taking a hiatus break

I have a bad habit of being lazy in updating my blog. Last blog was written two years ago and the blog before that was written four years ago, hahaha...two years gap! 

So what have I been up to the last two years? Well for starter -- hold your breath -- I finally gave in to BAKING! The thing I hated way back in culinary school and the years after that, for whatever reason, I think somebody up there wanted me to go out from my comfort zone and hone my cooking skills -- in the field of Baking! Yes Baking! BIG WORD! But I think, after almost two years of constant practice, recipe research and and kitchen test (costing me so much...), culinary math -- food costing, conversions, price comparison, two Christmas seasons and one valentines day of busy kitchen (which always ended up, me being sick), I can say, I learned to love Baking, it feels weird sometimes, but I get more clients ordering my pastries that the usual savory food I make. When people give positive feedback -- honestly speaking...hahaha I don't know how to react. Sometimes I feel that I am being "humble" but seriously, there's a battle of "Is it really true?", as you see guys, I don't usually taste what I cook, coz I'm not a fan of anything sweet. 

So technically, yeah...that's probably it! The BIG LEAP OF FAITH! hahaha! Baking is teaching me a LOT! and I mean a LOT! for one -- the biggest test, is PATIENCE!!! PATIENCE!!! with the exclamation !!!! marks!  

Tatay Lito's Laing

I have always been curious about LAING since 2002 - after watching Claudine Barretto and Aga Muhlach's movie Kailangan Kita. I really forgot the whole story of the movie, all I can remember is that -- after watching it, one of my closest friend since elementary - Michael Rebolos and I went around different food establishment and even karenderia serving filipino dishes looking for Laing. He was then scheduled to leave for the US - and prior to his trip, he called me and told me that he was eating LAING in Manila. I know there must be something about that movie that really got us curious about this pinoy food.

LAING or Taro Leaves cooked in Coconut Milk is a dish indigenous to the Bicol province.Rich and creamy, it's made from dried taro or gabi leaves and coconut milk (according to http://www.filipino-food-recipes.com/laingrecipe.html) I googled recipe for laing, and it's not really hard to cook it. Though the drying of the Taro leaves may take time, all procedures can be easily followed even by beginners.  

My good friend Angel Quinito posted on FB that his dad is starting a home business of Laing in a Bottle. I remember Angel giving me a home-cooked dinuguan also by his dad (or mom) and I loved it, so I was really looking forward to this Laing. After the nonstop party last week for my mom,brother,aunt's bday parties and a week before that was my dad's death anniv, I wanted to take a break from all the party food! So his special delivery was but a PERFECT timing.

Special Delivery :)

I never waited for dinner time (since Angel brought me the Laing around 4pm today) to taste the Laing (I've been seeing on his FB page) right then and there. The first thing that I love about it -- GATA or Coconut Milk! Cook anything with Coconut milk, and I'm one happy person! The strong taste of the Taro Leaves, the smooth and creamy taste of the coconut milk, the sweet taste of the coconut juice and the different taste of the other spices creates a symphony of taste on your palate. 

Perfect combination could have been Fried Galunggong, Steaming hot rice, Laing (preferably the spicy one), a glass of ice cold Soda - and eating with your bare hands! But since I have no Galunggong in my freezer, I played with whatever was in my kitchen and created a pasta dish using Laing for the sauce. I made two variations of the sauce - the Pesto and the Creamy Pesto. So these are what I've found in my kitchen 

the malunggay flavored fresh fusilli pasta

my all time fave : GARLIC

Pistachio Nuts 

Cheddar Cheese

EVOO

my home made Chili oil

the star of the show : Tatay Lito's LAING!

I did a different kind of pesto (instead of Basil leaves, I used Tatay Lito's Laing). Garlic, Cheddar Cheese, Pistachio Nuts, Chili Oil, EVOO and half bottle of the Laing. Placed inside a bowl, and using a stick blender I pulse several times until it reaches the thick consistency I wanted. You can adjust the flavors according to your taste, you can either add lots of garlic or more laing or nuts - in my case here - i added too much pistacho. You can use  other nuts like cashew if you don't like Pistachio. 

So my pesto is ready, you can now cook your pasta according to package instructions, but usually a serving of 100g store bought pasta- takes around 8 minutes to cook your pasta Al Dente. Shorter time is required for fresh pasta.

Recipe1 : I reheated the cooked pesto in EVOO till it sizzles and added the pasta. Cooked for around 2-3 minutes since the pasta and the pesto were already cooked. You can add a little salt to taste or chili paste if you want that certain bite on your tongue. Top with grated cheddar cheese 

Recipe 2: Same procedure on the first recipe but after sizzling add Nestle Cream before adding the pasta

My manang(our househelp who first taught me the basic cooking procedure) said she liked the first recipe because she can taste the spicy taste from the chili oil. The second one was -- creamier? haha but it has that UMAY factor (that taste that you'll easily get tired of) - well unless you will pair this with ice cold soda, or hot tea, or red wine-  I guess both recipe would be a  perfect pair.

