Chefie’s World

The April Issue of Appetite Magazine had a California Raisin Advertisement inviting readers to answer a question and with it comes a free demo class at the USDA Culinary Theater with no less than yours truly as guest demonstrator. We had the class yesterday and I decided to feature all healthy dishes with Natural and Golden California Raisin as a flavoring and replacer for some of the sugar. On the menu, Marinated Vegetable Salad with Natural California Raisins, Moroccan Chicken with California Golden Raisins, California Raisins and Apple Bake and Healthy Raisin Cookies. I thought of cooking and baking new recipes that’s not so common but has some familiarity to some Filipinos, I didn’t want it to be too foreign since most of my participants will be homemakers and mostly readers of Appetite Magazine. The Marinate Vegetable Salad is your gourmet atchara since it has broccoli and cauliflower and a myriad of bell pepper that gives color to this salad, the dressing is very simple just add everything into a blender and in less than five minutes, its done, toss in the vegetables and keep overnight for good flavor due to proper ageing. The chicken dish is braised in Moroccan spices and tomatoes until cooked and a different taste profile is achieved. Best with rice and the marinated salad. My desserts is a simple apple pie without the crust, meaning it has a simple crumble on top made with flour, butter and brown sugar and a lot of walnuts, baked just right for texture should still have some firmness. It has a slight taste of orange to make it tangy but still sweet. I had no sauce yesterday but will have some in the recipes I am sharing with you today. Lastly, I am so proud with my healthy raisin cookie recipe since it has the chewiness everyone looks for in a cookie but it good for you since I made it with pure whole wheat flour so it doesn’t get as tough as the other cookies as it cools.
I would like to thank everyone who comes to my demonstrations, who never tires and even with the high cost of gasoline still has all the effort to see and be with me for three hours. Also, I apologize for the minimal amount of tasting portions since the number of participants is not really controllable and I could only make so much due to the budget given for the demonstrations. I know all of you understand….here are the recipes…..

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After two weeks of teaching, today was a no work day, but a day still full of activities. I got to sleep till late but had a meeting with the PR firm for my demo this Saturday, had it in Sentro….the food was good, as Dessa would say it is still my comfort dishes, sinigang na corned beef, fried bangus sisig, rated gg and the Sentro chicken. Had such a good time with Mrs Virtusio and Zsa-Zsa, chatting and conversing about the food world even got to relish our past projects together. Right after lunch, had my much needed trip to the barber shop, everyone knows how important my hair is to me since it’s not that much anymore so stayed and slept there for two hours. Every time I start hearing myself snore, I wake up, embarrassing and you just can imagine how loud it could be. Forgot to tell you that during the Japan trip, no one wanted to sleep in the same room with me due to this….hahaahaa. Then to the bookstore to get my Yummy, Food, Foodie and F&B magazines to be up to date with what is happening in the culinary world. Of course, had a peek of the cute writer chef of the Healthy Way, that’s me….I am getting too selfish of myself….I also took a trip to the grocery to get all my necessities and to partly shop for the demo on Saturday…on the way there, I saw a used book store …wo!…they had Feast by Nigella, two Saveur cookbooks and Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme, all cheaper than a thousand pesos…that’s a steal…but instead got another cookbook I will not discuss now since it’s a classic and I’m greedy…found new stuffs in the grocery….I always do a bi-weekly visit to different groceries just to find out what’s new in ingredients. I love going to Landmark since its so complete, it even has a Korean and Japanese counter but its not complete when it comes spices…….no fennel, coriander essentials in Mediterranean cooking….will let them know….there’s this new fruit in the market, Golden Kiwi Fruit, ah, taste like the regular green kiwi but a bit sweeter, it has a funny shape, since it has two nipples to one side right beside each other. It’s loaded with healthful benefits just eat it and be merry. Went to gym for a much needed exercise, I realized I was getting fat since my third chin suddenly appeared the other day and all my pants are tight, so did a 45 minute walk and some abdominal crunches. Need to get back to exercising, my trainer has beautiful and encouraging words to say…ang taba mo, Chef….even I was guilty about it. But before that had my energy booster, Venti, non fat, two Splenda iced latte. I ended the day by visiting my sister who was not home but my princess was there, ready to joke and make fun of me but that’s the way she makes “lambing”. She so tired from school, commuting from Manila to Pasig. Thought that this day was so exciting and special, felt that it was something to share with you, my friends…readers and whoever…..

