What’s Cookin’ Today | Annie's Chamorro Kitchen | Hafa Adai! Let's get cooking, Guam style!

Fresh Salmon Kelaguen

Posted on October 2, 2013 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 11 comments

Kelaguen in Chamorro describes a dish that’s prepared by mixing the main ingredient (usually chicken, beef, deer, or seafood) with lemon or lime juice, onions, salt, and hot pepper. Chicken kelaguen is usually prepared with cooked (grilled, broiled or boiled) chicken. The other types of kelaguen–beef, deer, shrimp, and various types of fish–are most often prepared raw, with the meat or seafood getting cooked with the addition of an acid, usually lemon or lime juice.

Kelaguen is a staple dish at Chamorro parties. Sometimes, especially on Guam, an entire table is devoted to several types of kelaguen.

Salmon kelaguen is a favorite in our house. I know, I know…I’ve said a lot of the dishes I make are favorites. But really…this one is a REAL favorite (after shrimp kelaguen, that is). 😉

I prefer fresh salmon with this recipe. If you’re in a pinch, canned salmon kelaguen is also tasty, but I still prefer fresh salmon any day.

Give my recipe a try. If you like sushi, ceviche, or any type of kelaguen, then I know you’ll like this. 😀

Fresh Salmon Kelaguen

Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh salmon (red salmon, preferably)
4 stalks green onions, sliced
The juice of 5-6 limes, more or less, to taste (or you can use lemon powder, mixed with a little bit of water)
Salt, to taste
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, diced
Hot pepper, optional

Directions:

1. Rinse the salmon filet. Pull out any salmon bones. Remove the skin, or leave it on if you prefer. I like the skin removed for kelaguen.

2. Cut the salmon into small pieces.

3. Thinly slice the green onions.

4. Mix the salmon and green onions together in a small bowl.

5. Squeeze about 1 cup of lime juice over the salmon and onions. Sprinkle salt over the mixture; start with about 1 teaspoon. Stir gently to combine all the ingredients and to dissolve the salt into the lime juice. Add more or less lime juice and/or salt, to taste.

6. Stir in the diced tomatoes. Optional: Add hot pepper, as much as you like. Serve with hot rice or titiyas. ENJOY!

Posted in CHAMORRO DISHES, Kelaguen, Roland's Recipes, SEAFOOD

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

Posted on October 1, 2013 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 13 comments

One our favorite appetizers when we eat out are crab-stuffed mushrooms. Tender mushrooms, sweet crab meat, and melted cheese are sure to make these tasty morsels a hit at your dinner table. With my easy recipe, you don’t have to wait until you eat out to enjoy them — now you can make these in your very own kitchen!

Don’t skimp on the crab meat and use that stringy imitation stuff. Yes, I know real crab meat is pricey, but it’s worth it. Trust me! While imitation crab meat will do when you make sushi, you’ll do these stuffed mushrooms a great injustice if you don’t use the real thing.

Funny story…we made these for our appetizer for dinner tonight. As my husband was popping a stuffed mushroom into his mouth, my daughter scolded him, stating that the mushrooms were a SIDE DISH, to be eaten with our meal. “I thought they were appetizers!” exclaimed my husband. “No…mushrooms are vegetables, and we’re having vegetables with our dinner” my daughter said, matter-of-factly. Hahaha! I love my kids! 😀

Give my recipe a try. I KNOW you’ll LOVE it. 🙂

Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 pound lump crab meat
1 cup mayonnaise (I like using Best Foods or Hellman’s)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 stalks green onions, sliced
15-20 fresh white mushrooms, more or less, depending on the size

Directions:

1. Place the crab meat in a small mixing bowl. Pick out any stray crab shells.

2. Add the mayonnaise to the bowl…

…and the Parmesan cheese…

…and the black pepper…

…and the garlic powder…

…and the green onions.

3. Stir to combine all the ingredients. At this stage, this is FANTASTIC as-is, as a dip or spread for crackers. If you want to use it as a dip, place it into a microwave-safe bowl and heat it for about 90 seconds to 2 minutes, or just long enough to warm it and to get some of the cheese to melt. Don’t microwave it too long or the mayo will break down and your mixture will be very oily.

