I just get bored with the routine having to do the same thing over and over again. Even my programs in school I change when I get totally bored so at times, some students are lucky to get this new recipe for a Lemon Lime Butter Cake with Pistachio Flavored Whipped Cream and Fresh Strawberry or should I be generous to share, the Javier Tapa…wow, I get so hungry at this time of the night.

Tremendous work, aside from the teaching classes which I truly enjoy, I am back to the one art that I also have fun doing, food styling. Quite a practice for me since I have this method that I cook the exact recipe to the letter and then fix it from there to become more artistic…..dealing with a variety of photographers, art directors, set stylists and friends who just come to become a great source of laughter or the latest gossip moving around town. I am truly happy with the friendships I have due to this craft. Hope you get to see my work soon.

I am also back again teaching at the USDA Culinary Theater for three American produce companies, the US Poultry and Egg Council, US Dry Pea and Lentil Council, US Dry Beans Council. In one of my demos, I had a US Embassy guest, so I had to speak English for three hours straight, wow…my nose just flew away, walang nosebleed…..And an interesting question was thrown by one, “ Why do chefs love to get or pinch their salt with their fingers, when they can always use a small spoon? I guess the main answer is being human and being tactile, we always want to feel salt and through that sense, one can measure better….my pinch is different from yours…Do you have a better answer than mine? Share it with me, leave it in the comments part of my blog.

Then I started teaching last Thursday….A new group of a mixture and blend of old and young, serious and not, courteous or just plain innocent….After almost three or four months of taking culinary, they still don’t get it…and I have another question, Why do more and more people now don’t read simple procedures….I have a group that relies on one girl and the whole group call each other “girl” Another group is still some place in time, they are not organize, no one seems to lead the group. Clueless shell reverse group is slow but sure and comes out with great work, I just don’t know if they have any memory of what they just did.

Anyway, it’s 12:32am, I am about to sleep, affected by Francis M’s death especially when I saw Joey de Leon crying his heart out and lastly, can I share, tonight’s episode of Maalala Mo Kaya had an old couple who loved each other until death….made me shed a few tears…..I miss Mama and Papa…

Buy Yummy Magazine March Issue, I really look good even wearing a polo that is 18 years old.

Best Chocolate Cake as of tonight: Rosanna – in La Vista – 9293872
Recipe of the Week:

Chicken Salpicao
Ingredients must be staples in your pantry while dish must always be part of a great meal.

500 gms. Sliced chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
2 tbsps chopped garlic
3 tbsps canola oil
1 ½ tbsps chilli garlic paste
½ tbsp perrins sauce
½ tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp knorr
½ tbsp chopped garlic
Procedure:
Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Set aside.
In a very hot skillet, pour oil and add chopped garlic. Immediately, add sliced chicken, then add all the seasonings, toss well. Add chopped garlic, mix well. Adjust flavour to taste. Serve over hot rice.

I just got back from a five day vacation in the beautiful island of Batanes. I can not fully describe to you how magical, wonderful and totally heavenly this place is but the pictures I took will try to. I planned this trip three months ago, wanting to go there for as long as I can remember. I always thought of Batanes as the Philippines’ version of Scotland and I was right but the feeling of it being in our country is just too much. We took a Seair flight at 6 am that arrives in Basco after an hour and a half and from the airport, went straight to the best place one should stay in, Fundacion Pacita, owned by the Abad family, this was the late artist Pacita Abad’s studio and is now a high end inn where the view of the South China Sea and the mountains of Tukon, Batanes is at your side the whole time.
I am just too overwhelmed with all the beauty that was in the island, everything was just naturally heaven on earth.
After two hours of resting, we left for an island tour which included, most of the sights in Batan Island; Tukon Radar Station, Ivatan Fortress, Valugan Boulder Beach which was full of big round rocks, Naidi Hills that had a light house, and Rolling Hills. Great sights, greenery, cows grazing and the coldness of the weather was just right. We also had a very good tour guide, Roger and a van with a driver, Homer who gave in to all our request. We also dropped by a fishing village where I slipped and fell and bruised my right hand, first accident of the day…..everything was just right, then it rained, became very windy and cold, so we had dinner at the Fundacion of very fresh steamed parrot fish with chop suey, pako salad ( ferns which is abundant in the island ) and rice. More Batanes posts to follow soon.

