To 2012!

Here's wishing all of you a magical and wonderful New Year!

Weekend #50

Ok, I got a little lazy with my weekend roundup posts, but while I remember to do so, here's a fresh one! 

1. Family brunch at Jules Cafe & Bar.  My first time.  Restaurant was family-style and cosy, with decent food was decent reasonably priced to boot.  My veggie big brekkie with an additional side order of cured salmon filled me up well til dinner time.  Too bad I detected a little bit of an attitude from the floor manager who tries too hard to be cool / Aussie that borderlined rude. 

2. My first Christmas get-together! Hosted by the Teos, we had massive amounts of food, wines and desserts.  That was also the dinner my warm chocolate tart showed up.  As much as I tried to practice restrain, I definitely couldn't hold back and went for a bit everything.  SW made a couple of delicious vegetable dishes.  A cold cucumber salad tossed with a vinegar dressing and copious amounts of spring onions and coriander was love.  Wait, it was a tough toss up against a platter of roasted vegetables that was elevated with generous drizzles of truffle oil.  I had many helpings of both. There was a slice of Four Seasons Durian cake with a pretty pungent aroma and substantial amounts of durian puree somewhere.  Huge plump juicy cherries added some healthy touches.  Onion marmalade meant for the Christmas baked ham made a most perfect companion for the Cheddar and Stilton cheeses.  Salted caramel ice cream from Salted Caramel Artisanal Ice cream possessed a smooth, thick texture but alas, was overly salty, masking the burnt sugar flavor of caramel.  Oh, definitely a slice of W's fruitcake. Lucky me, even when I missed her bake sale I still managed to savor a piece.

3. Quoting the Paper Tigeress, I also possess a swing magnet butt.  Whenever I see a swing, I have to get on it.  I love the wind in my face and the time I am actually on the swing are rare moments I am totally focused - on keeping the momentum and staying *on* the swing and be safe.   

4. Indian dinner inspired by watching "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol".  It is an awesome movie with clever bits of humor injected by the way; I loved it.  His (egg thosai) and hers (paper thosai) from Cafeela Seafood Restaurant at Jalan Kayu were decent.  The dal was thick and spicy, in a good way that I like my dal.

I can't wait for the next weekend when I will be in Hong Kong!

Recipe: Warm Banana and Fig Chocolate Tart (ala Pierre Herme)

At the last minute, we were invited to a dinner party by a dear friend and even though we were assured we need not bring anything, I, being "Chinese", decided more food was better than less.  And knowing this friend is a big foodie, I cannot just bring anything so I went the "home-made" route and viola, an adapted version of Pierre Herme's Warm Chocolate and Banana tart. 

The notable changes are:
1. I used dried figs instead of raisins simply because I had those instead.
2. I used a different pastry crust recipe (to be precise, this one).
3. I didn't bother keeping a very precise temperature, so the silky, custard texture was compromised.
4. I used regular rum, not dark rum.

Other than those, pretty much everything was as per Pierre Herme's instructions

Surprisingly easy to put together, the work really lies in preparing each of the components.  You will need:

For the Figs and Caramelised Bananas
1/2 cup chopped figs
3 Tbl (45ml) rum
3 Tbl (45ml) water

1 ripe but firm banana
Juice of half a lemon
1.5 Tbl unsalted butter
1/2 habanero pepper, or to taste ( optional; I didn't)
3.5 Tbl sugar
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper (2 rounds of peppermill)

For the Chocolate Ganache
140g (5 oz) bittersweet chocolate (around 60% cocoa), finely chopped
113g (4 oz) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 large egg
3 large egg yolks
2 Tbl sugar


1 8"-9" prepared tart shell, blind baked and cooled


Method
Figs

Combine the figs, rum and water in a small saucepan and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow them to macerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Banana
Slice the bananas and cut them into 1/8th cm thick rounds. Toss them in the lemon juice to prevent discoloration.

Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper within reach before you get started on the following.

Melt the butter with the habanero pepper/chilli in a large non-stick sauté pan.
Remove the pepper when the butter starts to bubble (leave it longer if you like it hot). Add the banana slices to the pan (avoid crowding the pan too much) and sprinkle the sugar over the bananas.

Cook until they’re a nice golden brown and flip them over to caramelise the other side. Add the black pepper. Cook one more minute and transfer them to a plate while you finish cooking the rest.

Chocolate Ganache
Melt the chocolate and butter separately in two double boilers / pots. Let them each cool to 40°C (104°F).

In a mixing bowl, gently stir together the egg yolks, egg and sugar but be careful not to beat too much air into the eggs.

When the chocolate is at 40°C, gently stir it into the egg mixture using a rubber spatula with steady, gentle concentric circles. When the chocolate is incorporated repeat with the butter at 40°C. When the mixture is smooth and shiny,  with a consistency like mayonnaise, use it immediately but not before you do this:

Fill a blind-baked sweet pastry crust with the macerated figs and the caramelised bananas (putting aside some slices for decoration.

Pour the chocolate ganache over to cover completely.

Bake the tart at 190°C (375°F) for exactly 11 minutes. It will be still a little jiggly in the middle and a bit drier on the circumference but that’s normal.

The tart will be ready to eat when it's hot or warm but it'll be oozy and gooey. You could leave it to cool down for a few hours or leave it for a day. The tart filling will firm up. Store it room temperature but do not refrigerate it.  Serve with creme anglaise or as we did, salted caramel ice cream.

