when the girls came over.

I love it when people want to come over to my place and eat something I cook. By no means am I saying that I am a great cook. I’m not. I just really enjoy cooking for friends and I really enjoy the company! (:

The girls only had one request: MEAT. haha and straight away, steak came to my mind. There’s a recipe from The F Word (by Gordan Ramsay) and I haven’t got a chance to try it yet, so this would be the best time to try it! Daring huh? A new recipe when friends come over. haha well, I believe that even if I failed, it would be a fun experience anyways! hehe

Beef fillet with Gratin of Mushrooms

It wasn’t too complicated at all. That’s why I love recipes from Gordan Ramsay. Always allowing people to make them from home! hehe and from home, I did!

Eye fillet, mushrooms, cream, chives. BEST combination. I’m definitely not joking! I don’t really joke about my food. haha it’s an important part of my life! hehe having with crispy potatoes = ultimate! hehe I wanted more by the end of the night, even though I was super duper full.

the steak just melts in your mouth! and I was so glad I used shitake and button mushrooms in the gratin. The flavours just makes the whole dish come alive!

not sure how you like your steak, but everyone around the table was pleased with their medium-rare steak. I normally just prefer medium, but I knew the steaks were fresh (I bought them that very morning at Queen Victoria Market!)  and I definitely won’t be happy if I overcooked it. So medium-rare was definitely fine for the night!

Just looking at the photo is making me hungryyyy and crave for an eye fillet now! haha and I am definitely not hungry now. haha just can’t resist a good piece of steak! (:

Being a chocolate-crazy person, as I am. I picked a chocolate tart as the dessert for the night. I have always wanted to try making a tart. For some reason, I never got down to doing it. Being as brave as I am, I decided to do it tonight! So yes! two brand new dishes on the menu! DARING DARING me! but I totally regretted trying making a tart, cos the tart shell totally failed!!! it was so crumbly, I couldn’t even get it out of the mold. So I had to keep it in the mold and everyone just had to eat out of it. haha. I’m kinda scared for life, cause I haven’t got the courage to give it another try! I should though, really wanna make momofuku’s crack pie. hmm.. ambitious me. SOMEDAY. I will. (:

I must say, although the tart was a failure, the chocolate ganache and the huge strawberries saved the dessert! The tart shell, though crumbly, was very buttery!

I scored some really red and huge strawberries at the market that morning too! (: they were as big as my palm!

(: will definitely try making a tart again soon! Although I am really quite scared about failing again. haha. I will. One day!

Thanks for coming over girls! I’m still very amazed you finished both discs of Italian Food Safari! haha. But yes, thank you for your wonderful company! Was great! (: Roast pork again soon!

ps : recipes for both dishes will be on my food blog soon! (:

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Braised Pork Belly with Yam

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know how home sick I always get. One way to make myself feel better is to cook. Not just cook anything, cook something that reminds me of home. So that’s what I did, I made something my mum makes best – Braised pork belly with yam. (: You usually eat this with a bun and some salad leaves. But it also goes super well with rice!

The recipe I found is a little time consuming, but all the work and effort put into the dish is definitely worth it. By the time it’s done steaming, the yam would be broken down and it would have absorbed all the flavours. The pork too will be melt in your mouth! Of course the happiest person when I said I was going to cook this was my baby. hehe He and pork belly are very good friends. hehe

Click here for the recipe! (:

Beef Stroganoff : Masterchef Recipe

Have you been catch Masterchef when it was on tv? I have! I caught as many episodes I could when I’m home and if I missed one, I would load it on the Masterchef website and watch it at my own free time! (: One dish that caught my eye and tummy was the beef stroganoff! the orangy creamy texture of the dish, topped on pasta, I think it’s a match-made in heaven.

so I got down to business. I didn’t have creme friache or the usual substitute of sour cream, so I “cleaverly” used thickened cream which wasn’t too good an idea, cause it became very starchy. But other than that, the flavours were really yummy and my baby really enjoyed it! (:

Click here for the recipe! (:

Comfort Food : A Recipe Post

Winter. Cold winds, rain, super low temperatures. To conquer all these, to me, only means one thing : comfort food.

what’s better ya? the ultimate comfort food for me is mash. The creaminess and butter-i-ness texture of the mash just makes everything seem better. (: So everything with mash, would just be a kind of comfort to me. Last night, I decided to make Shepard’s pie!

