Let's Go Bowling!

It was our Aunt's birthday so we made her a cake on her special day. She loves to go bowling which gave us an idea on what to do with her cake. With the bowling theme in mind, we made two separate cakes. One for the bowling ball and another for the bowling pin. We also painted the fondant with brown food coloring to mimic the bowling alley floor.

Hope you guys like this one! =)

-Alo and Boots

"He cooks, I eat. That's it!"

Beef Nilaga 'Consomme"

We L.O.V.E. eating Beef Nilaga! As a matter of fact, its Boot's all time favorite. But we're sick and tired of eating this dish with this fat and grease floating all over the broth. So we thought of a way of cooking this dish to remove all these nasty stuff.

By making a consomme, we clarified the stock and remove all the impurities, so we only get that pure and very flavorful broth.

With that said, here's another video showing how we made our Beef Nilaga"Consomme".

Hope you guys enjoy!

-Alo and Boots

"He cooks, I eat. That's it!"

Oyster Appetizer

So our sister got us some fresh oysters from the eastern market in DC last Saturday. We wanted to do something and play around with it a little bit. Alo remembered that they used to serve oysters with mignonette at his old job. Inspired from the dish he learned from Chef Chris and Chef Karen, he did his own asian flavored mignonette.

So this is what we came up with!

This is our very first ever video. =D
Let us know what you think.

Thanks!

-Alo and Boots

"He cooks, I eat. That's it!"

Oxtail Mechado

Oxtail is one of our favorite cut of meat, but in filipino cuisine, this is only typically used in "kare-kare". What we wanted to do is to highlight this cut of meat and make it the main star to a different dish. And what better way to cook this meat than to cook it "Mechado" style! Combining both our favorite meat and favorite dish is a match made in heaven.

The first thing we did was browned the oxtail, then braised it in crushed tomatoes, soy sauce, mirepoix, lemon rind, bay leaves, peppercorns, and thyme. After brasing it for about 2 to 3 hours, we removed the meat, strained, and reduced the sauce. "Mechado" is usually serve  with potatoes, carrots, and bell peppers. So in our version, we roasted baby bell pepper and blanched baby carrots. For the potato part of the dish, we made pomme puree and piped it in a vol-au-vent, which is a puff pastry shell. Lastly, we added fried quail egg just because we liked it. =)

-Alo and Boots

"He cooks, I eat. That's it!"

Roasted Chicken Sinigang

This dish was inspired by our very good friend Chef Xavier Diego. He makes a killer Roasted Chicken Sinigang which is to die for. So we wanted to recreate this dish and  give it a different twist to make it our own. We  cooked this filipino dish using french techniques to create a fusion. Giving it that Alo and Boots Swag!

First, we made a chicken roulade and stuffed it with tomato concasse and sauteed spinach. We then seared it and roasted it in the oven with gabi (a root vegetable). After that, we braised the banana blossom in sinigang broth to give that sour flavor that we love. Lastly, we made a tamarind gastrique sauce to give that familiar flavor and to connect all the elements of the dish together. 

Let us know what you think! =)

-Alo and Boots

"He cooks, I eat. That's it!"

*We would like to thank Chef Xavier Diego for inspiring us on creating this dish.

"Coca-Cola" Cake

Yesterday was Boot's dad's birthday so we made a special cake for him. Knowing Papa Boots, he loves his soda, particularly Coca-Cola. So the idea was to make a "Coca-Cola" Cake for him. We made chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream then shaped in to a Coca-Cola can. We only had a day to make this cake so we made it simple but good. At the end, the cake looked amazing and tasted great. But more importantly, the celebrant loved it! =)

Hope you guys like it too!

-Alo and Boots

"He cooks, I eat. That's It!"

*If you guys are interested on ordering custom made cakes, just contact us at our email address at the right hand side of the page*

Mixing It Up with This "Halo-Halo"

So we decided to deconstruct another classic filipino dish. This time, the dessert we chose was the oh so famous "HALO-HALO". When translated, "HALO-HALO" means "Mix It Up". So its kind of ironic to deconstruct a dish with such meaning. There was a lot of thinking and brainstorming to come up with this version, but we had done it! =)

The idea was to serve "HALO-HALO" on a plate, instead of a bowl which might surprise some people. And by using different cooking techniques and a creative imagination, deconstructing an almost impossible dish was doable. So this is what we came up with: Deep Fried Ice Cream, Caramel Powder, Evaporated Milk Air/Foam, Coconut Cream Sauce, Plantain Compote, Sweet White and Mung Beans, Nata de Coco, Coconut Strings, Sweet Sugar Plum Fruit, Ube (Purple Yam)

Hope you guys like or version! =)

Let us know what you think. 

-Alo & Boots

"He cooks, I eat. That's it!"

Leche Flan Cheesecake

Leche Flan is the filipino version of a Creme Caramel. It is a sweet custard with a layer of soft caramel on top. Inspired on making this plain old boring filipino dessert a complex and elegant one, we reinvented it flavor-wise and presentation-wise. 

We wanted to give this dessert a different texture, so we combined cheesecake and leche flan together. by doing so, it gives a creamier texture but still has that good old leche flan flavor that every filipino loves.  For additional cheesecake element, the flan is placed on top of a graham cracker crust. We then grilled nectarines with rosemary and honey, which compliments the flan very well. Lastly, we made caramel powder for a play on texture. Once this powder is eaten, it will turn back in to that oowey gooey caramel consistency. The dish is served with caramel sauce, crushed almonds, mint and black lava sea salt.

All in all, this dessert was a success!

Hope you guys enjoy!

-Alo and Boots

"He cooks, I eat. That's it!"