Entries from August 2010 ↓

This is it! NomNom Club will turn 1 on September 9, 2010!

And we will celebrate our 1st year anniversary with our community of readers/email subscribers – the NomNom Foodie Club!

Updated Aug 31, 2010

Since it will be on a Thursday,  we will celebrate it in advance on September 4, 2010, Saturday 1pm to 3pm at the Greenwich branch of SM North Edsa.

We are thankful to our venue and food sponsor Greenwich.We will be having their new offerings including Shrimp Aglio Olio, Lasagna Supreme, Beefy Baked Macaroni, Bacon Chicken Carbonara, Ultimate Hawaiian Pizza 18”, G4 Pizza 18”, Shrimp & Garlic Pizza 18″, Hungarian Sausage Pizza 18”, and my personal favorite Philly Cheesesteak Pizza 18”. 🙂

Greenwich Pasta Fiesta - NomNom Foodie Club Choices

Check out their website and choose among the first four as I will be taking participant’s personal orders by Friday(Sept 3) through email. 🙂

We will also be giving away raffle prizes and giveaways including branded items! SolidHosting.ph will also be raffling a number of webhosting packages worth thousands of pesos! Even the early birds on event day gets some early worms. 🙂

Due to venue space limitations, we might be able to only accommodate the first 40 50 NomNom Foodie Club registrants as of now. If you have registered in the NomNom Foodie Club before August 27, 2010, then you are entitled to join.

Sign Up for the 1st NomNom Foodie Club Meet Up by leaving a comment below. In filling up the comment form, be sure to use your email that is subscribed to NomNom Club so I can check it in the list.

I will also update you guys if there will be any changes such as if we can accommodate more with a bigger venue. For now it’s only 40 50 slots. Let’s see first if it even gets filled up. 🙂

Lastly, I would just like to clarify some terms to avoid confusion. NomNom Club is the food blog. NomNom Foodie Club is our community of email subscribers who have also signed up through this form.

Sign up through the comment form below and see you next week in the NomNom Club 1st Anniversary AND 1st NomNom Foodie Club Meet Up.

What does it take to be a “Souperstar“? Lea, a wife and a busy mom to her family, exerts great effort to be creative in her cooking by experimenting on soup recipes. And with this, she depends on long-trusted brand Knorr.

Knorr Souperstar

A self-confessed “domesticated Carrie”, Lea has been sharing her experiences and hopefully soup recipes too (very soon) with busy moms like her through her blog, http://souperstar.ph/.`She could use some interesting widgets though, her sidebars are too bare. 🙂

In one of her blog posts, Lea shows how you can come up with an alternative to fried chicken, the Chi-Ka-Knorr. On the other hand, there is the easy-to-prepare Knorr Chicken and Corn Real Chicken Soup for the rainy days.

She also showed how Knorr Cream of Mushroom Soup can be used for the kid’s favorite fried chicken.

So how did Lea became a “Souperstar?”

“Remember my best friend Kaye, the girl from Unilever whom I ran into at the grocery last week? I forgot to mention she also helped me out with this little online hobby of mine. She told the people at Knorr about my mention of their product on my blog (the Knorr Cream of Corn soup she enthusiastically endorsed), they saw it and offered to co-sponsor it! Hence the apt website name – SOUPerstar.ph. Yay, thank you Knorr!”

Souperstar momblogger and her family

Momblogger Lea

In her blog introduction, “My late night chasing deadlines copywriting for ad agencies have now been replaced by keeping house and taking care of the two loves of my life…thanks to modern and my trusty laptop, I’m still managing to juggle a career as a freelance writer with being a pretty decent homemaker and part-time blogger. Who says you can’t have it all?”

Aside from helpful recipes, Lea also supplements her blog with photos of her cute kid, Gab, and her husband, J, and their food adventures for the day. You can follow Lea Souperstar on http://souperstar.ph/.

I celebrated my personal birthday a few weeks ago and a Jollibee cake made by Red Ribbon found its way into our home.:)

It was a big fondant chocolate cake with a big and cheerful printed Jollibee mascot on top. A fitting cake for a day of merriment.

