THE COMEBACK OF ICE SCRAMBLE

Whoever once enjoyed ice scramble in their childhood will surely be feeling happy to see its comeback. Recently, I was strolling at Robinson's Place Manila when I saw people lined up at this one food stall in Padre Faura wing. "There must be something new out there", I said to myself. As I came closer, I saw a very fresh-looking foodcart, lighted up, and blushing in pale pink background. I was seeing a childhood favorite: ICE SCRAMBLE! I instantly ordered one cup for myself and as I was waiting for the staff to prepare my much-awaited ice scramble, memories are flooding thru my head:

I grew up in Pasay as a child and we had this neighbor who has a bicycle customized with a tiny roof and styro cooler on the side. The styro contains the pink-colored scrambled ice mixed with sugar and vanilla. On the side are those tiny little pink pearls contained in a bottle, milk and hershey's chocolate swirl that he puts on top of the ice scramble. Makes my heart melt everytime he puts those sweet garnishes. And as soon as you taste it, you can feel the smooth crushed ice in your mouth. Unlike today, he scrambles the ice manually with this egg-beater like machine.

Now, this ice scramble has a gotten a lot of twist. Its pearls tastes a bit sour and you can pop it. You can also customize it with candy sprinkles, popped rice, chocolates, etc. But I still love the good old ice scramble that I use to have as a kid. I always look forward to it everytime I get out of school. Only - I have to get it behind my father's back because he's not so into this ice scramble. Haha! I wish these modern-day ice scramble carts would have the classic recipe. I would love to buy one cup everyday.

Mangia! Mangia!

BellaDonna

Lunch at Jacob's Shawarma

My authentic Turkish shawarma while Jacob explaining the Qur'an

I still have the aftermath of Raw School's last assignment: To create an ad to recruit people into Muslim faith and another to recruit into Catholic faith. That was totally, totally crazy. I mean, next to selling insurance, I think the hardest thing to do was to influence someone about his faith!

Born from a Catholic family, I have stopped practicing back in college when I got into Sociology class on our sophomore or junior years (I don't really remember when was that, but yeah, this professor in Sociology corrupted my faith! LOL) Admittedly, I don't know much about my religion, very much so about the Muslim faith. So I went up to a couple of friends whom I know are reliable about the topic. First, to my bestfriend (who is from the seat of Catholicism and practiced Islam at one point, but then went back to his original faith) and later on to Jacob, the very proud owner of Jacob's Shawarma restaurant.


My colleague, Ariane posing for Jacob's Shawarma

So again, why do I have this entry on my food blog? I guess because next to language (or religion for that matter), what you can't take away from someone is his food. And Jacob's Shawarma is like an epitome of Turkish culture and food. From what I've read, the spread of Muslim faith started in Constantinople (now Istanbul), Turkey during the arrival of the Ottoman Empire. And much like the language, you will find the reflection of a culture from its food just like an original Turkish shawarma. It has zest, it's fresh, tender and spicy at the same time. It has no garlic sauce that we use to get from shawarma stalls in the malls or streets. But it was really good. I've read from somewhere, if you want to know a country's culture, you have to start with the food. And Jacob's shawarma is very rich as its history back in the days when Constantinople was still an imperial capital of the Roman Empire. The combination of parsley, tomatoes, white onion with the lamb in a pita bread bursts in your mouth like you're tasting each ingredient all at the same time. I don't know if it was from the Romans, the Byzantines or the Ottomans but it was definitely one authentic dish I'm getting there. And more so, my perception about shawarma has changed. It's not the same shawarma I think of anymore.


My lunch: Lamb shawarma with Soya drink made by the Restauranteur himself, Jacob Cortes.

A Brief Background:
I met Jacob a few years back in Myspace and he came to Manila to take care of a few business. At first, I was reluctant to believe he was into modeling and that he was putting a shawarma business here. Maybe because of my subtle apprehension that he is a Muslim and the life-long impression I have of someone like him. Not to mention, he is a foreigner. But then, my good samaritan instinct propped me to helping him. I saw the genuity and sincerity in him. Plus, I felt kawawa to him roaming around Manila without knowing anyone, and very difficult to understand with his conversant English at that time. So, I referred a few things relating to his upcoming business with high hopes he'll get some help. And the rest was history.

