breakfast at noon.

which of course, is nothing more than brunch, but i'm going for a continuity thing here. indulge me, people!

kinda like what we did here: challah french toast, slathered with nutella and drizzled with raspberry preserves, topped with caramelized bananas, crispy bacon, and powdered sugar. served with maple syrup, whipped cream and whipped butter. AS IF. surprisingly not as sweet as you'd think, plenty savoury without the bacon, which in fact was just another example of how bacon does NOT make everything better.

and then we tried to be a little healthy with the salmon mousse plate: marinated salmon, salmon mousse, poppy seed onion bagel crisps, caper berries, sweet fig marmalade and fresh dill.

guess which one got demolished.

gratuitous shot of good-looking waitstaff. why not.

mr. jones
greenbelt 5, garden level
legaspi st, legaspi village
makati, philippines
501.3682/83

breakfast at midnight.

it seemed like a good idea at the time. the pancakes themselves were heaven--lemon ricotta blueberry pancakes that were light and fluffy, tender, and only a little bit sweet, studded with fat, fragrant blueberries, dusted with powdered sugar and topped with candied lemon zest. phew! AND there was whipped cream, whipped butter, and a maple-y syrup on the side. not that they needed any of that.

but i did need a wheelbarrow to be rolled outta there afterwards.

brought to me by this guy, at mr. jones. (more on this place later)


mr. jones
greenbelt 5, garden level
legaspi st, legaspi village
makati, philippines
501.3682/83

breakfast at bizu.

you know i heart bizu, but we were both getting a little old, tired, and frayed around the edges. so i stepped away for awhile, and we got our acts together. or at least, bizu greenbelt did, moved into a new house, with a new attitude. gone are the garish, wonka-ish walls, dusty and fusty florals, replaced with a new coat of white paint, light and glass, for a more refined, calm and mature space.

it's a good mix of old and new, european and native, modern and classic. much like the menu. clever boots, those bizu folk.

even the servers no-longer-so-fresh funky bunch uniforms have changed to a sort of casual continental concierge look.

you can still find the lovely rainbow of macarons

and the french-inspired confections with local flair. or local confections with french-inspired flair. whaaa

even though they are known for their free-range egg specialties--their wild mushroom omelet is a particular favourite of mine--and you gotta try the pancakes with fresh mangoes and chantilly cream!, i opted for something lighter and healthier after all the too-typical culinary indulgences in all that manila has to offer.

bizu is one of the few places that regularly offers freshly mown grass clippings fresh wheatgrass shots.

and they transform cut up fruit and fermented milk products to new heights. instead of boring old yogurt they take boring old kefir and freeze it into little balls of tasty lacto-bacterial and fermented goodness.

which is what i have for breakfast there most days. don't ask me how i can pass up their savoury crepes, boneless bangus and garlic rice, or eggs florentine. really. because i will make you drink wheatgrass shots with me, i really will.

bizu patisserie and bistro,

greenbelt 2

makati.

757.BIZU (2498)

bakery bench

did you know that the house that fried chicken built has a bakery? it's a pretty good one, too. it's called max's corner bakery and you can find it...in the corner of max's restaurants. HA. some of them anyway.

i was walking by the one near my flat early one morning, and came across this lovely tableau of assorted pastries, waiting to be arranged on their tidy shelves. i rather like where they are.

because you had a hot day.

taotaomona sundae: three scoops of ice cream, bananas, brownie chunks, nuts, strawberry sauce, and a cherry on top. at mount lam lam sno' n' ice cream.


mt. lamlam sno n ice cream
route 8, near the other house of liberty
barrigada
671.734.4765.

men and their meats! lunch at churrasco.

whoo, carne! although i had not been a previous fan of brazilian barbecue-style restaurants, i gotta say, the owners of churrasco brazilian bbq and salad bar in tumon are totally canny for bringing the rodízio-style all-you-can-eat meat festival to guam. and even more genius for keeping the prices relatively reasonable, and hopefully keeping the quality high.

