We Are Family

My youngest sister is a certified foodie. She loves going to new restaurants, trying new food, and trying out new recipes at home. We’re fortunate to have her because we always have something nice to eat at the table as she does the cooking most of the time.

Recently she told me that wine really interests her. And if she’s going to have a house of her own, she’s going to have her own wine collection. She would also want to have wine refrigerators in her kitchen so that she can serve the best wines she has to visitors in the right temperature.

That’s how she is…always dreaming big. I could only imagine how magnificent her house would look like. I hope she gets all that she dreams in life in the years to come.

Popularity: 11% [?]

M0rn1ng and I had a post anniversary celebration last Saturday. We weren’t able to do anything on the day itself because we were very busy at work. I even went home late because I have to finish all my tasks before I take my week long vacation.

We bought a scrub and massage gift certificate from Fitness First Body Care a couple of months back and we are reserving it for this occasion. We went there at around quarter to six for our appointment. It is always good to arrive early so that you can still do a lot of things like have time for steam bath and sauna, which are truly relaxing.

I had salt scrub while M0rn1ng had coffee. Our therapists were so good. We had a relaxing scrub and massage. We felt good after the almost 2 hours session.

We were so sleepy after but since we haven’t had dinner yet, we went to Greenbelt 5. Initially, we are planning to eat at Cibo but when we saw La Maison, we changed our minds. Hahaha!

The interiors are really pretty.

We had seafood marinara (solo) @ Php 210.

Fillet Mignon Steak (250grams) @ Php 924.92

1 Green Mango Jumbo @ Php 169.99. This is good to share by 2 two people. They split ours into two glasses.

They also have these complimentary black and white bread.

Overall, we loved our dining experience. The steak was superb! It was juicy and mouthwatering. The pasta was equally delightful too. They also have fast service. We didn’t wait too long for the orders to come.

La Maison
Rating: *****
Unit 3-042 043 Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City
Tel nos: 9166351 / 916-7069
Lamaison_detrinoma@yahoo.com

Popularity: 16% [?]

So sorry for the late posting. We’ve been busy for the past weeks that we didn’t have enough time to post what we had last weekend. So without further ado, here it is….

Chicken Bulgogi with Stir-fried Beansprouts

Ingredients
For the beansprouts:
1 small onion (sliced)
1 pack beansprouts (ends removed)
1 small carrot (thin strips)
1 small cabbage (shredded)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp liquid seasoning
salt to taste
pepper to taste
For the chicken:
600 g chicken thigh fillet (cut into strips)
6 tbsps soy sauce
1 tsp ground pepper
2 tbsps cooking oil
6 tbsps refined sugar
2 tbsps sesame seeds

Directions
For the beansprouts:
1. Over a heated pan, add in oil. When oil is hot, sauté onions until it turn translucent.
2. Stir-fry the beansprouts, carrots and cabbage.
3. Season with soy sauce, liquid seasoning, salt and pepper.

For the chicken:
1. Marinate chicken thigh fillet in soy sauce and pepper for at least 2 hours.
2. Heat pan over low heat. Pour in oil. When oil is hot, add marinated chicken, its marinade and the sesame oil.
3. Cook until the chicken is tender.
4. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and serve with the stir-fried beansprouts.

Serves 6

Sushi

Ingredients:
1 ½ cup Japanese rice
2 cups Water
5 sheets Nori
5 tbsps Sushinoko
12 Mango strips (1 cm thick)
100 g fresh smoked Salmon
7 sticks Kani (sliced into half, lengthwise)
Sushi soy sauce
Wasabi

Directions
1. Cook the rice.
2. Let it cool.
3. In a bamboo sushi mat, lay a sheet of nori and cover it with rice. Sprinkle the rice with 1 tbsp susinoko.
4. Add in salmon, 2 kani sticks and 2 mango strips on one side of nori (arranged horizontally).
5. Roll the nori tightly.
6. Repeat step numbers 1-5 for the remaining ingredients.
7. Slice the rolled nori for about 1inch thickness with a moistened knife. Serve with sushi soy sauce and wasabi.

