Quick Recap: February 2014

February is the month of roses, chocolates and aggressive motel advertisements but my month wasn’t all about red hearts and cupid's arrows. It started with Under the Stars, an event hosted by Ateneo de Manila University’s Loyola Film Circle. This yearly event was held in Bellarmine Field inside the campus, just one of the many fields that my school is lucky enough to have.

Me with my college barkada during Under the Stars 2014
Lower left photo (left to right): L, Me, Q and R

Just like what the name of the event tells us, it’s all about film appreciation in which students get to watch short films produced by Atenean theatre art majors and enthusiasts. It's also an excuse to lie down on the grass and watch the stars twinkle while a live band plays in the background. 

It was actually my first and last Under the Stars experience. Being a bum, I didn't find it appealing to stay in school and attend functions such as this. But this year, my friends were able to talk me into attending since we were already graduating. And keeping in mind Q’s distaste for people who wouldn't make an effort, I dragged myself out of the comforts of my bed at 6pm and drove all the way to campus to hang out with them. It was surprisingly a fun and unique experience. I felt like I was in a university in the States where this activity happens more often. The stars in the sky were shining brightly and were just perfect for the occasion. I’m glad that I was able to force my lazy butt out of the house to go to this event.

In our efforts to maximize our time together before graduation, I decided to host a dinner party and invited my college friends over one Saturday night. It was a themed dinner where “The Dinner Table” brand was born. 

I know the logo might be a bit corny but hey a girl can dream of opening her own resto can't she?

If you're wondering why I came up with "The Dinner Table", it was because all of my food experiments get tasted in the tinted round glass table that we had for more than 20 years now and its usually during dinner that my experiments get consumed. 

For this dinner party, I came up with a Mediterranean themed menu that features some of the food that I wanted to try and make, such as Caesar Salad, Roasted Lamb Shoulder and Milopita or Greek Apple Pie. 

I was so into the idea of a restaurant that I even made a menu card for the occasion.

Since this was my first attempt to make these dishes, I needed to make some adjustments with the recipes to make it perfect for my dad’s dinner party with his architect friends. But despite the needed improvements, my friends enjoyed the food a lot and ended up stuffing themselves a bit too much.

Hence this photo. Meet M, the guy in blue, also one of my college barkada.

And to cap off the night, R brought a projector and turned my dining room into an instant theatre room!

A must watch classic!

SM Aura Premier houses a lot of new restaurants that a foodie, like me, must simply try out. Luckily my dad was craving for some sashimi so I was able to try out the Japanese restaurant Ogetsu Hime for free (as oppose to going out with friends hehe).

2014 Food Trip #5: Ogetsu Hime in SM Aura, BGC
Kanpai! The sake tasted great with the raw fish

Short Review: 3.5/5

Ogetsu Hime is a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant that serves high quality sushi and sashimi imported from Japan and also teppan dishes. Although the portions were small, the dishes were bursting with flavour. However, seating is a problem during the weekends since the place is always packed which meant that you have to wait for at least 30 minutes before you could sit down and get hold of a menu. The pricing is also in the higher end but the food was worth paying for, so a visit to this restaurant once in a while would be a treat.

Tucked away in one of the side streets of Marikina lies a garden restaurant that was featured in Spot.ph’s Top 10 Romantic Restaurants of 2013. I discovered this breakfast place when one of my dad’s friends happened to mention it during one of their drinking session. The restaurant is Rustic Mornings until 4pm and becomes Isobelo during the evening so better head there before 4pm if you want to try the breakfast menu.  I immediately googled and zomato-ed the restaurant and the week after, I dragged B, one of my best guy friends, to Marikina before his classes for the day begin.

2014 Food Trip #6: Rustic Mornings in I.Mendoza St., Marikina City
B is one of my best guy friends. He's my food trip buddy and carpool buddy. We get along a lot since he doesn't judge and our friendship got tested a lot that I know that he'll still love me even if I failed so badly.

Short Review: 4/5

The place is beautiful and the interior decorations were artsy-farsty. Looking at the details of the restaurant’s interiors decreases the boredom of waiting for your orders to arrive. Their waffle was the best that I’ve ever had and it is how a waffle was supposed to be; golden and crunchy and not limp and soggy. Look at it! It's even very photogenic. I consider it the main attraction of our entire meal and although the other dishes were commendable, it was their waffle that makes you wanna come back for more.  

