Mona's Birthday & Mila's Bibingka & Buko Pie

Today, we went to Batang Peninsula Beach Resort, Himamaylan for my officemate's 18th (???) birthday. Himamaylan is a City south of Bacolod. It 83 Kilometer's away (around one hour and thirty minutes drive time).

Here's the Birthday Girl: Happy Birthday, Mona!!!


Birthday Girl rented two cottages for THE EVENT - one was used by her officemates and the other for family use. We had grilled pork chops, Braised duck (??), Chopseuy, Home-made spaghetti and a lot more for lunch. There was non-stop eating.

Here are some photos of us having a good time:











Before going home, we bought "singkamas" on the side street: 3 kilos for P100!!! Really cheap, i think...


Then, we made sure we passed by Mila's Restaurant to buy Buko Pie and Bibingka:

Worthy creation: Mila's Buko Pie! I think it costs P144 only


Mila's Bibingka! For me, it is one of the best binbingka ever! You got to try this... it's worth the trip just to buy this goldmine... naks! goldmine gid ya! It costs P15.75 I think per binbingka.


Address:
Mila's Restaurant
Hinigaran, Negros Occidental
Tel: 63-34-3917849

Dinner at The Madison Grill

We had dinner at The Madison Grill on our first night in Manila. As usual, it was cousin dearest's treat.

We had the Crab Meat Ceasar Salad, with real crab meat of course, not synthetic. Sorry, we were quite hungry that I forgot to take a photo of the dish before eating:


Vegetarian Silken Tofu Sandwich: This really taste fantastic. It has pesto sauce generously drizzled on top of the silken tofu:


3 Mushroom Pizza (supposedly). However, since they ran out of shitake, it became 2 mushroom pizza with anchovies: This was divine. I think they have one of the best pizzas:


And the winner is Audie's 1/2 pound burger:


Madison Grill is located at Phase 2, Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City, Metro Manila. Telephone Number: +63-2-756-9000.

Brazil Brazil

Audie and I flew to Manila via Cebu Pacific using the promo fare ticket we purchased last June 2009 amounting to only P300.00+ roundtrip. It was a go lite fare - meaning we don't have check in luggages. We were only allowed 1 hand carry weighing not more than 7 kilos.

Yours truly getting bored and waiting patiently for our flight to Manila:


We departed on time, however, we landed in Manila thirty minutes late because Tita Hillary Clinton's plane was asked to land first (i think...).... Moving on....

We arrived in Manila at 12pm. We were picked up by cousin dearest, Teray (her side kick) and B1 (her human GPRS - however, he makes us take the wrong route most of the time). Cousin dearest was so frustrated with her human GPRS, ended up leaving her car with Teray and B1 and the three of us hollered for a cab. Three of us were in "gotham city mode" (hungry) and to make matters worse, we waited for more than 30 minutes to get a cab.... You know how it is in Manila, it's like you, the passenger, is the one asking favor and is at the mercy of the taxi drivers. I HATE IT!

Audie and cousin dearest waiting for a cab somewhere in Makati:


Two years and 25 days later....Finally, a sigh of relief:


We arrived at Brazil Brazil around 2:00pm. It was cousin dearest treat (as always):


We had this buffet of grilled meat. Each table is given a yoyo with color red on one side and green on the other. Placing the green side of the yoyo on top of the table would mean continous flow of all the grilled meat.

This is Audie's Plate:


Their friendly staff, giving us a slice of grilled pork shoulder(??):


Beef Terriyaki (??):


Grilled sausages:


More grilled meat:


Grilled short ribs:


Even grilled fruits:


And their spiced wanton chips is simply TDF (to die for):


After one hour and thirty minutes for no talking, here's the look of contentment:


Brazil Brazil Address: Rockwell Drive Corner Estrella Street Rockwell Center , Makati City. Telephone Number: +63-2-8990957

Thai Inspired Dinner

I brought some green curry paste from Bangkok a few weeks back. And it was just two nights ago that brother chef got inspired to cook dinner with green curry as base. He prepared two dishes:

1. The very popular Chicken with green curry.
2. Banana-wrapped tilapia fillet with green curry & coconut milk

Chicken with green curry was the easiest to prepare.

Ingredients:
70g green curry paste
400ml coconut milk
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
500g chicken (cut into bite size portions. note: you may use chicken breast)
basil leaves
180ml water
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Procedure:
In a pan, saute green curry paste in oil until you can smell the aroma.

Add coconut milk and water.

Add chicken.

Simmer until chicken is cooked evenly.

Add sugar and fish sauce.

Last to add is the basil leaves.

Here's the finish product:



And for the Banana-wrapped tilapia fillet: I don't have the exact measurements of each and every ingredient. Just use your imagination... hehehehe...

Right at the bottom of the tilapia fillet is a slice of lemon. On top of the fillet is a combination of spices (onions, ginger, green chili, tomatoes)



Pour over the green curry/coconut milk mixture on top:



Then, wrap with banana leaf and hold the leaf with a bar-b-que stick:



Bake for 10 to 15mins on high. Remove from oven once done:



Let it stand for 2 to 3 minutes. Get one wrapped tilapia fillet and open to get your surprise:


The fillet is so soft and creamy. You can feel the heat of the green curry paste. After a few bites you can feel your sweat pouring down from your face. hahaha! But It's totally delish!!!

Brother Chef's Crab Cakes

This post is long over due!

I would like to share with ya'll this crab cake recipe of Brother Chef.

Ingredients:

crab cakes:
1 cup crab meat
2 cups mashed potato
1/2 cup bread crumbs
juice of half lemon
salt & peper chives

Procedure:
1. Boil potatoes until soft - ready to be mashed:


2. Incorporate the crab meat and all other ingredients:


3. Make paties out of the crab mixture and fry until golden brown then set aside.

Sauce:
Juice of half lemon
Mayo lite 1/2 cup
1 tbsp dijon mustard
Olive oil to thin the sauce
Lemon zest
salt & pepper

1. Mix all Sauce ingredients in a bowl and whisk. Slowly incorporate oil to thin the sauce. Add lemon zest; salt & pepper to taste:


Garnish:
Pickled Cucumber:
1 med size cucumber - juliene
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp honey
salt & pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Let it stand for 30 minutes to an hour so that the cucumber can absorb the juices:


Here's the plated dish:


Try it out! Now Na!