Easter break

There are few things in life sweeter than the realization upon waking that you don't have to jump out of bed to dress for work because you're on holiday. This morning was pure bliss. When this dawned on me, I burrowed deeper into my pillows with a groggy smile for a short snooze. Then I finally got up to make breakfast. I celebrated the start of my 5 day Holy Week/Easter break with a yummy breakfast in bed of yogurt & berries with agave syrup and a glass of OJ. I loved that I wasn't rushing through breakfast like I normally do on the weekday. I enjoyed every lazy minute and morsel of it.

But now I need to finish packing as I'm spending my holidays in Dumaguete. Yay! I'm extra excited this time to be going back because many of my friends from Manila and old friends from Cebu are heading there as well. So for sure I'll be back with lots of stories and photos. Until then, I wish you all a Happy Easter and safe travels if you're going anywhere! :)

A super special delivery

When my sweet friend D offered to send me a sample basket of her organic produce, I expected, well , just a small sampling. Instead, I woke up to the super generous and colorful bounty you see in the photo above (there's a lot more in the basket you don't see: more potatoes, onions, kalamansi , another head of broccoli, another head of cauliflower, a zucchini and more tomatoes)! Don't they look gorgeous? It made me wish instantly that I didn't have to leave for work that day. I wanted to stay home and admire my lovely present and make delicious things with them. In an ideal world, that's how that special day would have played out, with the time to blog about each and every one of the dishes.

But in reality, I barely had time to arrange the veggies and shoot this photo before I grabbed some breakfast and dressed for work. Since that day though, we've enjoyed the freshness and all-natural goodness of these vegetables in simple dishes such as tortang talong, spanish omelettes, cauliflower au gratin, eggplant parmesan, steamed broccoli in oyster sauce, and tortilla de patata. The super crisp lettuce & juicy tomatoes I take with me to work for a nice lunch salad along with various other toppings, and all the carrots have already gone into the juicer with either oranges, grapefruit, celery and/or cucumber, melon, mango etc. (boy, do I love my fresh juice!!) :)

I'm really enjoying this stash! So much so that I've asked D to put me in her 'system', with an every-other-week order. I'm really loving how accessible all these locally-grown organic fruits (she'll be adding mangoes, papaya and bananas to the next batch:) ) and veggies are becoming, giving busy people like myself the opportunity to support local farmers.

I've also placed an order with another local organic farmer to try, the same one Joey ordered from and who was introduced to us by our dear friend, Katrina. (Thanks, Kat!:)) He delivered his produce this morning, looking just like Joey's in her photo, along with a dozen organic eggs, 2 papayas and one mabolo fruit. :) I can't wait to try everything!

Thank you, dear sweet D, for such a lovely and healthy present! :)

Playing dress-up with my cupcakes

How many of you were told time and again not to play with your food? There you were, still a little munchkin, sitting at the table with your mind on other more interesting things than what's on your plate. You're pushing the peas around with your fork and there's a bored look on your face, which is likely resting on the palm of your left hand, when the stern reprimand comes. Sound familiar?

Yes, we were taught well. Instilled deep in our bones are proper table manners and good etiquette that spared us many a embarassing moment later in life. And with maturity comes freedom. The freedom to play and have fun and express ourselves, as with the food we create. Our toys may have changed over the years but one thing is certain, we never get too old to play! So when I saw these Silly Feet silicone baking cups, I just had to have it. I mean, look at those bright pretty colors they come in. Hey, Barbie isn't the only one who's gotta accessorize! My cupcakes could use some new shoes too. :)

I made a dozen of these cupcakes to take to my sister's house for a party she was throwing. I baked 8 cupcakes in regular paper cups, and used the silicone cups for the other 4 which I saved for my sister's kids. Those in the Silly Feet are not really meant to be eaten like regular cupcakes, you'll have to use a fork for these, but that doesn't make it any less fun to eat! I thought they looked adorable and the kids got quite a kick out of them so you can bet I'll be playing dress-up with many more cupcakes in the future.

The recipe is from Buttercup Bakes at Home by Jennifer Appel, owner of the popular Buttercup Bake Shop in Manhattan. The delicious cookbook which has separate chapters for cookies, quick breads, layer cakes, pound cakes, cheesecakes, pies & tarts, puddings & icebox desserts, baking with kids, and of course cupcakes was a birthday present from dear Joey who had snuck a peak at my Amazon wish list for gift ideas. Thanks again, Jojo! :)

These cupcakes are quite light, that is until you slather on the scrumptious frosting. The original recipe calls for 2 cups of sweetened shredded coconut to be swirled into the frosting along with the pecans but I didn't have any at the moment so I left that out. It still came out wonderful.

So get in touch with your inner child and play with your food. It's fun! And because I said so. ;)

German Chocolate cupcakes with caramel pecan frosting

To make the cupcakes, you'll need:

2 oz. Baker's German's sweet chocolate - I used Callebaut dark gianduja
1/4 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 eggs, separated
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 deg.
In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the chocolate with the water, stirring to melt the chocolate completely. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar using medium speed for about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolks, beating well until combined. Add in the chocolate mixture and the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk, beating after each addition until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on the high speed of an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gently fold into the batter until no streaks of white are showing.
Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake liners (or cute silicone cups) to about 2/3 full. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Be careful not to overbake, as this cake has a lighter texture than most.
Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack. Spread on Caramel Pecan Frosting.

For the Caramel Pecan Frosting, you'll need:
3/4 can evaporated milk
3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

In a large pot, whisk together the milk and egg yolks. Stir in the sugar,butter and vanilla extract. Stir continuously over medium heat about 10 to 12 minutes, or until thickened and bubbly and golden in color. Remove from the heat. Stir in the pecans.
Transfer to a large bowl and cool until room temperature (about 2 hours until it thickens to good spreading consistency). Spread the frosting over tops of completely cooled cupcakes.

Other reasons to visit Bohol

Aside from the churches and ancestral houses, there are of course other reasons to visit Bohol. Here they are, in no particular order:

The Chocolate Hills : No visit to Bohol would be complete without seeing this peculiar landscape that has been declared a National Geologic Monument. Our hike up a couple hundred steps to the viewing platform is rewarded with a view unlike any I've ever seen before. Some hills were pointy and conical and some were rounded but they all appeared to be of the same size. They looked like scoops of matcha or green tea ice cream garnished with sprigs of mint and parsley. Actually more like pistacchio. Two of my favorite flavors! I pictured it in the summer when the hills dried up and turned brown like chocolate (hence the name). B & I watched in amusement as on-site photographers directed tourists in funny poses over the hills, making them jump high on command while straddling a broom so it looked like they were witches flying over the hills. One could also choose to 'surf' over the hills, or shoot an arrow like cupid. Make sure you check out the photo samples on display, they're a riot!

The hills, over 1,200 of them spread over 50 sq km. across several towns, continue to puzzle geologists and there are a number of theories regarding it's formation (see under Origin here). But like a magician who never reveals his secrets, Mother Nature likes to keep us mystified.

The Tarsiers:

Aww the tariers, such adorable little primates. Seeing them for the first time was actually a bittersweet experience for me. On our way back from the Chocolate Hills, our driver pulled up in front of a small shack at the side of the road, "to see the tarsiers", he said. We followed him inside past the souvenir shop to what looked like a tiny greenhouse. There was a small crowd milling about and peering into the trees and plants, snapping away with their cameras. It didn't take me long to realize that this was it, and I was already surrounded by the tiny creatures. So I searched the bushes until I found one, and there it was snuggled on a branch, eyes half-closed. It was the cutest thing ever! It couldn't have been much bigger than my hand. I saw about 10 more. All teeny-tiny, furry, big-eyed precious little things. They had frog-like fingers and heads that could freakishly swivel 180 deg! I took photos as B fed one a skewerd bug that was promptly snatched and stuffed into a tiny mouth - crunch, crunch.

But the cuteness stopped there. Nothing else about this scenario amused me much. In fact, I felt a flood of sadness for these sweet things held captive away from their natural habitat. As a carefree kid I kept all sorts of animals at home: parrots, fish, rabbits, mice, hamsters, hens, name it. But I have long since disposed of the fish tank and bird cage. But this wasn't just about animals in capitivity for our amusement (I can even tolerate this when it's for educational/ research purposes), but tarsiers are nocturnal animals. If they're 'working' like this during the day, when do they sleep? :( I really hope they're cared for well over there. Otherwise, tarsier viewing should be limited to the Tarsier Sanctuary in Corella which is under the auspices of the Philippine Tarsier Foundation.

