Home cooked dinner - 11 Dec 2010

It was a "unsurprise" birthday dinner for my cousin. He guessed something was up when we called for an impromptu dinner where the entire family was involved.

It was a mishmash of food and they were utterly sublime. Nothing is as good as a simple home cooked meal.

The "kong bak pau" is to die for. The pork belly was stewed to perfection. Tender soft meat with a layer of the fatty bit encased in the soft sweet bun and sprinkled with fresh coriander. Awesome! And I am not really a pork person as it tends to have a porky smell/taste which will induce nausea, but this was just amazing.

My new favorite seafood ~ gong gong, aka conch shell meat. They were just steamed. Pull the meat out and dip in the soy sauce with cut chilies. Nice!

The birthday boy made tea leaves eggs. I had only tried his version and they were very tasty. The eggs absorbed the herbal tea leaves flavors, leaving a subtle fragrant.

Aunt made her specialty - "jiu her eng cai" jellyfish with spinach (?) and drizzled with sweet sauce.

The main dishes were chicken curry, sambal okra, sambal kangkong and sambal eggplant with rice and toasted crusty bread.

For dessert, we had chocolate cake and homemade kueh kosui. The kueh kosui was not too sweet and the texture was like chwee kueh. Soft, slid down the throat easily and not too watery. It was way better than what you get from the chain store bakeries.

Wonderful simple dinner is always the best.

Birthday Wish List

What I want for my birthday, besides the usual world peace, would be:

* Still a trip to Maldives (W Resort or Banyan Tree)

* Tocca Candles (Cleopatra, Florence, Stella, Tara, Montauk)

* Chanel Spring 2011 Collection ~ Black Pearl nail polish

* Chanel Spring 2011 Collection ~ Ombres Perlees de Chanel (Eyeshadow palette)

* Chanel Spring 2011 Collection ~ Lipstick (Rouge Coco Jersey Rose and Rouge Allure Flamboyante)

* Chanel Spring 2011 Collection ~ Lipgloss (Nakkar)

* Burberry Brit Sheer fragrance

* Digital Camera (Canon Ixus 130 or Sony TX 9 or 5)

* Apple ipod Touch

* Massage at Renewal Day Spa or Willow Stream Spa or Amrita Spa

* Hair scalp treatment at JasonSally

* Complete series of Full House DVDs

* Reshaping It All by Candace Cameron Bure (book)

* Dharma & Greg Seasons 1 & 2 DVDs

Bruschetta and Garlic Bread

This was my highlight of the meal. Home made garlic butter spread on sliced baguette to make garlic bread. It was so easy that I probably should have made more of the garlic butter to keep for future use.

Method:

1. Chop garlic finely.

2. Melt butter in microwave if you do not want to let it melt naturally in room temperature.

3. Mix chopped garlic with butter.

4. Put back to fridge to harden if your butter has melted into a pool of liquid.

5. Spread garlic butter on sliced baguette and pop into oven for 5 minutes or till bread is done to your liking.

Make bruschetta by adding chopped tomatoes over the garlic bread.

Method:

1. Chop honey cherry tomatoes (or roma tomatoes).

2. Sprinkle with sea salt (I used the grey sea salt) and freshly ground black pepper.

3. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

4. Mix them up and spoon them over the partially toasted garlic bread and pop them back into the oven for another 1-2 minutes.

You could also add herbs like freshly chopped basil or Italian parsley. I did that for my second batch and it was superb. There is nothing like garlic bread or bruschetta just out of the oven. Crispy crust and warm soft bread in the centre soaked with flavors from the tomatoes and garlic butter.

Enjoy!

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Chestnuts

I was always tempted to make brussels sprouts with bacon but it was hard to find good looking sprouts at the supermarket. So I was very excited when I found this frozen pack of brussels sprouts with chestnuts.

I decided to try making it using Rachael Ray's recipe. It looked quite straight forward and I was cautious not to overcook the sprouts. The problem with sprouts is that most places tend to overcook it, making it very bitter and unappetizing. That was my first experience with sprouts and I never wanted to try it again until I tried a friend's version which made it so tasty. I decided the trick was the bacon and possibly butter. Butter tends to make everything tastes amazing.

