PB stew & cookies too ='.'=

October 1st, Saturday, what a great day to hang out with Irenie (she's always super busy & rarely has time to herself, so this is a rare occasion). I've known her since our pre-nursing Junior College days. Lately, she's been craving peanut butter... protein... I suppose. She apparently doesn't eat a lot of meat & maybe her body & baby bump is telling her to eat more PROTEIN. So today, we are making Kare-Kare (oxtail peanut butter stew- a traditional Filipino dish) & since the pressure cooker wasn't working well it took about 2 hours to tenderize the meat VS 30 minutes, so we decided to kill some time and bake PB cookies for dessert.


Both Recipes are as follows:

Kare-Kare

Peanut Butter Cookies, some with Chocolate Chips, some plain-> HK ='.'=

Kare-Kare (adapted from my SIL, Marianne's recipe)

INGREDIENTS


MEAT:
3-4 pounds of oxtail (you can also add tripe & cubes of beef stew meat if you wish)

VEGETABLES (wash these first):
1 large Chinese eggplant cut in small pieces
1 bunch of pechay or baby bok choy or 1/2 head of cabbage (we only used cabbage since her baby daddy only likes cabbage)1 bunch of sitaw (string beans)

OTHER INGREDIENTS :

2 cups peanut butter (we used 50/50 mix of Lily's Brand & Skippy -Creamy) 

Lily's is sweet, so if you'd rather have more savory than sweet you can use the regular PB
2 packets of Mama Sita's Kare-Kare mix
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cup of cold water (plus more as needed)
Patis (fish sauce as needed to taste) OR salt to taste

Knorr beef bouillon cube (dissolved in the reserved stock)

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 large onion, minced

EAT WITH:
Steamed White Rice
Bagoong (shrimp paste- my favorite is Barrio Fiesta Brand, FYI I am allergic to crustaceans, so I take my chances with just a little bit when I eat kare-kare, it is not the same without it).


EQUIPMENTS:
Large wok or skillet
Pressure cooker or a heavy large pot/sauce pan
Medium mixing bowl
2 Wooden spoons


PROCEDURES:
Wash the oxtails & place in a pressure cooker/heavy saucepan with enough water to cover (add the garlic & onions). When using a pressure cooker, once the steam indicator pops up, cook for about 30 minutes (tender meat that falls off the bone is preferred). If using a regular sauce pan/pot simmer/boil for about 2-3 hours add more water if needed. Once tender and the meat has softened, remove pot from heat and set aside (do not discard the stock).


In the wok heat the cooking oil & stir fry the vegetables. Make sure they are tender before adding the meat (without the stock), continue stirring.

In the mixing bowl, prepare the kare-kare mix by adding the 1 cup water, then add 1/2 cup of stock, mix well. Pour this mixture into the veggie-meat combo and continue to cook for about 10 minutes.

Using the same bowl add the rest of the stock, beef bouillon cube & peanut butter, mix well. Pour this mixture into the veggie-meat-sauce combo. Stir to blend well. Cook for about 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens. 

Add the fish sauce to taste (this serves as the salty seasoning). Serve hot with bagoong & steamed white rice.


Note: while tenderizing the meat either in the pressure cooker or pot you can add some cloves of garlic & onions OR before pressure cooking the meat, you can sauté it with the garlic/onions/patis for more deliciousness.

AND FOR DESSERT

Peanut Butter Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (We used Skippy)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• Some Hershey's milk chocolate chips (will need about 5-7 chips to top each cookie)

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with Silpat. Or you can grease your cookie sheets.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the egg, butter, peanut butter, & both sugars until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl sift together all the dry ingredients. Using a small ice cream scoop or roll into walnut sized balls and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten slightly with the tines of a fork. If you wish you can place about 5-7 chocolate chips on the top of each flattened cookie.
4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. If you are not using a Silpat you can use a spatula to gently lift & nudge the cookies to prevent them from sticking to the cookie sheets. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before devouring.

Hope you enjoy the savory & sweet sides of good old peanut butter, I know we did & Irene's baby was happy too.   ='.'=