Chicken Pastel is a creamy and tasty Filipino dish and is serve during special occasions like birthday parties and fiestas. The dish usually consists of diced chicken meat, mushrooms, peas, sausages and carrots in a rich, creamy sauce.
As influenced by Spain’s pastel de pollo, the chicken filling is encased in a flaky pie crust and baked until golden. It’s common practice by Filipinos to serve this pot pie sans the crust but paired with rice instead. Either way, it’s a satisfying meal and mouth-watering dish.
This is my version of Filipino Style Chicken Pastel Recipe! Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 whole medium size chicken, cut into serving pieces
½ cup potatoes, cubed
1 cup vienna sausage, sliced
1 pc. chorizo de bilbao, sliced
2 pcs. hard-boiled eggs, sliced
4 cups red pepper, cut into strips
1 tsp. soy sauce
½ cup green piece
1 tbsp. calamansi juice
3 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tbsp. garlic, minced
2 tbsp. onion, chops
1 pc. bay leaf
4 cups water chestnuts
1 cup water
1-1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. pepper
Directions:
In a big bowl, marinate chicken in soy sauce, calamansi juice, salt and pepper.
In a pan over medium heat, heat oil then sauté the garlic and onions.
Add the chicken and cook until slightly brown.
Add the chorizo de bilbao, bay leaf and the marinade. Stir occasionally.
Add water, potatoes and carrots then simmer until chicken is tender.
Add water chestnut, vienna sausage, mushroom, green piece and red pepper.
Cook until vegetables are tender.
For the White Sauce:
Make white sauce with 2 tbsp butter into pyrex dish.
Final Steps:
Place sliced eggs attractively on top of meat mixture.
Cover with crust and brush top with beaten egg yolk.
Make slits on top to let out steam.
Bake in preheated oven at 350 °F for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
Atchara or Achara is a popular Filipino side dish made of grated green papaya. The grated papaya is squeezed out then combined with carrots, red and green pepper, garlic and onion. The vegetables stored and refrigerate in a sealed bottle with vinegar, salt and sugar for at least a week to maintain its sweet and sour taste.
This tangy relish is a perfect complement to barbeque, fried chicken and fish, beef and etc. Atchara is usually served as side dish together with fried or grilled food. This is my version of Atchara (Pickled Green Papaya) Filipino Recipe. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
4 – 6 cups grated green papaya
2 pcs. carrots, finely sliced
1/2 pc. big onion, finely sliced
1 pc. small ginger, finely sliced
1/2 pc. green pepper, sliced into strips
1/2 pc. red pepper, sliced into strips
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup of rock salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 – 1 1/2 cup vinegar
Directions:
Mush the grated green papaya in salt for a few minutes with clean bare hands or with gloves.
Place in cheese cloth or any clean piece of cloth, and squeeze all the juice out.
Loosen out the squeezed papaya and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Carrots, garlic, onion, green & red peppers, ginger and sugar.
Mush the grated green papaya in salt for a few minutes with clean bare hands or with gloves.
Place in cheese cloth or any clean piece of cloth, and squeeze all the juice out.
Loosen out the squeezed papaya and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Carrots, garlic, onion, green & red peppers, ginger and sugar.
Add spoon full of salt or salt to taste.
Place in glass jar/s and top with vinegar.
Refrigerate for atleast 1 week.
Serve as sidings,
Share and Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Clean & sterilized jars, it is important to preserve the atsara longer.
To sterilize, place the glass or jar in a pot or pan of boiling water for 10 minutes. Place upright with the lid facing up and carefully remove with a thong.
Whenever we are in LA there’s this place we frequent, Zankou Chicken; although their specialty is the delicious rotisserie chicken they also serve beef and chicken kebobs and shawarma wraps. We love the beef shawarma so much that we buy a dozen or so to take home with us.
Since there are no trips planned to LA anytime soon I decided to try my hand at making my own.
Shawarma is usually cooked on a spit and slow roasted as it turn, I don’t have one of those machines so I found a way to make it using just my oven and stove top.
To make the meat extra tender I used thinly sliced boneless beef short ribs with all the fat trimmed off. I adapted a chinese restaurant method used to tenderize their stir fry meat and it made my ribs very tender.
The secret to great shawarma is the spices used to marinate the meat. So get out your spice rack to make this tasty recipe. We make it into wraps using either pita bread or nan. Served with crunchy dill pickles and my sun dried tomato/roasted red pepper hummus and you’ve got a filling meal.
My family thinks my version is just as good as the shawarma we buy at Zankou!
Lettuce, tomato, any other veggies you prefer – optional
Directions for Marinade:
1. Place all ingredients in a large ziplock bag
2. Seal bag and knead until it’s well blended – break up any clumps of corn starch that may form so that it mixes in with the oil and spices. You should end up with a cloudy thick liquid.
3. Trim extra fat off the edges of the short ribs
4. Place beef in to ziplock bag, seal bag, and knead bag so that the meat is covered with marinade on all sides.
5. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour; up to overnight. Turn bag occasionally to evenly distribute marinade. The longer it marinates in the oven the more flavorful the meat will be.
Cooking and assembling directions:
1. Place meat on an ungreased baking sheet.
2. Bake in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes
3. Remove from baking sheet and slice into thin strips
4. Heat some olive oil in large pan
5. Add sliced meat into hot oil and saute – DO NOT SKIP this step, it’s what gives it the finish like it was roasted on a spit.
6. If you feel you the meat needs more spices you can sprinkle more of the above spices as you saute. I usually sprinkle a bit more garlic powder, cinnamon, cumin, and nutmeg at this stage.
7. Spread one side of bread with hummus
8. Layer on meat, pickles, and other veggies you prefer
Directions for Marinade:
Place all ingredients in a large ziplock bag
Seal bag and knead until it's well blended - break up any clumps of corn starch that may form so that it mixes in with the oil and spices. You should end up with a cloudy thick liquid.
Trim extra fat off the edges of the short ribs
Place beef in to ziplock bag, seal bag, and knead bag so that the meat is covered with marinade on all sides.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour; up to overnight. Turn bag occasionally to evenly distribute marinade. The longer it marinates in the oven the more flavorful the meat will be.
Cooking and assembling directions:
Place meat on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes
Remove from baking sheet and slice into thin strips
Heat some olive oil in large pan
Add sliced meat into hot oil and saute - DO NOT SKIP this step, it's what gives it the finish like it was roasted on a spit.
If you feel you the meat needs more spices you can sprinkle more of the above spices as you saute. I usually sprinkle a bit more garlic powder, cinnamon, cumin, and nutmeg at this stage.
Spread one side of bread with hummus
Layer on meat, pickles, and other veggies you prefer