Chocolate Table Cake with Butter Caramel Frosting

Ingredients:

150 gms chocolate tablea, finely chopped
¾ cup hot water
¾ cup butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
3 pcs eggs
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9 inch round pan.
Mix chocolate tablea and hot water. Stir until melted.
Cream butter and sugar until light. Add eggs one at a time.
Sift dry ingredients then add alternately with the chocolate mixture.
Pour into pan and bake for 50 minutes. Cool well.

Butter Caramel Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
¾ cup heavy cream, warm
½ cup butter, cubed
1 tbsp vanilla flavoring

Procedure:

Moisten sugar with lemon juice. Put in a sauce pan and cook until amber in color.
Brush off sugar crystals on the side of the pan. When sugar is in color, pour in heavy cream and continue cooking until thick. Remove from heat, add vanilla and cool well.
Beat butter until creamy and slowly add caramel sauce. Use this to frost cake.

Basque Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsps baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 pc orange, zested and juiced ( 1/3 cup )
3 pcs eggs
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 tsps vanilla extract
¾ cup butter, melted and cooled

Pastry Cream:

1 cup fresh milk
5 tbsps sugar
3 pcs egg yolks
2 tbsps cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup blueberry jam or any type of preserve or jam

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 9 x 3 round pan with baking paper.

For the pastry cream: Heat ¾ of the milk and 2 tbsps of the sugar until bubbles form on the sides of the sauce pan. While waiting, whisk egg yolks and remaining sugar until blended. In another bowl, mix remaining milk with cornstarch then pour this into the yolk mixture. Temper yolk mixture with some of the warm milk, then pour this back to the tempered mixture. Bring to boil until mixture is thick. Pour in vanilla extract. Pour mixture into a bowl, surface covered. Chill well.

For the cake: Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Make sure you have 1/3 cup of fresh orange juice. Beat eggs and sugar until it doubles in volume. Add in orange zest, juice and vanilla/ Add in dry ingredients alternately with the melted butter. Mix until well combined.

Pour half of the cake batter into the prepared pan. Spread the chilled pastry cream and spread out to within 1 inch of the sides of the pan. Smoothen well. Add blueberry jam over pastry cream and spread out, the same way as the pastry cream. Pour the remaining batter on top, spread out till the edges of the pan, covering pastry cream and blueberry jam.
Bake until golden brown around 50 minutes. Cool well. Run a steel spatula around the cake pan and invert on a serving platter. Remove baking paper and return to its original position. Serve.

Pine Apple Miracle

Ingredients:

4 pcs red delicious apples, peeled, seeded and quartered
Juice half a lemon
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 tbsps cornstarch
1 ½ cups water
¼ tsp cinnamon powder
1 can crushed pineapple – 567 grams
1 box yellow cake mix
½ cup butter
1/3 cup butter, sliced

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a sauce pan, put apples, lemon juice, sugar, brown sugar and water. Boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Add cinnamon powder. Set aside.
Drain crushed pineapple. Set aside.
Rub butter in yellow cake mix. Set aside.
In a baking glass pan, lay cooked apples, then add crushed pineapple. Spread yellow cake mixture. Lay sliced butter on top and pat. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour. May serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Pistachio Nut Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup cake flour
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 ½ tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
2 pcs eggs
½ cup corn oil
¼ tsp almond extract
2/3 cup chopped pistachio nuts

For Topping:

1/3 cup pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
½ tsp cardamom powder
90 gms butter

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
For the topping: Mix flour, sugar and cardamom. Cut in butter using fingers or pastry cutter. Rub in butter until coarse crumbs form. Set aside.
Stir together all purpose and cake flours, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another, stir sour cream, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract until well blended. Stir sour cream mixture into dry ingredients, beat until smooth and creamy. Pour half of the batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle half of the topping. Cover with the other half of the batter. Sprinkle nuts, press onto batter then cover with remaining topping. Bake until golden brown around 50 minutes. Cool in pan for 30 minutes before removing. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cranberry Cheesecake

Crust:

1 1/3 cups crushed graham crackers
1 ½ tbsps sugar
½ tbsp cinnamon powder
7 tbsps melted butter

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Combine crushed graham, sugar and cinnamon powder.
Pour in melted butter and mix until well moistened. Press into a 8 inch removable bottom pan. Bake for 5 minutes. Cool well.

Cranberry Mixture:

1/3 cup dried cranberries
2 tbsps sugar
Water to moisten

Procedure:

Boil cranberries, sugar with water. Let cool and chop finely.

