Learning to Cook and Other Things

Now that we're through relishing our salads, we will take one step back on our dining experience to quaff off the next item in our meal - the soup. Soup s can be thick and hearty. It may be taken as a snack or served as a light lunch. In non-formal meals, it is usually served first but in formal dining set-ups, it follows the serving of an appetizer. If you ask me, I think most soups usually look plain, and devoid of appeal, unlike salads or appe tizers . But, simple as it is, soups can be made more seductive with the addition of greens as garnish. And talk about flavor -- that is already a given. I believe soups can be called different names. My soup definitions aren't exactly technical but rather, how I understand the terms guided by my limited cooking experience. Soups m ay be bisque because of it's creamy thick texture. It is made of veggie or fish purees. On the other hand it is called a bouillon if it is made out of boiling fish, meat and vegetable in a liquid. In ...

I have written herb snippets in the past. I guess this would be good as any time to r evisi t these perfumed culinary creations of God. It used to be that herbs were part and parcel of Italian and French cooking. Not anymore. Because today, the world over, herbs have found its niche in haute cuisine as well as ordinary, everyday cooking. Wasn't it said in Genesis 1 , "let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fru it tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so." Herbs especially fresh provide the aroma from coriander, lemon grass, basil, mint, oregano, rosemary which chefs from different continents can't cook without. The zest and the allure of herbs have been there since time immemorial. Italian monks have been known to grow herbs centuries ago. Asian cuis ines would never be the same without lime, curry, sweet basil, or turmeric? And what about Scarborough Fair's parsley, sage, rosemary ...

I am far from a professional cook nor am I a true blue gardener. So what is the point you ask ? Here it is -- Cooking may well include the pleasure of gardening. So what if you're red thumb-ed and not green? And, so what if you don't have a big yard nor a large garden? What you need are clay pots in different sizes to house your pla nts. Planting vegetables, herbs, fruit trees as well as flowers is not only enjoyable but a wellness activity too. There's a certain delectation in picking, cooking and partaking that which your own hands helped grow. A co uple of years ago, I had plenty of herbs in our backyard. Mint, basil, thyme, rosemary, dill, marjoram and oregano. What I could not use fresh, I dried. Just pick them in the mornings (best time to pick herbs) and dried them using small mesh bags. When dried, I stored them in clean, recycled bottles, sealed tight not waiting for any excuse as to be incorporated in every imaginable dish I prepared. I also have differen...

I am doing this short intro as a tribute to my friend Sher who published a recent post about the role colors play in food preparations. Color introduces us to the world of visual culinary seduction through our eyes and on to the palate. Bright, shiny and lively colors provide the foundation for each and every gorgeous dining experience. And to help us understand color and its implications, particularly to Chinese cuisine, here's Sher and her 'Colors of your Food' . Enjoy and Cheers!

Still on that salad topic. After talking about veggies, the fruits or the greens, here's my list of top salad must have add-ons and garnish. To me this culinary grouping provide the toss, the balance and the kick. Actually, creativity is the limit and eating natural serves as the impetus: Anchovies Bacon Hard boiled eggs Roast beef Left-over chili shrimps Left-over chili crabs Steamed chicken breasts Canned tuna Cooked frankfurters or hotdogs Left-over salmon steaks Left-over pork barbecue Left-over lechon (broiled hog) Christmas Ham Smoked sausages Smoked fish Pickle Relish Olives Various kinds of nuts like almonds, pecan, wall nuts, peanuts Gelatin Raisins Pasta Cheese - blue, feta cheddar, creamed, cottage, processed, And the rest of other salad kickers: worcestershire sauce tabasco chili sauce olive oil lime juice wine vinegar cider vinegar mustard balsamic vinegar catsup butter mayonnaise light cream heavy cream sour cream peppers

Yes, we all know that green veggies and all veggies for that matter are good for us. People, moving aggressively towards the wellness and health direction, veggies have come to attain that ebullient status. Good!Thanks to the 'saturated fat' fear factor. No need for elaborate introduction, salads can be the world's lifesaver. Salads whether green or collectively rainbow colored, are definitely are the gems of the cooking world. They could be served hot, prepared cold. Maybe simple but yet quite elegant, extravagant but at the same time, elaborate. However it is served, salads offer itself as a nutritionally delectable addition to every meal. Chef wanna-be's like myself are continuously inspired to make our own version of standard salad recipes. I love tinkering, making it possible to tweak. The result? My salads more often bear my own cooking or preparation signature [as if :-)]. My salads are really culinary expressions waiting to be discovered; adventurous...

