To make it up, i have a couple of exciting things that i’ve managed to experience/make.
Firstly, it would be that dinner I had with 2 of my friends. We wanted to go somewhere french/italian/whatever just as long as it was chic and expensive. SO we went to Au Petit Salut at Harding Road. It was a gorgeous, quiet and intimate restaurant.

One of us ordered the set dinners which caused about $70-90? I don’t really recall. But my friend chose to have 2 appetisers the first being Pan seared duck foie gras and the second lobster bisque?
For mains, (shoots i forgot the mains) and coffee/tea.

I got the escargot for starters, sadly it was a bit of a disappointment. I feel it could have been a bit more garlicky and flavourful. Oh well.

For mains,  i had the Oven roasted French quail stuffed with duck foie gras and wild mushrooms mashed potato

Poor yummy quail. I absolutely loved the mushroom stuffing. Absolutely delicious.

And for dessert they surprised us and the birthday girl with the cake. It was nice of them to have noticed us wishing her and giving her her presents.

And a few days after, i remembered how i had this crazy urge to make a pizza. I did not intend to go throught the laborious process of making my own pizza dough, so i bought one of those -add water- pre packs.

However i went berserk with the ingredients, but kept it vegetarian. And surprise surprise, you won’t guess who stole the limelight? Mushrooms of course! And i put in Zucchini as well and other vegetables that i can’t remember now. I also doused it with mozzarella cheese.

Pre-baked

Post baked: Oh yes, lookin at the pic it all comes back to me. The white stuff is feta cheese and i also put in yellow/green peppers. And spanish olives.

I also did a bit of cookie baking and made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I liked it, but the chocolate monster didn’t and my les was polite enough to bring the bag of cookies home. =)

Thats about it for my adventures.

I’m hoping to bake something exciting next week. Totally out of my comfort zone but i liked the recipe the minute i saw it. Hopefully, next tuesday. Wish me luck!

We had a reservation made for 7pm and arrived promptly. We were seated indoors in a nice, cosy corner and the place was still pretty empty, but peaceful nonetheless.

The waiter who attended to us was very pleasant and attentive.

We ordered the La Villa Antipasto for starters. It came with: Parma ham, Salami, Bresaola, Cooked ham and a side of Duck Rillettes, Pearl onions, Olives and Gherkins. This, together with the complimentary bread basket was delish. It was gone even before it came. The waiter recommended we have some champagne or as they call it in Italy, Prosecco, together with our antipasto to clear our palates of the meat taste, and we unanimously agreed that the Prosecco did it’s job well  (Too well, towards the end of dinner i must say..that’s another story for another time).

Then came the main courses. We ordered Lamb Cutlets, Capellini (angel hair pasta with lobster ragout) and ravioli (with veal meat and mushroom sauce).

I had the ravioli and loved it to the very last mushroom that was on my plate. It was absolutely delicious. I had a taste of the other 2 dishes and found that the capellini had an overpowering fishy/seafood taste on first bite, but you’ll eventually get accustommed to the taste and enjoy the dish. The lamb was good,eaten  together with the ratatouille served with it, it was really nice.

Then came the highlight, desserts! We ordered, Pannacotta (beautiful and creamy, served with berry coulis), Cioccolata (Chocolate Lava Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream- The best dessert in my opinion absolutely rich chocolate served with the best vanilla ice cream, which i guess was restaurant made) and Tiramisu (below my expectations- Didnt continue eating it after my 2nd bite).

We loved the peaceful, serene atmosphere in the restaurant. The staff were very attentive and we had an excellent time catching up over delicious food and drinks.

Price for food & ambience: $203

I had it, for the first time, at a cafe run by a french man. It was love at first bite. And since then i never stopped looking out for flourless chocolate cake when i step into a cafe/restaurant.