Filling:

Ingredients:

450 gms cream cheese, soft at room temperature
¼ cup sour cream
2/3 cup heavy cream
¾ cup sugar
Zest of one lemon
2 tsps vanilla extract
3 pcs egg yolks
2 pcs eggs

Procedure:

Make sure that beating this mixture is kept to a minimum or else the final product will have lots of air bubbles.
Rub lemon zest to sugar. Set aside.

Beat cream cheese until very soft. Add sugar and stir, pour in sour and heavy cream. Add in egg and egg yolks with vanilla extract. Mix well, if lumpy, strain the mixture. Pour over crust, add in cranberry mixture and swirl. Then bake at bain marie at 350 F for 45 – 60 minutes.

Sticky Mango Pudding

Ingredients:

200 grams dried mangoes, coarsely chopped
2 ½ cups water
3 ¼ cup all purpose flour
½ cup butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tsps vanilla
2 tsps baking soda
2 tsps baking powder
3 pcs eggs
½ tsp molasses
¼ cup mango nectar

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9×13 baking pan with paper.
Mix chopped mangoes and water in a sauce pan and boil. Turn the heat off and add in baking soda. Set aside.
Stir flour and baking powder together. Set aside.
Cream butter until smooth and fluffy. Add sugar and mix until light. Add eggs one at a time. Add in vanilla and mix. Alternately add dry ingredients with the mango mixture in three additions and mix until of smooth consistency. Pour mixture into a pan and bake until firm about 40 – 45 minutes. Let cool completely in a pan. Turn cake insto cooling rack and remove baking paper. Make sauce.

Sauce:

2 cups brown sugar
¼ cup butter
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup mango nectar
2 tsps brandy
¼ tsp mango flavor

Procedure:

Mix first five ingredients together, let boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and add in mango flavoring. Pour over cake. Bake until sauce is bubble and cake is heated through, around five minutes. Cool briefly before serving. Cut into squares.

Dulce de Leche Walnut Pie

Crust:

1 ½ cup all purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup butter, cut into cubes and cooled
¼ cup shortening, cooled
7 tbsps cold water

Filling:

½ cup chopped walnuts
1 cup dulce de leche
½ cup brown sugar
2 tbsp butter
3 pcs eggs
¼ cup light corn syrup
2 tsps vanilla

Procedure:

For the crust: Mix flour and salt together. Rub in butter and shortening into the dry ingredients. When it has formed into a coarse meal, add water just until moistened.
Pat and fold. Cover with plastic film and rest for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix all the ingredients of the filling together.

Roll out crust then press into pie container, rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
Fill with dulce de leche mixture and bake for 40 minutes.
Cool well and serve.

Strawberry Crisp

Ingredients:

8 pcs argellanas
200 gms white chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp strawberry flavor

250 gms fresh strawberries, sliced

1 ½ cups heavy cream, whipped

Procedure:

Melt white chocolate over bain marie. Add heavy cream and butter. Pour in strawberry flavor.

Lay argellanas. Pour in white chocolate mixture. Add in heavy cream and decorate with sliced strawberries.

To all my readers, family, friends and students,

The beauty of the season is to remember that I will always be a part of your life, whether good or bad there was a great experience you had with me. We get to understand more of ourselves by the people we meet, the people we love and those who are not worthy, but to express one’s joy in the food we make will forever be part of that wonderful memory. The last posts share with you the best recipes I have I hope you continue to enjoy visiting me here.

By the way for our Noche Buena we are having the following:

Smoked Salmon with Capers Mustard Sauce
Russian Salad as requested by the Gavino Children

Roast Turkey with my Relleno Stuffing
Giblet Port Gravy
Dried Cranberry Mush

Callos

Royal Lapu-Lapu

Christmas Ham from the Cruzes

Mushroom Risotto

Simple….yup but there’s another meal to follow……………..

I was in Davao since last Thursday to do a cooking/baking demonstration for Gaisano Mall of Davao. This was requested two months ago and it has finally materialized. You know it usually is before or after Chrismas am I in Davao…I love it…I really like going there except for…………Getting back to the real reason I was there, Friday was just for preparation of the recipe, ingredients and tasting portions to feed at least 250 people who would go and watch. The grocery has been having a display and promotion of Western American products and part of this was my demonstration. I did Rye Pecan Bread, Fruit and Oatmeal Cookies, Fig and Walnut Bars and Honey Corn Muffins, all with products coming from WUSATA which stands for Western United States Agricultural Trade Associations. Although the stage was quite high, I think I was effective in presenting new ingredients to be made in to popular or common baked goodies, variations were also talked about during the events. Since the mall had a midnight sale, we had quite a number of participants and wonderers ( wondering what was going on ) but still wanted a sample of whatever I was presenting. I was helped by four graduates of our Intensive Cooking and Baking Program in Davao who were very efficient, quick and industrious, super sipag, I didn’t have to detail them with the work they had to do. Also, the witches or should I say girls of CACS Davao were there…Tita Butz, Agnes the Witch, Jovie, Yaya Cita came to advertise and market the school. A fulfilling and tiring event just a few days away from the season of plenty. Enjoy the recipes!

