Labneh (Lebanese soft yogurt cheese) - لبنة

1 plain yogurt container
Teaspoon of salt
Olive oil
Cotton cloth to serve the purpose of a small bag

Open the container of yogurt and add the salt and mix, then empty the yogurt in the cloth, tie it and hang it over your sink overnight. You want the water to drain all night.
In the morning, empty the labneh from the cloth and serve with olive oil on top with any bread or toast.

Tip: You can make garlic labneh by adding a couple of crushed cloves of garlic or garlic powder. Also labneh can make a wonderful dip, serve it with a vegetable tray and add to the labneh a teaspoon of curry powder.

Lebanese Village Salad

Serving: 2 persons
Ingredients:
1 tomato
1 medium cucumber
1 cup of parsley leaves (not chopped)
1 clove of garlic (crushed)
1 small onion
salt & pepper
olive and juice of 1 small lemon for the dressing.

Chop the tomato, cucumber and onion then add to all the ingredients and mix in a bowl and serve.

Denmark Yaneza

Another kapamilya in the house and he's none other than Denmark Yaneza. He works for ABS-CBN Interactive and a co-worker of Albin Lim who also dined here last year. He's with his Korean girlfriend and they had the Italian set meal. The girl doesn't understand either English or Tagalog so I was wondering how these two people converse. Iasked Denmark and he said that he can speak a little Korean and his girlfriend can understand a little of Tagalog. I'm glad the girl appreciated the food I served.

This is the bruschetta platter they had for appetizer. I found it funny when Denmark's girlfriend used her fork to eat the bruschettas. She seemed to have such a hard time eating. I didn't know how to tell her that she can use just her hands eating those bruschettas.

This couple proved to me that language and nationality are not barriers.

I felt sad when I learned that she's going back to Korea then to the United States to study. Denmark is also leaving for Perth, Australia. If language is not a barrier, then maybe distance is.

Thanks for dining and spending your few moments together.

Manu Pantaleon

Manu Pantaleon is another deduction from the roster of bachelors. He is working as a technical consultant in Lawson PSCC. He is already engaged to Abie, who works for IBM Solutions Delivery as a Developer and Analyst. They met each other while in college at De La Salle University. They have known each other for very long time now and they are about to settle down.

Behind the roman blind, I was busy preparing all the dishes that Manu and Abie will share for that night.

This is the famous Shrimp and Mango Medley, still waiting for the dressing to be poured and the shrimp to jump over.

This is my new addition to my Thai Set Meal, Grilled Squid with Basil stuffing and Bagoong Fried Rice.

How hot can u get with my Chicken Curry Wansoy? It’s full of flavors because of the curry, coconut milk, and wansoy leaves, herbs and spices plus red and green jalapenos.

Reggie was peeking at Manu and Abie to get this souvenir photo.

Manu and Abie will get married in 2008.

They both want to get into photography but they still don’t have their digital SLR with them.

This was the portion where I have my conversation with the couple.

Thanks Manu and Abie for dining… Best wishes!

Acquired situational narcissism

July 24

Celebrities are boring. I can’t believe it has taken me 40 years to figure that out, but it’s true, at least for people who don’t know them.
It’s not their fault. If people treat you like stories about your bowel movements are enthralling, that’s what you’ll talk about, and the people will gush and repeat until they die the tale of how they heard Mark Wahlberg or whomever talk about poop.
That’s what the title of this blog entry is about. It was a term highlighted in The New York Times a few years back in a year-in-review section about ideas that had emerged that year. It means, of course, that if people treat you like you’re the center of the universe you’ll start acting that way.
I think that's why I left the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen with a touch of ennui. I met plenty of interesting people, but I think I felt a need to engage in banter with the famous ones. I should know better. If you don’t have anything to say to someone, famous or otherwise, don’t bother.
Even the ones who have something to say often don’t have a chance to. At Chefs & Champagne, a James Beard Foundation function in the Hamptons that I went to this past weekend, celebrity chef Charlie Trotter, who was the honoree, was answering a question I’d asked about his own foundation’s work, and we were interrupted by a local fan who semi-accosted the poor guy, expressing shock and delight to actually see him in person. So I left to talk to other people.
But what really has reminded me recently of the boringness of celebrities was meeting several rather unfamous but fascinating ones. I mentioned Tariq Hanna a few entries back. He decided to learn about pastry by working for a Dunkin’ Donuts franchise and determined that the best way to learn to cook was in a diner. Fascinating.
Last night I had dinner at Beppe with Sylvia Casares Copeland, chef-owner of Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen in Houston (she had me pick the restaurant, and I think moderately creative Italian exemplifies New York’s cuisine well).
Sylvia’s working on being a celebrity, but she isn’t yet. She’s making more TV appearances and she has a self-published DVD. She was in town to visit a dear friend and also meet with an agent and similar types. And her publicist had arranged for her to have dinner with me.
But for now she’s a divorced woman from Brownsville, Texas, in her third career. She parlayed her degree in Home Economics into a research chef job with Uncle Ben's. Then she sold Sara Lee desserts to restaurants in three states before opening her own restaurant, originally with her husband, until they got divorced. She opened it with no restaurant experience.
She opened her current restaurant after the divorce, five years ago, learning as she went, and the restaurant’s doing quite well.
She also had interesting observations about human nature and was in no way boring or pretentious.
What a relief.