Alona Beach

I know I said this particular trip to Bohol wasn't about it's islands or beaches but we couldn't resist. We couldn't have chosen a better place to have dinner after a long day on the road. Alona beach at twilight was like a salve to my senses. It is a beautiful stretch of beach lined with resorts and restaurants sans the maddening crowds that usually plague more popular beaches in the country. B & I wound down with a nice barefoot stroll before settling down at the Coco Vida restaurant for a lovely seafood dinner. We picked some fresh fish, prawns, corn and fruit which they prepared according to our preference while we waited, enjoying the live Americana folk music from a local trio. The food was more than we could normally consume, but it was great and we managed, washing it all down with a couple of beers. Ahh...I'm definitely coming back and staying here next time!

And speaking of food:

Bohol has it's share of culinary delights. One of my most memorable meals aside from the seafood dinner in Alona beach were the turo-turo (literally point-point) style lunch we had in a carinderia (eatery) outside the Loboc church. I can't remember what everything was called but it was all delicious. We sampled and took home local delicacies such as calamay hati- a sticky sweet concoction made with coconut milk, sugar, and ground sticky rice sold in smooth coconut shells; peanut kisses - very addicting cookies (shaped like Hershey's kisses hence the name) made with peanut and eggwhite; Bohol torta - a sweet cake; ube kinampay (purple yam) - which I found to be lumpier, and not as sweet or creamy as Baguio's Good Shepherd ube which I have a fierce love for but it was pretty good, the puto-maya is not unique to Bohol but it was special because it was sold to me by these adorable kids outside the Albuquerque church, puto-maya is sticky rice boiled with sugar and coconut.

Top row: native chicken & longganiza, kalamay, tsokolate tablea
Middle row: carinderia-style lunch in Loboc, Bohol torta, puto-maya
Bottom row: ube kinampay, fresh seafood on Alona beach, ube

And then there's Osang's broas. These are by far the best broas (ladyfingers) I've ever had. They are super crisp and light, almost feathery, melt-in-your-mouth heaven! I was thrilled to no end that you could watch them make the broas right there. There were only four women at work in the small bakery. I watched as the mixture was piped onto sheets of tin, baked by charcoal in a clay oven, and then scraped off the sheets and turned over on a grill to crisp and cool before being packed into brown paper bags. A very uncomplicated process using conventional baking equipment and methods. The entire place of course smelled of butter and sugar and all that bakey aroma I wanted to bottle up. I bought as much as I could manage to hand-carry in the plane (you don't want to crush these delicate things in your check-in luggage!). They were still warm from the oven when they were handed to me and I handled the bag like a first-time mother would a frail newborn baby.

The Buzz Cafe

I thought it would be charming to stay at the Bohol Bee Farm on Panglao Island. But that was before the unfortunate incident at the Great Wall of China. Bees don't like me. Considering how much honey I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Maybe that bee in China is some kind of vigilante bee like Barry (Seinfeld's character) from the Bee Movie, but I wasn't taking any chances and decided to just visit the place for a meal and to buy some of their products instead of sleeping there. Unfortunately, we didn't even have time for a quick visit.

Upon realizing that we had some time to kill before heading to the airport on our last day, we opted to spend it at the Island City Mall in Tagbilaran. B & I both saw it at the same time - the sign for The Buzz Cafe of the Bohol Bee Farm. Yay!! I was going to have my honey and my chance to sample their food after all. The cafe is a sunny and charming country farmhouse style affair where you can also buy the farm's products such as honey, of course, home-baked bread, spreads, pure honeybee pollen, bee propolis, and their famous muffins (loved the corn and pumpkin the best but the cheese and carrot were great too). For merienda (afternoon snack), I ordered the kamote (sweet potato) fries with latik (caramel-like coconut milk sauce). It was delicious! I paired this with their signature corn coffee specially-brewed from roasted corn.

The locals. They Boholanos are a charming bunch. They have a deep sense of pride in their heritage, a trait I admire greatly, so they are more than happy to show you around and tell you tales. Everyone we met was warm and friendly and very down-to-earth. They remind me of the Dumaguetenos in many ways. :)

And on that note, I conclude my Bohol series. I will be posting a part two should i return in September for my friends' wedding (fingers crossed!). :)

A Taste of Yellow: Tocino del cielo

My mom and I can be polar opposites when it comes to certain things. Case in point:

My mom is a walking medical encyclopedia and a frustrated pharmacist. Give her just two symptoms and she'll diagnose your problem, suggest a prescription and even give you a prognosis. You will later make a trip to the doctor who will more often than not echo mom's words and charge you for it. Regardless, doctors are her friends. And she has lots of them, most of whom she visits quite frequently. My dad likes to tease that the hospital is her second home.

And then there's me. The apple couldn't have fallen farther from the tree. The mere thought of going to the doctor gives me the heebie jeebies. Not counting the time I went to the ENT two years ago (I had a major cold/earache that threatened to ruin a trip to Mexico) the last time I was at the doctor for a check-up was at least 6 years ago. I hate the smell of hospitals and I don't like popping pills in my mouth unless they're vitamin supplements.

Although I think my mom teeters on the edge of hypochondria, it is because of this same caution and keen sense of awareness that her breast cancer was caught at an early stage. They found the lump on her left breast when she went in about a pain on her right breast. She was grief-stricken and we were in shock. Until then, our family did not have a history of breast cancer. Mom was fearful and depressed at first. But armed with unwavering faith and buoyed by a tremendous support group and prayers she trudged forth and began the gruelling battle of tests and more tests. Treks to a multitude of doctors for an opinion and a second and a third. Enduring those agonizingly long waits in between tests and results. Countless hours spent praying for the wisdom to make the right decision. And all the while trying not to break down from sheer mental exhaustion, managing to even put up a brave front.

Today, a year later, you couldn't tell that she's had a mastectomy much less cancer. She's a survivor, my mother. :) And I will forever be grateful for that! Her story, like those of other survivors, is one of hope. And a reminder of the importance of early detection. I no longer get annoyed when she nags me about going for a check-up. In fact, I'm scheduled for blood work and a mammogram next week. Yes, we can all learn a thing or two from our mothers. :)

So any chance there is to support those who are fighting the big C or to celebrate my mom and the rest of the survivors, I'm there. Which brings me to the reason for this post: to do my share for the LiveSTRONG Lance Armstrong Foundation via A Taste of Yellow, an event founded and organized by Barbara of Winos and Foodies to promote cancer awareness around the world via the blogging community. Thank you, Barbara, for being the kind and generous person that you are and for hosting an event that gives us an opportunity to show our support and to help promote awareness and hope! :)

I first heard about this event from Joey when she participated last year and I had wanted to join but didn't make it on time. This year though, I had to. The idea is to make a dish using any yellow food and the submitting it for the round up to be posted on LiveSTRONG day falling on the 13th of May this year. So for LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow 2008, I am submitting my mom's Tocino del Cielo recipe. If you don't already know, tocino del cielo literally means bacon of heaven. Well! If that doesn't sound decadent, I don't know what does! But there isn't any bacon in it. It's primary ingredient is egg yolk, lots and lots of egg yolk.

Since this post is already too long, I won't go into details about this dessert here, instead I will point you into the direction of Santos' post about tocino del cielo where you can learn more about it and ogle her stunning photos. This dessert is not for the faint-hearted. I had wanted to make something a little healthier (ie: cha ca la vong - wait for it!) for this health-related event but I didn't have anymore fish in the icebox and I was already trying to beat the deadline with this entry.

Something as rich and delicious as this should come with a license!

Tocino del Cielo

(Egg yolk custard)

3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups water
6 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1 Tbsp vanilla

For the syrup:
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar

Separate 6 egg yolks from the whites (keep the egg whites for a nice healthy scrambled egg breakfast the next morning). Whisk the yolks and whole egg together.

In a saucepan, boil water and sugar in until syrupy, then set aside to cool.

In another saucepan, boil the brown sugar in water until caramelized. Use this syrup to line the tin molds you'll be using. Whisk the egg yolks and the 1 whole egg together, then stir in the cooled syrup. Strain the mixture before spooning into the molds. Arrange the molds in a bain marie where the water comes halfway up the molds then let it cook in the oven for 4o-50 minutes or until it's set.

Remove from the oven andleave to cool for a bit before unmolding. When ready, slide a clean knife around the edges to loosen it up. Slowly turn it over on individual plates or paper cups, letting the syrup drizzle over the tocino del cielos.

Makes 6 individual servings.

Postscript:
A cousin of mine passed away very recently after struggling with his cancer for a long time. He suffered profoundly and he was way too young (only 36!), but now he is at peace. He was an advocate of the LiveSTRONG foundation. Like Lance Armstrong (who incidentally visited him while he was in the hospital in NY) he too was a professional triathlete and cyclist who succumbed to testicular cancer. So I'd also like to dedicate this post to his memory and to the family he left behind.

