Phoebe The Foodie

Betty Crocker Blueberry Muffin Mix

2012-05-29T16:26:00.000+08:00

When my sister saw this on the grocery store, she wanted me to bake it and try it out. It's blueberry after all! LOL. Anyway, what attracted me the most is it's easy to prepare and bake. And it's blueberry!!!

This is what the batter looks like. All you have to do is add 1/2 cup of water and mix it. After that, you place it in the oven for 375F for 20 minutes. Easy right?

This is the outcome.

If you see some yellow stuff is that I added some cheese to it. I want to make it a little salty because I suspected that this would be too sweet.

And I was right! It was too sweet for my taste. The blueberry (which actually is like blueberry jam) was too sweet so adding some cheese on top balance it out.

Other than that I was surprised that the muffin was soft. Most ready to mix cakes I have tried before were too hard and not chewy. But this one is soft and tasted okay. Other than the blueberry being too sweet. This actually taste good.

I might try other Betty Crocker mixes next time.

Keep on Eating and Blogging!!!

Espresso 101

2012-03-25T22:00:00.001+08:00

Yesterday, I attended the Espresso 101 class at the Philippine Barista and Coffe Academy. It was a half a day class about espresso. I admit I didn't know much about espresso and it wasn't my favorite type of drink, but after this class I have new found respect for it. There is a real difference tasting a good espresso. It is bitter but in a good way. I didn't even put sugar in mine because I like its bitter taste. I also learned that our country can be a great source of coffee, only if there are more technology and investors willing to invest in our country. Anyway, I had a fun time on this class and here are some of the pictures I took.

Art in Coffee...

This was my drink. Espresso Macchiato. Drinking it until the end... lol...

Coffee Mocha.

Espresso Con Panna.

Mocha Frappe.

Here are other great coffee art shown to us.

And here are other pics I took.

I had fun at this class and my love for coffee has gone deep because of it.

If you want to try this class you can check their website http://www.pbca.com.ph/ They also offer different kinds of classes that you might like.

Happy Eating and Blogging!!!

Le Bistro d'Agathe

2012-03-21T21:41:00.001+08:00

I think I'm gonna post some of the old pics that I have. Sometimes I tend to forget to make a post about it but I still remember the taste and the experience from that restaurant.

My friend brought me to Le Bistro d'Agathe last year. It was my first time in a authentic french restaurant and I must say I love the experience.

I had a hard time looking for this restaurant since I don't know Makati well. But it was worth it once we were there.

The restaurant was simple and it wasn't that fancy at all. It wasn't intimidating as I expect it to be. The waiters are really nice and even the chef/owner went to our table to greet us and ask about food. It was a hospitable place.

For our appetizer we ordered Terrine (French Meatloaf). It was really good and I enjoyed eating it with bread.

For the main course, I ordered Ox tongue with Ravigote Sauce. I ordered it with potatoes. I am loving this dish. I love ox tongue especially if it was cooked well. And this was very tender and the sauce complimented it well. Ox tongue is a kind of meat that is hard to cook especially if you don't know how. This is why I love this dish because it was really cooked well.

My friend ordered Blue Marlin Fish with Lemon Butter Sauce. She said it was good for a fish dish.

For dessert we had Creme Caramel.

And Apple Pie.

I like the Creme Caramel better because it wasn't too sweet like Leche Flan.

Overall I enjoyed my experience on this restaurant. I think I want to visit soon...

Keep on Eating and Blogging!!!

11th Philippine Food Expo 2012

2012-03-09T00:11:00.000+08:00

Last February 23, 2012 I attended the 11th Philippine Food Expo 2012 at the Word Trade Center here in the Philippines. I really love attending different kinds of food expo because it exposes to different kinds of food and I learn a lot of things about the culinary world. From the latest trend in food to the newest product, there are many things that you can learn from these food expos. There are also some cooking demos and contests going on. Not to mention the free tastes! I really had fun at this event. Here are some pictures I took from this year's food expo.

I had a great time and I can't wait for next year!

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

Raining Cupcakes Workshop

2012-02-21T20:35:00.000+08:00

Last February 18, 2012, I attended the Raining Cupcakes workshop at the The Baking Workshop held at World Citi Colleges.