Travels: ソフトクリーム Soft Cream in Japan

Yam soft serve, originally uploaded by Skinny Epicurean.

I love going to Tokyo and I don't think I can ever be tired of it. I love the quirky monogenous culture and more than anything the food. Having been to Tokyo for so many times, I realise I have subconsciously developed a list of "must-eats".

One of which is the Japanese soft serve ice cream. Except it's known as ソフトクリーム or 'soft cream' in Japan.

I am not kidding but the soft serve ice cream in Japan tastes just so different. It must be the milk. There is a richer taste and honestly, I love eating soft serve in Japan as much as eating gelato in Italy.

As with all things Japanese, one must eat soft serve according to the season as well. Autumn time would be good for sweet potato (satsu-imo), chestnut (kuri) and yam. Come spring, sakura and lavender. Vanilla, black sesame (goma) and green tea are pretty everygreen flavours. I don't find the soft serve stands everywhere but near touristy spots.

Next time when you visit Japan, be sure to try a soft cream :)

Girly catch up at Antoinette

Located just a 5-minute walk away from Lavendar MRT, Antoinette seemed a little displaced in an almost desserted, industrial area. What a different sight it was once I stepped through the front doors of Antoinette.  The dining room was full and bustling with (largely female) life.  It could be the baby blue and white colors and girly French adornment that would put off men in general.   But that's just my two cents. 

Now, I love all-day breakfast so it was an easy choice for me to make my food selection.  After all, catching up with my girlfriends, one of whom I have not seen in more than a year, was my priority. The girlfriends, on the other hand, had a tougher time making their choices because the variety of options was pretty much a little of everything to cater to most. 

My breakfast platter was competent and filled my tummy with just enough room to split the signature Antoinette cake and the french toast for dessert.  Using thick toast for the latter is a brilliant idea because it makes the French toast crispy on the outside while the inside remained fluffy and moist. 

Sunnyside up eggs with smoked salmon and toasted white bread

French toast with salted caramel sauce and creme chantilly

  

"Antoinette" - chocolate and earl grey tea mousses surround a
crunchy biscuit center; topped with a raspberry couli dome

The Penhas Road outlet takes reservation so be sure to make one.  We did, and still had to wait for 1/2 hour for our table to clear.    

Antoinette is at:

1. 30 Penhas Road
2. Level 2 Mandarin Gallery
3. Erkine Road

Travels: Osteria iO Personale (Florence, Italy)

Admittedly, it was with a pretty high expectations that I went to this restaurant. I had read the chef is a young talented 20-something year old who already had amassed experiences at top restaurants in Spain and his modern take on Italian cuisine and ingredients.

The restaurant was situated across the other side of Florence, a comfortable 15-20 minute walk from the Santa Maria train station. It is pretty small, but comfortable.  We were served complimentary white wine very soon after we sat down.  The aperative was leaning toward sweet and very easy to like.  On the side we were served little savory muffins, cute little things they were, that tasted of cheese and herb.  What a great snack to begin our meal for the night.

The menu was a slightly unconventional (to traditional Italian cuisine) and forward thinking approach where it does not follow the order of courses (i.e. primo, secondo, etc).  It was sorted by the Category (i.e. Meat, Vegetables, Fish, etc), but no issues with me.  In addition, the tasting menus were soo affordable at Euro 10 / course and one gets to choose between 4 or 6 courses off the ala carte menu. 

Great, great pity our stomaches could not ingest much food or tolerate greed very well nowadays.  Sigh, perils of aging.

After placing our orders, we were served our amuse bouche proper, a petite serving of silky, warm soup of pumpkin.  Little cubes of olive oil toasted croutons added a lovely crunchy texture and a fruity floral flavor.

Next, I had the raw pink prawns, scattered with thinly shaved seasonal mushrooms and dill vinaigrette. A generous dousing of olive oil all over the dish added a slippery and added smoothness texture.

To share, we got an intriguing "lukewarm spelt with finferli mushrooms, lemon potatoes cream and green sauce".  A mouthfull to order but it was essentially a risotto made with spelt.  If you are curious, spelt has a slightly chewy texture similar to boiled pearl barley.  The lemon cream sauce was just hint and the mushrooms were really good with a meaty texture.  It was not a huge portion, but heavy enough to validate our choice to share.

With just enough room left to share a dessert, I gravitated toward the basil sorbet and tomato jam with the chocolate soufflè.  Interesting combinations just attract me like honey to a bear.  

WOW. 

Individually, the tomato jam was sweet and spicy (yes, chili spicy) and it had a bit of oil oozing out so I suspected it was confit'd or stored in oil.  The basil sorbet was unusually smooth and creamy.  How clever to add a sweet twist to the usual savory combination of tomato and basil.  Here, the iciness of the sorbet tempered the chili spiciness of the jam and together, the sweetness balanced out the slightly bitter molten chocolate cake. In combination, it was an explosion of flavors and textures and temperatures in the mouth.

Even as I am writing this post, I could just taste the dessert in my mouth all over again.  

Simply amazing.



cute little savory muffins

table setting

Amuse bouche

Bread platter



Raw Prawns



Spelt Risotto



Dessert





Osteria iO Personale (Florence, Italy), a set on Flickr.


Osteria iO Personale
Borgo San Frediano, 167 r, 50124 Firenze
Tel 055-9331341