Going Back to the Aftermath of the Raw School Assignment:
At this point, I asked Jacob to help us in relating some info about the Muslim faith, a little of history, what it's all about. Me and Ariane went to his cozy, cozy restaurant in Ortigas. The interview began at 10am and time spun so fast and so are the many doors that showed me to the Muslim faith. I haven't seen anyone who has known his faith just like Jacob. I was silently telling myself, I wish I had known mine like he does. There were also a few things that made me change the way I look at Muslim faith like allowing a man to have up to four wives, which according to Jacob is not in a Muslim practice but an ethnic culture, the Jihad or Holy War, their belief in Jesus Christ among other things.

Lastly:
If you pass by Ortigas, try having lunch or dinner or midnight snack at Jacob's Shawarma. The restaurant is open 24 hours a day. If you're coming from Galleria, just exit from Gold's Gym and take a walk to the street when you go out. Up near the corner, you will find this cute little restaurant greeted by Filipino staff and you'll be served by this Turkish hunk with his authentic Turkish shawarma.


Posing with Jacob's expression board on the background. All things written are nothing but satisfaction with his shawarma. Some are even signed by famous people. :)

Also a must try: The soya drink especially made by the Restauranteur himself :)

Mangia! Mangia!

BellaDonna

Miswa Batchoy for a Holiday Breakfast

Today is a holiday. Holiday for what, I really don't know. It's like we've been celebrating a lot of holidays lately and for all you know, it's becoming a regular one and each year it comes, it's celebrated without my complete understanding what it is. From what I've read, today is the 2nd most important feast for Muslims. God Bless this Holiday, but yeah, I'm still not understanding it. I hope the government give us some sort of explanation why we're getting too much holidays these days. I mean, don't get me wrong. Who doesn't like to be on holiday? It's just that I don't understand it like the other holidays that we usually have.

And so why am I starting this post with a holiday? Maybe because since it's holiday, I am too lazy to get up that I don't know what to eat for breakfast. It took me 'til 10am today to figure out what to eat.



I've been promoting my online shop(http://belladonnaenterprise.multiply.com) on facebook since I woke up this morning and after hours of doing so, I felt the need for food. And because I am alone (again) in my humble room, I went out for pandesal, miswa batchoy, pancit bihon and one-fourth slice of cheese. God, I realized I'm really hungry, I'm binging on the food I am seeing. So this morning, I had one pandesal with cheese, one tall glass of milk and this miswa soup. The missy who was selling this at the compound gate of my humble abode in Paco told me it's miswa batchoy. I can tell by the taste that it was made out of sauteed ginger, garlic and onion. With pork meat, liver and blood cubes, the miswa was added with ample amount of water to make a sumptuous soup.


It's like having chicken arroz caldo. And it's my first time to try this. I decided so just to have an experience of what it tastes like. I mean, I can have anything and I'm not too sensitive with any dish except, except curry! I don't like any kind of curry. So well, yeah, this dish does not really appeal in the eyes but it's good enough to warm you up in the morning. Perhaps I will cook my own version when I get back home to my parents.

Mangia, Mangia!

BellaDonna <3

Nilagang Bulalo ng Baka (for the love of hot soup)

I'm thankful that my parents taught us how to eat beef. Because, my mom's family (her siblings and parents) does not eat any beef dish. Well, not all of them but most of them. Otherwise, I will be missing the delicious taste and exciting experience of sipping the hot soup of nilaga, the spicy taste of kaldereta or the sweet-sour blend of bistek. There you are... join me in sipping one of my favorite soup dish: Nilagang Bulalo ng Baka (this is not the Bulalo soup dish, although we used the beef shank in preparing this Nilaga and Bulalo are still two different dishes).



INGREDIENTS:

1 kilo beef shank, cut into cubes
3-6 medium sized potatoes
baguio beans
pechay
1 celery stalk
sibot
garlic
onion
salt and pepper

HOW TO:

Boil the beef shank together with garlic,onion, sibot, salt and pepper until tender. Add the potatoes until it is cooked. Add the baguio beans, pechay leaves and celery stalks when the beef and tomatoes are tender to bite. Add some more salt and pepper if desired.

It's that easy!

Love,

Bella Donna

Tuna Spaghetti in Olive Oil

From the tuna spaghetti in fresh tomato that my ex taught me, I twisted the manner of cooking tuna spaghetti from tuna spaghetti in cream sauce (which I have already posted), and tuna spaghetti in olive oil (which I am about to post now).