It was fun because we learned how to bake some cupcakes.

We made Cheese Cake Cupcakes, Rocky Road Cupcake and Banana Nut Cupcake.

It was a great workshop and our chef instructor was really great at explaining how to make the cupcakes. Chef Sabrina explained the class well and helped us especially the time where we made some bad batch of cupcakes. It was fun and I met some nice people who loves to bake just as much as I do.

Here are some pictures from the event.

I really had a nice time and I want to take more baking workshops in the future.

I really enjoyed baking and it makes me happy.

Hope you guys like my post!

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

p.s.

If you want to learn how to make guilt free desserts Click Here!

Blackbeard's Seafood Island

2012-01-15T23:19:00.001+08:00

I spent my birthday celebrating with my siblings and cousins. It was fun and I really want to find a restaurant where everybody can be happy with the food and that is affordable as well. I am feeding 10 people! This is why I chose Blackbeard's Seafood Island. I know that everyone would like Filipino food.

Another thing I like about this place is it is in Quezon City and near our home. We don't have to drive for long just to eat for my birthday. There are a lot of restaurant in ayala technohub and this is one of the best.

We ordered a "Boodle Feast" so that everyone can share with the food plus it's fun eating way! I also ordered an extra sisig since my siblings love it. We ordered the Davao Gulf, since the waiter suggested that it is the Boodle Feast with many different kinds of dish on it. I am grateful for the suggestion because everyone loved it!

Overall, we are satisfied with the food and service of the restaurant. I read a lot of negative reviews about this restaurant about their service but they served the food fast. We didn't wait for it to cook.

I also like the salad (I forgot the name!) It was suha or something. Really refreshing and something new for me.

Yeah, we ate it all! Everyone love the dishes and I think I'm going back to this restaurant again!

This is a yummy Tiramisu cake that my cousins gave me. Thank you!!!
I had a great time on my birthday and I'm happy I spend it with the people that I love.

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

Pasta in Tomato Sauce with Capers and Chicken Hotdog

2012-01-05T22:20:00.000+08:00

I have many recipes of pasta sauces before and this is by far one of my favorite. I learned this from cooking class in First Gourmet Academy. I loved it so much that I made this at home and made my own version on it. I added hotdogs! Sometimes I use tuna or anything available but hotdogs are the best one for me. Here's my recipe and I hope you guys like it!

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/2 cup red wine
2 cups crushed tomato in can
25 gms. capers
35 gms. black olives
35 gms. green olives
2 tbsp. basil leaves, sliced
1 pc. micned red chili
chicken hotdogs, fried separately (as many as you like!)
500 gms. pasta (cooked according to directions)
Procedure:

1. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent.

2. Add reed wine and let reduce until almost dry.

3. Add the crushed tomatoes and let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes on low heat.

4. Add the olives, chili and capers. Bring to a boil and add basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Serve it with pasta and chicken hotdogs.

This is so easy to do and you can use chicken or tuna. Here's a picture I took with the ingredients I use for this type of sauce and I used tuna as the meat of it.

I also made one just as it is without any meat and it still taste good!

I hope you guys like my pasta dish!

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

Happy New Year!!!

2011-12-31T18:52:00.002+08:00

Happy New Year!!!!

Chocolate Chunk Muffins

2011-12-27T00:29:00.000+08:00

For Christmas, I decided to bake some muffins. My cousin went to america this November and when they went back, they send me a cook book about muffins and some candy sprinkles. So in return, I bake some muffins for Christmas since the whole family would be at our home celebrating it.

Everybody likes my muffins! They are so easy to make and I'm sure anyone can bake it. It's a great dessert and is best with coffee as well. I made some changes like I used Goya Dark Chocolate. The end result was great!

Here is the recipe for Chocolate Chunk Muffins.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup chocolate chunks ( I used Goya Dark Chocolates)

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

6 tbsp. melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven 400F/200C. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with 12 muffin paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and chocolate chunks.

2. Lightly beat the eggs in a large pitcher or bowl, then beat in the milk, butter and vanilla extract.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid ingredients. Stir gently until jst combined, do not overmix.

4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until well risen, golden brown, and firm to touch.

5. Let the muffin cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

This is what the outcome should look like.

