Odes: Kuya's grilled pork...level up!

LAST WEEK OF DECEMBER 2010. After the wedding was over and all the gifts were opened and hubby has officially moved into our house, we set a time to visit my in-laws. Hubby's family lived in Calamba, Laguna. The area is not in a galaxy far, far away really. But for someone like me who doesn't go out much, any place beyond Alabang and Las Piñas is far. There was a time when I was younger that even Festival Mall in Filinvest felt like it was in China. Hahaha!

We set it on the 27th. I suggested to hubby we have exactly the same thing we had when he took me there for a visit December of the previous year. His mom made pancit sotanghon and his dad grilled liempo and made ensaladang talong and we bought lechon manok from Chook's to Go along the way. It was a very enjoyable lunch. We ate outdoors under the blue sky surrounded by plantations of all sorts of vegetables (they live in a farm area) dotted with large fruit trees and very tall coconuts. We even had hubby's then best man-to-be with us. He is based in Dubai, but always spent the Christmas holidays in the Philippines.


We picked up a few groceries beforehand, but most of the stuff we plan to cook (like the fish and lechon manok) we can buy along the way. Some, like the vegetables, were available in Calamba (they do live in a farm after all), but we still bought some, which turned out to be absolutely unnecessary. We brought a pack of tomatoes, only to find they prepared more than a kilo of it (among other vegetables) for us to take home. Hahaha!


I decided to marinade pork for the grilled liempo. Kuya has this simple marinade recipe especially for grilling, which we all love. I followed it, adding a few more ingredients.


I felt sick when I woke up the next day. I wasn't feeling well since the evening before, which was so unfortunate. My stomach couldn't tolerate much of anything. Ignorant as I was, I had a pregnancy scare. But it was just because of my acidity pala. Hahaha! I skipped a meal the night before, because I ate the meal before it rather late and still felt full. Ayan.

It was hubby's uncle, who had experience running a carinderia, who did the cooking when we were there. Even the delicious pancit sotanghon, with generous amounts of sahog. I was able to eat a bit (but only until I expelled everything, eeew). Personally, I found the pork I marinated a bit bland. But hubby's family said it was good. I thought they will be able to keep some of the marinated meat, but it lasted just as long as lunch lasted. =)


I'm just sorry I wasn't able to enjoy the day much. I spent much of the time lying down after lunch. There was also grilled tilapia, ensaladang talong...sayang. =( Good thing I left some liempo at home, which hubby grilled when friends came over on the holiday after our visit to Calamba. And thank goodness Danes loves taking pictures. Thanks to my indisposition in Calamba, I absolutely forgot to take pictures of my recipe when it was cooked.

Photo credits: Danes 12/31/2010

Marinade
Olive oil, about 2 tbsps
Soy sauce, about a cup (or enough to soak the meat)
Calamansi, more than 10 pieces
Dried rosemary, about 1 tbsp (pounded/crushed a bit)
Honey, about 3 tbsps
Ground black pepper to taste

Procedure: Mix marinade ingredients in a bowl and add the liempo (good for about a kilo or so). Marinade for at least an hour. I did overnight. ^_^

*BB*

ILYS: High-calorie Saturday

11 DECEMBER 2010. I think I did nothing today except cook. My goodness. And eat. OH MY GOODNESS.


We had a few relatives coming over and choir practice later in the evening. On top of that, mom and dad had cake orders to do.


Early this morning, I got up and started. I made my so-easy carbonara with an extra shortcut... Del Monte Carbonara sauce. Hahaha! It wasn't really a shortcut though. More of an "extender". I still used all-purpose cream and cream of mushroom. I tried putting in parsley this time. It was good.

The luncheon meat carbonara was for:

1. Our breakfast this morning

 2. Our guests' snack in the afternoon

3. The choir's after-practice merienda (late night)

And we still have half a pot full of carbonara sauce for breakfast tomorrow. LOL


Mom made nilagang baka and fried chicken wings, as we were expecting our relatives for lunch. The latter dish I spiked with chili garlic sauce.

Mom's favorite fried chicken recipe is very yummy

but very simple: calamansi + patis.

Telltale signs that Renn Xu was here: chili bits

The chicken didn't turn out to be spicy (or maybe it was just me...little bro always comments that I've burned my tongue with excessive intake of chili a long time ago). But the taste did change. I served it with a dip made of mayo and sandwich spread, Worcestershire sauce and minced garlic on the side.

Looks like my relatives liked it. Only five pieces
were left.

I ended up with the task of frying the chicken, after which I vowed I shall steer clear of frying until after the wedding. I have so many spatter marks on my hands. And they hurt! =(


Mom and dad were starting to bake when our relatives arrived. I think I got a bit stressed helping the bakers and serving the guests at the same time. But I did get a treat. After mom poured the cake batter into the baking pans, I asked her for the mixing bowls. I got three of the four bowls (I wasn't able to catch the mixing bowl for the carrot cake in time): mango (my favorite!), ube (we have one mini-loaf! Yay!) and chocolate (sugar high...). No picture of me "cleaning up" the mixing bowls. It's kinda gross. LOL

I admit I'm not in a very artistic mood today. Little

bro's cake order/gift turned out to be a confusion of
multicolored edible flowers and gold pearls. But it
was still cute anyway. And delicious.

