Our April 2012 hosts were David and Karen of Twenty-Fingered Cooking. They presented us with a very daring and unique challenge of forming our own recipes by using a set list of ingredients.
I really like it when we are asked to come up with our own recipes because it brings out everyone's creativity. So what is the list of these ingredients that we can play around? They gave us 3 sets and we had to choose one from each list:
1. Parsnips, Eggplant (Aubergine), Cauliflower
2. Balsamic Vinegar, Goat Cheese, Chipotle Peppers
3. Maple Syrup, Instant Coffee, Bananas
Along with the list, they also provided some recipes but I decided to completely come up with my own. I chose Eggplant because I haven't seen parsnips around here in Manila, and no I don't really like cauliflowers so eggplant it is. I also have balsamic vinegar and maple syrup in the cupboard so I just came up with a dish utilizing those three: Eggplant, Balsamic Vinegar and Eggplants.
Being the true Filipino that I am...when vinegar is listed as an ingredient--I always think of Adobo. So that is what I decided to cook. Adobo is a dish that is cooked with vinegar and/or soy sauce and garlic. There are as many versions of this as there are many cooks in the Philippines. I was going to make my own version based on my 3 ingredients.
ADOBONG BAKA1 kilo Beef Cubes (cooked in the pressure cooker the night before)
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
10 cloves Garlic, peeled and smashed with the flat side of a knife
2 pieces Bay leaves (dried)
1 teaspoon Black Peppercorn
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 cup Maple syrup
Combine beef cubes, garlic, peppercorn, balsamic vinegar, soysauce and enough water or stock to cover everything in a pot. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes (this process is shorter because the meat was already cooked in the pressure cooker). Do not stir until boiling or the vinegar will taste raw. When mixture is boiling turn down the heat and season with salt, pepper and maple syrup. Cook for another 10 minutes. Serve hot with steamed rice.
Okay, so what about the eggplant? I cut it into rings, salted and rinsed. Grilled with olive oil (no need to season with salt, they might come out too salty).
And there it is...Adobong Baka with Grilled Eggplants. Thank you David and Karen, this was a wonderful challenge! 
9 comments:
This looks really delicious - very inventive - yum!
Mmmm, Adobong Baka looks delicious! Such beautiful photos. :)
Great job on this month's challenge...love how pretty your adobo came out! This Texan actually made chicken adobo for the first time as part of a cookbook review a few weeks ago...yummy! Nice to meet you!!
Great job with the challenge! I had never tasted adobo before, but made a batch of chicken adobo for a cookbook review on my blog a few weeks ago. So good! I'll be the maple is a really nice background note!
The Adobong Baka looks fantastic! I am going to have to make that....soon! Great job.
Your Adobong Baka looks yummy. I will have to try that one out
I made chicken adobo and loved it with the balsamic and maple syrup.
I look forward to trying your recipe with beef, I just love adobo/
Great job on this challenge
I love chicken adobo so I can only imagine how amazing beef adobo is. You're so creative, Dahlia..and you tantalize with your dishes! It looks so good, my stomach is rumbling lol
Good Job with the recipe looks great.
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