The last day of July saw me dining out with friends from the office. The lunch was good and so were the laughs. This was not really the original place we decided to dine, but a little kink about selecting tables became an issue so we decided to move to Burgoo at the 4th floor of the Power Plant mall. We were glad we did.

It was only at the time that we ate there did we know what a burgoo really is. It’s a kind of stew, slightly spicy that was made from meats and vegetables. Think of it as diluted Menudo, with a little spice that hits the spot. Apparently, it has Irish origins but has been a Kentucky, USA favorite. I learned from another blog, that Burgoo is wholly Filipino owned. The servings made it seem like an American food franchise. Compared to most local restaurants, Burgoo’s servings are larger than usual, can be enough for two or more if you get the large portions. Seeing their menu, they now have regular and large orders per dish. I was so full with my fish ‘n chips regular order worth P255.00 (US$5.67), VAT inclusive but not including the standard 10% service charge.

The Jambalaya was very good. Abundant with seafood, Burgoo doesn’t scrimp with their ingredients. Khursten and Rael had this.

Zee had this large plate of ribs with corn, sausages and fries.

I had this fish ‘n chips with bottomless iced tea. Really good.

Khursten and Rael also had this dish along with their Jambalaya. Please leave a comment because I cannot remember what this is called. It was really good.

Smiles galore from happy Lawson people!

I love linguine and the reason that this picture isn’t very clear is because my hands were shaking with hunger. Now you know the story behind the picture. My last meal was chicken sandwich from some fastfood. It made me feel full from 11.30 am to 4.00 pm, but the hunger rallied till it won by 6.00 pm. The above photo was taken at 6.45pm.

Noreen was just as hungry and decided to order the Eggs Ben. Normally for breakfast, she wanted something heavy and had a lot of cheese. She complained when she got this dish because she thought it was too small for her super-sized appetite, so she ordered the Chicago Cheesecake too. You have no idea how mistaken she had been.

Halfway through the Eggs Ben, she was complaining that this was too much and that I should have warned her about it’s deceiving size.

And because she just loves cheesecake, she believed that the Chicago Cheesecake would supplement the “little” Eggs Ben. She had too much to eat, prompting for an earlier-than-usual trip to the bathroom, but was still determined to finish the cheesecake. I guess her ego had a hand in this. After an hour, the cheesecake won. We took home the leftovers.

This was my cake. No trouble downing this one. It has the quality I’ve been looking for in great-tasting cakes and pastries; not too sweet. The blackout cake is as moist as you see it in the picture.

Drooling already? Head to the nearest coffee bean and tea leaf to discover these tastes! www.coffeebean.com.ph

Last weekend (June 15), I was lucky enough to witness Italian executive chef Carmine Pece of the Cafe Puccini at a cooking demo inside the Rustan’s Supermarket, Power Plant mall. It was father’s day and there were a lot of people at the mall and Rustan’s took advantage of the large crowd by celebrating Ciao Italia, an Italian food festival to be celebrated throughout June. Meeting chefs have always been a treat for me, not only because they cook well, but because I haven’t met a chef I didn’t like. They’re funny, witty, gracious and accommodating, always willing to answer every question, no matter how stupid or inane (can you make tiramisu without Mascarpone cheese? Apparently, this chef can!).

Allow me to share Chef Pece’s recipe for Fettuccine Alla Panna, which he demonstrated and that I was quite fortunate enough to sample. Alla Panna literally means with cream so Fettuccine Alla Panna is fettucine with cream. Panna is the same word as in the dessert Panna Cotta which literally means cooked cream.

These are the ingredients:

1. 30g Sage
2. 30g White Onion
3. 20g unsalted butter
4. 20g Buffalo Mozzarella cheese (though ordinary mozzarella would do, the good chef insists on buffalo mozzarella or Mozzarella di Bufala Campana. This is mozzarella made from the milk of buffaloes that come from certain parts of southern Italy. Worry not, you can find it at Rustan’s supermarket. It’s usually in a bottle and is dipped in a clear liquid.)
5. 20g Parmesan cheese
6. 100ml Dry white wine (the general rule here is to use only the wine that you can drink. Don’t use wine that has a taste you don’t like.)
7. 10g ground black pepper
8. 30g nutmeg
9. 500ml thick cream

For the homemade fettucine:

1. 300g semolina flour
2. 3 pieces eggs
3. a pinch of salt
4. 1000ml or one liter of water

Procedure:

1. Mound the flour on a flat, clean surface.
2. Make a well in the pile of flour with a spoon or your hand. Afterwards, pour the eggs into the well and use a fork to mix.
3. Add some salt to the mixture to enhance the flavor of the pasta.
4. After mixing it, you will need to knead the mixture to make the dough. While working, dust the surface with some flour to prevent sticking. Knead the dough until it is smooth and firm. When done, cover with cling wrap until you ready to work with it.

The Sauce:

1. Put butter in a hot pan plus all the onions, sage, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
2. Pour the white wine and mix it with the cream under low fire.
3. After a little reduction, add the mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.
4. Add sauce to the pasta, serve and enjoy with parsley on top.

This is the flour Chef Pece wants to use for his homemade fettuccine dish.

Notice that he uses no pasta machine. He says it’s not so different.

I suggest you all try this recipe. I tasted this dish and it was truly heavenly.

Chef Carmine Pece cooks at Cafe Puccini at the Fort Strip mall and Il Pirata at the Eastwood City.

Some hard-to-find items may have been worth the visit. However, I still couldn’t get over the P50.00 (US$1.22) entrance fee into the Rockwell tent, where the non-food stalls abound. I really think they would get more foot traffic into the place if they let the concessionaires pay for the venue rentals. Experience tells me that markets with the entrance fees are actually more expensive than those without (like the wildly successful Salcedo Market and the Lung Center market.)

Nevertheless, Noreen liked the flowers. We didn’t buy any though.

So why am I blogging about this place? One food stall had so many people flocking to it and that’s what made my visit worth braving the heat. They called it Dream Ice Kakigori or Japanese shaved ice dessert. I hope I got the name right.

The setup was really simple. They had this machine that shaved ice so fine, finer than the average halo-halo. I was right when I told Noreen that the secret to a good summer dessert was in the ice.

I got the melon flavored kakigori.

After shaving the ice, green melon syrup was poured then condensed milk.

The result?

I don’t know where else you can buy Dream Ice Kakigori. I’m betting it could had at your neighborhood mall. With this heat, a large tub of kakigori will help you keep your cool.