Boodle fight

A boodle fight-style dining on a camping trip in Quezon.  In lieu of plates, food was served on a banana leaf and eaten with bare hands.  This was a combination of steamed rice, mango-bagoong salad, steamed okra, grilled eggplant, drunken shrimps, fried bangus, steamed shrimps, grilled squid, and grilled chicken.

Boodle fight is a military style of eating.  You have to eat fast to get your fill...if you're slow, then you go to sleep hungry (except when you cheat!:p).

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Grilled Turkey @ Sutra

From last week's appetizers, this was the main course I had at SutrA in BHS-Central.  This grilled turkey was meltingly tender, the pineapple sauce was a pleasant surprise, and the aroma, irresistible!  It was a light, savory lunch peppered with lots of girl talk.:p

 

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Grilled Chicken and Cobb Salad

@ mirandablue
Cobb Salad

Rain and flood always bring Metro Manila traffic to a crawl.  U and I were stuck in a late afternoon traffic during a heavy downpour last week.  Good thing we managed to take the service road to Market! Market! and drove straight to Bonifacio High Street.  I missed dining at Texas Roadhouse Grill in High Street---it's been months since I've been here. U and I shared the Cobb Salad, and I got the Grilled Chicken with mushrooms, with grilled shrimps as an extra topping.  I love the mushroomy, lemony, buttery flavors of this dish.  The sweet, scrumptious shrimps added excitement to the palate.

@ mirandablue
Grilled Chicken with mushroom and shrimp toppings

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Steak with pesto

@ mirandablue

I missed all the blog-fun for more than a week, and I'm back with this succulent steak from Texas Roadhouse Grill.  A delight to meat-eaters, I enjoyed this different take on beef---Beef with Pesto.  It's tender U.S. hanger steak marinated and grilled then topped with house-made pesto sauce and pico de gallo, served with crunchy-sweet steamed vegetables and roasted potatoes.  

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Grilled Pork Belly

@ mirandablue

I hope you are not feeling stuffed and bloated anymore after pigging out on Christmas weekend.  And hopefully, you would take time to put down the fork for a few minutes and join the conversation on New Year's eve.  It's an effective trick to eat less without noticing it.:p

Aside from the noche buena ham, this is the only pork dish I had on Christmas day *pats myself on the back*---pan-grilled pork belly with mango salsa.  The mango salsa was added to neutralize the umay factor and of course, to make the pork chops look festive.

Mango Salsa:

Diced ripe mango, onions, tomatoes, celery, cucumber julienne, sweet bell pepper, cilantro; fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper.

Posted for Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

In the mood for Steak

@ mirandablue

I had a long day at work and was in the mood for self-indulgence.  Setting aside some health considerations, I let myself be tempted by this juicy flat iron steak.  It was slow cooked on high-heat charcoal, tender and lean, and cooked the way I wanted it--medium rare.  On the side are mashed potato and corn kernels.  I had mangoes n' cream for dessert.  It was a great meal to reward myself after a hard day's work.  Have you rewarded yourself lately?

Wishing you the warmest Christmas in the company of friends and family.

Posted for Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Grilled Chicken with mushrooms

@ mirandablue

The newest addition to Texas Roadhouse Grill's menu is the Grilled Chicken with mushrooms and mushroom sauce.  This was Ivar's choice when we had dinner there on Sunday.  Naturally, he ordered an additional cup of rice--he's still a growing kid, after all.:p  I had a few bites of the grilled chicken and it was good!

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Hearty Pinoy meal [LaPiS]

A hearty meal for most Pinoys is virtually anything as long as there is bottomless rice.

I started cutting down my rice intake 2 years ago in an effort to fit into my old jeans again. It was difficult at the beginning but I eventually got used to a half cup of rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. With some exercise, I lost 12 lbs. in over a year and was able to maintain the 122 lbs. weight. But by late last year, I relapsed into eating more rice and meat again. Look at this sampler of Hickory smoked chicken, beef ribs and pork ribs with a plate of garlic rice---certainly not for someone who would want to lose weight! This sampler from Racks was served with baked beans, corn bread, atchara and coleslaw. Good thing I have some friends to share this meal with.

Posted for Lasang Pinoy-Sundays

Chicken for a hungry soul

For a change, I'm posting everybody's favorite bird---chicken. If you noticed, a chicken dish is rarely featured in my Friday post. I am not very fond of chicken, or I should say, I'm tired of chicken---especially the fried and breaded kind. I admit I have my fair share of fried chicken. It's the first thing that comes to mind when I'm working late and needed a quick fix. Just dial **** or take the elevator and walk across the street, there is a row of fast-food chains serving fried chicken.

When it's past 8 in the evening and everyone was still slaving on their computers, then our hungry eyes would meet over the monitors and we would read each others' minds. Somebody would call delivery and I am always left with a choice between McDo and Jollibee because KFC takes 48 years to deliver, and Kenny Rogers is perpetually late "through the years." Sometimes I would suggest Wendy's or Max's, but I'm always out-voted.

