Minestrone with Pork and Beans

Another soup from Yummy magazine that I'd love to try out for my little princess is this Minestrone with Pork and Beans. I'll try and cook this on Sunday, if I've recovered from our family get-together.

Minestrone with Pork and Beans
You don't need to stick to just the vegetables listed here. You can also add or substitute with others like mushrooms, bell pepper, zucchini, string beans and peas.
Serves 8-10
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes

3T extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 sprig parsley, chopped
1 to 2 stalks celery, diced
1 to 2 pieces carrots, diced
1 small head cabbage, cut into strips
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
chicken broth or water
1 big can pork and beans
1T bacon fat
1 clove garlic
4-5 pieces fresh basil leaves or 1/2t dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 to 1c grated Parmesan cheese

1. In a large pot, heat the oil then sauté onions until translucent. Add parsley. Add the vegetables, one at a time, adding a little water or broth to cook them. When all the vegetables are in, pour in more broth to cover the veggies. Bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer the mixture.
2. Add pork and beans. Bring to a boil.
3. Mince together the bacon fat, garlic, clove and basil leaves. Stir into the cooked soup. Season to taste.
4. Ladle into bowls and served topped with grated cheese.

Sounds yummy, right??

Picadillo Soup

My grandmother made this a couple of weekends ago and my little one absolutely loved it. She got the recipe from a mini-magazine named "Yummy". Since it was so easy to make, cheap and delicious, I decided to ask the recipe from her to share with you.

Myra's Picadillo Soup
Serves 4
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 30 minutes

1t oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small white onion, chopped
1/2k ground beef
1t salt
dash ground pepper
6c water
3 small potatoes, diced
4 bunches petchay Tagalog or bok choy, roughly chopped
1 to 2T fish sauce (patis, or adjust your salt)

1. In a pot, heat the oil then sauté garlic and onions. Add ground beef and cook until browned. Make sure to break the meat into small bits.
2. Season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the meat is cooked through and the extra liquid is reduced. Add water and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add the potatoes and let it boil for 5 minutes. Drop in the pechay then turn off the heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon fish sauce (or more salt). Add more fish sauce (salt) as needed. Serve hot.
   

Missing Mom's BBQ Spareribs

I was browsing through my grandmother's cookbook and chanced upon Spicy Honey BBQ Sauce. Immediately I was brought back in time. I miss my mom's BBQ Spareribs.

Good thing is since my helper left, she's been staying with me. She knows I can't move around the house with a 20-month old who's already in her terrible-two stage, so she helps me out with housework or looks after my little girl while I do house work.

The last batch she made was back in the 80's. She hasn't tried to do one again since her oven broke down years ago. Unfortunately, we haven't had the money to buy her a new one so she really can't clearly recall what she put in the marinade. She does say though that she has tasted a lot of good Spareribs since then, and with all the new innovations in the culinary market, it's not impossible to find a good ready-made BBQ Sauce.

Thing is, I also don't have an oven but it's one of those things I'm saving up for. I'd love to be able to do lots of baking stuff with my daughter as she grows up. I'd love to try experimenting and try to get a sauce mix almost similar to my mom's but with a twist. Since I'm an adult now, or at least I think so, I'd put in lots of Hot Sauce! At this stage in my life, I can't live without it! Okay, okay, I know I have a little girl, I'll definitely make a separate batch for her, sounds good right??

This post has got me craving for Ribs, or at least some kind of BBQ. Can't wait to hit the Sauce aisle at the grocery over the weekend!

You craving for some BBQ yet??? Thanks for visiting and hope you're having a great day/evening!