3 For 4: A New Year's Dinner

It was a pleasure spending the Christmas & New Year holidays at my Granduncle's in Vancouver.

My first 2 months of school felt more college than culinary school. We attend a series of theory classes before hitting the kitchens so that means: all i've held so far is paper & pens. When i was asked to make dinner, i jumped at the chance.

One thing i enjoy about cooking overseas is the access to many wonderful ingredients. In my Product Knowledge class i learnt a horde about produce i've never spotted in Singapore, and right here in Canada my eyes can physically feast on them.

Cooking in Uncle Alvin's kitchen was another bonus. His fairly new kitchen is impressively equipped with a built-in oven, kitchen aid, ice cream maker, food processor, all-clad pans and the collection continues to build....

Using his Kitchen Aid icecream-mixer extension (a pretty cool gadget i'll love to have), i finally departed from hand-whisked icecream. I made a Candied Bacon Ice Cream that satisfied myself. The creaminess & texture was closest to commercial i've ever gotten... and it's base exudes a deep caramelized flavor entwining savory-sweet notes from the candied bacon. Bacon needs no further description mmmm.

Here's the theme-less menu for the evening:

"Spring"

Smoked Salmon & Crab Salad Roll, Cucumber Vichyssoise, mango

Handpicked blue-swimmer crabmeat is made into a creamy salad with colorful sweet peppers and enrobed in smoked sockeye salmon. To balance the richness, it is placed over chilled cucumber vichyssoise and fresh mango cubes. This is now one of my favorite compilations.

"Shoyu"

Asian-style Braised Short Ribs, Hoisin glaze, Steamed rice

Tapping back on oriental roots, I did an asian-style braised short ribs served with steamed rice. Glimpses of crushed garlic, ginger, lemongrass, green onion bottoms, crushed red peppers & many more enter a braising liquid that immersed the meat for 3 slow hours in the oven. Once tender, the liquid is extracted and reduced into a tasty hoisin glaze.

"Breakfast 2011"

Pancake-&-Butter Pudding, Candied Bacon ice cream, Maple-glazed Walnuts, Blueberries, Maple Sauce

Consider my first dessert of 2011 one of those ideas-gone-wild. Say goodbye to bread, hello to pancakes joining the pudding family. Into my Pancake-&-butter pudding i added frozen blueberries & chopped walnuts and baked the traditional B&B way. A drizzle of maple sauce, maple-glazed walnuts and candied bacon ice cream completes the breakfast platter.

Bonjour Appetit!

Now this is the real breakfast i made in Vancouver. Good ol' French Toasts.

Cooking is my #2 therapy, right after eating.

sorry for the yellowish photos, there's no Adobe Photoshop/proper white balance gadgets here with me in NY! and my SLR's been completely idling away... it really has.

Dad's Favourite Things

Hit the pots and pans again for this special occasion. My menu-planning began a week ago but the eventual dishes were only finalized a day before. There's no designated cuisine here, its a convenient mix of everything to suit my theme: Dad's favourite things.

And thanks to a friend's kindness, i had the privilege to work with lavish add-ons like truffle oil & porcini mushrooms, and used a siphon for the first time in my life haha. Also attempted to inject more creativity this time and invested on pricier ingredients.. my apologies if i didn't do justice to any of them!

Photos are pretty lousy as well. The lighting in my house is hardly accentuating and i was clod between cooking on the spot, serving and snapping quick shots ):

enjoy...

Play, Redefined.

Bread

Homemade Parmesan, Sundried Tomato & Onion Roll

Amuse Bouche

Marinated Crab Salad, log of Earl Grey, lemon-infused evoo

ORANGE

Cream of Butternut Squash cappuccino, pumpkin seeds, parmesan stick

Hazelnut-crusted Scallop, lobster emulsion, caviar

Scallop & Avocado tartare, tobiko, chives

FRITTER

Breaded Button Mushroom Lollis, citrus aioli

FUNGHI

Chilled angel hair, porcini saute, black truffle oil

PESCE

Panseared Barramundi, bacon buerre blanc, medley of textures, saffron risotto

POMMES

Fine apple tart, cinnamon, vanilla icecream, crumble

this is my gift to dad. hope the family enjoyed their dinner.

Happy Father's Day!

Sweets for my Sweet

A Valentine's day dinner dedicated to my Mum & Dad.

Mum's a thrifty character. She is one person who would steer clear of festive menus at restaurants because those exorbitant 3-digit figures daunts her so badly.

That's mum we can't change,

But there was something i hoped i could do...

Warm Foccacia Bread
Extra virgin olive oil, sea salt & balsamic vinegar

♥

1st Entrée

Pan-Seared Scallops
With peppered tangerines, lemon cream, mesclun salad, French dressing

♥

2nd Entrée

Sea Scallops Fettuccine
Green spinach fettuccine in butter herb sauce, confit scallops, chilli flakes, diced strawberries, balsamic glaze

♥

Mains

Pan-Seared Red Snapper
Red Snapper fillet, wild garlic sauce, seasoned vegetable nibbles, roasted garlic baby potatoes

Mustard & Herb Pork Loin Chops
Oven-roasted marinated pork loins, deglazed pan gravy, mesclun salad, roasted garlic baby potatoes

♥

Dessert

Warm Chocolate Fondant
Molten dark chocolate centre, vanilla icecream, fresh berries

i'm praying, this devised meal would be a dinner to remember..

3 Fishes, 3 Ways.

Im into fishy business..

Miso Garlic Baked Cod

i love cod.

baked.

