SINGAPORE: Privé Restaurant

If I were filthy rich and could choose to live anywhere in Singapore, I'd probably want to stay on a boat at Keppel Bay. Then I could live off Privé's food and become a fat but happy boatwife. 
Privé is split into three: the waterfront bar, the bakery cafe and the restaurant. The ingenuity and skill behind each dish at the restaurant is indisputable, but I have to say that what gives every dish that extra layer of intensely subtle flavour is where you eat it.  Being at Keppel Bay, Privé's tables are placed so every diner has a breathtaking view of the water and the pristine boats that skim its glittering surface. As if the mouthwatering food isn't enough, it's really because Privé takes me far away, both literally and metaphorically, from the burning heat of Singapore's roads and looming buildings that I'm drawn back every time. 

Willow Mushrooms

with Truffle Poached Egg, Parma Ham & Shaved Aged Parmesan Cheese

I'm a mushroom person through and through, especially when it comes to truffles. Truffle oil is one of those magical ingredients that make anything and everything taste absolutely heavenly. A small bottle of it cost me £5 at Waitrose, but I put it on everything from pasta to scrambled eggs and I swear it practically makes my day. 
Of course, when I saw the word "truffle" on the menu at Privé, it was an easy choice to make. The starter was everything starters should be - delicate yet flavourful and light enough to trigger your cravings for the main dishes.

Large Grilled Asparagus

with Sauce Hollandaise

Potato Gratin 

Sautéed Mushrooms

French Young Quail

with Porcini Mushrooms, Streaky Bacon, Parsnip Purée & Jus de Poulet 

I'm not much of a meat eater, but the quail I ordered was amazingly tender and bursting with glorious smoky flavour. The accompanying parsnip purée melted like butter in my mouth. In fact, I actually thought it was overly buttered mash potato until the waitress told us it was parsnip purée.


Josper Grilled Steaks: 

The reason for the sudden urge to re-visit Privé is that their kitchen has recently been bestowed with a brand new Josper grill. What makes the Josper grill so exceptional is that it's completely enclosed with thick walls so that steak or vegetables being grilled retain their natural, juicy flavour and still manage to cook in half the time. It is, in the words of Jancis Robinson (a wine reviewer for the FT), "the hottest indoor barbecue available". 

Ribeye Cap 75 USDA Prime Angus (10oz/280g) Considered The Holy Grail of steaks by enthusiasts and the best part of the Ribeye. Extremely marbled and as tender as a Filet Mignon, but with the full flavour of a Ribeye.

Double Rib Lamb Rack 58 Australia, Hormone-free, Clover Pasture-fed (12oz/340g) Thick, juicy, tender and flavourful, with a fine texture that melts in your mouth.

Premium Black Angus Tenderloin 58 Tasmania, Hormone-free, Grass-Fed (8oz/225g) Succulent with fine-textured marbling from pasture-fed, hormone- and antibiotic-free Black Angus cows. 

Privé

No. 2 Keppel Bay Vista

Marina at Keppel Bay

Singapore 098382

For reservations:

+65 6776 0777

Banana Mango Bread

I'm terribly addicted to banana bread. It's moist and crumbly, the banana negates any need for butter and it doesn't line every afterthought with guilt. Whenever my supply of banana bread runs out, it isn't long before I buy another bunch of bananas, wait for them to become sweet and overripe, then think of ways to twist my original recipe for the next batch. 

When you're trying to be healthy, the ease of baking a simple banana bread is deceptive. I've tried so many variations - using plain yogurt and canola oil instead of butter, using half as much sugar and even using no oil or butter at all. In the end, I've conceded to the fact that any decent banana bread needs some oil and at least 1/2 a cup of sugar (though the canola oil and yogurt method actually works astoundingly well). Something my mother always says came to me as I was writing this: "if you want people to eat your cake, you have to add butter and sugar." Hopefully one day I'll prove her wrong! 

bananas, pre-mashed

raw sugar, egg, canola oil: the sin that any respectably good cake cannot live without

plain flour, wholemeal flour, rolled oats & cinnamon

fresh out of the oven!

Banana Mango Bread Recipe

Ingredients

3 large ripe bananas

1/4 cup vegetable oil 

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup wholemeal flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, blended/finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 ripe mango, sliced into chunks

Method

Preheat the oven to 176 degrees C. Lightly grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas well. Add the sugar, oil, ginger and vanilla extract, and whisk briskly to incorporate.

Sift in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Use a wooden spoon to mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined.  Fold in mango chunks.