Ingredients

• 3 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed, small spouts left whole, larger spouts halved
• Salt and pepper, to your taste
• 1 cup chicken broth

Directions

Brown bacon in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Add extra-virgin olive oil to the pan, 1 turn. Add shallots to the pan and saute 1 to 2 minutes. Add Brussels spouts and coat in oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cook Brussels sprouts 2 to 3 minutes to begin to soften, then add broth. Bring broth to a bubble, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cook 10 minutes, until tender. Transfer sprouts to a serving dish with a slotted spoon and top with cooked bacon bits.

My version was still not as great as my friend's but at least they were not bitter. Instead they were crunchy and had a subtle nutty flavor. I think I should have continued cooking the sprouts in the bacon grease. I was concerned about it being too oily so I removed the grease and cooked in another pot. Plus I overlooked that chestnuts would take a longer cooking time unlike the sprouts so they were a bit dry and hard. I had to remove the chestnuts and cooked them in water for a little longer. Another thing I tweaked was the use of onions. I prefer it to shallots.

I will need to try making this again. I hope sprouts will be available year round, instead of during this Thanksgiving/Christmas period.

Recipe from Rachael Ray - Foodnetwork.com

Linguine Carbonara

I was introduced to Rick Stein's cooking by a friend and I happened to chance upon his clip on making Carbonara the Italian way. It looked so easy that I was inspired to try making it. The selling point was that no cream was used at all. Maybe I am getting older but now I find myself preferring pasta which is simple and light. No more heavy sauces, I just want something made with olive oil and herbs or white wine.

Apparently the Italian carbonara typically consists of guanciale (pancetta or bacon are fine too), pecorino cheese (made of ewe's milk) and eggs. Cream is used outside of Italy and is the version most of us are familiar with.

Real Italian carbonara doesn't use parmesan and cream.

Ingredients

• 400g/14oz dried spaghetti

• 175g/6¼oz piece smoked pancetta, rind removed

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• handful flatleaf parsley leaves, finely chopped

• 3 large free-range eggs, beaten

• 50g/1¾oz pecorino sardo maturo (mature Sardinian pecorino), finely grated

• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation method

1. Bring 4.5 litres/8 pints water to the boil in a large saucepan with eight teaspoons salt. Add the spaghetti and cook for nine minutes, or until al dente.

2. Meanwhile, cut the pancetta into lardons (short little strips), about 6mm/1¼in wide.

3. Heat a large, deep frying pan over a medium-high heat, add the oil and the pancetta and fry until lightly golden. Add the garlic and parsley and cook for a few seconds, then remove from the heat and set aside.

4. Drain the spaghetti well, tip into the frying pan with the pancetta, garlic and parsley, add the beaten eggs and half the grated pecorino cheese and toss together well.

5. Season to taste with a little salt and black pepper. The heat from the spaghetti will be sufficient to partly cook the egg, but still leave it moist and creamy. Take to the table and serve in warmed pasta bowls, sprinkled with the rest of the cheese.

It is hard to find pecorino cheese and it took me going to 4-5 supermarkets before I found it. Even then only pecorino romano is available. It works equally well, and is endorsed by my Italian friends who helped me on my quest on finding the cheese.

I found it at 360 marketplace and Jasons marketplace. Pancetta was out of stock so I used the normal streaky bacon.

The portion is huge and can feed 4-6 people, so invite more people for the meal. I used about 100gm of the cheese as I felt it was not flavorful enough but you could probably season it to your liking.

Mangia!

Recipe from Rick Stein - BBC Food Recipes.

15 January 2011 - Homecooked Italian Dinner

After obsessing for a few days on finding pecorino cheese to make a true Italian pasta carbonara, it finally came to fruition over the weekend. I found the cheese! Yay!

The pretty box is from Icing Room where C bought muffins from for dessert. Unfortunately the box cannot be kept since there are marks on it from the muffins.

Bruschetta and garlic bread. I am particularly proud of this simple starter as I actually made the garlic butter to spread on the bread.

Linguine Carbonara - so simple that it is unbelievable. I followed Rick Stein's recipe and it was as easy as ABC once you find all the ingredients. No cream is involved in making this, making it a light carbonara which is the Italian way.

I happened to find a pack of brussels sprouts and chestnuts and just had to try making it. I used Rachael Ray's recipe which was also relatively fuss free.

Dessert - muffins from Icing Room. We had it warm with a scoop of ripple ice cream and a cup of tea from Toast Box. Yummy.

The meal was all the more better with great company and conversation.