WS #31: Cocktails on the beach

This is a photo of our cocktail spread last Saturday, during a long weekend at the beach with some of my best friends and their adorable kids. We munched on all this (salami, aged gruyere and manchego cheeses, green mangos freshly picked from the tree in the garden, olives, pineapples, chips n dip, shrimp a la king on crackers, smoked tanigue fish will dill sauce, white bean dip, bruschetta, sangria, beer and rum-pineapple drinks) as the kids dug holes in the sand, played ball, ran around the bonfire, played with the starfish and picked seashells. This was just one of the many enjoyable moments (and feasts!) we shared together during those four wonderful days at the beach. The only thing more I could have wished for was a longer weekend! :)

Click on the icon above to join Weekend Snapshot, and see the other entries for WS #31 here.

WS #30: Honey-balsamic glazed fruit cup

I love my fruits. Tropical fruits, exotic fruits, fruits of the forest; poached, baked in pies, stuffed in crepes, preserved in jars, blended in smoothies, flambeed with rum, tossed in salads, love them all! But not as much as I love them raw and pure. Straight from the tree, or bush, or from wherever it is your favorite fruit is grown.

I recall reading somewhere that when Mother Nature can no longer contain her joy, she bursts forth in flowers. If that's the case, then she must unleash her love with fruits!

And while I love to grab a nice ripe peach or mango and sink my teeth into the flesh letting the juices dribble down my chin and and arms, I also like chopping them up into a fruit salad (in this case I used strawberries, mangos and bananas), tossing them with a honey-balsamic dressing for a luscious treat. But when I'm feeling decadent, I'll ditch the dressing for some condensed milk. Yum! :)

Note: Proportion of glaze is about 1/2 cup honey to 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar.

Click on the WS icon above to join the weekenders, and click here to see the other entries for WS #30.

Simple strawberry trifle

I am a huge Friends fanatic, one of those that owns all 10 seasons on dvd, has watched each episode at least 4x so far and has never recovered from the show's end. It still elicits big belly laughs from me and I don't think the humor could ever get old, at least not for me. As much as I've watched the show though, I such at games like Friends Trivia and Scene It Friends edition (both of which I've played with my own bunch of goofy friends who are not unlike the characters of the show in their own way) because I have a horrible memory for details. But I can run full scenes in my head on demand.

One such scene, one of my favorites, is the one where Rachel - who is seriously lacking in the domestic skills department - attempts to make an English Trifle for Thanksgiving. When it's time for dessert, she proudly presents the trifle and when asked what it is, she answers (and I'm paraphrasing here): "It's a trifle, see it's got all these layers - ladyfingers, then jam, and custard, and raspberries, and more ladyfingers, then beef sauteed with peas and onions, and more custard...". The rest try desperately to hide the horror from showing in their faces. They soon discover that some of the pages in the recipe book Rachel used are stuck together, and half the English Trifle recipe merged with half of a Shepherd's Pie.

But that's not the best part. The gang didn't want to hurt her feelings by telling her she messed up, seeing that she had worked so hard on it. So they force themselves to eat it and pretend to like it. When Rachel leaves the room, Ross groans saying that it tastes like feet. Joey, on the other hand, is scarfing it down and announces that he likes it, "What's not to like? Custard? Good. Jam? Good. Meat? Gooooood!"

Heehee. I love it! And I love trifles. Joey's right. What's not to like? Custard, jam, fruits, all good! So because I still had half a bag of broas (ladyfingers) from a recent trip to Bohol I decided to pair them up with the strawberries I bought. This time though I kept it simple and just used sweetened cream and leftover strawberries from some jam I made. It's so easy, not even Rachel could screw this one up. And even if she did, we'd forgive her because we all have a little Rachel in us. That sweet, thoughtful friend with only the best intentions who messes up once in a while but is loved no less for it. :)

Simple Strawberry Trifle

250 grams fresh strawberries
4 pcs ladyfingers or broas (you may also use pound cake)
3 tbsp white sugar
1/4 cup strawberry jam
1/2 cup whipped cream
1 tbsp condensed milk (optional)

Slice the strawberries into thirds and sprinkle with about 1 tbsp sugar. Mix thoroughly and set it aside for about 20 minutes to sweeten.

Whip the cream until it soft peaks form then add 2 tbsps sugar. Whip again to combine. You may also choose to add a spoon of condensed milk into the mixture. If you do add it, lessen the sugar to 1 tbsp. or your cream will be overly sweet. Most of the sweetness will come from the strawberries and the jam.

You can arrange the layers in a trifle bowl if you're making a large batch. But because I was only making for 3, I used my Irish coffee mugs to make individual servings. Start with a layer of broken-up ladyfingers. (If using pound cake, use a small round cookie cutter to shape the layers). Spoon some jam on top of the ladyfingers then assemble the sliced strawberries on top. Add the sweetened cream then repeat the layers. Refrigerate the cups (or trifle bowl) overnight to set and allow the flavors to mingle.

Not only is this super easy to make and great for hot summer days when the mere thought of turning on the oven causes you to break out in a sweat, but it's delicious. Just ask Mr. Spoonman from the photo, he looks mighty happy! :)

I'm off in a few hours and headed for the beach with family and friends so I'd like to wish you all a Happy Easter in advance. See you next week!

White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut cookies

As far back as I can remember, we would often have a box or two of Hawaiian Host chocolate-covered macadamia nuts courtesy of a visiting relative or friend of my parents'. It seemed to be the favorite pasalubong (gift from travels) during those times along with cans of salted macadamia, Almond Roca and Violet Crumble (ooohh how we would fight for these!) among a few others. And so for a very long time, that was all I knew of that nut. That it either came salted in a can or covered in delicious milk chocolate, but always from the exotic islands of pineapples and grass skirts.

Of course now I'd like to think that all these years exposed to more types of food from here and beyond have not only helped to expand my waistline (groan) but also my little knowledge of foods somewhat. Like for example, I know now that the macadamia nut is not only native to Hawaii as I ignorantly presumed, but also to Australia, Brazil and some other countries in South Africa and South America.

I found them to be abundant in Beijing, piled high among an assortment of dried fruit and nuts. I wish we had as much variety here and for the same reasonable price. I bought tons of the stuff, some to eat right away and the rest packed away for home. I stuffed myself silly with the sweetest, most delicious chestnuts I had ever tried! As far as the macadamia nuts were concerned, I already knew what I wanted to do with them...these cookies of course! I don't know what it is about white chocolate and macadamia nuts, but they make a good marriage.

I found several recipes online which I morphed into this one here. It worked out perfectly. Not too sweet, which is what I was afraid of because the chocolate I used - Ghirardelli white chocolate chips - were not unsweetened. I undercooked them a little to leave it a little gooey and chewy, the way I like my cookies to be. It was a little tricky to shell so many of the nuts in one go, but nowhere near as crazy hard as shelling those pili nuts was! The nice ladies in the market thoughtfully threw in a couple of those 'keys' you use to pry the shell open. All you have to do is slip the key into the crack, they all have 'em, then twist until the shell cracks further.

Now if you can resist popping all of it into your mouth, you can proceed to make these wonderful cookies!

White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cookies
adapted from several diff. recipes at allrecipes.com
Can make up to 2 dozen
cookies

1 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white vanilla sugar
1 egg
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, cream the butter with both sugars until smooth. Then beat in the eggs, slowly. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt before gradually stirring into the creamed mixture. Mix in the nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes or until it starts to turn golden brown.

Eating our way through Ilocos

Our lunch spread in Saud beach: kilawin, grilled eggplant, bagnet and grilled fish

The culinary delights in the Ilocos region were plentiful! Prior to our trip, I made a mental checklist of food to try while there: bagnet, the local empanada, royal bibingka, dinendeng, poqui-poqui, miki & gipang, pakbet and pakbet pizza. And so true to my travel form, I set off with wide-eyed and eager, with an open mind and an open stomach! With that list, we were 7 for 8, not bad at all. The only item we didn't try was the miki (and gipang), to my friend's horror. She grew up in Laoag and practically lived on the stuff. "WHAAATT!!! How could you not try miki?!?!", she cried. "I don't knoowww, please don't hurt me. It's just, there were so many things to try!"

And that was true. Aside from those I've mentioned, the north had some foodie surprises for us. There was the delightful (all native kakanins are delightful to me!) impaltaw - sticky rice wrapped in coconut leaves and cooked in molasses, the longganisa, the basi or sugarcane vinegar aka sukang Iloko, and the biscocho.

For our first taste of Ilocano cuisine, we made reservations at La Preciosa in Laoag. It was almost 2pm so we must have missed the lunch crowd. Starving by then, we were so excited to eat, not just any food but good Ilocano food! So we ordered what I will later declare as my top three Ilocano dishes (the Batac empanada is a snack and I will get to that later:) ): poqui-poqui , bagnet and dinengdeng.

Poqui-poqui is basically eggplant sauteed with tomatoes and egg. Being the eggplant-lover that I am, I knew I'd like this. What I didn't expect was to be this crazy over it! It's so simple yet so tasty in a very familiar sort of way. It's your smooshed tortang talong (eggplant omelette). Ahh, now I'm craving it again. Gotta try and make it soon!

