If you manage to get hold of a bag of Meyer lemons, you will know how precious they are. That is why I fully utilise these lemons inside out and top to bottom. While making the Meyer lemon cream, I needed to use an extra lemon for the juice. Before I juiced the fruit, I saved the zest and kept it in the freezer for later use. Continue Reading →
Whenever I plan a meal, I will usually look at what happens to be available in my fridge or pantry, and cook up the meal from what’s already there. I rarely buy a truckload of ingredients to make that one dish. However, if I happen to chance upon an ingredient that I have been dying to try, I will make that effort. This time, I got my hands on a stinky French cheese, Reblochon* and I am certainly super excited about using it. Continue Reading →
My current food obsession is “burning” fruit and vegetables. I bet you are scratching your head and wondering what is wrong with me and why I’m destroying perfectly good food. Actually, by exposing certain fruit and vegetables to open fire or high heat can actually intensify the taste or change the flavour profile. So next time, when you roast a chicken, put in some halved lemons. After roasting, you will realise the juice has transformed from one that is high in acidity to a mild sweet-sour liquid (which you can use to dress salad or squeeze over the roasted chicken). Continue Reading →
A couple of years ago, my friend Lynda gifted me with a canvas tote bag that had a quirky and beautifully illustrated print. It was a gorgeous print of a loaf of bread with its Chinese name enclosed in dotted boxes. I thought the design was pretty ingenious. If you were in primary school back in the 1980s (yes, you can start figuring out my age), the bag will bring back memories of writing Chinese characters within the dotted boxes and figuring out the correct hanyu pinyin (汉语拼音). Another huge reason why I love this bag is because it features one of my favourite things to bake – bread. This is one foodie gift I greatly enjoy carrying around.
When it comes to breakfast treats like waffles and (American-styled) muffins, I rarely get them from cafés or coffee-shop chains. One big reason is that I can easily make them at home. Another bigger reason is that almost all of the time, the store-bought ones turn out to be quite bad.
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After a couple of months of holidays and feasting, I needed to go easy on myself mentally and physically, especially for the sake of my stuffed tummy (and health!). So, I started to prepare light and satisfying meals, and one of my favourites is invariably soup. Continue Reading →
I have a weakness for baking pans. Whenever I am in a kitchenware shop, I will invariably wander over the baking section, staring at and being in awe of all the baking pans that could be mine. For a couple of years now, I have wanted a doughnut tray. I love doughnuts–fried dough and sugar–what is not to love? However, for the following reasons, I don’t really want to make doughnuts at home. Continue Reading →
I can understand why people avoid making pie, especially here on our little sunny island. No matter how carefully I plan, I always manage to choose the hottest day of the week (and perhaps year) to make a pie. The pie pastry is finicky to roll out, the kitchen is dusted with flour and the logistics to even “transport” the dough safely to the pie pan. I am amazed I have yet to give up making pie. Continue Reading →
A couple of years ago, after finishing an exhibition set-up at Marina Bay Sands, my friend M and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. We dragged our tired souls to DB Bistro Moderne. While we waited for our appetizers, we were presented with the bread basket. The first piece of bread that I chose was this dark oblong roll. The moment I bit into it, my brain screamed “pretzel”. The bread was warm, chewy and savoury. It was delicious on its own and you don’t even need any butter. Continue Reading →
When I was in university, my definition of a pasta dish was to boil water, add salt, throw in the pasta, cook, drain, and pour sauce from a jar over the result. Sometimes, if I bothered, I would throw in some sausages or mushroom. It was really a bowl of noodles with red sauce (plus whatever leftovers I happened to have in my fridge). Continue Reading →
As I age, I start to become wiser and learn the importance of incorporating whole grains into my diet. While I find it rather easy to add whole grains in my daily meals (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal), I rarely use them in my baking. Continue Reading →