Kitchen Experiment: Creamy Tuna Pesto ♥♥♥

One thing my youngest sister, Dianne, and I loves doing together is experimenting in the kitchen. She would often rush home and let us try the dish they made at school (she's an HRM graduate) and we will try to replicate it at home.

Here is one of the dishes that we have grown to love as it is a breeze to make. I prepare this whenever we have unexpected visitors or if we just wanna have an easy pasta dish. This recipe has been shared with some of my friends and colleagues too.


CREAMY TUNA PESTO

Ingredients:

½ kilo spaghetti / macaroni twists

2 cans tuna flakes in oil

1 can mushroom (optional)

1 pack pesto (McCormick)

1 pouch (270 ml) evaporated milk

1 medium Onion

3 cloves Garlic

½ cup grated cheese

Salt

Pepper

Thyme (optional)

Procedure:

1. Boil noodles in water, oil, salt, pepper & thyme (optional) until cooked.

2. Sauté onion and garlic in oil, add tuna flakes (oil included) and mushrooms. Add ½ cup water, cheese and milk. Let it simmer.

3. Dissolve pesto in ¼ cup water and add in to mixture.

4. Add pasta and let it simmer until sauce thickens.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves 3-4

Cost: Php 100.00 to 150.00

*For a lighter version, you can disregard the addition of milk in the recipe.

The pesto in this dish is not the fresh one though as we find it too "leafy" for our taste. Enjoy!

A complete and hearty meal. ♥♥♥

♥dei♥

Restaurant Trip: Bag of Beans - Tagaytay City ♥♥♥

Last year, I had the chance to attend the church wedding of my friend Rutchelle held at the scenic and romantic Tagaytay Highlands.

The wedding was scheduled in the afternoon so our group decided to leave Manila early and  have brunch at the main of Bag of Beans branch.

The restaurant is located at the back of the bakery.

The rustic and natural design of this restaurant gives out a homey ambiance. Their menu speaks out homey as well; they have pasta, pies, all-day breakfast items and some items for the kids.

Here are the dishes we had for brunch that day:

Sausage and Eggs breakfast platter

Baked Lasagna

Fettuccine with mushrooms

Spaghetti

Grilled Pork Chops with Steamed Veggies and Rice

Grilled Tanigue with Steamed Veggies and Rice

Roast Beef with Mashed Potato and Steamed Veggies

We were a group of happy diners and it was obvious in our faces during the photo booth session at the wedding. :)

*This took place last April of 2012. (late post)

Bag of Beans

115 Aguinaldo Highway, Mendez Crossing West

Tagaytay City 4120
Tel No. (046) 413 4356

♥dei♥

Restaurant Trip: Sumosam ♥♥♥

I love Japanese food. My father, who once worked in Osaka, opened our taste buds in the Japanese way of eating. :D

When Sumosam Shangri-la opened to the public a few years ago, they offered a deal for anything in their menu at 50% off thru CashCashPinoy. Raring to taste what this restaurant has to offer, without much ado, I purchased some vouchers intending to use it with the family.

This was my first trip at Sumosam and it was a surprise to find such an extensive menu that choosing was an improbable task.

We decided to have the "Tournament", which is a meal good for 4 pax (currently priced at 1600+), so that we could have a taste of a handful of dishes. When we visited they have a promo of free drinks if you dine between 2pm to 6pm, which we happily availed. :)

The Tournament ♥♥♥
It was served on a large wooden tray and was appetizing (in real life!)
My bad for the bad quality picture taken by my phone.. :(

Bacon wrapped asparagus

Beef Teppan

Chicken Yakitori

House Salad
We did not enjoy it that much..too much dressing, I guess.

Japanese Fried Rice

Oyster Teppan

Ika Fry

For getting that much amount of food at half the price (with the use of vouchers), the meal was definitely sulit. :)

I will definitely come back for some sushi and the other good looking dishes in their menu.


Sumosam 
6/F Shangri-la Plaza Gourmet Walk, EDSAWack Wack, Mandaluyong(02) 637-5704

♥dei♥

Kitchen Experiment: The bread of salt ♥♥♥

A staple in a Filipino breakfast is our very own Pan de Sal.

You can buy this bread as early as 4:00 in the morning in your nearest bakery.

My grandparents used to own a bakery and we liked our Pan de sal either dipped in barako coffee or smothered with some butter on top.

Missing the aroma of freshly baked pan de sal, I searched for a recipe and tried it at home.

