Gusto Italianao : Multo Bella...

March 21st: Another get-together weekend with friends... this time around - we all decided to eat out - as everyone is way too busy for an in-house get together cooking session....

The Place of choice was GUSTO ITALIANO, an Italian restaurant tucked in the Nei Hu district... it is also the place of David's work - and one that we all have been wanting to try for quite a while now after seeing their website, menu, and numerous blogs by Marketchow fueled with beautiful photos of tasty offerings... and the place did not disappoint at all!!! From the clean, nicely lit surroundings, to the attentive staff -- the place is worth a try.

The Food totally lived up to marketchow's photographs and descriptions.... tasty, scrumptious, and what a great selection... for about NT$700 ($20US) per person - you will get an entree of your choice, soup and beverage plus your fill of all-you-can-eat SALAD, BREAD, and delicious desserts... Each of our entrees were deliciously prepared and nicely presented... the servings are just the right amount considering you are already getting full from the choices of breads to start with... not to mention the salad bar.. what a variety of fresh veggies to try as well as, some fully prepared starters as salmon, clams, bratwurst sausages, apple veggie salads, etc... I mean, the salad bar alone would have sufficed but one MUST have the entree for the complete dining experience.......

Of course, the best part for me is the all-you-can-eat Dessert offerings... the selection changes as each cake is gobbled up -- so how can I stop.... Bread Pudding, explosion of Chocolate cakes, fruity tarts, etc.... I think, even with the slices of each cake offered that nite, I was still able to eat half of the bread pudding laid out... I could LIVE on these sweets for sure!!!The only thing sweeter, I must add, is the company of some really good friends... Juliana, Sue, Cecilia & David... till the next time guys.... am already salivating just thinking about it....
More Photos here.

Lasagna ala Marketchow

Friday nite, while I was coloring Shaun's hair, David was doing what he does BEST -- making something of what ingredients we do have in the refrigerator... after taking out a few things, he realized we happen to have enough for a SPINACH LASAGNA... Freestyle that is, as he was making do of what's available...
The Challenge: Spinach Lasagna ala Freestyle
Available Ingredients: Tri color Pepper, Onions, Garlic, Bayleaf, Carrots, Spinach Pasta & Sauce.Layers of Spinach Pasta filled with the sauteed veggies and sauce.
The Tasty Result, complete with slices of Baguette.

Biscotti ala David

Biscotti with my morning coffee - YUM!!!

This morning I woke up to a special treat - freshly baked BISCOTTI.... David was inspired once again to bake something different and so he tried his hands at these Italian treat cookies....

He basically tried to retraced the way of making it, learned from Chef Fausto, from his stint in Turino, Northern Italy... made his own twists by changing it a bit... instead of a regular biscotti - he made it a chocolate flavoured one ... and even added raisins instead of chopped nuts.... I have not had them in a while so it was a very nice treat to start the day, indeed!!!


And as an added bonus - I even get to learn more about Biscottis, as David also fed me some facts:
-Biscotti is the plural form of Biscotto in Italian - which literally means "twiced baked".
-They were prepared this way during the war eras to preserve them longer for journeys.