Happy Birthday Mel!

H and I had Mel and beau over for a birthday dinner. Mel is turning a cool 26 and to celebrate 14 years of best friendship, what better way than having a home cooked dinner? We had mushroom tartlets for starters and an assortment of crackers with Boursin, a garlicky creamy soft cheese. Then the pasta I made specially inspired by the Italian dinner at Z’s. I used scallops in a sauce made with anchovies, tomatoes, capers and lots of garlic. I used capellini, a thinner spagetti. And sprinkled it with a generous amount of chopped basil and grated parmaggiano. For dessert, it was tiramisu, Mel’s all time favourite dessert. And of course cappucino at the end with Italian espresso and chocolate bonbons! It was fun, Happy Birthday Mel, there are many people who love you!

Special mention to H who peeled and chopped all the garlic for me and assisted in making the sauce. He makes a great sous chef!

Scallop Capellini in a Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

20 scallops split into half

10 cloves of garlic (yes, lots of it..)

6 tablespoons olive oil

10 large diced tomatoes

10 anchovy fillets, diced

1 tablespoon whole capers

Salt and pepper to taste

A good handful of chopped basil and parmesan to serve

Method

Fry garlic till golden brown, add anchovies and capers. Put in all the tomatoes and simmer till sauce thickens. Season to taste. Toss in pasta just before serving and top with basil and parmesan.

 

Now, that’s 2 birthday dinners down… 1 more tonight and a wedding on Wednesday.. I need to start exercising.

Italian night

How much can you possibly eat in one night? After looking thru the photos this morning, I realized, a whole lot! We had a wonderful Italian themed night at our gorgeous friend Z’s beautiful apartment filled with very pretty things. I made puff pastry tartlets with an aurbergine, yellow pepper and corriander filling topped with mozarella.

Z’s bruschetta was so so good, I think it was partly due to a secret ingredient…

….truffle salt…

All the appetizers plated. Truffle oil in the pine nut, parmesan, baby spinach, cherry tomato and arugula salad. Composed by Z. This had a heady aroma and made me want to get my hands on a bottle.

I made a couple of pizzas, this was the sausage and olive. I emptied the sausage filling from the casing of fresh sausages and dotted it atop the pizza.

I loved the pasta Z made! The secret ingredient was the anchovies. H has something against anchovies so I’ve never cooked with them. But this in the base of the pasta sauce had a delicious umami flavor that was really uncomparable to anything. I am recreating this pasta tonight, it was just too good.

…big smile…

Cupcakes for the kids..

Adult dessert waiting to be bowled

I brought my Moka pot for freshly brewed espresso. On top of french vanilla and tiramisu gelato, it was a delicious affogato.

Dorie Greenspan’s Classic Brownie. I think I overbaked it, it was a tad dry and not so fudgy..

Pretty pink plates and napkin. You can also see the crumbly texture of the brownie

Husaini’s contribution.. Ginger beer and orange juice in a drink. It was a great combination. But there was something about the drink that made you thirstier after you drink it. Either that or it was so good you just couldn’t get enough.

 

I have 3 birthday dinners, this dinner and a wedding in the span of less than a week.. This is not good for my span at all.

Aurbergine and Yellow Capsicum Puff Pastry tartlets

Makes 15

Ingredients

1 packet instant puff pastry

1 large soft purple aurbegine, diced

1 large yellow pepper, diced

1 medium red onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tablespoons chopped corriander leaves

salt and perpper to taste

 1 cup grated mozarella

Method

Roll out puff pastry till 2 mm thick. Cut into rounds with a round cutter and shape in tartlet mould. Bake in oven at 220C for 10 mins

Saute onions till soft in olive oil. Add garlic and saute for another 2 minutes. Add aurbergine and capsicum. Stir and fry for 5 mins. Add copped corriander, season to taste and take off heat.

Fill pre baked tartlet cases with mixture. Top with grated mozarella and a sprig of corriander. Bake at 220C for another 5 mins.

Carrot cake part 2 and a very happy birthday.

