Please don't put ginger in your Nilagang Baka

Angel’s still busy watching his DVD of The Wiggles so I figured I could take a moment to answer this question from Aurora Miyata (no e-mail or URL provided) about whether or not she should put ginger in her Nilagang Baka.  No, no, no… no ginger in the Nilagang Baka please.  Maghunos-dili ka, Aurora, hindi nilalagyan ng luya ang Nilagang Baka.  (I’m not being presumptive, I know, thinking Aurora is Pinay..)

Nilagang Baka is very basic and it’s something I whip up just for the bone marrow treat.  My favorite part is Beef Shin which has marbling that is perfect for long term boiling.  I boil the beef and skim the fat off when it boils, and when I feel I’ve gotten rid of sufficient scum, I add at least a half teaspoon of WHOLE peppercorn and then I quarter a whole onion.  I let it simmer until the meat is tender enough, and then thirty minutes before serving, I add any bone marrow I have.  You adjust and season with fish sauce of patis.  It’s in the last half hour that you can also add the vegetables, although there are times when I cook this just to have a good helping of bone marrow or litid which are tendons, so yummy when tenderized correctly.

The chinese grocery sometimes sells the bone marrow with other suitable beef stock ingredients for $1 a bag, and I try to grab it even if I don’t have the beef shin, and just boil it for the stock and for the marrow which I love to eat with some patis and calamansi.

Good luck, Aurora!

The Day after Christmas

I was going to try and sneak in a post during this Christmas weekend but as you can see, no luck.  So today is a holiday in most of New York, and Alan and I are just taking it easy this morning before hitting the malls this afternoon for some post holiday sale hopping.  Plus, we have a couple of gift cards to splurge with, so even my Mom is braving the crowds.

It’s been raining in New York (so I pity those who decided to spend their holidays here in the big apple from some other part of the country or the world) and it sure puts a dampener on the mega walking that exploring New York city entails.  Even in this cold weather, we see a multitude of tourists invading our streets to sample one of the greatest cities in the world.

Me, I’m just chilling.  I’m trying to decide which part of my list of chores I’m going to attack.  Maybe I’ll just sit back and relax.  Angel is having fun watching his DVDs and trying to pinch my face crazy. (I’m giving him a bath after this post..)

We were going to take Tuesday off but have decided against it because it would be a waste of a vacation day, and we’re trying to be selective about taking time off because of future plans.  (It’s a secret.. LOL)

This is what days off are all about — no rush.. just taking it easy.. going with the flow.  Merry Christmas everybody!