The dinner of her birthday was something to be special as well. She had hinted on T Cook’s of the Royal Palms here in Phoenix.  She said she heard about it from a few websites and friends that it is one of the more romantic dining spots in the Valley.  That’s a high standard to hold and I wanted her to remember her birthday forever.

We arrived to the resort half past 8 to a gorgeous driveway to the valet where I escorted Joy to the restaurant.  Taking in all the sights of the classic rustic ambiance that Phoenix was once known for having. The host held the door for us and led us to our table, located in the corner of the restaurant. As we sat down, the soft tones of a Jazz duet playing from the bar on the other side of the restaurant.

After absorbing the intimate appearance of the place, our waiter presented me with the wine list. It was a rather robust list and it contained a brief explaination of each bottle. Most places, I would need to ask about wines I had never heard about but I was able to make the perfect selection for us.

Then there is the meal. For the starter, Joy ordered the foie gras while I ordered a summer salad with watermelon and brie. I loved my little salad, it was light, crisp, and  and Joy savored her duck with a slice of cherry tart.  For the main course, Joy ordered the quail, the daily special, and I ordered the beef brisket with a cheese risotto that made for a flavorful gourmet mac and cheese. We shared off each other and the main courses both melted in your mouth! Definitely one of the greater meals we’ve ever had!

At the end, we put in our dessert order. We got the chocolate cake and when it came to the table, it had a chocolate writing impression of “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” on it! It was perfect! Once that was devoured, our waiter gave us a jar of the pesto dipping sauce from the bread plate before the dinner.

We loved our experience at T Cook’s to celebrate Joy’s birthday and we will definately look forward to future celebrations. The restaurant definately keeps up to the claims of one of the most romantic locations of the Valley. Enjoy!

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Review: T Cook’s

I still have this slight phobia with bread making, and this recipe increased my hopes for bread nirvana. It was light, crispy (but not abrasive for the roof of your mouth, if you know what I mean) and with a nice flavor.

It was sooo nice to bite into.

The recipe makes 3 rustic flatbreads. For my first batch in the oven, I followed 450ºF temperature and checked it after 8 minutes. It was dark, dark brown on one side. I tried it at 400ºF for the second one and baked it for 12 minutes and it was perfect. It was light brown and just golden brown in the right areas — PRETTY. I used the store-brand coarse salt from Whole Foods. It worked out really well.

The bread was seriously delicious. Dan and I split one over a bowl of fresh corn and chicken soup. It’s great to eat on its own as well. I probably ate one whole bread today. It’s completely addicting.

You’ll notice from the recipe that it calls for the use of parchment paper. Well, this is what happens when you leave your boyfriend in charge of the apartment: your boxes of parchment and aluminum foil magically disappears into the kitchen abyss. Haha. So anyway, I just used my trusty Silpat and it delivered fantastic results as usual. I LOVE consistently good products.

Flatbread is one of those foods that you start making and it will change the way you look at the store-bought varieties. It is so good fresh out of the oven! Go, go, go try it! You won’t be disappointed.

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Crisp Rosemary Flatbread

We saw Wall-E the night I got back, and The Dark Knight last Friday. Wall-E was so adorable…I want my own cute personal robot that compacts trash and has a green thumb, but can also cook with me and play music while we do so. The Dark Knight was a brilliant masterpiece. I was initially hesitant to watch it because I just know I would be creeped out to see Heath there. But I just toughed it out and I’m glad I did. The lines last Friday night was probably the most disorganized ones I’ve experienced. And we almost witnessed a fight as one guy tried to “save” 8 seats and another guy was not going to have it. Lots of weekend action. Hah.

Aside from the movies, we’ve been eating out a lot. My first craving when I got back was Spinato’s pizza. Next night it was In and Out burger (send me a lifetime supply of their fries please), Friday was Vietnamese food by the cinema. I don’t know how authentic the food there is, but this pork barbecue sure was super tasty and it reminded me of Filipino barbecue.

For a late lunch on Saturday, we went to a pasta place that we frequently passed by but never tried: Pasta Pomodoro.

They have decent food, by the way. The bread and their pesto-ish olive oil dip was delicious. The minestrone soup was nice. The polenta with fontina cheese was good as well.

