Tuna Salad

Copyright 2014 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

A favorite of mine since college, this is one of my favorite sandwich filling since Dunkin Donuts introduced the Tuna Sandwich melt back in the 90s. They still do serve this sandwich but I must say, I now prefer my version over the DD version. Now, one thing I love about my country is that we have this brand of canned tuna which is Century Tuna. They have both the solid and chunk tuna in oil so what you end up getting is a really creamy tuna that has been soaked in olive oil. Once you drain the liquid off the can, you are left with a wonderful tasting tuna that is perfect for this type of preparation. 

Tuna Salad

3 -184 g cans Century Tuna solid in vegetable oil
2 medium carrots, grated on medium grate
1 onion, diced finely
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup pickle relish
1/4 cup celery, diced finely
salt and pepper

1. To prepare the salad, drain the canned tuna and combine with the onions,
    pickle relish, carrots and celery. 

2. Add enough mayonnaise until the salad comes together. Season with salt 
    and pepper. You may not need the whole cup.

3. Store in the fridge covered for at least 2 hours before serving. I like it 
    best as a sandwich filling but it also goes well with celery sticks and 
    Romaine lettuce leaves.
  

Adobo - Iloilo Version

Copyright 2014 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

This is yet another version of the national dish of the country. I did not know there was actually a second version to the dish in the western visayan region. I always thought that the one version I cook is representative of the region but I was proven wrong. Anyway, the main difference between the two dishes is really not that significant although this minor change will render the dish a bit different in terms of how it looks and very slightly on how it tastes. Overall, the dish is still very delicious. 

To make the switch, all you need really is annatto powder. Traditionally, you extract the annatto color from the actual seeds which you can still do. However, with the wonders of large supermarkets, you can now buy annatto powder and they work the same way without all the mess. 

Adobo - Iloilo Version

1 lb chicken pieces (about 8 pieces)
4-6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion, sliced
3 dried bay leaves
1 tbsp annatto powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup white vinegar
3 tbsp oil
salt and pepper

1. Heat the oil in a deep pot over medium high heat. Once hot, saute the
    onions with the garlic until softened. Season with salt and pepper. Add
    the bay leaves. 

2. Add the chicken to the pan in one layer and season with salt and pepper.
    Brown on both sides. Once browned, add the vinegar. 

3. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to medium low. Simmer covered for 
    about 20 minutes. 

4. Add the annatto powder and brown sugar and mix well into the vinegar 
    sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook covered for another 15 minutes. If it 
    starts to dry up, add a bit of water. 

5. Check for seasoning and adjust accordingly. There should be a good 
    balance between sweet, sour and salty. If you prefer it a bit sweeter, add
    more sugar. If you want it a bit drier, just continue to simmer uncovered 
    until you reach the desired consistency. Serve with steamed rice.   

Pan-seared Tuna

Copyright 2014 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

What I'm presenting is a real treat. I'm one of those people who love sashimi which is basically raw fish dipped in soy sauce with a bit of wasabi. Nothing is more simple and yet nourishing than this exquisite Japanese dish.The inspiration to prepare this dish came to me when I went to the market one morning and they laid out freshly cut tuna. My mind suddenly thought of sashimi and tuna rolls but try as I might, there is a shortage of Japanese rice at the moment in my hometown. So with a heavy heart, I had no choice but to freeze the most wonderful and freshly cut slabs of tuna meat until I can get hold of the things I will need to prepare an authentic Japanese meal.

Two weeks have passed and there is still no Japanese rice to be bought in the market and grocery stores so I have decided to cook the tuna a bit differently. I'm glad I sliced the tuna slab into large portions that I can actually prepare it pan-seared with the middle part still gloriously reddish pink. The question is, how do I season it? Well, after some research, I came up with the prefect marinade and coating to prepare my lovely tuna. 

