My Indulgence

"Made to Order" Dinner by The Rubino Brothers

2006-05-11T02:43:00.000+08:00

THE WORLD GOURMET SUMMIT SINGAPORE 2006

I had the golden opportunity to attend a very special "one-night only" dinner hosted by The Rubino Brothers in Singapore recently. Despite some mixed reviews about the dinner, I had a fabulous time and enjoyed the dishes for its creativity in plating and marriage of taste. I look forward to the opportunity to travel to Toronto and dine at Rain Restaurant myself!!

Malaysian-Style Black Cod with Sake Galangal Foam

Pickled Ginger Melon Puree with Basil Seedling and Crab Dumpling

Fragrant Oil Poached Hamachi, Lobster and Foie Gras Terrine, Kaffir Lime and Coconut Froth

Veal Three Ways:
Almond Garam Masala Tenderloin
Fermented Tofu and Veal Cheek Hot Pot
Short Rib Rendang, Black Cardamon and Pineapple Relish

Indian Flavours in Variations of Chocolate (Saffron, Cilantro, Curry and Lime)

Labour of Love

2006-04-24T00:17:00.000+08:00

There are a few things in life i am addicted to from being on vacation.
1. Bring able to escape briefly from my hectic lifestyle here just to recharge and revitalise
2. Catching up with friends i love so dearly but see so little of
3. Being inspired and learning new things on every single vacation
4. Dining out in a totally different country and pampering my palate and eating with zero guilt

However, my latest trip away was outstandingly divine! It not only involved fabulous time away on the mountains where the silence was deafening but sublime; where sitting out on the veranda in the freezing cold made star-gazing all the more romantic. It was time dedicated to each other , tucked away from civilisation with a beautiful room complete with a spa, fireplace and a kitchen. I was estatic when we checked in!!

As usual, i was "Ms Dorky Food Geek" according to B and the day before, i carefully planned out our daily menu during our stay and both B and i had gone shopping for groceries. Only problem is, there was no oven in the kitchen (something i love using esp for my meats) but i have had to improvise which added to the fun!

Day 1

Dinner: Spinach and Cheese Ravioli with Roasted Garlic tomato sauce with egg plant and olives

Day 2

Brunch: Banana Pancakes with Maple syrup

Dinner: Pan-fried Lamb Cutlets marinated in thyme and garlic served on a bed of creamy mash and asparagus

Day 3:

Brunch: Spinach, Mushroom and Roman tomatoes omelette with Mozzarella Cheese

Dinner: Pan-Seared Salmon Fillet served on a bed of stir-fried spinach in garlic and sauteed mushrooms in white wine

B, these are for you!

Recipes:

Spinach and Cheese Ravioli in Roasted Garlic tomato sauce with chicken, egg plant and olives

Ingredients:

1 pack fresh spinach & cheese ravioli
2 small pieces chicken breast; thinly sliced against the grain
1 medium sized egg plant; sliced into quarters
about 15 pitted black olives; halfed
1 bottle Roasted Garlic tomato-based pasta sauce
2 cloves garlic; finely chopped
1/4 green onions, finely chopped
1/4 red onions; finely chopped
3/4 cup good red wine (dont stinge, it makes a difference to the quality of the sauce if you use a good red for the sauce)
olive oil
1 tbsp butter
sea salt
black pepper
2-4 tbsp sugar

Method:
Marinate sliced chicken in chinese soy and pepper for about 3 hours.
In a hot pan, add some olive oil and lightly stir-fry egg plant for about 2 min. I love pre-frying egg plant as i want the flavours of the olive oil to soak into the egg plant before adding into the sauce. Dish out and set aside.
In the same pan; on high heat, add 2 tbsp oil then 1 tbsp butter in. Do take it off the heat for 2 sec when melting the butter as it burns easily.
Add chopped onions and stir-fry for about 3min then add garlic and fry till fragrant.
Whilst onions are cooking, boil a saucepan of water to cook the ravioli. When water has boiled, add in salt and cook till al dente according to packet instructions. Drain and toss in some olive oil and keep warm.

To the onions, add chicken and fry for about 4min, then add egg plant, olives and stir-fry for another minute before adding the pasta sauce.
Depending on your preference, i love my pasta to be more saucy hence, i added the entire bottle of sauce plus the red wine, on low heat, simmer for about 6-8min.
Do not rush through a pasta sauce, the love and patience in the sauce is crucial to its success as it allows the ingredients to soak in the flavours from the sauce.
Taste to determine how sour the sauce is; i usually add about 2-3 tsp of sugar to take away some of the sourness. Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve immediately with shaved parmesan cheese. YUM!

Pan-fried Lamb Cutlets marinated in rosemary, thyme & garlic served on a bed of creamy mash and asparagus drizzled with Balsamic Reduction

Ingredients:

6 pieces lamb cutlets
handful of rosemary &amp;amp; thyme; chopped
4 cloves garlic; chopped
6-8 small potatoes
8 sprigs baby asparagus
full cream milk
4 tbsp butter
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
olive oil
sea salt & pepper

Method:

To make marinade, mix chopped chopped thyme, garlic, olive oil, salt & pepper and spread it over lamb cutlets. Wrap in cling wrap and marinate overnight in a fridge to allow flavour to soak right into meat.

To make Balsamic reduction (first thing to start on cos it takes a while to reduce; should not rush a reduction); in a small saucepan, bring to boil 3/4 cup of balsamic vinegar. Once it starts to boil, lower heat and allow it to reduce to about 1/4 cup. Be careful not to over boil as it will become a paste too quickly and burn. Once you notice that the balsamic is starting to thicken, remove from heat and allow to cool for 2min. Whisk in 1 tbsp of butter and set aside.

To prepare asparagus; i always like to shave the outer skin of the asparagus to ensure that they are not chewy due to the skin.

Peel potatoes, cut into quarters and add in boiling water till just soft enough to mash. Remove from water and start mashing in a big bowl. Add about 2 tbsp of butter, 1/2 to 3/4 cup milk, salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.

Using the water from cooking the potatoes, steam the asparagus for about 2min, grind some sea salt over for taste . In a small frying pan, stir in some olive oil and chopped garlic. When garlic is almost golden, toss in the asparagus to infuse the garlic oil. Keep warm.

To cook lamb cutlets, on medium high heat, add oil to hot pan and pan-fry lamb cutlets for 2 min each side for a medium rare doners.

To serve:

Place mash in the center of the plate.
Arrange 3 cutlets per person onto mash accompanied with garlic infused asparagus.
Drizzle some balsamic reduction over and serve.

Pan-Seared Salmon Fillet served on a bed of stir-fried spinach in garlic and sauteed mushrooms in white wine

Ingredients:

2 medium-sized salmon fillet (remove bones if you chose the stomach portion which is the best cut)
handful of gourmet spinach
3 cloves garlic; chopped
2 portabello mushrooms, quartered
6 white button mushrooms, quartered
1/2 cup good quality white wine (Sauvignon Blanc or unwooded chardonnay would be my preference)
Chinese light soy sauce
salt & pepper
olive oil
1/2 tbsp butter

Method:

To marinate salmon, drizzle some soy over evenly and allow to marinate for minimum 2 hours in a fridge. Allow salmon to stand in room temperature for 10-15 min before cooking.

To prepare mushrooms: in a pan; heat some olive oil over medium high heat then add the butter. Stir fry 1 tsp garlic till fragrant. Add quartered mushrooms and stir fry for about 1-2min. Add wine and lower heat to allow wine to slowly reduce and the mushrooms to soak in the flavours from the garlic and wine. Musrooms are ready when the sauce is reduced by half.

To prepare the spinach; over medium high heat in a deeper pan, add olive oil and stir fry the remaining garlic till fragrant. Add in the spinach and stir fry till soft. Set aside and keep warm.

To cook salmon; in a pan on medium high heat, add olive oil. When pan and oil is hot, sear the salmon for 2 min each side.

To serve:

Pile the spinach in the middle of the plate. Rest salmon on spinach and add mushrooms on the side. Serve immediately as salmon is best eaten hot!

Salmon!!

2006-04-23T19:45:00.000+08:00

Two weeks ago, A and myself decided over drinks on a saturday night that we should do a cook up, to at least get me started again in the kitchen! We decided on a theme and it was to be seafood. Since the both of us love Salmon, it was a Salmon luncheon!

My choice of recipe was one that was cooked for me by a charming aussie bloke years ago and i have kept the recipe since!

Baked Salmon in mapel syrup

Ingredients:

3 pieces Salmon Fillets
150ml Mapel Syrup
2 garlic cloves; slightly crushed
1 tbsp Djon mustard
salt & pepper

Method:

Mix all ingredients in a baking dish and marinate salmon fillets overnight.
Remove salmon from fridge and baking dish and allow it to sit out in room temperature for about 20min.
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C.
Over high heat, pan-sear salmon fillets 10sec each side.
Place fillets back into baking dish and bake for 5min for a medium rare doners.
Serve either with salad or mash potatoes and asparagus.

The wonderful A made this lovely Valentine's day "food for love" Smoked Salmon recipe which not only impressed me but her food-nerd other half DS. ;)

Forgive me guys, couldn't help myself!

Confessions of a serial diner!

2006-04-23T18:58:00.000+08:00

Looking at the last post i made (dated 27 February 2006), I realised how unbelievably fast time has somehow past and it sent an instant shiver down my spine!

It has been such a spectacular year so far! Met an amazing new group of foodies (better known as Food Nerds by the lovely A; trained chef and gourmand i truly respect & adore!) that has not only allowed me to interact with like-minded nerds but kept my schedules pretty packed up with social get togethers! In addition, having started work with a brand new gourmet magazine late last year; a bulk of my time is now dedicated to attending gourmet events and tastings. At the envy of many, it is great to be able to enjoy food & wines as often as me and the team at work; but like all things, it comes with a price. The shortfalls; well, i have less time at home (to blog) and i definitely have less of an urge to potter around in the kitchen cooking up a storm as all i feel like lately is just a salad. Nothing fancy.

BUT the best part about dining out is to be able to savour the beautiful creations of several talented local or visiting chefs and be inspired and pick up some tricks in terms of taste, menu planning and creativity in plating.

I am feeling terribly guilty for neglecting my blog for almost 2 months now......i used to blog recipes every week!! Guess perhaps from now on, i should start documenting my dining adventures more regularly and document recipes at least once or twice a month instead....my desperate attempt to redeem myself right now!

Lots of exciting gourmet events happening in the next week......more updates to come for sure!

The Best Sunday Breakfast Treat!

2006-02-27T23:37:00.000+08:00

I must have dreamt of pancakes on Saturday night while in la-la land and woke up Sunday morning craving it!!

Still in my Pjs, i stumbled into my kitchen, stuck my head into the fridge and pulled out the ingredients. What can i say, when a girl's got an inch, she has to scratch it! I was further inspired when i was online again with E's great idea for a banana and vanilla pancake. Strangely enough, i have 2 vanilla pods left and 1 last banana from the bunch!

In less than 5 minutes, i put together my batter and started heating up my pan! All it needed was 1 cup flour, 1 1/4 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 vanilla pad seeds and 1 banana diced. That made 5 scrumptious pancakes which i soaked in loads of honey!!!

That made my Sunday........sitting in front of the TV and chowing them down piece by piece and watching Dodgeball on HBO! (while trying not to choke on my pancake) Absolutely fabulous!

Raffles Wine, Food & Arts 2006

2006-02-27T01:13:00.000+08:00

I have had an awesome opportunity this month to be one of the guests attending the annual Raffles Hotel Food, Wine & Arts event held yearly at the most distinguished hotel in Singapore.

Its an event where the hotel invited michelin star chefs to display their superb culinary skills to fellow foodies in Singapore and embark on a week long of feasting!

On the very last day, they hosted "Brunch with the Stars" that started from 11am and didnt end till about 3.30pm! I must say there was so much food that Sunday that i well & truly over-ate and hit the couch soon after at a friend's place and took a cat-nap straight after!

Decadent delights at the Brunch:

Scrambled Egg with Smoked Salmon & Caviar

Quail Egg with Broccoli Sauce & Black Truffle

Scrambled Egg in a shell, Duck and Hazelnut Marmalade, Black Winter Truffle and French Potato Cloud

Confit of Egg with Root Vegetable Puree, Truffle Sauce & Bread Crumbs

Egg Truffle Sabayon with Truffle Emulsion & Brioche

Pan-Fried Wagyu Beef Tenderloin, Crispy Creamy Cepes Mushroom, Zucchini Mousse, Truffle Jus

DESSERTS GALORE!!!

Duck Duck!

2006-02-27T00:48:00.000+08:00

The start of this year has been a very busy but productive one for me.....work wise! My time in the kitchen is getting so rare that i jump at the first opportunity and reason for me to get busy in the kitchen!

A group of us decided that since we are not doing anything special with a signinifcant other on Valentine's Day that we should all get together and cook up a storm! I decided on trying out a recipe kindly contributed by E who created his own version of a Duck A L'Orange, he loved it and needed some supporters for his recipe and he picked me.

Valentine's day happened to be a work-day for all of us and as usual, i rushed out of work like a headless chicken, calling up the supermarket to check if they have a 2kg duck for me to pick up. After a couple of tries, finally the Cold Storage at Jalan Jelita had one.....the last one for me! Since beggars cant be choosers, i sped down as fast as i can, went to the counter only to realise that its a 1.8kg duck which has to be good enough for 7 guests at D's.

I was worried but we had another major concern that evening, we were running late to preparing dinner. It was 7.30pm and we were still in the supermarket picking up ingredients!!! My duck was to take about 2 hours to cook so i was seriously under pressure! By the time D & I finished cooking, dinner started at 10.30pm!! Shocking timing to eat but we had so much fun preparing at the sametime, sipping wine and getting tipsy before dinner even started!

(pic to follow.....)
Orange Stuffed Roasted Duckling with Poached Stonefruit

Prep time: 20-25 mins Cooking time: Approx. 2 hours

Ingredients
1 duckling, approx 2 kg, cleaned, excess fat and giblets discarded
2 whole oranges, peeled
6-8 assorted stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, etc) quartered and stones removed
120-150g butter, cut into slivers
2 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp honey
4 tbsp five spice salt and pepper mix
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 shot of cointreau, orange liquer or cherry liquer

Garnish (optional):
Toasted almond flakes
Sultanas

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 200ºc
Toss stone fruit with shot of liqueur
Bring water to boil and add cup of white sugar, bring down to simmer
(You may add some of the orange peel for flavour, but be sure to remove it before adding the fruit)
Dust stone fruit with 1 tbsp of cinnamon and poach in syrup. Pour poached fruit and syrup in a non stick baking tray, place roasting rack on top of fruit
Rub 5 spice, salt and pepper mix onto duckling, including cavity area
Stuff Oranges, dusted with remaining cinnamon powder into cavity (for extra luxury, you might think of soaking those oranges in brandy or cointreau before doing so)
Separate skin and distribute butter slivers evenly across the bird
Baste honey and brown sugar mixture on heat-exposed side of duck
Place on roasting rack and put into oven
(note: rule of thumb is 1hr/kilo of duck)
Halfway through roasting time, turn over duck and baste with honey and sugar mixture
At the end of roasting, remove duck and roasting rack, cover with foil to rest (note: while resting, the duck may leak juices, if the juices aren’t bloody, it’s cooked.
Skim excess oil from stewed stone fruit (note: this can be conserved to make duck confi later! but please note that it'll probably be 70% butter)
Stir in any excess basting mix into poached stone fruit
Carve duck to portions and serve with poached fruit, add sultanas and toasted almonds as garnish.