I put some frosting to it and I used Betty Crocker chocolate frosting. It was really good!!!

This is the candy sprinkle I used.

The outcome of the muffins that I made. I made 3 batches by the way.

They all turned out great! And everyone enjoyed it on Christmas.

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

Yellow Cab

2011-12-16T10:16:00.000+08:00

Manhattan Meat Lovers Pizza.

This is a long overdue post but I think it deserves to be posted now. Me and my sister always love Yellow Cab. They have great food and were a pizza ans pasta type when we go out. Here are our favorites.

We always order Manhattan Meat Lovers Pizza. We love this all meat pizza. It's far better than more pizza restaurants out there.

Twiced Baked Potato Halves.

This is seriously one of the best way to cook your potatoes. It's simple but so delicious!

Hot wings.

Not the best but it was okay.

Spaghetti Meatballs.

I really love the pasta in Yellow Cab. It just tastes great and I love the tomato sauce.

I forgot the name of this drink. Strawberry Margarita without the alcohol? LOL.

Nevertheless it completes the meals.

Hope I made you guys hungry with these food!

Mexicali

2011-11-30T21:50:00.001+08:00

I always crave for a certain food once in awhile, especially if I haven't tasted it for a long time and I know a lot of foodies out there are the same. That's why when I craved for Mexican food, I went to Mexicali in SM Megamall. And I must say I wasn't disappointed on this food craving!

The first thing I notice about this restaurant is the cute exterior they have. I had fun taking pictures of their restaurant. The designs are simple but very eye catching. It made you feel like you're in Mexico!

The wash basin was really cool.

I ordered the Chicken Enchilada. I like that the Mexican rice really complemented the enchilada. It wasn't as spicy as I thought it would be but it was good and I was full with this just one meal.

My sister ordered the Beef Burrito and when I tasted it, it was good! Now I'm craving for one. LOL.

Now I want Mexican food. I'm going to this restaurant again and taste the other food in their menu. I'm sure I won't be disappointed because I was already pleased with these food.

Keep on Eating and Blogging!!!

Sentro 1771

2011-11-20T14:21:00.001+08:00

Last November 11, 2011 (that's 11/11/11), I got invited into a OpenRice.com event. OpenRice.com is a great website for any foodie out there. They have restaurant reviews, recipes, contests, food events and food related articles. My kind of website. You can be a member of this website and post your reviews about restaurants here in the Philippines.

The event was held in Sentro 1771 in Greenbelt 3. It was a great meeting other OpenRicers and fellow food bloggers. We had fun and it was nice talking to some people who has the same interest with me. Which is food! Here are some few dishes we ate at that resto.

Fresh Smoked Fish Spring Rolls. This dish reminds me with the Bangus filled with tomatoes and onions we grilled here at home. So this was a surprised to me because they made it into a spring roll which is very great for appetizers. Very healthy too!

Sizzling Tofu. Whoever invented this dish is a genius. I don't like tofu so much because I think it is a bland ingredient. But this dish made it taste like sisig (which is very tasty) but at the same time without the cholesterol of the pork's skin that a normal sisig dish have. It was tasty and what a sisig should taste like. I am recommending this restaurant because of this dish alone. My favorite dish in this restaurant!

Fried Kesong Puti. Another surprise dish that impress me. This dish is simple and tasty. You can enjoy the simplicity of the cheese and the sauces added a certain taste that is enjoyable as well. Another great appetizer.

Bangus and Eggplant Torta. It's okay. Tortang talong (eggplant) is a staple dish here in the Philippines so it was nice that they changed it up and add Bangus to it.

Garlicky Adobo. This is their own version of an Adobo dish. I like it because it has a subtle taste of vinegar and soy sauce. it also have a certain taste that I can't pinpoint though but it tasted really great.

Sentro's Bagoong Rice. This dish is enough as it is. A great breakfast to eat because of the meat and sausages it have. I like it!

Sinigang na Corned Beef. This is the best seller of this restaurant and I can tell why. Their version of sinigang has a sour and tasty broth that can warm up anyone and a great tasting corned bees in it. We asked the manager on what brand of corned beef they used for this dish because it tasted great. We were surprised to learned that it's their own beef and they cured it on their own! No wonder we never tasted like this before. It is great when restaurants have a signature dish that can really surprise you.

