Oven Braised Beef and Wild Mushroom Ragout with Potato Puree
IF you love indulgent lunches, then you’d probably fall in love with the New Executive Lunch offerings of Discovery Suites’ 22 Prime.
Available Mondays to Sundays, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., until July 31, 2014, are 22 Prime’s set lunches with its sumptuous signature dishes. There are three set lunches to choose from:
• Set 1 (Php765+ or Php820 net) is a three-course meal made up of Cream of Chicken Soup, Oven Braised Beef and Mushroom with Potato Puree, and Mango Cheesecake.
• Set 2 (Php350+ or Php380 net) comes with Mixed Green Salad with Balsamic Dressing and Pan Roasted Chicken Breast with Olive Oil Crushed Potato and Salsa Verde.
• Set 3 (Php620+ or Php674 net) is composed of Caesar Salad and Grilled Fish of the Day with Olive Oil Crushed Potato and Salsa Verde.
For inquiries and reservations, call 719-6805, 719-6821 to 23 and 719-8888.
Mall of Kitchens is revolutionizing the way Filipinos shop for their kitchen needs
THESE days, home depots, or one-stop shops for home construction and renovation needs are common. But an entire depot that carries everything you need for the kitchen?
Now, there is one. It’s called Mall of Kitchens (MOK), and it’s located at the corner of Kamagong St. corner Lawaan St., San Antonio Village, Makati City. It’s a huge 2,500-square-meter facility equipped with a 1,000-square-meter store that’s fully stocked with the highest quality kitchen equipment, utensils, foodservice furniture and other merchandise for commercial as well as household use.
A brand under Technolux, one of the country’s largest importers and distributors of a complete line of foodservice, small wares, laundry and cleaning equipment, Mall of Kitchens carries anything from heavy-duty cooking equipment, deep fryers, freezers and ice machines to plates and bowls, glasses, pitchers, cooking pots and pans, scales, mixing bowls, chafing dishes, cake stands, silverware, storage solutions, knives, chairs, and bar and coffee supplies.
Mall of Kitchens is 1,000 square meters of kitchen equipment, gadgets, essentials and more!
Plates and bowls of all sizes and shapes on the shelves of MOK
Pots and pans galore
Silverware
Health monitors
Coffee in big packs
Aisles upon aisles of merchandise
Mall of Kitchens began as a 20-square-meter display area under Technolux, then moved to a 400-square-meter showroom, but it was still not enough to showcase the wide array of kitchen products that the company offered. Thus, the idea of opening Mall of Kitchens came about. The store concept has since morphed into a fully-integrated showroom that doubles as a one-stop shop complete with its own test kitchen, where the company’s corporate chefs hold free demos on the proper use of various kitchen equipment as well as other useful food-related topics such as food safety and proper sanitation. It has also become a wonderland for chefs, culinary and baking students and enthusiasts, and homemakers who love to cook and entertain.
“When we opened MOK, there was instant appreciation by our institutional customers like hotels and restaurants. We understood how to sell directly to business establishments, but the concept also had a retail facet to it. So we had to be open to what the everyday market, such as homemakers, home cooks, start-up businesses and foodies, needed. We underwent a process of finding the right formula to keep people interested in MOK, and this is something that we continue to do since we opened in 2012,” explains Jenny Carlos, AVP-Smallwares.
She adds: “What sets us apart from other distributors is that MOK is not only a showroom; it is also a retail store. We have sales agents to service our corporate clients. But our value added offering is that our customers can visit MOK, peruse our products and equipment, and leave the store with their purchases.”
Chairs
Heavy-duty cooking equipment
Spoon-shaped fingerfood containers for cocktails
Square-shaped cocktail food containers
Neatly arranged in racks in the store are pots and pans in varying sizes, colors and materials. Shelves are filled with plates, bowls, glassware, crystals and flatware imported from Europe, the Middle East and China. Dining table set-ups, chairs, furniture, cocktail party set-ups and other showcases give customers new and exciting ideas on how to create their own. There are also kitchenware, kitchen footwear, food and sauce containers. Whatever is needed when it comes to kitchen construction, renovation, repairs or improvement, MOK seems to have it.
To make sure Mall of Kitchens continues to carry the widest assortment of products and the most trusted brands from around the world, management regularly sends its team to different parts of the world to keep abreast with the latest developments in the culinary landscape as well as to explore local destinations to bring our own products together under one roof. No wonder you could get lost for hours in the aisles of Mall of Kitchens and totally enjoy the experience.