Valentine’s was closing in and while I didn't have a date this year, I did get to celebrate Heart’s Day by helping Q make some sweets for our friends and her special someone. She wanted to bake some cheesecake cups and cookies, so I told her to buy the ingredients and head over to my place for a bake day.

In case you're wondering, the food trip to Rustic Mornings happened the same day that's why I'm wearing the exact same clothes.

Since my dad gave me a big-ass oven, baking became easier since I could bake everything all at once and I no longer have to drive all the way to the other house were my oven is installed. 

I thank my dad for buying me this oven <3

The big V-day was not just for celebrating love but also the time to celebrate the birthday of my cousin who was born on this special occasion and since I got a lot of time in my hands, considering my classes were only twice a week (9 units), I was able to bake a cake for him. 

Red Velvet Cake perfect for Valentine's Day

We had dinner at Lucky Rainbow, my favourite Chinese restaurant, and had a satisfying meal in which we went home with all our bellies full.

2014 Food Trip #7: Lucky Rainbow in Banawe, Q.C
Celebrated J's birthday with the family in this restaurant that we frequent.

Short Review: 4.5/5

This restaurant started out as a small tea house along Gandara Street in Binondo. I'm very proud of the progress that it has made in the food industry since it was able to open a branch in Banawe and another one in Makati, along Arnaiz Street. They serve one of the best hakaw, shrimp rice roll and xiao long pao in the country and at a reasonable price! This is one of the restaurants that I frequently crave for and I always find myself recommending to my friends and other dimsum enthusiasts that I meet.

After 8 months long of preparation, our thesis defense is finally over and we congratulated ourselves by having breakfast at Pi Breakfast and Pies. It was a tiresome morning so having a fulfilling breakfast afterwards was a good way to end it. 

2014 Food Trip #8: Pi Breakfast and Pies in Teacher's Village, Q.C
Plié Clothing Co. is our thesis baby wherein we sell pocket cardigans that's great for unforeseeable temperature change. Visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/PlieClothing

Short Review: 3.5/5

The waffle in Pi Breakfast and Pies is a far cry from Rustic Mornings but then it's not really their main attraction. Like any other breakfast place, they have their own specialty which is the Caramelized SPAM served with a perfectly soft-boiled egg that tasted well with the pesto topping that came along with it. I liked the place a lot but because it has limited seating, there's always a cue of people waiting to be seated which made dining here a hassle especially if you're famished. 

So what was the most interesting activity that I did during February? I definitely have to say that it was the Pole Dancing lessons that E and I took in Polecats Manila. Last year, my favourite discount website Deal Grocer offered discounted sessions from Polecats Manila and since I wanted to try something new, I talked E into going with me. We each purchased three sessions thinking that it would be more sulit and that three sessions would not be that difficult to commit to. After months of rescheduling, we were finally able to make time for it before the coupons expire.

Piece of cake? I think not. Definitely have a new found respect for every pole dancer out there.

Having a background in gymnastics, cheerleading and yoga, I thought that this would just be a variation of the activities that I was used to doing and I would easily be able to follow the poses but then...I was mistaken! Pole dancing was way more difficult than yoga or even gymnastics. You need all the upper body strength plus a strong thigh grip in order to pull off the different poses. Pole dancing meant that you have to get used to the pain of squeezing the pole and the redness in your skin that is involved in doing this art. Despite doing yoga everyday, E and I left the building feeling sore all over and were walking like we had barrels in between our legs and had to retire to our beds early that day. Sadly, we weren't able to use the remaining coupons because we just couldn't get ourselves to climb those poles again.

However, I think I might give pole dancing another shot given that my new workout made me a lot stronger than before...

February Food Experiments

In case you guys want to host your own Greek Dinner Party, here are the recipes for the dishes:

Caesar Salad

Adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients

• 1 egg yolks
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 anchovy fillets, mashed
• Scant 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large romaine lettuce
• Grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups crouton

Directions

1.    Mash together anchovy. Garlic and a pinch of kosher salt

2.    Whisk in egg yolk, lemon juice, Worcestershire, pepper flakes, mustard and 3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

3.    Slowly whisk in oils to emulsify and season with salt and pepper

4.    Place the lettuce in a large bowl, sprinkle with parmesan and black pepper

5.    Drizzle with desired amount of dressing and toss well

6.    Sprinkle top with croutons then serve

Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder

From researching different ways to marinade and roast lamb, I chose those ingredients that I found appealing and came up with this recipe.

