Chocolate Tart: A Recipe from Around The World in 80 Plates

One of the best things I love about long weekend if I do not have a scheduled travel is the ample time I can spend in our kitchen.  Owing to the crazy schedule I normally have, rarely do I have the time now to create a decent dish I could share here on my website. Luckily, the past long weekend that transpired gave me the freedom to finally get my hands dirty in the kitchen.

Inspiration came from a recipe book which my mother gave me last year, Around the World in 80 Plates.  It is a recipe book published by Hinge Inquirer which boasts of a flavorful collection of recipes from expert chefs around the world. Having forces such as F&B World and Unilever Food Solutions behind the book, it is a perfect book for people who want to get their hands on trying recipes hailing from different parts of the world.

One recipe which got my attention immediately while browsing the book was Chef James Antolin’s Chocolate Tart.

California Crunch Cassava Chips: Healthy Alternative to Potato Chips

It may sound weird that I am starting this post by telling that I love potato chips. Potato chips rule the world in terms of food snacks, well at least for me. Truth be told, I cannot live without it. Yet, a bagful of extreme indulgence to such would always send me into a mental sparring with an imaginary cardiologist named Dr. Guilt. It isn't always a good experience, I tell you.

Good thing that someone introduced me to a healthy alternative to my well loved potato chips, California Crunch Cassava Chips. While it is made out of cassava, in terms of taste, it is by far the best substitute for the usual potato chips we all grew up with.   

I have been impressed with how well cassava (Kamoteng Kahoy) fairs well as an ingredient for some of the best local desserts we all loved.  Now, I am equally impressed that it is now used as a healthy snack with benefits to boot.

Chef Gene Gonzales Partners with Cookworks and Maxim

Last July 27, renowned celebrity chef Gene Gonzales has once again sealed the deal for continued partnership with Cookworks and Maxim through a contract signing held at Café Ysabel in San Juan City.  The event was further highlighted with Chef Gene’s cooking demo using his trusted cookware brands and a festive lunch.

The force behind Café Ysabel and The Center for Asian Culinary Studies (CACS), Chef Gene was in constant search for a perfect cookware that is at par with the one he used during his culinary stint in France and Italy. During the time when Chef Gene together with his junior protégés Chef Gino (Café Ysabel executive chef & CACS head instructor) and Chef Giannina (resident food stylist and CACS school administrator) was mapping out the fate of their new restaurant, Buenisimo, they discovered the two cookware brand which finally met Chef Gene’s standards in terms of reliable cookware.