Very Chocolatey Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2006-01-15T09:56:00.000+08:00

The start of this new year proved to be rather intense and i realised that i found myself lacking time to chill out at home and flip through my recipe books to get on with my usual baking or cooking! There's always something on, weddings, birthdays, weekend work commitments etc.....My baking itch kicked in on Friday and i was determined to get working in the kitchen and ignore (or at least try to.....still had a wedding to attend yesterday!) my mobile phone for the weekend and concentrate on what skrat wants. :)

As usual, a girl can never get enough of chocolates. Going through Fran's Pure Chocolate book again, I had the biggest craving for cookies. Having not made cookies for several years (im sure the last time i baked cookies was in my old school kitchen!) i decided to take the challenge. In addition, with Chinese New Year round the corner, i thought i could effectively contribute to the array of new year goodies.

Pure Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

Ingredients:

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
150g unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp fine brown sugar
2/3 cup fine sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essense
3 large eggs
1 2/4 cup cake flour
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1/4 inch chunks
* 1 oz = 25g

Method:

Position a rack in the middle of a medium sized oven and pre-heat at 170 degrees C (325 degrees F). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpats
In a double boiler melt the semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate over low heat. Remove from boiler when the chocolate is nearly melted and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.
In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together butter, 2 sugars and vanilla essense until light and very fluffy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, stopping several times to scrape the bowl.
Pour in the cooled melted chocolate and mix to combine.
Fold in the sifted flour by hand until no traces of white remains. Fold in the bittersweet chocolate chunks. The batter will be quite thick. Chill for 1 hour.
Using a teaspoon, scoop 2 tsp of dough for each cookie and drop onto the lined cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie. (They spread to about 3 inches in diameter)
Slightly flatten with fingers and immediately place in the oven. The cookie dough should still be cold when baked.
Bake for 8-10 min or until cracked and puffed on top. The insides should remain moist and soft. Let cool on sheets about 10min. Transfer to cooling racks to completely cool. Store in airtight containers.

Tis the Season to be sharing!

2005-12-27T20:20:00.000+08:00

Geezz, this is indeed the busiest time of the year for me! Apart from getting myself back into my ever over-flowing work load, it is also the festive season where friends are throwing parties and im running around trying to make sure that i dont forget anyone's presents!

I decided that this year is going to be different......i wanted to make my presents and found a recipe that would be just perfect. Pine nut and Sesame cake with Strawberry sauce. I decided to make them in small cup cake sizes so that its easier to wrap them up as well! What i love about this recipe is the pine nuts and the strawberry sauce, i thought that combination would be beautiful with a cup of Earl Grey Tea as well! As expected, the cakes i made for my family as well didnt last for more than 2 days!!!! The recipe as follows:

Pinenuts and Sesame Cakes with Strawberry Sauce

Ingredients:

3 tbsps white sesame seeds
1/2 cup pinenuts
125g butter
125g castor sugar
2 eggs
zest of 2 lemons
3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Reserve 1 tbsp each of the sesame seeds and pine nuts.
Heat a dry fry pan over a moderate heat and spread the remaining sesame seeds in an even layer in the pan. Cook, keeping a close eye on them and stirring or shaking the pan regularly untill the seeds are browned. Place in a bowl and toast the remaining pine nuts as well.
Place the toasted sesame seeds and pine nuts in a small food processor and grind until just starting to form a paste. Repeat with the toasted pine nuts and set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then beat in the eggs one at a time. Fold in the flour slowly with a wooden spoon, followed by the ground seeds and nuts, lemon zest and baking powder.
Divide the mixture among 4-5 mini loaf cups and bake for 20min then cool. Store in an air tight container for up to 3 days. Serve with the red silk sauce.

Red Silk Sauce

Ingredients:
3 cups strawberries, hulled
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp strawberry jam
1 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup limoncello or Absolut Citreon

Method:
Finely chop or process strawberries and set aside.
Gently heat the sugar, water, jam in a suacepan until sugar has dissolved. In a small bowl combine the cornflour and lemon juice then stir into the sugar mixture. Bring to the boil, stirring until thickened and smooth then stir in the vodka or limoncello or water and strawberries.
Stir until heated. Store in sterilised jars for up to 2 weeks.

Back to Work!!

2005-11-28T22:46:00.000+08:00

After a good break in Sydney and having just started a new job, i have finally found sometime to blog!

The Sydney trip was awesome! Despite my phobia of swimming in water with strong current due to an almost drowning incident as a child, I decided to take up surfing lessons at Manly Beach. The first lesson was traumatic for me, i could hardly swim or paddle on the board and after several tries and falling off and getting sucked under, I was not only exhausted but became paranoid that i will drown again. Disappointed and desperately determined to go home with at least the sheer satisfaction of standing on the board for a few seconds, I went back for a second lesson and it was a beautiful day to surf. The current was rather mild and great for beginners. And i did it.....just managed to half-stand on the board for 2 seconds before falling off again. I was overjoyed!! To me, that was enough.

Well, i didnt get a chance to really go around Sydney dining and wining but spent most of my time catching up with my friends there. But one thing i must share was my trip to Max Brenner chocolate in Chatswood Sydney. The warm chocolate dip with strawberries i tried was simply to die for! It was so good that i had TWO servings of the same thing. I think at one point in time, i actually told my friends that the chocolate was "better than sex"!! That was how awesome they were! The one they serve in Singapore's Max Brenner at The Esplanade is a far, far cry from what I have tried in Sydney. I thought that was rather disappointing as we dont have the same quality chocolate here in Singapore as served in Sydney. Some pictures to tempt you further.

I have not got my act together to start cooking or baking again. My weekends are dedicated to work and embarking on a strict exercise regime now that i am back into the Food & Beverage industry. My weight is strongly compromised! I am hoping to start entertaining at home again soon. Updates to come.

Playing Host again!

2005-11-06T19:11:00.000+08:00

My love for playing host to dinner parties kicked in again lately and i went ahead to organise one last night inviting a couple of friends to come enjoy a night of home cooked food, wines and each other's awesome company.

The biggest satisfaction as a host is watching everyone having a great time, digging in and getting progressively drunk from the variety of drinks that were served whilst engaging in conversations with each other. I sat back and observed everyone last night totally indulging and heaved a sigh of relief....i can now relax and start eating and drinking myself!!!

It was a night i could not have done all by myself if not for the help of friends who contributed to the menu and the bar. Koko and hubby for their fabulous columbian creations, B&A for their lovely lovely fruit salad, Deetour chick for her every so yummy dessert she got for us at Island Creamery and everyone else who came with the alcoholic drinks.....! G, the grappa is an absolute KILLER but toooo good! I didnt remember anything after you guys left!!

OK, enough of hang-over banter, the menu as follows:

Nibbles

Salsa and Corn Chips

Grilled Scallops crusted with Almonds and Orange Sauce

Starters

Fennel & Tomato Soup

Tortilla with Potatoes

Main

Roast Leg of Lamb with Rosemary, Thyme, Garlic

Desserts

Island Creamery Ice-Cream Cakes

Grilled Scallops crusted with Almonds and Orange Sauce

Ingredients:

400g Scallops

20g Almonds sliced and roasted

1 Orange, juice extracted

Salt & pepper to taste

50g Cold Butter

2 tbsp Coriander, chopped

Garnish:

Coriander leaves

Tobiko

Black Sesame seeds

Method:

Heat orange juice in a pot until it reduced by half and add salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in butter and bring everything to a quick boil. Remove from heat and add corainder. Set aside.

In a non-stick pan, sear scallops over very high heat for 10 sec or until browned on both sides.

Remove scallops from pan and coat with almonds.

Seive the orange juice mixture so it removes coriander and pulp from the juice.

Pour orange juice into small glasses. Pierce each scallop with a skewer and place 1 into each glass. Garnish with coriander, tobiko and black sesame seeds.

Fennel and Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

4tbsp extra virgin oil

2 fennel bulbs, cored and thinly sliced

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 small potato, cut into 1/4 inch/6mm cubes

1 400g can of plum tomatoes

6 cups/1.35litres light chicken stock/broth

salt & black pepper

Method:

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium high heat and add the fennel, onion and potato.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow the vegetables to sweat for 10min, taking care not to let them brown.

Add the tomatoes and cook for 10min more.

Stir in the chicken stock; bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 hour.

Remove the pot from the heat and let the soup cool for a few minutes. Transfer the mix to the belnder and working in batches to avoid accidents, puree until smooth.

Return to the pot, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, season with salt and pepper.

To serve, drizzle some basil oil over the top.

didnt get to the lamb in time before it got carved!

Roast Leg of Lamb with Rosemary, Thyme, Garlic

Ingredients:

2.6kg Boneless Leg of Lamb (for ease of carving, the one i got from Swiss Butchery was an awesome piece!)

12 cloves of sliced garlic

a handful of Thyme

2 springs Rosemary

sea salt flakes

ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

Method:

To marinate the lamb, using a small knife, make small incisions to the fat side of the lamb and insert a sliced garlic in. Repeat the process all around this side of the lamb.

Bruise both rosemary and thyme to release the flavour and then massage in sea salt and ground pepper combined with olive oil on both sides of the lamb.

Cling wrap the lamb and leave it overnight in the fridge.

To cook; Pre heat oven at 180 degrees C.

Drizzle some more olive oil over the top of the lamb.

Roast for 1 hour and a half (for medium doners, lesser if you prefer medium rare), fat side first then turning it over to cook under-side during half time.

All in all, i was very happy with the quality of the meat from Swiss Butcher. At first i was worried that there may be too much meat, we finished the entire thing leaving only 1 or 2 pieces!!

Other images from the party....

Am off to Sydney tomorrow for a week of infinite partying and eating! Will update you guys soon.....

Simply Delightful!

2005-10-22T19:10:00.000+08:00

There are a few simple joys in my life, one of which is something i look forward to in the mail, my bi-monthly issue of Cuisine. I love that magazine! I enjoy the gorgeous pictures, articles that i find both deliciously written and informative at the same time. This issue of Cuisine, they presented one of my favourite desserts while i was living in college at University in Australia, Pavlovas!!!

A pavlova is a meringue dessert named after a Russion Ballet dancer called Anna Pavlova. The true origin of Pavlova is not known but between the Aussies and the Kiwis, both claim their country as the true origin of this lovely dessert.

I remembered how i could never get enough of Pavlovas everytime its on the dinner menu at college! Looking at the menu within Cuisine, i knew i HAD to bake it and start indulging and reminiscing together with my preggy kitchen angel, koko.

Strawberry Pavlovas

Ingredients:

Pavlovas
5 large egg whites
350g castor sugar
1 tsp cornflour
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla essence

Strawberries
500g strawberries, hulled and halved
juice and zest of 1 large lemon
1/2 cup castor sugar

500ml cream, whipped

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 130 degrees C.
Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Place all ingredients above into an electric mixer bowl and beat on full power for about 8min until very thick and white.
Place 8 large spoonfuls, well spaced on the baking paper.
Bake for 40min. Take out of the oven and cool. Carefully take off the paper. Store in an air-tight container.

Strawberries to serve

Put strawberries, lemon juice and zest and sugar into a bowl and mix well. Reserve for 30min. Spoon whipped cream over the top of each pavlova and pile the strawberries on top.

I made a strawberry compote as an alternative topping . The recipe as follows:

1/2 cup raisins
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 cup medium sherry
3 tbsp castor sugar
500g strawberries, hulled and halved

Method:
Put raisins, zest, juice, sherry and sugar and bring to boil, mixing well to dissolve the sugar.
Simmer for 15min, then remove from heat and cool completely.

As you can see from my picture, i loaded the pavlova with fatty whipped cream...forget about the calories, that's the proper way to enjoy a pavlova!

Another Chocolate Affair

2005-10-09T23:53:00.000+08:00

Just when i thought i was officially off the hook from chocolate, my dearest friend koko who is now 10 weeks pregnant, has the biggest cravings for chocolate. We were planning to have an afternoon of baking fun together at my place and she specifically wanted chocolate. Part of the pleasures of being pregnant is that everyone around you crowns you the queen and allows you to make the decision especially when it is anything related to food.

So after much "erms" and "ahhs", we decided on Truffle Brownies and White Chocolate Creme Citron Tart both from Pure Chocolate by Fran Bigelow. Baking is so much more fun when you have someone else to join in as well!

I remember baking brownies out of a Betty Crocker pre-mix box.....as a student then, it was satisfying as its a easy 1-2 steps and viola you got brownies! But after tasting these brownies from Fran's recipe, i can assure you will never ever buy another packet of Brownies mix from Betty Crocker!

Truffle Brownies

Ingredients:

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 pound (unsalted butter, room Temp)
(1 pound = 453.6g)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup castor sugar
6 large eggs, room temp
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup flour, seived

Method:

Position rack in the middle of oven and pre-heat oven to 170 degrees C. Lightly butter a 9 x 13 inch sheet pan
In a double boiler over simmering water combine chocolate. Remove when nearly melted and continue stirring until smooth. Set aside to cool.
In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars at a medium speed until light. 5-6min.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and continue beating until the mixture is smooth and light, 2-3min.
Pour in cooled chocolate and mix well. If butter begins to melt when the chocolate is added, stop pouring and let the chocolate cool further. The finished mixture should be glossy and smooth.
With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour until all traces of white have disappeared. Be careful not to overmix.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and back 30min or until the crust is dull on top and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out with dark wet crumbs on it.
Let cool in the pan for 1 hour. Cut into squares and remove with a spatula. Store brownies in a sealed pleastic container for as long as a week.
Best served with your favourite ice cream!

White Chocolate Creme Citron Tart
and
Pure Chocolate Tart

Ingredients:

Sugar Tart Crust
6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 cup cake flour
extra flour for dusting

White Chocolate Creme Citron filling
8 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
4 oz white chocolate, finely chopped
8 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp, cut into 16 pieces

Pure Chocolate filling
17 oz dark milk chocolate plus 3 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 strips lemon peel, cut with a veggie peeler, 1 x 3 inch

Method:

Sugar Tart Crusts

In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed, about 2 min. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the egg yolk. Continue mixing on medium high speed for 1-2min until pale yellow in colour and completely smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the cake flour spoonfuls at a time. Mix on low speed just until blended, being careful not to overmix. Transfer to a sheet of plastic wrap and gently pat into a ball. Wrap well and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Lightly butter 12 3-inch round tart pans.
Remove the chilled dough from the fridge. Let dough warm for 20min until its pliable but still cool to the touch.
On a lightly floured board gently knead the dough a few times. Pat into a ball then with your palms, flatten then start rolling from the center with a floured rolling pin until its about 1/8 inch thick. Keep dusting the board and pin with flour as needed.
With a 4 inch round cutter (what i used was a glass with a 4inch diameter) cut out circles. Transfer the circles of dough to the butter tart pans, pressing into the bottom and sides. Using a fork, pierce the bottom several times. Using a paring knife, trim off excess dough along the edges. Chill for at least 30min before baking.
To bake, pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C. Place chilled tart shells on a baking sheet. Bake for 20-25min until the top is blistered and dry and lightly brown.

White Chocolate Creme Citron Tart

Place egg yolks and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Immediately whisk together until smooth. Add lemon juice and whisk again.
Place saucepan over low heat. Cook the egg yolk mixture stirring constantly with a heat-resistant spatula until the mixture thicken and you notice the first bubble of a boil. Immediately remove from the heat.
Add the white chocolate and stir until smooth. Add the butter, a piece at a time, stirring until completely incorporated.
Pour into the baked tart shells and chill to set for about 4 hours.

Pure Chocolate Tart

In a double boiler melt chocolate over low heat. Remove when chocolate is nearly melted and stir till smooth.
In a saucepan, heat the cream and lemon peel over medium heat until it begins to boil. Remove from the heat and let it sit for 5min.
Pour cream through a seive into the melted chocolate, stirring gently. Pour filling into the tart shells, smoothing the top. Place in fridge to set for 4 hours.