My mother-in-law turned 50 (no not 5.. the cake was too small for 50 candles…)yesterday and the carrot cake was a hit. It was better than the dry run because of the cranberries and walnuts added. I baked the cake in 2 portions in a 20 cm (or 22.. I haven’t measured my cake pan yet) round tin. Then divided the cake into 2 for 4 layers. With the frosting in between, this had a huge yum factor. My icing was not grainy like the first time I made it as I brought the cream cheese and butter down to room temperature and creamed it till fluffy. Then added the icing sugar in portions. Even though my frosting skills still looks rather rustic, please forgive. This cake was made from the heart. I started grating carrots before work still bleary eyed and rushed back to make the frosting and frost the cake.

 

Not many people can say they knew their mother-in-law before they knew their husband. But I did. She’s a real cool lady, and we were good friends before I even knew H. How we got started was so funny. To those who know me, you should stop reading here cos its that same old story Farhan is going to tell on how she and H fell in love

 

On the 31st of March 2004, I received a phonecall from my mother-in-law close to midnight. She had sounded sad and said that she was at the airport as she was sending her son off for a year to be with his father in Lebanon. She was alone and watching the plane take off. We hung up soon after.. I still felt a niggling unease as she sounded so sad and she was alone. I called her back to ask how she was going to get home. H then picked up the call and said “Happy April Fool’s!” We then talked for the next 6 hours till 6 am and thats when he confessed his love and proposed marriage. That was our very first conversation! Well, 2 years later we got married and 2 years after that, here we are..

 

I am proud to say that my mom-in-law is one of my best friends. Happy birthday mama!

Carrot cake and my new lens

Before I start on the carrot cake, some camera talk.. You can skip this part if you dun really want to hear me go on about my camera!

I have recently purchased a 50mm f 1.8D lens and have been starting to play around with it a little. I can’t say I can fully appreciate  the lens as I’ve only taken a few shots with it, but I’m quite pleased with what it has produced so far. I just need more time to figure how it can do what my kit lens (the lens that came with the Nikon D40x) can’t do. Speaking of lenses, Husaini has been flaunting his wide angle lens these past few days.. I don’t think I can cough up a thousand dollars to purchase one as yet, but I can see the potential it has.

 Talking about purchases, this cake made me go out the next day to buy the book! Dorie Greenspan’s from Baking from my home to yours. The cake is so so good. Its something that I will make again and again. Its super soft, tastes beautifully carrotty, and has a nice fine crumb. I’m not great with frosting as you probably already know, so I struggled with this one. For some reason my cream cheese was slightly grainy, have you ever encountered this? It became less grainy with very long vigorous beating. I’m not sure if this is because I used the whip and not the paddle attachment of the KitchenAid.

 

You can find the recipe here, as usual I decreased the sugar and used 3/4 of a cup instead of the stated amount.

 

And the book.. Its fantastic, definitely worth the $72 from Kino! And the book has this recipe for world peace cookies which the gorgeous ovenhaven made recently. Chocolate cookies that are believed to end all war/hate/crime. If everyone would just get  a bite of these cookies, there’ll be peace on earth.

 

The lens.. I will post more pics soon!

H’s favourite meal

H is very easy to please. We often eat variations of fruit salad at home as a meal. Often after overindulging in a buffet the night before. I usually use whatever I have at hand. Most of the time the base would be apples and oranges. I quarter the orange then segment it. Then squeeze the remaining juice out of the skins to make a light dressing for the salad. When tossed with the other fruit, it prevents discoloration. Its nice when there are a balance of textures and flavours. I usually add some soft fruit to this like bananas, papayas or mangoes. I then add some dried fruit like cranberries as above. Occasionally I add dried apricots, figs or dates. Then there is the salty crunch of cashews, almonds or macadamias. I usually finish it with some strong tasting honey like Manuka, yum, and a dollop of yogurt if I have some at hand. It really feels like a complete meal! We’re usually full after this.

Step by step latte with a stovetop espresso pot

When I’m busy taking these step by step photos, H gets 2 slices of toast and a jar of peanut butter for a self help breakfast. I have recently started using my moka pot again and its a great cheap way of having cafe quality latte in your own home

Fill the base of the pot with water. The espresso is made quicker if you put in boiling water.

