I have no idea why I don’t eat peanut butter more often because every time I do I totally love it. My kids probably eat peanut butter once a day. I don’t know if that is due to convenience or the fact that they love it as well. So one early afternoon I decided I wanted to have lunch. I wanted something Thai, but nothing that would take too long, plus my appetite was not all that fierce due to the cancer treatment I have been going through. Looking through the pantry, I noticed some really good and hearty bread that I had bought for my wife, that delicious creamy peanut butter, some Thai infused honey, and then some Thai bird chilies. I knew that I would get the best of everything by creating what I call Thai Peanut Butter Toast. Whoa is this every good.
Thai Peanut Butter Toast Recipe
I could have stopped at just peanut butter toast with a drizzle of that honey but I wanted to go further, and boy was I glad I did.
2 whole Thai bird chilies, chopped (seeds removed is optional)
1 tbsp roasted peanuts
1/2 lime, squeezed
It doesn’t get any easier to make. Take your peanut butter and lather it onto your slice of toast. Sprinkle on the peanuts, Thai chilies, cilantro, and honey, and squeeze the lime juice over the top.
Thai Peanut Butter Toast Ingredients
Plate and serve.
The result is everything I love about warm toast and creamy peanut butter. You know… when it drips down your hand? Then you get these pops of awesome spice from the chilies, freshness from the lime and cilantro, and that texture from the roasted peanuts.
Thai Peanut Butter Toast Recipe
This is a real winner, especially if you like a bit of spice. Feel free to reduce the chilies to one if you desire, or remove the seeds from them, but the balance of flavor is a tough one to compete with on this awesome snack.
Snack, Crackle, Pop. Repeat. I’ve said this before but Filipino food is on the rise, and much like many top chefs have predicted, Filipino food will begin to surprise you. If you have never had Filipino food, just give it a try. Granted, I have yet to find a sweet Filipino dessert that I like (but then again I do not like many desserts as I am not a sweet tooth), but the savory dishes are to die for. This one might be the one to top it off. There are many common, top, Filipino dishes that you might already be aware of such as Pancit, lumpia, or even Kare Kare, but there is one that is top notch, and that is lechon kawali.
Your cardiologist may not like you after this, nor probably your primary physician, but in moderation, this Filipino crispy pork is so simple to make, and makes a perfect party food. Traditionally made with pork belly, you can also try it with pork ribs just make sure you have plenty of fat to render on the second cooking cycle. Yep, there are two cooking steps going on here.
Filipino Lechon Kawali Recipe
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless pork belly, cut into 2 inch long strips
1 head of garlic, skins removed, bulbs smashed
4 whole bay leaves
3 tbsp black peppercorns
3/4 cup soy sauce
water
salt
canola oil
dipping sauce
White Vinegar, to your liking
Soy sauce, to your liking
Chopped garlic, to your liking
cracked black pepper, to your liking
1 Thai birds eye chili, smashed, optional or Thai chili flakes
I recently made this for my son’s birthday party, as well as another Filipino gathering and both times they rocked the socks off of the party guests. You know you’ve done right when the Filipinos are giving you a thumbs up, a hug, or a high five after eating your food. This is a winner.
Start by adding the pork belly, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, soy sauce, and enough water to cover the pork belly into a large pot or dutch oven. Cover, and bring to a simmer, cooking for about 1 hour. This is to tenderize the pork, and infuse all of the great flavor from those aromatics.
Filipino Lechon Kawali Recipe Ingredients
After 1 hour or so, get a baking sheet out and line it with a wire rack.
Take the strips of pork belly and lay them on the rack, making sure any of the excess liquid goes back into the pot. Once the strips are laid out, lightly salt them with kosher salt. This will assist with the dehydration process and get them ready for the next step the following day, if not hours later in the day.
Place the baking sheet, uncovered in the refrigerator. I do this over night.
Filipino Lechon Kawali Recipe
When you are ready to go with the next step, take the pork out of the refrigerator and cut them into bite sized cubes, about 1-2 inches in size. Go larger if you prefer.
Heat a pot of oil, about 2-3 cups of canola oil, in a medium sized pot, and bring this to about 350-375 degrees.
In batches, fry the pork. This should take about 5-7 minutes per batch. Once golden and the fat is rendered and crispy, remove with a slotted spoon or kitchen spyder and place onto a paper lined plate to remove any excess oil. Let the oil in the pot come back to temp, then repeat until the lechon kawali is cooked.
NOTE: If you are frying these bad boys, make sure you reserve some for yourself because if you turn your back, trust me, these babies will be gone. This happened to me when I brought them to a party for our friend Miguel to chop up and fry. I didn’t even get a single piece! No worries on that part however, as I know that when I am snacking with the family, that I am sure to get a few pieces.
And that dipping sauce? Go for it. The combination of garlic, vinegar, soy, and chili. That’s a whole other level when it comes to dipping sauce.
