Baliwag Sinigang na Ulo sa Miso

The food court is one of my go-to places every time I can't figure out what I want to eat. Sometimes I crave for food that restaurants not even in fast- food chains can offer. For years now, I go to Baliwag for a heavy meal that's Filipino inspired, with the sabaw (soup), rice and big portions combined. Everything is there. Even with my kids, they always find something delicious and healthy from Baliwag.

I particularly love their Sinigang na Ulo sa Miso. An order costs around 99php and that includes a cup of rice. But once you see the large bowl of this viand, a diner will definitely go for another round of rice.

Baliwag's Sinigang na Ulo sa Miso reminds me so much of my dad's version that's why I love it. A sip of the soup makes me forget that I'm in a food court and suddenly, there's this feeling like I never left home.

A large bowl contains half of the Maya-maya fish head and lots of fresh Mustard leaves. For lunch today, after running some errands, my husband asked me if I want to eat in a "more formal restaurant" I said no because I want to check the food court and luckily, they have Baliwag. I was so full. My day was made special sharing a bowl Sinigang na Ulo sa Miso with my other half and... 2 cups of rice.

Sancho Churreria Manila

Girl bonding was spent at Sancho Churreria Manila. My sisters and I wanted burger from The Burger Project but our mom was craving for pasta. Good thing that Sancho was just right beside The Burger project, we didn't have to look any further. 

They say, Sancho Churreria Manila, taken from the name and by word of mouth, serves one of the best churros in the city. So weird because we totally forgot to order some during our visit. 

And for first timers, I gotta say we enjoyed the over-all feel of the restaurant. It was so homey. The dining area has limited no. of tables and chairs but it's not cramped. The staff was very friendly and courteous.

For our food, we all ordered pasta and Brazo de Mercedes for dessert.

 Pasta Puttanesca

Pesto

Classic Carbonara

 Baked Macaroni

The pasta dishes we ordered came with 2 slices of buttered bread. The portions for the pasta is big. For a single serving, it's a lot for a person to enjoy. As a pasta lover, I can say that Sancho Churreria Manila serves delicious pasta. I love it. It's tasty but not salty. I can actually distinguish the mix of flavors thru the freshness of the ingredients from my Puttanesca. My mom enjoyed her baked macaroni, the sauce was very rich. Same with my sister's Carbonara. The Pesto was not oily and the mix of Parmesan cheese with the basil added texture and more flavor. By the way, extra Parmesan cheese is available by request.

The prices of our pasta dishes went around 175-190php

A slice of Brazo de Mercedes 35php

Sancho Churreria Manila has a wide range of food choices. From pasta, sandwiches, appetizers, main that goes around Filipino viands and desserts. One of their house specialty is their line of desserts: Chocolate eclairs, Cream puffs, Traditional Chocolate cake, Brazo de Mercedes and Churros.

My husband noticed this post while I was making it. He was not around when I took my mom and sisters at this restaurant. With that, this coming weekend, we will pay Sancho Churreria Manila a visit and taste more of its scrumptious dishes.

Location: 122 Maginhawa St., Teachers Village, Quezon City
Tel no: 436-5539

Easy Banoffee

This was not my first attempt on a Banoffee Pie but this was the only one that gave me a more presentable result. The previous ones were delicious but the filling turned out runny. I don't really expect to get perfect results on the first try, but every time I want to make something new or I'm not really familiar with, I take note of the things I need to work on and I do it again.

First I needed to learn how to make caramel (Dulce de leche/ caremelized milk). Lucky if you're living abroad because they sell this in can ready- to- use. For us here in the Philippines, all you have to do is to get a pot of water sink your can of condensed milk side ways and boil it for 1 1/2 hours- 2 hours. Make sure that the can of milk is always submerged in water or it's going to explode if it dries up. Once done, let it set in the very same pot of water for 15- 30 minutes and slowly add tap water until it's cooled down.

A lot of work huh? It's gonna be all worth it later on once you're used to it. The fact that you can already make your own caramel is already a +++.

Materials: 

• Spring form pan or any container you want to use and that is easy to cool.
• Mixing Bowl
• Spatula
• Mixer 
• Grater for dark chocolate

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter (melted)
• 1 pack of crushed graham crackers
• 3 ripe bananas (sliced into thin pieces)
• 1 cup heavy cream (from the refrigerator)
• 4 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
• 300ml can of caramelized condensed milk

Procedures:

Crust:

• In a mixing bowl, mix crushed graham crackers and melted butter. Mix until well- blended.
• Pour crushed graham into pan or molder.
• Spread the crumbs evenly from the bottom to the sides. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Filling:

• In a bowl, mix banana slices with half of the caramelized milk.
• Pour and spread banana filling on the prepared crust evenly.
• Pour the remaining caramelized milk and spread again evenly.

Cream Topping:

• In a separate mixing bowl and on medium speed whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
• Add cream cheese and mix until well- blended.
• Top cream over the banana and caramelized milk mixture, spread evenly. 
• Garnish with dark chocolate shavings.
• Refrigerate for 3-4 hours before slicing.

Since this is a no- bake Banoffee, it is important to keep this dessert in a cool place all the time. Please bear with how my Banoffee looks, I made boo-boo on the less banana filling and more cream topping part. Well, I just gotta keep trying right? I'll try the bake version some time and post it here too. But for now....

Enjoy!