Dad's 40th days after death celebration

Today we are having a feast for Dad's 40th days after death.

This is a widely celebrated Filipino Catholic tradition where relatives and close friends are invited to a feast to honor the person who had passed away.

We have the following dishes set for tonight's dinner.

Chicken Inasal










Lucban Hardinera

   Kare kare

  

Pansit Sotanghon










Rellenong Bangus










Steamed and Fried Tambakol

Lengua Estofada











Pork Tenderloin tips in Oyster Sauce

Steamed White Rice















I cooked one of them.  Guess which one.

Today is my 35th Birthday...

A dear friend of mine commented in Facebook that I have the guts to change career at this age.  

Is it really about guts?  Or is it really just about what your passion is?   I think no person is too old to do anything that he wants as long as he puts his whole mind and body into it.   I have read of anecdotes of people who pursue medicine after 40.  And how about the widower who decided to become a priest after all his children has grown up?

I already attended mass this morning and had asked my wish from the Lord.  I know He provides and I know He knows what is best for us.

Thank you God that I have the guts to follow my passion at this midlife (?) age of 35.   And I ask forgiveness na nasa utak ko kanina ay kung anong mga possible culinary creations for our midterms while the priest is giving his homily.

My first knife/utensil set

I guess I will be lugging this to school every class...



















Today we learned about knife skills.  Using vegetables, we learned slicing, cutting, chopping, mincing, julienne, paring, cubed, stew cut.  Chef instructor also said some French terms that I have forgotten.

Most of the things were not new to me, but I was amused watching some of my classmates struggling with paring a tomato and an apple.  And there were already 3 casualties today of knife cuts.  Careful, careful!

I thought I was the student who lived nearest the school.  Someone beat me to it.  At least may kasabay na ako sa paglakad pauwi.

On a more serious note,  I now feel that this course is REALLY some SERIOUS shit.  Once successfully completed, I can get 4 certificates: a course diploma,  NC-IV in Commercial Cooking Certification (The Highest TESDA Certification) and Bread and Pastry Production NC-II (Currently the highest pastry production certification awarded in the Philippines) and Wine Stewardship.   

My goal is to be awarded a Gold Medal upon completion of course.

Teka... makainom na nga ng Milo.

To be a Ch(i)ef

Anyone can be a very good cook, but to be a Chef, one must also be able to lead a whole kitchen.
-- Gene Gonzalez.

Today is the first day of classes...

I'm so excited! I just can't hide it!  Magdala kaya ako ng camera?

I'm blanking out my mind so that it can be filled with information later.

Ang mala-saging na saba

Thanks to the internet, I just recently found out that plantain is different from the saba variety.  I have no idea what is the english name for our saba bananas but I'm thankful that we can find this variety abundantly in the Philippines.

When I was still living in Singapore, it would be a nightmare to find this variety of banana.  Most supermarkets don't sell them and only a handful of wet markets carry them.  Most of the time, they will only have the cavendish variety that comes from Davao or the "lakatan" and "latundan".  Maybe that is why the Malays use the latundan instead for their Pisang Goreng (Fried Bananas) while we Filipinos only consider saba bananas for frying.

Going back to this versatile fruit, the saba is eaten most of a time as a snack, a side dish, a dessert or even a vegetable.  It is boiled, steamed, fried, broiled, cooked in sugar syrup, sliced, pounded, cubed and a lot more.

My earliest memory of this fruit is of course with the Banana-Q (Fried saba bananas then covered in brown sugar), a very common summer snack.  Manang Viring will always prepare Arroz ala Cubana (Cuban Rice dish) with simple sliced fried saba.  For dessert, Sweetened Saba with milk is a treat!

And of course there is turon, maruya, bikang-bikang and binangi.

Recently I was in conversation with some friends on other varieties of saba desserts.  I suggested smothering butter and sprinkling sugar on fried bananas.  Some suggested boiling them instead then putting butter.  Another possibility is topping with chopped peanuts.

Why not put sweetened diced saba in cinnamon rolls?  If they can use apple why not saba?  I think that would be wonderful.

How about filling a puff pastry with saba sweetened with maple syrup, scented by a sprinkle of nutmeg and cinnamon.  Plus a topping with chocolate syrup, chopped walnuts and vanilla ice cream.  That would be one way to make this fruit extravagant!

Maybe I can come up with something new in class.

But in the meantime, I'll stick with my maruya.   It's very simple.  It's simply perfect.

PS.  I love bananas, but my Beh does not.  Oh well, more maruya for me then.

