Free Chips and Iced Tea from BBB

I may have dined at BBB once, but that one food trip (click on the image to read about my BBB experience) made me exclaim that it did live up to its name. I have been telling my sister how we should go back to BBB so we could try their other burgers.

As if the heavens heard me, I saw this on my Facebook's news feed a few minutes ago:

Well, when it rains, it pours... and this August, BBB is giving away free chips and iced tea go with any purchase of their Mushroom Loco, 3 Cheese Explosion, Bacon Barbecue, Shiitake Teriyaki, and Hahalapeño Burgers.

Just so you know, this is NOT available in all branches, you can avail of this Freebie Storm in the following branches:

• Alabang Northgate
• Katipunan
• SM Cubao
• SM Fairview
• SM North (Annex)
• Sucat - Pergola
• Taft - University Mall

The SM Fairview branch is the one nearest to me, but since sister and I will be attending the Pinoy_Blogfest 2.o (please see previous post), we might cross from Trinoma to SM North on Friday to eat some burgers. Since I already tasted the Hahalapeño Burger, I might go for the Mushroom Loco as I am sure my sister will go for the 3 Cheese Explosion; she's very much into cheese, that's why.

Tara, let's eat!

*** Jenn ***

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Pinoy_Blogfest 2.0

I have been blogging for half a decade now. My blogs are my outlets - my way of expressing myself and communicate with people. Despite blogging everyday, there are still things about blogging that I don't know of, which is why I don't only blog just to blog, I also use it as my way of learning more about this "extension of my life."

Today is Monday, just the start of the week, but I am already looking forward to the weekend because of this:

The Pinoy_Blogfest 2.0 presented by Gadget Magazine. It's a full day of learning more about blogging and digital life, something every techie (bloggers include) would really appreciate. I love the line up of the activities, and I'd really make sure I'd attend all the activities, as I do want to be more of a positive blogger. With all the negative things happening in the social networking sites, all of us really have to learn how to use our resources into doing something good.

If you're available on Friday, head on to the Trinoma Activity Center to learn how to become an agent of positive change through social networking. Please check Gadget Magazine's website to learn more about this event.

- * - * - * -

My sister and I were very blessed to be invited to the Bloggers BIO event, but like I said, we will be there the whole day, so if you're coming, hope we could say hi to each other. See you there!

*** Jenn ***

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Weekend Eating | Nilagang Baka

Even if there were a few rain showers, I am glad there was a bit of sunshine, too. However, I just stayed at home this weekend because I got rained on tending the garden last Friday afternoon. That also meant not going to the market to buy foods, thankfully I was able to cook this:


Very basic Nilagang Baka (Boiled Beef) for Saturday's lunch. The person who delivers meat had some packed beef ribs, and since we tend to believe that the beef she delivers quite lack in taste (the vendor said it was because the cow was still too young to butcher), we just go for the bony cuts so it will have more beef flavor. We had some potatoes and a small head of cabbage in the fridge, so I just told mom I'd cook this instead.

The beef cuts were a bit fatty, and even if I took out some of the fats before cooking it, there were still some I wasn't able to take, so to make sure the broth won't be oily, I strained the stock after cooking it in a pressure cooker and let it sit in the freezer to freeze up the oil. When it was near lunch time, I just scraped off the hardened oil before finishing the whole dish.

Personally, I want this dish to have green beans (it's one of my favorite vegetables), but since all we have were potatoes and cabbage, it was already okay for us. I am glad the beef tasted good this time, so overall, the family had a great meal.

So... what did you have last weekend? If you're new to the Weekend Eating meme, you can read the rules and get the badge codes HERE. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who joined last week.



*** Jenn ***

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Foodie 365 | Week 30

Will do another week of Foodie 365 for Yummy Sunday, because I exhausted myself trying to change the template of my personal blog, An Autobiography in the Works, but in the end I still went back to the old template.

Here are some of the foods I ate last week:

204. Tupig

I already talked about this on my Weekend Eating post... these tupig were given to us by our next door neighbor.

205. Doritos (Nacho Cheesier)

When my sister and I attended the SM Hypermarket Master Chefs cooking marathon, we received a goodie bag each, and in it was a big bag of Doritos. I love corn chips so much, and each piece of the tortilla chips is heaven for me (sodium heaven, yeah). I could certainly eat all the chips in one sitting, but I decided to eat this a few chips at a time so I could enjoy it longer. :)

206. Dinengdeng

We rarely eat veggies at home since dad died, but on few occasions we would cook dinengdeng just to cut the streak of meat dishes eaten at home. This one only had some okra, saluyot (jute) leaves, and malunggay (moringa) leaves, and it was mom and I who ate most of this dish, but of course, I let her eat the okra as I don't eat it. The fish in the bowl was mom's share (she loves her fried fish simmered in dinengdeng broth), us siblings had the fried fish, too... I think I prefer my fish "dried" and not immersed in broth.

