Agriculture Business Week

Learn to bake one of the best loved healthy cakes.

We’ve asked local coffee shop owners what are the top five bestselling cakes and always, the classic banana cake would land on the list. Of course we weren’t surprised. Banana cakes are well-loved because they are healthy (as compared with other super sweet cakes), yummy and easy to make. Try this favorite recipe and earn more!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups shortening
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
6 eggs
2 1/2 cups mashed bananas
7 cups sifted cake flour
t tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

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Honey Glazed Ostrich

Ingredients:
6-8 lbs Ostrich    and outside leg cuts), trimmed, cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
Tomatoes, onions and green peppers, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

For the Marinade:
1/5 bottle of red wine
1 cup olive oil
1 onion, thinly slice
1 tbsp. parsley

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There are a lot of variations of this Ilocano dish but nothing compares to the version of the great Ilocano cooks.

In the Northern part of the country, some people I say pinakbet tastes different from the ones served in the restaurants of Manila, or even from the Southern part of the Philippines. The ampalaya tastes more bitter, the bagoong, saltier and the rest of the ingredients, a little bit crispier.

Pinakbet is the contracted form of the Ilocano word pinakebbet, meaning “shrunk” or shriveled.” In Ilocos province, people use bagoong as the main flavor of this all-Filipino dish, while in the South, alamang is preferred. Other ingredients include eggplant, tomatoes, ginger, squash, lima beans, winged beans, etc. But through the years, pinakbet has evolved into various forms. Let’s try to learn the classic way of preparing this great Ilocano dish.

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Here’s a step-to-step guide on how to make one of the great dishes of the world

What started out as a humble peasant’s stew in the Mediterranean coast of France is now regarded as one of the world’s greatest dishes. And who wouldn’t love bouillabaisse soup with its thick, creamy sauce and delicious mélange of seafoods? Through the years, the soup has evolved into different variations and even discriminating chefs agree that one could make his or her own version of this well-loved European dish depending on one’s tastes and the availability of ingredients.

In Philippine restaurants, bouillabaisse is an expensive soup, so mastering the art of cooking the dish can be an advantage especially if one owns an eatery business. But whether it’s for making money or for the sheer love of food, we’re sharing with you one of the authentic versions of bouillabaisse soup courtesy of www.epicurious.com. Feel free to experiment according to your whims!

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The greatest challenge to most of us is how to trim down those unwanted fat in our bellies. By this time, not all the will power in the world can make us stick to our New Year resolution of losing weight. And while daily exercises or gym calisthenics can help curb our unwanted avoirdupois, we still have to stick to a diet that’s low in fat.
This simple salad recipe by kmcallister (www.saladbetterrecipes.com) is ideal for people who want to win the battle of the bulge or just want to maintain a healthy, curvaceous figure. You can actually do innovations on your own and vary the recipes as your taste buds desire. If you happen to own an eatery, this can also add up to your growing list of healthy salad recipes and earn additional income. Remember, salads which are easy to make cost an arm and a leg in most restaurants nowadays. The important thing to remember is to ensure that your raw ingredients are fresh (of course organic ingredients are always preferred) in order to get the right benefits that a healthy salad can offer. So here’s to a new year of happy, healthy, eating!
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A fund-raising event turns into a budding business venture for this cake-loving mother of three.

Ces Lopez is the owner of Supreme Brazo Bars, a fast-becoming popular pastry shop in Alabang. It was February 2009 when this pastry aficionado helped out her son, who was then about to graduate from Ateneo de Manila High School, and his entire class to raise money for charity. She decided she would make baked treats which they put up for sale.

Ces immediately thought, what could be irresistible that could sell cheap, by the piece? Then it hit her: Brazo de Mercedes, as it has always been her favorite dessert.

However, just about everyone can find a Brazo de Mercedes anywhere in the Metro. A brilliant idea of cutting it in bars instead of rolled up, she thought was a way to make them different from the other bakeries. And so, she started sending her son three dozens to bring to school, only to find all of them have been sold out even before noon.

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Here’s another unique business idea to help you earn more!

It is important to familiarize ourselves with the common chemical ingredients used in soap-making. These ingredients give the desired quality and feature of the soap. Also, the quantity of these ingredients in making soap, dictates the cost of soap produced.
1. Coco Diethanol Amide (CDEA) – foam or sud booster
2. Sodium silicate – hardening and leavening agent; prevents separation or deterioration of ingredients in liquid products
3. Sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) – cleansing agent; for thickening effect and a cheaper but effective foamer

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The Animal Products Development Center (APDC), a section of the Research Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry, is a most helpful government agency, if you ask entrepreneurs like Rene Almeda of Alaminos Goat Farm (AGF).

