Goodwood Park Hotel~

My second wedding dinner in 2 days~ This time it was as Goodwood Park Hotel, Windsor ballroom~ And the food was simply marvellous, excellent and lip-smackingly good~

~*Lobster Salad Combination*~

Lobster salad, soya sauce chicken, baby octopus, jellyfish, mushroom stuffed with prawn mince~ a fantastic way to start the dinner~

~*Braise Shark's Fin soup in Brown Sauce*~

~*Camphor & Tea Smoked Duck*~

Smoked to perfection, the duck was tender and well seasoned.

~*Steamed Red Garoupa with Soya Sauce*~

i love fish~ and this red garoupa was fresh, and very enjoyable~

~*Braised Vegetables with Abalone & Sea Cucumber*~

Velvety smooth and soft sea cucumber with tender sliced abalone with spinach~

~*Poached "Live" Prawns with Chinese Herbs & Wine*~

The star dish of the night~ Succulent and fresh prawns in yummie-licous soup. The chinese herb & wine and sweetness from the prawns, made the soup simply irresistibly good~

~*Sauteed Scallops & Squid with Green Vegetables*~

Broccoli with well sauteed scallop & squid that gave the "Q" mouth-feel~

~*Fried Udon Noodles with Seafood in Black Pepper Sauce*~

Peppery & well seasoned fried udon noodles.

~*Cream of Mango Sauce with Sago & Pamelo*~

A nice way to end off the lovely dinner~ Sweet and smooth mango cream with sago and refreshing pamelo bits~

~*Cupcakes*~

Congratulations! Mr & Mrs H~

Especially dedicated to Jo~ thanx a billion :)

Pine Valley Restaurant (@ Laguna National)~

An 8 course wedding dinner at the Laguna National Golf & Country Club, Pine Valley Restaurant.

~*Whole Suckling Pig*~

~*Braised Shark's Fin soup with Crabmeat & Dried Scallops*~

~*Steamed Red Garoupa "Pine Valley" Style*~

Fresh!

~*Roasted Duck Marinated with Five Spice & Chinese Wine*~

Oops! i forgot to take a picture of it...

~*Deep Fried Prawns coated with Special Wasabi Mayo*~

~*Braised Sliced Abalone with Sea Cucumber & Chinese Mushrooms with Seasonal Vegetables*~

~*Braised Er Fu Noodles with Chives & Seafood*~

~*Yam Paste with Gingko Nuts*~

Congratulations! Mr & Mrs L~

Chilled Mango Cheesecake~

i found this recipe on "Do What I Like" food blog quite sometime ago and it has been filed in my to-do-cakelist for quite awhile...

~*Chilled Mango Cheesecake*~

Though it doesn't look as beautiful as the one on Do What I Like blog, but nevertheless, i think it was a good attempt... Won't you agree with me? :p

Coffee Club (Takashimaya)~

After an afternoon of shopping, it's good to rest and relax, and enjoy a nice cup of tea/coffee, desserts or cake and chill~. The Coffee club outlet at takashimaya is usually crowded, i'd guess apart from the location, it's 'coz they serve good quality desserts, cakes, food and beverages?

~*Minty Lychee Tea Freeze*~

A refreshing ice blended tea with lychee bits and a hint of mint~

~*Or-Mango Freeze*~

A smooth mango and orange freeze, not too sweet but definitely satisfying~

~*Rum & Raisin Chocolate Truffle Cake*~

A cake of the day special; smooth chocolate truffle, with raisins and spongy cake. Just a 'lil more rum would have made it the perfect rum & raisin chocolate truffle cake...

A word of caution, do be prepared to wait, wait and wait for your orders to be served. 'Coz by the time they served the drinks, i was already finishing my cake...

Do check out their tea time promotional special from 3 to 6pm; just add $3 to enjoy a cake of the day with any drink order *except regular coffee or soft drinks.

Baileys~

~*Baileys 17% irish creme liqueur with hint of mint chocolate*~

Rich and sweet but i could barely taste the mint in the liqueur

Baileys irish cream liqueur is best served chilled. For those who do not like sweet liqueur, i'd suggest adding 2 to 3 ice cubes to dilute the sweetness a 'lil.

