SAUCES, STEAKS & TRUFFLE OIL

Various recipes involving steaks, sauces and the use of truffle oil were aptly demonstrated, cooked & taught by Chef Marco Legasto during one of the gourmet workshops at Wine Depot Alabang.  This particular session had a number of men as participants.  Probably because of the steaks =)

Mise en place all set.

Chef Marco in action.

BARBECUED STEAK

Beef cube roll sliced and pan seared with onions.

Barbecue sauce poured in small quantity. For the BBQ sauce: tomato sauce, brown sugar, white vinegar, bay leaf, celery, leeks, garlic, pepper & soy sauce. Combine ingredients and boil until thickened.

Yum! Finished product for participants' tasting.

WAGYU BURGER WITH JAMON IBERICO SALSA

Topping: saute chopped jamon iberico , sliced button mushrooms. Add slice foie gras. Set aside. Then add diced tomatoes and a dash of truffle oil.

Grill Tajima Wagyu burgers. Use ciabatta bread or regular burger buns. Instead of buttering inside of sliced bread, spread a little goat cheese. Put grilled burger on top of sliced bread.

Arrange jamon iberico salsa on top of burgers. Add grated Manchego cheese.

BEEF AND PORCINI SAUCE

Use Tajima Wagyu topside beef or any striploin beef, Create a pocket in the middle of the beef by slicing until mid way. Stuff with butterflied prawns (about 2-3 pcs.), slivers of foie gras & sliced button mushroom. Then close. No need to tie or secure with toothpick.

A wise option is to wrap steak with 3-4 slices of bacon to secure & for that smokey bacon flavor. No need to season beef & bacon. So many flavors will eventually commingle.

Butter on pan. Pan sear both sides. Put end of bacon on pan first to seal. Then bake in oven for 10 minutes at 250C. Time to Prepare sauce.

Saute prawn heads in butter. Add garlic, onions, celery, dry white wine, sliced button mushrooms, sliced porcini mushrooms, water, salt, lobster oil. Drippings from the steak in the oven must be added for extra flavor.

Lobster oil from Australia.

Strain head mixture well. Pour strained liquid in sauce pan. Another option is to blend using a hand or regular blender & food processor especially if prawn heads are excluded.

Finish with butter and cream.

Simmer a bit. Then drizzle truffle oil.

Glorious truffle oil. Gives any dish that spectacular taste and aroma. Purists will not want this as it masks the real taste of food. Mask it does...but beautifully. Drizzle a little on creamy scrambled eggs, pasta sauce or any dish you want to up the ante.

Remove meat from oven when done. Let rest for a few minutes and slice. Slice meat according to preference. The one above was sliced into small pieces for all participants to taste. If quantity is not an issue, best to serve whole per person =)

Pour sauce over. TBW makes this sauce regularly with a bit of change. Prawn heads are removed in the sauce if an all-meat dish is to be served. Also, if porcini is not available, use any fresh and dried mushroom combined. Sauce can be used for pasta, on fish or any protein. Makes any ordinary dish extraordinary.

BURGERS & OPTIONS AT STACKERS

Tookie loves burgers and will want to eat them any chance he gets.  TBW isn’t as fond so it is a relief to find burger places that offer options aside from the yummy fatty patty sandwiches.  Stackers is a burger cafe that has all kinds of burgers and other several offerings, even healthy ones, to satisfy both burger fans and not-so-quite-burger fans.

Some of the many burger creations

Tookies favorite burger type. Plain, no catsup/mayo/vegies, with a slice of cheese and bacon strips.

Garlic fries

Alternatives…..

Fish & chips, Fish burger. Good for Lent

Healthy asian salad platter

Burger salad bowls

BBQ burger bowl. Tasty, filling & healthier than a quarter pound burger sandwich.

Having several menu options allows diners to easily reach a compromise and this leads to peace and happiness.  See what food can help do =)

 

 

RIDICULOUS BURGER…..

Found at Burger Avenue.  The boys love the burgers here.  They come in various sizes and combinations.  Their most popular is the Ridiculous Burger…..a 3 flame grilled burger patty loaded with lettuce, tomato, cheese.  The works!

Real flame grilled burgers

Ridiculous Burger

Burger Avenue even has the Ridiculous Burger challenge wherein one gets the chance to have the burger for free if eaten completely in 4 minutes flat. Ridiculous?  Well, many have attempted and several have succeeded.  Those that win the challenge, gets a photo op and makes it to Burger Avenue’s “winners” album.

a more distorted looking Ridiculous Burger

For those that just want to take it easy and enjoy having their burgers, then by all means, do so. There are many to choose from.  My favorite is the single flame grilled burger with cheese pimiento on top.

We are familiar with the Fort Strip and AVenue in Makati Avenue locations.

THE BURGER INNOVATOR

Have you noticed the emergence of burger places in the metropolis lately?  Grilled, charbroiled, monster, designer, full packed, samplers…name it, you’ll find it.

Kuy2 and Tookie love burgers. If they had a choice, they’ll eat them (and chicken and steak) everyday.  We probably tried all the burger joints our eyes and feet could reach and even came up with our “top five” list. (More on that list soon)

But the burger that blew our minds and challenged our taste buds wonderfully was the one invented by Mickey Wieneke who I shall call The Burger Innovator =)

The hamburger innovator--Mickey Wieneke

His first invention:  Grilled beef patty loaded with a slice of Canadian bacon & cheese, finished with a sunny side up egg cooked well on top and strategically placed in between two slices of Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut.  Wow!  The mixture of salty, sweet and creamy tastes plus the textures of the ingredients combined did the challenge and the blowing =)  I guess many others have had the same effect as they seem to look and queue for this burger, making it a popular food product at the Mercato Centrale.

 

Second and first inventions

Not wanting to rest on his laurels, a second burger was created. This one has the grilled, in vogue chorizo burger with Canadian bacon, cheese and egg in between two slices of queso de bola ensaymada. What a burger!  This is already a winner just by its description. A must try indeed!

Wonder what’s the next exciting invention of The Burger Innovator? Stay tuned!