Pork and pear forcemeat stuffing (gluten free)

I made this stuffing as a variation on the traditional pork and apple as I was out of apples and none of us could face the thought of the supermarket on Christmas eve! I'll have to wait and comment on the success or otherwise after tomorrow.

900g pork mince (you can use sausage meat if you like - I bought a cheap joint and minced it)
4 slices gluten free bread
2 pears, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tsps mixed dried herbs (I used sage, thyme and basil)
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper

Mince the meat if not already done (my cheap plastic hand mincer works fine for this). Mix with other ingredients and put into a buttered oven dish or roll into balls. Cook in the oven for 10-30 minutes, until cooked through.

Edit. This was a tasty, light and sweet stuffing. It was popular with every one, although I thought it needed a little extra something to give it some zing. Will experiment with it as no one will mind seeing it again!

Christmas ham

I'm making a glazed ham as part of a buffet on boxing day. This recipe does use quite a lot of sugar but the amount in each serving is small and it's very tasty. I'll also be making smoked salmon crust-less quiches, dips with crudites, king prawns with garlic mayonaise, a big salad, a trifle, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake.

A ham large enough for all your guests
About 10 cloves
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
2 tbsp brown sugar

Boil the ham for 25 minutes per pound, plus 20 minutes in a large pan of water. You can do this in advance to save time. When the ham is cooled, push the cloves into it, spread around all over it. Score any fat on the top. Mix the honey, sugar and mustard together. Put the ham into a roasting pan lined with foil (this is important - believe me!), and spread the honey mustard glaze over the top and sides. Roast the ham for about half an hour (keep an eye towards to end to make sure it doesn't burn). When cooled you can slice and enjoy.

Patatim

Patatim’s main ingredients are similar to Adobo except that some includes Banana blossoms. To be honest, I don’t know the difference between having it and not having it. Since that ingredient is rare to find, I cooked it without it. Others use Pork Braised Legs and some are hind legs. For this particular moment, I used hind legs.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup of vinegar

2 Pork bouillon cubes

2 pcs small pork hind legs, cut into 1 1/2 inch thick

1 tbsp cornstarch

Fish sauce

5 pcs bay leaves

1 tsp ground pepper (you can also use peppercorn)

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 whole garlic, minced

1 whole onion, minced

Cooking procedure:

1. Boil the pork hind legs, when almost tender set aside.

2. In a casserole, sauté minced garlic and onions with the oil.

3. Add fish sauce, then pork leg and the rest of the ingredients.

4. Bring to a boil and slowly simmer for half an hour or until tender.

Voila! Simple way to cook patatim.

Ginataang Sitaw with Pork (String Beans Cooked in Coconut Milk)

What else can't be cooked with coconut milk? Majority of the vegetables in the Philippines can be used as an ingredient to a sumptuous meal with a coconut milk. You can also cook Pork, Chicken and seafood’s. This time, let me show you how to cook Ginataang Sitaw. If you search online, there are lots of English translations of "Sitaw", some calls it Green Beans, Long Green Beans, Long Beans, etc...

Ingredients:

- 1/4 Kilo of Sitaw (cut at least 2 inches in length)

- 1/2 Kilo of Pork Belly or Liempo (cut into cubes)

- 1/4 Kilo of Shrimps (Shelled)

- Onions

- Garlic

- Green Chili (Chopped)

- Cooking Oil

- Ginger

- Fish Sauce, Salt and Pepper

- Shrimp Paste

- Coconut Milk (Powdered or Canned)

- 1 cup of water

Cooking Procedure:

- In a pan, pour the cooking oil, sauté' garlic and onions.

- Add the ginger. After few minutes of sautéing, pour fish sauce. There's no exact measurement of the fish sauce or salt and pepper, it depends on how you like the taste.

- After pouring the fish sauce, add shrimp paste until it's cooked, unless the shrimp paste was already cooked or sautéed'.

- Now you can add the pork and cook it until its tender.

- When pork is tender enough, add shrimps and the chopped green chili’s.

- Sauté it for a minute and pour the mixture of one cup of water and the powdered coconut milk or in can.

- Once it boiled, pour the long beans or sitaw and cook it until it's half cooked. Or you can cook it very well.



Remember, this recipe is just a guideline to cook but the outcome of your cooking will always be your decision.



Do not be scared of experimenting different ingredients.



If you'd like to receive emails whenever we have new recipes online, please do register to our Email Newsletter.  Just enter your email address and follow the instruction.  It will only take you a minute or so.

