The Rolls Royce of Chocolates

I was working with chocolate last night and I've come to realize that chocolates are really moody. You never get EXACTLY the same result. It greatly depends on the temperature and humidity in the kitchen. You never know what you're in store for. Some days it's effortless, other days it can get a bit frustrating, especially if you're working with melted chocolate. I still love it though.  I mean, who doesn't love chocolate? For some it's the best sort of all-around medicine, i.e. for a broken heart, a day gone wrong, depression, etc., etc.  It makes you feel good (that and ice cream) no matter what.  No matter how tight a person's budget is, somehow chocolate ends up in our grocery carts every now and then.

One chocolate brand that I wouldn't mind spending would spend my money on is Royce'.  It's the only chocolate that I literally dream about on a regular basis.  Silky smooth blocks of melt-in-your-mouth morsels of happiness lightly dusted in cocoa powder.  It's pure genius!  

I got mine twice straight from Japan as gift from my beloved cousin.  I am amazed that she has had the generosity and self-control to spare me not one but TWO whole boxes of Royce' Chocolates because I'm not sure if I would've been able to give them away if the roles were reversed (shameful I know).  But I'm paying her back by giving her awesome food and styling at her wedding next year.  Harhar.  :))

I remember when I got my first box of Royce' Nama Chocolates (this was before I got married and was still living with my parents) and I gave up 4 squares of chocolate, quite grudgingly, to my brother and mom, both of whom are the certified chocolate junkies in the family, so that they could try it out.  They both had the same reaction as I did.  I'm telling you, once they bit into it, their eyes went wide with shock for a second or two,then their eyes closed, closely followed by a look of pure bliss.  True story.  

Whenever I pop a piece into my mouth, my entire mind goes blank and all my senses involuntary zoom in on this amazing piece of bittersweet chocolate.  And then it sort of feels like an an orchestra's playing in my head (in surround sound, mind you) as it starts to melt oh so delicately in my mouth.   Heady stuff.   I could rave about Royce' all day! 

Since the chocolates were so precious I tried to eat one square a day only.  It was like The Ring.  I'd see my brother and my mom circling the chiller where I'd kept the box, alternately and at the different times of the day, attempting to steal some when I wasn't looking. They did succeed a few times and they'd come to me to sort of apologize saying that they couldn't stop thinking about the chocolates and that it was out of their control.  Totally understandable, but there really must be something dark and evil in that box. lol.

Royce is made in Hokkaido, Japan.  A box of Royce Chocolates is usually wrapped in three layers of packaging that comes with a cooling gel to ensure it makes it to wherever its headed without melting.  It has to be stored below 10 C since the ingredients are highly perishable.  Good thing they're now available in the Philippines.  Woot!  You can now buy them at the Powerplant Mall in Rockwell, Makati (costs about P580) and when I last checked they had a stall in Trinoma too, but I'm not sure if it's still there. 

If Yuri had given me two or three (or four) different boxes of Nama Chocolates on our first date I would've maybe agreed to be his girlfriend within a week.

Kidding!

Not.

Erm maybe?

Who knows. :)

Risotto ala Michelle

Today I'm giving away a recently tweaked recipe of mine.  We had a very"adult" dinner about a month ago.  Yuri and I brought Corn & Hamburger Penne Casserole and Green Tea Panna Cotta to our friend Eric's place.  They prepared Mushroom Risotto and Roast Chicken and even brought out a bottle of red wine.    Afterwards, we then dropped the "adult" act and played Guitar Hero. Teehee.  Anyway, my friend Rinah's risotto was delicious!  So I got inspired and made my own at home.

So guess what, I'll be sharing the recipe here.  My poor man's risotto. Hehe.  Everyone should be able to enjoy and cook risotto without denting their pockets (too much).  So here you go.  This'll be the talk of your next dinner party for sure.

I cooked this the first time I invited my family over to our house for lunch.  Since I only thought about making risotto while doing  the grocery the night before the lunch,  I has to substitute the usual expensive ingredients (like Arborio, Portabello, Sea Salt, etc.) with the more affordable alternatives.  I wanted to provide generous helpings to my guests instead of cooking a measly amount since I had a budget to work with. 