(Mall of Kitchens is located at 9703 Kamagong St. corner Lawaan St., San Antonio Village, Makati City; with telephone numbers 890-6758 and 552-3587.)
LOOKING for a light and healthy salad that’s at the same time delicious and flavorful? I stumbled upon one today, July 5, 2014, when I attended the A Vegan Affair with Chef Marie Gonzalez interactive cooking class at The Maya Kitchen. I dropped by The Maya Kitchen the other day to see a good friend, Ige Ramos, editor of Rustans Supermarket’s Sansrival Magazine (for which I will also be writing), and Tita Rorie Subida, head of The Maya Kitchen, invited me to come over today and attend the class. As author of Anvil Publishing Inc.’s Pinoy Vegetarian Cookbook, she says, the cooking class was right up my alley, and since I am in the process of gathering recipes for the second edition of my vegetarian cookbook, I said yes.
So, I was there with my husband Raff early this morning, and Chef Marie Gonzalez demonstrated how to prepare four vegan recipes – Yellow Split Pea Soup, Marinated Baked Tofu with Roasted Vegetables and Brown Rice, Rainbow Salad with Basil-Lemon Vinaigrette, and Chocolate Cake with Two Sauces – before grouping members of the class and sending them off to the cooking stations to replicate what she had just prepared.
Here’s the recipe of the interesting salad for readers of this blog, www.flavorsoflife.com.ph, to replicate in your own kitchens. This recipe requires no cooking, just a lot of whisking and a little assembly work, so everyone can do it.
The basil-lemon vinaigrette:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. coco sugar or muscovado sugar, or more to taste
1 tbsp. mustard
2 tbsps. finely chopped basil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1. Combine garlic, lemon juice, sugar and mustard in a small bowl. 2. Whisk until well combined. 3. Finely chop fresh basil leaves. Gather washed and pat-dried basil leaves together, then slice into thin strips before chopping further.
4. Add chopped basil to the dressing. Season with salt and pepper. 5. Slowly drizzle in extra virgin olive oil while whisking.
6. Whisk until emulsified. Taste and adjust with sugar, salt and pepper accordingly. To season accurately, dip a piece of lettuce leaf in the dressing and taste.
Makes 3/4 cup.
The salad:
4-6 cups salad greens (Romaine lettuce, Lollo Rosso lettuce, spinach, watercress and/or arugula)
red bell pepper, seeded and julienned
yellow bell pepper, seeded and julienned
carrots, peeled and julienned singkamas (jicama), peeled and julienned
alfalfa sprouts or tom yao sprouts
cucumber, seeded, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced into half moons
1. Chop salad greens into bite-sized pieces. 2. Make a bed of salad greens in a bowl. Top with red bell pepper. 3. Add yellow bell pepper. 4. Add carrots and singkamas.
5. Top with a mound of alfalfa sprouts. 6. Garnish with cucumber. Serve with basil-lemon vinaigrette on the side.
Diamond Hotel Philippines’ new Mushroom Truffle Ensaymada
PASTA in truffle cream sauce, truffle fries, truffle egg… Love everything that has truffle in it? Well, how about truffle ensaymada?
Diamond Hotel Philippines, which is located at Roxas Blvd. corner Dr. J. Quintos St., Manila, recently came up with an interesting gourmet twist to a traditional or classic pastry with its Mushroom Truffle Ensaymada. A perfect balance of savory earthiness of fresh forest mushrooms infused with truffle oil and the creamy sweetness of soft bread topped with a thick layer of cheddar cheese, Diamond Hotel’s Mushroom Truffle Ensaymada is sold at Php250 nett per piece.
Huge and indulgent, this new gourmet pastry treat is available at Diamond Hotel’s Lobby Lounge and all Cake Club outlets – Power Plant Mall at Rockwell Center in Makati City, and Bonifacio High Street – from 7:00 a.m. onwards.
Chef Gene Gonzalez welcomes Bobby Chinn to Cafe Ysabel and CACS. Here with Chef China Cojuangco and Chef Gino Gonzalez with daughter Lucia looking curiously at their guest
WHENEVER celebrity chef Bobby Chinn (host of a TV cooking show who runs restaurants in Vietnam and London, England) is in Manila, he makes sure he gets in touch with his Filipino friends, particularly his London schoolmates Henry Palacios and brother Hans and celebrity chef Gene Gonzalez. He chills out with his Filipino friends at Chef Gene’s Café Ysabel in between official schedules, and they have great fun catching up with each other’s lives.
