THE CHEF'S AGENDA AGAIN

It is my morning routine to cook for for breakfast and prepare the table for eating. I prefer to do this alone because I want the food the I cook to be perfect for the people in our house. This morning, I prepared pork adobo and vegetable salad. I also cook rice and prepared some milk and cheese for breakfast. I usually prepare a heavy breakfast because most of us here in the house are working.

My friends also are coming this after to visit me and congratulate for the successful cooking marathon yesterday. Most of my friends are chefs already and according to my friend, they will bring some food they personally prepared. Yesterday's event was very tiring for me and my chef companions. We have to prepare all the foods for the celebration and I have to meet some culinary chefs from Finland. But I am just thankful the blessings that come to me this year.

By the end of the month, I will be going to another city to witness the opening of my other chef friend's restaurant. Most of our batch mates in the culinary school will be going to the opening of the restaurant to give support to our friend who is also a graduate of the culinary school. After the opening of the restaurant, I have to make up my mind whether I will go to Finland and study for 3 months of their dishes before the restaurant will be opening. Aside from that, I also have to select from my friends who will be participating in the culinary study in Finland. This is the life of being a chef. I really need to prepare my schedule for the coming days of this month.

COOKING SUCCESS

Thank God that the cooking marathon is now over. I would like to thank the chefs that helped me through out the cooking marathon. The party has already started and the guest were on-time for the opening prayer for the birthday of the mayor. The actual cooking started around 2 pm this afternoon. I would really suggest to all that when cooking for a big feast, it would be best that to prepare all the ingredients in an early so avoid cramming during the cooking proper.

We were called before the feasting started and were introduced to the guests that were around. The party was well attended by politicians, colleagues and friends of the mayor. Cooking for this kind of event is really big for us chefs. It is because this is the time where we get to be known in the community. As we went down the stage, our numbers were taken by some guests.

Right after the introduction, I went immediately to the culinary school to meet the chefs from Finland. The meeting was for the plan of the Finland chefs to operate a restaurant here in our city. They want products of the culinary school to administer the restaurant. Many Finland nationals are now living in the city. The restaurant will concentrate on Finland's dishes and other foods cook by chefs residing here in the city. But before the restaurant will start, chefs that qualify for the restaurant operation will have to go to Finland and specialize in the dishes of the country for about 3 months. I said to the culinary school dean that I will talk this over with some friends before we fly to Finland for the mastery of their foods and dishes.

COOKING SCHOOL CALLED

I woke this morning because of a call. I was not expecting it to be the culinary school calling me early in the morning. I was told by the culinary school director that I have to meet some chefs from Finland, who are visiting the school this afternoon. This is such a very important matter for the school because our culinary school is funded chefs from Finland. With the appointment that I have today, I think I really needed to insert the meeting in my schedule. I don't want to give shame to the culinary school that I graduated from.

I need to,assign some of my cooking task for today to my chef friend who is with me in the cooking for the birthday of the mayor. According to the director, the chefs from Finland would like to meet me personally and want to discuss some matters with me. As I observed, the cooking in the house of the mayor would be done by 4 pm and I think that is the right time to meet the chefs from Finland.

The cooking is starting right now, the dishes that we prepared are all ready to be cooked and serving will be done by 5 pm. The catering services that the mayor hired to assist us was very cooperative in giving us a hand in the kitchen cooking. The roast beef is now on the turning and fire is heating the kitchen right now. I think I need to get back to my cooking duty.

COOKING KALDERETA

Kaldereta is local dish that is widely cooked by Ilocano and Ilonggo people. The main ingredient of the kaldereta dish is the goat's meat. The preparation for this type of dish requires extra care and diligence when cooking Kaldereta. It is because one false move and your dish is done, means not good to eat. Experts of cooking kaldereta would personally slaughter the goat themselves. They don't use knives to kill the goat. The best thing to kill the goat is to let the goat drink vinegar.

The goat's meat is different from beef and pork and even from the chicken. It is because you will need to remove the smelly part of the meat, they call it "langsa". A smell that is inherent to the goat's meat. They use vinegar or suka in order to get rid of the langsa smell from the goats meat before they cook it. The vinegar absorb through the veins of the goat would enter the main stream and the langsa smell is gone. The gone naturally sleeps because of the vinegar intake. After the goat sleeps or looses it senses, they the throat and let the blood out from the goat's body. They cut the body into their desired parts and the meat is ready for cooking. Culinary experts don't know how to to this because they are much concern of the end product of cooking which is the fine taste of the dish.

