This is a very easy, simple recipe for a weekday dinner. The black bean sauce can be easily found in Asian grocery stores. Therefore is something that you will see very often in Asian dinner table. It is great to serve this dish with white rice…and the left over are great for next day lunch.

Ingredients:

¾ lb thinly sliced beef
3-4 tablespoon black bean sauce (fermented)
3 garlic cloves
1 bunch green scallion
1 onion
1 tablespoon grape seed oil or any cooking oil

Method:

Marinate the beef with the black bean sauce and finely chopped garlic. In the meantime, slice the onion and cut the scallions (1 in). Sautee the beef in the oil, set aside. In the same pan sautee the onion and the scallion, once they turn slightly soft add the beef back to the pan. Mix gently and serve hot.

Did you know that the color black of the black bean is due to the fermenting/salting of soybeans?

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Another soup recipe…since it has been cold…yes even here in Southern California. I’ve been making soup very often. This one is very easy, simple and so tasty. It is hearty and sure makes a great one dish meal, especially for a cold evening dinner. I used the pressure cooker, therefore the soup is ready in no time.

Ingredients:

¾ cup pearl barley rinsed and soaked in water for 6~8 hours (or overnight)
1 small onion chopped
2~3 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1~1 ½ lb beef for stew
1 can stew tomatoes
3 carrots, cut in cubes
3 stalks celery, cut
2 medium potatoes, cut in cubes
Salt and pepper to taste
1~2 dry bay leaves

Method:

In a bowl place the beef in cubes with the flour, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Set aside.

In the pressure cooker add the olive oil and sautee the onion and garlic, add the beef and let stir for a while, add the barley (drained) and the stew tomatoes.

Add 3 to 4 cups of water and the bay leaves.

Cook under pressure for 10 minutes. After the cooking time, remove from heat and let the pressure come down, once be able to open, add the potatoes, carrots and celery and cook for another minute under pressure.

Add salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.

Did you know that in Japan, tea is made from roasted barley and is served cold as a summer beverage?

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This is a very easy and simple recipe to prepare pork chop. I usually grill the chops, but this time I decided to bake first and then pan fry. I served the pork chops with cranberry rice. It is a great combination of flavor…very fruity and colorful.

Pork Chop

Ingredients:

2~3 lb pork chop
6 garlic cloves, minced
½ tablespoon sesame oil
¼ cup light soy sauce
2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoon cooking wine
¼ cup lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Marinate the pork chops with all the above ingredients.

Let it set in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours (preferably overnight).

Arrange the pork chops in an oven safe tray and bake for 40~45 minute at 350 F.

Remove the pork chops from the oven and place them in a fry pan over high heat just to brown, both side.

Cranberry Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice
2 cup boiling water
1/3 cup cranberries
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 small onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

In medium heat sauté the onion in the olive oil, add the cranberries until the cranberries are slightly soft. Add the rice pre-rinsed and drained, the salt and the ground cinnamon, mixing gently. Add the boiling water and reduce the heat until all the water is absorbed.

Did you know that cranberries like grapes contain large amount of polyphenols? Polyphenols have the ability to scavenge free radical, therefore are considered antioxidants. Cranberries have been recommended to prevent urinary tract infection due its tannins content.

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This a very popular dish in the Taiwanese community…my mom used to make this very often and we all loved it. It is very tasty and is just a great complement with a bowl of white rice…yummie! Since it is kind of rich I like to cook this dish when the weather is cold.

Ingredients:

2 lbs of pork ribs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons sugar
½ cup cooking wine
½ cup soy sauce
4 green onion cut into 1 ½ inch
5 slices of ginger
1 cup water

Method:

Cut the pork ribs into approximately 1 inch.
Boil the ribs in 4 cups of water, drain and set aside.

In another pot, heat the oil and stir the sugar until the sugar turn light brown and bubbly. Add the soy sauce, cooking wine and water. Once start to boil add the green onion and ginger. Lower the heat and cook for 1 ½ hour until the ribs are soft.

Serve with white rice. I hope you enjoy this traditional Taiwanese dish.

I don’t know why I came up with this name…maybe because I used half ground beef and half ground pork…not very creative I must say…
Like many recipes of meatballs that I’ve seen, ground beef and ground pork are mixed together, so I thought why not for a pasta sauce? Well, turn out to be yummie, so here it is…and the amazing thing is that I made breakfast with the leftover, yes…breakfast…can you believe? Stay tune!

Ingredients:

1/3 lb ground lean beef
1/3 lb ground pork
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 small onion chopped
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon oregano
1 can Trader Joes tomato sauce
1 pinch ground allspice
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

In a pan sautee the garlic and the onion with olive oil, add the ground meats. Let it brown.

Add the tomato sauce, thyme, oregano, allspice, salt and pepper.

Cook for approximately 20 minutes in low heat.

Serve over pasta.

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Growing up in Brazil, we were so exposed to Middle Eastern food and Esfiha was something that you could literally find in almost every corner.

Ingredients:

Dough
¾ cup of water
2 cups bread flour
1½ tablespoon sugar
1½ tablespoon dry milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon yeast

Filling

1 lb of lean ground beef
2 large tomato cut in small pieces
1 large onion chopped
½ bunch Italian parsley
2 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon ground all spice
Sal and pepper to taste

Method:

Dough

I use my mini bakery Zojirushi for the dough, or follow the instructions of your bread machine.In my bread machine.

Place the water first at the bottom of the bucket and add the dry ingredients. Choose the dough setting, when the cycle is complete, gently remove the dough from the bucket and knead until all the bubbles are removed.

Filling
Mix all the ingredients and let it set for a few minute.

Assembly

Knead the dough to remove the air bubbles, after removing the air bubbles from the dough make a roll and cut into 12 equal pieces.

Open the dough (approximately 4 in diameter), place approximately 3 tablespoon of the meat filling in the middle of the dough and close it by making a triangle (see the pictures).

Place the esfihas in a flour surface and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Bake in a hot oven, 400F for 20 minutes.

Did you know that esfiha is also called sfiha in Arabic? It means meat with dough. In Brazil, esfiha is very popular due to the presence of a large Arab population.

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Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!As you might know, Brazil is well known for its BBQ. The meat is usually served with vinagrete sauce. This sauce is very simple and tasty, is kind of similar to the salsa, without the jalapeno. In this recipe I adapted from the original ones which use regular vinegar with balsamic vinegar. I prefer the balsamic vinegar due to its sweetness and less acidity. The vinagrete sauce can be served with not only steak but with chicken and sausage or even as a salad dressing.
Many of the meat cut is only lightly sprinkled with rock salt before grilling. By using only rock salt the taste of the meat is not overshadow by other flavors. Moreover, you will find that different cut of meats have different flavors.

Ingredients:

1 onion chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
½ bunch Italian parsley
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil

Method:

Soak the onion in water and drain, a few times, to release the acid.

Mix all the ingredients and let it sit approximately 2 hours in the refrigerator.

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