Crispy Pork Ribs. I love meat and I love this dish. Really good dish for grilled pork.

Rated GG. GG is galunggong. This type of fish is one of the most common type of fish here and it was nice that they cooked it differently. I love how it can be spicy.

As for their drinks, I really recommend their gulaman. They're really good and very refreshing.

I had a great time at this event and I was so happy that I found a great restaurant like Sentro 1771. The dishes are FIlipino with a modern twist to it. I recommend this for people who wants something different with Filipino dishes.

I'm also happy that I met new people that has the same interest with me. I'm looking forward to another OpenRice event.

By the way we took a picture of their bathroom because it looked so cool. It was nice to see that their restaurant also made an effort to make their bathroom stylish.

You can check their website here http://www.chateaugroup.com/sentro.html. and OpenRice as well http://ph.openrice.com/manila/restaurant/index.htm.

Keep on Eating and Blogging!!!

Soyami Soya Chips

2011-11-14T12:53:00.001+08:00

One of the problem that I usually have is finding the right snack that not only can satisfy my hunger but can be healthy as well. There are so many junk foods in the market today that it can only give you a temporary satisfaction. Have you notice that you might feel bloated or that your tummy hurts after eating these unhealthy snacks? This is why it is quite refreshing to find a snack that can be healthy and delicious at the same time.

Being a food blogger and food enthusiast, I am always for a look out for something healthy yet can satisfy my craving for a good snack. This is one tasks that is hard to do because most snacks available are full of preservatives. They might taste good but they are not healthy for you. Like wise more healthy snacks are bland when it comes to its taste.

Good thing I found Soyami Soya Chips. This snack is delicious and healthy. That's because this snack is made with real soya, no MSG, high in protein and calcium and 0% transfat. It has three flavors Original, Pizza and White Cheddar. What more can you ask for with this great snack? This is what I'm really looking for and I'm glad this snack can satisfy my hunger, please my palette and is good for me.

This is why you should try this snack! It's great for you and taste to good!

TO know more about Soyami Soya Chips, visit their facebook https://www.facebook.com/HealthySoyami and follow their twitter https://twitter.com/#!/healthysoyami

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

Enderun

2011-10-25T14:35:00.000+08:00

Last October 22, 2011, I got invited by Enderun for a demo about baking. They were offering a new courses and one of them was a certificate in Pastry Arts. I'm really interested i taking it up so I decided to join the tour and demo.

I was happy that I spent my morning on this school! I learned some new recipes and they made us tour the campus. The campus was really great because it looked like a hotel. I guess they's doing that so that students knows how it would feel working in the real hotel. Anyway, here are the pastries that was baked and we had the chance to taste it all.

Raspberry Financiers

Orange Chiboust Caramel Tarte

Saint-Honore

French pastries are great! I love them all. I was also happy that I get to share this with my cousin Anne.

If you want to check out other course this school offers check their website http://www.enderunextension.com/

Keep on Eating and Blogging!!!

Appetite Magazine's Restaurant Festival 2011

2011-10-18T20:48:00.000+08:00

Last October 13, 2011, I attended Appetite Magazine's Restaurant Festival. This is probably the BEST food event I have ever attended. Seriously.

I never attended a restaurant festival before and I was surprised how great it was! There were a lot of great food and I was happy I shared them with my fellow food bloggers. We were given a "food passport" where we can get food from participating restaurants.

These are the participating restaurants of the restaurant festival. I was delighted that all of these restaurants did not disappoint me with the great menu they served. Too bad I didn't taste them all. I was too full! But I had great pictures to share. Prepare to be hungry!

I had to edit the pics because I can't decide which one to post!

The event was hosted by the wonderful and energetic Sam Oh. And yeah the guy is staring at her. LOL.

Appetite Magazine's Editor in Chief Nina Daza- Puyat. (Who is super nice by the way.)

That's me, Abigail and Maya. And yes I think we gained 10 pounds from all the food.

So what are the dishes I tasted? Here are pictures of my plates. Yup I only ate 3 plates full of food. I was too full to eat more!

I can't decide which dish is the best because each restaurant has different specialty. All in all I had fun, experience a great meal and I hope this event can happen again next year. By the way, some freebies I got from the event.

More Lee Kum Kee products! Yay!!!

Well, I hope you like post and visit http://www.appetite.ph/home to learn more about this restaurant festival.

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

Lee Kum Kee Sauce for Tomato Garlic Prawns

2011-10-13T01:37:00.000+08:00

Today, I tried one of the freebies I got from the Lee Kum Kee event I attended last Sunday.

It was the Sauce for Tomato Garlic Prawns. We had it for dinner and it was okay.

The first thing you need to do is to fry the 250 gms. prawns (I used shrimp because that's the only thing available in our refrigerator) in 2 tbsp. oil.

Wait for a few minutes until it is completely cooked. Remember not to overcooked your shrimp.

After it is cooked lower the fire, add the sauce and coat it for a few seconds.

The taste was okay. It was a combination of sweet, sour and a little spicy. Everybody ate it so that's good news.

You guys should try this if you want something new for your shrimp.

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

Lee Kum Kee Cook with the Masters

2011-10-11T00:44:00.003+08:00

Last October 9, 2011, I got invited to Lee Kum Kee Cook with the Masters. The event was hosted by Issa Litton (who is more beautiful in person, seriously, no wonder she's a model!). The event featured one of my favorite chef, Chef Bruce Lim. Actually, I only went to this event because I learned he was going to cook and I'm glad that I did because it was fantastic! I was closed to the stage and I could smell the wonderful things they were cooking.

I was late though, it rained really hard but I'm glad I came to this event. It was great meeting fellow bloggers and learning more especially with Lee Kum Kee (I didn't know they invented oyster soy sauce!). I can't believe they are celebrating 123 years this year!

I'm very familiar with this brand since we always use it. My favorite is the sesame oil. I always use it for my Asian salad because it can give an extra great flavor to it.

The event was consists of cooking demos and they also have some booths where you can learn about Lee Kum Kee and taste the products. They had cooking demos with celebrities. I had to chance to see Phoemela Barranda (who is super nice and super tall!), Baron Geisler, Desiree del Valle, Enzo Pineda, Rocco Nocino, Steven Silva and Djanine Cruz cook for the audience.

I also love the fact that they gave out some recipe booklet feautring famous chefs' recipes to it. I cannot wait to try it out! The other chefs part of this event are Sandy Daza (another personal favorite!), Eugene Raymundo, Sau Del Rosario, Him Uy De Baron, and Ernest Reynoso Gala.

I didn't went home empty handed because they gave me some Lee Kum Kee products which made me and my mother very happy!

I had a blast and I'm happy with this great experience! Once again I had another pic with one of my favorite chef.

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

Paul Calvin's Deli

2011-10-02T23:38:00.001+08:00

Me and my friend love buying groupon vouchers from restaurants. You can save a lot of money from it.

This is why we went to Paul Calvin's Deli for lunch. We were kinda late but it was okay since there was barely any people during lunch time. Here are some dishes we tried.

The salad was okay. Your typical salad.

I love this soup! I forgot the name though. (I should write it down next time.) It was tomato something... LOL...

The pasta was okay. Not much to say since this happened a few months ago. Which means it wasn't the memorable to me.

I love the cake though! It was the right type of sweetness for me...

Overall, I had an okay experience at this restaurant.... Paul Calvin's Deli is in Serendra.

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

First Gourmet Academy 8th Cooking Session

2011-09-19T23:17:00.000+08:00

The last cooking session is probably the most memorable and enjoyable for me. I guess by this time I still can't believe I enjoyed so much in cooking class and because of this class it has confirmed for me that I do want to be a chef. In the past I always have doubts and have low self esteem about this. I was always worried that I may not be good enough for this or that I will fail having a culinary career. But how can you feel like that when you are doing something you love? I was having some personal problems during my cooking sessions but I always forget about my problems and I felt a lot better every Thursday night in cooking class. I always look forward for it and I feel like it saved me from being depress. When you do something you love and you feel like you are meant to do it, those problems don't matter anymore. You feel something that most people haven't' experienced yet. It's called bliss....

For this last session we made some European cuisine and I enjoyed it. There were new dishes that I tasted and that really surprised.