churrasco opened last month in the former mac and marti's space in pacific bay hotel. it is a light-filled dining room with a glass-enclosed wine room at the entrance, a sleek bar behind it, outdoor seating in the hotel's courtyard, and a glass-enclosed grilling area at the back.

the restaurant does not take reservations, but the dining room is large, and despite the enormous salad bar off to one side, they manage to create walkable aisles so you don't go bumping into everyone on your way to and fro.

the basic set up: you get your salads from the nicely varied salad bar at your leisure. at lunchtime, there is a hot food station with various starches--rice, red rice, and mashed potato, along with black beans and steamed or sauteed vegetables. at dinnertime, this is replaced with a cheese and bread board, along with smoked salmon and typical accoutrements, with the starches, beans, and veggies served at your table. at your table, you'll find a little plastic chip that says "yes" on one side, "no" on the other. flip to "yes", it means the roaming gaucho-esque servers with swords of grilled meats will stop at your table, then carve and/or serve whatever they have on offer; "no" technically means you're not ready for more, but the genial servers will sometimes stop anyway (just in case you don't really mean it). brazilian barbecue is usually just salt rubbed cuts of beef or pork, grilled on an open fire--the flavour comes from the cut of meat and can be enhanced with various sauces.

at lunch we were offered mostly beef cuts--i don't remember them all but do recall picanha, or rump cover steak (part of the top sirloin cut), brisket, and tenderloin. the picanha has a strong, marked flavour--think less beef, more cow. the salt coating was quite noticeable and none of the cuts were particularly tender; however, when we returned for dinner a few weeks' later, the salt coating was more moderate and the meat noticeably tender. i appreciated the fact that most of the cuts were medium rare to rare once carved; however, if you prefer well-done meat, they will bring well-done carvings from the kitchen. we were also offered pork ribs (meaty, tender but still resilient), two types of pork sausage--one smoked, one cured--and two types of pork loin--one that may have been basted in barbecue sauce, and the other encrusted in parmesan cheese. the sausages were lovely, rustic and juicy, but both pork loins were tough and stringy each time we dined there. the surprise hits for us were the chicken offerings--marinated bone-in chicken thighs with crispy skin, and bacon-wrapped boneless pieces. both were moist, tender, and actually tasted of chicken. unfortunately, churrasco does not have any regular seafood offerings (although i heard there were lobster tails on mother's day), but we had a surprisingly tasty grilled pineapple at dinner.

churrasco has five sauces: a thin vinegar based barbecue sauce, two kinds of finadene (regular and a reduction), red wine vinegar, and a chimichurri-type sauce. the chimichurri here is different from the one i am normally accustomed, which is a green sauce made with garlic, parsley, vinegar and olive oil. this one is red, possibly from finely minced red bell peppers, along with garlic, vinegar and olive oil. none of the sauces are particularly spicy, but they do pack quite a bit of flavour nonetheless. the serving containers are cute as all get out, but the ultra-stylish spoons are a little unwieldy; it's easier just to take them out and pour it directly from the palm-sized flask. i personally did not find a need for the sauces, but i appreciated that they enhanced the flavour of the meat instead of masking it.

the starches available were somewhat disappointing; although the red rice was good, the white rice was surprisingly overcooked and mushy. i like the mash potato, which seems to be nothing more than potato, mashed--i didn't detect much seasoning. the fried yucca offered at dinner weren't particularly crispy and i suspect weren't actually yucca, but sweet potato (these were too orange and mushy). the nicest carb on offer are the small pao de queijo, or gougères. think cheese-topped cream puffs without a filling.

i do want to note that one of the things i dislike about most brazilian barbecue places is the saltiness of the food--not just the grilled meats but also all the sides. luckily at churrasco, they have a light hand with the seasoning of all the side dishes, and the barbecues are the least salty of any i've tried.

we capped our lunch with a small pudim de leite condensado, or brazilian-style flan. it was firm and very, very rich--muy condensado, lol--so much so that the whipped cream, caramel, and white chocolate chips actually cut through the milky fattiness. eep.

