Borough (again!)

July 30, 2011 - Borough - Podium Mall

Last week we watched Harry Potter 7 and chose the Podium Cinema since it had the most convenient time for us. We both decided that it's our favorite theater in town. It's small, cozy and has enough leg room that won't give you cramps after the movie. Also, you can reserve tickets through phone so you're sure to have a seat (Call them: 6338976). So this week, we're back in the Podium Cinema to watch Captain America. LJ is such a big Marvel geek so watching Captain America was on our to do list as soon as it came out.

Podium is such a small mall and there are only a few restaurants to choose from. We decided to have dinner at our favorite, Borough before watching the movie. Here's a link to our old post on this restaurant:

http://fridate.blogspot.com/2011/01/blast-from-past-groupdate-borough.html

I think this would be our 4th time to eat here but this time, I decided on eating something I haven't tried before. :)

I super love the whole New York theme going on here. They have a different menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner too! :)

We started off with two beers while waiting for our food. And we were seated at the bar so drinking seemed like the right thing to do. haha

LJ's Order (NY STRIP STEAK): This is what he ordered the first time we ate here. Back when they were still on soft opening, the steak was around 680 pesos but now it's priced at 820 Pesos. We didn't mind the increase because the steak looked bigger and tasted better than the first time we tried it. It was juicy and tender. Plus the garlic, herb butter that was on top of the steak goes well with the meat.

Number 1 steak lover. He can probably eat this everyday if he could! We sat at the bar area since there were no seats available.

My order (ALL BEEF CHEESEBURGER): I am a fan of burgers and when I see it on the menu I'd always want to give it a try to see if it's any good. The best burger I have ever tried was in New York (Shake Shack), so I was hoping this burger would come close to my favorite. Was it? Well, no. But It was better compared to the popular Charlies Burger. Borough's burger was char grilled, tender and didn't fall apart when you eat it. Sometimes I feel like burgers in restaurant use fillers in their patties but this burger is full of meat and is mouthwatering.

Isn't that a perfect looking burger patty? Brown on the outside and pink on the inside.

We loved how our food was served on wooden boards. The paper bag with the spilling fries is cute too!

Food was great and the movie was so much fun to watch. Don't forget to stay after the ending credits because there's a surprise trailer for the next Marvel movie (exciting!).

Hope you had a great weekend too! Cheers! :)

Asian Home Cooked Fridate!

July 22, 2011 - Broccoli Stir Fry with Shitake Mushrooms and Beef Teriyaki

Thinking of something to cook is a challenge. Imagine how much harder it is to think of cooking something healthy. This week I wanted to cook something that had veggies in it. I couldn't really make an all vegetable meal since LJ has to eat some protein (men! haha).

This weekend I made, Broccoli Stir Fry with Shitake Mushrooms. It's quite easy since you practically just dump all the ingredients in the pot and let the veggies cook! :)

I decided to put red bell peppers and carrots together with the broccoli and mushrooms. This adds color and also texture to the dish. You can even add chinese pechay, sayote, cabbage, and other mushrooms like oyster mushrooms and button mushrooms.

It doesn't really matter what veggies you put, just as long as you have these three main ingredients and some oyster sauce and seasoning. Mince your garlic, ginger and onions well and saute in olive oil to make the wonderful flavors come out.

Shitake mushrooms are my favorite! It's sweet and juicy when cooked. It also has the chewy soft texture. These are the dried ones that are sold in the supermarket. You have to let this sit in a bowl of hot water for 5 mintues to make it plump again. After, you can slice these or add them whole to your pot of veggies.

Procedure:

1. Saute Garlic, Onions and Ginger until brown.

2. Add Vegetables.

3. Add Mushrooms and half of water used to soften the mushrooms.

4. Add Salt, Pepper, Chili and Oyster Sauce .

5. Stir and Cover for 5 minutes. (or depending how cooked you want your veggies are. I want my vegetables to be cooked throughout so that it's easier to chew. Others might like it still crunchy)

6. Eat!

To compliment the vegetables, I bought pre marinated Beef Teriyaki Strips from SM Supermarket. This is what it looked like:

It makes it easier for me because the meat has already been marinated BUT I have to say that this does NOT taste like beef teriyaki. Also, the cuts of the meat aren't thin.

I fried it in the pan with little oil and it started to look like TOCINO! What? hahaha. I was getting quite disappointed while cooking it.

I waited a while for the meat to get burned. It honestly tasted like tocino but a better one. haha OH SM SUPERMARKET, FAIL. Good thing the rice was Japanese Rice and was really good with the meat.