Herb Meatball with Mushroom Risotto and Tomato Sauce. This is my favorite dish in cooking class. This is also the first time I ever tasted risotto and how to cook it. I always read about how it tastes but never have the chance to do it because it is not a common ingredient here in the Philippines. I liked it. It does taste like rice although it was more creamier. It was hard cooking it though because I have to stir it constantly and pour a ladle of stock one by one. It was worth it thought because I love how it turns out. And I love meatballs and anything that has tomato sauce in it! This is one of the most memorable dish I cooked at this cooking class.

Leek and Potato soup. Okay, I have to admit. I forgot how this taste like so that means it wasn't memorable and it was probably a blah for me. It was an okay dish.

Vanilla Pudding with Mango. I love this! Who hates pudding???? Seriously who ever hates vanilla pudding???? No one!!!! The mangoes are a great touch for it though.

When you want something but afraid to do it, you should try it out first. That way you'll know if it is for you or not. This is why I took up this cooking class because I want to experience working in a kitchen. And so far it has awaken my dream and pushed me to go after it. I am forever grateful for this and I know this is a step in my goal in life.

I hope you guys enjoy my posts about First Gourmet Academy and I highly recommend to people to try out this school. You can learn a lot and have fun along the way. I am happy that I met my cooking classmate and had the experience cooking with Chef Mats Loo. I really learned a lot.

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

First Gourmet Academy 7th Cooking Session

2011-09-09T23:18:00.000+08:00

It was 7th session of cooking class and at this time, it was more fun for us all. We all know each other and it felt like me and my cooking classmate are long time friends. This cooking session is about American cuisine and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Even if we made a small accident! We put salt on the apples instead of the sugar! It was fixed afterwards though by one of the Chef that was helping us. I realize with that accident that being a chef means you have to fix your mistakes in cooking. No time to panic or to regret because time is important.

The salted apples... LOL

Anyway, here are the dishes we made that night.

Caesar Salad with Chicken. We made the dressing from scratch and I love it! It tastes way better than those bottled dressings you buy from the grocery store.

Fried Pork Chop with Caramelized Apples and Onions. I admit. This would tasted a lot better if we didn't salted the apples! It was still great though, the sauce goes perfectly well with the pork.

I forgot to take a picture of the blueberry cobbler! It was one of the best dessert I tasted in cooking class and I'm gonna recreate that dish soon!

Overall, I had a great time with this session and I had leftovers for home. My parents love the Caesar salad!

Chef Mats signing autographs of his cookbook.

Hope you enjoy my post!

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

First Gourmet Academy 6th Cooking Session

2011-09-01T22:57:00.000+08:00

In this cooking session, we learned about cooking Asian cuisine. This is something I am very familiar with being asian and all but I must say I learn some new things. Like the different way Chef Mats cooked rice. He puts salt on it! It was different and yeah I can eat it but I prefer my old way of cooking rice. I also had fun with my cooking classmates. Cooking is something to you can enjoy, and I'm glad that my cooking classmates here are really fun and great.

These are the following dishes that we cooked...

Chicken Curry in Peanut Sauce. This was not your typical chicken curry that we cooked at home. It actually tasted more like kare-kare because it has peanuts on it. It wasn't bad but it wasn't that good either. I think we overcooked the chicken and the sauce was a little off (don't blame us amateur cooks! LOL).

Beef Teriyaki. I actually like this version of Beef Teriyaki. My mother often buy the bottled version of the sauce so it was great that we made this Beef Teriyake from scratch. This is perfect with the rice we made.

Green Papaya Salad. This one was a big surprise to me because I really like it. I thought it would taste like atsara but it was different. And this one tasted better because we left it inside the refrigerator.

Sweet Potato Soup. Your typical soup. Perfect with crackers.

Overall we had an okay class. I actually liked the conversations we are having during this time because me and cooking classmates are closer than before. They really are a bunch of great people.

Well, I hope you like this post!

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

By the way, yes I brought the leftovers home. No wasted food here! LOL

First Gourmet Academy 5th Cooking Session

2011-08-27T21:41:00.000+08:00

This cooking session is probably my favorite. Why? Because I love to bake and I want to be a pastry chef.

