My First Cookfest!

I will never cook for anyone (unless it's my family or if he's a special someone lol) - that's what I initially thought :p

Nag-iba ang ihip ng hangin when I suddenly felt I needed some audience for taste testing. As they say, we have to start from somewhere. There's gotta be a first time. To bring it to the next level :p

Exclusive coverage photos from my flatmate:




My own verdict: just 70% passing! I was in a hurry, in a mess due to time pressure. Most of the dishes didnt turn out the way I expected them to be, or probably I knew I did cook better on previous attempts. I guess I'm more of a leisure cooker, cooking at my own pace. Iba yun alam mong may kakain, iba yun nageexperiment lng. I suddenly applaud the hawker chefs, how did manong manage to cook that plate of prawn hokkien mee with the same taste, same quality each and everytime, hindi pumapalya.

I suddenly feel there are people with fortunate jobs wherein they can work at their own pace without external pressure. Perhaps like recording a song (recording artist) or an author of a book, or even a photographer. I mean to some extent you have your personal space, and if u didnt like the output, you can always retry and retry until your craft reaches your own perfection.

Cooking is not easy, but I guess I have the passion. :)

CNY Menu 2011

Gong Xi Fa Cai. It's year of the Rabbit!

Cheers to 2 straight holidays every year during Chinese New Year. That makes it to a 4day long weekend. I simply love these bumming days. Days I can wake up latttttteeeeee. They say when one grows old, the appetite for sleep diminishes. But it seems to be happening the opposite for me, no idea. But I do feel one thing's for sure.. my metabolism has gone low. During my new year vaca in Manila, I suddenly remembered my fave dress. I swear to remember wearing it and fitting nicely exactly 3 years ago, and now I cant seem to slip myself in. Grrh. :)

Enough of the blabbers, here's showcasing what I experimented for CNY menu this year.

Chicken Gordon Bleu
This is one of my very first experiment recipes, something close to my heart.



Pumpkin Soup with Siomai & Japchae
One of those impromptu moments, something creative spins into my head. My pumpkin soup was lacking the color for my food presentation and I decided to drop a siomai into it. Weird concept? For a change, be unique! :) It's edible anyway. I hope I am the first originator of this, well I've never seen it anywhere yet.

Another is the japchae. I like this korean style potato vermicelli, more chewy.



Lastly, CNY wont be complete without bakkwa, sweet cake and puddings

Food Lab: Soups for the Soul

It's not to late to be healthy. Havent written a Food Lab entry for so long.

Who would have thought I would stop eating rice for dinner (occasionally) :p Here's my new exploration: soups! My flatmate got a blender and I'm having fun using it.

Seafood Spinach Soup
short intro: My family and neighbor went for dinner and they were digging hard on this soup in the buffet (Yaki Mix), saying let's get more of those we cant cook ourselves at home. With that comment, I said hmm ok this has got to be in my experiment list. Really bought spinach from the market and threw it into the blender and this is the outcome, aint bad. :)





Minestrone
short intro: My english is bad :p, I used to pronounce this word incorrectly :)). Ok time for some tangy tomato-based soup.





Potato Mushroom Chowder
short intro: Small confession to make, I used canned soup to go with it. Yeah I am not one of those who wont compromise with instant mixed grocery goods. I know of someone who wont settle for cooking sinigang with instant mix. Oops I am lazy, sometimes I dont feel like reinventing the wheel. :)





Clam Soup
short intro: lastly I like this one. If you want an effortlessly and naturally tasty soup, clams would be your best choice.
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Glamorously Decorated Dishes

My top favorite presentation for this year:





A rice dish and a veggie dish. Be my guest!

What's Cooking 09

Some serious decoration can help create appetite. Let's have some fancy names this time.

Grilled Chicken Marinated with Basil and Herbs

(finally trying to divert away from the usual Chinese cooking hehe)

Prawn and Squid Ball in Tomato Puree

(in layman terms, leftover from ref :p)

Deep Fried Lapu-lapu fillet

(the secret is simple, marinade)

My Two Way Chicken

Teriyaki Chicken - finally made one without using a ready-made sauce!

Oatmeal Fried Chicken

(theme is sesame seeds :p)

Chicken and Veggie Medley

take note of my flower carvings again

(special mention to this simple dish is that I cooked this last year at home during my vacation, my mom and sister liked it and asked for my recipe! yoohoo success)

P.S. Finally starting to expand my seasonings. The taste of the herb mixes is quite strange at times, even I didnt like it, too strong.

Food Lab: Something New

Life is a journey of continuous exploration. A little spice breaks the monotony, the boredom.

So is with my cooking. It's fun to try something new once in a while.

Go Pinoy: Daing na Bangus & Kare-Kare

First time to try daing, it was quite ok.

For kare-kare, you can do away with some instant mix (no need to reinvent the wheel). It doesnt look appetizing though (kare-kare always look a bit yucky right)




Pica-Pica: Tempura and Fish , Pan-fried Dumplings

My first successful attempt of tempura! Prawns are not big enough though.

Fried Fish fillet is so-so.

My version of pan-friend dumplings (kwo-tie).