If you want to order Tatay Lito's Laing, you can contact Flor Angelo Quinito at 09177026733. They cook the Laing by batches to guarantee freshness and for shelf life purposes. Laing can be stored inside the ref for 5-7 days upon opening. 

 

healthy snacking : aubergine

I posted on my FB wall about harvesting a cute "Eggplant" which my colleague corrected me that it's AUBERGINE. It's one of Manang Lor's (the Manang of my cousins) plant, she has a green thumb and she grew different veggies in our little space at our subdivision. So this is my cute harvest 

My cousins - well most of them are not Veggie lovers, so it has always been a challenge for me to do recipes that will not sound/taste "yucky veggies" to them. I made a different version of this before - sort of Lasagna type - Eggplant Parmigiana, but since the veggies are so small, I made a "Pica-Pica" version of this healthy snack.

What I did was,

1.) I cut the Aubergine crosswise, making round cuts (or we call it Rondelle in culinary term)

2.) I did a 3 step breading procedure (dredge in flour - then dip in egg wash - then covered it with bread crumbs) for the flour, I used Crispy Fry breading mix and used Japanese Bread crumbs

3.) I deep fried the aubergine till it turned golden brown

4.) After all slices were deep fried, I let the excess oil dry on a paper towel. 

5.) Arranged the fried aubergine in an oven toaster plate, topped with a teaspoon to 1 tbsp of Tomato Sauce (you can use either pizza sauce or flavored tomato sauce - for this recipe I used Clara Ole Chunky Tomato with Basil sauce) then finish it with grated quick melt cheese. Place inside the toaster for 3-5 minutes and cook til the cheese melts)

It's a healthy snack, and seriously I was really happy when I saw my brother and 4 cousins' faces lit up when they ate it - they were amazed coz it was VEGETABLE and it tasted good (they said so!). Go try this recipe :) 

this is the finish product: 

personalized cakes by Mr & Mrs Cup'N'cakes

It was almost father's day that time, when I saw a cake pic tagged to my friends. 

this was the first cake I bought from Maebelle

That certain cake pic reminded me of a certain figurine which my mom and her siblings kept for the longest time, and everytime they buy cake to remember our Lolo, that certain figurine is always placed on top of the cake (until now! one of our Sendong survivors - that figurine)

When I scanned her Facebook page to check her other cake designs, I found out that she is the wife of my neighbor Jimboy, so it was instant "FC" (feeling close). For the last 3 years, she made my mom's birthday cake - she knows what I want - fondant looking and green. It's about being comfortable about placing your orders and being too demanding on the design you want (google search!) hahahaha... but thanks Maebs - I'm always amazed with your work of art! 

Here are some of the cakes I ordered from her: 

 Mama's Golden Bday cake

  Mama's 51st bday

Mama's 52nd birthday

My inaanak's birthday cupcake

 assorted cupcake for a highschool friend's bday

Cake for our Chef instructor

cupcakes for my brother

cake and cupcakes for my inaanak's Christening

Tyra's 4th bday

my aunt's bday cake

another aunt's bday

for tyra's despedida

a bible cake for a pastor

I know there's a very thin chance for me to become a Pastry chef -- but I'm blessed to have the sweetest Pastry Chef friends who are always ready to give in to my requests! 

cupcakes for freebies!

and cookies!

if you want to check their artistic works, you can click on this link and like their page : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mr-Mrs-CupNcakes/130325956982854

Pane e Dolci introduces their new Sylvannas Flavors

Sylvannas are made of 2 meringue discs, filled and coated with french buttercream, and covered with crushed egg cookies. Insanely delicious! Best eaten from the chiller, fridge, or freezer! -Pane e Dolci

I'm not really a fan of anything sweet but sometimes we make exemptions. I can tolerate Dark chocolate or if it's my time of the month I crave for some sweets. I easily get tonsillitis - that's why I'm not a fan of sweets. 