Filipino Inspired Dishes for you to cook and enjoy……………..

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me and the gateau st honore

close up shot of quiche de fruits de mer

One of the perks of being a teaching chef is I get to enjoy making and eating classic French desserts which are no longer sold commercially and done with the best of ingredients. Four times during the year do I get to demonstrate and make for my students, the royalties of pastry, Gateau St Honore and Paris Brest. It is made with rich pate brisee, luscious and melts in the mouth, crème patissiere lightened with velvety crème chantilly. Oh, how should I say, a spoonful of these desserts and 10 lbs of fat to regret, and there’s more, praline paste is further added to the lightened crème patissiere for flavor as a filling for the Paris Brest. Additional crème chantilly is further used to decorate both desserts and caramel, hard thread stage sugar is spun and sprinkle to create a halo or confectionery dome to complete the Gateau….oh, a dessert made for the patron saint of pastry chefs and another to commemorate a bicycle race between the cities of Paris and Brest, even people think they are easy to make, they’re not. I always get to burn my fingers when attaching the crème puffs into the walls of the Gateau and this is sugar that burns the skin, the pain lingers, heeheee…..we also did some quiches which generally is becoming very popular with Pinoys but are becoming more minute due to the staggering prices of its ingredients. I enjoy these days but everyone is getting so mixed up with what goes first the pate brisee or the pate a choux….in time, they get it and in time, we all enjoy the grand dames of the French dessert world.

As much as I want to share my recipe for the classics, I can’t – I never owned the recipe, better yet enroll in our one year professional program and get to learn more.

Vegetarian Quiche is what I had in mind for you in this post, something that’s rich but with some healthiness infused into it.

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With one of my pastry idols, Chef Eric Perez

The other day while I was in my lazy posting phase, I was thinking of the ultimate filling for a pie. You know, I realized that not many bakeshops make good pies and if there are some that do make, they are always the common ones, egg, apple, mango cream and the forever, till death ( translated: walang kamatayan ) banoffee pie which every bake shop in town is trying to duplicate ( one has to make, eat and finish this in one day, it will become a sour banana pie after a day ). Take for example, the Philippines favorite, the eternal barkada potluck offering Sugarhouse’s apple pie with grated cheddar cheese on top. Time in memorial did we have this, I remember when they opened in Greenbelt and buy this expensive apple pie that had cheese on top. We all thought it was the right apple pie and the crust so crumbly not flaky and very sweet. We grew up with this type of pie and up till now, it’s a comfort food to some. If you look at any French classical baking book, cheese was never placed inside an apple pie or apple tart, usually it is eaten in combination. It should have been their interpretation of the classic recipe…I hope…
Back again to daydreaming, thinking of what filling I can put inside the pie with a difference, I also wanted something that was familiar to your taste buds and ingredients are readily available. Out of nowhere, I got it, ready to share with you, gourmet enough to be called but simple and easy to make then suddenly. the creativity started to fade and disappear, all because of a person I associated with one of the ingredients…that person really had so much force and spirit that it broke me apart…but I am not going to let “it” affect me…The most insincere people are those who you use other people to gain other people’s confidence and support, how shameful, dreadful, ewwwwww! In my line of work, I get to face a lot of them everyday, some don’t even know they are doing it since they were never taught what was right and wrong…Breeding just like the horses…..hahaha.

I share with you the recipe, the filling not the feeling……….

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I have been going through a busy week, again – teaching my pro class every day morning until night but enjoying it. Another set of students are also going through their final repertoire where they conceptualize, cook and bake the whole menu for a dinner for a number of guests. But today, May 18 is a special day for me, it’s my Nanay Curing’s birthday – my mother who is the biggest influence to what I am today. My mother who I had very little time to be with but who I enjoyed every dish she ever prepared. As a child, I remember that we didn’t have enough money that I was drinking hot water with sugar but after that all she cooked me where always good. She would send us food all the time….from Navotas to Dasma….her tochong bangus, batuta, Adobong Navotas, Mechandong Navotas I know that you are all enjoying. Her gulay dishes were always special since she would render beef and pork fat and use this to saute her onions, garlic and tomatoes. Today is also my nephew’s birthday, Joey. His calmness and simpleness is so affecting. I cooked for him tonight, his favorite pastas - penne al telefono, pesto e gamberoni, gambas and grilled ribeye steak and lamb chops….tons of food. I will always enjoy cooking for them just like my nanay did with all of us.

