Went back to Antonio’s for the second time and the place looked more beautiful in broad daylight. The food was better than I remembered and the service was above average.

My order: Seafood Sampler @ PHP 1,600

From left to right:

Prawn Thermidor – I think this dish was the best among the three because it gave me the right amount of flavour without becoming too salty, and creaminess without overpowering the natural flavor of the prawn. This dish actually made me regret that I ordered the Seafood Sampler instead of the Mixed Seafood Thermidor

Crispy Cod Fish Glazed with Kombu Sauce on Peppered Egg Noodles – The glazed fish came off a bit too sweet for me and it kinda reminded me of turon (banna fritters). On the other hand, I loved the noodles so much, I think it tasted better than chinese misua being served in popular chinese restaurants.

Pan Seared Scallops on Celleriac Mashed, Truffle Cream Sauce – This tasted delicious but it didn’t offer something new and unique the way the thermidor has; it tasted like a normal scallop ;p

Herb Roasted Rack of Lamb with Cardamon Beurre Blac @ PHP 1,650

Schwein Haxen (Roast Pork Knuckle), Sauerkraut, Chateau Potato, Cabbage @ PHP 1,000

(not sure with this one yet, I’ll have to check)

Organic Free-Range Roast Chicken Leg with Bourbon Tomato and Boiled Potato @ PHP 1,200

My friends were raving for this… its aroma  reminded me of my all-time favorite Fazolis’ chicken.

Mixed Seafood Thermidor (scallops, prawn, mussles, and cod fish) @1,450

*drools* I wish I ordered this instead =(

My order: Sorbet (guava, green mango, lamolime, green apple, watermelon, calamansi) - This tasted like an ice shaved off from an ice candy. After tasting this one, I immediately swapped with Nats because I couldn’t bear eating one more spoon of it.

I swapped Sorbet with Profiteroles with Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce or Caramel Sauce

This one tasted a liitle better because of the bread and ice cream but I did not like the very generic taste of its chocolate. This is so far the best among the dessert offerings of Antonio’s.

Overall, Antonio’s is so worth another visit. Their main course dishes are awesome but don’t expect much on their dessert because you’ll be dissapointed.

I have to admit, I grew tired of cooking, tired of doing house chores, and tired of office work; especially during the times when I know that I am no longer following streamlined processes due to absence of advanced tools and efficient instructions, and existence of pseudo life and death deadlines hmp.

After all those long hours in the office, endless copy and pasting, check-in and check-out, and space deletions, I managed to come up with a new recipe. I’m glad that hb and his boss liked it – a priceless consuelo.

Ingredients:

• 5 to 8 pcs. of asuhos fillet (available in grocery stores)
• Half pack of Nestle cream (approx. 125 ml)
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
• 4 tbsp. salted butter
• a pinch of nutmeg
• 1 tbsp. basil (fresh or dried)
• All purpose flour
• Cooking oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 egg beaten
• 3 thin slices of cheddar cheese
• 1 tbsp. parmesan cheese
• 1 cup water

Procedure A: Fry the fish.

1. Mix egg, salt, and pepper.
2. Dip the asuhos fillet in the egg mixture.
3. Dip the asuhos fillet in all purpose flour.
4. Deep-fry the asuhos fillet until light brown.

Procedure B: Prepare the sauce.

1. Heat pan and then add olive oil first before adding the butter.
   Tip: Maintain low heat throughout the process.
2. Saute the garlic.
3. Add  the water, cream, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, pepper, basil, and nutmeg. Mix using a whisk.
4. Add cheddar/parmesan/basil according to taste.
5. Add the asuhos fillet and wait for 5 minutes before turning off the fire.

A yummy surprise greeted me in the office this afternoon =) I was requested by my boss to go to Oceana (our Christmas party venue) and attend food-tasting offered Oceana for the the Christmas party committee of our organization.

As of now, I’m only sharing the pictures of the food we’ve ordered and will give the verdict after our Christmas party because I know there are still room for improvements; after all, the reason for the food-tasting is to get our feedback on how they can improve the taste of the dishes.

Special thanks goes to Carlo for his Nikon D40 camera; and Barbie + Rhenz for the beautiful photos.

  Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Cinnamon, Cream, and Bacon

Pepper Crusted Seared Tuna Nocoise

Pan Roasted Mahi-Mahi Fillets with Pesto Cream Sauce

Penne Pasta with Pancetta Cream, Wild Mushrooms, and Fresh Peas

Beef Pot Roast with Mushroom Bordelaise

 Fresh Mango Tarlets and Creme Brulee

Fresh Mango Tarlets

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Oceana is located at San Miguel by the Bay, SM Mall of Asia Complex. You can contact them at +632 7032515 or visit their site at www.cca-manila.com.

This recipe is similar to those being served in chinese restaurants like Mann Hann, Super Bowl, and many others. I’m not saying that this recipe tastes like the ones served in those restos, I’m just saying ”similar” so you get the picture of the finished product. The taste of dish is not only garlicky, it is a fusion of chinese flavors.