Bake for 45 minutes. The top should be lightly browned and a knife inserted through the center should come out clean, or with just a few crumbs.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes before transferring out of a pan and onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Spinach & Cheese Muffins

Within walking distance of my campus at Waterloo is a cosy, friendly little cafe by the name of Konditor & Cook. Its counters are peppered with tempting, homemade-esque cakes and delightfully fat muffins exploding over their paper liners. I was inspired to attempt these muffins after trying Konditor & Cook's savoury spinach muffins. These were much too bland (an anomaly with Konditor & Cook), so I decided to make my own and stir my favourite ingredient into the batter - cheese.  

I couldn't resist sprinkling these with extra cheese before popping them into the oven

Treat these more like decadent bread than moist breakfast muffins and they would go perfectly with creamy soup for lunch. 

Spinach & Cheese Muffins Recipe

Adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook


Ingredients:
Canola oil
1 tbsp curry powder
Small red onion, finely chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup wholemeal flour and rolled oats (blended together until fine)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella 
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 baby spinach, roughly chopped (I used 180g frozen spinach)

Directions:
1.              Preheat oven to 170°C. Meanwhile fry the onion with canola oil until cooked. Set aside.
2.              In a large bowl stir together flour, rolled oats, baking powder, curry powder and cheese. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk and egg together, then slowly pour into the flour mixture and beat with a hand mixer until too thick to mix.
3.              Stir in the onion and spinach with a wooden spoon until evenly dispersed.
4.              Spoon batter into muffin tins lined with paper liners. Fill about two thirds full. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the muffins on a wire rack to cool.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich, the unconventional way

I honestly think toast is one of the world's greatest discoveries. So simple yet so versatile, a mere two slices of toast can turn a dubious mass of sloshy filling into a perfectly delicious sandwich. On lazy mornings when I find myself waking up at 11, the best brunch food is a grilled mushroom cheese sandwich.

Though I burned my finger trying to place the mushroom-cheese wrapped egg package neatly onto the first bread slice, I think it was worth the pain. At Jose's request, I've put up pictures of the whole process, sans my attempt to fold the egg and put it on top of the first bread slice. 

1. Chop the mushrooms

2. Brown the mushrooms in butter/olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste

3. Prepare the other ingredients: 1 egg (whisked) seasoned with cracked black pepper & salt, buttered multi- grain bread and shredded cheese

4. Pour the whisked egg into a non-stick pan and spread around to cover the entire pan

5. Pile mushrooms and shredded cheese on top. Feel free to put more cheese than this; I realize now I put in a very measly amount. 

6. Fold the egg into a square shape and lift it onto a slice of bread, buttered side down. (Try not to burn yourself while attempting this like I did.)  Cover with second piece of bread and cook over medium heat until both sides are golden brown.

7. Cut in half, and there you have it - grilled mushroom cheese sandwich (:

Enjoy!

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe

Adapted from The Healthy Foodie

• 2 slices multigrain bread
• About ½ tbsp butter

• 50g cheddar cheese, shredded
• 125g sliced mixed mushrooms (I used shitake and white button)
• 1 egg
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Brown the mushrooms in a skillet over medium-high heat; season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Whisk and cook the egg into a very thin omelet in a large non-stick pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.
3. When omelet is cooked, pile the mushrooms in the center. Add grated cheese.
4. Fold the edges over the mushrooms and cheese to form a square pocket, about the same size as your slices of bread.
5. Spread a very thin layer of butter on each slice of bread. Put one slice buttered slice down in your non-stick pan and carefully place your omelette on top of it. Cover with the second slice of bread.
6. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes or until bread is golden brown, then flip and cook for an extra 2-3 minutes.
7. Cut in half and watch cheese ooze!

SINGAPORE: Akashi

I sorely miss Japanese food. My sole source of quality sushi in London is Atari-ya and even then it's exhausting to get to - buried amongst masses of people swarming around Bond Street. Thankfully, the Akashi I visited at Orchard Parade Hotel is conveniently situated just before the heart of Orchard Road where the shopping crowd amalgamates. Though it's not as well priced as Sushi Tei, each exquisitely composed, freshly prepared bite of sushi is worth every cent - especially if you've been away from Asia for 6 entire months. 

You cannot go to Akashi without ordering their Spider Maki

Agedashi tofu

tamago sushi

Jinx's main: beef set (the name of which we've now forgotten) 

P.S. My love for Japanese food is seriously lacking in the sashimi department. I like it (a recent discovery thanks to Atari-ya), but not so much as to feel an overwhelming need to order it every Japanese restaurant. Either way, if you're a sashimi fan, I would highly recommend you try it at Akashi.


