Herb and Meat Sauce

Refreshing. That would be how I can describe this recipe. It was one of the dishes I prepared for Media Noche.

Ingredients
Olive oil
1/2 kg bacon, sliced into small pieces
Leftover Nacho Beef
Onion, chopped
Garlic, minced
Fresh tomatoes, chopped. Use as many or less as you want
Fresh basil, roughly chopped
Fresh sage
Fresh oregano, roughly chopped
Fresh spinach (you can also use young alugbati leaves)
2 cups broth - chicken or beef
salt and pepper

Procedure
1. Heat olive oil and saute onions and garlic
2. Add bacon and saute for 5 minutes
3. Add leftover nacho beef
4. Add tomatoes, cook for 3 minutes
5. Add all herbs except the spinach, stir and make sure the herbs are incorporated with the meat
6. Add broth and simmer for 3 minutes
7. Season with salt and pepper
8. Add spinach and turn of the heat.

Top sauce to pasta of your choice. Serve immediately.

The sauce will not look like your usually creamy or heavy pasta sauce but very tasty and full of character.

Enjoy!

Nu-Wave Pork Chops

To find out whether it could really cook meat directly from the freezer, I used frozen pork chops in this recipe.

For the marinade, I combined oyster sauce, soy sauce and ground pepper. Dipped each slice of the pork chop on the marinade then placed them on the #4 rack. On high, I cooked each side for 6-8 minutes.

The result was amazing! The meat was very juicy and moist. The taste was wonderful.

Not Just Another New Kitchen Gadget

Image courtesy of Nu-Wave Oven Pro Official Site

For Christmas, Erwin gave me a Nu-Wave Oven Pro.

I've been wanting to buy one for months but when I got the KitchenAid I decided not to make anymore major purchase for another kitchen gadget.

For me, this is more than just another cooking toy. This is actually what most women want - attention and surprises.

It may not be as expensive as a Rolex or a diamond ring but it's something I really want. But of course, I would love to get any of those too :)

Nachos for Noche Buena

Image courtesy of Mucho Mucho Nacho

Our Noche Buena was very simple. We pigged out on nachos and dips I got from an old friend, Carmela Litonjua.

Although the cheese and salsa dips were great, it was somehow "bitin" without the meat. So I prepared my own. I'm calling this recipe "Maire's Nacho Beef." Of course, I used the herbs from my garden. Here goes.

Ingredients

1 kg ground lean beef
1 onion chopped
1 head garlic chopped
Olive oil for sautéing
1/2 cup beef broth or water
Salt and pepper to taste
Bunch of fresh basil, chopped
A few sprigs of fresh sage
3 leaves of fresh oregano, chopped

Procedure

1. Sauté onion and garlic until done
2. Add ground beef. Sauté until cooked
3. Add broth to deglaze the pan.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste
5. Add all the herbs

That's it!