I have been looking for a recipe that can be trusted and came across Martha Stewart’s website. It was between her recipe and Nigella’s but I’m not really a fan of lime-chocolate flourless cake. I like it as it is. But if you are more adventurous, this is Nigella’s recipe.

http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/flourless-chocolate-lime-cake-with-margerita-cream-5146

Martha’s recipe called for:

1/2 cup sugar

8oz of good quality chocolate- I used Lindt 70% dark chocolate

6 tablespoons of unsalted butter

6 eggs separated

THAT’S IT!

Like with almost all my recipes, i was unable to take pictures at every stage of my cake making as i only have 2 hands. Anyone interested in working as my part-time camera man/woman?

First you melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler.

While that is happening, beat your egg whites till stiff peaks form, while adding in your sugar, gradually. Do this in a BIG bowl.

Then you let your chocolate cool down for a bit and add in the egg yolks. Whisk to combine.

And this is where i stopped taking photos- I entered panic mode.

You add into the chocolate mixture about 1/4 of the egg white mixture. Whisk it in.

Then you fold in the remainder of the egg whites into the choc mixture till it’s well combined.

Taste the batter. Yummmmmy. Put it in the oven for 50 mins at 135 degrees celcius.

And you will get a not so pretty looking cake with a delicious, irresistably yummy taste.

SO i turned to my one and only- Pioneer Woman.

It’s been some time since i last made lasagna, so i decided to just do it. This recipe was such a pain for me because it required soooooo much cutting! And i am DEFINITELY NOT a fan of cutting. But i pulled through and the results were worth it.

At this point in time i would like to state how upset i am that my digital camera, which i got as a 21st birthday present, has officially decided to die on me. So i have had to take pictures from my handphone. Poor over-used camera. Poor you who have to see horrible pictures.

So i (laboriously) cut up mushrooms (recipe called for 24 oz but i only had 12 oz), 2 huge zucchinis (recipe called for 4, but i onld had 2), 1 green pepper (recipe called for 1 red bell pepper but i only had green), 1 medium sized onion (this i followed) and 4 cloves of garlic.

Cutting is NOT therapeutic.

And then you preheat your oven to 175 degrees celcius.

You get out a huge, huge wok/pan (which i didn’t) and you put in some olive oil and fry your onion/garlic.

Then you throw in your red/green/yellow bell pepper.

And your zucccccchini. I love zucchini. Probably one of my favourite vegetables. After spinach.

Let that heat up in the wok for a while. Then you throw in your mushrooms.

After all the juices are released, you throw in canned whole tomatoes. I used two cans. 14oz each.

And you squish the tomatoes so that they aren’t so whole anymore. Gross but necessary. My hands were clean.

Then you throw in salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Go by your gut feelings. And let everything simmer and become ONE.

After about 15 minutes (or less) it should all be ready.

Then comes the fun part. You get out your lasagne dish and pour in some of  your vegetable sauce.

And you put your lasagne sheets.

Oh noo. I do not have pictures of my layering.

Life has to go on. You put the lasagne sheets, followed by..ok, i’m gonna let you in on a secret. I did not include the ricotta mix , as suggested by pioneer woman, instead i put in a percino, ricotta cheese and spinach  mix, which tasted absolutely brilliant. Topped it off with mozzarella and parmesan cheese and continued with the whole layering process.

Veg-lasagne sheets-ricotta/percino/spinach mix-moz/parmesan cheese.

Put it into the oven

It takes about 30 mins. When you pull it out of the oven, you will get the most delicious vegetarian dish you ever laid your tongue on.

Horrible Lighting. Delicious Dish.

Not too long back, i visited this halal-swedish cafe, beautifully decorated, all white and clean and airy called Fika. Thinking it was just-another-bistro in Arab Street with numerous tables available (it was 5pm on a Lazy Sunday), we didnt make a reservation and barged right in. They were fully booked for dinner but were willing to offer us a table in the restaurant for 2 hours (there was outdoor seating by the roadside as well, not my cup of tea), till 7pm to have our dinner. We thought, why not?

