BRUNCH AT JONES THE GROCER

My friends Daniel and Ros invited me for brunch at Jones the Grocer over at Dempsey Road. I used to go there to buy cheeses and wines and other interesting ingredients. I have not really eaten there so I was excited to try their brunch menu.


We ordered the muffin of the day, strawberry muffin; the jones english breakfast which consisted poach, scrambled or fried egg with sourdough bread, sausage, bacon, grilled tomato and sauteed mushrooms,

and grilled blt - grilled bacon with avocado, roasted tomato with aioli on focaccia bread. I had mine with a cappuccino, Daniel and Ros ordered an Americano. The food was okay, it wasn't really great but what I loved was while waiting for the food, I had time to walk around to check the new ingredients that they had. I found some really nice cookbooks, assorted teas, nice holiday cookie cutters and boxed chocolate truffles.

Next time I go back there, I'll be trying out their lunch menu.

TEA TIME AT SHANGRI-LA MAKATI LOBBY

After the eggs benedict breakfast at Apartment 1B, I headed to the salon to get a trim. I felt that it might not be a good idea to get a haircut on my birthday since I was trying this guy for the first time and having a bad haircut might ruin my day... but I went anyway and I was glad that it came out fine and safe. I'll probably go back in a month or so for a trim again.

I got out of the salon at 2 p.m. I headed to my place to change for tea time with my friends in Shangri-la Lobby. We used to go to Peninsula for their tea time but we decided to try the Shang this time.



Here's what we ordered... the endless afternoon tea set which consisted of open faced sandwiches, chocolates, a muffin, some oatmeal raisin cookies and a fresh fruit tart. We also ordered the chocolate afternoon tea set which consisted of chocolate scones, macaroons with chocolate filling, some open faced sandwiches, truffle cake slice, and some brownies. The last one was the classic afternoon tea set which consisted of the raisin scones with jam and clotted cream, tea sandwiches filled with cucumber and cream cheese and smoked salmon with dill sauce, then an almond slice, peanut butter cookies and a fresh fruit tart.

For me, I liked the classic afternoon tea set. It went well with my earl grey tea. I liked the peanut butter cookies, the fresh fruit tart and the smoked salmon sandwich. I have to say though that the scones need improvement. It was soft and bread like. I was expecting for a more flaky and crisp type. It wasn't bad though, just not the scones I am used to.

Okay, the overall experience was nice, not great but fun, really fun. We enjoyed talking and catching up with our friends while listening to very good music. We literally stayed there 'til early evening.

Next stop, dinner at Le Souffle...

EGGS BENEDICT FOR MY BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST

I wasn't kidding when I said that I was going to have eggs benedict for breakfast on my special day. If there's one thing that I wish I could eat everyday for breakfast, this would be it!

There are several places to get eggs benedict. Most hotels would probably have it but there's this one place that I always go to for it and it's in Apartment 1B in Makati. I went there with my good friend Cathy and enjoyed the rest of the morning there. We also ordered the orange french toast which we didn't have space for anymore so we just took it home for Sabrina to try.

I read the newspaper and sipped my cappuccino while waiting for our food to arrive. Oooh I have to tell you, I had a smile on my face when I saw the waiter with our orders. The egg was perfectly poached and it really went well with the bearnaise sauce. I love the side of sauteed potatoes and the mini salad with vinaigrette.
This is my plate halfway through the dish. I was getting full already but I managed to finish it. No lunch for me that day. Next meal was tea time with my other girl friends...

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS FOR BREAKFAST

Oh what a nice and relaxing Sunday! I woke up today and craved for blueberry muffins so in my pajamas, I went down to the kitchen and prepared my ingredients for my muffins. I'm lucky because I always keep a bag of frozen blueberries in my freezer. The batter is fairly easy to make, just make sure that the proportions are correct and DO NOT OVER BEAT, mix it just until it's combined.

As soon as the muffins came out from the oven, I allowed them to cool slightly while I got my Vietnamese moka coffee ready. Mmmmm.... the muffins were very moist with a crunchy top and a blueberry in every bite. So, there's my perfect Sunday morning!!!

Tomorrow, on my special day, I already know what I want for breakfast...Eggs Benedict!!! I have a place in mind where to have it but if there's anyone there though who can give a suggestion where to have it too, let me know... I can probably give it a try :-)

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup oil

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

1 piece egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups frozen blueberries

STREUSEL

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Line muffin tins with paper cups

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

3. In another bowl, whisk together oil, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla. Pour over the flour mixture. Mix just until combined.

4. Add the frozen blueberries.

5. Using a 2 oz. ice cream scooper, scoop the batter over the muffin cups.

6. Make the streusel. Combine the flour, butter and light brown sugar and mix until it resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle top of scooped batter with about 1 tablespoon streusel.

7. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until top is golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

PORK TENDERLOIN WITH CARAMELIZED APPLES

Last week was a chaotic week! My commissary and my store in Greenhills got flooded. We had to move our stocks from one store to another and it was really a nightmare! I'm really hoping that the weather will be better this coming week. Typhoon Ondoy affected so many lives, homes and businesses. Let's all share in the responsibility of helping those in need. And to those who have lost their loved ones, may God bring you comfort and strength to get through this.