Ham Bread~

Bread bread bread~ The aroma of freshly baked bread is simply fantastic~ It gives a calming, soothing and pleasant feeling~

~*Ham Buns~

It's nice and soft and there's a light cheesy aroma that must have came from the butter, 'coz i didn't include any cheese into the dough~

Ham Bun Recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 cups Bread flour
• 1 cup Plain Flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp bread softener
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup fine sugar
• 3/4 cup cold UHT milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup butter (softened)
• 3 pieces of picnic ham (Cut each piece into 4 squares)
• 1 egg yolk (for glacing)

Method

1. Mix bread flour, plain flour, yeast, salt, sugar, softener into a mixing bowl.
2. Gradually add in cold milk and egg and knead the mixture into a smooth dough.
3. Add in the butter and continue kneading into a smooth and elastic dough.
4. Cover the mixing bowl with a damp tea towel and allow the bread doughto poof (double in size) for 40 mins.
5. Divide the dough into 50-70g balls and wrap a piece of ham within the dough ball.
6. Allow it to poof for another 15-20 mins.
7. Apply egg yolk and bake at 190 degrees for 10 mins.

Macarons (an amateur's attempt)~

i used to wonder what's with the macaron fascination? What's so special 'bout 'em? It was not until sometime last week when i tasted my first ever macaron from bakerzin (@$1.50+ per piece!) that i realised the divine macaron attraction~

It's was an extreme challenge to make macarons. After surfing online and browsing through several macaron recipes and success stories, i decided to make the attempt. After several unsuccessful tries i finally managed to at least achieve the right macaron shell texture.

~*Macarons with chocolate liqueur ganache*~

i'm yet to perfect the macaron batter consistency and the piping technique to achieve the perfect macaron shell shape. But nevertheless, these chocholate liqueur ganache macaron sandwiches tasted similar to my first macaron experience :p~...

This was my fifth attempt... in my previous attempts, i always ended up with flat and chewy shells. And the main reason for that was because i did not beat the egg white till they were glossy, shiny and stiff enough...

Here are some useful macaron reference blogs/websites that will definitely be of help;

1. Serious Eats- How to make macarons
2. La Tartine Gourmande- Macarons of victim of a food fashion
3. My food geek- Almost foolproof macarons (this was the recipe i tried.)
4. Coco & me- Parisien macarons (with tried recipe and process photos)
5. Yochana's cake delight- Chocolate macaroons
6. Syrup and Tang- La Macaronicite
7. Veronica's test kitchen-Macaron chronicles
8. Macaron making video in french-"Pratique: les macarons au chocolat" sur L'Internaute

Christmas Lunch~

My aunt ame is an extraordinary and amazing woman~ She's super capable, and a brilliant cook! She's loves to cook good food and bake yummie-licious cookies for friends and family.

It has been a family tradition to get together during x'mas at her place for good food and celebrations.

~*X'mas feast*~

Turkey, ham, smoked salmon, spaghetti mariana, vegetable potato salad~ these were what i had for the first serving~ :p

Nihon Musa~

Nihon Musa a.k.a Ri4 Ben3 Cun1, japanese restaurant @ The Cathay basement 1.

The restaurant setting, the tables, chairs and layout reminded me of the olden chinese "dian4 xiao3 er4" inn. They do not have a menu, instead, customers are suppose to order their food by picking up the labeled "ice cream sticks" of the respective items at the food counter section, place the "sticks" into their holders (containing the table number) and pass their orders to the waiters at the order counter. The order is then tabulated, food prepared and served to the customers at their tables. Apart from that, customers can help themselves to the variety of sushi (served on coloured plates) at the conveyor belt, priced at 99cents ++ per coloured plate.

p.s. be sure to check the order stick labels carefully to ensure you've selected the right food items. 'Coz once the order is processed and served, there's no refund...

On a scale of 1 to 10, i'd rate a 7/10 for food and 6/10 for service. i'd rate 8/10 for service if it weren't for 2 wrongly processed orders and an unacceptable "You should read carefully then order ah!" unpleasant response from 1 of the waitress after we pointed out the errors to her.

