Top Ten Finds at Yummy Eats 2012

Just like what I wrote on my last post, sister and I were at the Yummy Eats 2012 event at the Rockwell Tent in Makati.



Upon arriving, we exchanged our complimentary pass (given by Yummy Magazine - thank you so much) for the Yummy Eats 2012 passport. A very awesome piece of souvenir, and because the tent was packed with lots of people, the passport had everything foodies need to know - Things to do, the directory of all the concessionaires, and a map where to locate each concessionaire.


The passport also has a page for the stamps. Each concessionaire offers free taste, but of course, to prevent someone from visiting the booth over and over for free food, one must surrender the passport for stamping - means you already visited the booth for the free food, but of course, everyone is welcome to come back and  buy the products as each concessionaire has enough stock for selling.

There were about 51 concessionaires, but I wasn't able to stop by every booth to sample their dishes. Based on the ones I tried, here are my Top Ten choices. No ranking as they are all good - I just picked my 5 favorites from the Sweets Lane and 5 favorites from the Savory Lane.

Let's start with the Savory Eats Lane. My top 5 favorites in alphabetical order:



Chicken Delish
Annalyn Jusay | 09163361833 | annalyn.jusay@gmail.com

I first got to taste Chicken Delish at the Best Food Forward event, but was able to taste the Pinoy BBQ flavor. At the Yummy Eats event, they were giving a piece of chicken with the Sweet and Spicy glaze (their best seller) for the free taste and I find it something really interesting. At first bite, it was like "just fine," but as I eat more and more of it I started loving it. The glaze was really tasty and the chicken had a very light flavor - making me taste more of the chicken goodness with the glaze.


Pepita's Lechon
Dedette dela Fuente | 09178660662 / (02)425-4605 | pepitaskitchen@gmail.com

The lechon, or roasted pig is definitely part of Filipino's rich gastronomic culture and history. I didn't quite like the sauce as it was a little runny for my taste, but the lechon itself was sooo good! The meat was tender and juicy and the skin was just heavenly! My sister and I cannot really get over its taste that up until now - nearly a week after we tasted it, we still are raving about it.


Qitchen Queens
Shar Tan | 09228380308 / (02)721-5360 | qitchenqueens@gmail.com

Everything we tasted from Qitchen Queen's booth were all good, but it was the Crab Artichoke Dip that I loved the most. It was creamy, I could taste the artichoke and the crab and it was a good pair for toasted bread.


Wabi-Sabi
Ibarra Padolina | 09189622935 | wabidashsabi@gmail.com

Quite a lot of veggie cracklings were made available to public maybe over a year ago, but most were made from green peas. Wabi-Sabi's veggie cracklings are made from tofu and oh my gosh, they taste like real pork!


Whisk Salad Dressings, Dips, and Sauces
Czarina Yu | 09285050335 | facebook.com/ilovewhisk

They had a few dips, salad dressings, and sauces they let people taste, but it was the Spinach-Artichoke Dip that I loved the most because it was chunky and it had the right flavor.

My Top Five Choices from the Sweet Eats Lane, in alphabetical order:


Choclery Artisan Chocolates
Kathy Ong | 09178958168 | choclery@gmail.com | facebook.com/choclery

What I loved about their chocolates was the surprise inside. Looking at it from the outside, you might think it's just a chocolate bar and that the flavor was incorporated to the chocolate mix...until you bite it. I especially loved the chili chocolate as even if the kick of spice was there, one could still enjoy the goodness of the chocolate.


Cupcake Boutique
Klar Joseph | 09175335527 | thespoonisflat.com

I am a big fan of cupcakes (that is no secret), and I just love Cupcake Boutique's red velvet cupcake!


J.Co Donuts & Coffee
Alvene Ngo / Trina Lim | 8448441 loc 114 | alvenengo@cfi.com.ph / trinalim@cfi.com.ph

I have been reading and hearing a lot of raves about J.Co Donuts and I was thankful that they were part of Yummy Eats 2012. I got to taste two flavors - Green Tea and Alcapone - sister loved the Green Tea, I loved the Alcapone, and I am now eager to visit a J.Co Donuts & Coffee branch to buy my family a whole lot of donuts.