Moving on...yesterday, Sabrina and I wanted to eat out but decided to go to Santis instead to get some ingredients for our mom and daughter lunch. She wanted the bow tie pasta with alfredo sauce that I always make for her and I wanted to make this pork tenderloin with caramelized apples. Unfortunately, they didn't have apples in the deli and I didn't want to go all the way to the grocery so I just decided to buy a salmon fillet to make seared salmon with lemon pepper and tarragon cream sauce. So tomorrow, this is what I'll be making. I already got my apples today and my pork tenderloin is already marinating in the fridge. I'm so looking forward to it!

Ingredients:

1 piece pork tenderloin

1 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

CARAMELIZED APPLES

1 piece apples, sliced into 8 wedges

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup apple juice

2 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon thyme

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

salt and pepper, to taste

thick balsamic vinegar, garnish

Directions:

1. Place pork tenderloin and milk in a dish. Allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes or overnight.

2. Make the caramelized apples. Melt butter in a sautepan. Add the apples and allow to cook over high heat.

3. Add the apple juice, sugar and thyme. Let it simmer until apples are tender and translucent, about 15 minutes.

4. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

5. In a separate saute pan, heat pan on high.

6. Remove pork from the marinade. Season pork tenderloin with salt and pepper.

6. Sear pork until all sides are carmamelized and cooked through. Slice pork into thin slices.

7. To serve, place caramelized apples on the center of a serving plate. Place sliced pork around the plate.

8. Drizzle plate with thick balsamic vinegar (crema di balsamico) before serving.

ILOILO DAY 2

Here's the second batch of pictures from our Iloilo trip. Been so busy over the week I didn't have time to post this one sooner.

This was taken during the christening of baby Vivienne. Lunch was at Days Inn Hotel. I didn't get to take pictures of the food because I was busy eating :-)

I had to take a picture of the cake though. I have to say, it looked really nice. It was made by a local baker and it came with these cute sugar cookies that looked like baby shoes. The kids loved it!

After lunch, we decided to go around town to buy some local pastries. We stopped by Biscocho house. This was where we bought most of our pasalubong for our friends and family. We also went to another place where we bought the squid rings and also the yummy barquillos.

Next stop was SM Mall. We wanted to check the stores that were there. We went window shopping. We were looking for a place to have coffee in the mall but it was too crowded and noisy so we decided to head out.

We were still full from lunch but decided to go to Ted's for the Lapaz Batchoy. I just had the special. The others had the extra special, where slices of liver were added to the soup. I have to say, there's nothing quite like it. It's probably the best batchoy I ever tasted! I enjoyed the soup so much I had to order an extra bowl of soup. I didn't really finish the noodles and the meat but the soup was really flavorful! According to Cathy, the secret of that soup is the addition of a little bagoong...which somehow doesn't make sense to me but hey if it works then why not.

Dinner was at Bauhinia. It's a Filipino restaurant. They serve Filipino food with a twist like Crispy pata with kare kare sauce and bagoong, then they have these shells cooked in red horse and sliced green mangoes,

We also tried the soup with mussels and lemon grass, then we had the Grilled stuffed squid,

We also had these two fish dishes that were also good but I forgot their names already....sorry about that.

Then the last one that came was lechon kawali. As usual, after trying all the dishes for dinner, we didn't have room for dessert anymore but they still ordered a chocnut cheesecake for us to try and some suman with latik in shot glasses. I really liked the way they did the menu and I think that this restaurant can definitely compete with the restaurants here in Manila.

I wish we had more time and space in our stomachs to be able to try more stuff . I guess we just need to go back there again soon for more food discoveries.

ILOILO WEEKEND FOOD TRIP

Believe it or not, this is my first time to go to Iloilo! I've heard so much about the province and their food. I was so excited because I was going with my friends Cathy and Anna. Cathy's sister-in-law Divine was having a christening of their baby girl Vivienne over the weekend and Anna was one of the god parents. I tagged along for a short weekend getaway!

We arrived at the Iloilo airport around 10:30 a.m. We headed to the Limsui residence and had Lanzones for snacks. We waited for the rest of the family members to arrive and headed out to lunch.

First stop was at Breakthrough.

The restaurant is by the beach and it was nice because of the cool breeze. Cooked food was on display like turo-turo. They also had tanks where they had the live seafood.

Here's a baby shark in the tank. Think that if someone ordered this, it will be served on the table. For now the meantime, its a pet of the restaurant.

Here we are by the waterfront. That's me, Cathy, Aan, and Anna.

Our food came to our table about 15 minutes later. We had steamed crabs, crispy fried catfish,

Grilled scallops with garlic and butter, lechon,

And everyone's favorite, aligue rice! We were so full, we didn't have space for dessert anymore. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the hotel. We all took a nap then headed down to the mall to window shop.

Dinner was at Amalfi restaurant.

For starters, we had focaccia bread and garlic bread sticks with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and parmesan cheese. Then here are the items that the group ordered.... A trio of soup ( pumpkin, cream of broccoli, and cream of tomato soup.

For appetizers, we had arancini balls sitting on a bed of basil, garlic and tomato sauce and drizzled with balsamic vinegar, then a seafood pizza.

For salads, they ordered foie gras with peached pears on a bed of greens, for pasta we had pasta with pesto sauce,

Spaghetti bolognese for the kids, Seared scallop pasta with tomato sauce for Aan.

Osso bucco with saffrom risotto for me and Anna, Sea bass for Eric,

Cathy had the Salmon fillet, and Divine had the Seared tuna. To end the very wonderful meal, we were all served with mint tea. Dessert to follow on the next blog :-)