We ordered grilled chicken and swedish meatballs for our meal, fruit soda (strawberry), pear cider for drinks and a chocolate cheesecake for dessert.

I found the grilled chicken undercooked, the meatballs overcooked and the drinks so-so. The chocolate cheesecake was an overkill but delish(impossible to finish unless shared)  and we were absolutely stuffed at the end of the meal. I personally feel that a nice coffee +cake would have sufficed, but I’m glad we tried the food nonetheless.

Our bill came up to approximately 64 bucks. I will leave it to you to be the judge on whether it was too high/low a price to pay or not. The service was so-so. Was particularly pissed with  a waiter who asked if we were serious about wanting to have some chilli sauce on the side. It may not have been proper etiquette if we were eating in a high-end restaurant, but for God’s sake, it’s a Cafe!

Apart from that, everyone else was pleasant. It’s a nice place to go to for a meet-up over coffee or a  family dinner.

This is their official website: http://www.fikacafe.com/

How absolutely embarrassing.

Anyway, I can tell you that THIS post will make up for the hiatus. I promise.

This recipe was all the craze between my cousin and I. We went crazy trying to bake THE perfect cinnamon rolls. But me being the easily-satisfied baker, stopped at a grand total of ONE attempt. One attempt is equivalent to almost 8 batches of rolls. That is A LOT.

So yes, this is just a warning beforehand that this recipe yields A lot of cinnamon rolls. So be prepared to get fat, or make a lot of friends and give them away.

So the recipe is from Pioneer Woman. She, together with Jamie, will always be my true inspiration for cooking/baking.

Ingredients

• 1 quart Whole Milk
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 packages Active Dry Yeast, 0.25 Ounce Packets
• 8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
• 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
• Plenty Of Melted Butter
• 2 cups Sugar
• Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon

As this was made centuries ago, i’m trying to search every nook and cranny, in my brain, for a memory that I may have while baking these. I just remember staring at the huge fluff that appeared after an hour of leaving it aside, with the yeast working on the dough.

Basically, you heat the milk, veg oil and sugar in a pan till it reaches near to boiling point.
Turn off the heat and let it cool for about an hour.
When the mixture is warm, you pour in a packet of yeast, let it sit for a minute and you pour in 8 cups of flour.

Let it rise for an hour.Mine grew, like how i grew in the past 3 years.

Then you add 1 more cup of flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix it all together and what do you get? ding dong, clap clap, stamp stamp, hottt dogg.

Ok then you put it in the fridge or let it rise even more till you need it. Or want it.
Then here comes the dirrrty work. You tear off some dough, put it down and floured baking sheet. Ok, let me REPHRASE that. Put it down on baking sheet that it entirely covered in flour that you don’t even know that there’s baking sheet below it. ‘Cos trust me, it’s gonna get STICKY.

Roll out the dough into a nice neat rectangle.   Drizzle enough melted butter to cover most of the surface. Then sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar.

Then you roll it up, towards you. Oh, this won’t be pretty.
And you cut it up.

Put it into a nicely greased tin,

The spacing between the rolls is for the growth of the rolls during the baking process.

Put it in the oven for 20-30mins at 180 deg cel.

And Wa la!

I also made a variation, by adding choc chips.

I do not have picture of how it turned out ‘cos i wasn’t fast enough. It got snapped up! Yes, it was THAT yummy.

So, go make your cinnamon rolls.

This recipe was taken from the book written by the very man who stole my heart with his cooking…Jamie’s Ministry Of Fooood!

I’m not quite sure if  I am allowed to share the recipe due to copyright laws, but as far as I know, He would love his healthy cooking tips being shared.

So here goes.

1. About 6 potatoes, peeled and sliced very thinly

2. 5 onions and 3 cloves of garlic, peeled, halved and sliced thinly

3. A handful of parsley chopped

4. Vegetable stock ( About a cup)

5. Butter (2 knobs)

6. Olive oil (Lots)

This recipe is a true test of your knife skills and of course, your patience. As you noticed, a lot of things needed to be thinly sliced. So i tried my best to live up to it.