Poqui-poqui, bagnet, dinengdeng

I was just as excited to watch Joey dig into the golden-brown, succulent bagnet as I was to try it myself. Who better to share that fat-laden plate with than my dear pork-loving friend?! For the benefit of those who are not familiar with this deadly food, bagnet is deep-fried pork meat. Oh I know deep-fried pork meat, you might say - yes I'm assuming some of you might think that because I did- but this isn't your ordinary lechon kawali or other deep-fried pork. What makes the bagnet so mind-blowingly good is the cooking process involved. After the choice cuts are boiled, they are later submerged in hot oil to deep-fry until the skin starts to pop. When that happens, it's removed for about 20-25 minutes and then submerged again for more popping until it gets that perfectly crisp skin. And when you bite into a piece of bagnet, there's a mini-eplosion of fat that goes on inside your mouth, and if you don't clamp your mouth shut fast enough, you'll get cholesterol-filled drool on your chest. The bagnet is best eaten with a side of KBL (kamatis, bagoong, lasona - tomato/fish sauce/shallot), though it's pretty good with the sukang Iloko as well.

Thank God for the dinengdeng, which I like to believe flushed out all the bagnet cholesterol with it's goodness. Dinengdeng is a soup of green vegetables in a mild bagoong (fish sauce)broth. In it we recognized patani (lima beans), malunggay, sitaw (string beans), sigarilyas (winged beans) ampalaya (bitter gourd), okra and some fish. This was one of the tastiest clear soups I've ever had! And with each spoonful, I could actually taste the word 'healthy'. I couldn't get enough of it. I couldn't get enough of all three dishes really but normally I'll have one bowl of soup; usually before the main course, or sometimes with the main course. But all throughout our meal at La Preciosa, I ladled more of the dinengdeng into my bowl.

I had my first taste of the Pasuquin biscocho during that pleasant late night chat and snack sesson with our hosts at Sitio Remedios. It was the hard biscocho and we dipped it into our hot chocolates. It was good but had nothing on it's soft sister. Though I've already mentioned it here, it deserves another mention. These are soft rolls flavored with a tinge of anise. When you take a bite, you instantly detect a faint hint of a spice. But wait, youre not so sure, so you take another bite, hmmm yes, there it is almost, could it be?, another bite, mmmmm yes definitely, it's got to be. Ohh this is gooooooood...bite, chew chew chew....bite, chew chew chew. Oh do you wanna hear the other secret to this wonderbread? Lard. :)

Pasuquin biscocho

You can find two kinds of empanada up there in Ilocos, the paler Vigan empanada with its thinner crust/casing and the orange-y Batac or Laoag empanada with the thicker crust. We didn't try Vigan's version so I can't give you my opinion on that, but I can tell you this about the Batac empanada... IT ROCKS!! Omilord, it was fantastic! And even more so when doused with the sukang iloko. While at the motocross that morning, I told Gani I wanted to finally try the empanada from the stall there, he said no. He was taking us to his hometown of Batac for the best empanadas in the world so just wait he says. Fair enough, I thought. Besides being Gani's home, Batac is also the birthplace of former Pres. Marcos. We never made it back there in time to enter his old house, but that was ok. It was the empanadas we were after!

The Batac empanada is made with rice flour which is stuffed with grated papaya and monggo (mung bean) sauteed with garlic, then topped with egg and longganisa before it's sealed and deep-fried to a crunch. Gani took us to the plaza where stall after stall offered these half-moon treats alongside other favorites like kwek-kwek (deep-fried battered quail eggs), balut, hotdogs, longganisa etc. It seemed like half the town was there that evening, enjoying a light snack before dinner, or maybe this was dinner for them.

We followed Gani to the last stall, to D'Original Glory's Empanada; the very first empanadahan. There are apparently many variations on offer: special, ordinary, jumbo, double special, special eggless, special w/o monggo, with a soft or hard egg (I preferred it soft) and the price ranges from P25 ($0.65) to P42 ($1). For P7 ($0.15) you can order just the crust to munch on which is very tasty on its own, better than some of the tortilla chips out there. I had two empanadas, it was too good to stop at one. If we didn't have dinner waiting for us back at the resort, I would have easily had another.

Making the empanada, with soft egg (middle photo) and hard egg (right)

I enjoy a good pinakbet so I was very intrigued when I first heard about pinakbet pizza. So when I saw it on the menu of Cafe Leona in Vigan, I had to order it. It looked just as I had imagined it would look, and it actually tasted okay. Not great by any stretch of the imagination, but I can see how it can be quite good with some slight tweaking. The crust was thin and crispy so they just needed to work on the bitterness factor maybe and taking the saltiness down a notch and we would have a decent take on Ilocano fusion. However, I still prefer my pinakbet with a nice bowl of steamed rice.

Practically every region in the Philippines has it's own specialty longganisa. The ones we had for breakfast every morning here was excellent, quite lean and very garlicky and peppery. The combination of the longganisa with sinangag (garlic fried rice), fried egg and sukang iloko made this breakfast-loving person very very happy!

What makes the sukang iloko unique is that it is a byproduct of basi, or sugarcane wine. When basi is exposed and left to sour, what you get is a nice dark - almost black- pungent vinegar. We bought litres of the stuff from the roadside when we bought our salt, garlic and shallots. They gave us some trouble at the airport because they weren't packed very well - so if you're flying home instead of driving, make sure the vinegar is properly sealed and packed. They will also ask you to wrap a towel or something as thick around each bottle to absorb any spillage.

pinakbet pizza, sukang iloko, Ilocos longganiza

We asked Gani to take us to the San Nicolas market where I had read about the mountains of bagnet on display. It was a clean wet market with rows and rows of vibrantly-hued vegetables and fruits. At the end is where you'll find it. A separate room for the bagnet and longganisa. Lots of them piled high underneath ropes of longganisa. He also took us to the Batac market for dry goods such as abel table runners, placemats and table napkins. Here I bought Nana Meng's chichacorn in bbq and cheese flavors (they had run out of the garlic flavor) as pasalubong for the people at work.

Top: Nana Meng's chichacorn, dried miki noodles, squash flowers
Bottom: longganiza, bagnet, pokpoklo

And this brings my Ilocos series to an end. Thanks to my travel companions and our wonderful hosts and guide, I went home enriched and enlightened and with a box full of goodies that allowed me to savor the experience long after we touched down back home. :)

For more about Ilocano food, visit Mike's post and Joey's posts here and here. :) And for even more lively posts and pictures about our weekend, check out Joey's series as well!

La Preciosa, Rizal St., Laoag
Tel. (+6377) 777.5130/773.1162/773.2159

Saud Beach Resort, Pagudpud
Tel. (+632)921.2856/928.9853

WS #27: Taho

My sister and her husband were at the beach for the weekend at a friend's wedding. So I played babysitter to her five kids and had the best time! They really bring me so much joy and make me relish being an aunt and godmother.

We spent all of Saturday playing in the garden and all of Sunday at a friends place for a bbq and swim party. There was lots of food: quesadillas, burgers, sausages, chili-garlic pasta, bruschetta, mango & tomato salad and ice cream sandwiches on Sunday and pizza, popsicles and taho on Saturday.

I chose a photo of taho for this week's WS because I love it, plain and simple. It never fails to make me and my tummy happy - both for the childhood memories it brings and for it's super healthy deliciousness! The best part about it was that it was cheap, so cheap we could actually pay for it ourselves when we were little, from out of those cylindrical cardboard piggy banks, remember those? Or from the loose change we'd scrounge from around the house and inside the car.

My sisters and I would race to the front door when ever we'd hear our local taho vendor singing "tahoooooo" as he walked by carrying those tin buckets from a bamboo pole across his shoulders. He would call out extra loud as he passed our house, knowing that during those summer afternoons we'd most likely be inside waiting for him if we weren't already out on the streets playing. We'd hand him our own big glasses to fill (his small plastic cups were never enough for our appetite, though they're just right for my nieces -photo above), hand him our money and then take our big glasses filled with hot taho back into the house where we'd happily eat them with a spoon. Mmmm...childhood comfort food.

I no longer have taho as often because I'm rarely home, so the few times that I catch our magtataho (taho vendor) in the morning, or on the weekends, you can bet I get my share! :)

For those unfamiliar with taho, it is a drink/snack made with silken tofu, syrup and tapioca pearls called sago. It can either be drank from a cup or eaten with a spoon, and usually it's taken hot or warm. You will find many magtatahos plying the street of our country, but there are now kiosks selling original and flavored taho in the malls.

magtataho on the boulevard

Lovely surprise from Santos!

Because I can’t wait to share this piece of happiness with you, I have put my Ilocos series on hold temporarily to post this.

