October 2007

Mamas Champorado
This is the perfect bite of my mom’s champorado. served with crumbled bacon… a taste sensation of salty and sweet. trust me, this is oh so good.

ingredients
3 cups cooked white rice [preferably short grain]
5 cups water
1/3 cup cocoa powder [use a good one]
1 can coconut milk [NOT coco lopez or sweet coconut used in pina coloadas]
1/3 sugar
evaporated milk

bacon [see perfect bacon recipe]

1. simmer rice and water in a med sized pot over med or med low heat. cook until the rice is pretty well cooked into small bits. this will take apporx. 30 min. how far you take this is really up to you. you may need to add water along the way, you do not want it to burn. be sure to stir frequently.
2. in a small bowl, dissolve in a little warm water to make a smooth slurry. this step will prevent you from getting cocoa powder lumps in the porridge. stir into rice. stir in sugar. let simmer on med low or low heat for another 10-15 min. stir constantly to keep from sticking to bottom of pot and to further break down the rice.
3. when you add the coconut milk, separate the thick creme and the water. [you will know exactly what this is when you open the can] stir in the water, and cook for another 5 min. then add the coconut creme stir in well and take off the heat.
4. serve in bowls. drizzle the evaporated milk (like you would add milk to oatmeal). you can add more sugar to taste. finally, top with a slice or two of crumbled bacon.

perfectly crunch-chewy-crisp not hard or burnt bacon.
now, the quality of your bacon will effect outcome, so experiment…
i use a thin sliced prepackaged bacon from the market. never the cheapest brand, never the most expensive.

preheat oven to 400. line baking sheet with foil.
line up the strips of bacon in a single layer onto pan.
bake for 10 min.

turn on broiler to hi, and continue to cook until the bacon is crisp. now don’t take it too far. the bacon will crisp up a bit after you take it out of the over. i find this second step only takes 2-4 min.

immediately transfer bacon to paper towel lined plates and blot off the excess oil. let stand for a minute.
crumble onto your porridge. sigh.

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Mama’s Torta

This is a great dish for an easy supper, breakfast, brunch, or lunch for that matter. it is satisfying.. and oh so yummy with some fresh hot rice and a little banana katsup.

stuff you’ll need:

1/4 of an onion chopped small
1/4 of a roma tomato chopped small
2 cloves garlic crushed
1# ground pork
1/2c frozen peas
6 eggs
fish sauce
ground black pepper

saute the onions, garlic and tomato over med high heat in about 2 T of oil. stir and smash until the tomatoes are pretty well pulverized and onions are translucent.

add the pork, brown until cooked through. add peas. season with fish sauce and pepper, transfer into a bowl.

in a separate bowl, beat two of the eggs, and add a third of the meat mixture. pout this egg mixture into a hot non-stick pan that has about 1T oil. cook over med heat until the bottom is set. Place a plate over the top and flip the torta onto the plate. now flip the uncooked side onto the pan, and finish cooking over med heat until it is cooked through.

serve with steamed rice. yum

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i intended to take a picture of my wonderful weekday pasta, but my kids had another idea. it was gone before i could! (good sign) this is a recipe for my everyday pasta. it is easy to make, inexpensive, and still very tasty!

ingredients
1#ground beef
1/2# ground sausage
*i have substitued lean turkey for these with great success
1 small yellow onion chopped
3 cloves garlic smashed
2 cans stewed tomatoes
2 cans (the larger cans around 8 oz)
1T. beef base
1t fish sauce (yes i use fish sauce, if you prefer you can just use salt to taste)
italian herbs of your choice i use a premixed blend

Brown meats, drain all but 3T of the fat. Set aside meat. Saute the onions and garlic until translucent.

Add back the meats along with the remaining ingredients. Simmer for about 15 mintues and serve over pasta. We like this sauce over egg noodles.

A simple and hearty sauce, perfect for after work. And it is kids friendly.

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