Apple Butter

I bought a lot of ginger gold apples last week and discovered a few days later that they were no longer crunchy, in fact they were already getting mealy. I don't like eating mealy apples, who does, but did not want to throw them away so I made them into apple butter. This is the first time I made apple butter and I am glad with the result. The best recipe in my opinion is this one.
It took a long time to cook but this apple butter is very good and sooo perfect with these savory cheddar biscuits. I used aged cheddar which gives a salty savory wonderful flavor to the otherwise bland biscuits. I'm now starting to like biscuits specially with sweet and spicy apple butter.;=)

apple butter on hot cheddar biscuits - sweet, tangy, & spicy + salty & cheesy

Pork Belly Cooked In Pineapple

Via Mare's Pork Jamonado
1 kilo skinned and trimmed whole pork belly
1 cup dark brown sugar
1½ tablespoons sea salt
¼ teaspoon instacure (saltpeter or salitre), optional
1 32-oz can pineapple chunks
2 cups pineapple juice
2 bay leaves
6 whole cloves

• Combine sugar, salt and saltpeter. Rub the mixture all over the pork belly. Roll tightly from long side, tie with twine, marinate overnight.
• Put pork, marinade, and the rest of the ingredients in a large pot. Let boil, lower heat and simmer for 1 ½ hours.
• Transfer meat to a platter, let rest before slicing.
• Boil the remaining sauce for another 5 - 10 minutes to thicken slightly. Pour on top of sliced pork.

This is a very good dish. It's salty and sweet and tastes like ham with the addition of the cloves. I love it!

Notes:

1. It is difficult to find whole pork belly in groceries but finally found it in the Korean supermarket. The butcher will not cut the slab so I got the whole 10 pounds! I divided the slab into 3 pieces, made 1 into jamonado. The rest are in the freezer and will make bagnet (lechon kawali) later.
2. I don't think the saltpeter is necessary because there is no curing involved. I think this is added for the pink color. You can eliminate this ingredient altogether.

Via Mare Recipes On DVD

I just viewed a Filipino cooking for entertaining dvd, the food prepared by a pretty Filipino actress (Carmina Villaroel). All the recipes come from the restaurant Via Mare owned by Glenda Barretto who appeared at the end of the show for a brief period.The DVD is called Celebrate Special Occasions with the Best Recipes of Via Mare which I borrowed from Netflix.

The recipes that made me drool:

• Stuffed Queso de Bola
• Pork Pineapple Hamonado - I will make this first and will post it soon.
  
• Pastel de Lengua
• Stuffed Roast Turkey - The meaty stuffing looks so goood, I kid you not.;D
• Cassava Bibingka - I am not sure if I will find the same Filipino style cassava flour here in the US but will try to substitute frozen.
  

Other recipes:
Cuchinillo with Paella Stuffing
Lapu-lapu With Mayonnaise
Pears Poached in Red Wine
Strawberry Fizz
Kiwi Fizz
Tsokolate Eh
Salabat Tea

Although the whole cooking show is in Taglish, the recipes and procedures are shown in separate boxes in English. I highly recommend this dvd to meat loving Filipinos.

Peruvian Canary Beans Stew

There is a large variety of dried beans in the Latino section of most groceries in my area. One that I'm not familiar with is canary beans. They're as big as pinto with yellowish, slightly greenish tint. Any bean dish like baked with onions and bacon or fabada is always welcome in my house. The Goya package has a recipe for Peruvian stew that sounds interesting, with familiar ingredients like bacon and beef/pork/chicken, except for the cilantro and annatto seeds seasoning. The only Peruvian dish I know and have eaten is the pollo Inca, spit-roasted chicken much like our lechong manok, which is not really that unique. The other Peruvian dish, actually a drink, I have read about in the excellent, very funny and with lots of strange characters travelogue book TRAIL OF FEATHERS -IN SEARCH OF THE BIRDMEN OF PERU by Tahir Shah, is the saliva fermented manioc (cassava) drink served at dinner. Tahir Shah did not dare refuse the drink so as not to insult his host and he was also perhaps scared of being beheaded and having his skull shrunk.;p

Anyway, this stew does not require any saliva fermentation. Sauteing and boiling are the only steps to do and the result is a delicious hearty bean stew that's so good with steamed white rice.

Peruvian Canary Beans Stew
8 ounces canary beans
2 rashers bacon, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ pound beef, chicken or pork, cubed
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 packet Sazón Goya with Culantro y Achiote
1 teaspoon salt

• Soak the beans overnight in water. The next day, drain and add 4 cups water and the bacon. Cover and bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer. In a skillet, heat the oil and saute the rest of the ingredients until beef is browned. Stir the meat mixture into the beans. Cover and simmer until beans are tender, about 1 hour. Adjust seasoning. Serve with rice.