i like this place. the prices are reasonable--$19.99 for lunch, $33.75 for dinner--and the quality of food and service are high. it's a good place for a celebration, or to take out-of-town guests, but probably not so good for vegetarians or pescatarians. (however, the salad bar is fresh and abundant, and there is a bar tapas menu that has a couple seafood offerings.) i've only dined there twice, but there was marked improvement between visits. i will definitely return to see how they continue to fare.


churrasco brazilian bbq and salad bar
in pacific bay hotel,
that white bldg with the flower shop and chinese restaurant.
1000 san vitores road, tumon.
671.649.2727.

coconut, sashimi-style.

it's coconut harvesting time in the homestead again, so expect a few coconut-based recipes here. although, i have to say, i prefer coconut mostly unadorned, and as fresh as possible--adding ice to cool coconut water and scraping meat straight from the nut is as much as work as i usually do, and is pretty much all that is necessary. however, it doesn't make for much of a post.

something so simple and something so lovely and unusual is to serve the coconut sashimi-style, cut into bite-sized strips, accompanied with a sushi-grade soy sauce and wasabi. the condiments transform the flavour of the meat into something akin to ika, or raw squid. no, it's not fishy, but it seems more savoury, milky, and slightly sweet. it makes a good palate cleanser if you are serving several types of sashimi, or a nice alternative for a vegan or non-fish eating member of your party.

top tip: use the youngest coconut you can find. the sweeter and softer the flesh, the better!

fat tuesday.

this is why tuesday's fat. momofuku's crack pie. half a pound of butter, half a pound of sugar, not to mention eggs yolks and heavy cream. the recipe would like you to dust the top with more sugar, but that's not gilding the lily, that's...aahh, uh. i don't know i'm falling into a sugar coma neerggh

hey brownies

hey brownies! you are filled with nuts and chocolate, slightly cakey but mostly fudgey and chewy, and have almost 500 calories per serving. you're awesome! here's the recipe. (the photo on the recipe page? imposter! ignore it)

sausage rolls

i was talking about vultures on twitter which led to an australian sausage roll challenge. why? because that's twitter for you. australian sausage rolls are coarse ground sausage meat wrapped in puff pastry; i have never actually eaten one previous to this, but i like a challenge, and frankly mister shankly, these did not seem like they'd be challenging to eat.

timing was great, too, as it is was australia day; coincidentally, also robbie burns night, so there was a chance i would have made y'all a haggis sausage roll. unfortunately, i did not have sheep heart, liver, tongue, and stomach on hand. so sorry. i remembered that susan at immaeatchu made homemade merguez sausage corndogs because she is just so awesome like that. i am not, but the idea was enough to get me to try making merguez--a spicy lamb or beef sausage from northern africa--at home. the sausage was easy enough with the aid of a food processor; i'm sure someone will considered it heretical as it probably tears up the meat as opposed to lovingly grinding it into fluffy clouds of fat and protein, but for this recipe, i think it worked out fine. i used this nytimes.com recipe as a guide, but as i was missing a couple of the spices, i compensated with a couple tablespoonfuls of harissa, a hot pepper paste that also incorporates roasted red sweet peppers, a little tomato, coriander, cumin and paprika.

for the puff pastry, i used chef ludo lefebvre's recipe. it's worth the price of his cookbook, but you can use the frozen stuff or any recipe you prefer.

so, here's the deal: preheat oven to 400°F. roll out some puff pastry dough (10 oz if you are making it at home. may i just note that if you are making it at home, wth are you doing wasting it on this recipe??) into a 12"x15" sheet, or something like it, then cut it in three even pieces. take your favourite sausage recipe, or just squoosh your fave pre-made stuff out of that crazy casing, roll it into 1 to 1 1/2" thick logs and center onto puff pastry. roll pastry around sausage, cut into manageable-sized chunks, put seam side down on parchment lined pan. brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

i think they taste better cold, the next day.

street, cleaner

a version of the many-versioned dan dan mian, or sichuan spicy noodles. wiki says this about it. fuchsia dunlop has lots to say about sichuan cuisine, including the dan dan mian in the city chengdu. i have nothing but this blog entry.

