Baked and Stuffed Butterfly Prawns with Hollandaise, Gouda and Swiss Cheese

Help for My Butterfly Prawns

December 25, 2010 – Home – Presented with a huge container of fresh prawns, I was racking my brain for things to do when I decided on stuffing, baking and serving them with Hollandaise sauce. It was perfect! Except for one problem – I had no idea how to make Hollandaise sauce. Enter, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child.

It was simple. It was accessible. It. Was. Brilliant!

Baked and Stuffed Butterflly Prawns with Hollandaise, Gouda and Swiss Cheese

The Hollandaise Sauce (with my twist)
Everything starts with an electric blender. Genius (cue angelic reverb). Separate six eggs, taking only the yolks for this recipe and pour into the blender jar. Add a teaspoon of salt, and half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and the same amount of white pepper. Drizzle in the juice from two lemons. Buzz the entire thing for five seconds at high speed. Adjust the seasoning according to taste. I like the hint of heat from the cayenne, and a bit of tang from the lemon to cut the richness of the sauce.

On a separate sauce pan, melt a brick of butter on low heat until frothy. Start the blender up again and buzz in high speed. Open the access hatch from the jar’s lid and gingerly stream the hot, melted butter into the blending sauce. The sauce will quickly turn into scrambled egg if you do more than just pour in a continuous, thin stream. When you’ve finished the butter, continue to blend for five more seconds and you should be set! Easy. Rich. Delicious.

Assembling the Dish
Butterfly two-thirds of your prawns by slitting down its back from the base of the head down to the tip of the tail. Remove the intestines – those aren’t pretty and taste nasty. Make your incision deep enough without splitting it in half. Keep the flesh attached to the now split shell. I got through a kilo of it with NPR playing on my earphones to keep myself entertained. Open up your prawns and arrange in a row on a baking pan – not a cookie sheet or all the juice from your prawns will make a mess in your oven. Lightly season the flesh with salt, pepper and an extra drizzling of extra virgin olive oil.

Clean and butterfly the rest of your prawns but remove them from the shells this time and chop into small pieces. This will be what you stuff the butterflied prawns with. Prawn on prawn. Yum.

On a saucepan, sweat some chopped onions over extra virgin olive oil and add the chopped prawns. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the prawns until they are pink, but not fully cooked. Add a touch of cream and half of your Hollandaise towards the end and take the pan off the fire.

Scoop some of the hot mixture into the butterflied prawns, then top of with sauteed garlic. Engulf the prawns with the rest of the Hollandaise sauce. Top with shavings of Swiss cheese, Gouda or Parmesan. I did two of the three.

Preheat the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit . Place the baking pan inside and let cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. You can garnish with some crushed, dried oregano before serving, if you’d like.

Mushroom Rice

Mushroom Rice

December 25, 2010 – Home – This variation of the Mushroom Rice is definitely a recipe anyone can do and customize as needed. If you know how to steam rice, you’ll know how to do this.

Take one medium-sized onion and chop. Depending on how much mushroom you want, you can end up using up the whole can of sliced mushrooms or just some of it. These usually come in a broth that you should remember to set aside – we’ll be using that.

On a pot, drizzle a few swirls of extra virgin olive oil. Sweat the onions. At this point, you can add in your flavor components and customize this dish. Add in the sliced mushrooms and saute until they take a nice caramelized look, taking care not to burn them. Add in a cup of rice that you’ve cleaned beforehand and saute them with the mushrooms and onions. Feel free to add a touch more extra virgin olive oil if the pan starts to dry out. Sprinkle a teaspoon of salt and white pepper.

Measure a cup and half of steaming liquid – use the mushroom broth and fill the rest with water (or chicken broth if you have it). Get you pot to a rolling boil at medium fire until the grains absorb most of the liquid. After 10 minutes, or when most of the liquid has been absorbed, continue cooking the rice for an additional five minutes at low heat. Try a few bites of the rice to check if cooked.

I wouldn’t have chicken broth immediately accessible if I’m doing this impromptu. What I’d do is crumble half a cube of chicken bullion while I saute the rice. That works really well for extra flavor instead of just plain water for my steaming liquid.

