Hossein's Persian Kebab

August 19, 2011 - Hossein's Persian Kebab - Serendra, Fort Bonifacio

Oh what a busy busy week it has been. All I wanted to do this weekend is relax and not do anything! Good thing LJ was the one who made the initiative on thinking of a place for our Fridate dinner. He chose Hossein's in Serendra, a persian restaurant. It's a high end Persian restaurant, which is a big upgrade from our Al-Fhaker's dinner. haha

Here's what we ordered:

Motabal - Roasted Egglant Puree with olive oil and spices. Since we usually order hummus in Persian restaurants so we decided to try something different. You can really taste the eggplant on this one. It's not as heavy as hummus and is very refreshing. Nice way to start off a meal. Plus, adding this to the meat was perfect!

Chelou (on their menu it was spelled with a U) Kebab with Beryani Rice and Roasted Tomatoes - The meat tasted very authentic and full of flavor. You can taste that it was grilled on a charcoal grill and not fried (like other Persian restautants).

Thier serving was really for sharing. LJ and I shared this plate and finished all of it!

Beryani Rice - Long grain rice is used and herbs, raisins and cashews were added. You can practically eat this rice on it's own since it's full of flavor.

Their garlic sauce had strong garlic smell but when you taste it, it was very light and creamy. It went well with the kebab and you'll definitely ask for more.

Baklava - This sweet flaky pastry is perfect to take out that garlic taste in your mouth. The pastry is filled with chopped pistachios. It was a small serving but we realized that it was just right since it was very rich and too much of it might give you a sugar rush.

I'm glad we got to try this place. Hossein's had a nice ambiance and very classy interior. Too bad we didn't get to take a picture. :(

Have a happy week ahead! Eat great food and spread the good vibes!

<3

Steak and Risotto Night

August 12, 2011 - Steak and Risotto night at home

It's intimidating to follow a recipe at home especially if it's your first time to do it. This was how I felt when I made the mushroom risotto for the first time 2 days before our Fridate. I wanted to make sure I've got it perfect when it came to our date. At first I thought cooking risotto would be hard and special techniques will be needed. Not really!

Here's the recipe (Adapted from Recipes.com):

3 cups Chicken Broth

Olive Oil

Fresh Button Mushrooms - Thinly sliced (You can use canned if you like)

Shitake Mushrooms - Thinly sliced (if dried, submerge in hot water for 10 mins)

1 medium white onion

1 cup Arborio Rice

3/4 cup White Wine

Parsley (roughly chopped)

2 tablespoon Butter

Pepper

There aren't any fresh mushrooms in the supermarket near my house but I found these in Market Market where they have fresh veggies and produce. It's my first time to actually use fresh ones because canned ones are cheap and can be found in any supermarket. But fresh is always the best!

For Php 199, this Carlo Rossi white wine is good for cooking (and drinking too!). Remember when you cook risotto, you can't use any regular rice that you put in a rice cooker. It's a special starchy rice called ARBORIO rice. I found this at S&R for only Php 250. This container can make a lot of servings of risotto.

My favorite mushroom! I put this in practically any dish I can think of. I bought this big bag of dried sliced mushrooms in Pioneer Center Supermarket for Php 185. Remember to soak them in hot water before cooking.

PROCEDURE:

1. In a sauce pan, boil the chicken stock in medium heat. (If you can't find the ones in cartons, boil 1 Chicken Cube with the 3 cups of water)

2. In another pan, heat oil and a tablespoon of butter. Add the mushrooms (without water for the dried shitake) and saute until soft. Remove mushrooms from the pan (with the liquid) and set aside.

3. In the same pan, add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add onions and garlic until translucent. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil. When the rice has taken a pale golden color, pour wine stirring constantly until wine is fully absorbed.

4. Add 1/2 cup of hot broth at a time to the rice, and stir until fully absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously until rice is al dente. Around 15 mins. It's important that you do not leave the pan cooking without stirring, the rice might stick to the pan.

5. Taste rice to see if cooked and soft but still has a bite to it. Take out from the heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter, parsley and pepper. Add mushrooms on top of risotto when plating.

PAN FRIED STEAK: (Lj cooked this!haha)

These Angus Rib Eye steaks were bought from Market Market for Php 950 for 2 pcs. It was marinated with olive oil, garlic and pepper for 2 hours. Check out the marbling on those steaks!

Lightly coat the pan with oil and make sure the pan is super hot before placing the steaks to sear the outside. Give it 2 minutes per side.

After searing the outside of the steak, set aside first and move on to the next steak. Once that's done, put back in the pan on LOW heat to cook the inside of the steak. Around 2-3 mins or depending on how you like your steaks.

My perfectly cooked medium steak! Juicy!

Plate the risotto with heaps of mushrooms on top and the steak on the side. Isn't that amazing? :)

What's the perfect match to our meal? BEER.

Now, that wasn't so hard right? It's better if someone is there to help you with the cooking! haha. Thanks to LJ for cooking the steaks.

Enjoy this recipe and try it at home! Cheers!

Friday's and Ms. Polly's Chocolate Cake

August 5, 2011 - Friday's and Ms. Polly's

It was one of those Friday nights where LJ and I didn't know where to eat. We weren't too adventurous to try something different so we ended up eating at our NO FAIL restaurant: FRIDAY'S.

We love cheese so this was the perfect soup to order. The melted mozzarella completely covered the top of the soup and inside the the dark onion broth.

Half way through eating this, we realized that it was a bit too salty but the bread and the cheese helped cut the saltiness. Not something you should eat if you're on a diet. Sodium galore!

Chicken Fingers with Honey Mustard and Bleu Cheese Dressing: This is LJ's favorite. He would always order this when we're here. The sauce is the ultimate winner here. One thing we noticed thought was the fries. What a small serving! :(

Burger Sliders: These four mini burgers are so cute! It was small yet very filling.

The burger patty was well done but still juicy. We should have asked them to cook it medium well.

Eating time!

For dessert, we went to Ms. Polly's on the 4th floor of Robinson's Galleria and bought a slice of Chocolate Cake. It was rated as number 1 in Spot.ph's best chocolate cake list.

I love how it looked so rustic and homemade. Imperfection makes it look more delicious to me. haha

SO GOOD. Moist, gooey and heavenly! Happy Tummy!!

I think next weekend will be a great time for me to cook dinner again. Hmm, I wonder what will be on the menu! :)

Til next time! Cheers!