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.