Main dishes with chicken, pork and beef

We Filipinos love our meat just as much as we love our vegetables. My husband is a certified carnivore and so am I although on a lesser degree. Our daughters were born into a generation that is more health conscious. Sam removes the fat from belly bacon and does not eat chicken skin. Alex thinks that fat in pork chops is something for the dogs. The thought of eating bone marrow makes both Sam and Alex go eeeewww. I kinda think that if they had been born some 30 years ago, at age 16 and 15, they’d probably have gone hungry most of the time.

For us meat lovers, let’s talk meat and let’s see some meat dishes from you readers.

Above, pork asado from Emy Medina: “Pork Asado….My children who are all grown with family of their own are not pork eaters. When we have Barbecue, they will remove the fat and will declare it Gross! They are eating healthy but I miss food from home. Life is too short not to cook asado. Connie, this is the first time I used star anise and that makes this dish something different. My husband said “Bakit ngayon mo lang ito niluto?” It’s comfort food and the sauce is so good on top of steamed rice. Doubly good because it’s raining and cold.”

My sentiments, exactly.

From Janice D’Sa, spinach chicken. She says, “I had some chicken and spinach that I didn’t know what to do with. I searched for a recipe and found this on your blog. So, I tried it and I loved it!! I made a small addition. I sprinkled some almond slices on top. It gave a nice crunchy feel to it. I have attached a photo. Sorry, if the photo isn’t too good. I was just in too much of a hurry to actually eat it. Loved it!”

The photo’s fine, Janice. I think I’ll add nuts to my spinach chicken next time. Thanks.

Sheryll Nito’s version of my spicy beef kaldereta: “My husband requested for Kaldereta and I scrambled to get a recipe from Pinoycook. The sauce was perfect especially that I even used fresh chicken livers than the readily-available liver spread. I had the meat tenderized using baking soda for over a night. My hubby simply loved the dish!”

There was a question from reader Brenda in the baking soda as meat tenderizer thread as to whether the baking soda trick would work with nilagang baka or, as I understood it, beef that requires long and slow cooking. I guess Sheryll just provided the answer.

Rosemarie Estaris in Abu Dhabi, UAE, sent the steaks and veggies photo above: “This was inspired by your hubby’s grilled rib-eye steak, as soon as I read the post… after office hours I asked my hubby to accompany me to the grocery.”

That should inspire my husband — if his cooking can inspire that kind of fast reaction, I’ll tell him that perhaps he needs to cook more often.

More photos contributed by readers coming up. Sorry if I’m slow. See, I’m trying to organize them. I get multiple attachments with each e-mail and I try to think of the best way to present them.