Pan-seared Tuna

6-8 oz sushi grade tuna steaks (at least 1-inch thick)
3 tbsp dark sesame oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, grated
dash or two of black pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 stalks spring onions, chopped finely
1/3 cup sesame seeds
2 tbsp olive oil

1. To marinade the steaks, combine in a shallow bowl the sesame oil, soy
    sauce, ginger, garlic, spring onions, lemon juice and season with the 
    black pepper. 

2. Arrange the tune steaks so that they are laid flat in the bowl and marinate
    for about 30 minutes turning them halfway. 

3. When ready to sear, heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium 
    heat. Dredge the tuna steaks with the sesame seeds on the top and the 
    bottom. 

4. Sear the tuna steaks for about 1 1/2 minute on each side. Remove from 
    the pan and let cool for a minute. Slice into the desired thickness and 
    serve with a side of soy sauce and wasabi.  

Gelato Ice Candy - 3 Flavors

Copyright 2014 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

Summer time in the Philippines is quite hot and humid. I remember growing up that we used to snack on ice candy that we would either buy from the neighbors or ones that we made ourselves. Now, Ice candy in the simplest terms is a poor man's ice cream frozen in little plastic bags so you end up with a tube-like ice treat in various flavors ranging from mango, avocado, cantaloupe, coconut or even just simply, milk. It was always fun preparing them to eat or to sell. However, what is even more fun is eating them on a hot summer day. 

This summer, I decided to revisit this childhood memory by recreating this wonderful treat but in a more adult version. I used to make gelato while living in the US and I figured, how about I make a gelato base and add three different kinds of fruits. The gelato base will create a much more creamy consistency that will result to an ice candy that melts in your mouth just like any regular ice cream would. Since it was the height of summer, I decided to make use of the abundant supply of mangoes, avocados, and cantaloupe. Because the avocados have a tendency to turn brown when exposed to air, the mashed avocados were mixed with the juice of 1 lemon. 

Gelato Ice Candy, Three Flavors

2 cup fresh milk (full fat)
1 cup cream
1 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups of mashed fruit (avocado, mango or cantaloupe)
20 ice candy wrappers 

1. In a small pot, warm the milk over medium low heat. When almost boiling,
    simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool for about 5 minutes. 

2. In a small bowl, combine the corn starch with the sugar and egg yolks. Mix 
    well with a fork. Add to the cooled milk and stir well. 

3. Turn on the heat at medium low and cook the egg milk mixture until it 
    thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Set aside until it 
    cools to room temperature. 

4. Once the gelato base is cool, add your choice of fruit and the cream. Stir 
    well and pour into the little bags and tie the ends tightly. Freeze overnight 
    or until the ice candy is set. 

Herbed Cheese Sticks

Copyright 2014 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

This very simple dish is a favorite of mine since I first tasted it a long time ago. I can't think of the reason why but I seldom make it until I moved to the US for graduate school. I used to make this for potluck parties especially for a picnic in the park or just as a snack really. The reason being is that there are only two ingredients to this wonderful treat which are cheese and a spring roll wrapper. The trick to making these bad boys is to make sure that your oil is very hot when you start frying them. The wrappers have to crisp up to a golden hue before the cheese filling melts and starts to ooze out. 

My cousin makes this a bit differently for two reasons. One, we buy our spring roll wrappers fresh off the wet market so they are round instead of square. The wrappers come in various sizes so we usually go for the medium or the smaller ones for this treat. Two, she slices the cheese thinly and rolls the wrapper without folding the sides so it becomes almost like a fried cheese roll. It is delicious. Now, since I like to push a simple recipe into something more complicated, I actually took it one step further and decided to soak these wrapped cheese delights in an eggwash onto an herbed bread crumb mix before frying them. The result is similar to a mozzarella stick that I tasted in one of the local restaurants here in town. This is definitely worth a try.