207. Corned Beef Spaghetti

I wasn't in the mood to go to the market to buy some foods for lunch, so I just opened a can of corned beef (the New Zealand brand "Palm" is a family favorite), sliced some chicken hotdogs and boiled some spaghetti. The addition of Italian seasoning, as well as Cheez Whiz in the sauce made it really good, in my opinion.

As always, whenever I eat pasta at home, I always fix myself a cup of coffee; this is the Nescafe brown & creamy.

208. Jollibee Chicken Burger

Mom had her eye check-up today (once every three months or so, the doctor would call on her to check on her eyes - she had an eye operation in 2009 because of cataract), and sister went with her in case the doctors needed to clean the lens on mom's left eye (they cleaned the right one on her last check up). Anyway, they went to the mall to eat before going home, and they bought brother and I the Chicken Burger. It was good, kinda like eating peppery chickenjoy with bread (and not rice), but I still think KFC's Zinger is the best chicken sandwich.

209. Chili Garlic Shrimps

Talking more about the goodie bag sis and I received (re: Doritos), we also received a goodie bag from Lee Kum Kee, and in it was a pack of sauce for chili-garlic prawns. Seeing some shrimps at the market, brother decided to use it, and it was delicious. It had a right balance of taste - spiciness, sweetness, saltiness, that we might include buying another pack of this on the next grocery day.

Only six foods shared... that's because I already included Saturday's food on last week's post. :)

*** Jenn ***

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Black Forest Cake Recipe

I shared a picture of the Black Forest Cake I got to taste at the FOOD Kitchen Series in Enderun Colleges, so today, I am sharing the recipe of the cake, so you can bake it, too. Now I say "you," because we don't have an oven so I can't bake this, even if I wanted to. :)

Before I share the recipe, I would just like to share details about the chef behind this wonderful creation. Executive Pastry Chef Andreas Gillar is a native of Austria, and he acquired his education in the School and Pastry and Bakery in Baden, after which he graduated as Master Confectioner at the Master School for Pastry in Vienna. He worked close to 20 years as pasty chef consultant at Hotel Caravelle in Saigon, then as executive pastry chef for Cafe Wien in Jakarta. He was corporate pastry chef as well as of Hashoo Group, which owns operates two Marriott Hotels and seven Pearl Continental Hotels in Karachi, Pakistan. His most recent post prior to joining Enderun Colleges was as executive Pastry Chef of the Peninsula Manila.

We became his students for a few hours, and I instantly admired his way of teaching. He not only taught us, he also let us smell and get "up close" with certain ingredients as he went preparing and baking the cake. He was quite a jolly person, too, throwing us a joke or two just so the atmosphere in the Culinary Theatre wouldn't be too serious.




Black Forest Cake (the European Way)

{recipe provided by Enderun Colleges}

Ingredients - Chocolate Sponge Cake:

• 250 grams eggs
• 125 grams sugar
• 60 grams flour
• 30 grams cocoa powder
• 30 grams butter

Ingredients - Chocolate Mousse

• 120 grams egg yolks
• 50 grams eggs
• 90 grams sugar
• 60 grams water
• 400 grams cream
• 300 grams dark couverture chocolate (70%)

Ingredients - Black Cherry Topping

• 250 grams Black Cherries
• 125 grams Black Cherry Pulp
• 250 grams sugar
• 25 grams vitpris (or pectin)

Ingredients - Chantilly

• 500 grams cream
• 30 grams sugar
• Kirschwasser (alcohol made from wine)

Ingredients - Kirsch Cream

• 250 grams milk
• 65 grams egg yolks
• 75 grams sugar
• 1/2 pod of vanilla bean
• 6 sheets of gelatin
• 250 grams cream
• Kirschwasser

How to Bake - Sponge Cake

• Place egg and sugar mixture into bain marie, bringing to a maximum temperature of 50*C.
• Continuously beat the batter and whisk until completely cooled.
• Add flour and cocoa gradually and stir gently with a rubber spatula while doing so. Finish with the melted butter.
• Mold into circles and bake at 180*C.

How to Prepare - Chocolate Mousse Dough

• Poach the mixture of yolk, eggs, sugar and water at 84/86*C.
• Whisk at medium speed, but stop before the mix completely cools.

How to Prepare - Mousse

• Melt the chocolate at 55/60*C. Whip the cream.
• Using a whisk, add a small amount of whipped cream to the hot chocolate, achieving a smooth and elastic texture.
• Use a rubber spatula for mixing the chocolate mousse dough and the rest of the whipped cream.