4. Pull off the stems of each mushroom. If the mushrooms are dirty, wipe them GENTLY with a paper towel. DO NOT rinse the mushrooms in water–the mushrooms will soak up the water and become almost slimy (yuck!). Trust me–a paper towel is all you need to clean these babies.

5. Stuff each mushroom cap with the crab mixture. It’s okay to be generous. You’ll have more than enough filling even if you overstuff the mushrooms.

This photo is just for comparison sake. We bought rather large mushrooms at COSTCO. This shows one of the smaller mushrooms…it’s larger than a lime!

6. Place each stuffed mushroom onto a baking pan. Top each mushroom with more grated Parmesan cheese.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (for smaller mushrooms) and up to 30 minutes for the larger mushrooms. These were rather large mushrooms, so 30 minutes was about right. Bake until the cheese and mushrooms are nicely browned.

Note: There is NO NEED to add a drizzle of butter over the mushrooms prior to baking. The mushrooms brown up quite nicely on their own without the added fat. AND I’m sure you DO NOT want these beauties to swim in a pool of melted fat, do you? No, no you don’t.

The liquid you see in the pan is the natural water from the mushrooms. After you take the tray out of the oven, remove the mushrooms to a serving dish so they don’t sit in this liquid.

Ahhhh….don’t you wish you had some of these delicious Crab Stuffed Mushrooms right now? What are you waiting for? Bake up a batch TODAY! 😀

ENJOY!

Posted in APPETIZERS, SEAFOOD tagged with Crab

Beef Stir Fry with Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Bell Peppers and Onions

Posted on September 30, 2013 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 6 comments

I posted a recipe a while back for another version of Beef Stir Fry (with mushrooms, onions, broccoli, eggplant and bean sprouts). Here is another version — this time I added mushrooms (we LOVE mushrooms in our house), bell peppers, onions and diced grape tomatoes.

I didn’t make this version spicy because one of my daughters doesn’t like to eat spicy food. However, if you like pika (hot) foods, by all means, add your favorite hot pepper to this–even dried pepper flakes are good in this.

Give my recipe a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Beef Stir Fry

Ingredients:

2 pounds thinly sliced beef
1 cup diced cherry or grape tomatoes
1 medium onion, sliced
1 package fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons Dashida beef flavored seasoning
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup water
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 cup soy sauce
Hot pepper flakes, optional

Directions:

1. In a large frying pan, place the beef, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, garlic, and seasonings. Cook over high heat until the beef is cooked.

2. Mix together the water, cornstarch and soy sauce.

3. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the frying pan; bring to a boil. It is only when the liquid comes to a boil that the cornstarch will start to thicken. Stir frequently, cooking until the sauce thickens.

4. Remove from the heat and serve over hot white rice. ENJOY!

Posted in Beef, Dinner, Lunch, MEALS, MEAT tagged with Stir fry

Incredible Pumpkin Cake Donuts

Posted on September 29, 2013 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 4 comments

I love the fall season, mainly because it means pumpkins are in season and I can make some of my most favorite desserts, among them these delicious and moist pumpkin cake donuts. But why wait for fall to enjoy these sweet treats? With canned pumpkin puree readily available, you can make these donuts whenever you like. Why not bake up a batch today? I think you’ll like it. 🙂

This recipe makes about 4 dozen donuts. The ingredients below can easily be cut in half. I usually don’t, however. Half of my family likes cinnamon sugar coated donuts, the other half likes chocolate glaze. This way, there’s enough donuts to please everyone. 🙂

Incredible Pumpkin Cake Donuts

Donut Ingredients:

1 cup vegetable oil
6 large eggs
3 cups sugar
2 cans (15-oz) pure pumpkin pureé (do not use pumpkin pie filling)
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Coating Ingredients:

½ cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Frosting Ingredients:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat your donut maker.

2. Place all of the donut ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

Add the oil…

Add the eggs… (The photo below shows only 5 eggs; I only had 2 large eggs and the rest were extra large, so I used 3 extra large and 2 large eggs instead of 6 large eggs.)

