Sweets For My Sweet

Desserts are my Achilles Heel. When I go to a restaurant, I look at the desserts first and then try to work backwards to see what my appetite can accommodate and then figure out if I am going to get a starter and a main and what to order. As such, it was difficult when I found out that I have probably more than 50% chance of getting Type 2 diabetes in some stage of my life, because that meant cutting down on the sweets down and watching what I eat even more.

This amuse bouche that we had during the recent Mother's Day lunch was one of my favourite items that day. The pair was encased in gel filled with a chocolate hazelnut and a raspberry liquid resting on a biscuit respectively. These were the best! So interesting to have them pop in your mouth to fill it with a delicious liquid. 

This was a chocolate dessert, I can't remember much about it because I am not a chocolate fan. (Really? There are people who don't like chocolate? Yes, I get that a lot.) But the presentation was really pretty and the small bit of chocolate I tasted was not overly sweet, the way I like my chocolate (if I had to like chocolate).

Who doesn't like an apple tart? This was an unusual one in its presentation, as with all the dishes on the menu really. This restaurant does strive to put a twist on its items, a fusion of western and Japanese and definitely presented in a way that you least expect.

So with a great love for desserts, what can/should I do? "Everything in moderation" does seem to be a good mantra for everything and especially in this case. But on the other hand, the other important quote that comes to mind is "Life is uncertain, eat dessert first."

Bostock

Today I learnt what "bostock" is. It is a yummilicious almond toast, so simple but yet tastes so good. It seems like a total misnomer as it sounds like some sort of Bovril stock to me. But anyway, misnomer or not, it is delicious.

Tribute to Some of the Loaves I've Made

There is something satisfying about making your own bread, not just because you save a ton of money not paying for mediocre bread at exorbitant prices at delis and gourmet bakeries, but also the fact that you are actually making something very basic with your hands to feed your family. People feel a loss of satisfaction with the Industrial Revolution, that's a fact. Making something with your hands counts for something...

 The back story to my bread-making was when the New York Times came out with its wonderfully simple No-Knead Bread some 8 or 9 years ago, I was intrigued. Bread-making always seemed to involve a lot of hard, manual work and mysterious workings of yeast and leaveners. Until this No-Knead bread recipe burst out on the internet. The only drawback was it required a cast iron pot or a Dutch oven. I lusted after a Le Creuset cast iron pot since then, frequently checking the prices during sales. However, nothing could make me part with S$500 for a pot, Le Creuset or otherwise, not even bread.
Then fast-forward to 2010 when I started going to the US regularly for work. The opportunity to get my much-coveted Le Creuset Dutch oven arrived. For a little less than half the cost of the same at home, I could get a shiny red pot. I hand-carried my precious cargo from San Jose to San Francisco via Hong Kong to Singapore. And then the break-making started in earnest!

The bubbling of the dough mixture was most satisfying. This meant to me that the magic was working.

Leaving the dough for a 12-hour proof plus another 2-hour makes for a sourdough bread, without the need for a sourdough starter. Another shortcut! I just love this recipe. The Boy also loves this bread and would clamour for this on a weekly basis. I was also eager to cut down the cost per loaf from about $30 to a more normal $10.

I even ventured into the land of bread that required kneading after seeing a picture of the same posted by a friend. So I made these 2 loaves but as they were white bread, they weren't the hit the sourdough bread was, and so I went back to baking what the public demanded.

On a subsequent trip to the US, I even bought a second, slightly smaller Le Creuset pot in orange and I've since used that one more to bake my bread because it gives the dough a better rise because of the proportion.

I've experimented with adding dried cranberries, candied walnuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and dried figs to the dough. Making bread especially the No-Knead bread is easy and enjoyable and helps achieve the satisfaction quotient of making something with one's hands.

