KITCHEN RENOVATION

My kitchen is already old looking and I believe it needs a little renovation. According to the architect who I commissioned to do the engineer, the renovation will take around 7 days before completion. The renovation will not hamper my cooking duties because it has two parts. Kitchen renovation is very important because it brings good vibe into the kitchen and to the people cooking in the kitchen. I was told that the renovation will start tomorrow and I have to start moving my cooking utilities to the other side of my kitchen. My recipe book shelf was already moved last night and other personal things. The renovation crew already brought in some their equipments like their diamond saw blade that is used in cutting ceramics and glass, and other renovation tools. My assistant chef also told me that the gas range must me moved to another place because it might get dusty during the renovation.

The kitchen renovation must be fast and the completion must be on or before the said date because cleanliness is very important in all kitchen. The engineer also told me that they will be operating 24 hours just to make the said deadline. I will also be monitoring the entire operation to make sure that the kitchen renovation will be okay. After the renovation, I will bringing in new cooking equipments and add some new utensils for the restaurant use. The kitchen renovation is just perect for my kitchen to look good and fresh for the years to come.

ANOTHER CULINARY MASTERPIECE

I was in the city convention center this morning. The whole day, I was just there looking for some fresh ideas that I can use in my restaurant. The convention center was packed with chefs and entrepreneurs who want to showcase their made products. From cakes to pastas are all present. I saw some of my classmates in the culinary school who were also participants in the event.

Among the participants who displayed their products, I was more interested in the cake made of ice. It is very difficult to make one because you have to make sure that the room is cold enough to hold the ice in its solid form. Many viewers were amazed of the cake and so was I. The master chef that made the cake was very accommodating and answered our question about the cake formation.

Going to events such as this is very informative to a chef like me. get to learn new things and get fresh ideas that I can incorporate in my restaurant operation. I will try to make an ice cake myself this coming days. I hope I make it right. This will be a sure attraction in my restaurant. Customers will surely be amazed with the cake that I am going to make.

TEACHING YOUNG KIDS HOW TO COOK

I was attending a fellowship when I noticed some young kids in the kitchen. i thought they were just playing around around but when I came closer to them, they were actually cooking. They were instructed by their teacher to make hotcakes for the fellowship goers. I was doing nothing so I decided to lend them a hand in the baking process of hotcakes. Hotcakes is easy to do cakes for they are cooked in the pan and not in the oven. Cooking hotcakes is very easy because all the ingredients and the things needed are readily available in the kitchen. You don't need a recipe book when cooking hotcakes.

I remembered before when I started baking, hotcake was the favorite of mine. My brothers and sisters were very helpful to me in preparing the cakes before they were also excited to have it for their merienda. In the fellowship, I told the kids to have first all the ingredients before heating anything in the kitchen. As a chef, I wanted to partake to them the importance of planning before cooking. When all the ingredients are all in, the cooking and mixing started immediately.

After all, we were able to make 200 hotcakes for around 50 people who were participating in the fellowship. Aside from hotcakes, we also made some lemonades and hot coffee for the elders. I am very glad to be able to help these young kids in their task. They wanted me in their team next fellowship because they want to learn more about cooking.

THE CULINARY TRADE SHOW

The culinary association in the city is celebrating it's 12th year anniversary. The organizers of the event aims to inform and let the public know more about the culinary association in the city. I was told by the organizers that we, as members of the association, must be present in the trade show and participate in the booths that will be provided by the association. By the joining this year's event, it will bring more recall of the restaurant that I own. The event will also showcase local culinary students as they cook in-front of many viewers and visitors from other culinary association.

Since this will be a one week event, I already prepared the menu for the free food taste that I will be having in the booth that is assigned to me by the event organizers. The food platter, spoons, forks, plates and knives are all prepared already. I will also bring a cooking stove since I will be cooking live. I am also using a banner stand and a wide tarpaulin that has my restaurant's name on it. I am all set and prepared for the event. I am just waiting for the organizer for the go so that I can start designing my booth. It is already a tradition for the association to held this kind of event each year.

I remembered last year, I won the best booth contest of all the participants of the event. This year, I aim to win it again for the second time. But this will not be easy because aside from the participants last year, there are 20 new participants. Assisting me in the booth will be my assistant chef in the restaurant. This culinary event will surely be a blast. I just can't wait to show what I got in cooking.

