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.

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!

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.

What I Ate Wednesday: Childhood Snack

When I was a kid growing up in the 90s, they used to sell these things in bright orange packaging at 10 cents each. I used to buy them at recess time and sneak it up to class for some secret snack time under the table. If I am in the mood, I might share it with you.

There's is almost nothing to this snack though, except that it tastes so damn good... plus it's addictive too. Each bite comes with a crunch and a burst of salty flavour... and it takes all your might to not just empty the entire packet's contents into your mouth.

Snacks of the 90s are fast becoming non-existent, so whenever I come by any of them, I'll get them in truckloads. Okay, not really... more like as many as my bag and/or pocket can handle.

I'll introduce more snacks I ate as a Singaporean girl growing up in the 90s in weeks to come, so do stay tuned! In the meantime......

What I Ate Wednesday: Roasted Asparagus and Hollandaise

I tried. I tried so damn hard to make some hollandaise sauce for my eggs. I really tried. Looks like I've got to try harder. The first time we made it, it turned green. This time, the colour was an improvement.. but it came out too watery. I substituted lemon for lime and the taste turned out pretty okay. Maybe I should invest in some cayenne pepper. Note to self : less butter next time.

I also made scrambled egg whites for the first time and I LOVE IT! I had egg whites leftovers from the hollandaise sauce and I knew better than to waste it. It's lighter and fluffier than the normal scrambled eggs, and so yummy.

Paired with oven roasted asparagus and two pieces of pan fried salmon belly, it was a perfect lunch!

What I Ate Wednesday: Stuffed Mushrooms

Today's kitchen experiment features Broccoli and Cheese stuffed portobello mushrooms. It's so simple, inexpensive and... mildly healthy.

1 Red, juicy tomato + 1/2 an onion + a couple of mushroom stalks

Melt butter in pan, proceed to throw in the onions... toss it till it's translucent then add the mushroom stalks and broccoli. I experimented on two types of stuffing: with and without tomatoes.
My verdict below.

So, like I mentioned above, I experimented on two stuffings: one with tomatoes, and another without. Note to self: NEVER MIX BREADCRUMBS AND TOMATOES.

The stuffing with the tomatoes came out too wet and mushy for my liking, so Imma skip on the tomatoes. My best friend was right. If you add tomatoes to any kind of roast... it'll just turn the entire dish soggy. Overall, YUM!

On a side note: Today I learnt, I can't cook the perfect steak to safe my life. Sigh.

What I Ate Wednesday: Sous Vide and Roasting

My best friend, Syuhada, is home from UK for the summer and along with Rasyidah, we decided to have some kitchen experiments. Armed with slabs of steak, and an assortment of vegetables, the menu for Wednesday was Sous Vide Steak with mashed potatoes and a side of roasted vegetables + garlicky butter mushrooms!

Sous vide is a method of cooking food sealed in an air tight plastic bags in a water bath for periods longer than normal cooking time. The temperature of the water is to be regulated to be much lower than normal cooking temperatures. The intention is to cook the item evenly, and not to overcook the outside while still keeping the inside at the same "doneness", keeping the food juicier.

After the sous vide process

Searing the meat, oh my God my mouth is watering.

The meal turned out excellent. The meat was juicy, the mashed potatoes were oh so creamy and the mushrooms, garlicky. The highlight has got to be the roasted veggies. The roasting brought out the natural flavours of the vegetables, squashing the claim Rasyidah made about veggies being tasteless. Though it didn't change my mind about brinjals... I'm not too fond of it.

Three cheers for a successful kitchen experiment!