I have always pride myself in being able to cut onions without tears. But today, the onions removed even the tiniest sliver of pride i had. I cried, like a baby. So the tip, if you didn’t already know, is to wash the onion not only before you cut, but when you’ve made your first cut and while you’re cutting.

Then you pour olive oil (i poured for approx 4 seconds) into a hot pan and fry the onion, garlic and parsley for about 10 minutes.

Then you start the lasagne-like layering of potatoes, salt and pepper and onion mixture.

Then you pour the vegetable stock till it covers the potatoes and dot the potatoes with the butter. Put it in a preheated oven, covered with an aluminium foil (rubbed with olive oil. Oil side down) for 45 minutes.

Then take out the foil, push the potatoes down and bake for an extra 20 -40 minutes.

And…TA-DA!

Yummy, roasted potatoes!

See you in 2 months time. Hahahaha!

Here’s the link to the recipe.

http://www.momswhothink.com/cookie-recipes/oatmeal-cookie-recipe.html

Who would have thought i would be turning to a Mom’s website. Well, moms’ DO know best =)

Ripped off the website as well is the recipe below:

INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups quick cooking oats
raisins or nuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, cream together white sugar, butter, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.

2. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda,and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. If you are using nuts or raisins, mix into dough, combining well. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.

4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approx. 36-60 cookies, depending on how large or small you make them.

Just to inform you guys, i used a combination of oats and raisins and they added up to about 2 cups worth (combined). I used less sugar than what was required because…:

1) Sugar is fattening

2) I live with a Sugar monster and am dating a sugar monster and considering they are often my guinea pigs for my baked goods,  it is my responsibility to watch their sugar levels.

Anyway, below are the pictures which i’m sure you can figure out at which stages i took them.

Dry ingredients

Wet ingredients

Raisins and oatmeal thrown in

Batter ready to be baked!

Beeee yooo ti ful cookies that i swear by
OH and…

BRAZILLL for the win!!!

But till then, ive added a couple more links which will hopefully keep u occupied during my disappearance. Thanks Sam for the cake wrecks. Something out of the ordinary. Go read =)

Memory-inducing  ‘cos i tend to eat this only when im away on vacation, at this particular resort that my family and i used to go to anually. Boy do they make awesome b&b pudding. And boy do i wish i could be a kid once again, with no worries and feeding off my parent’s money. Sigh.

So let’s go through my first adventure of making  a pudding.

I apologise for poor  photography skills as these were taken at approximately 8-9pm at night (recall: This was done on a day when i had just returned home from work and wanted to just bake something. Anything.)

So the ingredients are as follows:

• Butter
• Milk
• Raisins (and apricots if you have any)
• 3 eggs
• 6 slices of day-old bread
• Vanilla Extract
• Grated lemon rind of 1 whole lemon (that’s what’s on the orange plate below)
• Sugar

(Don’t mind the wires and electric kettle in the background. he he)

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius.

So you start by buttering the bread on both sides, generously. I was quite generous.

You cut the stack of bread into four and you layer them in your Greased baking tray. And you sprinkle your raisins. Remember to sprinkle them in between the breads as well.

OK, while all that is happening, just heat up your milk over the stove and make it warm. Not boiling.

Then you break the eggs, pour the  warm milk and sugar into a bowl.Whisk!

Mine turned out frothy. But it did the trick.

And you pour this all over the bread.

MMM..Nice!

Let that soak for about 15 mins.

In the mean time, prepare a roasting pot? Well, to science students, it’s a water bath. That’s what i would call it anyway.

Put your baking tray into another tray filled with water so that it comes just halfway up the sides of your baking tray. And toss it into the oven. 180deg for about 20 minutes. Or till the bread turns golden brown.

And wa la! The end product =)

It’s best served with a nice, sweet custard sauce. I, unfortunately did not have the liberty of time to make it, but i will the next time i make this B&B pudding.