I cooked this tuna spaghetti in olive oil when we went to visit a friend who had a motorcycle accident. But more than the bruises and wounds, he had a deeper pain to deal with after he and his partner broke up after 5 years of being together. Truly, relationships does not guarantee that you'll be together forever. Anyways, just to lighten up, we thought that we should cook (actually, I was the only one who did the cooking as my friends have no patience in the kitchen) something to make our friend feel better.

TUNA SPAGHETTI IN OLIVE OIL

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo pasta spaghetti
2 cans of tuna flakes in oil
olive oil
garlic
white onions
pepper
basil
french bread
tomatoes
balsamic vinegar

HOW TO:

Bread Dip:
Slice some tomatoes, add a little of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and some salt. Mix them together.

Pasta Dish:
Cook the pasta according to package directions or until it's al dente. Saute the garlic and onion in olive oil. Pour in the tuna flakes in oil (you may also alter the other can to a spicy flavor). Put some salt and pepper to taste. Add the drained pasta to the tuna mixture and dash some dried basil. Serve with french bread and the dip.

Mangia, mangia!

Love,

Bella Donna

Buttered Tahong for Pulutan

I miss Mommy Anne's Buttered Mussels (Tahong). Every time we visit her at home in Sta. Ana for videoke nights and drinking session, she would cook some of our favorite pulutan like tokwa't baboy, lechon paksiw, and most of it all, the classic buttered tahong. She would steam the mussels and lovingly take them out of the shells, saute some garlic and ginger with butter, add the tahong and serve them while we empty San Mig lights off from their sari-sari store.

Anyway, when I went to the market, bought some tahong and cooked buttered tahong --- my own version. Haha, my own version only because I left the shells intact to the meat as I was so lazy to take them out. I just want to eat them right away. I put a few pieces of dried chili as I sauteed the meat with butter just to give a little spice.

Love,

Bella Donna

Poor Man's Veggie Dish

Have you ever had those veggie left-overs in your fridge? Cabbage, pechay, swamp cabbage or any of those cabbage family? Well, we always do. It could be left over from pancit or chopsuey dish that we cooked the night before. So to keep those beautiful veggies from waste, we use what is remained from the ref and pretty much, it serves one more meal in a day. Here's a very simple dish that you can pair with grilled, steamed or fried fish or meat: "Poor Man's Veggie Dish"

Ingredients:

Left-over cabbage, cut into strips
1 can of tuna flakes in oil (you can alter with sardines or fried fish flakes)
garlic
onion
salt and pepper

How To:

Heat in a pan a small amount of vegetable oil, saute garlic and onion. Put in the tuna flakes and then the cabbage. Sprinkle a small amount of water and add salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pan and let it simmer for a few minutes or until the cabbage are crunchy. Do not overcook.

Tips:

You can also use pechay or swamp cabbage or any leafy vegetables with this dish.

Love,

Bella Donna

Bangusilog--- I love breakfast!

There's just no good thing that can wake me up in the morning other than the voice of my niece saying "ah, yey-yey and her tiny scream that could fill up the whole room. She's a one-year-old little girl with very thin hair strands and tan skin who walks up to our room banging the door, crawling up on our beds and sit on top of your belly thinking you're a little horse she's riding on. Weekends like these makes me get up with the smell of minced garlic being sauteed in a pan and the sound of the cooking oil's tiny bursts when you put the cooked rice on to make it a sumptuous garlic rice served together with homemade daing na bangus (smoked milkfish). The vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper marinade bring out the best in milkfish especially if it's done overnight or just as when the fish is cooked in vinegar. Wow, it's really heaven :) My siblings differ in cooking the egg for breakfast. One would like a sunny side up, rare, one toasted, one scrambled. I like mine with the yolk rare because I'd like to put it over my garlic rice. We still buy extra pandesal with peanut butter because my mother would have it as "appetizer" while waiting for the main dish. Pretty much, but hearty for all of us. :) Oh, I love breakfast!

Love,

Bella Donna

Creamy Tuna Spaghetti and Roasted Rosemary Chicken

I first started loving authentic pasta dishes when I started going out with my ex who is an Italian. It was not an instant appreciation of his food and culture but then, day by day, his food became my food of choice. There is a saying that there are two things you can't take away from a person: his language and his food. Either way, both influences others greatly. Through the years of him cooking for me during weekends, I have learned tasting, preparing, cooking and criticizing his food and others' as well. I've also learned cooking some dishes that is toned down to Filipino taste and this particular dish is one of them.

