Kulinarya Cooking Club February 2011 : Morcon

Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and it's colourful cuisine.  Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes.  By sharing these recipes we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino food as we do.

This month's theme is aphrodisiac foods

When Pia chose this theme, she also gave us links to what foods are aphrodisiac.  I chose to make morcon. A Filipino Stuffed Beef Roll.  I changed the recipe a bit from the traditional one so that there are several ingredients in this dish that has aphrodisiac properties.  My version has 4 of the ingredients listed. I added asparagus to the filling along with the traditional carrot.  In the sauce there is garlic and a little bit of ginger.  I served this on Valentines Day dinner for Hubby, however you don't need an occasion to serve this delicious dish.

500g beef steak, cut and flattened into large sheets (I made 5 sheets)
2 tbs lemon juice
4 tbs soy sauce
Pepper
olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 onion diced
2cm piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1 cup tomato passata
2 bay leaves
3 cups beef stock
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
2 tbs lemon juice

Filling
5 canned hot dogs or frankfurters, sliced into strips
1 small carrot
3 asparagus spears, split down the middle
2 hard boiled eggs, quartered
sharp cheddar cheese

1.  Marinate the beef for 20 minutes in the lemon juice, soy sauce and pepper.
2.  Drain the beef and reserve the marinade.  Lay the beef on a flat surface and arrange the filling in rows lengthwise.  Roll the meat and enclose the filling and tie with kitchen string in several places.  Roll the meat in flour and remove excess flour.
3.  Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and brown the beef on all sides.  Remove and set aside while you make the sauce.
4.  In the same saucepan, add the reserved marinade, garlic, onion, ginger, tomato passata and bay leaves and cook over high heat until the liquid is reduced.  Add the beef stock and bring back to the boil.
5.  Return the meat to the saucepan and slowly simmer for about 1 hour until the meat is tender.  Season with salt, pepper and sugar.
6.  When cooked, transfer the meat to a platter, remove the string and slice crosswise.  Drizzle the sauce over the meat and to freshen it up, squeeze the lemon juice over the dish.

Please go and check out what the other member of the Kulinarya Coking Club has cooked up.

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie