DINNER AT TAO YUAN

Last week, I went to Manila for dinner to have Laksa. We decided to go to Tao Yuan. It was my first time there. I actually heard a lot of good things about it but never got the opportunity to visit until last week.

The menu reminded me of the food that my friend Daniel serves in his restaurant in Singapore. I was craving for seafood so I had to try the Chili crab. Here are the other items that we ordered...

The fried buns or man tau, meant to be eaten with the sauce of the Chili crab...really my favorite.

Char kway teow, cooked pretty well but I didn't get to eat much of it. I was too much into the crabs!

Cereal prawns,

Seafood laksa, it was ok, i wanted it to be more spicy and I found it to have too much coconut milk but it wasn't bad.

Hainanese Chicken and Rice, good! specially with the rice. I just wish they had the thick sweet soy sauce to go with it.

here's the sauce for the Hainanese chicken,

Sweet and sour pork, the kids loved this one. It got wiped out before I could try it.

Fried green beans with pork and tofu, this is what I order when it's available in the menu. I always ordered this when I was in Shanghai.

Sambal Kangkong, Spicy but good.

Seafood hofun, this was good too but I think my friend Daniel can make it better.

And Chinese beefsteak with special sauce, this one was so tender! Oh and by the way, dessert was for free. They served black gulaman. We also tried the mango sago and it was good too.

If I lived in Manila, I'd probably eat here every week. I hope they'll open a branch somewhere in Makati area or Ortigas so It's not that far. The next time I go back, I'll order their pepper crab.

Here's the address of Tao Yuan 508-512 Gen. Malvar St. Cor Mabini Malate Manila. It right across the side of Pan Pacific Hotel. Here's the phone number +632 522 7009. Reservations required.

MOIST BROWNIES FOR A COOKING CLASS

I'm so excited for tomorrow. I'll be having a cooking class with the kids and we will be holding it in my place instead. It will be a 3-day workshop so it will be very exciting.

Here's what we'll be making. It's a combination of the 2 summer cooking classes I did before in Living Well and compressed it for 3 days.

DAY 1:

a. Blueberry Pancakes
b. Buttermilk Waffles
c. Potato and Onion Fritata
d. Strawberry Smoothie
e. Spanish Hot Chocolate

DAY 2

a. Artichoke and Spinach Dip
b. Pumpkin Soup
c. Spaghetti and Meatballs
d. Cheesy Garlic Bread
e. Bananas Foster

DAY 3.

a. Nacho Chips with Cheese Dip and Tomato Salsa
b. Chicken Quesadilla
c. Beef Tacos
d. Moist Brownies
e. Chocolate Chip Cookies

On day 3, this is theMoist Brownies that we will be baking. I'm posting the recipe so I can share it with you too.

MOIST BROWNIES

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter, cubed
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
2 pieces eggs
1 teaspoon vanila extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and line an 8x8 inch square pan.

2. Place butter and sugar in a saucepan. Cook on low heat until melted and smooth.

3. Remove from heat. Add eggs one at a time.

4. Add the vanilla.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and salt.

6. Gradually add the flour mixture in the egg mixture. Whisk just until combined.

7. Pour batter onto prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

8. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

RECIPES FOR JULY 2010

Here's what's coming this July....recipes that you can download three times a week on your mobile phone. It took quite a while to set this up but here it is! It's been up and running since April but for those who have not heard yet, here's how you can download them.

Just text CHEF to 2346 and you'll receive my recipes 3 times a week. It's P20 per recipe on Globe, and P15 on Smart and Sun. Or you can log on to http://chefaileen.com on your WAP browser. Again that's CHEF to 2346. Text na! For MMS phones only."

So for july, here are some of the recipes that I will be sharing...scroll down and check out the photos. I'm also posting a sample recipe of Pasta Alla Vongole so you have an idea what you'll be getting. Enjoy!

Cream of Pumpkin Soup

Bread and Butter Pudding with Caramelized Apples

Farfalle with Pesto Cream Sauce

Beef and Beans Chili

Southern Fried Chicken

Baked Macaroni, Bacon and Cheese

Cinnamon Rolls

PASTA ALLA VONGOLE

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
250 grams fresh clams
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
100 grams linguini, cooked accdg to packet instructions
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a saute pan. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant.

2. Add the clams, then the wine. Allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes or until shells open up. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the noodles, toss in butter, then the parsley. Adjust the seasoning as necessary. Sprinkle additonal chopped parsley on the pasta before serving.

NEW COOKING CLASS AT LIVING WELL STARTS THIS MONDAY!

On Monday, May 17, we will be starting with our Cooking Classes for kids part 2. We have a new menu that the kids will surely love. Hope you can join us too!

MY FOOD IN THE U.S.

Since I got back, today is the only day that I finally got to sit down and spend time to fix this. Scroll down and check out some of the items that we tried and tasted.

Here's a restaurant that we tried at the basement of San Francisco Shopping Center . It's called Out the Door www.outthedoors.com A Vietnamese Restaurant that serves Vietnamese street food placed in a very nice and modern atmosphere.

Vietnamese beef noodle soup. Really good, the broth was full with flavor and the beef was tender. I think this is the perfect dish on a cold weather.

Vietnamese fresh spring rolls. This is low fat and healthy. The sauce was good too. It tasted like a sate sauce with peanuts....perfect as a snack or an appetizer.

Here I am with friends Krissy, Anna, Enrique and my little girl Sabrina. We were taking photos while waiting for our food and thinking of a game plan on how to eat our meal and be done in 20 minutes to make it for my haircut appointment at 2:30 with Jay.