I ordered risotto for my meal but it was too salty for my taste so I settled for steamed mussels which did not disappoint.

I think that’s enough eating out for now. We’ve done our grocery shopping for the week and I’m ready to roll. Can’t wait to make ice cream! And flat bread! And other stuff. :) [Pardon this post as I'm drinking Peroni while typing this. ]

What have you guys been making? Where/What have you been eating? And most importantly — What have I been missing? I blame turning 30 this week for all the craziness.

Have a great week everyone!

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Eating Out

I grew up with fried chicken marinated in soy sauce and calamansi (a citrus fruit that is oftentimes substituted with lemon). It tastes different than lemon and there’s no getting around to it in traditional Filipino recipe. It’s very hard to find these one inch citrus rounds in North America. And if at all you do, you’d have to pay a hefty price for them. [It's worth it for me -- if I can only find it!] So when I really want the fried chicken I grew up with, I’d have to just imagine it. And it’s hard!

I tried making a different version with ingredients I have and see how it would go. Just to try…hoping, hoping…

I marinated skinless breast pieces with the bones intact in lemon juice, teriyaki sauce, cayenne pepper, and fresh ground pepper for half an hour. Afterward they had undergone 2 flour coatings: The first is blended with salt and pepper; and the second with salt and cayenne pepper, with a dip in beaten egg in between.

It was fried to brown then baked for 10 minutes, turned halfway through the time.

It had more (and different) ingredients than my childhood recipe, but it tasted so close to how I wanted it with just a li’l bite from the cayenne. It was awesome. And the coating was finger-lickin’ good. I ate two big pieces!

Yummy!

Taste evokes all sorts of memories, just like the sight, smell, or feel of something. It’s knowing exactly how your grandma’s paella tastes like, or your mother’s fruit tarts, or your dad’s special steak rub. You’re in another place in another time with just one bite. And I…I was transported back to when I had to have a pillow on the chair so I can reach the table and eat my fried chicken with white rice because nothing else was good enough to waste my appetite on. I’m just glad to have the good taste of this back in my life (very shallow, eh?) and be able to replicate it again, and again, and again.

If you’d like to try it, here’s the recipe:

Fry-Baked Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless chicken breasts with bone
• juice of half a lemon
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, divided
• 3 tbsp teriyaki sauce
• 1/4 cup and 3 tbsp flour
• 2 eggs, beaten in a shallow bowl
• salt
• fresh ground pepper

Preparation:

1. Marinate chicken breasts in lemon juice, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, teriyaki sauce and fresh ground pepper. Poke the meat with the fork several times and massage the marinade into the punctured meat for a couple of minutes. Cover in a bowl and leave for half an hour or more.

2. Mix your flour dredges in two separate wide and shallow bowls: (Dredge #1) 3 tbsp flour, 1/4 tsp salt, fresh ground pepper; (Dregdge #2) 1/4 cup flour, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper.

3. Place your pan in medium heat with enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom. Make sure oil is very hot before frying.

4. Preheat your oven to 300ºF.

5. Drain chicken to get rid of excess marinade. Dredge and dip chicken pieces individually in this order: Dredge #1, tap excess flour. Dip in beaten egg. Dredge #2, tap excess flour.

6. Fry for 4 minutes each side and place on an oven safe dish.

7. Bake chicken for 10 minutes, turning it halfway.

8. Take it out and devour warm on its own or with freshly cooked rice. :-)

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Fry-Baked Chicken

This epitomizes my frustration. However sweet the memories held by these sugary and cheesy sweet breads, its laborious preparation process pains me. I fell asleep waiting for all the rises. Emphasis on riseS. The good news is that it tastes somewhat like it should. It’s just not anywhere as light and airy as I remember from my childhood merienda [trans: snack].