i honestly don't know what the traditional recipe is. the only versions i have eaten have all used wheat noodles with some sort of ground meat (pork or beef), bathed in an oily red broth that includes sesame oil, red chili peppers, and if i'm lucky, sichuan peppers. most are soupy and/or oily, for which i confess, i have no predilection as it seems to simultaneously dilute and muddy the spice in the dish. i have tried both of ms. dunlop's recipes and i prefer one to the other, but still felt the need to tweak it by incorporating chubby hubby's japanese version. there's still some of the funk you expect, yet it's brightened up with the addition of fresh chilis, which also adds a lot of heat. (you can dial that down if you want.)

dan dan mian, or something like it adapted from fuchsia dunlop's recipe and chubby hubby's as well

1 glug cooking oil
1-2 dried chili peppers (w or w/o seeds)
1 teaspoonful sichuan pepper, lightly cracked/roughly chopped
1-2 tablespoonfuls preserved mustard greens, chopped finely (optional, but it actually provides most of the saltiness in this version. if you omit it, add soy sauce or tamari)
1/2 lb ground turkey or ground chicken or finely minced shiitake mushrooms or any combination you want

1-2 tablespoonfuls sesame paste or tahini

1 tablespoonful mirin

1 tablespoonful toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoonful of black vinegar

1-2 green onions, chopped

1 red jalapeño, sliced

heat cooking oil in medium hot pan. when oil is hot but not smoking, add dried chili peppers and sichuan pepper, sautée until fragrant but be careful to not burn. add preserved mustard greens, then protein of choice. sautée until lightly browned. add sesame paste, mirin, sesame oil, black vinegar. the mixture should be wet; keep soupy or cook down to desired dryness. add half the green onions and jalapeño to mixture, leave until just wilted. serve over noodles of choice and garnish with rest of green onions and jalapeño.

toast of christmas past.

someone gave me one of those electric sandwich makers as a gift--not a panini grill but one of those dorm room appliances that is subject to a pretty awesome informercial or two (albeit this one is from a relatively respected company). i could've returned it at the shops for something more useful but it's shiny, and i started thinking of all the inappropriate things i could shove in between two slices of bread then call it a "meal"--condiments? a whole frozen dinner? a can of soup? o, the non-possibilities.

my folks get a lot of food gifts. i generally do not. don't ask me why, you'd think people would know i would appreciate them. although, admittedly, i get a lot of cash. people know i REALLY appreciate cash. however, my parents get pretty nice coffee, chocolates, fruit baskets and even a ham or two. and panettone, an italian sweet bread, rich with eggs and butter, and usually flavoured with orange and dried fruit. they get lots of panettone. one of the family faves is one from williams-sonoma, which is studded throughout with whole glazed chestnuts.

so, i've been playin' around with the bread and the machine, making some fabulous if stupefyingly rich sandwiches of thin slices of panettone with a schmear of mascarpone cheese and a little orange marmalade, or sometimes chestnut cream. or try a thin bar of dark chocolate pressed in there. i have yet to try something more savoury, although i imagine a little parma or prosciutto and a good cheese would produce some mighty tasty results.

the only other thing has been french toast. which you know how to make, but you guys, here's something different!

fiori di sicilia, a baking flavouring that tastes a little orange blossom-y, with orange oil and vanilla essence. a couple drops of this and it enhances the existing citrus notes in the bread, and the very light vanilla touch complements the buttery sweetness. just don't overdo it or you'll have something like a cleaning product.

panettone french toast

2 thick slices of panettone

1 egg

1/2 c milk (scant cup)

pinch of salt

a couple drops of fiori di sicilia (this is optional, or you can use a drop of vanilla extract and/or a drop of orange extract) or a 1/2 tsp of orange zest

beat egg, combine well with milk, add salt and extracts. soak panettone slices in egg mixture. fry in pan or use cheap christmas present sandwich maker thing, in a tablespoon or so of melted butter, until golden.