CREAMY TUNA SPAGHETTI

Ingredients:

1 kilo spaghetti (you may also alter to linguine, a flat spaghetti)
2 big cans (420g each) of tuna flakes in oil
1/4 kilo of bacon (optional)
1 can of button mushrooms, sliced (optional)
2 cans of all-purpose cream
whole basil
Italian seasoning
minced garlic
minced onion
olive oil
salt to taste
ground black pepper
ground parmesan cheese

How to:

Boil the pasta according to package direction. To make the pasta more tasty, put half of the stock (or juice) of the tuna flakes while you're boiling the pasta. While you're waiting your pasta to be al dente, fry the bacon bits until the it's golden brown and crispy or until the fat gets out. Set aside. Saute, in a heated pan, the minced garlic and onion in a small amount of olive oil. Add the mushroom and the tuna flakes. Let it sit on fire for a few minutes. Then add half of the tuna stock and bring to boil. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Also dash some basil and Italian seasoning for some aroma. Add the all-purpose cream and let it simmer until the sauce is creamy. Put the creamy sauce on top of the pasta, sprinkle some parmesan cheese and bacon bits. You may also dash some more of the basil and Italian seasoning if you desire.

ROSEMARY CHICKEN

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
soy sauce
salt
ground black pepper
rosemary leaves
minced garlic
minced onion
calamansi juice

HOW TO:

Rub the salt, ground black pepper, minced garlic and onion and rosemary leaves onto the chicken. Add some soy sauce and calamansi juice. Set aside for at least 30 minutes before broiling. For better results, you may marinate overnight before broiling. Serve with your favorite pasta dish or mashed potato.

There you go, guys. I hope you like it! Dig in!

Love,

Bella Donna

Ampalaya Con Corned Beef

Here's our twist for ginisang ampalaya: Ampalaya con Corned Beef

Ingredients:

2 pieces medium-sized Ampalya (bittermelon, sliced thinly)
1 egg
1 small can of corned beef
5 cloves garlic (or just the way you want it)
1 onion
ground black pepper
salt to taste

Saute garlic and onion on a heated pan, add the ampalaya. When the ampalaya is cooked, add salt and pepper to taste and then add the corned beef. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Add the egg and let it set for a while. Serve hot.

Tip: To lessen the bitterness of ampalaya, rub some salt after you slice the ampalaya and then wash with cold water.

Love,

Bella Donna

Burger, Burger, Burger!

When I was in high school, my parents used to operate a canteen beside our school in Pasay. My mom made her own hamburger patties that she sold on that year. It was made of ground pork, seasoned with soy sauce, black pepper, salt, garlic, onion a bit of parsley, and egg. Dashed with love and generosity.



During those time, we have a gay friend who is also operating a burger stand outside school. He was very popular among students. Most of them would go to his stand and spend the rest of the afternoons. And one of those students is this girl who used to be one of my best buddies back then. I just didn't know what happened after elementary days. Maybe we had the same crushes or something. But, she suddenly came to me at school and said: "kahit ano pang free ang isama mo sa burger mo, hinding-hindi bibili sa yo si Spencer!" (That boy was the most popular crush among girls at school) I was like, what was that??? Anyway, after that encounter, I never talked to that girl who used to be my "bff." I still made a lot of friends after her, though.

Despite that, I never lost my appetite making and eating hamburgers. Friends are like burgers; some of them maybe bland some of them juicy and tasty. You just got to pick the right ones to satisfy your hunger.

Love,

Bella Donna

Chillin' at Jack's Loft

The other weekend, me and my colleague went to Sct. Madrinal near ABS-CBN for a meeting with this modeling agency. It was a particularly hot day. The sun was blazing and there is no cloud to cover the sun rays. We were early so, we decided to sit down at Jack's Loft. When I visit one particular cafe or restaurant, there's got to be something that I remember about it. With Jack's Loft, it's the luscious, sinful and breathtaking chocolate decadent cake and the most refreshing iced tea I ever tasted--- in a fishbowl!

