Ibyang
Ibyang

Food

Recipe: Homemade Gambas Al Ajillo

16 April 2010 6 Comments Category: Food, Recipes

I love the versatility of this famous tapas dish, a favorite of mine whenever I dine at Spanish restaurants.

You can serve this as an appetizer and eat it as it is or you can eat it with a slice of French Bread. Perfect while having a sip of Sangria or white wine.

For us Filipinos, this dish is a good compliment to rice.

Traditionally, this is cooked in a heat resilient bowl and is served sizzling. But since, I’m only doing this at home and I don’t have any sizzling plates, I only serve it hot and fresh from the pan.


What you need:

5 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Extra Light Olive Oil
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 Lemon, juiced
1/2 kilo Prawns, shelled
1 tbsp Paprika
1 tsp Chili Flakes (you can add more if you it super spicy)
2 tsp Parsley
Salt to taste

What you need to do:

1. Saute garlic in EVOO

2. Add lemon juice, paprika and chili flakes. Stir for one minute.

3. Throw in your prawns and cook til it turns orange.

4. Season with salt.

5. Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle with Parsley before serving.

Bon appetit!


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Holy Week and Easter Spent with Family

There are some occasions that I exclusively spend with family and relatives, one of those are Holy Week and Easter, for the simple reason that my clan usually have some activities planned during this time and it is tradition that we celebrate the Easter festivities together.

It is of normal occurrence that my Grandma’s birthday falls on the week of Holy Week. On Holy Monday, we celebrated her 81st birthday . 

On the morning of Good Friday, we were at the airport to pick up my uncle who vacationed in the Phils for a few days.

From the airport, we drove back to their place where my Husband and I spent the whole day catching up with our relatives as we enjoyed eating Baked Salmon, Ginataang Hipon with Kalabasa for lunch and dinner and homemade Turon for afternoon snack.

Black Saturday, since our goal is to have a more relaxing weekend with less household and cooking chores, we decided to have breakfast at one of our favorite cafes. We arrived at the cafe early to avoid the morning crowd and to have a more peaceful breakfast. We just shared a slice of toasted banana bread as we sipped our cups of Choffee.

Back at home for lunch, I cooked half a kilo of Green King Prawns in butter and garlic, dipped in Calamansi sauce. It was fresh and delicious, with a taste of sweetness.
For dinner, we had Blue Swimmer Crabs, again dipped in Calamansi sauce. Another winner. It’s so fat, we were so full after devouring them.

On Easter Sunday, we all trooped down to church to attend mass, then went straight to Prospect Reservoir for our Easter Lunch party.
Every year, someone wears the Easter bunny costume and we have our photos taken with the “bunny”. 

Other than chit chat, laugh and eat, we also played Bingo!

We went home happy and well-spent with lots of chocolate Easter eggs and bunnies in tow.
 

Photos by Chris and Ivy Sanchez, Copyright 2010
Canon 7D with 17-85mm lens and Canon 400D with Fujinon 55mm lens.

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Recipe: Pasta in Creamy Tuna and Mushroom

25 March 2010 23 Comments Category: Food, Recipes, Tips

The following week I made my baked tuna pasta dish with red sauce, I had to make another tuna pasta dish, this time with white sauce because my Husband loves white sauce in pasta dishes.

My Husband and I are opposites when it comes to food (example: he likes dark chocolate while I like white chocolate; he likes white sauce in pasta, I like red sauce). It’s a good thing though, when we eat, there’s always a variety.

Pasta in white sauce is equally delicious. But I love pasta in tomato sauce or sauce-less pastas because it has less fat. Anyway, it’s not bad to have it once in a while, plus I get to make my Husband happier.


 
What you need:
200g cooked pasta (I used spaghetti noodles this time)
2 tbsp olive oil (or any cooking oil you choose)
I big can of Tuna
1 medium-sized onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
150g button mushrooms, sliced (or you can add more if you like)
1 medium-sized carrot, cut into small cubes
125g Fresh Cream
A dash of Basil
Salt and Pepper to taste

What you need to do:

1. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil.
2. Stir in the fresh cream.
3. Add the tuna and mushroom and leave for 10 minutes.
4. Throw in carrot bits. Stir once every few minutes until sauce thickens.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add a dash of Basil.


Serve with Parmesan Cheese on top.

Tips:
a. Carrots are optional. I just add those in because I wanted to up the healthy factor of this dish and I like seeing color on the food I eat.

b. You can use bacon as an alternative to tuna. Trust me, it’s delicious.

Bon appetit!

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Recipe: Tuna and Olives Pasta Bake

If you think my Chili Spaghetti recipe is easy, this is easier, I swear.

I’m the kind of wifey that gets turned off with recipes with so many ingredients and procedures. I sometimes cook complicated dishes on special occasions but on everyday living, I keep the fuss in cooking to a minimum.

One of my philosophies in life is to “simplify things” and that is also how I manage my time in the kitchen. Some recipes that come my way, I would probably disregard some ingredients if there are too many. Sometimes I’d find an alternative if they are not available in our pantry. Cooking is supposed to be fun and easy. If I find a dish too tedious to prepare and cook, I’d probably just dine out and order it from a restaurant.
This recipe is a product of my love for tuna, red pasta sauce, olives and basil. Sometimes, you just have to put together some of your favorites into one dish in order to create something easy, healthy and delicious.

