A bit late but better than never. Here's the last installment of my Maya Kitchen story.

The last day of class was handled by Madam Rory, the big boss of all the people at Maya's. She's also the editor of various Maya cookbooks which I've been collecting ever since. It's their usual call to let Madam take over on the last day coz our final assignment was to come up with our own menu and cook our own dishes. She did the judging based on how we conceptualized, wrote, and executed the menu. By the way, the food we prepared for presentations during the past 3 days went to her stomach pala. Fini-filter muna siyempre ni Teacher Imee... yun mga good enough to look and eat lang. *LOL*

As usual, the first part of the class was lecture. Madam just gave a round-up of what was covered during the first 3 days and a little bit of know-hows.


Before we started with actual cooking, the team leader from each group was asked to draw from a pile of folded paper. The thing written on the paper's the subject for the main course. We got chicken while the other group got pork. Various ingredients were displayed on the table and the menu should be based only on what's available. It was a bit of a challenge to work in group as there were many voices and preferences. One of the obvious differences was Girls VS Boys. While the girls were focusing more on planning the menu according to what was on the book, the boys were already doing their own thing. *rolling of the eyes* Planning was another thing, actual cooking skill was another thing. Anyways, here's the menu our group came up with:

Appetizer: Salad with Sherry Wine Vinaigrette dressing (Light)
Soup: Cream of Carrot Soup (Heavy)
Main Course (with Carbo): Roasted Tarragon Chicken Stuffed with Tucsan Rice (Heavy)
Dessert: Mango Pandan Gelatin (Light)

While the guys were busy with these...




The girls were doing this... *LOL*




The other group finished early, while had to wait for a long time for the chicken to cook. We were told na pag sa contest, roasting a chicken/duck/whatever is a big no no daw kasi matagal maluto.


Madam didn't wait for the chicken anymore so our presentation included an empty plate when she did the tasting :(



Finished product....




By the time we ate, the lettuce was already soggy and the soup was already cold. But in fairness, everything was yummy. Love your own ba? *LOL* I heard Madam was all praises with other group's pork teriyaki din. Sayang hindi namin natikman. *LOL* Anyways, masarap man o hindi, the essence of this activity was the put the wisdom of menu planning in practice. Taste can be improved later on with practice and experience.

Overall, I'm so grateful for deciding to go on with this course. Aside from the free cookbook (with Madam's precious signature), Maya apron, and chef's hat, I gained a lot of knowledge and a lot of friends. I'm still far from being a good cook, but at least I'm a wee bit better than before. My short term goal is for hubby to give me a perfect 10 in future taste tests. *LOL* But seriously, I have a whole new attitude towards cooking - it ain't just a chore! Could you imagine I spent more than 8 hours in Powerbooks last week digging through pile of recipe books? THAT serious! Pero siyempre barat ako at hindi pa rin ako bumili. Ang mamahal kaya ng mga cookbooks! *LOL*

Labels: cooking, food tripping, wifey diaries

Teacher Imee started the day by demonstrating the techniques to de-bone a chicken and fillet a fish. She did it so easily! I had the process captured on video using my cellphone. I dunno if I'll ever de-bone a chicken by myself. Or sa supermarket nalang. *LOL*

After the demo, we had an exam. 2 exams actually. Topics for yesterday and today. There's a part where 2 illustrations were given (English cuts of Beef and Pork) and we had to identify at least 5 cuts each. Ngayon ko lang natutunan yun mga cuts na yan! It'll be super helpful when I do meat shopping next time at the grocery. Another part of the exam naman is identification of herbs and spices. There were 4 plates and we had to name them. Funny nga kasi feeling chef naman kami at may paamoy-amoy at taste-taste pa kami. *LOL* I got 37 out of 40 for quiz 2 & 3. *yey*

I'm super happy with the menu for today. Most of them are my favorites! Onion soup, Spaghettini in Garlic-Pesto Sauce, Roasted Porkloin and Apple Glaze, and White Chocolate Mousse. I volunteered to do the pasta coz I really wanna learn how to make Pesto sauce. Quite simple. It's just mixing and blending of all the ingredients. Finally, toss the pasta and sauce together. Onion soup's another favorite. Loves na loves namin ni Dex yan! Eeks! Pati yun white chocolate mousse!

Labels: cooking, food tripping, wifey diaries

We started the day with a written exam. Thank God I somehow managed to remember some french terms and basic stock ingredients from yesterday's topic. I got a score of 9 out of 10 points! Yeepee!