When all the necessary ingredient are prepared, cooking Kalderata will be easy. That is why this type of dish is very expensive in a restaurant because of the manner and procedure of acquiring the meat of the goat. This dish is very delicious and tasty, rich in protein meal. For those who are wanting to have a beautiful and sexy body, Kaldereta is the best food for you.

COOKING MARATHON

Marathon is the correct word to use for today's activity. By 12 pm this afternoon, I will cooking for the birthday of the mayor. As expected, the crowd will be around 500 to 1,000 people attending the birthday party. I had already bought all the necessary ingredients for the cooking marathon for today. My companions in this marathon are my batch mates in the culinary school and some kitchen attendants from a local HRM school.

I want to start the cooking early because the party proper will start around 6 pm. By that time, I want all the foods ready and prepared for the visitors who would wish good health to the mayor. For today's cooking, I assigned people to do the main dish and the salads. I will be supervising all the activity in the kitchen. I was inspired by the Iron Chef America after watching it. I want to apply it in this cooking marathon. The mayor also called me up yesterday and asked me about the food preparations. I told him that everything is okay and ready to go.

In my schedule, I will pick up all my friend chefs so that we can talk and do the right thing in this cooking marathon. But I am very confident that nothing can go wrong. I had with me all the best culinary experts in town at my team. As expected will be through by 5 pm. I will just place the foods on the heater pan. The presentation of the foods will be handled by my best buddy in the culinary school. I am excited and eager to let the pots and woks boil.

HELLO CULINARY SCHOOL

Its been quite sometime now since our graduation from the culinary school. My friend, who is a chef of a 5 star hotel, took the initiative and called for a reunion of our batch. It is because after our graduation from the culinary school, we went our own separate ways and proceeded with our plans. Most of my classmates in the culinary school own a restaurant and others went abroad for further studies in the cooking field that they want to master.

The culinary school is the school that I will never forget. I enjoyed cooking and learning in the culinary school. But I never thought that I will enter a culinary school. After finishing my basic HRM course, I was told that there is a great opportunity once a graduate of a culinary school. But I am very lucky that I opted to go to the culinary school. It is because I learned so much and I would say that I can cook special foods and even baking. The reunion will be on the following month and each of one of us will bring food that we personally made or cooked. Potluck, as they call it. Cooking was very much fun in the culinary school. I learned so much and I would suggest to those who are interested in cooking or even in baking, the culinary school of cooking is the best place to learn proper way of cooking.

COOKING SHOWDOWN

I was doing my grocery this afternoon and I was told by the store attendant to come to the activity area of the supermarket. I thought there was an activity but to my surprise I called to witness a cooking contest or showdown in the activity area. But it did not stop there, I became an instant judge in the contest. To my surprise, some of my classmates were there as judges and me was a mere spectator.

The cooking contest was hosted by the supermarket. There were 4 competing contestants for the prize to be called the best in the dining and food industry. There were four dishes to rate, 5 is the highest and 1 is the lowest. Out of the four dishes, I only tasted 3 dishes because the other was already consumed by the watchers who were also invited to taste the dishes cooked by contestants. All the dish that were cooked were based on chicken meat. The dishes cooked were chicken adobo, cream chicken, chicken asparagus and mushroom chicken.

I realized that being a judge in a cooking contest is not easy. I have to determine all the aspects in their cooking and the dish that they cooked for the contest. After casting my vote, I went back to my grocery job. Preparing for the cooking for tomorrows event as the city mayor celebrates his 60th birthday. The menu is already finalized and everything is ready for tomorrows event as I start cooking for the big event.

MORCON

The ingredients are the following:

1/2 kilo whole round beef steak
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pc carrot, cut into sticks
3 stalk celery, cut into sticks
2 pieces chorizo de bilbao or garlic sausage, cut into sticks
1 piece whole pickle, cut into sticks
4 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp miinced garlic
1 cup tomato sauce
2 pcs bay leaves
4 cups beef stock

The procedure:

Slice beef into thin sheets. Season with salt and pepper. Spread beef, arrange sticks of carrot, celery, sausage, pickle and bacon on one side of the beef. Roll beef to form a cylinder. Tie with kitchen thread. Dredge in flour. Heat oil and cook until brown meat on all sides.

