Rabbit Stew(Caldereta)
I had no idea how to cook rabbit so I turned it into a stew with Filipino flavors. This is more like Rabbit Caldereta with a sweet and tangy tomato based sauce. FYI, this recipe was originally posted in b5media when I used to write for their Lifestyle site. I’m posting the recipe here in Feistycook for my archives. I bought the frozen rabbit from a Farmer’s Market in Raleigh.
Pork & Kimchi Stir-Fry
My husband spent a year in Korea a few years back through his career in the Army. He would always tell me stories about the food that he tasted while over there. One of the most famous food Korea is known for is kimchi. They have all sorts of kimichi dishes there in Korea. Kimchi is not just eaten as a side dish. Sometimes people would incorporate kimchi into meat items to create a dish out of it.
One in particular is the pork and kimchi combination. I did my own version and wished for the best. I was afraid it was going to be so hot and spicy that we wouldn’t be able to eat the dish but my version turned out ok.
Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings & Asparagus
Those Lawry’s marinades are not just good for marinating meats, yah know. They’re nice sauces to toss into sauteed dishes like this chicken wings with asparagus. This is especially quite easy to whip up on busy days or when you’re only cooking something for yourself for lunch or dinner.
| Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings & Asparagus |
- 10-12 pcs of chicken wings
- 1 cup of Lawry’s Lemon Pepper marinade
- 1 cup of water
- 8 pieces of asparagus, cut in half
- sprinkle of salt and pepper
- 2 medium red potatoes, quartered
- 4 tbsp of oil
- Heat up oil in a sautee pan. Add the chicken wings to cook for 8-10 minutes, or at least until browned.
- Add the lemon pepper marinade, water and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper, stir then cover to cook for 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Add the asparagus at the last minute to cook 5 minutes or so.
- Serve with rice.
Tofu & Zucchini Fritters
To go along with the dumplings I made for dinner a couple of nights ago, I decided to make fritters out of a block of tofu and 2 zucchinis. I used the batter from the sesame chicken to continue the Asian theme I was going for. You could serve these as either appetizers, snacks, or lunch. Or dinner with dumplings as well.
| Tofu & Zucchini Fritters |
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/2 cup of cornstarch
- 3/4 cup of water
- 2 tbsp of baking powder
- salt and pepper
- 2 zucchini. cut lengthwise
- 1 block of firm tofu, cut lengthwise
- Combine the egg, cornstarch, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Whisk everything together to form the batter. Dip the tofu and zucchini slices in batches.
- Heat oil in a pot. Deep fry the battered tofu and zucchini slices, in batches as well.
- Drain the oil in a paper-lined platter.
- Serve the tofu and zucchini fritters with a soy sauce, scallions, and lemon juice dip, alongside dumplings.
Crab Flakes & Green Beans Curry Stir-Fry
Did I tell you I like green beans? I do. I also like curry dishes. Any kind of curry dishes, simple or complicated. Simple curry dishes are what I make, with pork, chicken wings, or shrimp. Now here’s a Crab Flakes & Green Beans Curry Stir-Fry.
| Crab Flakes & Green Beans Curry Stir-Fry |
- 1 bag of crab flakes
- 1 sm onion, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 tomato, sliced in thin strips
- sm piece of ginger, chopped
- a bunch of fresh green beans
- less than a teaspoon of curry paste
- 1/4 cup of water
- 1/2 cup of coconut milk
- 3 tbsp of soy sauce
- a little bit of oil
- Heat up the oil in a sauté pan or wok. Cook the onions, garlic, and ginger to cook. About 2-3 minutes or so. Add the tomatoes to soften a bit. Stir in the crab flakes, and cook until soft, about 10 minutes or so. Add the green beans to cook until tender. Not too long to retain the green beans’ texture. Stir in the curry paste. Don’t go over less than a tsp coz this is very strong. A little goes a long way with curry paste.
