UP's Pride: Tapsilog Meal from Rodic's Food Express

Rodic's Tapsilog

I remember watching a tv show featuring some famous foods found in UP Diliman campus. So when a cousin of mine who's very much familiar with the ins and outs of UP, went with me one afternoon to specifically enroll a fellow cousin of ours for her Bar exam review, she invited me for an early dinner at one of the campus famous eateries. We walked passed a hallway of small shops until we stopped at Rodic's Food Express.  

Recipe: Fruity Iced Tea

Here's a recipe I got from our handy dandy Del Monte Kitchenomics cookbook. It's an upgrade from an otherwise plain boring iced tea, served during my sister's simple birthday celebration.

Ingredients:

1 can (850g) Del Monte Fiesta Fruit Cocktail
3/4 cup iced tea powder (lemon flavor)
1 pc small red apple
1 cup warm water
3 and 1/2 cups of cold water

Preparation:
1. Pour Del Monte Fiesta Fruit Cocktail (including syrup) in an ice tray. Cover and freeze overnight.
2. In a pitcher, dissolve iced tea powder. Combine with cold water and set aside.
3. Dice the apple with its peel, then add to the iced tea. Pour into glasses with frozen fruit cocktail iced cubes.

Try this Fruity Iced Tea to serve for house guests or as an afternoon refreshment.

Hotel Recipe: Hammour Steak with Ratatouille and Pesto

Recipe from Le Royal Meridien Dubai

Serves 4
Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients

4 hammour fillets, 200g each
20ml lemon juice
salt and pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
jar of coriander pesto, rosemary sprig, halved cherry tomatoes and red grapes to serve

For the crust, mix together:
100g breadcrumbs
2g chopped dill leaves
150g green apple, finely chopped
5g garlic, chopped
100g walnuts, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil

For the ratatouille:
2 tbsp olive oil
20g onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp garlic, chopped
180g courgette, cubed
100g each, aubergine and red bell peppers, cubed
1g oregano

How to cook Hammour Steak with Ratatouille and Pesto
1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Season hammour with lemon juice, salt and pepper. In a pan, heat olive oil, sear hammour and cook until half done. Coat the hammour generously with the crust mix and cook i oven for 8-10 minutes. Keep hammour warm.
2. For the ratatouille, heat olive oil in pan, saute onion and garlic. Add all the vegetables, saute and season with salt, pepper and oregano. Set aside.
3. To serve, spoon ratatouille on a plate, place hammour over it ad drizzle pesto on the side. Garnish with rosemary, cherry tomatoes, grapes and a drizzle of coriander pesto.