Almost Like A Sydney Saturday

It almost felt like Saturday brekkie in a Sydney cafe when I was at Toby's Estate this Saturday. Sitting at a bench with my flat white in the cool airconditioning, facing the river by Robertson Quay, I could almost imagine I am back in Sydney. The fact that the cafe and the alfresco dining area outside were full of caucasian faces is another factor which could lull someone into a mistaken reality.

I like the interior of the cafe with the exposed brickwork, high ceilings, industrial lighting and stainless steel pipes and funnels. The coffee however was better than the average Singaporean coffee standard which isn't saying very much. The choice of toast was either white bread (I think) and brioche. Hopefully they would offer Turkish bread or sourdough soon. And real jam instead of jelly, I know it would be asking too much to ask for Jam Lady's jams from Victoria so any real jam or compote would be better than jelly. But all things considered, it was a nice ambience to have Saturday breakfast and read a book in companionable silence.

Pre-Christmas In/Out Trip To Sydney

So unexpectedly I was called away to my favourite business trip destination in the week leading up to Christmas, actually 5 days to Christmas actually. If it were anywhere else, I would have to be dragged up the aerobridge kicking and screaming. But seeing as it was Sydney, and I get to go during summer and see (some of) my mates, I acted like I were a long-suffering employee who still had to work so hard during the quiet festive period, packed my bag and hopped on business class on Singapore Airlines.

This trip I decided I would give the Amora hotel across from the office a miss seeing as Westin was offering very similar rates and was well-located at Martin Place. In fact it was in the same building as the General Post Office building and the old post boxes are still in use. How lovely.

The Christmas light-up in Sydney was unlike the Orchard Road light-up in Singapore. Theirs was a much more sophisticated affair, a wondrous display of light aesthetics, artfully projected on buildings like the Town Hall and St Mary's Cathedral. We stood in front of the Cathedral for ages, oohing and aahing over each change of pattern and mused about how perfectly projected each dove was perched on the ledge, the bars and curlicues matched the windows.

Sydney means coffee and cafes to me. On my first day, I had 3 soy flat whites by lunch time. I had to exercise restraint. I ogled the lovely pastries in the bakery cases. My restraint was admirable in this area. I had a macaron and a lemon tea cake by way of dessert during my trip. Oh and I did have a mini picnic bar to curb hunger pangs one evening in the hotel room.

I had a lovely lunch in the old Surry Hills neighbourhood. The cafe was new, the vibe was familiar, the dining companions were faces I was happy to see. It was a lovely, short in and out trip and I had a quick round up of some of my favourite things in Sydney. I'm sure I will be back again sometime soon.

Peking Duck Restaurant In A Hutong

This is in the famous Peking duck restaurant "Liqun" in a Beijing hutong. Hutongs are very interesting, and showcase traditional living quarters in modern times. It is pretty amazing how even Western tourists manage to find their way through the maze to this restaurant where I am sure no one speaks any English. The ambience is just so authentic, and that also can mean quite grotty. So one needs to shut one's eyes to certain things, and more importantly, make sure that one's bio needs are taken care of before coming to the restaurant because the loos are outhouses located some distance away from the restaurant.

I particularly like this photo which I think has captured the essence of the place, contrasting the delicious ducks with the humble surroundings, and the blaze of light creating an atmospheric quality.

In-N-Out Burger

After reading about how wonderful In-N-Out Burger was online, I finally got to try them in San Jose this trip.

We went to Gilroy which is garlic country and also location of a huge factory outlet mall. On the way there, I wound down the windows to try to get a whiff but my respiratory infection had blocked up my olfactory senses, no joy of garlic bread in the air.

Arriving at the Gilroy mall, we were hungry and after a quick look round the lot, we headed to In-N-Out Burger. They had a very limited menu with 3 set meals only. However, I later found out that there were secret stuff off-menu like chilli fries. Anyway, we made it easy for the staff and order 3 of the same set meals. Everything is made fresh, the fries are hand-cut and single-fried hence they were not crispy but soggy. I think I still prefer the double-fried sort like McDonald's. But these burgers were succulent and the buns were soft.