Add the pumpkin…

Add the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking powder…

Add the sugar…

And finally, add the flour to the bowl.

3. Mix with a whisk until you create a smooth batter.

4. Spoon the batter into the wells of your donut maker, filling according to manufacturer’s instructions. I use a small cookie scoop to fill my donut maker with about 2 tablespoons of batter. (Hey, look! I captured my reflection in the cookie scoop!)

5. Bake per your donut maker’s instructions, or until the donuts feel slightly firm to the touch, about 5 minutes. Remove the donuts from the donut maker.

6. Coat the donuts:

To coat with Cinnamon Sugar:

Place the coating ingredients in a ziplock bag; shake to mix. While the donuts are still warm, place each donut (one at a time) the bag of cinnamon sugar; shake gently to coat. Repeat until all donuts are coated.

To coat with Chocolate Glaze:

Place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a small, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 45 seconds. Stir until the mixture is completely smooth. Dip the top half of each donut into the chocolate glaze. Place on a wire rack to allow excess chocolate to drip off.

ENJOY!

Posted in DESSERTS, Donuts tagged with Chocolate, Pumpkin

Pot Roast, Chamorro Style

Posted on September 28, 2013 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 42 comments

Whenever I find myself feeling a bit homesick, I think of something to cook that soothes my longing for my island home. Chamorro Pot Roast is one of those dishes. This is a dish that was usually on the menu for Chamorro gatherings. I remember going to parties when I was younger, and before the table was opened, I’d check to see if there was any pot roast. If there was, the ONLY things I’d have on my plate were rice (red or white), pot roast (with as much gravy as I could scoop up), and lots of fina’denne’. These days, I use a crock pot to cook my pot roast. Set it and forget it…what could be easier?

Give my recipe a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Chamorro Pot Roast

Ingredients:

1 2-lb chuck roast (look for one that is nicely marbled with fat)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
8 whole garlic cloves
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped into large chunks
5-6 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup soy sauce
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar (you can use white vinegar instead)
2 tablespoons Dashida seasoning (Korean beef soup stock)
1 teaspoon Accent or Ajinomoto
1 cup water (if cooking this on the stovetop, use 2 cups water)
4 tablespoons corn starch plus one cup water

Directions:

1. Place a large skillet or dutch oven over high heat.

2. Using a long, sharp knife, CAREFULLY cut 8 deep slits into the sides of the roast. Push a whole clove of garlic into each slit.

3. Rub the sides of the roast with salt and pepper.

4. When the pan is hot, add half of the oil into the pan. Brown the roast on all sides then remove it from the pan and place it into a slow cooker or crock pot set to HIGH.

5. Add the remaining oil to the pan used to brown the roast. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until the onions are translucent. Add the sautéed onions and garlic to the slow cooker.

6. Into the crock pot, add:

the tomatoes with juice…

the Dashida seasoning…

the accent or aji…

the balsamic vinegar…

the soy sauce…

and 1 cup of water (see note below) plus any remaining salt and pepper.

NOTE: If making this on the stovetop, add 2 cups of water instead (a lot of water will evaporate as the roast cooks).

7. Place the lid on the slow cooker. Cook on HIGH setting for 2 hours then lower the heat to LOW and cook for an additional 2 hours then turn off the slow cooker. If cooking this on the stovetop, cover the pot and cook over medium-low heat for 2 hours.

8. When the roast is done, remove the roast to a plate or cutting board and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing (don’t cut it sooner that this or all the juices will flow out and leave your roast dry).

9. In the meantime, while the roast is resting, prepare the gravy. Using an immersion blender, purée the chunks of vegetables in the gravy until it is completely smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, transfer all of the gravy (the liquid and all vegetables) from the slow cooker to a blender and blend until smooth.

10. Pour the puréed mixture into a small pot; bring the mixture to a boil.

11. Mix the cornstarch with the remaining 1 cup of water.

Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the gravy and return to a boil, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Turn off the heat once the gravy has thickened.