Bounty From The Sea

Sherman and Jing celebrated their birthday (belated) last night and treated us to a sumptuous dinner at Dampa on Macapacal Ave. 

Lots of bounty from the sea!!!!



Several platters each of.....

Chili Crabs



Butter-Garlic Shrimps



Inihaw na Liempo




Calamares



Tempura



Grilled tuna Belly



Halaan soup



Green Mango Salad



Eggplant Salad



I could not give justice to all the food.  I just got a little of everything.



I have recently developed a sensitivity to shellfish.  I told Jing I can only eat grilled fish and liempo.... but of course I cheated a little.

Being the sour grape that I am .....

I told them I will do the marketing and will buy shrimps with soft skin!  It means, when you cook it, the skin will stick to the meat.  I also told them will get them crabs that are about to die LOL and that means... the meat is not sweet and when you crack them open ... you can barely pick the meat.  Hahahahahaha!

But they were smarter than me..... especially Mariger!!!  They did the marketing before I arrived!!!!

I was busy buying a cute little summer skirt in SM MOA.

We missed Celina though, she left for the US the other day.  She loves crab!!!!

Corry, Mona and Tita Cena brought cake from Contis... it is their new product, Chocolate Almond Sans Rival.

Thank you Jing and Sherman for letting us enjoy the bounty from the sea!!!!

How did I lose 10 lbs. in one month?

I have been spending my days lately at Makati Medical Center, waiting an average of 6-7 hours per visit.  Just the other day, I went home at 2:00 a.m., YES... you got it right ... 2:00 am. By the time Dr. Eileen Manalo saw me, it was already 1:00 a.m.!!!  Then last week, I had to wait 7 hours for my allergy shots by Dr. Manuel Canlas.

Today, it was not too bad 2- 8 pm, at least I was able to go to 2 doctors.  I went to my diabetes doctor, Gia Wassmer and to Dr Manalo again.  I was weighed by the secretaries and ....they could not believe it!!! 

I lost 10 lbs. in one month!!!

How did that happen?  I really cannot recall what I did, what I ate ....  I checked my blog postings and discovered ......

I have been sick for the past couple of months... bad case of sore throat ... I could not swallow!!!!

Hahahahaha ... so the secret of losing 10 lbs. in one month is.....

NOT to eat at all!!!!

RJ Bulalohan

RJ Bulalohan is a very popular place very near the Mandaluyong circle.  I first heard of it years ago from Boy Abunda and Kris Aquino.  Since then, I have always wanted to try their Bulalo soup.  I could not find it before... then saw  it was just beside Petron Gas Station.

When I got there ... well ... I am a bit squeamish so I opted to take out my BULALITO.  It is their smallest order of the soup. 

I let the broth boil again at home, it filled my soup pot! 



And the serving was really generous for a small order, big chunks of meat. 



I added boiled corn to the soup.  I wanted to put vegetables but there was none in my fridge.

The broth had a little funky taste... I am used to buying from the grocery... the broth tasted like the meat came from the market.  Maybe it was just me but in the restaurant ... I saw a lot of pictures and posters with the signatures of celebrities.

Since the serving was really huge.... I cooked the leftovers the next day another way.

It was my version of Sizzling Bulalo.  I just used a serving dish because I do not have a sizzling platter.

Sizzling Bulalo



1 k. beef shanks, boiled until tender
2 T. butter
2 T. Olive oil
1 can sliced button mushroom
1 can Mushroom soup
1 C. water
Salt and Pepper to taste
Knorr Seasoning
a little butter and olive oil for browning the beef

Heat butter and olive oil in  the cooking pan.  Brown the garlic, then set aside.

Saute the mushrooms, then add the mushroom soup and water.  Season with salt, pepper and Knorr seasoning.  Stir until thick and set aside.

On a  non stick pan, heat butter and olive oil.  Brown the beef shanks, then pour the mushroom sauce.  Let it sizzle until big bubbles appear.  Transfer onto a sizzling platter or serving dish. Top with the fried garlic and serve with boiled corn.

At least, I was able to recycle the leftover bulalo!!!

Summer Get Together with Friends

Mona and Corry hosted our annual summer get together at their house in Alabang Hills yesterday.



Of course, the most important thing was the food!!!



Our group really loves to eat .... hahahaha ... it is very obvious in our sexy figures.... NOT!






Corry requested for my Kare-Kare from scratch.







Tita Cena made Lengua with white sauce!



Really tender and the sauce was YUM! Normally, I would not eat food with white sauce, but her lengua dish was the exception.