Mall Parking Surprises

Blueberry Birthday Cheesecake

December 23, 2010 – Home – It’s been talked about and insisted upon months ahead. “We have to spend your birthday together,” he says. It wasn’t a banner year, but we persevere nonetheless. The circumstances are different, but I was still on my merry way.

Late December afternoons have been rather dull lately. Overcast and chill, the threat of rain pervades the atmosphere. “It just wasn’t conducive to celebration,” I said to myself as I wondered what he had planned this time. Pulling up to the curb, the rear doors opened almost immediately and what followed were rustling sounds of much activity and pleas for me to keep looking forward at the street – this was it. What next?

I had a few gift certificates left, so we decided to go to the mall and spend the rest of the day there. Tron was showing and GCs meant I could see the movie despite lukewarm reviews, guilt-free.

The parking annex was especially dark – bad lighting and an already somber sky didn’t help. He was excited of course. “Close your eyes. No peeking!” I did what I was told just when the radio started to play “Marry You.” And after what seemed like five long minutes, I opened my eyes to a lighted birthday cheesecake. I blushed. I loved the cake, and I loved how everything fell into place.

Lighted

We saw the movie and came back to a melted cake. It wasn’t nearly as presentable – okay it wasn’t at all presentable – but I’ll consume it with gusto (as soon as I get it firmed up in my freezer).

Someone told me that people take the beautiful things in life for granted because people expect that it is what is owed, while the few occasions things didn’t go as planned are remembered to bitter end – it’s human nature. We had a terrible year and things aren’t the way they were, but the few exceptional moments when everything went as planned will always be remembered, cherished, and in this case – preserved in cyberspace.

An Intimate Celebration

Sunday at the Market: Mercato Centrale at The Fort

December 19, 2010 – Mercato Centrale, Taguig – I. Love. Sunday. Market. Whether it’s the wet market at the sleepy town of Tagudin in Ilocos, or slightly more upscale food fairs like the Mercato Centrale located near Bonifacio High Street. The energy and aroma are just intoxicating. And you can’t help but admire the unique creations from some hardworking artisans.

I haven’t had the time to go around the whole venue on my first go, but I have already managed to run into some really interesting food items I would like to recommend:

5. Rafael’s Smoked Fish in Olive Oil
Definitely sharing these with my guests at Christmas.

Smoked Fish in Oil

4. Meaty Mama’s Lasagna
Marie Hugo is Meaty Mama. For inquiries, contact her at asuncion_hugo@yahoo.com.

Marie Hugo’s Delicious Lasagna

Marie Hugo is Meaty Mama

3. Ha Yuan’s Open-Faced Sandwiches
Of course, I couldn’t settle with just one so I tried them all!

Refreshing Chicken and Mango

Tofu and Mushroom

Pulled Pork Sandwich

2. Baked by Anita’s Cupcakes
Unique must-try mini cupcakes that come in some really interesting flavors like Peanut Butter Truffle, Saffron and Black Salt, Bacon Maple and (all-time favorite) Red Velvet.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

1. (My Top Mercato Find) Spring Fortune Cookies
Single most memorable taste and purchase were these unassuming Fortune Cookies in Green Tea and Pink Lemonade flavors. Other available flavors are Lemon Almond and Black Sesame. I do not kid when I say, “The Green Tea Fortune Cookies gave me goosebumps.” Do not miss this treat! Send your inquiries to springbyhy@gmail.com.

Green Tea and Pink Lemonade Fortune Cookies

Fortune Cookies by Spring

Dining at Cav Wine Shop is Far from Impressive

December 8, 2010 – Cav Wine Shop, Bonifacio High Street, Taguig – Cav is one of the most lauded restaurants in the Metro located at Bonifacio High Street – a shopping oasis at the heart of Taguig.

The dimly lit dining area was decorated in the nice urban version of a wine cellar that makes it casual, cozy and chic. On a Wednesday evening, the restaurant wasn’t packed, but it took a while for me to locate a waiter who could direct me to the function room I had reserved. Everything went downhill from there.

