Kubiertos

I realized that the info on Kubiertos’ About page has been obsolete for quite some time. So I promised myself I would change it today. And here it is.

History …by ApplesH

I have always loved to eat. When I was younger, I was taught to appreciate cooking by my dad. After being able to appreciate how great dishes are made, my love affair with food was sealed. It was fortunate that I formed close friendships with people who enjoy the same activity - eating. My friends and I would read newspapers to get first dibs on new restaurants around the metro. We would then make plans to try each one. We made fridays our lunch-out day. Each friday would find us in a different place. It came so that our other friends heard about our vast knowledge of food and restos that we were often asked what the newest place in town was, where to go to get delicious dishes or buffets or yummy desserts.

My husband wasn’t an avid eater when I met him. He ate only because he needed it to live. He settled on canned beans and canteen food to nourish his very thin body. I boast on the fact that I taught him how to appreciate the smell of bread, the taste of mouthwatering desserts, the deliciousness of his favorite pasta. Now, it has become our shared joy to visit different places and discover what each has to offer.

And because we blog about everything else, why not blog about one of the things we both love. So Kubiertos was born.

We initially thought to have it a sort of shared food website by inviting other enthusiasts to contribute. It did not fly and we were challenged to find individuals who shared the same passion we have. If we ever came across them, they would have their own blogs or websites already. So this is why I needed to change the “About” on this site. Its no longer applicable and I realize has not been edited in quite a while.

Ciao friends!

Link to Kubiertos’ About page.

I have always loved popcorn. When watching movies, I make sure I have a big bucket of salted popcorn with me before entering the cinema. That kind of popcorn has been so popular that microwavables were made. I came across them when I was in the US. I loved them so much, I had to bring home a big box of microwave popcorn to last me a year. Its a good thing that they have those now in our local supermarkets.

A while back, there was such a craze over Holy Kettle Corn. They were advertised as hand popped fresh everyday in addition to supposedly being no butter, no cholesterol, no preservatives, no artificial flavors, and non-fattening. Whew! Wouldn’t you just love to wolf down your favorite snack if it promised all that? Not really thinking about how non-fattening it is, these guys really taste great. It gives you an alternative to your usual salty or even cheesy popcorn. It is popcorn that is salty at first bite but offers a sweet caramel taste in your mouth. The kernels come glazed with caramel sugar. Imagine a combination of your caramel popcorn and your moviehouse popcorn. Lovely right?

Then there was Kettle corn. You will see these sold in Caltex Starmart and maybe in mall stalls. There is one Kettle corn/Snowstorm stand along Pioneer though that you can go to if ever you’re in the area. It appears to sell the same idea as Holy Kettle corn only packaged in a cheaper form.

A lot has already been written about Chef Tony’s famous popcorn. I first read about it in anton’s blog. Then I saw several of my officemates actually eating the stuff. I was intrigued. When I saw their stall in SM Megamall, I wanted to buy several tubs. But we would always be in a hurry so we couldn’t really stop to buy. Finally, I was in Metrowalk and I literally begged my hubby to let me stop and smell the Chef Tony’s stall that was in front of Pancake House.

I was in awe of all the tubs out there for me to grab. I was dizzy with all the flavors I haven’t tried. I wanted to taste them all. There was Caramel, Pesto, Parmesan, Cinnamon, White Chocolate Walnut, Mochachino, Light, and new flavor White Country Cheddar. Of course, I chose the newest one for myself. I was sure I was going to love it.

The White Country Cheddar popcorn was all that I expected and more. I love cheese and anything smothered in it is an instant hit to me. And that is what Chef Tony’s Country Cheddar is… smothered in cheese powder. As your tongue absorbs all the cheese, you start to taste that bit of sweetness that comes with caramelized popcorn. Yum.

I can’t wait to try all the other flavors.

I just love popcorn!

I just love birthdays. Simply because birthdays result in celebrations and celebrations bring food with it. For my birthday, we opted to have the celebration at home this time so what I will be sharing is a lot of homecooking goodness that we experienced last week.

