Together with three fellow food bloggers Az, Melo, & Arpee, we guested in a cooking show entitled “Secrets of the Masters.” It was an honor to be one of the food tasters for the dishes prepared personally by Chef Sau Del Rosario.

Chef Sau Del Rosario

Briefly, Chef Sau Del Rosario is one of the country’s young top chef who first came into light when he was with M Cafe back in 2004. He now has his own Thai restaurant in Angeles called “Kingdom“.

Secrets of the Masters audience

He prepared 4 dishes namely

• Century Tuna Thai Fish Cakes
• French Brie Cake with Candied Fruits and Nuts
• Roasted Duck with Creamy Orange Sauce
• Mixed Berry  Trifle with Mascarpone Cheeze

Century Tuna Thai Fish Cakes

However, we were only able to stay for the first two since we have another errand to attend to.

Nonetheless, the experience was something else as we sampled the Century Tuna Thai Fish Cakes fresh from the chef’s kitchen. The tuna was chunkier as expected from a premium red label century tuna (the one used by Chef Sau).

French Brie Cake with Candied Fruits and Nuts

The French Brie Cake with candied fruits and nuts was a real eye candy and fitting for the holiday season.

There was no cooking involved. Chef Sau simply placed the fruits and nuts at the bottom followed by the French Brie filling the whole container. he finally turned it upside down, removed the tin and taraan…the Feench Cake with candied fruits and nuts. 🙂 I loved how the French cheese was slightly sweet and not eccentric.

Above is a collection of short clips from the show.

Chef Sau Del Rosario at 'Secrets of the Masters' Cooking Show

So please do watch out for the airing of this show on December 20, 2009 at QTV 11, Sunday, 7:30pm. Secrets of the Masters air at this time every week. See us savor Chef Sau Del Rosario‘s Century Tuna Thai Fish Cakes and the French Brie Cake. 🙂

Lolo Dad’s has gained its gastronomical reputation long before among Malate‘s finest. And now in Makati, foodies such as NomNom just has no excuse of trying it out.

Now in the form of a brasserie, Lolo Dad brings the experience closer to busy metropolitans.

A brasserie in Makati

Aside for the price range, Lolo Dad’s Brasserie exudes the same trademark quality of food and service at Ayala 6750 for about a year now.

“We created a Brasserie in order to give a more affordable Lolo Dad’s dining experience to the people,” said Ding Ayuyao, general manager of the Brasserie.

A brasserie is an affordable restaurant that serves wine, fine meals and beer.

Lunch Special Menu

With the holiday season, Lolo Dad’s Brasserie reinvented its Lunch Special.

At just P495 per head(exclusive of service charge), the Lunch Special Menu includes Mussels or Beef Cheeks specially prepared by Ariel Manuel himself, owner of Lolo Dad’s and Manila’s Best Kept Restaurant Secrets Best Chef awardee. This menu already includes three choices of appetizers, and for dessert, indulgent Vanilla Almond ice cream sitting on top of home-style banana bread.

For tapas aficionados, the Brasserie has prepared a tapas menu that won’t cost over P200*. Enjoy this delightful Spanish treat anytime of the day.

Lolo Dad’s Brasserie is open from Mondays to Saturdays at 11:00 am to 10:00 pm at Ayala 6750 in Makati City

Photo above (left to right):
1) Kebab of boneless Chicken Leg (with Garlic rice)
2) Mussels, Prawn and White Flesh pasta (in Chardonnay, Garlic and Anchovy pasta)
3) Stewed Beef Cheeks (baked with Puff pastry)

End your meal with a sweet note with the delectable Vanilla Almiond Banana Split consisting of Vanilla and Almond Selecta Ice cream with Banana bread.

Choco Walnut Fudge

I was ecstatic a few weeks ago upon knowing that Red Ribbon will be releasing their second ‘premium’ cake – the indulgent Choco Walnut Fudge.

The first one – Coffee Walnut Bavarian – became my instant favorite when it came out early this year.

Aside from the fact that it’s from Red Ribbon, the Choco Walnut Fudge was made more special since it used Hershey’s dark chocolate.

All these premium qualities earned this new cake from Red Ribbon the title “a 5-star  Indulgent Dessert.”

Red Ribbon's Choco Walnut Fudge

Slice of Choco Walnut Fudge

A creamy layer of chocolate mousse rests on the lower brownie cake both loaded with fudge and chopped walnuts all over.

Surrounding the cake is Hershey’s  dark chocolate ganache. Even the sprinkles on top and long chocolate curls around it are all made with Hersheys.

Yumm…

Aside from Hershey’s dark chocolate, I think it’s the chocolate mousse which caught my tastebuds. I’ve always loved the chocolate mousse cake.

Choco Walnut Fudge Cake with Hershey's Dark Chocolate

Hurry! Catch your own Choco Walnut Fudge soon since its only offered this holiday season! It retails at P680 in one size. Nomnomnom…

This Christmas season, Greenwich understands the Filipino’s penchant for celebrating the holidays with merriment and lots of food like the Christmas ham, roast beef, pasta, and fruit salad.

