Papa's Beef Kaldereta (Beef Stew)

Kaldereta and a glass of red wine

I'm blessed with amazing cooks in my family.  I've been surround by delicious food all my life.  The best of the best...My dad's cooking.  I can't think of one single thing he makes that I don't love.  Of course he specializes in Filipino food although he makes a legendary roast beef with gravy.  For so long I've tried to make my Filipino dishes taste like his and I couldn't!  Even though he gave me the recipe.  The problem is...he (and all my aunties who are all great cooks) don't measure anything.  They do everything to taste and trying to get an actual recipe with specific measurements is like having soup with a slotted spoon.  Well, in last couple of years, I've started to become successful in replicating some of my favourite dishes...carefully taking note of my measurements for future reference.  Hubby loves Kaldereta.  It's probably his favourite Filipino dish.  This and mechado (a future blog post I'm sure).  And my Little Miss L loves rice.  She asks for it everyday.  So what is Kaldereta? (pronounced CUL - da - reh - tah)  Beef stew!  Beef and a variety of veggies in a savoury tomato sauce.  It's a hearty meal served with hot steamed rice.  This recipe is great when you're having company over because it serves 6-8 adults.  If not, leftovers are great the following day or two or can even be frozen.  Or you could half the recipe.

Papa's Beef Kaldereta

Prep Time: 15 min Cook Time: 1 hour

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

2 kilos chuck roast, cubed into 1 x 2 inches chunks (don't buy too lean)

2 onions, chopped

½ head of garlic, chopped

1 can 28 oz or 796 ml tomato sauce

2 bay leaves

½ cup soy sauce

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

12-15  baby potatoes

2 cups water

1 cup baby carrots

1 small jar of stuffed green olives

2 bell peppers (I like red), cut into large pieces

2 cups green peas

 

Instructions

Brown beef in batches in a large pot and set aside.  Saute garlic and onions in the same pan and add oil if necessary.  Add tomato sauce, soy sauce, bay leaf, black pepper and diced red peppers.  And beef back into the pot.  Saute for about 10 minutes then add  2 cups of water.  Simmer until meat is tender about 45 minutes.  Add  potatoes, carrots and olives.  When the potatoes and carrots are cooked add red and green pepper and green peas, simmer for about 5 mins.  Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve over steamed rice.

oops!  I forgot the olives this time.

Philly Cheesesteak Dip

Years ago while hubby and I were still at college, one of our favourite restaurants was Boston Pizza.  We lived in our tiny little basement suite, both worked full time and went to college almost full time.  Our classes were in the evening from 7-10 pm so on the nights we didn't manage to eat before class, we would head to BP after since it was (and still is) one of the only places open late.  Hubby loved the Boston Cheesesteak sandwich from BP.  Beef, peppers, onions and mushrooms smothered with cheese with a side of beef au jus for dipping.  Like us, BP has changed over the years and the Cheesesteak is no longer on the menu.  Lucky for hubby, I make this all the time at home.  Here is the recipe I've come up with.  You'll be amazed how easy it is.  Dinner in 30 minutes?  No problem!

Cheesesteak Dip
Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: about 20 min
Makes 4 Sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb (500g) rouladen* beef, cut into strips
1 small green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 small onion, cut into strips
8-10 button mushrooms, sliced
1 heaping tsp Montreal steak seasoning
4 Kaiser** rolls
Butter or margarine (optional)
Slices of Pepper Jack cheese***
4 cups of beef broth

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Slice and butter the buns and arrange on a cookie sheet.
Heat oil in a frying pan and stir fry the beef over medium-high heat until brown.  Sprinkle seasoning all over and toss well.  Keep cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the veggies and cook for another 2 minutes.  Divide the cheese steak into the four prepared buns and top with cheese.  Bake for 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Heat the beef broth while the sandwiches are baking.  Serve 1 cup of broth with each sandwich.

Notes:

*Rouladen is round steak cut in large, thin slices.  I usually roll the beef and then slice it like pinwheels. You can choose any cut that works well for stir fry.

** Make sure your choice of bun is heavy enough to hold the filling while you're dipping.  I normally use long sub buns, they're easier to dip.

