Another Moist Chocolate Cake Experiment

Thanks gid sa recipe ni pinoyfoodblog. Check it out here.

Nag try na naman ako maghimo sang cake. Ari ang mga pictures. Kabudlay pa ni kay samtang galuto luto, kapyot ko pa ang digicam. All for the sake of documentation.

Successful man sya. Galing nagsakit/lingin ulo ko. Nasobrahan sa tsokolate! Hamak mo 1/4 dayun ang gin-impas ko.

1. Ang cake nga bag-o haw-as sa oven nga gamitoy.

2. Ang fudge icing sang gina lugay-lugay.

3. Sang gina bubo na ang fudge sa babaw sang guin patugnaw nga cake

4. Sang guinapatulo lang ang icing sa kilid sang cake. Nag-awas na sya sa plato. Na excite ko masyado. Ti kalat kalat dason ang tiny kusina ko eh.

The Ruins Part 2

Nag bisita ulit ako sa The Ruins sining Agosto. Ga binagyo, pero sige lang. Nag abot si “x” eh, gin request nya gid ma makita ining balay nga ni.

Ari liwat duha ka litrato nga gin kuha ko. Try try ko lang.

Cereals w/ strawberries or Strawberries w/ cereals?

What do you think?

(Pictures taken on one of those super lazy Saturday mornings.)

And I dabbled with quiche…

Four years ago, on one of our trips to France, a host family served us an unfamiliar dish for dinner. It was some kind of a savory pie made of eggs, cheese, and greens (which I later found out to be spinach). I asked our host what that dish was called and she told me, they called it quiche. It was a regional specialty and it was delicious!

After that pleasant gastronomic experience, I took a mental note on replicating the dish as one of my experimental goals.

Finally, yesterday, I decided to give it a try. I took a recipe from the net, scanned the essentials, and improvised.

— QUICHE—

half  a bunch of spinach (around 7 to 8 stalks)

1 clove garlic

half of medium sized onion

about 1oo grams of shredded torokeru cheese (i’m in japan… but the recipes called for feta and sometimes cheddar)

2 eggs

about 1/4 cup of milk

salt and pepper to taste

For the pie crust: 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of butter, about 2 tbsp water about 1 tsp salt and sugar

1. First I made my pie crust. Chilled it for about 45 mins. Rolled it out and prebaked in the oven at 180 deg. C for about 20 minutes.

2. Then, I made the filling. Sauteed the onions, garlic, and spinach in butter and added some of the cheese.

3. I scooped the filling ito the prebaked pie crust.

4. I beat the eggs, milk, salt, pepper and poured it onto the pie crust. I mixed it around a bit for the filling to go everywhere in the pie.

5. I preheated the oven to 190 deg. C and baked the quiche for around 15 minutes.

6. I sprinkled some of the cheese on top, and baked it again for another 30 to 45 minutes or so. Just until you see the center set.

And the result?

Tada! (Not perfect looking, but it really tasted nice.)

Name this seaweed.

Over the more common (I think?) “lato” and “guso”, this seaweed is my favorite. I like it with langgaw (vinegar), sibuyas nga pula (red onion), and kamatis (tomato).

I asked the “manang” what this is called in Ilonggo, and she just told me “gulaman”, but I think, gulaman means seaweed in general.

Anyway, if anyone happens know the name of this seaweed. Please tell me!

Piyaya / Piaya for Singles

Oh how I missed piaya.

I have been wanting to make these Negrense treat so I went ahead and googled for some recipe and found this very simple one from blueapron.
(Thank you!)

Since I am only feeding myself, I only made 1/4 of the recipe.

Here it is:

1/2 cup flour

1 tbsp butter

1tbsp water

1/2 cup of muscovado sugar; some call it raw sugar (i used up less than this)

sesame seeds (optional but better if you have these)

Instruction:

1. Mix flour and butter while adding water slowly until you will get this consitency. You must be able to form the dough.

2. Divide into 6, roll, and flatten. Fill the center with muscovado sugar. Seal and roll again to flatten. I don’t have a rolling pin, so I just pressed these by hand. No worries. (At this point, you can sprinkle in the sesame seeds before  you flatten the muscovado-filled piaya.)

