Stuffed Bell Pepper with Red Wine Sauce

A colleague brought  this at work last week. We had it during our not- so- rushed ( hurrah!) dinner break and it tasted marvellous! 

The meat filling was succulent and tasty, the paprika sweet and tender  and the sauce was really flavourful.  Recipe was included in the endorsement that day, implementation followed soon after that. Evaluation at home was quite positive, follow up request ensued. Now, I'm sharing the love. 😍

The recipe is quite easy,  so do give it a try.

Ingredients:

3-4  red bell peppers
400 g of minced meat ( you can take pork or  beef or  mix both)
1 large onion, finely minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Brötchen or white bun or  2 slices of white bread soaked in 100 ml milk
a handful of parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:
about 300 ml red wine
400 ml chicken stock
Suppengemuse / soup vegetable  which is available in Germany groceries
50 g bacon cubes
1 medium sized onion
2 tbsp. tomato puree
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp. smoked paprika
1 tbsp. sugar
2  tsp. dried oregano
a pinch of cumin
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for frying

°  Wash paprika well and pat dry. Cut into half and take seeds out. Set aside.

°  Mix all filling ingredients together until well combined.

° Now fill the paprika with the minced meat filling.

° Heat olive oil in a pan, fry paprika with meat side first until brown. Flip and fry for few more minutes. Take paprika from the pan. Add a bit of olive oil in the same pan,  saute onion and bacon for about 3 minutes.

° In most grocery stores in Germany, a bundle of what Germans call Suppengemuse  is widely available. It consist of 2-3 medium- size carrots, a slice of celery root, leek and a parsley . It is used many soup or sauce based dishes. In this recipe, I simply chopped the veggies (  save the parley) into pieces and add into the pan.

° Deglaze pan with the red wine, Bring to a boil and lower heat to medium. Stir in tomato puree.

° Put the stuff paprika back in the pan. Add chicken stock. Then, put bay leaves, sweet paprika, oregano, sugar, cumin and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes .

° Transfer paprika in your serving dish. You can serve the sauce with the chopped vegetables in it or you can strain the vegetable using a colander and just serve the sauce .

Serve with chopped parley and best eaten with rice of pasta. Simple and delicious!

Oven baked Lechon Belly

Nothing excites a Filipino party goer more than seeing a lechon on the table. The king of  a buffet throne, the crowned jewel and the Belle of the ball . It's  the epitome of the Philippines' festivities . 

The whole roasted pig, glistering in its own fat with the aromatic steam seeping between the crackling skin , watering mouths, wowing eyes and promising heart -clogging goodness  .

 Now that Christmas is at our doorstep and everyone feeling all jovial and festive, pictures of it is all over the Internet , ever present in many ,many celebrations and parties. As a matter of fact, every December , my hometown even celebrates a food Festival dedicated to this Filipino specialty.

Behold! The Lechon Festival!

I feel home sick and left out just by looking at it and  grease- stained smiles of those who had it. Since I can't possibly order a whole pig and my oven in nowhere near big enough to accommodate a whole swine, I decided to make a smaller but never the less just as delicious version using just the pork's belly. 

It was my first time making  Lechon at home and I was pleasantly surprise that it turned out so good. The skin was so crispy , it stayed crunchy  the next day! The best part is, it tasted of home. This is going to be a very merry Christmas after all. 

Just listen to this crackling sound. It's almost as good as listening to Christmas carols.

Meat Buns

FF ,  his dad, along with his brother and an uncle went on a  4- day- trip . This Gentlemen  Tour became a yearly tradition and yes, the wives are not invited. They left Friday afternoon and came back Monday night, somehow taking 4 days of sunshine with them. Looking at the pictures FF sent  me, it seems like they are having a daily dose of Vit. D , thanks to Portugal's warmer temperature this time of the year. On the other hand,  my corner here in Germany was bleak, rainy and yup, pretty depressing. I literally haven't seen the sun shining this weekend!
So while FF and the boys are having a blast in another country, watch football live, drink enough alcohol to blow their livers to the size of Texas, I was stuck alone at home, with nothing but mountainous laundry to wash and iron and a dirty house to keep me company.