The room was dark and barely decorated – following the general wine cellar theme – with the odor to boot. The smell of rotting wood, dust and stored ancient antiques pervaded the function room. I was livid. Even when reserved ahead of time, none of the restaurant’s personnel made sure the room was set up and ready. It’s noteworthy to mention that the room came with a price tag – Php20,000 consumable.

I stormed out of the room asking for waiters to do something about the odor and explain the specials to my guests. And what about the wine pairings? I was promised an explanation of the offerings but untrained waiters had none to give. No explanation given. Nothing could be done about the stench. We had to endure and hoped the food’s aroma would mask the smell or render the horrible service moot.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Melons, Pumpkin Soup Shooter and Croquettes

The evening’s dining was opened by an amuse-bouche of prosciutto-wrapped melon balls with pumpkin cream soup shooter and croquettes. The melons with prosciutto were bland and needed seasoning or an additional flavor component to liven the dish. I’ve had the same dish at Duo – located at Serendra – that came with a divine vinaigrette. Cav’s version did not compare in flavor, and the presentation was overbearing. This was made even more depressing by the one-note pumpkin soup and croquettes. The pretentious presentation gimmick made me dislike the dish even more.

Truffle Salad of Edible Flowers, Organic Greens, Sprouts, Vegetables, Nuts, Seeds

My prix-fixe menu began with the Truffle Salad of edible flowers, organic greens, some sprouts, nuts and seeds. It was beautiful enough and edible flowers on my plate was interesting. Witty and unbalanced, the salad’s bitter components overpowered every other flavor dimension, while the nuts – neither candied nor toasted – added texture but did not add anything else to the dish.

The lobster raviolo with cognac bisque was astoundingly horrible. There was nothing delicate or complex about the dish. The bisque was an amalgam of the rich creme and an overpowering fishy taste from the lobster. I was dumbfounded. It tasted like I was downing a bowl of thick, bad milk! Fresh lobster is delicate with a slight hint of the sea. The lobster note of this dish was like being run down by a freight train of concentrated seafood flavor. I was floored.

Does this look rare to you?

Next to me, a colleague went for the Angus Beef Tenderloin with mountain rice, portobello ragu and foie gras foam. Specifically asked prepared rare. It was very near well-done, dry and the center had almost lost the touch of pink. Does this steak look rare to you? Having to spell this out to the waiter was exhausting, so he decided to let it slide.

I had the black cod with two-mustard froth. Incredibly salty and sour. If the goal of this dish’s chemistry was to hide bad fish, I’d say it was pretty successful. But it also succeeded in making me keep to my diet with what little of it I ate.

Chocolate Souffle Cake with mixed Berries and Grand Marnier Cream

Dessert was no better. Chocolate Souffle Cake with mixed Berries and Grand Marnier Cream was an equally unimpressive mess. The chocolate basket was burnt to an indedible state and Grand Marnier cream could not save the sour heap of preserved berries – why the chef did not opt for fresh berries is a mystery. The only bearable dish was the Warm Apple Galette with Cinnamon Ice Cream, but nothing about this dish improves on what I’ve tried before. Dulcinea’s Frech Apple Tart still satisfies best – the perfect play of Granny Smiths and sweet reds.

Warm Apple Galette with Cinnamon Ice Cream

Cav has very high aspirations. It seeks to present innovative dishes and bring haute cuisine to the urbane Metro, while educating the adventurous and willing on the growing obsession that is wine-tasting. It promises a competent mastery over classic cooking techniques, while introducing new concepts for diners. It promises fresh ingredients and top-notch preparation with stringent standards for freshness.

From start to finish, all that is apparent is Cav’s big talk and no substance. A huge selling point, with nothing delivered. The menu presents a complex gastronomy, but the execution falls flat in its face. While some things like taste are relative, service and technique failures are absolute. Not since Lolo Dad’s have I been severely disappointed by a restaurant that overcharges for poor service and shoddy execution. How can all the dishes go so horribly wrong? Didn’t the chef taste any of his creations before serving them up for the public’s scrutiny?

N.B. I was offered a gift certificate by Cav as an apology for their shortcomings – 10 percent of my total bill from 15 guests’ ruined Christmas dinner. I am overwhelmed with shock. Not for generosity, but for the same hubris found in their overbearing food. This, like the dining experience they served up, fails to impress.