I am not an American, but I did have Thanksgiving dinner with friends from the US Potato Board. Their turkey looked great! I bet it tasted great too. Wish we could do the same with chicken. Turkey tasted like white meat all over, even when you have the leg and thigh part. For the Americans, Thanksgiving is a major holiday. As big as this holiday is to them, the US Agricultural Attache decided to spend Thanksgiving by breaking bread with Filipino foodies and local restaurant aficionados.

Chef Sau Del Rosario was good enough to have whipped up a special menu that would fully utilize the good taste and quality of US potatoes.

Foie Gras in potato pea soup. How can anyone say no to foie gras?

Cooking with Potatoes

Potatoes are just as good in Continental cuisine as it is with our local cooking. To prove this, the US Potato Board had a culinary challenge called “Pinoy na Pinoy na Potato Recipe Challenge”. Chefs from all over the land were challenged to take a popular Filipino dish and re-invent it using US Frozen Potato products. The result? Thirteen recipes by some of the best chefs. The Grand Prize winner is Chef Liza Decasa of Annabel’s Fine Dining Restaurant. And as an added treat, here is that winning recipe.

Note: Pinangat is also known as Laing.

Potato Pinangat

Ingredients:

2 kg     US Frozen Potato Wedges (bruniose)

Brunoise is a method of food preparation in which the food item is first julienned and then turned 90° and diced again, producing cubes of a side length of about 3 mm on each side or less. Common items to be brunoised are leeks, turnips and carrots. The diced vegetables are blanched briefly in salty boiling water and then submerged in ice water for a few seconds to set the color. The brunoise is often used as a garnish in many dishes. A common dish which often uses a brunoise as a garnish is a consommé. A brunoise must be very consistent in size and shape, as it helps to ultimately create a visual effect.  (from Wikipedia)

1/2 kg     Onions (coursely chopped)

250 g      Shrimp paste

500 g     coconut cream (thick)

2 tsp     Iodized salt

1/2 tsp     white pepper

40 pcs     taro leaves (big)

4 tsp     vegetable oil

Sauce

1 liter     coconut milk (thin)

50 g     fresh turmeric (chopped)

30 g     chili finger

2 tsp     iodized salt

1/2 tbsp     granulated sugar

Garnish

80 pcs     Dried banana blossom (fried)

Cooking directions

1. Saute the onion and shrimp paste in oil under low fire until onions have sweat. Add the US Frozen Potato Wedges and continue to cook until the US Frozen Wedges are heated through.
2. Pour the coconut cream into the pan with the mixture and slowly bring to a boil; simmer for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper then set aside to cool.
3. Divide the simmered US Frozen Potato wedges mix into the taro leaves; wrap in the leaves and set aside until service.

Making the Pinangat Sauce

1. In a saucepan, mix in the coconut milk, chili finger and turmeric. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer in low heat for about five minutes.
2. Put the US Frozen Potato Wedges wrapped in taro leaves mixture in the sauce and let it cook until the leaves are tender and cooked.
3. Strain the cooked taro leaves from the sauce and set it aside. As for the sauce, let it reduce until the desired consistency is reached. Season with salt and pepper off the fire.

Plating the Pinangat

• Placed the cooked Pinangat on the center of a large dinner plate then pour the sauce over it. Garnish the dish with the fried banana blossoms. Serve while hot.

This recipe is from the Pinoy na Pinoy na Potato Recipe Challenge.

Just when I thought the old taste of Selecta was lost, here comes Filipino cuisine’s best and spruced up an old favorite. Chefs Gamboa, Laudico and del Rosario have collaborated to give three of most exquisite ice cream flavors available in the local market.

Personally, I’ve always preferred imported ice creams over the local ones because I’ve always found locally made ice cream to be too sweet for my taste and yet, less creamy. Not to mention, I hate strawberry.

However, this strawberry flavor by Selecta was different. I just tried it because there was some in the fridge. To my surprise, it was really good! Not too sweet and very creamy, just the way I like it!

Chef Laudico’s Chocolate Truffles and Chef Del Rosario’s Hazelnut Brownie were winners too, in my book. The Selecta Gold Series is much cheaper than imported ice creams, but the taste is just as good is not better. Not to mention, the price is more affordable.

I have personally dined at Chef Gamboa’s Cirkulo restaurant, as well as it’s sister restaurant, Milky Way. I just LOVE their food and I go back there when I can. Chef Laudico is also a wonderful chef as I have had the privilege of sampling his best at his restaurant Bistro Filipino. Enough reason for me to have a taste of their cooking through the Selecta Gold Series, which is just more accessible and affordable to have as often as I want!

I highly recommend the Gold Series by Selecta. It’s something you should stock up in your fridge. They’re Noreen’s favorite too!

Related posts:

Unilever Food Solutions launches new website at El Cirkulo

Milky Way revisited

Chef Laudico’s Bistro Filipino: An Adventure in Filipino Food