This one was taken in Portland....our first meal there. We ate at Mc Cormick and Schmicks. This is the crab seafood chowder. Looks really rich and yes it's rich but it's really good!

Cheese burger...one of the better one's I've tasted. It's juicy and grilled perfectly.

This is what I had...grilled salmon with grilled vegetables and a raspberry reduction. Yummy...

Sabrina's meal...fish and chips. What a big serving and this is from their kiddie menu.

On another night, we had dinner at ClarkLewis www.clarklewispdx.com It was right across the school and it could not have been more convenient haha. I've eaten here the fist time I visited Portland. It was one place I promised to visit again the next time I'm in Portland. So, we went with my mom, Tita Zeny, Ate Jelly and Sabrina. Here's a cheese platter with the cheeses made in the area.

This is Sabrina's special request. It wasn't in the menu and the chef gladly made it for her. Spaghetti with butter and cheese. It was sooo good that I kept picking on Sabrina's plate haha.

Here's a fish dish... grilled hallibut with morrel mushrooms, roasted garlic and a puree of herbs for the sauce.

Orechiette with mussels and clams

Back in California, we headed one day to Monterey to take Sabrina to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We decided to have lunch there at the Portola Restaurant.

This is my seafood cioppino. It was ok. Not bad but I've tasted better.

This is the clam chowder that my mom ordered. It looks like baby food but I also tried this and it was actually good!

Tita Zeny ordered this. Caesar salad with crisp herbed crostini.

Here's Sabrina's favorite fish and chips.

This is Kuya Rollie's grilled chicken sandwich

Then on the way back, Kuya Rollie drove by Moss Landing to grab dinner to go. It's called Phil's Fish Market. He told me that they have the best Cioppino so I was game to try it.

This is the back area from the beach. During the summer, people actually go and eat then head out to the beach...then they go back in to eat again.

The restaurant is huge and it get's pack every single day.

When in Moss Landing, go look for this sign. If you get lost, just ask around. They know where to direct you.

This is our packed dinner... grilled sourdough garlic bread,

the best seafood cioppino, some mixed greens with ranch dressing, and frozen banana for dessert.

Now that I'm home, all I can do now is dream about it and hope that I get to visit again soon.

BARISTA CLASS IN PORTLAND

My week in Portland was hectic so I waited until I got back to San Jose to load all these pictures.

I went on a 5 day barista class to brush up on my skills at the American Barista and Coffee School.

For day 1, we had lecture and introduction about the business side on opening a cafe, business plan, financials and floor plan.

We were lucky that during the time we were there, we were able to see them roast some coffee.

This is the roasting machine that they use. Here in the photo, they're already cooling the beans, using a mechanical blower to cool them quickly.

It takes a few minutes to cool the beans completely.

Once the beans have cooled, they are now placed in a container and then prepared for repacking in 1 pound bags.

In the school, we are provided with several espresso machines that we can use to make sure that we are able to operate each one with confidence. This one here is my favorite... Victoria Arduino. I've been told that it's like the Ferrari of the espresso machines.

We also have an Astoria,

La Cimbali,

La Spaziale,

Nuova Simonelli - a simple machine and very easy to use too,

A lever type Victoria Arduino,

Rancillo,

La Marzocco - another favorite of mine,

and a Della Corte.

Each machine has its own strengths and weaknesses and it's really up to the user which one fits best. So rule of thumb, test the machines first before buying one.

Here I am with Tom, one of the trainors. He's watching me step by step, making sure that I get the right kind of grind,

get my dose right,

tamp my grinds right,

and extract my shot at the right time, with the right temperature, texture, color and flavor.

Here's a class for free pour which is becoming popular in cafe concepts.

To prepare the free pour, the selected roasted beans are ground.

A paper filter is place on the coffee dripper. Hot water is allowed to drip on the paper filter to preheat the dripper and the glass pitcher.

This is the ground coffee. The grinds are more coarse than the grinds for the espresso machine.

Pour the grinds and make a well in the center using your pointer. Then gradually pour the hot water...slowly. The ready coffee drips in the pitcher and is then poured over a mug or a cup.

Here's the coffee from the dripper. The coffee tasted really good.

Here's a class for cupping in the tasting room.

First, the selected green beans from a specific area are roasted then ground. .

They lined up about 5 kinds of coffees. Each kind had three cups with the ground coffee. We tried the Cost Rica,

Coffee from Bolivia,

Coffee from Rwanda,

Another coffee from Rwanda roasted by another roasting company,

and Sumatra coffee.

First, we smelled the 3 cups with the grinds, taking note of the scent from the roasts, which was more fragrant, and which one smelled stronger.

After smelling the grinds, hot water was poured over the grinds.

We allowed the coffee to steep for about 5 minutes.

Using two spoons, the cloudy film is scraped off from the surface.

Then, we smelled the coffee again with the poured hot water.

Costa Rica remained consistent. Still fragrant and had a bold flavor.

The coffee from Bolivia tasted weaker compared to the coffee from Costa Rica and was less aromatic.

This one, I liked the best. It was aromatic and had a balanced flavor.

This one was ok but I found to be slightly acidic.

This one, coffee from Sumatra had an earthy flavor. Not a lot of people liked the flavor nor the smell.

These are my classmates in the course. Cherry and Eric Cruz of Equilibrium Intertrade.

This is me, with my certificate of completion of the the course.

Here we are with the whole class and the instructors.

Here I am with Bruce Milletto, Cherry Cruz, Eric Cruz, Susan Edilo and Matt Milletto.