- Add the coconut milk. Stir everything around, cover the pan and let that steam-cook for a few minutes. Don’t cook too long coz you want the green beans to be firm and crunchy. Stir around a few times while cooking.
- Serve with white rice.
Curry Shrimp & Green Beans Stir-Fry
Now here’s a shrimp version of the curry pork & green beans stir-fry dish. This Curry Shrimp & Green Beans Stir-Fry is just as easy to make just the pork version. If you want to make a chicken version of the dish, why not? I’m sure it will be good too.
| Curry Shrimp & Green Beans Stir-Fry |
- 1 bag of frozen shrimp, thawed
- 1 sm onion, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 tomato, sliced in thin strips
- sm piece of ginger, chopped
- a bunch of fresh green beans
- less than a teaspoon of curry paste
- 1/4 cup of water
- 3 tbsp of soy sauce
- a little bit of oil
- Heat up the oil in a sauté pan or wok. Cook the onions, garlic, ginger, and tomatoes. About 2-3 minutes or so. Add the shrimp, stir, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes or so. Stir in the curry paste. Don’t go over less than a tsp coz this is very strong. A little goes a long way with curry paste.
- Add the water, and the green beans. Stir everything around, cover the pan and let that steam-cook for a few minutes. Don’t cook too long coz you want the green beans to be firm and crunchy. Stir around a few times while cooking.
- Serve with white rice.
Pork Steak W/ Onions
Here’s a pork adaptation of a much-loved Filipino dish called Bistek(beef steak). This is so easy to make you can whip it up real fast for either lunch or dinner. I’m assuming of course that you already have rice cooked in the rice cooker or leftover rice in the fridge waiting to be warmed in the microwave. The waiting part comes from the marinating process which can take about 30-35 minutes, longer if you’re not that hungry or in a hurry.
I for one marinated the pork, did my Turbo Fire workout for 45 minutes, started sauteing after workout, went to take a shower for 20 minutes, went back to cooking to add the onions in the end, then ate lunch 10 minutes after. I know, I probably shouldn’t have been taking a shower while that was cooking in the stove but hey, it worked for me. I don’t advice that for anyone, of course. Just wait after you take a shower(or whatever else you’re doing) which in turn will marinate the meat a bit longer.
| Pork Steak W/ Onions |
- 2-3 pounds of pork, sliced thinly
- 3/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 lemon
- 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce(optional)
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1/4 cup of water
- sprinkle of red pepper flakes(optional)
- 1 large onion, sliced in rounds
- 2 tbsp of oil
- In a marinating bowl, combine soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce(optional), lemon juice, crushed garlic, and sprinkle of red pepper flakes. The latter is optional. Store in the fridge to marinate for at least 35 minutes or overnight. The longer the better.
- Heat oil in a pan. Take the garlic from the marinade, cook it the pan for a 30 seconds, or less. Add the marinated pork into the pan. Add water, stir and cover the pan. Let that cook in medium heat until the pork is tender. Stir a couple of times.
- Add the sliced onions to cook until soft and translucent.
- Serve with white rice.
Ramen Noodles W/ Pork & Fried Egg
When my husband was off last Thursday, he asked for a substantial lunch that would really fill him up while he did his school homework. I suggested ramen noodles but he didn’t think it would be enough so I suggested pork chops next. He agreed, so I defrosted 4 pork chops quickly in the microwave, preheated the oven, threw the chops in a sheet pan, brushed them with bottled Caribbean Jerk marinade, then broiled them in the oven, 8 minutes on each side.
