My homecooked meals - Mar 08

Today is the last day of March, before it's end I will update my last post of the month. Some of my weekdays homecooked meals by my aunt. Recently, I was busy so have not been updating my aunt's cooking. Here's a summary for the month of Mar:

THANK YOU MY DEAR AUNT FOR ALL YOUR WONDERFUL COOKING!

New York New York

New York New York, has almost 10 outlets all over Singapore serving western american food. I always wanted to try this restaurant because it was always crowded when I passed by AMK hub or Suntec City's outlets so I assume the food should be good. Though prices are rather reasonable and serving portion is big but it's rather disappointing in term of food. I was with my family shopping around at Jurong Point on Sunday and decided to have our dinner at New York New York. We were very full but felt rather unsatisfying. I think we enjoyed the most were the potato wedges... yummy!

Fisherman's Clam Chowder S$6.90

The clam chowder taste ok but was too diluted for my liking.

Meat Platter for 2 - S$36.90

This is big enough to serve 3 instead of 2. There's pork ribs, chicken cigar, whole roast chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, corn and potato wedges on a man-size platter. The roast chicken was quite nice and juicy. Potato wedges were the best among all dishes as it was crispy and tasty. But, the chicken cigar and pork ribs were not well seasoned and it was dry & cold when served. To conclude, should just order the roast chicken instead.

Tagliatelie Mushroom Alfredo w/Crispy Fish - S$12.90

This was not too good too. The linguine was too overcooked for my liking. The sauce tasted like pasta soaked in milk instead and lack of creamy mushroom flavor. The fish was deep fried with an overly coated breadcrumb. So disappointed as it was a chef recommended dish.

Rotisserie Spring Chicken (Whole) - S$15.90

This was good so it's always safe to have chicken. The chicken was tender and juicy, nicely roasted and served with brown sauce. I think the brown sauce was pretty good.

Cape Style Fish N Chip - S$14.90 This was supposed to be a premium quality fish n chip as stated. Using quality imported Cape cod fish and was an award winning dish. But, my cousin don't seem to enjoy it. I try a bit and yes it's another disappointment. The batter was too thick and feel mushy in the inside even though the crust was crispy.

Mushroom Medley Pizza - S$13.90We shared this pizza but was the worst among the rest. The pizza dough was crispy but was hard and dry. The crust tasted liked instant frozen pizza sold in the supermarket. The filling was not creamy enough and tasted quite bland. We can't even finish half of it.

Root Beer Float - S$7.90

All of us can't finish our share, we were too full and disappointed with the food that we decided not to order any dessert. Just in case... another disaster...LOL!

New York New York
1 Jurong West Central 2
#B1-57/58/59
Jurong Point Shopping Centre
Tel: 6861 0217
Operating Hour:
11.30am - 10.30pm

Goodwood Park's Durian Puffs

The annual Goodwood Park Hotel Durian Fiesta 2009 is back at the Deli from 1 March to 10 August. It's has an exciting range of Durian pastries and cakes, each filled with the richness and goodness of D24 Durians!

My cousin bought a box of durian puffs for us yesterday. I tried one and felt that somehow it was not as good as it used to be. The durian was not fragrant and rich enough to let me crave for 2nd pieces. I was wondering is it because I'm been eating too much "Mountain Cat King" durian which is super rich and creamy as compared to D24.

Durian Puff - S$2.20 ea / S$6.80 for 6 pcs / S$39.80 for 20 pcs

Goodwood Park Hotel
22 Scotts Road
Singapore 228221
Available at the Deli:
To order, please call the Deli at:
Tel: 6730 1786, Fax: 6737 4073
For takeaway, from 9am - 9pm daily

Mcdonald's Breakfast

Saturday was a busy and tiring day for me because I need to groom my dogs, 7 of them! So we decided not cook or bake anything. Since we were lazy to go out so we ordered Mcdelivery. We had Big Breakfast, Fillet O Fish and Hotcakes w/Sausages! A satisfying brunch that kept us going till dinner.