What you'll need:

• 6 C chicken broth (you can make it the traditional way or if you're strapped for time you can cheat and just dissolve six chicken broth cubes in six cups of water)
• 3 T olive oil, divided
• 450 g button mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 100 g shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced (optional)
• 2 medium-sized shallots, diced
• 1 1/2 C Thai Jasmine Rice
• 1/2 C Dry White Wine
• Salt to taste
• Black Pepper to taste
• 3 T finely chopped chives
• A sprig of fresh Oregano (use twice as much if you're using dried oregano)
• A sprig of Thyme (again you may use the dried one too)
• 4 T butter (Not compound butter or margarine.  Please use real thing.)
• 1/4 C Parmesan Cheese

How to go about it:

1. In a saucepan, warm the broth over low heat.  Once it starts simmering, switch your stove to the lowest setting and cover it to prevent it from evaporating.
2. Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Stir in the mushrooms, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Remove mushrooms and their liquid, and set aside.
3. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to your non-stick skillet, still on medium-high heat and stir in the shallots.   Cook 1 minute or until shallots have been properly sweated out and are translucent. Add the Thai Jasmine rice, stirring to coat with oil, for about 2 minutes. When the rice has taken on a pale, golden color, pour in wine, stirring constantly until the wine is fully absorbed. Add 1/2 cup broth to the rice, and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, and stir in mushrooms with their liquid, butter, chives, oregano, thyme, and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

A few more tips:

The broth should be kept on low heat throughout the whole cooking process.  Keep the lid on to prevent the broth from evaporating.

A non-stick skillet would be the easier option especially if this is gonna be your first try.  Any other kind of pan would require a whole lot more of muscle power when it comes to stirring.

Mind your temperature!  If it's too low you could be cooking and stirring all day; too high and you run the risk of drying up your rice and ruining your dish.

Cooking risotto is never easy.  Think of it as exercise.  I use both arms alternately to get a proper workout.   Might as well.  Or you could get someone to sub for you when you get tired but you'd be cheating.  I think the charm of risotto, aside for the creamy flavor and texture, comes from the thought that a lot of love was put into the dish to make it taste that way.  It's labor intensive but it's really worth it! :)

Best served hot. :)

Everyone has an Inner Geek

Buy ingredients.  Check.  Bake cakes. Check.  Prep chocolate and vanilla cake truffles.  Check.

Whew.  What a day.

I can't think of a better way to relax right now than by watching this. :))

 (Picture sourced from http://techpp.com/2010/09/23/10-ways-to-watch-big-bang-theory-episodes-online-for-free/)

Geeky fun!  I LOVE this sitcom.  It's like the ultra nerdy version of How I Met Your Mother.  I get such a kick out of this show.  Any show that can make a joke out of the Doppler Effect, and actually succeed in making it funny, deserves the highest of praises. 

I so wish I had a tub of Chef Tony's Parmesan Popcorn right now.

Double Downer

So my dear husband decided to take me on a KFC date tonight.  Because of him, KFC has become a staple part of my diet.  If he could change his last name to Sanders he probably would.  Next to opening our own restaurant, it would be a dream come true for him to own a KFC store.

We were on a serious mission tonight.  To conquer the Double Down.  I didn't know what to expect in terms of size, since I'd only seen pictures of it.  Plus it was getting mixed reviews from people I know, ranging from lukewarm to awesome both in of size and flavor.

It was a crazy busy Friday night at KFC.  The place was packed.  The crew members behind the counter were running around like headless chickens. One of their POS systems was down.  I looked around the other tables and it seemed like everyone had one or two items they were waiting for.  It wasn't looking good.

We had to wait ten minutes before we got our Double Down.  Didn't matter, we were excited!  When we finally got our order we opened it up and my excitement turned into annoyance.  It looked droopy and it was swimming in oil.  The bacon was still oinking.  It was pale and barely cooked unlike the crispy fried bacon they promised me in their print ads. :(  Also, they used dark meat for the fillets, not that I was expecting them to use filleted chicken breasts for Php 99.00, but it just added to my disappointment.  The only way the Double Down would work was if the chicken fillets and bacon strips were perfectly crisp.  That it was not.  So there.  You get the picture.

I hope KFC was just having a bad night.   I think I'll be sticking to my fries and 1-piece chicken meal with rice.