We felt a little sick after we finished, probably because we ate an entire day's calorie allowance in one meal. But the next 3 hours of outlet shopping probably helped us work part of that off. It was still too much. Next time, I will get a single burger and share the fries. And that would probably be 3/4 of a day's calorie allowance. I might feel a tad less guilty. Why is it that everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening???

A 3-Michelin-Star Macaron

For someone who got hit by the macaron bug while reading online blogs, it has been a long search for a really good macaron since I've not been to France or Japan in the last 5 years or so since I started fervently reading food blogs. So on this trip to Tokyo, there was a 3 Michelin star chef (Pierre Gagnaire) who has a restaurant and a bakery in the ANA Intercontinental hotel I was at, and the bakery sold tiny, little macarons.

I bought 4 and boy were they good. The crust was crispy and had the taste of almonds, which is more than I can say for the other macarons I've had in Australia, Hong Kong (before this, was the best I've bad) and Singapore. Actually, now as I am writing this, I recall having some mini macarons brought back from France by a colleague, but I cannot recall being blown away. The fillings were flavoursome and not overly sweet, the way the Singapore ones tend to be. You can really taste the lemon, mango and orange flavours.

Now I finally know how a really good macaron tastes like.

Everyone Loves Fries

Due to the strange inability to move photos that are taken by my phone and uploaded through Bluetooth to my laptop, dessert comes first today.

We finally went to "Everything With Fries", an outlet opened by the same people who own "Awfully Chocolate". The same minimalist-style decor was a big hit with us. We like the blackboard menu and the buzz of pink-shirted young people waiting tables.

This warm and gooey Nutella tart ended our very satisfactory dinner although we had some observations about the inefficient flow of the wait staff doing their thing. Waiters walking pass empty-handed, not refilling cups or handing out menus. Or coming to the table with a refilled cup and then not removing empty dishes. Lots of busy staff bustling by, but not very efficient work being carried out. That's one of our pet subjects whenever we eat out, dissecting the operational process flow and opining how things can be done better. Plus talking about the food and ambience of course and in those areas, this place ticks all the boxes.

I had the pork chop with sour cream and herb shoe-string fries. Yum. G had the breaded salmon with original straight-cut fries. The only problem was "original" means with paprika and not like how normal people think "original" means ie. salt.

We had a chat with Lyn, the owner of the joint after dinner. She was very friendly, very receptive. I think this place will be even more successful after she fixes those issues. We look forward to coming back to try more dishes including the Mille crepe which was sold out that night.

Yumcha

I love dim sum, who doesn't? It's always an easy choice for a weekend brunch. I've been trying to find a good dim sum place now that we are a few thousand miles from Marigold, my favourite yumcha restaurant in Sydney, which boasts of 100 plus varieties of dim sum every day.

The Tung Lok restaurant at Paramount hotel, despite bearing the Tung Lok brand name, is extremely disappointing in terms of quality and the abysmal variety. Wah Lok in Carlton hotel is a perennial favourite, its standards are consistent throughout the years. We went to Crystal Jade at Changi Airport last weekend for the reason that it would probably not be too crowded and was fairly near to us. It was pretty good and in particular, this steamer of transparent-skinned veggie dumplings. Visually pleasing and tasty. This Crystal Jade is definitely on our list for yumcha.

Biscuit Craving

I have a craving tonight. For biscuits. In particular, for these stem ginger biscuits. However being in this house which is a biscuit-free household, the craving was a little hard to satisfy. So I've had to resort to:-

1. A banana coated with Nutella;
2. A giant Jaffa;
3. Several dates;
4. A cup of yoghurt with strawberries marinated in balsamic vinegar and sugar; and
5. A cup of sugary, milky tea.

I know what's going on my shopping list for tomorrow.