Combine onion, garlic, tomato, tomato sauce and bay leaves in casserole. Stir and cook over high heat until liquid is reduced. Add stock and bring to a boil. Add beef, reduce heat and simmer until meat is tender. remove and cut into slices approximately 15mm thick. Arrange on serving plate. Starin sauce, reheat and pour on morcon

INGREDIENTS FINALLY COMPLETED

I was in the market this afternoon to buy all the necessary things or ingredients for the a big event this week. I told you about the birthday of the mayor, I consider it a big event for me. I was commissioned to do the cooking in their house. Cooking for the mayor is a big break for me since I am planning to open a dine in restaurant next year.

I already bought all the necessary ingredients for the recipes that I was planning to cook for the mayor's birthday this week. The meats and the chicken will be purchase during the actual birthday since I don't want to spoil the freshness of the dishes that I will be preparing. I was told that the mayor would like to request a roast beef on his birthday. I have already contacted my meat supplier for the whole beef roast. I will be informed tomorrow about my inquiry about beef.

I already contacted three of my culinary classmates to help me in the cooking activity. I think all the necessary things for the birthday celebration. The dishes are already prepared and I am very excited about the big cooking event.

KINILAW NA TALABA

For this dish, we will be needing the following ingredients:

1 kilo talaba
1/2 cup vinegar or suka tuba
1/2 tablespoon salt
ground pepper
Vetsin
Onion
Ginger
Cucumber
Raddish

The direction in preparing this dish:

1. Scrape the meat out from the shell of the talaba, wash the meat with water and set aside. It would also be best to soak the the talaba meat in water to keep it fresh.
2. Chop onion, ginger, cucumber, raddish and place it a mixing bowl. Add the salt and the talaba meat into the mixing bowl mix the ingredients well.
3. Add the salt, vetsin and suka or vinegar. The vinegar is the cooking ingredient of the dish. Serve with spice to make the dish more tempting to eat.

For this dish, we will be needing the following ingredients:

1 kilo talaba
1/2 cup vinegar or suka tuba
1/2 tablespoon salt
ground pepper
Vetsin
Onion
Ginger
Cucumber
Raddish

The direction in preparing this dish:

1. Scrape the meat out from the shell of the talaba, wash the meat with water and set aside. It would also be best to soak the the talaba meat in water to keep it fresh.

2. Chop onion, ginger, cucumber, raddish and place it a mixing bowl. Add the salt and the talaba meat into the mixing bowl mix the ingredients well.

3. Add the salt, vetsin and suka or vinegar. The vinegar is the cooking ingredient of the dish. Serve with spice to make the dish more tempting to eat.

BEEF BURGERS

The ingredients

1 1/2 cups soft breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 dash ground ginger
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
6 hamburger buns, split and toasted
lettuce leaf

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, onion, water, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. Add ground beef and mix together well. Shape mixture into 6 patties. Grill burgers to your desired degree of doneness. Serve on toasted buns topped with cucumbers and lettuce.

A NEW DISH FOR ALL

My friend has a restaurant and he told me that he is cooking something special for the coming month. I was curious about it. His restaurant focuses American dishes but he is now incorporating in his restaurant Japanese and Korean foods to get in touch with the Asian market. This plan to add new dishes to his menu was triggered by the inquiry of on chef during a dine at his restaurant.

My friend believes that by incorporating new dishes into his restaurant's menu, more customers will be dining at his restaurant. His restaurant is the best steak house in town and and his ham burgers are the best in the restaurant industry today. My friend already called some classmates in the culinary school to help him out in this endeavor. I also gave him some recipes, especially in Japanese foods. I think by the end of the month, his restaurant will be making these recipes that we gave him for his restaurant. The culinary school was very proud of my friend since he was the first one to open a restaurant of his own.

COOKING FOR THE MAYOR

I was invited yesterday to a celebration. I was just not invited, but commissioned to do the cooking for one of the most important person in our city, the Mayor. I never expected to be called for this but since I already accepted the task ahead, I better start researching the foods that I will be cooking for the big event next week.

For the event, I had prepared the menu for it and these are the foods that I will be preparing for next week's cooking task.

