BESIDES spaghetti, I like to use penne and spiral pasta whenever I make pasta dishes at home. Sometimes, however, I find myself with a little excess pasta on hand because I like my sauce rich and thick on my pasta. So what do I do with leftover pasta?
I make a pasta salad with it. Spiral pasta is perfect in a salad because it is equivalent to one bite or mouthful. More than just being easy to prepare, this salad is good because the different flavors of the ingredients used meld together perfectly. The strong flavor of tuna with lemon and pepper complements the subtle flavors of cooked pasta and boiled egg. You can even add lettuce into it, if you wish, and the flavors would still come together harmoniously as a treat for the palate.
The recipe…
1-2 cups leftover cooked spiral pasta
1/4 cup Gold Seas tuna in lemon and pepper
1-2 boiled eggs, cut into cubes
Japanese mayonnaise
1. Assemble spiral pasta, tuna and boiled egg on salad plate.
2. Pipe Japanese mayonnaise on the ingredients.
3. Serve.
IN connection with the nationwide Sustainable Seafood awareness this March (201, Marriott Hotel Manila joined other hotels and restaurants in reiterating its commitment to serve only the best quality and sustainable seafood in its restaurants.
Marriott’s commitment revolves mainly around offering sustainable shrimps. Why shrimps? This is because, according to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWW, formerly World Wildlife Fund), shrimps are the most traded marine product today and trading of shrimps constantly increases by 10% annually.
“Given our brand’s well-established corporate responsibility, which is “Spirit to Preserve,” we feel responsible for providing not just high-quality dishes but also for sourcing our ingredients responsibly so our clients can enjoy more years of great food and satisfied seafood cravings,” explains Marriott Hotel Manila’s executive chef Meik Brammer.
So expect the buffet spread at the hotel’s Marriott Café to be extra special on Wednesdays with the addition of premium quality tiger prawns called Selva Shrimps. Selva shrimps have a “Best Choice” rating for sustainability because these are naturally raised in mangrove forests, without the use of fertilizers or chemicals, and supports small farming communities in Southeast Asia. They are considered as healthy shrimps valued for their firm texture, succulent flavor and vibrant color.
Selva shrimps form part of Marriott Cafe’s buffet spread every Wednesday
Indonesian Sambal Marinated Grilled Shrimps
Manila Style Shrimp Sisig
As part of the buffet menu, guests can have Selva shrimps cooked just the way they want them. But Marriott chefs have recommendations at the same time. Their recommendations are written on the board—Grilled Shrimps, Gambas, and Buttered Garlic Shrimps. Should guests want the shrimps in international flavors, Chef Meik recommends Indonesian Sambal Marinated Grilled Shrimps; and for those who prefer having them in local flavors, there is Manila Style Shrimp Sisig to go to. Selva shrimps are offered on top of all those international dishes that Marriott has to offer on Marriott Café’s buffet spread. Despite the extra treat, however, the buffet price still remains Php1,950 for lunch and Php2,150 for dinner on Wednesdays.
Shrimp Boil
Baked Shrimps with Chips and Dips
Shrimp Okoy
Shrimp Kapao
Selva shrimps are also available as bar snacks at the hotel’s Greatroom lobby lounge. The bar menu includes Shrimp Boil (boiled shrimps with sausage and potatoes on the side), Baked Shrimps with Chips and Dips, Shrimp Okoy (fritters) and Shrimp Kapao (shrimps in a bun).
For inquiries, call (02) 988-9999 or log in to manilamarriott.com.
WHO says mango jam has to be made only from carabao mango, otherwise known as Philippine mango, to be good? You can make mango jam from the common Indian mango, too. It is the more common mango in the neighborhood, which just falls off the mango tree of your neighbor and drops to the ground because the tree is just teeming with it.
Well, it is almost summer, and it is that time of the year when the mango trees are bountiful with fruit. In our street alone, there are at least three mango trees, and one of them belongs to our neighbor Matt. He gave us a batch of super sweet, crunchy and delicious Indian mangoes from his tree. Two weeks later, when my husband Raff and I had consumed the whole batch, Matt gave us another big plastic bag full of Indian mangoes. It must have totaled about five kilograms. I turned some of it into chunky Indian mango jam.
Mango jam that is made from Indian mangoes has a distinct taste that pleases.
6-7 pcs. Indian mango
2 cups white sugar
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 Tbsp. grated lemon rind
1 tsp. rock salt
1. Peel mangoes. Roughly slice, removing the seed, then dice.
2. In a saucepan, combine diced mangoes, sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind and salt. Bring to a boil.