Place the funnel in the pot and fill with coffee grinds. I used “moka coffee” by Bialetti that I bought from the Takashimaya counter

Place the pot on the stovetop and wait till the water boils, about 5 mins. The top compartment of the pot starts to fill with freshly brewed espresso.

Froth the milk using this technique.

Friday morning fry up

My fry ups are always the same combination of potatoes, sausages, some kind of vegetable and occasionally some eggs. Like Brenda of littlegastronomy, I try to put in a combination of all the food groups in each meal. I try to include some vegetables and fruit for some balance. For breakfast, these are usually mushrooms, tomatoes, recently leek and today it was some mixed salad leaves from the market.  Usually we indulge on weekends with a long lazy brunch. Unfortunately I was helping a friend cover his clinic in the morning so this ended up really rushed. I cooked this in 15 mins and gulped it down in 5. But still managed to grab the camera and take a photo! I loved the potatoes which H helped me fry while I fiddled with the moka pot to make his cappuccino. They were inspired by Gordon Ramsay’s fondant potatoes but quicker and easier. They were fluffy on the inside and crispy and salty on the outside. I don’t usually use butter during my fry ups as I think the saturated fat from the bacon or sausages is enough for the day! I used olive oil instead, which is not traditional for fondant potatoes. The sausages were fresh Australian sausages from Giant which I am glad to say they brought in a good supply recently. They are really delicious.  The brown triangle in the front of the photo were chicken puffs I made the day before.

 We have not used our moka pot for a long time as we lost the funnel piece on the inside. Luckily they sell spare parts at Takashimaya and we bought one for $7.80. We also bought the coffee from the same brand, Bialetti. It is sold as “moka coffee”. The grind is much finer than the coffee I bought from Starbucks. This resulted in a much stronger espresso shot which was so much better! 

 Step by step 15mins brunch

1. Take sausages out from freezer defrost in microwave.

2. Microwave potatoes

3. Fry sausages in pan

4. Wash mushrooms and add to same pan as sausages with a little oil. Cover the pan with a lid and let them steam.

5. Fill funnel with grinds and put moka pot on stove.

6. Place chicken puffs in the oven toaster to heat and crisp.

7. Peel potaotes which have hopefully cooled sufficiently, and cut to quarters. Remove sauusages and mushrooms from pan and add potatoes to same pan with some olive oil.

8. Make cappuccino and plate the fry up. Serve with some mixed salad leaves and a good dollop of mustard.

H’s Easy Potatoes

Serves 2

3 potatoes (I used Russet)

A good glug of olive oil for the pan

Salt and pepper to taste

Scrub potatoes clean and prick all over with fork. This prevents the potatoes from exploding in the oven. Microwave potatoes on high for 4-5 mins till tender. Peel and chop into quarters. Heat oil in pan and saute till brown and crisp. Sprinkle salt and add grinds of pepper.

A really good Indian night

 

How I met Ahmed and Sheerin is a long story. I was newly out of medical school and doing on of my first calls as a houseman (intern) at Changi General Hospital. My medical officer that night was this guy I’ve never met or worked with before, Ahmed. I remember the first time I met him, he was poring over the casenotes of a new admission, a 95 year old woman. Later that same night, we were reviewing some of the lab results on the computer and he showed me some of his photos of his baby daughter who was in India at that time. He spoke of his wife, who was miserable without her baby girl. A year passed before we met again in Singapore General Hospital. I was a medical officer and Ahmed was a new registrar in neurology, I asked about his daughter and she was now here in Singapore and he had a new son!

A few months later, I ended up in the blood bank with his wife Sheerin. As we worked together we became better friends and I discovered that my new friend was a gifted cook. Ahmed also started seeing H around the hospital where he also works and H ended up at their house for tea a couple of times. Then followed a series of meals, and this wonderful bbq dinner at their place with their adorable 10 month old son and their little girl. We met another wonderful couple and received another invitation to their house. Even though I’m stuffed, I am still looking forward to the invitation!

