Szechuan Beans with Pork

I love cooking green beans! It's good for your health. To educate you quickly on the benefits of this yummy green vegetable, it's low in fat and offer an excellent source of protein, fiber, and complex carbohydrates. They are a very good source of folic acid and provide significant amounts of iron, phosphorus, magnesium, manganesese, and potassium! Doesn't sound bad, right?

They can be cooked in a lot of dishes but I love making this particular dish and having a huge bowl of brown rice with it.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• ¼ teaspoon Sesame Oil
• ½ tablespoon Mirin
• 1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Soya Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Thai Red Chili Paste 
• 15 ml Serrano Peppers
• 1 lb Green Beans, ends trimmed off
•  ½ cup ground pork
• 1-2 cloves of Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Fresh Ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon Grapeseed oil
• 1 tablespoon of scallions (optional garnish)

Instructions:

• Combine the oyster sauce, sesame oil, mirin, brown sugar, soya sauce, & chili paste in a small mixing bowl and beat together with a fork until combined. Set aside.
• Heat a large wok over medium high heat. Add about 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil and let it warm up.
• Add in the ground pork. Stir for 2-3 minutes. 
• Add in the ginger, serrano peppers and garlic and stir for another minute.
• Remove the pork mixture from the wok and set aside.
• Raise the heat to high.
• Cook the beans, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes until they have sear marks on them but are not soft.
• Reduce the heat back down to medium high and add the pork back in. Stir quickly to incorporate the ingredients.
• Add the sauce and stir to mix it into beans. The liquid should burn off fairly quickly in the wok. It should reduce to a syrup consistency (coating the beans) in about 30 seconds. As soon as it has, remove from the heat and transfer to a plate.
• Garnish with a sprinkle of scallions (optional) and serve hot.

Stuffed Peppers AKA Punjene Paprike

My boyfriend is Serbian and they have awesome food from back home! His momma cooks her Stuffed Peppers to perfection and I always look forward to having it! This itself is a full meal! Yum!

Here is a recipe:

• 6-8 bell peppers
• 400 gr beef or pork minced
• 1 cup of rice
• 2 carrots
• 2 onions
• 1 Tbs chopped parsley
• 2 Tsp salt
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 2-3 potatoes
• 2 Tbs plain flour
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp vegetable or dehydrated green herb stock

Directions

• Cut tops off peppers and remove seeds. 
• Wash peppers to prepare for filling. Fry chopped onions and Grated carrots in olive oil at medium to high temperature. Stir constantly.
• After 2–3 minutes add mince and salt and continue to fry it for another 4–5 minutes. 
• Take it off heat and add rice, plain flour, sweet paprika and dehydrated vegetable or green herb stock.
• Stir the mixture. Spoon filling into the peppers. Cover the top of each pepper with a slice of potato.
  Place peppers in a dish. Place remaining potatoes put between peppers.
• Pour water until peppers are covered. 
• Boil at low temperature for 40-45minutes. 
• Sprinkle chopped parsley on the top. Serve hot.

Chicken Adobo

I always crave for Adobo...it's so delicious! Adobo is the National Dish of the Philippines. It consists of chicken cooked in garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar which is then seared. The process is simple, and the taste is to die for! It is one of the major food that identifies the Filipino culture, and a very easy dish to prepare. You have to try it! 

Ingredients

• 2 lbs chicken, cut into serving pieces
• 6 eggs
• 3 pcs dried bay leaves
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• salt and pepper

Cooking Procedure

1. In a large container, combine the soy sauce and garlic then marinade the chicken overnight
2. Place the cooking oil in a pan and apply heat
3. When the oil is hot enough, put-in the marinated chicken
4. Add water and bring to a boil
5. Add the dried bay leaves and simmer for 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender
6. In another pot, boil eggs for 10-12 minutes, let it cool and peel the shell
7. Add hard boiled eggs with the chicken Adobo
8. Add vinegar, salt, and pepper and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes
9. Serve hot with rice. Share and Enjoy!