Lamb Marinade

• 1 large handful of mint
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp cumin
• 50ml garlic olive oil

Lamb

• 1 large bunch fresh rosemary
• 1.5 kg shoulder of lamb
• 6 anchovies, tinned or fresh
• 300 ml white wine
• 300 ml stock
• Garlic infused olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 2 red onions quartered
• 1 bulb garlic, unpeeled and broken into cloves and crushed

Directions

1.    In a blender, blitz the marinade ingredients

2.    Rub the lamb with salt and pepper then make incisions

3.    Add the mint marinade to the lamb shoulder and leave it overnight

4.    Preheat oven to 450F or full whack

5.    Place the shoulder in a baking tray and insert sprigs of rosemary into the incisions

6.    Nestle the onions and garlic around the lamb and drizzle over plenty of olive oil

7.    Place leftover rosemary under the shoulder and on top

8.    Roast for 20 minutes then remove from oven

9.    Tightly cover the tray with tinfoil and place back in the oven

10. Turn down the heat immediately to 325F and cook for 4 hours

11. It is done if you can pull the meat apart easily with a fork

12. Serve with mint jelly

Moussaka

Adapted from Bobby Flay 

I super love this dish but it is time consuming to make and assemble and somewhat reminds me of lasagna without the pasta sheets

Lamb

• 1/8 cup raisins/currants
• 1/8 cup greek evoo
• 250 grams ground lamb
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground all spice
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• Kosher salt and ground black pepper
• 1 small onion, halved & thinly sliced
• 1 small red bell pepper, stemmed, cored, and thinly sliced
• 1 sinigang chili, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 (28 ounce can) plum tomatoes, pureed until smooth
• ¼ cup (7g.) chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• honey, if needed

Eggplant

• 1 ½ cup canola oil
• 375 grams eggplant, cut crosswise into 14-thick slices

Béchamel Sauce

• 45 grams unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1 medium sized bay leaf
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 2 egg yolks
• 56g soft goat cheese (chevre)
• 60g grated mozzarella/ Romano
• 1/2 lemon, zested

Directions

Lamb

1.    Soak the currants in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain.

2.    Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a sauce pan over high heat

3.    Add the lamb, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cayenne and salt and pepper and cook, stirring to break up the meat until browned

4.    Transfer the lamb to a large strainer ser over a bowl and drain

5.    Discard any liquid left in the pan and Return the pan to the heat

6.    Add the remaining 3 tbsp evoo and heat until it begins to simmer

7.    Add the onions and bell pepper and cook until soft, about 5 minutes

8.    Add the Serrano and garlic and cook for 1 minute

9.    Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute

10. Return the lamb to the pan, add the wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost completely evaporated

11. Add the tomato puree and currant and bring to a boil

12. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened, about 30 minutes.

13. Stir in parsley and oregano and season with salt and pepper and honey, if needed

Eggplant

1.    Heat the canola oil

2.    Season the egg plant slices on both sides with salt and pepper

3.    Fry until tender and lightly golden brown on both sides

4.    Transfer eggplant slices to paper towels

Béchamel

1.    Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat

2.    Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until pale and smooth, 2 minutes.

3.    Still whisking constantly, add the milk and bay leaf and cook until thickened

4.    Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and discard the bay leaf

5.    Let the sauce cool for 5 minutes

6.  In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, goat cheese and lemon zest and whisk into the béchamel sauce until smooth

To Assemble

1.    Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

2.    Butter a 3 quart baking dish or casserole dish

3.    Put half the eggplant slices in the dish and cover with half the meat sauce

4.    Tip the sauce with the remaining eggplant slices and then the remaining meat sauce

5.    Pour the béchamel over the top of the meat sauce and spread evenly with a rubber spatula

6.    Sprinkle cheese over the top, place the dish on a baking sheet and bake until browned and bubbly, 45 to 50 minutes

7.    Top with more chopped parsley, if desired

8.    Let cool for at least 20 minutes before serving

Spaghetti with arugula & hazelnut pesto

Adapted from the Cooking School Italian by Love Food that I have in my shelf.

