December 11 - Cathelyn's Penne a la Vodka

Pork menudo became an instant favorite of Daniel. As for Cathelyn, she chose Penne a la Vodka.

Besides the vodka, the sundried tomatoes gave the dish its unique twist.

If you are thinking of making this dish vegetarian, feel free to exclude the bacon and add in more butter or use olive oil to saute the garlic and onion.

Penne a la Vodka
Ingredients
1 package of penne pasta
12 pieces of sundried tomatoes, sliced into thin strips, softened in 1 cup of warm water
1/4 lb chunk of Schaller & Weber double smoked bacon, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sweet onion, minced
100 ml. heavy cream
1 cup of Vodka or Vermouth
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp butter
freshly ground pepper





Cooking Time
Cook the penne pasta as instructed in the package.
When selecting bacon, get a chunk from your butcher shop or gourmet store.
This kind of bacon is not as fatty when cooked.
In a large pan, fry the diced bacon.
Add the garlic and onion and cook until caramelized.
Add the sundried tomatoes together with the water and cook for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes are tender.
Add the heavy cream, cheese and butter.
Lower the heat.
Adjust the taste (by adding more cheese) to make sure that the sauce is not bland.
Add the vodka (or Vermouth) and quickly mix in the penne pasta.
Add some freshly ground pepper.

December 11 - Daniel's Pork Menudo Dish

This version of Pork Menudo became an instant hit to my son, Daniel.

I was careful not to put so much water. The sauce is just enough to cover the dish without making it soupy.

A diversion to normal recipe is using chickpeas instead of green peas. So if your kids are not used to the taste of chickpeas yet, then feel free to use green peas.


Pork Menudo
Ingredients
1 package of pork tenderloin (about 3 lbs), cubed
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp paprika
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sweet onion, minced
4 medium sized tomato, diced
4 Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced crosswise
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 big Yukon potatoes, diced
1 can of chickpeas
1 cup raisins
salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 cup water




Cooking Time (45 minutes)
Heat the olive oil in a large pan or wok.
Saute the garlic and onion until caramelized.
Add the tomatoes and saute until tomatoes are wilted.
Add the pork tenderloin and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the chorizos, potatoes, paprika and 1 cup of water and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the pepper, chick peas and raisins.
Add some salt and pepper to taste.
Cook for another 10 minutes.
Be careful not to make the potatoes mushy.
Add the grated parmesan cheese and cook for just 3 minutes to melt the cheese.

December 11 - A Very Festive Potato Salad

I earned a lot of points serving this very festive potato salad to my husband.

Besides having that wonderful "red" color (make sure you use fresh red beets and not canned!), the different vegetables mixed a lot of unique tastes to an otherwise boring potato salad.

Do not hesitate to add onion and cheddar cheese to your salad!

I served this potato salad with baked ham, another favorite of my husband...

Russian Potato Salad

Ingredients
12 small buttercream potatoes
4 red beets
4 medium sized carrots
1 green bell pepper
1 large sweet onion
4 boiled brown eggs
3 tbsp of tillamook cheddar cheese, diced
2 tbsp superfine sugar
dash of salt
dash of freshly ground pepper
1 cup mayonnaise





Preparation and Cooking Time (1 hour)
Use a big bowl to mix in all the ingredients.
Boil the vegetables with the skin on (20 minutes for the pepper, onion and carrots, 30 minutes for the potatoes and beets).
Peel the skin off and dice the vegetables, eggs and cheese.
Mix all the ingredients together with sugar, salt, pepper and mayonnaise.

November 20 - Excited for Meat Lasagne

Even with lasagne, I would prefer the pasta, al dente. I would rather use the "No Boil Oven Ready" lasagne, to avoid having mushy lasagne.

Serving this to my kids, I decided not to put ricotta cheese. They are not familiar with the taste of the ricotta cheese.

This lasagne is not mushy nor "soupy". But if you prefer more sauce, then increase the amount of pasta sauce.

Meat Lasagne
Ingredients
2 lbs ground sirloin
1 large sweet onion, minced
2 red sweet pepper, minced
1 14 oz. pasta sauce (I used Classico Tomato and Basil)
5 oz shredded mozzarella
2 oz shredded parmesan
2 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 cup water
"No Boil Oven Ready" Lasagne pasta
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp fresh basil leaves, minced
2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, minced
2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves, minced

Cooking Time (1.5 hours)

In a large pan, heat the olive oil and saute the ground sirloin, onion and sweet pepper for 15 minutes.

