"TAPASTEK"

'Tapastek'

Beef Tapa and Bistek Tagalog (or famously known as 'Bistek') are just two of my favorite food to eat.Traditionally, Beef Tapa is a Filipino breakfast best served with sunny side up eggs and garlic rice collectively known as "Tapsilog" But Filipinos, with their love for food, they can have this one breakfast dish any time of the day. Beef Tapa is almost similar to Beef Jerky. Thinly sliced beef cured with salt and dried directly in the sun, though most Filipinos don't do drying because it takes so much time. And then marinated with garlic and soy sauce and then fried to almost a crisp. Bistek on the other hand is beef steak with a Filipino twist. You can search it on google.

We had beef tapa in the fridge and i was craving for bistek. So, I thought, how about mixing them. Besides, bistek is only beef strips cooked in boiling soy sauce mixture with onions and garlic and pepper and brown sugar. And viola! You have Tapastek!

What I did was, since tapa is a little bit firm, I cooked the tapa in oil a little bit until brown on both sides or at least you see some crusts forming. And then I put some water and let it simmer to somehow make the beef tender. Keep adding water until you feel like the meat is tender. You can taste it just to make sure. Then when all the water evaporates, add some more water and then soy sauce and let it boil a little. When it starts boiling turn  the heat to low and add the garlic and the onions. Let it simmer. Add more water if you have to, just a little bit. You can also add a little bit of cornstarch to thicken the sauce. You can even add cream to make it creamy. But it's your choice. And finally, to make it sweet, add about a tablespoon of brown sugar. Brown sugar and not white sugar. 

Then you can now start plating. Enjoy!

SHRIMPS WITH HERBS AND AROMATICS

For days I've been craving for something with shrimps. I was thinking of making shrimp pasta, but the thought of cooking pasta was making me lazy. I want something simple and something easy. So I thought, why not just fry the shrimp? So boom! It became koko crunch.

I don't want you guys to expect something really crazy with this recipe. Its a simple shrimp dish. No artsy fartsy fancy whatever. I pretty much know that anyone reading my blog would definitely get this dish like a pro. Again, I just made use of all the things I had in my pantry. Got the herbs, the spices and the aromatics.

SHRIMPS INFUSED WITH HERBS AND AROMATICS

INGREDIENTS:

10 Medium Sized Shrimps (or as much as you want; skinned and deveined)

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Freshly Ground Pepper

Paprika

Fresh Basil Leaves; sliced into strips

Rosemary; a stalk and some minced 

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Small Onion, minced

Garlic; minced (lots and lots of it if you love them. Plus it flavors the shrimps)

Lots of Lemon Rind (or Orange Rind)

3 tbs Lemon Juice (or Orange Juice)

OPTIONAL ITEMS:

Butter (Unsalted)

PROCEDURE:

1. Get your shrimps from the fridge, thaw them. Once thawed, wash them with cold water. I don't know why cold water. I just thought there's something special with cold water.
2. After washing them, remove the heads of the shrimps, peel the skin and start deveining the shrimp. You can watch videos from youtube how to devein a shrimp.
3. Wash them again and place them on a paper towel to dry. You can pat them dry if you want.
4. After drying, put them in a bowl, season them with salt, paprika, pepper and if you want it spicy, you can actually add pepper flakes or minced chili. Toss them. Then add the fresh basil, minced onion and some olive oil. Then add the minced rosemary and the lemon (or orange) rind. Toss them again. Set aside for 20-30mins. This way, the flavor of the seasoning and the basil with olive oil is infused with the shrimp and the aroma of the rosemary and the lemon rind is intoxicating.
5. Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat.
6. Then drop that stalk of rosemary on the oil. Let it sizzle. The oil will then release the flavor and the aroma of that rosemary.
7. Drop everything on the skillet and saute the shrimp 2-3 minutes each side or until the shrimp turns pink on both sides.
8. Before taking them off the pan, pour the lemon (or orange) juice. Let it simmer for about a minute
9. Get them off the pan. Plate them.
10. Take a pic, post it on INSTAGRAM
11. Serve it warm

My shrimps were served with my fried rice but I think its also good with any pasta. Depends on your mood. You can tweak it, play with it. I don't care. The most important thing is you enjoy the food.

