To market, to market: Midnight Mercato

A few friends and I went to the first Midnight Mercato Centrale last Friday. Although it wasn't as full (food wise) as the regular daytime market, I can already see it becoming a haven for post-clubbing, tipsy crowds and the midnight munchers from the area.

I didn't eat any of these things above (Sarah had the roast beef shown last) but they sure did look good. Ended up with the tried and tested Margarita's Paella Negra...my all time favorite. I love it so much that the P280 per serving price tag doesn't even affect me.

Abdul and I went back the next day and stuffed our faces at almost 3 am. Oh God, I can already see a habit forming.

Mercato Centrale is located to the side of Cav and The Spa in Bonifacio Global City. Open Fri-Sat 10pm-3am and Sat-Sun 7am-2pm

Kitschen Invasion: Rachel's Chicken Dinner

I have known Rachel Le Roux since high school, when she was still Rachel Rapaport. Regardless of what last name she carries and how long she was away for, she is still the same down-to-earth, fun loving, cool chick I first met at Brent.

Rae and I always complain we don't see each other as much as we'd like, so the universe made it possible for us to have more frequent get togethers since she lives in the South and I now work in Alabang. Last Tuesday, she invited me over for dinner, and although her husband Hylton is a chef (an awesome one-check out Pi Catering on Facebook) she made dinner that night.

Here's what we had:

Garlic mushroom and eggplant salad with balsamic dressing

Roasted butternut squash with rosemary

Chicken ala Rae (and garlic mash which I forgot to photograph :s)

Rachel's Chicken Dinner

12 Chicken Thighs / Legs
1 1/2 packet of Asian Gourmet Thai Aromatic Grill Kai Yang
6-8 peeled whole shallots
3-4 twigs of Rosemary
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper

Marinate the chicken for about 30 mins. Then put it in a roasting tray with the shallots, rosemary and salt and cook on about 350˚F for about 45 minutes. Halfway through the time, I usually put water into the tray to steam up and soften the chicken.

Turn up the heat for an extra 10 minutes for extra crispy skin.

SERVE!

A little bit about Rachel:

What's it like being married to a chef? What's the typical meal like at the Le Roux residence?
Everyone must think that I get gourmet food at home everyday but I don't. All a chef does is cook at work so that last thing he would like to do is cook at home after hours on his feet. So I cook dinner most of the time. But when he has his days off and fancies cooking up a storm, well these are the days that I reap the benefits. Typical meal? Meat with a salad and potatoes or something Asian. Rice doesn't really come onto our table too often, guess it's from the years of living in London. But there has to be meat, because he's South African and because they can't live without it.

You used to live in London, from a culinary perspective, what do you miss about living there?
When you think about London, food doesn't generally come into mind. People often say that the food is bland. But when you live there, you discover and crave for certain things that you enjoyed. Where do I even begin? Pork and Leek sausages, Supermarket bought Angus Aberdeen Rib Eye steak that doesn't cost and arm and a leg, Pret-a-Manger, and I know we get quite a good variety here in Manila, but OH MY. THE CHEESES. What a wonderful selection. When I was up to it, I'd walk to Whole Foods and head straight to huge, refrigerated cheese room and treat myself to a chunk of Manchego with quince jelly. Solero Exotic Fruit Sorbet Ice Cream, Sunday Roasts! Lamb, Beef or Pork with veggies, Yorkshire pudding, Gastro pubs and I miss my favourite restaurants--Busaba Ethai, Belgo's Centrale in Covent Garden, my local pub (The Queens Head in Brook Green) for last minute meals out, Wagamamas around the city, and most importantly Chelsea Bun in Fulham for their traditional English fry-up breakfasts. Oh, the wonders of the English fry-ups.