No wonder he also did the same during his third and most recent visit to Manila. In town for the observance of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-declared Coral Triangle Day in the country, he took time out from his busy schedule to be with his friends, who surprised him with a special dinner in his honor. Bobby was surprised, since he expected to just conduct a cooking demo at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies (also owned by Chef Gene and is housed on the ground level of Café Ysabel in San Juan) and interact with the students and then have a quiet dinner and a few drinks with his friends. He was surprised to find the entire function hall of Café Ysabel dressed up for a special sit-down dinner that included his closest friends, the faculty of CACS, his WWF family, some media personalities, and foodies.
Bobby Chinn conducting a cooking demo at CACS
Seafood Ceviche by Chef Bobby Chinn
Tuna Tartare by Chef Bobby Chinn
So, after an animated yet very informative demo of Seafood Ceviche and Tuna Tartare at the main hall of CACS, he went up to Café Ysabel and enjoyed a good dinner.
Chefs galore: Gene Gonzalez and Bobby Chinn flanked by Giannina Gonzalez, Gino Gonzalez and China Cojuangco Gonzalez
Fried Olives and Almonds, with chips of Bacalao, Rillettes of Pork, and Confit of Guava
Foie Gras Terrine in a glass jar
On the table was a bread basket served with Fried Olives and Almonds, Foie Gras Terrine in a glass jar, and spreads of Rillettes of Pork, Bacalao and Confit of Guava.
Roasted Crustacean Mousseline with Market Shrimp in Leek Creme Soup
Then came the soup course, Roasted Crustacean Mousseline with Market Shrimps in Leek Crème Soup, which set the mood for the special dinner. It was a lovely leek crème soup with a smooth and flavorful crustacean mousse on a slice of sesame-crusted baguette in the center, crowned by a shrimp. The flavors melded together beautifully.
Platters of flaming salt-crusted lapu-lapu being presented
Lapu-Lapu Crusted in Smoked Salt with Whisked Brown Lime Butter and Whelk Croquettes
After the soup course, the lights were dimmed, much to the surprise of the guests. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise, though, as two of Café Ysabel’s chefs came out bearing platters of flaming salt-crusted fish flickering in the dark. “It’s a coral grouper or red grouper baked in a salt crust. We smoked the salt before baking the fish,” explains Chef Gene.
After Chef Gene presented them, the platters were taken back to the kitchen and then the Lapu-Lapu Crusted in Smoked Salt was served in individual sit-down portions with Whisked Brown Lime Butter and Whelk Croquettes, paired with a glass of Auqui Sauvignon Blanc.
Buffalo Tenderloin with Green Peppercorn Sauce Smothered with Japanese Mixed Mushrooms and Financiere Vol Au Vent
Main course for the special dinner was Buffalo Tenderloin with Green Peppercorn Sauce Smothered with Japanese Mixed Mushrooms and Financiere Vol Au Vent. Chef Gene surprised everyone by saying that the dish came with puree of popcorn. Puree of popcorn? Experimental – so Chef Gene – but it worked. You’ve got to give it to Chef Gene to think up such a unique idea. It went well with Carmen Carmenere.
A Progression of Calamansi
Dessert was yet another palate-pleaser. It was A Progression of Calamansi, a platter of all calamansi bites: Calamansi Marshmallow, Calamansi Macaron, and Calamansi Cheesecake or Semifreddo with Calamansi Curd.
Bobby enjoyed himself in the company of his friends, Chef Gene and the Palacios brothers. Chef Gene’s family – son Chef Gino with wife Chef China Cojuangco and daughter Lucia; and daughter Giannina, whose boyfriend Chef Francis Roman headed the kitchen team that prepared the food that evening – joined other celebrity guests, which included CACS graduate Chef Janice de Belen, senior faculty member Chef Junjun de Guzman, Ramesh Trading’s Hiren Mirchandani, Top Model Allison Harvard, TV personality Tim Yap and newly-weds Karylle and Yael Yuzon.
Another all-chef cast: Gene Gonzalez, Bobby Chinn, China Cojuangco Gonzalez, Junjun de Guzman and Janice de Belen