I'm glad I did an experimental cooking at home last night as I learned extra tips from Teacher Imee regarding stuff that are not in the cooking manual.

Topics discussed today includes basic knowledge on marketing and introduction to different kinds of herbs and spices. As usual nakakahilo... aside from information overflow, (my God!) sari-saring amoy. At buti hindi kami hinimatay dahil amoy putok talaga! *LOL* Teacher Imee said, it takes a lot of patience and experience to familiarize yourself with them. Yan daw ang pinanggagalingan ng mga secret recipes na binabalik-balikan natin sa mga restos. Parang yun Victoria's Chicken or Chicken Kinasal ni Rosanna Roces at Juday sa teleserye na Ysabelle (ay bakya!) *LOL* You need to be familiar with them to be able to become a good chef. So... is there any hope for me out there? :D

Here's our menu for today: Salad Greens w/ Oriental Dressing, Cuban Chicken with Arroz Rojo, Cream of Mushroom Soup, and Tofu Mango Mousse. A lot of herbs and spices were introduced in these recipes. I was in charge of the soup today so I have no idea how others made their dishes. But oh my, all of them taste sooooo good!! Although may mga palpak pa rin in the process of cooking like missing out certain steps. Pero, wag ka, gourmet ang lasa! Yung chicken parang middle east style kasi yung amoy putok na herb (cumin) ang halo dun. Buti nalang mahilig ako sa mga pagkaing Indian at Arabo kaya nasarapan talaga ako. Kailangan mailuto ko yan sa bahay. Winner din yung Tofu Mango Mousse. Yes, TOFU! Di ko rin maimagine yun lasa nung una, but blending the tofu to the mango mixture really smoothen the consistency of the mousse. The food we cooked passed the taste test naman. The soup just needs a little adjustment coz it's too thick. Just need to add more broth until the consistency is flowy and bring it to a boil. Too bad, I was only able to take a few pictures today (yun lang soup kasi ako nagluto).



Unlike yesterday, I didn't do any practice cooking tonight. Napagod kasi ako sa shopping after class. *LOL* Funny nga, whenever I open my bag to get my wallet, ang lakas talaga ng amoy ng halo-halong herbs and spices from my bag. Nakakahiya tuloy sa cashier! Kailangan na labhan ang bag. *LOL*

Here's the recipe of the dessert for today. Medyo mahaba yun other recipes. If you're interested, kindly PM me nalang. :)


Steps:
Blend together first 5 ingredients until smooth. Transfer int a bowl. Add in dissolved gelatin and whipped cream. Put in containers/cups. Chill until firm or until ready to serve.

P.S. Malakas yata talaga apoy sa stove namin. I checked yun sa Maya's mahina yun low heat niya, pero yun amin parang high pa rin. Would you know kung na-aadjust ba yun?

Labels: cooking, food tripping, wifey diaries

After 45 days of hybernation, it's time to get out of the house and make use of my remaining maternity leave wisely....


Today's the first day of Basic Culinary Class at Maya's Kitchen. While I was handing the (expensive!) enrollment fee to the cashier, I have this thing at the back of my mind to withdraw the tuition as it might just be waste of money. I don't really know what to expect. I simply want to be able to cook decent meals (period). And I have to do it now or God knows when.

I was caught by surprise when I scanned through the cooking manual distributed at the start of the class - a lot of french culinary terms! Oh ha! Parang Ratatouille (Rat-a-too-ee)! *LOL* The topics are very interesting and at the same time confusing! A lot of which we haven't even heard of.

Here's the outline on the manual:
1. Kitchen Organization
2. Hygiene & Sanitation (basic microbiology, safe food handling: source, receiving, food storage, temperatures for food storage, temperature & it's effect on bacterial growth, general guidelines on how to store food, food preparation, thawing)
3. Kitchen Tools, Equipment and Measurements
4. Methods of Cooking (dry heat, moist heat, basic cuts of vegetables)
5. Basic Stock and Preparation (white stock, brown stock)
6. Basic Soups (clear, cream, puree, chinese)
7. Thickening Agents
8. Basic Sauces
9. Nutrition and Health
10. Meat
11. Fish
12. Vegetables
13. Eggs
14. Common Herbs and Spices
15. Ingredients Chart and Recommended Usage
16. Menu Planning
17. Garnishing
18. Meal Presentation

Interesting right??? :)

We're 10 in the class - 4 girls and 6 guys. The guys were mostly seamen on training while the girls were (oh well) attending for fun I guess? *LOL* The first part of the class was purely lecture. A lot of cooking terms and explanation of which is which. Cutting palang nakakalito na! There's coarse chopping, mincing, julienne and batonnet (ano daw?), dicing, cubing (iba pa pala 'to sa dicing), brunoise (ano ulit?), Paysanne/Fermiere, Rondelle at kung ano ano pa. In my world, it's just plain cutting! *LOL* Ang galing din ng trainor... she made the class very interesting and lively. Yun talagang narerelate talaga sa daily life even though you're not a chef like her.