*** Choose your favourite cheese.  Marble is always in available in our household.

Zuppa Toscana

Here's another favourite recipe.  If you don't recognize the name, this is one of the soups you can get at Olive Garden.  It has sausage, potatoes and kale in a light creamy broth.  Hubby loves it and he doesn't like soup.  I was thrilled when I found this copy-cat recipe that was very similar in taste but doesn't require any special ingredients.  I love how hearty it is so it's great for lunch or dinner if you pair with some warm, crusty bread (preferably covered in some sort of cheese).  You could even try to make breadsticks and pretend you're at Olive Garden.  I have a not-so-secret ingredient that wasn't in the original recipe that I've added.  I also add the kale last because I don't like kale overcooked.  I've made this with all Italian sausage, all turkey sausage, and half and half.  They all taste great but our favourite is using all Italian sausage.  If you buy the links, remove the sausage from the casing.  Enjoy!

Oops, this picture is missing garlic.

My not-so-secret ingredient: Original or Low Sodium

Zuppa Toscana 

Prep Time: 10 min. Cook Time: 30 min
Serves 4 as dinner or more as a starter
Adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
1 lb. mild Italian sausage
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup white wine to deglaze the pan
2 russett potatoes, washed and scrubbed, cut into discs
900 ml (1 tetra pack) your favourite chicken broth
1 cup water
1 pack of homestyle chicken stock (in jelly form)
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups fresh kale, chopped

Directions:
Over medium heat, crumble the sausage into the pan and cook until well browned.  Remove the cooked sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl; set aside.  Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté until tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the garlic to the pan and cook for a minute more, just until fragrant.  Add the wine to the pot and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits.  Add the potatoes, chicken broth, water and chicken stock jelly to the pot.  Return the sausage to the pot and stir.  Increase the heat to medium-high to bring to a boil them reduce heat to low-med.  Cover and simmer until potatoes are fork tender and cooked, about 20 mins.  Add cream and kale and stir together.  Cover and simmer for 5 more minutes to wilt the kale. Serve and enjoy!

Korean-Style Ribs (Crock Pot)

I have never made ribs before and I love them.  There are so many recipes on Pinterest that I want to try.  When I came across this recipe from The Crepes of Wrath, I promptly added the ingredients to my grocery list and made them for dinner the next day.  It was too easy.  It was too tasty.  I will be adding this to our regular rotation for dinner.  These ribs literally fell apart as I moved them from the crock pot to the baking sheet.  I loved the sauce!  The only thing I would probably do if I can help it is to not cook them as long.  Ours was on high for 5 hours so they were very, very tender.  Regardless, it was delicious.

Korean-Style Ribs (Crock Pot)
Tender pork ribs cooked in a sweet and tangy Korean style sauce in the crock pot.

Prep Time 20 Cook Time 4-6 Hours
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients
4 pounds pork ribs
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ponzu sauce (if you do not have ponzu sauce, use an
additional 1/4 cup of soy sauce + the juice of 1/2 an orange)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 cloves of garlic, finely grated or minced
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated or minced (I forgot to buy ginger so I used 1/4 tsp of ground ginger)
1 teaspoon Sriracha or hot chili oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I omitted because I didn't want it to be too spicy for the girls)
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish
sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions
1. Grease the inside of your crock pot with non-stick spray or oil. Add in the ribs. Whisk together the soy
sauce, ponzu sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger, Sriracha and chili flakes, then pour over the
ribs. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 7-8 hours.
2. When ready to eat, remove the ribs from the pot (they will be fall-apart tender, so do this gently) and
place them on a baking sheet. Preheat your oven to broil.
3.  Whisk together the corn starch and water in a sauce pan until combined. Pour the sauce through a sieve into the pan.  Whisk the sauce over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbling, then baste the ribs in the sauce. Broil the ribs for 5 minutes or so, until bubbling and slightly caramelized. Serve garnished with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.

Serve with rice or potatoes and your favourite veggies.  Corn and salad would be great in the summer time.

Adapted from a recipe by The Crepes of Wrath