There are several tomato-based dishes in Filipino cuisine. Of these, the most special would be the caldereta – a Filipino beef stew consisting of beef, potatoes, bell pepper, liver spread, olives and nuts. This is usually served on fiestas and other special occasions.

Since we raise turkeys at home, we usually have turkey caldereta instead of beef. When do we serve it? Birthdays, fiestas and Christmas lunch with my cousins. Oh, and this year, my dad’s high school classs will be celebrating their 50th year of graduation from high school. It’s a potluck lunch. Guess what he will be bringing?

While caldereta may be Filipino dish, each family has it’s version of a good caldereta. Here’s mine. And this my contribution to Festive Food Fair.

Ingredients

Marinade:

5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup soy sauce
2 tsp black pepper, crushed

Caldereta:

2.5 kg turkey meat (any part will do, chopped*)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, minced
500 grams potatoes, quartered
2 pcs each red and green bell pepper
1/2 cup seeded green olives
1/4 cup capers
2 cups tomato sauce
50 grams liver spread
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped coarsely

1. Mariante turkey meat in garlic, soy sauce and black pepper for an hour.

2. Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pot. Brown the turkey meat. Reserve the marinade for later use.

3. When meat is browned, and the meat juices have evaporated, saute garlic and onion. Put the meat on the side so you can saute the garlic and onions. When onion is cooked, mix everything in the pot. At this stage, it is like frying the meat with very little oil.

4. Add the potatoes and sautee some more. Add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil till meat is tender. The amount of water depends on the meat. In our case, since turkey is raised in the backyard, it can be more tough so we tend to cook it longer. Check if potatoes are done and remove from the pot.

5. Check that there is enough broth that cover half the pot. When meat is tender,add the olives, capers and tomato sauce. Put back half the potatoes. Mash the other half of the potatoes and put back in the back. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes until thick. The mashed potatoes acts as a thickener so that you would have a coarsely-thicked sauce.

6. Add the liver spread, bell pepper, and peanuts to the pot and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Well, since this is a Filipino dish, this is really good with rice!

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