RYE PECAN ROLLS

Ingredients:

1 ½ tbsps instant yeast
2 ½ cups water
¾ cup rye flour
560 – 600 gms bread flour
2 tsps fine salt
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Procedure:

Sprinkle yeast over water.
Add all the other ingredients. Knead dough for 10 minutes.
Add pecan nuts. Ferment in an oiled bowl until double.
Shape as desired. Proof until double.
Bake in a preheated 350 F oven until brown.
Cool well and slice.

FRUIT AND OATMEAL COOKIES

Ingredients:

1 â…“ cups whole wheat flour
â…” cup old fashioned or rolled oatmeal
1 tsps baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup butter
¾ cup brown sugar
3 tbsps sugar
1 pc egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dried cherries, cranberries, dates, apricots,
coarsely chopped

Procedure:

Combine whole wheat flour, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder and salt. Set aside.
Beat butter with brown and white sugar until well combined.
Add egg and vanilla extract.
Stir in flour mixture and fold in dried fruits.
Shape cookies in baking sheet, leaving enough space in between
each cookie. Bake at 350 F for 15 to 18 minutes.
Remove cookies from baking sheet and cool completely in a wire
rack.

FIG AND WALNUT BARS

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
â…› tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 pcs eggs
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup dried figs, coarsely chopped

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a 9×13 pan.
Grease, line and grease baking pan.
Cream butter and sugar until light. Add in eggs.
Mix all purpose flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Then add this to egg mixture. Fold in walnuts and figs.
Pour batter into container and bake for 30-40 minutes.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes, before cooling completely in a
rack. Cut and slice into desired sizes.

HONEY CORN MUFFINS

Ingredients:

â…” cup butter, unsalted
¾ cup + 2 tbsps sugar
2 tbsps honey
2 pcs eggs
1 tsp salt
pinch freshly ground pepper
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
½ cup yellow cornmeal
2 tsps baking powder
¼ cup fresh milk
â…” cup canned whole corn kernels, drained
â…“ cup cremed corn

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease 3-4 mini muffin trays.
Mix flour, cornmeal, salt and freshly ground pepper.
Cream butter, sugar and honey until light.
Add eggs one at a time. Add in dry ingredient mixture
alternately with milk and cream corn.
Fold in whole corn kernels.
Scoop into muffin trays. Bake for 15-20. Cool on rack.

I received a text from ironchef jabes if it would be good for him to give my cell number to a kapuso researcher looking for a chef who makes healthy desserts. Of course, during the season of plenty, I obliged and got myself to confirm a shoot without asking permission from the school about it. This was a Sunday and the filming would be the next day. I only had four hours to research – healthy dessert for a talent who wants to eat less this Christmas season. I decided to use the desserts that I taught in a class two dozen full moons ago and it really did give me an idea to be a bit more creative.

It appeared last night and all I can say is I look just like Santa without the white beard but with no neck too. I was so fat on television….I felt blotted but anyway, I enjoyed making the variation para naman hindi siya corny….the main dessert shown was my Mango Fruit Snow but I actually made two more good tasting desserts with less calories, good for you ingredients and very textural so theirs a play in the mouth as they say.

Mango Fruit Snow is a light dessert with a mango gelatine base where meringues was folded in to make it appealing, its like ice cream for people with no teeth. Decorated with strawberries, kiwis and more mango. I am not using too much sugar but a bit of Splenda.

Tapioca Pudding – a healthy sago like custard that can be done in less than 30 minutes and cooled to perfection before. I had this once when I was in high school in a friend’s house and when I became a working chef tried my best to copy it from memory.

Chocolate Orange Mousse – chocolate can be healthy using cocoa powder and unsweetened chocolate, both of which has no sugar and a lot of good. Are you tired of having chocolate mousse all the time so flavoring it with orange zest gives it a different dimension all together, this is not sci-fi…it’s getting out of the box, wow! I feel like a 55 year old chef….hehehe….