If you are looking for a great party appetizer, and don’t mind frying with a bit of oil, this one is sure to please and is a real crowd pleaser not only for those wanting to try some Filipino flavors, but for those who love great, easy food. Hope you enjoy!
Do you know that time when you are really craving something but you just don’t want to get up, go, and go get it? Yeah, it seems like I have been having those types of days lately. This past week I had a craving for this one, actually it was the craving for a Chicago style hot dog, but with french fries, and I was not about to get back in my car and head across town to go get them. That’s when I took things into my own hands, rummaged through my freezer and refrigerator, and just like that I came up with the great idea of Chicago style hot dog tater tots.
Sure, I’ve made pizza tots, bacon wrapped tots, and homemade tater tots to boot, but I’m not sure if anything compared to these Chicago style hot dog tater tots. It’s everything you love about a Chicago style hot dog, and fries, all in one delicious bite.
Chicago Style Hot Dog Tater Tots Recipe
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
2 whole hot dogs, cooked and sliced in bites
1 bag of your favorite tater tots
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 roma tomato, pulp removed, sliced
sport peppers, to your liking
1 tsp celery salt
your favorite pickles, to your liking
1 tsp cajun seasoning, optional
1 tsp black poppy seeds
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
If you want to use the funky neon green relish, by all means go for. That goes the same for yellow mustard, and as much as I love both of them, I omitted them from this particular recipe.
Feel free to adjust these ingredients based on how many people you are going to feed. This one in particular could probably feed two, but I was really, really hungry at the time and decided to go all in.
Start by lining a baking sheet with parchment paper, and preheat your oven to 425 degrees, or according to your instructions on your frozen tater tot bag.
Line the baking sheet with as much, or as little tater tots to your desire.
Cook the tater tots in the oven just until they begin to crisp up, about 15 minutes or so.
Chicago Style Hot Dog Tater Tots Recipe
During this time, either boil, steam, or microwave the hot dogs, just until cooked.
After 15 minutes, remove the tater tots from the oven and add the onions to the top of the tots. Place back into the oven and cook an additional 5 minutes or so, just to lightly cook the onions.
Remove the tots from the oven, coat them sprinkle on the celery salt and cajun seasoning (I use Old Bay for the additional celery salt factor), top with the cheese, and the hot dogs, and place them back into the oven until the cheese is fully melted.
Once melted, remove, and top with the tomatoes, pickles, sport peppers, and shower everything with the poppy seeds. If you are wanting to use relish and mustard, by all means go for it.
Chicago Style Hot Dog Tater Tots Recipe
These things are way too good, and are sure to be a real crowd pleaser. Not only did I save myself from a trip across town, but I also won in satisfying my hunger and craving for a Chicago style hot dog, with tater tots! Hope you enjoy.
One of my kids recently turned 17. I know, I know… and yes that makes me feel a bit old to some degree, but yet I still feel like I’m 17 sometimes as well. When asked what he wanted to do for his birthday, the answer was a simple ‘hang out with family and grill out’. I’m a fan of that. So I figured I would come up with a menu that I knew he would love; everything from grilled Filipino meats, to Filipino pancit, and a few other things in between. As I was getting some of the ingredients, I figured I would throw in some whole trout, and something that I thought I would make on his birthday, probably on the smoker, but it ended up being too much work, and I had to use that trout the day I purchased it. Let’s call it a prelude to his birthday.
So instead of smoking the trout, I decided to stuff it and bake it whole. Wow was this baked whole trout not only super delicious, but really easy to make.
Baked Whole Trout Recipe
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
3 whole trout, gutted and rinsed
1 whole lemon, thinly sliced
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 cup Italian leaf parsley, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
That’s it. Pretty simple. But do not stop there if you don’t want to. Feel free to use other fresh herbs, garlic, or butter inside if desired. Me, I wanted simple and to taste more of the fish.
Start by rinsing your fish and patting the inside and outside dry.
Using your knife, make a few slits on top of the skin, working from the top to the bottom.
Season the inside of the fishes with salt and pepper, and lay thinly slices of lemon inside of each one. Take some of the chopped parsley and add to the inside of the fishes as well. Take any remaining salt and season the outside of the fish.
Drizzle the olive oil over the fish, and place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Take any remaining lemon and place onto the baking sheet to be squeezed over the fish after cooking.
Place into a 425 degree preheated oven and cook for about 20 minutes. The skin should crisp up a bit and the fish should be nice and moist.
Plate and serve, squeezing any additional lemon juice onto the fish.
The end result is great. It’s an awesome presentation on the table and gets everyone involved. Are there bones? You bet, so this is always a great exercise in how to remove bones, and playing caution when removing the filet from the bone.
The trout is super light, moist, and really refreshing to eat. Everyone enjoyed the trout, and something different than smoking it on the smoker. Hope you enjoy!
