Post #151

just came back from our little holiday break. am currently battling against the 180 degrees change from sweat. heat. humidity. to freezi-cold. rain. dark cloud. miserableness. brrrrrrrr....

was going to post what i cooked tonight - a quick fix "braised" dish perfect for a chilling cold rainy winter weeknight. but i'll save that for the next post.

as promised, the belated dessert for mums day.


-Serradura-



this is a classic portuguese dessert i first tried in macau. serradura's more widely known as sawdust pudding because of the grounded biscuits that go between the layers of cream. this is one dessert for which i have a love-hate relationship with *if you could have any form of relationship with a dessert, that is...* with the world's simplest ingredients, being pretty much just condensed milk, cream and grounded biscuits, this dessert is the worst layering nightmare! why?! because cream does not stick to a powdered biscuit surface. so understandably, the versions commonly seen have v thick layers of cream. but being a bit of a layer freak, i ended up with quite a number of layers *which took about 2 hours of intense layering* with continuous curses and jinxes flying out every few seconds.

as painful as it is, this is undoubtedly a lovely dessert. lovely in its simpicity in taste. and not a bad way to express my thank u to the mums!

Post #150

it was mothers day yesterday, and i volunteered to host a mums day dinner at our home. bit risky to cook for the mum cooks and cooking for a bunch of ppl is always exciting but also nerve-racking. the idea is to keep things as simple as possible as i have time issues on sundays. with 2 lessons scheduled on sunday, its hard to get a big block of time to prepare and to cook. so i tried to be organised - made dessert and started off a soup base the night before. and of course my secret weapons - da most reliable team members, sis and hubby - to share the pain. keke.

so on sunday, after my first class, sis and i had 1.5 hrs to do some prep work. washing and chopping. and made a cauliflower mash which can be reheated just before serving. then after my second class, we had a bit more than an hour to finish off the meal - and that's when things get hectic. its always the final half an hour...

anyways, so whats on the menu:


-warm bread rolls-

haha, this is really to fill ppl's stomach up in case i didnt have enough food prepared. but still with much love. to serve with the bread, i made truffle butter and dipping aged balsamic vinegar with extra virgin olive oil. thanks to tetsuya for its truffle salsa and to our dear friends who bought us a precious bottle of aged balsamico from italy. 2 effortless condiments to go with the bread rolls!!



see the butter in the bottom left corner! dont have a proper pic of it but it made it in the rocket salad pic!


-Rocket + pear salad with balsamic vinaigrette-


-asian caprese salad-

this is a pleasant variation to the italian version, substituting bocconcini with cold tofu and sweet basil with thai basil. the dressing was simply rice vinegar, soy, sugar, sesame oil and olive oil. a deliciously clean and healthy salad!!


-Roast beef with creamy miso mushroom sauce and cauliflower mash-

if only i could master the technique of making a perfect roast beef. this time it was a tint too raw for my liking - and leaving it in the oven for another 2-3 minutes would have made it perfect. frustrating thing is you wont really know till you carve the meat after its rested, by which time it would be too late to shove it back in the oven... :( flavour wise, it was absolutely delish. creamy miso mushrooms and cauliflower mash - big tick!!!

and a big big bowl of greens:


-Braised brussel sprouts + green beans-

finally, the course that guarantees full tummies for everyone:


-Portuguese seafood rice soup-

you could call this a cheat. with beautiful fresh seafood going into a tub of water, you'd probably get a good soup. and with beautiful fresh seafood going into a tub of fragrant soup with onions, garlic, chorizo, white wine, tomatoes, red capsicum, thyme and bay leave, you're definitely guaranteed a brilliant dish. so it was a safe dish to make *noting that its for the mum cooks, it was better to play safe!!* to ensure we're served with hot soup, i first cooked the mussels, pipis and prawns in the tub of soup, one after another, then cover them to keep warm, before adding in the rice. when everyone's 70% finished with their food on the plate, i had the heat back on again, and cooked the fish pieces last, just before serving.

by this point, everyone's so very very full. was particularly happy to see the mums happy. and its just cosy to have dinner at home rather than eating out.

and after a short break, we had fruits and dessert!!


-Sis' fruit platter-

these seedless red skin grapes are in season now and they are sooo yum - crunchy crisp outwards and v sweet inwards. we managed to consume 90% of the platter. great effort considering we were all so full and knowing dessert is coming.

dessert - to be continued...

Post #149

i finally managed to persuade hubby to let me buy a plant. it may sound ridiculous that such thing as buying a plant requires permission from the man. but he has his reasons *and quite rightly too* considering my badly failed attempt of nurturing a pot of sweet basil a year ago. the plant was surviving relatively fine until one day the leaves were covered with tiny white dots, which we suspect were some kind of insect's eggs. in the end, we had to give it up, and that was the end of my sad first planting experience.

since that time, i see plants in a whole new perpective. it makes it feel envious when i see friends showing off their healthy plants and fruitful produces; when i see the corner of jamie oliver's kitchen full of perfect looking pots of herbs; when i see jamie trimming off a whole chunk of leaves from his plants and then everything would miraculously "re-grow" themselves to perfection in time for the next episode! envious.

so you see, to me, owning a herb and veg garden seems like a v distant dream. imagine a world where fresh herbs and vegs are just footsteps away in your verandah. imagine a world where you dont need to buy a big bunch of herb with an expiry tag on it. worse still when you need 3 types of herbs for a meal.... and you'd be planning a week's worth of meals to finish off the herbs.

having recently seen a friend's v fruitful harvest, i'm all inspired again!!! this time i'm trying a diff herb:


-Thyme + Lemon thyme-

we're determined to make it right this time! even invested in a lovely clay pot for them. been a few days now and we swear it has grown by a few mm everyday! thats a good sign.