Monday, July 23, 2012

Healthy Chicken




This is the second time I'm posting a home-cooked meal at home, and I hope you will like it. Why? Because I just found a great chicken brand at the grocery store. 

Whenever my Mom buys raw chicken, she always reminds me to never forget to take out the slimy mucous that coats the flesh, the one that lies buried underneath the skin. She says it is that part that creates all sorts of diseases in the body. So I rarely buy raw chicken, because I know I have to do that tedious task of taking out the slime. Even with fast food chains that sell chicken, you will notice the slime underneath the salty crispy, breaded skin. Gross, right? Oh well, if you can't help ordering fast food chicken, just take out the slime.

Some say the slime is just natural fat and tissue. Maybe, but I just bought Pamora Free Range Chicken at the grocery, and the frozen chicken didn't have any slime or smell. I just rinsed the drumstick parts after they were thawed and made adobo out of it. It was so good. There is no secret recipe either. I just seared the parts in garlic, added soy sauce, vinegar, bay leaves and black pepper. Simmer until the sauced is reduced. The pieces were tender and juicy. So good. 

At P185 for five pieces, it wasn't cheap. I wish it was more affordable though.
The Ziplock bag that it came in didn't have the characteristic chicken smell and slime that usually sticks to the bags that raw chicken comes in. Truly a revelation for me. :)

With brown rice and steamed sayote--yum!


I have also tried the The Farm Organics label at The Landmark after seeing the post on Daphne.ph, and the meat quality is also superb. The styrofoam plate that the raw meat is encased is easily rinsed too and leaves no trace of the characteristic smell of meat.  So inspiring.


I wish we can all......eat healthy all the time! Take care!




Friday, July 13, 2012



M and I spend a lot of time going to different places, I might as well turn this into a travel blog. Last Saturday,  M surprised me on a trip to Bataan. He just asked me to pack for an overnight trip and asked me to trust him. Fine, I was anxious the whole time because I didn't know what to pack, whether we were going somewhere cool or warm. But I took his word, and relaxed, packed very little and waited for three hours. After seeing the Welcome to Bataan sign, I knew we were going to- Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar. Ever since we saw the website a year ago, we've been meaning to go. There was even a Deal Grocer promo, but we weren't able to avail of it. I think there is still an ongoing DG promo for six people :) Check it out.




So we left Manila at 9 in the morning, and arrived in the resort at around lunch time. We booked a room ( lucky too that we had anything to stay in, because they were running out of rooms.Lesson: Book ahead.), We had lunch at Cafe Marivent, the main and only restaurant operating as of that last week. They serve classic Filipino and Spanish cuisine. We availed of the Set Lunch at P390 each. Not cheap this place. We had a choice of Grilled Fish, Pork or Chicken. It was accompanied by sauteed Togue, Crab&Corn Soup and Leche Flan. Satisfying but not amazing.. 

After freshening up, we headed back to the main casa for the tour. There are tours every hour, until 4:30 pm. We took the 3:30 tour so we could avoid the possible rains in the evening. We were done in an hour or so. We took another stroll at the beachside after getting some Fishballs and Kikiam at Kainan sa Plaza Belmonte.  Such fun!

The fishballs were better than the Kikiam. And request for the suka (vinegar dip). :)


In the evening, the resort management set up dinner at the grounds so we could also witness the folk dance presentation. Alas, it rained before we could eat. Although that was also a good thing because we had time to move in. We ordered the following for dinner (also at Cafe Marivent):




Pinakbet with Bagnet

Yum, this is the best dish we've ordered here. The only one that we really liked.  The salty and tasty bagoong   melded the bitter vegetables very well. The crispy pork which was placed gingerly on top of the veggies is a great way of adding the meat without making it soggy. Yumyum!


Kilawin

I'm not sure if this was Blue Marlin, but the fish was cooked too long in the vinegar. It  was  okay.


In the morning, we woke up rather late. Too tired from walking around the cobbled paths, we rushed off  to Cafe Marivent before they stopped serving breakfast. We were given a choice of Daing, Longganis and Tocino.






The Longganisa (Pork sausage) was on the sweetish side, probably a Lukban recipe.




The Daing na Bangus (Marinated Milkfish) was large and tasty.


The Daing na Bangus won. 


We could have stayed longer. But then, it's not going to be very hard to come back. Someday soon, we will. And we hope to get that studio shot :)

Maraming Salamat, Las Casas sa inyong mainit na pagtanggap. Sa uulitin.