 

 

The briyani.. Which I shall attempt soon..

 

 

Chilli chicken

 

 

Potato panneer balls which H loved so much being a lover of cheese and potato

 

 

Expert hands rolling out roti (Sheerin’s of course)

 

 

roti on pan

 

 

Roti puffing up

 

 

A little gift for Sheerin, vanilla pods. I will put up how I made this gift container in posted in my other blog

 

 

Sunset from their 25th story apartment

 

Thank you Ahmed and Sheerin for being so generous and hospitable. And congratulations of the traineeship Sheerin, you deserve it!

CHILLI CHIKEN:

Recipe courtesy of Sheerin

INGREDIENTS:
1 kg boneless or chicken with bone{depending on preference)
5 medium sized onions
2 medium sized green capsicum
1.5 tsp each of ginger and garlic paste
1 pod of garlic finely chopped
1 egg
2 heaped tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp each of light and dark soy sauce
salt to taste
chilli powder
2 tbsp oil.
Hot and sweet maggie ketchup, 100 mls.

Recipe:
take egg, beat it. Add corn flour, ginger garlic paste, soy sauce, vinegar, salt and mix well. Add chicken to it and leave aside in fridge for 2 hrs.

Take non stick pan and heat oil. Add 1 onion paste to it and let it turn pink, add garlic chops and chilli powder. Add onion and capsicum pieces to it and turn the flame very low. Cover the pan and let it cook for at least 20 mnts, turn 1 or 2 times so that onion doesn’t stick.

after 2 hrs, take out the chiken marinade and deep fry the chiken pieces until brow. add these chiken pieces to the inoin and capsicum base and mix well. Cook for another 5 mnts on low flame and finally add the ketchup, cook for an additional 5 mnts, add salt.

Can garnish with coriander leaves, can be eaten with chapati or white rice.

Vanilla semolina pudding

There are some things you make that people ask for again and again. This recipe was given to me by an Arab family and its something that everyone loves so much. My mother in law talks and raves about it often and when I have the time to get to making it, I always think of her. Of course, she gets a portion too! Since I am far from running out of vanilla beans, it is going to feature in many recipes here.. I didn’t have any saffron so I omitted it. Instead I added 4 scraped vanilla beans with their pods.

After reading this post by Mandy, I’ve decided to share 5 things about myself and pass this tag onto Mel’s Inc, supperinstereo, Quizas of grubliving, littlegastronomy and sweetrosie.

1. My greatest culinary influence is my great grandmother.

She’s 92 and still lives with me. She has been living with me since I was old enough to remember. She had a stroke 2 years ago and is now at a mental age of an 18 month old. She was really fiesty and sharp, her memory was amazing. I remember when she was sick in the hospital, where she had a bout of pneumonia complicated by atrial fibrillation (an irregualar heartbeat). She was put on digoxin, a medication that made her vomit and really unwell. She was so unhappy and kept on asking me to bring her back home. She hated the hospital and most of all her lack of independence. She was walking before her admission but being an elderly with very little reserve, a small period of bedrest made her really weak and she could only walk with assistance. There was the option of starting her on anticoagulation (blood thinners) as a preventive measure against stroke but in view of her frequent falls before admission, the family and her team of doctors decided against this.

At that time, my domestic househelper was back home on holiday in Indonesia so on her discharge since there was no carer at home, she went to stay at my grandmother’s (her daughter). A few days later, I received a call from my grandmother saying that my great gran is angry with her and refused to speak. My mother told me of the call, and I kind of brushed it off as a petty arguement. But my grandmother kept on calling and I felt something wasn’t right so I rushed over. She had a massive stroke and was not moving half of her body. We called the ambulance but the stroke was huge and caused her to be globally aphasic (unable to talk or comprehend language). She slowly regained strength and is now able to walk with some assistance but I never heard her talk again. My last memory of her was in the hospital room, I was an intern in the same hospital at that time. I had bought her breakfast, her favourite soya bean drink and beancurd and brought it to her room after having completed the morning round. She had asked me if she was ever going to be able to walk again. I knew the last thing she wanted was being completely dependent on someone else. In that way, I feel it is a blessing that she is at a state now where she’s unable to understand whats going on.