Grilled Salmon w Balsamic-Braised Lentils

i love salmon.

grilled.

Steamed Rosemary Snapper & a Heap of Chickpea Salad

i like snappers.

steamed.

My three favourite fishes & the way i like them done.

(all elaine's creations)

Western, Western

My family had another dinner of food-tasting.. western.

i cook, i shoot, we eat, they comment!

Carrot Coriander Soup w Garlic Foccacia

A thick puree packed with beta carotene, slush of cream and hint of ground coriander seeds. Homebaked foccacia stick, toasted crispy, and topped with my chunky garlic-parsley slab.

Baked Macaroni

Macaroni shells, mixed bell peppers and shiitake mushrooms panfried in a herbed tomato sauce, then baked hot and yummy with a mozzarella layer.

Oven Roasted Bacon-wrapped Snapper

The fresh snapper fillet only requires light rosemary seasoning for the bacon-wrap-around to come to play. Oven Roasted, served alongside sauteed asparagus, roasted vine tomatoes and a mushroom white wine gravy.

Cranberry Bread & Butter Pudding

This dessert needs no introduction for most people. Slices of buttered bread set within a smooth baked milk custard... a wonder creation with the commoner white loaf.To use up the bag of dried crans my grandaunt bought from Canana, I substituted the raisins with cranberries. Pink is nice.

cB&B Pudding, Rose-scented strawberries & Vanilla icecream

I stewed sliced strawberries in a strawberry puree, flavoured with rosewater for a more aromatic touch. Served warm with vanilla icecream and vanilla bean sauce.

Dessert's my fav (:

Thai Fiesta

Sawadeeka, immediately gave away to my family that i had prepared a thai dinner. Thai fare isn't our kind of daily bread (give me italian everyday~) but we do enjoy entertaining our Canadian relatives at Yhing Thai Palace (Purvis Street).

They've got dishes like the green mango salad, stuffed chicken wings, fried fish with thai sauce, and killer tom yum soups which impresses me a great deal.

Here's my take on the Thai cuisine, with much conscientious research and efforts.

I lamely named it LingThai.

(ling for manling)

"Khao Phat Supparod Talay"

Pineapple Rice. Cooked with elaine's self-made fresh pineapple paste, real pineapple chunks, fragrant dried shrimps and fried shallots... all seated in a pineapple shell, surely pineappley enough. This was a success!

"Kanom Pang Na Kung"

Prawn Toasts. This crisp bread spread with a smooth homemade prawn paste is used in Thailand to keep royal children quiet during solemn state ceremonies. Dad liked this dish best.

"Kung Hom Pa"

Prawns in Blankets. Crispy rolls each encasing a whole prawn and special marinated meat paste. Deepfried hot and served with a sweet chilli dipping sauce.

"Tom Yum Gung"

Tom Yum Soup. The classic hot, sour and real spicy soup! Made from scratch with authentic spices and ingredients such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and chili padi. Prawns, squid and mushrooms added.

"Khao Niao Mamung"

Sticky Glutinous Rice Dessert. Sweet glutinous rice infused with pandan and coconut, mango cubes, elaine's honey avocado mousse and a drizzle of lemak coconut milk.

I came to realise how taxing it is to make Thai food! The ingredients were difficult to gather and the preparation methods precise. Was extremely satisfied with what i produced (:

More cuisines to venture into soon~

Shrimp Fusilli Salad

After a long day at school, i made a quick dinner for myself. It took no more than 15 minutes to toss up fusilli spirals with baby carrots, cherry tomatos and cooked shrimps. Some olive oil, lemon juice, herbs and black pepper would do the taste a good favour.

Hassle free yet appetising.

Italiano (1)

A planned dinner for the family. I tried to keep the menu as close to the italian context as possible, despite some slight western glitches added. 3 hours of preparation and cooking time was a great challenge for me, but i was glad i managed to keep up the presentation standard. Overall, satisfactory (:


starter Cream of Roasted Pumpkin

Pumpkins were slow-roasted in the oven before i brougth it over to the pot. A creamy, buttery orange pumpkin puree with a hint of leeks & onions.


appetiser. Garlic Mushrooms Bruschetta

Assorted oyster, shiitake, button mushrooms sauteed in garlic then spooned over buttered baguette toasts. Detect a splash of white wine & balsamic vinegar.


appetiser. Calamari Fritti

Sis loved this. I did the deep-frying fresh while they were having the bruchetta. A classic dish of battered squid and a touch of paprika, served with a lemon-parsley mayonnaise and tangy neapolitan dipping sauce. All home-made.




main. Roasted Vegetables Spaghetti w Seafood Skewer

The pasta was supposed to be the focus but i guess that luscious seafood skewer stole the limelight. Fresh marinated tiger prawns and succulent scallops sizzling pan-seared then warmed in the oven; sure to entice all tastebuds.

Beside it laid a colour feast of oven-roasted eggplants, pumpkin, red & yellow peppers tossed with a spicy aglio spaghetti.


main. Seafood Marinara

My all-time-favourite. I bathed my pasta in a thick tomato paste, mixed in morsels of tiger prawns, scallops, squid and whitefish fillets. All it lacked was a sprinkle of fresh basil shreds.


dessert. Tiramisu & Lemon Curd Tartlet

An expresso & bailey's infused marscarpone mousse, paried with a mini tartlet with lemon curd and caramel sauce. I keep my rendition of tiramisu light and its now one of my dessert masterpieces.

enjoy italiano~
more improvements next time.