Pork Adobo with Ampalaya (Bitter Gourd)

Here's the famous Filipino dish with a twist.



Here's how to cook it.







Ingredients:

1 kilo of pork, cut into serving pieces

1 ampalaya (bitter gourd), deboned and sliced

5 cloves garlic

1 cup vinegar

2 tbsps. lard

Salt & pepper 



Cooking Instructions:

1. In a pot, place the pork in vinegar, crushed garlic, lard, salt and pepper.

2. Allow to simmer until pork is tender.

3. When the pork is tender, add the sliced ampalaya. Serve hot with rice.

Igado

Another authentic Filipino dish that beer drinkers would surely love to eat while drinking. :)



Here's how to cook it.





Ingredients:

1 cup of pig intestines, washed, boiled and finely chopped.

1 cup sliced tomatoes

2 cups finely chopped chicken meat

1/2 cup sliced onions

1/2 cup vinegar

1 head garlic, finely chopped

1 cup green peas

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

salt & pepper to taste 



Cooking Instructions:

1. Saute' the garlic, onion and tomatoes.

2. Add the chicken meat and intestines and mix.

3. Cover and allow to cook for a few minutes.

4. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper. Allow to simmer until the meats are tender.

5. Add the green peas and bell peppers. Continue to simmer for a few more minutes.

Tokwa't Baboy

My Tito Jose cooked the best Tokwa’t Baboy that I’ve ever tasted in my life. I am not saying that because he’s my uncle but it was really very good. And I feel safe since it was cooked in our house. The reason why I said that is because I am kind of hesitant to eat Tokwa’t Baboy in the restaurants. The ingredients of this dish needs to be cleaned very well and I know that in some of the restaurant they don’t clean it well enough to pass my standard.





Anyway, Tokwa’t Baboy (Beancurd and pork) is a traditional appetizer at local Filipino fast-food and full-service restaurants. It is usually made with pork ears, chewy tofu/beancurd, soy sauce, pork broth, vinegar and other spices.



Here are the ingredients and the procedure to cook it:

 





Ingredients:

* 1 Kilo of Pork Face & Ears (cut into cubes)

* 8 Pieces of Tokwa (Beancurd) 2"x2"

* 1 Small cloves of garlic (minced)

* 3 Big onions (diced)

* 1 Cup vinegar

* 1 Cup soy sauce

* 1 Teaspoon salt

* 1 Teaspoon brown sugar



Cooking procedure:

1. In a casserole, boil pork with salt, lower fire and let it simmer until pork is tender.

2. Take the pork out and set aside.

3. Fry tokwa in hot oil until toasted and slice to the same size as the pork.

4. In a sauce pot, mix soy sauce, vinegar, salt, garlic and onions and heat for just few minutes.

5. Pour in mixture over pork and tokwa.

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

If you'd like a certain Filipino recipe, please drop a comment and I'll be glad to blog about it!



And if you find this recipe interesting, please register to our feeds! Click here!

Pork Ribs Sinabawan sa Kamatis

This is like a Nilaga but with a different twist. This recipe is so easy to make.



Ingredients and cooking procedure after the jump.







Ingredients:

* 1 kilo of Pork Ribs

* 2 big tomatoes

* 2 Pechay (Bungkos)

* 1 big white onion

* 3 Green Chilli

* Salt & Fish sauce to taste 



Cooking procedure:

1. Put 1 liter of water in a caserole, pour pork ribs when water is boiling.

2. When pork is almost tender, add sliced tomatoes and boil it until tomatoes almost mushy.

3. Add the Pechay and the green chilli (optional) but don't over cook it.

4. Add salt and fish sauce to taste. 



Isn't that easy? 



Any comments and suggestions are welcome. 



If you'd like a certain Filipino recipe, please drop a comment and I'll be glad to post it! 



And if you find this recipe interesting, please register to our feeds! Click here!

Pork Kilawin

Other Filipinos think that when they heard Kilawin food, they think it's a raw fish cooked in vinegar (deboned fish soaked in vinegar). Kilawin is a Kapampangan recipe again that has pork and liver cooked in vinegar.

Ingredients and cooking procedure after the jump.

