Brunching at Jamie's

Because I felt bad I wouldn't be in Singapore for my bitch's birthday, I decided to take her to Jamie's Italian for lunch. We were finally going to check out what was all the fuss and hype about, besides it being owned by a celebrity chef.

The menu was rather extensive, we both had a difficult time trying to decide what to order. For appetisers we had their Posh Chips, which was a bowl of french fries topped with parmesan and topping them off with a generous drizzle of delicious truffle oil. Amanda got the Baked Salmon, while it was a toss between the Wild Truffle Risotto and Lamb Chop Lollipops for me. The latter won in the end.

I am the worst person to judge the taste of salmon because I have it home-baked/grilled/pan-fried once every week. If nothing captured the attention of my tastebuds, means it was good... but nothing to write home about.  My lamb chop lollipops though, were marvellous. Maybe a little too oily for my liking, but it was tender, with a slight charred taste and texture that I love and the flavour... mmmm, so rich.

For drinks, I had the day's special mocktail: Maroon 5. Unfortunately, it didn't come with Adam Levine (le sigh) but it was refreshing and good so I let that slide. For the life of me, I can't remember what was Amanda's cocktail, but she didn't think it was fantastic... so, no loss there. We skipped the dessert unfortunately. Maybe next time we'd try the ever popular panna cotta and the lemon meringue.

Good food, good atmosphere and vibes, and service. Would definitely head back there soon. Not so soon though, because even though the food is semi-affordable, I'm still not earning enough to live such lavish lifestyle.

Dude! My cravings were satisfied at Artichoke.

I had the pleasure of being in the company of 10 over chefs-to-be from the Culinary Institute of America at an informal, lively communal dining at Artichoke Cafe & Bar. I swore to stay away from town during the F1 weekend, but relented in the end because I was seduced by the special menu. Be prepared to drool buckets because the food was AWSUM.

The three different types of dips came first, served with piping hot and crispy breead with an olive-y soft centre. The red one is called Beetroot Borani, the one in the middle is the Carrot Curry Tzatziki and the one on the top right is the Chickpea Hummus. My favourite is the Carrot Curry Tzatziki with the pomegranate seeds. The hummus is one of the better ones I've tasted, really smooth and flavourful. Yum.

The dish in the middle with the round thing on top is called the Midnight Munchies. It is made up of crunchy ramen, fresh veggies, kimchi (I swear, it must have slipped past my buds cos I didn't taste any) smoked egg and some nuts. We had a good time picking at the salad and I got a little too excited when Rasyidah cut the egg and out came the perfect yolk. No regrets there.

The Salmon Pancake caused the war of flavours on my tastebuds. There were so many different flavours infused in one dish, I had trouble savouring them. The pancakes were soft and the smoked salmon was like any other smoked salmon but the sour cream gave it an extra kick. Nay on the onions though. Maybe if it were caramalised, I might reconsider.

This was my second favourite dish. These babies were glazed with Red Bull. How cool is that? I make an exception to my no-sweet-on-my-savoury tastebuds to these wings. They were crispy, the glaze went perfectly well with the wings...
Awwww, yeah.

My picture does not do justice to this steak. Each slice was succulent, melts in your mouth and packed with flavour. One tiny downside though, the sauce was rather sweet. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't overpoweringly sweet, I just don't like my meat.. sweet. Hmm. Let's just say I prefer things that are savoury to stay savoury. Otherwise, it was a great piece of steak. Price was slightly steep though. But good steak.

I didn't get to try the Artichoke's signature Bak Chor Mee sandwiches because I don't eat pork. Bak Chor mee is essentially a noodle dish of Teochew origin with minced pork and loads and loads of sambal (chilli paste) on it. I remember my Chinese friends devouring bowls after bowls of these in school, and the redder it was with chilli, the spicier it tastes and the more 'shiok' (awesome) it was.

So this signature dish had savoury minced meat and crispy deep fried meepok noodles (flat, yellow and starchy kinds) encased in soft, steamed buns. Traditionally, the noodles be boiled.. but in this case, it's deep fried. The meat seemed to have been braised in soy sauce.. with a tinge of spiciness from the sambal. Rasyidah added that it's a 'ride for the mouth and the palette'. So it must be excellent. It had to be, since it was the dish represented Singapore at a recent Copenhagen food event.

