Hail Caesar!
My very first job was for a five-star restaurant group with its head office located in Bistro Burgos in Makati.
Bistro Burgos was the first bistro in the Philippines by the way. Everyday, the restaurant manager, Mang Johnny, would supervise the making of the day’s Caesar Salad Dressing just before the restaurant opened for lunch. It was either the Maitre’d or the Captain Waiter who would have the honor of whipping up this very popular dressing.
I loved watching these guys mashing the anchovy and garlic in the big, wooden bowl on a stand. I loved watching the dressing come together as the oil was slowly drizzled in. Since my boss was out of the country for the few months I worked for him, I had time to spend in the restaurant listening to Mang Johnny with his many stories of those days when he was a restaurant manager, captain waiter and maitre’d at the finest establishments in Manila. The man must’ve been in his late 70′s when I first met him, so he had a lot of stories to tell. Ohhh, yes….interesting stories of politicians, and entertainers, international personalities, wives, mistresses and egos – big and small.
Anyway, I thought I didn’t have the wrists to make a success of this dressing. All I did for years was shake dressing ingredients in a bottle and never attempted a Caesar’s salad dressing.
I tried it the other day though and the results surprised me. It was delicious and better than any bottled dressing I’ve ever bought, gourmet or not. I’ll never be intimidated by any salad dressing after I’ve made a success of my first Caesar’s salad dressing.
Try it one time, and don’t feel intimidated. Just prepare all ingredients beforehand and have it ready before you start whipping.
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Old-Fashioned Chicken Pot Pie
I felt like celebrating tonight and decided to make us an Old-Fashioned Chicken Pot Pie that didn’t include skimmed milk or skinless, boneless chicken breasts. No siree.. this recipe called for cream…and lotsa butter and I did use butter with a clear conscience.
I got a call from my doctor and al my blood work came back normal. Normal!!!!! Normal blood sugar, normal cholesterol….wheeeeee! Awright, too much personal information here, I’m stopping now.
So anyway. In celebration of the very happy circumstances of my health, I made this American classic with only a couple of concessions. I used split chicken breasts instead of a whole chickem, and I only made a top crust. But the crust came out extra-ordinarily flaky this time. I guess there’s truth to that old wive’s tale about being in a good mood when making a pie crust. Sadly, I forgot to put in the peas which I always have in the freezer. Mea culpa. The dish would’ve been so much better with the peas.
This particular recipe is based on James Beard’s version which I found off the internet and found it to be the best I’ve tried. It does take hours to make, but most of it is simmering and won’t require hard labor. The results are worth it. There are just certain recipes you have to try doing without the usual shortcuts.
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Everyday Filipino: Beef Sinigang
Sinigang refers to the dish you cook using the “sigang” method. Cooking sigang style is to cook with broth and other condiments according to the online Tagalog dictionary. I always thought the term meant sauteing without oil. Sorry about the picture, I guess the steam rose and fogged up the camera lens.
Sinigang is a very versatile dish. There are different versions of sinigang: beef, pork, chicken, fish and shrimp. Sinigang with beef, pork or chicken starts out the same way, which is, sauteing the meat with the onion and tomatoes without any oil, then adding a spoonful of fish sauce. It’s the perfect dish for the rainy season….warm and satisfying.
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Pear and Rhum Pound Cake
You’ve seen the pan, now here’s the cake…ta-dah!
Did you notice the cake is lopsided? You wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t say a word, right? Not so bad. The cake was great whichever pan you used. Can’t really go wrong with a combination of pear and rhum.
This recipe is based on a Pear and Grappa Pound Cake again found in my current favorite, “The Soprano Family Cookbook” by Allen Rucker and Michele Scicolone. The cake was mentioned by Meadow Soprano in The Sopranos Episode 59 of Season 5. In this episode, she bakes that cake for her grandfather’s birthday party.
This cake is highly recommended. Try it sometime. It has a lovely combination of flavors, is very easy to make and is pretty much full-proof baking, even for higher altitudes.
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