I tried using wheat pasta to make it healthier but then it didn’t taste quite as good. Better to use Barilla Spaghetti No. 5 or try Quinoa Pasta that can be bought in Healthy Options for a gluten-free alternative

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic
• 117 grams roasted and skinned hazelnut
• 30 grams arugula, coarse stalk removed
• 1 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 6 tbsp EVOO
• 112 grams mascarpone cheese
• 400 grams dried spaghettini
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1.    Put the garlic and hazelnut in a food processor and process until finely chopped

2.    Add the arugula, Parmesan and Olive oil and process until smooth and thoroughly combined

3.    Scrape the pesto into a serving dish, season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in the mascarpone

4.    Cook the pasta

5.    Stir ½ to 2/3 cup of the pasta cooking water into the pesto, mixing well until thoroughly combined

6.    Drain the pasta, add to the bowl with the pesto, tossing well to coat

7.    Sprinkle with extra parmesan and serve immediately

Mascarpone cheese could cost around 500 bucks for a 250gram tub. If you want to save some bucks for other recipes, try this substitute recipe that I found in food.com

Mascarpone substitute for pasta

• 95 grams cream cheese
• 1/8 cup nestle cream
• 1 tbsp sour cream

Directions

1.    Place everything in a food processor

2.    Blitz away and use as required

Milopita

My first attempt at Milopita can be considered as a failure because it was too dry and the batter overflowed inside the oven. I had to do further research and came across these two blogs Amandascookin and greekgourmand and finally came up with the recipe which tastes better than the first one.

Ingredients

• 1¾  cup flour + 1¾ tsp baking powder (self-rising flour)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 4 apples, peeled and cored
• ½ cup butter, softened
• ¼ cup butter
• 1/3 cup coco sugar
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. brandy
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch of salt
• 4 large eggs, separated
• ¾ cup milk + ¾ tsp vinegar
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts (or pecans)

Direction

1.    Preheat oven to 350F

2.    Slice 3 of the apples into sixteenths wedges and set them aside in a bowl of water with some lemon juice to prevent them from browning

3.    Dice the remaining apple into cubes then sprinkle with brandy and some cinnamon

4.    Sift flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt

5.    Cream ½ cup of the butter with the sugar until smooth

6.    Add in egg yolks alternately with 1 tablespoon of flour to achieve a smooth and creamy consistency

7.    Alternately add in the flour and the milk

8.    In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites into stiff peaks and then fold them into the batter

9.    Mix in the chopped pecans, raisins and diced apples

10. Butter the sides of the cheesecake pan and pour in the finish batter

11. Arrange the apple slices in a perpendicular fashion overtop of the batter in a circular patter to form an outer ring and fill the center with the remaining slices

12. Melt the coco sugar for 5 minutes then add in the ¼ cup of butter, mix in the cinnamon

13. Pour the mixture over the apple slices, making sure to distribute it evenly

14. Bake for approximately 60 minutes

15. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving

Chicago Cheesecake
From the Bake Day with Q for Valentine's Day

For the Crust

Option 1 (one whole cake)

• 64g unsalted butter, softened
• 20g icing sugar
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
• 64g all-purpose flour
• Pinch of salt

Option 2 (20 cupcakes, 13g each)

• 1 ¼ cup crushed graham
• 90g unsalted butter, melted
• ¼ cup coco sugar

Filling

• 500g cream cheese softened
• 100g sugar
• 2 tbsp (20g) lemon zest
• ¾ tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• ¾ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 eggs

Directions

For the crust

1. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2. Add vanilla extract and mix until combined
3. Add the flour and salt and beat on low speed until just combined
4. Press evenly into the bottom of a pan. Refrigerate until firm (30 minutes)
5. Preheat oven 350F
6. Prick the chilled crust several times and bake for 20 minutes
7. Transfer to wire rack and cool

For the filling

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Beat cream cheese until fluffy
3. Add half the sugar and the lemon zest and beat on medium-low speed until combine
4. Beat in the remaining sugar, flour and salt until combined
5. Mix well the vanilla extract and sour cream and add in to the batter
6. Add egg yolks and eggs one at a time
7. Pour filling into cooled crust and bake for 60 minutes or until firm on the edges and barely jiggly 
8. Cool for 3 hours on wire rack and cool for at least another 3 hours in the fridge before unmolding

Asides from the above recipes, I also experimented with some more dishes and they turned out pretty well.