Pan de Sal recipe:

 Ingredients:
  1 cup of lukewarm water
  1 tsp of instant dry yeast
  1 tsp of salt
  1/4 cup of sugar
  1/4 cup of oil
  1-1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
  1-1/2 cup of bread flour
  extra flour for dusting
  extra oil for greasing the bowl
  1/4 cup of fine bread crumbs for coating

Procedure:
 1. Pour water into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle yeast over it. Leave for 10 minutes or until mixture is bubbly.
 2. Add the salt, sugar and oil to the yeast mixture and stir.
 3. Add 3/4 cups each of the all-purpose and bread flours. Mix well. The dough should be wet and sticky at this point.
 4. Add the remaining flour and mix well. The texture of the dough is uneven at this point but will start to come together.
 5. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until it becomes elastic.
 6. Put the dough in an oiled bowl, turning it around to coat entire surface with oil.
 7. Cover bowl and place in a dark place, away from direct light, to make it rise.
    Tip: 1-2 hours will have the dough doubled in size; but for softer bread, leave it for another 1-2 hours.

 8. Punch the dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Roll into log then cut into four equal pieces.

 9. take one portion and roll again into a log. Cut into six pieces. Do the same to the other three portions.

10. Roll each piece of the dough in bread crumbs. Arrange on a baking try at least an inch apart. Leave to rise for another 30 to 45 minutes.

11. About 10 minutes before the dough is done rising, preheat oven to 325F and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Preparation time seems forever but the final result was so soft and yum!

Soft pandesal

♥dei♥

A 60th birthday party ♥♥

Last July 27, my parents and I were invited to attend the 60th birthday celebration of my Ninong Fred in Parañaque.

Since the party was to start at exactly 5pm plus the fact that we were not familiar with the location, we decided to hit the road a little early.

We arrived 15 minutes before the party started so I was able to take pictures without too much crowd.

We were greeted by my Ninong's life size posters.

These life sized posters show his sporty lifestyle.

The tables were set up nicely.

We were led to our table which was located farthest from the stage BUT nearest the buffet tables.. ♥

My companions for the night, Dad and Mom.

The buffet table, which is very visible to where we sat. ♥

This is by far the most balanced part of the buffet..brownies (GOOD) and veggie sticks (BAD).. LOL

Sushi and Sashimi station

Super Garlic-ky Sotanghon ♥♥
I loved that this noodles were firm and tasted nice.

Roast Beef on top of Mashed Potatoes ♥
The beef were super tender however the mashed potato tasted dry and burnt already.

Chicken Balinese ♥♥
I liked the taste of it however the chicken were kinda dry.

Hawaiian Pork Roast ♥
Not a big fan of this, it was too sweet for my taste.

Garlic Prawns ♥
Not too garlic-ky and the prawns were slightly over-cooked.

Grilled Gindara with Mango Chutney ♥
It tasted weird.

Mango-Banana-Nutella crepe ♥♥
This saved my day. I had two of these; one as appetizer and the other for dessert. hehe

Thank you for the wonderful time Ninong and may you be blessed as another digit adds to your years.


♥dei♥

Kitchen experiment: Pizza ♥♥♥

Every once in a while I crave for pizzas and the last few days were no exception.

Since I am currently on a tight budget, I opted to create my own pizza rather than having one delivered. You'd guess I'll be using bread for my crust or buy the frozenone from the supermarket. Nah! I chose neither of them.

I decided to utilize the oven I gave my sister years ago and searched for an easy pizza dough recipe. I was so happy that we had all the ingredients available at home. :)

Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients:   

 2 cups bread flour (for a crispier crust)

 1 tbsp active dry yeast

 1 tsp sugar (for the yeast)

 3/4 to 1 cup warm water

 1 tsp salt

 1 tbsp oil (olive or canola oil)

 extra flour for dusting

 1 tsp oil for brushing

Procedure:

 1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 tbsp warm water. You will know this mixture is ready once it is bubbly.

 2. Mix flour and salt in a mixing bowl.

 3. Add the yeast mixture and oil into the flour. Mix well.

 4. Gently add the warm water and stir until a sticky dough forms.

 5. Transfer dough into an oiled bowl and brush top with oil.

 6. Cover bowl and let it stand for an hour until the dough double it's size.

 7. Pre-heat oven at 375F. Gently knead for 5 minutes in a flour-covered surface. Roll into desired size and thickness.

 8. Place rolled dough in a pizza pan or stone and slide into the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

**If you want a thinner dough, substitute baking powder or baking soda for the yeast.

It's so easy right? Look at my creations.. :)

the chewy crust pizza with bacon, ham, ground beef, onions, bell pepper, cheese ♥♥♥

the thin pizza with bacon, ground beef, onions, bell pepper and cheese ♥♥ 

I was so happy with the outcome that I decided to make several pizzas for sharing with the whole family when we went home to my Lola's house for my cousin's birthday. :)

♥dei♥