Akashi
1 Tanglin Road,
#01-01A Orchard Parade Hotel
Singapore
67324438

Rainy Days and Apple & Pumpkin Soup

It rained the whole of yesterday, making Singapore uncharacteristically cool. For the first time in a long time, I lay awake under the covers listening to the comforting sound of raindrops smashing against the pavement. It being such a chilly day, I decided to make warm apple and pumpkin soup for dinner.

the raw ingredients: pumpkin, tart apples, onion and garlic

toasted almonds

Apple and pumpkin soup garnished with a swirl of cream and toasted almonds

Apple Pumpkin Soup Recipe


Ingredients


2 onions

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 apples, diced

½ pumpkin

olive oil

low-fat milk

curry powder

1 tsp. nutmeg

white pepper

salt

Method


1. Preheat large soup pot. Drizzle with olive oil. Add diced onion and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent.

2. Add pumpkin, apples, nutmeg and curry powder then fill with enough water to cover 3/4 of the ingredients. Simmer for 20 minutes over medium heat. 

3. Let it cool, then use a submersible blender to blend soup until it is smooth. You can also use your blender to blend the soup in batches.

4. Add milk (or cream) to thin out the soup and add salt and pepper to taste. Then reheat before serving and garnish with sliced almonds, pumpkin seeds, dried apple slices or hazelnuts.

Rainy days and broken butterfly wings: I freaked out when I saw its silhouette in the dark but it turned out that Zhen, being the animal saviour that he is, found a butterfly that had injured its wing in the rain so he brought it in to shelter it.

SINGAPORE: Fluffy Banana Pancakes

After 6 months in London, I'm finally back home. In between seeing my friends again and exercising the europe weight off, I've been passing time in the kitchen - cooking, not (just) eating. I'm determined to take full advantage of the well-worn oven and trusty kitchenaid mixer sitting sturdily on the kitchen counter before I leave them behind again in September.  

With a solitary banana which was ripening all too fast in the fridge and a bored best friend, I'd decided to make banana pancakes one evening before dinner. I'd only intended to eat one but we each ended up eating 3 (slathered generously with my mum's homemade jam), so our light, pre-dinner breakfast snack turned into dinner. 

I haven't made pancakes before but these were ridiculously easy to make, especially with the kitchenaid to whip the egg whites, so we made them perfect on the first try. Scroll down for the recipe! 

 

I love how such unappetizing-looking batter solidifies into beautiful fluffy pancakes within minutes.

banana pancakes and honey at sunset

Fluffy Banana Pancakes

modified from Jamie Oliver's USA stylie pancakes recipe

• 3 large eggs

• 115g/4oz plain flour

• 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder

• 140ml/5fl oz milk

• 2 ripe bananas (I only used 1 but 2 would've been perfect)

• a pinch of salt

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon 

First separate the eggs, putting the whites into one bowl and the yolks into another. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and milk to the yolks and mix to a smooth thick batter. Mash the bananas with a fork and mix them in. Whisk the whites with the salt until they form stiff peaks. Fold into the batter – it is now ready to use.

Heat a good non-stick pan on a medium heat. Pour some of your batter into the pan and fry for a couple of minutes until it starts to look golden and firm. Flip the pancake over. Continue frying until both sides are golden. 

PARIS: Bretteau Jean-Marie

6 equal pieces for 6 equally hungry people

Remember this post, when I mentioned that there were two bakeries we frequented for breakfast? Bretteau Jean-Marie is the other one. For reasons I don't understand, neither of these bakeries have proper signs with their names on them. (I had to do some research before I discovered the name of this one.) It seems as if all the bakeries are either "Artisan Boulanger" or "Boulangeries-patisseries". It's as though they accept the fact that they're practically indistinguishable from the thousands of amazing bakeries in Paris. Yet, somehow it's weirdly comforting to know that they're content to submerge themselves in anonymity as long as they get their regular flow of happy customers. 


Each time we visited Bretteau Jean-Marie, we were served by a sulky, no-nonsense lady in a white apron whose frosty exterior belied her freshly baked breads and cakes. But in the end, much like the chinese restaurants at Bayswater in London, what's a sour face when the food is so good that you know you'll come back for more? 

Artisan Boulanger (no.2) is a 5 minute walk from my hotel along Le Motte Picquet. 

such vultures we are. 

Bretteau Jean-Marie:

31 Avenue La Motte Picquet

75007

Paris

GIVERNY: Monet's Garden

I love the idea of garnishing food with freshly grown herbs from the garden. Whether it's basil, terragon or curry leaves, it feels so natural. I imagine we've been doing this from the very beginning. It's basic instinct: if it smells good, eat it. I found having a salad sprinkled with flowers thoroughly refreshing. Salade Monet was the sole dish that redeemed the mediocre, i'm-relying-on-the-naivete-of-tourists menu at one of the few restaurants at Monet's Garden.  

Salade Monet: mixed salad, old style tomatoes, mixed flowers: borage, pansy and nasturtium, mixed herbs (chive, chervil, parsley, tarragon, pesto) 

I snapped this while on a 5km trek from Monet's Garden to the train station that would take us back to Paris