Shepard’s pie has always been a family favourite. So of course, I immediately went to source for a recipe so that I could cook it for everyone to enjoy! (: I was pretty worried the first time I made it, and I remember my brother having to always taste my mash to see if it’s buttery enough or salty enough. And my mum would stand next to me to make sure the mince is in small pieces and not in chunks, and if my meat sauce is thick enough.

alright, did I say I miss my family and I’m home-sick? I didn’t? Well, I am. That’s why I needed comfort food, pronto.

So here’s my recipe.

hopefully, it will be as comforting to you as it was for me! (:

Baby’s Best Crispy Roast Pork

if you guys have been reading my blog, you know my baby is an awesome cook. and one of his signature dishes that everyone loves is crispy skin pork. He recently saw how the chefs at Masterchef done it and decided to cook it for me and his family after he’s tried it on his own back in Melbourne! I’m so glad he did. It was super yummy!

a nice slab of pork with the skin sliced and salted and dried in the fridge uncovered (:

and baby fried the skin first before baking it. (:

the worse thing happened that night. the oven suddenly broke down, and the portable oven tripped the whole house after heating it for 10 mins. So we had to use the small toaster! hehe and guess what? My baby pulled it off! hehe

it was cooked perfectly. (:

we all preferred this way of cooking the pork instead of whacking it in the oven from the very start.

well done sweetie! (: it was really good! hehe

have it with home-made gravy : perfect .

Can’t wait to have more of my baby’s cooking when I get back! (:

i love you.

Not So Traditional Moussaka

My first time having a Moussaka was a vegetarian one and I had it at the best place to have vegetarian food, Original Sin. I have been wanting to make my own moussaka for ages, and finally got down to it! (: I’m so glad I did, cause even though it was time consuming to grill the vegetables, it was all worth it! It was yummy!

Eggplant-Potato-Ricotta-Cheese-Meat Sauce-Eggplant (you get the idea!)

It’s very rich when you have it on it’s own, but have it with a cucumber raita, and it’s just one of the best combination you will ever have on a plate! With this combination, you would never feel too overwhelmed and could just keep eating!

My moussaka, however, is not the traditional kind you find at Greek restaurants. I improvised it a little, adding a little bit of mexican flavour (in a tin) to the dish. I was afraid the flavours might clash, but instead, it gives the dish just the slightest bit of spiciness and the kidney beans gave a good bite with every spoonful! I do apologise if you think it’s not the right way to cook it, but I do enjoy this version quite a bit. hehe

so give it a shot, and let me know if you still do prefer the traditional way of cooking it or the taste (:

Click here for the recipe !

Ad Hoc Potato Pavé

I saw something so divine and so pretty while looking for recipes for potatoes, and what to do with them. I tried to replicate what I saw, but I failed. Don’t get me wrong, it was super yummy, but it just didn’t come out the same way as Momofuku For 2’s potato pavé. Hers was nice and crisp and stays in perfect shape! Mine, fell apart. haha and I know the reason why, from the start. Silly me forgot to read the recipe thoroughly, and didn’t chill the pave long enough for it to stay in shape. haha so when I cut it into the pieces, it all started to fall apart. This might also be due to me not using 3 large 1kg potatoes, cause what I have are small potatoes at home. But it was still yummy! Just not very pleasing to the eye on the plate. haha But I must say, it came out of the baking tray beautifully! An awesome bright orange caramelisation. I was beaming when I lifted the baking tray up!

Learn from my mistake, prepare this a day before the party, cause it could be kept in the fridge after it’s cooled down for up to 2 days! (: Trust me, this is something that will make everyone ask for more at a dinner party. And it is really not too difficult and doesn’t take that long to prepare either!