I am sharing with you tons of recipes here, simple and delicious…..please write me feedback. Enjoy!

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Only a few of you came to this once in a lifetime chance to watch me live in action at the USDA Culinary Theater to cook and bake healthy dishes with California raisins. But there will be other demos and I will invite you again. That is also the main reason why I have not posted during the last week because events like this requires full attention and concentration and I was also teaching professional and skills class at the same time. It took me awhile to finally decide on the array of dishes that I will be demonstrating and had to test and retest all of them to fit the taste and flavor I wanted. Finally, last week or 6 days before the event I finalized the recipes. I purchased all the ingredients Wednesday and started cooking and prepping everything Thursday with my assistants, Julie, Star and Mr. K. We finished early since the dishes didn’t have too much ingredients and there wasn’t too many pre cooking to be done. I had to do five recipes of the chicken dish ahead to age for better flavor and an additional recipe of dressing with the same reason since if you rest and keep it chilled in the refrigerator for sometime the taste changes so much since the raisins get to infuse their flavors too. Friday came, everything was ready by 11 am and my demo was scheduled at 2 pm so we took a nap right after lunch. As I was cleaning the platters for the final product presentation, I noticed something smelling and I saw the culprit, it was the chicken and it had bubbles and had a funny smell. In other words, it got spoiled since I didn’t have the time to boil it after removing it from the chiller. My fault! spoiled, wasted and thrown immediately - a lesson to learn in preparations for a demonstration. My other concern was I got several text messages from participants that they cannot make it so I might be doing the demo for only a dozen people…heheheh…..My sponsor, Raisin Administrative Committee’s representative would be coming in from Singapore and I really had to make a good impression. Don’t worry, everything went well, all participants who are part of my group of clients and friends in the food industry came and almost filled the theater. I was overjoyed, they all loved the recipes since it was healthy and not too difficult for an ordinary caterer to cook or make which I believe should be taken into consideration now by most chefs when they do demonstrations. Here are the recipes, I hope as usual you enjoy them.

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I’ve been teaching the past week, every other day from 9 am to 10 pm, exhausting but enjoying it so much since it’s always fun to meet a new set of people. One program I haven’t taught here in Manila for six months and it is such a joy that I am again discussing a course that I myself made and labored on. I am also thrilled and happy that one of my students is an old friend who I haven’s seen for a long time. You know the feeling of being so happy that you are again reconnected with someone you shared so much and you have remained friends but don’t see each other? Just like making my tiramisu a week or two ago! It was the memory of making it first for money since I didn’t have any and then later on, for people because they enjoyed eating it with good memories of friends and family. Clients have told me that my food have been part of the most memorable events in their lives and I am elated with that, even clients who remember how it has been all these years with the cakes, or the brownie I made for them. I was even part of several “pamanhikans”. Also the other day I had lunch with a student who has become my friend who went through so much a few years ago but now has bounced back and is ready to start a new life, old and new, she still wanted me to be a part of it. I am also overjoyed with the wonderful comments you have left in my posts. They not only make my heart fat, my eyes water or my hair go but it has made my brain soften to what it really is I have to do in this lifetime.
Sharing recipes with you is like sharing part of me, part of my life….sometimes it takes over three dozen testings before I can actually post the recipe here, that’s how you as readers are important to me.

Crème Caramel has been part of my life. Around 1987, my Ate Ampy shared a recipe with me and it too has been our recipe for such a long time. It is a modified recipe of Martha Stewart’s coming from her first cookbook when she was just a caterer….imagine she’s now a multi billionaire….Creme Caramel is like our leche flan but the Pinoy version uses condensed and evaporated milk and a lot of egg yolks, our version has a difference in it. Anyway, I can’t give you Ate Ampy’s recipe because I honor her for that so I made my own….for you. Hope you enjoy.