Back to my grilled chicken [from Texas Roadhouse Grill], I know it looks like something Hannibal Lecter would love to serve. But yes, it was really grilled, although I don't remember slathering it with ketchup. I was probably too hungry to care. And here's my favorite chicken, Max's spring chicken (clucking :P) in its headless glory.

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Lasang Pinoy: blame it on the a-a-a-alcohol!

I'm taking it literally---blame it on the alcohol! I swore to stay away from this artery clogger pork Sisig but San Mig Light definitely tastes better with this sizzling concoction of boiled/grilled and chopped pig ears and cheeks seasoned with vinegar, calamansi juice, chopped onions and chicken liver. I could feel the rising cholesterol level while chewing on the crunchy pork bits...a perfect match with an ice-cold beer.

To complete our rainy night-out pulutan (or finger food), I ordered grilled squid to assuage our fatty and alcohol-filled conscience (lol).

Sorry for the dark and grainy photos, took these using my cel phone camera

Posted for spiCes

Food Friday: TGIF

Yes, Thank God it's Friday! And today is Labor Day, a non-working holiday---then a long weekend. I'm on a road trip to Pagbilao and Padre Burgos, Quezon so I won't be able to visit your blogs this weekend. Before you go out and celebrate Labor Day, let's share this plate of Jack Daniel's Chicken from TGI-Friday's, one of my workday dinners. I tried to ignore the mashed potato but it was calling my name. Arggh! Enjoy the holiday and long weekend!

Posted for Food Friday

Pinaputok - Food Friday

I have no idea why it's called Pinaputok na Tilapia (Popped Tilapia). All I know is, after adding salt and pepper to fish, the belly is stuffed with tomatoes, onions and coriander. Then it's wrapped in banana leaves and grilled until it's cooked in its own juice. While the wrapped

fish is grilled, it probably pops or makes popping sounds, thus the name...I'm just guessing. Served with a dip of soy sauce with calamansi and chili.
And the best side dish for pinaputok na tilapia is---green mango salad with bagoong (shrimp paste), tomatoes and onions. Best eaten with rice and the bare hands---so go wash your hands and get ready to attack!

Posted for Food Friday

Shrimp & Salmon Kebab

Here's what I had for dinner the other night at Texas Roadhouse---shrimps and salmon kebab on a bed of java rice. The skewered cubes of salmon needed macro lens, or were they grilled to smithereens? But yes, I definitely tasted salmon. I also love the grilled mushroom topping and lemon-butter dip.

Kebab is Middle Eastern in origin and best eaten with rice; satay is the Southeast Asian version, and the Pinoy counterpart is barbecue. The dish consists of a variety of meat, fish or shellfish on a skewer and grilled over wood or charcoal fire. Fruits and vegetables are often threaded on kebab stick as well. Typical vegetables include mushrooms, bell pepper, tomato, onions and eggplant.

Posted for Food Friday

Food Friday: pork spareribs

My first Food Friday---smoky pork spareribs slathered with barbecue sauce, served with mashed potato and peaches (cooked in whiskey). Perfect for holiday dinner. Shared this whole slab with my friend S at Claw Daddy after our 5-kilometer brisk walk on Sunday night (we rewarded ourselves after all that sweat!).

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Lasang Pinoy, Sundays: On a Stick

A familiar sight not only in the streets of Metro Manila but also in the provinces. This photo was taken in Davao City...in a row of turo-turo near the cathedral. I'm not very fond of chicken BBQ and street foods but I love grilled isaw (chicken intestines)---the orange bunch that looks like worms.:D I was introduced to isaw and fish balls about ten years ago by my sister and cousin who were then students of UP Diliman. Aside from being one of the top universities in the country, UP Diliman is famous for its tasty street foods---the aroma of grilled isaw is enough to make me drool.

But as much as I love isaw, I seldom indulge myself. Isaw is one delicious chow that is potentially dangerous and could result to a trip to the ER.

More treats On-a-Stick at SpiCes.

Lasang Pinoy, Sundays: School of Fish

Grilled fish is got to be the most common recipe Filipinos do with fish. It is served with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, kalamansi juice, chili peppers, and onions. One American client asked me to bring him to a Filipino restaurant, and he ordered grilled pompano. It was too late when he realized that the grilled fish is served in whole, not fillet. He turned green when he saw the fish with head and eyeballs that he said were staring at him! And imagine his expression when I told him that fish head is the tastiest part, and that most Filipinos eat fish brains and eyeballs. :D

You wonder what this thing in the second photo? It’s not sausage...it’s my favorite part---we call it bihod in Ilonggo, or fish roe. Whenever I eat bihod, I would remember my childhood in Negros where my siblings and I would fight over a piece of bihod. Since there’s only one bihod in a large fish (usually from fish locals call alibalay and gingaw or red snapper), my grandmother would slice it in small parts so each of us have a piece. Tuna bihod is available at the Seaside Market along Macapagal Highway.

More fish dishes at SpiCes.