 

What you need:

300 grams cooked pasta (in my case I used macaroni)
500 grams tomato sauce or pasta sauce
1 big can of Tuna
125 grams stuffed Green Olives
A dash of Basil, Pepper and Salt

1/2 cup shredded Tasty Cheese/Cheddar Cheese

What you need to do:

1. Pre-heat oven to 100 degrees.
2. In a pasta dish, gently stir in the cooked pasta, pasta sauce and green olives.
3. Add Basil, Pepper and Salt to taste.
4. Scatter over the Tasty Cheese/Cheddar Cheese.
5. Place pasta dish inside oven to bake at 150 degrees for 10 minutes or till cheese is golden.

Serve with french bread or salad.

Nutrional Benefits:

Tuna – high in omega-3 fatty acids
Olives – source of Vitamin E, oleic acid and protein
Basil – source of beta-carotene

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Restaurant: Subsolo Spanish Resto and Bar

10 March 2010 5 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Food

If you’re looking for a Spanish and Portuguese restaurant in Sydney with classy but cozy ambience, gastronomically-satisfying food with reasonable prices and great service, I would highly recommend Subsolo Spanish Resto and Bar to you. (Note: “Subsolo” means “basement” in Portuguese) 

The space is very welcoming with a variety of tables ranging from bar space to private areas. Has a New York-meets-Barcelona vibe with sultry red and brown interiors.


 


Location: Unassuming and can be easily missed as it is in the basement of a building. However, never underestimate the district in which its situated as Chanel and Louis Vuitton surrounds this underground space.

Ambience:

Since we’re a group, we were given a table at the far end of the room with curtains from each of our sides to give us a bit of privacy (see curtain on the photo below).

It can be dark for taking photographs but it’s a beautiful place to bring a date with it’s romantic and warm lighting.

Above our table is a chandelier–i love it! So stylish and glamourous.

Food:
I started the night with a glass of Sangria (AUD$15.00/glass) while we waited for friends to arrive. Unlike other Spanish restos, Subsolo only serve their Sangria in big wine glasses–it’s really big (good enough to share), hence the price. Their Sangria’s refreshing and a bit strong compared to other Sangrias I’ve drank before. I’m fascinated that they added a Star Anise to their Sangria, made it more tasty.

Then came the tapas we ordered:

Zucchini Flowers filled with three Spanish Cheeses (AUD$24.00/entree). My first time to try these tapas. It’s crunchy and the minute you cut the Zucchini Flowers in two, cheese overflowed. If you love cheese, you can never go wrong with these.
 



Chicken Chorizo with Caramelised Eschallots (AUD$20.00/entree). Chorizo is one of my favorite tapas in any Spanish resto. I never fail to order these. Their Chicken Chorizo was uniquely sweet as they caramelised eschallots in order for the chorizos to have their own sauce. I love it! (Usually, chorizos swam in just oil in other Spanish restos) We had two orders of these which only showed how much we liked it.

Crunchy Bacalao (Salt-Cod) Croquettes on Aioli (AUD$24.00/entree). This one is divine. Crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside (yes, just like the TV ad). At first bite, I almost forgot that it was fish inside the croquette. You can taste the fish but it’s not overpowering.

Paprika Salt and Pepper Squid with Saffron Mayonnaise (AUD$21.00/entree). Soft, easy-to-bite and fresh.



Paella Valenciana with Chicken, Pork Chorizo and Seafood (AUD$39.00). Visually beautiful, the chicken, chorizo and mussels were arranged to entice one’s appetite. The mussels, and to my surprise, scallops tasted fresh and the pork chorizo were exquisite.

Just a tip: Cooking the Paella takes 40 minutes so if you know that you’d like to eat Paella, order it as soon as you come in to save you time from waiting.


Churros filled with Dulce de Leche, Spanish Chocolate Sauce and Honey Nougat Ice Cream (AUD$16.00). An amazing dessert, I swear this is to-die-for. Usually the thing to look out for when ordering Churros is the chocolate dip. But the Churros in Subsolo had something more than the delicious chocolate dip. The Churros had Dulce de Leche filling!!!!! It was sooooo yummy. And the siding was not just an ordinary ice cream–it was Nougat Ice Cream. So so wonderful to the palate. Truly, the grand finale of our dinner.



It was one great meal enjoyed in the company of good friends. I will be coming back here soon to have a taste of their Pork Chorizos and Portuguese Espetadas (Charcoal Spit-Roasted Skewers).

I would also like to commend their customer service. I made reservations via email and they replied the same day. I asked a few questions and they were very accommodating. They also called me two hours before our reservation to make sure that everything is set. Our host during dinner was very friendly who even cracked jokes while he served us.

Subsolo Spanish Resto and Bar
161 King St. corner Castlereagh St Sydney NSW 2000
For all bookings and inquiries
please call 9223 7000 or email bookings@subsolo.com.au

For more photos of our dinner, click here.


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