New Year's Eve 2010 Dinner

A real pine Christmas tree makes all the difference. The subtle scent of fresh pine permeated the home, intertwining with the smell of delicious home cooked food, just enveloped us when we stepped into N&S's domicile. S is Swede, so there are lots of Swedish influence in the food.

We started with Glogg, a traditional Swedish mulled wine, which was absolutely delightful with raisins and almonds. Paired it with ginger thins, and I could tell it was going to be a great evening. This was followed by a glass of sparkling pinot noir Joy (no calling it champagne since all the sparkling wines we had for the night were not produced in the town of Champagne) with raspberries. Interesting.

The food! Oh the glorious food. They have outdone themselves with the spread. Chili hotdog with sour cream was surprisingly good. I would never have thought chili sausage could be so yummy with sour cream. Home baked lingonberry bread with a fresh wedge of gouda.

The flank steak was superb and it was the first dish to be gone. S made it using the Sous Vide method and it was such a marvel. Every part of the steak was equally tender and juicy due to the vacuum cooking style. Apparently sous vide is commonly used for massive cooking in restaurant/hotel/caterer kitchens.

My favorite dish of the evening - brussels sprouts with turkey bacon and chestnuts. I never liked brussels sprouts as they tend to be bitter and overcooked. But after tasting other friends' method of cooking it with bacon and chestnuts, I became a convert. Somehow they were not overcooked or bitter, instead they were crunchy and sweet. Who would have thought brussels sprouts could taste so good.

Lamb chops with herbs, salad with quail eggs, cubed cheese, tomatoes and greens, Swedish starter with smoked salmon, caviar and sour cream and gherkins on mini pancake and homemade coleslaw.

A jar of home made pickles, asparagus drizzled with balsamic vinegar, baked penne with ricotta and baby potatoes with fresh rosemary.

Dessert - reconstructed chocolate cake from Bengawan Solo. S sliced the cake and added chocolate ganache all over it and topped it with strawberries and raspberries. What a smart way of making dessert. It so happened that we could see the top of Marina Bay Sands from the apartment, so we got to see the fireworks which were set off when 2011 arrived. We had more sparkling wine and dessert wine and port to end the evening.

It was a certainly an evening of excellent company, fantastic food, awesome conversation and rocking good times.

2010 left with a bang and 2011 entered with much joy and laughter.

I love my friends, both old and new, far and near. Thank you for the many years, days and hours of knowing each other and may there be many more to come.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

I have been wanting to make this for the longest time. Well, ever since I read about it from Not Quite Nigella. It looks fairly simple and easy to do, which is quite up my alley. After many many months of procrastinating, I finally decided to try making it as Christmas gifts for my work colleagues. It was a success, so I went on to make it for Christmas lunch.

Ingredients:
A packet of dark chocolate chips or cooking chocolate (I have used Nestle, Tulip and Aalst and they turned out well)
A pack of wooden skewers
Silicone ice-cube trays
Mini marshmallows

Method:
1. Melt chocolate in a bowl on medium heat in the microwave. I keyed in 3 minutes, but will stop it every 30 seconds to check or stir the chocolate.
2. Spoon the melted chocolate into the silicone ice cube trays. This is the tricky part, as it is quite hard not to make a mess of it.
3. Place mini marshmallows on the chocolate.
4. Put into fridge for 5-10 minutes for chocolate to set.
5. Pull out from fridge to insert the skewers and put back into fridge to set.
6. Pop the chocolate out when they are ready.

I usually leave them in the fridge overnight so that the chocolate gets very hard as Singapore weather is so warm and I do not want them to melt when giving to friends.

This is after 2 hours in the fridge. I took them out for photography as I thought they are ready. But it is better to leave it for longer as the chocolate is not rock hard yet.

I have 2 trays - flower and butterfly. I am making a smaller batch to give to people this week.

See the chocolate smudge. The chocolate is not fully hardened. These sticks will be packaged into the clear bags which you can get from Daiso. Or you can also use a ziplock sandwich bag and print instructions on it.

This is meant to be a hot chocolate on a stick, so you stir it into a mug of warm milk with mini marshmallows floating. But you can also eat it as a chocolate candy.

Enjoy!

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

2010 has left. 2011 has arrived.

2010 was a year of change (career wise) for me. It was not a bad year, nor was it a spectacular year.

The most memorable incident for 2010 would be the flooding of Orchard Road.

May 2011 be an awesome year, filled with many good times and joy and laughter and continued good health for everyone.