The Lamb Poutine was my favourite dish of the lot. It may not look wholly appetising in this picture, but trust me... that was some delicious lamb. The meat was succulent, just like the steak and bits of it were charred to perfection and the fatty taste was just mmmmmm~ The fries paled in comparison to the party that was going on in my mouth, but hey... I have to admit it was a great sidekick.



We topped the meal off with a great tray of dessert. I am not a huge fan of sweet things, but I love the soursop meringue pie. It's sweet and sour and the crust is crispy and semi-savoury. So, so good.

Overall, the dining experience at Artichoke was a pleasant one. Loved the ambiance of the cafe; it was very warm an welcoming. The service is great, plus, we did a tour of the edible garden right outside the cafe! We got to try Chocolate mint leaves among other leaves. I am so not a culinary student. The prices were a little too steep, but the experience was definitely value for money.

I love the idea of communal dining where we'd order a few things to share and you have hands reaching out all over to grab at a piece of food. It doesn't make you feel completely full, but a meal always tastes better when shared. 

Don't you think?

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What I Ate Wednesday: Savoury Egg Custard

I've finally succeeded in making the yummy egg custards I love so much from Sakae Sushi. Rasyidah and I used to go every. single. freaking. week when we were both back in school (and richer apparently) and I'd order at LEAST two Unagi Chawanmushi. Now the quality of Sakae Sushi's buffet has gone down, and eels are on the soon-to-be-extinct list... I have to find alternatives.

These little savoury treats are so easy to make! You just need eggs, some condiments, a ramekin, an oven or a steamer. The trick to the flavour of the chawanmushi is this:

BONITO FLAKES!

These are the same things you sprinkle on top of your takoyaki (you know, the one that looks like it's alive) and they taste so good! So what I did was to bring a pot of water to a boil and add in the bonito flakes. Kill the flames and let the mixture steep for 5 minutes. After which you strain it through a sieve and the end result is a nice cup of clear, yellow liquid packed with flavour. The Japanese call it the Dashi stock, but I didn't add dried kombu seaweed to enhance the flavour... so I don't know what to call it. 

Crack two eggs and whisk it with a tablespoon (or two) of soya sauce. I made this twice; the first time I didn't add pepper and a dash of salt and I found it rather bland. The second time made with a dash of salt and pepper along with two tablespoons of light soya sauce, was perfect.

The next part is a little tricky. I didn't measure how much dashi I poured into the egg mixture, maybe a little less than 25 ml to 2 eggs.. It's more of a trial and error process. I found that the less dashi you put, the less silken the texture of the chawanmushi would be. So, good luck with experimenting!

After whisking the dashi in with the egg, strain the mixture through a sieve to eliminate all the gooey slime, resulting in a bright yellow, smooth and goo-free liquid.



I added a few cooked shrimps and some mushrooms into the base of the ramekin. I was out of shitake mushrooms, and I neither had chicken nor gingko nuts but you can literally put anything to your fancy inside the chawanmushi.  Pour the egg mixture into the ramekin and set it on a baking tray. Fill the tray with boiling water till it covers half the ramekin. Put it into your oven (I set it to 150 C) and leave it to cook for a little over 15 minutes. Really depends on your oven really.

Practice makes perfect! I hope someday I'll perfect my chawanmushi making skills so that it'll look like as flawless as this:

xx

What I Ate Wednesday: Roasted Veggies (AGAIN!)

I know, I know... This is my second roasted veggies post (first being here). But words can't describe how much I love popping these little morsels in the oven. The smell of them roasting is just MARVELLOUS! And when roasted just right- slightly charred, the burst of flavours in your mouth... just, mmmmm~

This time I experimented with zucchinis and butternut squash. I am not a huge fan of pumpkin-variety vegetables.. but including the squash was the best decision I made today. The sweetness of the squash goes really well with the other veggies. I topped the dish with some goat cheese (an acquired taste, but I love it) and it was PERFECT!

I can haz new ramekin set!

Mum got us some new ramekins over the weekend and I can't wait to try out some recipes. Tomorrow's What I Ate Wednesday is going to be quite exciting! 

I need a little help from you guys, though. What are some things you'd make in a ramekin?

What I Ate Wednesday: HARI RAYA edition

Just like how turkey is to Thanksgiving and Eggnog is to Christmas, we too have a few festive dishes. Hari Raya will never be complete with them. I looked forward to these every time because they're only a twice a year occurrence. Yum.

