Wine Love with Casillero del Diablo

I have always loved chilling a good ol bottle of wine and downing it with friends and family. Filipinos often love the sweet fruity type whilst I prefer the mildly stronger reds with notes and whites that have really good spice content on them. Now this was gifted to me a couple days ago and probably the first time I’m having Casillero del Diablo. I have had it during a post New Years Eve dinner and enjoyed the Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc much that when there were a few leftover wines, I thought of probably cooking with it.

If you’ve got good wine, cooking with it intensifies the flavors so I’ve decided to do a Coq Au Vin. Coq Au Vin simply means Chicken in Wine (it’s just a french fancy way of calling it) I have learned to cook this in a workshop I attended years ago and was surprised how relatively easy it was to do it.

In a pan simply put olive oil and about 3 table spoons of butter. Be careful not to burn the butter because it will taste weird in the dish. You put in a whole chicken or chop it in quarters, then brown all the sides until it turns golden. Don’t worry if you don’t cook it all the way because you’ll do it later. Take it off the pan and set it aside.

Put the chopped onions, carrots and celery in the same pan and saute it. If you’ve seen it cooked a bit and caramelized the onions, then pour the whole bottle of Casillero del Diablo and deglaze that pan. Make sure you take those brown things and scrape it because that’s where the flavor lies. Add a sprig of thyme and parsley then wait for the wine to reduce. A good Chef told me you should only use wine that YOU love to drink because what you will get in the end is a stronger version of it. When reduction occurs, put in the Chicken. If you see the chicken is not simmering, add chicken stock if you have some, else, just pour more water until it’s completely covered. Add potatoes and pearl onions (I have some bottled ones from France) then add the can of Tomato paste. Boil it again until the liquid reduces.

In a separate pot, blanch vegetables like carrots, brocolli, cauliflower. In a separate pan, put about half a stick of butter and melt it. Put fresh garlic, brown it a little then put in the veggies. Stir fry the vegetables and then place it on one side of the plate. Go back to your other pan and taste the sauce, adjust with salt and pepper if you see the need to do so. Arrange the chicken on the other side of the plate and season well (freshly cracked pepper will do wonders!) then pour the wine reduction on top of the chicken. This is your Coq Au Vin! Serve and enjoy!

For those who would have more Casillero del Diablo Sauvignon Blanc, Chef Sharwin Tee has his Spicy Mussel and Clam Binakol. Saute ginger, lemon grass in a pot with Olive Oil then add in Gochujang (chili paste). After a minute add in the mussels and clams plus a cup of Casillero del Diablo Sauvignon Blanc. Cover the pot until it cooks, it usually takes 2 minutes. Add enough coconut water and young coconut meat, when it boils turn off the heat. Garnish with basil and serve.

Red or White you’ll have to make sure your wine is good for drinking or cooking. Casillero del Diablo proves our point, it’s one of the wines distributed by http://www.flyacecorp.com so if you need some, you know where to go.

Cheers!

KUMAGCOW

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Don’t Go Hungry! Grab-A-Fitbar!

I know it’s going to be hell once again as work and school opens this week. Pretty sure you’ll be caught in EDSA drowning in reasons why you shouldn’t have gone out because TRAFFIC happens. Then you go absolutely hungry right in the middle of the road, but you still choose to drive home because you think THAT can wait. Well I’ve got GOOD news for all those who choose to ride TNVS provider Grab Philippines because they just partnered with Fitbar Philippines so you can snack away this 2018!

Selected specially marked GRAB A FITBAR vehicles will be roaming around Metro Manila and selected major Philippine cities so you can enjoy Crispy Rice Bars mixed with fiber rich stuff like fruits so you won’t be hungry while you go about your daily commute. Now you don’t have to be so worried when you get stuck in traffic because they’ll be taking care of you just in case you get caught in one. Make sure you also share your Fitbars with the friendly and corteous Grab Drivers so you both get to your destinations, safe, fast, efficient, and NOT HUNGRY!

They will be giving away 100,000 passengers these lovely Fitbar pieces so if you would love them even more, go check out their page at www.Facebook.com/FitbarPH and follow their twitter account at www.twitter.com/fitbar_ph so you could choose and take them anywhere, any day you’re hungry!

P.S. I love the one with raisins, it smells and tastes like dried grapes just off the vine!

KUMAGCOW

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Atom Araullo, Gabbi Garcia and Joseph Morong for One GMA

If you haven’t been seeing them lately online, then you’re missing a LOT. One GMA just launched three shows set to premiere today and will show every Monday thereafter. These are three online shows that will show exclusively on the GMA Network Facebook page, their Youtube channel and their assets. It stars your favorite Atom Araullo, Gabbi Garcia and Joseph Morong.