The goodies you see in the photo above are from the lovely Karina of The Scent of Green Bananas, who most of you may know as Santos. Though our hectic schedules prevented us form meeting up during my brief visit to Guam last weekend (despite the many text messages), Karina didn’t let this stop her from showing me some love. Let me tell you what a wonderful surprise it was! We had just walked into the lobby of our hotel, starving and exhausted. It was 10 pm and I hadn’t had any dinner nor lunch, just a quick burrito for a mid-afternoon snack; lugging heavy bags that threatened to snap my shoulders off their sockets, when the receptionist handed me the bright green gift bag with the note from Karina. Almost instantly the growling in my tummy and the soreness of my feet were forgotten as I peeked into the bag that was bursting with all sorts of goodies! I clutched the bag to my chest, what's one more bag to juggle?!, and hurried to my room where I could slowly pore over the contents.

Like a little kid opening her birthday present, I cooed at this item and gushed at that. There was a bag of spiced almonds (she shared her recipe here- yay!) and a jar of vanilla bean sugar – both homemade by Karina, delicious-looking (haven’t tried them yet – they all look too cute to eat!) biscotti, bento cookies and tea cookies from her friends’ bakery, Cup and Saucer! This was better than any of the other food stuff I bought, combined! Her thoughtfulness and generosity warmed my heart and touched me deeply. This was a lady whom I had never met in person; with whom the most contact I’ve had are a handful of blog comments and emails, yet that didn't matter. It just goes to prove once again that friendship can know no boundaries and I am truly grateful for all the lovely friends I’ve made through blogging. :)

Karina, you are a doll. Thank you so so much again! I am overwhelmed and touched by your thoughtfulness. I really do hope to meet you very soon either here in Manila or back in Guam so I can give you a big hug. For now, virtual hugs will have to do. :) xoxo

Palitaw: A Sticky Situation

I've had this post in my dashboard queue since Nov. 19, can you believe it? Yes, it's one of many that were in the pipeline and saved as drafts so I don't forget. Saved post titles work like the strings on Ernie's fingers for me, since I have such a bad memory. :)

I made palitaw (sticky rice treat) for the first time for my mom's surprise birthday dinner last November. With the help of my sister and her mother-in-law, we managed to pull it off without a hitch. It was an intimate affair with family and her close cousins in a dreamy garden setting.

We went with a Filipino menu because mom loves the stuff. Since I was busy in the office and couldn't risk cooking large quantities of food at home without arousing suspicion, I offered to make dessert, inconspicuous as that can be. It was also the perfect occasion to try my hand at making palitaw, one of my favorite local snacks. Yes, it's really more of an afternoon snack but it's sweet enough as a nice ending to a meal.

I wasn't sure how easy it would be until I happened upon a show on TV which had teams of expats running around the streets of Manila in an Amazing Race style contest. One of their challenges was streetside palitaw-making. Here was a bunch of foreigners who have probably never even tried the stuff much less know what the finished product is supposed to look like digging their hands into a bowl of what looked like white paste actually making decent looking palitaw. If they can do it, so can I!

A few months later, I did.

PALITAW

Ingredients :
5 cups rice flour; plus
another cup to keep your hands dry
3 cups water
1/3 cup sesame seeds or linga
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups freshly grated coconut

Boil some water in a large pot.

While waiting for this to boil, toast the sesame seeds in a small skillet.
They burn very easily so make sure you are constantly moving the seeds. Once toasted, set aside to cool completely.

Now here is where it starts to get real sticky. Mix the rice flour with the
water until a soft mixture forms. Wash and dry your hands carefully then coat them with the extra flour. Take a pinch of dough, about a teaspoonful, and flatten it between your palms. Keeping it from sticking to your palms is the only true challenge. If it's too sticky, don't be afraid to add more flour until you form a solid patty. It took me a while to get the technique. I even had to call on my aunt's cook next door to show me how she does it.

When nicely formed, drop it gingerly in the boiling water. You can cook about three pieces at a time, depending on the size of your pot. Remove with a slotted spoon as soon as it rises to the surface. Coat it in the grated coconut and arrange on a serving plate.

Mix the sugar with the cooled sesame seeds. It's important that you don't combine it while the sesame seeds are still hot or the sugar will melt. Then you can either dust this over the coated palitaw or serve it on the side.

I'm not sure exactly how many this recipe makes, but there was more than enough for the 20 or so guests. You can freeze left over palitaw without the sugar mixutre in an air-tight container and then steam before serving.

These turned out great and was quite a hit! And I'm happy to say I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between these and those from a popular local restaurant where I've ordered it many times. :)

Dining out in Beijing

It must naturally follow that a country as diverse in ethnicity, geography and climate as China, would have an equally diverse cuisine. I'm no expert, but it seems that there are about as many types of cuisine as there are subcultures. Among the most popular are Cantonese - which is the most widely known and loved for it's dimsum and stir-frys; Sichuan and Hunan - loved by those who like it hot, the abundance of chili and peppercorns make for fiery dishes; Shanghai - dominated by fresh seafood and usually employs the method of slow-cooking it's meats in stock and wine; and of course, Beijing cuisine whose claim to fame are the hotpot, dumplings and roast duck.

I don't have a favorite from the four types mentioned above, I like them all. And I think we can all agree that Chinese cuisine is one of the finest and most popular in the world. Come to think of it, I haven't been to a country that does not have it's own little Chinatown or at the very least it's pick of Chinese restaurants. While in Beijing, we managed to sample all sorts of regional cooking. All but one lunch was part of our tour package and we were taken to a different restaurant everyday. The menu was always pre-set (see collage above) so we had no control over what we were served which kind of worried me a little. But turned out pretty good and we always had a nice variety of dishes: soup, rice, beef, fish, pork and vegetables.

We had come to expect this every noon time, so we were quite surprised when we walked into an all-you-can-eat Chinese churrascaria. Skewers of every meat known to man, and then some!, were brought to our table and carved onto our plates. The long buffet table was filled with both western and oriental fare to accompany all that protein being heaped into our tummies. I was eyeing the fruit section from the onset, making sure I had enough space for all those lovely fruits! I love fruits. They make me happy. I love fruit for dessert, (I can hear some of you gasping!), in fact I have fruit for dessert more often than cake or ice cream. I crammed my tiny plate with plums, dragonfruit, longgan, melon, peaches, hawthorn (oops how'd that piece of white chocolate get in there?) Sweeeeeeeeeet! And this was just the first plate. :)

But for dinner we were on our own and I looked forward to this everyday. It was always so much fun, hieing off to a new place every night where we indulged in good food and some wine and recapped the day's events. We dined in the following:

The Green T House: Luxe warned us this place was hoity-toity, so I knew I had to restrain myself from taking pictures of the food. Fine with me. But to not be allowed to take pictures of each other? Hmm, that's a bit much. But sshh... I managed to snap a couple of shots of the interiors here and here. heehee. I took these before I was told I wasn't allowed. The food was good, I'll give them that and the dessert was stunningly presented - in a bowl with dry ice and twigs, but we were uncomfortable the entire time. And the worst part? It was probably the most expensive meal I've paid in, umm, ever? At least we enjoyed making fun of the condescending staff when they weren't standing within earshot.

Red Capital Club - No. 66 Dongsi Jiutiao, Dongcheng District, Tel.: 86-10 8401 6152 , 86-10 8401 8886

Now this place I highly recommend. I loved the concept, service, food, and ambience. We stepped back in time when we entered the circular doorway, it was 1950's communist China. The menu read like a stately dinner with names like: Dream of Red Chamber - an eggplant and peanut ensemble cooked according to a description from a classic novel of the same name; South of the Clouds - fish in braided bamboo steamed over an open flame; and the Monk's Meditation - fusion of vegetables and mushrooms. Everything was elaborately presented with intricate vegetable carvings.

The mood oozed nostalgia in the cigar room where it was underscored by old over-stuffed leather armchairs - all original, dusty communist manifestos that lined the shelves, portraits of Chairman Mao that hung from the walls, memorabilia crammed into every nook and cranny and staff dressed in Red Guard uniforms. I lifted one of the vintage phones and was surprised to hear the Chairman himself on the other end. Nice touch!

Dongjie Xiyuan -76 Dongsi Bei Dajie (tel 6405 5568).

B suggested this place for our last day, she had read about it online and we all agreed it sounded intriguing. It took us a while to find it because we missed the sign which was in Chinese characters. But it was worth the trouble. This hole-in-the-wall turned out to be a breath of fresh air after all those large and crowded establishments, themed restaurants and pretentious waitresses. The specialty of the house is the dalian huoshao or Beijing-style pot-stickers filled with either pork, lamb, or beef mixed with a combination of chives, peppers, scallions or gourds. These were excellent! And we ordered more even before we finished our first plate.