Second part of the class was hands-on cooking. The class was divided into 2 groups and our first assignment was to prepare a full meal complete with appetizer, soup, rice, main course, and dessert. Of course, with recipe and instructions. Medyo sayang lang kasi we have to prepare the dishes as a group. Ang tendency, hindi namin nasusubaybayan kung pano niluluto ang isang dish if we're busy with another. Oh anyways, sariling practice nalang. After cooking all the dishes, we have to prepare 6 sets - 1 set for presentation and the other 5 for our own lunch. Thank God, the first meal wasn't a disaster! In fact, the food was yummy! I did the appetizer (which was admittedly weird) and the main course (the beef was tender!). The other group did better than us though. :)


After class, I immediately went to the grocery and bought the ingredients needed for the main dish and rice. Kailangan mapractice na agad otherwise I might forget the details if new recipe comes in. Most importantly, I want to know if I can cook them by myself; and whether or not hubby will like my cooking.

It took 2 hours to prepare everything...



Here's the finished product... latest addition to "Cooking ni Wanda" series :)


Time for taste test....


and the verdict?


The taste was a-ok naman... but the consistency is not. I dunno what's wrong, the beef was stiff. I'm not sure if it's because of the cookware or the gas stove at home. Food usually burns easily and feeling ko ang lakas ng apoy even if I set the heat to low. May idea kayo? By the way, I use tefal pans para easy to clean. Yun pan kasi sa Maya yun bakal na makapal at mabigat. Parang mas mabilis icontrol yun steel pan, pero mabigat lang nga. The rice naman turned out too soft. I followed the recipe naman though I was a bit hesitant when I saw the ratio of rice VS stock/water. Tama ba 2:5? Buti nalang I practiced at home. At least I can raise questions tomorrow para masagot nung trainor. (ETA: I asked Teacher Imee this morning, she said the amount of liquid is variable depending on the type of rice. So, same amount of water/stock din like the way you usually cook rice in rice cooker. I used Jasmine Rice and normally the ratio is 1:1. I was fortunate coz my tucsan rice didn't turn into tucsan porridge. *LOL*)

Is the class worth the money? I'd definitely say YES! Enroll na rin kayo! Masaya sya! :)

Before I say tata, here's the recipe for the beef and rice, in case you're interested. Easy to prepare. Try it and lemme know how yours turn out. :D

Grilled Beef in Herbed Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
500 grams beef sirlon, sliced thinly
salt and pepper to taste

For the Sauce:
1 cup tomato sauce, prepared
1 tablespoon onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, crushed
1/8 teaspon minced dried garlic
1/8 teaspoon pepper
oil for pan frying

Steps:
Season beef with salt and pepper. Pan-fry in a sauce pan. Top with prepared herbed-tomato sauce.

Tucscan Rice (yumminess!)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk green onion, slicked
1 pc. green bell pepper, brunois (smaller than diced)
1 piece zucchini, brunois
2 cups rice
5 cups stock or water (ETA: I have to double check this tomorrow adjust accordingly)
pinch of thyme
piece of bay leaf
dash of salt
dash of white pepper

Steps:
Heat oil in a casserole. Saute garlic, green onion, zucchini and green bell pepper. Add rice, stir everything gently and evenly. Make sure all rice grains are coated with oil. Add water. Mix again. Cook further as in cooking traditional rice when water boils, add the spices. Stir gently. Reduce heat. Right after cooking remove from heat and immerse pot in cold water. Fluff rice.

Note: in class, after adding stock/water and herbs to the rice and boiling it for a while, we transferred the mixture to the rice cooker and let it cook there. ETA: Possible na yun 5 cups of water is for casserole cooking. Baka pag sa rice cooker less water needed. (hm...) Question answered above.

Labels: cooking, food tripping, wifey diaries