First celebration was at my parents house. My mom cooked tons of food as if I wasn’t able to eat for a whole year and she wanted to make sure I made up for it.

We had my favorite “Ginataang Kuhol” (snails in coconut milk), Barbecued spareribs, grilled stuffed squid and ensaladang talong.

I guess you could say I inherited my knack for cooking and eating. Of us 4 kids, I was always the one tagging along with my father to the market to buy food for the house. I remember that I was always watching him cook. Initially, I watched because my dad would ask me to. He always said it would do me good to learn how to cook. Eventually, I watched because I wanted to learn more. I always loved to play house when I was little and I guess that was as close as I can get to it.

I decided to do the same at home. I planned a special home cooked dinner for my family and some friends.

It was fortunate that I had the whole day off from work because it really takes a whole day to prepare for such a gathering. Although what I had planned did not really take that much effort, the time was prolonged by my two sons who kept wanting to get into the game of my cooking.

I had planned to make baked mussels and bruschetta for appetizers and just baked zitti for the main course. Of course dessert was leche flan.

For the bruschetta, I bought some sourdough baguette from the grocery, fresh tomatoes and quickmelt cheese. Here is how you can make these little bread delights:

Procedure:

Slice the baguette in equal size diagonals. Toast them slightly just so you can easily rub the surface with garlic without having the bread crumble. Then rub the surface with freshly cut garlic. Use your nose to determine when to stop rubbing. Next step is to sprinkle the bread with olive oil (others may just want to spread some light butter). I like cheese so I grated quickmelt cheese over my bruschetta. Bake them until the cheese melts over the bread.

Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in small cubes. It will give some chunkiness to the bruschetta. Others may choose to place a large slice of round tomato on top. Either one is fine. Mix up your tomatoes with some herbs and olive oil. I used McCormick’s Italian dressing. Put a generous amount of the tomatoes on top of each baked bread. Serve and eat!

Mussels are a fairly inexpensive seafood choice but very good and used in a variety of dishes around the world.

When buying mussels, you have to remember to buy them from the market on the day that you plan to cook them. Keep in mind that fresh mussels tend to be tightly closed. Also, make sure that there are no news about red tide as it will be safe to stay away from mussels during this time.

How to cook baked mussels:

Procedure:

First cook the mussels in a pot filled with water. After the shells open, take the flesh from each shell and set aside.

Melt butter in a saucepan. When melted pour in lemon juice or calamansi juice. Taste the mixture to get your desired combination.

On the baking pan line up the mussels half shell and place one piece of flesh on each half. Pour just enough of the butter mixture over each half shell. Sprinkle each piece with grated cheese. Bake until the cheese has melted. Yummy!

Last one that I prepared was the baked zitti. For this dish, all you need are the pasta, the meat - ground pork or chicken will do, fresh tomatoes, tomato sauce, mushrooms, heavy cream, mozzarella, ricotta, and quickmelt cheese.

Procedure:

Sauce. Saute some garlic and onion in a saucepan. Pour in meat and stir until cooked. Next put in the tomatoes and the mushrooms. Cook until the tomato’s juice pours out. Next pour in the tomato sauce. Season with salt, pepper and herbs. For me, I always use basil leaves combined with italian seasoning. Make sure to season to your desired taste.

In a baking pan or pyrex tray, spoon some of the cooked noodles to make some sort of base. Then layer with mozzarella cheese. Next layer would be the tomato sauce mixed with cream. And then sprinkle with ricotta cheese. Continue to layer until the pan is full to the brim. Sprinkle the top with grated quickmelt cheese. Bake until the cheese has melted. Enjoy!

Part 2: I will tackle the leche flan at another time. Meanwhile… anticipate more goodness!

I remember Goldilocks from the snack cakes that used to fill my lunchbox in gradeschool. Not only that but we are often teased to no end as our school uniform is similar to the cake boxes used by Goldilocks. I guess I should add that my classmate happens to own Goldilocks. **Sigh.

