We’re just taters about ‘em! Potatoes are probably the only vegetables that children will eat without resistance, just take them to McDonald’s. Although it’s 80% water and only 20% solid, there’s enough sugar in every potato that can change its taste and smell. Just be careful in putting them in the fridge; the longer a potato is in cold storage, the shorter its shelf life because the cold causes the sugar to decrease thus changing the taste of potato.

At the recently held Thanksgiving Dinner by the United States Dept of Agriculture Potato Board at the Restaurant 9501 (Restaurant 9501, 14th Floor, ELJ Center Cor. Mo. Ignacia & Sct. Albano Avenue, Quezon City, Telephone nos. 415-2272 loc. 2331), I was completely bowled over with Chef Myrna Seguismundo’s brilliant version of the traditional American stuffed turkey. I never liked turkey until I tried this one. Chef Myrna is indeed a Godsend to the Philippine dining public. She introduced my palate to the turkey that I would have normally frowned upon.

Everything in this dinner had potatoes in them, but they didn’t serve us French Fries. It was a grand potato dinner from starters to desserts.

The image you see above is not made of potatoes. It’s Adobo Pate. An innovative creation by Chef Myrna. I loved this with the potato bread. After this, came the soup.

This is Truffled Mashed Potatoes with Porcini Mushroon Froth. First sip and I saw fireworks. I love the taste of truffles with anything savory. I love the way it was served and how warm it stayed in my cup. Yung sa katabi ko hindi nya maubos, parang gusto kong hingiin, di ko lang sya kilala, hehehe.

Wasting no time to get to the heart of the matter is the Roast US Tom Turkey with bread and nut stuffing, minted orange-cranberry relish, creamed spinach, candied crinkle-cut potatoes all generously poured with Giblet Gravy. Un-be-lieve-able.

The turkey meat was so soft and tasty it tasted like dark chicken meat! It was juicy and so tender. If all turkey meat were THIS good, I’d start eating turkey everyday. Incidentally, turkey has been known to be healthy with more protein and lesser fat than chicken.

For dessert, they served poached pears and grapes on top mashed potato crepes and Vodka Sabayon. To hell with my diabetes, I devoured this one like my blood sugar was better than fine.

I don’t know if they serve this regularly at Restaurant 9501, I think this is a special menu for the USDA Potato Board Thanksgiving Dinner. I hope they invite me again next year. What potato wonders await me then!

This is Lolo Dad’s Brasserie special menu for Thanksgiving. It is available from November 22 to 27, 2010. It costs P2,500+ per person. It is worth every cent.

Chilled Scallop, Smoked Prawn and Dungeness Crab Salad.

Yeah I wondered about it too. Dungeness crab is a kind of crab that grows mostly in North America. It’s not traditional Thanksgiving fare, but it is delicious. I assume from it’s small serving that it’s not cheap. True enough, the taste of the meat is wonderful. Though I am allergic to crab meat, I still allowed myself to enjoy more than a morsel of it. Truly delectable.

The prawn is so fresh. When you have this at Lolo Dad’s, make sure you scrape that green sauce with the prawn. The flavors are exquisite!

The scallop under the crab salad is worth the wait. It was soft and would literally melt in your mouth after every bite. Biting into the scallop, I felt the savory juices find their place inside my palate. If this were a battle, I’d say I surrendered so easily to this scallop.

Popover bread

This ugly-looking bread was actually a highlight of my dinner. Surprises can be delightful when you least expect it and this ugly piece of bread was just the surprise I needed. One bite and I thoroughly doubted my eyes. This is not bread, they’re pancakes. At least, as soft as pancakes.

Even butter wouldn’t do justice, so I just eat it as it is. YUM!

Cream of Onion Soup with Gruyere Cheese and Hash Brown

Indeed, this is the soup that captures the imagination. Gruyere cheese melts when you put in warm soup. See the oils.

The soup is a good way to start the Thanksgiving meal. Stir the soup, cheese and potatoes in there and you will get a thick and rich soup. I really love melted Gruyere cheese. It is savory and yet not too salty. You will still taste the fullness of the onion soup and still taste the melted Gruyere. You will love this soup too.

US Eye of Rib Eye and Stewed Beef Cheeks

If you are a meat person, there’s the steak. If not, there’s the fish. Sorry, I have no photo of the Sea bass. However, let me tell you a little about the steak dish. The beef cheeks are so good. I wiped my plate clean with the rest of the popover bread, down to the last drop of the sauce. It is the finest I have ever tried, and I have tried a LOT of restaurants. If you try this, I believe you will agree with me that you will want to return to Lolo Dad’s just for this one. I know I do.

I didn’t eat the veggies. Sorry, I just focused on the meat. Lolo Dad’s also let’s you choose which wine to pair it with. Don’t concern yourself much with what’s proper or not. Just go with what you like. Lolo Dad’s wines do not suck.

Because this is a Thanksgiving dinner, there is turkey and all the stuffing and sauces that go with it.

Stuffed Turkey with Cranberry Sauce

I never liked turkey, until now. From this dish I learned that the taste of turkey depends entirely on how it was cooked. This one was lovely.

Dark Chocolate and Strawberry Bar, Vanilla and Almond Ice Cream and Candied Taters Coin Hash Potatoes.

What’s a meal without dessert? That cottony thing on top of the coin hash potato is like cotton candy. REALLY GOOD! I never thought potatoes can be used for dessert. There’s the ice cream, a mainstay of any meal. The star of the plate, the chocolate and strawberry bar. Take a closer look.

The strawberry is a streak on the plate, perfect accent to the dark chocolate that is filled with almonds.

It is neither bread nor cake. It’s pure dark chocolate peppered with almonds!

Remember you can enjoy this at Lolo Dad’s from November 22 to the 27th. Call 813-6750 for more information. Lolo Dad’s is located at 6750 Ayala Ave, Makati City.

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.