Allow tarts to warm to room temp before serving.

White Chocolate Coconut Cream Bars

2005-10-02T02:24:00.000+08:00

After getting my hands on Pure Chocolate by Fran Bigelow, I now have more bars of chocolate in my fridge than ever before. One of the few recipes I am very attracted to within the book is the White Chocolate Coconut Cream bars. It doesnt look easy but i thought it wouldnt hurt to give it a try. As some of you might already know from my earlier attempt to making Chocolate Truffles I have incorporated coconut as one of my desired toppings. I have always loved the fragrance and taste of coconut. Coconut macaroons are one of my favourite coconut sweets. I was rather happy with the outcome of the bars but i thought the shortbread was a little too hard. Many more practice needed.

White-Chocolate Coconut Cream Bars

Ingredients:

Coconut Cream Filling
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz white chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/4 oz unsweetened finely shredded dried coconut

White Chocolate Shortbread Layer
4 oz semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 oz white chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup sugar
8 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp (approx 160g)
2 cups cake flour, sifted

Dark Ganache topping
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 1/2 oz semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped

Method:

To make coconut filling
In a saucepan heat cream over medium high heat just until it begins to simmer. Remove from the heat add the white chocolate and stir until smooth and melted. Stir in the coconut. Pout into a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap touching the top. Let sit in room temp at least 3 hours but no longer than 24 hours.

To make shortbread layer
Lightly butter a 9 x 13 inch sheet pan. Fan suggested to use a food processor to pulse the chocolate but i decided to just use my knife and chop them up. Place cut chocolate into a small bowl, they should all be about 1/16 to 1/8 inch. Set aside.

In a double-boiler melt white chocolate. Remove from heat when chocolate is almost melted and continue stirring until its glossy and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. Return to the double boiler only briefly if chocolate begins to set up.

In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the sugar and butter on medium-high speed until light in colour and fluffy. 3-5min. Add the melted white chocolate and blend throughly on medium-high speed. Add sifted flour and procedded dark chocolate. Mix on low speed until dough begins to hold together. Remove from the mixing bowl and gently knead a few times to throughly mix. Press dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Refridgerate or freeze until firm.

To bake the bars
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and pre-heat at 170 degrees C. Bake the chilled shortbread crust until lightly golden and slightly puffed. 25min. Cool completely in the pan. If the base settles a bit in the center, do not worry. It will be perfect for holding the filling.

The assemble the bars
Place coconut cream filling in a bowl of a heavy duty mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or use a hand mixer. Beat on medium speed, scraping the sides of the bowl several times until the filling is lighter in both colour and texture, about 1min. Spread the filling evenly and smoothly over the baked cooled shortbread layer.

To make the ganache and finish the bars
In a pot heat the cream over medium-high heat until it begins to simmer. Remove from the heat and stir in the finely chopped chocolate until smooth. Let cool until about 80-85 degrees F. Slowly pour over the coconut filling, spreading it evenly to the edges.
Let set at room temp about 1 hours or place in refridgerator to cool quickly, about 20min. To cut, score the filling with a sharp knife where you wish to cut. Then slice through the base with a long, sharp blade. Remove the bars with a spatula. Store in a sealed container in the refridgerator as long as a week.

I was speechless.....

2005-10-01T23:15:00.000+08:00

With such a big week I am now glad is over, i knew i have been neglecting a few "To Dos"...apart from the usual deadlines for bills, hiring a cleaner for my house, hunting down more cookbooks...something was still amis....what is it?? I know the memory is the first thing to go but damn, not that fast??!!

After i stumbled upon a blog that mentioned lobster, i suddenly remembered.....i was supposed to post about my wonderful dinner I had at San Marco Restaurant at the Fullerton Hotel (previously was occupied by The Lighthouse restaurant).

The latest addition to the group, the dynamic duo (whom i have a lot of respect for), Emmanuel Stroobant and Edina Hong , San Marco is another alternative for Saint Pierre fans who prefer a more italian menu. This visit marks only my 2nd time there and i ordered from their new menu, the Pan fried foie gras with shredded duck confit poached apricot in clear duck consommé and organic autumn vegetable parisienne as Entrees and the Roasted whole lobster with caramelised rock melon, haricot beans, barolo vinegar, fava beans and barley scented roe reduction as my Main.

I love Foie gras (despite the calories but we only live once...heck!) and i was nicely surprised by the way they prepared it....in a consommé. Because the foie gras is on its own very rich and creamy in texture (thus some people dont eat them), the consommé actually lightens the flavour of the foie gras when it gently melts in your mouth while still maintaining the honest taste of foie gras. In terms of creativity in preparation, i was in awe and it will leave you and your palate wanting more, which i thought was unusual after 1 serving of foie gras!

After a refreshing pear sorbet, the highly recommended lobster was served and being a seafood lover, i couldnt wait to dig in and find out what is so good about the lobster that the server was strongly recommending. I took one bite into the crunchy white flesh and it is the most amazing taste that exploded in my mouth.....i let out a gentle "orgasmic" sigh and for a minute, i ignored everything/everyone around me, closed my eyes and savoured the taste and allow my taste buds to indulge me! The combination of caramelised melons and borolo vinegar reduction was simply marvellous! I have never tasted lobster cooked this way and from that point forward, i must admit that i was trying to eat as slow as i can to prolong my pleasure with every bite! I was also guilty of cleaning up every drop of the reduction with my bread....!

I was so satisfied by the lobster that i didnt need or want any desserts....which allowed the taste of my last bite of the lobster to linger on a little further.

I give credit to the awesome job by Emmanuel and his young protégé (only 27 yrs of age i heard), Kelvin Lee who heads the kitchen at San Marco. I had the chance to meet Emmanuel recently and told him how much i enjoyed the lobster and he humbly acknowledged the compliment. He is currently busy filming for a new cooking show that will be aired on Arts Central in December. So, fans out there, watch out for the new 20-part series coming soon!

Just for fun....with Southpark

2005-09-29T23:42:00.000+08:00

It's been such a tiring and stressful week....boy im glad its Friday tomorrow so i can kick back and relax and bake again for yet another dinner party this sunday! Having read Chubby Hubby's posting on SouthPark i was instantly addicted to the site and started layout out characters for some of my close friends and having a good laugh! Well, thought id share as well even though its nothing about food.

Me!

My buddy from Take a Deetour

i had most fun with this one...for GL

Childhood Memories Meme

2005-09-28T16:05:00.000+08:00

I have been tagged by Chef Doc from a Perfect Pear to share my childhood memories on food and how it has influenced my passion for food today.

It is actually rather strange how food has such an arousing and nostalgic effect on all of us and how it bacame so apparent is also very different for people from across the world.

My Mother-My Number One Culinary Role Model

I admire my mother for several reasons. She is a simple girl born in a pretty wealthy family in Malaysia and never had to lift a finger to do much around the house. And then she got married and had to learn the ropes towards being a professional home-maker. She was a seamstress by profession but studied accounting and is very good with her hands. She had to learn to cook from no experience, knowledge or skills. I grew up watching her make-merry in the kitchen creating several yummy dishes, pastries, cakes, dim sums, etc....through helping her in the kitchen before i attended Home Economics, i learnt the basics of how to make sushi, pizzas, cakes, chicken pies, char siew baos, baked meat baos....etc and many other stir-fried dishes. She is the reason i have developed a liking for cooking and maybe baking too! A few of my favourite dishes she created are: Pork Belly with Dark Soy, Steamed Chicken Rice Braised Five Spice Duck.

Restaurant Latour-Shangri-La Singapore

The one thing that further moulded my love and passion for food, wine and hospitality was when i started my Diploma in Tourism Management at a local Polytechnic and started my internship in a Classic French restaurant which has closed sometime in year 2001. My very first experience with Foie Gras and Dom Perignon Champagne was at this restaurant. After the restaurant is closed, we could try out some of the food and only during special occasions such as Christmas or NYE would we be allowed to hit the champers! I spent a fair bit of time watching the chefs in the kitchen and picked up bits and pieces of useful information. It truly opened my eyes to French food and i started to develop a yearning for more understanding for cuisines from other parts of the world. As most people in F&B would agree with me, that they work really hard and they play hard too.....i developed my tolerance for alcohol mostly after hours at the hotel!

Durians

Actually i did talk about how durians entered my life as a kid in my 2nd posting as a blogger. I used to love durians to death. Ate so much of them that i have seriously O.D. on them after i turned 21. During my early years visiting and living in my late grandparent's shophouse, i remember my uncle running the shopfront selling fruits. Needless to say, he would always pass us tons of fruits that were in season. My late grandparents loved durians and everytime we visited them, instead of any Hainanese sweets we had durians! I remember loving the durians with very yellow flesh with a slightly bitter after taste. This fruit is not for the faint hearted. It's rich, succulent flesh is filled with calories and seriously fills you up. It also smells pungent to some, awesome to majority of the Singaporeans. It was one of the fruits that was served at one of the episodes of the early seasons of fear factor i believe.

Soft-boiled Eggs for Breakfast

As a pampered school girl where mummy took care of all my meals, i had no choice on what i wanted for breakfast and dinner. I used to never like breakfast (in fact, i still dont eat anything for breakfast except for a glass of Milo or cup of tea) and hated soggy toast in the morning. My mum used to toast the bread too soon and by the time i got into my uniforms, my toast would have all gone wet & soft. (thus my anal retentiveness towards toasts). It HAS to be golden brown crispy on the outside and preferably white bread. BUT one thing i absolutely LOVE is a good old traditional half-boiled egg for breakfast with drops of dark soy sauce and pepper! I still go to Ya Kun Kaya Toast to have my soft boiled eggs to satisfy the occasional craving when i have 10min to sit down for breakfast! After living in Australia, there was another addiction i developed for breakfast.......vegemite and butter on toast!!

Living in Australia

I honestly think that living and studying in Australia has changed my perception towards food preparation as well. The appeal of cooking with fresh produce easily accessible is a healthy addiction i readily would subject myself to for 3 years....wish it was longer. I would spend loads on groceries and good cuts of meats, fresh seafood and veggies. Insisting on the freshest actually makes the dish taste so much better; for instance, i would much rather pay more for roman tomatoes than the regular tomates when cooking pasta sauce as the flesh is much sweeter, crunchy, less watery pulp that might dilute my sauce while simmering. My entire perspective towards different cuts of meat, variations of cheeses was enhanced and brought to a different level. Same goes for my appreciation of wines. Had i not lived in Australia on my own, i would not have become so passionate about creating my own dishes and be that wiling to be in the kitchen today.

OK....here are another 4 people i choose to tag to keep the meme going...(if they have not already participated)

Deetour Guide from Take a Deetour in Singapore

Saffron from Food Palate in Sydney

Nic from Baking Sheet in LA

Joe from Foodie in NYC

Baked Saffron Chicken

2005-09-24T19:51:00.000+08:00

This recipe i thought was interesting and had a crispy crust due to the use of flour. Combined with the floral taste of saffron, when i tasted it, i thought it was unusual, simple and fragrant. It is unlike other conventional roast chicken recipes that combine much stronger flavours. I adapted the recipe from Cuisine Magazine but made some alterations as well.

Baked Saffron Chicken

Ingredients:

6 chicken drumsticks
pinch of saffron threads (approx 15 threads)
6 tbsp flour
salt (i used McCormick's Spicy Season All instead)
ground black pepper
Olive Oil

Method:

Marinate the drumsticks with salt and pepper overnight
Pound the saffront threads (if pounding is difficult, use a sharp sissors and cut threads into fine bits)
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C.
Combine flour and saffront in a big bowl and rub this mixture over the surface of the chicken.
Heat oil in a frying pan and brown chicken evenly on all sides.
Tranfer to an oven proof dish and bake for 30min until cooked through.
Serve with asparagus & butter beans.

Roast Chicken with Soy & Honey

2005-09-24T19:18:00.000+08:00

It has been a truly busy 2 weeks, filled with events and parties involving endless supply of wines and martinis. Having said that, i never complain when good alcohol is in abundance combined with awesome company! Although i do miss hanging out in my kitchen and trying my hand at recipes i find ever so tempting.

It was Koko's hubby's farewell today and yes, another pot luck party at an apartment along Pasir Panjang road that faces the sentosa island. The breeze was blowing, the view was absolutely captivating!

I decided to prepare 2 chicken dishes. One of which is a recipe i previously posted as one of my all-time favourite roast chicken dish and another, a baked chicken dish using the most expensive spice in the world...Saffron. I wanted to find out for myself what the appeal and hype is all about towards this amazingly fragrant spice.It's wonderfully floral aromas and flavour enhanced the taste of the chicken.

Roast Chicken with Dark Soy and Honey

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
McCormick's Spicy Season
All Five Spices SALT (see pic)
Dark soy Sauce
2 tbsp Honey

Method:
Wash and cut chicken into a half just on one side (through the breast bone) and spread chicken out on roasting pan.
Pour dark soy sauce over chicken to give the chicken a nice dark colour. Marinate with McCormick's Spicy Season All and Five Spices Salt both inside and outside the chicken not too much as it may become too salty. Cling wrap and allow it to marinate overnight. (very important!)
Pre-heat over to 180 degrees celcius.
Before roasting, baste the chicken with marinade then into the oven it goes for about 35-45min (depending on how hot your oven is) or when it starts getting slightly burnt on the skin. (thats the charm about roasting this chicken...does not taste good if it aint slightly charred on the skin!!!) 5 min before the chicken is ready, remove from oven.
Brush generous amounts of honey over the entire chicken.
Put it back into the oven for another 5min. This gives the chicken skin a nice crispy taste to it!
I guarantee an absolute charmer at any pot luck party you host or attend!

L'Orange Torte

2005-09-11T16:45:00.000+08:00

It has been a warm, humid but rainy weekend...great time to stay in and try out recipes from my new cookbooks. Apart from the truffles that kept me busy all of Saturday (and wee hours of Sunday morning), i also decided on making a cake from Fran Bigelow's Pure Chocolate. I chose the L'Orange Torte which she recommends as one of the easiest among all her other recipes.

I did not follow the recipe to the finest detail as the first mixture i made following every step of the recipe did not work out and i threw it out. Ahhh...the joys of baking, its all a big suspense till your cake comes out of the oven.

L'Orange

Ingredients:

6 oz semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 oranges, pref large navels with dark, rough-textured skin
12 tbsp butter/240g
1 cup sugar, set aside 1 tbsp for beating egg whites (i find icing sugar gives the best result to the fluffiness of the butter)
4 large eggs, room temp; seperate yolks and whites.
1 2/3 cup almond flour
1 recipe Chocolate Butter Glaze (recipe to follow)

Method:

Pre-heat oven with a middle rack in the oven at 150 degrees C
Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (pref flared) and line with a parchment paper at the bottom
In a double boiler melt the chocolate over low heat. (I turned off the heat and used the heat from the steam to melt chocolate. I find if i had the heat on, it will over cook the chocolate)
Remove when nearly melted and continue stirring until smooth. Briefly return to the double boiler if it begins to thicken.
Wash the oranges. Using a fine grater or microplaner, finely grate the zest onto a plate and set aside.
Add butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until pale cream in colour.
When butter is sufficiently white and fluffy, lower speed slightly and add in yolks one at a time. Mix well for about 2-3 min.
In another bowl, add in 1 tbsp of icing sugar with the 4 egg whites. Beat on high speed until its white, fluffy and doubled in size.
With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the egg whites into the butter mixture swiftly, do not stir as you want to maintain as much of the air bubbles as possible. This should only take about 1-2 min.
Fold in the almond flour little by little. You will notice mixture slowly thickens and has more body.
Slowly fold in the chocolate. Make sure that the chocolate is not too warm else it will cook the eggs.
Fold in grated orange at the very end as adding it too early (as recommended by Fran together with butter and sugar caused mixture to seperate due to the juice still within the grated skin.)
Quickly pour mixture into lined pan and bake for about 40min until puffed and domed in the center with a slight fracture 1 inch from the rim. Test with cake tester and it should have a few moist crumbs.
Allow cake to cool for 15min in the pan.
To remove from pan, run a thin-bladed knife around the edges of the cake and invert onto a metal tart-pan bottom. Chill in fridge for a few hours or overnight.

