Agricola Mornings and Breakfasts

The past two weeks have been fun except for my thesis. I have enjoyed creating this blog, cooking food, and playing board games. For some of you who may know, I am a board gamer. It has been a really fun experience, not to mention the new friends that I have been playing with. It is a very rewarding hobby because it gets to test your brain in all aspects and gets you to bond more with your friends and family.

Anyways, for the past two weeks, we have been playing this game called Agricola and I just want to tell you guys about it before telling you all about my meal that I cooked for breakfast just a while ago. Don't worry it's somewhat connected.

For some of you may know again, I host an event at least once a month called, Game Day and Food Day, here at my house in Katipunan. We usually play board games starting after lunch until past midnight. You guys who are interested in gaming and/or food should really come and try it out. For the past two Saturdays (or Sunday) and just yesterday (or a while ago), we played Agricola. Except for a while ago, we started playing the game early morning and finished in the morning, thus the title. Ha ha ha! For our first game, we started at 4 AM and ended around 8 or 9 AM. The second game started at 2 AM and ended at 5 or 6 AM. A while ago, the game started at 11 AM and ended at 2 or 3 AM. Agricola Mornings everyone!

The gaming is great but the food is really the point. I was not able to take a photo of my breakfast because I was really hungry. Anyways, we all know that people love cheesedogs, right? So, I decided to do that with good sausages. Instead of stuffing the cheese inside, I just decided to cook sausages then create a simple cheese sauce over the top. Butter, milk, cheddar, and parmesan is all it takes for me to be happy. I know people might think I must really love cheese sauces but, then, who doesn't?

It was a really simple dish but it was really divine. Nothing to get you full in the morning than great sausages, perfect cheese sauce, and rice. Anyways, I'm full and sleepy so until next time!

Where It All Started

This is too much. This would be a class picture in the sixth grade. Anyways...

As I said in a previous entry, Cooking, for me, started back in my third or fourth year in high school. I was the "burden" of the girls' Home Economics group back then. My cooking experience was close to zero and I was supposedly the all around kitchen helper. I was the last to cook my dish because mine would be served first and would be the easiest to cook. My dish was... *drum rolls* garlic mushrooms! Ha ha ha!

From the start, the girls were bullying me for my ingredients. They took most of my garlic and butter and all I had were literally leftovers from what they were all cooking. I had some extra taco beef and mozzarella cheese from the beef pocket pie (don't ask me why taco beef) and, since I did not want to clean up that much and I am the clean up committee being the boy, anything left in the table were used in my garlic mushrooms.

It turned out to cause a scene since we all know how hot butter and sizzling garlic smell like together. I had to mix them all together and it became my first attempt in creating the Mushrooms with Taco Beef and Cheese. Everybody loved it. The mozzarella was just enough to create a cheesy layer over my mushrooms. The little bites of ground taco beef just complemented the mushrooms.

This is where it all started for me. The next attempts to that were different in a sense that I turned it into a main course than an appetizer. It became the Taco Beef with Mushrooms and Cheese Sauce that most of my friends know. From then on, I started experimenting and helping at home. I remember creating three different types of burger patties at home for our breakfast. I created a cheese, a salsa, and a cheese and salsa burger but what was different about it was I incorporated the cheese and salsa into the burger patty before cooking. A style that I never knew was already being used in some burger joints around the Metro until my second year in college. I also helped in cooking buttered lamb chops and my ever favorite Vigan Longganisa.

Now, I'm here but, without studying, it was really a wonder how I was able to shift from cooking ready food to my own recipes. I guess you can call it my mom's gift to me. And, I treasure that, a lot. It may have took a while but I am glad that this is where life brought me.

Where it all started, for me, was a reminder to never overlook at the possibilities in life. I always neglected the part that I can cook because I never knew it would be something more than a hobby. It may have started because of the financial needs but it all worked out to meet what I actually want to do in life.

"Everything may change but it is all up to you if you will keep on moving towards your dreams or, at the very least, a single dream."

-Francis Fabie

Reminiscing my Experimental Recipes

Whenever I’m stressed, I cook, as I said in my first entry. And when I saw a nice cut of Cream Dory earlier this morning, I knew what I was going to do at night.

I remembered last year when I was cooking at the house of my best friend. She and her three other friends were going to the beach the day after and I went along to their house because I had a headache and they were near my place. To get the headache out and as a thank you for making me ride with them, I volunteered to cook that night.

I was so uncomfortable because it was not my kitchen. I did not know where everything was. But, I thought to myself, “Just take the challenge.”

I saw a lot of things to cook but when I saw that they had mozarella cheese, cream, milk, and butter, I knew already that I had to make cheese sauce. Now, it was the matter of finding the meat. I saw a whole chunk of roast beef, chicken, pork slices, and, the worst, fish. If it was not already 11 o’clock in the evening, I would have cooked the roast beef. But since the time was short, I just thought, “Whatever, let’s try cooking fish.”

It was my first time ever to cook fish but I knew it was easy enough. I just rubbed my normal spices and seasonings, salt, pepper, thyme, and so on, and fried them for a little bit. I finished my cheese sauce by melting all the dairy in one pot. And, I just thought what could give this thing more contrast in flavor, texture, and color. I thought of mashed potatoes at first but there was no potatoes and, even if they had, it would take 30 minutes to actually to soften them. But then I saw this breakfast favorite…

It was hash browns. I just knew at that moment that I should use them.

Now, it was plating time. I had three pieces of fish so I had to find three long plates. I placed them in the middle, poured the cheese sauce, and crumbled the hash brown on top.

Funny thing was, I was the only guy there. I was the only one cooking and they were all just playing around. So without any hype, they just sat there thought it was just something simple. But…

I remembered the first reaction of one of my friends there. She just had her first bite and, then, she just stood up, cursed me, and told me how great the food was.

Going back to today, I was reminiscing and I just wanted to do it again. I just changed the fish to Cream Dory, created another recipe for my cheese sauce, and created another recipe for mashed potatoes.

In the comfort of my own kitchen, I over seasoned my fish for a bit. It was a bit salty. But, at least I know now how to do it and it still matched great with the rice, the cheese sauce, and the mashed potatoes. To say the least, the mashed potatoes are addicting, I even eat it when cold. Overall verdict, tweak the recipe for the fish but everything else was great.

So to present to you all, my Cream Dory in White Cheese Sauce with Rice and Mashed Potatoes.