Lontong: Plain rice cake

Lauk Lodeh: Assorted vegetables, fermented beans and beancurd in coconut based gravy.

Sambal Sotong: Squid with spicy chilli.

Sambal Goreng: Green beans, beancurd, fermented beans and meat parts stir-fried in spices.

 Rendang: Traditionally Beef, now available in Chicken or Mutton variety, cooked in spices. My favourite.

Lepat : Glutinous rice cake with beans

 Serundeng: Sauteed grated coconut with spices. To be eaten with lontong.

We'd eat all these for a day or two before we get sick of it because these dishes are traditionally served at homes on the first day of Hari Raya (or Eid-ul-Fitr as many parts of the world call it). Still, I look forward to it every year.

JAPANESE FOOD!

I am not the biggest fan of sushi, but I LOVE Japanese food. Strange sounding? I thought so. But there's so many other varieties of Japanese food available that I am not a least bit sorry that I don't like cramming too many sushi pieces into my tummy. My favourite Japanese food go-to places had to be the all-you-can-eat buffets that are aplenty on this island.

There are a few all-you-can-eat buffets that I've patronised over the years and each of them had their strong points. Sakae Sushi used to be a favourite when I was back at school, and the unagi chawanmushi they had then was to die for. Unfortunately, they don't offer free flow of sashimi, sooo I moved on.

Nihon Mura was another favourite, it's not too pricey and offers free flow drinks and sashimi and other yummy Japanese food items besides sushi, and they used to have BBQ scallops with a dollop of Mentaiko sauce on top, then blowtorched. Oh my God, these were amazing. It remained one of my favourite places to go for a very long time... till I discovered Senki Japanese Restaurant.

Located in Somerset, Senki Japanese Restaurant offers all-you-can-eat buffet for lunch and dinner. The first time I went, it was for dinner.. and it was pricey, at $45/pax and the second was lunch at $35/pax. But it was so worth it, I recommend you going.

The menu was incredibly extensive, ranging from the regular sushi and handrolls, to incredibly fresh sashimi, to salads and udon and other fried stuff like shisamo and croquette. One will never be able to try everything on the menu in one seating.

My staples for a Japanese buffet has to be their chawanmushi and miso soup. Unfortunately, they both disappoint. The chawanmushi had a great, silky texture but was too bland and the miso soup was too sweet. But it's okay, other yummy offerings make up for the mediocre experience.

What made our dining experience so special were the incredibly friendly chefs! The both times I was there, we were seated right where the chef worked.. so at times, we were slipped delectable sushi pieces that weren't available on the menu. My favourite has got to be this:

Sushi, with mentaiko sauce drizzled over a piece of fatty salmon belly before being blowtorched

You have to eat this as soon as its been served. The whole thing melts in your mouth like little pieces of heaven. God, thank you for such an unforgettable experience.

Claudia and I were discussing salmon with the chef while he was slicing pieces of sashimi to serve and we've had the privilege to taste four different kinds of salmon sashimi parts. 

For the life of me, I can't remember what the usual salmon sashimi part is called... but each part had a different texture. My favourite part depends on what I feel like cooking/eating. If I were to eat it raw, it'll be the belly because of the fattiness and the smooth, melt in your mouth texture. If I were to pan fry it, it'll be the belly too. Crispy skin and fatty meat. Yum. Bake... will be the fillet itself.

Alright, enough with my salmon obsession. Japanese food-loving Singaporeans go check this place out! And everyone else, what are some of your favourite Japanese food? :)

*This post is not sponsored by Senki Japanese Restaurant or anyone. All opinions are my own.

What I Ate Wednesday: Homemade mushroom soup

Back in December 2011, a group of five of us from Singapore decided to make a trip up to Kuala Lumpur to visit our friend Emily. On the last evening of our trip, she had invited us to her beautiful home for dinner. For the life of me, I couldn't remember what we ate... because it was a SPREAD... But the two most memorable ones were her homemade mushroom soup and the yummy, yummy chocolate cake (Was it with cheese? Pardon my bad memory.) 

I loved it so much, I asked Emily for the recipe. 

It's really simple to do, combining mushrooms, onions, garlic and some water or chicken broth in a stock pot. Once sufficiently boiled and all the beautiful flavours have been released, place the mixture into a blender and then.... blend (what else can a blender do, huh) them all into a puree. After it's all pureed up, transfer it back into the pot and thicken the soup with some cream or milk. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Yum.