Serves 6

Popularity: 13% [?]

Here is what we had last weekend, courtesy of my sister. Please try out the recipe and let us know how it went. And if you decide to post this on your blogs kindly give credit to whom it is due. 

Linguine With Quick Tuna Sauce

Ingredients:
1 big can diced tomatoes
1 small can hot and spicy tuna (drained but set aside the oil for the sauce)
1 sachet tomato paste
2 tbsp olive oil
5 tbsp garlic (minced)
8 tbsp onions (minced)
1 big can tuna (drained)
sugar
pepper
cayenne
salt
500g linguine

Directions:
Tuna Sauce
In a casserole, boil vegetable oil from the hot and spicy canned tuna, tomatoes and tomato paste
Heat the olive oil in a pan.
Sauté garlic and onions. Add tuna chunks and flakes
Transfer the sautéed ingredients to the casserole of boiling tomatoes
Lower the fire and wait until the red sauce thickens
Add sugar, pepper, cayenne and salt to taste

Pasta
Cook according to packaging instructions

Mix together the linguine and the tuna sauce. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Cordon Bleu

Ingredients:
5 pcs chicken breast butterfly fillet
¼ bar butter
salt
ground pepper
rosemary (dried)
5 pcs ham
½ box cheese (sliced)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 egg (beaten)
3 cups bread crumbs
2 cups cooking oil
1 sachet cream of mushroom soup

Directions:
Pound the chicken
Spread it with butter
Season with salt, pepper and rosemary
Put a slice of ham and lay slices of cheese
Roll up each chicken breast
Dredge each in flour, shake off excess, then in egg and finally in bread crumbs
Deep fry

Sauce
Cook the cream of mushroom soup with less water than its packaging directions
Wire whisk the soup until it thickens

Popularity: 14% [?]

Here’s for this week’s recipe. My sister cooked this last Sunday and we shared some of them with our neighbors. It’s an instant hit.

Sambusa is a recipe that we got from our Lebanese friend when were still in Riyadh. It’s a wonder how delicious it could be with only parsley and cheese as ingredient. Please feel free to try it out. Here’s the recipe.

Sambusa

Ingredients:
2 tbsp garlic (minced)
4 tbsp onions (minced)
50 g parsley (minced)
½ tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
¾ box cheddar cheese (finely grated)
20 pcs siomai wrapper
2 cups cooking oil

Directions:
Combine minced garlic, onions and parsley in a bowl
Season with salt and pepper
Add grated cheese
Mix
Wrap about one teaspoon of parsley mixture triangularly in a siomai wrapper. Make sure that the ends are tightly sealed.
Deep fry

Serves 5

Beefy Penne

 Ingredients:
1 big canned tomatoes (whole)
2 tbsp olive oil
5 tbsp garlic (minced)
8 tbsp onions (minced)
½ kg ground beef
1 big can mushrooms (pieces and stems)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 g basil (chopped)
250 g penne rigate
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Red beefy sauce
Boil tomatoes in a casserole.
In another burner, heat pan
Add oil
Sautee garlic and onions
Add ground beef once the garlic turned golden brown and the onions became translucent
Mix until the ground beef turns golden brown
Add the mushrooms
Transfer the sautéed ingredients to the casserole of boiling tomatoes.
Season with salt and pepper
Add chopped basil

Pasta
Cook the pasta according to the its packaging directions

Mix together the penne pasta and the red beefy sauce. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4

**If you decide to publish the recipe, please give credit to where it is due. 

Popularity: 16% [?]

My youngest sister Noreen is a very good cook. She does most of the cooking in our house and I am super duper grateful to her for doing that. She would whip out a very special dish once a week and I personally think that each of these occasions is truly a gastronomical experience. It’s like eating out at a fancy restaurant for a parcel of the cost. Here is what she prepared for us last weekend.

It looks good and it tastes even better. Below is her own recipe. Please feel free to try it out.

