Banchetto: Midnight Banquet

If you are working on a night shift in Ortigas business center, this weekly event is probably one of the things you look forward to finish off your work week. At around 11pm every Friday until 6am the next day Saturday, half of the road in Emerald Avenue is closed off for a hundred yards of tents of delicious food and drinks. Banchetto is an Italian word that translates to a big feast or banquet. The name is appropriate as the atmosphere is always festive every Banchetto day. The street is loitered mostly of yuppies working in call centers and BPOs whose Philippine operations are centered in the Ortigas area. The tables are not always enough and the place always packed so most of diners sit on the sidewalks and on the steps in front of the buildings enjoying the food they have chosen from the variety of cuisines available. The cuisines range from Filipino, Chinese, American, Italian, Japanese, Indian, East Asian, Korean and Mongolian treats. To top it off, they are sold in the most affordable prices. It is one place you should visit at least once when you are in Ortigas area.

Banchetto in Emeral Avenue. Food! food!

The usual crowds in Banchetto

Diners eating at the steps of Strata 200 Building

Banchetto nestled in between the buildings of Ortigas,one of the busiest business centers in the Philippines

Your Best Choice on Italian Dining at La Jolla San Diego, California

What will complete lounging on sandy beaches, viewing the rustic shoreline, posh shopping experience in an upscale community and the best diving and snorkeling adventure in Southern California? It is an unforgettable dining experience in Trattoria Acqua, an Italian restaurant in La Jolla, San Diego California. It is casual dining place overlooking the La Jolla Cove and Pacific Ocean that gives a Mediterranean Italian ambience and boasts of award-winning service and authentic Italian recipes.

Dining is truly one of the criteria that define a travel destination like La Jolla (“the Jewel” in Spanish) and Trattoria Acqua will not disappoint on this area. Whether it is an intimate dinner for two or for a family, a lunch with business associates or with friends, Trattoria Acqua can accommodate every kind of customers for every type occasions from its sumptuous Italian menu delicately prepared by some of the most well-known chefs in the area. They also keep a wide variety of wine collections to choose from to match and indulge on your Italian feast. So, if you are looking for the best choices of Italian restaurant in La Jolla, Trattoria Acqua should definitely go on your list.

Eggplant Balls with Mustard and Honey Dip

This is probably the cheapest recipe (under 100 pesos) I have done for this blog. But nevertheless, my roommates liked it. Edith kept sneaking into the kitchen to taste bits while I was cooking. Ayrah kept saying "ang sarap" (delicious!) while watching the United Concert. Ana ate a piece, an accomplishment, since she doesn't eat vegetables at all. And Ruby, well, what can I say, she always does love eating. hehe. It just makes cooking so worthwhile with such appreciate roommates.hehe. I should really get serious with the Culinary Arts School, lol.

So anyways, its affordable and simple. Grill the eggplant first, peel off the skin and cut into small pieces. In a bowl, mix eggplant, cheese, bell pepper, ground pepper, salt, bread crumbs, ground pork, one egg. Scoop a spoonful in your palm and form it into balls same like how you make meatballs. Deep-fry. Serve with mustard and honey dip

Hunt for the Strawberry

While having a meeting on a Tuesday afternoon with my co-planners, I asked out of the blue and way out of the topic of ERP, meiruka, scheduling, blah blah being discussed at the moment of where I could buy fresh strawberries. Punky, always accommodating of my sometimes off-topic, crazy outbursts answered that it could be found in SM Bacoor, Hypermarket or Megamall. So I started the hunt at SM Bacoor, unfortunately, the fruit guy told me that it was not yet the season for strawberry. Well I understand that and so I went next to SM Hypermarket which is supposed to be SM mall conglomerate's biggest supermarket, fruit season or not. It's thirty miles and two hours ride from Cavite. Well at least thats that's still nearer than SM Baguio, where I can bet with my life, they have strawberries. But that prove to be my unlucky day. I still can't believe SM Hypermarket don't have strawberries! With some tweaking on the web (yes, I can be obsessive). I learned that Robinson's Supermarket supposed to have the freshest and the not so easy to find fruits and delis, so the next day I visited Robinson's Imus and I was not disappointed and found the sweet rubies.

On a tropical country like this, these rubies could be really so hard to find. How I wish I could walk again in the strawberry fields of La Trinidad and smell the luscious scent of ripen strawberry. The Benguet region, specifically, the La Trinidad valley is the only zone in the Philippines that has considerable large plots of strawberry farm. In 2004, President Arroyo declared March 18 as the strawberry festival of La Trinidad. The harvest is on the month of the Festival but there is also another harvest around November. But maybe it's nice to try planting them on other places too since Benguet is so far.Tagaytay is a cold place and fit for strawberry growing but I only see miles and miles of pineapple fields there, no strawberries. But anyways, I'm really no expert with growing strawberry.
But now that I have them on the fridge, I at least don't really have to imagine about La Trinidad. And I even made myself a Strawberry Bavarian. And because of this hunt, I learned some things about strawberry.

Strawberry is good for you because:
It can cure digestive upsets like diarheaa and dyspepsia
It can also cure stomach worms ( ewww??)
It's good for arthritis and gout and even for bladder stones and liver problems

Click here for Strawberry Bavarian Recipe

Related Links:
Cheesy Chicken Lollipop with Creamy Corn and Mashed Potato
Other Recipes

Cheesy Chicken Lollipop with Creamy Corn and Mashed Potato

This recipe is very easy to do. It took me only about one hour to prepare. If you want to make a nice meal but don’t want to take a lot of time to prepare it, this recipe is really a good choice. I had fun making it but had more fun eating it with my roommate. =)

Basically there are three recipes to complete the meal

o Cheesy Chicken Lollipop
Chicken drumstick, breading, pepper, salt ,cheese

o Creamy corn
Butter, Corn kernel, cheese, red pepper, green pepper, evaporated milk

o Mashed Potato
Potato, cheese, butter, onion leaves

Cheesy Chicken Lollipop
Prepare chicken drumsticks. With a knife flay skin and meat off the bone, pushing meat toward the other end like a lollipop. Season with pepper and salt. Grate cheese and put in one bowl. Put breading in one bowl. Dip chicken in egg, coat with cheese then breading. Deep fry.

Creamy Corn
Dice red pepper and green pepper. In a pan, melt about 100gms of butter. Put green and red pepper, then the corn kernel and cheese. Pour in evaporated milk, salt and pepper. Simmer until milk is reduced and creamy.

Mashed Potato
Boil potato and mash. Mix in butter, cheese, pepper and onion leaves.

And just for fun, put in a cute plate.

Related Links

Recipes

Strawberry Bavarian

Strawberry Bavarian Recipe

Ingredients
Strawberries 250 grams
Skim milk
unflavored gelatine powder
sugar and vanilla essense

How to Do it
In a cup, pour gelatine powder add small amount of cold water to dissolve the gelatine then add hot water
add sugar and vanilla essense and chill until syrupy
in a bowl, crush strawberries
add crushed strawberries to the gelatine syrup
chill skim milk, whip until stiff
fold milk into strawberry mixture
serve in a dessert glass