Brotzeit

What better to post now that it's Oktoberfest than a German restaurant? Heh. Technically our meal was consumed a month ago, but it's pure coincidence that the next up is...Brotzeit.

 Brotzeit at 313@Somerset

F1 Frenzy

Daddy had some sort of tickets to this Canon sponsored event. Canon invited all the dealers to Fairmont Hotel and they had booked some sorta conference hall for them to catch the Singapore F1 night race 2010. Daddy wasn't interested in F1 or racing or cars (actually neither was Sis and I interested...), so he offered us his invite card. Well, there was going to be free food, and a view, so why not just grab the chance to experience it? I invited Wenli to come along with us for free food and views. Heh. ;)

View from Fairmont Hotel

Samgyeopsal (삼겹살)

I love Korean food. Kimchi, Ramyeon, Deokbokki, Kimchi jeon, Kimchi chigae, Jaeyook bokkeum. You name it, I love it all. ;)

Back when I was studying in Brisbane, the weather (especially during Spring or Winter) is good for having Barbeque. My housemates and I would occasionally gather together and have a mini barbeque session at home. We would shop for groceries together, prepare the dishes, and then proceed to the balcony where we would enjoy our dinner, with a lovely serene riverside view. Ah, those memories are precious...

In Singapore, no matter that the weather is hot like crazy, I'll still crave Korean barbeque. Nothing beats having a full out feast on meats and vegetables. I prepared a feast for the family to dine at home one weekend instead of dining out.

The works - a Korean meal at home.

Exploring Singapore: Chinatown

Exploring Singapore brings me to Chinatown next. The place that is rich in colours (especially red) and the Chinese heritage.

Chinatown MRT station

Chocolate hazelnut mousse cake

I was in the mood for some chocolate (okay, like when am I ever not?), and a chocolate hazelnut praline mousse cake has been sitting right at the top of my to-do list since...forever. I didn't have a specific recipe in mind, all I knew about my proposed cake was that it should have my beloved hazelnut feuilletine layer, a chocolate sponge, and a chocolate mousse.

With that in mind, I went about collecting recipes from different sources...again. I really must do something about this bad habit of mind, always making a multi-component something sourced from various sources instead of sticking to the original recipes. Tsk tsk.

 

My version of a 'Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Cake'

Brunch

It's the weekend tomorrow. I can't wait. I have a date with the Sister for brunch at Oriole Cafe (tentative, IF we manage to snag a table) on Saturday morning, (where they have the best coffee in town apparently) and to do some shopping after.

The Sis's girlfriends was over for brunch one weekend. We nibbled on some brie on crackers while prepping for the brunch. One of my Swiss girlfriend can make a really mean summer-ish vegetables salsa, which  I fell in love with straight after my first mouth. I got the recipe from her and has made it a couple of times since then. It's a really easy peasy salad/salsa to make and the colourful vegetables make the dish an extremely visual treat. I've included the recipe below as I find myself always losing it and having trouble looking for it again on my facebook wall where she posted it. It'll be good to place it on the blog so I can find it easily in future. ;)

Brunch plate - Poached eggs, toasted tomato bread, salsa, bacon and mushrooms.

Macarons from Tokyo...

I managed to get my hands on Pierre Herme's macarons! Surreal or not. I mean, a few years ago, I would have been all "Pierre Herme" who? But now that I'm slowly morphing into (gasp) a macaron addict, I would have been mad not to have heard of Pierre Herme. Macarons in Tokyo are (gasp again) freakin' madly priced. Then again, it could have been all patisseries in general? These macs cost like S$5 a pop. Almost two and a half times more than the most expensive macs in town...

Matcha macarons

Macarons are sly and finicky creatures. They slowly creep into your life, eventually overtaking it even, and before you know it, from feeling indifferent towards them, you become addicted to them. However, churning out these devious lil things are not 100 per cent fool-proof. Though from my very first attempt, I've mostly encountered success, lately, the macaron baking fairy seemed to have shun me for others.

These stupid matcha flavoured macs? Took me not one, not two but three attempts to see something remotely resembling macs. The first two batches were disasters that looked severely disfigured beyond words, best buried in the deep recess of soon-to-be-forgotten memories (hey, I've got a very short memory span, which works well in such times). I suspected that they failed because the egg whites weren't beaten properly, so for this fortunate third batch, I made sure to whip the whites longer...

And hey yo, they finally passed the visual test (barely), and though they have really flat feet, as least they resemble macs yeah. I was going to seriously cry and stomp my feet if they failed, cos you know, matcha powder is not cheap. Ha.

Matcha macarons with red bean paste filling

Bintan

Short summary of the getaway trip with the girlfriends through photos...

The eighth sin - chocolate

This is one super dense and rich chocolate ice cream designed to seduce. My first lick of this confection, and I was instantly hooked (lined, and suckered). I was looking for a really dark and chocolate-y chocolate ice cream, and this is one recipe that max out all my expectations.

The eighth sin - Chocolate

Shin Yuu

Lunch: Japanese. Where: Greenwood Avenue. Why: Miramar Hotel was fully booked. :(

Shin Yuu

Lavender macarons

Lavender. Betcha first thought was a bar of scented soap. Either that or dried petals in a pouch for smelling purposes. Or scented oil for aromatherapy. You get where I'm going right.

Anyways, I'm not here to talk about lavender soaps or whatnots. I'm here to talk about lavender macarons. Yeps. Floral macs. And I'm not referring to the ubiquitous rose flavour. My Sis bought quite a bagful of these dried lavender buds, and since I have no idea what to do with them (since a small spoon is more than enough to perfume anything really), I decided to incorporate them into macarons form.

Lavender macarons

Berries galettes

I love the seasonal changes. That means I get to enjoy my favourite seasonal fruits at dirt cheap prices and at their best - juicy and sweet. Blueberries were in season some time starting a month ago, and I happily went on a crazy buying spree. When the first punnets of the season started appearing on the fruit aisles, I grabbed like four or five punnets without hesitation. I froze three punnets and happily enjoyed the other two punnets with my morning yogurt and homemade granola. And for the past month or so, every single time I go to the supermart, I inevitably leave the place with at least one punnet of blueberries. I simply can't resist them. I regret now not waiting a while more as the prices continue to fall cos I had bought most of my first batch (happy in the freezer now) when the season was just starting. No worries though. I've been adding to the freezer stash on occasion with a few more punnets for later uses when blueberries season is over. (: Hmmmm, I wonder if anyone else hoards fruits like me. Haha.

Blackberries and blueberries galettes