To finish Torte
Bring torte to room temp, trim any uneven edges. While torte is warming up in room temp, prepare chocolate butter glaze.
Have ready chocolate butter glaze.

To make glaze:

Ingredients:
4 oz semi sweet chocolate finely chopped
8tbsp/160g butter

Method:
In a double boiler or bowl over simmering water, melt the chocolate. Remove the top of the boiler or bowl when chocolate is nearly melted and continue stirring until smooth. Add the softened butter, slowly stirring with a spatula until no visible traces of butter remaining. (if butter starts to liquify, stop and let the chocolate cool slightly.)
The glaze should be glossy and smooth with a temperature of 26-29 degrees C. When stirred, it will hold a line on the surface for about 10sec before disappearing. If the glaze is starting to set up, return briefly to the double boiler.

Place torte (on tart bottom) on a cooling rack positioned over a rimmed baking sheet. Beginning 1 1/2 inches from the edge of the torte, slowly and evenly pour the glaze around the torte layer, making sure that the sides are sufficiently covered. Then pour remaining glaze onto the center.
Working quickly, using a metal offset spatula, spread the glaze evenly over the top, letting excess run down the sides.
Let set at room temp until the glaze is slightly firm. Once set, slide torte onto serving plate. Can be stored at room temp up to 3 days.

My final product!

Chocolate Truffles Overdose

2005-09-11T04:42:00.000+08:00

I made another visit to Kinokuniya this week and picked up a beautiful book by Fran Bigelow called Pure Chocolate. Most of my friends know im not a person with much of a sweet tooth but for chocolate, i make a special exception especially after my visit to Koko Black.

On my trips to Melbourne this year, i came across a glorious hand-made chocolate shop called Koko Black along Lygon Street in Carlton. It is beautifully decorated and had endless trays of decadent chocolates. The best thing is, they open till late and have a bar that served alcohol as well! From a person who only ate chocolate once in a rare blue moon, i was weak in the knees and am converted instantly after my visit there! What I felt was most interesting are their drinks selection, with a wide variety of chocolate or caramel infused coffees and teas. For those who love Hot Chocolates, make sure you try their hot chocolate....it is the BEST hot chocolate i have ever tasted. I believe i have tried almost all of their chocolates retailed there in under 3 weeks in Melbourne!

One of the reasons why i bought Frans's Pure Chocolate is because of her concise explanation on understanding chocolate, preparation and cooking chocolate as well. And most of all, her recipe on making Chocolate Truffles! I have been wanting to learn how to make my own chocolates but just never knew how and if it is at all possible in a climate like Singapore's. I tried making chocolate truffles for the first time and am overjoyed that it worked out....took me an entire day though. As Fran advises, "Patience is a virtue....especially with Chocolate". I also decided to practice more on my baking as advised by S from Chubby Hubby, more practice is the best way to conquer my fear towards baking and master some important skills through trial and error. Thus, i have also made a L'orange Torte also from Fran's Pure Chocolate.

Pure Dark-Chocolate Truffles
With variations of coatings:
- Roasted chopped almonds
- Desicated coconut
- Valhorna Cocoa power

Ingredients:
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (i picked up a huge block of Swiss chocolate from Sun Lik along Seah St as you will need loads for tempering the chocolate centers later)
1 cup heavy cream (whipping cream with at least 36% milk fat is ideal)
3 tbsp/60g unsalted butter, room temp.
1 recipe tempered semisweet chocolate (recipe to follow)

Method:
Place the finely chopped chocolate in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
In a small pot, bring the cream to boil. Pour over the chocolate in the bowl. Let sit for approx. 30sec without disturbing.
With a rubber/soft plastec spatula, beginning in a small area in the middle of the bowl, start stirring with small, gentle strokes. As the puddle in the center turns dark and smooth, begin making broader strokes, moving out to the edges and gredually incorporating more of the cream and chocolate.
Continue stirring until mixture is smooth and dark. The emulsion should be very smooth.
Cover with plastic wrap touching the surface of the ganache. Let set at room temp 8-12 hours allowing flavours to develop and the consistency to firm up. (According to Fran, her room temperature is between 20-24 degrees Celsius, in Singapore climate, place ganache in the fridge, lowest shelf)

To form the Truffles

Have ready two 9 x 13 inch baking sheets pan-lined with parchment.
To form the centers, the butter must be soft enough to blend easily with a spatula. Place softened butter in a bowl and beat with rubber spatula until the consistency is similar to the chocolate ganache. (Now because i have placed ganache in the fridge, allow it to sit in out for about 5min before working on butter.)
With the rubber spatula, fold the butter into the ganache until smooth, glossy and homogeneous. The mixture is ready when it mounds in the bowl and holds the shape when piped. (If you feel your mixture is too moist and cant be piped to shape, place it into the fridge again for about 5min.)
Spoon into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tip (#2A if using Wilton bag from Sun Lik). Pipe about fifty to sixty 1-inch rounds onto a lined baking sheet. Transfer to fridge for at least 1 hour.
(I had a few mishaps during this stage, as its really hard to get the right consistency during piping. Our warm hands and warm climate melts the mixture rather quickly. I find its easier if my mixture is more solid than too moist as the mixture does get warm while piping and you have to pipe really fast to ensure the chocolate stays in its desired temperature. Tip is: while piping, work in an air-conditioned room at 17 degrees Celsius pref in evening when the temp has lowered somewhat. Pipe 1/2 the mixture and fridge the other half of the remaining mixture while piping the first batch.)
According to Fran, if you dont wish to use the pastry bag, a teaspoon or small round scoop can be used to portion out the centers. Then fridge them to set for about 20min and roll them with hands into balls.
When set, trim any tails on top to make it a perfect round. The centers are ready for dipping.

Tempering dark chocolate

Ingredients:
2 pounds high quality semisweet chocolate (pref. 56% cacao), finely chopped

Equipment needed:
a double boiler or simply a bigger saucepan with boiling water and a stainless steel bowl or smaller saucepan over the top to melt the chocolate
wooden spatula
thermometer if you have, it helps you maintain the chocolate int he right temperature.

Method:
Set aside 7 oz of finely chopped chocolate
Place the remaining chocolate in a large stainless steel bowl over simmering water or in a double boiler over low heat. (Keeping in mind the temp in Singapore, i turned off the heat once the water in the saucepan has boiled. It is impt NOT to overheat the chocolate)
When about half the chocolate is melted, remove from heat. Stir with a dry wooden spatula until smooth. Return to the heat and continue stirring until the chocolate reaches 46 degrees C. Do not let temp exceed 48.8 degrees C.
Remove from the heat and add in 7oz reserved chocolate. Stir with spatula until all the chocolate is melted and smooth.
Continue stirring every few min until the chocolate cools to a temp of 30 degrees C. Depending on the temp of your kitchen and size of the bowl, this could be anywhere betw 15-30min (5-10min in Singapore climate.)
Once the chocolate is cooled, return over simmering water very briefly to gently warm back to 31-32 degrees C. This should take no more than 10 seconds. if you overheat, the chocolate will lose its temper and you will have to repeat the entire process.
The perfect temp for fluid dark chocolate for dipping is betw 31-32.2 degrees C.
To test for temper, smear a teaspoon on a sheet of parchment or plate. If its dries within 2min to a glossy, smooth finish, it is in temper. If it doesnt set properly and looks dull and streaked, it probably needs more time to cool. Continue stirring and testing. Once the chocolate is in temper, have your centers ready for dipping and work quickly. (again, dipping is best done in cool room about 17 degrees C)
If the chocolate starts firming around the edges, briefly return to double boiler to keep it fluid enough for dipping. Should not be more than a min if water is still steaming.

To dip chocolate centers

You need clean hands, one for picking up centers and other one to very gently pick up centers submerged in tempered chocolate using index and center fingers only. Make sure its evenly coated throughout. Gently shake off excess chocolate and place on parchment or Silpat-lined sheet to set in fridge for about 5-8min. (I made a few variations, i coated it with Valhorna cocoa powder for its dark brown colour, desicated coconut and roasted chopped almonds. They not only looked pretty but tasted just divine! So, after dipping the centers into tempered chocolate, i immediately dropped them in small bowls containing the various coatings. Cover them evenly and then place on lined tray and fridge to set.)

Remaining tempered chocolate can be kept and used for baking or dessert making. Simply pour onto a parchment lined sheet and fridge to harden. Break into chunks and store for future use.

Wholesome Food: Risotto

2005-09-04T23:43:00.000+08:00

I love Italian food! What do i like about it......gee where do i start. Perhaps its my innate love for carbohydrates (despite what it does to my waistline), combined with my weakness for cheese and salty food....it is a cuisine i cannot see myself ever disliking.

Since University days, i have cooked pasta to death. To me, pasta is my definition of "fast-food", simple, easy and wholesome, an "All-in-one meal". The strangest thing is, i have never tried cooking a Risotto. As i was explaining to my buddy Deetour chick, it is probably because of how the italians cook their risotto, to me its usually too rich and creamy for me to finish the entire plate, thus, i avoid risotto in general. But it does not stop me from attempting a risotto of my own. I adapted my recipe from Delia Smith. I was salivating when i first read that recipe and told myself i HAD to give it a shot!

Tiger Prawns Risotto with Prawn Stock

Ingredients:

6 tiger prawns; peeled leaving tail, de-veined
175g Arborio Rice
780g lobster bisque (i couldnt find lobster bisque, i chanced upon a jewel in Deetour chick's fridge; Home-made Prawn Stock!)
40g butter
75ml sherry
50g Gruyere cheese; i didnt have that, i substitued it with good-old Parmesan cheese, shredded
2 tbsp whipping cream
sea salt & black pepper

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees C; place baking dish in oven to warm
in a medium-sized saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, saute onions for 7-8min until soft.
Stir in rice into the buttery juices so that it gets a good coating then pour in the prawn stock and sherry and bring it to simmering point. Season with 1 tsp sea salt and ground black pepper.
Pour in whole lot into the baking dish that has been warming in the oven and return to the oven uncovered for 35min.
After 35mins, remove dish from oven and change settings to grill on the highest setting.
Taste the risotto to check on seasoning then drizzle cream over, place prawns on top and sprinkle shredded cheese over.
Place the dish under the grill for 2 mins or until cheese is brown and bubbling.
Serve immediately.

Risotto: Fresh out of the oven!!

Here i served it with Deetour chick's wondefully yummy Baby Spinach Salad with Tomato & Olive Pesto and Red Pesto. The recipe can be found on our group blog, Dias Deliciosos.

IMBB 18: School Tuckshop Memories

2005-08-30T19:31:00.000+08:00

I was walking past a school one day and heard the usual sounds of kids taking a break from classes and the all so familiar sounds of plates and cutlery coming together while kids were having a meal at the canteen, in those day we usually called it the "tuckshop".

It brought back memories of my school days and the kind of food i used to savour at my primary ad secondary schools.

I smiled to myself as i remembered how we used to have to queue up (endlessly it seems) just to get a bowl of noodles to satisfy my pangs of hunger and how i actually do miss those days!

I thought the best way to totally indulge in reminiscence would be to try at cooking up one of my favourite dishes from school. In addition, it is also in line with the latest IMBB (Is My Blog Burning) event for August; Summer's Flying, Let's Get Frying although i think i may be a little late for submissions!)

I remember attending a friend's house party where she prepared Mee Siam for everyone from scratch (well almost...it was not instant mix for sure!) and i thoroughly enjoyed it. I got on the phone, asked her for the recipe and i gave it a shot!

For our fellow bloggers from overseas, Mee Siam was originally a Thai dish of noodles made from rice flour noodles (vermicelli) and served in a light and piquant gravy made from tamarind juice (assam) and dried shrimps, and served with toppings such as fresh lime, tiny cubes of dried beancurd, chives and slices of boiled egg. It has since been adopted and sold by most of the races in Singapore including Indians, whose version is pinkish in colour and sweeter because it has more sugar in the gravy but i have decided to replicate it in Chinese style using chinese/nonya chilli paste instead.

Mee Siam (Chinese Style)

Ingredients:

1 pack Vermicelli; soaked in water till soften and drained
5 heaped tbsp Freshly mixed and grinded Chilli Paste; bought from any market specifically from a Nonya Store
Assam; 3 heaped tbsp; soaked in 500ml water
2 litres water
6 tbsp Soy Bean Paste (bottled)
5 pieces Tao Pok (dry beancurd puffs); blanched and cut into cubes
3-4 hard boiled eggs, quartered
chopped chives
handful of Beansprouts; blanched
Fish cake; toasted and sliced thinly into strips
Fresh lime; quartered
1-2 tsp Garlic; chopped
1-2 tsp Shallots; chopped
oil
Sugar

Method:

To prepare Chilli Paste

In a wok, heat 4tbsp of oil and add in chilli paste and stir fry till its fragrant; approx. 8 min.
Season with 1tsp salt and 3tbsp sugar. Dish out and set aside.

To prepare beanpaste

Using the same wok, heat 1 tbsp oil and add chopped garlic and shallots and stir fry till almost golden brown. Afterwhich, add 6 tbsp bean paste and stir-fry for about 1 min. Dish out and set aside.

To Prepare Vermicelli

Note: If you are using the traditional cast iron wok, chances are by now your wok would have some burnt bits of the chilli paste and bean paste. It would be advisable to give the wok a good rinse. If you are using a non-stick wok, you can continue using the wok without rinsing.

Heat wok and add in 2 tbsp of oil. Add in 1-2 tbsp of chilli paste (depending on how spicy you would like it to be) and 1/ cup water.
Add in softened vermicelli and stir fry till chilli is evenly mixed in with vermicelli. It should give a nice light orange-red colour. Dish out and set aside.

To Prepare Mee Siam Gravy

After the assam has been soaking in water for about 10 min, using your hand, squeeze and remove all assam seeds and skin and discard.
In a medium sized saucepan, add in 500ml of assam water, another 500-800ml of water depending on how thick you prefer your gravy and bring it to a boil. Once it starts boiling, add in 4 tbsp of chilli paste, cooked bean paste, 8 tbsp of sugar, 1 tsp salt and allow to simmer for about 30-40min.

Add desired amount of gravy over vermicelli and serve with hard boil eggs, tofu puffs, beansprouts and a sprinkle of chives. Lime if you prefer it to me little more tangy.

Pears....can you ever get enough?

2005-08-27T23:17:00.000+08:00

When i think of pears, the first variety that comes to my mind is always the Nashi or the Packham's Triumph (common green skinned pear from Australia). The Nashi is wonderful due to its superb juicy character and the Packham is a totally different texture which i will go in further detail later.

My foodie buddy, Deetour chick and i decided to get together on Saturday afternoon to experiment on some recipes again. She was making a Lemon Layer Cake for a friend's birthday party and i had difficulty deciding on something from so many desirable recipes i have in my possession (not just my cookbooks, my stock-pile of gourmet magazines as well)!

