"BEEF TAPA"

I asked my mom recently for her recipe of "tocino" and "hamonado"...but I ended up making "Beef Tapa"! I am telling you...I had to eat my "tapa" and "sinangag" Pinoy-style: "nakakamay" (using my hands), with a side of vinegar with garlic, sarap!
I skipped the "sun-drying" of the marinated meat...but it still tasted like the real "tapa". The trick is to sear the meat in a really hot pan!

-CHICHAY

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"BEEF TAPA"

What You Need:

• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs of thinly sliced beef (tender cuts)
• olive oil

Marinade:

• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup vinegar
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Prep:
-Pound the meat slices to make them thinner and flat.
-Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl, and marinate/refrigerate the meat for 24 hours.

How To:
-Heat up a pan with oil on high heat.
-Layer the meat pieces on the hot pan (make sure the meat are not overlapping to avoid "sweating" of the meat pieces), and to make sure each piece cooks nicely. Cook in batches if necessary.
-Sear both sides of the meat and transfer to a dish and cover the cooked pieces with foil while cooking the rest of the meat.
-Serve with fried rice and eggs.
Enjoy your Tapsilog!

"STEAK AND MUSHROOMS SALPICAO"

This twist to the "Salpicao" is so delicious...I added a lot of mushrooms and garlic! I remembered having some garlicky button mushrooms at a buffet restaurant, and since then I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I just had to make this garlicky Steak and Mushrooms Salpicao...wonderful with rice and a fried egg!

Try this with recipe with chicken meat cut in cubes and any mushrooms that you can find...you won't miss the great taste.

-CHICHAY

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"STEAK AND MUSHROOMS SALPICAO"

What You Need:

• 1 lb beef tenderloin, cut into 1/2 inch chunks (tender-cut strips are ok too)


• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms of your choice (shiitake, portabello, cremini, oyster...)


• 2 tablespoons olive oil


• 8 cloves garlic, minced (more if you like)


• 1/2 tsp Koshers salt


• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper


• 1/4 tsp paprika


• 1 tsp garlic powder


• 3 tbsp oyster sauce


• 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce


• 2 tbsp juice of lemon


• 3 tbsp unsalted butter


• extra 4 cloves garlic, cut thinly, like strips (optional - for toppings only)

Prep:

-Combine olive oil, oyster sauce, soy sauce, the minced garlic, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika in a bowl.

-Marinate beef chunks in the mixture for a minimum of 2 hours in the fridge.

-Before cooking, add the lemon juice to the marinated beef, mix well, and then strain the marinade from the beef.Now that the marinade is separate from the beef, dilute it with 2 tbsp water and mix well. Set aside.

How To:

- Heat some oil on a pan, and saute the beef pieces.
-Keep stirring for a 2-3 minutes until beef pieces are browned evenly.

- Remove from heat and transfer to another dish, set aside.

-On the same pan, heat up the butter and sautee the thinly sliced garlic until golden brown (not burned), and set aside in a separate container, leaving the garlic

-flavored butter on the pan.

-Sautee the mushrooms on the heated pan, until softened, maybe for about 2-5 minutes.
- Add in the marinade, and simmer for 3-5 minutes
- Stir in the cooked beef for 2 minute and turn off heat, and transfer to the serving dish immediately.
-Top the salpicao with browned garlic strips.
-Serve with rice and fried egg, or a side of sauteed bell pepper and onions.
[CHICHAY TIP : Cooking time should be about 10 minutes or less to keep the beef tender.]

"BEEF WITH ZUCCHINI"

The zucchini is a small summer squash, and sometimes I see it labelled as "Italian squash" in stores. The zucchini is low in calories, and also contains folate, pottasium and vitamin A.
Do you know that the zucchini is (an immature) fruit (being the swollen ovary of the female zucchini flower)? In cooking though, it is treated as a vegtable, usually cooked and presented as a savory ingredient in dishes. My husband enjoys zucchini, and so we use it a lot in my cooking. He said it absorbs the flavor of any dish so whenever I get a chance I add it to any dish with sauces, like in lasagna, sauteed marinated meats, or anything I cook with garlic brown butter. The zucchini is the key ingredient in the dish 'Ratatouille'! I want to try and make this dish one day.

Today I just stir-fried zucchini with some marinated beef strips for lunch. As usual, we enjoyed it with some rice.

You can always substitute the beef strips here with chicken or pork, or make it meatless and use tofu.

-CHICHAY

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"BEEF with ZUCCHINI"

What You Need:

1 lb beef steaks, sliced into strips of 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp Hoisin sauce

2 tbsp. olive oil2 small zucchini, sliced

1 medium sized white onion, sliced

1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp water

1 small cube of butter (about 1/2 tbsp)salt and pepper to taste

Prep:

-Marinate beef slices in a mixture of Hoisin sauce, Worcestershire sauce and
garlic powder for at least half an hour.

-Drain the marinade from the beef and keep this for later.

How To:

-Heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet.

-Add beef strips (1/2 at a time), stir-fry over high heat for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
-Remove the beef from the skillet with slotted spoon, and transfer to a dish, cover with foil to keep warm.

-On the same skillet, cook and stir onions in some more olive oil over medium-high heat for 1 minute.

-Add zucchini, season with salt and pepper, and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until crisp-tender.

-Remove from heat and transfer to the dish with the beef.

-Add the reserved marinade to the skillet and add the soy sauce and water, bring
to a boil, then lower the heat and let this simmer for 2-3 minutes.

-Return the beef and zucchini to the skillet, add the butter, stir and simmer for
another minute.

-Serve this with hot rice or pasta.