do it clean

new year's food: hoppin' john, a traditional southern united states rice and beans dish, often eaten on new year's day, as it is thought to bring good luck and prosperity. now who wouldn't want a little of that? there are two main ingredients: black eyed peas (or field peas) and rice, often cooked together, but sometimes just mixed together or served side by side. also served alongside are cooked greens--generally collard or turnip greens, but also kale and chard (i used swiss red chard), because the greens supposedly add wealth as they are the colour of money. ah, if only that were true. many recipes call for bacon, ham, or fatback, but after all the excess of holiday eating, i just wanted to do it clean, with all the components cooked separately, and assembled on the plate. i soaked the bean overnight and cooked them according to the package, along with some onion, garlic and bay leaf. the rice was steamed and the chard sautéed with more onion, garlic, and a little bit of chili pepper. well, maybe a little more than that.

good luck, prosperity, and a numb tongue. it should be a good year.

WIP: duck fat fried chicken

the title of this post doesn't exactly trip off the tongue, nor does one's mind immediately latch on to the meaning. it wants to rearrange: fat duck fried chicken? fried duck chicken fat? fried fat chicken duck? nay. i found a bunch of duck fat (yes, i believe that is the collective term) that was slated for something else, but somehow ended up in a cast iron pan, heated on a medium high flame until rippling. i don't know how much. maybe a pound and a half? inch and a half wet? ANYWAY, the chicken: small plump thighs, organic ok, wash, patted dry, seasoned with a bit of kosher salt and white pepper, that's it. 10 to 15 minutes on each side in an uncrowded pan, don't fuss, don't poke. read a magazine article, the newspaper, or tweet. drain on paper towel. serve.

with

a schmantzy condiment, a grilled tomato ketchup. you could pour a bottle of ketchup onto a grill but that would be messy. tomato halves and onions went in a grill pan with a smidge of olive oil, until a nice bit of char was achieved. they then went into this epicurious recipe, replacing the canned ones on the ingredient list. doubled the amount of tomato paste instructed for good measure, too. worked a charm.

and the chicken? crispy, shardy skin, juicy meat that seems saturated in duck fat. i called this a work in progress because although this was decadent and delicious and oh-so-delightful, i might try marinating the meat next time, or perhaps use an herby confit fat. can't see how it can hurt.

name that fruit!: lanzones.

one of my family's most favourite fruits is lanzones, or Lansium domesticum, from the family Meliaceae. this tropical fruit is thought to have originated from malaysian peninsula, and is found in great abundance in the southern provinces of the philippines, including sulu and camiguin; it is also found in the laguna province of luzon. camiguin is known for having particularly sweet and desirable fruit, and has a festival in the fruit's honour in early october. however, now is the (short) season for laguna's bounty.

this ovoid-to-round fruit is about the size of the a large concord grape, the skin is yellowy beige, which covers the opaque, segmented flesh that is mostly seedless; there can be, however, one large seed, bitter with tannins, hidden in one of the segments. the flesh itself is sweet and juicy, with a texture similar to lychees and a flavour similar, but without the florally finish. the fruit grow in grape-like bunches off of tall and lanky trees, which give off a sticky resin when the fruit is picked; the resin is thought to protect the stomach from alcohol, but is bitter and difficult to actually imbibe. the bark of the tree contains anti-inflammatory properties and thought to be an anti-spasmodic--traditional medicines made from it are used against everything from dysentery to scorpion bites. which, i don't know, could be handy where you live.

sigur raw

saturday market finds at salcedo.

the saturday market at salcedo is one of the nicest markets i've attended; it's not just that there is a nice array of produce and handicrafts available, nor is it just that there is a staggering assortment of prepared foods, but it's also in really lovely park with shady trees filled with fairy lights and plexi-shapes that dance in the wind. it doesn't matter how warm it is or if it's raining, the trees and canopies shelter the shoppers and the lively and easygoing atmosphere keep you from caring anyway.

giant jackfruit

mounds of mangosteens


lovely lychees


beautiful birds of paradise


piles of peanuts


squash blossoms, okra, and cilantro for home


bounty of fruit for immediate and ecstatic consumption


these little piggies went to market