Jollibee Birthday Cake by Red Ribbon

Chef Laudico

However, I was further surprised when I came home to our QC house last Sunday (two days ago) and found a Chef Laudico brownies box in our refrigerator. It was accompanied by a birthday greeting card saying:

“Happy Birthday. Hope you’ll enjoy this box of brownies especially and exclusively prepared by Chef Jackie Laudico…“

Wow, that sounds special, albeit belatedly.:)

I opened the box and found a set of ten elongated brownies. Something different from the usual square ones we see. And indeed, the taste was exquisitely premium. More than just the average brownie, it was a luscious mixture of the brownie; plus the roasted nuts caramelized cashew on top. I can’t exactly distinguish what kind of nut but it’s most probably cashew.

Chef Laudico Brownies - the Best!

It was so good. This is one of the best brownies I’ve had. I think this due to the good chocolate mixture highlighted by the crunchy and premium-tasting roasted walnuts caramelized cashew on top. Yum!

Birthday Card

I searched the Net including Chef Laudico website (http://www.cheflaudico.com.ph/) but didn’t find the brownies, not even its name.

And lastly, the card indicated:

“We have made a donation under your name to the Virlanie Foundation and the Autism Society of the Philippines.”

NomNom Club

What a warm feeling of goodwill done in your behalf for your birthday. Thank you GeiserMaclang, Stratworks, and Jollibee, you have made my birthday this year more special.

Out of 60 participants only 12 were chosen to battle out for the coveted title of SM Hypermarket Super Chef.

Housewives, culinary academicians, call center agents, kitchen crew members, restaurant owners, bankers, and retirees faced off in live cooking challenges a few weeks ago. The 12 finalists will battle it out in the four final rapid-fire final rounds that will determine who will be hailed as the SM Hypermarket Super Chef.  To make the competition more intense, the challenges will be televised over the Asian Food Channel.

Eddieson de Ocampo, Reynilo Peña, Aiza Mesina and Dante Cabalona compose the Northern SM Hypermarket branches.

Eddieson de Ocampo is a former champion of 2009’s Super Chef Challenge and a college professor who teaches HRM and Culinary Studies at Fernandez College in Baliwag. Finalists Reynilo Peña from North Harbor and Dante Cabalona from Marilao share a profession – both are successful carinderia owners who are seeking to make their mark on the Filipino culinary scene. Aiza Mesina is a professional events coordinator.  One of the youngest competitors at 22, Aiza dreams of owning her own food business someday.

Aiza Mesina, Angelo Cervantes, Islagel Gellidon, Eric Dizon, Dante Cabalona, and Eddieson de Ocampo (L-R, T-B)

Chefs from the Southern division of branches comprise of Islagel Gellidon, Leah Alava, Angelo Cervantes, and Louie Dumangas.

Some people were practically born with a spatula in their hands, like Islagel Gellidon, who learned the art from her grandmother and has pursued this passion and owns and operates a catering business while passing on the tricks of the trade to other aspiring entrepreneurs as a TESDA trainer.

Leah Alava, a homemaker with four children, attributes her ever-improving skill in the kitchen to her kids’ unbiased judgment of her cooking.

Angelo Cervantes’ family’s construction business specializes in the perfect mix of concrete, stone, and steel, but he would much rather concentrate on the perfect blend of spices for the dishes he whips up with a BA in HRM the College of St. Benilde.

Las Piñas branch representative Louie Dumangas is no stranger to the professional kitchen, having learned how to cook in his parents’ carinderia and then going on to become a line chef at TGIFriday’s.

To completing the roster for the Super Chef competition are the four chefs from the Central District branches, namely Mark Anthony Mejino, Eric Dizon, Josephine Portulin, and Roselle Manzano.

Mark Anthony Mejino is a culinary student of the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat, and at the tender age of 24, had already studied in Macau and worked there at an Italian restaurant.

Eric Dizon is currently the Assistant Head Chef at Gerry’s Grill Pasig who begun his cooking career with his first job at Ihaw-Ihaw along Tomas Morato when he was only 22.  Although he began his restaurant career as a busboy, Eric requested a transfer to the kitchen, and the rest is history.  Next year, diners at Gerry’s Grill Makati will hopefully have the pleasure of being able to sample his cooking, as he was offered to be the restaurant’s new Head Chef when the management found out he made it to the finals.

