Creme dela Creme Blog

My brother and sister-in-law are starting a new blog together. It's called Creme dela Creme. http://itsacremedelacremelife.com/

Check it out! They only have 1 entry so far on their Brazilian Stew (Feijoada). The upcoming one is a cheesecake. :)

Here's a photo of their Feijoada. I've tried it and it's really yummy.

Photo of Feijoada that I took using iPhone 5s

Pizza Hut Party at the Office, Thanks to BPI Credit Card Charge Slips

I had some credit card charge slips from BPI over the past 2 months and I saw in the Real Thrills website that the promo with Pizzahut/DQ/Taco Bell would be over in July 31.

My officemates went with me to the nearest Pizza Hut branch to get our freebies. :) (Take-out only) The maximum charge slips we could use was 3. We used 2 charge slips above 12k and 1 above 6k.

We ended up with:

• 1 family size bacon cheeseburger
• 1 regular size supreme
• 1 family size spaghetti with meatballs

I added in an additional order of their chicken wings (I love the Medium Buffalo!)



We brought it back to the office and we had a mini merienda party!

If you've got BPI charge slips (at least 2k) from May 15 , 2013 to July 31, 2013 from BPI, avail it soon! You can only do so until Sept 29, 2013.

I still have a couple left. I'd like to go to Taco Bell for my next set. It's been a long time since I had a Taco.

Update: For charge slips dated August 1, 2013 to October 24, 2013, they have freebies in Chowking!

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake from Pino

I love this. I love that it's just right, not too sweet, and that the chocolate covered cherry didn't conflict with the cheesecake taste.

The chocolate syrup on the caramel sauce looks like tiger stripes. Wala lang.

Php 165 in Pino Bar

Halo Halo at Aristocrat

Yum...

Potluck and Quick Easy Tomato Cream Soup Recipe

Porkchops, Tomato Cream Soup, Wine, Whoppers, Havannets for Dinner

My friends and i got together for a "potluck". Chux made barbecue porkchops and brought red wine. Lance brought Hershey's Whoppers Ice Cream. Debbie brought Havannas all the way from Argentina! I made Tomato Cream Soup. :D We watched Friends with Benefits after (Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake).

So here I am - sharing the quick and easy recipe for tomato cream soup! It's quick, easy... this is the shortcuts and cheats version. It's not exactly healthy since I just used bouillon cubes (high sodium) instead of chicken stock, but I needed something quick.

Ingredients (Serves 4-6):

• 3 cups of water
• 1 chicken bouillion cube (or more, if you feel like it)
• 1 big can of tomatoes (sometimes i use diced, sometimes whole - i prefer whole)
• 2 cloves of garlic and 1 small onion chopped
• 1 pack of all purpose cream
• a teaspoon of dried rosemary (or anything you feel like adding, maybe basil)
• freshly ground black pepper and extra virgin olive oil at the end
• Croutons (my friends requested for croutons but I didn't have any)

How to:

1. Dissolve the bouillon cubes with the water in a soup pot and let it boil in medium heat
2. Add the canned tomatoes in with rosemary and the chopped onions and garlic. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat and wait for it to cool a bit. Add the cream in and mix.
4. When it's not boiling-hot anymore, transfer it to a blender but only up to half of the blender at a time to prevent it from spilling when you blend. Transfer the blended soup into a soup bowl.
5. Once everything is blended, it's ready to be transferred into the smaller bowls.
6. Add black pepper and a little bit of extra virgin olive oil on top. If someone requested for croutons, add it as well. :)

UPDATE!!! [Nov 18] Here's an even better recipe for the Tomato Soup, but it would take a lot more effort than this one. http://myhobbycollection.blogspot.com/2012/11/italian-cooking-spree-we-made-chunky.html 

Lunch at Dang Dee Taiwanese Restaurant

This little hole in the wall in Makati (Salcedo corner Benavidez) serves great food for a really low price. The price range of the rice meals are from 68 to 108. It easily beats Jollibee and McDonalds in terms of value and quantity! Of course, it tastes great too. :) A friend who lives around the area brought us here to try out.

Today, I ordered the Porkchop Bento for PhP 88. I usually get the Fried Chicken Bento for PhP 68. The meal comes with veggies, half of a hardboiled egg, lots of rice, and a zesto pack.

Pork Chop Bento for PhP 88! :)

The menu photo is too small, sorry... but as you can see, only the Chicken Leg Bento is over 100 PhP!

This place is usually full during the weekdays because of the office crowd and the AIM crowd. I went here for dinner on a weekday and the only thing they had left was the Dang Dee Classic Bento.

They also deliver around the Makati area. See the number below:

As they've said, they've got free delivery!

Find this in Salcedo St. Corner Benavidez St., Makati

Cowgirl Annie Steak from Brickfire Oven

Last Saturday, I had dinner in Katipunan in lieu of the Ateneo Bonfire. We ate at Brickfire Oven (behind McDonalds).

I ordered the Cowgirl Annie Steak (120 PHP). It's pretty good and the serving size was alright for 120. Good for the wallet of college students. Don't expect Mamou-steak level, though. :)

Chocolate Tableu Cheesecake from Pino Bar

I love this! :P For 160 Php in Pino Bar in Maginhawa QC.

Habanero Chili Turns Red

Update for October 7, 2012: Chili Fail :(

The habanero chili that's been corking (having cracks on the skin) for a while now. It's been said that the chilis that cork tends to be a lot hotter than the other ones from the same plant. It says that it's also a sign that it's ready to be picked, but then it was still bright green back then.

See the cracks? That's a sign of a very hot chili pepper. On the other side of this is the red tinge.