Tao Yuan Style Fried Grouper with Mango Sweet Chili Sauce

I love the way Tao Yuan served their fish but then it's way too pricey and I believe that I can recreate it.
And sure enough, a little research and a wok full of hot oil made this dish possible. It is now a staple during special occasions or whenever our maid is able to buy fresh Lapu-lapu from her suki.

Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

• 6 large garlic cloves
• 3 red Jalapeno or Serrano peppers, deseeded
• 4 birds eye chili
• ½ cup vinegar
• 1 tbsp patis
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1½ cups water
• 1 tbsp salt
• tamis anghang banana ketchup
• 2 tbsp cornstarch/wonder powder
• 4 tbsp water

Fried Fish

• Lapu-lapu whole
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
• Green and Ripe Mangoes cut into matchsticks
• Cilantro leaves
• Scallions

Directions

1. Puree together all the ingredients except for the last two
2. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat
3. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture
4. Clean the fish, cut off the head near the belly fin, but do not throw it away.
5. Cut open the fish along its back until the cut reaches its tail. (Do not cut off the tail.)
6. Cut out the backbone and remove the side bones (ribs).
7. Make several cuts with 1 cm spaces in between, first vertically and then horizontally on the inner side of the fish to create a diamond-shaped pattern. (Do not cut open the skin.)
8. Marinate the fish with 10 g (2 tsp) of cooking wine and 5 g (5/6 tsp) of salt for 5 minutes.
9. Dust the dry cornstarch on the fish body and head.
10. Hold the fish tail to shake off unnecessary cornstarch.
11. Heat the oil until it is about 200-220ºC (390-430ºF).
12. Roll the fish to keep the skin inside. Hold the fish tail with one hand and the top end of the fish body with chopsticks and gradually release it into the oil.
13. Now place the head into the oil also. When both are golden in color, take them out and place them on a plate, putting the head and the body together to create the concept of a whole fish.
14. Pour Sweet Chili Sauce and topped with mangoes, cilantro and scallions

Chocolate Lover's Birthday Cake

Adapted from Honest Cooking

Eight layers of pure chocolate heaven
Had to do multiple attempts to make this cake because of the difference in cake pan used.

Moist Chocolate Cake

• 400 grams all purpose flour
• 500 grams sugar
• 125 grams cocoa powder
• 12.4 grams baking soda
• 7 grams salt
• 4 eggs
• 389 grams buttermilk/sour cream
• 196 grams butter
• 1½ tsp vanilla powder
• 408 grams boiling water
• 100 grams grated dark chocolate
• 120mL Brandy for brushing on cake
• Strawberries
• 300 grams roasted cashew
• 200 grams Toasted flaked almonds

Mousse

• 113g milk + 230g cream
• 113g dark + 230g cream
• 113g white + 30g butter + 120g cream
• 100g nestle cream

Frosting

• 58g grated white chocolate
• ½ T instant espresso powder
• 120g + 60g chilled heavy whipping cream
• 100g sugar
• 8oz containers of chilled mascarpone

 For Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350F grease and flour four 10 inch pans
2. Stir flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, grated chocolate and salt in mixer bowl
3. Add eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla until smooth
4. Stir in boiling water
5. Use 1 cup measuring cup to divide batter equally in the pans
6. About 3 cup per pan or 6 ladleful of batter
7. Roast cashews as well
8. Bake 55 minutes then cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan
9. Brush cake with brandy or rum

For the Mousse

1. Heat cream and add milk chocolate chips to the saucepan.
2. Stir on low heat until well incorporated with no bits of chocolate.
3. Pour into a clean bowl, cover with wrap, and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
4. Beat the chilled mix with an electric beater till it thickens to a mousse consistency.
5. Do not over mix, as it will curdle
6. Chill until ready to use.
7. Repeat 1½ cups of the cream with dark chocolate chips.
8. Heat butter, cream and white chocolate until melted
9. Chill in bowl until cold then whip with mixer
10. Add nestle cream if chocolate separates
11. Whip until firm peak forms then chill until ready to use.

For the Frosting

1. Bring 120 grams of cream to a boil
2. Whisk into coffee and sugar until completely dissolved
3. Add in grated chocolate until smooth
4. Pour in remaining cream then chill until ready to use
5. Add in mascarpone to mixture then beat on low speed until well blended
6. Increase speed to medium high until thick medium firm peak form when lifted, 2 minutes. Do not overbeat

Hope you enjoyed this read

xoxo Until my next entry! Chow (Ciao) for now xoxo