Mcdelivery 24/7

@ 6777 3777

or

order it online

G7 Sima Live Seafood Restaurant

Last evening we had our dinner at Sima but not for seafood. We usually go there for live bull frog porridge even though they are not the best as compared to the one at Geylang Lor 9. We prefer this place because we can choose to sit in the aircon room, more parking lots and prices are reasonable.

Bull Frog Menu

We ordered the 4 free 3 + 1 porridge set, a french bean & braised beehoon. It was a satisfying and yummy meal.

Gong Bao Frog Legs S$30 (7 nos in 2 pots)
The gong bao sauce was very flavourful with slight spiciness and it's goes so well with the thick congnee. Yummy!

Plain Porridge (Additional order @ S$3.00 ea)The porridge portion was just enough for 2 only. I like the thickness as it won't turn too watery when the frog leg sauce added. Though was plain porridge but was not plain at all as it uses chicken stock to cook it.

French Bean with Crispy Dried Shrimp & Raddish S$8.00This is one of their popular dish that we always will order.

Braised Beehoon with Seafood & Salted Fish In Macau Style (S-S$10.00)Another must try dish. The bee hoon was full of flavour and wok hei! Very delicious!

G7 Sima Live Seafood
161/163 Geylang Road
Lorong 3 #01-01/02
Singapore 389239
Tel: 6848 4161

Kaya Butter Cake

I came home to bake this Kaya Cake after dinner. I just feel like baking something and decided on this, another recipe from Richard Goh's baking class. This cake was quite rich as a lot of butter and coconut cream were used. I did not do it well, the cake was a bit compact due overmixing and again I did not unmould properly which causes the top to peel off. The cake was not sweet enough even for me who don't really like sweet stuff. I think I should adjust the recipe by increasing the sugar by 30g and reduce the coconut by 50g. Too much butter and coconut cream make the cake very heavy and not fluffy. Maybe I will try it again some other time.

Kaya Butter Cake

Recipe adapted from Richard Goh Baking Class:Ingredients (A):
125g Thick coconut milk
2-3pcs Pandan leaves + few drops of green colour
(subsitute with 1 tsp pandan paste)

Ingredients (B):
5 Egg whites
50g Sugar
1/4 tsp Cream of tartar
5 Egg yolks

Ingredients (C):
200g Butter (Chilled)
50g Sugar
175g Plain flour (Top flour)
25g Milk powder (skimmed milk powder)
1 tsp Baking powder
Optional: a pinch of salt if uses unsalted butter

Method:
Preheat oven to 160 degrees C
Grease and line a 9 inches round tin with paper
1. Sieve the flour, milk powder & powder together. Set aside.
2. If using pandan leave, then you need to heat it with the coconut cream & coloring till just hot and let it cool. Remove the leaves when it's cooled.
3. Cream butter & sugar at medium until fluffy. (Kenwood Chef speed 3 - 15mins), add in coconut milk. Turn to slow speed, add in flour till incorporated.
4. Whisk egg whites, sugar & cream of tartar untill stiff. Turn to slow speed and add in egg yolks, whisk for 1-2 mins to mix well.
5. Fold meringue into the butter mixture and mix well.
6. Pour batter into baking tin and bake for 40-45mins.

Hiang Ji Roasted Meat & Noodle House

We had our dinner at Hiang Ji - Toa Payoh this evening. We had noodles instead of rice to go with roast duck and bean sprout. The duck skin was still crispy and nice but the meat was not well seasoned. Thus, was a bit too bland for me. The bean sprout was yummy partly due to the fresh crispy lard added that make it so flavourful. The noodle was springy and nicer as compared to the rice noodle. The sauce was too sweet for my liking. We paid $18.00 for this meal for 2 which I think was a bit too pricy for dinning in a non airconditioning eatery...

