Korean Ground Beef over Rice

Sweet, salty, with a little spicy kick, if you like, this quick and easy Korean Ground Beef over Rice will please your taste buds! Done in 20 minutes or less. Can be made Paleo-friendly.

I love ground beef! We buy it bulk during the beginning of each month and then I separate the meat into 1 pound bags and freeze the ones I won't use immediately. That way when I am in a quandary on what to make for dinner, I can simply pick a bag out of the freezer, saute them with some onions and garlic, add soy sauce or whatever seasoning I fancy and then mix them with any veggies available in the fridge. Easy dinner without the fuss that is quite healthy, too.

Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps

Very tasty, quick and simple to make is this Thai inspired Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps. Perfect as appetizer or as main dish served with Jasmine rice.  Gluten-free and paleo-friendly, too.

Naturally, I love cooking Asian food as that's what I grew up with. I love that any typical Asian dish whether from the Philippines, China, Thailand or any other parts of Asia is not only loaded with tasty seasonings but offers delicious complexity - it can at once be sweet, spicy, tangy and salty. My taste buds are tickled indeed with all these nuanced yet harmonious flavors.

Easy 3 Ingredient Chili (Slow Cooker or Stove Top)

Even though I am not a winter fan at all I do have two perfectly good reasons why I can tolerate (perhaps even love!) the cold season - fashion and food! Let's talk about fashion first. I just love fall and winter fashion - the boots, scarves, coats, hats or headbands and what have you.... I just love to dress up during fall and winter. I get excited digging up in the closet what I can wear again for the next few months and finding out which ones fit well with a particular pair of shoes or scarf, etc. The best part is that you don't even need to buy expensive clothes as long as you can properly mix and match your outfit with your accessories.

Corn and Spinach (Suam) Soup

When I was growing up, this was our fall back soup. When my Mom or our help either runs out of ideas or time to make something elaborate for dinner, you can be certain - Suam na Mais or Corn Soup would be on the table. Don't get me wrong, I never had any issues or bad feelings about this soup even though I have had this so many times. In fact, I actually miss it as my Mom (or our former helpers) are not here to make this soup for me. This time, I have to make it for myself and my family.

Beef and Bean Enchiladas

Last week I had been craving for something a little spicy. I didn't really fancy making a curry but thought I'd make it a Mexican night in our house. Before we had kids, I used to make Chicken Enchiladas for hubby and myself but have never ever done another one ever since we had kids. Wow, that's almost like a decade ago.

Ricotta Meatballs in Creamy White Wine Sauce

Today I felt like a contestant in that popular show from the Food Network - Chopped. I had some left-over ingredients which needed to be used up but they seemed to be an odd assortment. Initially, I felt like it would be weird to merge them in one dish, much like in Chopped (though perhaps not as extreme) where contestants are supposed to come with a yummy dish using a medley of ingredients which you don't normally put together. That was my challenge for the day - how to use in one dish a few pieces of sun-dried tomatoes, a little wine, two types of cheeses and ground beef.

Sauteed Chayote (Sayote Guisado)

When I was still in the Philippines and living with my family, this dish was on our table every week. We truly love all kinds of squashes especially Chayote (called Sayote in the Philippines). It such a well-loved dish that you can find Sayote Guisado in any cafeteria or canteen all over the country during lunch time. I often had this for lunch when I still worked for the Supreme Court. It's almost like a soup that you have on the side, though it really isn't a soup at all but more like a stew. And, you often serve this with rice. It's also pretty cheap to prepare yet quite nutritious, too. You can make this dish with just chayote on its own but you can certainly add other vegetables like cauliflower or broccoli to the mix.

Meatballs and Mushroom Soup

Well, with the Polar Vortex descending on the Midwest this week and causing record high temps, I thought it fitting to make a recipe that will help fight the arctic cold and keep all of us warm. While the weather may get warmer in the next few days, sadly, we are still very much in the midst of winter and truly need something deliciously comforting to help us fight the winter blues! This soup did it for us.

Penne with Beef and Roasted Pepper Sauce

I had some ground beef, red wine and roasted peppers at hand. What should I do? The obvious answer was to make a delicious pasta sauce. I wanted a quick recipe that doesn't require many hours of simmering yet still deliver robust flavor. So, inspired by my Bolognese recipe, I used the red wine to add flavor to the Beef. I boiled it and let it evaporate so that the beef retains that subtle wine taste that truly adds depth of flavor but without too much alcohol. I then stirred in  the roasted sweet peppers and fresh chopped/diced tomatoes plus some dried herbs and, wow, the result is a very delicious sauce that tastes like it was slow-cooked for hours but actually is not. Enjoy this easy and yummy pasta sauce over your favorite pasta!

