Stewed Chicken Wings with Chestnuts

Cleaning up the pantry yielded several 100-gram bags of ready-to-eat shelled roasted Chinese chestnuts and a really large one I got from Costco. I feel like a squirrel for hoarding so much chestnuts. I can't help it; they are my most favorite thing in the world either for snacking or adding to sweet and savory dishes. Like stewed chicken, Chinese style...so delicious with fried rice.

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Rabo de Toro (Oxtail Stew)

rabo de toro (Spanish oxtail stew)

My daughter says this dish is rather unusual for Easter Sunday lunch. I told her growing up in the Philippines, my family (excluding my atheist dad) celebrated Easter by going to church, and that's about it. My older sister and I used to join the 2 separate dawn processions to re-enact the meeting of the risen Christ and Mary (His mother, not the other Mary); this is called Salubong (meet and greet). The processions, one led by the statue of the risen Christ and the second by Mary, start out from church going in different directions, they meet on the main street, then back to church for mass, with Christ and Mary together side by side at the front of the now joined procession. Holy Week and Easter when we were children were exclusively about Christ, I'm not sure if this is still being practiced in my hometown of Sta. Rosa, Laguna, though. In several places in the Philippines, Lenten season is a serious religious event, check out Sidney's Salubong photos.

Now, back to food, we had ordinary everyday food on Easter Sundays. We also never had Easter egg hunts nor we associated the Resurrection with the carrot-muncher lagomorphs, not even as a dinner fare. Hmm, maybe next year I'll make Conejo en Salmorejo, a Spanish spicy stew with sauce made of hot chili, wine, vinegar, garlic, and paprika. Sounds delicious! ^__^

Spanish Oxtail Stew
Serves 4
4 pounds oxtail, jointed
flour for dredging
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 medium carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 cup dry white wine
beef stock or water

• Wash oxtail, pat dry with paper towels. Season the flour with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Dredge the oxtail pieces, shaking to remove excess.
• In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and brown oxtail on all sides. Lift out and transfer into a Dutch oven or deep casserole.
• Discard the fat in the skillet and wipe with paper towel. Add the remaining oil to the skillet and saute the onions until soft, add the garlic and saute for 1 more minute. Add to the casserole with half of the carrots, celery, bay leaf, and thyme. Pour in the wine and enough stock or water to barely cover the oxtail. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 hours or until oxtail is tender. Add the rest of the carrots and simmer for another 30 minutes.
• Lift the meat out onto a warmed platter, cover with foil, and leave in a warm oven.
• Skim as much fat as possible, taste and adjust sesoning. If the sauce is too thin, reduce by boiling uncovered until of desired thickness. Return meat to the casserole, remove bay leaf and thyme, and serve with fingerling potatoes and green beans.

the pesky cottontail wabbit that was plaguing my vegetables last year

Happy Easter peeps!

Callos With Green Chickpeas

Callos is one Spanish dish that I regularly make, it is so easy to prepare and so flavorful. I don't use tripe in my callos because it takes forever to cook and nobody in my house likes the smell of cooking tripe. I use a lot of chorizos instead. For a little variation I used green garbanzos (chickpeas). The colors of red peppers, tomatoes and the chorizos look so well with the green chickpeas.

Callos
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups ham, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 Spanish chorizos, sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 16-oz can diced tomatoes
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, Spanish is best
1 cup sherry
1 cup chicken broth or water
2 teaspoons salt
1 pound frozen green chickpeas or 32-oz can chickpeas, drained

• In a medium saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil and add the garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes. Add the chorizos, fry for 2 minutes, then add the red bell pepper, saute for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients except chickpeas and let simmer for 15 minutes. Add the frozen garbanzos and simmer for 10 minutes, do not let boil rapidly or the chickpeas will break into mush. Drizzle the remaining olive oil before serving.

You have to pre-boil separately tripe or pork hocks if you are using them. Then add with the meat as directed above.

Caldereta (Beef Stew)

This is one Filipino dish I don't cook often, maybe once or twice a year at the most, I'm not sure why. Too meaty? too sour or too rich? Caldereta is of course Spanish in origin, from caldera which means cauldron. This recipe is adapted from my cookbook FAVORITE FILIPINO RECIPES by Pat Limjuco-Dayrit.

Caldereta
2 pounds beef stew meat
½ cup vinegar
6 cloves garlic, crushed
½ tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
¼ cup sherry
1 bay leaf
1 sprig parsley
1½ teaspoons whole peppercorns
6 cloves garlic
1 hot green pepper
¼ cup tomato sauce
½ cup chopped roasted red bell pepper
1 cup hot water
¼ cup grated edam or gouda cheese
½ teaspoon sugar
½ cup green olives

• Marinate meat overnight in refrigerator in mixture of vinegar, crushed garlic, pepper and salt.
• Next day drain the meat and brown in batches in 2 tablespoons hot olive oil. Transfer browned pieces into a saucepan, add onions and sherry. Bring to a boil, then add the remaining olive oil and bay leaf.
• In a small food processor or mortar and pestle, puree/crush parsley, peppercorns, 6 cloves garlic and hot green pepper. Add to the mixture in the pan and put in tomato sauce and the hot water. Simmer until beef is tender, about 1 - 1 ½ hours. Turn the heat off.
• Stir in roasted red pepper and grated cheese. Add the sugar and adjust seasoning. Add olives and serve hot with steamed rice or French baguette to soak up the rich sauce, and steamed green beans.