Fortunately, my house is not palatial and in a matter of hours of cleaning and tidying up, it was looking rather speck and shiny.





To keep my mind off boredom and myself from talking to the mirror, I decided to be busy in the kitchen . I haven't baked bread in years so why not do it now? I did remember that my Baked Siopao  recipe was quite popular post in this blog, so I went off and do it again.

 This time,I am  using a completely different recipe. Don't get me wrong, I was happy with that recipe, the buns,  when taken out fresh from the oven was smooth a baby's bottom. I did remember though, that once cold, it turns as wrinkly as a granny's armpits. Not pretty. Nope. not at all.

Then a colleague from work recommended this bun recipe. After a bit of modification, it turned out- perfect! Unlike my first siopao recipe which was flat, the buns are plump looking , just as smooth, has a nice almost crunchy bite to it yet fluffy in the middle. 

I gave a bunch to my neighbours since I can't possibly eat them all. Baked it late afternoon and save 2 for dinner. The buns did not become soggy at all. It stays as tight as Demi Moore's forehead. This recipe is a keeper.

The Perfect Buns

600 g All purpose Flour ( Mehl 550 in Germany)

8 g salt

200 ml warm water

4 tbsp. milk

35 g sugar

1 cube fresh yeast

80 g softened butter

1 egg

Egg wash:

1 egg

2 tbsp. water

3 tbsp. milk
2 tbsp. sesame seed

In a mixing bowl/kitchen machine , mix together warm water, milk, sugar and yeast . Cover and let it rest for 5 minutes until frothy .

Mix salt and flour together. Add into the yeast mixture. Add butter and egg.

 With dough hook attached, let the machine do the muscle work for you. Knead at max. speed for 5 minutes until dough comes together.

 Knead for 3 more minutes until roll into a ball.

Butter the mixing bowl and put dough in it. Cover with clean towel and let it rest in a warm place for an hour or more.

 Once double in size, punch dough down and knead for 5 more minutes.

  It should be smooth and elastic. Divide dough into two.

  Roll into a log and cut into portions.

Since I got all the time in there world, I channel my inner OC  and weigh each dough. I like my bun small, so 60 g is sufficient. If you want your buns bigger, use more dough for each bun. A hamburger size should be around 90 g.

  Roll each dough into a tight ball.

Flatten each dough into a disk.

 Add your favourite filling. This  Asado Filling is so good . I used pulled pork this time.

 Pinch seams together to seal the bun.

Let each bun rest for about 30 minutes. Preheat oven ( 200°c) for 15 minutes. Brush buns with egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for 16-20 minutes or until buns turn golden brown .

Pulled Pork, my way

I have been wanting to try pulled pork since I saw a video of it on the internet.

This weekend, I finally got the opportunity  to give this dish a try.  

When FF went to Portugal for 4 days , he asked me to let some lights on at night to keep some unwanted visitors away. He assume that people who don't listen to Jesus,  would think twice before entering  a well-lit home . I played ''Home Alone''  over the weekend. To make my presence felt in our empty home, I let the light burn through the night and to eer double my security.  I slow cooked a kg pork shoulder for 12 hours , engulfing the whole house in this sweetish , barbecue smell.  The subtle  aroma  of cooking meat in the air screams Beware! Cook at work ,   don't intrude!  I was left undisturbed  through the nights and was merrily well fed during the day. FF also was happy to be welcomed  home by a healthy , sated wife and a plateful of pipping hot meat buns.

Making this recipe is very simple, though it took almost 2 days in the making. Perfect when you're bored and wants to kill some time.