The recipes will follow after this post….again, I apologize I had no time to take pictures…I was busy taking my fourth television appearance to heart and soul…just like ta….da………

Chocolate Orange Mousse

Ingredients:

1 tsp unflavoured gelatine powder
2 tbsps water
¾ cup skim milk
1 tbsp orange zest
2 pcs egg yolks
â…” cup sugar substitute
â…“ cup cocoa powder
60 gms bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tsp vanilla
¾ cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

Procedure:

In a sauce pan, bloom gelatine by adding water.
Set aside for 3 minutes. Add milk and orange zest.
Whisk in egg yolks, sugar substitute and cocoa powder.
Cook on low heat, mixing at all times until thick.
Add in chopped chocolate and vanilla. Mix until smooth.
Let cool to room temperature. Fold in whipped cream.
Pour into glass containers. Garnish with orange segments

Mango Fruit Snow

Ingredients:

1 tbsp unflavored gelatine powder
2 tbsps water
1 pc egg yolk
1 cup non fat or skim milk
½ cup sugar substitute
â…“ cup mango puree
¼ cup chopped mango
1 tsp lemon zest

3 pcs egg whites

Procedure:

Bloom gelatine in a small bowl with the water.
Set aside.
In a sauce pan, mix egg yolk, milk and sugar substitute.
Heat until it thickens slightly.
Add in softened gelatine, mango puree, chopped mangoes
and lemon zest.
Remove from heat, pour into another container and cool
mixture. Set aside.
Whip egg whites until soft peaks. Fold in mango mixture.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Make very thin slices of mangoes, kiwi and strawberries to
decorate top of dessert.

Tapioca Pudding

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups skim or non fat milk
1 pc egg, separated
¼ cup sugar substitute
3 tbsps tapioca
½ tsp vanilla
Pinch cream of tartar
1 tsp sugar

Procedure:
Mix milk, egg yolk, sugar substitute and tapioca and let sit
for 5 minutes to soften tapioca. Mix well and bring to a
boil while stirring. Remove from heat, add in vanilla.
In another bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until
foamy. Sprinkle sugar substitute and beat to soft peaks.
Gently fold egg white into pudding.
Let cool 20 minutes before serving or pouring into bowl or
serving dishes.
Decorate with toasted nuts and dried fruits.

With over three months of preparation, this dinner for 350 persons sit down plated 8 course for the benefit of my student’s movie Ploning was one of my most exciting events to do. The whole school with batch 18 MWF AM class and some from the PM class were part of the three day preparation and actual dinner.

A few weeks before the dinner, I volunteered myself to Gino that I could do the chocolate pralines for the dinner and he obliged, giving me full responsibility with it. With Toto in command and heading the catering team, I knew that it would just flow through with all his experience in big functions here and in Davao, he was the right choice. But he did give me another responsibility which was creating the dessert from what was given by Chef Gene. I tested three different cakes with a variation of amounts with regard to black pepper. Oh by the way the dessert would be three components….a flourless black pepper chocolate cake, tomato ice cream with balsamic cream and poached pears with coffee mascarpone stuffing….it would be good together and individually, one blending just right with the other. I was also assigned to be the leader in plating this dessert which I eagerly said yes to.

The pralines were hand done and the filling I did from scratch, dark chocolate with a cherry liquer filling, milk chocolate with a hazelnut praline filling and white chocolate with a raspberry and cranberry filling. I had all this done in two days….why it took that long, the main reason is that I had to make 1500 pcs and I only had 12 praline molds which totaled to 380 pieces so we did the chocolates five times using the molds again and again. Thanks for the great help from Batch 17 TTHS who stayed with me even in the making of the flourless chocolate cake. Pralines were done by Monday and the event was Wednesday so I helped out with all the other components of the dessert, it was the brandy snap that was shaped into waves that took the longest, also since our everlasting assistant Lito dropped a box filled with it so the 50 pieces became 10,000 smaller minute tiny shards of brandy snaps. So up until the last hour of Wednesday there were still making brandy snaps.

I enjoyed the flow, the helping out and most of all the camaraderie that existed that night.
All chefs, former students who are chefs now were there to help….I just felt so much good energy and enthusiasm from everyone.

By the way, I also had to plate the sorbet which was Frozen Red Thompson Grapes stuffed with Lychee and decorated with dry ice….which burned a lot of fingers that night.

Truly, magical! An adrenaline induced night of fun and joy. I am so proud of my school working for a benefit dinner for a fellow student, Judai who believes in the Filipinos zest for good and creative work.

No pictures in the plating of dessert and sorbet. We were so involved and concentrated in our work that night that taking shots were only done during our free and waiting time.