1. Lechon or Roasted pig
2. Sari-Sari
3. Pancit Malabon
4. Relyenong bangus
5. Apritada
6. Kinilaw na Blue marlin
7. Beef steak
8. Steamed fish
9. Lumpia Shanghai
10. Leche flan
11. Macaroni Salad
12. Spaghetti

The twelve foods that I listed were selected dishes that the mayor told me to cook. I also contacted my close friend to assist me in the cooking of the dishes mentioned since he is also a culinary expert. By next week all ingredients must be available so that when the cooking commence, it is continuous and non-stop. The eating celebration will be in the evening. I have to start the wok early around 12 pm. I am very pressured about this but I am confident that everything will go on smoothly as planned.

CHINESE STYLE PANCIT CANTON

For this dish, we will be needing the following ingredients:

1 lg. chicken breast
1 c. shredded cabbage
1 c. carrots (cut into strips)
1 c. celery (thinly sliced)
1/2 of a med. onion (sliced)
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
Salt, pepper & soy sauce to taste
1 pkg. Pancit canton (dried yellow noodles, can be bought at any Oriental store)
Optional: For garnish chopped green onions & lemon wedges

Boil chicken breast in enough water to cover it (about 20 minutes). Let it cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. When chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the flesh in strips with fingers, discard the skin. Save the broth.

In a large frying pan or wok, place about 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add the garlic and then onions and then chicken. Stir together and cook until onions become transparent. Season to taste. Add carrots, celery, cabbage in that order having about 1 minute apart.

When vegetables are crisp tender, make a well in the center. Add 1/2 cup of the chicken broth. Put in the well the dried yellow noodles (pancit carton). Cover for about 1 minute. Then stir together until well mixed. Add more broth if too dry. Add soy sauce to taste. The pancit is ready when noodles are soft. Garnish with chopped green onions and lemon wedges if you desire. About 4 servings.

MANOK SA SAMPALOK

MANOK SA SAMPALOK is one native dish in the Philippines that has been handed from generation to generation. The variety in cooking this type of dish also varies from different parts of the country. For this dish, we will be needing the following ingredients:

½ kilo chicken pieces
rice washing or plain water
3 pieces tomato, quartered
1 piece onion, sliced
1 cup banana heart, cut up
1 tbsp salt
10 pieces tamarind
1 tbsp fish sauce or patis for short
1 piece long pepper
1 tsp usbong ng sampalok
½ tsp vetsin (optional)

Simmer chicken in enough water or rice washing. Cover and let to boil until cooked. Add tomato, onion, banana, banana heart and salt. In another pan, cook tamarind until soft; mash and strain to get pulp. Add to chicken mixture and boil again. You may add water is necessary. Season to taste with patis or fish sauce. When almost cooked, drop a piece of long pepper and a teaspoon of usbong ng sampalok. Sprinkle with vetsin to intensify the taste of the chicken and the ingredients. The vetsin can be omitted if desired. Serve this dish while it is still hot.

DISCLOSURE POLICY FOR THIS BLOG

This policy is valid from 03 November 2009


This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does contain content which might present a conflict of interest. This content may not always be identified.


To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

LEARNING HOW TO COOK IS FUN

I started cooking when I was 15 years old. I have no formal training that time about cooking. So, I learned through trial and error. I remember my first viand that I was cooking was pancit canton or commonly know as noodle special. Nobody told me what to do. I just remembered the ingredients when we ate at a restaurant in downtown area. The only thing in my mind was to cooking the food and let others eat it. I was not concern about the outcome just to be able to cook was fine for me that time.

In the kitchen, I gathered all the ingredients and spices that I thought were part in cooking the pancit canton. I was full of guts and scared. But I was confident that I can get through it. I first cooked the meat until golden brown and add the garlic and other ingredients. The last part of my cooking was the add up of the noodles into the wok. I let it simmer and waited until the sayote and the carrots were already fine to eat. Saltiness was a problem for me. I could not distinguish what is salty and what is not. Since it was my first time to cook, I was in a wild guess about everything.

The first customers that ate my pancit canton were my brothers. After they tasted the food, they immediately made me the cook for tomorrow. After cooking my first food, I realiazed so many things. Cooking is fun and exciting. It is like a chemistry class, you mix and the end product is something good.

