Musings of a Traveling Chef

Fresh from the new addition to The Hutong's Baking Made Easy class is a pie making class.  I never like pies but I'm intrigued with the process.  Moreover, the class promised to create two types of pie: savory and sweet. For the savory pie, we made Mrs. Hering's Famous Chicken Pot Pie.  For the sweet pie, we made the classic Apple Pie.  I didn't know making pies was easy and fun.  I'm planning to recreate the apple pie in the near future because it was that good.  Moreover, even if it's not freshly baked when eaten, it's still so good. Classic Apple Pie Ingredients: (one large pie) Pie Crust 1 cup flour 2 tbsp sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 150g cold butter 3 tablespoons ice cold water Apple Filling 4 apples (peeled) 170 gm sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 tablespoon lemon juice

After attending my cookie class and saw how easy it was to make cookies, I searched for recipes online to experiment on.  Initially, I was planning on recreating my cousin's white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies but ended up with a chocolate chip cookie due to the cost of macadamia nuts. I have baked this cookie several times with different results each time.  The only thing that is consistent is the soft and chewy texture in the middle and the slightly crunchy texture in the edges.  It's one of the most requested items by my friends during parties. Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients:  (yield 24 medium-sized cookies) 2/3 cup butter (151g) 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1-2/3 cup all purposed flour 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 6 ounces chocolate chip (I just pour whatever amount I want)

My dad owns a farm in Northern Cebu.  On one of our conversations, he mentioned that he was giving away some of his fruit produce for free so that it won't rot on the farm.  This made me think that maybe he could preserve and sell them in the local market.  I was also thinking that maybe I can study how and perhaps add this to my line of cookies that I plan to market in the future.  When The Hutong opened a Strawberry Specials class, I didn't hesitate to join. Traditional Homemade Strawberry Jam Ingredients: (yields 4-6 cups of jam) 2kg  strawberries, rinsed, hulled and cut into i-inch pieces (almost ripe strawberries) 5 cups granulated sugar 1/2 cup lemon juice

For the past 10 years, I've called Beijing my home. I've eaten in a lot of restaurants, been to a lot of places and experienced life living like a local. If you plan to visit Beijing, the top 4 places to visit would be Forbidden City, Great Wall (Mutianyu section please!), Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace. However, if you talk about food, I give you fast 5 of Chinese cuisine you must try in Beijing:  1. Beijing roast duck (aka Peking Duck): a must-eat food when you visit Beijing. The duck is roasted with wood in a stone oven rubbed with spices and no oil. Best to order this dish when you reserve a seat as it take quite some time to cook. The duck will be carved right in front of you for Instagram shots!  Notable restaurants are: Quanjude (Hepingmen Branch only, don't bother with the other branches), Da Dong, Duck De Chine, Made In China (Grand Hyatt hotel).