Zhou Lining, the proprietor herself, had taken our orders and we were relieved she spoke some English. In addition to the potstickers, we had the mapo tofu - one of my favorite Chinese dishes and this one was up to par; the zha guanchang or fried “sausage” (photo on bottom right of collage) - both its looks and taste were forgettable, and the suanni qiezi - mashed eggplant with garlic which was loved by all. All in all, an extremely reasonable yet delicious and satisfying meal. Good call, B! :)

And this concludes my Beijing series at last! Phew! I can finally work on the backlog of posts on my dashboard. Thank you for putting up with me! :)

HHDD #17: Mushroom provolone pizza with truffle oil

When Joey announced she'd be hosting this round of Hay Hay it's Donna Day! (HHDD), I promised her I'd join in. I always enjoyed seeing the entries to the past rounds that the thought of joining in the fun crossed my mind a few times. But like with other food events (I've only managed one Lasang Pinoy round), I worry about committing and then not meeting the deadline. And although we're given more than enough time, I find myself coming home from work or the gym too late and too tired to eat, much less to cook anything in the hot kitchen.

But enough with the excuses! I made a promise and I'm happy to say I kept my promise. Yay! Yay! for me! :)

I was really excited to find out that this round was about pizzas - a big favorite of mine! Though I have certain favorites from popular pizza chains and Italian restaurants around town, none can compare to the joy of making your own. I love it's versatility, which is why I also love pasta and salads so much. You can let your imagination go wild in creating your own unique flavor. Pizza dough is like a blank canvass, and you are the artist. And while I've made my share of pizzas in the past, fooling around with different ingredients for toppings, I can't say I've ever made my own pizza dough. But I wanted to! And what better time than now.

Because the event is a homage to Donna Hay, whose cookbooks and magazines are virtual eye candy - such gorgeous food styling! - and whose recipes are simple enough to make an amateur in the kitchen like me seem like a pro, I used her recipe for basic pizza dough. I'm glad I did because it was easy and perfect.

Mushroom Provolone Pizza with Truffle Oil

To make the pizza dough
(pizza dough recipe from Modern Classics I by Donna Hay)

1 tsp active dry yeast
Pinch sugar
2/3 cup warm water
2 cups plain flour; (I used unbleached bread flour)
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp olive oil

Mix together the yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl. Set aside until bubbles form. Add the flour, salt, and oil, and mix to form a smooth dough.
Knead dough on a dry surface with lightly floured hands until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
Place in a clean, oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm, dry place until it has doubled in size. Mine took about an hour.
Makes one pizza.

Note: The dough can be frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw and bring to room temperature before shaping.

To shape the dough:
(tips from The Gourmet Cookbook)

Hold one edge of the dough in the air with both hands and letting bottom touch work space, carefully move hands around the edge, as if turning a steering wheel, allowing the weight of dough to stretch round to roughly 10 inches in diameter.
Lay the dough on the lightly floured work surface or pizza peel if you're lucky to have one. Otherwise use a rimless baking sheet or in my case, a round flat wooden cheese board. Continue to work edges with fingers, stretching the dough until you get the thickness/thinness you desire.

To make the pizza:

pizza dough
Provolone cheese, thinly sliced
fresh mushrooms sliced
oregano for garnish
extra virgin olive oil
truffle oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Place your baking stone in the lowest rack of a preheated oven (425 deg), allowing it to warm up for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, brush some olive oil lightly on the flattened dough. Transfer this onto the hot pizza stone and let it parbake for a few minutes, just until edges start to turn golden. Maybe around 2-3 minutes.
Saute the mushrooms in olive oil and set aside.
Remove parbaked pizza dough from oven. Arrange cheese slices on top then scatter the sauteed mushrooms above the cheese. Sprinkle with sea salt and grind some black pepper over the pizza and return to the oven to bake a little more. Once the cheese has melted and the crust is crisp and golden, about 6-8 minutes or more. Remove the pizza from the oven, garnish with fresh oregano and drizzle with truffle oil.

The pizza couldn't have been more perfect! Everyone (mom, dad and sister) gushed after taking the first bite, exclaiming how good it was and asking for more. I quickly hid two slices in the fridge (to be reheated at work tomorrow) and watched them clean up the rest. I was happy. :) They aren't easy to please, especially my mom!

The provolone was the ideal vessel for these ingredients, mild enough that it didn't interfere with the aroma and flavor of the truffle oil, and it melted nicely over the crust allowing the mushrooms to sink deliciously into its arms. The crust was just the right crispness, thanks to the pizza stone.

Thanks, Joey! And congratulations on the previous win and for hosting this round! :) And thank you too, Barbara, for conceptualizing such a successful food event!

------

Below, is another pizza I made using the same pizza dough recipe, with crushed tomatoes as the base, and sliced apples, gorgonzola, prosciutto and arugula as toppings. It's a copycat of a pizza I tried at the La Lucciola restaurant in Bali last year. I loved it, which isn't surprising because I love aurgula and gorgonzola, so I vowed to try and replicate it someday.

You can see the original pizza if you click here. Instead of tomato sauce, I used fresh seeded and crushed tomatoes with basil as the base. You can tell from the dark-browned edges I left it in a tad too long but it was still delicious with a good crunch. I'd definitely make this again!

Peking duck at the source

Now what would a trip to Beijing be without a Peking duck experience? It's unthinkable. It's like being there and yet not climbing the Great Wall.

There's something special about sampling your favorite food right in it's birthplace where we can safely assume that only local ingredients are used and that it is prepared in the traditional method. The fact that you are eating among locals and in an authentic setting heightens the whole experience that much more. So while I've had my share of roast duck from Peking Garden in Manila (once a favorite for very special occasions) and Chinatowns both here and abroad, I felt as if I was about to try it for the first time. Peking duck in Peking (now Beijing)! Oohh, I couldn't wait!

There are, of course, several places in the capital where you can enjoy this feast fit for emperors. During the Ming Dynasty, cooks from all over China travelled to the capital to cook for the emperor and many of the recipes invented in the palace kitchen, such as the Peking duck, eventually made it's way to the streets where it was smuggled by the court chefs and prepared in their new restaurants. Among the most popular are Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant and Da Dong. While the latter was personally recommended by Bee and hence was my preference, a roast duck lunch in one of the many Quanjude Roast Duck branches was already included in our tour.

The restaurant was already packed when we arrived, and several chefs were were out on the floor busy carving the shiny roasted ducks for their diners. I quickly noted that we were the only foreigners there, or at least it seemed that way, which to me is always a good sign. We were led upstairs to another dining area to a large round table reserved for our small party of four. Our pre-ordered food arrived shortly after we were seated. There was a plate of sweet and sour pork, a plate of shiitake mushrooms with bokchoy which I adored and some breaded egg rolls. And then it arrived. The Pièce de résistance.

Wheeled to us was the duck, in all it's shining glory. Like an oiled-up body builder flexing his ab muscles, the duck poufed it's crisp, fatty skin for us. I felt my salivary glands kick into 4th gear. After he presented it to us, the chef lay it down on his pushcart and began to skillfully carve the bird, ensuring the perfect balance of skin with a bit of meat- crunch & succulence- in each piece.

Preparing a duck for roasting involves the process of pumping air under the skin to separate it from the meat. The chef then meticulously massages the skin to make sure it is evenly loosened and there are no holes which might allow air to escape. The duck is basted with hot water to tighten the skin, dried and basted again with a sweet mixture before it is hung to dry, a process that ensures a crisp skin . The cavity of the duck then gets stuffed with a secret blend of spices before it's left to roast over a wood-fuelled fire.

We were served Peking duck 'three-way', in three courses. Naturally, the first (above photo) is my favorite because it involves the outer layer of the duck - the skin! A waitress lays the slices of duck on the table with a plate of slivered scallions, the steamed pancakes and hoisin sauce. She proceeds to demonstrate how to assemble the pieces together in a nice roll with her chopsticls. There must be different ways to put this together, but how I like to do it is to spread hoisin sauce down the middle of the pancake with a spoon, add the duck and some scallions, drizzle a tiny bit more hoisin, then fold the bottom part of the pancake up and over before folding in the 2 sides toward the middle. The small bottom fold helps prevent the sauce from dripping onto your shirt. The hoisin sauce here isn't as sweet as the ones I'm familiar with but I liked it just as well. I could almost hear my arteries groaning with each bite, but they were drowned out by the crunch. It was exquisite and I couldn't get enough of it!

Tougher times have taught the Chinese to use up every part of the duck, not letting anything go to waste. So after the duck is nicely carved in your presence, it is returned to the kitchen where the remaining meat - that which is not attached to any skin - is thrown into a stir-fry while the bones are used for a consommé of duck broth; the second and third courses in the Peking duck three-way. We tried these as well, but we kept going back for the wraps.

So I climbed the Great Wall and I had Peking duck at the source. My Beijing experience was now complete. Well, almost.