My dad called them scones when he tried ‘em. And with a heavy heart I have to agree. The real deal needs to have a soft consistency similar to a croissant. Scones <> Croissant

SO. There will be a Part II, as you can tell. This isn’t right, but I won’t be discouraged. What this could probably mean for you, our dear readers, is that you’ll have to endure a potential gargantuan Ensaymada Saga much like the Cinnamon Roll Litanies. Oops. This is the recipe that I used for this batch. I was hesitant to use instant yeast because all of the times I used it, the bread did not rise satisfactorily as it happened here. I may try another recipe. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

Since my family and I emigrated to North America almost a decade ago, one of the things missed right after family and friends in the priority hierarchy list is food. And boy, if there’s no one in your family who can cook Filipino delicacies, you better look at something else to satisfy you. I’ve talked about this with several Filipino friends over the past month, and we all agree that although there are restaurants here and there, the only way to really taste our cuisine is to have someone cook the local fare for you. Nothing can replace that.  I had a close enough taste of a homemade Filipino feast at a Hawaiian friends’ house in Honolulu, of all places. However, that’s really a far-fetched alternative. Now that I’m learning to cook, I’m slowly building my own list of go-to recipes to replicate my favorites and satisfy my cravings. If I can’t go ‘home’, I will bring ‘home’ to me. To my stomach!

What favorite childhood food have you tried making (to bring you back in time)? How did it go?

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Ensaymada Part I — ala Scones

It was going to be a simple breakfast, but with some Gourmet Teddy twists! You’ll see later! I started by trying use whole strips of bacon, but Daddy freezes the bacon and I wanted to surprise him. Teddy needed to microwave it a bit first, but even when that went off, the bacon was still kinda frozen together! :( No bother, Teddy will use the pieces and let the Canola-oiled pan do the rest of the work!

Now, the fun begins! The bacon finished in a little bit and I moved it to a little plate with paper towels to dry and cool. Remember to pat your bacon!

Next I made the eggs! I whipped them slightly with whipping cream (not the heavy stuff) and some milk. Then I poured it into the pan to fry with the bacon grease! Ya! Daddy likes his eggs prepared in the bacon grease! Weird flavors come from my Dad, really.  This is the result:  

I know that does not look like much, but Daddy devoured these!

Next, Teddy wanted to surprise my Dad with Cinnamon rolls: 

The package says to use a round pan….

Teddy doesn’t see a round pan, do you?? Teddy sees the caphalon pan…a few ramekins…HHMMMPPHHH…okay…Teddy needs to think…AH! TEDDY KNOWS! :D:D:D

See what Teddy’s doing?? Teddy is taking the little cinnamon rolls, unrolling them, giving them a twist, and putting it on a Pam-sprayed Cooking Sheet! Don’t the look good??? No?

Hmm…

How about this shot Teddy took?

Yummy! (Here’s one more shot: )

By the time I took the shots, Daddy was already awake, so I had him help me by ice the new Cinna-Twists!

Daddy did a good job, huh! Well, Daddy devoured the breakfast and gave me a big squeeze! I think he liked it! Thanks for reading about Teddy’s posts! Do you have any ingenious breakfast ideas to share? Let me know!

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Teddy makes Breakfast for Daddy!

Ok, back to our regular programming…

It was overcast at some point last week and I can’t remember which day now because my head is still recovering from the sweltering heat the past few days. For that matter, this could very well be the last soup-craving this summer — whether here in Vancouver or (most especially) in Arizona. Adding alcohol to a dish was just a good excuse in my book to whip up some soup.

This is different from all the other soups I’ve made from scratch because of that hint of nutty sweetness from the oloroso. It took such little effort, just have a look at my no-brainer procedure.  As for the cauliflower, I broiled them in the oven to bring out its nice subtle flavor. That and the cheese bread added a nice crunch to this simple meal. And it’s not too heavy and not too light. Just right. Give it a try when you feel like warming up. :)

Sherry Mushroom-Tomato Soup with Broiled Cauliflower

• 3 cups coarsely chopped mushrooms
• 5 tbsps butter, divided
• 2 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 tbsp each of shredded mozzarella and havarti cheese
• 1/4 cup oloroso sherry [I used Nutty Solera Oloroso from Gonzalez Byass]
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• a cup of cauliflower, cut into bite-size pieces
• ground pepper
• salt

For the soup:

1. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in low-medium heat until it starts to brown. Toss in the mushrooms, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.

2. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and wait for it to boil. Add sherry and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in the brown sugar. Add more according to your taste.