I served the pork chops with leftover mashed potatoes. I cooked 4 and we only ate 1 each so I had 2 pork chops left to eat whenever or do whatever sometime. By 4pm, I was wracking my brain what to make for dinner and I had to cook fast coz my husband had to go to school by 5:30pm. So I said, ramen noodles. And he said, “finnnnnnnne, make your ramen noodles.” Hahahaha! And I did. And I added the leftover pork chops, fried egg, and chopped cilantro in it too. So see, this ain’t your regular ramen noodles in a bowl coz when I make ramen noodles, I make it GOOD with all the fixin’.
| Ramen Noodles W/ Pork & Fried Egg |
- 4 packs of ramen noodles (pick a flavor)
- 6-7 cups of water
- chop up leftover pork chops in cubes
- 3 springs of scallions, chopped finely
- sprinkle of garlic powder
- 3 springs of cilantro, roughly chopped
- 4 eggs
- some oil
- sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese
- Boil water for the ramen noodles. Cook according to package.
- Fry the eggs individually or 2 at a time in a little bit of oil. Set them aside.
- In a pan, heat up oil. Sautee chopped scallions or chopped up leftover pork for 3 minutes. Season a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and garlic powder. Set aside.
- Assemble the ramen noodles in individual bowls. Ladle ramen noodles into a bowl, top with the sauteed leftover pork and scallions, an egg, then sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese too if you want. That was my husband’s idea for an added garnish.
Use whatever leftover meat you have. Poach the eggs instead of frying.
A Surprise Chinese Take-Out For Lunch
The husband and the son went to Auto Zone today to get something done with the car. The daughter and I did our thing around the neighborhood by going for a walk and taking pictures of the trees and leaves. I wanted pictures of this year’s Fall foliage. I will post those in my other blog sometime tomorrow. As she and I were turning around at the end of the very long road, I saw our car driving towards the house so I told my daughter we had to hurry home coz I knew they’d be looking for us. Lo and Behold, a few minutes later Daddy was at the end of the driveway waiting for us. We had a long way to go so the husband went back to the house, I’m assuming, then went back to the end of the driveway to check on us again, Hehe. I guess we were walking too slow and enjoying the wind far too much. Once we finally reached the house, my husband asked what I was thinking of making for lunch. I didn’t really know and haven’t thought about it at all. I actually haven’t eaten anything at all at that time. The little girl had a bowl of Reese’s Puff cereal for breakfast and I made her grilled cheese sandwich before we went for our walk.
Homemade Sushi Crab Rolls
I have been craving sushi something terrible so I made some crab rolls this past Sunday. I made 2 kinds, crab with cucumber and crab with avocado. I even took out one of the sushi mats from my sushi making kit just to enjoy the experience of making sushi again. My son and I surely enjoyed the homemade sushi rolls for lunch.
| Homemade Sushi Crab Rolls |
- Sushi rice(Japanese sticky rice)
- 2 tbsp of rice vinegar
- salt and pepper
- sprinkle of powdered ginger (optional)
- Crab flakes (substitute with crab sticks if you prefer)
- cucumbers, peeled and seeded then sliced lengthwise
- omelet (2 eggs)
- 1 ripe avocado
- seaweed sushi wraps(8)
- 1/2 brick of cream cheese, sliced in strips
- sesame seeds
- water for sealing
- wasabi mayonnaise & soy sauce
- Put some cooked rice in a bowl, add the rice vinegar, salt, pepper, and powdered ginger. Mix everything together. Leave it in the counter to cool down. You don’t want to start making sushi with hot rice. .
- Once the rice has cooled down a bit, start assembling your other ingredients and tools. Rice, crab flakes, seaweed wraps, cucumber, avocado, omelet, and a cup of water.
- Spread the rice on the seaweed .Leave a small part of the seaweed with no rice. Layer the crabs, omelet, cream cheese, and cucumber. You can substitute crab flakes with crab stick. Roll the sushi nice and tight. Use your finger to gently apply water on that part of the seaweed with no rice. The water will seal the roll together.
- For the outside rice version, just flip the seaweed after putting the rice then layer the crab, cream cheese, eggs, cucumber or avocado. Sprinkle sesame seeds on the rice if you want.
- Place the rolls into a platter. Store in the fridge for an hour or so before slicing in rounds. Serve with wasabi and a bowl of soy sauce on the side.