There's a science to baking that I really enjoyed. I guess it is because you need to be precise when baking. I love how you can bake and you can create something out of flour. This is why this cooking session is my favorite.

We had so much fun baking and even though it was tiring, the end result was fantastic! i love the bread, cake and cookies we made!!!

That's me trying to be a pastry chef/baker. Hahahahhahahahhahaha.

Basic Lean Dough for Bread. We enjoyed eating this while we dip it to balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Pound Cake. I love eating this with coffee for breakfast!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Simple yet so good. I think the whole family ate all of the cookies I took home..

Well that's all! I think the pictures explain it all. It was a great lesson in cooking class that I know I'll treasure forever.

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

First Gourmet Academy 4th Cooking Session

2011-08-24T21:51:00.000+08:00

On the 4th day of my cooking session, me and my cooking classmates are now all noisy and having fun. I guess we can relate more with each other because we love food.

We are studying about a cooking method called combination heat cooking technique. Braising and stewing are the most common cooking method people use and it is something I want to be good at this so this lesson was really helpful. We also learned about about more techniques to improve your cooking.

Here are some food we cooked that day.

Roasted Vegetable Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette and Goat Cheese Mousse

I love this dish! Roasted vegetable is another relevation for me because it adds more flavor that I like. I'm not a big fan of vegetables salad but when you roast it, it tastes great!

French Beef Stew in Red Wine with Mushrooms and Pearl Onions. This is our main dish. I'm not a big fan of the sauce of this dish (I guess I'm not used to food cooked in red wine) but the beef was so tender! You can also taste the sweetness of the onions and the mash potato is perfect with this.

Crepe with Pastry Creme and Pineapple. I love this dessert! It's harder to cook than I thought it would be. The crepe needs to be really thin. And the creme and pineapple really goes well together.

Once again this cooking class made my heart and tummy full. I love cooking and it is great I am learning it the right way!

Keep on eating and blogging!!!

First Gourmet Academy 3rd Cooking Session

2011-08-19T09:46:00.000+08:00

This is the our 3rd cooking session and by this time me and my cooking classmates are getting better now. I think we are faster and more efficient in the kitchen.

At this session we learned about dry heat cooking method like frying, roasting, sauteing, broiling, grilling and deep frying. I learned a lot from this cooking session like the proper way to saute mushrooms and how to deep fry properly. This is one advantage with cooking class, you'll learn the right way to cook and you'll realize that you are actually making some mistakes. You get corrected and you become a better cook. Anyway, here are some more pics.

This is my group of the day. Yeah we're the wacky ones...

Corn Chowder. Not a big fan of this though. I like the clam chowder better...

Breaded Pork Loin with Salami and Mozzarella served with Mushrooms. One of my favorite dish! I love the pork loin and potatoes on this one and it was really cool that part of our cooking class, chef Mats also teaches us how to plate our food. I feel like I'm in a restaurant eating this.

Strawberries in Red Wine and Frozen Yogurt. Okay whoever thought of placing strawberries with red wine is a genius. I love this dessert! This is especially great for people who doesn't like sweets. The yogurt and the strawberry really goes well together.

Panoramic view of the room and as you can see we are all more comfortable with each other.

I hope you guys like my post.

Keen on eating and blogging!!!

First Gourmet Academy 2nd Cooking Session

2011-08-10T21:57:00.000+08:00

In this picture Chef Mats is showing us how to prepare the ingredients the right way. This is what I really love during the cooking class I took on First Gourmet Academy. Chef Mats is really a hands on chef. This is the second cooking session we had.

That session we learned about different cooking methods especially moist heat cooking method that we used to cooked our dishes that night.

My classmates listening intently at Chef Mats.

Poached Salmon with Vegetable Julienne and Star Anise Sauce. I must say that dish really surprised me because the fish and the sauce really goes well together. I even tried to recreate this at home. And I now know a new way to cooked my vegetables and still make it yummy.

Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Capers. This is probably one of my favorite in the class. I actually made my own recipe for tomato sauce based on this dish. I'll post about it next time. I love how the olives and capers goes well together with the tomato sauce. I love pasta!

Creme Brulee. One of my favorite dessert. Sinfully delicious!

Waiting our turn for the creme brulee!

Well I hope you guys like this post.

Keep eating and blogging!!!