Author: Myra Ortiz

Hello there! Thank you for checking out my blog. I'm Myra, wife and mom from Manila, Philippines. Rediscovering my passion for cooking has been quite a meditative experience for me. My culinary journey on home cooked meals has been amazing! Join me as I document the recipes I make everyday for my family and share them with you, my easy, healthy and absolutely yummy meals! so please stay tuned! :) XO myra
Posted in Mexican recipes

Crazy yummy Nachos

Posted on by Myra Ortiz

quick back story of why I made this dish

My brother and sister-in-law came to visit one Sunday and we had Kare-Kare (Filipino dish made with peanut sauce) prepared by my mum for family lunch. I thought wait, why not make an after lunch snack while we all sit and talk about random life stuff? And so I did just that! Bonding with family becomes extra special with food shared on the table. This literally took me less than 30 minutes to make! So easy to make (because the ingredients are mostly ready made), great for picka picka and extremely delicious! (because who doesn’t love nachos?)

This Nachos recipe is simple and ingredients are not overly complicated. You know when you see pictures of nacho recipes with 85 ingredients on top! Yes it’s yummy but THIS recipe has just the fundamentals of a delicious nachos recipe without breaking the budget and overwhelming your taste buds.

What you need for this yummy goodness:

for the ground beef:

  • half kilo lean ground beef (I used Australian ground beef)
  • salt and pepper (to taste)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Taco ready mix seasoning (Chili con carne ready mix is also a good alternative, it already has spice to it)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 white onion (finely minced)

For the rest of the ingredients:

  • 1 bag Nacho chips (or as much as you waaaant! yes!)
  • 1 cup pitted black olives
  • 2-3 large tomatoes (diced)
  • 1 cup pickled hot & sweet jalapeños (add more if you like your nachos spicy)
  • 2-3 cups shredded monterey jack or cheddar cheese (but really we want a bag of cheese, right?)
  • cilantro leaves (optional but really good if you add this)
  • sour cream (to slather all over…yum!)

Time to put them all together!

  1. Heat oil in a pan and add ground beef. While its starting to cook and sizzle, add in a dash of salt and pepper to taste.
  2. add 1 pack taco seasoning and mix well. Add the brown sugar and finely chopped white onions. Cook well and set aside.
  3. Arrange nacho chips at bottom of a large (microwaveable) glass serving dish, top with cheddar cheese, olives all over, jalapeños and diced tomatoes. Repeat for another 2-3 rounds until serving dish is full.
  4. Preheat oven to 400°F and bake for 12-15 minutes or until you see the cheese has melted (omg!)
  5. Carefully take it out of the oven and top it off with some sour cream and sprinkle with cilantro. Everyone dig in! 🙂

Posted in Asian Recipes

Quick and Easy Tenderloin slices with broccoli

Posted on by Myra Ortiz

This super yummy all-time favorite recipe takes less than 20 minutes to make!

What you will need:

  • half kilo Beef or Pork Tenderloin (cut in slices)
  • 4 cups broccoli florets
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch (mix with 4 tbsp of water)
  • cooking oil (whichever oil you prefer – I use olive oil)
  • 1 medium size clove garlic (minced)
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 3 tbsp oyster sauce
  • half cup water
  • half tbsp grated ginger
  • 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
  • sesame seeds (for sprinkle)

how to cook it:

  1. Season tenderloin slices with a dash of salt and pepper (set aside and let it absorb the flavor)
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli florets and blanch for about 2 mins to retain crispiness. Remove from pot, run through/plunge it with cold water and drain. (set aside)
  3. In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp of cornstarch and 4 tbsp of water (set aside)
  4. In a non stick pan, heat about 3 tbsp of oil and cook tenderloin for about 5 mins (set aside – we’ll cook it more later, don’t worry)
  5. In the same pan, add a bit more oil then fry garlic and get it to light brown until fragrant. Add in grated ginger then throw in the butter to stop the garlic from cooking further (burnt garlic is bitter and we don’t want that!)
  6. put back your semi-cooked tenderloin and mix mix mix!
  7. Time to add the flavors in! add in oyster sauce, soy sauce, water, brown sugar and the cornstarch you prepared earlier (make sure to mix the bowl again as cornstarch may have settled). Give it a good MIX! you’ll notice the sauce getting thicker.
  8. Throw in your sliced white onions, broccoli and sprinkle with some sesame seeds
  9. Roughly mix and when you see that the onions have separated, it’s ready to serve! (even better if you top it on a hot bowl of rice!)