If you haven't yet tired of my 2 month-long series on Beijing, please stay tuned for my last two posts - some Beijing street food and more on the dining scene. :)

Weekend Snapshot #11: Carabao milk products

Ugh, it's been a week and I still haven't had a chance to continue posting about my Beijing trip. Anyways, it's weekend snapshot time once again and my entry this week is a picture of dairy products such as white cheese, pastillas de leche, plain and flavored yoghurt (blueberry, patchberry and mango), chocolate milk, and some cups of milk-o-jel (which I have yet to try), all made from fresh carabao's (Philippine water buffalo) milk, known locally as gatas ng kalabaw or caramilk - one of my favorite things in the world. Caramilk is much richer and creamier than goat's milk or cow's milk because it has a higher fat content.

So bright and early Saturday morning, my dad and I went on a road trip to the Dairy Training Research Institute (DTRI) of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna. To our dismay, the UPLB Dairy Bar had run out of cheese (we had plans of buying white cheese, bleu cheese mozzarella and gouda) by the time we got there so I bought some yoghurt cups before making our way to the Philippine Carabao Center also on campus where I bought the stuff you see in the cooler above.

Please click here if you'd like to join WS or see the other entries. :)

Reggie's phone book

(Edited to include last of 3 installments)

To celebrate National Thank You Day (Oct. 20), Reggie Aspiras shared the precious contents of her phone book with the readers of her column, Kitchen Rescue on PDI. The list includes contact details for food, cooking and entertaining needs from suppliers mostly within Metro Manila. It is a very extensive list which I will surely be referring to often. So to you Ms. Aspiras, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for sharing this with us. :)

So I'm posting it here for safe-keeping and also for the benefit of those of you who might have missed the 3-part article in which the list was published. Those I've highlighted in bold are ones that I can personally vouch for; additional info or comments in parenetheses after the phone number are my own. I've also included a short list at the end from my own personal phone book of food-related contacts (that wasn't already mentioned by Reggie). This does not yet include contacts from the various leaflets and business cards I've collected through the years, so I'll be adding to this soon and continuously updating.

Part 1:
Acoustic Strings 0917-8915865
Mang June, aircon repair 8681073 (0917-2470700)
Arnaldo Zamora, party props 6696641/0927-7201968
Spices, Assad 5261349 (Makati branch - 897-2543; great samosas & gulab jamun)
Bailon’s Lumpiang Bacolod 8436673
Sweetcraft, baking supplies 5321595
Claudine, specialty olive oils, salt, fruits 0917-8958191
Food order (reasonably priced), Boots Salas 0916-5265284
Food boxes (packaging), RM 7138547
Brazo de Mercedes, Butter Cake, Chocolate Icebox Cake 8107529 (Vargas)
Frozen Brazo 8438086 (Dimpy Camara)
Bordadoras 7180901
Best Buko Pandan 045-9616817
Coffee caterers, Cafe ni Juan 0917-5277141
Beautiful yet reasonably priced cakes, Sasa 0917-5339275
Candy cart rentals for parties/candy importer 0917-5220495
Catering equipment rental 8890268/8431960
Gift Packages―food and nonfood 6471054
Importer and distributor of all seafood, Midas 5240006
Chocolate cupcakes with caramel centers, chocolate chip cookies, Roshan 0917-8336286 (631-7786)
Best pan de sal, San Antonio Bakery (Nora) 4338128
Delicious chocolate cake, Fortune 8443663
Lace cookies, Dentelle au Chocolat 0917-6220427
Virgin coconut oil ice cream 0917-8966581
Aklan crispy shrimps 0918-2390038
Ensaimada, Cunanan 6310798
Hula/folk dancers 0917-6253783
Best date bars, Lorenzo’s 8527798
Ostrich meat; local feta, blue and goat cheeses; Olive 0917-7001205
Hand-carved dayap and long-tail pastillas wrapper, Luz 044-7915657
Personalized gift wrappers, De Veria 9395468
Dessert buffet, Strawberry and Mango Charlotte, Cristina Santiago 844-0680 (844-9905 )
Yummy White Salad and Pastillas Cheesecake, Doreen Tayag 0917-5312712
Dragon dancers 0917-8911861
Elar’s Lechon & Catering Service 7325125
Giant siopao, Emerald Restaurant 5238510
Carpet cleaners, Esling 0906-2093158/ 0918-5713723
Fireworks 0928-7983636
Tilapia chicharon 045-8887906
Food for the Gods, Livy 3722740
Food packaging, Detpac 5326368
Food technologist, Tess 0922-8119827
Super moist mini cupcakes, Fudgy Bonbon 6331513
Icon chopping boards (great as gifts), Fr. Dennis 0917-8312570
Pickled gherkins, Sr. Mary Raphael 0927-9992028
Beautiful party invitations 7229842
Jumbo pastillas 7290325
Blinds Black Out, Jo Chan 0917-7955667
Packed lunch and food orders, Joel 0917-8016608
Joy Charcoal Stove 0920-9543425
JT’s Manukan-Inasal catering 7219025
Pandan cake, Judah 8966872
Kitchen cabinets, furniture 0917-5555222
Kakanin, San Vicente 044-5114382
White kuchinta, Ninay 0919-2425081
Puto Batangas 0910-2482385
Chocolate Ganache and sugar-free cakes, Karen 8982280 , 0917-5394968
Vanilla bean, Karin 8928286
Flower wholesalers, ornamental cabbages 9294110
La Comida, reasonably priced caterers, puto bumbong and bibingka 4260471
Lamb lechon, Robert 0906-8404323
Leggerio Strings 0919-3169252
Flavored lechon 0917-8975966
Pest control, Mario 0917-8173680
Beautiful cakes, Marta Matute 0917-8409984
Meat processing (classes, materials, spices), Lou Rivera 7420826/4111349
Local meat supplier, Ding 0917-8531269
Sausage casings and curing mixes, MGM 7184278
Reasonably priced restaurant designers, Mike Pizarro 0917-8941467

Part 2:
Park Avenue Desserts— Mango Napoleon/Climax 8346636
Mida Foods (wholesale seafood suppliers—everything that swims), 5240006
Truffle-stuffed Mochi, 7271229
Mrs. Howard’s (Sandwich Crabstick on Cheesy Onion Bread) 4121682
Indian food order, 8192892
Personalized plates/initial/ logo-stamping, 8330003
Maids uniforms (home service—Japan) 6798837, 0919-8493019
Food order (Sushi Platters, Omakaze) 6376013
Made-to-order beautiful dining tables and furniture in wood (Omeng Esguerra) 7766394
Gift wrapping/ made-to-order packaging (Ruby Limjap) 0920-9506025, 6367547
Dessert buffet and banana cream pie (Baba Ibazeta) 0917-5245892 (Nono's chocolate oblivion)
Cinnamon-flavored pancake mix 0919-3123530
Fried milk/pinsec frito (San Jacinto) 6715942
Noel Bernardo, best restaurant designer 6332433
Nice baby clothes (overruns) 8964802
Photo books (your picture album in book, Paolo) 0917-8110393
Children’s party packages and best party host (Peps Avecilla) 0917-8437377
Signage (Paul Yap) 0917-8133220
Best fondant cakes (Penk Ching) 0917-8122676
Gelatin, flavorings, extracts, baking supplies (Peter Co) 2515302-06
All types of kitchen gadgets/ food machines (popcorn, slush, nachos, French fries, soft serve ice cream, cotton candy), Pfescorp 5312810, 5311990
Cheapest source of exotic flowers, potted bromeliads, lotus (Insular Botanical) 042-5407822
Tarta de Madrid 3732789
Quimson’s Kitchen (Iberian chicken, lengua de gato) 8188077
Gooey toffee bars 5251648, 6717606
Food photographers Mark Floro 0917-5258143 ; Ernie Rubia 0917-5318309
Home-service pilates (Josan) 9333522, 0917-3590888
Giant chicharon, best baked Virginia Ham, boiled corned beef (Plaza) 0917-7182200, 8908391
Flavored popcorn 0922-8791317
Lechon bake by the slab and affordable steaks (Vinia) 9265647, 0918-9104913
Fruits, vegetable, herb and flower seeds 3713482
Piglets (suckling pig) 5249948
Jill’s Yummy Pistachio Sans Rival 7217022 (Jill Sandique)
Acoustic trio (very good, old songs), Rox Puno 0920-9137003
The Bloomfields band (songs from the ’50s and ’60s) 0920-9032320
Art Manuntag (Tony Bennett of the Philippines) 0920-9209051
Saxophone (Vince) 0915-6412407
Steak bangus belly (wholesale) 8179497
Wholesale Australian and Spanish wines, wine seminars (Sherwin) 0917-5259887
Wholesale wines California, Happy Living French, Sommeliers 8994699 8404211
Affordable silicone baking pans (wholesale) 0917-5265604
Food bottles all shapes and sizes (SMC Bottling) 2427458
Yeast, chocolate baking products (wholesalers, free baking consultation and seminars), Sonlie 0920-9080248
Diet food delivery (Sostanza) 4390603
Stainless-steel contractors (Ghie) 0917-8123951
Coffee, coffee machines and flavored syrups for coffee (EQ) 8684168
Flavored syrups for cocktails (Monin) 0918-9701766
Flavored taho by the bucket 0917-8141200
Delicious tapa 5236281
Excellent lumpiang hubad with peanut sauce 6330205
Glitter tattoo 0922-8027070
Mama Rosa Catering (pako salad, fish roe and scallop noodle), 0917-5326900
Pumpkins, ornamental gourds, flowers (wholesale) 9299306
Wagyu beef and US meat (wholesale), Anna 6317228-30
PTC (wholesalers of US meat, turkey, lamb, seafood) 2568831-38 /2564430