The it struck me, since she is making a Lemon Layer cake, how about i go along with a fruit theme as well? I embarked on a search for a recipe that involved a fruit and i found more than what i was looking for. I realised that there were many many recipes that repeatedly involved 2 fruits; apples and pears. I chose the latter, purely because i love the shape of pears and i have never tried cooking with pears and thought to myself, this should be good fun and slightly challenging for me too.

I found at least 10 different recipes that used pears. Being the typical female here, i could not make a decision on what to try because they all looked so delicious! Then i went with what my palate would take well to; desserts that were not heavy (a few of them were on big pies and puff pastries which im not too fond of), something that is also rather refreshing with different preparation methods as well (for me to get some experience in cooking fruits in 3 different styles). Also being inspired by several blogs who are theming their culinary adventures to a single ingredient with a variety of preparation method, I embarked on my maiden journey with Pears.

Vanilla Poached Pear and Burnt Orange cardamom Custard
(Serves 6)

Ingredients:
1.5kg castor sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
6 beurre bosc pears (i raided all supermarkets at Holland Village, they were out of stock, i used Packham instead.)

Pic: Packham Triumph and Buerre Bosc Pears

For custard
2 oranges
2 cups pouring cream (Emborg UHT Whipping Cream is good)
300ml milk
8 cardamom pods, crushed
180g castor sugar
10 egg yolks

Equipment needed (as this involves many steps esp custard)
sharp vegetable peeler to ensure pears are neatly peeled with no bumps or holes
3 saucepans
6 Ramekins/150ml individual baking dishes
whisk
1 large bowl for whisking
roasting pan at least 2-3inches height

Method:

To prepare Pears
Boil 1.5litres of water, sugar, scraped seeds from vanilla bean and bean in a large heavy-based saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, peel pears and trim based to sit flat. Place pears in syrup and bring to just below the boil.
Cover with a round of baking paper and plate to keep the pears submerged in syrup, then simmer gently for 20min or till tender when pierced with a fork.
Remove from heat, cool pears in syrup then cover and refrigerate for several hours or until chilled. Can be done day before.

To prepare custard
Use a vegetable/potato peeler, peel thin strips of rind from oranges and remove any pith (white bits). Juice oranges (to make 200ml) then set aside.
Place orange rind, cream, milk, cardamom and 60g sugar in a saucepan and stir continuously over low heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to almost to the boil, remove from heat and stand for 20min to infuse.
Meanwhile, place egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk till well combined. Set aside.
Place remaining 120g sugar and 200ml orange juice in a another small saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15min or until golden caramel.
Immediately pour orange juice caramel into cream mixture prepared earlier and whisk until smooth.
Gradually pour combined cream mixture over combined egg yolks, whisking continuously while you pour.
Pour whisked mixture through a sieve and divide among 6 ramekins or small 150ml baking dishes.
Place damp cloth in a roasting pan, place ramekins in pan and pour in enough boiling water to come 3/4 up the sides of ramekins, then cover roasting pan with double layer al-foil and pierce foil to allow steam to escape.
Bake at 120C for 55min or until centers of custard wobble slightly when gently shaken. Remove ramekins from water bath and cool to room temperature then refrigerate for several hours or overnight until set.
Serve with custard on plate with a drizzle of vanilla syrup (previously used to cook pears).

- Recipe compliments of Chef Jaclyn Nichols; Bistro Moncur-Sydney-

Caramelised Pears in Port & Orange Sauce
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup greek-style yoghurt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1tbsp brown sugar (for yoghurt mixture)
20g butter
3 tbsp brown sugar (for browning pears)
3 pears (i would also suggest either Packham or Beurre Bosc; peeled and quartered)
1/4 cup port
1/2 cup orange juice

Method:

Place yoghurt, cinnamon and 1tbsp sugar in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add butter and 3 tbsp sugar and heat till sugar starts to caramelise.
Add pears in and cook till it is golden. Add the port and orange juice and cook for about 5-8min.
Serve with port & orange sauce and cinnamon yoghurt.

- Recipe adapted from Donna Hay-

Pear & Rosemary Chutney
(Makes about 2 cups)
Ingredients:

4 Packham or Buerre Bosc pears; peeled, cored & chopped into 1.5cm pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic; chopped
1 onion; finely chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp rosemary leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp grated giner
1/2 tsp all-spice powder
150g brown sugar
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 1/2tbsp currants

Method:

Heat olive oil in saucepan. Add chopped garlic, onion, sea salt, rosemary, mustard seeds, ginger and all spice powder and cook over medium heat for about 8min.
Add sugar, white wine vinegar, currants and simmer for 10min.
Add chopped pears and cook over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally for 50min or until thick.
Spoon into sterilised jars, seal and refrigerate for up to a month.
Great with cheeses, cold meats, charcuterie (sausages, hams, pates etc) and roast lamb or pork.

- Recipe adapted from Gourmet Traveller-

My very first Cookbook

2005-08-26T01:10:00.000+08:00

Strange as it sounds but i still have my very first self-made cookbook from Secondary 4. One of the few subjects that always brings a smile to my face when i think about school. Those were the days when i had to wear a white apron (we were forced to sew our own names on the apron) and be cooking in a very old kitchen in school. The home economics classes were always the last lesson of the day and that was ideal as some of us who had to do washing & cleaning up usually were wet and smelled of either cooking oil from frying or of flour and butter deposits from rubbing butter and flour!

There it is, amidst the few cookbooks i have in my collection.

It is looking really tattered and yellow.....it has been too many years ago. I had a few favourite recipes within, but i remember cooking Braised Chicken Chops for my exam and because it was marinated with some honey, it was a pain to pan-fry as it used to splattered all over my arm and burn easily if the pan was too hot. Not a recipe i would recommend to anyone right now though.

Yes, all painfully handwritten (in my then worse handwriting) and had to be submitted to my teacher for marking to ensure we prepared before each lesson. Being in an all-girls school before, we only had 2 options; sewing or cooking for Home Economics.....I was absolutely hopeless in sewing as i wasn't born with nimble fingers and drawing capabilities. Cooking it is then. I am sure glad I had those years of training in school, I know my mother is more than glad as she can skip teaching me basics in the kitchen.

Chocolate Molten Cake...serious devil's food

2005-08-22T21:19:00.000+08:00

I blame it on the euphoria i experienced from purchasing those cookbooks over the weekend that induced my desire to bake. Not just any cake, but I had to choose this particular cake which is known to be rather hard to perfect. I am honestly not a big fan of baking. After going through some traumatic foul-ups with baking in school (2 years of Home Economics in secondary school) i have sort of decided that i do not have the necessary patience nor skills to bake well. To me, i think the key to baking is to know your oven very very well and to be very precise and understand the fundamentals of all the ingredients within a cake, pastry or souffle for instance.

Looking at Delia's Melting Chocolate Pudding recipe, it looked really simple and i was confident that it would work. I decided to bake on Saturday evening after making my Chicken Cacciatore. I was proved otherwise...8 pudding cups, 8 tries, 8 failures! Imagine my devastation! However, what truely overwhelmed my frustration was the BIG craving for that chocolate cake that was not satisfied.....yet! After a long & tiring search on Epicurious, an awesome website of recipes featured in Bon Appetite and Gourmet from the US, i decided on a different recipe with different proportions of chocolate and butter as compared to the one from Delia. And it worked out beautifully!!

Molten Chocolate Cakes with Ice Cream

Ingredients:

150g chocolate, break into small pieces (i used Chocolate Dark Couverture bought from Phoon Huat, Singapore)
50g butter
1 tbsp brandy
2 eggs
2 yolks
5 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp flour

Method:
Melt butter and chocolate in small saucepan suspended over hot water. When mixture is all melted, stir in brandy. Do not stir chocolate over flame, you only need the steam from the hot water to melt the chocolate. Leave aside to cool.
You will need 5 small pudding tins, preferably non-stick ones, about 4oz in volume each. Grease them with butter and sprinkle with sugar all around. The reason for the sugar is to ensure the cakes slide right out of the tins without needing to use a knife to scrap the sides for fear it might poke the cake and break it apart. Using a cake mixer or hand held whisk (on medium high speed), mix eggs, yolks, sugar and vanilla essence till very thick ribbon falls when beater/s are lifted, about 5-6min. Colour should be off white.
Turn mixer speed to lowest and spoon in chocolate gradually till evenly mixed. Chocolate mixture must be cool before adding into egg mixture. You do not want your egg mixture being cooked by the chocolate. Then add in the flour and mix evenly. Do not over whisk.
Turn off mixer, using a flat wooden spoon, gently fold the mixture (3 folds) esp at the bottom to ensure mixture is even. Do not stir mixture, you will break the air pockets that makes the cake really soft and light.
Pour the mixture into tins. Do not use a spoon to spoon in mixture, again, it will break the mixture's air pockets apart.
Place tins with mixtures in the fridge and chill for minimum 1 hour before baking. Mixtures can be made day before and stored in fridge till you are ready to bake for your party the next day.
Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees Celcius and depending on how big your oven is, middle shelf is ideal for big ovens, bottom shelf if you oven is a small one (about the size of the Tefal with the element at the top).
Allow mixture to sit in room temperature for about 5-10min before baking.
The recipe said to bake for 15 min but because previously after 8 tries and i realised that my oven is really hot, I decided to cut down the timing to 9 min.
After 9 min, i used a toothpick to check the cake. The edges should be cooked (using toothpick poke about 1-2cm off the edge; toothpick should come out clean) and the center should still be runny, moist and springy when you wiggle it.
Allow cake to rest for 2-3 min before turning cake over on a plate.
Serve it with ice cream...the combination is awesome!

Note:
this is a very delicate cake to make but its simply delicious when you get it right. You and your guests will go weak in the knees savouring the cake! If you dont bake often and you do not know how hot your oven gets, my advice is to bake the cakes one at a time and then fine tune the timing as you go along. Use the same temperature, for this cake, the only variable that you need to alter is the timing. I find the recipe in Delia's How to Cook is not suitable for my oven....it kept cooking the cake right through for some strange reason. It could also be the type of chocolate i used at first, the Hershey's dark chocolate was what i used at first try.

Good Luck!

Chicken Cacciatore

2005-08-21T19:55:00.000+08:00

According to GL, he feels that I am a very excitable person...small things in life induces some level of euphoria in me! He is pretty spot on. The possession of my new cookbooks does that to me. Immediately after I got home with my new purchase, I sat on my comfy couch and went through the recipes starting with Delia's.

It's been a while since I cooked a chicken dish (im more of a red meat person) and since I have a whole chicken in the freezer, I pulled it out and allowed it to defrost and decided on a dish I have never tried, the Chicken Cacciatore. Cacciatore (pronounced as "kah-chuh-TOR-ee") in Italian means Hunter Style, this style is apparently popular throughout Italy. It refers to food prepared with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, various herbs and sometimes wine. It's rich, flavoursome and to me, can easily make it to my list of comfort food especially when served on a bed of pasta.

Chicken Cacciatore served with Spaghetti & grated Parmesan

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 big onions, cut into big slices
700g tomatoes (about 6-7 regular sized tomatoes)
2 garlic, chopped
4tbsp tomato puree
3 springs rosemary, just the leaves and slighly rub between hands to release fragrance
1 bay leaf (i ran out of Bay leaves, i used 2 big basil leaves instead)
275ml White Wine
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt
gound black pepper

Method:

Marinate chicken with salt & pepper for a few hours
Heat saucepan, add olive oil and brown chicken pieces in 2 batches. Make sure that all chicken pieces are nicely golden brown. Put aside.
In the same pan, add in onions and turn heat down to low and allow onioins to sweat and slowly soften and brown, takes about 8min.
While onions are browning, boil some water for the tomatoes. Lightly score the tomatoes top to bottom for easy removal of skin. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and allow it to soak for about 1 min. Peel off skin and cut into small cubes.
Add in garlic , tomatoes, tomato puree, rosemary, bay leaf/Basil leaves, white wine and white wine vinegar. Boil on low heat uncovered for about 15-20min or until it reduces to about half.
Add the chicken back into pan and simmer covered with lid this time under low heat for about 40min.
If you are serving with Pasta, make sure its not too dry as the sauce will serve as a base for the pasta.
Taste and season if necessary.

To cook pasta:
Ensure you add salt and olive oil in water before putting pasta in. Depending on thickness of pasta, usually for linguine or spaghetti, it takes no more than 8-9min for al dente.

A visit to the Bookstore

2005-08-21T13:26:00.000+08:00

I have always enjoyed the solitude time at the bookstore looking around for magazines and occasionally a novel but most of all, i enjoy flipping through awesome cookbooks by recognised cooks or celebrity chefs from around the world. They are a source of inspiration to me. They all have their story on how they became who they are today and how hard they have all worked to get the recognition they have painstakingly earned.

A few of my favourite celebrity chefs are, Gordan Ramsay (some of you might know by now), Anthony Bourdain and Guy Rubino from Made to Order but no cookbooks out by them as yet (but do check out the site on Food Network Canada:Made to Order for online recipes).
I would love to read more about the famous Charlie Trotter, Thomas Keller: French Laundry Cookbook, Ken Hom and of course, Tetsuya Wakuda.

I felt a sense of vertigo when i was flipping through Thomas Keller's French Laundry Cookbook. It's undoubtedly a beautiful cookbook with delicately presented dishes (which is something i strive to achieve in presentation) but the recipes......they were mostly long and complicated for an amateur cook like myself! Going through 95% of the book at Kinokuniya and reading the steps, imagining my solo self in my kitchen combined with my choronic perfection syndrome, i can so see myself preparing the meal to the best of my ability for my family/friends and one single frown at my food from anyone will send me jumping off my apartment window! Now i can understand why certain chefs who got striped off their title of being a Michelin Star chef would be motivated to self-destruct. Now, that is a serious cookbook for serious cooks who have the time and perhaps 2-4 maids in the kitchen to help with mis en place . But i put the book away telling myself.....perhaps one day, after much more experience and culinary skills acquired i will get there, it's not impossible!

So I decided on Anthony Bourdain: Les Halles Cookbook and Delia: How to Cook Book Two. Don't be fooled by Delia's How to Cook range. The title may be deceiving like its written for first time cooks with no experience at all in cooking. I gone through the recipes and found that it was not as easy as Jamie Oliver or Nigella Lawson's recipes. In addition, under each section, the brilliant thing I liked about it was that she expained majority of the ingredients in detail which gives the reader a much better understanding of how a particular ingredient can enhance the dish and how certain meats or veggies differ in taste texture and style. Can't cook when you don't understand and know your food! I have been cooking for the past 6 years now, I found myself benefiting from it.

As for Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook, I just had to get it because I am a fan and I respect him as a chef who earned his respect and recognition through sheer hardwork...i mean, he started out as a dishwasher scrubbing pots and his first job as a kitchen help was to manage "fry-ups" at a cafe in New York! He went back to meet his ex-boss who started & inspired him on his career in the kitchen during one of his first few episodes on "A Cook's Tour". I thought to myself, I am sure this guy has some gems to share!

It's Mummy's Birthday!

2005-08-20T15:18:00.000+08:00

Every year, during our family birthdays, I would be the one to cook or take them out to dinner. (My brother, unlike me, isn't too keen on slaving away in the kitchen to prepare a meal!)

Mum's birthday happened to be on a weekday this year (as I am working full-time), I had to decide on a menu that is manageable and rather effortless. I visited The Butcher at Holland Village, Singapore the night before and decided on cooking Lamb Shanks. To go with the lamb, i made a salad with a sweet balsamic dressing.