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I promised that this was going to be my next post subject and here it is. I think one dessert that swept most of the world is TIRAMISU. It even was part of a discussion in a movie, Sleepless in Seattle…and here I am, telling you that it means, “pick me up” in Italian and every cuisine has an interpretation. Ours is even presented as a cake, which should never be….

One of the very first desserts that I enjoyed was tiramisu and there was La Primavera who made it so famous latter part of the 1980’s. I learned my version from a good chef and friend, Mary Rose Garcia Campos who I will count as one of my mentors. Of course, my version has changed through the years. I was selling this for years. Almost 12 containers every week and during Christmas, I was making 10 recipes a day, a total of 20 containers. How did I get to sell so much? Mom would always bring it to her parties and by word of mouth it has become popular in her circle and most of our neighborhood.

But haven’t made it for the past 7 years since mom died, but last week. Due to the request of my nephews and nieces I did, I tasted it and it was still the same, the way it was seven years ago.

The classic tiramisu uses ladyfingers – I use my own recipe of pound cake - it doused with just the right amount of espresso – I use a sweetened coffee mixture with kahlua. Due to heat of our country, I also make sure to put half a packet of gelatine so that it will not melt as fast. Best eaten two days after it has been made. Oh, my! Had grated bittersweet Belgian chocolate on top and cocoa powder.

I am sharing with you the recipe after all these years, I finally decided it was time……..

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This is the third installment to my healthy two weeks of events that I went through. Last March 14, I was invited by the Nutritionists and Dieticians Association of the Philippines to give a lecture on spa cuisine. It was exciting with loads of work since I had to prepare a tasting set of three dishes for 800 participants, this I had to do for three days with the help of my students based in Davao. Sponsored by California Raisin, I had one of the most nutritious and great tasting dried fruit in all 3 of my recipes. All three I am sharing with you.

So what did I talk about, spa cuisine, healthy eating that’s actually common sense cooking since you remove the use of butter and cream in all the cooking. Also methods of cooking are kept to the simplest without the addition of any oil or fat in the process so poaching (again?), grilling, roasting, cooking in papillote – that’s steam kept inside the paper cooks the food inside. Interesting, right? Even the latest trends in ingredients I also discussed with the new set of grains, like quinoa – a grain with tons of protein that originates from the Andes mountains, couscous becoming so popular now with Moroccan type of stew and the blend of Asian ingredients to increase the flavor of food. I also used a lot of fresh herbs to complement the main ingredient of any dish as oppose to the use of too much salt in the dish. Marination was a technique that I discussed since it was done just before some of the cooking for absorption of the marinade which is needed for better eating for everyone. Salsas, vinaigrettes, yoghurt based sauces are the in thing to use in this type of cuisine.

I like doing something as large as this one to promote healthier methods of eating. A lot of us don’t eat right and it is maybe time that more and more people know about this. When I found out I had diabetes I tried my very best to change a lifestyle that was family based and I get to continue doing it since now I cook for myself and I hope that someday people around me will get infected with it. It is really the cooking that will matter, remove the fat all of it as much as possible.

And here is what I served during the talk. Enjoy the recipes! (more…)

Early part of January, I was approached by a medical executive asking me if I can cook and demonstrate some healthy food for a launch of a new medicine which, combined with exercise will make you lose weight. As you know, one of the courses I took last year in America was Healthy Cooking and later on, here in Manila, on Spa cuisine. I have researched extensively in this area since I know this will be the trend in the next few years. I obliged and in a week I got to submit a menu that I have done also for some friends here in Manila.

Healthy cooking is easy cooking that removes cream, butter and other saturated fats as an ingredient and method is also changed to those that doesn’t involve so much fat in it. Plenty of grilling, roasting, poaching and fast cooking is done. Flavor is intensified by not adding too much salt but more on the use of flavor enhancers like herbs, spices, pepper. Also by using complimentary taste elements that intensifies the qualities of the main ingredient. Marinating the dishes ahead of time was done for better tasting. A lot of fiber is also used which is very good for our body since it makes us full and is good source of cleaning up our insides.

It was a great dinner to do because it was also a different approach in presenting a medicine to doctors who knew what the benefits of the type of cooking I was doing. Enjoy the recipes and cook them with gusto.
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