Dinner In

On some occasions, instead of having good chats with friends in restaurants, I suggest potlucks at someone's place. However, it usually ends up with me doing most, if not all, of the cooking. And meeting a few of my ex-NJC friends had this exact outcome. They chipped in for the groceries, easing a little of the strain on my wallet. We all gathered at one of their homes, that was spacious and frill-less, just like a typical bachelor's pad.

For the first course, I used The Cook's Book to whip up the 21st Century Tortilla that CH had blogged about before. My photos are just never as gorgeous as that. I had been dying to experiment with the Gourmet Whip for a long time now but had never had the opportunity. This small party presented the perfect opportunity and it turned out great. The bottom layer of caramelised onion was simply delicious despite being a cinch to make. In fact, every component of this dish (egg sabayon and potato cream foam) was not difficult to execute and really went together harmoniously. My non-foodie friends were a little wary of being served foam dispensed out of a scary looking thermos flask with nozzles sticking out all over the place, but took to it very well in the end.

To save myself a little effort, I used some of the frozen braising liquid made with Oolong tea, soy sauce and spices, to make a simple braised chicken. This was a definite pleaser with its fork tender chicken meat and flavourful sauce. I just had to add some glazed carrots to complement the sweet, salty sauce.

To finish off their meal, I served some Chocolate Gelato with Vanilla salted caramel sauce. This gelato has been receiving rave reviews from everyone who tried, making me one happy chap. Thankfully we did not have to open any packets of crisps (as seen on the table), which one of them bought JUST IN CASE my cooking turned out inedible.