Me tired. Bride-to-be must get some beauty rest (which is impossible as it's midnight already. Pfft.) and dream up a game plan how I shall lose all those calories...


Thirteen days to go till the wedding! Oh, make that twelve days to go, because it's midnight already.


P.S. Happy 1st Birthday to my nephew, Zeus! ^_^ *BB*

Odes: A taste of my childhood revisited

Of the many things I've digested over the years, there's this taste from my childhood days that I have not quite forgotten. Now, years after I had my last dinner there with my family, it lingers as distinctly as a fond memory. The taste goes by the name of Dayrit's Mandarin Spareribs.

Dayrit's Restaurant  used to have a branch in Alabang Town Center. It was almost the default dinner place of choice (if we did have more than enough to spend, it being pricier than fast food). There was nothing too fancy about th place. I even remember it being a bit dark. They had these tables with fixed plastic high-backed benches which was the in-thing in restos then. It had the feel of those 24-hour diners you see in American movies (where conspirators meet in the middle of the night, LOL).

Until one day it was suddenly gone. The area it occupied on the second floor of the old Casa Filipina (tama ba?) building was vacated.

Then, still some years ago, I spotted another branch, the one at Paseo de Magallanes. We promised ourselves we would really go there for dinner one time. But for the next few years, we would only be getting a glimpse of it going to or coming from the flyover connecting C5 and SLEX, but never really go there.

Until my digicam, the first one I ever owned, broke down.

Now what the heck does my digicam have to do with Dayrit's? The nearest Canon Service Center was at Paseo de Magallanes. ^_^

So although I felt bad about my digicam getting broken (thankfully, it was still within warranty), I also felt happy. When mom, dad and I proceeded to the restaurant (which we did before even dropping off my digicam at Canon, as we were already starving--it was already what, 1:30 PM?), we had this guilty feeling that the digicam was just an excuse to go to Dayrit's. Hehehe! Mom commented na kailangan lang pala ako masiraan ng camera to finally get to eat at Dayrit's again.

This branch looked different from the ATC branch I recall. It wasn't anything grand still--just white walls with a frame of something on the wall (I can't recall what it was), rows of tables for two, which you can move together if you're a big group, and a counter at the far end behind which must be the kitchen. But there's a homey feel to the place. It was like going to your lola's house for lunch or your favorite coffee shop where you can unwind. That kind of feel.

Waiting for lunch to come. Dad had a beer, mom had
guyabano shake, which was good.

The only thing I can remember about Dayrit's was the aforementioned spareribs. Looking through the menu, we decided to order different things. Dad got the Roast Beef Platter, a generous serving of roast beef strips with gravy, with mashed potato and veggies on the side. Mom got the Chicken Galantina, so we know now what Chicken Galantina is. LOL

ROAST BEEF PLATE (P300). I don't recall us ordering this
when I was a kid, but this will now become my dad's
default meal. It's big enough for two. We always
have to help dad finish it.

CHICKEN GALANTINA WITH RICE (P225). I don't recall
ever having this when I was a kid either. It was a bit
on the bland side, but it was OK. And oh, this is how
galantina looks like!

Of course, I ordered the Mandarin Spareribs served with rice and coleslaw on the side. We all took a bite from each other's plates. We had to order a couple more servings of rice, everything so full of flavor.

MANDARIN PORK SPARERIBS (P205). Years after my last
meal at Dayrit's in ATC, I'm absolutely happy to report that
this dish hasn't changed. It's still the same beloved dish
I always recall.

Little bro, who was a fan of the spareribs as a child, was almost mad when he found out we went to Dayrit's. So we promised to bring him along when we pick up the camera, which happened about a couple of months after.

Little bro obviously missed the Mandarin Pork Spareribs.

I tried their Pork Binagoongan this time. It was served with rice and green mango slices. I'm not a bagoong person. I sometimes get mad at dad, who puts bagoong in virtually everything he eats and often contaminates the rest of the food on the table. Eeew... But this was delicious. As in, oh my gosh. This is my new favorite ehre at Dayrit's. And the bagoong? Long after the liempo was gone, I was picking at it like it was dessert. LOL

BINAGOONGANG LIEMPO (P225). Glad I tried it. Delicious!

Our second meal there (after all those years) started and ended just like the first:

BEFORE. The feast...

AFTER ...is gone with the wind.

We obviously missed Dayrit's, huh? =)

DAYRIT'S RESTAURANT
Branches (according to ClicktheCity.Com):
* Ground Level, Paseo de Magallanes, Pres. Sergio Osmeña Highway, Magallanes, Makati City
* Forum Fort Bonifacio Stop Over, 31st St. cor. 2nd Ave., Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig (will hunt this branch)
* Unit 6, Mother Ignacia Place, 139 Mother Ignacia St., South Triangle, Quezon City, Metro Manila

*BB*