Friday, November 23, 2007

Reunion with Dad

Last Monday signalled the arrival of Dad in Perth and what better way to reunite with him than to whip up a simple yet delicious home-cooked meal in the comfort of a cool room amidst the sweltering heat of the nasty summer.



My pesto spiral salad. Well-drained fusilli tossed with dollops of basil pesto, cherry and sundried tomatoes, peas and corn kernels, then drizzled with the simplest of olive oils. This is a real summer delight, sophisticated-looking but yet, so quick and easy to prepare. Eaten cold or warm, the pesto itself is the centre of attention. Pasta salads are equally flexible, so if you don't fancy peas or corn, feel free to substitute it with any garden vegetables that you like or maybe even capers or anchovies. For my salad, I love to use sundried tomatoes as the subtly scented infused oil tends to give the flavour an added boost.



Lemon honey chicken. I have to admit this fell short of my expectations. Using a mixture of lemon juice, golden syrup and rosemary to marinade the chicken, I should have used less lemon juice, while increasing the amount of honey to sweeten the meat. Well, one has to fail in order to succeed doesn't it? Nevertheless, despite the less than exciting flavour, the chicken was cooked perfectly with no pinkness in sight.

Overall, it was a good meal with Dad's safe and blessed arrival. Good food, great company, what more can i ask for?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Grilled Vegetables

It was on impulse that we stumbled on Corduroy Cafe. Although both of us have individually heard of the Cafe when it first opened at Bukit Timah, we have never had the chance to try its delicious offerings. Last Tuesday happened to be the golden opportunity when my girlfriend and I wanted to try something different and yet not too expensive. Browsing through the VivoCity's listing of food and beverages, we chanced on the cafe.

You order at the cashier once you have decided on the decidedly large array of offerings. Everything except mains are presented in a long glass counter. Its strongest offerings are alads, appetizers, side dishes, soups, and, desserts - done in more of mediterranean style.

My side order of four types of grilled vegetables was definitely something that I could easily get hooked. Costing only $4.50, it was delicious, healthy and yet filling.


The Cafe pays attention to details. Even the milk for the coffee came warmed and not cold (as in most other restaurants).



Hmm, this is one place I must introduce my girls when they come back to Singapore in December. I can almost picture my two girls lounging so comfortably on the different types of sofas sipping Earl Grey with macarons!

After the "grand" lunch, I chanced upon a bag that I could not resist buying. Shiny in patent and gilded in gold at correct places, coupled with the unusual shape, it surely capped a most fulfilling day!


Sunday, November 11, 2007

Pumpkin and Ham Risotto



One of my favourite quotes on food belong to Miguel de Cervantes when he stated that ''All sorrows are less with bread''.

As sceptical as that might sound, I do believe it's true. No matter how quickly the world is going by, regardless of morning, day or night, there comes a standstill when time is simply just devoted to the pure, essential need to eat. People stuff themselves silly with chocolate when life does a 180 flip. Others go for junk food, sweets, weird cravings or anything which just about forms the theory of food.

Recently things haven't been going well with my life. Maybe it's a wake-up call from God, maybe I haven't been cooking very frequently, or maybe I neglected this blog for awhile. Whatever the case, life goes on. Speaking about sorrows, I decided to pull my remaining energy to make a comforting meal - Risotto. A meal much loved by Italians for a fact. I've always longed to make risotto centuries ago, but never got to fulfill this plan of mine. But no, I wasn't deterred by the thought of having to stay by the stove and keep stirring the rice for eons. Hell, I could stay by the stove for over 2 hours if the stove will have me.



Pumpkin and ham risotto wasn't so much a combination I was inclined upon. The grocery pretty much only had pumpkin (when I wanted asparagus) and ham was a nice addition for a nice meaty bite. For a first-timer, my risotto was surprisingly not bad. The flavours of the ham and pumpkin came together nicely, like they were meant for each other. The only regret was it should have been a little wet and runny in texture but got a little tad dry towards the cooking process. Just a warning, the ham can be quite salty so you might want to use a salt-reduced stock or make your own stock so that it doesn't become overly salty.

Pumpkin and Ham Risotto (serves 2)

200-250ml arborio rice
1 small yellow onion
600-700ml chicken/veg stock (salt-reduced)
3 slices of ham
1/4-1/2 small pumpkin
olive oil
parmesan (or any good hard cheese)
unsalted butter
salt & pepper to taste

Pour the stock into a pot, heating it, while letting it simmer.
With a knife and a chopping board, finely dice the onion. Set it aside.
Slice the pumpkin into fairly medium blocks/cubes. Set it aside.
Chop up the ham into squares. Set aside.
Heat up a good large pot, pour a good glug of olive oil in and when it gets medium to medium-high hot, add the diced onions. Fry the onions for a good 1-2 minutes or so or until the onions turn fairly soft. Don't let the onions burn though.
Pour in the arborio rice and toast the grains, letting each one of them get coated with the oil and onions for about 2-3 minutes. At this point, you can add a glass of white wine if you want.
With the simmering stock, add a ladleful to the rice and stir, letting it get absorbed before adding another. Mix in the pumpkin. You'd want to keep stirring and adding ladlefuls of stock until the rice is fully cooked through (roughly about 15-20 minutes). About 5-6 minutes towards the end, add the squares of ham.
When the risotto is just about right, add a few cubes of unsalted butter and about a 100g of grated parmesan. Turn off the heat and mix the butter and cheese in until it gets rich and creamy.

Serve immediately and enjoy.