Aubergine Penne Pasta

Ingredients:
For the breaded aubergine/eggplant
1 pc Egg
Pinch of Pepper
Pinch of Salt
3 pcs big eggplants (sliced diagonally with about 2 cm thinness)
20 g kasugai (Japanese breadcrumbs)
2 cups vegetable oil
For the sauce
2 cups water
1 big can diced tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup minced garlic
¾ cup minced onion
1 big can sliced button mushrooms
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
100 g finely chopped parsley
For the pasta
250 g penne rigate
100 g shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Breaded aubergine/eggplant
Beat egg
Add pinch of pepper and salt
Coat sliced aubergine/eggplant with egg
Dredge it with breadcrumbs
Heat a pan and put oil
Deep fry the breaded aubergine/eggplant
Set aside

Red sauce
In a casserole, boil water and tomatoes
Heat pan
Add olive oil
Sautee garlic, onion, and mushrooms
Add the sautéed ingredients to the boiling mixture of water and tomatoes
Lower the fire and wait until the red sauce thickens
Add sugar, pepper and salt to taste
Add parsley

Pasta
Cook the pasta according to the its packaging directions

Mix together the pasta, sauce and breaded eggplant
Put it in a 9×5x2 baking pan
Top it with mozzarella cheese and parsley
Bake it in a preheated oven at 185 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts
Serve

Serves 3

Note: For crispier eggplants, put the breaded eggplant in the freezer for at least an hour before frying.
For a richer red sauce, real tomatoes are better than tomato sauce or paste.
Cheddar cheese can be used as a substitute for mozzarella cheese.
If you love herby pasta, add oregano for a refreshing mint flavor.

Chicken-Basil Roulade

Ingredients:
1 kg chicken thigh fillet
Salt
Pepper
¼ bar butter (sliced thinly)
1 beaten egg
80 g kasugai (Japanese breadcrumbs)
3 cups vegetable oil

Directions
Sprinkle chicken fillet with salt and pepper
Put sliced butter on the middle of the chicken fillet
Stuff the chicken with basil by putting the chopped basil in the middle of the chicken fillet and then rolling it
Coat it with the beaten egg
Dredge it with breadcrumbs
Deep fry

Serves 5

Note: For crispier chicken, put the breaded chicken in the freezer for at least an hour before frying.
It is better to use chicken thigh fillet (though chicken breast fillet is an alternative) because it is juicier and tastier.
For an aromatic meal, serve it with fried whole basil leaves.

*If you want to publish the recipes in your blog, please give credit to where it is due.

Popularity: 16% [?]

I just have to share this ulitmate facebook for foodies. This is the site that I’ve been looking for as I love food and cooking. And sometimes I find it hard to think of something new to cook for the family. I don’t want them to get bored on what I put in the table so I usually browse and try new recipes.

Foodconnect.com is a place where members exchange recipes. Most of these have pictures and the great feature is that it includes nutritional facts. Just take a look at this wonderful Linguine with Scallops recipe.

Can you see the nutritional facts on the right? Cool huh! I also tried adding my own recipe and it returned its own nutritional analysis.

I can also plan my menus by getting ideas from other foodies. This is perfect for any party or for our daily menus at home. Best of all, I can discuss and recipe ideas and techniques with other member who are also food enthusiasts.

This is now my favorite site and I can’t wait to try on the recipes I found. By the way, I can also give my rating on each recipe I try. This will be a good indicator if the recipe is worth trying or not.

C’mon join me on this great find too. 

Popularity: 14% [?]

We finally met Amore’s mom last Tuesday. Amore and I have been friends through our blogs and she was the one who introduced me with blogging. She’s really one of the biggest blessings I’ve received last year because I found a good friend whom I can connect with and share thoughts and stories. She also helped me to earn through blogging which is a great help in our finances. I have a lot to thank her for.

Her mom was with her sister and his family. We met at Glorietta and had dinner at Cabalen. We had a great time sharing stories. Her mom is a great person as she is, very warm and friendly. We bade each other goodbye at almost 10pm.