Atom Araullo says “Adulting is practicality. It’s about the years when we get bigger responsibilities. How to find a job, how to foster relationships, how to deal with money, in the hope we could figure out things together. I have already made 3 episodes, the first one is moving out, the second is about being friendzoned, the third is what to do when it’s petsa de peligro. It’s about 8-9 minutes, depending on the topic. It’s based on our experience, adults and young adults, it’s online because we want to see people comment and react. We would also like to see anecdotes, from the very serious to the very mundane, it’s a lot, a mix of things not to belittle the tasks we do everyday. Our job requires us to be active online, not to spout wisdom every time but balance it with stuff that matters. These three programs on GMA Network’s Facebook account and Youtube channel, make sure you catch it every Monday at 5PM.”

Gabbi Garcia wants connecting with people and curious about current events accessible online. She mentions “Hashtag Goals with Gabbi Garcia is about make up tutorials, fashion tips, travel, love for the sea and everything that teen girls would do. I get to speak uo my mind and be like Gabbi, not as an artist but a person. For the first one it’s make up tips, very personal tips, so millenials could relate.”

Joseph Morong on the other hand will do Fact or Fake. He’s happy to see that in this show they would be able to verify stories, tell it like a journalist should. He adds “It will be fast paced and witty, we shot our first episode two days ago. We all know fake news, we will define it, we will schedule things as told in this way because millenials have no time. Fake news are lies masking itself as news, it’s a difficult task to attack this but we will bring examples that will separate journalism from it as it is entirely different. We have elections in 2019 and I’m sure it will happen again.”

The online show will premier today, January 2 at 5PM and will show every Monday thereafter. They will be alternating and have banked a couple episodes already. So if you want to see what they have in store for you, like the GMA Network page and subscribe to the GMA Network Youtube channel.

KUMAGCOW

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Gift To Self: #SmartiPhoneX

December has been a rollercoaster ride for me. I've had a lot of ups and downs but I don't complain. I work hard and knew that this would be a great time to have a GIFT TO SELF, because I haven't been doing that for the longest time. 

I have been longing to get a phone that would match my needs and to tell you honestly I've been lugging around my coverages using three phones, my old iPhone 5, my iPhone 5S and a crippled ASUS 6 inch Laser. Both my iPhones have already gone bloated on me but still works and all I needed to do was just replace the batteries (thanks to the store I go to in SM San Lazaro) but my ASUS Laser 2 phone showed signs of breaking down as some parts of the screen don't respond to pressing anymore (so I had to install an app just to have a home button). My games there had me worried so I had to put them all in my old iPhone just so I could play. Long story short, the iPhones that I have lasted for years and didn't give me major problems, so when news broke out that there was a new iPhoneX, I had to have one, I knew it was time. 

It was also my time for retention as a postpaid subscriber for Smart. When I heard Smart Communications was releasing it December, I knew I had to get one from them. Their plan was obviously the BEST because if you think about it, they are offering it with a plan for only Php 3,199 a month for 2 years which means I can get this dream phone less than the actual price plus a prepaid plan Php 1,499 that fits my lifestyle (already included in the Php 3,199 price tag). I was wondering what could have prompted them to actually give it away at this price because if you think about it, you'll save thousands of pesos if you buy it from them instead of the Apple Store which priced it at Php 65,000 per unit. That device alone would cost Php 2,700++ a month, a difference of about Php 15,000 if you subtract the plan, now isn't that crazy?

The iPhone X also takes superb photos, live ones and even great videos. I've been using it for a few weeks already and the images just come so real as with the iPhone X. The funny thing is that if you see the shots even without editing you'll already think it's amazing, what more if you touch it a little, people go crazy when they see it.

Now I've got a powerful phone that takes gorgeous photos, ample amount of storage for those videos I have to take plus tons of things that previous iPhones haven't been able to do. They removed the audio jack and kept it with the Lightning cord. They have a special adapter which is included in the box so you can still use the regular earphones if you would need it. Drop tests, depth tests and waterproofing reviews had all of them feel at awe with the iPhone X and I guess this not so common GIFT TO SELF is going to serve me well for years to come. 

If you want to know more about the plan with NO CASHOUT then visit Smart's page for it over at http://smart.com.ph/iPhoneX and thank me later!

It's totally worth it!

KUMAGCOW

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