Buttered Scallops with Mushroom
When you have very limited ingredients available in your fridge, you just have to be a bit creative and try to combine what you have in your kitchen. This happened to me last week – when grocery shopping was long overdue.
Ingredients:
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1/4 kilo scallops
- 10 pieces button mushrooms, chopped
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- salt and pepper
Procedure:
- Heat pan and pour the olive oil.
- Add the butter and melt it.
- Add the garlic and cook until brown.
- Add the mushroom, scallops, and basil.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook for 5 to 8 minutes.
This dish is not only easy to cook, it is also unique and yummy.
Smoke Restaurant in Tagaytay
After 27 years of existence, at last, nakarating din sa Bora!!! Thanks to Nes and Ian for inviting us to their wedding kasi kung hindi pa dun, di pa din siguro kame pupunta ng Bora =) During our first day there, hubby and I had our 3pm lunch at Smoke Resto (with Inggo’s recommendation), and no regrets for that 
The chicken curry rice topping that husband ordered was superb! I mean, the chicken no longer tasted like chicken (you know how boiled chicken tastes right, that’s what I mean), but tasted totally in sync with the curry. The sauce was perfectly creamy, the chicken, potatoes, and carrots tender and cooked just right.
On the other hand, the sizzling bicol express was behind in quality… too bad. The pork was not tender enough, the dish lacked coconut sauce and it was kind of dry.
Since I really loved their chicken curry, we went back during our last day with friends and ordered Bulalo soup, lechon kawali, spicy kangkong, chicken curry, and buttered shrimp. Here’s what we thought:
- Bulalo soup – others found this great tasting but for me, it was just okay… there were lots of meat though, so I guess it’s worth the price
- Lechon kawali – yummers!
- Spicy kangkong – tasted sweet instead of spicy due to lack of chili, we forgive Smoke because they warned us beforehand
- Chicken curry – as expected, everyone loved it
- Buttered shrimp – all of us found it ironic that Bora restos failed to serve quality seafood dishes but thank God because we found one resto who did serve fresh shrimps hooraaay!
On another note, don’t expect lavish interiors because Smoke Resto is bordering turo turo slash carinderia kind of resto. But hey, who cares? I don’t, as long as they serve yummy curry, I’ll keep coming back.
As for price range, the rate of their dishes range from Php 80 to Php 200. I think the curry rice topping is approx 120 while the bulalo that fed all 5 of us was around 180 pesos. Totally not bad right?!
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Smoke Resto caters and delivers too. You may contact them at (036) 2886014 and (036) 2884565.
Revisiting Antonio’s Tagaytay
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.
*Antonio’s main course meals come with salad, soup, dessert, and coffee for free
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Antonio’s Restaurant
Bgy. Neogan, Tagaytay City, Cavite
+63918 8992866
Asuhos Fillet in Basil Cream Sauce
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.
- Mix egg, salt, and pepper.
- Dip the asuhos fillet in the egg mixture.
- Dip the asuhos fillet in all purpose flour.
- Deep-fry the asuhos fillet until light brown.
Procedure B: Prepare the sauce.
- Heat pan and then add olive oil first before adding the butter.
Tip: Maintain low heat throughout the process. - Saute the garlic.
- Add the water, cream, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, pepper, basil, and nutmeg. Mix using a whisk.
- Add cheddar/parmesan/basil according to taste.
- Add the asuhos fillet and wait for 5 minutes before turning off the fire.