Our simple Asian meal! I thought it would be a failure since the teriyaki didn't really taste like teriyaki but it all came together very well anyway in the end.

Hope you get to try this at home too! But I suggest you buy your meat from somewhere else and marinate it at home. I'll be doing that next time for sure. I'll post it here when I do! :)

Cheers everyone! :)

Old Vine Grill

July 15, 2011 - Old Vine Grille - Eastwood Mall

It was a long week and I have to admit that cooking can be very tiring. This Friday I asked LJ if we could have dinner out so I don't have to cook and just enjoy eating and not cleaning the dishes. :)

Our first choice was to have a buffet dinner at Sambo Kojin, an Eat all you can Yakiniku and Sushi Bar. We got there too late because the waiting time was so long. An hour for a table? Nevermind! So we ended up here at OLD VINE.

We ate here before and we loved it so we knew it was a good choice. Here's what we ate:

You're probably thinking "what? sashimi in this restaurant?". That's what we thought too. We thought it would be regular salmon sashimi but it's actually SMOKED! Yes. Thick slices of smoked salmon sashimi dipped in Kikkoman and a whole lot of wasabi! It was such a nice surprise to have that smokey taste once you eat the salmon. It didn't seem so left out from the menu.

This is how much we love wasabi. You can see the green paste that's not even melted in the kikkoman. Clears up your nostrils! haha

LJ got the Peppered Steak with Cream herb sauce, Mashed potatoes and salad greens (PHP 450). LJ said that the mashed tasted like KFC's mashed (and he meant that in a good way!haha). The steak was medium well and still pinkish on the inside. The pepper and cream sauce balanced each other out. Lj was trying to figure out what herb they put in. We forgot to ask! :\

My order: Poelle Lamb Spareribs with Curry Sauce on top of a vegetable risotto (PHP 495). Okay, this is such a bad picture because of the low lighting but this was amazingly good. The lamb was so tender and falls right off the bone while the curry sauce was light and didn't overpower the lamb. The risotto wasn't real though. It's more like fried rice. I wanted the sticky kind.

A close up of the lamb ribs. Doesn't really show how good it is but it's really good! :)

We were really happy that we chose Old Vine again for our Fridate. It was impressive that they kept the quality of food good. One thing that's probably not so great about this place are the prices. But if you're willing to pay for great food then why not right?

Give yourself a break and eat somewhere nice for a change! :) Spread the love and have a great weekend!

Homemade Sushi

July 9, 2011 - Homemade Sushi and Cold Soba Noodles

Rain, Friday and Manila traffic really doesn't mix well so good thing LJ and I planned our Fridate to be at home again. We don't want to get tired of Italian food so I thought of having some Japanese food this time. We are such big fans of Japanese food so this is really a treat for us.

This week, I'll be sharing with you how to make your own sushi and cold soba noodles at home!

First, the JAPANESE RICE - It's different from regular rice because it's sticky and has a short grain. I used 2 cups of Japanese Rice and followed the lines inside the rice cooker that indicates up to where you should fill the water for how many cups. (Next time i'll probably add more water to make it even more wet)

Once it's cooked and still hot, you have to add MIRIN

Mirin is rice wine vinegar (smells like sake!). Add only 2 tablespoons to the 2 cups of rice and it adds a sweetness to it. Mirin on it's own is not sweet at all. Let rice cool. You can't make sushi with HOT rice or else your nori will sag.

Now think about what you want to put in your sushi. The possibilities are endless. You can even put pork, chicken or whatever you feel like.

Here are the things I prepared:

Mango (cut into thin strips)

Cucumber (take out seeds and cut into thin strips)

Avocado (thin strips again)

Crabsticks

Eel/Unagi

Canned Tuna in water mixed with Cayenne Pepper and Japanese Mayo

and the things you must have:

Kikkoman

Japanese Mayo

Wasabi

Nori

I suggest you not to buy this brand of crabsticks. It was so rubbery and hard. It tasted fine. I should have gotten the usual ones I get. Made in Japan is always good.

Broiled Eel in a box. This one is from my sister's boyfriend which we have for quite some time now. Finally got the chance to eat it. They sell this in Cold Storage and also Japanese Stores.

Inside it looks like this. Just put on a plate and heat inside the microwave oven. The sauce is heavenly!

The two must haves for sushi. Kikkoman and Japanese Mayo.

Even yummy on it's own as a snack.

Just mix with water and you'll have the paste just like in the restaurants. Add more powder and less water for more heat!

Make sure everything is within reach so it's easy to make the sushi.