Mochiko
Nowie Potenciano | 09998840624 | facebook.com/mochikomochi

Mochicko is something my sister and I love the moment we tasted it. I told myself I will not include them on my list as it's already a favorite of ours, but tasting the Oreo & Milk mochi just blew me away!


Pinkerton Ice Cream
Alexandra Rocha | 09173611329 | pinkertonicecream@gmail.com

Guava Basil Sorbet. Something that seemed to be a weird combination, but believe me when I say that this one's awesome! My tummy cannot tolerate that much dairy product, so tasting this was a great change.



   

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Hormel Natural Choice Packaged Deli Sandwich Meats

Packaged Deli Sandwich Meats

Have you see this product yet?

Up until this product came along, we had no options in our little corner of the world for Gluten Free Lunchmeat except the one ham product they sold. One day the ham I purchased was sold out and that left me with no options.  Lucky for me I had time to go rooting though the refrigerated section and found this.

Right there on the bottom left hand corner (too small to read in this picture) says Gluten Free.  Flip the package around and it will tell you how it has no nitrates, no nitrites, no artificial ingredients, minimally processed, no MSG and raised without hormones.

Here is the ingredients list for ya!

Ingredients: Turkey Breast Meat, Water, Salt, Potato Starch, Turbinado Sugar, Rice Starch, Carrageenan (from seaweed), Baking Soda, Celery Juice Powder, Lactic Acid Starter Culture (not from Milk).

I wonder why they need stuff like the starches and baking soda?  It's not like they are baking a cake with it!  LOL...   I remember way back when we lived in New Jersey, we used to be able to go the the supermarket and order store roasted meats in the deli section to be sliced.  These were basically only the fresh meats, roasted.  Those were the days right?  I think I need to open a throw back mom and pop supermarket someday!

The starches and sugars make this product not exactly Paleo for us dieting adults but still a perfectly reasonable option for my children and the Gluten Free Community.

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Paleo Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

This is basically my old Salisbury Steak recipe minus the sugars and condiments like Worcestershire and Soy Sauce that I would have normally used, but are a Paleo NoNo. Soy is a Legume which is a Paleo NoNo and Worcestershire has sugar so that rules that out.  I am not so sure how the Paleo world would look upon me using powdered Garlic and Onion but I feel that it adds a tremendous amount of flavor when combined with fresh. It is amazing how good the flavor was in this dish.

Initially I tried to thicken the gravy up with Coconut Flour.  Although it was thickened slightly, it acted like sludge at the bottom of the pan.  The sludge did not affect the flavor, but the look was unappealing.  My husband suggested I try Gum but what I ended up doing is boiling the sauce down to a glaze and it slightly thickens and dramatically enhances the flavor.

The old picture, obvious from the corn in the background! 

Patties
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 teaspoon Fresh Garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 teaspoon Mustard Powder
1/4 teaspoon Thyme
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1 egg

Gravy
4 Tablespoons Butter
1 large Onion, quartered and sliced
8 ounce Mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon Fresh Garlic, minced
1 cup Beef Stock, good quality
1 teaspoon dried onions
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Mustard Powder
1/4 teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1/8 Cayenne Pepper

• Add all patty ingredients and mix well. 
• Form into 5 or 6 oval shaped patties. 
• Add 2 Tablespoons Butter to pan and brown patties on each side, remove from pan.
• Add 2 more Tablespoons of Butter to pan along with onion, mushrooms and fresh garlic. 
• Cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms give some moisture. 
• Add patties back to the pan and add remaining sauce ingredients.
• Cook for 7 to 10 minutes on low, until patties are heated through and sauce is thickened.

Serve with Mashed Cauliflower and enjoy a paleo style comfort meal!!! ;-).

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Yummy Eats 2012

Last Saturday, my sister and I were at the Rockwell Tent for Yummy Eats 2012. We enjoyed last year's event, so receiving invitations for this event made us really excited about it.

Biggest part of the event was sampling (and buying) food products from different concessionaires, but since that will be a long post, I will talk about my Top 10 finds on the next post, for now let me talk about the Food Demo and other parts of the event.

When we got there, Century Bangus was about to do their Food Demo, but since my sister and I were making rounds at the different concessionaires, we weren't able to watch it.


After eating our lunch, sister and I found empty seats at the demo area, which allowed me to watch the McCormick demo, featuring their new product: the Bread Spread.