I've been tempted to pick them already, but it's a good thing that I waited because they're now starting to turn red! The flavor is supposed to be better than the green one. Good thing I waited! I'll probably have to wait another week or two until they get really red. :)

I noticed as well that the side that turned red faster was the one facing the sun. :) The weather here has been gloomy lately and I've been lucky to get enough bright sunlight.

I still don't know what to do with them. Some ideas were hot sauce, chop them up and put into vinegar, salsa... I'll be saving up the seeds as well to share with my friends. :)

Compare the bright green one from the one with the red tinge

To see the growing process of these habanero chilis, click here "My Habanero Chili Babies"

REALLY Quick Salad Dressing

I've been eating those Goolai Salads they sell in convenience stores for a while now. You know how big they are right?

I found that if I get the ones with the creamy dressing, I can't finish the salad. But if I get the vinagrette dressings, i can finish the whole thing!

I get tired of eating halfway through if it's the creamy dressing ("suya" in Tagalog). I also feel that it's a lot heavier in a not so good icky way.

So now, we have the caesar salad version at home. The dressing wasn't actually creamy, but it "feels/tastes" the same as the creamy ones like the ranch dressing. I wanted to give it a shot so i put in 1/4 (roughly 2 tablespoons)... i still found myself getting "suya".

How to: I grabbed some extra virgin olive oil, drizzled a bit. I added a splash of white vinegar (I used Datu Puti brand). I also added a little bit of chili-onion-infused vinegar (it's just vinegar that had chili and chopped onions mixed in). I tossed it all in.

It turned out well! My brother said it was refreshing. :)

There you have it! Vinegar + Olive Oil. REALLY quick salad dressing!

How to: Creamy Eggs on Toast (Microwave)

In relation to my previous post here on Creamy Scrambled Eggs using a microwave, I'm posting here the steps in making it.

How to:

• Crack the egg into a bowl, put in the knob of butter. Prepare [but don't add!] your other things to add in. In my case, it was basil, bleu cheese, and a spring onion leaf.
• Put it in the microwave and nuke for 10 seconds. Take it out and mix. Continue with the 10-second-nuke-and-mix cycle. If the egg starts to become solid, keep mashing to get the lumpy mix.

• When the mixture becomes lumpy like below, add in the basil, cheese, chopped spring onion. Mix it around.
• Do another round of 10-second-nuking-and-mixing. Add salt and pepper. Check if you're happy with the consistency. If not, keep doing the 10-second-nuking-and-mixing. Just be careful to not overcook, as eggs tend to continue cooking with the residual heat after you've taken it out of the microwave.
• After that, put it on top of the bread. :) That's it!

Creamy Scrambled Eggs on Toast

Whenever I want a quick midnight snack and nobody's there to cook for me, my go-to snack has been scrambled eggs.

The inspiration for this is Gordon Ramsay's "Sublime Scrambled Eggs", where the eggs' consistency is creamier than the usual spongy and oily version.

So anyway, i just followed how it was made (but instead, in the microwave, stirring at every 10 seconds) and added in whatever else was available in the garden. Sometimes I use onion leaves, garlic leaves, or basil leaves. (Don't at salt at the beginning of the cooking process because it'll make it watery vs. creamy)

I top it off with freshly cracked black pepper... maybe cayenne if we have.

My Chili Babies

Just sharing pictures of my habanero chili plants. *proud*

We got the seeds around October 2011. It's been a challenge getting them to grow, with my lack of experience in planting. The growing process has been too long, because it took a year to get to this point when it should have been 4 months.

I didn't even know they were habaneros until I searched for chili pictures to compare with!

Getting these to grow has been fulfilling. There are only a few of them that have survived. Now, there are already 3 fruits (There's only 2 in the pictures).

They're supposed to turn red/orange before I pick them off. I've read that it takes quite a while. I can't wait to try these! :)

See the photos taken in July-Sept 2012:

The chili bloom

After getting pollinated, the petals should fall off (yes, the yellow thing is a pencil)

Then it starts to grow bigger (the white bubbles on the leaf is soap-bubbles)

...until it becomes about THIS big.

Tuna Sisig from Leftover Canned Tuna

Today, i stayed at home. My family left home for dinner so I made "Tuna Sisig" from my leftover lunch. I put quote-marks, because I'm not entirely sure if it qualifies as Tuna Sisig because it's different from the usual ones where there's mayo or what.

Since I used what was available, I like to think this version is kind of unique. Instead of mayo, I used honey mustard (but only in very small amounts). I also used a little bit of basil for its smell, I picked 3 big leaves from the garden.

Anyway, here's what it looks like...

Ingredients (Enough for 1-2 people):

• About 1 can of the hot and spicy tuna (I used about 3/4 of the can because i ate some for lunch)
• Oil from the tuna in the can
• 3-5 pieces of fresh basil leaves, cut into strips (YES, I had some. I like basil.)
• About a tsp of minced onions
• About a tsp of minced garlic
• A dash of soy sauce
• About half a tsp of honey mustard (because I didn't have mayo)
• 1 calamansi

Procedure:

1. Put the tuna in a pan, break it into smaller pieces. It'll start cooking in its own oil. Add some oil from the can if it looks dry.
2. Add the basil, onions, and garlic. Let it fry around.
3. Keep adding some of the oil from the tuna can and let the tuna bits brown. I like mine partially crunchy. 
4. When you're happy with the crunchiness level, add the honey mustard.
5. Serve it on a plate then squeeze the calamansi juice over it.

If you like it spicy, add some chopped chili or add hot sauce. Since the tuna I used was already spicy, I didn't need to add anything else. Don't limit yourself to what I've written here! Feel free to experiment and use whatever you like. :)