Josephine Portulin is an educator from Lucena, majoring in Economics. When she discovered that she has a gift for cooking, it wasn’t always smooth sailing – in fact, it was an employer’s negative feedback about her cooking that inspired Josephine to study cooking in earnest and improve her dishes.

The final finalist is no stranger to competition.  Eton branch’s representative, Roselle Manzano, won 3rd place at ABS-CBN’s National Food Showdown in September 2009, whipped up an amazing chicken burger that bagged first place at the Healthy Heart cooking competition held by the Philippine Heart Association, and won 3rd place for her ham sauce in Purefoods Ham Millenium Contest.   A dietician and a nutritionist, she works as a corporate chef at Trilogy.

Leah Alava, Josephine Portulin, Roselle Mendoza, Reynilo Peña, Louie Dumangas, and Mark Anthony Mejino (L-R, T-B)

The battle to become a star of Filipino cuisine is on! Catch SM Hypermarket’s Super Chef Challenge every Wednesday on the Asian Food Channel (AFC) beginning August 25 at 6:30 PM with host Chef Tristan Encarnacion. It has replays on Saturdays at 6:00 pm.

Thai cuisine gets highlighted as Marriott Hotel Manila brings the Flavors of Thailand to Manila.

Marriott Cafe features one of the South East Asia’s favorite cuisines – the Thai food – in partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Embassy of Thailand and Thai Airways. From August 1 to 31, satisfy your taste buds with a delicious showcase of authentic Thai dishes from Thai chef Thanathorn Krobsuay.

Chef Krobsuay, as Marriott’s official Thai food ambassador, shares his sophisticated style and expertise in Thai cooking flown all the way from the JW Marriott Bangkok.

Marriott Cafe

My experience of the Thai dinner buffet at the Marriott started with the famous Tom Yam Goong soup. It’s a spicy prawn soup with lemongrass and galangal. Although there are a number of variants of this soup including their color which is usually red, this one is white.:) It was a good prep-up appetizer.

Next in line was the Som Tum, a spicy green papaya salad. This time, it meant the word ‘spicy‘ in its flavor. 🙂

Other dishes I tried out were Thod Mun Pla, Spicy Wok Fried Seafood, and Larb Gai. Thod Mun Pla are Thai fish cakes (marinated and fried) with pickled cucumber, green beans and sweet and sour sauce while Larb Gai is a minced chicken salad with mint and ground rice plus lime juice and fish sauce.

As common as it is in Thai buffets, I give my thumbs up that night goes to the Pad Thai. I found the stir fried noodle and seafood perfectly cooked and taste that’s not too overpowering.

Pad Thais are considered their national dish which consists of fried noodles, eggs, been sprouts, shrimp, chicken, and tofu combined with other oriental ingredients including tamarind juice, hot chili, and fish sauce.

Ending the buffet was a Kanom Thai Ruam (selections of Thai royal desserts) which are usually made of coconut milk based or sweet sticky rice. Thai desserts are generally not as sweet as those from the Philippines which we are accustomed too. So if you are one of the latter I have mentioned, you might consider Thai desserts a little lacking.

By the way, I also got to try a Thai pizza which was conservative with the toppings. Interestingly, it had a basil leaf on top of each slice.

Too bad i lost all my photos in this food escapade. The photos here are care of Marriott Manila. Top photo by Alex Dizon.

Promotion

Moreover, diners who avail of the Flavors of Thailand buffet also get a chance to win a pair of round trip tickets to Thailand courtesy of the Thai Airways and Tourism Authority of Thailand. The prize trip includes a three-night stay with breakfast at the Rennaisance Koh Samui Resort and Spa Thailand.

Flavors of Thailand Buffet

Flavors of Thailand

The Flavors of Thailand buffet is available during lunch and dinner at P1,350 nett for adults and P675 nett for children.

Sunday Brunch is a little more expensive at P1,650. Children below 12 get in for half the price and children below 6 get in for free!

