not be to everyone's liking. So we concocted our own seasoning - Louisiana-Style.

Ingredients:

1.5 lb. crawfish

1 lb shrimp

1 pack of sweet longganisa (around 12 bite size pcs,)

2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced

3 pieces whole corn (sliced in half)

Spices for boiling:

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp chili oil

1 tbsp seafood salt

1 tbsp seafood seasoning

4-6  cups of water (enough to cover the crawfish)

1-2 tbsp of Louisiana hot sauce (adjust to heat preference)

Ingredients for the sauce:

4 cloves of garlic (minced)

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp chili oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon pepper

1 tbsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp seafood salt

1 tsp seafood seasonin

2 pc bay leaf

2 tbsp Louisiana hot sauce

Procedure: 

Wash and clean the crawfish several times with tap water.  Click here to see how.

In a pot, boil water.  Add salt, chili oil, seafood salt, seafood seasoning and Louisiana hot sauce.  Let the water boil for 10 minutes.  Then add the crawfish.  Let it boil for 6-8 minutes.  Turn off the stove and soak the crawfish for an additional 20 minutes, uncovered.  Drain and set aside.

In another pot, boil for 10-12 minutes the potatoes, corn and longganisa, with the same ingredients used in boiling the crawfish.  Drain and sear the longganisa and potatoes on a separate pan.

In a bowl mix the lemon pepper, red pepper flakes, Louisiana hot sauce, seafood salt, seafood seasoning, and chili oil - set aside. In a big wok, saute garlic with butter. Add bay leaf then add shrimp.  Cook for about 4 minutes or until shrimp color changes to orange.  Add crawfish and the spices you mixed earlier. Stir and cook for another 4 minutes.  Add the seared longganisa, potatoes and corn. You may add the broth used to boil the corn and longganisa.  

It may seem complicated, but trust me, it's worth all the trouble!  ENJOY!

Breathe | Squid Adobo Balsamico Pasta

Mum - breathe... take a break!

This was my daughter's message as I was telling her how intense this Coco Cooking Contest has become.  Call it madness but I have been totally obsessed with trying to win this cooking challenge via online voting.

I'm afraid some of my friends would now avoid me when they see me online on FB. : )  They must have been irked with my appeal to please vote... Initially I said "vote - please" (in a soft tone)... But as the competition got more intense, I was now typing in caps:  VOTE - or else...  $!&@! (insert favorite curse word here).  I paraded around Facebook with a loud gong and megaphone announcing to the world that I should win. And it must have been annoying! LOL!  I now realize my folly - please forgive me my FB friends.

But through it all, I am most grateful to all of you - and I am glad that I have so many supportive friends. Thank you to my new friends I met through the promotion of my recipe for this contest. Thank you for voting for me from all over the world - my friends from the Southern Philippines, in Manila, and of course those in my hometown of Tuguegarao.  Thanks to all those who voted in the US, special shout-out to friends and family in Las Vegas, San Diego, Oregon, Nebraska, Alaska, Georgia, Florida and New Jersey - some of these places I am more familiar to than others - but you were one in supporting me.   I may finish second in the competition but your support made me realize that I have already won.

My daughter is right. I should take a break... and when I take a break, you will find me in my kitchen, trying to express myself  through my recipes...

So to my friends, here's a recipe called Squid Adobo Balsamico Pasta.  Thank you for your votes.  And in case you have not voted (opps I can't help it.) I would like you to take a few seconds to give me your vote.

SQUID ADOBO BALSAMICO PASTA
I was staring at the thawed baby squid when my phone notification beeped.  It was a message from my friend Orly.  He was busy giving me his statistical analysis of the voting results when I asked him a random question: What is your favorite Filipino food? His reply was: Adobo, because of the myriad variety to cook it.On  that note, I took the humble traditional squid adobo and amped it up like what I love to do. Thanks Orly for the inspiration and for all that  you do.

Ingredients:
2 lbs baby squid (clean with salt and rinse well)
2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 tbsp crema de balsmico
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red onions, chopped
2 tbsp capers
fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
cooked pasta

Procedure:

First clean the squid and follow instructions here Make sure to reserve the ink sac.

In a pan, saute garlic and onions.  Cook until onions are wilted.  Add squid and its ink. Cook until squid renders its own liiquid.  Add wrocestershire sauce, crema de balsamico and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Cook for just a few minutes as overcooking the squid will make it rubbery. Sprinkle thyme, give it a quick stir.  Add in the capers. The dish should be saucy and creamy.  Pour over a platter of cooked pasta.

Garnish:
Drizzle with toasted garlic and olive oil.
Sprinkle grated ginger. (freeze a thumb size ginger and grate it over the plate of pasta)
Add more capers (optional but i do love capers so I usually add more)
Add cherry tomatoes.

Enjoy!