Herbed Cheese Sticks

1 lb Cheddar or Mozzarella cheese - 2 to 3 inches long and 1/4 inch thick
40 round spring roll wrappers, about 6 inches in diameter
1 cups bread crumbs - Japanese style
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
2 eggs
oil for frying

1. To make the cheese sticks, place one slice of cheese about a third from 
    the edge of a wrapper and fold the edge over it. Tuck in the sides 
    towards the center and roll forward tightly to seal. Wet the edge with 
    water to ensure it stays put.

2. In a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs with 2 tablespoons of water. Set aside. 

3. To prepare the breading mix, combine the dried herbs with the bread
    crumbs in a shallow bowl. Season with salt and pepper. 

4. To fry, heat enough oil at medium high heat. Dip the cheese sticks in the 
    egg wash and quickly dredge with the breading mix. Fry in batches of 5 
    so that they fry quickly. Turn them once and continue to fry until it is 
    evenly golden brown in color. 

5. Serve immediately with your choice of condiment. Marinara sauce, tomato 
    ketchup or sweet chili sauce are perfect choices for this treat. 

Bacon Butty or Bacon Sarnie?

Copyright 2014 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

I have a weakness for British Comedies. I could go on and on about which one is my favorite but it might take me a few weeks to do so. During one of my self-imposed  BritCom marathon however, something came up over and over again as a sort of running joke that piqued my interest and I just had to give it a try. Bacon Butty or Bacon Sarnie was Onslow's favorite for breakfast in the beloved BritCom, Keeping Up Appearances. Heck, he actually asks for it practically all day long. I just never really thought about it until recently when I decided to look up this famous sandwich and figure out how to make it. It was then that I realized that it was no joke. Surprisingly enough, the Brits are actually quite particular when it comes to making the sandwich so I read a couple of versions and synthesized what I think is closest to the original.

The sandwich in itself turned out to be fairly simple to prepare. The only issue is that the main ingredient which is bacon is on my list of my not to eat food. As a compromise, I made myself a much frugal version of the sandwich and ate only half of it. I did make the fully stacked version for my friend who loves bacon. Now, as to the actual name of the sandwich, when made with white bread, it is a sarnie. When made on white rolls, it is a butty. 

Bacon Sarnie/Butty

1 lb thick cut bacon
unsalted butter
HP sauce
6 slices white loaf

1. In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, fry the bacon until the edges are 
    slightly golden brown. Set aside. 

2. Slather a liberal amount of softened butter on the bread slices. Divide and 
    layer the bacon slices onto three bread slices. 

3. Season with the HP sauce to taste. Top with the remaining slices of bread.

Callos Madrileña

Copyright 2014 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

Finally, a Callos recipe. The evolution of my love for Callos came a bit slow. This was not something I cooked regularly nor was it something my family loved. In fact, this was an alien concept to me until much later when I was living in the US. My friend, Nashiely, who is Mexican invited me over for dinner at their place when her parents came for a visit. Her Mom, an excellent cook made Callos and I was the only one who ate it. She made the real deal with tripe although her version also included the addition of chickpeas. Prior to this occassion however, there was another occasion where Callos was served although the exact details escape me somehow but when I went home for a visit, I requested that Callos be cooked. This was way back in 2004. 

Fast forward to now, I have been cooking Callos whenever my friends requested for it here in my hometown. I did make this dish once when I lived in Montana and my roommate who was also my landlord, banned the dish from being ever made again. He said that cooking the tripe stank the house. So there goes my Callos fix. At that time, I followed the recipe of MarketMan as written in his blog but there were a few changes I made due to the unavailability of certain ingredients so I made do with what was available. Here in Bacolod, I have learned my lesson and I now know that to make this dish, it requires planning because tripe has to be pre-ordered and so are the other beef portions that make up this wonderful dish. The good thing is that they are fairly reasonably priced.

If you ever decide that you want to prepare this dish, have the whole day set for nothing else but to making Callos. Actually, it is best if you start at night and then you serve it for lunch or dinner the next day. To make sure that the steps are described accurately, I will break down the recipe in three steps.