Lamb Shanks with Red Wine served with Parsnip Puree

Ingredients:

3 medium sized Lamb Shanks, score shanks to allow marinade to soak through
1/2 to 3/4 Bottle of Red Wine
Spring Onions, roughly chopped
Carrots, roughly chopped
Celery, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1 sprig Rosemary, chopped
1 sprig Thyme, chopped
1 Bay leaf
2 star anise
2 cloves chopped garlic
750ml Vegetable stock
Olive oil

1 medium sized parsnip, peeled and chopped
Butter
Cream
Salt & Pepper

Method:
Marinate lamb shanks in salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, spring onions, garlic, celery, carrots and red wine overnight. The next day, remove shanks and vegetables from marinade.
Heat saucepan add olive oil and brown shanks to enhance flavour of the meat. Put aside.
In the same pan, add in chopped garlic, star anise, and the vegetables from the marinade and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Add lamb shanks in and add in marinade and vegetable stock and allow it to come to a boil.
Simmer and cover under low flame for about 2-3 hours till the meat is soft and absolutely falling off the bone.
Honestly, the carrots and celery are to give it more flavour. The vegetables are too soft to be eaten by the time the shanks are cooked.
Remore shanks from pan and keep warm.
Strain remaining sauce from pan and continue simmering on low heat till it reduces to a thicker consistency.
The shanks were full of flavour, tender and moist! On another occasion, I shall try making these shanks in a pressure cooker, I think it could make quite a difference to the texture of the meat!

For Parsnip puree:
(adapted from Gordan Ramsay's Kitchen Heaven.)
Truthfully, I am not sure if pan-frying parsnips is the best idea (unless you have perfect heat control with your stove) as what happened to mine was the parsnips started browning before they were cooked through, thus, forming a thick brown skin on both sides that made it hard to mash into a smooth consistency. I have to admit here that i was so frustrated with the parsnips that i almost threw it out the window!! (being the chronic perfectionist i am) I am not gonna give up, I will try making it again till i get it right!

Anyhows, the method as follows:
Melt butter in frying pan over low heat and cook parsnips until completely soft and falling apart (about 25min). Add the cream and bring to the boil. Season then liquidize to a smooth puree.

Mixed Salad with Sweet Balsamic Vinegar

There is a story to my facination and determination to making a Sweet Balsamic. GL and I were in Adelaide and he being the beer loving man he is, we had to visit Harndoff, a little German town in Adelaide that not only boasts of its beers & sausages, it had several shops selling beautiful produce such as salami, cheeses, honey, and of course, some unusual sauces or jellies. GL bought a bottle of Sweet Balsamic in a bottle from this tiny gourmet shop there and I regretted not buying a bottle to bring it back with me. He made dinner for me one night and I tried the sweet balsamic he bought and fell in love with it but failed in convincing him to let me have the bottle! So here it is, my own version of the sweet balsamic that tastes almost close to the one that was bought in Harndoff.

Mixed salad
I selected rocket, baby spinach(remove stems from bigger leaves), red & yellow capsicums, honey cherry tomatoes and parmesan cheese for the salad.

Sweet Balsamic dressing
Pour about 1/2 cup of balsamic and bring to boil in a small saucepan.
Boil till it reduces to about half.
Make sure you do not overboil as it will become a thick paste and it cant be used when it gets to that stage.
Pour vinegar in a bowl, whisk in 3tbsp of honey, 2tbsp olive oil, 1tsp chopped marjoram, salt & pepper.
Allow it to soak in for a while before serving.

For the Love of Cod

2005-08-16T19:28:00.000+08:00

Fish is one of my favourite seafood I could never get enough of. However, I am choosy of the type of fish I order or cook. I love the oily fish most!! My favourites are Cod, Salmon, Tuna (belly is the best!) and occasionally a Red Snapper. If cooking fish chinese style, I love the White Promfret, Sea Bass and Rainbow fish. There is one pet peeve i have about cooking fish. I hate it when fish is deep fried. Unless done in a super hot wok with boiling hot oil AND eaten straight away, the fish's texture and taste is all killed in the frying process. Two of my favourite ways of cooking fish, steamed and Pan-seared.

Today I had a craving for Cod for lunch. I looked into the fridge and grabbed whatever there was and decided on this simple but tasty recipe.

Pan-Fried Cod with Pesto Cream sauce served on Sweet Potato Mash

Ingredients:

2 pieces Cod fillets; marinated in sea salt and ground pepper
1/2 onion, chopped finely
1 spring parsley, chopped
Pesto
cream
lemon juice
3 pc Australian Sweet potato
butter
olive oil
salt & pepper

Method:

Pan-fry cod for about 3min each side or till golden brown.
Wash and skin sweet potato and cut them into medium sized pieces and then boil in water till its soft.
Mash the sweet potato in a bowl and add about 1/2 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of cream and mix evenly. Salt & ground pepper to taste.
To make the sauce, in the same pan the cod was being pan-fried, add in chopped onions and fry till its slightly brown.
Add in 1tsp of pesto and 1/2tbsp lemon juice. Mix well.
Finally, stir in 1tbsp of cream and allow it to simmer gently for about 2min.
Serve the sweet potato in the center of the plate, place cod over the mash and drizzle it with the pesto cream sauce.

Because this is my own little recipe i created in my head, i was mildly surprised at the taste of the meal. I found the combination of the tangy taste to the sauce (from the lemon) and the sweetness from the sweet potato mash complemented each other very well! The natural taste of the cod as well...awesome!

I dreamt of.....

2005-08-16T18:54:00.000+08:00

Just a while ago, I was telling GL that I dreamt of Cheese on Toast! I think that one should seriously worry when you actually dream of food and worse if you continue to dream about it. Well i am guessing its cos i have very fond memories of cheese and how it strangely entered my life only 6 years ago and i have honestly grown to love it!

While living in Australia, i basically ate and lived like how the Aussies would (hence the weight difference during my first year there). Coming from a traditional chinese family, my parents never had a habit to consume cheese in our daily diet, apart from the processed sliced cheddar. Living in Australia opened my eyes to the world of cheese. There were so many types of cheeses its actually rather over-whelming.

I remember coming home from school/work and usually would be starving by then. The first thing i would do is to crack open a bottle of red, out comes my block of brie and i would be having it as a snack with my flatmates and it went down beautifully with a good glass of wine!! Its the most sensational after-taste i get that i crave almost everyday!

To put things in perspective, i guess the message in my dream; its time to stock up my fridge on more cheese and wine!!

Barbi Pongteh-Compliments of Lil'al

2005-08-16T01:28:00.000+08:00

My dearest cousin currently residing in London, also has a special knack for cooking! Maybe its a special "instinct" that runs in the family! Because of my huge weakness for Peranakan food, I have since constantly bugged several people whose grandmother is Peranakan if i can bribe them for a meal OR at least a recipe.

Well, here is her contribution to a Peranakan dish called Barbi Pongteh.

Note: this is a simplified version but it taste almost as close to what you might taste find in any Joo Chiat restaurant.

Ingredients:

600g of Pork (preferbly the belly cut as its better for stewing)
3 big shallots
1 tablespoon of garlic
1 tablespoon of tau cheo (fermented yellow beans)
bamboo shootshalf
a cinamon stick (less for those who cant take the taste)
1 tablespoon dark soy
2 tablespoon sugarsalt to taste
white pepper to taste (as you desire)
water (i arga arga one)

Method:

Minced the shallot, garlic and tau cheo into a pulp then sautee them together until fragrant. Then add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and bring to a boil.
Once done, simmer under low heat till pork is tender.
Approximately, 1 & half hours. (just poke the meat to see la)
The trick to this dish is actually the keeping it overnight as it allows the flavor to envelope further.
Garnish with Chilli or Coriander.

P/s: I will try this recipe out and post up a pic soon!

Yet Another "Orgasmic" Evening!

2005-08-15T23:17:00.000+08:00

On National Day, our group of usual suspects got together, after several glasses of wine and great food, decided to start a little "club" to get together and cook and document each other's recipes. We decided to call our blog, Dias Deliciosos.

As Deetour Chick puts it, Dias Deliciosos's inaugural party this Sunday just gone, we had a total overflow of food contributed by about 12 people in total. The menu was extensive. As for me, I decided to endeavour at cooking a duck which I have never cooked on my own apart from observing how my mother used to prepare it. And a simple Mushroom Soup.

Braised Five-Spiced Duck served in 2 ways
a. Braised Duck served on a bed of shredded omelette and spring onion
b. Braised Duck Sushi with Unagi Sauce

Ingredients:

300g French Duck Breast
Chinese Five Spice Powder
Dark Soy
1 Cinnamon Stick
2 Star Anise
2tsp Sugar
olive oil
3 eggs; pan-fry as thin as possible and cut into strips
Spring onions; sliced very thinly and soak in water to curl the stripes
5tbsp Unagi Sauce
2 cups Sushi Rice
Sushi Rice Powder Mix

Method:

To Prepare Duck
Marinate duck breast with 2-3tbsp of Dark Soy then sprinkle some Five Spice Powder on both sides. Do not sprinkle too much five spice powder as it will become too bitter. Cling wrap and leave it in fridge overnight.
In a heated wok, add in 2-3tbsp olive oil and followed by 2 tsp of sugar.
When the sugar has melted, add in cinnamon stick and star anise and stir till its fragrant.
Add in the dark soy. Make sure you have the lid over the wok as it is going to sizzle big time.
Stir gently then add in about half a cup of water. We do not want too much sauce so that only half the duck is simmering in the sauce.
Make sure that the sugar is evenly mixed before adding the duck breast in. (meat side down)
Turn the flame right down, simmer the duck breast and slowly baste the top of the duck (the skin) so that it slowly absorbs the dark sauce and cooking the top of the meat.
There is no need to flip the duck for this recipe, the idea is to slowly baste the duck to give it a nice pink center when its being sliced.
Simmer and baste for a total of 15min on low flame.
Allow to cool before slicing duck.

To Prepare Sushi rice:
In a rice cooker, add in 2 cups of Japanese Sushi rice with 2 1/2 cups water.
When rice is ready, allow it to stand for about 10min before adding in sushi rice powder. The amount of sushi powder is up to your preference of taste. I took my mother's advice of using the Sushi Rice powder instead of liquid vinegar. It was indeed much better as its sweet and slightly sour as well.

To serve Version a:
In a small saucer, line bottom of saucer with shredded omelette. Place 2 slices of duck over shredded omelette and top it off with some sprigs of pre-soaked spring onion. Drizzle some of the sauce on the duck just before serving.

To serve Version b:
Roll Sushi rice after the rice is slightly cool.
Dip sliced duck into Unagi sauce and place it over the rolled rice.
Serve immediately.

Simplest Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

650g mushrooms (I combined Portobello, Swiss Browns & Fresh White Button)
1 tbsp olive oil
90g butter
1 onion, chopped
3-4 bulbs of garlic
1 sprig parsley, chopped
2 tbsp Bulla cream
1/2 bottle of white wine
400ml Chicken Stock

Method:

I decided to be slightly adventurous....i grilled my Portobello mushrooms with some sea salt, pepper, olive oil till its starting to brown and sizzle. Cut into quarters.
For the rest of the mushrooms, cut into halves or quarters.
Heat a saucepan and add in olive oil.
Throw in the chopped onions and on low heat, allow onions to sweat a little. Add butter in and continue sweating the onions. Throw in the garlic and continue stirring.
Add in all the mushrooms, stir for about 5min. Season with sea salt and ground pepper. Throw in chopped parsley.
Add the wine and chicken stock.
On low fire, simmer the soup and reduce it to almost half the mixture. If you like your soup to be more "watery", then reduce your simmer time.
Using a blender, pour in entire mixtue in saucepan into blender and blend till all the mushrooms are finely blended. Soup is almost ready.
Pour soup back into saucepan. On low fire, stir in the cream. My preference is not for the soup to be too creamy or thick.
Serve in a small coffee cup or soup bowl. Add in a drop of cream on top and garnish with a sprig of parsley.
Serves about 10.

Efficient use of leftovers...

2005-08-12T18:53:00.000+08:00

After an awesome lunch party on National Day at Koko's, we (as usual) over-catered and had so much leftovers.

Koko gave out as much food as she can to everyone and had to chow through the rest for the next 2-3 days. I took some of my roast lamb back with me and decided to make a stew out of it. I cooked it the next day for my family and it was marvellously delicious....i was really happy with it actually...! :)

Lamb Stew with Red Wine and Vegetables

Ingredients:

Roast lamb, bite size pieces
Carrots, skinned and cut into bite size
Potatoes; skinned and cut into halfs or quarters
Celery, be sure to shave off top layer of skin to remove tough stringy bits
Bacon or better if pancetta, cut into small pieces
I red onion; chopped
4 shallots, chopped
5 bulbs of garlic, chopped
Red Wine
Djon Mustard
1/2 cup Vegetable or lamb stock
Olive oil
Butter

Method:

Heat saucepan and add in olive oil and butter.
Throw in the chopped onions and shallots. When its starting to brown, add in garlic and fry till slightly golden.
Next, add in the lamb and bacon and stir for about 4 min. Followed by carrots, potatoes and celery. Continue frying for another 4 min.
Add 1 tbsp of Djon Mustard and the vegetable or lamb stock.
Add in half a bottle of red wine. (I used the Mouton Cadet Medoc; its not my choice for a red to drink, but its awesome for my stew!)
Simmer on low fire for about 45minutes to an hour. Taste and seaon with pepper if necessary.
Serve either with mash potato or steamed rice.

If you would like to use fresh lamb or beef to make a stew, just follow the steps below:

Marinate meat with whole crushed garlic, half bottle red wine, pepper or pepper corns for at least 4-6 hours.

Drain meat from marinade. Lightly sear the meat in olive oil and season with sea salt. Remove from pan.

Throw in the chopped onions and shallots. When its starting to brown, add in garlic and fry till slightly golden.

Next, add in the seared meat and stir for about 4 min.

Followed by carrots, potatoes and celery. Continue frying for another 4 min.

Add 1 tbsp of Djon Mustard and the vegetable or lamb stock.

Add in the red wine marinade . Simmer on low fire for about 45minutes to an hour. Taste and seaon with pepper if necessary.

Serve either with mash potato or steamed rice.

Appetisers: Last installment-Smoked Salmon with Wasabi Mayonnaise

2005-08-10T21:26:00.000+08:00

This is another pretty appetiser that is not only simple to make but is appealing to most people due to the taste of Smoked Salmon.

Smoked Salmon with Wasabi Mayonnaise

Ingredients:

Smoked Salmon (preferably Tasmanian or Scottish Salmon)
Wasabi (easiest to get those in the tube)
Mayonnaise

Method:

Trim pieces of smoked salmon and fold it into "flowers". The tip from GL is to use Tassy or scottish salmon as they are usually firmer and easier to fold into "flowers".
In a small bowl, mix about 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise to 1/2 tablespoon of wasabi. If you like it hotter, simply top up with more wasabi.
Then using either a sauce squeeze bottle (if you have) or simply use a teaspoon, add a drop of wasabi mayonnaise over the top of the salmon and serve.

I didnt have time this pot luck session to make my own mayonnaise. But if you do and would love a recipe, this is adapted from Gordan Ramsay's Kitchen Heaven.

Classic Mayonnaise:

Ingredients:

2 large egg yolks
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp English Mustard
sea salt
ground black pepper
300ml groundnut oil

Method:

In a bowl, whisk egg yolks, vinegar, mustard and pinch of salt. Slowly drizzle in the oil, whisking continuously until thick and emulsified. Best to refridgerate before using.

Appetisers: Maguro and Scallops

2005-08-10T20:13:00.000+08:00

One of the ways i destress from a long and tiring day at work is to tune in to Discovery Travel & Living, especially the gourmet programmes. My current favourite is Made to Order where their creativity is stretched to the max when guests walk into their restaurant requesting for a particular menu for a special party or business meeting/dinner or even a wedding proposal. The way they make simple items look fabulously delicious is truely amazing! Check out their long list of Recipes that they have prepared and served during each episode.

