Summer Palace

Tita Portia invited our senior citizen relatives for a despedida lunch at Summer Palace, EDSA Shangrila Hotel. They are going back to their apartment in NY which is just across Serendipity!!



It was my first time to eat at Summer Palace, we eat more often at their Makati counterpart which is Shang Palace.


I wanted to try their Pork Barbecue Pastry. I liked the Lili's version better. I also liked the version of Jade Palace along Shaw Blvd. They call it Asado pie. Two Christmases ago, I gave that as a gift and almost all the recipients called and asked me where I bought the savory pastries.




Our guest, my senior Tita, ordered her favorite Roasted Duck with Plum Sauce






Seafood Noodles





and Seafood Fried Rice.




I also ordered Sweet and Sour Pork because it was in the Chef's suggestion page. I really liked it! But I didn't eat much because number 1, it was deep fried and number 2, the sauce was sweet.





Tita Portia ordered the Chicken in claypot with chestnuts and mushrooms.





I wanted to eat more but I couldn't, I was so full! It is the effect of my medication... even if I want to eat and eat... my stomach wouldn't let me. Since I was with seniors, we did not finish our food.


I'm going to miss my relatives and will pray for their safe trip.

Thai Salad with Shrimps and Pomelo

Two weeks!!!! Salad every night for two weeks and I did not repeat a recipe! Congratulations are in order. I did not eat rice, bread nor meat with my salad. And the best thing about it.... my blood sugar went down by 115 points! From 325 to 210, I still have a long way to go but at least I'm on my way!!! Yes! Hooray!!! I hope I can keep this up.

Thai Salad with Shrimps and Pomelo

50 g. Green Lollo leaves

Pomelo segments

8-10 pcs. boiled shrimps

handful of roasted peanuts or cashew

Dressing

1 T. lime juice

1 T. honey

1/2 T. Thai fish sauce

1/8 t. chili flakes

1 pc. shallots, sliced thinly into rounds

Combine all ingredients for the dressing.

I loved my salad dressing. I think this is my favorite. I am excited to let my friends and Ate taste my concoction. I have to serve this during lunch so I can grill pork and perhaps make Tom Yung soup, if that is the case, won't add shrimps anymore to my salad.

The perfect bite.

I was able to buy my favorite Sunsweet Green Lollo!!!! I wanted to buy several heads but the guy from the vegetables section of Rustan's Rockwell said the lettuce will only be fresh for 3 days. It is really so hard to find this variety. Every time I ask the people from the vegetable section of supermarkets(Landmark, SM or Metro Gaisano), they would give me Green Ice which look so much different from the leaves of Green Lollo.

I was also looking for cashews for my Thai Salad but I didn't want to buy the packed cashews. I opted to buy the raw peanuts and just roasted them in my oven.

There are still so many salad and dressing recipes out there.... I want to experiment and find out which are my favorites.

Ceasar Salad with Shrimps

Dinner for tonight was Ceasar Salad. It was so diffucult to find Parmesan Cheese that I like. The ones they sell in the supermarkets taste like candle wax, in my opinion. I went to Santi's and bought a small wedge, a bit more expensive than the ordinary bottled Parmesan but worth it. I didn't put croutons and bacon bits anymore because of the added fat and carbs.



FYI - Do you know that Wriggly likes to eat salad leaves also? He actually begs for it! My baby boy is turning into a health buff!!!!



Ceasar Salad with Shrimps





50 g. Romaine Lettuce, torn into pieces

2 cloves native garlic, crushed

1 pc. anchovy fillet

1-2 t. mustard

1 egg yolk (Cook the egg in boiling water for 1 minute, then break open and separate the white from the yolk.)

juice of 2 pcs. calamansi

freshly cracked black pepper

2 T. Extra Virgin Olive oil

shaved Parmesan cheese

shrimps, boiled and peeled



Combine garlic, mustard, anchovy fillet, calamansi juice and yolk. Slowly add the oil. Season with pepper.

Crystal Jade La Mian and HK Choi

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao opened its door to the Public today. My Ate and I were there at exactly 11:00 am. Good thing because the place was packed. The restaurant received numerous International awards over the years. Of course, we wanted to try. The restaurant serves Shanghainese cuisine.

The most famous and popular dish is their Xiao Long Bao. The skin was "strong" enough it didn't break! Was it good? Yes, but I wasn't jumping up and down my chair.

We asked the owners what else should we order, they recommended the Spicy Pork Dumplings.

We also tried the noodle soup in the cover of their menu. La Mian with Spicy Peanut Sauce. Ummmmm what can I say? (hahaha that is not YUUMMMM... just Ummmm). It kind of tasted like Spaghetti with thin Kare kare sauce with wansuy!

Radish Puff pastry .... I just took bite.

Maybe I'm the only one who wasn't "feeling" this new game in town. The place was really full and still lots of people lining up outside. And.... they seemed very, very happy with their food!

After shopping in Greenhills, my Ate and I moved to Megamall. I thought I was the only one who was sad over our lunch, it turned out I wasn't alone! Ate and I had a light merienda at H.K. Choi.

Hot and Sour Soup - we ordered just a "cup" but it was good for 2-3 people.

Sharksfin Siomai

Deep Fried Taro Puff

We were "happy" after the merienda. I can honestly conclude my favorite kind of Chinese cuisine is Cantonese.

Mona's Birthday Ihaw Ihaw Party

My friends and I celebrated Mona's birthday today even if her real birth date is still on the 16th. Her food theme was "Ihaw-Ihaw". We have been discussing the menu for several weeks, revising constantly.

Finally.... we have decided on the following:

Corn Soup with Tahong made by Hermie. Everybody liked it! The corn was so sweet and tahong so fresh.