With these in mind, Greenwich introduces the new Triple Ham and Cheese Overload – its latest addition to the popular Greenwich Overloaded pizza line. It overflows with different hams and cheeses. The three hams are Chinese ham, pastrami ham and cooked ham while the cheeses include quezo de bola, parmesan and cheddar cheese.

For the pasta lovers, Greenwih ramps up the Meatball Spaghetti Supreme with overflowing parmesan cheese and thick marinara sauce served over premium-grade pasta.

Greenwich- Meatball Spaghetti Supreme

Moreover, other pizza and pasta products you may want to include in your Christmas get-togethers include the other Greenwich Overloaded pizzas—Extreme Cheese & Sausage Overload, Cheesy Blockbuster Overload, Special Overload and Meat & Cheese Overload, while the Lasagna Supreme and Beefy Baked Macaroni completes the cast.

So do get a slice of Greenwich Christmas with their Meatball Spaghetti Supreme and Triple Ham and Cheese Overload pizza.

Last night’s dinner was made of Yummy, figuratively and literally. Yummy foodie magazine invited a group of foodies, including Nomnom, for an intimate dinner at Tosco in Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati City.

Tosco, Dusit Thani Hotel

And who would say no to an intimate dinner invite by a food magazine? It’s almost sure, the food would be great. And I was not mistaken.

Potato Sour Creme Soup

Potato-Sour Creme Soup

For soup appetizer, we had potato-sour creme soup.

It was good and creamy. The lemon grilled shrimp slices even made it better.

I found the initally served bread complimentary to its rich taste and I cleaned up my bowl to the last drop.

I think the leaves on top is tarragon – an aromatic Eurasian herb for seasoning.

Tosco Bread

Stuffed Chicken Breast

Chicken Breast with a Surprise

The main entree looked like a simple chicken breast but I found a surprise marinated apricot and orange cinnamon couscous at its center. The serving of rice is also worth mentioning with its citrus-like aftertaste and scent. It was something new to my taste buds and I found it pleasing. Stems of green asparagus lined the plate.

Couscous is a north African dish usually characterized by steamed semolina and meat; in this case chicken meat.

Chicken breast with Orange Cinnamon and Apricot

Trilogie

Yes, you read it right – it ended with ‘gie.’ The dinner was concluded with a trilogie of vanilla, red wine creme, and caramelized mango. It was the goodness of dessert times three.

Tosco Trilogie: Vanilla, Red Wine Creme, & Caramelized Mango

The vanilla was prepared light and covered with shreds of crispy barquillos. Lovely.

It was my first time to taste a red wine creme and I loved its softness with hint of strawberry. Although I think I’m alone with this conclusion since the plates of those around me left the red wine creme half-consumed.

The caramelized mango was, well, caramelized mango.

Although a combination of three desserts sound overwhelming, I surprisingly found it wanting. The three were all sweet but it was not overdone. Simply said, I cleaned the plate.

Tosco's Caffe Latte

And just like after any sweets, a good cup of coffee is always appreciated after.

Yummy Planner 2010

Yummy Magazine - December Issue

It was a good way of celebrating the holidays and the blessed year of 2009 for Yummy Magazine as they release the Yummy 2010 Planner and 3 new cookbooks namely YUMMY Meals in Minutes, YUMMY So-easy Sweets, and YUMMY Weekend Cooking.

The Yummy Planner 2010 is now sold in major bookstores at P250 while the cookbooks are at an affordable price of P100 each.

Their December issue is also now out with cooking tips for Christmas like how to have a delicious and inexpensive Noche Buena. They are also adding new sections to the magazine and website Yummy.ph. Something to look forward to in 2010. Check it out here.

Tosco Wine Bar, Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati City

More photos of Yummy Christmas Dinner.

We also shared a good chat over dinner with fellow foodies Fran, Az, and new friends Oggie & Ferdz of HappyFoodies.com, among others. It was also nice to see Anton of Our Awesome Planet again and Joey of Table for Three Please, for the first time. It was a Yummy dinner indeed!

Merry Christmas! Indeed, cold mornings and hot coffee for breakfast is in season! As a treat for the holidays, NomNom Club is giving away a Limited Edition Starbucks USB thumb drive simply by creating your Christmas Wishlist of 5, similar to Facebook’s Wishlist which is five.

Simply create your wishlist consisting of 5 items and post it in your own blogs. In not less than 100 words, give it some story or narration for that creative touch. Place a link to NomNomClub.com and you’re good!

Submit your full name and blog’s URL/link to admin<at>NomNomClub.com anytime from today upto 11:59pm of  January 4, 2010. I’ll choose the best entry based on the following criteria:

White Starbucks USB Thumb Drive

Creativity of Story & Writing Style -  60%

Overall Impact – 30%

The Uniqueness of your 5-Item Wishlist  – 10%

The contest is open to anyone residing in the Philippines with a valid local address. The Starbucks USB 512mb thumb drive will be couriered to the winner anywhere in the Philippines for free.