Chicken Galore: Grilled Chicken & Chicken Pandan

Got this grill idea from a hausmate: thyme, basil, pepper, wine, etc - my version of andok's :p.

And lastly, my trying-hard attempt to make chicken pandan. Tastes like the grilled chicken haha, someone should be supplying me more spices.

P.S. I am not really a big fan of frying. Not because of avoiding oily food, rather I dont like washing so many messy oily pots and pans! See what happens to my hands after each 'session' :(. I always have to go for a lotion overload right after! I need a dishwasher.

P.P.S. This is the only cooking pose that I have. Taken 2 years ago in a potluck party, sole evidence that I can cook.. and fortunately, food is edible. :)

What's Cooking in my CNY Menu '09

Beef and Brocolli

I already have something like this in my earlier post, with crabmeat.

Spareribs Soup with Corn

This is one of the soups I wouldn't mind having over and over again.

Pacific Clams Abalone with Mushroom

Abalone for good luck and more wealth.

Fish with Tausi

I still prefer my fried version than with sauce.

Peppered Chicken Wings

One of the easiest to prepare and stack in the ref. This shot is surprisingly very clear.

Steak

A bit overcooked :)

Tikoy

...and a whole lot of food in containers (I'm so lazy to arrange them!)

Wanna be my guest? Guaranteed edible. :)

Food Lab: Special Episode

I think staying one year independently has slightly improved my cooking skill. See, they look more presentable and edible now than my previous posts :)


Crabmeat in Egg White with Broccoli





Thai Pineapple Rice







Here's a new experiment on Rice Pilaf. I see this often in Japanese stalls in Kopitiam. I've been wanting to copy this egg-wrapped rice. Finally accomplished with a non-stick pan, again borrowed from hausmate.

Japanese Rice Pilaf





Of course, I would also love to perfect one of my classic pieces - Chicken Gordon Bleu. It tastes better now hehe.

Classic* Chicken Gordon Bleu




Recently, my hausmate introduced me to this stove-top grilling pan. Amazing, I didnt know grilling is possible without a griller hehe. I like the nice brown lines effect. I have here pork steak, chicken steak, and bacon-wrapped prawns. Hmm so probably I am starting to be a crossover of 'east meets a little west'. :)

Pork Steak, Chicken Steak, Bacon-Wrapped Prawn




What I ended up doing, adding my library of cookbooks hihi. Grill Time. :)

My CNY Menu

Here's the new episode for my Food Lab series. Slight improvement in garnishing and arrangement.

See what I've got for Chinese New Year menu. Thanks again to the photoshop guru for the collage. :)

Me and My Menu :)

Thanks to the photoshop guru who has given justice to my culinary prowess. :)

oops disclaimer again: I'm no expert, cooking is just a hobby. The text is just for fun, I'm not selling anything. :p Image is copyrighted! :)

Food Lab: Episode 3

This is my last episode of the Food Lab. I tried almost all Chinese dishes, self-declared semi-retired state hehe. And oh, this is an entry for my 100th in blogspot, hurray. :)


Ground Pork Wrapped in Lettuce
An appetizer. Ground pork with carrots, celery, pepper bits wrapped in lettuce leaves.


Beef in Japanese Curry
Japanese curry is different from the usual curry, it has a milder taste as compared to the usual Indian curry or Thai curry. I am not a fan of curry, but I got to like this dish a lot. It was introduced by a friend to me. Quite an easy dish to prepare, throw in beef chunks, carrots and potatoes, and the Japanese curry sauce mix that is available in most of the bigger groceries here.


Paksiw na Pata
The picture doesnt look so good, but it's edible. :) Paksiw na pata, it takes a long time to make the hock tender. This comes good with banana blossoms


Nido soup
Another dish that you can prepare in minutes. Cut everything into small pieces, pork, mushroom, shrimps, veggies, crabstick, etc. There are actually instant soup broths for this. Don't forget to crack in several eggs and stir well.


Caldereta
Nothing spectacular, just the usual dish, except that I was taught by my housemate how to cut carrots into shapes of flowers. Look closely! (Naks pati aesthetic side kinareer :p)


Kiampong
I like this brown sticky rice stuff that my mom used to prepare. You can use the canned pork spareribs or pork leg, add mushrooms and veggies into the rice mixture to complement.


Chicken Taro Pie
My attempt to make a taro pie, chicken wrapped in crushed gabi.


Prawn Salad
One of the favorites in pan-to. Though mine is unique, I have nice green kiwis. :)


Crabs galore: crab vermicelli, chilli crab, buttered garlic crab
The ultimate challenge. :) I tried 3 types in one shot. (after watching Ratatouille that is hehe) For crabs, probably my favorite would still be the plain steamed crabs, but I didnt prepare it. You have to buy fresh and big live crabs to have the natural tangy taste. 'Live' meaning, I would have a hard time untangling and cutting/killing them, ayaw kong maipit sa sipit.. so didnt bother. :p

That's it, the end of Season I. :) Kakapagod na, no more picture-taking while cooking! :) Probably if I learn something spectacular (for party level), then I'll start Season II . :)