At that time, it was the only bakeshop I knew and loved… until others sprung up.

Because of the “others” and my evolving taste and standards for great cakes, I must admit I have not tried to Goldilocks in a long time. In fact, when faced with a variety of choices, I would most likely not choose their cakes.

So it was indeed a treat to have the chance to try out their cakes again. My hubby brought this home last week. Until today we have not figured out what kind of cake it is - trust sweetie to forget - and the Goldilocks website did not have information on this particular cake.

Doesn’t it look just utterly good? I was giddy with anticipation of tasting it.

I took a very big slice for myself after dinner. Unfortunately, I ended up leaving a big half of it on my plate.

The base cake was chocolate. But you will only be able to discern that after going through heaps of icing and what appears to be cherry flavored mousse. The chocolate cake was ok. But the combination was… shall I say - childish. The taste reminded me of those locally made and sold chocolate marshmallows that are sold in your neighborhood store. Oh no not the marshmallows that I just recently wrote about. But those tiny ones that used to be sold at 25cents each. They were colored pink marshmallows that were covered in cheap chocolate. The taste was… pink. Going back.. The whole cake tasted candy-ish. My kids love it and I wasn’t surprised. Maybe it was made especially for them. Oh well… back to my favorites.

I have been blogging about food for a few months now, but come to think of it, I really have not had any kind of food writing experience. With that, it really seemed the perfect opportunity for my husband and I to get some formal lessons from those who know best.

The place where the food writing seminar would be held was quite far and unfamiliar to us but we were up for a new experience.

We arrived at the Quezon City Circle Park area about an hour early, not because we were excited (well ok we were) but because we were anticipating getting lost.  So we made sure we were at the right place, Serye restaurant beside Max’s Fried Chicken, before strolling off to look around the park. We returned about fifteen minutes before the seminar started and met up with Sexy mom at the walkway towards the restaurant.

We were ushered into Serye by a cheerful waiter which helped put me at ease. There were other bloggers already there. Of course Jayvee was there as he is the organizer of the event. I saw Lori of Dessertcomesfirst, and Juned of Dalanghita.com, and several new faces that I was excited to meet. Soon after Noemi of Pinoyfood with husband Butch arrived too.

Looking around, I took in the surroundings. It was my first time at Serye so I did not know what kind of dishes they served. With the green, red and brown interiors and the display of mouthwatering cakes at the counter, I assumed the restaurant served Italian food.

The class really was more informal than what I expected which was fine because I felt that I was the only one without the proper writing background (all I have is my blogging after all).

The first part of the class was lecture on food writing and things to consider when doing a food review or restaurant review. I got to take away a lot of notes that I plan to write about at another time. This blog is about food after all - so let me get on with it.

The second part of the class was an activity that aims to enhance our “feel” of the food without the use of our eyes. We were blindfolded as dishes were laid down in front of us one by one and we were to smell, touch and taste the food and savor every bit of it.

I must say it was awkward eating with your eyes covered. I felt that I couldn’t fully savor the dish because the OC-ness in me kept thinking I might spill something, or worse place the spoon in my nose rather than my mouth!

So let me walk you through what I felt for each dish I put in my mouth:

The first dish that I tasted was crispy. My first thought was hmm, “chicharon” (a.k.a crackling pork). Then I continued to chew and the crisp turned into something softer, like tender pork. My first thought, hmm sisig!

(** Sizzling Pork Sisig)

Then we were served soup. It was sour. It was the kind of sour I liked, where you tasted the sour more than the soup, if that makes sense. Then I was able to spoon some of the meat that was in it. And immediately I thought, white fish - Bangus! Sinigang na bangus!

(** Sinigang na tyan ng bangus)

The next one we were served smelled grilled from a mile away. Then came something sweet-smelling. The first bite was yummy. I can only guess that the chicken was left hours marinating in its sauce because the taste had seeped right into the center of the meat. The meat was tender, as if it was grilled just right. I should know as it is really easy to overcook chicken.