I get even more inspired when I visit a restaurant whose chef actually makes the effort to present the items on a beautiful platter with simple garnishes that actually makes the items on the plate look even more fabulous! The last restaurant i remember GL and I went for a celebration dinner was to Taxi Restaurant at the Transport Hotel, Melbourne.

So, this is my humble attempt to create something simple that taste good and looks beautiful as well.

Seared Maguro marinated in Soy and Sesame Oil

Ingredients:

Fresh Maguro (Tuna) Fillet
Chinese or Japanese Light Soy
Black pepper
Chives
Olive Oil
Seasame Oil

Method:

Heat pan and add in Olive oil and few dashes of sesame
Sear Tuna for approx 20 seconds each side or until you see that the tuna is just starting to cook through. Idea is to ensure that the tuna is still rare in the center as thats the best way to eat tuna.
Slice the tuna and garnish with chopped chives.

Pan-Fried Scallops with herbs served on a bed of Asparagus

Ingredients:

Fresh scallops; marinated with fresh chopped Marjoram, sea salt and ground black pepper
Butter
Olive oil
Fresh Asparagus; only the top bits required as it is the softest portion. Blanched in boiling water
Lemon

Method:
Score the scallops (criss-crossed)
Heat pan and add in olive oil. When olive oil is heated, add in about 2 tsp of butter.
When butter is just beginning to brown, add in scallops and pan fry them till slightly brown on both sides.
Remove from pan and set aside.
Using the same pan, no need for extra oil, throw in blanched asparagus and toss it around the pan to lightly glaze it. Remove from pan and set aside.
For the sauce, using the same pan, over low heat, add just a few drops of olive oil then squeeze in half a lemon and allow it to simmer for 1 min.
To serve, line up about 4 sticks of asparagus and place scallops on top. With the sauce that's made, add in a tsp of the sauce over the scallops. Because the scallops have been scored, this also ensures that the sauce will sit nicely within the grooves without messing up the serving plate.

Roast Lamb with Rosemary and Pesto

2005-08-10T19:40:00.000+08:00

To tell you the truth, i owe it to the Green Lantern who taught me how to make a roast without over-cooking it. It is one of his favourite dishes he makes at his usual dinner parties. He is actually another nut for cooking and loves entertaining!

So here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1.3kg Lamb Leg **(boneless)
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Fresh Rosemary
Olive oil
Pesto (i use the bottled ones, easy)

Method:
Marinate the meat with olive oil, sea salt, rosemary, black pepper for at least 6 hours. When marinating roasts, make sure you cling wrap meat entirely to prevent the meat from drying out.
Pre-heat over to 180 degrees C.
Remove lamb from fridge and let it sit in room temperature for a bit before roasting.
Place it on roasting pan or pyrex dish and apply generous amounts of Pesto over the top.
Roast in oven for 20min.
After 20min, turn lamb over other side, apply pesto as well and roast for another 20min.
General guide for roasting time: 15min every 500g at 180 degrees C for medium rare. (The way I like it. Bear in mind that roasts cooks from the corners in and usually the ends are more cooked than the middle. If you have more guests who like their meat medium then roast it in there for another 7-9min.
Once roast is done, cover with aluminium foil and allow meat to rest in room temperature for a bit before carving.

** I got the lamb from the Swiss Butchery located along Greenwood Avenue (turn in from Hillcrest Road). I was amazed at the number of people that were in there and the amount of meats they sell and the variety as well. In Singapore, I would say they are pretty serious about their meats!

But nothing beats buying fresh produce in Australia!

I was at the Melbourne Prahran Market and I have never seen red meats this fresh and of such a vibrant red colour! I was in awe of the tall stacks of Beef Fillets, Rib-eye, Sirloin, Lamb cutlets, T-Bone etc....and the leg of lamb!!! I was so captivated by the meats there that I stood in front one of the butcher for a good 5 min before i placed my order!

Sadly, we (Singaporeans) belong to the poor deprived city slickers who are not used to seeing this many pieces of red meat just dying to be bought back home for a good roasting! So if anyone asks me what i miss most about moving back from Australia, it would most definitely be the fresh produce which we cant get (of the same freshness, variety and quality) in Singapore! :(

Pot Luck Party

2005-08-10T19:19:00.000+08:00

I honestly think the best way to spend a weekend is to cook for a group of like-minded individuals who are as crazy about food and wine as i am.

In fact, we only just started on such get-togethers last year with my partner in crime whom i will refer to as Ko-Ko. First time it all started was when Ko-ko got married and moved into a wonderful rented apartment facing the sea. Next to host was DeeTour chick who has a room full of wine (literally!) at her place, thanks to her lovely dad! Then this National Day, it was held at Ko-Ko's again. We had so much fun sweating in the kitchen that we have decided to do such get-togethers about once a week or once a fortnight to share each other's culinary experience, recipes and secrets.

I know i had an awesome time just spending the day preparing and then the rest of the afternoon, indulging in everyone's superb dishes, sipping to wonderful reds and chatting just about everything!

The menu

Appetisers:
Pan-Seared Maguro marinated in Soy
Smoked Salmon with Wasabi Mayonnaise
Pan-fried Scallops with Herbs and lemon served on a bed of Asparagus

Salads:
Greek Salad
Mixed Green Salad in special dressing

Mains:
Roast Lamb Leg with Pesto and Rosemary
Roast Chicken
Shepard's Pie

Dessert:
Ice Cream of course!!!

The recipes for the dishes i made to follow.

Prawn Linguine tossed in Garlic, Olive oil and Chilli Flakes

2005-08-06T22:08:00.000+08:00

Today I felt like italian instead of Mummy's usual healthy cooking.
Bought some ingredients and decided to whip up this really simple pasta to compliment my Grilled Beef Fillet.

Prawn Linguine tossed in Garlic, Olive Oil and Chilli Flakes

Ingredients:
6 pieces of large Angka prawns, shelled and de-veined
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
Chilli flakes, i used the Masterfood Chilli flakes which is HOT!
1 tbsp butter
Olive Oil
Sea salt

Method:
Boil water and add salt and oil. Cook linguine till al dente. Drain and put aside.
Heat pan/wok and add in olive oil followed by butter.
Throw in onions, fry till fragrant. Followed by sliced garlic.
Add in chilli flakes to your desire.
Throw in prawns and fry till it starts to pink.
Add in linguine and toss it till evenly mixed.
Sprinkle in some sea salt. The one i love using is called Fiddes Payne, Sea Salt with Country Herbs. Also great to marinate meats before roasting.
Serve with grated Parmesan Cheese

Just for you Lil al!

2005-08-06T21:59:00.000+08:00

Hey Lil al,

i know it must be hard being away from home and missing some yummy food in Singapore. Well, here it is, as requested just for you.

Gingko Nut in Longan and Red Dates Tea

Ingredient:
Gingko Nuts
Red Dates
Dried longans
Sugar

Method:
According to my mother, the hardest part to this recipe is the preparation of the gingko nuts.
First, crack the shell and remove nut.
Peel off brown layer of skin from nut.
Remove the green root at the sharp end of the nut as this makes the gingko bitter and spoils the taste. The trick to removing the green root without cutting the nut into half is by using a toothpick to somewhat dig it out.
Put about half a pot of water to the boil and add in about 1 cup of sugar. When boiling, add in gingko nut and cook till gingko is slightly golden in colour. This is an extra step to enhance the flavour of the nut itself, if you prefer a sweeter taste.
For the tea, in proportion to the water, add in desired amount of red dates and longan. When water comes to a boil, partial cover the pot and allow tea to simmer for about 40min. Taste and add sugar to desired sweetness.

Try-Hard Domestic Goddess...no?

2005-08-02T21:49:00.000+08:00

I couldn't quite remember how Nigella Lawson became so popular that she wrote a book that amazingly caught the eye of any female out there who potentially couldn't even prepare a sunny-side up?!?!

"How to be a Domestic Goddess."

I mean how would a title like this not catch the eye of any female who aspire a life like hers? I confess I did stop and browsed through it but shelfed it cos i wanted to start learning some tricks of my own from my mother before adapting recipes from cookbooks. And so i did....

In 1999 I packed up and left for Brisbane for a 2-year degree. Being the sheltered Singaporean girl, I obviously was put up in college (hostel) for the first year. After 6 months of night after night of the same menu rotated over 4 weeks a month, i got tired of the food, got fat cos we had a good chef who fed us really yummy oily sunday brunch (which incidentally was my hangover remedy every sunday!) and i started skipping meals at college. Even after opting for self-catered at college, i found myself sharing the kitchen at our senior wing with 5 other girls.

I was not fond of sharing a kitchen when its already such a teeny-tiny work area. I decided to move out with 2 flatmates (2 guys who wont bother me in the kitchen that much) and selected an apartment that had a fully furnished kitchen; electronic stove, oven, microwave. I was all set.

I remember going for my first proper grocery shopping at Woolworths at Toowong, i went almost nuts and blew my allowance! Bought everything from each food section, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, juices, meats, seafood, various types of sauces, rice, pasta, bread and of course, loaded up on WINE! My Aussie flatmates were horrified at the amount i bought for myself. There is one thing in life i believe in being lavish on; good food and wine!

Truth be told, i was not happy at my first few attempts at cooking up a meal for myself the first few weeks. I overcooked my steaks (pet peeve #1), undercooked my damn carrots in my pasta sauce, added too much garlic in my stir-fried vegetables in oyster sauce (followed by major flatulence), in attempt to make creamy mash i diluted it, my fish fillet breaking apart when pan-frying, overcooking my baked vegetables etc....the list goes on. Through this whole journey of self-discovery, i realised that i am a chronic perfectionist and its further exemplified in my cooking! Hee...well, it could be a blessing or a curse, but i think it made me even more determined to perfect my dishes i was cooking for myself. I believe that if im not happy with it, its not good enough, try again! After a few attempts, i started offering to cook for my blokes in the house and slowly, becoming the designated cook for the household that further enhanced my confidence in cooking.

A few of my favourite dishes i enjoyed making living in Brisbane some of which i will share the recipes:

* Grilled T-Bone steaks marinated in McCormick All-Spice & Chinese Rice Wine
* Linguine with beef mince and pan-fried egg plant in a thick tomato-based sauce
* Creamy Garlic Mash
* Roast Chicken (adapted from my mother's recipe)
* Baked Salmon fillet with mapel syrup and lemon
* Stir-fried beef with sliced onions in Black Pepper sauce
* Stir-fried pork with sliced white mushrooms in oyster sauce
* Butter Chicken with potatoes and mushrooms (use Partak's curry pastes, good quality and not watered-down!)

Grilled T-Bone steaks marinated in McCormick All-Spice & Chinese Rice Wine

Ingredients:
T-bone steaks
McCormick All Spice powder
Chinese Rice Wine
Sesame oil

Method:
Marinate steaks with All Spice powder, rice wine, dash of sesame oil overnight in a closed container to avoid meat from drying out in the fridge.
Remove from fridge and allow meat to warm to room temperature before cooking.
Sear the meat to lock in the juices before grilling.
Searing meat: Heat pan on high heat. Using a pair of kitchen tongs, place steaks on hot pan for 30sec each side. If you steak is a thick fillet, make sure to sear on the sides as well.
Grill on medium heat each side for 2min if you like your meat medium rare, the way i like my red meats!

Note: Reason why i like the chinese rice wine cos it gives the meat abit more character & fragrance.

I spoke to someone before who told me she could not cook at all. She was completely clueless about pasta as she feels its too tedious and intimidating. Honestly, pasta is the italian version of our Hokkien mee, but with a different sauce of course. After a few trail & errors, to me, the trick to a good pasta is all in the sauce. Never stinge on fresh good ingredients for a pasta, it makes a good load of difference.

Linguine with beef mince and Egg plant in a thick tomato-based sauce

Ingredients:
Minced beef; marinated with pepper and salt
Egg plant, cut into half slices
bottle of tomato sauce for pasta (i tend not to like the sauces with added ingredients such as sausages, mushrooms, etc; being a purist)
can of stewed whole tomatoes
beef stock powder
chopped fresh oregano and basil
chopped onion
chopped garlic
olive oil
butter
Salt and pepper
Pasta

Method:
Heat saucepan and add in about a heaped tablespoon of butter. When its starting to sizzle and brown slightly, add in olive oil. The butter truely enhances the taste of the sauce.
Add in onion, fry it till golden brown then add in garlic and fry till fragrant and lightly brown.
Add in mince, fry till its broken apart and lightly golden.
Add in egg plant, stir fry for a min or 2 before adding fresh basil and oregano.
When meat is superbly fragrant, add in stewed whole tomatoes, break the whole tomatoes apart and then add in the desired amount of pasta sauce.
Make about half a cup of warm water mixed with 1tsp beef stock. This gives sauce some water to simmer without becoming a furious reduction. Stock is essential.
Simmer for 10 min on low heat so that the flavour of the sauce is soaked through the meat.
While sauce is simmering, prepare pasta. Add oil and salt into boiling water before adding pasta in.
Serve sauce over cooked pasta with shaved parmesan cheese.
Always better to use fresh parmesan cheese from the block instead of the pre-packed ones.

Roast Chicken with Honey

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
McCormick's Spicy Season All
Five Spices SALT (see pic)
Dark soy Sauce
Honey

Method:
Wash and cut chicken into a half just on one side (through the boney side) and spread chicken out on roasting pan.
Pour dark soy sauce over chicken to give the chicken a nice dark colour.
Marinate with McCormick's spicy Season All and Five Spices Salt both inside and outside the chicken not too much as it may become too salty.
Cling wrap and allow it to marinate overnight. (very important!)
Pre-heat over to 180 degrees celcius.
Before roasting, baste the chicken with marinade then into the oven it goes for about 45min or when it starts getting slightly burnt on the skin. (thats the charm about roasting this chicken...does not taste good if it aint slightly charred on the skin!!!)
5 min before the chicken is ready, remove from oven.
Brush generous amounts of honey over the entire chicken.
Put it back into the oven for another 5-6min. This gives the chicken skin a nice crispy taste to it! So Yummy!

Baked Salmon in Mapel Syrup and Lemon
(special recipe a guy once made for me to try and impress me!)

Ingredients:
Salmon fillets (with skin attached)
1 large lemon
Mapel syrup (approx 150ml)
Djon Mustard 1 tablespoon
2-4 garlic cloves, crushed no need to chop
salt (2 pinches)
Black pepper

Method:
Mix all ingredients above and marinate overnight
Preheat oven to 150 degrees C
Sear the salmon fillets, 30sec each side
Pop them in a baking dish, pour in marinade and bake for 5-7min.
Salmon should be eaten medium. Try not to overcook it.

Stir-fried Pork with Sliced White Mushrooms in Chinese Rice Wine and Oyster sauce

Ingredients:
Pork; sliced thinly, marinated in light soy, 1tsp cornflour and pepper
Fresh white mushrooms, sliced
onions, sliced
chopped garlic
Sliced ginger
Chinese rice wine
oyster sauce

Method:
Chinese cooking is best done in a cast iron wok
Heat wok, and add oil when hot
Fry the onions and ginger till slightly golden before adding garlic. Garlic burns faster than onions.
When garlic is almost golden, throw in the sliced pork and fry it till fragrant. Add in about 1-2 tbsp of Chinese Rice Wine stir for 2 min followed by the mushrooms.
Add in about 3-4 tablespoons of oyster sauce. Stir till evenly mixed.
Add in about 1/4 cup of water and simmer for 3-4min.
Allow meat to simmer until sauce slightly reduces.