Marriott Café is located at the Ground Floor of Marriott Hotel Manila in Newport City, Pasay. For information and reservations, call (632)988-9999 or visit www.marriott.com/mnlap.

Being a non-Muslim, I am guilty of not really knowing enough Halal foods, or which products are Halal certified and the likes. Perhaps I didn’t care enough about it then.

But being a travel and foodie blogger, I would eventually come across Muslim communities and it would be truly helpful for me to know their culture and food practices including observation of Halal certified products of which this article is going to be about.

Wikipedia says that Halal is an Arabic term pertaining to food permissible according to Islamic law. The Muslim’s religion – Islam, implements laws that indicate which foods can or cannot be eaten based on their perception of ‘clean‘ animals. This include proper ways of slaughtering an animal for consumption. In general, the Muslims don’t consume anything with pork or the derivatives thereof.

Halal Food Products

You might want to check this Halal products guide. As mentioned earlier, I never really knew which products are Halal or otherwise and it caught me by surprise that there so many common-day products around us which are actually halal certified.

Some of the featured Halal food products are Skyflakes, Eden Cheese, Lucky Me Pansit Canton, Argentina corned beef, Fiorgelato ice cream, and Tang powdered juice.

“It aims to provide updated information to folks interested in purchasing Halal certified products. Links are provided directly to the company website for further information.” according to the website’s about page. Also, get updated on Halal certified food and products in Facebook.

It is indeed good to know about this new site serves as a repository Halal certified food just like a Halal food guide.

Exactly one month away from NomNom Club‘s first year anniversary, we’re officially announcing the establishment of NomNom Foodie Club! 🙂

Actually, it has been open to the anyone (public) with the link located at the header of every page. We are now at 70+ foodie members and counting.

NomNom Foodie Club is the community-based arm of NomNomClub.com food blog. I have also decided to take out the prior membership classifications to prevent biases. Although it was intended to facilitate group organization and effective communication, I think it is better off this way at this point in time (ang serious!). 🙂

The establishment of NomNom Foodie Club is part of the blog administrators plan of slowly opening up this blog to become community-based in the next two years; and eventually having the foodie club SEC (gov’t) registered if circumstances permit. For the short term, we could be having you guys guest blog! 🙂

I foresee a lot more potential with our foodie community like possible taste tests for new products, food group activities, and even themed food tours!

If you are a foodie and thinks that you can contribute to our community, please Register Here. It’s open to any foodies from anywhere in the world.

NomNom Club

As a final note, I would like to invite all our members to reserve their Saturday afternoon on September 04, 2010 to celebrate NomNomClub’s 1st Year anniversary 5 days in advance with NomNom Foodie Club’s first Get Together! We are most probably having it in one of Greenwich Pizza branches in Metro Manila, Philippines. Talks are underway with concerned sponsors as of this moment (advance Thank You to Greenwich; woot!).

Thank you for supporting NomNom Club!

Greenwich Pasta Supreme dlites

Greenwich Pizza recently released the latest addition to their Pasta Supreme line – the Pasta Supreme DLite!

Boasting of 70% less fat* by using healthy ingredients like olive oil and spinach noodles, Greenwich had the girl’s predisposition to be figure-conscious in mind when they came up with the Pasta Supreme dlite variants Tuna Tomato and Shrimp Aglio Olio.

*The fat comparison is versus the saturated fat from other existing Greenwich pasta.

The Tuna Tomato is a mix of chunky tuna, black olives, tomato, and as mentioned – the spinach noodles. Aside from the ingredients, it’s the spicy kick which sets it apart. (Photo Above)

Greenwich Shrimp Aglio Olio

The Shrimp Aglio Olio is the ‘sosyal‘ one with shrimps, olive oil, and chopped mushroom which I initially mistook for ground beef (lol). 🙂

Thsi is not me, ok? 🙂

On the side note, I tried these last month at the same time when Greenwich released the Limited Edition Level Up Pinoy Shirts.

For those who want it on the lips but not on the hips, try the new Greenwich Pasta Supreme DLites in selected fast casual stores like Greenwich Megamall.