Ground Beef Barbecue Pizza

Before we decided to go on a more gluten-free diet, we really were big Pizza lovers and we still are though we make it more of an occasional treat nowadays. This particular recipe is a favorite of my little boy - William. He was only about 4 or 5 years old (he's 7 now) when I first made this pizza recipe but even at that young age this already became his favorite. Mind you, he's been eating curry too even at that age so his taste buds are quite use to diverse taste and textures! This picture tells you a lot about how much he loves this pizza! Surely, his favorite!

The inspiration for this recipe came from a cook book which I have read once at Barnes and Noble. We often go there as a family as my kids love reading so naturally that's a place for us to hang out during Friday afternoons, after class hours. My kids will check out the books they love (Sophie heads to the Princess' section as usual and William to any corner with books about Lego or robots - every little boy's favorite nook  I am sure!). Me? Of course, I always browse the Cook Book section, not so much to buy but just to get inspiration for new recipes to try, perhaps learn a thing or two about new ingredients and even check the latest culinary trends. Now I found this book, and I cannot recall what the title is (otherwise I would have heartily given credit to the author/s)  - perhaps it's a book about ground beef recipes (that's the most I can remember) and this particular recipe which I discovered there I cannot forget. It was not difficult to recall because the recipe was pretty easy to do and with only a few ingredients to remember. So armed with whatever was left on my memory bank, I tried to re-create this simple but quite delicious Barbecue Pizza Recipe. Am pretty sure your family will enjoy this and especially MOM! - after all, the ingredients are pretty much pantry staple (well, if you keep pizza dough at hand all the time!). So here's a quick  Barbecue Ground Beef Pizza for those nights when you fancy Pizza but want to make one at home. I use the store bought pizza crust for this but no one will stop you if you want to make your own too! :-)

 

Ingredients

1 lb / 1/2 kilo ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 (10-12 inch) pizza crust, store-bought or homemade
1 cup barbecue sauce (your choice)*
2 cups of grated cheese (mozarella or sharp cheddar or a combo of both - this is good for 1 pizza crust)
*I often use Sweet Baby Rays but you can use your favorite barbecue sauce or make your own.

Procedure

Preheat the oven according to the pizza manufacturer's instruction.

Spray some non-stick cooking oil on a heated frying pan. Brown the ground beef. Crumble with a fork as you brown it to separate the meat. Stir in the chopped onion and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add the barbecue sauce. Stir it in to ensure that all the beef are coacted with the sauce. Simmer on low heat uncovered for about ten minutes. Drain the beef if necessary.

Divide the beef mixture into two (if using two crusts). I usually freeze half of the sauce for later use and only do 1 pizza since we are only a small family of 4.

Spread all but 3 tablespoons (set it aside) of the beef mixture on the pizza crust. Sprinkle the cheese all over the sauce. Use the left over beef as topping for the pizza.

Bake in the oven according to the pizza manufacturer's instruction (approximately 10-12 mins with a temp range between 400F - 450F).

Enjoy a slice or two! Lovely with some salad on the side!

If you wish to print the recipe, there's a print-friendly icon at the end of the post. Click on the "remove images box" for easy printing.

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Lumpiang Shanghai or Filipino Spring Rolls are traditionally made of ground meat (usually pork), minced onions, finely chopped carrots and seasoning all rolled up in a paper thin wrapper made with flour and water. It is sealed at the end either by using  a sticky beaten egg or plain water.

By the name it is given, you can almost guess that it has its origins in China though for some reason we haven't dropped the "Shanghai" at the end and continues to use it to this day. I suppose the reason for this is to differentiate this from the other kind of Lumpia which uses mostly vegetables (though occasionally with a little meat tucked in) as filling. So when you simply say Lumpia, people will tend to think you mean the plumper and bigger spring roll rather than the "Shanghai" which is a smaller and meatier one.

In the Philippines, perhaps next to Pancit, Lumpiang Shanghai has got to be the most common dish you will find in any kind of celebration - whether it be a wedding, birthday, reunion or a simple get-together. The reason is that it can be made in bulk and ahead of time! True, it takes a bit of effort to make it (fancy making spring rolls for an hour or 2?) but when you make a lot of it - you don't need to make other extra dishes because everyone goes for the spring rolls! Besides, since you can actually make this at least a day ahead or even weeks ahead if you freeze them, then it's actually a very practical dish to make. So despite some labor required it does save time in the end and less stress in thinking of what other dishes to prepare. So make a huge batch, freeze and serve it whenever you need it!