This is a simple stir-fry i used to make for myself when im eating alone. Its best with just steamed rice. When i did get lazy when living in Brisbane, i used to also just fry up some green veggies with garlic and oyster sauce and have it with steamed rice. Heehee....who says cooking for 1 is difficult!

My Mum the chef!

2005-07-31T04:15:00.000+08:00

My mother never really knew how to cook till she got married. Her culinary skills is all somewhat self-taught, through buying loads of cook books, watching "Fang Tai" on TV cooking up a storm on Channel 8 and of course, she loved watching "Yan can cook".

She was a very strict mother in terms of the kind of food we ate at home. There were no snacks allowed in the house, no soft drinks, fast food (such as KFC) maybe once a month all because she wanted to make sure we were not unhealthy and had any obesity problems. She believed in having home cooked food and usually insist on us coming home for dinner everyday of the week.

Our dinners will always have a few standard items; 1 green veggie dish, 1 meat dish, 1 seafood dish, soup and rice. That's when the 4 of us are eating together at home. What i love most is the soup. To me, soup is my comfort food. There is something so sensational and satisfying when you sip down hot soup when you are feeling under the weather. That would also explain my love for soup noodles. Wherever i am, if there is an opportunity for soup noodles, i will surely order it! Last December, GL and i were in Phuket for a holiday and staying at the Novotel. At breakfast, he would be loading up on his bacon, eggs, sausages and toasts and me, i went straight for the Thai noodles soup! He cant believe that i am still eating noodles soup even when i am in a foreign country! My arguement was, it's THAI noodles!

In this blog, i will be documenting some of the dishes my mother created which are my favourite. A few of my mother's signature dishes are:
- Chicken Rice
- Roasted chicken with Dark Soy and Honey
- Hokkien Noodles
- Stew Pork Throtters in dark soy sauce
- Braised Duck in chinese spices
- Home-made Soya Bean Milk

the list goes on......so many dishes i love that i cant quite recall right now.

Chicken Rice (Mummy's style)

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (medium sized; marinate in salt overnight)
chopped garlic
ginger; sliced thinly
2 cups rice; rinse and drain well

Method:
Add oil to a wok, stir-fry the ginger till fragrant followed by garlic till its slightly golden brown
Add in rice, stir fry till the rice is starting to brown as well.
Remove from heat and scoop rice into a rice-cooker (medium size electronic rice cooker). Add in about 2 cups water (make sure you use the same size cup as the one you used to measure the rice).
Place chicken over a metal stand placed over the rice in the rice cooker. The idea is for the chicken to be steamed and the chicken oils and juices to naturally drip over the rice.
Shut the lid of the rice cooker and allow it to cook like you would usually cook rice.
When the timer pops to "keep warm" mode, do not open immediately. Allow chicken to continue steaming for another 15-20minutes before serving.

This may not be the authentic Hainanese Wen Chang chicken, but this is mother's easy-peasy method to preparing your very own chicken rice that taste almost like Wee Nam Kee's or Boon Tong Kee's chicken rice! Yum...!

Gordon Ramsay

2005-07-24T22:39:00.000+08:00

I caught Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares on Foxtel while in Melbourne visiting GL and i found him extremely entertaining.
The show actually brought to light several issues commonly faced by restaurant ownerss and how Gordon would try his best to fix them.
I wrote in to Discovery Travel & Living asking them of the possibility of screening this program in Singapore. To date, they have not responded.BUT, i did find his book, Kitchen Heaven at Borders when i was there on Saturday. That made my weekend!
While I sat and waited for my cousin at Ya Kun kopitiam, i started reading the book and occasionally laughing to myself at what he wrote about his horrid experiences at the various restaurants he consulted at.
It's no wonder people sitting around me were giving me strange stares!

Growing up with Food

2005-07-22T23:36:00.000+08:00

Some of us who think back into our childhood tend to remember some things more vividly than the rest.
When I do get nostalgic, I often think back to my days as a kid growing up in a shophouse in Upper Serangoon road which my late grandfather built before WWII.
It actually had an underground shelter and I was told that it could bearly fit the entire family with the kids during the war.
Due to the MRT line construction, the shophouse had to be demolished which broke my granny's heart.During my early years visiting and living in the shophouse, i remember my uncle running the shopfront selling fruits. Needless to say, he would always pass us tons of fruits that were in season.
My late grandparents loved durians and they shared their love with their family!!!
My visits to my grandparents', would start by greeting them properly, them sitting us down in the kitchen, and feeding us durians!
Unfortunately i never got the opportunity of understanding the types of durians and how they vary in taste.
As far as i can remember, i used to like the durians with very yellow flesh and has a touch of bitterness to it.
They were divine and i well & truly overate on them as a kid! Now, i'm sadly not touching that fruit no more.With my grandparents, it was our family tradition to have weekly sit-down dinners and my late grandmother used to prepare some dishes of hers i never got enough of.
Both my grandparents were Hainanese who migrated from Hainan to Singapore. One of Singapore's favourite dishes is the Hainanese Chicken Rice which is an adaptation from the Hainanese Wen Chang Chicken. It is 1 of the 4 signature dishes in Hainan. The other 3 are; Jiaji Crab, Hele Crab and Dongshan Mutton.My grandmother reared her own chickens and made her version of the Wen Chang Chicken which was delicious! She used to roll the rice that has been cooked in the chicken stock into small balls. According to my grandmother, that was how some of the Hainanese would serve the rice, which was rolled into balls while the rice is still piping hot! Sadly, she passed on before i got the recipe.
I was asked by my significant other, whom i will refer to as "GL" for Green Lantern (actually it was his dad who asked...) being Hainanese, if i knew how to prepare Hainanese Chicken Rice, well, not the authentic Wen Chang Chicken, but, yes i have a recipe to share...coming soon! :)Another one of my grandmother's favourite dish which became my favourite as well is her yummy Pork Belly cooked in Dark Soy. For this dish to taste as superb as how she does it, you have to buy the Pork Belly (commonly known to us as "San Ceng Rou" in Chinese and "Kong Bah" in Hokkien) with generous layers of fat.
I spent a fair bit of my secondary school years at my grandparents' place for dinners and i managed to watch her cook this up once. Apparently, the secret ingredient she adds in is sugar. The recipe as follows:

Pork Belly with Dark Soy Sauce

Ingredients:
Pork Belly, a standard strip from supermarkets is about 20cm piece,
Superior dark soy sauce
garlic chopped finely
ginger sliced thinly into strips
sugar

Method:
Boil some water and blanch the pork belly to remove initial layer of pig oil that gives the strong "piggy" taste. Then cut into 2-3cm thick pieces. Lightly salt the blanched pork belly
Stir fry the ginger in oil till slightly brown and fragrant
Throw in the garlic, fry till slightly golden brown
Add in the pork belly, stir fry on high heat for about 2-3mins
Pour in some dark soy sauce, not too much, just enough to be able to simmer the pork belly in. Turn heat to low.
Add in about a 1 1/2teaspoons of suger. Mix well.
Allow to slowly boil on low heat stirring it occastionally, reducing it slightly to allow the sugar to caramelise in the dark soy for approx 5-8min.

Till today, i still feel Granny makes the best Pork Belly with Dark Soy, even my mother cant make the meat taste exactly like how she used to prepare it.Steamboats, like any other Chinese family, is a must-do during Chinese New Year. As a kid, this is the one thing i looked forward to (apart from the ang paos!) every single year. To me, it was an excellent chance for the family to sit together at a round table, cook, eat, drink, chat & bring in the new year together!Imagine sitting in a small shophouse in the make-shift living room area (as the kitchen is too small to accomodate my entire family) with 2 big round tables, 3 fans blowing at us to keep us cool and the tv switched on to the new year variety programme. I treasure those dinners and hold them very dear to my heart. Sadly, we stopped having our Chinese New Year steamboat dinners for now, after both my grandparents passed on.Now, we all get together for Chinese New year for dinner but pot-luck style. I think i shall take the initiative to host and prepare a steamboat dinner for my family for next year's Chinese New Year

A Little about me....

2005-07-21T00:30:00.000+08:00

As a kid, i had very few indulgences, partly due to my conservative upbringing by my parents.
But there are a few things in my family we did indulged in; sit down home-cooked dinners and good alcohol in the company of friends and extended family!My first experience with alcohol was when i was 8 or 9 years old, i sneaked into the kitchen while mum was watching tv, and took several sneaky sips from her can of Anchor beer she left out, leaving her with half a can at the end of the evening!
I never liked being dragged into the kitchen by my mum to assist her in the kitchen. I used to pretend i was doing my homework just to avoid being called in to be her little kitchen assistant. However, if not for my mum's "forced" training in the kitchen, i would not have developed this passion for cooking and a palate to appreciate food.It was not long before i had to leave home and study down under in sunny Brisbane. Life was good in college where lodging AND food were provided.
But i got bored of the food in college. I moved out and had my own kitchen and i embarked on my culinary adventures! And i loved it!

I even offered to cook for my flatmates and i would use them as my food critics to further improve on my culinary skills. Dinner parties were regularly hosted at my place over wine and awesome conversations.

That's when i knew i inherited my mum's passion for cooking.

At this point, if I haven’t mentioned it yet, My mum’s a wonderful cook herself and she continues to inspire me in more ways than one!

Glossary:Dairy

2005-07-02T03:20:00.000+08:00

Double Cream
When cow's milk reaches the dairy, it contains a liquid substance called butterfat and this, when its skimmed off the surface of the milk is cream or better known as Double Cream. Extremely rich with a min fat content of 48%. Do not overwhip double cream as it will give a grainy, slightly seperated appearance, if you really overwhip it, it becomes butter. To prevent this from happening; add a couple of tablespoons of milk per 570ml of cream and use an electric hand whisk. Turn speed to low when its thick enough.

Whipping Cream
Its a lighter version of double cream; min 35% fat and whips beautifully. Great as a pouring cream too. Also good if you want a cream for swirling on top of desserts or soups eg: mushroom soups.

Extra Thick double or single Cream
Also known as double or single cream but its been treated to suit spooning on to pies and desserts without having to bother with whisking them first.

Soured Cream
Made with fresh single cream that has been soured by adding a natural culture similar to that used in yoghurt. Best for jacket potatoes.

Crème fraîche
Best Crème fraîche comes from Normandy. It has a longer shelf life than double cream. It is made by inoculating unpasteurized light cream with lactobacillus cultures, letting the bacteria grow until the cream is both soured and thick and then pasteurizing it to stop the process. Sour cream and Crème fraîche can be used interchangeably but crème fraîche has two advantages over sour cream: it can be whipped, and it will not curdle if boiled.

Genuine Greek Yoghurt
A special yoghurt made from cow's or sheep's milk which is boiled in open vats so that its liquid content is reduced. The result is a much thicker consistency, giving a more concentrated yoghurt with a fat content of 8-10%. Unfortunately, Greek style yoghurt isnt the same as original greek yoghurt.

Cottage Cheese
Popular cheese due ot low fat content made from skimmed milk. Its mild, faintly acidic cheese with just a hint of creaminess but a great deal of flavour. Best served sprinkled with snipped fresh chives and seasoned with coarse salt and black pepper.

Cream Cheese
A soft, smooth, buttery texture and varies enormously according to fat content. Usually standard cream cheese has 45% fat but there are variations from light to extra light these days. This can be used to replace full-fat cream and curd cheese.

Curd Cheese
Similar to cream cheese but lower fat content. Best for cheesecakes as it gives them a lighter flavour and texture.

-Adapted from Delia's How to Cook-

Glossary:In the Pantry

2005-07-02T02:07:00.000+08:00

Peppers

Cayenne Pepper
Very Hot & fiery. Made from one of the hottest type of chilli which is dried then crushed to powder including seeds.

Mustards

Djon mustard
From Burgundy, France. Not as fiery as English mustard, been tempered by the mixture of unripe grapes juice or diluted vinegar. Good but difficult to keep

Wholegrain mustard
Mixture of mustard seeds, spices and wine vinegar, milder than straight made-up mustard; great for storage. Adds flavour to dressings and sauces cos of its lovely seedy texture. Keeps better than djon.

American mustard
Best for BBQ. Mixture of mustard, tumeric, paprika and other spices. Awesome with a frankfurter or sausage in a hot dog!

Because of the short shelf-life of mustards, it is not really worth the while of buying gourmet flavoured mustards (eg: Dill mustard) if you are not using it within a month or so. Best is to make your own mustard and combine required herbs yourself or buy regular mustards and blend in your own herbs.

Sauces

Worcestershire sauce
Main ingredient; anchovies from Basque region of Spain, blended with shallots, onions & garlic and matured for 3 years. Its a flavour provider and enhancer, real stalwart for jazzing up stocks, gravies and sauces. Of course, a key ingredient to a Bloody Mary too!

Mayonnaise
Best mayonnaise is always home made, better quality than those bottled and sold on shelves. Store in smaller jars if you are pre-making at home as air deteriorates the mayonnaise. Key ingredients: eggs, white wine vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and oil.

Canned/Bottled Ingredients

Cornichons
Cornichons are French-style sour pickles made from small cucumbers that are usually no more than 2 inches (5 cm) in length. Impt ingredient for tartare sauce and fish recipes.

Horseradish
Horseradish is fabulous with roast beef or smoked fish. Choose creamed horseradish to the generic ones at the supermarket. I tend to combine my horseradish and mustard together for that extra "umph"!

Gelatine
Used to make clear jelly. Not to be confused with agar-agar as the texture is different from that of Gelatine. Gelatine is much softer and more susceptible to disintegrating when out of the fridge while agar-agar is much denser and can sit on a buffet table longer and retain its shape.

Sugar

Molasses
Dark-ebony syrup thats left over after sugar has been refined, some unrefined sugars molasses is included at different degrees. It's very concentrated, only a little is needed. Tip from Delia Smith: use molasses instead of black Treacle in some recipes, much more luscious flavour.

Alcohol

Fortified wines
More popular ones are Sherry, dry sercial Madeira, Marsala and port. Great for cooking and drinking too!

Spirits
Common cooking spirits are brandy, whisky, Calvados and rum.

Armagnac
Cousin of Cognac but with its own special distinctive flavour. It has a great affinity with prunes, great with brownies and cakes.

Spices

Allspice
Combination of cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. It's unique and is used in marinades, chutney and pickles.

Cardamom
Indian spice that comes encased in its onw pods. Pale green in colour with tiny black aromatic seeds. Key ingredient in curries and even some cakes and selected desserts.

Saffron
Made from dried stamens of a variety of purple crocus. You only need very little to get the powerful flavour and the colour. Best if bought in threads and then pounded if you require saffron powder.

Tumeric
it's a root belonging to the ginger family. Its fragrant aroma and bright yellow colour makes Indian pilau rice have that pale yellow.

-Adapted from Delia's How to Cook-

Conversion Tables

2005-07-01T01:41:00.000+08:00

Weights

1/2 oz = 10g
3/4 = 20
1 = 25
1 1/2 = 40
2 = 50
2 1/2 = 60
3 = 75
4 = 110
4 1/2 = 125
5 = 150
6 = 175
7 = 200
8 = 225
9 = 250
10 = 275
12 = 350
1 lb = 450
1lb8 oz= 700
2 = 900
3 = 1.35kg

Volume

2 fl oz = 55ml
3 = 75
5(1/4pint) = 150
10(1/2pint)= 275
1 pint = 570
1 1/4 = 725
1 3/4 = 1 litre
2 = 1.2
2 1/2 = 1.5
4 = 2.25

Oven Temperatures

Gas Mark 1 275F 140C
2 300 150
3 325 170
4 350 180
5 375 190
6 400 200
7 425 220
8 450 230
9 475 240

-Approximate conversions adapted from Delia Smith: How to Cook-