3. Add the milk and the two cheeses. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Don’t forget to stir to keep it from sticking at the bottom.

4. Lastly, dump the last tablespoon of butter once you turn off the heat.

Note: You can sautee chopped onions with the mushrooms to add flavor. I just ran out of them when I cooked this. Oops.

For the cauliflower:

1. Put your oven in Broil (high).

2. Place your cauliflower on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. You can toss them on the sheet for better coating, if you like.

3. Broil in the oven for 3-5 minutes. If you cut it in bigger chunks, go for 5 minutes.

For the bread: [Cheese used for this is not included in the list of ingredients above]

Spread a thin layer of butter on a slice of French bread, top with your favorite cheese (shredded). I used mozza and havarti for these as well. So yummy!

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Sherry Mushroom-Tomato Soup with Broiled Cauliflower and Cheese Bread

I’ve been seeing friends and keeping up with all the festivals the summer brings into this sun-deprived city of Vancouver. There’s the dragon boat festival last weekend. Believe it or not, carnival/fair food is one of my guilty pleasures. Roasted corn on the cob — gimme, gimme! Who can think of cooking when you can stuff your face with vendor food from these events? And in this multicultural city, there’s no shortage of delicious stuff to sink your teeth in — there’s Greek, Indian, Chinese, Thai, etc.

There’s also the Coastal Jazz Festival this time of the year and I went with a couple of good friends to see Kenny Colman last Monday night. It was a nice evening of music, wine and martinis. That’s how we roll.

Aside from that, I’ve been helping another good friend launch her Yoga Body products. Go check it out! We are going to be a vendor at the Camp Moomba Yogathon on July 12th. If you’re in town, drop by and say Hello. Try out the sprays and go buy some for your family, friends, and girlfriends. Even boyfriends!

What else…work, meetings…and all that jazz that comes with life. You know. ;-)

Cooking will commence soon, I promise. I have an alcoholic soup coming up and a classic Filipino cheesy bread treat called Ensaymada. Hang in there fellow hungry foodies!

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That thing we have called…a blog?

Barley Tea + Corn Tea = Coffee

Read it again, I think you missed it.

Ok, you can smooth your wrinkled foreheads and lower your raised eyebrows now.

I know it sounds ludicrous and almost insulting to the church of java beans. I apologize, but hear this — I’m on your camp, too.  And as a lover of good black coffee, I’ll put my fussiness in matters of taste and gladly attach my Certified Coffee Substitute seal on this one.

I discovered this almost-perfect combination by accident. My friend Alice, my personal purveyor of ALL kinds of tea, made this for me one afternoon. I could smell it from the dining table as I waited so I asked if she was making coffee. Not a coffee drinker herself, I thought she was making an exception for me that one time. She emerged from her kitchen with a teapot and poured golden brown colored tea into the cups. I sniffed the sweet smelling coffee aroma, and was quietly wishing it would taste something close to coffee because I was already craving for it. And then…I took a sip. And fell in love. I love both coffee and tea, and I couldn’t have been on a higher caffeine cloud at that moment. It was REALLY good. It was like drinking coffee, but with the lightness of tea.

Barley and Corn tea are two of the most unusual, if not exotic, types of tea I’ve ever had. One that makes me all giddy, though, is the subtly sweet and fragrant blush-colored rose bud tea. Having a baroness of tea for a friend does have its own benefits. And I encourage you tea lovers to find one of your own! :-D

Do you like tea? What’s your favorite?

Mine is the Coconut Macadamia tea from Hawaii on the right. Alice got me hooked on it as well.

Aside from my dear friend, I learn and get to taste teas from around the world through my like-minded penpals who I exchange teas with. We love mail and we love tea!

Have you participated in a tea exchange before?

It’s so fun! Anyway, my enthusiasm is getting the best of me. But do let me know if you’re into that and I’ll get something going for us tea lovers!
Oh, and enjoy your weekend!

a

Smells Like…Tastes Like…But Doesn’t Look Like (Plus an invite for a Tea Exchange party!)

I need help translating 5 phrases for a friend’s product. Let me know and leave a comment, Internets. You’re great. :) Thank you!!!

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Non-Food, Just Need Help