The winner will be contacted through the email address he/she will use in sending the link.

Starbucks Christmas Wishlist Contest

If you’re not much fond of the original Limited Edition Starbucks USB, you may want to participate in the Starbucks Planner 2010 contest; or better – join both!

So what are you waiting for? Create that short blog entry, link to NomNomClub.com, and send that email to join NomNomClub.com’s Christmas Wishlist Contest and get that Limited Edition Starbucks USB!

On its 15th year, Jollibee, together with Aga Muhlach and the Jolly Toy Scouts has started the campaign for “MaAga ang Pasko” early this month. Jollibee’s MaAga ang Pasko is the longest running toy and book donation drive in the country that aims to continue spreading Christmas cheer to children in need.

Jollibee Donated Toys

The launch kicking-off the campaign was held in SMX beside SM Mall of Asia. Led by Jollibee executives, Aga Muhlach, and participating schools, they held ceremonial gift giving of donations in form of books and toys placing them in the donation stations to symbolize the start of the campaign.

MaAga Ang Pasko

With the series of unfortunate natural calamities that have struck the Philippines, Jollibee‘s MaAga ang Pasko drive aims to enhance the spirit of sharing and giving with more ways to make kids happy this Christmas season.

Jolly Toy Scout

Be Empowered! Be a Jolly Toy Scout!

Introduced last year, the Jolly Toy Scouts helped reinforce the message of sharing in a fun and exciting way by having more than 15,000 Jolly Toy Scouts from over 30 partner schools signed up last year to lead efforts in collecting donations such as toys and books for needy children. They also help clean up, pack gifts, and join the distribution drives.

Aga Muhlach

Aga Muhlach as Advocate

Once again, Aga Muhlach lends his support for the project and was honored as a Toy Scout Troop Leader in last year’s campaign.

“Seeing young kids and grown-ups pitching in to make other children happy never fails to brighten my day. These young Jolly Toy Scouts get to really understand the value of sharing …” says Aga.

Double Up Gifts, Double Up Happiness

Jollibee MaAga Ang Pasko Launch at SMX, SM Mall of Asia

In celebration of its 15th year, Jollibee will match every donation with a Jollibee toy, effectively doubling the number of gifts to be collected this year.

Albert Cuadrante

“As Jollibee matches every donated toy and book with a Jollibee toy, we will be able to double the number of donations and consequently, double the number of children who will get to enjoy a more memorable and happier Christmas,” exclaimed Albert Cuadrante, Vice President for Jollibee-SBU Marketing.

MaAga Ang Pasko Donations and Member Schools

Supporting Member Schools Make a Pledge

Children Looks Forward To Christmas

Adopt-A-School Program

In addition to this year’s campaign, MaAga Ang Pasko introduces a new component: the ADOPT-A-SCHOOL program that encourages schools and various institutions in becoming a partner of a beneficiary school. All toys and books collected, as well as the corresponding toys to be given by Jollibee to match their collection, will be given to their partner beneficiary school.

Jollibee MaAga Ang Pasko Toys

For More Photos, Click Here.

Please do support Jollibee‘s MaAga ang Pasko campaign. In your own way, you can teach your children selfless giving by encouraging them to voluntarily donate some of their toys, old or new, in any Jollibee branch nationwide.

Hello NomnomClub.com readers and subscribers. I recently received a delicious email from one of my admired chocolate shops in the metro – Heavenly Chocolates.

We had a very educational chocolate seminar in their shop along Roces Avenue early this year. And I was ecstatic to know that they’ll be having free tasting sessions over the weekend.

This coming Nov 21 & 22, Heavenly Chocolates will entertain customers for free tasting sessions. The first one entitled “Taste the Darkness” will be on Saturday, November 21, 2009. I’m not really sure if the title has something to do with the near-showing Twilight sequel: New Moon. 🙂

“Taste the Darkness” will introduce the new flavors of SACHI BLACK chocolates. Sachi Nama Chocolates are one of the premium products of Heavenly Chocolates. Free tasting is available all day long. Come with a friend.

The second day, Sunday, November 22, 2009, focuses more on the traditional Filipino merienda. The culprits are tsokolate (native chocolate), suman (sticky rice pudding), mangga (mango), and ensaimada (a type of pastry).

You can come in groups or as a family as long as you RSVP for crowd control. The available time slots are 2 pm, 4pm, and 6 pm.

Look for chocolate connoisseur Benjamin Pedro and RSVP via his email: benjaminvpedro<at>yahoo.com Wait for the confirmation email and see you at the 4pm session on Sunday. 🙂

Heavenly Chocolates is located at 127 Roces Avenue, Quezon City. When you are at the Timog Area, it is a stone’s throw away from the McDonald Morato Branch with a giant french fries facade. The shop is near the corner of Tomas Morato & Roces Ave. Their telephone number is 666-2208

For the first timers, Heavenly Chocolates is relatively an average-sized chocolate shop that can house about 25 customers at a time, but it gives you that homey atmosphere fit for a hot cup of chocolate drink during a rainy day. 🙂