Ingredients:

* 1 Kilo of pork, sliced thinly into 1 inch long

* 1/2 kilo of pork liver, sliced thinly

* 1 cup of native vinegar

* Rock salt

* 2 pieces of big onions, sliced thinly

* 6 cloves of garlic, crushed

* 4 tbsp. of shortening

* 1/2 cup of water

Cooking procedure:

1. Soak pork and liver separately in a mixture of vinegar, salt, pepper and onions.

2. Saute' garlic in shortening until brown. Add pork mixture, pressing the pieces very well.

3. Cover and simmer until pork is tender.

4. Add liver mixture and water, boil and allow minxture to thicken.

5. You can also add chopped green chilli if you want it a bit hot.

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

If you'd like a certain Filipino recipe, please drop a comment and I'll be glad to post it!

And if you find this recipe interesting, please register to our feeds! Click here!

Pork Tocino

Tocino is one of the most popular processed Filipino foods in Pampanga. And many foreigners who have been introduced to this famous recipe have come to like it.

Tocino or tosino is a cured meat product native to the Philippines. It is usually made out of pork and is similar to ham and bacon although beef is also used. It is often reddish in color and has a sweetish taste. Its name is derived from the Spanish word tocino, which is used to describe bacon or cured meat.

Ingredients and cooking procedure after the jump.

Ingredients:

* 4 Kilos of pork round or shoulder butt (pigue or kasim)

* 4 teaspoons of phosphate

* 1 cup water

* 1/2 cup rock salt

* 2 teaspoons of curing salt

* 3 cups sugar

* 1/4 cup crushed garlic

* 1/2 cup anisado wine

* 1 cup pineapple juice

* red food color, optional

* 2 tablets ascorbic acid, crushed

Cooking Procedure:

1. Slice the pork across the grain, 1/4 inch thick pieces. Set aside in the refrigerator.

2. Dissolve phosphate in water.

3. In a non-reactive bowl, combine rock salt, curing salt and phosphate solution. Mix well. Add sliced portk and toss to coat meat completely.

4. Add the remaining six ingredients and mix until well blended.

5. Cure at room temperature for 8 to 10 hours or in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.

6. Pack in a polyethylene bags. Freeze until needed.

For this recipe, you can pack 10 packs of 1/2 kilo each.

You can sell this to earn extra money or keep it for your family. :)

Pork Sinigang sa Bayabas (Bulanglang)

Bulanglang is what they call it in Pampanga, in Tagalog it's Sinigang sa Bayabas. A lot of people dislike the smell of this dish, but for others it's like a scent of invitation to eat.

Anyway, this is one of my favourite and I hope you like it too!

Recipe and cooking procedure after the jump.

Ingredients:

* 1/2 kilo of Pork Liempo
* 1/4 kilo of Guavas/bayabas
* 2 pieces of gabi
* i stalk of kangkong
* salt or patis (fish sauce) to taste

Cooking Procedure:

1. Boil pork until its tender.
2. Pour guavas and when its tender mash it with the soup.
3. Put gabi and kangkong.
4. Put salt or patis to taste.

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

If you'd like a certain Filipino recipe, please drop a comment and I'll be glad to post it!

And if you find this recipe interesting, please register to our feeds! Click here!

Pork Binagoongan (Pork in Shrimp Paste)

Recipe and cooking procedure after the jump.

Ingredients:

1 kilo pork (Liempo) with fat (cut into cubes)

2 cups of bagoong alamang (Shrimp Paste)

1 head of garlic (minced)

1 big onion (minced)

4 tomatoes (diced)

4 chili peppers (minced) or according to taste

½ cup vinegar

4 tablespoons brown sugar

½ cup water

Cooking procedure:

1. In a casserole, put water and boil pork in a low fire until water evaporates.

2. When oil from pork starts to come out, fry it until it's lightly crispy then put in on the side.

3. Saute' garlic, onion, chili and tomatoes with the oil from the cooked pork and pour pork and mix it.

4. Add bagoong/shrimp paste and cook for 5 minutes.

5. Pour in the vinegar and stir well, add the sugar and let it simmer for few minutes until it's cooked.

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

If you'd like a certain Filipino recipe, please drop a comment and I'll be glad to post it!

And if you find this recipe interesting, please register to our Email Subscription!

Paksiw na Pata

Ingredients:

- 1 pork's leg - chopped

- 1/2 kilo of dried banana blossoms (bulaklak ng Saging)

- 1 tbsp. of whole peppercorn

- 4 gloves of garlic - crushed

- 1 cup of vinegar

- 2 cups of water

- 2 tbsp. of soy sauce

- 1 tbsp. of salt

- 2 tbsps. brown sugar

Cooking Procedures:

1. Put Pork's leg or pata and all the ingredients in a deep pan with a tight cover.

2. Boil.

3. Lower heat and simmer until meat and skin of the pata is tender and sauce thickens.

Voila!

