Chicken Longganisa Pasta with Black Olives

Serving size: 3

Ingredients:
225 g chicken longganisa
2 Tbsp olive oil
60-70 g tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes (411 g)
1 onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
chili flakes to taste
a sprig of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1-2 tsp dried thyme
a handful of fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar (about 1-2 tsp)
water
red wine to taste
black olives, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Procedure:
Boil chicken longganisa in water until half cooked. Remove from pan and set aside. Pour out leftover water. Add olive oil to pan. Add onions and garlic. Remove skin from longganisa and crumble meat. Return to pan and saute with onion and garlic.Stir in the tomato paste. Add canned tomatoes with juices, rosemary, thyme, oregano,celery seeds and chili flakes. Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar to sweeten. Pour water in the tomato can and add to sauce. Once sauce is boiling, lower heat to simmer. Cover. After about an hour, add red wine and simmer uncovered. Season with salt and pepper. Add chopped black olives. Add torn basil leaves, Serve with pasta.

Note: Dried herbs are available at Unimart in 60-75 g bottle for about Php32/bottle under the Wil-Pack brand.

Borough Restaurant

Since my son had an all-nighter at Fiamma and came home in the wee hours of Saturday morning, we decided to do brunch at Borough as Part 2 of my birthday celebration. Why not? I lived in NYC for nearly 15 years before moving back to the Philippines and so I was curious how this resto would represent the food and vibes of the city that I love. When we entered the restaurant, I was shocked. I didn't expect to see cemented floors and a dimly lit place. One place came to mind, Elaine's restaurant located in the Upper East Side which was frequented by Woody Allen. Elaine's was only two blocks from our apt. and so we would have drinks there before the place became famous. Other than that, maybe Borough tried to replicate the Jazz bars in the Village.

My son ordered the dishes since he frequents this place. He said that they have large servings and so 3 dishes will be good enough for us.

Rothko Caesar Salad @ Php 210. This was just ok. The toast was dipped in egg much like French Toast then topped with shredded cheese and broiled until the cheese melted.

 Grilled Portobello Burger @ Php 330. This was served in a wooden tray with no side sauces. I really liked this dish. It was seasoned well and didn't need any sauces to enhance its flavor.

 Cheese Injected Portobello Pita Pocket @ Php 340. I absolutely loved this dish. The Portobello mushroom and Monterey cheese were breaded together and then deep fried. Zucchini slices were added to the pita with some type of lemon flavored aoili sauce. This was served with very thin slices of potatoes with skin.

Mom's Milk and Cookies @ Php 220. My son's all time favorite. Today we got chocolate chip cookies, gingerbread cookies and cranberry/oatmeal cookies. One dips the cookies in vanilla milk.

 We will definitely come back to try the other dishes especially the pumpkin ravioli. We used our discount coupons from Deal Grocer. What I liked about this restaurant was not only the food but that the noise from the other tables did not carry over. There was another couple seated next to us and the group of girls in the next booth. But we didn't even hear any of their conversations.

Borough Restaurant
The Podium, Ortigas Center

My Mother's Garden

Part I of my 2011 Birthday Celebration saw us trekking to Pasay City for my birthday lunch given by my friends at My Mother's Garden. I saw a part of Malu Veloso's interview on TV and when she mentioned that she does her marketing on the day of the event and that she tries to use organic ingredients as much as possible, I knew that we had to try her restaurant. Since this is a by appointment only restaurant, we booked a week ahead of the scheduled lunch. As expected, traffic was horrendous and by 12:30, Malu was calling us to find out where we were.When we got there, we were given an option of garden setting, al fresco lanai setting or the air conditioned inner room. We opted for the air conditioned room and two waiters immediately served us the fresh watermelon juice before laying out the buffet spread.

Organic lettuce with edible flowers from Tagaytay. This was served with a choice of wansoy and mango dressings. The flowers was a nice touch but didn't really have any taste. The wansoy dressing was different from the usual Caesar Salad and vinaigrette dressings we were used to. We preferred it over the mango dressing.

The mustard chicken was served with grilled organic baby eggplants. The chicken was nicely flavored and tender but the eggplant sealed it for us. It was moist and so, so sweet. We asked for more and the kitchen prepared another tray of eggplants for us. As we were preparing to leave, they had extra eggplants, ampalaya and ginger (all organic) and they sold it to us at 45 pesos per pack.

The sauteed prawns was good but nothing extraordinary.

We had a choice of white rice or black rice from Sagada. Of course, we had to try the black rice with mango.  We were told that it was loaded with antioxidants and tasted like glutinous rice. The taste was in-between brown rice and glutinous rice. It was not as nutty as brown rice and not as sticky as glutinous rice. I guess that you have to eat bits of mangos with it to add to the flavor because it basically is what it is -- rice.

The buffet spread also had linguine and angel hair pasta. This was served with chorizo and black olive sauces. My friends really liked the chorizo sauce but found the black olive sauce bland. For me, the black olives by itself didn't stand out but when mixed with the chorizo sauce, it was heavenly. They sell  the chorizo sauce at 500 pesos per bottle.

Assorted dessert with Baguio coffee to satisfy every diner. I loved the raisin tartlet and the sans rival. Aside from these trays, we were also served fresh strawberries and fresh mangoes with cream over a meringue base. It was served together with coffee so that the meringue would still be crispy when eaten. When we thought that that was all, we were also given another tray of dried mango bars to try. Notice that Malu even put a candle with sugared rose on the Chocolate cupcake in the middle of the tray for me. All these little extras just beckons you to come back. Sorry, by this time, Malu already joined us and so I forgot to take photos of the strawberry and mango meringue.

The very gracious hostess, Malu Veloso with the XS moms. Oh my, Malu has perfected the art of entertaining. When we arrived, she welcomed us to her home and showed us parts of the house where she could set up our lunch. When we picked our location, she stayed for a bit to talk to us about the food that she will serve us. She left us to enjoy each other's company and returned when coffee and dessert was served to get to know us. My friends gladly parted with their money to experience this wonderful lunch. Yup, my friends treated me and so I got to enjoy my meal for free. How much for all these? 800 pesos per person. At the last minute, Irene had to cancel and Malu only charged us for the exact number of persons present. What a lady. Will we eat here again? You bet we will with Che and Irene in tow. Malu promised us a leg of lamb or turkey with all the trimmings menu and a birthday cake to boot for Jenny's birthday.

To my ever loyal and loving XS mom friends, thank you for your friendship, thank you for always being there for me, thank you for all the laughter which keeps us young and thank you for this memorable lunch. 

My Mother's Garden

2650 Zamora St., Pasay City

Tel. Nos. 831-8407 and (0917) 600-8886