Rachel with her hubby, Chef Hylton Le Roux

Tell us more about Pi Catering and what it can bring to the table in the already saturated food industry in Manila
Hylton has been a chef now for fourteen years, from working in Gordon Ramsey's kitchen at the Savoy Hotel to Heston Bleumental's kitchen at The Fat Duck to gastro pubs and catering companies. His vision and concept for Pi Catering is to bring his culinary knowledge and experiences into homes, as if you have a Michelin Star restaurant in your own home! He will initially sit with you to create a menu suitable for your palate and works on a menu concept designed just for you. And then on the day of the event, everything is brought to you. Just think of everything that you need to make you feel like you are dining out but in fact, you are sitting in your own dining room and at the end of the night, all you do is sit back and have your night cap with you and your friends in the comfort of your own home. I think Manila's foodies will be pleasantly and wonderfully surprised. :) It's different, it's classically creative and it's fun.
He's also blogging about the whole start up of the company and his take on food.

Check out Pi Catering on Facebook and Hylton's blog at http://foodthewayiseeit.tumblr.com

Restaurant Review: Crisostomo

What happens when you plan to meet up with childhood friends, most of who you haven't seen in over a decade?

You stuff your faces of course.

While I don't usually look for Filipino food, I enjoy it quite a lot when it is placed in front of me.We ate at Crisostomo at Eastwood, a place I've eaten at before and though I find their food quite pricey (We all know Pinoy food ingredients are cheap!)I don't mind eating there once in awhile.

Sizzling Balut--> This was more for the only American on the table last night. Why is it every time there's a foreigner, Filipinos insist that they HAVE TO eat balut? Half of us won't even go near the stuff! No Little duck tho--boo!

We got not one, not two but THREE kinds of rice. I don't eat that much rice on a normal basis, BUT when it's mixed with adobo sauce, crab fat or tinapa, how can I resist? No, really? The Adobo rice was my favorite.

Tinapa and Salted Egg Rice--> Like tinapa, don't like Salted Egg. I know, what's wrong with me, right?

Taba ng Talangka Rice--> Who doesn't like crab fat? it's the deadliest, fattiest, yummiest thing ever...and mixed with rice? It was heavenly. Worth feeling like crap for after.

Sari-Saring Sinugba Platter--> This was a mix of seafood and popular Pinoy food like liempo, grilled squid stuffed with tomatoes and onions and pork bbq. This is a good thing to get for a big group of people.

Tadyang ni Tiago---> I don't know what part of beef Tadyang is, but this was soooo goood. it looked really crispy to the point of not being good anymore, but damn, it was so soft and with the right amount of fattiness. Yum. I want more!

And as if all that wasn't enough, we also ordered Crispy pata. I'm picky with pork, and now that I'm with Abdul (iamdeerhunter.blogspot.com)I really try to keep my intake to a minimum. Can't resist crispy pork skin though. Oh well!

I wanna eat at Crisostomo again tonight...and for someone who doesn't really crave Filipino food, the place must be pretty good.

Crisostomo is located at 2/F New Eastwood Mall. Call 7101693 for reservations

Kitschen Quickies: A little bowl of noodles goes a long way

I effin' love Mongolian Bbq. Most especially those all you can eat joints where you know you'll probably regret having that last bowl but it just hits the spot so well that at that moment, you don't even care.

Usually people put rice, but I like using noodles. I usually mix it w/ terriyaki and mongolian sauces, garlic, sesame seeds, squid and a few other things depending on my mood.

It's freakin' awesome! And if it tastes bad, it's your fault!

Sweet Inspirations is located at 311 Katipunan Ave., Loyola Heights, Quezon City. Call 928-2557 and 433-4200.

Man, before Sunday the lst time I was there was in college!

Kitschen Invasion: Patti's Cookie Dough Truffles

Since I love having people over to eat what I make in my Chaotic Kitschen, I thought it would be an awesome idea to invite some of my friends that are just as into food as I am, to share their favorite recipes with you all, as well as some of their thoughts on food.

First up is fellow any-food-from-nyc lover, and woman after my own sweet-as-cupcakes heart, Patti Grandidge!

Let's start with her recipe first!

Cookie Dough Truffles

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup chocolate chips - i prefer using mini morsels for this recipe
A couple bars of your favorite chocolate for the coating - I use Hershey's milk chocolate for this recipe

-Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer, add the vanilla
-Beat in four, add the milk
-Lastly, mix in the chocolate chips

-Now that you have the dough, I recommend to place it in the refrigerator so that it cools and it's easier to handle (if not, it's a bit sticky)
-Once the dough is cooled, 20 minutes or so, shape them into 1" balls and place them on a cookie tray lined with wax paper
-Chill for 2 hours, and then...

