Beef bulalo/nilaga and Kamote-Q

Autumn chills are starting to pour in, literally. The week has been a combination of layers and scarfs in the mornings, then shedding off as the day draws to an end. Its cold and then warm, and then cold again. The weekend has been lovely. Warm autumn sun was good for the weekend laundry jobs, and a bit of outdoor play.

As it is the first weekend of the school holidays, I felt it was time we start the kitchen humming. Beginning with the Saturday road test of the Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Loaf. Followed by an all Filipino treat for a lazy Sunday – afternoon tea of camote-cue and dinner of warm beef bulalo/nilaga.

To make nilagang baka or bulalo, you need the following ingredients:

3-4 pcs beef osso buco (beef ribs may be used but then it becomes just beef nilaga)

250g beans

half cabbage, cut into quarters

3-4 potatoes, cubed

1 onion, quartered

Place the osso buco in a sauce pan and fill with water to cover the meat. Bring to a boil and let simmer until meat is tender. May take 1-2 hours. If you own a turbo broiler, it will take half the time.

Once meat is tender, turn up heat and add the onions and potato. Season with fish sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Taste the soup every now and then to make sure its not too salty. Bring to a boil.

Add the beans and cabbage and let simmer for another 10 minutes.

This is best served with rice, with fish sauce and hot chillies for dipping sauce.

What a great autumn/winter warmer!

Camote-cue or toffee sweet potato is a typical Filipino street food, no matter what area of the Philippine island you go to, this is "merienda" (morning or afternoon tea) staple, alongside banana-cue, taho, binatog, fish balls, squid balls, balut, etc. In the Philippines, the camote-cue is usually served in sticks (skewered).

To make camote-cue, cut up sweet potatoes into strips.

Heat about half a cup of vegetable oil in pan, then add about 2 tbsp of sugar (raw or white doesn't really matter).

Fry the camote/sweet potato strips in the pan until golden in colour.

Serve and eat immediately! Yum!