Steamed Cake - Childhood Version

I've had a few flashbacks to my childhood when I would remember something yummy my mother used to make and wonder how easily I could replicate that. Thanks to the internet, googling up these recipes is a breeze and one can usually find a really easy recipe which is not too far off the mark.

Today I tried my hand at making a steamed cake Chinese style. Mum used to make these purely because of necessity as we did not live near shops or bakeries so she had to make these simple cakes to satisfy her family's craving for dessert or just something sweet. And the ingredients are so simple, just eggs, plain flour and sugar. I threw in some baking powder just in case my arm power was not enough to beat the batter to death and make the cake rise and split open with little craters on the surface when cooked. Just as well because it was really, really hard to beat that thick batter. I remember mum and another aunt beating their batter really hard, especially that aunt who had hers in a red pail and added some 7-up to it for the carbonation rising effect. And the talk of clockwise and anti-clockwise beating motions.

I couldn't find a suitable round pan and so steamed it in my loaf pan which worked just as well, standing in my big deep frying pan with the lovely steam cooking my golden loaf. After 40 minutes it was done. Delicious.

I had replicated a piece of my childhood in a dish. It was a warm feeling, a taste of simpler times.

Creative (Culinary) Juices

Since the advent of tai tai-hood, I've been channelling my creative energies into the culinary area.

Recent successes include a really simple prawn and capsicum fried bee hoon and this was an easy to throw together dish but still very satisfying and a crispy batter fish and chips (a little baking powder dissolved in vinegar did the trick I believe. Must be the addition of carbon dioxide through that method, no need for a soda siphon to pump in CO2, Heston Blumenthal-style) But I had scoffed that meal down so quickly, I had forgotten to take any pictures. The cleaning up of the kitchen was much less fun than the eating, the oil had splattered everywhere and I had to get rid of evidence of unhealthy deep-frying before the Food-Nazi gets home.

Then I had this craving for a McDonald's Fillet O Fish for a few days and of course we know, Maccas is banned in this household by the Imperial Edict of the Food-Nazi. As such, we made our own delicious Barrumundi fish fillet burger over the weekend, with a generous slather of tomato chutney, with rocket leaves piled high. This was a really gourmet-tasting fish burger, Barrumundi really hits the spot.

I've also been thinking about the Japanese omurice, although I can't remember ever ordering it in a Japanese restaurant. It's one of those simple home-whipped-up dishes that no self-respecting Japanese person would order in a restaurant. So I googled up a recipe - it's really very basic and threw in some smoked salmon I had in the fridge as there is NO meat. Once again, lovely red capsicum for colour and flavour and some frozen peas. However, it wasn't as tasty as I had hoped for. I think more tomato ketchup is needed.

Next on my cooking agenda is bread-making. Will get onto that towards the end of the week cos the Food-Nazi can only eat baked goodies on the weekend and I like to share my goodies (and the calories).

Another Vintage Find

Being an inveterate collector of vintage glass and ceramics, I love trawling the flea markets and op shops. What greater joy is there than finding a lovely, old item for a bargain price? Bumping into a garage sale with really good vintage items is also a fortuitous event and I've scored a few treasures in garage sales too, most notably my blue glaze Steve Sheridan salad bowl for a meagre $10.

Most recently I've obtained a large, clear glass lemon juicer. This is actually not my first choice because I've had my eye set on a green Depression glass juicer and measuring cup set at the Antiques Centre. But I wasn't that keen on the price of $45 and so had been looking out at markets and op shops for something similar. Unfortunately, the search has been futile so far and I've seen a few clear glass lemon juicers but no green Depression glass ones.

Having passed up on several of these clear glass ones, I finally decided that I would have to get one and not have any regrets in the future, for missing a good buy with this one at only $3 on one of my quick nips into the neighbourhood Vinnie's shop last week. I'm going to use it to squeeze the oranges when I make my orange cupcakes, see they aren't just objects of beauty to be collected and admired. They are functional and I will love the feel of the heavy glass in my hands and am finally going to put the green plastic juicer I have, into retirement.