  

Ingredients: 

Dry rub:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. mustard seed

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. sweet paprika

1/2 tsp. cayenne powder

1/2 tsp. cumin powder

1 tsp. pepper

1 tbsp. coarse salt 

Others:

1 kg pork shoulder

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

200 ml pineapple juice

100 ml water

about 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

a cup of your favourite barbecue sauce

 Mix dry rub ingredients together in a mixing bowl. 

 Wash pork shoulder and pat dry. Roll pork in the dry rub mixture until well coated.

 Transfer in a ziplock  bag or sandwich bag.  Seal bag and refrigerate for about 24 hours or more.

           Put marinated pork in the crock pot. Add chopped onion and mince garlic into the pot.

Add Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar , pineapple juice and water. Cook meat and sauce in crock pot's ''low'' setting for about 10-12 hours. Again, each kitchen gadget works differently, check your pork after 6 hours of cooking. If it's tender enough then you can take it out of the pot. 

 Once the meat is cooked and fork tender, transfer into a big bowl, along with the cooked onion.Shred meat using a thong or 2 forks.

Add your favourite barbecue sauce. And it's ready! 

You can put in between burger buns,

in your sandwiches,

, in your pao

 or as a filling for your Meat Buns!

Bacon Wrapped Embutido

We haven't had embutido for a long time, no? FF,blurted one afternoon. Hey, it's December and I always consider embutido,  a Noche Buena dish but why wait for Christmas  when I could have it now? So,  off we went to my favourite supermarket to get all the things I need then.  I made Embutido before and even posted the recipe here . This time, I tweaked the recipe a bit for a more festive looking and tasty Sunday lunch. It certainly looked grand and deserves a  place in the Christmas spread or  in a birthday buffet or on the breakfast table, filled with sunny side up eggs and sinangag!

Ingredients:

1.5  kgs ground meat ( preferably pork)

1 large onion, finely diced

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup pickle relish

1 large sized carrots, shredded

150 g cheddar cheese, diced

1 small red bell pepper, diced

1 small green bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup pineapple, finely diced

1  cup raisins

3 raw eggs

3 boiled eggs( optional)

a pack of Vienna sausage

1/2 cup bread crumbs

200 g of flour 

1/2 cup banana ketchup

 3 tbsp each of soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1 pack of smoked bacon

Cooking instructions :

1 . In a clean bowl, mix together ground pork, onion, garlic,pickle relish, carrots, bell peppers, pineapple, raisins and cheese.  

2. Once meat and diced vegetable are well combined, add in raw eggs, bread crumbs , ketchup and  flour . Season with soy and Worcestershire sauce, salt and ground pepper. Mix! Mix! Mix! Cover with plastic foil and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to 1 hour so the flavours set it.

3. Take bowl out of the fridge. Peel cooked eggs and slice it into wedges, if using.  Prepare sausages , you could cut sausage into half( lengthwise ) but i prefer to keep it whole.

4. Lay an aluminium foil on your working area. Brush with softened butter. Spread embutido mixture in the middle, leaving an ample space on  the border. Put sausage and cooked egg ( optional)  at  the centre.

5. Carefully roll meat/vegetable mixture over sausage   forming it into a log.

6. Tightly roll aluminium foil and seal both ends like a candy. Put a baking pan at the centre of  a preheated oven ( 200° C).  . Fill baking pan with hot water . Place the embutido on the wire rack and put it over the baking pan, make sure the water does not touch the wire rack. Bake embutido bain- marie style, for 45 mins.

7. Take Embutido out from the open. Set aside to cool. Embutido could be eaten at this point.It could be served cold or pan fried. That, or you can take a step further. Lay a cling foil on your working area. Place bacon strips side by side until it can cover the entire length of one embutido log. 

 7. With the cling foil as your guide, carefully roll bacon around the embutido log. Place bacon wrapped embutido into a greased baking pan and pop in the oven ( 185°c) for about 15 mins or until bacon is evenly browned.

FF liked it so much, he requested another batch for a potluck lunch at his office. Well what do you know? All his German colleagues loved the embutido as much as every Filipino!