In today's health obsessed world, a healthy salad is a must. Whether it is purely green, or vegetable, or maybe, fruit, fish, meat or even molded, salads are enjoyed the world over . It is one of the most versatile dining elements to prepare which requires imagination and aesthetic creativity. Salads are served in various forms - appetizer, a side dish, sometimes, the main dish, or it could be the final touch to a meal. Salad preparations are often the most open to culinary flexibility, experimentation and culinary design. Ingredients a nd garnish will require a separate food or cooking post, so I shall leave that and focus instead on the dressing. Because what would a salad be without its dressing? Salads are capped with dressings . Be it French classic which minimally dict ates a blend of oil, pepper and salt; or continental which incorporates a variation of lime, lemon, shallots, onions, capers, herbs, garlic, anchovies , hard cooked eggs, , mustard, cayenne and...

Because of today's trend towards healthy eating, meat is no longer the cornerstone of protein nutrition. Enter tofu. The Chinese have been using tofu for some 2000 years, since the Taoist times of the Han dynasty. From China, tofu was brought to Japan and Korea many, many, many years later. Today, billions of Asians eat tofu. It could be fresh, dried, frozen, smoked and whether it is prepared boiled, steamed, fried, baked and shaped to im itate that of animal meat, tofu is no longer relegated as a novelty food especially by the western world. As a drink its whey is comparably healthy because tofu is natural, free from cholesterol, very low in saturated fats and carbos, but rich in calcium, and other important vitamins and minerals. Tofu maybe prepared in its original form, marinated and also smoked , and used in dishes in its fried, or even grilled and stewed forms. Tofu in its silken version is ideal food combin ation that's great with soups, dressings, dips and yes, hear...

It seems that I could never tire posting about wines. There is so much to read and so much to learn, regardless, I really drink occasionally. Actually, I am just playing a game called 'pretend-sommelier'. And so I never tire finding interesting information that perhaps, good to share with others out there. And so just the other day, it surprised me to find out that there are in fact wineries in the state of New York. Or was I just the only one who didn't know that? I thought all the wine production facilities are located in Napa Valley alone. I was dead wrong. Here's a link that point to those exciting New York wineries . And there's more here and here and here's a write-up from New York Times.

Still posting on what I prepared for my cousin Marguerite. For our dessert, she helped me prepare, this delicious custard cake cum strawberries. The strawberries were brought home by a son who had a brief rest from work in Baguio. And the broas my cousin brought from her trip in Bohol. I thought broas exclusively came from Iloilo. Doesn't matter where it came from, really. The recipe 32 pcs broas 1/2 cup marsala 15 pcs strawberries, halved extra strawberries for decoration Mascarpone custard 4 tbsp custard powder 2 tbsp caster sugar 1 cup milk 1 cup cream 1 tsp vanilla flavoring 400 gm mascarpone cheese First make a custard by combining custard powder, sugar, milk, cream and vanilla flavoring in a saucepan. Whisk until mixture becomes smooth. Cook over very, very low heat. Set aside to cool. Fold mascarpone into cooled custard and then set aside. Now, line a 23 cmx9inch baking pan with a non stick baking paper and line the base with half the broas. Sprinkle with half the marsala...

This is the 'good-to-go-with' penne with meatballs pasta dish I prepared for my dearest cousin Marguerite who was here recently. I don't do this as much as I want to because, I do not want to aggaravate my arthritic condition :-) Aubergine is the French word for eggplant, which in turn is scientifically called Solanum melongena. Eggplants are large and heavy vegetable, usually pear-shaped and dark-purple. A member of the potato family, eggplants are known worldwide, but are best part of Oriental, Middle Eastern and Balkan cooking. The eggplant is said to have originated in India , and was introduced to Spain by the Arabs in the 12th century. There, it was greatly favored for its supposedly aphrodisiac qualities. But in 16th century England and Italy , the eggplant was shunned and suspected of causing madness. Eggplants are not very nutritious, with only 1% protein and 3% carbohydrate, but they are low in calories and have no fat. The young, tender plants have the best fla...