Yes, in a fishbowl. You can actually share it with 4-5 more people because it's really a big order. This iced tea is like red tea with zest of orange not particularly sweet neither bland to the taste. It's really good especially when you were walking under the crazy sunlight like this. You can imagine the breeze of cool wind and the smell of the ocean by the shore. (inhale, exhale)



I got to try this chocolate decadent cake for the first time a few years back when I was out partying with my friends in Libis. We had dinner first and then, when we decided to have a desert, one of them suggested to try this slice of heaven. Oh gosh, I was so thankful she introduced this to me. It's a taste of happiness the moment you take a bite. All your endorphins will blast like pyrotechnics because the dark flavor of chocolates and the hint of sweetness of caramel and the moist cake dough just melts in your mouth, you won't have time to chew it. :)

Typical Party Plate

When we go to parties, it's always expected to have a full plate. People would always remember the food, not the event that they have gone to. Amusingly, I found party plates really full like this one. No matter what the occasion, you can always find a full plate with rice, pasta, chicken, fish, pork and beef dishes. Not to discount of course the bottomless iced tea and the sweet desert. How about you, what's your party plate? C'mon, dig in!

Brainstorming at Burger King

January 26, 2010
Tuesday 2:19pm
New Manila, Quezon City

We've been brainstorming at Burger King E. Rodriguez for more than three times now. The first time was really productive so we kept on coming back. It was also the first time that I've learned that they have such nice value-added service to their customers. No wonder, it's full of people even past its peak hours. You need not to buy any minimum order. We just had large apple juices last week and the rest was all pitching of ideas.



Then, a girl in a therapist's uniform approached us. Even though she was in that attire, there's a logo of BK on her uniform. So, there's no doubt that she's from Burger King. She asked, "Would you like to try our free massage?" I was like, "really?" She related it's been the service of the fastfood chain for two years now. And it seems like everyone else was enjoying it. It's up to you whether you'd like to give a tip, but anyway, the service is free! They also have the usual free cellphone charging and most of it all, free wifi access.

It's definitely been a good day for brainstorming. And for that, me and my colleague officially made BK as our "bat cave."

Love,


Bella Donna

Good Old Chicken Adobo

January 18, 2010
Monday 3:33pm
New Manila, Quezon City

One of my favorite filipino dishes (aside from kare-kare). But never did I ever learn cooking it the right way. Sometimes, it's too salty--- too many soy sauce. Sometimes, too sour--- too many vinegar. So I asked the help of my brother who's learning to be a chef. We cooked this last night to have it in the morning since we can't really make breakfasts on weekdays.

So ok, we prepared the chicken, garlic, onion, bay leaf and ground black pepper. And most importantly, the soy sauce and vinegar. I used to cook chicken adobo in different ways because I never got the right formula of the best chicken adobo. Sometimes, I would saute the garlic and onion first and then the chicken and keep it searing until it becomes tender before I put the vinegar and soy sauce and the rest of the spices. Sometimes, I would just pour in the ingredients altogether and let it simmer until it's cooked but it turns out to be bland. So last night, my brother said he would boil the chicken first. After the meat is tender, we sauteed the garlic and onion. And then, we added the chicken. He added the soy sauce and vinegar according to his taste. I didn't taste it, fearing that it would be nasty again. We set it aside and washed the dishes. I went to bed after I packed my things for the week.

I got up at 5am. Took shower in haste. Change to my working clothes and sat down on the dining table to eat. Surprisingly, the adobo tastes really good. First time that we ever had a good adobo. We would fight over it because no one of us got it right but we would always cook adobo anyway. But whether we cooked the dish right or not, we would still eat whatever is prepared for the family table. The thing is, the only thing that keep us bonded is the weekend meals that we all share. And that's what really matters.



Our good old chicken adobo. Kudos to my brother!

Love,

Bella Donna

Apple and Strawberry in Red Wine Dessert

January 17, 2010
Sunday, 9:17pm
Cavite

I opened our ref and saw a few strawberries on a small saucer. There's still the red wine sitting at the door rack of the fridge. I washed the strawberries, opened the red wine and chopped a red apple together with these few left-over berries. Put the fruits in a small bowl, sprinkle a little of brown sugar and poured in a small amount of red wine, put it in the freezer. We ate dinner. The usual homecooking dish--- fried fish and sauteed sayote with ensaladang indian mango. After dinner, I took the bowl form the freezer and asked each member of my family to dig in. My mom said, she didn't like to palpitate because of the wine. I said it was ok just taste it. Before you know it, she was eating the dessert double time. Hahaha... It's something new for my family. My mom said, we should make something like that for my Tito's wedding on February. Oh well, maybe...

Here's a photo of what I made this weekend.



Find out some more eats I make every weekend with my family.

Love,

Bella Donna