Adobong Manok sa Gata

Once in a while you want to eat something for a change. Adobo is a weekly meal for me but you can get sick of it. So here's my version of adobong manok sa gata.

Ingredients

1 kilo          Chicken cut into parts
1 tbsp         Minced garlic
1/2 cup       Chopped onions (red or white)
1/4 cup       Chopped ginger
1 cup           Vinegar
1 tbsp          Pimenton
3 pcs           Laurel leaves
1 tbsp          Whole pepper
2 pcs           Finger Chillies
1 can           Coconut Cream (or milk)
2 cups         Sili leaves
1 tbsp          Fish Sauce
1 pc              Thai chilli or siling labuyo chopped (if you want it spicy).
Salt to taste.

Heat some oil in a pan. Put the onion, garlic and ginger. Heat till onion is soft. Then put the chicken parts and brown. Salt the chicken as desired. (If you want it spicy, fry the Thai chili in the oil before putting the onion, garlic and ginger.)

When chicken is brown, put the vinegar and cover pan. Simmer for around 5 mins to allow the vinegar to evaporate slightly. Then put the coconut cream. Don't put too much to cover the chicken. Put the pimenton, fish sauce, whole pepper and laurel leaves and cover pan.

Allow to simmer until the chicken is cooked. When cooked put the finger chilli and sili leaves and cover for about a minute and that's it.

In these photo, I used red thai finger chillies chopped instead of the whole finger chilli. I wanted an even spicier version.

Callos alla Novenario

My mom always made the best callos as far as I know. She put a lot of love into it and this could seen by the way her family and friends enjoyed the dish. I quickly learned the dish when I started my own family as she limited cooking callos only during Christmas and a few special occasions.

When I was separated from my wife, I also quickly learned that women do actually enjoy this dish. Its a nice dish to start and end the evening. Serve with a baguette or some garlic rice. So here's my recipe, hope it works for you too.

Ingredients:

1 Kilo       Ox tripe
1 Kilo       Ox feet
1 pc.         Beef bouillon
4 pc.         Bay leaf or dried laurel leaf
2 pc.         Whole chorizo Bilbao
3 tbsp       Garlic
1 cup       Onion cubed
1 cup       Tomatoes cubed
1 Cup      Cubed bell peppers
3 tbsp       Olive oil
1 tbsp      Pimenton
1 tbsp      Cumin
1 tbsp      Thyme
1 tbsp      Rosemary
1 tbsp      Basil
2 cups     Red Wine (Rioja or Tempranillo)
1 can       Small can of tomato paste
1 can       Garbanzos


Before everything else, get started by simmering the ox tripe and ox feet with enough water to cover. Put the beef bouillon cube in the pot along with some bay leaf. This will take a few hours if you don't have a pressure cooker.

Once the ox parts are tender, set aside and keep the broth.

Cut the chorizo Bilbao (please not chinese chorizo or any cheap chorizo, the worse you can do is use one of those canned local variety) and fry until the oil from the chorizo comes out. (The secret to any good callos is the chorizo). Set aside the chorizo. Put the olive oil and garlic. When the garlic is slightly brown, put the tomatoes, onion and bell peppers. When those have softened, put the pimenton, cumin, thyme , rosemary, ox parts and chorizo into the pot. Mix all the ingredients well in the pot. Pour the red wine (preferably a rioja or  a tempranillo). Simmer a bit till the alcohol evaporates. Put the tomato paste and just enough beef broth. Put the canned garbanzos. Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer some more until you get the consistency you prefer. More or less to the thickness you desire. Garnish with some parsley.

And there you have it! Callos.