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Showing posts from September, 2017

Balsamic, Mint & Rosemary Lambchops with Quinoa Salad

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Collaboration with The Meat Club Dish 1 - Homemade Beef Burger  Dish 2 - Apple Sage & Rosemary Pork Sausage Dish 3 - Chorizo & Beef Sausage Meatballs in Tomato & Creamy Sauce with Fusilli Pasta My last dish that I'm sharing is this gorgeous lamb chop imported directly from Australia! All the premium quality produce from The Meat Club arrive here in Singapore fresh and chilled and not frozen. Apparently when you freeze meat, the cellular structure of the protein is compromised, causing the meat to "bleed" when cooked and thus resulting in less tender and juicy texture. The meat produce from The Meat Club are specially vacuum packed which helps seal the freshness and quality. The Meat Club actually has an interesting subscription service where if you opt for an Auto-Pilot service, your selection of meat will be delivered in line with their import cycle (every 28 days) ensuring that you get the freshest batch of produce with a longer shelf life monthly...

Bake Matcha Latte Cheese Tart

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I'm pleased to introduce another new Bake Cheese Tart flavour, the Matcha Latte Cheese Tart!! So far I've attempted the original (Check them out - Part I , Part II , Part III , Part IV ), Thai Milk Tea ,  Pandan Coconut as well as Coconut flavours. Wonder why I took so long to make this matcha flavour? Our family loves green tea as well as matcha and we drink this beverage on a regular basis. Oh well, better late than never right? Actually I was conducting fridge-clearing "exercise", have half a tub of mascarpone cheese, few pieces of cream cheese, some milk, a bit of matcha powder, so yep, why not give it a go? In fact, the basic recipe is there, it's just a matter of experimenting with different flavour and proportion. I have 2 types of matcha in my fridge. 1 type is matcha with green tea, the taste is lighter, suitable for drinking only. The other type is pure matcha powder, taste stronger with distinct vegetal aroma, suitable for drinking and baking/cooking....

Chorizo & Beef Sausage Meatballs in Tomato & Creamy Sauce with Fusilli Pasta

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Collaboration with The Meat Club Dish 1 - Homemade Beef Burger  Dish 2 - Apple Sage & Rosemary Pork Sausages The other day I was feeling lethargic (post holiday syndrome. haha) and didn't want to spend too much effort in whipping up a meal. Moreover the weather was so warm and humid and times like these, I usually like to eat something tangy or spicy to whet the appetite. Pasta to the rescue! The kiddo is a big pasta lover, so he doesn't mind. The hb and I are not big pasta eaters but we don't mind some with tomato base once in a while. But the thing is, what's quick and easy to go with the pasta and sauce? Now, I still have a packet of Pork Spanish Chorizo as well as Beef Herb & Garlic Sausages from The Meat Club to try, so decided to turn them into meatballs! Meatballs are perfect with pasta! Both sausages are very flavourful on their own, it's not even necessary to add any seasonings. Simply remove the minced from their casings and mix them together. T...

Apple Sage & Rosemary Pork Sausages

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Collaboration with The Meat Club Dish 1 - Homemade Beef Burger I'm not a morning person and thus it's almost impossible for me to wake up early to prepare gourmet breakfast on a daily basis (schooldays are definitely out of the question). That said, once in a while on Saturdays, if I'm in a good mood I will prepare cafe-style gourmet breakfast at home :p. Since I received a few packs of fresh sausages from The Meat Club Singapore earlier this month, decided to try one of them, the Apple Sage & Rosemary Pork Sausages. Now, being Asian/Chinese, our family is not big on fresh sausages that are pre-seasoned with herbs. I guess it's not really our culture here to consume this type of sausages frequently. We do consume ham and bacon but that's about it. Before preparing the full sets of breakfast, I pan-fried one piece of the sausage for taste-test. The pork sausage was fresh, and really flavourful but slightly on the salty side. Therefore, I decided to add some ...

Stir-fried Gnocchi in Dark Sweet Sauce

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[ Collaboration with Casa Rinaldi ] As mentioned in the previous post, I was offered 2 packets of Casa Rinaldi Gnocchi (NYOH-kee, NOH-kee) to try by GUSTOSO SG in collaboration with Singapore Home Cooks . And I've made an Italian-Indonesian fusion Gnocchi Gado Gado with Peanut Sauce . Decide to make a second dish with local flavour, our very own Chai Tow Kway ??? or Fried Radish/Carrot Cake using Gnocchi to replace the carrot/radish cake! As all Singaporeans know, the original Chai Tow Kway has 2 versions, black or white; my personal favourite is the black one, the darker the better! Since gnocchi has a chewy texture (after boiling and pan-frying), I thought it might work well as a substitute to the carrot cake so I gave it a try. I guess this will serve as a quick fix for those Singaporeans located overseas and unable to buy commercial-made ones from their local markets or those who don't have time to make their own carrot cake. Cooking this dish is really quick and easy. Aft...

