Sugarlace

So, I’ve posted several times here that Mr J has actually taken over my kitchen and well, branded it his own. I’m not one to complain though: who wouldn’t want freshly cooked meals at the end of a working day, or on a late Sunday afternoon after a trip to the beach? I get so excited and curious about dinner as soon as I see him flicking through the numerous recipe books that line the bookcase, and find absolute joy browsing through the kitchen aisle at the shops hoping to find something to give to the boy.

He came home one day from work and joyfully declared that he was going to cook beef bourguignon. That one dish that I can never even pronounce, let alone cook. My dear boy, who could not even peel a potato when we first met, is going to make me Julia Child’s signature dish!

So we hunted the best recipe on the internet, particularly something that includes ingredients available in Australia. We opted for Billy of A Table for Two’s recipe because it’s simple and easy to follow but the finished product was oh so delightful. The whole apartment smelled wonderfully of meat, red wine and herbs. I’m sure Ms Child will be very proud.

Beef Bourguignon

Recipe adapted from Billy of A Table for Two

Beef & Marinade:

1 sprig thyme

1 sprig parsley

1 onion, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 kg chuck steak, cut into rumps

500 ml red wine

3 tbsp olive oil

Rest of the dish:

2 tbsp butter

150g pancetta

2 tbsp olive oil

450 g button mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp plain flour

400ml beef stock

1 garlic clove, chopped

1. In a dish, combine all the marinade ingredients together. Cover with clingfilm and marinade in the fridge for 4 hours, mixing the meat every few hours.

2. Drain the beef from the marinade and dry in a kitchen towel, ensuring you save the marinade for later.

3. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add pancetta and mushrooms and fry for a few minutes. Set aside.

4. Heat the remaining oil in a deep pot. Roll the dried beef on to the plain flour, and lightly pan fry for a few minutes. Ensure you do not crowd the pot so the beef is seared and not stewed. Add the remainder of the flour.

5. Pour the marinade and beef stock on the pot, and cook for approximately 2 hours with lid on.

6. After 2 hours, add the melted butter, pancetta and mushrooms, and cook for a further 30 minutes. Serve with mash potatotes. Enjoy!

Christmas is all about family. In the Philippines, we take one step further and celebrate Christmas pretty much any way we can, any time. Christmas celebrations usually start when we’re in the “-ber” months – September, October, November, December, and drags on until pretty much January and February when the stores change their Christmas decorations to Valentine’s day.

As most Latin and Spanish countries, Christmas Eve is just as important as Christmas day in the Philippines. Families gather together on the 24th of December, prepare an absolutely scrumptious feast, stay up until midnight, open the presents and dig into the food.

Beef Mechado

Our family is an exemption. We’re not the big parties, big gift giving family that is typically Filipino. Rather, our Christmas dinners are usually a dish or two, rice, Coca-Cola (yes, always a mainstay in Filipino dinners), a Goldilocks cake and ice cream. Sometimes as a treat, my dad will buy roast chicken from Andoks or Baliwag, and mum will come home with kilos of fresh, ripe mangoes. We don’t usually give each other gifts, but again dad will usually take us to Divisoria, a wholesale marketplace in the Philippines full of bargains, and he would buy us Barbie dolls and plastic tea pots and cups.

For me, Christmas eve dinner or Noche Buena is all about simple, Filipino food made special by the people you share it with. May it be a fabulous, colourful fiesta ham, or a simple yet fresh plate of grilled fish served with rice cooked in banana leaves – Christmas in the Philippines is what you have and with who you have it with.

My favourite, most special dish from my mum’s repertoire of dishes is mechado. My sisters and I would request this from mum on every birthdays and special occasions, and we would tuck in with so much gusto my heart bursts with each memory. This is my take on Noche Buena, my mother’s Mechado – because this is what Christmas eve is all about.

Mother’s Mechado

Makes approximately 4-5 servings

1 kg gravy beef, cut into large chunks

Olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

3 tbsps soy sauce

2 tsps fish sauce

3 medium sized potatoes, peeled & chopped into large chunks

2 medium sized carrots, peeled & chopped into large chunks

2/3 cup tomato sauce

1/3 cup tasty cheese

1 tbsp raw sugar

1 dried bay leaf

…

The Kulinarya Cooking Club comprises of dedicated and hungry food bloggers from all over the world, eager to promote the colours and passion of Filipinos through our food, drinks and hospitality. The Kulinarya Cooking Club is a celebration of Filipino cuisine, culture, history and its people.

Kath – www.acupcakeortwo.com/
Trisha – sugarlace.com/
Trissa – trissalicious.com/
Olive – www.latestrecipes.net/
Caroline – whenadobometfeijoada.blogspot.com/
Ninette – bigboldbeautifulfood.blogspot.com/
Peach- www.thepeachkitchen.com/
Althea- www.busogsarap.com/
Asha – forkspoonnknife.blogspot.com/
Malou – www.skiptomalou.net/
Cherrie – www.sweetcherriepie.com
Acdee – acdee.blogspot.com/
Valerie – www.acanadianfoodie.com/
Sheryl – crispywaffle.com/
Divina – www.sense-serendipity.com/
Anna – www.anniesfoodjournal.blogspot.com/
Dahlia – www.energychef.blogspot.com/
Joy – joyjoycreativeoutlet.blogspot.com/
Maribel – www.foodgeek.webs.com/
Tressa
Jen – www.jen-at-work.blogspot.com/
Pia – bisayajudkaayo.blogspot.com/
Malaka – thegrandinternational.com.
Mimi – lapinchecocinera.blogspot.com
Erika – Ivory Hut
Kat – Alonakat
Lala – This Little Piggy Went to the Market
Selfie – eats.sefiebee.com/
Connie Veneracion frm Home Cooking Rocks
Oggi from I Can Do That
Katrina Kostik from Lardon My French
Rochelle Ryan from Why Diss
Marica – Cuppy Creme
Diona – Tita Flips
Rowena -Saraplicious/a>
Theodore – Chef By Day
Gianna – The Empty Fridge
Mireille – Dirty Ice Cream in Your Lunchbox
Marishka – Rishka
Annapet – Moonglow Gardens
Boyet – Reel and Grill
Adora – Adora’s Box
Yaz – Who Ate My Tomato
Marvin – Eat Marvin
Ray – Wok with Ray

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