Just a tip: when you over put salt in your food in cooking, it would be best to place some potatoes to neutralize the saltiness in the food that you are cooking.

GRILLED TUNA PANGA

This is a classic among local dishes here in the Philippines. Grilled Tuna Panga means as translated as tuna jaw. For this dish, we will be needing the following ingredients:

1 Tuna Panga
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon of salt
3 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 bulb onion chop into thin slices

Procedure in cooking:

1. Mix salt, soy sauce, garlic and the onion and place it a bowl.
2. Marinate the tuna panga into the mixture. The marinating of the tuna panga would take at least 3 hours. The longivity will enable the mixture into the tuna panga meat.
3. Start cooking the tuna panga in charcoal. The cooking procedure would take at least 30-40 minutes before the fish is ready to be serve.

SELECTING THE RIGHT FRESH FISH

Aside from cooking, chefs like me must also know how to distinguish a fresh fish from a spoiled one. I do, most of the time, the buying of the ingredients that I am going to use in every dish that I prepare. I must make sure that the things that I buy are fresh and in condition for cooking and eating as well.

In buying a fish that you are going to cook, I would suggest that you look at the eyes of the fish first. if you see blood over it, that means that the fish that you are looking at is no longer fresh. It would also be best to look at the gills of the fish. I white gills means that the fish is dead a long time ago and if it is red, that means that the fish was a fresh catch by the fisherman who did it. Aside from the two parts, you can also try to feel the body of the fish. A slippery fish means that it is not fresh. You can also smell the fish. A good smell means that it is still good for cooking. if it smells funny, that means that no cooking is required. With this simple tips in checking the fish before buy it was helpful to those who are attempting to buy a fish from the market area.

GARLIC KNOWS BEST

I am a big fan of cooking and if I rate a spice that would do wonders in cooking, that would be the garlic. Garlic has been the most used vegetable spice right now. I know many chefs and culinary experts would agree to me about garlic.

Garlic is said to be the wonder spice in cooking. It brings out the right taste and flavor in every dish that is cooked in the kitchen. When cooking a dish with garlic, it would be best not to over cook the garlic. Because when the garlic is overcooked, it would taste bitter and adds a strange taste to the food that you are going to cook. In frying meat, fry first the meat and then the garlic. That is the most basic in cooking. There are times that garlic is tastier when totally fried. This is only happens when cooking peanuts in oil. A fried dish without garlic is incomplete. It is like a puzzle, the garlic is the missing jigsaw to complete the puzzle.

DOING THE HOUSE COOKING WITH CLASS

When I first tried cooking, I thought I was going to have a problem, especially mixing all the ingredients in the wok. I never had a formal education yet when I started cooking during my elementary years. All I know that I must have all the ingredients that I will be needing for the viand that I am going to cook. Besides, I knew my brothers will still eat the food that I am cooking no matter what the outcome was. That was how confident I was when I start to cook.

My first viand that I was planning to cook was the simple Lapu-lapu fish sweet and sour. I remembered that right because I was the one that went to the market to buy the type of fish that I was going to cook. After acquiring the main ingredient which was the fish, I need to buy also the spices and the vegetables that form part of the dish that I was cooking. Just a piece of advise, it would be better to buy all the necessary ingredient for cooking in the market. Because the market has everything that you will be needing.

After acquiring all, I started chopping and started the wok on fire. Then the rest was history. Now, I am doing the cooking in the kitchen with style. I love cooking and that is what I do best.

COOKING DEMO

This morning I got a call from a good friend way back in the culinary school. He is now a host of a cooking show that is being aired over the local channel. he told me that he wants to invite me in his cooking show as guest. He added that I will also do some demo cooking for the audience. He told me too that I will be the one to choose which dish I want to cook on the show. That is where I felt pressured about cooking. In next week, I will be the guest of their cooking show. I think I have to prepare what I will be cooking on the show.

I am thinking of chicken or beef as my main dish. For my side dish, I am thinking of carrot strips as side dish. For the drink, shake mango with watermelon. I am also thinking of cooking relyenong bangus. That is a local dish that is ever present in every occasion. I hope I remember all the details of the dish that I am going to prepare for the cooking show. I know that I can do this. My friend also told me that I should be jolly on set since they do a live cooking show. This is going to be my first live appreance on television and it is on a cooking show with my friend.