Gnocchi Gado Gado with Peanut Sauce

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[ Collaboration with Casa Rinaldi ] Was offered 2 packets of Casa Rinaldi Gnocchi (NYOH-kee, NOH-kee) to try by GUSTOSO SG in collaboration with Singapore Home Cooks . Prior to this, I'm totally unfamiliar with this pasta which looks like plump little lumps the size of my thumb (haha, it rhymes!). The gnocchi is made mostly of potato and wheat flour; to cook it, simply add them to salted boiling water and once they float to the surface it's considered done and ready to eat. The Italians usually eat with it pasta sauce, or sometimes they panfry the gnocchi and coat with cheese sauce. When asked to try infusing some local flavours to the gnocchi, one of the dish that came to my mind is the (Indonesian) Gado Gado with Peanut Sauce. I'm a big Gado Gado fan and I make this salad very often as my lunch. Since the gnocchi is made mostly of potato and wheat flour, it's the perfect substitution for potato and ketupat (rice cake). Yay, I can cut down the preparation of ingred...

Mango Sticky Rice

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The kiddo has been bugging me to make Mango Sticky Rice for him. Whenever we go to Thailand or Thai Restaurants, this is one of the few items that he enjoys (he can't take much spicy stuff), probably because mango is one of his favourite fruit and the sticky rice taste sweet and fragrant. Well, this is such a likable snack/dessert, I don't think anyone will dislike it right? Since I have extra packets of coconut milk and I happen to have glutinous rice too, all I need is mango. Found some lovely Thai Honey Mango at the fruit stall near my place, so Mango Sticky Rice it is! Actually this Thai street snack/dessert is very easy to make at home! Basically, rinse the glutinous rice a few times and soak them overnight first. The next day, steam the rice for 18-20 mins, make coconut sauce, mix the sauce with hot steamed rice, serve with mango and some crispy mung beans, that's it! This is how I steam the rice - by laying a piece of cotton cloth/muslin cloth (I use those soup...

Bake Coconut Cheese Tart

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I'm back with more Bake Cheese Tarts! So far, besides the original version (Check them out - Part I , Part II , Part III , Part IV ), I attempted Thai Milk Tea as well as Pandan Coconut Flavours ??? This time, decided to try a pure Coconut version where coconut lovers can enjoy the full richness and aroma of coconut along with the cheese custard ???? Well, actually I created them for Ayam Brand's Coconut Milk Cooking Contest hosted by Singapore Home Cooks :p Initially wanted to just use the Pandan Coconut Cheese Tart (bake a new batch) for submission as I was too tired to come up with a new recipe using coconut milk. But I had created that flavour for another event (although not a contest) and if possible, I hope to do something different each time. Hence, a quick way is to tweak the recipe by a little. And hey, it turned out great! The ingredients are almost similar to that of the Pandan Coconut version, just omit the Pandan extract, increase the amount of coconut milk and...

Homemade Beef Burger

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Before I started cooking more adventurously, I would dine at restaurants or cafes that offer good quality burgers whenever I crave for beef burgers. Have tried those pre-made/pre-seasoned beef patties sold at supermarkets, sorry but somehow they sucked! Either the seasonings weren't to my liking (too overwhelming on the palate) or the mince was so compact that the whole patty turned out very hard after cooking. These days I prefer making my own beef patty and I realise it isn't difficult at all. All you need is some good quality mince beef and half the job is done! Earlier this week, I received a package from The Meat Club Singapore and they have kindly offered some premium lean mince, assorted sausages as well as lamb chops for me to try! These premium quality produce are directly imported from Australia and they arrive here fresh and chilled and not frozen. Apparently when you freeze meat, the cellular structure of the protein is compromised, causing the meat to "bleed...

Breaded Chicken Taco with Pineapple Salsa

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Another hot and humid day! Makes me crave for something light yet hearty, something tangy and sweet, oh, throw in something crispy as well :p I love taco and burrito very much and would make it quite often for my own meal as I'm not sure if the HB and kiddo like it or not. Yesterday when I asked the HB what he would like for dinner, he said something light, so I threw him a few options such as porridge or soup but he didn't want those. Since I was craving for some taco wraps, I asked him if he would like to try it and he agreed! Yay, saves me the trouble of preparing something separately! As Woh Hup is currently running a contest on Singapore Home Cooks FB group , I thought of killing two birds with one stone, that is, make my taco wrap and use one of the specified sauces at the same time! Heehee :p Basically I have decided on a breaded chicken taco already, so initially I wanted to make a creamy sesame mayo sauce (using Woh Hup Sesame Sauce) to go with it. But couldn't fin...