Oh and we can always make up for our dinner at Banchetto later.  :)


~Mich :)

On SLEX, Binagoongan, and Palabok

[Disclaimer:  This entry is just a bunch of ramblings written by a stressed-out  and frazzled girl who'll probably realize in the morning that this whole entry makes no sense.  I apologize in advance.]
 
Earlier today we took a field trip to the south to run some errands and do a little business.  That trip took up half of my day... 4 hours of which were spent sitting in heavy SLEX traffic.  Boo.  This is exactly why we try to avoid doing events in that area as much as we can because the traffic over there is unpredictable (at least to me).  Unlike in Makati, Pasig, and QC where I have learned to perfectly estimate our travel time no matter what time of day it is.

While stuck in traffic I saw this huge billboard of Max's Binagoongan.  I suppose it's one of their new products they're trying to push.  For some reason it got me salivating.  Odd since I'm not really a Max girl.  I guess it was because of the way the dish was glazed in the picture and the fact that it was all I could see for about 30 minutes.  Since we're talking about Max's, I used to be a big fan of their  fried chicken... that was until I discovered why their chicken's so addicting.  The secret ingredient?  Pork lard.  Deadly stuff, but nonetheless really tasty.  Anyway, it got me wanting to eat any sort of Pinoy food.  Hmmm... well it made sense in my head at the time.  

This got me thinking.  Which is the best Filipino restaurant you've been to?  One that serves well-done Pinoy food that blows you away?  One that you can rave about for hours on end?

The first restaurant that immediately comes to mind is Abe.  It's not phenomenal, but their flavors are really good and they try to put their own twist on their dishes as much as they can.  My Dad's side of the family is Kapampangan and my grandmother on that side really was an amazing cook.  My titas have given it its stamp of approval so that says something.   Moving on, KKK is... meh.  And service is terribly slow.  Felipe J's apparently is a sister restaurant of Abe.  I would never have guessed.  The ambience is elegant (the perfect place for power lunches) I'll give them that, but their food underwhelms me especially for the price.

I also know that there are a lot of Cafe Juanita fans out there.  I tried my best to see where the hype was coming from but I'm continuously left dumbfounded.  Their portions, plating, and flavor are nothing to boast about.  I know I'm not picky.  Ask anyone close to me.  I'm the easiest person to please when it comes to food.  Maybe it's because I've been spoiled with my food at home.  I really don't know.

So I wonder?  Which is the best Filipino restaurant of all time?  Maybe I just haven't been exposed to the right restaurants yet.  I'd love try though.  For all I know, it's probably just me, myself and I reading this blog.  But if there's someone else out there who managed to stumble upon my dilemma I'd love a few suggestions.

Anyone?

Guess not.  It was worth a shot though.  Good night world.

Homemade Pizza (Hut)

When I'm cooking for catering, it's more methodical and precise.  The amount of food we work with is ginormous and recipes are quantified to the exact milligram.  Down to the salt and pepper.  So in a way, my creativity is limited to the final garnishing and plating of the finished product.  That's why cooking for a small group, usually for family and friends, is something I always look forward to.  It relaxes me allows me to get my creative juices flowing.

I'm running with the pizza theme from last night and sharing with you and awesome and easy pizza crust recipe.  A no-fail recipe that is perfect for intimate gatherings. Interested?  Keep reading. :)


If you’re a Pizza Hut fan then you will absolutely love this recipe, especially since this crust is the lighter and less oily version. It’s crisp on the outside and moist and chewy on the inside. We try to eat healthy as much as we can without sacrificing the quality and taste of our food.

Yuri (meet my hubby) and I have made pizzas using this recipe twice and people thought we ordered out. It’s an easy way to impress guests for a fraction of the cost.

Arm yourself with:
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cup water (warm)
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 1/3 cup flour

The tricky part:
Combine yeast, sugar and water. Rest for 10 minutes. We prefer using active dry yeast, and we buy them in really small amounts since these expire pretty quickly. The water has to be WARM, otherwise it won’t work. Test out the water with your finger to be sure. Warm water and sugar (yeast grub) activates the yeast. If you see the yeast foaming up and emitting that distinct erm yeasty smell (it’s impossible to miss), then that just means that you can look forward to one mean pizza crust.

Add salt and olive oil. Pour in flour. I prefer to make a crater in my flour, pour the liquid mixture in it, and then slowly fold in the flour.