Shrimps Halabos

1.5 K. Suahe

1/2 C. Sprite

2 t. rock salt

Cook shrimps in Sprite with salt until it changes color. Drain immediately.

Ginataang Sitaw

1 strip pork liempo, cut into thin strips or cubes

3 T. raw alamang

2 C. coconut milk, 2nd extraction

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 onion, sliced

3 jalapeno peppers

1 big bundle sitaw

15 pieces shrimps

coconut cream, 1st extraction

Boil pork with alamang, thin coconut milk, garlic and onions for 1 hour over low heat. Add jalapeno peppers and sitaw. When the vegetables are crisp tender, add the shrimps and coconut cream. Turn off heat when the shrimps change color.

Inihaw na Hito

Inihaw na Liempo

1.5 K. pork liempo, grill cut

2 T. patis

1 t. rock salt

1 t. brown sugar

Marinate pork for 1 hour only before grilling.

Pork Barbeque

Vinegar dipping sauce for the Barbeque and Inihaw na liempo

vinegar

brown sugar

knorr seasoning

soy sauce

chopped red onion

siling labuyo

Adobong pusit. My favorite!!! Mona said it was her first time to cook it. It was good. I tried making once but my sauce was too thin not black and thick like Mona's. I can't wait to wake up so I can eat it for breakfast!!!!

Green Mangoes with Bagoong sauteed in pork fat ... topped with crunchy garlic and pork fat bits.

Mona's lasagna with homemade noodles. She cooked the lasagna from scratch! YUMMMM!!!

Sansrival and Mocha Cake from Costa Brava. I broke my "no sugar" diet. I had a big slice of Mocha cake and 2 servings of sansrival. I wanted to eat more but I know I was already pushing the envelope.

My plate was so full, no more space for the rice so I had to put it on a smaller plate. I was so busy eating and excited I got confused where to dip my food because I had 2 "sawsawan", one for the grilled meat - vinegar dip and one for the grilled fish - Bagoong isda sauteed in garlic ... then I added calamansi juice.

I really enjoyed the lunch. The food was so good I am still thinking about it right now, imagining how they all tasted. I was a guest in my own home because Mona was the celebrant.

Happy Birthday Mona!

Grilled Shrimps and Navel Orange Salad

It is so hard to buy Green Lollo lettuce in the supermarkets. I looked everywhere, I even went to Metro Gaisano in Market!Market! but I still can't find it. I asked the vegetable section staff of Rustan's Rockwell why they don't have stock. They said, Le Gourmet, buys all the Green Lollo lettuce all the time. They said the next delivery is on Tuesday and will reserve for me.

I bought the next best thing, Romaine, since I really don't like the purple leaves nor the Green ice lettuce.

Grilled Shrimps and Navel Orange Salad

shrimps, peeled and deveined

rock salt, pinch

1 t. olive oil

Heat a grill pan or a non stick pan. Add olive oil, when hot, quickly pan grill the shrimps and set aside to cool.

50 grams Romaine lettuce

1 pc. navel orange, peeled and pith removed

1 pc shallot, sliced thinly into rings

Dressing

1 T. honey

1 T. Cava Wine vinegar

2 T. Olive Oil

Put all the ingredients in a small bottle with lid and shake.

The Fluffiest Mashed Potatoes according to Gilly

It's Saturday again.... I think everybody who reads this blog know what this means (Family Lunch). I tried a new recipe of Roast Chicken (Lechon Manok) today. I got it from the Filipino Kitchen Library cookbook by Aileen Jaraza, Christina Aquino and Hector Jaraza and of course, I tweaked it a little.

Roast Chicken

1.5 K. Whole Chicken

1 T. Rock Salt

Marinade

1/2 C. Calamansi juice

2 T. Soy sauce

1 T. Honey

1/2 t. ground pepper

1/4 t. MSG

tanglad leaves

Clean and wash the chicken well. Rub inside and out with salt. Marinate in the refrigerator over night.

Roasting guide - 20 minutes for every 450 grams at 190C.

Set the oven or turbo broiler at 190 C. Insert the tanglad inside the cavity then put chicken on top of the rack of the roasting pan or turbo, breast side up and roast for 1 hour. Turn over the chicken gently and continue roasting for another 30 minutes. Let the it "rest" for 15-20 minutes before cutting into pieces.

Gravy

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

1 C. water

pan drippings

Knorr seasoning

Soy sauce

Add water to the roasting pan with the drippings. Melt butter, stir in flour until mixture is smooth. Using a wire whisk, slowly add the water-drippings and stir until you get the consistency you like. Add knorr seasoning and soy sauce to taste.

Gilly said I make the best mashed potatoes in the world! Hehehe not my words but hers. She said it was the "lightest and fluffiest" mashed potatoes she has tasted. My nieces and even my nephew, Nicky really love it since way back. Gilly said her yaya's version is so dense and heavy. Let me share my recipe and secret.

750 grams potatoes - buy the big starchy potatoes. If you get the small or medium sized, they are too dense and sticky in texture. Your mashed potatoes will never be fluffy.

1/4 C. butter - cut into small cubes.

1/2 t. fine salt

1/8 t. white pepper

1/2 C. fresh milk

Peel the potatoes and cut into big cubes. Boil until very tender and almost falling apart when pierced with a fork. Mash, then using the paddle attachment of the Kitchen aid, beat on the lowest speed. Add butter, salt and pepper. Slowly pour the milk a little at a time. You can make ahead of time but add a little more milk and beat for a few seconds before serving.

Left over Jellied Cranberry Sauce when I made my salad dressing the other night.

The corn Hermie bought in Guadalupe was so sweet and tender!!! It was the young "mura" variety.

I let them taste my Mandarin Orange Salad with Candied Almond dressed in Honey Calamansi. They loved it! Not a single leaf left.

The proof is in the "eating"!