DIAMOND SAW USED IN CUTTING BULALO BONES

Bulalo is a dish that I cook in my restaurant. In a day, I get 10 to 20 orders of this dish in my restaurant. Bulalo is usually bones from a cow, in the leg part. Cooking this dish is easy but sometimes you need something to make the cooking easy. In preparing bulalo, you must have the right cutting tools, since the bones of a cow is very hard to cut. Here, I use diamond saw blade in cutting the bones. Using this type of blade makes the cooking of the dish very easy. In the spices, you only need the ordinary knife to do the cutting. Butcher knife won't work in cutting the bones of a cow that is cook in a bulalo dish. In some restaurants, when they use axe in cutting but that is very tiring. Unlike the diamond saw blade, bone size won't matter. We can cook bulalo immediately.

When I was abroad studying butchery, the use of this type of blade is often used in cutting big bones, with precision. After the study, I immediately used this type of saw for cutting big bones in my restaurant. What I like about this saw when used in the kitchen is that I cut bones in uniform sizes and I easily. Because of the diamond blade saw, I can cook bulalo dish all day long without the problem of cutting the bones.

A NEW SPICE FOR COOKING

The public market is the best place to buy spices that you will be using in your kitchen. Cooking is the like a canvass and the outcome is a wonderful dish. I love cooking and I make sure that I place all the complete ingredients, especially spices, in all the dish that I am cooking. During this morning, I found a new spice for cooking. Banana flower. This flower is usually used when you cook humba pork. The banana blossom will bring more taste in the humba dish.

Aside from the banana blossom, I also found green garlic. I know this is quite new but this is a spice that is good in stews and best paired with ginger. After I got all the ingredients and the meats are all in, I went straight to the restaurant and started cooking the dish for the day.

LEARNING COOKING AGAIN IN THE CULINARY SCHOOL

Who said that a chef's learning ends after culinary school! I am going back again in the culinary school to learn more dishes and earn more units. It is very important for all chefs to continue learning new recipes because that is our profession. When we enroll again in a culinary school for earning units, the culinary school usually gives discount on the tuition fee that we chef have to pay.

I have to earn more units in baking because this is the part where I really needed more knowledge, especially in baking. The culinary school told me that the baking session will be handled by an American chef baker and the baking studies will all be more about breads and cakes. The chef that will be handling the baking is a good friend of mine. I met him during my culinary escapade in the United States.

There will be around 20 cakes and 50 breads that will be discussed in the culinary school. I am just very eager to start the baking lessons. When I finished the baking session, I will incorporate cakes and breads in my restaurant. Maybe I will open a bakeshop so that I can practice my baking skills. I really have to learn more of baking and earn units. The culinary school is the best place to learn baking and earn culinary units as well.

BUYING READY-TO-EAT FOOD IN THE STORE IS NOT SO GOOD IDEA

This evening, I was feeling a little lazy and I decided to buy the foods for tonight's meal. I often do the cooking but I guess my adventurous side took over my senses. Our hour is just few blocks away form a small carenderia. Carenderia means a small food store. This is very hit in small town because there are many carenderia around to do the cooking. Locals will just buy their viand and rice in these carenderias and everything will be okay. A carenderia is the best source of ready-to-buy foods.

I am not discriminating the way foods are cooked in a carenderia, especially when I know the cook in the store. There are also carenderias that do excellent cooking, especially native recipe that is local in the area. Prices of foods in carenderia is cheaper than chef controlled restaurant and even hotels. That makes the carenderia the most in demand store in town.

When I went to the nearest carenderia to buy my food, I looked at their dishes covered in pans. I bought adobong manok and baboy, fish stew, and beef caldereta. I was very curious on the way their food tasted. I saw many locals eating in the carenderia and thank God they did not noticed that I am a chef.

As I placed the food in the table for eating. I noticed that there were some unusual taste in the viands that I bought. I think there were some spices missing in the foods that were prepared in the carenderia. I guess cooking is relevant to the one who is doing the cooking. But their food is clean and edible. Buying foods in the carenderia is good when you are in a hurry. But when you still got the time to cook, I suggest that you do the cooking.

NURSING MEALS PREPARED

My chef friend who works in a hospital called me this afternoon. She informed me about a job that she knew that I will be interested about. She offered me to be the one to do the cooking in the hospital. I know that I am not a dietitian but when it comes to food, I know what is best. She told me that there is a menu for the week and I only have to follow the menu and everything will be okay.

I know that it is a fact that hospital patients really need the right food nourishment and it have to be balanced. The food that I will be preparing will be sent to the nurse station for food dissemination. The hospital won't settle to just a ordinary cook. They want to have a chef in the kitchen, doing the cooking. The hospital administration want to make sure that the one doing the cooking is a bona fide cooking expert.

The job offered to be as a chef in the hospital is not regular. The hospital only needed a chef service for about six months and then they will terminate the contract. I know that this is a good offer for me. Chefs like me rarely gets a contract such as this. I guess I have to accept the task. I will be there in the hospital for only a hour. I will be assigning the cooking job to another chef that I will commissioned to help me in the hospital cooking.