My cousin was teasing me that she certainly didn't think I cook good. She never really saw me in action, you see. But anyway, on the second day of her visit, I asked her w hat she wanted for brunch. Would she want food delivered or perhaps, shop from the nearby Riverbanks. She said she wanted to stay put and would I mind preparing something with an Italian flair? Hur hur! What I have I said, is 500gms Colavita penne rigate on my cupboard, some meatballs and some commerc ial parmesan cheese in the fridge. And so the decision was made, we were having penne with meatballs. The meatball recipe 1/2 kilo lean beef 1/2 cup commercially prepared parmesan cheese (grainy form) 3 tbsp tomato paste 1 egg beaten 1 tbsp salt 2 tbsps freshly milled pepper 2 tbsps chopped fresh parsley vegetable cooking oil In a glass bowl, combine everything and then form mixture into balls. Deep fry in vegetable oil. Set aside. Penne with Meatballs 500 gms penne parmesan cheese 2 tbsps chopped fresh parsl...

My cousin is arriving from her Chocolate Hills in Bohol seminar. And this is the first in a very, very long time that we will get together again. I thought of preparing this appetizer to whet her appetite ready for lunch. Well, lunch's main dish is something I call, Lomo in black beans and tofu. In the meantime this is the appetizer recipe: Lotusflower's Shrimp Appetizer 1/2 kilo medium sized shrimps 1 cup le mon juice 1 cup flour 3 eggs, beaten Salt to taste the marinade 1/2 tsp freshly milled pepper Lime wedges vegetable oil for frying olive oil 1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar for dip Peel and devein shrimps. Cut the back until it is spread open. In a large glass bowl, marinade shrimps together with the salt, pepper and lemon juice. Let stand for one hour. Remove from marinade and drain. Coat with egg and dip into the flour. Then deep fry in low fire until golden brown. Drain on the strainer. Sprinkle with freshly milled black pepper. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Use ba...

Terroir is a French winemaking concept which considers topography, climate and soil as the major factors in classifying wine. Rather than the grape variety itself, terrior dictates the quality of wines based on where the grapes were grown, what kind of soil it was grown and the time of the grapes’ harvest,. In essence, terroir means “unique wines from a unique area”. Although the concept remains debatable among the world’s wine producers, terroir serves as the basis for the French AOC or Appelation d’Origine Controlee system which in turn is governed by the Institut Nationaldes Appelations d’Origine or INAO. AOC’s appellation system mandates France ’s stringest winemaking and production controls. AOC more than guarantees that the wine from every French bottle comes from the region indicated on the label to specify which types of grapes are grown in a region and how the wine was made. The AOC serves as a model for many European systems. Defining the topography factor, ...

I would like to make a correction please. Yesterday, when I checked my Entrecard stats p age, I got the information I used for this post. Actually, I had a feeling already that there was some mistake. I was trying to find Juliana . Why did she suddenly disappear from my top droppers. Holy smokes, today that mistake gets corrected by Entrecard. She is listed on the 9th place. I think that is the more accurate statistic. Sorry, Juliana. But to you I dedicate this short post. Thank You for spending the time, clicking through my site. I appreciate it.

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Ah ah ah. That’s not what I meant. I am talking about Curtis – The Take Home Chef. This would be my second post on a celebrity chef (the first was The Naked Chef , of course that’s Jamie Oliver) First time I saw Curtis was on his Take Home Chef show on cable. I thought the show’s concept was brilliant. I haven’t seen anything like it anywhere. The tact is Curtis goes around supermarkets to pick-up a lady shopper, bring her back to her home, where Curtis will prepare a special dinner menu for her and a loved one. Yes, that is very right - he will do all the cooking and the food preparation (well, not really. I saw the show's credits and he has a sous chef), all in front of the cameras. It’s like a reality cooking show. Back to Curtis, he was born in Australia . Before realizing he wanted to cook, he was studying Business. He went on to start his cooking career in Savoy , quite a famous Aussie hotel. From there he proceeded to England to work for that famous chef and...

Here's an image of the evoo brand I would like to have the next time I buy my supply of olive oil. Alcubilla is an olive oil mill which exclusively produces Extra Virgin Olive Oil extracted from certified organically farmed olives. Alcubilla is owned by the Luque family from Castro del Rio, Cordoba in Spain. They have been in the olive oil business since 90 years ago. This evoo “is an artisan-made fruit juice” which does not undergo any heating process. In 1990, Alcubilla obtained the Certificate of the Committee for the Regulation of Organic Agriculture which means that what they say about their olive oil is true and accurate. Futhermore, Alcubilla has developed a tracking system which controls the production process of its evoo brand from the harvest of the olives till it reaches the dinner table. I have been using Filippo Berio and Bertolli from Italy since I have been introduced to olive oil but got worried when I read this . Olive Oil and More from Wikipedia: The Internat...