Saturday, January 3, 2009

Our Last Meal for 2008

How about that, my first post for 2009 is still all about 2008!

Garandee wanted to end 2008 with a bang. Since we're both crazy about Turkish food, she pulled out her favorite cookbook and cooked up these outrageous Turkish dishes for our last meal for the year.

Our Starter:

mussels in beer batter
Deep Fried Mussels in Beer Batter with Garlic-Flavoured Walnut Sauce

This became an instant favorite! I mean, who doesn't like beer battered seafood? I'm a big fan of fish n' chips, but using mussels instead of cod blew me away! Best when served during drinking sessions.

crushed walnut dip

What really makes this appetizer stand out from all its other beer battered counterparts is the exotic sauce that's paired with it. Its light nutty taste and semi-crunchy texture complemented the strong "oceany" flavor and chewy texture of the mussels.


Our Main Dish:

lahmacun
Lahmacun

An Anatolian snack with a thin crispy base smeared with a lightly spiced minced lamb on top. Eat it with fresh parsley and a generous squeeze of lemon. We didn't have lamb so minced beef was a good substitute. We also tried using lime instead of lemon for added flavor and we were oh so right to do that!

chargrilled chicken pomegranate
Chargrilled Chicken Wings in Pomegranate Marinade

Originally a recipe meant for quails, Garandee used chicken wings instead since it was the only poultry we had in the freezer. After marinating, she baked it in the oven a bit before grilling it on an open flame. Since pomegranate is rarely available in Manila (so we think), Garandee told me that this could be the last time she's making it. Sniff... sob...

pomegranate marinade

She was pleasantly suprised to find some of the fruit in SM Makati, and bought one immediately. I've never heard the fruit, so I was looking over her shoulder the moment she opened it up to make the marinade. As she left, I stole a spoonful to get a taste. It felt like eating sweet & sour papaya seeds...


Our Dessert:

4 layer chocolate cake
Garandee's Low Calorie 4 layer Milk Chocolate Cake

Beeyootiful! Melted semi-sweet milk chocolate mixed with cream sqeezed between 4 layers chocolate sponge cake. If that's not enough, she used the filling to coat the cake too. No butter was used in the filling, significantly reducing the calories of this monstrosity. Once you take it out of the chiller, the coating and filling hardens up a bit, but not too much that it cracks when you slice it.

For the record, she finished up to 70% of this cake. Seriously.

Anyway, I placed bookmarks on all these dishes in her cookbook. Hopefully it will convince her to make them all again this year.


Garando mode:
I hardly have 2 days of vacation left...

9 comments:

Alice said...

WOW, Garando! I'm at awe and drooling looking at these photos! Garandee is awesome! And you took great photos. :D

AngelMD-No-More said...

tsk tsk tsk you will really have a problem dieting manong.hahahaha with garandee's meals? all i can say is "may the force be with you."hahaha

Garando said...

@Alice Teh
Thanks, Alice! All these photos were taken by Garandee, she's getting really good with her macro lens. She'll be delighted to see your comment. ;)

@AngelMD
LOL! Yeah, it's really hard to control myself whenever she puts dishes like these on the table. I just keep telling her to keep the volume at a minimum. I'll then focus on quality rather than quantity. LOL!

Flo Flo said...

I shouldnt have visited cos my mouth's watering and it's 10pm on a Saturday night.... *drools*

Dennis Villegas said...

Those dishes look YUMMY! I like your blog too Garando! I will link your blog to my blogroll for easier hopping! Happy New Year!

Garando said...

@Flo Flo
LOL! Thanks for dropping by! Hope you were able to at least grab a midnight snack. ;)

@Dennis
Wow! thanks for adding me to your list! I've added you as well. :)
Happy new year to you too!

Anonymous said...

Puede bang bumisita sa inyo one time? Makikikain lang.

LOL.

What a fantastic meal to end the year!

Anonymous said...

yummmm..sarap naman...like dyosa, parang guto ko rin dumalaw sa bahay nyo at makikain hehehe :)

Happy Sunday to both of you :)

Garando said...

@Dyosa & Jeanny
LOL!! Sinasabihan ko na nga si Garandee na magtayo na ng carinderia eh. Pag pumayag na sya, sigurado kayo una makaka-alam! :D