SIZZLING SPARERIBS

Sizzling Spareribs is the most special recipe that I like to cook. It is because I know the outcome of the dish after cooking. For this dish, here are the ingredients:

1/2 kilo spareribs
2 tbsps oil
8 cloves shallot, crushed
1 head garlic, crushed
4 pieces ginger, crushed
1 stalk spring onion, chopped
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsps cornstarch
1/4 cup water

COOKING PROCEDURE

Rinse spareribs. Wipe, dry and marinate with little salt and pepper. Set aside for 20 minutes.

Heat oil in clay pot. Fry spareribs in medium heat until golden brown. Add shallot, garlic and spring onions. Stir-fry. Add dark soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, cornstarch and water. Cover the dish and let it simmer until meat is tender and ready to eat.

KARE-KARENG PATA NG BABOY

KARE-KARENG PATA NG BABOY

Ingredients:

1 pc pata or pig's feet, cut into serving pieces and pre-boiled
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 pc small onion, chopped
2 tbsps annatto (achuete) oil
1 pc banana heart, sliced into quarters
5 pcs string beans, cut into diagonal pieces
10 pcs pechay leaves
1/2 cup rice flour, toasted
1/2 cup peanuts, toasted and ground
2 pcs large eggplant

Cooking Procedure:

Boil pata until tender. Save stock. In casserole, saute garlic and onion using annatto oil 2 to 3 minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil. Add banana heart and cook for about 5 minutes. Then follow with beans, eggplant and pechay. Cook another 5 minutes. Remove vegetables and set aside.

Add rice flour and peanuts to remaining sauce in casserole along with pata. Bring to a boil and stir continuously until sauce thickens.

Pour pata mixture into clay pot. Then arrange vegetables on top and serve with sauteed bagoong alamang.

LECHON PAKSIW

LECHON PAKSIW

Ingredients:

vinegar
lechon sauce
garlic, crushed
peppercorn, crushed
salt
sugar
water
laurel leaf
leftover lechon
wansoy leaves

Cooking Procedure:

In saucepan, mix vinegar, lechon sauce, garlic, peppercorn, salt and sugar. Proportion seasonings according to your taste, taking care not to put too much vinegar to prevent lechon paksiw from becoming too sour. Cook over medium fire.

When mixture becomes thick, add water, stir and let boil. Add laurel leaf if desired. Add leftover lechon and simmer. Serve in clay pot and top with wansoy leaves.

BEEF STEAK AND VEGGIES

BEEF STEAK AND VEGGIES

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried Italian Seasoning
1 medium yellow squash, sliced diagonally
1 medium zucchini, sliced diagonally
2 tbsps grated cheese
2 pcs boneless beef top loin steak, cut 1 inch thick
salt and pepper

Cooking procedure:

Combine oil and Italian seasoning; brush vegetables. Sprinkle cheese on veggies. Place beef steak and veggies on grill rack over medium heat coals. Grill, uncovered, 15 to 18 minutes for medium rare to medium done and until veggies are tender, turning occasionally. Carve steak. Season beef and veggies with salt and pepper.

MACAPUNO PRESERVE

Macapuno Preserve

Ingredients:

macapuno meat
syrup (2 parts white sugar and 1 part water)

Procedure:

1. Separate jelly-like substance from macapuno meat. Scrape or grate macapuno meat. Blanch meat 3 minutes; drain.

2. Make syrup. Add macapuno meat and jelly substance. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until transparent and thick. Pack in sterilized jar while hot. Seal tightly.

A PALM SUNDAY DISH

I am preparing special for tonight. it is because today is Palm Sunday and I am expecting visitors in my house. My relatives are coming that is why I am making a dish for them. I am cooking Hawaiian Spareribs. But I am modifying some of the ingredients. Instead of spareribs pork, I will be using plain pork meat. I know many would think that I cannot substitute pork alone with spareribs. but actually it is possible to substitute one from another. Expected minutes before the dish will be cook is around 30 minutes.

Maybe this will be the last pork meal for the week. We Christians observe fasting in this week in memory of our Saviour. Holy Week is very special and for the entire week, I will be focusing on dishes not related to pork. I have a dozen of recipe books about beef and fish dishes.

Tonight, my relatives will also be bringing their own potluck foods in the house so that we can share the foods all together. The table is already prepared and the plates are in place. I am just waiting for them. The spareribs that I made is done already. I am excited to share this dish to them. We chefs really like to invent dishes. I pretty sure that my relatives will like this.