THE BEST BARBECUE IN TOWN

Sometimes we feel that the food in the house is like a routine. We don't feel like eating in the house. When we experience these kind of feeling, we often opt to dine out and taste new dishes that are good and tasty as well. You might be wondering why I am saying these things right now. It is because upon arriving in the house, I noticed that my appetite was extinct and I don't feel like eating in the house.

Food is plenty in the table but I am looking for something new to my taste buds. I decided not to order food in a take out counter. But instead to dine at a restaurant that offers the best barbecue in the city. When dining in a barbecue restaurant, it is imperative to say that you will be using your hands as your spoon and fork. What I like in a barbecue restaurant is that rice is unlimited and soup is overflowing.

For first time customers in a barbecue restaurant expect the following dishes in their menu: barbecue (pork, chicken, hito or catfish, liver, betamax or blood, chicken feet, chicken neck, intestines), kinilaw na bariles or malasuge, kilawin, chicharong bulaklak, sea food dishes and soups as well. Orders usually last for about 15 to 20 minutes before it will be served in your table. Prices for the foods that they offer are very affordable to all customers.

Many chefs really would question my actions in eating in a barbecue restaurant. but for me it is just one dining experience that I will not miss.

DINNER PREPARATION RUSH

I just got home this evening around seven. I was told by my maid that she did not prepare anything for dinner because she thought I am going to dine at the restaurant like I always do. Maybe it was also my fault because I did not inform her that I was going to eat at home this evening. The was a food on the table but it was may maid's leftover and I don't want to dine at that.

I immediately checked the ref and found vegetables, fresh from the farm of my brother. I immediately took the knife and started peeling the vegetables, especially the squash. I was going to cook the local delicacy the pinakbet of the Ilonggo. This type of recipe requires bagoong and lots of vegetables for the dish. Cooking this recipe would only require several minutes because you must maintain the crunchiness of the vegetable. Overcooking it would spoil the dish instantly.

For information, there are variations of this recipe, the pinakbet because of people vary in their preferred taste of the pinakbet. I also red in an article that some people would cook pinakbet in just 15 minutes. The vegetables are still half-cook and they love to eat it that way.

TEACHING YOUNG PEOPLE HOW TO COOK

I was in my kitchen when I got a call from my college friend. She was asking me to come to her house and she added that she will tell me the details when I got there. I was curious and a little concern because something might happened to her. But I am just glad the she called me again after college. I went to culinary school while she went to business school. A totally different area of study.

Upon arriving in her house, she immediately opened the gate of her house and told me to come inside in her living room area. She silently told me that she wanted to tell me that she wanted my help to teach her how to cook. It is because her husband was already bored with fast foods that are readily available. She tried opening a recipe book and tried some cooking but no success. Her food that she cooked was totally different from the picture of the recipe book.

As a chef, I think, it is my responsibility to help others when they are in need of my service. Actually, learning how to cook is very easy and very elementary to teach to people. The basic principle in cooking is eating. When you like to eat, then you must learn how to cook. I told my friend that before starting to cook, make sure that all the ingredients are all prepared. Using the recipe book is the best way to start learning how to cook.

We tried the very simple squid rings recipe. This is the most cooked dish anywhere and it is very easy to prepare and cook, especially for first timers. She did all the ingredients preparation and the cooking as well. At the end of the day, she was able to learn to cook a simple recipe. But tomorrow is another day, I have to come back and continue teaching her how to cook again. This time more complex recipes will be tackled and cooked.

CATCHING NEW COOKING IDEAS

I was in a coffee shop this afternoon with some of my chef friends. We ordered some coffee cups for the seven of us. As we were talking and discussing recipes, like we always do, one of our companion called the coffee shop attendant and requested the menu of the house. I was thinking she will order another set of coffee for all of us but it was another product. She ordered chicken wings and a bowl of rice for all of us.

I never expected that a coffee shop would have such a products in their menu, since they only tell their dining customers that they sell coffee right here. I guess the cooking industry has evolved already, from a simple one to a more complex one.

I tasted their chicken wings meal and it tasted great. it was just like the food that we eat in a restaurant except this is in a coffee shop already. No wonder, many people visit the coffee shop that we went to this afternoon. Their coffee is good and also the dishes that they cook and prepare to their dining customers. I also asked for their recipe and the coffee shop manager was very happy to give a copy of the recipe.

NEW AND EXCITING RECIPE FOR THE YEAR

I have decided to make a new recipe for this year. I have been cooking around 20 dishes in my restaurant for the whole year and I think it is about to add more spice to the kitchen. My assistant chef suggested that we add more of the west recipes since majority of our customers are from the west. It was a good idea and I think I should implement it immediately.