3. Lower heat and cook jam until the liquid is thick and syrupy.
4. Let cool.
5. Transfer to a bottle and keep refrigerated.
EVERY now and then, I get some Maya products. The brand’s former PR person, Tess Laurente, sent me a regular supply; and Joy Buensalido, who now handles Maya’s PR campaign, has sent me, too. One of the Maya products that I look forward to receiving is the Oven Toaster Chocolate Cake Mix because it is effortless to prepare. I usually prepare it according to package directions, but, recently, I decided to be more experimental and thought I’d mix some mashed bananas into the batter. After all, chocolates and bananas go well together, right?
While at it, I decided to add banana slices into the batter as well, then I made chocolate ganache, iced the cake with it, and decorated the cake later on.
Here’s what I did:
For the cake:
1 pack Maya Oven Toaster Chocolate Cake Mix (200 grams)
1 egg
3 Tbsps. oil
1/2 cup water
2 pcs. bananas, mashed
1-2 pcs. bananas, sliced thinly
1. Grease an 8×3-inch baking pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat egg, add oil and water then mashed bananas and chocolate cake mix until well blended.
3. Pour one-third of the batter into the greased baking pan. Line batter with half of the banana slices. Pour another third of the batter into the pan. Line with remaining half of the banana slices. Finally, pour in the remaining one-third of the batter.
4. Bake in oven toaster for 10 minutes. Turn the pan and bake for another 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Let cool.
For the chocolate icing:
2 Tbsps. cocoa powder
1-1/2 Tbsps. hot water
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. melted butter
1. Combine cocoa powder and hot water in a small bowl. Mix until cocoa powder melts completely and gets incorporated into the water.
2. Add powdered sugar and melted butter, and mix until completely incorporated.
3. When chocolate banana cake is cool, ladle icing over the cake. It is up to you if you want to keep the dripping look or spread the icing evenly over the top and sides of the cake.
For the décor:
dried apricots
dried cranberries
marshmallows
semi-sweet chocolate chips
white chocolate chips
1. Chill chocolate banana loaf cake to allow the icing to set a little.
2. Decorate with dried fruits, marshmallows and chocolate chips.
I SUCCESSFULLY made a batch of crispy kale chips with Parmesan cheese today (February 20, 201. It is my first time to do so, and I am happy that the experiment turned out well.
The first time I tasted kale chips was last year, when long-time friend Ivy Lisa Mendoza brought a bag of commercially branded kale chips as pasalubong for my husband Raff, a recovering stroke patient, on a visit with other long-time friend Susan de Guzman. When I opened the bag of kale chips a few days later, I found whole kale leaves that have been crisped up inside. They were good, but I knew they were expensive, so that was the end of it, although I had long heard about kale being such a superfood. So even in juicing, kale was a big star.
Despite its good reputation—or because of its good reputation—fresh kale was difficult to find. It was usually available in health shops but they would be gone in a few hours’ time. I never got to lay my hands on them, so I gave up.
Just last week, the ad of Homegrown Organics popped up in my Facebook account. I decided to take a look at their products and prices and found them to be quite interesting. They had produce such as Kaffir lime leaves, fresh strawberries, mizuna, arugula, fresh rosemary and basil leaves, wansuy, guyabano leaves and, yes, kale! I checked to see if they delivered to Cainta, and they did—and what’s more: Delivery’s free for minimum orders worth Php450. Besides, it was all organic. So I ordered a few things that I needed and, in three days’ time, just as they promised, my order arrived . I was disappointed that the Kaffir lime leaves and guyabano leaves I ordered were out of stock, but I was happy with the rest of my order.
What did I do with my fresh kale leaves? I checked out kale recipes on the Internet, in magazines and cookbooks, and asked a few friends. Finally, I decided to make kale chips. I found quite a few recipes, but I just picked up the technique and followed what I wanted to do, and it turned out well.
Here’s my easy recipe:
fresh kale leaves
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
finely grated Parmesan cheese
1. Wash the kale leaves. Remove the backbone or stem of the kale leaves and tear each leaf into four or six pieces.
2. Place in a bowl and fill with water. Soak so dirt from the organically grown kale leaves will be removed. Change the soaking water a few times.
3. Remove the leaves and drain on paper towels or spin-dry in a salad spinner.
4. Transfer to a clean and dry bowl. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Toss to coat all leaves.
5. Sprinkle with sea salt and then finely grated Parmesan cheese.
6. Arrange on a microwavable plate or tray, with no overlaps, and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes.