Add the pasta sauce, salt, freshly ground pepper, water and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the basil, oregano and parsley.

In a large baking pan (13" x 19" x 2"), place a layer of the meat sauce.

Repeat layers of lasagne, mozzarella cheese, and meat sauce.

Finish with a third layer of lasagne and meat sauce.

Top with 2 oz. of freshly grated parmesan.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

November 9 - Ribs With Black Bean Sauce

A typical Chinese dimsum favorite is spare ribs with black bean sauce. The recipe calls for short cuts of ribs. Unfortunately, I only got long beef ribs (beef bones).

I used the Kikkoman black bean sauce with garlic, which made the sauce subtle for the kids to enjoy. The ginger and spring onions gave the Asian kick. The carrots, celery stalks and green pepper added the sweet, stewy taste.

As with the curried chicken that I prepared last time, the kids welcomed the new taste.

Of course, I am thrilled, especially when the kids are becoming more daring to finish all the vegetables served to them.

Ribs With Black Bean Sauce

Ingredients:
Beef Spare Ribs (Single Bones or Cut into 1 1/2" long)
2 tbsp oil
3 cups water
5 tsp black bean sauce with garlic
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp of long, thin slices of ginger
1 cup diced celery stalks
1 cup diced carrots
2 green pepper, long, thin slices
1 but of spring onions, cut in half
dash of freshly ground pepper







Cooking Time (1 hour)
Heat a large frying pan with 2 tbsp oil.
Brown the ribs.
In another large stock pan or wok, heat 3 cups of water.
Add 5 tsp black bean sauce with garlic and 1/2 cup of soy sauce.
Transfer the brown ribs in the large stock pan.
Cover and cook the ribs in high heat for 25 minutes.
Dash with freshly ground pepper.
Add the ginger, carrots and celery stalks and cook in medium heat.
In the last 10 minutes, add the green pepper and spring onions.

November 7 - Curried Chicken Dish That Kids Will Love

Here's one chicken curry recipe that my kids ended up liking. Curry powder is a bit spicy but adding some milk to the dish made the taste mild enough for my kids.

The original recipe called for sliced mushrooms. It was not that appetizing for the kids. So for the second time, I substituted the mushrooms with carrots and sweet peas.

I still think that color is a big factor when it comes to dishes that kids would enjoy.


Curried Chicken Fricassee

Ingredients

6 chicken legs

1 tbsp salt

2 tbsp butter

1 big sweet onion, thinly sliced

8 small (or medium) carrots

1 can sweet peas

2 tbsp curry powder (West Indian)

1 cup of milk

2 tbsp corn starch

Cooking Time (30 minutes)

Heat the butter in a large frying pan or Dutch oven.

Rub the chicken legs with salt.

Fry the chicken, skin side up.

After 10 minutes, turn the chicken on the other side.

Place the onions and carrots on top of the chicken and let it cook for 10 minutes.

Strain the sweet peas from the can but save the liquid.

Put the peas in the pan.

Mix the liquid with 2 tbsp curry powder.

Pour the liquid on the chicken and cook for 5 minutes.

Mix 1 cup of milk with 2 tbsp corn starch.

Pour it around the chicken and carefully mix it with the curry.

Cook for another 5 minutes.

November 3 - Carrots and Snow Peas with Dill

I would think that all kids like carrots. It must be the orange color and the subtle sweet taste.

But I would not expect kids to love snow peas. It has a stronger (grassy) taste than green beans.

So I tried adding snow peas to the classic dish of carrots and dill. Sure enough, the kids enjoyed eating the snow peas, too.


Carrots and Snow Peas with Dill

Ingredients
1 bunch of carrots, cut-up
1 lb snow peas
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tsp butter
1/2 tsp dill
1 cup water








Cooking Time (20 minutes)
Boil the carrots in a cup of water in a large frying pan for 10 minutes.
Add the snow peas, sugar, salt, pepper, lemon juice, butter, and dill.
Cook for another 10 minutes.