Hiang Ji Roasted Meat & Noodle House
190 Toa Payoh Lorong 6
Singapore 310190
10am to 10pm daily

Chiffon Cheesecake

Try out another chiffon cake recipe yesterday, adapted from Alex Goh's Fantastic Cheesecakes. This is a very light and spongy chiffon with a very mild cheese flavour. I read from Baking Mum's blog that this was a good recipe so decided to give it a try since I have the recipe book.

I finally manage to get the side golden brown by baking at a higher temperature but I was too careless and impatient in unmolding the cake. I didn't thoroughly and carefully run through the palette knife. Anyway, the cake still look nice and most importantly taste great.

Chiffon Cheesecake

Alex Goh's Chiffon Cheesecake

Ingredients A:
60g milk
40g cream cheese (thawed for 30mins)
25g butter

Ingredients B:
65g flour (sifted) - Top flour
I added: 1/4 tsp Baking powder

Ingredients C:
4 egg yolks
I added: 1/2 tsp Vanilla paste

Ingredients D:
4 egg whites
90g sugar
pinch of salt
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Note: Egg used should be 60g each without shell according to the recipe book.

Methods:
1. Preheat oven 170˚C. (My oven 175˚C)
2. Cook (A) over double-boiler until well blended and thickens. Remove from double-boiler and let it cool down.
3. Add (C) into cooled down cheese mixture and mix until well combined.
4. Fold in (B) and mix until smooth.
5. Whisk (D) till stiff peaks.
6. Fold 1/2 of the egg whites into cheese mixture, gently with a rubber spatula until just blended.
7. Pour cheese mixture (step 6) into the rest of egg whites, fold it gently with rubber spatula until blended.
8. Put batter into a 9-inch (22cm) chiffon cake pan, bang the pan on a hard surface to release the bubbles and bake for 35 - 40 minutes.
9. When the cake is cooked, invert the cake to cool. Remove the cake from the cake pan when it is completely cool.

*Another interesting recipe to try from Alex Goh's Fantastic Cheescake - Cheese Cupcake

Banana Chiffon Cake

The other cake I baked on Monday evening was Banana Chiffon Cake, my 2nd attempt on chiffon cake this month. I left with 2 nos of banana so I google around to seach for a recipe that uses only 2 banana and I found one from Small small baker's blog.

This recipe actually adapted from Kelvin Chai and is definitely a keeper. The cake is light, moist, cottony and sweetness is just right for me. With salt added, it's further enhanced the flavour of the cake. Very yummy except that I still can't get the side of the cake evenly golden brown as the brown crust tend to stick to the mould when I unmould it. Hopefully my next try will be better.

Banana Chiffon Cake

Recipe from Kelvin Chai "Chiffon Cake is done" where I taken from Small Small Baker, I double the portion for my chiffon mould size - 20cm about 8".

Ingredients:
(For 20cm chiffon cake)
4 Egg yolks
1/4 tsp Salt
40ml Corn oil
110-120g Banana (2 medium banana - puree it)
30g Sugar
70g Top flour
1/4 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
I added: 1/8 tsp Baking powder

and 1/2 tsp Vanilla paste

4 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
60g sugar

Method:

1. Sieve flour & bicarbonate of soda twice. Set aside.
2. Whisk egg yolks, salt & sugar until sugar dissolve. Add oil and banana puree and mix well.
3. Fold in flour lightly till well mix.
4. Whisk egg whites, sugar & cream of tartar until stiff peaks form.
5. Gently fold in 1/3 egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture till incorporated.
6. Transfer this mixture into the balance egg white mixture and continue to mix well till smooth flowing and glossy.
7. Pour mixture into ungreased tin and bake at 175C for 30-35 mins.
8. Remove from oven and quickly turn the chiffon cake upside down on a wire rack.
9. Wait for the cake to cool completely before removing it from the tin.

I only left each 2 slices at home and brought the rest to office for my colleagues. They are my cake testers. LOL! I packed both cakes in a recycle box that I collected from my colleague's daughter full month cakes from Sweetest Moments. Some of them preferred the banana chiffon and some preferred the banana cake. For me, I liked both of them but if on diet, chiffon will be a better choice. I will be baking more chiffons...