Since she lived with me all my life, I had learned to love her Javanese village cooking. Full of shoots and leaves and soups. Simple fare, very different from Malay food that we know. Even now when we cook many dishes, I would tell my house helper to make it like how great gran used to make it.

2. I volunteer for this oraganization

Its called hopevillages and it was a fantastic oppurtunity to participate in the medical mission to Cambodia in January. We also made many friendships and shared a love of food!

 3.H and I have been married for 2 years and still living with my parents..

Our apartment would be ready only at the end of the year and only perhaps next year..(!!) So we’ve been bouncing around his parents place and mine. I have started buying little items for the house during out travels and I will share them with you soon on my other blog.

4. I love Gordon Ramsay

I love watching him on tv and I have a couple of his books, his recipes are great. I think his the only tv chef that is real. And he’s the only tv chef H watches so that makes the only tv show we both enjoy! Oh and Man vs Wild on discovery channel. H loves all the ourdoorsy adventure and survival tips, i just enjoy watcing what he catches or hunts and how he prepares it. After all, if we ever do get standed on an island or lost in the jungle, I’ll probably still have to prepare the meal..

 5. I have been planning for ages to pick up pottery.

Since my mom recently joined a class, I may get round to doing it soon. I used to do much more art and craft and used to watercolour for a couple of years thru school. I have not opened a tube since I started working though.. Its something I wish I had more time for.

 

Net crepes, step by step

Surprise, “roti jala” or netted crepes are not on wikepidia! This kind of surprised and disappointed me. So far, they’ve had roti john and teh tarik.

I was convinced every Singaporean or vaguely Singaporean food could be found in wikepedia. Someone please drop them a note? This meal started off as a question to H about what he wanted for dinner. Because my marriage is a democracy, I always ask what he’ll like for dinner and then try to steer the conversation in a direction that uses up any leftovers or early expiring items in the fridge (there’s always some manipulation in every democracy after all). Interestingly, H never ever actually says what he wants to eat, he’ll always use something vague like “something light” and “easy to prepare” (this is the part he’s afraid his wife will turn into a harrassed sweaty monster over the stove, it happened before) and then “not rice” and “maybe something like bread” and “is there any more breakfast beef?”. I don’t know what it is with H and processed meats. He loves bacon and sausages and corned beef. It worries me how much nitrates and nitrites he’s consuming. I try to ration these items and let him have them only once a week in one of those fry ups. Anyway I try to decipher what he actually wants to eat and most of the time he always exclaims beaming and happy “that’s exactly what I was thinking of eating!” when its presented to him. Well if you actually thought of it, you could say it out in the beginning right

I had some leftover beef curry, so decided to make these quick and easy crepes to go with it. A great tip is putting in the oil into the batter itself so with a non stick pan, there’s no need to grease the pan at all. Just make the crepes on an oilless pan and the oil in the batter will come out and self grease the pan.

 Here’s the recipe

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup neutral tasting oil like corn oil

1 teaspoon salt

A pinch of yellow food colouring

Just whisk everything in a large bowl. If you can’t get rid of lumps, you’ve got to sieve it or the lumps will clog up your cup device (see below). I just whisked mine for sometime and it was ok.

 

This is a roti jala cup. A cup with 5 small holes punched into it about 3-4 mmm diameter would work fine too.

 

Heat up your non stick pan and scoop the batter with the cup and then swirl in a circular motion. As soon as the white spots in the middle of the picture turn yellow, its cooked. Flip onto a plate. There’s no need to flip the pancake to cook the other side, its cooked through.

 

Now put 2 crepes on a plate. The one below was not so lacy. I was distracted and looked away so a huge amount of batter ended up in the middle of the pan. Its ok, roti jala is very forgiving.

 

The lighting was poor, it was raining again! Fold in half.

Fold again and ready to eat dipped into your favourite curry!

 

And H loved it!