dccokinn

Another panini sandwich! This time, it's much straight-forward, the chicken salad can be prepped easily (and eaten on its own without carbs) and the panini sandwich assembled with little effort. I admit that our household buys white/wholemeal bread sometimes (coz I'm lazy to bake bread or muffins for breakfast :p). The odd thing is, we usually cannot finish the last few slices of bread and they turn a bit hard (or rather not as soft and fluffy). That's when the bread is best to be used as panini sandwich! I first grill some chicken fillet that's been lighted marinated with sea salt and black pepper. After the chicken fillet is cooled, just tear them into bite-size pieces and mix with chopped celery, purple onion, spring onion etc with dressing of choice. I use Japanese mayo and yuzu sesame dressing as I have these in my fridge. To assemble, place a slice of bread on a heated grill pan, top with a few leaves of romaine lettuce, slices of cucumber, chicken salad and final...

I've been eating a lot of panini sandwiches since returning from Tokyo with my Meyer Perfect Grill Pan. Well, since I lugged it all the way back, must make use of it right? One of the first recipes that caught my attention on the Panini recipe book is the Grilled Veggie Panini with pesto sauce. The pictures look so good that I simply have to try it even though this particular panini consists of 2 separate components and require preparation at least one day in advance. Here's my Meyer brand Perfect Grill Pan bought from Tokyo. Actually the grill pan is pretty common, it's the glass top that is difficult to find. The recipe book was first published in Japan and subsequently translated and published in Taiwan. My copy was bought from Taiwan, courtesy of my brother. Vegetables like eggplant, bell peppers and zucchini were grilled and then marinated in herbs (thyme and rosemary) and extra virgin olive oil at least one day in advance. The pesto sauce is made by blending sweet...

My most popular or rather, main cake order is the rainbow cake or ombre cake. Usually when customers send an inquiry, I would offer 2 choices for the cake base, either white cake or sponge cake. A lot of my customers are repeat customers or referred through word-of-mouth, because they like it that my cakes are less sweet, very tender and light, suitable for the elderly as well as young children; and even folks who don't usually like cakes and cream enjoyed my cakes. Most of the time, customers preferred the sponge cake, but sometimes I do get requests for the white cake due to specifications like vibrant colours, able to stand at room temperature/outdoors, very tall cakes, full buttercream rosette piping. That said, I must highlight that the white cake is not exactly very delicious, or should I say, not as delicious as the sponge cake. So it's kind of difficult to explain to customers who made requests for the white cake (due to the specifications). Another point that I woul...

Continued from Part I - Century Southern Tower, some Shinjuku area Part II - Food in Tokyo Part III - Jiyugaoka, Musashi-Kosugi  Part IV - Aoyama Flower Market, Kappabashi, Harajuku  Part V - Kichijoji We have come to the final part of my Tokyo trip report. Here's some of my shopping haul :) Before that, I'm going to share about the WiFi router that I loaned from Changi Recommends. This is not an advertorial, I used the service, found it good and reliable, that's why I'm sharing. Usually when I go to Tokyo, I rely on maps, past memory or simply common sense to get around. Sometimes I would search online using the hotel WiFi first before heading out. But nowadays I find internet connection on-the-go increasingly essential, be it searching for a new place/restaurant or simply accessing FB to post photos. Last year, I registered and paid a nominal fee (I think 1000 yen) for accessing WiFi hotspots (through NTT DoCoMo) around Tokyo, but the connection is patchy. So th...

Continued from Part I - Century Southern Tower, some Shinjuku area Part II - Food in Tokyo Part III - Jiyugaoka, Musashi-Kosugi  Part IV - Aoyama Flower Market, Kappabashi, Harajuku On my second last day in Tokyo, I went to Kichijoji, a small town located in the city of Musashino. Haven't been there for a few years, and this time decided to re-visit because I discovered a quaint little cafe called Hattifnatt Cafe. I remember a few years back, when I came here, there were some zakka shops but not that many. And wow, I must say I totally regret for missing out this little gem all these while! Fans of zakka have been raving about the zakka shops here, but somehow I didn't manage to schedule Kichijoji into my itinerary as I always prioritise Jiyugaoka instead. Anyways, I only reached Kichijoji in the afternoon as the hb had a medical emergency and we spent the whole morning settling it. Took the Chuo Line (Rapid) from Shinjuku Station and the journey took about 15 mins which is qu...