How to Prepare - Black Cherry Jam

• Bring the pulp, black cherries, and half of the sugar to a boil. Add the remaining sugar mixed with vitpris, then boil for 5 minutes.
• Set to cool and then add the Kirschwasser.

How to Prepare - Kirsch Cream

• Whisk the cream.
• Bring the milk with vanilla to a boil. Meanwhile, mix the egg yolks and the sugar and let cool.
• Add the Kirschwasser and gelatin, then gently stir in the whipped cream.

Finishing and Presentation:

• Cut the chocolate sponge cake into three horizontal cuts. Using a pastry brush, add some kirschwasser on bottom cut of the cake then cover with black cherry jam, followed by the chocolate mousse.
• Add another cut of the sponge cake and brush with some kirschwasser again, then add the Kirsch Cream and another layer of chocolate mousse.
• Cover with the last cut of sponge cake brushed with some kirschwasser and cover the whole cake with Chantilly.
• Paste chocolate chips and put the cherry bits on top.

Again, another recipe that requires quite a lot of time, but really, once you taste the cake, it will be very rewarding. As Chef Andreas Gillar went on preparing the cake, I was able to scribble some things to consider:

1. While baking the sponge cake, don't open the oven door too often to check on it because the change of temperature will affect the cake.
2. While preparing the sponge cake batter, don't add the butter while there is still traces of flour because adding so will create lumps.
3. When adding chocolate mousse, Kirsch cream, and black cherry jam, spread it evenly so the cake will be even, too. Likewise, don't add too much of these fillings.
4. The cream and the mixing bowl and whisk has to be well chilled before using it.
5. You can replace the gelatin sheets with gelatin powder (1:1), but if you're going to use gelatin powder, bloom it at 1:3 - 1 part gelatin powder, 3 parts water.
6. Part of the success of the cake is how sturdy it should be, so if you're such a big fan of the Kirschwasser and would like to add more in the Kirsch Cream mixture, be sure to add more gelatin as well.

In the recipe, there is no need to cover the cake with chocolate, but when Chef Gillar presented this, after he chilled the cake covered with chantilly (there was this blast freezer in the kitchen), he also sprayed some melted chocolate around the cake using an air brush.

Quite a long time to prepare, and quite a lot of eggs and cream, too, so this you can prepare on special occasions. :)

*** Jenn ***

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Dinner with Ria

Hen Haw Chinese Restaurant

Bacnotan Public Market

Bacnotan, La Union

27 October 2010

I already told my aunt that Ria and I were traveling to La Union and would be staying with her for a few days, but because she works as a nurse and I didn't know her schedule, I told Ria that we might just eat out so Aunt won't have to worry too much about taking care of us. One of the things I love about Ria is how much she loves to eat, so when it comes to food trips, she is always game for it.

When we reached Bacnotan, we planned to go home first to drop our things before checking the sunset at Paratong Beach, but we could see the sun setting, so we went to the beach first (with bags and all). It was quite dark when we left the beach, so we went to eat first before going home. My choice? Hen Haw.

This restaurant has been there since 2008 (the picture above was taken May 2008), and it has been a favorite food place of mine whenever I go to La Union. Their foods are very affordable and their foods taste good, too.

Comparing the first picture and this one above, you could see nothing has changed; it still looked the same, from the lights all the way how they arranged the table. I just apologize for this blurry picture, on my camera it looked good, but when I uploaded it, it was blurry. That's Ria, by the way... as much as she loves traveling, she also loves having her pictures taken at the food places she visits - it's one of her ways of showcasing the places she's been to.

This restaurant serves typical Chinese-Filipino foods, but since we were eating snacks while traveling, we just went for something not too heavy:


Lomi. Ria's choice. At p50, this was a bowl of pure comfort. A little soupy, yes, but the taste was just right. The only downside is that this didn't come with toasted bread, and when Ria asked for toasted bread to go with it, she was given a slice of loaf bread - toasted, yes, but no traces of butter or margarine.

Beef with Vegetables. I am a rice person, and come meal time, I always go for rice meals, or I won't feel satisfied no matter how much I eat. This is like chopseuy, but with beef cuts, and I did like it. The vegetables are crispy, the beef was tender and wasn't fatty, and I had a very satisfying dinner.

If you happen to be in the town of Bacnotan, you might want to try to eat here. I am not sure where are the other branches, but I do know there is one located in the town of Bauang (the main branch). This one in Bacnotan is located at the town's public market, and is open around 9am 'til 9pm.

We decided to walk back home (after all the bags weren't heavy and that we needed some exercise anyway), and we talked about "What if Aunt prepared dinner for us?" Well, we both have just one answer: Eat!

...and eat we did, because there was dinner waiting for us. :)

*** Jenn ***

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