-Melt your chocolate bars
-Dunk the dough into the melted chocolate so that it coats the entire ball
-Place back on wax paper and store in the refrigerator for at least an hour

A little bit about Patti...

Tell us more about this dish. How did you come up with it and how did it become your go-to food?
If it was socially accepted and my body could handle it, I would eat dessert for breakfast lunch and dinner. Anything go-to for me usually means desserts, never "real" food. Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite, and this recipe is a variation of the traditional chocolate chip cookie. They are no-bake chocolate chip cookie dough truffles! Everyone who loves cookies, loves cookie dough.

What's your favorite type of food? Like if there was one dish in the world that you could eat forever and nothing else what would it be?
This is tough! Sometimes I say I could eat bread and butter for the rest of my life... My key ingredients that I couldn't live without, though, would be chocolate, Nutella, cheese and peanut butter.

Favorite kitchen mishap story.
This is more like an embarrassing kitchen story. In general, I'm known to be neat and tidy. Even in the kitchen I like to clean up after myself and keep everything organized as I go along. One afternoon I was making red velvet cupcakes and instead of switching off my mixer, I turned it up to full speed and red batter literally got EVERYWHERE. My parents walked in and snickered at me cleaning up the red stains all over the kitchen.

Favorite food destination and why? What are your favorite restos there?
New York! One could live in New York forever and it would be impossible to try every single restaurant in the city. The different mix of people and culture really lends itself to such a variety of cuisines in an American city. A few of my favorites are Peter Luger for top of the line steak, SMAC for every kind of mac 'n cheese possible, Levain Bakery for the best cookies in the world and Momofuku for perfect pork buns.

What is it about Filipino food that makes it stand out from other types of food?
Filipino food is always made with love and typically enjoyed over family get togethers or special occasions. That in itself is just special being that the Filipino culture is so warm and friendly. Filipino food has the influence of Asian flavors along with Western touches making it unique from other types of food. I just love that Filipino food is celebratory, flavorful and always plentiful - the eating never ends! That's the best part ;)

Find Patti at http://pattispalette.blogspot.com/

Brunch in the Kitschen: Waffles and Tattoos

We had time for a quick brunch this morning before Abdul had to meet with possible tailors---> btw, peep his blog: iamdeerhunter.blogspot.com--> If I like tattoos and cooking, he likes tattoos and sewing. Perfect Couple!

Abdul had the Tapsilog--> I wanna get this next time. Where can I get good steak n' eggs for brekky?

I had a bacon waffle drowning in maple syrup with a side of country sausage. I hadn't indulged in a real breakfast in so long so I totally made up for it today. So much for my diet! They're overrated anyway! ;p

(says the girl who has a photo shoot in a couple weeks) I will probably regret all this eating but whatevs!

Happy Sunday!

Pancake House Katipunan, Call 929-9006 I think they deliver too!

Restaurant Return: Uncle Cheffy

Start with Calamari with Sambal Sauce. Get the sauce on the side to keep the squid crispy!

Panizza! Lots of places have their version but I like the Uncle Cheffy Favorites with 3 kinds of cheese, tomato, basil, anchovy, mushroom and chili flakes.

Memphis Barbecue U.S. Beef Fingers---This is a big order, definitely get it to share. it comes with a pesto vinaigrette and extra barbcue sauce on the side as well as a small salad and potatoes. Best way to eat it is with your hands!

For dessert, my daughter wanted frozen yogurt. I wasn't hungry until I saw this coming out of the kitchen and straight to another person's table-- a waffle with banana and butterscotch. I ended up ordering one. One complaint though Red Mango, why did this take so long? My whole table was done eating their yogurt by the time it came out.

Uncle Cheffy is located at 2/F Eastwood Mall Veranda, Eastwood City, Libis. Call 383-7215 for reservations

I'm gonna try to make this blog even more fun to read by thinking of other sections that I will feature from time to time. If you have any suggestions, or anything in mind that you would be interested in reading about, please feel free to let me know!