For recipe CLICK HERE! (:

Baked Meatballs

So I have been experimenting on different kinds of meatballs to go with my spaghetti.

You see, I am a HUGE fan of meatballs. I could have with anything or even have it on its own. When I head to Subway for a meal for example, I do not have to think about it, it would definitely be meatballs sub. haha When I head to IKEA, an order of meatballs is a must! (:

So it’s no wonder I am looking for the perfect meatball recipe. I’ve tried the Safeway’s Nana’s meatball recipe. Baby likes that one cause he says the lemon zest in the meatball brings out the taste when he’s having it with spaghetti. I, on the other hand, is not a big fan of having lemony flavour in my meatballs. So I continued my search of finding the perfect one!

I chanced upon this recipe as I was blog-surfing and it looked amazing and pretty sure it will taste amazing as well. So thank you Smitten Kitchen! It turned out really well, and we all loved it! hehe Being me, I took the recipe and tweaked it a little to see if it will turn out good. and this I did!

to get the recipe click here ! (:

Baby’s Steamed Yam Cake

One of the people who inspires me to cook and bake is no doubt my baby

and of course he himself is a chef! hehe and when he cooks, the food is just awesome! hehe

some of his famous dishes are his crispy skin pork that my family adores, his chicken rice, and of course during chinese new year, his big treasure pot! (: There are alot more, so stay tuned for more in the future! hehe

so a week ago, while walking and shopping for groceries at Woolworths, we saw yam selling cheap! so baby decided to get a relatively big one and make steamed yam cake!

so what is steamed yam cake? it’s a local delicacy back home in sunny Singapore and is usually enjoyed as morning snacks or even for breakfast with rice rolls and a special sweet sauce. This savoury snack is always enjoyed in my house as well as in baby’s household and his grandma makes the best ones I heard (: It’s made of cubed yam and rice flour and is denser than the steamed carrot cake (and my mummy makes a mean carrot cake which I miss so much), and is topped with spring onions, fried shallots, chilli and dried shrimps! I had it for breakfast this morning and it’s super yummy!

So try and make it and hope you will enjoy it as much we did! (:

Easy Pork Chops with Apple Sauce

Sorry about the recent fascination with pork chops. haha Baby and I got it pretty cheap at Footscray market and we just couldn’t resist buying! We ended up buying almost 3kg of pork chops. haha

so that’s why I’m experimenting on different recipes that I can get my hands on! (:

Tonight. I decided to go all western! and what goes better with pork than apple sauce? it’s like a match-made in heaven!

The apple sauce could be done in less than 10 mins or you could even do it the day before and make it hot just before you serve your pork chops! (: and it’s not difficult at all!

Recipe (Adapted by Heat Beads)

Apple Sauce

2 Grannysmith apples, cut into small pieces

25g butter

2 tsp caster sugar (or alter to your liking)

Steps :

1. Peel and chop the apples into small pieces. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a moderate heat.

2. Add the apples, cover the pan and cook down until the apples have softened. Sweeten with sugar to taste.

3. Using an electric stick blender, process the apples until smooth. Alternatively, push the apples through a sieve. If necessary, add a dash of water to thin down the apple sauce. Leave on one side while you fry the chops.

Pork Chops

3 Pork Chops

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Olive oil (for frying)

Salt and Pepper to season

A dash (or more) Tabasco sauce

Steps :

1. Make light incisions in a criss-cross pattern on one side of the pork chops.

2. Brush the chops with olive oil and place on a plate scored side upwards.

3. Squeeze over the lemon juice and push the  garlic into the incisions. Leave for about twenty minutes.

4. Just before you fry it (or on the barbecue), add the tabasco and season well.

5. Cook the chops, scored side upwards for about 5-7 minutes on one side – until slightly charred and crisp. Flip the chops over and cook for a further minute or two. By this time, the chops should be tender and cooked through. The shorter cooking time helps stop the garlic from burning. (Don’t worry about cooking it longer than this time especially if your chops are on the bone, it will stop it from over-cooking!)

Bon Appetite!