We had a great time and it was pleasant to finally meet them. Sana next time, it will be Amore that I would meet personally. Hahaha! Kelan kaya yun?

Btw, thanks for all the goodies you gave sis. The clothes fit B.boy perfectly, so does my shoes. And I’ve already sold 4 of the VS lotions that we bought.

Again, thanks a lot sis.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Finally, we were able to visit Serendra. We’ve been raring to go since I’ve seen lots of great pictures from friend’s blogs. We got the chance last Feb 25. We first went to Market Market so that B.boy can try out the playground. He had a fine time there. Too bad it started to drizzle so we have to go to Serendra.

We tried Conti’s as a lot of my officemates recommend that place.

We we’re there early for dinner so we were able to get a seat fast. Here are what we ordered:

Ribs for Morning

Chicken Roulade for me.

And the verdict? We didn’t like it. We thought the servings were small to whet our appetite. But halfway through the meal, nasuya kami.

The price is reasonable unlike the other restos in that area. But the food wasn’t really worth it. I think they put too much MSG on it. Anyway, that’s just us. Others may like the place.

Popularity: 13% [?]

I’ve been caught up with a lot of work recently that I don’t have time to blog about recent happenings. So allow me to back track a little bit.

We had a team dinner last Feb 29 at John and Yoko at Greenbelt 5. Yup, it pushed through despite the ongoing rally at Paseo de Roxas. Here are some pictures.

We all loved the food. I especially like the salmon sashimi because it was so fresh. Kainis lang because I didn’t have the chance to take a picture of the food because my batteries went caput. Here’s the sole food picture I have.

Service was great and we were well attended by their servers. They have an outfit that will register in your mind. Women servers wear black mini dress with matching knee high boots. Their hair has a blonde highlight too.

Price is a little bit on the high side. Expect to shell out around 600-800 bucks each.

Popularity: 17% [?]

We were invited to a send off party last Friday at Aberdeen Court at Makati Ave. One of our friends is going back to the US and it might take a while before they’ll be coming back. The last time she was home was more than seven years ago and she was missed dearly.

Here are some of our pictures

With his husband (the one in yellow stripes polo) this time.

Her mom was creative enough to make an invite of the said get together. I always appreciate receiving invitations whenever there are parties. Verbal invitations are nice but paper invites are nicer. I don’t have the same creative juices as other people have so I don’t normally create my own invites. There are a lot of online sites where you can order them and they offer a vast range of products. Some even have communion invitations.

Anyway, the kids had fun at the party. Even B.boy had a grand time playing with the other kids. It’s great that he knows how to socialize as early as now and older kids especially girls are fond of him. Just take a look.

We went home at around 10 pm and we all had a wonderful time.

Popularity: 31% [?]

I hadn’t had the chance to blog about this because I’ve been busy during the holidays. We went here last December 24. Since it is time for Noche Buena, a lot of the restos in Greenbelt were closed. Mr. R is one of those shops who are open and since we haven’t dined there before we decided to give it a try.

We ordered Linguini prawns @ 340  (They changed the pasta to spaghetti as linguini was out of stock that day). It was okay. Not spectacular but not bad either.

We also had Fingers n’ fries @ 225 for our little boy.

We had watermelon shake as our drinks. This is one we truly love.

I’d like to go back and try the oysters and the steak as I’ve read raves about how good it is at a very reasonable price. And oh, they’ve large servings that we love.

Rating : ***/5
Mr. Rockefeller
Greenbelt 3
Ayala Center
Makati City
Tel: 757 4802

Popularity: 14% [?]

My youngest sister who is a wonderful cook volunteered to prepare a very special dish this weekend. It’s a penne pasta with no meat. It is a perfect meal for vegetarian. It has breaded eggplant instead. The sauce was terrific and she topped it with cheese and put in the oven to bake for a few minutes. Here is the finished product.

The picture didn’t do much justice but it is one of the best dishes I’ve tasted. All of us in the house are raving about it. We paired it with garlic bread that we bought at the Waltermart bakeshop. Perfect combination!

Popularity: 19% [?]