Mona ordered fresh lumpiang ubod.

Jing and Sherman who just arrived from Korea the other night brought pork bbq from Ambers.



Mariger cooked fresh shrimps with garlic, butter, olive oil, Tang orange juice and grated quickmelt cheese!



Another delicious dish.

Mayette cooked her famous Adobo.



She also made green mango salsa. Jon, her husband, loves green mangoes with bagoong.



Tita Letty, the mom of Mayette brought Arce Calamansi sherbet.



It was perfect in cleansing our palette.

Corry was in charge of the drinks, chips and dip!





 Celina brought Buko pie





and

Sans Rival from San Pablo.  She said Kiko Pangilinan would order hundreds to give away as Christmas presents.



My plate....




Mon treated us for dinner at Seaside in Alabang.  He wanted us to taste the Salt and Pepper Crab at Aling Tonya.




Sooooo delish!!!!!!!  Loved it! Especially the jumbo crab claws!!!!

 We also ordered Sinigang na Ulo ng Maya-Maya sa Miso.



Adobong Kangkong



Ensaladang mangga.



One would think with all the food we had for lunch we would have a hard time finishing what we ordered at Seaside.... but ... ohhh ... no..... not us, sexy, healthy people!!!


I am glad the group was complete at out get together.



I am blessed with wonderful friends who are also foodies like me!!!

Hahahahaha in other words ....  Matakaw!

Direct Dial to Heaven

My Ate had visitors for lunch today.  I asked her to send me a picture of her Chicharon Buffet!!!

Hahahahaha I think she was trying to kill her guests.....  

Killing me softly..........

Recreating my Bataan Food Experience

I recently spent my Holy Week in Bataan and I ate really delicious Filipino food.

Very simple but..... I do not mind eating them again and again.  I am very easy to please.  How can you not love this???



I was excited to cook for my family today because I wanted them to taste what I ate in Bataan.

We had our usual Saturday Family Lunch.



As usual, Gilly only likes Bulalo soup with corn.  She only ate rice with the broth! I told her to get some meat and veggies.

I set aside the bone marrow for Tita Portia.



Lucky for her, I am trying to be good today.  Or else I would have hidden it under the vegetables!!! Hahahaha.

I went to Rustans, Rockwell early and bought Tawilis and fried it till crispy!



Is it not we go to Tagaytay to eat Bulalo and Crispy tawilis???  I will go again to Rustans later and buy tawilis.  I can eat it everyday.

I do not like the way Hermie fries food especially fish.  It just comes out too over-fried.  I learned from Sherman that when frying fish, use high heat all the way.  It will be crunchy on the outside but the meat will still be a little bit moist.  And I did not add too much salt.  Whereas the fried tawilis of  Hermie was way too salty because she likes to dip it in vinegar.  LOL  Good thing she does not read my blog.

The Pork Binagoongan was a success!



I already cooked the other day and Tita Portia loved it!!! She ate it with grilled eggplant and green mangoes.  Why would she not love it?  I used very fatty pieces of pork for her.

I just discovered whenever I send her food, she removes the meat and only eats the FAT!!!!!

My Ate said when she tasted my Binagoongan that she almost could not remember her name.  It was that good!

It is because the alamang from Bataan was really special and not salty at all.  I cannot buy a lot because if you stock up in the fridge, it will just get saltier as the days pass.  Solution: Visit Bataan more often!!!

And the perfect partners with Pork Binagoongan......

Sinampalukan na Hipon!!!



Grilled Eggplant!



Green Mangoes with another kind of Bagoong from Bataan.



My brother in law, Butch, loves sweet glazed camote.



So does Tita Portia!  LOL We were just starting our lunch when I noticed she already got the camote.  She said she was already saving some because the last time .... hehehehehe ... well ... I thought everybody was finished eating ... I ate all the sweet glazed camote!

Kuya bought Magnum for everybody!



PD and I had TWG Creme Caramel after our lunch.



The tea was an Easter gift from Cristina.  She spent her Holy week in Singapore.  Thank you, Dra.!!!!

My Ate brought home the left over Binagoongan because she really liked it, plus I told her to serve it tomorrow lunch for her guests.

She is going to cook Kare Kare, Callos and Lechon Kawali.  On top of that, she will have a CHICHARON Buffet!!!  She bought different kinds.  I asked her, Ate?? Sino ba gusto mo patayin? (Ate, who do you intend to kill???)

I am glad my family was able to experience a bit of Bataan even if it was just through the food I prepared for them.