Part 3:
White Ware—Plates /Platters DST—4140928 / Tess—0917-5310693
Best rum cake 8260552, 7275013
Cheap videographer/ Photographer 0920-7388702
Yema and giant ensaimada 8965523
Vegetables, mushrooms, herbs—Lolita’s 9128137Zeny—9112101
My favorite chocolate-chip cookie - 8911784
J’s Cochinillo asado, paellas, sandwiches 8108735
Decadent chocolate cake Wendy— 0917-8106414
Frozen dimsum - 0917-8400258
Pork barbecue Rudy— 0917-84407150;
Michelle— 4218212
L’Artizan—delicious sour dough, ciabbata, muffins 8996923
Phad Thai cooked on the spot 0920-9047459
Free-range chicken, eggs 0917-8041101
Key lime pie—Apples 0917-8557805
Food order—Susie 0918-9094115
Lemon squares—Tippi 0918-8118088
Upholstery/curtains —Gari 0920-9082969
Give-away designer (beautiful)—Via 0917-8552729
Party food booths— corn dog, fries, etc.—Happy Team 0926-6917291
Cones—all kinds of ice-cream cones and waffle bowls 0920-9568488
Best belly dancer—Ivy 0905-2468133
Caramel Cake—Estrelle’s 3722965
Reni—Spanish chorizo (real imported Spanish spices used) 0917-8550215
Chorizos, large—Alexie 8544716
Tempeh 0917-8213484, 9297790
Davao lechon, Porquitos 0917-7047303
Delicious marinated pigeon, ready to fry Mely—8193862
Myrna’s delicious adobo pate with foccacia 4111434
Rare vegetables— chard, kohlrabi, spaghetti squash 8867779
Chefs uniforms— Humphrey 0927-5126912 0917-8906865 0917-5347064— Lex
Christmas bread—Jon-jon 0915-9045771
Moon cake and roast duck—Mr. Lu 5252720
Restaurant equipment and gadgets/gourmet ingredients wholesale—Werdenberg 8403771
Restaurant equipment and gadgets, KLG 8332288;
Sen Kian Heng—7332133, 7332129
Bacchus— Le Creuset Cookware 6347303, 8181809
Asian Ingredients— Chef’s Nook 7245812
Taste of Italy—Pasta Machines 09163552197
Beautiful Candles—all shapes and sizes 0917-8990306
Cassava—Castañeda 0917-5301213
Ovens, baking and food equipment—Gomeco 2924421/2924578;
Ruey Shing— 4114232, 7279648;
Besterm—8329231-33;
Well-Done Industries, Mr. Willy Capule—539535, 2932090;
Bakerex—6374815-16;
Middleby—5208170;
Fabtech— 4133333
Wholesale ingredients: Killion Merchandising 7338221,7337036.
Baking ingredients, powdered sugar—Peotraco 3658221
Sugar, gum paste, cold porcelain flowers, wedding cakes—Mrs. Florendo 9132527
Home-service art lessons, watercolor, oil and acrylic—Ballada 0916-6586898
Kwong Bee special pork “Macau”-style sausage 2414608
Danish rolls 6712498 0918-9422268
Fortune cookies 6565801
Licor de Crema Catalana (Cream liqueur, a take-off from the famous dessert Crema Catalana) Red Wine Valformosa Rioja Tinto Joven 0917-5217500
Saint Mary Dairy—fresh carabao’s milk, low-fat yogurt drinks, low-fat cottage cheese, quesong puti and low-fat pastillas 8232835, 09172041952.
Delicious lechon, Aling Loring 7242867
Fruit cake I love to eat— Costa Brava 8966872
Maja pandan, more like A Thai Tako!—Rose 8107533
Dulce de Leche—Pixie 7232776
Disposable plastic containers in every conceivable shape, size and form 3651869 / 4126987 Teflon recoating—Altech International 8200757
Desserts delivered to your door step —Diamond Hotel 5262211
Made-to-order giant cookie cakes—Mrs. Field’s 8441241
Best halo-halo, palabok, mochi, gatas ng kalabaw, maja—Fe Guarin of Corazons 0917-8963960, 045-8882527

Some additions from my own phonebook:

Amber - Best pichi-pichi ; also for lumpiang ubod and BBQ - 816-1313
Banana Toffee Pie - Roselyn Tiangco - 812-0908/0917-8947477
Miniatures - cream puffs, mini hotdog & mini hamburger sandwiches - Jonah - 724-2125
Becky's Kitchen -525-1648
Brooklyn Pizza - best white pizza - Mkti - 896-9696 ; Pque - 821-0000, BF - 7757575
Charlie's Pritchon - 921-0405, 921-0415, 426-5501
Sebastian's Ice cream - 0917-4643397
Best butter cake - Costa Brava (Mrs. Liew) - 896-6872 / 896-1267
Best mango torte - Cuerva - 850-9182 / 8170200
Desnudos - best chorizo, chori burger patties,longganisang hubad, Poch Camahort - 0917-5409980
Polly Garilao's chocolate cake - 824-7612
Gil Carandang, herbs and organic veg - 0920-5445439 , 0920-9125850
Lechon - Genevieve Hing -0922-8588080
Nothing Like Homemade - longganisa roll - 896-0396
Cupcakes by Sonja - 856-0308
Rico Renzo applie pie - 898-2542
Baby Yulo's strawberry shortcake - 812-4961 / 810-8078
Iya's Jumbo Pastillas (tostado and ube flavors also avail.) - 843-9066
Frozen brazo de mercedes (the other one) - Ange - 0917-8238198
Foie Gras - Farah Ylagan - 722-4234, 0918-9264671
La Cuisine Francaise - Michelle - 893-2072 , 0918-924 64 05
Tierra - chorizo, pate, other Spanish deli goods - 807-5197; Tinchu - 0920-9283564
Oriental Merchants - Spanish food products & colognes - 568-5777 to 70, 568-5750, 772-1020
Terry's Selection - Spanish deli - 844-1816
Spanish wines - Woody - 0918-9942359
Ingrid's Sweet haven - cakes & bakeware - 641-2561
Guava jam & mango jam - Vicky Maniquis- - 842-1375, 842-1374
Chocolate Carrot Cake - Melissa Lim - 911-2329
House of Silvanas - 890-8493, 895-3492, 823 - 4160
La Tasca catering -897-9749, 896-5543, 897-6056
Mrs. Valera catering - 824-5179, 821-3797
Packaging, Scala -532-2020, 532-1628
Lace Cookies from Cebu- Sandra - 0917-8555502
Concorde cake - La Nuova Pastelleria San Antonio - 817-8568 , 867-2370
Spices & Flavors -831-0449, 833-0905, 0922-8330905
Patty Cake - sans rival chips - 889-1609; 0920-9544960
Blue Leaf Events Pavilion - 8872175,8875687 , Michelle 0917-6268437
Lorenzo's Date Bars - 852-7798
Kaye Cunanan catering - 0917-8986919, 711-0940
Confetti Effects & pyrotechnics - 563-6638; Freddie - 0920-9005601
Inflatable games, jumping castle, slides, - 821-8510, Dong 0917-8157104
Porcelain, ceramics, restaurant wares - DST - 414-0928, 0917-4557292
Red Velvet Cake - Cookbook Kitchen - Eliza - 724-3595
Chef's Nook - baking & cooking supplies - Imelda , 724-5812, 0917-8485228
Wholly Cow lechon baka - 0917-7911008 / 0917-8806168
Mini Tiramisu - Gina -811-6702 / 0922-8828836
Carabao Milk & other dairy products - Pia Lim-Castillo - 729-3265/5413
Blue Kitchen - 898-0931
Muscle Beach corn dogs & lemonade - 757-4969, 837-2747
Dulce de Leche cake - Tina 0920-9046573

If you find that one of the numbers here no longer works, please let me know so I could update this list. If you have some of your own contacts you'd like to share, I'd love to add it here as well. :) Just leave me a comment or email me. Thanks!