November 3, 2018

Another cooking day with Victoria! We made beef stew, singang, and seared chicken.

There was also a surprise visitor joining our cooking session today. Kathy Mima, my old tutor, visited me. Kathy has been very supportive since I’ve been in the hospital.

We first made beef stew. We bought beef then chopped it into pieces. We skinned the fat from the pieces then combines it with red wine, garlic powder, thyme, and rosemary. The skimmed fat was cooked and given to our dog, Billy. Victoria taught me how to open a bottle of wine. When we let the beef sit in red wine, it tenderizes and gives the beef flavor. Victoria cut up carrots, celery, potatoes, and leeks. We dredged the beef with flour, then seared it until it was golden brown. After the beef turned golden brown, we deglazed the pot with a cup of red wine and added carrots and leeks. We simmered them for half an hour, then added potatoes and celery.

Next we made singang. Sinigang is a filipino pork stew. We boiled pork in water to render the fat. After the fat was gone, we drained the soup from the pork. We then put the pork in new water, and added ginger, tomatoes, and onions. We simmered the stew for about an hour and a half. Subsequently we added spinach and lemon juice.

We prepared the chicken. Victoria brought leeks and my mom cut them up. We chopped up scallops and garlic and added them to the leeks. Next we dredge the chicken into flour. We seared the dredged chicken in avocado oil. After the four chicken breasts were golden brown on both sides, we added the leek, scallops, and garlic mixture. We deglaze the pan with one tablespoon of white wine and two tablespoons of red wine vinegar. We put a lid on the pan and let the chicken cook. After the sauce reduced, we turned off the heat and added spinach.

Check Victoria out here: https://www.eastbayhealthychef.com/