Now let's ROLL!

First, put your nori on top of your bamboo mat, spread cooked Japanese rice on the middle. Make sure the rice is evenly spread. Wet your hands when handling the rice so it won't stick!

Now add whatever it is you want to put inside your sushi. With this one, I added Unagi (eel), Cucumber, and Japanese Mayo. You can add more if you like so you can have a nice tight roll.

This was the other combination I made: Spicy tuna, Cucumber, Mango, and more Japanese Mayo.

Now it's time to roll! Here's a video in youtube that you can follow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swGJ2dIu9XE

This is the spicy tuna roll. Looks good and tastes oh so yummy!

This is the tuna California roll. Look at the other that aren't perfect circles. That's because my knife wasn't so sharp. Make sure your knives are sharp before attempting to cut sushi.

It was supposed to be "Make your own sushi" night but I ended up making for LJ too. haha

Happy tummy! :)

For the COLD SOBA NOODLES:

I wasn't on planning on making this but I saw this in Pure Gold. Buckwheat noodles and sauce for soba.

I cooked two bundles (which was too much) of noodles in boiling water for 5 mins. Drain it and pour cold water over it then put inside the fridge to cool. When serving, add strips of nori on top and dip in the sauce.

There are no English words in this bottle. I only found out what it was for because of the labels in the supermarket. Tastes sweet and light. The noodles were perfect with this!

All in all, the money we spent for this meal would be like eating in a Japanese restaurant BUT we didn't even finish the ingredients like Nori, Kikkoman, Wasabi, Mayo etc. This means we can have another Sushi night! This still turns out cheaper than eating out right?

Hope you try it at home too! It's not that hard to roll a sushi and if you do make a mistake, it still tastes good anyway.

Say Aishiteru (I love you in Japanese) to your loved ones today! Til next time! :)

Wine, Chicken and Pasta Night

July 2, 2011 - Wine, Chicken and Pasta Night

Weekend for LJ and I means a time for us to rest and just hang out. We tend to be really busy during the weekdays so a great way to spend time together is to eat at home! I made something for dinner that I knew LJ would love - Chicken Scallopini with Basil Pesto and Creamy Tomato Sauce Pasta. Scallopini is sauteed chicken or veal fillets that are pounded thin and dipped in egg and flour. Here's the recipe (let's start with the Chicken, then on to the pasta):

Chicken Scallopini with Basil Pesto

I started by doing the Basil Pesto since you can do this before hand and store it in the fridge.

Basil Leaves - One package

Garlic - Half a clove

Olive oil - 1 cup

Salt - 1 teaspoon (or add more if you want)

You need a bunch of basil for this sauce. Make sure you leave some for the pasta and garnish.

I did't need this much garlic. I used the rest of what I cut up for the pasta.

Put in a blender or food processor until it looks like this! Make sure there's no chunks of garlic or leaves of basil. It smells so good! You can put this on anything like bread, pasta, and meats. You can prepare this and store in a container for future use.

Now for the Chicken Scallopini (You cook this when you're ready to plate with the pasta and eat):

Chicken Breast Fillet - Pounded thin and seasoned with pepper and salt

Egg

Flour

Olive Oil

Prepare your flour and egg near your pan so it's easy to fry them up.

If you pounded it really thin, the chicken will cook really quickly. If it's brown like this, then it's done. This took 3 mins on each side too cook. Don't over cook or it will get tough.

Creamy Tomato Pasta

Olive Oil

Garlic - Minced, 1 clove

1 Can whole tomatoes

1/4 of a block of Cream Cheese

Salt

Pepper

1/4 cup Red Wine

Italian Seasoning

Fresh Basil (for the sauce and garnish)

I thought I would need the all purpose cream for the sauce but the cream cheese made it creamy already :)

Sautee garlic in olive oil until golden brown. After, add the canned tomatoes (break it up a bit with your wooden spoon) and simmer. Then, add cream cheese. Mix in the sauce with a whisk. Make sure there are no lumps of cream cheese.

Look at the sauce, it's a nice creamy red color. Add basil leaves to the sauce, Italian seasoning, wine, salt, and pepper. Just simmer for around 10 mins to make all the flavors come out.

Turn off heat and add cooked pasta! :)

Plate the chicken and basil sauce with creamy tomato pasta on the side with fresh basil leaves on top! YUMMMM! :)

My date! He brought the wine. Carlo Rossi Red Muscat. It was light and perfect with our meal.

It was a great night! :)

Hope you get to try this recipe! Enjoy it with your loved ones! :)

Cheers!