Foodie Heaven - Hawker Food

I've had very memorable meals at swish restaurants but sometimes, it's the meals at the dingy coffee shop with the cook frying up a storm in front of you, that seem to taste so much better. This is especially true in Penang, a foodie heaven.

Eating at such hole-in-the-wall places, especially when one is no longer very accustomed to, takes some getting used to. The eating experience will be improved if you keep your eyes away from the ground, try not to look at how dirty the floor is. Looking at the cracked and peeling walls is all right because that is distracting without being disgusting. Observing how the hawker is banging away at the wok also adds to the whole experience as sound and not just sight, is at work, and then you get the whiff of delicious food as he/she plates it up.

The Penang char kway teow at this coffee shop boasts of generous serves (3 here) of fat, juicy prawns. The portion overall is not big but is sufficient especially when one orders the delicious "halogen meat" (no idea why it is thus named but it is really a kind of sausage) or "lor bak" as a side dish. The lor bak and prawn fritters are the best I've had on this trip.

1 of the things that I've been looking forward to and which I savour in my memory, is this cold, slippery, yellow dessert, "kee kueh" ("kee" being yeast in Hokkien, makes me wonder if indeed yeast is used but it sure doesn't seem so). Its consistency is like agar-agar and is rather tasteless on its own, so you eat it with a thick and rich brown sugar syrup (gula melaka). I really wanted to go back another day to get another helping but regrettably, didn't get the chance to.

Another dessert which of course one cannot miss on a trip to Penang is the famous Chendol. This is a shaved-ice mountain drenched in coconut milk and brown sugar syrup piled over the green starchy, wormy bits and well-cooked and almost mushy sweet red beans.

Finally, the foodie's tour of Penang's hawker stalls cannot be complete without a bowl of the sourish Assam laksa. This is different from the rich coconut version which is more prevalent in Singapore, Malaysia and even Sydney. This is a sourish tamarind soup with fish flakes flavouring the dish, with bits of pineapple, ginger flower, cucumber shreds and a bit of lettuce.

And so satiated, I finish my 4-day trip with at least 1 kg more than when I arrived. All well worth it.

The Good Stuff

Recently I received an edict from Bruce, my jam-making ex-colleague to stop drooling over the Jam Lady's jams. I had developed an addiction to this fig and earl grey jam and had been trying to order some online from Victoria but have been facing some technical difficulties. So I hike back to the old neighbourhood to get my fix and have been using her jams as an industry benchmark to give Bruce some feedback and critique on what's yummy and what makes it so.

It's good that Bruce puts some value on my taste buds as he came over this afternoon bearing a cloth bagful of his home-made deliciousness poured into bottles with handwritten labels.

He had brought over 4 different peach (with brandy, cointreau and a couple of other which I forget as all I need to remember was they were yummy) jams, a fig and lemon jam and a plum paste. I made some crepes to go with the jam-tasting session.

You can't go wrong with peach I reckon. Peach anything is good, more so these peach jams. The juicy, plump bits of fruit were visible and the fragrance was enticing. The fig and lemon jam had a nice contrast of chewy bits of fig and the lemon rind, I love the zestiness of this one although it is different from Jam Lady's fig and earl grey jam which was my favourite of her range. The plum paste was recommended with cheese, but we just tried it with the crepes anyway. As the paste was much firmer, I guess it didn't go as well with the crepes as the jams.

And Bruce left me several bottles of goodies to savour. I promised him to let some friends do some tasting and take some orders for him. Good stuff needs to be shared all round...

Nature And Food

We have a waterfall in our backyard (literally)! A charming handwritten scrawl in chalk on the pavement helped orientate the unfamiliar towards the lookout point where the waterfall is. The (minor) roar of the water was unmistakable. We just need to find the path that leads down to it. There are lots of bushwalking possibilities in the neighbourhood, we just need to find a map of all the walking trails and start planning our new activities. Life is all about change, if nothing else, isn't it?