Knead dough until texture is firm and rubbery. Great for working out those arms and relieving stress. Use your hands to work the dough in a circular motion, pushing the dough in with the heel of your hand. Just be careful not to overdo it since the dough might dry out and lose its elasticity.

Easy as pie:
Let dough rise for about 1 1/2 hours. Place in a mixing bowl or any other similar container at room temperature and cover with a plastic wrap. Dough should double in size.

Flatten the dough. Toss it up, use a rolling pin, or simply shape it with your hands. Hey, to each his own. The thickness is totally up to you. You’re in complete control. You may also opt to fold in the edges of your flattened dough to get that authentic restaurant look.


Now throw in your toppings!  Use your imagination and have fun with it.  I highly suggest using tomato paste as your base instead of tomato sauce. Tomato sauce dries up really easily and lacks the intensity of flavor. 

We usually use ground beef (sauteed in minced garlic, with a dash of salt and pepper) and slices of smoked sausage. As a concession to moi, we also add some julienned red and green bell peppers and white onion rings to give it some crunch. 

Lastly, we load it up with Mozzarella. My happy cheese. Grated cheese works better so that it spreads out evenly. Make sure it completely covers all of your toppings. Don’t scrimp on the cheese. Otherwise, your pizza will look dried out and the cheese will most likely get burnt. Trust me, you don’t want that to happen. If going Mozzarella all the way is a bit too much for your pocket, you can go half Mozzarella and half Quickmelt cheese to still get that yummy stringy quality on your pizza. Again, there are so many cheeses out there to choose from, so your can be as creative as you want. It all depends on your preference. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Baking time will depend on the thickness of your crust.

Once you’ve taken your pizza out of the oven, you can jazz it up by topping it with some freshly chopped basil. Yum!

Pairs well with beer, American football, UFC and boxing. :-)

~Mich :)

Hankering for a Panizza at C'Italian

I woke up late this morning but I still got to squeeze in a few hours of work and somehow  managed to close a deal. Yay. :-)  If we hadn't bagged that event I would've been riddled with guilt for wasting half the morning away.  So all in all it was good day.  I'm feeling semi-accomplished.

On days like these, I'd usually ask my husband to take me out on a date.  But since he's feeling a bit under the weather, I guess an imaginary food trip would have to do.  

Let me take you to C' Italian Dining in Pampanga.  This restaurant is famously FAMOUS for their panizza.   Chef Chris is quite the celebrity too.   I'm telling you this place is well worth the trip.

I discovered this jewel through my brother and his girlfriend.  They heard from a friend about an amazing Italian restaurant in Pampanga.  We were coming down from Baguio at the time and driving back to Manila.  Since the traffic was so bad (Holy Week) we decided to take a detour and see for ourselves if the place lived up to the hype. 

It was an easy decision at that point since we'd been driving for almost 5 hours with all 6 of us crammed into one car together with all our bags, supplies, and what not.  The thought of getting out and stretching our already numb legs was heavennnn.

It was really tricky finding C' Italian since we only had a hazy recollection of a text message to go on for directions. After harassing quite a number of people on the street who only gave us a blank looks after mentioning "C'Italian", we were getting frustrated.

By some miracle we managed to land on Don Juico Ave. (which has been renamed to Fields? I think).   At this point my expectations were pretty low.  I've gotta say, the location is quite funny.  It's right outside Clark so I feel stupid now for being shocked the first time I went there.  Girly bars line the street with a generous scattering of scantily clad girls evenly interspersed with foreigners walking down the street.  I really thought we'd end up in some sleazy restaurant.  Thank God I was so wrong! The ambience is perfectly understated and elegant with dark stone walls and dim cozy lighting.  Turns out there are a few other restos in the area that are quite good (like Zapatas).  I've yet to try them out though.   

I digress.  Back to the Panizza.  Oh my gulay. The Panizza is SO GOOD.  It's a rectangular thin crust pizza sliced into long strips and served with a variety of toppings, and always with a bowl of alfalfa and arugula on the side.  My personal favorite is the Panizza Angelico.  This has chorizo, salami, bacon, mushrooms and mozzarella.

How to Eat a Panizza:
1.   Sprinkle your desired amount of alfalfa and arugula on your panizza strip.  Don't hoard everything.  Remember to leave some for your companions so that they too can enjoy the complete panizza experience.
2.  Roll the panizza, with your greens in between, until it's bite-size.
3.  Take a deep breath.
4.  Close your eyes.
5.  Bite into your panizza roll.
6.  Mm mmm mmmmmmm.

Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.  I know this is supposed to be a panizza entry but it would be sacreligious of me not to mention Roberto.  Oh Roberto.  Penne Roberto.  Creamy gorgonzola goodness.  I go weak in the knees for well made cream-based pasta sauces so this was memorable for me too.  Gorgonzola was melted into the cream sauce which coated the penne and chicken fillet strips.  Sun dried tomatoes, roasted garlic and an assortment of herbs was also in the mix.

I now leave you with these words:  Panizza and Roberto.

Try it. :-)


Buon Appetito!


~Mich :)




Here's the link to C' Italian Dining to help you out.  Make sure you call in advance to reserve a table because the place is packed and you could end up waiting in line for hours.  

Ramen and Rainy Days

Cold rainy days are the best kind of days to snuggle under a blanket with a good book in tow... or a Kindle (it's on my Christmas wishlist). Those are the kinds of days when a cup of steaming hot chocolate becomes extra tasty, sopas is at its' creamiest, and when ginataan becomes doubly hearty.  Well for me anyway.

Tonight I'm craving for something else.  It's been raining on and off all day and all I can think of is... ramen. :D A big steaming bowl of scrumptious ramen.  Yum-my.  One place I go to, to get my ramen fix is the Ramen Bar at Eastwood Mall.  This is the real deal.  Authentic Japanese Ramen.  They are serious about their ramen over there.  I've tried the R.B.S. (Ramen Bar Special) #1 and the Sapporo Miso Ramen as well.  They differ in the kind of toppings they use and in the degree of sweetness/saltiness of the broth.  The miso-infused broth of the Sapporo Miso Ramen is a tad sweeter.  They serve it up in a massive bowl that'll probably be enough for two.  But if your appetite is anything like mine, you wouldn't want to share. :)  I gotta tell you their ramen hits me in all the right places. 

As soon as the server places the bowl in front of you, the savory aroma of the broth hits you giving you a glimpse of what's to come.  You then notice the array of toppings and noodles that are barely visible under the milky broth.  You take your first sip of the broth and the flavors start to dance in your mouth.  The noodles bring it all together.  They make their own noodles from scratch and they are perfectly firm and chewy.  I can't help but appreciate the amount of work that was put into my bowl of ramen.  It's the broth that makes the dish.  I heard they boil it for 20 hours before they serve it.  You can't get any more authentic than that.  In an attempt to eat healthy [-ier] I usually request that they change my topping from chasyu (sliced pork) to karaage (fried chicken) which is silly since their broths use pork bones as their base anyway.   

A word of caution though.  Their ramens are a dream but their service left a bad taste in my mouth.  Also their rice toppings weren't really that good.  But really, who goes to the Ramen Bar for rice toppings anyway?  This is why I only go when I'm seized with a ramen craving-- a phenomenon that happens roughly every 3 months.

Hmmm great.  Now I really made myself hungry.  Since it's this late, a cup of instant noodles will have to suffice.  Boo. :(


~Mich :)

Starting at the Bottom of the Food Chain

There are about a dozen ways to enter the food industry.  For me, it was a toss up between opening up a restaurant and starting a catering business.  I chose the latter.  Why you ask?  I'll save that story for another entry.  So here I am, a foodie at heart and a caterer by profession.

2010 has been a good year for me.  I technically started my catering business (together with my 2 partners) January of this year, got married last September (yay!), and launched our desserts line just last month.  A lot of milestones were achieved this year so I thought it would be only fitting to start a blog as well to document this new chapter of my life as a 25-year-old-newly-married-foodie-caterer (Huh???).  You get the point.

Here I write about my love affair with food and my day-to-day struggles with running my own business.  This industry is tough and fiercely competitive.  It can get mentally, emotionally, financially, and [insert all adjectives ending with -ly] draining at times.  This business of making a name for myself is tough.  So while I toil and wait for my lucky break, I need a happy place to write about what inspires me, e.g. Restos, Food Finds, TV Shows, Trips, Travels, etc.  So yeah... this is gonna be my happy place.  [Note to Self:  Entries should be HAPPY]  Well let's just say I'll try to keep it as happy as I can.

So there.  Happy reading!


~Mich :)