Vila'ge (continued...)~

~*Pacific Dory*~

Slightly over-grilled...

~*Pizza*~

5 toppings: Prawns, sausages, chicken, mushrooms & ham~

~*Turkey breast*~
Grilled turkey breast served with salad & black pepper sauce~

~*Salad*~

Broccoli, coleslaw, cherry tomatoes, potato salad, apple salad, shitake mushrooms, yellow/green/red pepper...etc

Vila'ge~

Haha, this is my 3rd? 4th? 5th time that i'm blogging on vila'ge? i've seriously no idea, kinda lost count in the number of vila'ge blog entries... :x

Well, sad to say, The Vila'ge is gonna close down at the end of the year, with barely a week left... *sigh* i'm really gonna miss the place, their yummie-licious crepes, rosti, fresh salads, calamari, ice cold erdinger, friendly and great service...etc...

~*Rosti*~

Served with cheese sausage and a sunny side up egg~

~*Mushroom Soup*~
Chunky and rich...

~*Pork Knuckles*~

"kick-ass" pork knuckles served with achar... the crispy skin and juicy pork~my friends seemed to really enjoyed it!

p.s. do visit The vila'ge @ the Heeren basement 1 before they close down ya...

Dome Cafe @ SAM~

It's usually super crowded in town on a friday evening. But Dome cafe @ singapore arts museum was relatively quiet, which was the reason why my friends and i decided to settle down at the place for a 'lil nice get together and catch up session...

~*Salmon Rillette*~

Salmon rillette served with foccacia bread and fresh iceberg lettuce and carrots...

~*Tomato Salsa Bruschetta *~

Fresh tomoto salsa with herbs and refreshing sourish tinge...

~*Dory Fillet*~

Generous serving of vegetables and dory fillets... However it was a pity that the pan seared dory was seasoned with too much salt...

p.s. Dome cafe @ SAM has a nice ambience but the food is ... well, sad to say... just mediocre...

Sesame & Walnut Cupcakes~

It's been sometime since i last baked cupcakes... this is an interesting cupcake recipe i found on Yochana's Sesame & walnut cupcake recipe. It's unique combination of sesame seeds and walnuts.

~*Sesame & Walnut Cupcakes*~

Christmas Cookies~

Jingle bells~ jingle bells~ jingle all the way~ More ChRistMaS cOokiEs from another recipe~

Christmas cookie recipe

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups icing sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/4 cup maple + corn syrup
• 1 1/3 cup top flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Method

1. Mix icing sugar, butter, egg, vanilla essence, and almond extract. Stir in flour, bicarbonate soda, and cream of tartar. Wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Roll out the cookie dough to 1/3 inch thick on lightly floured surface. Using a cookie cutter/stencil, cut into desired shapes.

3. Bake cookies on lined baking sheets for to 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks and decorate as desired before serving.

Din Tai Feng (Wisma) II~

My second visit to dtf in 3 days...

Desserts @ dtf~

Have a look at what my mum and bro ordered...

~*Mango Dessert with Crushed Ice & Selaseh Seed*~

~*Green Tea Pudding Topped with Sweet Red Bean*~

Din Tai Feng (Wisma)~

When it comes to dinner time in orchard road, most eating places are usually crowded with people and queueing is almost a norm... The same goes for DTF at wisma atria, but thank goodness the queue moved promptly...

~*Appetizers*~

Left: Braised warm tofu topped with minced meat & mushroom. i like the way they minced pork and mushrooms were seasoned and they both go well with the tofu~ Nice comfort food. Hmmm... if only they serve porridge at dtf...

Right: Spinach tossed with sesame (my all time favourite)

~*Steamed Pork Dumpling*~

A must have at any dtf outlet...

~*Steamed Vegetarian Bun*~

Fagrant filling consisting of seasoned chopped vegetables and mushrooms, nice~ Oh! Do eat it while it's hot. 'coz when the bun is cold, the texture of the bun hardens...

~*Steamed Vegetarian Bun without the fillings*~

Keke...