Well and some things never change. Love for my food that is. Being our first real weekend in the new house (last weekend was spent unpacking and clearing the bomb site so that didn't really count), I decided that we were going to make pizzas for dinner tonight. Somehow, my pizza which was on the pizza stone didn't come out as nicely cooked as G's which was on the pizza baking tray. But I love, love, love the anchovies. I just wish that I also had smoked oysters on mine, the smell of the anchovies just triggered off a craving for that. G reckons my body is zinc-deficient. I think that is right, I used to have regular cravings for smoked oysters and used to open up a tin and eat it right there and then with a fork on the spot.

Now listening to the rhythm of the patter of rain outside, it is such a nice comforting sound to end a good day.

Just Bread

This was my favourite bakery in my old neighbourhood.

It is almost an institution and the constant queue that snakes around it is proof. I love how the queue moves so quickly, the hustle and bustle of efficiency, with everyone making up their minds on their choices while waiting in the queue, there is no need to hem and haw when one gets to the head of the queue.

The freshly-baked loaves of sour dough, with weird yet fascinating combination of ingredients like fennel and raisin, sour cherry and hazelnut, potato and sour cream, apple and oat never ceased to thrill my taste buds. I love how "meaty" each loaf was, heavy and moist. A simple loaf of bread, yet it can bring one so much enjoyment.

This was one of the things that I miss the most about the old neighbourhood. Just bread, but such pleasure...

A Pasta To Rave About

After hearing G rave about the chilli and prawn spaghetti at the Light Brigade, we finally made it there for a late lunch today. Tired out from the semi-industrial cleaning of the old apartment (erasing 5 years of grime takes a lot of hard work, my biceps have had a good workout), we only ate at 3 pm.

But wow - this is a pasta worth waiting for. And well worth the $12. Totally exceeded expectations which were already high to start off with. The prawns were big and succulent, the rocket added a nice texture, the chilli gave it a little bit of a kick and the parmesan cheese just made the dish even yummier. A simple few ingredients, well executed. I was so blown away by this, I wanted to have it again for dinner!

We both licked our plates clean. This easily gave other gourmet pasta places a run for their money. If only this was on OUR side of the Bridge...

Sweets And Stress

Recent desserts assembled by G at home, regularly feature these vanilla biscuit sticks and grated chocolate with ice-cream or mango or melon. Served in a martini glass, they look especially elegant. And the glasses are good for portion control too. Considering the fact that we both can grab a handful of fat in the tummy area, we need to further step up on the portion and/or frequency control in the dessert area. No mean feat for people with a sweet tooth like us.

Today at a cafe in Cremorne after some property inspection, we stopped to rest our weary feet and for a caffeine infusion. Halfway through coffee, we decided that we deserved something sweet to go with the aromatic brew. I picked out this orange flourless cake which was particularly good. We shared just one of course. We have some self-control. At times.

The other day when I was nursing my swollen ankle and working from home, I threw together a quick lunch of baked beans with some lean minced pork. And I ate it with a chapati. It was a simple yet delicious meal.

Apart from nourishing my body, today I nourished my soul with some tidying up and decluttering. Sick of shoes, shoes everywhere in the bedroom, living room (I am not the culprit for these heinous crimes of course) and shoes piled willy-nilly in the hall closet, plus overspilling to the space opposite the closet, I have been telling G for ages that we need a shoe rack. He is vehemently opposed to that idea, only God knows why. Perhaps he likes the surprise of a lucky draw when you randomly fish up whatever footwear from the pile. But this has bothered me for months and finally at Ikea today, I bought this bright red shoe organiser and stuck all my shoes in it. I feel so much better after doing that. I can feel my stress level slowly ebbing...