Saturday dinner

Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Bought two whole Norwegian salmon from Giant supermarket at a steal ($90/-) before CNY. We had plenty of shashimi that day, while the rest of the fillets were individually wrapped in cling film and frozen. The fish still tasted pretty good pan fried and finished with a drizzle of teriyaki sauce and honey.



As Co does not fancy fish, especially the oily ones, I cooked a roast chicken, marinated with a mixture of chopped rosemary, thyme and garlic. I used the Sakura Chicken ($8.10) from NTUC, which claims to be free from antibiotics. The main difference I noticed with this more expensive brand is that the chicken has less fat and the meat seems firmer.



For sides, we had grilled peppers and sauteed mushrooms in balsamic vinegar. Simple but healthy home cooked food.


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posted by Co&Ji at 8:47 AM, | 0 comments

Dinner at Wine Garage

Monday, February 18, 2008
We had always wanted to try out the dinner menu at one of our favourite restaurants, Wine Garage and decided to splurge on a nice meal on Friday evening. We sat in the al fresco area since it was a cool and breezy evening. The wait staff welcomed us warmly and we were glad to see one of them well and back on his feet after a minor motor accident last year.

Ordered the steak tartar for starters ($22) which was accompanied by slices of warm crusty bread. The steak tartar was delicious and even Co, who normally does not take raw food, enjoyed it immensely. We were already quite full by then and have not even started on the main course!


We ordered a bottle of French wine ($62), which we figured would be cheaper than ordering individual glasses of wine. Moreover, we had the whole evening ahead of us and it would be nice to just chill out with good food and wine.

For the main course, Co ordered the NZ tenderloin (200g, $44) which was served with rocket and a choice of one side dish, truffled macaroni gratin.


I had the roasted duck with orange scented jus and braised greens ($36). Both the main courses were excellent.

We ended the meal with coffee ($7) and their signature molten chocolate cake ($13). Total cost of the meal (after 15% Amex discount) was under $180, which was very reasonable for good food and a whole bottle of wine. It was a great dining experience, with nice ambience and hospitable wait staff. We were there for almost 3 hours and our glasses of iced water were topped up constantly. Keep up the great work, Wine Garage. We will definitely be back.

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posted by Co&Ji at 10:01 PM, | 0 comments

Chillies

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

A whole lot of chillies from our new plants. We had to cut the ones which looked withered and dried, and in the process, Co accidentally snipped off a whole stalk, with pretty chillies and leaves intact. Sigh.
Ooopsie.....but no worries, the plant is still flourishing! Now I will have to think of what recipes I can dish up using all these chillies, or the lazy way out would be just to blend them into chilli paste for future use.

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posted by Co&Ji at 9:33 AM, | 0 comments

Traditional and not so traditional Chinese new year meal

Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Tried this recipe for Hong Kong style steamed carrot cake a couple of weeks before CNY and it was a success. The cake was soft and moist, bursting with loads of chinese sausages, dried prawns and mushrooms. My colleagues raved about the cake and all wanted the recipe to try at home.



Took leave a couple of days before CNY to cook up a few dishes in preparation for our annual mahjong marathon, so that we can just reheat the food and have a quick meal. I cooked the beef rendang in my Staub and the meat was very tender and infused with all the lovely spices. It also kept well in the fridge for almost one week.


Also cooked a whole pot of braised mushrooms with dried scallops. I included an assortment of Japanese dried mushrooms, Korean enoki mushrooms and button mushrooms. A light and healthy dish, which everyone enjoyed. Happy CNY!

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posted by Co&Ji at 3:56 PM, | 0 comments

Plants for Chinese New Year

Ji and I went down to the nursery last weekend to get a few pots of CNY plants and flowers. There were so many choices and deciding what to get was quite a task in itself. Finally, we decided to get the pink kalanchoe and yellow crysanthemums for that splash of bright colour.





Also got a pot of chilli padi for the traditional "red" for Chinese new year. It will also save me a trip to the supermarket when Ji wants to cook all those spicy dishes.




We also got something for the indoor decor as well as a pot of lavender, another pot of rosemary and a pot of chilli to replace our original one which we learnt from the gardener that we were over-watering it thus causing all the leaves to drop.




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posted by Co&Ji at 2:34 PM, | 0 comments

Snack attack - Nutella cupcake

Friday, February 1, 2008
Got this recipe from a blog (sorry, can't remember which one) that had rave reviews about this cupcake. I like nutella and have been spreading it on bread for breakfast since young. Really easy recipe and the results... mmm....truly yummy.

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posted by Co&Ji at 4:15 PM, | 0 comments