Weekend Eating | Yummy Magazine Cooking Demo

More than a week ago, I received a message from Yummy Magazine inviting me for a cooking demo scheduled last Saturday, the 13th of August. I didn't have anything planned on the date of the event, so I quickly accepted the invitation.

My sister and I arrived at Robinson's Galleria around 12nn, because we were supposed to eat lunch at Boulevard Diner (she won some GCs), but mom suggested we eat at home first (to save money - she didn't know about our planned food trip). Since we were there early, we just took the time window shopping, and around 2pm, seeing there were quite a lot of people waiting for the demo to start, we decided to approach the booth to register.

Yummy Magazine's own chef Angelo Comsti prepared the first and the last dishes of the day, using recipes from the August 2011 issue of Yummy Magazine.

Fried Pork Spareribs with Salt and Pepper. First dish of the day was this, and I loved how the five-spice powder gave this its distinct taste. One member of the audience said this can be a good pulutan, but for me, this is already good as is, or with mounds of rice. I forgot the kind of salt chef Angelo used - but if we were to try this dish, sister and I were thinking of using the garlic salt.

Clay Pot Chicken and Rice. Will echo what I said when DJ Ingrid approached me to say something about the dish: It tasted like savory suman (or maybe kinda like tamales) - this dish is something busy moms / yuppies / students can prepare since they just need to put the ingredients in one pot and just leave it to cook. Also, because it's a one-dish meal, no need to worry about too much mess in the kitchen.

The original recipe was cooked using a clay pot, but chef Angelo said a wok, or any shallow/wide pot can also be used.




Celebrity Chef Tristan Encarnacion prepared four dishes, all using the newest Knorr products - All in One + Meaty, Ginataang Gulay (Sitaw at Kalabasa), and Ginataang Gulay (Langka and Laing) Complete Recipe Mix. I will talk about these new Knorr Products in the days to come, for now, let me just share you the dishes Chef Tristan prepared.

Chicharon Rice. A new way of cooking fried rice... this is probably my favorite dish of the day because Chicharon is one of my favorite foods, and yes, because of that I am a bit biased. :) Actually, people sitting near us expressed how tasty and delicious the rice was, and since chicharon cannot really make that much of an effect on rice, I knew then that it was the All-in-One + Meaty seasoning mix that made it really delicious.


Fresh Chicken Rolls. A different twist to the classic Fresh Lumpia, this one had cauliflower and chicken, as well as usual lumpia vegetables - carrots, singkamas, celery, and lettuce. Chef Tristan spread the sauce before wrapping the rolls, but of course, one has the liberty to present the dish according to one's preference. One thing I learned: cauliflower tasted good in fresh lumpia. :)

Crispy Laing Pockets. The lumpia wrapper gave it a good texture, but while I personally prefer my laing with rice, this could be a good way of presenting laing as a snack, and a way to cut down the rice intake of people who are dieting. What amazed me was how Chef Tristan just used dried taro leaves and the Knorr Ginataang Gulay mix (no garlic, onions, etc), and still it tasted like it was prepared traditionally.


Pork Adobo sa Gata. I was busy taking pictures of my food sample and Mommy Lariza said it tasted more like Bicol Express (sans the spices) than Adobo. When I got to taste my sample, I'd still say it's like adobo... only made creamy.

In between cooking demonstrations, they drew out names from the fish bowl - some won Yummy Magazine aprons and tote bags, others won Knorr gift packs, while 4 very lucky registered audience got to take home a frying pan from Masflex. I wasn't lucky to be one of those four, but I was lucky to have my name picked, and I got to take home a Yummy Magazine tote bag, which I will use on my upcoming trip to Cebu and Bohol next week.

We were all given copies of the recipes, which I will share here, once I try it out myself, because all six dishes were quite easy to do, so might as well try it, too. :) By the way, none of us left the area empty handed because all registered members of the audience got to take home a copy of Yummy Magazine's April 2011 issue. Yehey! We took home two - one each for sis and I; if you don't have a copy of April 2011 issue, I can give you my copy so you can try out the Yummy recipes, too. :) As much as I loved seeing two talented chefs share their talents, and as much as I loved sampling the dishes, I also loved seeing blogger pals at the event. A little shoutout to blogger pals at the event - Mommy Lariza, Yedy, Abet, Glenn, and Fran.

Big, big thanks to Yummy Magazine for this invitation. To know more about the magazine, as well as get recipes, you can follow them on Twitter or you can check out their Facebook Page, or check their Website.

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.