Five dishes were made, but we (sister and I) only got to taste three because whenever we would ask for our share the staff would give it to others (haha): (left to right) Baked Butterflied Prawns in Garlic & Herb, Easy Caesar with Herb Parmesan, and Angeled Eggs with Pesto. Sister and I loved the three dishes and were very much convinced that the McCormick Bread Spread is so versatile and very tasty, too! Among the three flavors, we loved Garlic the most.


A few minutes after, Hunt's had their demo presented by celebrity chef Nino Logarta together with Hunt's celebrity endorser Jean Garcia. They prepared dishes using Hunt's tomato and spaghetti sauces.



At the same time, three mommy bloggers at the far end of the stage were also cooking it off using Hunt's products. Together with their kids as their assistants, they were asked to whip up three (or more) dishes in one hour. I wasn't able to follow the names of the dishes they made, but I admire them for coming up with three dishes in one hour while cooking in front of many audience.


In the end, it was mommy blogger Jackie Go who was named the winner, but of course all three contestants are winners in their own rights.

There were a few more demos after this, but my sister has to report for work already, so we decided to leave. It was indeed a fun event, and this early, we are already looking forward for the next Yummy Eats event.

Tomorrow, I will share our favorite food and dishes at the event.

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Menu Plan Monday: Week of May 28th 2012

Happy Memorial Day everyone!  We will be honoring our fallen heros as well as all the other noble men and women who served at our local city hall with my son's Cub Scouts Group bright and early Monday Morning.  I love how Cub Scouts incorporates into their program good examples like Community Service and respect.  Now I feel like our kids won't grow up thinking Memorial day is national BBQ day.  Speaking of BBQ's, we are also having one of those too!
:-).

I am still muddling though this idea of a Paleo Diet.  My husband says he lost 18  pounds now.  WOW!!!  He is totally hard core about never eating carbs, sugars, legumes. Our diet has really gotten shabby lately and really did need a face lift.  Our new direction though is a diet called The Rosendale Diet.  His idea is eating for longevity but it his ideas are extremely similar to the Paleo Diet.

Sunday:

Dijon Mustard Pork Tenderloin with Paleo friendly Cole Slaw.   I have not looked up the Paleo Mayo recipe yet but I have in mind digging out my Julia Child cooked mayo recipe and making that Paleo by way of oil choices.  We are a mayo and cabbage sort of cole slaw family.  Simple spices like garlic and onion powders, salt and pepper and we are very happy.  

Memorial Day Monday:

BBQ Lunch: Grilled Back yard Burgers with Layered Romain, Sweet Onions and Plumb Tomatoes on top, green salad with home made Balsamic Vinegar Dressing, Greek Salad.  Chips and Dip for those non Paleo folks.  Watermelon for dessert!

Dinner: Stuffed Yellow, Orange and Red Bell Peppers.  Going to use cauliflower instead of rice and my home made Bolognese Meat Sauce minus the sugar and made a tad thicker.  Should be good.  Probably serve that green salad on the side again.  When we were younger we used to serve green salad to ourselves before we ate any meal. We had really gotten into a rut and its time to bring back the veggies.

Tuesday:

Avocado Boats and Green Salad.  Found this idea over at PeaceLoveandLowCard.blogspot.com and I think this idea is just brilliant.  I just happen to have ripe Avocado's to use as well as leftover chicken legs that I picked clean of its meat.  Using leftover Paleo Mayo I made Sunday.

Wednesday:

Hungarian Pot Roast with Sour Cream and Paprika Gravy

I think Sour Cream is the "grey area" of Paleo so I'm using it.... ;-).
Served with a side of Sauteed Mushrooms.

Thursday:

Roasted Chicken Breasts &

Mashed Cauliflower.  Maybe Broccoli too!

Friday:
Turkey Burgers served over Sauteed Spinach
and served along side Cauliflower Rice

Saturday:
Strip Steaks, Sauteed Zucchini and Summer Squash
& Garden Fresh Cucumber Salad (home made Paleo Mayo)

Sunday:
Spaghetti Squash with leftover Bolognese Meat Sauce
Served with a Side Salad

Looking for inspiration? I can help in three different ways.

1. Head on over to Orgjunkie.com and visit Laura's Menu Plan Monday.
2. Visit Heather at Celiac Family, the Gluten Free Menu Swapheadquarters!
3. You can also view my past menu plans here 

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