Mexican Taco Pie

31 January 2009 Labels: , , , , , 2 comments


MEXICAN TACO PIE

My family loves Mexican food. I always make beef Tacos, Enchiladas, Carne Asada and Chimichangas. I wanted to make something new so I tried this recipe. I made a couple of modifications to suit my family's taste. You can make this sans refried beans. If you like salsa, then by all means, add it as another layer.

Mexican Taco Pie
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can Refried Beans
1 4 oz. can chopped green chilies
1 pkg. taco seasoning 1 pkg. flour tortillas
2 c. shredded shredded Mexican mixed cheese
1. Grease a pie pan with oil. Pre-heat the oven to 350 deg F.
2. Saute onions in a little oil. Add ground beef and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until brown. Strain the cooked ground beef to take out excess oil.
3. Return to heated pan. Prepare the taco seasoning according to the directions on the packet. Add to the cooked ground beef. Simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside. 4. Place two pieces of tortillas on the bottom of the pan. Spread some refried beans evenly on the tortillas. Follow with the ground beef. Sprinkle some green chilies on top, then the Mexican shredded cheese.
5. Place two more pieces of tortillas on top and repeat with the refried beans, ground beef, green chilies, cheese. Do this until you reach the top of the pie pan. 6. Sprinkle some extra cheese on the top to get a crunchy topping or you can place one layer of tortilla then the cheese if you want an extra crunchy top.
7. Bake for about 30 minutes when everything is all bubbly and crunchy.
8. Let cool for 5 minutes and slice. Serve hot.


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Lumpia Shanghai, Filipino Spring Roll, Filipino Egg Roll

26 January 2009 Labels: , , , , 6 comments

Lumpia Shanghai Lumpia Shanghai is one of the most popular Filipino dish here in the U.S. If you ask an American who has a Filipino friend, co-worker or family member, what their favorite Filipino food is, most likely they'll tell you it's Lumpia. My husband's family like it so much that they always ask me to cook some everytime we get together for special occasions.

This is an easy recipe, it's similar to making meatballs. The only difference is that making it is very tedious since you need to roll each and every one. If you don't eat pork, you can substitute ground turkey, chicken or beef. Some recipe calls for water chestnuts but I find that unless you intend to cook these right away, it is best to omit this ingredient. The water chestnut adds moisture to the lumpia which will make the wrapper soggy if you plan to freeze it. I use the food processor to mince the onions and carrots just to save time.

The spring roll wrappers can be found in any good Asian grocery. I use these wrappers instead of the 'egg roll' wrappers because it is thinner. Each bag has 25 wrappers. I cut the lumpia in half before frying so I get 50 small lumpias in all. I added the step-by-step photos on how to roll the lumpia if you do not know how to go about it. I either use beaten egg or a mixture of flour and water boiled into a paste to seal the lumpia. I hope it helps. :o)

Here is the recipe:

LUMPIA SHANGHAI

1 LB. ground pork
1 medium carrot, minced
1 small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
3 stalks green onion, chopped
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. I fry a small pattie of the mixture just to test if it needs more salt or pepper. Peel off one spring roll wrapper and cover the rest with a towel to prevent it from drying out. Put one tablespoon or less of the mixture in the middle of the wrapper as shown in the photo. Shape it with your spoon so that it resembles a thin cigar. Brush some beaten eggs on both corners and fold across. Always brush the corner to be folded with the beaten eggs and fold as shown in the photo. Try to fold it as tight as possible. Don't forget to seal the edges (photo #4) with beaten eggs. Fry in medium high heat until golden brown.

You can freeze the lumpia up to 2 months. You don't need to thaw it before cooking. I just cut the lumpia in half and fry it.

Serve with sweet and sour sauce or duck sauce.



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Falling Off the Bones Back Ribs

20 January 2009 Labels: , , , , 8 comments


I served this Barbequed pork baby back ribs on my daughter's birthday party last weekend. I forgot to take a proper photo (!), good thing I saw a photo of one of the guests holding this plate with the ribs. LOL Anyway, it is REALLY good. I got a lot of compliments about it. The good thing is that you use a slow-cooker for this, isn't that great? By the time the ribs are done, it is literally falling off the bones, hence the title of this post. Try it and you'll see what I mean. Here is the recipe.


Ingredients:
4 pound pork baby back ribs
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup Barbeque sauce
1 1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 dash hot sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Place in a shallow baking pan. Brown in oven 15 minutes. Turn over, and brown another 15 minutes; drain fat.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the barbeque sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and salt and pepper.
4.Place ribs in slow cooker. Pour sauce over ribs, and turn to coat.
5. Cover and cook on Low 6 to 8 hours, or until ribs are tender.



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