I am in three food magazines this month, isn’t that a great Xmas gift to have? I am totally elated for these, with all the hard work that I had to do during the whole month of October after arriving from America, all the results are finally showing up. In Food Magazine, my USDA class was featured since it was a poultry class, a new take on what to serve this Christmas season is seen. I didn’t like my picture since it showed a very ugly profile, one with my bald spot together with my triple chin but the food looked great. Also, only one of the recipes is yours truly, all the others were part of my training from foreign chefs which is part of being a USDA chef-trainer. Chef Richard Reuben’s Turkey roll, Chef Andy Gold’s Duck Pate and Chef Pang’s Stuffed Turkey plus my Barbecue Cornish Hen were what I did. My most exciting magazine spread was the Potluck Party section in Yummy magazine, this was a very tiring shoot since had to do the food and take care of the photo session in Ate Cynthia’s house but all disappears when I saw the article, it had great looking pictures, appetizing dishes and gorgeous students. Enjoyed all the emotions showing in the picture especially my shot on the desserts, were you not craving for that mango meringue….Lastly, this one I haven’t seen yet but have a whole post about it….Flavors’ December issue has my Strawberry – Pistachio Cream Cake on the cover and 5 other cakes inside….one of my best dessert compilation is here. It made my week to be featured in three magazines this month. It has really enforced the beauty of what I love to do….Try to get the magazines, it has all of my best recipes compiled during the last 15 years….you know what made me feel so bad? On a visit to a bookstore, I saw an interesting book made by a school and when opened it I saw my Foccacia bread recipe on it, complete as original, no changes in amounts, ingredients nor procedure and the author stated that the recipe belongs to their family. It’s just so devastating that it happened while I was feeling the effects of the three magazine features. Har, har, it’s fine just goes to show how small the world really is….. Enjoy!

I had a lunch date with Trica at Astralis the new satellite restaurant of Manila Diamond Hotel. It was planned the night before since there was nothing that important to do except for searching for corned beef spice. Tricia has been a friend for so long, after being a student for two main programs she asked me to be multi-task person for her wedding with a pastry chef who I also adore, William. I am even their son’s god father…how close can I get….the restaurant was utterly clean in interior, in smell and so with the other senses I have.

We decided to order, three main appetizers, one of which, the Parisian Scrambled Egg with Foie Gras the real reason for this binge…the GM salad which was recommended by our very courteous and efficient server, April, she too, looked clean, delicate and immaculate.

The scrambled eggs was smooth, rich and creamy just what I expected.

It was sooo, sooo good, good enough for Yaya’s yaya…char, char…We also savoured the Baked Oysters,
3 ways, started with Rockefeller with spinach and gruyere cheese, the classic and just right amount of flavor from all the ingredients present but it covered the taste of the oysters. I didn’t like the way the Sauteed Mushroom looked due to the pinkish, purplish color which looked like eye shadow but the taste was devilish and different, a new concept for oysters to think about. Lastly we the Tomato relish, a salsa type that just tasted like oysters with salad – nyar… The last appetizer we had was a revelation since Trish and I thought it was just perfect, Cauliflower Cheese Dip
– just excellent with flavor and the texture that plays with the toasted bread they served with it.

By the way, we all had the dishes with bread that looked a bit different
It didn’t looked the way it was suppose to be, foccacia was tinged with orange and the ciabbata was a roll. But both breads were appealing and combined well with the appetizers.

Our GM salad had sautéed Portobello mushroom which was so dark, I would have saved the shape of the mushroom since it’s like meat. It was presented on a parmesan basket with fresh Laguna buffalo cheese ( that’s our kesong puti ) and the dressing had the correct and right amount of sourness.

Then we had the moist chocolate cake….
I am lost in dessert happiness…don’t worry took my medicines and worked out for two hours….lala!

Just some thoughts….last night got to watch an American show where an artisan chocolatier is now procuring his cocoa beans from the Philippines, this excited me tremendously, finally a company has given proper stature to the good tasting, in-depth flavor and cocoa butter content of our beans. I have been researching from where but I doubt if I will ever be able to find out. Things like this take awhile….remember that we only recently found out that the vanilla bean we have been purchasing from specialty food store that we import from other countries actually is grown and dried in Bukidnon.
Work is coming up this Friday and it won’t stop till the middle of December, a new batch to teach and another 27 personalities to take care of….give me luck and pray for me………..LALA! By the way, I don’t feel Christmas at all, do you?