By the way, I am adapting the name of the dish as MarketMan named his version due to the fact that I did follow a recipe that is indeed more Spanish in origin rather than Filipino. If you notice, there are no chickpeas or potatoes in the recipe which are used as extenders. My version is indeed a meat lovers delight and a nightmare for persons with uric acid problems.   

Callos - Adapted from MarketManila*

Tripe

4 lbs ox tripe
sea salt
2 onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper

1. Clean the tripe by rubbing with the sea salt. Scrape off any residual grit 
    and rinse off with water.  Slice into manageable sizes so that they all 
    fit your stock pot.

2. In a large pot, layer the tripe and add the bay leaves, onions, garlic, white 
    vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Add enough water to cover the 
    tripe and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Once boiling, lower the 
    heat to medium low and simmer covered for about 30 minutes. 

3. Turn off the heat and leave the tripe in the stock pot until cooled. 

4. Once cooled, drain the tripe and slice into rectangular pieces or depending 
    on how big or small the dish requires them to be. Rinse with more water 
    and check if it smells clean. 

To prepare the tripe for cooking, here is the next step:

Copyright 2014 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

In a large pot, arrange the tripe and add 1 cup of white wine and 2 bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper and add enough water to cover the tripe. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and once boiling, lower the heat to medium low and simmer covered until the tripe is fork tender. This will take a couple of hours so check regularly and make sure to add enough water every now and then. If using a pressure cooker, it takes about 40 minutes of cooking once it starts to whistle. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Drain and rinse with water. Set aside.

Ox Tail, Legs, and Face 

8 lbs of ox tail, legs and face
2 bay leaves
2 onions, diced
6 garlic cloves, crushed
salt and pepper

Copyright 2014 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

In a large pot, arrange the ox pieces and cover with enough water. Season with the bay leaves, onions, garlic and enough salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and once boiling, lower the heat to medium low and simmer covered for about 3-4 hours or until the meat is very tender. If using a pressure cooker, cook over medium high heat for 40 minutes when it starts to whistle. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. 

Once cooled, fish out the meat pieces and rinse any muck that has stuck to the meat and slice to the desired size. Pour the broth through a sieve and set aside. 

Callos

Pre-cooked tripe and ox meat
2 onions, diced
6-8 garlic cloves, diced
3 carrots, diced
4 bay leaves
1 32-oz canned diced tomatoes
1 200-g canned pimientos
1 1/2 to 2 lbs kielbasa (or blood sausages and Spanish chorizo if available), 
   sliced into rounds
1 1/2 cups tomato paste
8 cups beef broth
1 tbsp Spanish paprika
1 tsp diced chili
1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper
4 tbsp olive oil

1. In a large pot over medium high heat, add the olive oil. Once hot, fry the 
    sausages until slightly browned. Set aside. 

2. In the same pot, saute the onions with the bay leaves, garlic, paprika, and 
    chili. Cook until the onions have softened. Season with salt and pepper. 

3. Add the carrots and pimientos and cook until heated through. Pour in the 
    beef broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the tripe, ox meat and 
    the sausages. 

4. Lower the heat to medium low and simmer covered for 30 minutes. 

5. Add the diced tomatoes and the tomato paste and check for seasoning. 
    Adjust accordingly. Continue to simmer for another 30 minutes to an hour 
    until you achieve the desired consistency. If needed, add more beef broth 
    if it starts to thicken too quickly. Add the oregano when the Callos is 
    almost ready.

6. At this point, you can serve the Callos after you check for flavor and make 
    the necessary adjustment. The stew should be thick enough to coat the 
    meat pieces but is still loose enough that that it drips when tipped. 

If not serving right away, allow to cool and store in the fridge. When ready to serve, reheat over low flame and when needed, add a little bit of beef broth to loosen the stew. Recheck for flavor and serve hot. 

*Callos ala Madrilena: MarketManila blog.