I can't guarantee that this dish is perfect. No I don't. I believe that each and everyone of us has different perception of taste. What tastes good for me may not taste good for you and vice versa so I encourage you to experiment, add some ingredients or you can omit some things that you don't like.

Bon Appetit'!

I love food so much. The very reason why i'm big (body size big). I eat a lot. I eat out a lot for that matter. But sometimes, eating out gets a little expensive especially with a tight budget. So what's the next best thing to do? Make your own meal. The DO IT YOURSELF meals from yours truly. Today, my chef spirit has again took over my body and decided to rummage the fridge for leftovers. Thank God, I still have an extra chicken breast. And an orange and honey. So I thought, how about I make an orange sauce for my chicken? It was a very good idea. You never really know the use of what's inside your fridge and your pantry if you don't put them together and experiment.

Below will be the ingredients and the procedure.

CHICKEN BREAST WITH SPICY HONEY ORANGE GLAZE

Ingredients:

1 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne (or Red Pepper Flakes - depends on how spicy you want it to be)
Paprika
Dried Basil
3 tbsp Oil (Olive Oil, Vegetable Oil or Canola Oil - healthy choices)
1 tbsp Unsalted Butter (or Margarine)

For the sauce:

2-3 tbsp Honey
2-3 tbsp Orange Juice
1/2 tsp  Orange Zest
4 Garlic cloves, minced finely or grated (or depending on how much you like garlic)
Cayenne (or Red Pepper Flakes)
1/2 tsp Salt

Procedure:

1. Prepare the chicken. Run cold water on it, then pat dry with a paper towel. Dry it real good.
2. Slice the chicken 3 times, like having three lines, to cook the chicken through and through later.
3. Season with salt, pepper, paprika and dried basil. Put on the spices generously like a coating and then set aside.
4. Start making the sauce. Combine the minced garlic, honey, orange zest and orange juice in a bowl. Mix thoroughly. You should get that zesty, orange-y smell. If it doesn't smell orange-y yet then add more orange juice if you have to.
5. Add the salt and cayenne (or red pepper flakes) for the added kick. And then set aside.
6. Heat the oil and the butter on a skillet. Just use medium to low heat so as not to burn the oil and the butter.
7. Place the chicken on the skillet. Be careful and use kitchen mittens and an apron because the oil might splash when you put on the chicken (i dried my chicken so i don't know why the oil still splash. got some oil burns on my hand)
8. Pour hot oil over the chicken continuously and cook for 4-5 minutes then flip and do the same thing.
9. Once the chicken is cooked, set aside. Put the chicken on top of the paper towel to take the excess oil off so that it wouldn't be too greasy.
10. Pour the majority of the oil somewhere else, but leave a little for the sauce. If you still want to save the oil, pour it in a jar or a bottle for future use. If not, pour it on the sink or the trash. I don't know if throwing hot oil on the sink would destroy it.
11.  Heat the skillet again, preferably low heat and pour the sauce mixture in it.
    
12. Cook the sauce for at least 1-2 minutes or until bubbles start appearing. Stir continuously until sauce is a little thick but don't burn it. Then turn the heat off
13. Place your chicken in your serving plate and pour the sauce over the top. Pour generously. The sauce will make your chicken flavorful. ;)
14. Garnish your dish with orange slices and parsley or chopped onion chives.
15. Take a picture of it. POST IT ON INSTAGRAM!

Note: Serving is for only one since I usually just cook for myself. If you want to cook it for many, then just tweak on the ingredients. You do the math.

This is just an experiment dish, but for me it really turned out real great. The flavors just jive together. The saltiness of the chicken compliments the citrus-y flavor of the sauce. Plus the garlic and the cayenne gave it the extra kick. What more if I used the red pepper flakes? The food that I cook usually are just experiments. Putting together ingredients I find in the fridge and my pantry. You really don't know unless you try them. Most of my experiments were really restaurant grade dishes. I should know because I love eating out at restaurants. I usually expect the flavor to not jive, but in the end, they do. Sometimes, what I think is mediocre turns out to be really great, more than mediocre.

I'll do more of my DIY meals and post it here and share to you the how to's so you can try it for yourself too and you can judge whether or not its good or if it needs improvement.

Thanks for appreciating! And always remember, ANYONE CAN COOK! ENJOY!