The Journey Continues...

Day 38: Humba, Estofado and Bocarillo

Ricky — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:51:12 +0000

It’s Pinoy cooking for day 38 of my culinary arts class, the recipes were Pork Humba, Estofadong Manok and a dessert Bocarillo which resembles my favorite bukayo.

Pork Humba

Estofadong Manok

Bocarillo

After the class, I attended the burial of a classmate who succumbed to colon caner in the US, his cremated remains were brought to Our Lady of Fatima Parish and was laid to rest at Divine Memorial Park.

It will be a long vacation as far as my schooling is concerned, there will be no class tomorrow, the school will be transferring to a new location, class will be back on Tuesday since Monday is a regular holiday (National Heroes Day).

Day 37: Short Ribs, Lentils and Sago

Ricky — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:40:21 +0000

Day 37 is another day for Asian cuisine, we cooked Korean Grilled Short Ribs, and Indian Dish Dhansak (Chicken with Lentils) and a refreshment from Myanmar Moh-Let-Saung (Iced Coconut Milk with Sago).

Korean Grilled Short Ribs

Dhansak (Chicken with Lentils)

Moh-Let-Saung (Iced Coconut Milk with Sago)

Day 36: Back to Asia

Ricky — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:11:41 +0000

We are back to Asia today, we prepared 3 Asian cuisine, Nargisi Kofta (Eggs in Meatballs), Ikan Masak Tauco (Fish in Black Bean Sauce) and Yellow Curry Chicken.

Nargisi Kofta (Eggs in Meatballs)

Ikan Masak Tauco (Fish in Black Bean Sauce)

Yellow Curry Chicken

Nargisi Kofta is an Indian dish, it’s an egg stuffed into a meatball with curry sauce. The Yellow Curry Chicken, also an Indian dish resembles the Pinoy version of the curried chicken while Ikan Masak Tauco is a Malaysian fish dish in black bean sauce.

Chef Wars – Classical Kulinarya

Ricky — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:55:28 +0000

I was at the Magsaysay Institute for Hospitality and Culinary Arts (MIHCA) at Waltermart in Makati City yesterday to witness the Regional eliminations of Chef Wars – Classical Kulinarya. Our school was represented by Justine, Miguel and Kiko.

Twenty four schools from Metro Manila and Southern Luzon entered in the contest, one will be picked to represent the region on the National finals competing against the winners of Northern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

I was only able to take photos of 20 (out of 24) entries, I left the venue early fearing that the rain would catch up on me on the way home. Too bad that I missed shooting the winning entry (entry number 24), our school didn’t make it to the finals, well there’s always a next time.

Day 35: Sotanghon, Potatoes and More Potatoes

Ricky — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:50:28 +0000

It’s still noodles and starches for day #35, today we prepared 2 potato dishes, Herbed Baby Potatoes with White Wine Glaze and Basic Mashed Potatoes and a noodle dish, Glass Noodle (Sotanghon) Soup with Mushrooms and Meatballs.

Herbed Baby Potatoes with White Wine Glaze

Basic Mashed Potatoes

Glass Noodle Soup with Mushrooms and Meatballs

It was relatively a light duty for us, the process were easy, we were done cooking all these recipes in less than 2 hours.

Day 34: Chowder, Spring Rolls and Potatoes

Ricky — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:45:33 +0000

The noodles and starch saga continues, third day of the week for starch & noodles, we prepared Crispy Roll, Clam Chowder and Straw Potato Leek Cake. The crispy (spring) roll surprises me, it had brown rice on it, the first time I made a spring roll with rice.

Crispy Roll

Clam Chowder

Straw Potato Leek Cake

The chowder was good while the Straw Potato Leek Cake lack saltiness, something that can be easily corrected. I wonder what we will be doing tomorrow.

Day 33: Crepe, Dumplings and Potatoes

Ricky — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 07:35:23 +0000

Second day of Noodles and Starch week, we did Crepe with Mango Sauce, Crab Dumplings and Baby Bok Choy in Clear Soup and Airport Potatoes.

Crepe with Mango Sauce

Crab Dumplings and Baby Bok Choy in Clear Soup

Airport Potatoes

These dishes looks simple, but believe me, it was a very hard day for us since a lot of process needs to be done. Be that as it may, it was another fun and tummy filling session.

Day 32: Noodles & Starches

Ricky — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:31:42 +0000

Day 32 is a start of a brand new week in our culinary arts class, this week we will be doing noodles and starches. Today we prepared Stir-Fry Beef and Rice Noodles using what is commonly known to us as bihon (rice noodles) and 2 potato dishes, Cheese-Stuffed Baked Potato and Roasted Cajun Potatoes.

Stir-Fry Beef and Rice Noodles

Cheese-Stuffed Baked Potato

Roasted Cajun Potatoes

In the last dish, we are supposed to use Cajun Potatoes but since we don’t have those here, we just used potatoes that is locally grown.

Reviving New Wave, High School Memories and Meeting Old Friends

Ricky — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:18:44 +0000

August 14, 2010, the auditorium of our high school (St. Peregrine Institute) sounded the new wave tunes once again. It was the grand reunion of the first 10 batches that graduated in the school (batch 83-92) and I’m one of those students.

It was my first time to attend a grand reunion, it was a mixed feeling, reunions like this brings back memories, seeing classmates, schoolmates & friends after 20 plus years. It was like a walk down memory lane.

Our school may not be the best school in town, in fact, it has the notorious mockery of being “tambakan ng kick-out,” which we all disagree. No matter what they say, as my classmate Val would put it, it’s where we were accepted, it’s in that institution where we met friends and it’s where we found our second home.

To my classmates and friends, it was nice seeing you again, to the organizers, you guys rocks!

Day 31: Breakfast Galore

Ricky — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:42:53 +0000

Day 31 was the culmination of all the breakfast preparation that we did in the past 3 days, the tocino and atsara last Monday and bacon last Tuesday. Aside from the 2 cured meats, we also prepared Daing na Bangus and Fried Rice and scrambled egg to go with them.

Homemade Bacon with Rice and Egg

Daing na Bangus with Rice and Atsara

Tocino with Rice and Egg

The bacon was a bit salty, tocino was OK and the daing despite the ugly output tasted good.