Soft and delicate, luscious and creamy BUTTER

According to BigOven Food Glossary...


Butter is a natural dairy product made by churning fresh cream until the fats separate from the liquids. According to U.S. government standards, butter must be made exclusively from milk, cream or both, with or without common salt and contain at least 80% milkfat by weight.

To produce it, modern creameries use highly controlled methods to inspect, separate and pasteurize the milk and cream. Once pasteurized, the cream is churned until it becomes solid. Then it's packaged and distributed to your local supermarket where it waits to be brought home and spread onto fresh bread or baked into a perfectly flaky pie crust.

I remember first tasting butter when I would go to Auntie Alice's place as she would always have pandesal and Anchor butter.  At our house, Mom will trick us to using margarine instead because at that time we wouldn't know the difference.  She would buy the Dari Creme brand, as we all know, margarine is a lot cheaper than butter.


Breads and pastries would not be the same without butter.  To make pie crusts, we need butter.  To make croissants, more butter.  Mashed potatoes are just nicer with butter.  Lola Chayong used to fry lightly seasoned pork tenderloin in butter and we would then drizzle the used liquid butter on our hot rice.  To fry eggs, it just tastes better when done with a little butter.  I don't think there is anything that will taste better if not made with butter.

Recently a lot of people shun butter because they say it's unhealthy.  They use lots of these "spread substitutes" like canola spread, olive oil spread and "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!" spread.  Yeah, I can't believe that they will substitute butter with all these artificially and chemically produced stuff.

The traditional kaya toast won't be popular without that nice dab of cold butter in between the warm and toasty bread slices.

I believe in moderation.  Having butter every now and then won't be that bad.  The French eats a lot of butter and they still have a big population.

Life is short, Love butter NOW.

*photo courtesy of www.bigoven.com

Like 'em full and firm buns…

Gen. Luna pandesal…. ah… I have loved these little bites of nugget heaven since I was young.  A little dab of Queensland butter and I'm in breakfast ecstasy. 

It has remained the same, except for the price.

It's different from the other pandesals I have tasted.  They're small but heavy, somewhat near to an english muffin texture already.  They don't deflate like most pandesals do and not too crusty that it feels like french bread when cool.

I will learn how to do this I'm sure.  I was reading thru the nice book that my loving sister Tintin gave me (Fundamentals of Professional Cooking and Baking by Gonzalez/Sandique) that there are actually different kinds of flour with different protein content for different uses.  Now that is something I'm not too familiar with.  

I confess that baking is my waterloo, as opening a packet of Betty Crocker Easy Bake Blueberry Muffins is not be considered as actual baking.   How about those apple pies I've made in the past? I've made Chocolate Chip Cookies but my 8 year old niece, Lexi, can make that too!

I want to make pandesal.  I want to be able to bake something like that Gen. Luna pandesal.  

I will also need a pugon (stoneware oven).   I'm sure SM Appliance Center don't sell that.

This one is dedicated to you...

Apparently Mommy forgot to instruct to put the R.I.P. phrase.   Well, last time I heard, Dad is busy partying and having fun with Tito Rene Palines, Tito Veo Villasenor, Tito Vic Villasenor and Tito Lito Deveza.

THE BEST!

Party on Dad!  This course is dedicated to you.  

Di ko lang gagayahin ang adobo mo kasi mas masarap ang adobo ko!

Interview with a Chef-ire

Chef Instructor Interviewer: So what do you want to get out from this course?

Migoy Chef-to-be: I want to be number 1 in my class.

So it's now official. I'm starting my course of "Professional Culinary and Pastry Arts Program" at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies.

New year, new leaf...

Now i'm back to Manila, it has been a fast, adventurous and bumpy but exciting ride for the last decade in Singapore.

Lots of events had turned out in the previous year that made me decide to pursue this passion of mine... that is cooking! So I had taken the leap of faith, quit my good paying job and is now enrolled for a one year diploma course for Culinary and Pastry Arts in one the Culinary Arts schools in Manila.

Today I complete all the registration and tuition requirements and classes start on Jan 26 (which is one day before my birthday). Am excited yet a bit hesitant too, most probably it's because I MAY be the oldest student in my class. Hehehehe... Anyway, better late than never!

I will dedicate this year of study to my beloved father, Ramon, who passed away last December 2010. Daddy cooks when required, or by order by Mom!

Love you Dad! Love you Mom. Thanks for giving me this exciting and generous life.

Love you too Beh!