TWO pioneering brands, The French Baker and Moulinex, recently teamed up to put together Easy Food Treats with Chef Baker Johnlu Koa, a special live cooking demonstration held at the Event Center of SM Megamall recently.
The French Baker, which introduced the French bakery concept to the Philippines, and Moulinex, a leading brand in small kitchen appliances, showcased six easy-to-prepare but ‘gourmet-ishly’ delicious food treats as whipped up by The French Baker’s founder and president Johnlu Koa himself. These recipes are made even easier with the use of The French Baker breads, tortilla wraps and pizza crust and a little technical help in food prep from Moulinex food processor, bread toaster, food shredder with different attachments and Krups griddle.
Picking members of the audience to join him and do hands-on cooking and baking, Chef Baker Johnlu Koa first made Chicken Liver Pate and served it on toasted French baguette slices. He sautéed chicken liver in butter and shallots with a little brandy to give it a clean taste, then pureed the mixture in a Moulinex Food Processor until smooth. He sliced day-old French baguette and lightly toasted the bread in a Moulinex Bread Toaster until crisp and golden.
Next recipe was Cheese Quesadilla, a three-cheese appetizer that could also serve as a snack or party finger food. Chef Baker Johnlu Koa grated the cheese using a Moulinex Food Shredder with the grater attachment on, sprinkled it over a piece of tortilla wrap, then covered it with another piece of tortilla wrap, then lightly pressed and grilled it on a Krups Griddle until the cheese melted inside for that much desired gooey interior and the tortilla got crunched up, with grill marks showing on the surface.
Third recipe was Chorizo Pizza. He spread a generous amount of pizza sauce on a French Baker pizza crust, topped it with grated cheese, strips of bell pepper and crumbled chorizo, and lightly grilled it to give the crust some crunch and melt the cheese.
For his fourth recipe, Chef Baker Johnlu Koa made Fresh Mushroom Cream Pasta and served it with Focaccia Pesto Garlic Slices grilled on a Krups Panini Griddle. Then he followed it up with two sandwiches, Grilled Panini Spanish Sardines Sandwich and Vegetarian Sandwich. For the first sandwich, he used French Baker’s Panini Squares, spreading some pesto sauce, then layering with fresh basil leaves, Spanish sardines and onion rings, and, finally, pressing and grilling it on a Krups Panini Griddle. For the second sandwich, he layered tomato and white cheese slices with fresh basil leaves on a French Baker Steak Roll. Again, he pressed and grilled the sandwich on a Krups Griddle to toast the bread and make the sandwich come together.
He was so happy with the interest shown by his audience that he made a bonus treat—Chocolate Mousse in shot glasses—for everyone to try.
To make the program more exciting, raffle draws were held between cooking demo segments, with French Baker giving away bags of freshly baked breads and goodies and Moulinex giving away small kitchen appliances like blenders, mixers and juicers.
What’s more: Everyone got to sample generous portions of all recipes featured in the cooking demo. Nothing can get better than that!