3. Grill on a non-stick pan and brown each side. The sugar might ooze out. Be careful not to burn your piayas.

4. Serve hot! (Do not get too excited, though. You wouldn’t want to burn yourself!)

The Ruins (The Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson Mansion)

A relatively new addition to the Negros experience is (ironically) this old mansion in Talisay City which was opened to the public only in January 2008.

The Ruins, as it is known today, was the old mansion of Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson (1865-1948). Built after the death of his first wife, Maria Braga, it served as the residence of the sugar baron and his unmarried children. It was the largest and probably the most grandiose residential structure built during those times.

Unfortunately, during World War II, the mansion was burnt by the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), the US guerilla forces, to prevent the Japanese from using it as one of their headquarters. Its roof went down, the once 2-inch wooden floors were incinerated, and its contents were all looted. However, because of its robust  A-grade concrete frame, not all were consumed by the fire.

Today, the mansion’s frame stands as a testament of its stately past.

When the sugarcane plantation was divided among the relatives, Pacita Lopez Heredia inherited the 3.6-hectare farmland where the mansion stands. Not knowing what to do with the land, it was offered as a donation to a group of priests. Eventually, the offer lapsed, and Raymund Heredia Javellana, today’s owner, has been continuously rebuilding the place as a cafe and tourist attraction. “It is a work in progress,” he says. “Everyday there is always something new. People who visited before would come back and notice something they haven’t seen the last time they were here.”

The Ruins opens from 8:30 am to 8:00 pm daily. Fee is at 25 pesos per person. It has a cafe inside and a mini-golf course at the back garden for 50 pesos per game. The mansion plays host to various events such as weddings, tours, concerts, movie shoots, and a lot more. For more information, call +63-34-4952790 (landline) or +63-917-8326003 (mobile). You can also email at lacson_mansion@yahoo.com.ph.

Year 2009 Philippine Holidays

Schedule your trips if you are planning to have one this year!

Here are this year’s holidays as stated in Proclamation 1699.  The day for Fitr will be announced later.

A. Regular Holidays

April 6 – Araw ng Kagitingan (Monday nearest to April 9)
April 9 – Holy Thursday
April 10 – Good Friday
May 1 – Labor Day (Friday)
June 12 – Independence Day (Friday)
August 31 – National Heroes Day (Monday)
November 30 – Bonifacio Day (Monday)
December 25 – Christmas Day (Friday)
December 30 – Rizal Day
B. Special Non-Working Holidays

August 21 – Ninoy Aquino Day (Friday)
November 2 – Additional special (non-working) day (Monday)
December 24 – Additional special (non-working) day (Thursday)
December 31 – Last Day of the Year (Thursday)

Breakfast over the Holidays

I had this hearty breakfast on Christmas Day.

Pancakes made by Manang Lucy, tuna omelette, hotdog (one little piece), puto and bibingka made by our neighbor and ibos (sticky rice wrapped in coconut leaves) bought from the vendor.

It was great to be home.

Seafood Restos at Brgy. Balaring, Silay City

Balaring, a small barangay in Silay City,  is one of our family’s frequent lunchtime destination. We usually go here after the Sunday morning mass especially when the weather is breezy and the skies are clear.

Hectares of sugarcane plantations hide rows of seaside restaurants such as this. (Tama Plaza, the largest among them)

They offer mostly seafood dishes in their menu, with an exception for ’staples’ like porkchop. (Which I usually order, to counterbalance the mostly seafood meal.)

For starters, we almost always get a mini-basin of  “talaba” (local oysters) which my father likes.

My sister’s fave is the buttered squid.

Since my mother likes to have her shrimps, veggies, and “sabaw” (soup), what can be more perfect than the “sinigang nga hipon” (shrimp in sour-based soup).

My brother likes the boneless bangus.

Here’s the porkchop, I mentioned earlier.

Sili and calamansi with sinamak and toyo is the perfect all-around sawsawan.

===

Here’s how to get to there:

(Brgy. Balaring, Silay City, Negros Occidental)

From Bacolod, take the National Highway going north.  Right after the Silay City proper, turn left at the Dona Teresita Jalandoni Provincial hospital. You will see a number of “Brgy. Balaring” signs, just follow them until you see rows of bamboo restaurants by the sea.

Enjoy Negros!