Two Delicious Recipies for Peace Corps Workers (Try Them At Home!)

Hey, to break my long silence on this blog, I will share with the rest of you two, easy, relatively cheap, delicious, adjective stacked meals that I invented myself here in San Remigio, Cebu. One is vegetarian (though it uses bullion cubes, but I'm sure you plant-slaughtering lunatics can figure out some sort of substitute,) the other is most definitely not, though it keeps you away from the fly infested death camp that is the meat market. So, in my mind, it's a win.

Gage's Barrio Fried Rice 
Cooking time: 12-15 min


2 cups rice (which you cook up first)
Oil
1 can of your favorite brand Corned Beef
1 can Salted Black Beans
2 eggs
Sweet Chili Sauce

(2 servings, or one if you are really hungry- fatty)


Get your favorite type of rice cooked up, I usually make 2 cups for myself, as I can save the left overs for breakfast. Once the rice is DONE, allow is to sit while you heat up a large frying pan or wok. Add in enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. You're going to want enough to at least touch most of the rice when you put it in, though you can go with less if you are some kind of health nut.


Once the oil is sizzling, add in the can of corned beef and the two eggs. Let them cook enough for the egg to begin looking white, and then toss in your rice. Throw it all on there, stir it up a bit, and then add the can of black beans on top. Add Sweet Chili Sauce to flavor as desired (or just keep it to put on the side so you can dip your spoonfuls into.) Fry until you think its fried. Serve hot on plate with generous pool of Sweet Chili Sauce nearby.

All of these ingredients should be easy to find in your local small grocery. I use UFC Sweet Chili Sauce, as it is only 27 pesos.  The rest can be found at your local sari-sari. You know, the one that is probably one house down from where you are sitting at this very moment.

Gage's Camotie Stew
Cooking time: 3-5 hours

3/4 kilo camotie (potatoes also work, but camoties are 7x cheaper)
3-4 carrots
1-2 white onions -or- 4-5 red onions
1 long green spicy pepper
2 broth bullion cubes (I think beef is best for this)
pinch of salt

(2-3 servings)

This one takes a bit more effort. You actually have to PREPARE stuff. Jeez. Lame. But it is incredibly delicious.

First get your pot and put water in it. You want all of your chopped vegetables to be submerged. Once you guestimate the right amount, put it on the burner and put the lid on. While you wait for it to get hot, chop up all your veggies. You'll want to scrub the camoties with an abrasive sponge to get all the dirt off, and perhaps skin them if you are into that sort of thing. I leave the skin on all my veggies because it thickens the broth, enhances the flavor, and I'm lazy.

Anyway, you want all your veggies in small pieces, I generally cut everything into thin circles, and then chop up the onions. Leave the pepper intact, but cut five incisions across the pepper to allow its flavors to escape during the cooking.

Your water is probably hot by now. If it is, throw in the two bullion cubes and a bit of salt to taste. Taste the broth, if it is beefy and tasty enough for you, throw in all the vegetables, all at once- pour em in. Put the lid on the pot, and leave to simmer for two hours, stirring from time to time, making sure the stuff on the bottom becomes the stuff on the top. After two hours, put the lid back on askew, so the steam can come out of the pot. You want to evaporate the extra water out of the stew. Continue to simmer until most of the water is gone and you have what looks like a thick, purple, goulash.

Serve in bowl. Eat. Can be enjoyed with rice, but great on its own or with bread.