The restaurant operation is growing and I need really to add another chef in my kitchen. My kiosk operation is doing well but I guess I need to close it since I need a chef right away. As they say 3 chefs are better than one and that is what I going to do. I already asked for their own recipes so that I can infuse them in my daily menu in my restaurant.

I really wanted to make a big change for this year in my restaurant, more new dishes serve means more customer inflow in my daily operation. My recipe book is already out in the market right now. It is titled cooking made easy and all recipes listed there are my own originally done dishes that I would like to share to all.

GINGRED SALMON RECIPE

Everybody right now is doing the healthy way of living. No wonder everyone is more into the fish diets rather the meats. It is because meats contain more cholesterol that is harmful to the body. In my restaurant, 90 percent of my customers order fish dishes and only 10 percent order meat dishes. The bestseller in my restaurant is the Gingered salmon and here are the ingredients for the dish.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced scallion, white part only
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon hot chili paste
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup Mirin (Japanese rice wine) or dry sherry
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 7-ounces salmon steaks
Salt
Fried basil leaves, for garnish
Basil mashed potatoes
1 tsp. sesame oil
asparagus

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Make glaze: In a small saucepan combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 seconds and remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.

Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed, ovenproof skillet until smoking. Season salmon with salt. Sear first sides until golden brown. Turn steaks and roast in oven for 3 minutes. Brush with ginger glaze. Roast for 1 minute more or until salmon flakes easily with a fork and is a lighter pink and opaque in color.

Serve with potatoes and asparagus, garnished with basil leaves.

APPLE AND BLACK BERRY JAM

I love giving breads to my little niece and she told me that she really loved my jam. Every time she is in my house, I always make her favorite apple and black berry jam.

For this type of jam, these are the ingredients:

2 lb. cooking apples
2/3 c. water
1/2 c. lemon juice
2 lb. blackberries
4 lb. sugar

Peel and core and slice the apples. Put the apples into a saucepan with the water and lemon juice and simmer for about 10 minutes or until tender. Add the blackberry and sugar and cook, stirring constantly, over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Bring to a boil and boil rapidly until the setting point is reached. Pour into warm sterilized jars and seal immediately. Easy to do and delicious.

COOKING SUCCESS ONCE AGAIN

This 10 am, I was the commissioned to do the kitchen cooking for one of the grandest wedding of this year. All I can say that it was done perfectly! I would like to thank my co chefs of the day and my kitchen assistants who worked hard to make the cooking a success. Without these people around me, the cooking would not be a success. I would like also to thank the sponsors of the party, Alba ranges, petron gasul, gourmet specialist for the recipes that were used in the occasion.

The cooking started earlier as expected. We made it around 6 am to make sure that the cooking will not be left behind once the ceremony starts. The ingredients of all the recipes were prepared by the assistants around 5 in the morning, We made the early market visit to by all the ingredients. We wanted to make everything fresh. That is why the market buying was done early morning.

We prepared around 20 deliciously cooked dishes to serve around 200 guest. From the main dish to the salads were done perfectly by my chefs and assistants. After the cooking was through, we were called to the stage to make our plugging of our restaurant. What is good about catering to this type of occasion is that after the event, you will receive a lot of bookings for your restaurant. In deed we got plenty after the wedding ceremony. Eating was the main best thing about weddings and we were just glad to made the cooking the best for the occasion.

COOKING ENGAGEMENT

I am going to be very busy tomorrow because I have a cooking engagement in a garden setting. Actually it is a wedding celebration and I am expecting around 200 guest for the occasion. According to the coordinator, I have to prepare around 20 dishes and I have to cook it and make it available by 10 am in the morning. The groom and bride already made the food selection in my restaurant the other week and I am pretty excited about it already.

For tomorrow, my assistant chef will be assiting me in the wedding cooking for tomorrow and the food kiosk operation will be close by tomorrow because the chef there will be the one manning the restaurant operation. The celebration will be a Arabian theme. That is why I prepared some Arabian dishes for the occasion.

The wedding is said to be a high key, meaning a special wedding. There will be ambassadors, prime ministers and presidents coming in the wedding tomorrow. I guess all the necessary things were already prepared and I have to start cooking by 6 or 7 am and the food will be completed by 9 am. That will be enough for the food preparation. Aside from my assistant chef in the restaurant, I also commissioned my chef-Friend to help me in the cooking. All dishes in the wedding celebration are all in my cooking book that I made.