Ain't that easy?

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

If you'd like a certain Filipino recipe, please drop a comment and I'll be glad to post it!

And if you find this recipe interesting, please register to our feeds! Click here!

Photo by digitalpromdi

Crispy Pata (Crispy Fried Pork’s Front Leg)

Ingredients:

* 1 Pork's front leg - Pata

* 1 bottle of 7up or Sprite - Soda

* 1 1/2 cups of water

* 1 tbsp. of salt

* 1/2 tsp. of baking soda

* 2 tbsp. Patis (Fish sauce)

* 2 tbsp. of Flour

* Corn oil for frying

Cooking Procedures:

* Clean Pata and slit skin few times without cutting the bone.

* Put in a deep pan with a tight cover, and then add water, 7up and salt. Boil it.

* After 15 minutes, add baking soda. Baking soda will speed up the softening of the pata's skin. If water dries up and the meat is not done yet, add another cup of water. Meat should not be too tender. Drain when done. Place in the refrigerator overnight to dry the skin.

Before you fry it, brush with patis and sprinkle with flour evenly. Deep fry it until crispy and golden brown.

Serve with vinegar with 2 cloves garlic (crushed), salt and pepper to taste and 1 small hot chilli pepper (Siling Labuyo).

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

If you'd like a certain Filipino recipe, please drop a comment and I'll be glad to post it!

And if you find this recipe interesting, please register to our feeds! Click here!

Pork Menudo

Ingredients:

* 1/2 kilo of pork tenderloin - cut into cubes

* 1/2 kilo of pork liver - cubed

* 1 big red bell pepper - diced

* 1 big green bell pepper - diced

* 3 big potatoes - diced and deep fried

* 1 cup of chickpeas

* 1/2 cup of raisins

* 1 cup stock or water

* Salt and pepper

* 3 tbsps. of corn oil

* 1 whole garlic - minced

* 1 Onion - medium, size and diced

* 2 big tomatoes - diced

Cooking Procedures:

1. In a casserole, heat corn oil.

2. Saute garlic, onion, and tomatoes.

3. Add in pork, liver, bellpepper, and stock or water.

4. Simmer until pork is tender.

5. Add in potatoes, chickpeas, and raisins.

6. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Serve hot

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

If you'd like a certain Filipino recipe, please drop a comment and I'll be glad to post it!

And if you find this recipe interesting, please register to our email feeds! Click here!

Photo by Umami at Flickr

Bopis

Ingredients:

- 1 kilo pig's heart - boiled and minced

- 1 kilo pig's lungs - boiled and minced

- 1 head of garlic - minced

- 1 onion - minced

- 3 tbsps of corn oil

- 1 laurel leaf

- 3 pieces red bell pepper - diced

- 1/2 cup of vinegar

- 1 cup stock

- 1 tsp hot chili pepper - minced (according to taste)

- salt & pepper

Cooking Procedures:

1. Heat corn oil in a pan, saute' garlic and onion.

2. Add minced heart and lungs.

3. Add salt & pepper.

4. Add laurel leaf, red bell pepper and vinegar.

5. Bring up heat and let it boil without stirring.

6. Stir in stock and hot chili pepper.

7. Lower heat and let it simmer until the stock evaporates.

I personally prefer it dry.

Note: Beef can be a substitute for Pork. Filipino Restaurants in the Middle East are selling Beef Bopis instead of Pork. Pork is not allowed to be sold in a Muslim country.

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

If you'd like a certain Filipino recipe, please drop a comment and I'll be glad to post it!

And if you find this recipe interesting, please register to our feeds! Click here!

Pork with Bamboo Shoots

Ingredients:

* 1 cup of dried mushrooms

* 1/4 kg pork fillet

* 1/4 kg of bamboo shoots

* 3 tbps of corn oil

* 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt

* 2 tbps Soy sauce

* 1 tbp Corn flour

Cooking Procedures:

1. Soak mushrooms in warm water for about 10 minutes, squeeze it till it dry. Then, slice the mushrooms into halves and keep it soaked in water.

2. Slice pork thinly and in a large bowl, mix soy sauce, corn flour and pork all together.

3. Cut bamboo shoots into thin slices.

4, Get a frying pan or a wok, put the corn oil and stir-fry the pork until color turn light brown (do not overcook the pork), remove the pork and set it aside.

5. Keep the remaining oil in a pan where you fried the pork to keep the taste. Fry the mushrooms and bamboo shoots, then add salt, pork, and then stir well. Cook for few minutes and stirr it constantly until it's done.