Almeda is most impressed by the professionalism and the dedication of the people running the agency. Of course, he is very thankful for the help APDC has provided AGF in developing a number of goat products. For one, APDC has developed new goat meat products with commercial potential. One of them is the smoked pure chevon longanisa which taste-testers consider superior to other meat sausages in the market.

Another version is the hungarian sausage which is also considered better than its counterparts in the market today. Actually, Josefina Contreras, APDC chief, says that whatever processed meat products that could be made from pork can also be made with goat’s meat.

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Here’s another unique business idea to help you earn more!

If you are interested in manufacturing soap products from detergent laundry soap to herbal soap, you should study the technology appropriate to each type.

It is also essential that you acquaint yourself with the basic requirements to be met in soap making. For example, an ordinary soap should be made from alkali and fats and oils (fatty acids), a moderate amount of matter insoluble in alcohol, and permissible additives. The finished product should neither bear any objectionable odor nor leave objectionable odor on fabrics and dishes after washing them and rinsing thoroughly with hot water. The soap should form suds or lather in a clean moderate hard water (less than 180m ppm CaC03) when tested.

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The ancient civilizations of Egypt, Rome, and China knew of the importance of edible mushrooms as food. Egyptian pharaohs zealously kept the mushrooms for their own use, decreeing it was too delicate a morsel for commoners who could eat garlic!

The Romans restricted mushroom consumption to the nobility. Later, convinced that mushrooms gave their soldiers strength, the Romans permitted them to eat the fungus. The ancient Chinese called mushrooms the “divine fruit of immortality,” and Buddha is believed to have eaten them before being transported to nirvana.

Nutritionally speaking, mushrooms contain higher quality proteins than green plants, important minerals such as iron, phosphorus, potassium and calcium and nearly all vitamins, including vitamin D. Edible mushrooms are rich in vitamins B1 and B2. They also contain fibers, which stimulate digestion in humans, as well as other elements favorable for health. Another advantage is that they can be grown at home without any great effort.

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Even small fishes are a great catch.

Proof to this is the tilanggit, the undersized tilapia that is being processed similar to danggit, or dried rabbit fish of Cebu. Tilanggit production is seen today as a promising livelihood, and three farmers’ association in Diffun, Quirino have found it viable.

The Diffun Farmers Livelihood Association (DFLA), Palacian Food Processors Association, and the Villa Pagaduan Multi-Livelihood Association are pleased with this venture. They are able to make money from undersized tilapia, which resulted from calamities or poor culture management.

“Processing undersized tilapia into tilanggit offers fish farmers a great way to recover investment on a losing venture.” said Dr. Jovita Ayson, director of Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region 2.

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You have never been to the Philippines unless you have eaten balut!

This is what most Filipinos tell foreigners who come to the Philippines for the first time. So, perhaps this must be the reason why the members of the rock band Switchfoot ate balut on stage at their concert in the country-to the delight of their Filipino fans!

A balut is a fertilized egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. It has been the “shocking” topic of some television shows because of its taboo nature in some Western cultures. In two episodes of Survivor: Palau and two episode of Survivor: China, separate challenges featured attempts to eat this fertilized egg. Similarly, Fear Factor frequently uses balut as a means of disgusting contestants. The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir featured balut eaten by several contestants after its introduction by a Filipino-American fighter Phillipe Nover.

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Here’s another unique business idea to help you earn more!

Materials needed
• Coconut halves
• Wax (soy, paraffin, beeswax, etc)
• Scent cubes
• Wicks
• Belt sander (optional)
• Sand paper
• Aluminum soup can
• Pot for boiling water
• Stove
• Stirring device (like a knife, etc)
• Oven mitts
• Coconut stabilizers

Prepping
your coconut You have a choice. You can either leave the fiber on your coconut halve, or sand it down. Some choose to sand it down using a belt sander and strip the fiber away, and then use sand paper to really smooth it out.

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Learn how to make this famous Pinoy sandwich spread.

Ingredients
• grated coconut
• brown sugar
• glucose (corn syrup)

Utensils
• expeller or press
• stainless steel cooking vessel
• stainless steel spoon or ladle
• stove

Packaging material
Sterilized glass jars with new PVC caps

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