This dish I love! I think this is the way BBQ chicken should be.

(** Boneless chicken barbecue)

The next plate that was placed in front of me emitted a smell one would get out of a chinese restaurant. I couldn’t really put a name to the smell until after the class when someone said - sesame oil. That was it. I was instantly reminded of chinese food and I was right. The food that was in front of me was miki bihon. Thick noodles mixed in with very thin ones. Very chinese. Very delicious.

(** Miki Bihon)

As everyone who knows me know, I am not much of a spicy person. I mean I can take as much as I can, but I stay away from dishes cooked to be spicy. The first sip of the sauce of the next dish burned my tongue. I tasted gata and registered nothing else but Bicol express. With my mind set on that, I put my spoon down not wanting to push my luck and ruin my tongue for the next dishes to come (sorry!).

(** Serye Express - combination of Pinakbet and Bicol Express)

I just love Kare-kare and try my best to have it at home as often as possible without driving my family crazy. The Kare-kare of Serye was so tasteful. The peanut sauce was chunky and salty at the same time. Most Kare-kare’s I have tasted in restaurants either tasted so much like peanut butter or did not taste like anything at all. Theirs didn’t need the help of bagoong (shrimp paste) to enhance the taste.

(**Ox tail Kare-kare)

The next one was served in a cold glass with a straw. I was excited to get a drink as by this time, my throat was hankering for one. Hmm…. aaaahhh! Refreshing. I tasted sweetened brewed tea with tons of ice. I say brewed because it left my palate dry unlike the instant ones that fastfood establishments served. I admit I am guilty of finishing the whole glass.

(** Serye Iced Tea)

Of all the dishes served, the last was the one that was most unfamiliar to me. I tasted a small turon (banana wrapped in spring roll wrapper) coated with hardened caramel and sprinkled with chocolat-e. I say chocolat-e because it wasn’t the chocolate syrup that most of us know. It tasted like the ones that we drink out of a small cup.  It wasn’t sweet so it really complimented the turon. One that stood out of the bunch on the plate was the small ensaymada (sweet bread topped with cheese) that was also sprinkled with the chocolat-e. There were 3 other small turons, each having a different filling. We were told later on that these were filled with: banana langka, pineapple buko (coconut), and mango sago (tapioca).

(** Serye’s Fondue)

Talk about delicioso! After all the taste-testing, we were ready to have a full blown meal after all it was already past the lunch hour. We were served the Boneless chicken barbecue, Miki-bihon, Serye express and Boneless crispy pata. I’m afraid I don’t have any pictures of the legendary Boneless crispy pata. My husband could not get over not knowing how the pata was made boneless. The meat was served in round, thin, crispy pieces similar looking to morcon or even meatloaf. We asked the owner, Nina, how it was made and she joked that they bred pigs without bones. Haha! My husband’s curiosity was not satisfied that he actually thought hard about the process of de-boning the pig - which he told me about later on.

Unfortunately, we were not able to try the delicious looking desserts on display but that gives us an excuse to come back next time.

Although I am not fond of eating at restaurants that serve Pinoy dishes (I always feel that I can just as easily cook the dishes at home), Serye offers something new. I especially love the chicken barbecue, kare-kare and boneless crispy pata - three reasons why I will keep coming back for more.

More pictures at the Gallery.

Here are the other participants of the Food Writing class at Serye, QC:

1. Betty Tianco
2. Denise Mallabo
3. Juned
4. Noemi and Butch Dado
5. Lori Baltazar
6. Dine Racoma
7. Kitchen Cow
8. Chris Haravata
9. Apples H
10. Gold Quetulio
11. Lennie Reyes
12. Wyatt Belmonte
13. Iron Chef Jabes
14. Jennifer Baradas
15. Arpee

Serye Restaurant

Elliptical Rd.
Quezon Memorial Circle
Quezon City
Tel. 924-3411, 924-3394