For presentation purposes, serve it with steam rice and put the cooked dish as toppings. Personally, I'll put cut onion leaves and sprinkle it on top.

Voila!

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

If you'd like a certain Filipino recipe, please drop a comment and I'll be glad to post it!

And if you find this recipe interesting, please register to our feeds! Click here!

Bicol Express

Bicol Express is the name given to a popular dish which originated in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. It is a stew made with red hot chilli peppers (siling labuyo in Philippines), coconut milk (gata ng niyog), shrimp paste (bagoong na alamang), onion, pork, and garlic.

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup corn oil or olive oil (if you're health conscious)

* 1 kilo of pork - cut into 1/2 inch slices

* 3 tablespoon garlic - minced

* 1/2 cup onions chopped

* 1/4 cup fresh ginger - chopped

* 1/2 cup of Shrimp paste (Bagoong alamang)

* 1/2 tablespoon chopped red chili peppers (siling labuyo)

* 1 1/2 cup fresh red or green bell pepper, sliced diagonally

* 3 cups coconut milk (preferrably fresh)

* salt and pepper

Cooking Procedure:

1. In a pan, fry pork for a few minutes until its brown then put it on the side.

2. Saute garlic in hot oil then add onions and cook until slightly brown.

3. Stir in fresh ginger, and the cooked pork that you've set aside.

4. Add Shrimp paste and chopped hot chilli (siling labuyo).

5. Pour in 6 cups of coconut cream, do not stir and let it boil until the sauce is thick enough.

6. Then add the sliced green and red bell peppers. Continue cooking for about 10 minutes.

7. Add salt and pepper according to your taste.

Please note that Red Hot Chilip Peppers can really sting, be careful on the amount of chilis you put. :)

Sizzling Sisig - Pork

Sizzling Sisig is actually originated in Pampanga and a very popular pulutan (delicacy? – to correct me you can use the comment section of this post :) ) in the Philippines. Sisig is a Kapampangan term which means "to snack on something sour".

It also refers to a method of preparing fish and meat, especially pork head , which is marinated in a sour liquid such as lemon juice (Kalamansi) or vinegar, then seasoned with salt, pepper, chilly and other spices. Some restaurants have also Chicken Sizzling Sisig as one their specialty (the recipe will be post in the future).

Ingredients:

- 1 kg Pork Face

- 1/4 kg Pork Brain (Optional)

- 2 tsp. butter

- 4 pcs. Onions, chopped

- 3 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

- 1 Tbsp. Vinegar

- 1 Tbsp. Catsup or Chilli Sauce

- Salt and pepper to taste

- Fried Pork skin, grounded (Optional)

- 1 Egg (Optional) - only when serving

Cooking Procedures :

- Boil pork face till tender; slice thinly into cubes.

- Saute 1 pc. onion in butter and add the sliced pork face and the brain in a deep skillet.

- While sauteing, mix the liquid ingredients.

- Add the liquid mix in the pan. Simmer for about 15 mins.

- Serve in sizzling plate, garnish with Fried pork skin, egg and chilli for your taste.

Photo Courtesy of Flickrdotcom

Adobong Baboy (Pork)

Adobo is a favorite filipino food. The recipe can be done with pork, chicken, beef or a combination of the three - if you like (but I prefer it cooked separately).

Filipinos loves garlick and tangy flavors of food dishes. That’s why adobo recipe was created. Just by smelling the aroma of it, you’ll surely feel hungry. Filipino food like this adobong baboy, is one of my favorite recipe and even foreigners too!

Ingredients:
1-1/2 lb. pork - cut into serving pieces
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/3 cup vinegar
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 bay leafsalt to taste
1/4 tsp. pepper or 1 tsp. peppercorns
1 tbsp. sugar (optional)
1/2 cup water
oil, for frying

Cooking Procedures :
1. Combine all ingredients in a big pot except the oil and let stand for at least 30 minutes.
2. Place pot over medium heat and bring to a boil.
3. Lower the heat and simmer covered until meat is tender for about an hour (checking occasionally for the water not to get dry, just add a little water each time you see its almost dry up). You may adjust the seasoning according to your taste and liking. Drain and reserve sauce. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Fry the meat until lightly brown on all sides. Set aside and keep warm.
5. Pour off all remaining oil from the pan. Pour in back the meat and reserve sauce. Mix for about a few minutes while scraping up the bits on the bottom of pan.
6. Remove from heat. Serve hot.

Photo courtesy of Flickrdotcom