I met Chef Ben when I was almost done with Culinary School and they were among the students of the recent batch (that time). It wasn't an instant friendship coz he was the shy type and a "foreigner" of the city then, who came here to work as a Nutritionist-Dietitian. When I found out that he came from the same university where I used to study - I gave him the "golden friendship" welcome -- and the rest, as they would say it - was history. We both came from the same university, went to the same culinary school and taught in the same school. When he first introduced his version of Sylvannas, he gave me sample (the perks of having Pastry chef friends -- the freebies :D)  I tasted it, and I liked it, though I can only finish a piece -- much to my cousins' delight. 

the classic - French Butter Cream

Pane e Dolci started the craze #sylvfie (the sylvannas #selfie), and of course, I posed for them! hahaha

Chef Ben went to Australia earlier this year to do further studies in Culinary Arts. He came home recently to launch the latest flavors of their Sylvannas. From the original/classic French Butter Cream - new flavors are Peanut Butter, Chocolate, Red Velvet and Nutella. 

and as always, I was among the first to do the taste test for these -- COFFEE PLEASE! Dark! I think I'll have Tonsillitis very soon! 

so here it is, the assorted Sylvannas (no, they don't sell it assorted, this is for food tasting purposes only)

My Verdict: 
*please bare with me, I'm not a fan of sweet but I did this food tasting for the love of Ben, Mark and Pane e Dolci

THEY ARE SWEET! hahaha Kidding aside

NUTELLA FLAVOR - well I guess if you are a fan of the nutella spread, you would definitely love this...very sweet and the nutella and the meringue disc melts in you mouth

PEANUT BUTTER - for one, I LOVE PEANUTS but I'm not a peanut butter fan, but this is an exemption (again), the peanuts covering the whole meringue disc is like a neutralizer, it lessens the sweetness of the peanut butter

CHOCOLATE - contrary to what you are thinking, it's not that sweet, I love how the chocolate melts in your mouth in every bite

CLASSIC - oh the classic -- hmmmm.....the classic :P

RED VELVET -- i may sound bias but I LOVE THIS FLAVORRRR!!! for one, Red Velvet cake is one of the best seller of Pane e Dolci, what I love about this flavor -- not too sweet! the cream cheese's fault! but seriously...i love thisssssss!!! this is my favorite!! hahahaha!

SYLVANNAS OVERLOAD -- with Coffee :) PERFECT PAIR!

well for one, when I did the tasting it was one flavor after the other that's why it's different flavors playing in my taste buds, thus the crazy verdict

tip: Best Paired with Black Coffee! or if it's 3in1 coffee, just drink the original flavor. 

if you want to buy these babies, you can go to this place -- as DORA WOULD SAY IT -- MAP!!! click on the link below

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.526493010774571.1073741838.118957484861461&type=1

or you can like their Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pane.e.dolci

and by the way, here's a good news for you and your friends.... click on the link below to find out how you can win P10,000

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=663592747064596&set=a.128141950609681.28594.118957484861461&type=1&relevant_count=1

i'm back

It's been 2 years since I last posted in this blog, i think the last time i even posted in my blog was 2 previous home address ago. After typhoon Sendong we rented a place for 8 months until we moved uptown. I've been a chef instructor, a saucier/prep cook in an Italian restaurant, establishment consultant, endorser to my friend's business, do a lot of cooking for a feeding program and everything in between. We won last August 2nd place for Del Monte Set menu for the Kumbira - the longest Culinary show in the country with colleagues Chef Ben Castor and Chef Allen Cassanova. Our student's for 2 straight years won second (and we're one of the youngest school then) during the Mindanao Chef's war - of course with the training they get from Chef Roseller Fiel II and Maam Shiela -- they would really get the best training there is.

 the first victory of ICI Culinary Arts for Mindanao Chef's War - Silver Medal to our Students Ming, Alex and Mike with their trainors Chef Fiel, Maam Shiela and Chef 

our Batch 1, 2 and 3 Students having fun in the kitchen

 training days in Italiannis Abreeza Mall as Prep Cook/Saucier 

                                                                                     ID For Kumbira 2013

 my Chef's uniform as an instructor

 Pizza Class with Batch 3 and my colleagues - Chef Ben, Chef Allen and Chef Fiel

 after the cooking competition for Del Monte Set Menu with Chef Ben and Chef Allen

 Pizza Class with Batch 3 and my colleagues - Chef Ben, Chef Allen and Chef Fiel

 Batch 2&3 Graduation and Batch 4 toque Ceremony 

 the night before the Mindanao Chef's War 2013, we made them cook like 2x before resting for the next day's competition, Chef Fiel was already stressed out so we made the torturing ourselves - me and Chef Allen

 Bronze medalist for Mindanao Chef's war 2013 (highest got silver) - JP Gerona, Missy Banuag and Aleana Bartolome with their proud mentors

 us on stage as 2nd placer :)

 getting ready for the graduation rites - ICI Batch 1

 the mentors and the guest speaker - Chef Lala of Dessert Strip

 graduating batch and the admin

cooking for outreach churches feeding program

 Yes, everything about me involves food :D 

I'm doing this blog - for update purposes though I really don't know the pasikot-sikot of this site :D