In cooking this dish, you’ll need a steamer like the one in the picture or if your rice cooker has a steamer, that can be used as well. 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 kg fish fillet
• 2 tablespoons Knorr seasoning
• Salt and Pepper
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
  Tip: Use a garlic press for for a tastier output.
• 1 stem of leek, chopped
• 2 teaspoons of grated ginger

 Procedure:

1. In an aluminum foil inside the steamer, place the fish along with the other ingredients.
   
2. Put water at the buttom of the steamer.
3. Cook for around 30 minutes using low heat.

This dish is taught to me by my mom and although it is simple to make, it tastes awesome =D

Ingredients:

• 4 pcs Bisugo
• 1 tomato
• 1 medium sized onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 cup cooking oil
• 1/2 cup water

Procedure:

1. Season the fish with salt and pepper.
2. In a deep frying pan, fry the fish over high heat until cooked. Set aside.
3. In another pan, add 1 tsp of cooking oil just so you can saute the galic, onion, and tomato.
4. Add the fish, water, soy sauce.
5. Season with salt and pepper according to your taste.
6. Add the beaten egg and bring to boil.

This is another one of my favorite recipes because it is very easy to prepare. You just have to thaw a few slices of salmon, rub it with salt and freshly ground pepper, drizzle a little seasoning and then its off to the oven!

Ingredients:

• Salt
• Pepper
• Knorr seasoning
• Salmon

Procedure:

1. Pre-heat oven for 10 minutes at 190 degrees celcius.
2. Rub salt and pepper to salmon.
3. Drizzle some Knorr seasoning.
4. Put salmon over tray with baking paper and insert the tray to the oven.
5. Wait for 20 minutes more and your pepper crusted salmon is ready.

Woke up a little earlier than usual today to prepare an awesome breakfast for hb =) He has been requesting for fried rice for quite some time now for breakfast instead of bread so I did so today.

Since I have smoked fish in the fridge, I decided to use it in my fried rice instead of the usual chorizo and he seemed quite pleased with the outcome.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of cold cooked rice (kaning lamig), mashed by hands to separate rice grains
• 1 to 2 smoked fish, cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup mixed vegetables (carrot, peas, corn)
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• Salt and pepper

Procedure:

1. Beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat pan and add half of the cooking oil and cook the egg.
3. Set aside cooked egg and chop into thin strips.
4. Heat pan again and add the cooking oil.
5. Saute garlic, smoked fish, mixed vegetables, and egg for 2-3 minutes before adding the rice.
6. Season with additional salt and pepper depending on your taste and stir often for 8 more minutes.

In this dish, we want the garlic and butter taste so we will only be using taste enhancers.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup salted butter
• Iodized salt
• Pepper
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 250 grams fish fillet

Procedure:

1. Season fish fillet with salt and pepper.
2. Coat fish fillet with flour.
3. Heat pan and then add the butter. Turn off the fire once the butter has already melted.
   Tip: You can opt to add a little cooking oil to ensure that the butter does not burn.
4. Add the garlic and saute.
5. Once the garlic is already brown, turn on the fire again and then add the rest of the ingredients.
6. Cook over low heat for around 8 to 10 minutes or until the the fish fillet is cooked.

Sardinella tawilis (sometimes obscurely referred to as the freshwater sardinella) is a freshwater sardine found exclusively in the Philippines. It is unique in that it is the only member of the family Clupeidae that is known to exist entirely in freshwater. Locally, they are known in Filipino as tawilis.

She once told me that tawilis can only be found in Lake Taal and I did not believe her till now… It’s sad to know that tawilis is facing extinction in the near future; sad to see that even tiny tawilis are being sold in the market, I know because I was a patron myself! errr sorry naman…

To all our fishermen, please please please, stop fishing for tiny tawilis and to all our vendors, please do not buy/sell tiny tawilis so that our fishermen would stop getting them.

Anyway, this recipe is called Tawilis Tempura and you’ll be needing the following ingredients:

• Flour
• Egg (seasoned with salt and pepper)
• Bread crumbs
• Tawilis (you can also season the fish with salt and pepper)

Procedure:

1. Coat tawilis with flour.
2. Dip the tawilis into a mixture of salt, pepper, and beaten egg.
   
3. Coat tawilis with bread crumbs.
   
4. Fry in oil until cooked.
   

I personally like it golden brown =)

When I am already short of time, this is my number one option because I can do other things while I wait for it to be cooked. ;p

This heaven sent dish is available at all major grocery stores, especially in SM groceries. It only costs 95 pesos, serves 2 to 3 persons, and the best part is, it is indeed boneless.

Another important ingredient to a great tasting meal is the sauce (sawsawan). We Filipinos love to have fish sauce or soy sauce with calamansi, or vinegar with salt or soy sauce by our side while we eat dishes like fried fish, chicken, or liempo; lumpia, and the like that is why I am introducing you to yet another great find =)

People would normally ignore vinegar with this type of packaging and go for widely advertised brands, but that should not always be the case. I have nothing against popular brands because indeed they are goodies; but Pinakurat, is just so awesomely blended – with just the right amount of all the elements you look for in a vinegar.

Pinakurat is available at all leading grocery stores so go ahead and try this one with your favorite dish.

1. Optional: Fry your espada fish. This step is optional because you can just go ahead and add your uncooked fish later, which will really save you from cooking oil fats.
2. Saute the garlic, onion, and ginger; use only a small amount of ginger because its taste has a tendency to dominate all the other ingredients).
3. Add around 2 teaspoons. of taosi; you do not want to add so much of this because taosi is really salty.
4. Add the fish and leeks then simmer for around 15 minutes.