Of course Lumpiang Shanghai is best eaten with a sauce. I usually prefer the sweet chili sauce, the kind that you find in any Asian store. In the Philippines though, it is often served with our favorite ketchup - Jufran Banana Ketchup! Yes, such a ketchup exists and I love it!

I always pre-cook my meat fillings for lumpiang shanghai so I take the guess work out of the equation (did the meat cook properly? did I season the mixture enough?) and my mother always did, so I wanted to play safe too! It maybe a bit labor intensive this way, but at least you’ll be guaranteed the results and no need for the rolls to really soak up all the oil in the deep fryer. Nonetheless, there are lots of ways one can cook lumpiang shanghai and they can all turn out yummy, too. Here’s my version which has always worked for me (even my little tots love it). It’s easy enough to tweak to suit one’s palate. And yes, if you bring this to a party, you'll be the star, well - at least the dish will be! :-)

Here's a quick photo tutorial on how to make the spring rolls. Details of the method can be found on the recipe below. 

Then, fry and enjoy!!!

Don't forget to serve with some chili sauce or even ketchup will do.

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Lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino Spring Rolls)

By: Manila Spoon
November 28, 2012



That these are the best spring rolls is no exaggeration. Whenever I serve these Lumpiang Shanghai, they're gone in seconds. True crunchy deliciousness in every bite. Serve with a sweet chili sauce!

Ingredients

• 1 kilo / 2 pounds ground pork
• 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 small Onions, minced
• 1 big or 2 medium size Carrots, finely chopped
• 5-6 tablespoons Soy sauce or to taste
• 1 Jicama (Singkamas) or a small tub of Water Chestnut, finely chopped (optional – but I do love the extra crunch and flavor either brings!!!)
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• Oil for frying (enough to cover the rolls)
• 2 packs of paper thin Spring Roll wrappers (can be found in Asian stores), thawed

Instructions

1. Heat a little oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Saute the garlic just until aromatic (less than a minute). Brown the ground pork in the pan and season with a little salt and pepper (just to give the meat a little flavor so go easy with the salt). Stir the meat to prevent clumping.
2. When the meat has changed its color add the onions. Cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the chopped onions have softened. Add the carrots and season with the soy sauce. Stir to mix. Lower the heat and simmer for about half an hour (to allow the meat to absorb the seasonings). At this point, I add the water chestnuts or jicama and just let it cook for another couple of minutes. Adjust seasoning to your taste. Set aside to cool down. Drain completely to remove any excess liquid. I use a strainer to do this. It should be dry and not dripping with sauce. 
3. Prepare the spring roll wrappers and have a small bowl filled water near you. Place about 1 heaping tablespoon of the cold pork mixture in one of the corners of the wrapper. Spread the filling into the wrapper horizontally. Roll the meat mixture towards the middle. Fold both sides inward to seal, then continue to roll until you have about an inch left of the wrapper. Using your finger, brush the edges with a little water to seal completely. Make sure it is tightly secured. Place the finished roll on a deep baking dish (casserole) with the sealed side downwards. Repeat until all the meat is gone. To ensure that the seal does not open while you are frying it, I keep the rolls overnight in the refrigerator. This way they seal properly and won't open when frying.
4. Before you heat the oil, take the spring rolls out of the fridge so it will be a little warmer when you fry it. (Others have fried it from frozen, I heard). Pour cooking oil (enough to cover the rolls) in a deep pan and turn heat to medium and let heat up for about 10-12 mins. (If you have a deep fryer, preheat to about 350 F). To make sure the oil is hot enough, test one roll and see if it browns quickly. Fry the lumpia in batches until they turn golden brown. This shouldn’t take too long if the oil is hot enough and because they have been previously cooked. Do not overcrowd the rolls to allow them to brown evenly.
5. Place the cooked rolls in a strainer with paper towels to drain the oil while the other rolls are cooking. Transfer the cooked ones in a serving dish. You may again wrap them in paper towels to extract any remaining oil.
6. To double the amount, cut the rolls in half. Serve with sweet chili sauce, a yummy chutney or even plain old ketchup as dip! Yum!

Yield: 60-80 pieces depending on the size
Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cooking Time: 30 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour